TY - JOUR A1 - Böttle, Markus A1 - Rybski, Diego A1 - Kropp, Jürgen T1 - How changing sea level extremes and protection measures alter coastal flood damages JF - Water resources research N2 - While sea level rise is one of the most likely consequences of climate change, the provoked costs remain highly uncertain. Based on a block-maxima approach, we provide a stochastic framework to estimate the increase of expected damages with sea level rise as well as with meteorological changes and demonstrate the application to two case studies. In addition, the uncertainty of the damage estimations due to the stochastic nature of extreme events is studied. Starting with the probability distribution of extreme flood levels, we calculate the distribution of implied damages in a specific region employing stage-damage functions. Universal relations of the expected damages and their standard deviation, which demonstrate the importance of the shape of the damage function, are provided. We also calculate how flood protection reduces the damages leading to a more complex picture, where the extreme value behavior plays a fundamental role. Citation: Boettle, M., D. Rybski, and J. P. Kropp (2013), How changing sea level extremes and protection measures alter coastal flood damages, Water Resour. Res., 49, 1199-1210, doi: 10.1002/wrcr.20108. Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/wrcr.20108 SN - 0043-1397 VL - 49 IS - 3 SP - 1199 EP - 1210 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Burgemeister, S. A1 - Gvaramadze, Visily V. A1 - Stringfellow, G. S. A1 - Kniazev, Alexei Y. A1 - Todt, Helge Tobias A1 - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer T1 - WR 120bb and WR 120bc: a pair of WN9h stars with possibly interacting circumstellar shells JF - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society N2 - Two optically obscured Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars have been recently discovered by means of their infrared (IR) circumstellar shells, which show signatures of interaction with each other. Following the systematics of the WR star catalogues, these stars obtain the names WR 120bb and WR 120bc. In this paper, we present and analyse new near-IR, J-, H- and K-band spectra using the Potsdam Wolf-Rayet model atmosphere code. For that purpose, the atomic data base of the code has been extended in order to include all significant lines in the near-IR bands. The spectra of both stars are classified as WN9h. As their spectra are very similar the parameters that we obtained by the spectral analyses hardly differ. Despite their late spectral subtype, we found relatively high stellar temperatures of 63 kK. The wind composition is dominated by helium, while hydrogen is depleted to 25 per cent by mass. Because of their location in the Scutum-Centaurus Arm, WR 120bb and WR 120bc appear highly reddened, A(Ks) approximate to 2 mag. We adopt a common distance of 5.8 kpc to both stars, which complies with the typical absolute K-band magnitude for the WN9h subtype of -6.5 mag, is consistent with their observed extinction based on comparison with other massive stars in the region, and allows for the possibility that their shells are interacting with each other. This leads to luminosities of log(L/L-circle dot) = 5.66 and 5.54 for WR 120bb and WR 120bc, with large uncertainties due to the adopted distance. The values of the luminosities of WR 120bb and WR 120bc imply that the immediate precursors of both stars were red supergiants (RSG). This implies in turn that the circumstellar shells associated with WR 120bb and WR 120bc were formed by interaction between the WR wind and the dense material shed during the preceding RSG phase. KW - line: identification KW - circumstellar matter KW - stars: fundamental parameters KW - stars: massive KW - stars: Wolf-Rayet Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sts588 SN - 0035-8711 SN - 1365-2966 VL - 429 IS - 4 SP - 3305 EP - 3315 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Neumann-Schaal, Meina A1 - Messerschmidt, Katrin A1 - Grenz, Nicole A1 - Heilmann, Katja T1 - Use of antibody gene library for the isolation of specific single chain antibodies. by ampicillin-antigen conjugates JF - Immunology letters : an international journal providing for the rapid publication of short reports in immunology N2 - Isolation of recombinant antibodies from antibody libraries is commonly performed by different molecular display formats including phage display and ribosome display or different cell-surface display formats. We describe a new method which allows the selection of Escherichia coil cells producing the required single chain antibody by cultivation in presence of ampicillin conjugated to the antigen of interest. The method utilizes the neutralization of the conjugate by the produced single chain antibody which is secreted to the periplasm. Therefore, a new expression system based on the pET26b vector was designed and a library was constructed. The method was successfully established first for the selection of E. coli BL21 Star (DE3) cells expressing a model single chain antibody (anti-fluorescein) by a simple selection assay on LB-agar plates. Using this selection assay, we could identify a new single chain antibody binding biotin by growing E. coil BL21 Star (DE3) containing the library in presence of a biotin-ampicillin conjugate. In contrast to methods as molecular or cell surface display our selection system applies the soluble single chain antibody molecule and thereby avoids undesired effects, e.g. by the phage particle or the yeast fusion protein. By selecting directly in an expression strain, production and characterization of the selected single chain antibody is possible without any further cloning or transformation steps. KW - Single chain antibody KW - Selection method KW - Anti-biotin antibody KW - Naive single chain library Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.imlet.2013.02.005 SN - 0165-2478 VL - 151 IS - 1-2 SP - 39 EP - 43 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lu, Guanghao A1 - Blakesley, James C. A1 - Himmelberger, Scott A1 - Pingel, Patrick A1 - Frisch, Johannes A1 - Lieberwirth, Ingo A1 - Salzmann, Ingo A1 - Oehzelt, Martin A1 - Di Pietro, Riccardo A1 - Salleo, Alberto A1 - Koch, Norbert A1 - Neher, Dieter T1 - Moderate doping leads to high performance of semiconductor/insulator polymer blend transistors JF - Nature Communications N2 - Polymer transistors are being intensively developed for next-generation flexible electronics. Blends comprising a small amount of semiconducting polymer mixed into an insulating polymer matrix have simultaneously shown superior performance and environmental stability in organic field-effect transistors compared with the neat semiconductor. Here we show that such blends actually perform very poorly in the undoped state, and that mobility and on/off ratio are improved dramatically upon moderate doping. Structural investigations show that these blend layers feature nanometre-scale semiconductor domains and a vertical composition gradient. This particular morphology enables a quasi three-dimensional spatial distribution of semiconductor pathways within the insulating matrix, in which charge accumulation and depletion via a gate bias is substantially different from neat semiconductor, and where high on-current and low off-current are simultaneously realized in the stable doped state. Adding only 5 wt% of a semiconducting polymer to a polystyrene matrix, we realized an environmentally stable inverter with gain up to 60. Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2587 SN - 2041-1723 VL - 4 IS - 1-2 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - van Hooland, Seth A1 - Verborgh, Ruben A1 - De Wilde, Max A1 - Hercher, Johannes A1 - Mannens, Erik A1 - Van de Walle, Rik T1 - Evaluating the success of vocabulary reconciliation for cultural heritage collections JF - Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology N2 - The concept of Linked Data has made its entrance in the cultural heritage sector due to its potential use for the integration of heterogeneous collections and deriving additional value out of existing metadata. However, practitioners and researchers alike need a better understanding of what outcome they can reasonably expect of the reconciliation process between their local metadata and established controlled vocabularies which are already a part of the Linked Data cloud. This paper offers an in-depth analysis of how a locally developed vocabulary can be successfully reconciled with the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) and the Arts and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) through the help of a general-purpose tool for interactive data transformation (OpenRefine). Issues negatively affecting the reconciliation process are identified and solutions are proposed in order to derive maximum value from existing metadata and controlled vocabularies in an automated manner. KW - semantic web KW - metadata KW - controlled vocabularies Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.22763 SN - 1532-2882 VL - 64 IS - 3 SP - 464 EP - 479 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Meckelmann, Viola A1 - Pfeifer, Caroline A1 - Rauh, Hellgard T1 - Family relationships in childhood, pubertal timing, and subsequent reproductive strategies among adolescents JF - South African journal of psychology N2 - The evolutionary theory of socialization of Belsky, Steinberg, and Draper was investigated on the empirical basis of a longitudinal sample of 26 adolescent girls and boys who were born in Berlin during German reunification, as well as their mothers. Consistent with the theory, pubertal timing of the girls (but not of the boys) was predicted by the quality of parental relations in childhood, and pubertal timing of the girls (but not of the boys) was a significant predictor of the age at first intercourse. The results suggest that there are different developmental pathways for girls and boys with respect to the predictions of the evolutionary theory of socialization of Belsky et al. The findings also support the hypothesis that early onset of reproduction and frequent reproduction may be two different aspects of a quantitative reproductive strategy. KW - Adolescence KW - childhood KW - family relations KW - pubertal timing KW - puberty KW - reproductive strategies Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/0081246312474408 SN - 0081-2463 VL - 43 IS - 1 SP - 22 EP - 33 PB - Sage Publ. CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Westendorf, Christian A1 - Negrete, Jose A1 - Bae, Albert J. A1 - Sandmann, Rabea A1 - Bodenschatz, Eberhard A1 - Beta, Carsten T1 - Actin cytoskeleton of chemotactic amoebae operates close to the onset of oscillations JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America N2 - The rapid reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton in response to external stimuli is an essential property of many motile eukaryotic cells. Here, we report evidence that the actin machinery of chemotactic Dictyostelium cells operates close to an oscillatory instability. When averaging the actin response of many cells to a short pulse of the chemoattractant cAMP, we observed a transient accumulation of cortical actin reminiscent of a damped oscillation. At the single-cell level, however, the response dynamics ranged from short, strongly damped responses to slowly decaying, weakly damped oscillations. Furthermore, in a small subpopulation, we observed self-sustained oscillations in the cortical F-actin concentration. To substantiate that an oscillatory mechanism governs the actin dynamics in these cells, we systematically exposed a large number of cells to periodic pulse trains of different frequencies. Our results indicate a resonance peak at a stimulation period of around 20 s. We propose a delayed feedback model that explains our experimental findings based on a time-delay in the regulatory network of the actin system. To test the model, we performed stimulation experiments with cells that express GFP-tagged fusion proteins of Coronin and actin-interacting protein 1, as well as knockout mutants that lack Coronin and actin-interacting protein 1. These actin-binding proteins enhance the disassembly of actin filaments and thus allow us to estimate the delay time in the regulatory feedback loop. Based on this independent estimate, our model predicts an intrinsic period of 20 s, which agrees with the resonance observed in our periodic stimulation experiments. KW - Dictyostelium discoideum KW - microfluidics KW - caged cAMP KW - delay-differential equation Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1216629110 SN - 0027-8424 VL - 110 IS - 10 SP - 3853 EP - 3858 PB - National Acad. of Sciences CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Harma, Harri A1 - Pihlasalo, Sari A1 - Cywinski, Piotr J. A1 - Mikkonen, Piia A1 - Hammann, Tommy A1 - Löhmannsröben, Hans-Gerd A1 - Hanninen, Pekka T1 - Protein quantification using resonance energy transfer between donor nanoparticles and acceptor quantum dots JF - Analytical chemistry N2 - A homogeneous time-resolved luminescence resonance energy transfer (TR-LRET) assay has been developed to quantify proteins. The competitive assay is based on resonance energy transfer (RET) between two luminescent nanosized particles. Polystyrene nanoparticles loaded with Eu3+ chelates (EuNPs) act as donors, while protein-coated quantum dots (QDs), either CdSe/ZnS emitting at 655 nm (QD655-strep) or CdSeTe/ZnS with emission wavelength at 705 nm (QD705-strep), are acceptors. In the absence of analyte protein, in our case bovine serum albumin (BSA), the protein-coated QDs bind nonspecifically to the EuNPs, leading to RET. In the presence of analyte proteins, the binding of the QDs to the EuNPs is prevented and the RET signal decreases. RET from the EuNPs to the QDs was confirmed and characterized with steady-state and time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy. In accordance with the Forster theory, the approximate average donor acceptor distance is around 15 nm at RET efficiencies, equal to 15% for QD655 and 13% for QD705 acceptor, respectively. The limits of detection are below 10 ng of BSA with less than a 10% average coefficient of variation. The assay sensitivity is improved, when compared to the most sensitive commercial methods. The presented mix-and-measure method has potential to be implemented into routine protein quantification in biological laboratories. Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/ac303586n SN - 0003-2700 VL - 85 IS - 5 SP - 2921 EP - 2926 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Julich-Gruner, Konstanze K. A1 - Löwenberg, Candy A1 - Neffe, Axel T. A1 - Behl, Marc A1 - Lendlein, Andreas T1 - Recent trends in the chemistry of shape-memory polymers JF - Macromolecular chemistry and physics N2 - Shape-memory polymers (SMPs) are stimuli-sensitive materials capable of performing complex movements on demand, which makes them interesting candidates for various applications, for example, in biomedicine or aerospace. This trend article highlights current approaches in the chemistry of SMPs, such as tailored segment chemistry to integrate additional functions and novel synthetic routes toward permanent and temporary netpoints. Multiphase polymer networks and multimaterial systems illustrate that SMPs can be constructed as a modular system of different building blocks and netpoints. Future developments are aiming at multifunctional and multistimuli-sensitive SMPs. KW - multifunctional polymers KW - networks KW - shape-memory polymers KW - stimuli-sensitive polymers KW - triple-shape effect Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/macp.201200607 SN - 1022-1352 VL - 214 IS - 5 SP - 527 EP - 536 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beye, Martin A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Soft X-ray probes of ultrafast dynamics for heterogeneous catalysis JF - Chemical physics : a journal devoted to experimental and theoretical research involving problems of both a chemical and physical nature N2 - Soft X-ray spectroscopy is one of the best tools to directly address the electronic structure, the driving force of chemical reactions. It enables selective studies on sample surfaces to single out reaction centers in heterogeneous catalytic reactions. With core-hole clock methods, specific dynamics are related to the femtosecond life time of a core-hole. Typically, this method is used with photoemission spectroscopy, but advancements in soft X-ray emission techniques render more specific studies possible. With the advent of bright femtosecond pulsed soft X-ray sources, highly selective pump-probe X-ray emission studies are enabled with temporal resolutions down to tens of femtoseconds. This finally allows to study dynamics in the electronic structure of adsorbed reaction centers on the whole range of relevant time scales - closing the gap between kinetic soft X-ray studies and the atto- to femtosecond core-hole clock techniques. KW - Core-hole clock KW - Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering KW - Ultrafast surface science KW - Photoelectron spectroscopy Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemphys.2012.03.023 SN - 0301-0104 SN - 1873-4421 VL - 414 IS - 5 SP - 130 EP - 138 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -