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Primary aldosteronism (PA) is a category of secondary hypertension induced by inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system due to increased aldosterone secretion. Aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA) is the most common hypotype of PA. Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) refers to the symptoms of increased bone resorption and increased calcium reabsorption of kidney tubules caused by parathyroid secretion and excessive synthesis of parathyroid hormone. APA, complicated with PHPT has been extremely rare in clinical practice. In this study, the diagnosis and treatment of one case of APA complicated by PHPT was reported. Relevant literature review was performed.

Together with its partners and regional member countries, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) shares a vision of prosperous and secure mountain communities living in peace, equity, and environmental sustainability. This vision defines ICIMOD's overall goal: secure and sustainable livelihoods for mountain peoples. ICIMOD's work as a “Mountain Learning and Knowledge Center” builds on achievements, competence, and lessons that the Centre and its partners have learned over the 2 preceding decades. ICIMOD is mandated to work in the Hindu Kush–Himalayan (HKH) region, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan.

The high Zoige Basin (Ruoergai Plateau) on the eastern Tibetan Plateau is a fault depression formed during intensive uplifting of the Tibetan Plateau. The wetland is globally important in biodiversity and is composed of marshes, bogs, fens, wet meadows and shallow water interspersed with low hills and sub-alpine meadows. Most of the Zoige wetlands have long been one of the most important grazing lands in China. Recent rangeland policy has allowed grazing, and usable wetland areas have been being legally allocated to individuals or groups of households on a long-term lease basis. Privatization of the wetland has impacted the Zoige wetlands in aspects of hydrologic condition, landscape and biodiversity. The uneven spatial distribution of water resources on private lands has led to the practice of extracting ground water, which has decreased the perched water table in Zoige. Fencing off the rangelands and grazing on expanding sand dunes have affected landscapes. Variation in the water table has led to the changes in vegetation diversity, resulting in the changes in wildlife and aquatic diversities and ecosystem processes. Making use all year round of the pasture that was previously grazed only in summer has shrunk the daily activity space of wildlife, and the newly erected fences blocked the movement of wild animals looking for food in the snow to lower and open areas. To maintain the favorable conditions of the Zoige wetland ecosystem, the author suggests that, in addition to biophysical research and implementation of conservation practices, there is an immediate need to initiate an integrated management program, increase public awareness of wetland functions and provide better training for the local conservation staff.

The Tibetan plateau of China is one of the world's major pastoral areas, in which rangeland management underwent fundamental changes in the twentieth century. This article reviews the rangeland privatisation process in the Tibetan plateau over the last ten years, examining cases from Hongyuan, Zoige and Maqu Counties in the eastern part of the plateau, Nyima County in the northwestern part and Dingri County in the southwestern part.Rangelands have been allocated to individual households or 'the least contracting unit' starting from 1996, but the process of rangeland privatisation was diverse and is still ongoing in the western part of the Tibetan plateau.Rangeland privatisation has some significant impacts on local people and their environment. First, many rangelands are inequitably allocated due to their highly variable topography, productivity and availability of water resources. Secondly, access to social and economic services has been made more difficult for some, while social conflicts have increased. Thirdly, privatisation of rangeland and sedentarisation of nomads needs matching infrastructure but that is still missing in many places. Meanwhile, privatisation of rangeland has led to increased labour inputs in some places and added more workload onto women and children.The article concludes that rangeland privatisation was intended to stop further rangeland degradation and to provide nomads with better lives. However, more study is needed on managing rangeland in an appropriate way.

Zusammenfassung: Klimatische Variabilitat und soziale Vulnerabilitat auf dem Hochplateau von Tibet: Dilemma auf dem Weg der Reformen in der Weidewirtschaft Die Winter auf dem Hochplateau von Tibet stellen nicht nur harte Bedingungen fur die Viehhaltung dar die dazu fuhren, dass die Tierhalter eine mobile Tierhaltung betreiben sondern sie stellen auch eine besondere Herausforderung an die Politik in dieser Region. Winterkalte ist daher ein Schlusselfaktor, der sowohl die Weidewirtschaft als auch die sozio-okono mische Entwicklung auf dem Hochplateau beeinflusst. Zunachst wird die Region, die auf dem euroasiatischen Kontinent traditionell durch nomadische Weidewirtschaft genutzt wurde und Teil des altweltlichen Trockengurtels ist und von den Autoren als „Winterkalte Zone" bezeichnet wird, geographisch definiert. Die folgende Diskussion geht vor allem auf die Auswirkungen des extrem kalten Klimas auf die extensive Viehhaltung der Tierhalter und die gegenwartige Politik der Quasi Privatisierung des Weidelandes in der Winterkalten Zone ein. Dies wird verdeudicht anhand von Beispielen aus dem Hochplateau von Tibet. Schlieslich werden die Unstimmigkeiten der Innovationen innerhalb dieses Rahmens der gegen wartig stattfindenden Entwicklungsprogramme in der Weidewirtschaft auf dem Hochplateau von Tibet und Moglichkeiten zu deren Behebung detailliert diskutiert.

The photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B dye was successfully carried out under UV irradiation over porous TiO2-SnO2 nanocomposites with various molar ratios of Ti/Sn (4–12) synthesized by hydrothermal method using polystyrene microspheres as template. The combination of TiO2 with SnO2 can obtain high quantum yield of TiO2, and then achieve the high photocatalytic activity. And its porous structure can provide large surface area, leading to more adsorption and fast transfer of dye pollutant. Structural and textural features of the samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and N2 sorption techniques. Both adsorption and UV irradiation contribute to decolorization of about 100% of Rhodamine B dye over the sample TiSn10 after 30 min of the photocatalytic reaction, while the decomposition of Rhodamine B dye is only 62% over pure titania (Degussa P25).

This chapter is based on four case studies carried out respectively in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nepal by using semi-structured household interviews. Climate changes, especially rising temperature and more erratic precipitation, are strongly felt by pastoralists and are affecting their livelihoods strategies. Local communities have adapted to these changes, passively or proactively, by enhancing water resources management, changing the temporal and spatial pattern of seasonal migration, introducing drought-resistant crops or animal varieties or diversifying income-generating activities. However, the adaptive capacity of the pastoral communities to deal with the changes has been severely limited by multiple factors.

The Tibetan Plateau, which encompasses a vast area in Asia (the majority of southeast and southwest China including the Tibetan Autonomous Region), northwestern Bhutan, northern Nepal, and northwestern India), is one of the most diverse and important landmasses in the Northern Hemisphere. Being the source of ten major rivers of Asia and having the greatest mass of snow outside the polar regions, the Tibetan Plateau and its adjoining mountain ranges are well known as the “water towers” of Asia, sometimes even referred to as “the Third Pole.” The region is also known for its rich flora and fauna, with a high proportion of endemism and habitat for some of the most charismatic species such as snow leopard (Uncia uncia), brown bear (Ursus arctos pruinosus), and giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and red panda (Ailurus fulgens), as well as numerous ungulates. The region is also home to thousands of ethnic communities with a rich culture, who are predominantly transhumant pastoralists and migratory herders. However, in recent decades, there has been growing concern about the deteriorating conditions of the vast pastureland and the freshwater resources – the source of livelihood for millions of people as well as habitats for thousands of species. The drivers of such changes are multiple, but the most pressing challenge is the phenomenon of global climate change. Although the region witnessed various cooling and warming phases in past millennia, the rate of recent warming is suggested to be dramatic. Moreover, warming in the Tibetan Plateau has caused significant impacts on its cryospheric components, thereby causing a multitude of impacts on the environment. Here we analyze the importance of the Tibetan Plateau and its adjoining mountain ranges in terms of biodiversity, water resources, and the challenges faced by the vast majority of local people resulting from the effects of changing climate on their subsistence livelihoods.

The eastern Tibetan Plateau (ETP) in China is one of the most productive pastoral areas in highland Asia, which has been always placed on the crest of ­policy-driven changes for pastoral development and rangeland management in the last few decades. Profound changes from traditional pastoralism in the eastern Tibetan Plateau included the collectivization of livestock and rangeland from the late 1950s, privatization of livestock from the early 1980s, enclosing rangelands for private utilization from the 1990s and massive settlement and resettlement of herders in ‘Pastoral New Villages’ from the twenty-first century. The policy-driven changes initially aimed only to maximize livestock production but later on added in a deliberate intention to modernize pastoralism and prevent rangeland degradation. What in some places of experimental site seemed to work well in rangeland privatization or pastoralists’ settlement, nevertheless, brought in many other situations more pressures to both people and their environments. China is spending significantly increasing amount of resources in rangeland management, but the effectiveness of the programmes in achieving dual targets of fair pastoral development and environmental conservation are questionable. The challenge is becoming even greater and has given the impacts of global development and climatic change to the ecologically fragile and economically vulnerable eastern Tibetan Plateau. New policies for ecosystem compensation or payment for ecosystem services might be an alternative if wisely formulated and implemented.

Because ofthe remoteness and harsh conditions of the high-altitude rangelands on the eastern Tibetan Plateau, the relationship between yak grazing and plant diversity has not been so clear although livestock increase was thought as the main issue leading to the degradation of rangeland. In the debate of rangeland degradation, biodiversity loss has been assumed as one of the indicators in the last two decades. In this paper authors measured the effects of different grazing intensities on the plant diversity and the structure of Kobresia pygmaea community in the case-study area, northwestern Sichuan. The results indicated that plant diversity of alpine meadow has different changing trends respectively with the change of grazing intensity and seasons. In June the highest plant diversity occurred in the intensively grazed (HG) plots, but in July and September species biodiversity index of slightly grazed (LG) plots is higher than other experimental treatments. In August the intermediate grazed (IG) plots has the highest biodiversity index. Moreover, it was found that intensively grazing always leads to the increase of plant density, but meanwhile the decrease of community height, coverage and biomass. Over-grazing can change the community structure and lead to the succession from Kobresia pygmaea dominated community to Poa pratensis dominated. Analyzing results comprehensively, it can be suggested that the relationship between grazing intensity and plant diversity is not linear, i.e. diversity index is not as good as other characteristics of community structure to evaluate rangeland degradation on the high altitude situation. The change of biodiversity is so complicated that it can not be explained with the simple corresponding causality.

To realize speaker-free speech recognition with DSP, a 2-channel recording system was developed and used to set up a speech library. The filters, including a high-pass filter, an LMS adaptive filter and a combination of these two, were adopted to separate a speaker's voice from a noisy background. The noise cancellation effectiveness of these filters was evaluated. It is worth noting that 1/f noise is shown to be a very important factor for the effectiveness of an adaptive filter. After the prior cancellation of 1/f noise at frequencies lower than 1 Hz in this study, the output signal of an adaptive filter can be improved significantly. This is of value not only for speech processing systems, but also for other adaptive filter systems.