This article draws a comparison between two adjacent ethnic groups, namely the Ainu of Hokkaido and the Nivkh of Sakhalin. We shall follow the historical development of the border areas between Japan and Russia and describe the prevailing situation of these aboriginal peoples on both sides of the border. The legal measures taken by the Japanese government for the promotion of Ainu culture and t...

The Pleistocene and recent distributions of the taxa are discussed. A new variety of Juniperus ashei, J. ashei Buch. var. ovata R. P. Adams is recognized from west Texas and northern Mexico. It differs from typical J. ashei in having whip leaf glands that are oval to elongate rather than hemispherical, smaller female cones, smaller seeds and more seeds per cone. In addition, the leaf oil of var...

A new lignan glycoside, named juniperigiside (1) was isolated from the CHCl(3) soluble fraction of the MeOH extract of stems and leaves of Juniperus rigida S.et Z. Compound 1 was identified by 1D- and 2D-NMR spectroscopy as well as CD analysis as (2R,3S)-2,3-dihydro-7-methoxy-2-(4'-hydroxy-3'-methoxyphenyl)-3-hydroxymethyl-5-benzofuranpropanol 4'-O-(3-O-methyl)-α-L-rhamnopyranoside. Five known ...

This review describes problems with persistent and bioaccumulative organic substances which posses toxic characteristics likely to cause adverse human health or environmental effects in countries of Central and Eastern Europe as far as human exposure is concerned. This paper is a part of a more detailed report on the subject.

It is generally hypothesized that tree growth at the upper treeline is normally controlled by temperature while that at the lower treeline is precipitation limited. However, uniform patterns of inter-annual ring-width variations along altitudinal gradients are also observed in some situations. How changing elevation influences tree growth in the cold and arid Qilian Mountains, on the northeaste...

Pocilloporids are one of the major reef-building corals in the eastern tropical Pacific (ETP) and also the most affected by thermal stress events, mainly those associated with El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) periods. To date, coral growth parameters have been poorly reported in Pocillopora species in the northeastern region of the tropical Pacific. Monthly and annual growth rates of the thr...

The Kura-Araxes cultural tradition existed in the highlands of the South Caucasus from 3500 to 2450 BCE (before the Christian era). This tradition represented an adaptive regime and a symbolically encoded common identity spread over a broad area of patchy mountain environments. By 3000 BCE, groups bearing this identity had migrated southwest across a wide area from the Taurus Mountains down int...