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Robustness, validity, and significance of the ECB's asset quality review and stress test exercise
(2014)
As we are moving toward a eurozone banking union, the European Central Bank (ECB) is going to take over the regulatory oversight of 128 banks in November 2014. To that end, the ECB conducted a comprehensive assessment of these banks, which included an asset quality review (AQR) and a stress test. The fundamental question is how accurately will the financial condition of these banks have been assessed by the ECB when it commences its regulatory oversight? And, can the comprehensive assessment lead to a full repair of banks’ balance sheets so that the ECB takes over financially sound banks and is the necessary regulation in place to facilitate this? Overall, the evidence presented in this paper based on the design of the comprehensive assessment as well as own stress test exercises suggest that the ECB’s assessment might not comprehensively deal with the problems in the financial sector and risks may remain that will pose substantial threats to financial stability in the eurozone.
The endemic Floridian milliped genus, Floridobolus Causey, 1957, more closely related to tylobolinines in the western United States (US), Mexico, and Guatemala than syntopic spirobolines, is incorporated into Spirobolidae (Spirobolida: Spirobolidea). With taxonomic priority by one year, its monotypic family is reduced to Floridobolinae, n. stat., comprising Floridobolini and Tylobolini, n. stats., the counterpart to Spirobolinae, comprising Spirobolini and Aztecolini, n. tribe; relationships are Floridobolini + (Tylobolini + (Aztecolini + Spirobolini)). Like F. penneri Causey, 1957, 208 km (130 mi) to the south in the Lake Wales Ridge, Polk and Highlands counties (cos.), F. orini n. sp., inhabits “Big Scrub” environments in the Ocala National Forest, Marion Co. Biogeographic reconstructions, compatible with broader hypotheses on the class’ evolutionary history, indicate that, from a presumptive source area in northern Mexico where the subfamilies overlap, spirobolid stock penetrated the “proto-US” four times, once per tribe, before the Western Interior Seaway developed in the Cretaceous Period, Mesozoic Era. Three expansions headed northeastward into future “Appalachia,” from which taxa spread southward as the Seaway receded. Floridobolini, the fi rst invader, had to be in “proto-Georgia” and positioned to penetrate Florida when the sand dunes that comprise the “Central Highlands” emerged from the sea in the Oligocene (Cenozoic), ~25 mya. As sea levels rose and fell, the dunes fragmented into islands and the subcontinuous Floridobolus population was partitioned. The southernmost became F. penneri; F. orini inhabited a northern island; and a graduate student is investigating other insular remnants for additional species. Shortly after Floridobolini began spreading, Hiltonius/ Tylobolini arose and expanded both southward to Guatemala and northwestward to California; Tylobolus Cook, 1904, diverged in the latter area and dispersed northward to Washington and eastward to Utah/Arizona. The third invader, and the second to disperse northeastward, was Aztecolini, which probably eradicated Floridobolini from some of its established range and was partitioned into Mexican (Aztecolus Chamberlin, 1943) and US (Chicobolus Chamberlin, 1947) taxa by the Seaway. The fi nal invader, Spirobolini, dispersed northwestward and northeastward to both the Pacifi c and Atlantic coasts; instead of Trans-Beringia, we prefer penetration of the Asian part of “Asiamerica,” when it temporarily formed during the Cretaceous, to explain the Mongolian fossil genus, Gobiulus Dzik, 1975, herein assigned to Tylobolini, and the occurrence of Spirobolus Brandt, 1833, in China and Taiwan today. In the east, Narceus Rafi nesque, 1820, spread across Appalachia, eradicated most remaining populations of Floridobolus and Chicobolus, and expanded to Maine and Québec after retreat of the Wisconsin glaciation. Chicobolus and Narceus also penetrated earliest Florida; the former established itself in the Central Highlands, spread through the widening peninsula as sea levels fell, and remained on insular refugia when waters rose. Apparently fueled by the different Floridian environments, Narceus underwent time-consuming speciation; consequently, Floridobolus and Chicobolus still survive on the peninsula, and an allopatric population of the latter inhabits coastal South Carolina. However, N. gordanus (Chamberlin, 1943) occurs syntopically with both in peninsular Florida and may be actively eradicating them from their last stronghold. Trigoniulus niger, takahasii, and segmentatus, all by Takakuwa, 1940, are removed from Spirobolidae and returned toTrigoniulidae (Trigoniulidea). New records in the Appendix include the fi rst of Aztecolus from Durango and Jalisco, Mexico.
Tynommatidae, n. stat., elevated from Tynommatinae, is established as a schizopetalidean family encompassing the western North American callipodidans previously assigned to the Mediterranean Schizopetalidae. It is considered a valid taxon despite somewhat anatomically dissimilar subfamilies, and Colactidinae, Texophoninae, Diactidinae, and Aspidiophoninae constitute tribal elevations and additional new statuses. With a subbasal telopodal prefemoral process, Diactis hedini, n. sp., requires rediagnoses of all three diactidine genera, Diactis Loomis, 1937, and Florea and Caliactis, both by Shelley, 1996, and suggests that telopodal branches ‘B’ in congeners and Florea represent distal relocations of the process along the stem. Similarities in the sizes and shapes of the pleurotergal carinae suggest a sister-group relationship with the other, and partly sympatric, New World family, Abacionidae, which is supported by gonopodal similarities between Colactidinae and Abacion Rafi nesque, 1820. The Western Interior Seaway of the Cretaceous Period, Mesozoic Era, ~141–66 million years ago, appears to have fueled divergence by isolating “proto-abacionid stock” in “Appalachia,” the Eastern North American land mass, which has subsequently spread well into previously inundated areas. The allopatric position of Texophoninae, on the Gulf Coast of south Texas around 1,136 km (710 mi) east of the most proximate familial records, is attributed to this waterway, which eradicated faunal linkages with “proto-Tynommatidae” in “Laramidia,” the Western North American land mass. Texophoninae probably survived the Cretaceous on insular refugia; however, it is rarely encountered anymore and seems destined for imminent extinction. Representatives of the east-Asian families, Caspiopetalidae, Paracortinidae, and Sinocallipodidae, also possess demarcated pleurotergal crests and, implausible though it seems, may share ancestry with the North American taxa vis-à-vis the “Asiamerica” and or “Boreotropic” concepts.
An adventive female Julidae (Julida), discovered in a moist, grassy depression in the Peninsula de Brunswick south of Punta Arenas, Chile, and assigned to Cylindroiulus Verhoeff, 1894, is the fi rst vouchered milliped from southern Patagonia. The southernmost milliped ever collected in Chile, South America, and the Western Hemisphere, it may also constitute the southernmost in the world as the site is only ~1,176 km (735 mi) northwest of the Antarctic Peninsula. Records are consolidated of the two families, three genera, and fi ve species of this Holarctic order that are known from South America. They are documented from Argentina, Chile, and southern Peru and Brazil; three species are known from the Juan Fernandez Islands.
Past concepts and synonymies of Anadenobolus monilicornis (Porat, 1876) (Spirobolida: Rhinocricidae), including the implied synonymy of Rhinocricus ectus Chamberlin, 1920, are consolidated into a formal account with the fi rst illustrations of the holotype. Prior to 1492, A. monilicornis was probably indigenous to an unknown number of southern Antillean islands, but through modern commerce, man has introduced it to Florida, Bermuda, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, and Jamaica, and probably repeatedly (re)introduced conspecifi c material to all the Lesser Antilles, resulting in subcontinuous gene pool mixing and reticulate evolution. A broad species concept is necessary to encompass the multitudinous variants, some of which have been recognized as species; only one true Caribbean species of Anadenobolus Silvestri, 1897, may exist, for which arboreus (Saussure, 1859) is the oldest name. The distribution of A. monilicornis presently extends from Bermuda and southern coastal Florida through the Greater and Lesser Antilles (excepting Cuba) to eastern coastal Venezuela and central Suriname, with outlier populations in Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and Tampa Bay and the eastern Floridian panhandle; excepting Barbados, the indigenous range may have extended from Hispaniola through the same area. Introductions into Manitoba, Canada, and North Carolina, USA, have not yielded viable populations. Localities are newly recorded from St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.
A summary of the milliped faunas of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Kashmir (Arthropoda: Diplopoda)
(2014)
Three female callipodidan samples from northern Pakistan are assigned to Bollmania kohalana (Attems, 1936) (Caspiopetalidae), the only ordinal representative documented from the country; a new record of Kaschmiriosoma loebli Jeekel, 2003 (Polydesmida: Paradoxosomatidae), is also provided. Localities are summarized for the 14 Pakistani, 6 Kashmirian, and 5 Bangladeshi diplopods. The last include one unidentifi able female of Zephronia Gray, 1832 (Sphaerotheriida: Zephroniidae), and two adventive species, Trachyjulus calvus (Pocock, 1893) (Spirostreptida: Cambalopsidae) and Asiomorpha coarctata (Saussure, 1860) (Polydesmida: Paradoxosomatidae); all constitute new country records. Two obscurely documented Bangladeshi diplopods are Gonoplectus cautus (Attems, 1936) (Spirostreptida: Harpagophoridae), and Trichopeltis watsoni Pocock, 1895 (Polydesmida: Cryptodesmidae). The Pakistani polydesmidan, Quasidesmus puschtun Golovatch, 1991, is transferred from Pyrgodesmidae to Cryptodesmidae.
Characterized by small body size, apically rounded/lobed anterior gonopod telopodites, long slender posterior gonopod telopodites, and torsion in the cyphopod receptacles, Floridobolus fl oydi, n. sp., is described from the southern sector of the Brooksville Ridge in northwestern peninsular Florida. It inhabits sandy “Big Scrub” environments like F. penneri Causey, 1957, and F. orini Shelley, 2014, and is documented from the sector’s center and northern periphery, in Hernando and Citrus Counties, respectively, with a sight record from the eastern periphery. Its discovery supports the thesis that each sand ridge in peninsular Florida may harbor a unique species of this endemic genus.
A newly discovered population of Xystocheir brachymacris Shelley, 1996 (Polydesmida: Xystodesmidae: Xystocheirini), in Placer County (Co.), California, exhibits an unusual grayish-black color dorsally with mottled, ovoid patches at paranotal bases; it cons titutes northern generic and specifi c range extensions of ~28.4 km (17.6 mi). The gonopods differ from those in the El Dorado Co. population in having shorter/acuminate prefemoral processes and blade-like, rather than spatulate, processes “B” that angle away from the solenomere instead of overhanging it. Additionally, a strong distomedial prefemoral lobe, absent from the El Dorado population, arises from the stem in Placer Co. males. Authorship of Xystocheirini is properly attributed to Hoffman, 1980.
If we take Benjamin's definitions to their logical conclusion, then the monad and the reproduced copy are set unequivocally into binary opposition, as we, the masses capable and most needful of action, are implicitly denied the potential for liberation through aesthetic experience. This denial could not have been his long-term intention. When we take into account the breadth of his writings in response to Fascism, and we look at the artistic movements, Dada in particular, that Benjamin defines as 'politicizing art,' it seems as though we risk too narrow a reading of Benjamin's theories by assuming the aura can be, or must be, done away with. Rather, I would argue that this moment of auratic interaction is crucial to effectively politicizing art at all. Mechanically-produced art, in order to function politically, must allow its audience the space necessary to step back, awaken their 'Geistesgegenwart', and take action 'before' the present moment is finished and past. The elimination of aura - as per Benjamin’s own definitions of aura - neuters the interaction this awakening requires. While Benjamin provides the framework and asks the right questions, when determining what will allow his definitions to realize their aims most fully, I submit that he draws his line in the wrong place.
The flourishing of literature and thought during the age of Goethe may have inspired German nationalism in the 1930s, but Walter Benjamin identified other values in the period worth defending. 'Deutsche Menschen' is a short collection of edited letters by well-known German authors which Benjamin published in 1936 under the pseudonym Detlef Holz in order to hide his Jewish identity. In his inscription to Scholem's copy of the book, Benjamin wrote, "May you, Gerhard, find a chamber in this ark - which I built when the Fascist flood started to rise - for the memories of your youth," and in his sister’s copy Benjamin wrote, "This ark, built after a Jewish model, for Dora - From Walter." This essay considers what Benjamin may have meant by those inscriptions. Looking beyond discussions of "German," "Jewish," and even "German-Jewish" identity, this essay explores Benjamin's descriptions of his letter collection, asking how he conceptualized and framed it at first and how it may have changed between 1931 and 1936. The categories of tradition and agency will be my focus, which I will develop in the context of Benjamin's other writings and his particular interests in quotation and materialism. &e formation and reception of 'Deutsche Menschen' reveal a complex, ambitious project that combines many of Benjamin's ideas and goals.
Walter Benjamin had a revealing fascination with the legend of a Chinese artist who entered his painting and disappeared in it. In his writings this character becomes an emblematic figure that enables the philosopher to discuss the nature of representation in its various infections (in games and in painting, in theater and in cinema); to explore the status of the image and of the threshold that simultaneously separates and connects image and reality; to analyse the different bodily (i. e. "aesthetic") attitudes of the beholder in his/her close or distant relationship to the image; to investigate the manifold implications of empathy ('Einfühlung ') toward the figurative world; and finally, to approach a peculiar kind of dialectics, namely the "Chinese". My paper aims at considering such varied aspects in Benjamin's interpretation of the Chinese painter, understanding it as a true "dialectical image" that in its 'non-coincidentia oppositorum' provokes not only significant hermeneutic oscillations, but even a radical inversion of its fundamental meaning.
To explicate what distinguishes pain, Benjamin elaborates: "Of all corporeal feelings, pain alone is like a navigable river which never dries up and which leads man down to the sea. [...] Pain [...] is a link between worlds. This is why organic pleasure is intermittent, whereas pain can be permanent. This comparison of pleasure and pain explains why the cause of pain is irrelevant for the understanding of man's nature, whereas the source of his greatest pleasure is extremely important. For every pain, even the most trivial one, can lead upward to the highest religious suffering, whereas pleasure is not capable of any enhancement, and owes any nobility it possesses to the grace of its birth - that is to say, its source. (SW I, 397)" In these important lines, pain's unique strength is linked not to its origin (this is reserved for pleasure), but rather to the way that its strenuous flow throughout the suffering body has the power to lead it to infinite heights. In contrast to pleasure, which is forever seeking out its sources, pain manifests itself most consummately when it is intensified; it fulfills itself most deeply by gradually reenforcing its own fortitude. To make sense of pain, therefore, we must understand the nature of its 'movement': and in Benjamin's metaphor of the "navigable river" - its flow. In what follows, I develop Benjamin's idea of the nature of pain as manifested in the internal law of its ,ow in two other of Benjamin's texts: 'Berlin Childhood Around 1900' (1934) and 'Thought Figures' (1933).
One of the cruxes of Walter Benjamin’s work is the tension between an indebting and an expiating "memoria", i. e. the afflicting and the salvific insistence of history within the present moment. On the one hand, memory inscribes itself onto spaces and bodies in the violent and painful fashion of Kafka's "Penal Colony" apparatus. On the other hand, it can, in the form of rememoration ('Eingedenken'), sublate these very inscriptions. This sublation usually involves some form of redemptive, timely (re-)verbalization, but Benjamin’s conception of it varies. To gain a better insight into this inherent, varying tension, the article will take a closer look at the connection between pain, memory and law-positing violence in some Benjaminian texts, occasionally relating them to the historical background of his discussion.
Scolopendra morsitans L., 1758, is documented from Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaiian Islands, the fi rst record of this anthropochoric chilopod from both the archipelago and state. Hawaii thus becomes the second American state to harbor the species, the other being Florida, where an individual has been taken in Jacksonville, Duval County. Meristic and morphological data are presented for three Hawaiian specimens. At least two other species of Scolopendra, both introduced, occur on these islands: S. polymorpha Wood, 1861, known only from one specimen from Oahu, and one or more representatives of the “S. subspinipes Leach, 1815, complex,” which is widespread and even inhabits Midway Atoll.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common malignant tumor and third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Most cases arise as a consequence of underlying liver disease, e.g. developed from chronic hepatitis B or C infectionsalcohol abuse or obesity, and are most often associated with liver cirrhosis. Hypoxiand the hypoxia inducible factors (HIF)-1α and -2α promote tumor progression of HCC, not only affecting tumor cell proliferation and invasion, but also angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis and thus, increasing the risk of metastasis.
HCC is characterized as one of the most vascularized solid tumors. While HIF-1α and HIF-2α are frequently up-regulated in HCC only HIF-2α is correlated with high patientlethality. HIF-dependent regulation of HCC angiogenesis is controversially discussed.VEGFA, for example, as the most prominent factor inducing tumor angiogenesis represents not only a HIF-1 target, but also a HIF-2 target gene in HCC. This questions whether both isoforms have overlapping functions in regulating the angiogenic switch in HCC.
Besides angiogenesis also tumor-associated lymphangiogenesis significantly influences patient survival in HCC. Lymphatic spread is an important clinical determinant for the prognosis of HCC, but little is known how lymphangiogenesis is controlled in this context. To date, mainly HIF-1α was positively correlated with olymphatic invasion and metastasis in HCC, while a defined role of HIF-2α is missing. Thus, although HIF-1α and HIF-2α are structurally alike and regulate overlapping but not identical sets of target genes, they promote highly divergent outcomes in cancer progression and may even have counteracting roles. The aim of my work was to characterize the specific role of HIF-1α and HIF-2α in the angiogenic switch and lymphangiogenesis induction during HCC development.
Therefore, I created a stable knockdown of HIF-1α and HIF-2α in HepG2 cells and generated cocultures of HepG2 spheroids and embryonic bodies derived from embryonic mouse stem cells as an in vitro tumor model mimicking the cancer microenvironment to analyze which HIF isoform has key regulatory functions in HCC (lymph)angiogenesis. In cocultures with a HIF-2α knockdown angiogenesis was attenuated but lymphangiogenesis increased, while the knockdown of HIF-1α was without effect. Microarray analysis identified plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1)and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1 (IGFBP1) as HIF-2 target genes.However, prominent angiogenic and lymphangiogenic factors such as VEGFs, PDGFB, ANG and their receptors were not regulated in a HIF-dependent manner. As PAI-1 was linked to angiogenesis in literature and IGF-signaling, which is negatively regulated by IGFBP-1, was correlated with lymphangiogenesis, I decided to investigate their HIF-2α-dependent influence on HCC (lymph)angiogenesis. The knockdown of PAI-1 in HepG2 cells also lowered angiogenesis in PAI-1k/d cocultures similar to the HIF-2α k/d phenotype. PAI-1 as the potent inhibitor of tPA and uPA, both inducing the conversion of plasminogen to plasmin, also inhibits plasmin directly. Therefore, I assumed an increase of plasmin in HIF-2α k/d and PAI-1 k/d cocultures as a result of the reduced PAI-1 levels. Blocking plasmin with aprotinin in HIF-2α k/d cocultures restored angioge nesis, suggesting that HIF-2α increases PAI-1 to lower concentrations of active plasmin, thereby supporting angiogenesis. In further experiments I could exclude PAI-1 to reduce angiogenesis by inducing plasmin-mediated apoptosis of differentiating stem cells in PAI-1 k/d and HIF-2α k/d cocultures, but demonstrated an increase of VEGFA165 degradation in these cocultures, suggesting plasmin-catalyzed proteolysis of VEGF as an additional layer of regulation required to explain the angiogenic phenotype. Besides the pivotal role of PAI-1 in angiogenesis I also investigated its potentialinfluence in lymphangiogenesis. Indeed, the knockdown of PAI-1 reduced lymphaticstructures and implied an important but opposing role in lymphangiogenesis comparedto induced lymphangiogenesis in HIF-2α k/d cocultures. However, blocking plasmin again with aprotinin in HIF-2α k/d cocultures restored lymphangiogenesis to the level of control virus, which indicates a divergent lymphangiogenic role of plasmin in PAI-1 k/d and HIF-2α k/d cocultures, possibly because of other essential pathways masking the lymphangiogenic effects of PAI-1 in HIF-2α k/d cocultures.
HIF-2α resulting in reduced IGFBP1 expression induced the differentiation of stem cells toward a lymphatic cell type and significantly enhanced the assembly of human dermal lymphatic endothelial cells into tubes. These data point the first time to an important impact of HIF-2 in the regulatin of lymphangiogenesis in vitro by inducing IGFBP1 and thus, scavenging IGF-1. Furthermore, matrigel plug assays to investigate the in vivorelevance of these observations confirmed HIF-2α as a crucial factor in the regulation of lymphangiogenesis in vivo
In conclusion, this work provides evidence that HIF-2α is a key regulator of angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in HCC by regulating PAI-1 and IGFBP1. HIF-2α positively influences the angiogenic switch via PAI-1 and negatively affects lymphangiogenesis via IGFBP1 expression. Targeting HIF-2α in HCC to reduce tumor angiogenesis should be approached carefully, as it might be overcome by induced lymphangiogenesis and metastasis.
Vasointestinal peptide metabolism plays a key physiological role in multimodular levels of vasodilatory, smooth muscle cell proliferative, parenchymal, and inflammatory lung reactions. In animal studies, vasointestinal peptide relaxes isolated pulmonary arterial segments from several mammalian species in vitro and neutralizes the pulmonary vasoconstrictor effect of endothelin. In some animal models, it reduces pulmonary vascular resistance in vivo and in monocrotaline-induced pulmonary hypertension. A 58-year-old woman presented with dyspnea and mild edema of the lower extremities. A bronchoscopy was performed without any suspicious findings suggesting a central tumor or other infiltrative disease. Endobronchial ultrasound revealed enlarged pulmonary arteries containing thrombi, a few enlarged lymph nodes, and enlarged mediastinal tissue anatomy with suspicion for mediastinal infiltration of a malignant process. We estimated that less than 10% of the peripheral vascular bed of the lung was involved in direct consolidated fibrosis as demonstrated in the left upper lobe apex. Further, direct involvement of fibrosis around the main stems of the pulmonary arteries was assumed to be low from positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans. Assuming a positive influence of low-dose radiation, it was not expected that this could have reduced pulmonary vascular resistance by over two thirds of the initial result. However; it was noted that this patient had idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension mixed with "acute" (mediastinal) fibrosis which could have contributed to the unexpected success of reduction of pulmonary vascular resistance. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of successful treatment of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension, probably as a result of low-dose radiation to the pulmonary arterial main stems. The patient continues to have no specific complaints concerning her idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Introduction: Currently there are several advanced guiding techniques for pathoanatomical diagnosis of incidental solitary pulmonary nodules (iSPN): Electromagnetic navigation (EMN) with or without endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) with miniprobe, transthoracic ultrasound (TTUS) for needle approach to the pleural wall and adjacent lung and computed tomography (CT) -guidance for (seldom if ever used) endobronchial or (common) transthoracical approach. In several situations one technique is not enough for efficient diagnosis, therefore we investigated a new diagnostic technique of endobronchial guided biopsies by a Cone Beam Computertomography (CBCT) called DynaCT (SIEMENS AG Forchheim, Germany). Method and Material: In our study 33 incidental solitary pulmonary nodules (iSPNs) (28 malignant, 5 benign; mean diameter 25 +/-12mm, shortest distance to pleura 25+/-18mm) were eligible according to in- and exclusion criteria. Realtime and onsite navigation were performed according to our standard protocol.22 All iSPN were controlled with a second technique when necessary and clinical feasible in case of unspecific or unexpected histological result. In all cases common guidelines of treatment of different iSPNs were followed in a routine manner. Results: Overall navigational yield (ny) was 91% and diagnostic yield (dy) 70%, dy for all accomplished malignant cases (n=28) was 82%. In the subgroup analysis of the invisible iSPN (n=12, 11 malignant, 1 benign; mean diameter 15+/-3mm) we found an overall dy of 75%. For the first time we describe a significant difference in specifity of biopsy results in regards to the position of the forceps in the 3-dimensional volume (3DV) of the iSPN in the whole sample group. Comparing the specifity of biopsies of a 3D-uncentered but inside the outer one third of an iSPN-3DV with the specifity of biopsies of centered forceps position (meaning the inner two third of an iSPN-3DV) reveals a significant (p=0,0375 McNemar) difference for the size group (>1cm) of 0,9 for centered biopsies vs. 0,3 for uncentered biopsies. Therefore only 3D-centered biopsies should be relied on especially in case of a benign result. Conclusion:The diagnostic yield of DynaCT navigation guided transbronchial biopsies (TBB) only with forceps is at least up to twofold higher than conventional TBB for iSPNs <2cm. The diagnostic yield of DynaCT navigation guided forceps TBB in invisible SPNs is at least in the range of other navigation studies which were performed partly with multiple navigation tools and multiple instruments. For future diagnostic and therapeutic approaches it is so far the only onsite and realtime extrathoracic navigation approach (except for computed tomography (CT)-fluoroscopy) in the bronchoscopy suite which keeps the working channel open. The system purchase represents an important investment for hospitals but it is a multidisciplinary and multinavigational tool with possible access via bronchial airways, transthoracical or vascular approach at the same time and on the same table without the need for an expensive disposable instrument use.
In spring and summer 2008, the Odonata fauna of the Khabr National Park (Iran) was studied for the first time. Here, we present records of the representatives of family Libellulidae only. A total of twelve libellulid Odonata were found. Most of them are common species in Iran and other parts of Kerman province. Scarce Iranian species are Trithemis arteriosa and Zygonyx torridus.
With its broad spectrum of cults and coexisting religions Graeco-Roman antiquity seems, at first glance, to be the embodiment of religious freedom. Yet, a closer analysis shows that a concept of tolerance or the idea of religious freedom did not exist. Political institutions could easily suppress religious practices that were regarded as offensive. Fighting against the oppression of Christians appears to have increased under the influence of oecumenical paganism during the reign of the Severans. In this time, the Christian thinkerTertullian discovered and articulated the concept of religious freedom. However, he did not do so emphatically and the concept was not very successful in antiquity. With the Christianization of the Roman Empire it disappeared soon, although its rediscovery in later epochs contributed heavily to the formation of the European norm of religious freedom.