Variational methods find solutions of equations by considering a solution as a critical point of an appropriately chosen function. Local minima and maxima are well-known types of critical points. We explore methods for finding critical points that are neither local maxima or minima, but instead are mountain passes or saddle points. Criteria for the existence of minima or maxima are well-known, ...

1. The Mountains of Europe 1.1.Key Values of the Mountains 2. Sustainable Mountain Development: A New Priority 2.1.Defining Sustainable Mountain Development 2.2.Priorities from the European Intergovernmental Consultation 2.3.Priorities from the European Nongovernmental Consultation 3. Activities Connected with Sustainable Mountain Development in Europe 3.1.Initiatives Within Pan-European Instit...

In Belize, Central America, many farms surrounding the Protected Areas of the Maya Mountains rely heavily on the application of agrochemicals. The purpose of this study was to test whether orographic drift of glyphosate and organophosphates into the nearby Maya Mountain Protected Areas occurred by collecting phytotelmic water from seven sites over 3 years. Regardless of location within the Maya...

This paper investigates the socio-ecological differences and interactions between upland and lowland areas in Shaxi Valley, Yunnan Province, Southwest China. As an analytical tool we used an extended Human–Environment System Framework by focusing particularly on the dynamics and sustainability of livelihood strategies and mountain–valley interactions. Drawing from household surveys conducted in...

The in situ measured average outdoor absorbed dose rate in air was found to vary from 108.4 to 1596.4 nGy h at Homa Mountain area in southwestern Kenya. Rock and soil samples collected gave average values of the radioactivity concentrations of K, Ra and Th of 915.6, 195.3 and 409.5 Bq kg, respectively. The range of the annual effective dose for a person living in Homa Mountain area calculated v...

Four new species of Astenus (Eurysunius) Dejean (Staphylinidae: Paederinae) are described from Western Anatolia, Turkey, and illustrated: Astenus gusarovi sp. n. (Çökelez Mountain, Denizli province), A. orgeli sp. n. (İmambaba Tepesi, Aydın province and Bozdağlar, İzmir province), A. kumlutasi sp. n. (Akdağlar, Kütahya province and Murat Mountain, Uşak province) and A. honazicus sp. n. (Honaz M...

Fallstreak cirrus clouds are associated with supersaturated air, together with waves, instabilities and/or turbulence; however, their precise cause is usually uncertain. This paper uses already-published satellite, radiosonde and radar data, reanalysed to study some large fallstreaks which had been previously overlooked. The fallstreaks – up to 60 km long with a parent cloud 20 km wide – are ca...

In this study, wood-water interactions of mountain pine beetle affected lodgepole pine were found to vary with time since death. Based on an analysis of magnetization components and spin-spin relaxation times from 1H NMR, it was determined that the mountain pine beetle attack does not affect the crystalline structure of the wood. Both the amorphous structure and the water components vary with t...