MEDICAL MISSION TO A REFUGEE CAMP IN THAILAND

Abstract— During the latter part of 1979, hundreds of thousands of Kampuchean refugees fled from all parts of their war-and hunger-ridden country to the Thai–Cambodian border, thousands perishing from hunger, disease and by stepping onto mine fields on their way. The majority of those who survived settled in several large villages straddling the border in relative security from the advancing Vietnamese army, receiving food and medical supplies from many international welfare organizations.
Widespread public interest in the plight of these refugees arose in Israel after a television program late in October 1979, and a public campaign was initiated by Mr. Abie Nathan, an Israeli citizen. The ensuing large-scale fund raising efforts resulted in the substantial sum of 1.2 million dollars, most of which originated from private donations. These contributions enabled the Israeli government to equip 5 medical teams and send them to Thailand, covering the last 2 months of 1979 and the first 4 months of 1980.
The first medical team, consisting of 5 physicians and 4 medics started i t s work in the camp of SaKaeo in Thailand on 4th November 1979.
This paper summarizes our experiences in this refugee camp.     

Phylogenetic relationships among morphotypes of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Caesalpinia echinata</Emphasis> Lam. (Caesalpinioideae: Leguminosae) evidenced by <Emphasis Type="Italic">trn</Emphasis>L intron sequences

Caesalpinia echinata (brazilwood or Pernambuco wood) comprises a complex of three morphological leaf variants, characterized by differences in the number and size of the pinnae and leaflets, and occurring in allopatric and sympatric populations. The present study evaluates the utility of the chloroplast DNA trnL intron in a phylogenetic analysis of the three leaf variants along with other species of Caesalpinia and generic relatives. Our study supports the hypothesis that the name C. echinata designates a species complex and provides evidence that one of the forms, the highly divergent C. echinata large-leafleted variant, represents a distinct taxon.     

Current EU-27 technical potential of organic waste streams for biogas and energy production

Anaerobic digestion of organic waste generated by households, businesses, agriculture, and industry is an important approach as method of waste treatment – especially with regard to its potential as an alternative energy source and its cost-effectiveness. Separate collection of biowaste from households or vegetal waste from public green spaces is already established in some EU-27 countries. The material recovery in composting plants is common for biowaste and vegetal waste. Brewery waste fractions generated by beer production are often used for animal feeding after a suitable preparation. Waste streams from paper industry generated by pulp and paper production such as black liquor or paper sludge are often highly contaminated with toxic substances. Recovery of chemicals and the use in thermal processes like incineration, pyrolysis, and gasification are typical utilization paths. The current utilization of organic waste from households and institutions (without agricultural waste) was investigated for EU-27 countries with Germany as an in-depth example. Besides of biowaste little is known about the suitability of waste streams from brewery and paper industry for anaerobic digestion. Therefore, an evaluation of the most important biogas process parameters for different substrates was carried out, in order to calculate the biogas utilization potential of these waste quantities. Furthermore, a calculation of biogas energy potentials was carried out for defined waste fractions which are most suitable for anaerobic digestion. Up to 1% of the primary energy demand can be covered by the calculated total biogas energy potential. By using a “best-practice-scenario” for separately collected biowaste, the coverage of primary energy demand may be increased above 2% for several countries. By using sector-specific waste streams, for example the German paper industry could cover up to 4.7% and the German brewery industry up to 71.2% of its total energy demand.     

A comparison of relative abundance versus class data in diatom-based quantitative reconstructions

Relative species abundances are the most frequently applied data type used for modern or paleolimnological diatom studies. In contrast, plant ecologists save time by commonly using ordinal scale data (class data), where the abundance of a species is estimated using dominance classes, instead of relative abundance data. This study compares the performance of models based on ordinal diatom species class data (class 1: sporadic (<0–1%) up to class 6: dominant (>60%)) with similar model types based on relative abundance data for different regional training sets and sediment cores. First, relative diatom abundances were converted into ordinal classes. Species response to total phosphorous (TP) was modelled using both types of data - relative abundance and ordinal class data. Secondly, TP was reconstructed for six sediment cores from North-East Germany, Switzerland, and Denmark using WA and WA-PLS based on both types of data. Thirdly, 20 lake sediment surface samples with known relative diatom abundances and known water TP concentrations were recounted using an ordinal data scale to create an independent test set. No significant differences were found between relative abundance and class data for (1) explained species variance, (2) reconstructed TP values, and (3) inferred TP values of the 20 recounted samples. This approach demonstrates that past TP concentrations may also be reliably reconstructed using class data instead of relative diatom abundances. Thus, by using class data lake managers may not only obtain more long-term records past water quality, but this approach is also quicker and therefore more cost effective. Moreover, the findings of this study may also advance the use of automatic diatom identification with digital image recognition, as we demonstrate that not every damaged diatom valve needs to be identified.     

Fate of heavy metals after application of sewage sludge and wood-ash mixtures to short-rotation willow coppice

Short-rotation willow coppice (SRWC), grown on farmland in Sweden for energy-biomass production, was fertilised with sewage sludge and wood-ash mixtures on the basis of the permitted annual phosphorus supply. Two identical experiments were conducted in central Sweden, on two newly harvested commercial SRWC fields. The maximum legally permitted amount of the sludge-ash mixture, sludge only, ash only, and twice the maximum permitted sludge-ash amount, were applied. The aim was to assess the effect of pH changes following treatment, on the ability of SRWC to take up large amounts of Cd and other metals. The remediation effect of SRWC was also studied. Under the experimental conditions applied, uptake by SRWC was unaffected by pH changes. The differences between the amounts of metals experimentally applied, less the uptake by SRWC after a potential harvest, were broadly within the permitted limits. For Cd, a reduction of total amounts in soil was observed.     

Sequestration of phosphorus by acid mine drainage floc

Solubilization and transport of phosphorus (P) to the water environment is a critical environmental issue. Flocs resulting from neutralizing acid mine drainage (AMD) were tested as a possible low-cost amendment to reduce the loss of soluble P from agricultural fields and animal wastewater. Flocs were prepared by neutralizing natural and synthetic solutions of AMD with limestone, lime, ammonium hydroxide, and sodium hydroxide. Phosphorus sequestration was tested in three distinct environments: water, soil, and manure storage basins. In water, flocs prepared from AMD adsorbed 10 to 20 g P kg(-1) dry floc in equilibrium with 1 mg L(-1) soluble P. Similar results were observed for both Fe-based and Al-based synthetic flocs. A local soil sample adsorbed about 0.1 g P kg(-1), about two orders of magnitude less. The AMD-derived flocs were mixed with a high-P soil at 5 to 80 g floc kg(-1) soil, followed by water and acid (Mehlich-1) extractions. All flocs performed similarly. About 70% of the water-extractable P was sequestered by the floc when applied at a rate of 20 g floc kg(-1) soil, whereas plant-available P only decreased by about 30%. Under anaerobic conditions simulating manure storage basins, all AMD flocs reduced soluble P by greater than 95% at a rate of 0.2 g floc g(-1) rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) manure. These findings indicate that AMD flocs could be an effective agent for preventing soluble P losses from soil and manure to the water environment, while at the same time decreasing the costs associated with AMD treatment.     

The first definitive Asian spinosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the early cretaceous of Laos

Spinosaurids are among the largest and most specialized carnivorous dinosaurs. The morphology of their crocodile-like skull, stomach contents, and oxygen isotopic composition of the bones suggest they had a predominantly piscivorous diet. Even if close relationships between spinosaurids and Middle Jurassic megalosaurs seem well established, very little is known about the transition from a generalized large basal tetanuran to the specialized morphology of spinosaurids. Spinosaurid remains were previously known from the Early to Late Cretaceous of North Africa, Europe, and South America. Here, we report the discovery of a new spinosaurid theropod from the late Early Cretaceous Savannakhet Basin in Laos, which is distinguished by an autapomorphic sinusoidal dorsosacral sail. This new taxon, Ichthyovenator laosensis gen. et sp. nov., includes well-preserved and partially articulated postcranial remains. Although possible spinosaurid teeth have been reported from various Early Cretaceous localities in Asia, the new taxon I. laosensis is the first definite record of Spinosauridae from Asia. Cladistic analysis identifies Ichthyovenator as a member of the sub-clade Baryonychinae and suggests a widespread distribution of this clade at the end of the Early Cretaceous. Chilantaisaurus tashouikensis from the Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia, and an ungual phalanx from the Upper Jurassic of Colorado are also referred to spinosaurids, extending both the stratigraphical and geographical range of this clade.     

Nectar secondary compounds affect self-pollen transfer: implications for female and male reproduction

Pollen movement within and among plants affects inbreeding, plant fitness, and the spatial scale of genetic differentiation. Although a number of studies have assessed how plant and floral traits influence pollen movement via changes in pollinator behavior, few have explored how nectar chemical composition affects pollen transfer. As many as 55% of plants produce secondary compounds in their nectar, which is surprising given that nectar is typically thought to attract pollinators. We tested the hypothesis that nectar with secondary compounds may benefit plants by encouraging pollinators to leave plants after visiting only a few flowers, thus reducing self-pollen transfer. We used Gelsemium sempervirens, a plant whose nectar contains the alkaloid gelsemine, which has been shown to be a deterrent to foraging bee pollinators. We found that high nectar alkaloids reduced the total and proportion of self-pollen received by one-half and one-third, respectively. However, nectar alkaloids did not affect female reproduction when we removed the potential for self-pollination (by emasculating all flowers on plants). We then tested the assumption that self-pollen in combination with outcrossed pollen depresses seed set. We found that plants were weakly self-compatible, but self-pollen with outcrossed pollen did not reduce seed set relative to solely outcrossed flowers. Finally, an exponential model of pollen carryover suggests that high nectar alkaloids could benefit plants via increased pollen export (an estimate of male function), but only when pollinators were efficient and abundant and plants had large floral displays. Results suggest that high nectar alkaloids may benefit plants via increased pollen export under a restricted set of ecological conditions, but in general, the costs of high nectar alkaloids in reducing pollination balanced or outweighed the benefits of reducing self-pollen transfer for estimates of female and male reproduction.