Title: Common Services activities, Technical & Environmental interventions requirement for Imitation Jewelry Sub-sector.pdf Abstract: This study was concentrated in three districts including Dhaka, Jashore, and Jhenaidah of Bangladesh where Imitation Jewelry has mostly clustered after the independence of the country. The sector was initiated in the period of Pakistan with a meager investment. The study was carried out with the view to achieving six objectives encompassing different issues of the sub-sector (environmental & technical, revenue-generating activities, non-revenue generating physical activities, environmental issues, certification, ecolabeling, branding, value chain development, etc.) and to assess the potential interventions for the Imitation Jewelry subsector of Bangladesh. The study deployed several tools and techniques for the collection of data.
The total population of the study was around 4500 in three districts who are members of the beneficiaries of PKSF through its partner NGOs like SUS, SNF, etc., and engaged in entrepreneurship and working in the subsector of Imitation Jewelry. The total number of entrepreneur surveys was 357 (27 from Jashore, 178 from Jhenaidah, and 151 from Dhaka) The sample of the study was fixed by the stratified sampling techniques assuming the population is normally distributed. For this study, the research matrix was prepared according to the objectives. Questionnaires were prepared to collect information from the primary research (by field survey/ household survey). On the other hand, Key Informants Information (KII) from the different Design Experts, Experts from Environmental Sciences, Marketing and Branding Experts, Entrepreneurs, Key people from the certification authority. Some of the questions were common to the key experts with the specialized issues of entrepreneurship, environmental, certifications, ecolabeling premium marketing, and branding issue to the respective key informants. Focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted for the collection of collective information from the respondents about their product quality, types, their problems, design and dices issues, and their suggestions for the development of the sector.
The questionnaire for the field survey information about academic qualifications, knowledge about environmental pollution, existing environmental conditions, the importance of modern technology for the production of befitting jewelry, training for better production, promotion of design, SWOT analysis of the sector, and required interventions to improve the overall condition of the sector was collected by the research team. After data collection, analysis was conducted by using the SPSS (IBM 22) software and the outputs of the analysis are in the respective chapter where pie charts, bar diagrams, cross-tabulations, correlations between different variables have been shown. In the Key Informant Interview (KIIs) the qualitative part of the study, five experts from each specialization like Fashion/Entrepreneurs, Environment /Climate Change, Branding /Marketing, and two key persons from the Department of Environment (DoE), have been interviewed. The questions of the KIIs were about the respective issues like design, entrepreneurship, environment pollution, certification and ecolabeling, branding of the products, and premium marketing, along with some common questions to all. Later, the answers sheets from the KIIs have summarized and the relative information has been added to each segment chapter-wise in the result section.
Four Focus Group Discussions (FGD) were conducted (One in Dhaka, Jhenaidah two, and one in Jashore from the collective information of the artisans, entrepreneurs, designers, and workers of the sector. Questions to the artisans have related to their challenges in works, their health conditions, shortage of capital, their associations, inspirations of the jewelry design, related training requirement, their suggestions for the development of the Imitation Jewelry sector, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the sectors. Responses of the entrepreneurs and other respondents have been summarized using statistical tools (different charts) in the result sections. Moreover, the results of the analysis have been added in the different chapters where that was necessary. In FGD, a total of 55.51 percent of the represents mentioned that raw materials are going to be expensive day by day and fair price is uncertain because the price has a random fluctuation by the syndicate. 11.11 percent of them mentioned the lack of availability of raw materials when required. 16.20 percent of the entrepreneurs have a problem with the investment, 5.6 percent claimed transportation problems. only 5.56 percent agreed that all the raw materials are as per their expectations which is alarming for a sector.
On the other hand, of the respondents, 24.00 percent from Lumbago, 20.00 percent from Dim-sighted, 20.00 percent from eye soaring, 20.00 percent from headache 12.00 percent from shoulder ache, and 4 percent are suffering from hand cramps. Only 20. 00 of them are comparatively in good health which is another threat to its existence.
Of the workers in the sector for environmental, health safety, and compliance issues, 42.11 percent have claimed that they are short of logistic supports like their seating arrangements. However, 31.58 percent revealed that they need safety glasses and gloves, especially the fireworks and working with chemicals and acids and 15.79 percent of the workers mentioned the necessity of the working environment. However, 10.53 percent of the workers demanded they need adequate light for their work. For capital, most of the entrepreneurs are engaged with different NGOs like BRAC, SUS, Shishu Niloy Foundation, Asa, Grameen Bank (which breakdown have shown in the association section) for their financial support by loan.
22.22 percent of the respondents opined that development of the sector can be ensured by reducing the price of raw materials, 16.67 percent of them think they need training, another 16.67 percent of them think the arrangement of sufficient capital can develop the subsector, one more 16.67 percent think the local arrangement of raw materials can improve the present condition. However, 11.11 percent of each opined for automation and government involvement while 5.56 percent of them urged timely design of the Jewelry. Only 29.41 percent of the artisans are self-reliant 23.53 percent of them have achieved economic solvency, still, 17.65 percent are unemployed only 11.76 percent of each of them have developed their family economic solvent and started the business with low capital. Great regret is that in this sector only 5.88 percent of them find advantages while using their self-made products.
Process of certifications for the Department of Environment (DoE), Fire and Civil Defense, International Standard Organization (ISO), ecolabeling, premium marketing have been added based on the comprehensive information from Key Informants Interview (KII’s) and review of different research papers, articles, and the written constitutions of the respective organizations. However, according to the experts from design, marketing and branding, environment and climate change, and entrepreneurs Imitation Jewelry of Bangladesh are not fit for ISO certification, ecolabeling, and to enter into the premium market presently as it has the minimum brand value even in the national and international markets due to different limitations.
In SWOT analysis, value chain development of the sector, numerical data from the field have been used with statistical analysis. Particularly, the Poter Value Chain development framework and analysis have been used to justify the present situation of the Value Chain in the Imitation Jewelry subsector of Bangladesh along with numerical data analysis to show the value chain development of the Jhenaidah cluster. To ensure the forward and backward linkage of Value chain development for adding value to the product and creation of jobs, design variation in production, automation marketing promotion, comprehensive training for skill development have been identified.
Finally, Entrepreneurship in case of development, present condition of Imitation Jewelry entrepreneurship has been illustrated with data analysis with related diagrams. Though most of the information has been taken from the Key Informants Interviews and Focus Group Discussion, some information from the Household survey. As the entrepreneurship of the sector had not been started formally, it has some deep-rooted problems which have created the limitation of the sector to expand within a short time. Formal education, design, and technical education for this sector, infrastructure developments are vital examples of these problems.
In some of the chapters, a summary of the study has been added for a better understanding of the findings. However, in ‘Chapter Ten’, recommendations for the required interventions for technical, environmental, physical, development, and other common services have been added based on the whole study.
The research findings and recommendations regarding interventions may be applied in the Imitation Jewelry sub-sector by PKSF and its other stakeholders for the sustainable development of the subsector. Source: Google Scholar @topic:9


Title: Evolution of Nacre: Biochemistry and Proteomics of the Shell Organic Matrix of the Cephalopod Nautilus macromphalus Abstract: Matrix evolutions: We have biochemically characterized the nacre matrix of the cephalopod Nautilus macromphalus, in part by a proteomic approach applied to the acetic acid-soluble and -insoluble shell matrices, as well as to spots obtained after 2D gel electrophoresis. Strikingly, most of the obtained partial sequences are entirely new, whereas a few correspond only partly with bivalvian nacre proteins. Our findings shed new light on the macroevolution of nacre matrix proteins.
In mollusks, one of the most widely studied shell textures is nacre, the lustrous aragonitic layer that constitutes the internal components of the shells of several bivalves, a few gastropods, and one cephalopod: the nautilus. Nacre contains a minor organic fraction, which displays a wide range of functions in relation to the biomineralization process. Here, we have biochemically characterized the nacre matrix of the cephalopod Nautilus macromphalus. The acid-soluble matrix contains a mixture of polydisperse and discrete proteins and glycoproteins, which interact with the formation of calcite crystals. In addition, a few bind calcium ions. Furthermore, we have used a proteomic approach, which was applied to the acetic acid-soluble and -insoluble shell matrices, as well as to spots obtained after 2D gel electrophoresis. Our data demonstrate that the insoluble and soluble matrices, although different in their bulk monosaccharide and amino acid compositions, contain numerous shared peptides. Strikingly, most of the obtained partial sequences are entirely new. A few only partly match with bivalvian nacre proteins. Our findings have implications for knowledge of the long-term evolution of molluskan nacre matrices. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Carbon (C) the Nacre and Its Allotropes Abstract: Carbon (identified by a symbol C in the periodic table of elements, Fig. 1.3) is an interesting element; you cannot see (C, pronounced as see) the C all the time, but the existence of the element (C) is almost everywhere. It is in your clothes, in your backpack, in your food, and in your body. It provides the framework for all tissues of plants and animals (rational and irrational). These tissues are built of elements grouped around chains or rings made of carbon atoms. Indeed, most of the structures that make up animals, plants, and microbes are made from three basic classes of molecules: amino acids, carbohydrates, and lipids (often called fatty acids), and all of these materials contain carbon as their backbone [1, 2]. As these molecules are vital for life, metabolic reactions either focus on making these molecules during the construction of cells and tissues, or breaking them down and using them as a source of energy during digestion [3]. As a matter of fact, carbon (C) occurs in nature as the sixth most abundant element in the universe and the 19th element in order of mass in the Earth’s crust. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Research on innovative application of silver material in modern jewelry design Abstract: Based on the understanding of are used, the jewelry material, the method of modeling semantics is applied to know more about the application of traditional materials and modern materials in the jewelry design. The related design principle of the innovative combination of the silver material, traditional material and modern material in the jewelry design was analyzed, and the status quo of the modern silver jewelry design was solved, which is monotonous in the combination materials, old-fashioned in pattern and conservative in the creation style. Hence, the innovative application of materials, innovative expression of patterns, and the creation style that integrates culture and art was realized. The development trend of silver jewelry design was explored, which can provide more direction for the development of silver jewelry in the future. Source: Google Scholar @topic:6


Title: Rapid detection of color-treated pearls and separation of pearl types using fluorescence analysis Abstract: Pearl identification plays a key role to maintain transparency in the gem industry by disclosing potential color treatments and classifying pearl species. Current techniques for pearl identification have been limited by expensive instrumentations and long measurement time, severely restricting their use outside of major gemological laboratories. There is a strong demand for simple and inexpensive identification instruments designed for non-specialized users and small-scale gemological laboratories. For this purpose, we demonstrate a portable fluorescence spectroscopy for pearl treatment detection and species classification based on pearl’s nacre fluorescence detection. This device can be used to rapidly separate naturally colored pearls from treated colored pearls, detect potential treatments applied to white colored pearls, and separate pearls between certain species in seconds, based on their differences in nacre fluorescence intensity. The system enables noninvasive testing of loose pearls, pearl strands, and mounted pearl jewelry under normal office lighting conditions. The experimental prototype demonstrates high accuracy for automatic pearl color treatment screening, referring 100% of the treated colored pearls. Furthermore, similar protocols can be applied to evaluate popular pearl enhancements such as bleaching and to extend its application to separate akoya pearls and their South Sea counterparts. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: THE OLMEC SPOON RECONSIDERED: MATERIAL MEANINGS OF JADE, NACREOUS SHELLS, AND PEARLS IN ANCIENT MESOAMERICA Abstract: Previous studies have interpreted greenstone objects referred to as Olmec “spoon” pendants based on hypothetical utilitarian functions that they might have served. This study argues that the unique form of these pendants is actually based on the shell of the wing oyster ( Pteria ), a nacreous pearl-forming bivalve found on either coast of Mesoamerica. The study of these skeuomorphic recreations of shells sheds light on conceptual relationships between jade and iridescent shell, as well as the ideological motivations behind such material substitutions. Although wing oyster pendants were produced during only the Formative period, the Classic Maya continued to value pearls, formed by such nacre-producing mollusks. This study demonstrates the frequent appearance of pearls in Mesoamerican artwork. Wing oyster pendants constitute an early basis for the ritual interchangeability of jade, shell, and pearl, and the widespread conceptual associations of these valued materials with breath, wind, and ancestors among later Mesoamerican traditions. Source: Google Scholar @topic:12


Title: Nacre extract from pearl oyster suppresses LPS-induced depression and anxiety Abstract: Pearl powder (nacreous layer) has been used in traditional Chinese medicine, as well as in functional foods and cosmetics. The present study was undertaken to investigate the beneficial effects of the extract from the nacreous layer of pearl oyster shells (nacre extract) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced depression and anxiety in mice. Nacre extract treatment improved depression-and anxiety-like behaviors and prevented oxidative stress by increasing the expression of nuclear factor E2-related factor (Nrf2). We found that LPS treatment decreased the expression of the 5-hydroxytryptamine (HT)1A receptor and increased the expression of the 5-HT2A receptor compared to control mice, but nacre extract reversed the changes in LPS-induced expression. LPS treatment also decreased the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) compared to control mice, and treatment with nacre extract restored the expression level. These results suggest that nacre extract ameliorates LPS-induced depression- and anxiety-like behavior. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Hyperspectral interference tomography of nacre Abstract: Significance
We invented an optical technique—hyperspectral interference tomography—that rapidly and nondestructively extracts nanoscale structural information across large samples of nacre (mother-of-pearl) and other layered materials by combining multiangle and polarization-resolved hyperspectral imaging with optical-interference modeling. We investigated nacre in mollusk shells from two different species, red abalone and rainbow abalone, and discovered a previously unknown relationship between the age of the mollusk and the thickness of aragonite tablets in nacre. Hyperspectral interference tomography will have applications in climate science, since nacre tablet thickness in fossil shells is a proxy for ancient seawater temperature, and in bioinspired mechanics, because the layered structure of nacre inspires engineered materials with exceptional strength and toughness. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: A natural protein-related biopolymer film and its positive role in pearl brightening Abstract: To date, the external micromorphological differences among high-luster pearls and the precise relationship between the organic matrix covered on the external surface of pearl and its luster remain, to a large extent, unknown. Here, using scanning electron microscopy combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, infraredspectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy, we comparatively investigated the multiscale surface characteristics of representative seawater-cultured pearls with different luster grades. The results showed that a natural protein-related biopolymer film of nano-thickness existed on the surface of high-luster pearls. Moreover, the biopolymer film and the microscale tablets self-assembled by aragonite nanoparticles, which serve as a nanoscale organic film and a microscale plane mirror, respectively, together play key roles in producing the excellent luster. In addition, the higher the content of organic matter covering the external surface of pearls, or the thicker the average thickness of the film, the smoother the surface and the better the luster of pearls. The findings substantially enhance our knowledge of the gemological and morphological characteristics of pearls and their corresponding natural brightening mechanism. Most importantly, this study not only provides some key guidelines on the daily maintenance of pearls and the optimization process for pearl brightening but also inspires optical functional material syntheses. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: The Racist Fact against American-Indians in Steinbeck’s The Pearl Abstract: the social conditions of Indians as Native Americans for the treatment of white people who are immigrants from Europe in America. This research explores aspects of the reality of Indian relations with European immigrants in America that have an impact on discriminatory actions against Indians in John Steinbeck's novel The Pearl. Social facts are traced through fiction as part of the genetics of literary works. The research method used is genetic structuralism, a literary research method that traces the origin of the author's imagination in his fiction. The imagination is considered a social reality that reflects events in people's lives. The research data consist of primary data in the form of literary works, and secondary data are some references that document the background of the author's life and social reality. The results of this research indicate that racist acts as part of American social facts are documented in literary works. The situation of poor Indians and displaced people in slums is a social fact witnessed by John Steinbeck as the author of the novel The Pearl through an Indian fictional character named Kino. Racism is an act of white sentiment that discriminates against Native Americans, namely the Indian community. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Analysis of Selective Breeding of Nacre Color in Two Strains of Hyriopsis cumingii Lea Based on the Cielab Colorspace Abstract: The nacre color of the pearl mussels is one of the most important traits for the pearl industry. In this study, to evaluate the effectiveness of the nacre color selection of the freshwater pearl mussel Hyriopsis cumingii, the characteristics of nacre color from a purple, white, and a commercial farmed strain were detected, respectively, by measuring the color parameters of CIEL∗a∗b∗ (CIELAB) system. The analysis of the variation among the color parameters showed that the uniformity of the nacre color in purple or white strain had been significantly improved over that of the farmed strain. The principal component analysis indicated that the first principal component (PC1) was most affected by color parameter a∗ where a positive value indicates a hue of red and a negative value indicates a green in the CIELAB color space. The second principal component (PC2) was most affected by color parameter b∗ where a positive value indicates a hue of yellow and a negative value indicates blue. The contribution rates of these PCs were 63.64% and 23.81%, respectively. The results also showed that the nacre color was obviously different among purple, white, and farmed strain, and the difference of nacre color between purple and white strain was primarily caused by color parameter a∗. The discriminant functions for nacre colors were established and the rate of discriminant accuracy (P1 and P2) was 100% for all three strains. The results indicated that purple, white, and farmed strains could be clearly identified and differentiated on the basis of their nacre color, and the traits of nacre color could be purified through selective breeding. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Production of Designer Mabe Pearls in the Black-lipped Pearl Oyster, Pinctada margaritifera, and the Winged Pearl Oyster, Pteria penguin, from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India Abstract: The black-lipped pearl oyster, Pinctada mar-garitifera, is sporadically distributed in the Indo-Pacific region, where they have been tradi-tionally used for food, ornaments, jewelry, tools, and more recently for the production of black pearls (Lane et al. 2003). During the past two decades, black pearl farming programs have been initiated by several nations and are now at various levels of production, either at pre-liminary experimental stage or as a commer-cial industry (Friedman and Southgate 1999; Landman et al. 2001). The winged pearl oyster, Pteria penguin, also known as the mabe oyster, is commercially important and is used mainly for the production of mabe pearls (Haws 2002). Mabes are assembled pearls produced by pasting hemispherical nuclei or plastic images on the inner surface of the shell of a host pearl oyster. Mabes are not as valuable as round pearls; however, they are easier to produce. One of the first records of cultured image pearls is the production of mother-of-pearl (MOP) Buddha figures from freshwater mussels by Buddhist monks in the 12th century (George 1966). In the 19th century, a similar technique was developed in Japan to produce half pearls from marine pearl oysters (Shirai 1981). Half pearls produced from Pt. penguin are tradition-ally known as ''mabe.'' However, the term mabe is now used generically to half pearls produced from a number of species of bivalves. Mabe pearls are produced in Japan, Indonesia, French Polynesia, Thailand, Mexico, Tonga, and Aus-tralia. The principal mabe-producing molluscs are the classic mabe pearl oyster, Pt. penguin, as well as Pteria sterna, Pinctada mazantlan-tica, Pinctada maxima, and P. margaritifera (Landman et al. 2001). In China, commercial ventures in mabe pearl production in Pt. pen-guin are performed profitably by two companies in Hainan Island and Leizhou Peninsula (Yu and Wang 2003); however, no detailed information is available. Ruiz-Rubio et al. (2006) have indi-cated the potential to develop a mabe pearl industry in Mexico based on Pt. sterna. In black pearl farms, mabe pearl production is consid-ered as an additional source of income because the technique of mabe implantation is easy and can be performed by the farmers themselves without hiring a qualified technician (Haws 2002). The added advantage is that even defective 1 Corresponding author. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Cultured Pearl Farming and Production In the Federated States of Micronesia Abstract: ￼The current production of cultured pearls from the black-lipped pearl oyster (Pinctada margaritifera) in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) includes mostly beaded as well as blister and nonbead-cultured pearls in a wide array of colors. Pearl farming is carried out on four islands, with plans for commercial production in the near future. The sector is envisaged as a model for economic development and marine conservation. To successfully compete in the marketplace, pearl farmers in the FSM should focus on producing high-quality cultured pearls and explore market differentiation strategies such as the “Mi- cronesian Blue” product. Gemologically, the FSM cultured pearls are indistinguishable from those of French Polynesia that are produced using the same mollusk species. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: A History of the Cultured Pearl Industry Abstract: During the 18th and 19th centuries, studies of how pearls are formed were conducted mainly in Europe. The subsequent pearl culturing experiments conducted worldwide in the early 20th century, however, failed to develop into a pearl industry. In Japan, however, Kokichi Mikimoto succeeded in culturing blister pearls in 1893 under the guidance of Kakichi Mitsukuri, a professor at Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo) and the first director of the Misaki Marine Biological Station, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo. This success and subsequent developments laid the foundation for the pearl farming industry, developed new demand for cultured pearls in the European jewelry market, and initiated the full-scale industrialization of pearl culturing. In addition, research at the Misaki Marine Biological Station resulted in noteworthy advances in the scientific study of pearl formation. Today, pearls are cultured worldwide, utilizing a variety of pearl oysters. The pearl farming industry, with its unique origins in Japan, has grown into a global industry. Recently, the introduction of genome analysis has allowed cultured pearl research to make rapid progress worldwide in such areas as the dynamics of mother-of-pearl layer formation and biomineralization. This signals another new era in the study of pearls. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Controlled in Vivo Nacre Formation in Flat Pearls with Hydroxyapatite Bioceramic Nuclei Abstract: We carried out in vivo experiments of cultured flat pearl production using disc-like hydroxyapatite (HAp) bioceramics as a nucleus, with and without electric polarization treatment, and evaluated the effects of electric polarization and the quality of HAp materials on flat pearl formation. The thickness of the lamellar structures of the nacreous aragonite layers increased when polarized HAp pellets, instead of nonpolarized HAp pellets, as the nucleus, were used as the nuclei, while the thickness of the columnar structures of the prismatic calcite layers decreased. These phenomena were observed remarkably on the negative potential surface of the polarized HAp pellet. The electric polarization treatment promoted the formation rate of the nacreous lamella structure. It was speculated that electric polarization may control the physiological actions of mantle tissue and regulate the formation of the prismatic calcite and nacreous aragonite layers. The polarization treatment leads to an interference color with a long wavelength. It was found that flat pearls were superior analogues of the original cultured sphere pearls, regardless of the use of nonpolarized or polarized pellets as the nucleus, and that HAp bioceramics are excellent candidates for use as the nucleus of cultured pearls. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Origin of the common UV absorption feature in cultured pearls and shells Abstract: UV–Vis reflectance spectroscopy combined with field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) was used to characterize the nacres of seawater and freshwater cultured pearls and shells. While distinct spectral features were observed for different types of pearls or shells, a characteristic absorption band at about 275 nm was identified in the UV–Vis spectra for the nacres of pearls and shells regardless of their growing environments or physical appearance. The UV absorption peak was no longer observable after the nacres were coated with Pt, indicating that the laminated structure of the nacre’s surface, which remains intact after coating, was not responsible for producing the peak. In addition, the peak was observed in different parts of the nacre where the thickness of the individual aragonite platelets varied significantly, indicating that the inner multilayered microstructure of nacre did not contribute to the formation of this characteristic absorption. It is therefore here suggested that the characteristic UV band of the nacres of pearls and shells originates from the organic matrix in nacre. Given the established key role of the organic matrix in facilitating the unique brick-and-mortar architectures of nacre, which is known for its superior mechanical properties, the present study could potentially provide the basis for designing advanced optical and biomedical materials. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Dynamics of sheet nacre formation in bivalves Abstract: Formation of nacre (mother-of-pearl) is a biomineralization process of fundamental scientific as well as industrial importance. However, the dynamics of the formation process is still not understood. Here, we use scanning electron microscopy and high spatial resolution ion microprobe depth-profiling to image the full three-dimensional distribution of organic materials around individual tablets in the top-most layer of forming nacre in bivalves. Nacre formation proceeds by lateral, symmetric growth of individual tablets mediated by a growth-ring rich in organics, in which aragonite crystallizes from amorphous precursors. The pivotal role in nacre formation played by the growth-ring structure documented in this study adds further complexity to a highly dynamical biomineralization process. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Dissecting Rice Pearl Character, an Important Added Value in High-Quality Temperate Mediterranean Japonica Cultivars Abstract: Rice holds an important sociocultural meaning in Europe, and especially in the gastronomy of its Mediterranean regions, as it is used for world-famous recipes such as Risotto in Italy and Paella in Spain. Paella is prepared with highly appreciated pearled (white-core) rice cultivars such as Bomba or Montsianell, while Risotto is prepared with white-belly Carnaroli cultivar among others. Pearled rice grains have a limited and enclosed translucent zone which is physicochemically different from stress-induced chalky grains present in any rice cultivar at a low rate, and whose opaque area covers at least three quarters of the grain surface. We have studied for the first time the physicochemical aspects of grains from pearled white-belly, white-core and crystalline rice grains of Mediterranean japonica rice cultivars in comparison with their defective stress-induced chalky grains in order to shed some light on their differences. Spanish Bomba and Montsianell white-core (pearled) cultivars have similar physicochemical behaviours but are clearly different from white-belly Carnaroli cultivar. Furthermore, their pearled fractions differ in some traits from stress-induced chalkiness, especially in terms of amyloplastic integrity, relative amylose content and relative storage protein content. This study establishes some physicochemical differences between white-belly, white-core and stress-induced defective chalky grains and will guide future studies to unravel this much-appreciated pearl character in the Mediterranean gastronomy. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Production of Pearls Abstract: The pearl is known as the queen of jewels, and has been used for adornment and as a symbol of material wealth throughout human history. Pearls are formed by the secretion of nacre from epidermal cells within mollusc mantle tissue. But particular conditions are required for loose natural pearls to form and this occurrence is rare. However, utilization of this process for cultured pearl production now supports industries in more than 30 countries including China, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, French Polynesia, Philippines, Cook Islands, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Mexico, of which China has the largest production. Analysis of FAO global statistics shows that in the past decade (from 2005 to 2014), the average annual output of Chinese pearls was 3540 tonnes (t) valued at 15 million USD. This output accounted for over 98% of global cultured pearl output, of which freshwater pearls accounted for 99.5%. Japan has been the world’s major marine pearl producer for over a century, and has developed advanced technology in pearl oyster culture and pearl production. In the past decade, the average annual value of marine cultured pearl production in Japan was 127 million USD, accounting for 51.6% of global pearl output value. Average annual production of marine cultured pearls was 23 t in Japan, 18.6 t in China and 12.9 t in French Polynesia. Chinese pearl production is typified by a high-yield, low-value industry structure. Overall, global pearl production fell by 60% while output value fell by 39% over the past decade. Cultured pearl production typically includes five stages: oyster selection, nucleus implanting, nurturing, harvesting and pearl processing, of which nucleus implantation is the key step. Compared with other aquaculture sectors, pearl production has a complex process and a relatively long farming cycle which make it economically risky. Pressures to increase production, as well as external pressures such as urbanization, have placed pressures on the pearling industry that require appropriate management practices that support sustainable industry growth. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Chemical Heterogeneities within the Disordered Mineral Domains of Aragonite Platelets in Nacre from the European Abalone Haliotis Tuberculata Abstract: Since the observation in 2005 of a disordered mineral layer at the surface of aragonite platelets in abalone Haliotis laevigata nacre, the model of the organo-mineral interface in such biomineralized tissue has been challenged. As a direct interaction between the aragonite crystalline core and the organic matrix is no longer appropriate to describe such interface, a structural description of the disordered mineral domains at the atomic level is a key for a comprehensive view of nacre ultrastructure. Here, we use European abalone Haliotis tuberculata as a model to investigate aragonite nacre through high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and multinuclear solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR). The presence of a disordered domain around aragonite crystals is shown through HR-TEM observations similarly to Haliotis laevigata. The structure and the ionic composition of the disordered mineral environments of Haliotis tuberculata nacre are investigated through 1H, 13C, 43Ca and 23Na ssNMR. Interestingly, we demonstrate that the disordered mineral domains in nacre seem to be heterogeneous in terms of structure and chemical composition and do not match with amorphous calcium carbonate stricto sensu. At least three different carbonates species are evidenced, including CO32- and HCO3- present in the same mineral domain and closely associated to rigid H2O molecules. The local disorder around these ions is found to be inhomogeneous as some CO32- possess an aragonitic environment and are rather ordered (according to the position and line width of their 13C resonance) whereas, in opposition, the chemical environment around HCO3- is highly distributed. The analysis of potential cations as counter-ions revealed the presence of disordered Ca2+ and the presence of Na+ closely associated to HCO3-. Based on these structural data, we propose an atomic-level model for the disordered domains in abalone (H.tuberculata) nacre where the protonation level of carbonate ions, the proportion of sodium ions and the local disorder are increasing from the inner to the outer part of disordered domains. These results give an unprecedented structural view at the atomic scale of such disordered mineral domains in nacre aragonite tablets. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: NACRE novel aircraft concepts Abstract: Commercial transport aircraft developed today are defined to balance all requirements foreseen for the short or medium term. Best engineering knowledge as much as minimum business risks consistently lead to the so-called ‘classic’ aircraft configuration. This balanced approach is efficient but can also inhibit innovative practices.Ensuring a sustainable growth in the aviation sector may require radical changes in the way we design and operate aircraft. Started in April 2005, NACRE is a four-year European research and technology integrated project, partly funded by the European Community under the Sixth Framework Programme, which aims at integrating and validating technologies that will enable the potential of new aircraft concepts to be assessed.In order to explore the most relevant capabilities and meet the widest range of challenges, the NACRE R&T project has identified a set of concepts tailored to address specific subsets of design drivers:
• The Pro-Green aircraft concepts putting a major emphasis on the reduction of environmental impact of air travel;• The Passenger-driven Aircraft concepts aiming at optimised payload and appreciable quality of future aircraft for the end users;• The Simple Flying Bus, which puts the biggest emphasis on low manufacturing costs and minimum cost of ownership.Irrespective of what final future product configurations might ever look like, the NACRE aircraft concepts act as basic vectors, encompassing all the expected capability developments. The general project objectives are thus to use these concepts in order to:
• Explore alternative routes for the major aircraft components (fuselage, wing, engine integration) better suited to their specific targets and which would have been rejected in a balanced approach;• Provide better answers to the full range of requirements by developing and, in some cases, validating the associated envelope of innovative component designs and associated technologies.NACRE is by essence a focused multidisciplinary approach. It does not concentrate on one specific aircraft concept, but it is aimed at developing solutions at a generic aircraft component level, which will enable the results to be applicable for a range of new aircraft concepts. For each of the major aircraft components, the multidisciplinary investigations will require an exploration of the different associated aspects of aerodynamics, materials, structure, engines and systems with the goal of setting the standards in future aircraft design, thus ensuring improved quality and affordability, whilst meeting the strengthening environmental constraints (emissions and noise), with a vision towards improving significantly the global efficiency of the air transport system. Source: Google Scholar @topic:6


Title: Influence of nacre deposition rate on cultured pearl grade and colour in the black-lipped pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera using farmed donor families Abstract: Cultured pearl nacre deposition rate in Pinctada margaritifera oysters was studied to examine its influence on Tahitian classification grade and colour and to further our understanding of using selected donor oysters produced in a hatchery system for the improvement of these traits. A large-scale grafting experiment using 150 farmed donor oysters was realised in Rangiroa atoll (French Polynesia). After 18 months of culture, 874 pearls were harvested and 7 pearls quality traits were recorded: (1) nacre deposition rate assessed by nacre thickness and weight, (2) classification grade, lustre and surface defects, and (3) colour assessed by pearl colour darkness level and visual colour categories. Nacre deposition rate significantly influence pearl grade, surface defects, darkness level and colour categories, but not the lustre. Grade A pearls had the thickest and heaviest nacre on average, compared with grade D pearls and rejects. In addition, pearls without any surface defect had thicker and heavier nacre. Pearls with low darkness were the thinnest and the lightest. Pearls of aubergine–peacock secondary colours were the thickest and the heaviest. These results highlight the importance of rapid nacre deposition rate for increasing the production of grade A pearls, with less surface defects and dominance of a black tone colour. Fast nacre deposition may, however, have a negative impact on other pearl quality traits, such as pearl lustre. This study demonstrates the importance of examining relationships between pearl quality traits in a way that provides solid information that can be directly used for breeding and genetic selection programmes. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Stumbling toward God's Light: The Pearl Dreamer and the Impediments of Hierarchy Abstract: The high medieval dream poem Pearl, considered by most critics to be a structural and literary tour de force, and ranked by many as the most sophisticated and beautifully written English poem of the Middle Ages, is narrated, paradoxically, by a Dreamer who is not sophisticated and who repeatedly fails to grasp the meaning either of the events he narrates or of the beauty that surrounds him in his dream vision. The benighted Dreamer has been the subject of numerous critical analyses over the last several decades, as readers have tried to make sense of the poet's intentions in giving the Dreamer the particular forms of blindness and deafness that characterize him. How, readers ask, can the audience find a way to the poet's meaning in a work where the central speaker in the poem—who is presented as a spiritual seeker—insistently refuses to learn the spiritual lessons he is offered? In this essay, rather than looking at the narrator through the interpretive model of the romance dream vision with its focus on the discourse of love, or through the tropes of Augustinian or Boethian contemplation, or even through the lens of the individualism that characterizes the Lollard movement, I would like to argue that it is possible to find fresh insights into the poet's purpose in Pearl by examining more closely the social and ecclesiastical hierarchies that structure his Dreamer's world, and particularly by analyzing the Dreamer's vocabulary, his references, and his questions to the Pearl Maiden in these terms. Though there are numerous influential texts in the fourth-through twelfth-century development of the foundations of medieval hierarchy, here I would like to look briefly at several works that limn that development, and that in my view echo through the dramatic dialogue and setting of Pearl.
While from the mid-fourth century on numerous bishops and other members of the newly legal Christian Church became interested in hierarchy for the most practical of reasons—the need to organize the Church and establish orthodox belief—one in particular, St. Jerome (347–420), wrote very extensively and powerfully on hierarchy, making it a focus of many of his polemical tracts. Though part of Jerome's focus on hierarchy was the result of a feud with his former intimate colleague Rufinus, a feud which involved Jerome's renouncing certain theological doctrines of Origen (ca. 185–254) that he and Rufinus had once shared, Jerome's views on hierarchy eventually permeated many of his works unconnected to this feud and entered general doctrinal discourse as his works became widespread and his theology of hierarchy became accepted as orthodox. This is the case with Jerome's most famous polemical tract, Against Jovinianus (393), where he excoriates his contemporary Jovinian for his readings of Scripture, and particularly for what Jerome sees as Jovinian's mistaken readings of the letters of Paul on the issue of physical chastity. In Jerome's tract he quotes Jovinian as saying that "virgins, widows, and married women, who have been once passed through the laver of Christ, if they are on a par in other respects, are of equal merit." According to Jerome, Jovinian also adds that in his understanding of Scripture (particularly the Parable of the Vineyard, and Christ's discourse on the Judgment Day division between the sheep and the goats [Matthew 25:31–37]) "there is one reward in the kingdom of heaven for all who have kept their baptismal vow." To Jovinian's suggestion of such spiritual equality on earth and in heaven, in which baptism effaces the material history of the individual body, Jerome responds violently: "This," he says, "is the hissing of the old serpent; by counsel such as this the dragon drove man from Paradise." To counter Jovinian's statements, he devotes a significant portion of Against Jovinianus to building an argument that it is heretical to suggest that the soul's place in heaven is not tied to the body's ascetic rigor on earth; he argues that hierarchical organization of souls in heaven is integral to its purpose, and insists that the placement of human souls in the heavenly hierarchy must partially rest on... Source: Google Scholar @topic:6


Title: Impact resistance of nacre-like composites diversely patterned by 3D printing Abstract: Multi-layered composites structured by replicating biological creatures are very promising protective material applicable in various industries for the outstanding mechanical characteristics. Particularly, nacre is the most sought-after creature for biomimicry due to the exceptional impact resistance, secured by hierarchically patterned architecture. Therefore, numerous efforts have been devoted aiming to develop high functional composites by mimicking the nacre. However, optimization of dimensions and material properties for the nacre-like geometry has not been fully investigated thus far. In this study, we utilize a combination of fabrication, testing, and simulation to explore an optimal design of the nacre-like composite. Various types of 3D nacre-like architecture are designed, and corresponding specimens are fabricated using a dual-extruder 3D printer. Under drop weight impact loading, impact performances of each specimen are demonstrated. The test is simulated with finite element models of the nacre-like composite, and the experiment and numerical results are in good agreement. Both results reveal that the nacre-like composite outperforms the monolithic stiff material upon impact. Furthermore, adequate dimensions of each constituent and desirable material properties are determined. This insight on the nacre-like design can be employed as a guideline toward further optimization for a new generation of high-performance material systems. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: The proteomics of the freshwater pearl powder: Insights from biomineralization to biomedical application Abstract: The freshwater pearl is one kind of valuable organic jewelry and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, the molecular basis of matrix protein in pearl biomineralization and biomedical applications are largely unknown to date. In this study, the matrix proteins of water-soluble matrix, acid-soluble matrix and acid-insoluble matrix from the freshwater seedless pearl powder were detected using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) respectively, and identified against the transcriptomic database of the pearl sac. The results showed that a total of 190 proteins were identified in pearl proteomics, which was divided into eight categories by their potential biomineralization functions. The composition of pearl matrix proteins and the high frequency conserved domains like carbonic anhydrase, von Willebrand factor type A, tyrosinase and chitin binding 2 in protein sequences, implying that the "chitin-silk fibroin gel proteins-acidic macromolecules" model was suitable for description the pearl biomineralization process. Meanwhile, ninety-one of pearl matrix proteins could be classified into seven categories by their potential medical functions including wound healing, osteogenic property, antioxidant activity, neuro-regulation effects, skin lightening effect, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects and other immunomodulatory property. In general, these results provided valuable new insights into not only the diversity of pearl matrix protein for mollusc biomineralization, but the molecular basis of pearl matrix proteins responsible for their diverse biological properties in TCM application. SIGNIFICANCE: The significance of this study included the following points. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Analisis Scanning Electron Microscopy pada Nacre Sinanodonta (Anodonta) woodiana (Lea, 1834) Abstract: Chinese pond shell, Sinanodonta (Anodonta) woodiana (Lea, 1834), is a freshwater bivalve that has essential ecological and economic functions. The microstructure of the nacre is of great interest and is the main attraction for the development of pearl farming. This study aims to describe the microstructure and composition of biomineral elements of the nacre at several shell sizes of S. woodiana. The shell is cut with a small forcepon the ventral margin with a size of 3-5 mm for Scanning Electron Microscpy (SEM). SEM images display that a shell layer consists of periostracum, prismatic and nacre layers. The surface of the nacre layer is an irregular or labyrinth patterned. The nacre tablets are hexagonal, glued to each other, so the nacre tablets become polygonal. Moreover, the microstructure of the nacre tablets is like a brick wall, and the thickness of tablets from 0.43 μm to 0.59 μm. The composition of the biomineral elements are C, O, Ca, and the mineralization mechanism is under the control of aquatic environmental factors that help the process of microstructure formation in nacre. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Oral Administration of Nacre Extract from Pearl Oyster Shells Has Anti-Aging Effects on Skin and Muscle, and Extends the Lifespan in SAMP8 Mice Abstract: Pearl oysters have been extensively utilized in pearl production; however, most pearl oyster shells are discarded as industrial waste. In a previous study, we demonstrated that the intraperitoneal administration of pearl oyster shell-derived nacre extract (NE) prevented d-galactose-induced brain and skin aging. In this study, we examined the anti-aging effects of orally administered NE in senescence-accelerated mice (SAMP8). Feeding SAMP8 mice NE prevented the development of aging-related characteristics, such as coarse and dull hair, which are commonly observed in aged mice. Additionally, the NE mitigated muscle aging in SAMP8 mice, such as a decline in grip strength. Histological analysis of skeletal muscle revealed that the NE suppressed the expression of aging markers, cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (p16) and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1 (p21), and increased the expression of sirtuin1 and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1 (PGC1)- α, which are involved in muscle synthesis. These findings suggest that the oral administration of NE suppresses skeletal muscle aging. Moreover, NE administration suppressed skin aging, including a decline in water content. Interestingly, oral administration of NE significantly extended the lifespan of SAMP8 mice, suggesting that its effectiveness as an anti-aging agent of various tissues including skeletal muscle, skin, and adipose tissue. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: X-Ray Computed Microtomography: Distinguishing Natural Pearls from Beaded and Non-Beaded Cultured Pearls Abstract: The distinction of natural from cultured pearls traditionally has been based on X-radiography. X-ray computed microtomography (μ-CT) has recently been applied to gain more insight into pearl structures. Using this technique, this article presents features observed in a selection of natural pearls and beaded and non-beaded cultured pearls. Based on these observations, μ-CT is shown to be a powerful tool for pearl identification. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: The Racist Fact against American-Indians in Steinbeck’s The Pearl Abstract: the social conditions of Indians as Native Americans for the treatment of white people who are immigrants from Europe in America. This research explores aspects of the reality of Indian relations with European immigrants in America that have an impact on discriminatory actions against Indians in John Steinbeck's novel The Pearl. Social facts are traced through fiction as part of the genetics of literary works. The research method used is genetic structuralism, a literary research method that traces the origin of the author's imagination in his fiction. The imagination is considered a social reality that reflects events in people's lives. The research data consist of primary data in the form of literary works, and secondary data are some references that document the background of the author's life and social reality. The results of this research indicate that racist acts as part of American social facts are documented in literary works. The situation of poor Indians and displaced people in slums is a social fact witnessed by John Steinbeck as the author of the novel The Pearl through an Indian fictional character named Kino. Racism is an act of white sentiment that discriminates against Native Americans, namely the Indian community. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Pearl – A Nano-Composite & Natural Super Dielectric Abstract: Pearl is a bio-originated valuable natural gem and it is also cultivated or harvested for jewellery. In this paper, the material aspects of pearl have been investigated experimentally and it has been found that it has a very high static dielectric constant ~ 105. The functional nature of the material is also established in this work. The beautiful lustre of natural pearl is explained by nano-optics and the layered structure of the material. The origin of super-dielectric nature of pearl has been explained by lightning rod effect (LRE) that causes ultra-high polarization of the dielectric background. The LRE is due to the presence of very small sized nano-particles in the natural pearl. Its electrical conductivity is mostly ionic, only less than 10% of the total conductivity is electronic. The scope of tailoring of its electro-activity has been probed. Source: Google Scholar @topic:12


Title: Nephrite Jade From Val Malenco, Italy: Review and Update Abstract: Alpe Mastabia, in the Val Malenco district of northern Italy, has been a source of nephrite jade since the early 2000s. Twenty-one samples from this locality were investigated by classical gemological methods; X-ray powder diffraction, combined with quantitative phase analysis; scanning electron microscopy in combination with energy-dispersive spectrometry; electron microprobe analysis; mass spectrometry; and mid-infrared spectroscopy. From a mineralogical standpoint, this jade consists mainly of tremolite amphibole, with variable amounts of other constituents, especially calcite (up to approximately 30 wt.%), but also pyroxene, apatite, and sulfide minerals. Its pale green color is related to the low iron content of the tremolite amphibole, whereas the other minerals are responsible for different colors (calcite for white, molybdenite and galena for gray). On the basis of minor and trace-element composition, we can classify this jade as dolomite-related nephrite (para-nephrite). Although new material could be recovered from this area, future production will probably be limited by access difficulties. Source: Google Scholar @topic:11


Title: Identification of "Chocolate Pearls" Treated by Ballerina Pearl Co. Abstract: Treated cultured pearls with a “chocolate” coloration have entered the market from several
sources. Gemological, spectroscopic, and chemical analyses were performed on both untreated
and treated cultured pearls to provide a better understanding of the “chocolate” treatment process
that is used by one company (Ballerina Pearl Co.) and to determine how these products can
be identified. It is likely that the organic components in black cultured pearls were bleached to
create the brown coloration; no foreign coloring agent was detected. Cultured pearls treated by
this method can be identified based on their unusual coloration, characteristic fluorescence,
UV-Vis-NIR reflectance and Raman spectra, and trace-element composition. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Assessing Pearl Quality Using Reflectance UV-Vis Spectroscopy: Does the Same Donor Produce Consistent Pearl Quality? Abstract: Two groups of commercial quality ("acceptable") pearls produced using two donors, and a group of "acceptable" pearls from other donors were analyzed using reflectance UV-Vis spectrophotometry. Three pearls with different colors produced by the same donor showed different absorption spectra. Cream and gold colored pearls showed a wide absorption from 320 to about 460 nm, while there was just slight reflectance around 400 nm by the white pearl with a pink overtone. Cream and gold pearls reached a reflectance peak at 560 to 590 nm, while the white pearl with pink overtone showed slightly wider absorption in this region. Both cream and gold pearls showed an absorption peak after the reflectance peak, at about 700 nm for the cream pearl and 750 nm for the gold pearl. Two other pearls produced by the same donor (white with cream overtone and cream with various overtones) showed similar spectra, which differed in their intensity. One of these pearls had very high lustre and its spectrum showed a much higher percentage reflectance than the second pearl with inferior lustre. This result may indicate that reflectance is a useful quantitative indicator of pearl lustre. The spectra of two white pearls resulting from different donors with the same color nacre (silver) showed a reflectance at 260 nm, followed by absorption at 280 nm and another reflectance peak at 340 nm. After this peak the spectra for these pearls remained flat until a slight absorption peak around 700 nm. Throughout the visible region, all white pearls used in this study showed similar reflectance spectra although there were differences in reflectance intensity. Unlike the spectral results from white pearls, the results from yellow and gold pearls varied according to color saturation of the pearl. The results of this study show that similarities between absorption and reflectance spectra of cultured pearls resulting from the same saibo donor are negligible and could not be detected with UV-Vis spectrophotometry. Nevertheless, this technique could have a role to play in developing less subjective methods of assessing pearl quality and in further studies of the relationships between pearl quality and that of the donor and recipient oysters. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Teach your child to read and spell: Open-Access Texts and Lessons for Parents and Tutors Abstract: Learning to read and write are critically important goals for all children. Some children achieve these goals with little difficulty and progress rapidly in school. Other children struggle with reading and writing throughout their school years. Teach Your Child to Read & Spell is a tutoring or parent guide that uses open-access material to support young readers in getting a solid foundation in literacy. Source: Google Scholar @topic:6


Title: Ammonites of the Subfamily Collignoniceratinae in the Turonian Stage (Upper Cretaceous) in Western Siberia and Their Implications for Stratigraphy and Paleogeography Abstract: Ammonites of the subfamily Collignoniceratinae have been found in the Turonian Stage of Western Siberia. These findings have made it possible to substantiate the Collignoniceras woollgari zone in the Middle Turonian of this region, to recognize the ammonite dispersal features in the Arctic region, and to clarify the paleogeography of the Turonian age. Based on the occurrence frequency of Collignoniceras woollgari reg-ulare in the boreholes in the north of Western Siberia, their penetration into the West Siberian basin through the Arctic region from the Western Interior Sea of North America is most likely. Collignoniceratinae has been identified for the first time in the Upper Turonian of the Yangoda River (west of the Yenisei-Khatanga regional trough). Source: Google Scholar @topic:2


Title: Structural colors of pearls Abstract: The luster is the most important characteristic of pearls, whose colors depend on periodic structures of aragonite crystal layers and conchiolin sheets. We here propose an optical model for analyzing the structural colors of pearls that includes the transmission, reflection, and scattering of light in pearls. Unlike other structural color materials, internal light scattering and its transmission are the keys to understanding the optical properties of pearls. The appearance of pearls is determined by the superposition of transmitted and reflected light. The transmission and reflection spectra of pearls calculated using the proposed model show good agreement with experimental results. We also demonstrate the rendering of images of pearls using the calculated spectra. Furthermore, the appearance of pearls with different layer thicknesses are predicted by calculation based on the optical model. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: The mineralogical microstructure of shells: PART 2. The iridescence colors of abalone shells Abstract: The iridescence colors of abalone shell arise from Bragg diffraction of light from the layers of the nacre. The thickness of the aragonite nacre tiles is locally regular but varies during the growth cycles of the shell and this can give rise to complex color play. In Paua shell (Haliotis iris) and in H. fulgens (particularly the muscle scar shell) the thickness of the nacre tiles varies from 0.25(3) to 0.39(3) μm, but locally the thickness is constant within domains of hundreds of tiles. Other species such as H. laevigata and H. rufescens are similar, but their tile thicknesses range from 0.35(4) to 0.52(4) μm. In all species, the color displayed changes with observation angle and is due to layer diffraction. In H. iris and H. fulgens, the colors displayed encompass the complete visible spectrum; color hues are pure and are well-defined first-order diffraction colors. Shells of the other species display red and green, but not blue colors. The colors are rendered most vividly where dark organic growth layers are formed. These absorb or scatter light and enhance the iridescence colors. The origin and nature of the diffraction colors are compared with those observed in labradorite and opal. The degree of regularity in tile thickness needed to allow diffraction colors to be generated is modeled using pearl (sheet nacre) and abalone shell (columnar nacre) as examples. The wavelength dispersion is proportional to the product of the squares of the refractive indices of the material, the normalized standard deviation of the thickness, and the order of the diffraction color. For this reason, only first-order diffraction color is seen from shells. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: The Current Status of Chinese Freshwater Cultured Pearls Abstract: Chinese freshwater cultured pearls (FWCPs) are assuming a growing role at major gem and jewelry fairs, and
in the market at large. Yet, it is difficult to obtain hard information on such topics as quantities produced, in
what qualities, and the culturing techniques used because pearl culturing in China covers such a broad area,
with thousands of individual farms, and a variety of culturing techniques are used. This article reports on
recent visits by two of the authors (SA and LTZ) to Chinese pearl farms in Hanzhou Province to investigate
the latest pearl-culturing techniques being used there, both in tissue nucleation and, much less commonly,
bead (typically shell but also wax) nucleation. With improved techniques, using younger Hyriopsis Cumingi
mussels, pearl culturers are producing freshwater cultured pearls in a variety of attractive colors that are larger,
rounder, and with better luster. Tissue-nucleated FWCPs can be separated from natural and bead-nucleated
cultured pearls with X-radiography. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Cultured Pearls from the Gulf of California, Mexico Abstract: Black pearls have been found in Mexico's Gulf of California since the area was settled more than 2,000 years ago. Attempts at culturing pearls in this area have met with varying success over the past century. Today, a pearl farm in Guaymas is producing commercial quantities of mabe as well as bead-nucleated full-round cultured pearls from the indigenous pearl oyster Pteria sterna. This article provides an overview of the history of natural and cultured pearls from Mexico, describes pearl culturing at the Guaymas farm, and focuses on the properties of bead-nucleated cultured pearls from P. sterna. These cultured pearls have a brown or gray to dark gray bodycolor with various interference colors caused by the stacking of platy aragonite crystals and organic matter. One indication of their natural color (and their Mexican provenance) is a red fluorescence to long-wave UV radiation. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: IDENTIFICATION OF TREATED-COLOR FRESHWATER CULTURED PEARLS Abstract: Demand for colored pearls has grown during the last thirty years. Colored pearls are rarer than white ones. Thus treated-color pearls have entered the marketplace and their identification became a challenge for the gemologists. With only the help of visual observation, EDXRF and X-radiography, methods that are used today for pearls identification, it is not always easy to identify them. Previous studies, have established that Raman scattering is useful to detect pigments in cultured freshwater pearls. The present study is based on the measurement of the Raman spectroscopy of 35 natural colored freshwater pearls and 15 treated-color freshwater pearls, covering a wide range of typical colors for this material, with green excitation. All natural- color pearls show the two major Raman resonance features of polacetyenic pigments assigned to C=C stretching-at about 1530(±25) cm'1- and C-C stretching - at about 1130(±10) cm' -, regardless of their specific hue. In this paper it is proposed that the absence of these Raman features prove the artificial origin of pigments in a colored freshwater cultured pearl. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Demystifying migmatites: introduction for field-based geologist Abstract: Migmatites are heterogeneous, medium- to high-grade metamorphic rocks with at least one component formed by partial melting. As migmatites form under P-T conditions common in the middle and lower crust, they are widespread and likely to be encountered in the field. They are complex rocks that can be confusing, and the present paper provides a background for the field-based geologist. Migmatites comprise several main components. Neosome is newly formed by partial melting and includes leucosome and residuum (or melanosome). These essentially represent the liquid and solid components of the melt reaction. Palaeosome is the part of the migmatite that did not undergo partial melting and is typically of a more refractory composition. Migmatites can be divided into two main types. Metatexites have a lower melt fraction and preserve coherent pre-partial melting textures in the palaeosome. Diatexites are dominated by the neosome, and coherent pre-partial melting structures are absent. These can be further subdivided, with the different metatexites based on where the melt has ponded to form the leucosomes, while diatexites are subdivided based on the geometry of the palaeosome and/or residuum or its absence. The different types of migmatites provide information about the proportion and distribution of melt and the type and degree of strain. Facing direction can be obtained from migmatites, using criteria such as cauliflower structures and vein orientation and distribution. The leucosome margins can provide information about the rheological contrasts between the leucosomes and their host and their timing relative to anatexis and deformation. Consequently, these complex rocks can be important tools in understanding deformation within the middle to lower crust. © 2015 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and The AusIMM. Source: Google Scholar @topic:2


Title: Fabrication and characterization of natural/synthesized, micro-, and nanostructured materials for biomedical applications Abstract: Pearl shells, which are yielded as a waste during jewel pearl culture process at Uwajima sea in Ehime prefecture, Japan, are micro-/nanostructured composite materials alternatively consisting of organic and inorganic CaCO3 layers with nanothicknesses. Micro-/nanosized pearl particles are candidates for Ca nutrients and hydroxyapatite (HAp) formation. Iron oxide nanocubes with surfactant are self-assembled into closed packing structures. The integrated structure of thermal-imprinted glass templates with functional nanoparticles becomes a potential candidate for new therapeutic nanostructures. Magnetic Y3Fe5O12 and Fe3O4 particles prepared by either break down or built-up processes were evaluated for thermal coagulation therapy. The dissolution behavior of micrometer-sized pearl powder was also evaluated in artificial stomach acid at 37°C. Future directions of micro-/nanostructured materials are proposed for biomedical applications. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: An explanation of a specific type of circling as observed on Ming cultured pearls. Journal of Gemmology, vol. 36, n°. 3, pp. 240-250. Abstract: The name Ming pearls refers to gonad-grown Chinese freshwater cultured pearls. In these beaded cultured pearls, the nuclei are predrilled and a tissue graft is placed into the drill hole at the same time the bead is inserted into the mollusc. A large number of these cultured pearls exhibit circling on their surface, typically with one or two main rings and sometimes additional ones. Examination of sliced samples by optical microscopy highlights the primary origin of the circling and the predominant role of predrilling the nucleus. As the cultured pearl rotates during its formation, each orifice on the drilled bead induces a groove on its surface with a spot defect right over the opening. When this drill hole is perpendicular to the rotational axis of the cultured pearl, only one ‘equatorial’ ring is generated. When there is a fairly large tilt angle between the bead’s drill hole and the rotational axis, two grooves appear symmetrically relative to the equatorial plane, diametrically opposite with respect to the nucleus centre. With only a slight tilt angle between the drill hole and the rotational axis, the circles nearly overlap and a narrow ridge might eventually develop between the grooves. The disturbance created by the drill hole is generally more pronounced on the side where the graft was inserted. Round-, drop- and baroque-shaped non-circled Ming cultured pearls were also investigated to clearly understand the influence of the nucleus drill hole. This research raises awareness of one of the major causes of defects that result from grafting techniques using drilled nuclei. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Jewelry from the Iron Age II Levant Abstract: Jewelry has always had an irresistible allure yet in the past also had a significance and function within society that went far beyond ornamentation. Jewelry is an important, if often forgotten facet of material culture. Its study is inter-disciplinary, involving archaeology, anthropology, art history, historical/textual studies, and research of materials and manufacturing techniques. While the renowned jewelry from regions such as Egypt and Mesopotamia has been studied, that of the southern Levant has received only limited attention, yet research of its archaeological/contextual, technological and socio-cultural perspectives is illuminating. The book is a final publication of the author‘s doctoral dissertation made available to the archaeological and academic community at large. It is geared to be a working tool for archaeologists dealing in this period and region and to scholars who study its arts and crafts. The book provides a handy typological structure for jewelry classification as well as a comprehensive andf useful catalogue for research in this and related fields. In addition, it illustrates the significance, meaning and functions of jewelry and the development of the jeweler‘s craft in the southern Levant during the first and second millennia BCE. Source: Google Scholar @topic:6


Title: Using optical coherence tomography to assess luster of pearls: technique suitability and insights Abstract: Luster is one of the vital indexes in pearl grading. To find a fast, nondestructive, and low-cost grading method, optical coherence tomography (OCT) is introduced to predict the luster grade through the texture features. After background removal, flattening, and segmentation, the speckle pattern of the region of interest is described by seven kinds of feature textures, including center-symmetric auto-correlation (CSAC), fractal dimension (FD), Gabor, gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), histogram of oriented gradients (HOG), laws texture energy (LAWS), and local binary patterns (LBP). To find the relations between speckle-derived texture features and luster grades, four Four groups of pearl samples were used in the experiment to detect texture differences based on support vector machines (SVMs) and random forest classifier (RFC)) for investigating the relations between speckle-derived texture features and luster grades. The precision, recall, F1-score, and accuracy are more significant than 0.9 in several simulations, even after dimension reduction. This demonstrates that the texture feature from OCT images can be applied to class the pearl luster based on speckle changes. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: The formation and mineralization of mollusk shell Abstract: In the last years, the field of mollusk biomineralization has known a tremendous mutation. The most recent advances deal with the nanostructure of shell biominerals, and with the identification of several shell matrix proteins: on one hand, the complex hierarchical organization of shell biominerals has been deciphered in few models, like nacre. On the other hand, although proteins represent a minor shell component, they are the major macromolecules that control biocrystal synthesis. Until recently, the paradigm was to consider that this control occurs by two antagonist mechanisms: crystal nucleation and growth inhibition. Emerging models try to translate a more complex reality, illustrated by the huge variety of shell proteins, characterized so far. The primary structure of many of them is composed of different functional domains, some of which exhibit enzymatic activity, while others may be involved in cell signalling. Many of them have unknown functions. Today, the shell matrix appears as a whole system, which regulates protein-mineral, protein-protein, and epithelium-mineral interactions. These aspects should be taken in account for the future models of shell formation. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Gemstones Seal Stones and Ceremonial Stones Abstract: Human beings have been fascinated by brightly colored minerals since prehistoric times. The earliest gemstones probably were
found as small, polished pebbles lying in rivers and streams or in deposits of heavily weathered aggregates (Arem 1977). Initially,
these objects may have been carried by hand or in small containers as highly prized personal possessions. Some were tied together
or pierced for use as beads, and eventually adhesives were developed in order to secure the stones to metal settings. The
art of gem carving dates at least back to the 7th millennium BCE in the Indus Valley.

Gemstones very early became associated with folklore and superstition. Without an understanding of mineral formation or chemical
composition, people developed myths as a way to explain the colors of gemstones. Source: Google Scholar @topic:1


Title: The Microstructure of the Cultured Freshwater Pearl Abstract: Pearls are composite materials of calcium carbonate polymorphs (calcite and aragonite) and organic macromolecules (polysaccharides and proteins) which contain genes and transcription factors that direct the formation of calcite and aragonite polygonal tiles, including their shape, size, and geometrical accommodation. These biologically derived instructions are transmitted from donor mussel shell mantle tissue by inserting seed grafts into freshwater production mussels. In this paper the internal and external freshwater pearl structure for the cultured triangle mussel Hyriopsis cumingii is examined by light optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and x-ray diffraction. Pearl interior crystal structure evolves as mainly concentric calcite tile layers from the seed sac, with mixtures of aragonite polygonal (hexagonal-like) tiles. Within about 0.8–1 mm from the ideal (curved) pearl surface, the aragonite tiles form as continuous, overlapping layers 300–400 nm thick, with interlamellar organic material. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Some Interesting Known and Unknown Facts About Shells Abstract: Shells are important to the living organism that produce them as well as to humans in several ways. Importance of molluscan shells to living organisms, coastal processes, in reconstructions of climatic conditions of the atmosphere, providing links to evolution, biostratigraphy, studying human behaviour of hominins and hominids, in human use such as currency, clothing, dyes, drugs and medicines, as well as in rituals and ceremonies, history and mythology, religion, and human culture is described in the chapter. Use of Indian conch shell, which is believed to resonate sound of Om, the origin of cosmic sound vibrations, is described briefly. One of the weirdest uses of sea shells in history has been in assassination attempts that are described here. The chapter also comments on significance of shell symbols. Further, some literary works demonstrate importance of marine shells in expanding our knowledge of palaeontology, evolution and geology. The chapter refers to a few of such literary works on shells, their writers and cite some of their writings to showcase contribution of marine shells in uncovering mysteries of nature, validating different hypotheses, exposing some theories that were then existent and enlightening scientists with the secrets of Mother Earth. The chapter concludes with some examples of idioms and proverbs using shells, either as metaphor, or euphemism or any other figure of speech to communicate meaningfully. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: X-ray computed tomography for fast and non-destructive multiple pearl inspection Abstract: X-ray computed tomography displays a highly valuable nondestructive testing tool in various fields. A major disadvantage of this method comprises its high operating costs. Therefore, the reduction of the scanning times would be highly beneficial. Here, we demonstrate exemplarily for the testing of pearls the possibility to decrease the scanning times. The great diversity of pearls on the market, often of unclear origin, especially used for jewelry, demands non-destructive test methods for the fast and reliable classification and validation. We discuss the use of a nano-focus X-ray computed tomography (nf-XCT) system for fast three-dimensional characterization to distinguish between natural and cultured pearls. We test the approach not on individual pearls but for a more demanding task namely for a pearl necklace, that is multiple pearls on a strand. We show that with just one scan the 3D image data of the individual pearls within the whole necklace, which is composed of about 200 pearls can be scanned and reconstructed in only about 24 minutes. That is, we illustrate that nf-XCT as a inspection method is highly competitive to conventional radiography or radioscopy. The presented work also reveals possibilities for other fields like microelectronics etc. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: A History of Nacre and Pearls in the Gulf of California Abstract: Few topics about the environmental history of a fishing resource are as fascinating as the human use and exploitation of pearl oysters and the various societies involved in this activity. Human–pearl relations have been present in a global context for thousands of years. Throughout the existence of this relationship, a dense socioeconomic, political, and cultural framework has been woven over and over, forming a mosaic. This mosaic, ubiquitous to coastal regions and periods, results from overexploitation-resilience cycles that have culminated in the gradual depletion of natural banks and the emergence of cultivation technologies. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Production of Pearls Abstract: The pearl is known as the queen of jewels, and has been used for adornment and as a symbol of material wealth throughout human history. Pearls are formed by the secretion of nacre from epidermal cells within mollusc mantle tissue. But particular conditions are required for loose natural pearls to form and this occurrence is rare. However, utilization of this process for cultured pearl production now supports industries in more than 30 countries including China, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, French Polynesia, Philippines, Cook Islands, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Mexico, of which China has the largest production. Analysis of FAO global statistics shows that in the past decade (from 2005 to 2014), the average annual output of Chinese pearls was 3540 tonnes (t) valued at 15 million USD. This output accounted for over 98% of global cultured pearl output, of which freshwater pearls accounted for 99.5%. Japan has been the world’s major marine pearl producer for over a century, and has developed advanced technology in pearl oyster culture and pearl production. In the past decade, the average annual value of marine cultured pearl production in Japan was 127 million USD, accounting for 51.6% of global pearl output value. Average annual production of marine cultured pearls was 23 t in Japan, 18.6 t in China and 12.9 t in French Polynesia. Chinese pearl production is typified by a high-yield, low-value industry structure. Overall, global pearl production fell by 60% while output value fell by 39% over the past decade. Cultured pearl production typically includes five stages: oyster selection, nucleus implanting, nurturing, harvesting and pearl processing, of which nucleus implantation is the key step. Compared with other aquaculture sectors, pearl production has a complex process and a relatively long farming cycle which make it economically risky. Pressures to increase production, as well as external pressures such as urbanization, have placed pressures on the pearling industry that require appropriate management practices that support sustainable industry growth. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: First Evidence Of The Use Of Freshwater Pearls As A Cosmetic In Ancient China: Analysis Of White Makeup Powder From A Northern Song Dynasty Lv Tomb (Lantian, Shaanxi Province, China): The use of freshwater pearls as a cosmetic in ancient China Abstract: The Lv family tombs in Lantian, Shaanxi Province are one of the most important archaeological sites of China in recent years, providing numerous objects and a wealth of information for the study of the history of the Northern Song dynasty. There were a large number of exquisite cultural relics unearthed from the tombs, including one porcelain box containing white powder, which was identified as women's makeup. The phase composition, microstructure, thermal properties and characteristics of the trace elements in the unearthed white cosmetic powder were comprehensively analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry – thermogravimetry (DSC–TG), Fourier transform infrared (FT–IR) microscopy and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP–AES). The white makeup powder was determined to be a product made from high-quality freshwater pearls. These results, for the first time, showed evidence that freshwater pearl powder was used as a cosmetic in ancient China using archaeological objects, providing scientific evidence and new clues to enrich and expand research into the ancient Chinese cosmetic materials. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: 'Shellome': Proteins Involved in Mollusc Shell Biomineralization —Diversity, Functions Abstract: Since the mid-seventies, there has been a considerable emphasis on the key-role played by extracellular organic macromolecules associated to mollusc shell biomineralization. In particular, the proteins occluded within the shell are supposed to fulfill several distinct functions, listed as follows: to provide a gel-like or colloidal micro-environment where crystallization can occur, to compartmentalize this environment in relation to the future microstructure, to promote nucleation and favour crystal growth in privileged crystallographic axes, to stop crystal growth when necessary. Beside these functions related to the interaction with the mineral, some specific shell proteins function as enzymes, while others exert signalling activities towards the calcifying mantle epithelium. The topographic models of shell mineralization, which emerged a decade ago for describing nacre ultrastructure, translate very imperfectly the complexity of the calcification process at the molecular level. For a few years, we have undertaken to obtain and compare the "shellomes"—the full shell protein contents of several mollusc models—by combining a proteomic approach to available EST data sets. Surprisingly, our findings suggest that, from model to model (pearl oyster versus mussel, for example), the nacre protein contents may exhibit very few similarities. In this review paper, functional and evolutionary implications of our data are briefly discussed. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Unique spectral characteristics of natural-color Edison pearls cultured in Hyriopsis cumingii, and its formation mechanisms Abstract: Using ultraviolet-visible-near infrared (UV-Vis-NIR) diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), we comparatively investigated the unique spectral characteristics of different natural-color Edison pearls. Edison pearls were firstly divided into two types based on theirs corresponding reflection spectral characteristics: type A with basically uniform reflection feature for each sample; and type B with non-uniform reflection feature for each one. Raman spectroscopy revealed that complex organic pigments with bands at about 1015, 1124–1134, 1297, 1507–1526, 2245, 2620, and 3019 cm⁻¹, gave rise to the colors of Edison pearls. Interestingly, two bands in the Raman spectra of dark-colored pearls, at about 1124–1134 cm⁻¹ and 1507–1526 cm⁻¹, corresponded to the stretching modes of the C-C single bond (ν2) and the C=C double bond (ν1), respectively, shifted significantly toward low wavenumbers. Meanwhile, the intensity ratio between the two bands (I1124–1134/I1085) increased as pearl color became more saturated. In addition, six bands at about 2139, 2417, 2521, 2976, 3332, and 3702 cm⁻¹ were present in the Raman spectra of all dark-colored samples, while these bands were absent in the Raman spectra of light-colored ones. This indicated that the exact organic pigments in Edison pearls were not completely consistent, which led to variation in the coloration and the dominant absorption band in the reflection spectra of pearl. More importantly, based on our SEM results, as well as our UV-Vis reflectance spectroscopic analysis, we first proposed that the positions and relative intensities of the reflection peaks located between 320 nm and 600 nm were likely to be associated with the density and the degree of regularity of grooves appeared on the surface of pearl. These findings substantially enhance our knowledge of gemological characteristics of colored Edison pearl and the formation mechanism of unique reflection features of them. Furthermore, this study revealed key characteristics that can be used to identify imitation and color-treated Edison pearls. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Characteristics of Nuclei in Chinese Freshwater Cultured Pearls Abstract: There has been considerable debate in the
gem trade concerning the nucleation procedures
being used to grow large round Chinese
freshwater cultured pearls (FWCPs). Of particular
concern are claims that most of these cultured
pearls are nucleated by reject mantletissue-
nucleated FWCPs, and that such a
product would be difficult to separate from
normal tissue-nucleated cultured pearls and
in some cases from natural pearls. However,
field research indicates that many Chinese
growers are currently using larger mussels
(Hyriopsis cumingi), combined with new tissue-
insertion techniques, to grow larger, better-
shaped FWCPs. For this study, X-radiographs
of approximately 41,000 Chinese freshwater
cultured pearls from dozens of farms
were examined, and 10 samples were sectioned.
All showed evidence of mantle tissue
nucleation only; the presence of a bead,
whether shell or a tissue-nucleated FWCP,
would be identifiable by distinctive features
seen in the X-radiograph. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Pinctada margaritifera box from Viminacium Abstract: A Pinctada margaritifera box was unearthed at Viminacium in 1985, at the site
of Pe}ine, in a grave containing cremated remains. It was made from the shell
of a pearl oyster (Pinctada margaritifera), an exotic clam whose habitat is
tropical seas: the Indo-Pacific region, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea.
Based on the grave type and a coin found in it, the box has been dated to the
second half of the first and the first half of the second century AD.
Morphologically and functionally, it represents a rare find in the territory
of present-day Serbia and, together with the finds from Aquincum and Savaria,
it is also a rare find of P. margaritiferae in the Central Balkans. It is a
high-prestige item, indicative of contacts between Viminacium and the Near
East, i.e. the area of present-day Israel, Jordan and Syria, where the
workshops producing Pinctada boxes are alleged to have been. This text
discusses the geographic-historical and, in particular, functional aspects of
the P. margaritifera box as a symbol of Venus and a cultic prop in initiation
rites. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Age Determination of Pearls: A New Approach for Pearl Testing and Identification Abstract: For this radiocarbon study, 7 saltwater pearls and 3 shells from pearl oysters have been analyzed. The declared ages of the samples range from the mid-19th century to very recent formations. The analyzed data show the potential of the bomb peak time marker to provide additional information when testing pearls. The analyzed pearls could be distinctly separated in pearls of pre- and post-bomb peak ages, in agreement with the distinction based on the declared ages. The analyzed data further reveals the potential of this method to provide supporting evidence for the historic provenience of a pearl or as an indication of a natural or cultured formation of a pearl. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: Embryo Sac Development and Fruit Set of 'Satohnishiki' Sweet Cherry as Affected by Temperature, GA3 and Paclobutrazol Abstract: Effects of temperature and endogenous and exogenous gibberellins (GA) on embryo sac development and fruit set of 'Satohnishiki' sweet cherry were studied. Trees were grown in sunlit growth chambers kept at 15°C and 25°C from one month before anthesis to petal fall. At 25°C, the nucelli and embryo sacs degenerated more rapidly than at 15°C. When flowers were hand-pollinated with pollens of 'Takasago', fruit set was significantly lower at 25°C than at 15°C. Flowers which developed at 25°C had a higher endogenous gibberellin level than had those at 15°C. When bursting buds were sprayed with 10 and 100 ppm GA3, the percentage of ovules with degenerated embryo sac or nucellus increased considerably by 2 days after anthesis. But an application of paclobutrazol (PBZ) to bursting buds prolonged embryo sac longevity and increased fruit set. These results indicate that the endogenous GA may: 1) regulate the development of the nucellus and embryo sac in sweet cherry flowers, and 2) induce early embryo sac degeneration, which results in the low fruit set during periods of high temperature. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: New Horizons in Ancient Syria: The View from ˒Atij Abstract: Sensational discoveries made at sites of large cities of the third and second millennia BCE have drawn much attention to Syrian archaeology in recent years. But civilization is not based solely on cities-like the now-famous Ebla-but also on villages and the countryside. A new conceptual framework that attempts to embrace the multiple facets of cultural evolution in this region has contributed to intense activity in salvage zones where archaeologists race to excavate sites and survey landscapes before they disappear. Source: Google Scholar @topic:10


Title: Button waste and religious souvenirs in the Holy Land, during the 19th and early 20th centuries Abstract: Over 800 shell remains from the late Ottoman and British Mandate periods (1840–1940) in Israel were studied, so as to better understand the use of nacre in local art and craft. Virtually all remains were of the black-lip pearl shell Pinctada margaritifera, a bivalve of the Indo-Pacific. The assemblage from Jaffa differed from that of Jerusalem in the larger size and weight of its remains, in containing buttons and much button waste, and in having no broken beads, no inlay particles and no un-worked fragments. The nature of the shell assemblage, the archaeological context, and the historical record, all indicate that there was no button factory and no inlay workshop in Jaffa. Jaffa served as a port through which shell waste, imported from the mother-of-pearl button industry which then thrived in Europe, reached the Holy Land. From Jaffa it was transported to Bethlehem and Jerusalem, where the waste was cut down and then used as inlay, in the religious souvenir manufacture and trade. Eventually many souvenirs were transported back to Europe and elsewhere. A survey at Ramat Rachel revealed an as yet unknown workshop of mother-of-pearl inlay, between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5


Title: The New Media Technologies: Overview and Research Framework Abstract: The so-called new media technologies - often referred to as Web 2.0 - encompass a wide variety of web-related communication technologies, such as blogs, wikis, online social networking, virtual worlds and other social media forms. First, we present several views or perspectives that may be used to answer the question, what is new media? Then we examine and review five critical characteristics of the new media technolgies - the Five C's: communication, collaboration, community, creativity, and convergence. Finally, we look at some of the uses and applications of new media in a selection of disciplines. This overview provides a much needed framework for scholars and educators who wish to learn from and contribute to this field of study. Source: Google Scholar @topic:9


Title: From Single Source to Global Free Market: the Transformation of the Cultured Pearl Industry Abstract: Over the past 15 years a combination of market forces, environmental events, and scientific research has radically changed the cultured pearl industry from a single commodity dominated by one producer to a highly diverse industry operating throughout the Pacific region. The new products, consistent quality, and broader marketing programs in turn led major designers and retailers in the United States and Europe to take a much greater interest in cultured pearls. During this period, consumer interest has expanded from the traditional small and medium white round Japanese akoya cultured pearl to the larger South Sea and Tahitian goods, as well as numerous previously "undesirable" shapes and colors. Source: Google Scholar @topic:5