TY - JOUR A1 - Blankertz, Benjamin A1 - Müller, Klaus-Robert A1 - Krusienski, Dean A1 - Schalk, Gerwin A1 - Wolpaw, Jonathan R. A1 - Schlögl, Alois A1 - Pfurtscheller, Gert A1 - Millan, José del R. A1 - Schröder, Michael A1 - Birbaumer, Niels T1 - The BCI competition III : validating alternative approaches to actual BCI problems N2 - A brain-computer interface (BCI) is a system that allows its users to control external devices with brain activity. Although the proof-of-concept was given decades ago, the reliable translation of user intent into device control commands is still a major challenge. Success requires the effective interaction of two adaptive controllers: the user's brain, which produces brain activity that encodes intent, and the BCI system, which translates that activity into device control commands. In order to facilitate this interaction, many laboratories are exploring a variety of signal analysis techniques to improve the adaptation of the BCI system to the user. In the literature, many machine learning and pattern classification algorithms have been reported to give impressive results when applied to BCI data in offline analyses. However, it is more difficult to evaluate their relative value for actual online use. BCI data competitions have been organized to provide objective formal evaluations of alternative methods. Prompted by the great interest in the first two BCI Competitions, we organized the third BCI Competition to address several of the most difficult and important analysis problems in BCI research. The paper describes the data sets that were provided to the competitors and gives an overview of the results. Y1 - 2006 UR - http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=7333 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/Tnsre.2006.875642 SN - 1534-4320 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Blankertz, Benjamin A1 - Dornhege, Guido A1 - Krauledat, Matthias A1 - Müller, Klaus-Robert A1 - Kunzmann, Volker A1 - Losch, Florian A1 - Curio, Gabriel T1 - The Berlin brain-computer interface : EEG-based communication without subject training N2 - The Berlin Brain-Computer Interface (BBCI) project develops a noninvasive BCI system whose key features are 1) the use of well-established motor competences as control paradigms, 2) high-dimensional features from 128-channel electroencephalogram (EEG), and 3) advanced machine learning techniques. As reported earlier, our experiments demonstrate that very high information transfer rates can be achieved using the readiness potential (RP) when predicting the laterality of upcoming left-versus right-hand movements in healthy subjects. A more recent study showed that the RP similarily accompanies phantom movements in arm amputees, but the signal strength decreases with longer loss of the limb. In a complementary approach, oscillatory features are used to discriminate imagined movements (left hand versus right hand versus foot). In a recent feedback study with six healthy subjects with no or very little experience with BCI control, three subjects achieved an information transfer rate above 35 bits per minute (bpm), and further two subjects above 24 and 15 bpm, while one subject could not achieve any BCI control. These results are encouraging for an EEG-based BCI system in untrained subjects that is independent of peripheral nervous system activity and does not rely on evoked potentials even when compared to results with very well-trained subjects operating other BCI systems Y1 - 2006 UR - http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=7333 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/Tnsre.2006.875557 SN - 1534-4320 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Blanchard, Gilles A1 - Kawanabe, Motoaki A1 - Sugiyama, Masashi A1 - Spokoiny, Vladimir G. A1 - Müller, Klaus-Robert T1 - In search of non-Gaussian components of a high-dimensional distribution N2 - Finding non-Gaussian components of high-dimensional data is an important preprocessing step for efficient information processing. This article proposes a new linear method to identify the '' non-Gaussian subspace '' within a very general semi-parametric framework. Our proposed method, called NGCA (non-Gaussian component analysis), is based on a linear operator which, to any arbitrary nonlinear (smooth) function, associates a vector belonging to the low dimensional non-Gaussian target subspace, up to an estimation error. By applying this operator to a family of different nonlinear functions, one obtains a family of different vectors lying in a vicinity of the target space. As a final step, the target space itself is estimated by applying PCA to this family of vectors. We show that this procedure is consistent in the sense that the estimaton error tends to zero at a parametric rate, uniformly over the family, Numerical examples demonstrate the usefulness of our method Y1 - 2006 UR - http://portal.acm.org/affiliated/jmlr/ SN - 1532-4435 ER - TY - THES A1 - Bieniawska, Zuzanna T1 - Functional analysis of the sucrose synthase gene family in Arabidopsis thaliana T1 - Funktionelle Analyse der Saccharose Synthase Genfamilie in Arabidopsis thaliana N2 - Sucrose synthase (Susy) is a key enzyme of sucrose metabolism, catalysing the reversible conversion of sucrose and UDP to UDP-glucose and fructose. Therefore, its activity, localization and function have been studied in various plant species. It has been shown that Susy can play a role in supplying energy in companion cells for phloem loading (Fu and Park, 1995), provides substrates for starch synthesis (Zrenner et al., 1995), and supplies UDP-glucose for cell wall synthesis (Haigler et al., 2001). Analysis of the Arabidopsis genome identifies six Susy isoforms. The expression of these isoforms was investigated using promoter-reporter gene constructs (GUS) and real time RT-PCR. Although these isoforms are closely related at the protein level they have radically different spatial and temporal patterns of expression in the plant with no two isoforms showing the same distribution. More than one isoform is expressed in all organs examined. Some of them have high but specific expression in particular organs or developmental stages whilst others are constantly expressed throughout the whole plant and across various stages of development. The in planta function of the six Susy isoforms were explored through analysis of T-DNA insertion mutants and RNAi lines. Plants without the expression of individual isoforms show no differences in growth and development, and are not significantly different from wild type plants in soluble sugars, starch and cellulose contents under all growth conditions investigated. Analysis of T-DNA insertion mutant lacking Sus3 isoform that was exclusively expressed in stomata cells only had a minor influence on guard cell osmoregulation and/or bioenergetics. Although none of the sucrose synthases appear to be essential for normal growth under our standard growth conditions, they may be necessary for growth under stress conditions. Different isoforms of sucrose synthase respond differently to various abiotic stresses. It has been shown that oxygen deprivation up regulates Sus1 and Sus4 and increases total Susy activity. However, the analysis of the plants with reduced expression of both Sus1 and Sus4 revealed no obvious effects on plant performance under oxygen deprivation. Low temperature up regulates Sus1 expression but the loss of this isoform has no effect on the freezing tolerance of non acclimated and cold acclimated plants. These data provide a comprehensive overview of the expression of this gene family which supports some of the previously reported roles for Susy and indicates the involvement of specific isoforms in metabolism and/or signalling. N2 - Saccharose spielt eine zentrale Rolle in höheren Pflanzen. Es zählt zu den wichtigsten Kohlenhydraten und wird als Nährstoff, Speicherstoff (z.B. in Zuckerrüben, Zuckerrohr, Mohrrüben) oder auch als potentielles Signalmolekül verwendet. Saccharose ist eines der primären Endprodukte der Photosynthese in den grünen Blättern der Pflanzen, kann aber auch in nicht-photosynthetisch aktiven Geweben (z.B. in keimenden Samen) synthetisiert und verstoffwechselt werden. Die Saccharosesynthase (Susy) stellt ein Schlüsselenzym im Saccharosestoffwechsel dar. Es katalysiert die reversible Umwandlung von Saccharose zu UDP-Glukose und Fruktose. Die Aktivität, die Lokalisierung und die Funktionen der Susy wurden bereits in verschiedenen Pflanzenarten untersucht. Dabei hatte sich herausgestellt, daß die Susy eine wichtige Rolle in der Bereitstellung von Energie für Transportprozesse spielt. Außerdem stellt Susy die Substrate für die Stärkesynthese in Speichergeweben, sowie fast alle Substrate für die Zellwandsynthese bereit. Eine Untersuchung des Genoms von Arabidopsis thaliana ergab, daß die Ackerschmalwand sechs Isoformen der Susy besitzt. Die Expression dieser Isoformen wurde mittels Echtzeit RT-PCR analysiert. Obwohl die verschiedenen Isoformen auf Proteinebene in ihrer Sequenz sehr ähnlich sind, zeigen sie Unterschiede in ihrem zeitlichen und räumlichen Auftreten innerhalb der Pflanze. Einige der Isoformen sind hoch exprimiert in speziellen Organen oder Entwicklungsstufen der Pflanze. Andere hingegen sind gleichmäßig in der ganzen Pflanze und über verschiedene Entwicklungsstufen hinaus exprimiert. In allen untersuchten Organen der Pflanze ist mehr als eine Isoform exprimiert. Um die spezifische Funktion der einzelnen Isoformen aufzuklären, wurden für alle sechs Saccharosesynthasen Mutanten-Linien isoliert und analysiert. Alle Pflanzen, bei denen die Expression einer bestimmten Isoform fehlte, zeigten im Vergleich zu Wildtyppflanzen keine signifikanten Unterschiede in Wachstum und Entwicklung. Des Weiteren waren die Gehalte an Stärke, Saccharose und Zellulose in Blättern und Wurzeln im Vergleich zu Wildtyppflanzen unverändert. Mutanten, denen die ausschließlich in Schließzellen lokalisierte Isoform Sus3 fehlte, zeigten nur geringe Veränderungen in der Osmoregulation und/oder der Bioenergetik der Schließzellen. Daraus kann gefolgert werden, dass in dem Ackerunkraut Arabidopsis keine der Saccharosesynthasen essentiell für normales Wachstum unter Standardbedingungen ist. Es ist jedoch möglich, dass Saccharosesynthasen unter Stressbedingungen benötigt werden. Es war bereits bekannt, dass einzelne Isoformen der Susy auf Stress reagieren und in ihrer Expression verändert sind. Es konnte gezeigt werden, daß Sauerstoffmangel zu einer Erhöhung der Expression der Isoformen Sus1 und Sus4 und zu einer Zunahme der Susy Gesamtaktivität führt. Die Analyse von Pflanzen mit reduzierter Expression von Sus1 und Sus4 zeigte jedoch, dass Sauerstoffmangel keinen offensichtlichen Einfluss auf das Wachstum dieser Pflanzen hat. Niedrige Temperaturen führen zu einer Erhöhung der Sus1 Expression, aber auch ein Verlust dieser Isoform hat keinen Einfluss auf die Gefriertoleranz von normalen oder an Kälte akklimatisierten Pflanzen. Diese Ergebnisse bieten einen umfassenden Einblick in die Expression der Genfamilie der Saccharosesynthase; sie untermauern die genannten Funktionen der Saccharosesynthase und weisen auf eine mögliche Beteiligung mehrerer Isoformen am Saccharosestoffwechsel und/oder der Signaltransduktion hin. KW - Saccharose Synthase KW - Genfamilie KW - Ackerschmalwand KW - sucrose synthase KW - gene family KW - Arabidopsis thaliana Y1 - 2006 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-13132 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Bielawski, Martina A1 - Jurišić, J. A1 - Lenz, T. A1 - Maxian Rusche, T. A1 - Nippert, C. T1 - Via : communis Europa ; Europe's architecture in 2020 N2 - Forum: EU-Diplomatie im Jahre 2020 KW - Europäische Union KW - Europaidentität KW - Außenpolitik KW - Verteidigungspolitik KW - European Union KW - European identity KW - foreign policy KW - defence policy Y1 - 2006 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-48454 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bianco, Pier Giorgio A1 - Zupo, V A1 - Ketmaier, Valerio T1 - Occurrence of the scalloped ribbonfish Zu cristatus(Lampridiformes) in coastal waters of the central Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy N2 - The occurrence of two individuals of Zu cristatus at 2 m depth in coastal waters of the Gulf of Castellamare (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) together with records of this rare pan-Oceanic mesopelagic species is reported. Analyses of two mitochondrial genes (12 s and 16 s; 936 bp) revealed a 2.6% sequence divergence between Mediterranean and Pacific (Japanese) samples of the species. Y1 - 2006 UR - http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/issn?DESCRIPTOR=PRINTISSN&VALUE=0022-1112 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2006.00980.x SN - 0022-1112 ER - TY - THES A1 - Bhattacharryya, Saroj Kumar T1 - Development of detector for analytical ultracentrifuge. - [korr. Fassung] T1 - Detektor-Entwicklung für die analytische Ultrazentrifuge. - [korr. Fassung] N2 - In this work approaches for new detection system development for an Analytical Ultracentrifuge (AUC) were explored. Unlike its counterpart in chromatography fractionation techniques, the use of a Multidetection system for AUC has not yet been implemented to full extent despite its potential benefit. In this study we tried to couple existing fundamental spectroscopic and scattering techniques that are used in day to day science as tool for extracting analyte information. Trials were performed for adapting Raman, Light scattering and UV/Vis (with possibility to work with the whole range of wavelengths) to AUC. Conclusions were drawn for Raman and Light scattering to be a possible detection system for AUC, while the development for a fast fiber optics based multiwavelength detector was completed. The multiwavelength detector demonstrated the capability of data generation matching the literature and reference measurement data and faster data collection than that of the commercial instrument. It became obvious that with the generation of data in 3-D space in the UV/Vis detection system, the user can select the wavelength for the evaluation of experimental results as the data set contains the whole range of information from UV/Vis wavelength. The detector showed the data generation with much faster speed unlike the commercial instruments. The advantage of fast data generation was exemplified with the evaluation of data for a mixture of three colloids. These data were in conformity with measurement results from normal radial experiments and without significant diffusion broadening. Thus conclusions were drawn that with our designed Multiwavelength detector, meaningful data in 3-D space can be collected with much faster speed of data generation. N2 - In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde die Entwicklung neuer Detektoren für die Analytische Ultrazentrifugation (AUZ) untersucht und vorangetrieben. Im Gegensatz zu chromatgraphischen. Fraktionierungsmethoden werden Multidetektionssysteme bis heute nicht in der AUZ eingesetzt. Hier wird die Möglichkeit geprüft, bekannte spektroskopische sowie Streumethoden simultan zur Probenanalyse in der AUZ einzusetzen mit dem Ziel, simultan komplimentäre Informationen über die Probe zu erhalten. So wurde versucht, Raman- und UV/VIS-Spektroskopie (letztere mit der Möglichkeit, das gesamte Wellenlängenspektrum auszunutzen) und statische Lichtstreuung zu kombinieren, um das Analytverhalten während des Ultrazentrifugationsexperimentes zu untersuchen. Es wurden zum einen die Ramanspektroskopie als Detektionssystem für chemische Funktionalität in der AUZ geprüft und zum anderen gezeigt, daß die statische Kleinwinkel Lichtstreuung als direkter Molmassendetektor für den Einsatz in der AUZ geeignet erscheint. Zum anderen wurde die Entwicklung eines Multi-Wellenlängen-UV/VIS-Detektors abgeschlossen, um seine Eignung für den Einsatz in der AUZ und die damit verbundene Möglichkeiten der schnelleren und umfassenderen Datenerzeugung gegenüber kommerziellen Geräten zu zeigen. Dieser Multiwellendetektor liefert anstelle eines Absorptionswertes für jede radiale Position in der Messzelle direkt ein ganzes UV-Vis Spektrum und erzeugt eine zusaetzliche Dimension der Messdaten, was die Möglichkeiten der Analyse von komplexen Systemen mit multiplen Chromophoren, Teilchengrößenbestimmung über Wellenlängenabhängigkeit der Trübung oder auch der Datenmittelung enorm vergrößert. Desweiteren erlaubt der Detektor die Anwendung von Geschwindigkeitsprofilen zur Analyse extrem polydisperser Systeme. Die Entwicklung des Detektors beruht auf einem auf Linsen basierenden System mit modularem Aufbau. Dabei war die sorgfältige Ausrichtung des optischen Systems ein essentieller Punkt, um seine Eignung zu überprüfen zu können. An einer Mischung von drei Kolloiden, Halbleiternanopartikeln sowie Proteinen und deren Mischungen ist es hier gelungen, die erfolgreiche Entwicklung des UV/VIS-Detektors zu demonstrieren: Die Daten konnten schneller und mit wesentlich mehr Informationsgehalt, als auf allen kommerziellen Geräten generiert werden. Die Sedimentationskoeffizientenverteilungen stimmen dabei mit denen aus herkömmlichen Sedimentationsgeschwindigkeitsexperimenten überein, unterliegen jedoch nicht einer signifikanten diffusionsbedingten Verbreiterung. Es ist in dieser Arbeit somit gelungen, zum einen die Lichtstreuung als aussichtsreiche Methode für ein Detektorsystem in der AUZ aufzuzeigen, und zum anderen einen Multi-Wellenlängen-UV/VIS-Detektor zu entwickeln, der eine Datenerzeugung von bislang noch nicht erreichter Schnelligkeit im dreidimensionalen Raum ermöglicht. KW - Ultrazentrifuge KW - Detektor KW - Detektor-Entwicklung KW - SLS KW - UV/VIS KW - Raman KW - detector development KW - SLS KW - UV/VIS KW - Raman Y1 - 2006 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-8215 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beyvers, Stephanie A1 - Ohtsuki, Y A1 - Saalfrank, Peter T1 - Optimal control in a dissipative system : vibrational excitation of CO/Cu(100) by IR pulses N2 - The question as to whether state-selective population of molecular vibrational levels by shaped infrared laser pulses is possible in a condensed phase environment is of central importance for such diverse fields as time-resolved spectroscopy, quantum computing, or "vibrationally mediated chemistry." This question is addressed here for a model system, representing carbon monoxide adsorbed on a Cu(100) surface. Three of the six vibrational modes are considered explicitly, namely, the CO stretch vibration, the CO-surface vibration, and a frustrated translation. Optimized infrared pulses for state-selective excitation of "bright" and "dark" vibrational levels are designed by optimal control theory in the framework of a Markovian open-system density matrix approach, with energy flow to substrate electrons and phonons, phase relaxation, and finite temperature accounted for. The pulses are analyzed by their Husimi "quasiprobability" distribution in time-energy space. Y1 - 2006 UR - http://jcp.aip.org/ U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2206593 SN - 0021-9606 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Beyssade, Claire A1 - Marandin, Jean-Marie T1 - From complex to simple speech acts : a bidimensional analysis of illocutionary N2 - We present a new analysis of illocutionary forces in dialogue. We analyze them as complex conversational moves involving two dimensions: what Speaker commits herself to and what she calls on Addressee to perform. We start from the analysis of speech acts such as confirmation requests or whimperatives, and extend the analysis to seemingly simple speech acts, such as statements and queries. Then, we show how to integrate our proposal in the framework of the Grammar for Conversation (Ginzburg, to app.), which is adequate for modelling agents' information states and how they get updated. Y1 - 2006 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-10319 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Best, Wendy A1 - Schröder, Astrid A1 - Herbert, Ruth T1 - An investigation of a relative impairment in naming non-living items : theoretical and methodological implications N2 - This paper presents a study of PH, a woman with aphasia, who shows a robust impairment in naming pictures of non-living relative to living things. Un-timed investigations of feature knowledge show similar performance across categories suggesting that, as in previous studies, the category effect may be arising at a post-semantic level. However, her performance on a timed feature verification task was slower for non-living than living things (relative to matched controls), in line with her naming. This suggests that the source of PH's category deficit is in fact semantic and that thorough investigation is necessary before claiming a post-semantic category specific deficit in word production. Finally, the results of an intervention study, which apparently eliminated the effect of semantic category on PH's naming, are reported. Y1 - 2006 UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09116044 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroling.2005.09.001 SN - 0911-6044 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bersier, David A1 - Fruchter, Andrew S. A1 - Strolger, Louis-Gregory A1 - Gorosabel, Javier A1 - Levan, Andrew A1 - Burud, Ingunn A1 - Rhoads, James E. A1 - Becker, Andrew C. A1 - Cassan, Andrew C. A1 - Chornock, Ryan A1 - Covino, Stefano A1 - De Jong, Roelof S. A1 - Dominis, Dijana A1 - Filippenko, Alexei V. A1 - Hjorth, Jens A1 - Holmberg, Johan A1 - Malesani, Daniele A1 - Mobasher, Bahram A1 - Olsen, Kurt A. G. A1 - Stefanon, Mauro A1 - Castro Cerón, José María C. A1 - Fynbo, Johan P. U. A1 - Holland, Stephen T. A1 - Kouveliotou, Chryssa A1 - Pedersen, Hans-Georg A1 - Tanvir, Nieal R. A1 - Woosley, S. E. T1 - Evidence for a supernova associated with the X-ray flash 020903 N2 - We present ground-based and Hubble Space Telescope optical observations of the X-ray flash ( XRF) 020903, covering 300 days. The afterglow showed a very rapid rise in the first day, followed by a relatively slow decay in the next few days. There was a clear bump in the light curve after similar to 25 days, accompanied by a drastic change in the spectral energy distribution. The light curve and the spectral energy distribution are naturally interpreted as describing the emergence and subsequent decay of a supernova ( SN), similar to SN 1998bw. At peak luminosity, the SN is estimated to be 0.8 +/- 0.1 mag fainter than SN 1998bw. This argues in favor of the existence of a SN associated with this XRF. A spectrum obtained 35 days after the burst shows emission lines from the host galaxy. We use this spectrum to put an upper limit on the oxygen abundance of the host at [O/H] <= 0.6 dex. We also discuss a possible trend between the softness of several bursts and the early behavior of the optical afterglow, in the sense that XRFs and X-ray-rich gamma- ray bursts ( GRBs) seem to have a plateau phase or even a rising light curve. This can be naturally explained in models in which XRFs are similar to GRBs but are seen off the jet axis. Y1 - 2006 UR - http://iopscience.iop.org/0004-637X/ U6 - https://doi.org/10.1086/502640 SN - 0004-637X ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Bergmann, Kirsten A1 - Kopp, Stefan T1 - Verbal or visual? : How information is distributed across speech and gesture in spatial dialog N2 - In spatial dialog like in direction giving humans make frequent use of speechaccompanying gestures. Some gestures convey largely the same information as speech while others complement speech. This paper reports a study on how speakers distribute meaning across speech and gesture, and depending on what factors. Utterance meaning and the wider dialog context were tested by statistically analyzing a corpus of direction-giving dialogs. Problems of speech production (as indicated by discourse markers and disfluencies), the communicative goals, and the information status were found to be influential, while feedback signals by the addressee do not have any influence. Y1 - 2006 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-10375 ER - TY - BOOK A1 - Ben-Rafael, Eliezer A1 - Jasper, Willi A1 - Harris, Paul T1 - Building a diaspora : Russian Jews in Israel, Germany and the USA Y1 - 2006 SN - 978-90-04-15332-5 VL - 13 PB - Brill CY - Leiden ER - TY - THES A1 - Bellin, Ingo T1 - Thermosensitive Polymer Networks with Two Different Shapes in Memory Y1 - 2006 CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bell, Elanor M. A1 - Weithoff, Guntram A1 - Gaedke, Ursula T1 - Temporal dynamics and growth of Actinophrys sol (Sarcodina: Heliozoa), the top predator in an extremely acidic lake N2 - 1. The in situ abundance, biomass and mean cell volume of Actinophrys sol (Sarcodina: Heliozoa), the top predator in an extremely acidic German mining lake (Lake 111; pH 2.65), were determined over three consecutive years (spring to autumn, 2001-03). 2. Actinophrys sol exhibited pronounced temporal and vertical patterns in abundance, biomass and mean cell volume. Increasing from very low spring densities, maxima in abundance and biomass were observed in late June/early July and September. The highest mean abundance recorded during the study was 7 x 10(3) Heliozoa L-1. Heliozoan abundance and biomass were higher in the epilimnion than in the hypolimnion. Actinophrys sol cells from this acidic lake were smaller than individuals of the same species found in other aquatic systems. 3. We determined the growth rate of A. sol using all potential prey items available in, and isolated and cultured from, Lake 111. Prey items included: single-celled and filamentous bacteria of unknown taxonomic affinity, the mixotrophic flagellates Chlamydomonas acidophila and Ochromonas sp., the ciliate Oxytricha sp. and the rotifers Elosa worallii and Cephalodella hoodi. Actinophrys sol fed over a wide-size spectrum from bacteria to metazoans. Positive growth was not supported by all naturally available prey. Actinophrys sol neither increased in cell number (k) nor biomass (k(b)) when starved, with low concentrations of single-celled bacteria or with the alga Ochromonas sp. Positive growth was achieved with single- celled bacteria (k = 0.22 +/- 0.02 d(-1); k(b) = -0.06 +/- 0.02 d(-1)) and filamentous bacteria (k = 0.52 +/- < 0.01 d(- 1); k(b) = 0.66 d(-1)) at concentrations greater than observed in situ, and the alga C. acidophila (up to k = 0.43 +/- 0.03 d(-1); k(b) = 0.44 +/- 0.04 d(-1)), the ciliate Oxytricha sp. (k = 0.34 +/- 0.01 d(-1)) and in mixed cultures containing rotifers and C. acidophila (k = 0.23 +/- 0.02-0.32 +/- 0.02 d(-1); maximum k(b) = 0.42 +/- 0.05 d(-1)). The individual- and biomass-based growth of A. sol was highest when filamentous bacteria were provided. 4. Existing quantitative carbon flux models for the Lake 111 food web can be updated in light of our results. Actinophrys sol are omnivorous predators supported by a mixed diet of filamentous bacteria and C. acidophila in the epilimnion. Heliozoa are important components in the planktonic food webs of 'extreme' environments Y1 - 2006 UR - http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/issn?DESCRIPTOR=PRINTISSN&VALUE=0046-5070 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2006.01561.x SN - 0046-5070 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beitz, Toralf A1 - Laudien, Robert A1 - Löhmannsröben, Hans-Gerd A1 - Kallies, Bernd T1 - Ion mobility spectrometric investigation of aromatic cations in the gas phase N2 - In this work, ion mobility (IM) spectra of more than 50 aromatic compounds were recorded with a laser-based IM spectrometer at atmospheric pressure. IM spectra of PAH in the laser desorption experiment show a high complexity resulting from the occurrence of monomeric, dimeric, and oligomeric cluster ions. The mobilities of all compounds were determined in helium as drift gas. This allows the calculation of the diffusion cross sections (Omega(calc)) on the basis of the exact hard sphere scattering model and their comparison with the experimentally determined diffusion cross sections (Omega(exp)). Extended Omega(exp)/Omega(calc) and Omega(exp/)mass correlations were performed in order to gain insight into conformational properties of cationic alkyl benzenes and internal rotation of phenyl rings in aromatic ions. This is demonstrated with some examples, such as the evaluation of the dihedral angle of the ions of 9,10- diphenylanthracene, o- and m-terphenyl, and 1,2,3- and 1,3,5-triphenylbenzene. Furthermore, sandwich and T-structures of dimeric PAH cations are discussed. The analysis was extended to oligomeric ions with up to nine monomer units. Experimental evidence is presented suggesting the formation of pi-stacks with a transition toward modified pi-stacks with increasing cluster size. The distance between monomeric units in dimeric and oligomeric ions was obtained Y1 - 2006 UR - http://pubs.acs.org/journal/jpcafh U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/Jp055335n SN - 1089-5639 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beissenhirtz, Moritz Karl A1 - Scheller, Frieder W. A1 - Viezzoli, Maria Silvia A1 - Lisdat, Fred T1 - Engineered superoxide dismutase monomers for superoxide biosensor applications N2 - Because of its high reaction rate and specificity, the enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD) offers great potential for the sensitive quantification of superoxide radicals in electrochemical biosensors. In this work, monomeric mutants of human Cu,Zn-SOD were engineered to contain one or two additional cysteine residues, which could be used to bind the protein to gold surfaces, thus making the use of promotor molecules unnecessary. Six mutants were successfully designed, expressed, and purified. All mutants bound directly to unmodified gold surfaces via the sulfur of the cysteine residues and showed a quasireversible, direct electron transfer to the electrode. Thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of the electron transfer were characterized and showed only slight variations between the individual mutants. For one of the mutants, the interaction with the superoxide radical was studied in more detail. For both partial reactions of the dismutation, an interaction between protein and radical could be shown. In an amperometric biosensorial approach, the SOD-mutant electrode was successfully applied for the detection of superoxide radicals. In the oxidation region, the electrode surpassed the sensitivity of the commonly used cytochrome c electrodes by similar to 1 order of magnitude while not being limited by interferences, but the electrode did not fully reach the sensitivity of dimeric Cu,Zn-SOD immobilized on MPA-modified gold Y1 - 2006 UR - http://pubs.acs.org/journal/ancham U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/Ac051465g SN - 0003-2700 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beim Graben, Peter A1 - Atmanspacher, Harald T1 - Complementarity in classical dynamical systems N2 - The concept of complementarity, originally defined for non-commuting observables of quantum systems with states of non-vanishing dispersion, is extended to classical dynamical systems with a partitioned phase space. Interpreting partitions in terms of ensembles of epistemic states (symbols) with corresponding classical observables, it is shown that such observables are complementary to each other with respect to particular partitions unless those partitions are generating. This explains why symbolic descriptions based on an ad hoc partition of an underlying phase space description should generally be expected to be incompatible. Related approaches with different background and different objectives are discussed Y1 - 2006 UR - http://www.springerlink.com/content/101591 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-005-9013-0 SN - 0015-9018 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Beck, Michael A1 - Hildebrandt, Niko A1 - Löhmannsröben, Hans-Gerd T1 - Quantum dots as acceptors in FRET-assays containing serum N2 - Quantum dots (QDs) are common as luminescing markers for imaging in biological applications because their optical properties seem to be inert against their surrounding solvent. This, together with broad and strong absorption bands and intense, sharp tuneable luminescence bands, makes them interesting candidates for methods utilizing Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET), e. g. for sensitive homogeneous fluoroimmunoassays (FIA). In this work we demonstrate energy transfer from Eu3+-trisbipyridin (Eu-TBP) donors to CdSe-ZnS-QD acceptors in solutions with and without serum. The QDs are commercially available CdSe-ZnS core-shell particles emitting at 655 nm (QD655). The FRET system was achieved by the binding of the streptavidin conjugated donors with the biotin conjugated acceptors. After excitation of Eu-TBP and as result of the energy transfer, the luminescence of the QD655 acceptors also showed lengthened decay times like the donors. The energy transfer efficiency, as calculated from the decay times of the bound and the unbound components, amounted to 37%. The Förster-radius, estimated from the absorption and emission bands, was ca. 77 Å. The effective binding ratio, which not only depends on the ratio of binding pairs but also on unspecific binding, was obtained from the donor emission dependent on the concentration. As serum promotes unspecific binding, the overall FRET efficiency of the assay was reduced. We conclude that QDs are good substitutes for acceptors in FRET if combined with slow decay donors like Europium. The investigation of the influence of the serum provides guidance towards improving binding properties of QD assays. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - paper 019 KW - Quantenpunkt KW - Lumineszenz KW - Serum KW - Europium KW - Immunoassay KW - Energietransfer KW - Fluoreszenz-Resonanz-Energie-Transfer KW - Förster-Resonanz-Energie-Transfer KW - Quantum Dot KW - Luminescence KW - Serum KW - Europium KW - Immunoassay KW - Energy Transfer KW - FRET Y1 - 2006 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-9504 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beauval, Céline A1 - Hainzl, Sebastian A1 - Scherbaum, Frank T1 - Probabilistic seismic hazard estimation in low-seismicity regions considering non-Poissonian seismic occurrence N2 - In low-seismicity regions, such as France or Germany, the estimation of probabilistic seismic hazard must cope with the difficult identification of active faults and with the low amount of seismic data available. Since the probabilistic hazard method was initiated, most studies assume a Poissonian occurrence of earthquakes. Here we propose a method that enables the inclusion of time and space dependences between earthquakes into the probabilistic estimation of hazard. Combining the seismicity model Epidemic Type Aftershocks-Sequence (ETAS) with a Monte Carlo technique, aftershocks are naturally accounted for in the hazard determination. The method is applied to the Pyrenees region in Southern France. The impact on hazard of declustering and of the usual assumption that earthquakes occur according to a Poisson process is quantified, showing that aftershocks contribute on average less than 5 per cent to the probabilistic hazard, with an upper bound around 18 per cent Y1 - 2006 UR - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-246X U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.02863.x SN - 0956-540X ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beauval, Celine A1 - Hainzl, Sebastian A1 - Scherbaum, Frank T1 - The impact of the spatial uniform distribution of seismicity on probabilistic seismic-hazard estimation JF - Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America N2 - The first step in the estimation of probabilistic seismic hazard in a region commonly consists of the definition and characterization of the relevant seismic sources. Because in low-seismicity regions seismicity is often rather diffuse and faults are difficult to identify, large areal source zones are mostly used. The corresponding hypothesis is that seismicity is uniformly distributed inside each areal seismic source zone. In this study, the impact of this hypothesis on the probabilistic hazard estimation is quantified through the generation of synthetic spatial seismicity distributions. Fractal seismicity distributions are generated inside a given source zone and probabilistic hazard is computed for a set of sites located inside this zone. In our study, the impact of the spatial seismicity distribution is defined as the deviation from the hazard value obtained for a spatially uniform seismicity distribution. From the generation of a large number of synthetic distributions, the correlation between the fractal dimension D and the impact is derived. The results show that the assumption of spatially uniform seismicity tends to bias the hazard to higher values. The correlation can be used to determine the systematic biases and uncertainties for hazard estimations in real cases, where the fractal dimension has been determined. We apply the technique in Germany (Cologne area) and in France (Alps). Y1 - 2006 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1785/0120060073 SN - 0037-1106 VL - 96 IS - 6 SP - 2465 EP - 2471 PB - GeoScienceWorld CY - Alexandria, Va. ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beaulieu, Jean-Philippe A1 - Bennett, David P. A1 - Fouqué, Pascal A1 - Williams, Andrew A1 - Dominik, Martin A1 - Jorgensen, Uffe Grae A1 - Kubas, Daniel A1 - Cassan, Arnaud A1 - Coutures, Christian A1 - Greenhill, John A1 - Hill, Kym A1 - Menzies, John A1 - Sackett, Penny D. A1 - Albrow, Michael D. A1 - Brillant, Stephane A1 - Caldwell, John A. R. A1 - Calitz, Johannes Jacobus A1 - Cook, Kem H. A1 - Corrales Cosmeli, Esperanza de Santa Cecilia A1 - Desort, Morgan A1 - Dieters, Stefan A1 - Dominis, Dijana A1 - Donatowicz, Jadzia A1 - Hoffman, Martie A1 - Kane, Stephen R. A1 - Marquette, Jean-Baptiste A1 - Martin, Ralph A1 - Meintjes, Pieter A1 - Pollard, Karen R. A1 - Sahu, Kailash C. A1 - Vinter, Christian A1 - Wambsganss, Joachim A1 - Woller, Kristian A1 - Horne, Keith A1 - Steele, Iain A1 - Bramich, Daniel M. A1 - Burgdorf, Martin A1 - Snodgrass, Colin A1 - Bode, Mike A1 - Udalski, Andr T1 - Discovery of a cool planet of 5.5 Earth masses through gravitational microlensing N2 - In the favoured core-accretion model of formation of planetary systems, solid planetesimals accumulate to build up planetary cores, which then accrete nebular gas if they are sufficiently massive. Around M-dwarf stars ( the most common stars in our Galaxy), this model favours the formation of Earth-mass (M+) to Neptune-mass planets with orbital radii of 1 to 10 astronomical units (AU), which is consistent with the small number of gas giant planets known to orbit M-dwarf host stars(1-4). More than 170 extrasolar planets have been discovered with a wide range of masses and orbital periods, but planets of Neptune's mass or less have not hitherto been detected at separations of more than 0.15 AU from normal stars. Here we report the discovery of a 5.5(-2.7)(+5.5)M(+) planetary companion at a separation of 2.6(- 0.6)(+1.5) AU from a 0.22(-0.11)(+0.21)M(.) M-dwarf star, where M-. refers to a solar mass. (We propose to name it OGLE- 2005-BLG-390Lb, indicating a planetary mass companion to the lens star of the microlensing event.) The mass is lower than that of GJ876d (ref. 5), although the error bars overlap. Our detection suggests that such cool, sub-Neptune-mass planets may be more common than gas giant planets, as predicted by the core accretion theory. Y1 - 2006 UR - http://www.nature.com/nature/ U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/Nature04441 SN - 0028-0836 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Baur, Heiner A1 - Müller, Steffen A1 - Hirschmüller, Anja A1 - Huber, Georg A1 - Mayer, Frank T1 - Reactivity, stability, and strength performance capacity in motor sports JF - British journal of sports medicine : the journal of sport and exercise medicine N2 - Background: Racing drivers require multifaceted cognitive and physical abilities in a multitasking situation. A knowledge of their physical capacities may help to improve fitness and performance. Objective: To compare reaction time, stability performance capacity, and strength performance capacity of elite racing drivers with those of age-matched, physically active controls. Methods: Eight elite racing drivers and 10 physically active controls matched for age and weight were tested in a reaction and determination test requiring upper and lower extremity responses to visual and audio cues. Further tests comprised evaluation of one-leg postural stability on a two-dimensional moveable platform, measures of maximum strength performance capacity of the extensors of the leg on a leg press, and a test of force capacity of the arms in a sitting position at a steering wheel. An additional arm endurance test consisted of isometric work at the steering wheel at + 30 degrees and -30 degrees where an eccentric threshold load of 30 N.m was applied. Subjects had to hold the end positions above this threshold until exhaustion. Univariate one way analysis of variance (alpha = 0.05) including a Bonferroni adjustment was used to detect group differences between the drivers and controls. Results: The reaction time of the racing drivers was significantly faster than the controls ( p = 0.004). The following motor reaction time and reaction times in the multiple determination test did not differ between the groups. No significant differences (p> 0.05) were found for postural stability, leg extensor strength, or arm strength and endurance. Conclusions: Racing drivers have faster reaction times than age-matched physically active controls. Further development of motor sport-specific test protocols is suggested. According to the requirements of motor racing, strength and sensorimotor performance capacity can potentially be improved. Y1 - 2006 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.2006.025783 SN - 0306-3674 VL - 40 SP - 906 EP - 910 PB - BMJ Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Baumgärtel, Hellmut T1 - Generalized eigenvectors for resonances in the Friedrichs model and their associated Gamov vectors N2 - A Gelfand triplet for the Hamiltonian H of the Priedrichs model on R with multiplicity space K, dim K < infinity, is constructed such that exactly the resonances (poles of the inverse of the Livsic-matrix) are (generalized) eigenvalues of H. The corresponding eigen(anti)linear forms are calculated explicitly. Using the wave matrices for the wave (Moller) operators the corresponding eigen(anti)linear forms on the Schwartz space S for the unperturbed Hamiltonian Ho are also calculated. It turns out that they are of pure Dirac type and can be characterized by their corresponding Gamov vector lambda -> k/(zeta(0)-lambda)(-1), zeta(0) resonance, k epsilon K, which is uniquely determined by restriction of S to S boolean AND H-+(2), where H-+(2) denotes the Hardy space of the upper half-plane. Simultaneously this restriction yields a truncation of the generalized evolution to the well-known decay semigroup for t >= 0 of the Toeplitz type on H-+(2). That is: Exactly those pre-Gamov vectors a lambda -> k/(zeta-lambda)(-1), ( from the lower half-plane, k epsilon K., have an extension to a generalized eigenvector of H if zeta is a resonance and if k is from that subspace of K which is uniquely determined by its corresponding Dirac type antilinear form Y1 - 2006 UR - http://www.worldscinet.com/rmp/rmp.shtml U6 - https://doi.org/10.1142/S0129055X06002589 SN - 0129-055X ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Baumann, Otto A1 - Lutz, Kathleen T1 - Photoreceptor morphogenesis in the Drosophila compound eye : R1-R6 rhabdomeres become twisted just before eclosion N2 - The photosensitive microvilli of Drosophila photoreceptors R1-R6 are not aligned in parallel over the entire length of the visual cells. In the distal half of each cell, the microvilli are slightly tilted toward one side and, in the proximal half, extremely toward the opposite side. This phenomenon, termed rhabdomere twisting, has been known for several decades, but the developmental and cell biological basis of rhabdomere twisting has not been studied so far. We show that rhabdomere twisting is also manifested as molecular polarization of the visual cell, because phosphotyrosine- containing proteins are selectively partitioned to different sides of the rhabdomere stalk in the distal. and proximal sections of each R1-R6 photoreceptor. Both the asymmetrical segregation of phosphotyrosine proteins and the tilting of the microvilli occur shortly before eclosion of the flies, when eye development in all other aspects is considered to be essentially complete. Establishment of rhabdomere twisting occurs in a light-independent manner, because phosphotyrosine staining is unchanged in dark-reared wild-type flies and in mutants with defects in the phototransduction cascade, ninaE(17) and norpA(P24). We conclude that antiphosphotyrosine immunofluorescence can be used as a light microscopic probe for the analysis of rhabdomere twisting and that microvilli tilting represents a type of planar cell polarity that is established by an active process in the last phase of photoreceptor morphogenesis, just prior to eclosion of the flies. Y1 - 2006 UR - http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/31248 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/Cne.21030 SN - 0021-9967 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bauer, Joachim A1 - Stamm, Axel A1 - Virnich, Katharina A1 - Wissing, Karen A1 - Müller, Udo A1 - Wirsching, Michael A1 - Schaarschmidt, Uwe T1 - Correlation between burnout syndrome and psychological and psychosomatic symptoms among teachers N2 - Objectives: Psychosomatic disorders and symptoms that correlate with the so-called burnout syndrome turned out to be the main cause of increasing rates of premature retirement of school teachers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relation between occupational burden and psychological strain of teachers who are still in work. Methods: A sample of 408 teachers at ten grammar schools (am: High school; German: Gymnasium) in south-western Germany was evaluated. To determine the styles of coping with occupational burden we used the measure of coping capacity questionnaire (MECCA). To analyse the psychopathological and psychosomatic symptom load we applied SCL 90 R questionnaire. Results: According to the MECCA questionnaire, 32.5% of the sample suffered from burnout (type B), 17.7% suffered severe strain (type A), 35.9% showed an unambitious (type S) and 13.8% showed a healthy-ambitious coping style (type G). Burnout was significantly higher among women, divorced teachers and teachers working part-time. As part of the MECCA, teachers were asked to rate what they regarded as the strongest factor resulting in occupational burden. Teachers indicated that, besides high numbers of pupils in one class, they regarded destructive and aggressive behaviour of pupils as the primary stress factor. According to the SCL 90 R, 20% of the sample showed a severe degree (defined as > 70 points in the SCL90R GSI) of psychological and psychosomatic symptoms. MECCA type B (burnout) correlated significantly with high psychological and psychosomatic symptom load according to the SCL90R. Conclusions: In school teachers, burnout syndrome, a construct that derived from occupational psychology and occupational medicine, is significantly correlated with psychological and psychosomatic symptoms. Teachers rate destructive and aggressive behaviour of pupils as the primary stress factor. Y1 - 2006 UR - http://www.springerlink.com/content/101165 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-005-0050-y SN - 0340-0131 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Basso, Heitor Cury A1 - Aquino, C. V. A1 - Altafim, Ruy Alberto Pisani A1 - Altafim, Ruy Alberto Pisani A1 - Gerhard, Reimund T1 - Piezoelectricity of a single bubble formed by two oppositely charged Teflon-FEP films Y1 - 2006 SN - 1-4244-0547-5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Baptista, Murilo da Silva A1 - Zhou, Changsong A1 - Kurths, Jürgen T1 - Information transmission in phase synchronous chaotic arrays N2 - We show many versatile phase synchronous configurations that emerge in an array of coupled chaotic elements due to the presence of a periodic stimulus. Then, we explain the relevance of these configurations to the understanding of how information about such a. stimulus is transmitted from one side to the other in this array. The stimulus actively creates the ways to be transmitted, by making the chaotic elements to phase synchronize Y1 - 2006 UR - http://iopscience.iop.org/0256-307X/ U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/0256-307X/23/3/010 SN - 0256-307X ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Baptista, Murilo da Silva A1 - Pereira, Tiago A1 - Kurths, Jürgen T1 - Upper bounds in phase synchronous weak coherent chaotic attractors N2 - An approach is presented for coupled chaotic systems with weak coherent motion, from which we estimate the upper bound value for the absolute phase difference in phase synchronous states. This approach shows that synchronicity in phase implies synchronicity in the time of events, a characteristic explored to derive an equation to detect phase synchronization, based on the absolute difference between the time of these events. We demonstrate the potential use of this approach for the phase coherent and the funnel attractor of the Rossler system, as well as for the spiking/bursting Rulkov map. Y1 - 2006 UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01672789 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physd.2006.02.007 SN - 0167-2789 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Baptista, Murilo da Silva A1 - Grebogi, Celso A1 - Koberle, Roland T1 - Dynamically multilayered visual system of the multifractal fly JF - Physical review letters Y1 - 2006 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.178102 SN - 0031-9007 VL - 97 IS - 17 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Balci, Kubilay A1 - Koch, Andreas A1 - Kleinpeter, Erich T1 - A comparative vibrational spectroscopic investigation of free mn-12S(2)O(2) and fn-12S(2)O(2) dithiacrown ethers based on DFT calculations N2 - A successful assignment for the fundamental bands observed in the experimental IR spectra of mn-12S(2)O(2) and fn-12S(2)O(2) dithiacrown ethers was achieved by the aid of the density functional theory (DFT) based quantum mechanical calculations carried out at the 133LYP/6-31G(d) and B3LYP/6-31 + G(d) level of theory. Two different scaling approaches, '(i) scaled quantum mechanics force field (SQM FF) methodology', and (ii) the 'scaling frequencies with dual empirical scale factors', were used in order to fit the calculated harmonic frequencies to the experimental ones. Potential energy distribution (PED) calculations were carried out to define the internal coordinate contributions to each normal mode and to define the corresponding normal modes of the molecules. The effects of the conformational differences onto the IR active normal modes of the two isomeric molecules and their corresponding experimental frequencies were discussed in the light of the calculated spectral data. Y1 - 2006 UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00222860 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molstruc.2005.10.048 SN - 0022-2860 ER - TY - BOOK A1 - Balan, Sakthin M. A1 - Jürgensen, Helmut T1 - Peptide computing : universality and theoretical model T3 - Preprint / Universität Potsdam, Institut für Informatik Y1 - 2006 SN - 0946-7580 VL - 2006, 1 PB - Univ. CY - Potsdam ER - TY - BOOK A1 - Balan, Sakthin M. A1 - Jürgensen, Helmut T1 - On the universality of peptide computing T3 - Preprint / Universität Potsdam, Institut für Informatik Y1 - 2006 SN - 0946-7580 VL - 2006, 9 PB - Univ. CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Baas, Timo A1 - Schrooten, Mechthild T1 - Relationship banking and SMEs: A theoretical analysis JF - Small business economics : an international journal N2 - Reliable information on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is rare and costly for financial intermediaries. Therefore relationship banking is often considered as the appropriate lending technique. In this paper we offer a theoretical model to analyze relationship banking and the pricing behavior of banks in a Bertrand competition framework with monitoring costs. We show that the lack of reliable information leads to comparable high interest rates even if a long-term relationship between borrower and bank exists. The paper offers a theoretical explanation why SMEs often are faced with borrowing constraints. KW - accounting KW - financial constraints KW - relationship banking KW - small and medium sized enterprises Y1 - 2006 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-006-0018-7 SN - 0921-898X VL - 27 SP - 127 EP - 137 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - THES A1 - Ba, Jianhua T1 - Nonaqueous synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles and their assembly into mesoporous materials T1 - Nichtwässrige Synthese von Metalloxid-Nanopartikeln und deren Anordnung zu mesoporösen Materialien N2 - This thesis mainly consist of two parts, the synthesis of several kinds of technologically interesting crystalline metal oxide nanoparticles via nonaqueous sol-gel process and the formation of mesoporous metal oxides using some of these nanoparticles as building blocks via evaporation induced self-assembly (EISA) technique. In the first part, the experimental procedures and characterization results of successful syntheses of crystalline tin oxide and tin doped indium oxide (ITO) nanoparticles are reported. SnO2 nanoparticles exhibit monodisperse particle size (3.5 nm in average), high crystallinity and particularly high dispersibility in THF, which enable them to become the ideal particulate precursor for the formation of mesoporous SnO2. ITO nanoparticles possess uniform particle morphology, narrow particle size distribution (5-10 nm), high crystallinity as well as high electrical conductivity. The synthesis approaches and characterization of various mesoporous metal oxides, including TiO2, SnO2, mixture of CeO2 and TiO2, mixture of BaTiO3 and SnO2, are reported in the second part of this thesis. Mesoporous TiO2 and SnO2 are presented as highlights of this part. Mesoporous TiO2 was produced in the forms of both films and bulk material. In the case of mesoporous SnO2, the study was focused on the high order of the porous structure. All these mesoporous metal oxides show high crystallinity, high surface area and rather monodisperse pore sizes, which demonstrate the validity of EISA process and the usage of preformed crystalline nanoparticles as nanobuilding blocks (NBBs) to produce mesoporous metal oxides. N2 - Diese Arbeit besteht hauptsächlich aus zwei Teilen. Der erste Teil befasst sich mit der Synthese von mehreren technologisch wichtigen, kristallinen Metalloxid-Nanopartikeln mittels nichtwässriger Sol-Gel Chemie. Der zweite Teil beinhaltet die Herstellung von mesoporösen Metalloxiden. Dabei wurden ausgewählte Nanopartikel als Bausteine verwendet und durch langsames Verdampfen des Lösungsmittels in die entsprechenden porösen Strukturen überführt. Das experimentelle Vorgehen wie auch die Charakterisierung der erfolgreich hergestellten Zinnoxid- und Indiumzinnoxid-Nanopartikel sind im ersten Teil beschrieben. Die Zinnoxid-Nanpartikel zeichnen sich durch einheitliche Partikelgrösse (im Durchschnitt ca. 3.5 nm), hoher Kristallinität, und guter Dispergierbarkeit in Tetrahydrofuran aus. Diese Eigenschaften machen aus den Zinnoxid-Nanopartikeln die perfekten Bausteine für den Aufbau von mesoporösem Zinnoxid. Die Indiumzinnoxid-Nanopartikel haben eine einheitliche Partikelform, eine schmale Grösseverteilung (5-10 nm), hohe Kristallinität wie auch gute elektrische Leitfähigkeit. Die Synthese und Charakterisierung von verschiedenen mesoporösen Metalloxiden wie TiO2, SnO2, Mischungen von CeO2 und TiO2, wie auch Mischungen von BaTiO3 und SnO2 werden im zweiten Teil der Arbeit diskutiert. Mesoporöses TiO2 und SnO2 werden als besonders gelungene Beispiele herausgehoben. Mesoporöses TiO2 wurde in Form von Dünnfilmen wie auch als Bulkmaterial hergestellt. Im Falle von SnO2 galt das Augenmerk vor allem der hohen Ordnung der Mesoporen. Alle diese mesoporösen Materialien zeigen eine hohe Kristallinität, grosse Oberfläche und relativ einheitliche Porengrössen. Diese Eigenschaften unterstreichen, wie wertvoll der Ansatz ist, vorgeformte Nanopartikel als Bausteine für die Synthese von porösen Materialien zu verwenden. KW - Nanopartikel KW - transparent-leitendes Oxid KW - Selbstorganisation KW - nanoparticles KW - oxides KW - assembly KW - mesostructure Y1 - 2006 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-10173 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Assmann, Birte A1 - Thiel, Marco A1 - Romano, Maria Carmen A1 - Niemitz, Carsten T1 - Recurrence plot analyses suggest a novel reference system involved in newborn spontaneous movements JF - Behavior research methods : a journal of the Psychonomic Society N2 - The movements of newborns have been thoroughly studied in terms of reflexes, muscle synergies, leg coordination, and target-directed arm/hand movements. Since these approaches have concentrated mainly on separate accomplishments, there has remained a clear need for more integrated investigations. Here, we report an inquiry in which we explicitly concentrated on taking such a perspective and, additionally, were guided by the methodological concept of home base behavior, which Ilan Golard developed for studies of exploratory behavior in animals. Methods from nonlinear dynamics, such as symbolic dynamics and recurrence plot analyses of kinematic data received from audiovisual newborn recordings, yielded new insights into the spatial and temporal organization of limb movements. In the framework of home base behavior, our approach uncovered a novel reference system of spontaneous newborn movements. Y1 - 2006 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03192793 SN - 1554-351X SN - 1554-3528 VL - 38 IS - 3 SP - 400 EP - 406 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Artstein, Ron A1 - Poesio, Massimo T1 - Identifying reference to abstract objects in dialogue N2 - In two experiments, many annotators marked antecedents for discourse deixis as unconstrained regions of text. The experiments show that annotators do converge on the identity of these text regions, though much of what they do can be captured by a simple model. Demonstrative pronouns are more likely than definite descriptions to be marked with discourse antecedents. We suggest that our methodology is suitable for the systematic study of discourse deixis. Y1 - 2006 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-10357 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Arcay, Diane A1 - Doin, Marie Pierre A1 - Tric, Emmanuel A1 - Bousquet, Romain A1 - de Capitani, Christian T1 - Overriding plate thinning in subduction zones : localized convection induced by slab dehydration N2 - In subduction zones, many observations indicate that the backarc thermal state is particularly hot and that the upper lithosphere is thin, even if no recent extension episode has occurred. This might result from free thermal convection favored by low viscosities in the hydrated mantle wedge. We perform 2-D numerical experiments of the convective mantle wedge interaction with both the downgoing slab and the overriding plate to test this hypothesis, explore its physical mechanism, and assess its dependencies on some relevant rock properties. Water transfers across the subducting plate and the mantle wedge are explicitly modeled by including in the calculation realistic hydration/ dehydration reaction boundaries for a water-saturated mantle and oceanic crust. The rheology is non-Newtonian and temperature-, pressure-, and water content-dependent. For low strength reduction associated to water content, the upper plate is locally thinned by an enhanced corner flow. For larger strength reductions, small convection cells rapidly thin the upper plate ( in less than 15 Myr) over the area in the overriding lithosphere hydrated by slab-derived water fluxes. As a result, the thinned region location depends on the subducting plate thermal state, and it increases with high convergence rates and low subduction dip angles. Other simulations are performed to test the sole effect of hydrous rock weakening on the upper plate/mantle convective interaction. They show that the thinning process is not influenced by the corner flow, but develops at the favor of a decoupling level induced by the formation of hydroxylated minerals inside the hydrated lithosphere. The erosion mechanism identified in these simulations allows us to explain the characteristic duration of erosion as a function of the hydrous strength reduction. We find that the presence of amphibole in the upper lithosphere in significant proportions is required down to a temperature of about 980 degrees C, corresponding to an initial depth of similar to 70 km, to strongly decrease the strength of the base of the lithosphere and trigger a rapid erosion (< 15 Myr). Y1 - 2006 UR - http://g-cubed.org/ U6 - https://doi.org/10.1029/2005gc001061 SN - 1525-2027 ER - TY - THES A1 - Arana-Ceballos, Fernando Alberto T1 - Biochemical and physiological studies of Arabidopsis thaliana Diacylglycerol Kinase 7 (AtDGK7) T1 - Biochemische physiologische Studien an der Arabidopsis thaliana Diazylglyzerol Kinase 7 (AtDGK7) N2 - A family of diacylglycerol kinases (DGK) phosphorylates the substrate diacylglycerol (DAG) to generate phosphatidic acid (PA) . Both molecules, DAG and PA, are involved in signal transduction pathways. In the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, seven candidate genes (named AtDGK1 to AtDGK7) code for putative DGK isoforms. Here I report the molecular cloning and characterization of AtDGK7. Biochemical, molecular and physiological experiments of AtDGK7 and their corresponding enzyme are analyzed. Information from Genevestigator says that AtDGK7 gene is expressed in seedlings and adult Arabidopsis plants, especially in flowers. The AtDGK7 gene encodes the smallest functional DGK predicted in higher plants; but also, has an alternative coding sequence containing an extended AtDGK7 open reading frame, confirmed by PCR and submitted to the GenBank database (under the accession number DQ350135). The new cDNA has an extension of 439 nucleotides coding for 118 additional amino acids The former AtDGK7 enzyme has a predicted molecular mass of ~41 kDa and its activity is affected by pH and detergents. The DGK inhibitor R59022 also affects AtDGK7 activity, although at higher concentrations (i.e. IC50 ~380 µM). The AtDGK7 enzyme also shows a Michaelis-Menten type saturation curve for 1,2-DOG. Calculated Km and Vmax were 36 µM 1,2-DOG and 0.18 pmol PA min-1 mg of protein-1, respectively, under the assay conditions. Former protein AtDGK7 are able to phosphorylate different DAG analogs that are typically found in plants. The new deduced AtDGK7 protein harbors the catalytic DGKc and accessory domains DGKa, instead the truncated one as the former AtDGK7 protein (Gomez-Merino et al., 2005). N2 - Wachstum und Entwicklung sind die Kennzeichen lebender Systeme. Diese Prozesse unterliegen einer strengen Regulation im Organismus. Diacylglycerol (DAG) und Phosphatidsäure (PA) sind wesentliche Elemente in der Signalübertragung in Organismen. In Säugetieren kann DAG auf drei verschiedenen Wegen metabolisiert werden, die Entstehung von PA durch Phosphorylierung der freien Hydroxyl-Gruppe von DAG ist jedoch der am häufigsten vorkommende Stoffwechselweg. Die enzymatische Umsetzung dieser Reaktion wird von der Familie der Diacylglycerol-Kinasen (DGKs) katalysiert. Molekulare und biochemische Untersuchungen konnten die Anwesenheit von DGKs in Drosophila melanogaster, Arabidopsis thaliana und jüngst auch in Dictyostelium discoideum zeigen. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird die Klonierung und Charakterisierung von AtDGK7 aus Arabidopsis thaliana präsentiert, einem Vertreter des pflanzlichen DGK-Clusters II. Das Transkript von AtDGK7 findet sich in der gesamten Pflanze, jedoch sind die Transkriptmengen in Blüten und jungem Gewebe stark erhöht. Rekombinant hergestelltes AtDGK7 ist katalytisch aktiv und akzeptiert DAG-ähnliche Moleküle mit mindestens einer ungesättigten Fettsäure als bevorzugtes Substrat. AtDGK2, ein weiteres Mitglied der DGK-Familie, und AtDGK7 metabolisieren Substrate, welche in Pflanzen physiologisch relevant sind. Das als DGK-Inhibitor beschriebene Molekül 6-{2-{4-[(4-fluorophenyl)phenylmethylene]-1-piperidinyl}ethyl}-7-methyl-5H-thiazolo(3,2-a)pyrimidine-5-one (R59022) inhibiert bei Konzentrationen von 50-100 µM rekombinant hergestelltes AtDGK2 in vitro. In ähnlichen Konzentrationen eingesetzt modifiziert R59022 das Wurzelwachstum. Dies weist darauf hin, dass DGKs in Entwicklungsprozessen eine Rolle spielen. In in vitro Experimenten wurde AtDGK7 von R59022 allerdings erst in Konzentrationen über 100 µM inhibiert. Ferner wird in der vorliegenden Arbeit die erfolgreiche Klonierung einer cDNA beschrieben, die für AtDGK7 aus A. thaliana kodiert und welche im Vergleich zu der bereits bekannten cDNA um 439 bp länger ist. Expressionsanalysen mit Hilfe eines Promotor-ß-glucuronidase (GUS) Fusions-Produktes zeigten die Aktivität von AtDGK7 in vielen Geweben, vor allem aber in Schließzellen, im Konnektiv-Gewebe der Antheren, sowie besonders in den Spitzen der Seitenwurzeln. Physiologische Untersuchungen unter abiotischem Stress (Verwendung verschiedener Konzentrationen von Stickstoff, Saccharose, Auxin und Inhibitoren von Auxin-Transportern) wurden mit AtDGK7 T-DNA-Insertionslinien sowie mit den Promotor-GUS-Linien durchgeführt. AtDGK7 T-DNA-Insertionslinien zeigten eine starke Inhibierung des Seitenwurzel-Wachstums unter limitierenden Stickstoff- und/oder Saccharose-Konzentrationen. In einigen der T-DNA-Insertionslinien inhibierte die Zugabe eines Inhibitors für Auxin-Transport (TIBA; 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid) die Bildung von Haupt- und Seitenwurzeln fast vollständig. Die Inhibition des Wurzelwachstums in den T-DNA-Insertionslinien konnte teilweise durch die Zugabe von 50nM NAA (α-naphtalene acetic acid) revertiert werden. Aus den vorliegenden Ergebnissen wird die Hypothese abgeleitet, dass AtDGK7 im Zusammenspiel mit Auxin in Signaltransduktionsprozessen eine Rolle spielt, welche das Wachstum und die Entwicklung in Pflanzen regulieren. KW - AtDGK gene KW - Diacylglycerol KW - Phosphatidsäure KW - Diacylglycerol-Kinasen KW - Signaltransduktionsprozesse KW - AtDGK genes KW - auxin KW - diacylglycerol KW - phosphatidic acid KW - signaling Y1 - 2006 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-13729 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Apio, Ann A1 - Plath, Martin A1 - Wronski, Torsten T1 - Patterns of gastrointestinal parasitic infections in the bushbuck Tragelaphus scriptus from the Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda JF - Journal of helminthology N2 - Seasonal, host sex and age-related variations in helminth egg and coccidian oocyst counts were investigated in a naturally infected wild bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus) population in Queen Elizabeth National Park, western Uganda from April 2000 to February 2002. The prevalence and mean intensity quantified as the number of eggs and oocysts per gram of faeces were taken as a measure of parasite burdens. Host sex and age-related differences in prevalence values were not found but the overall prevalence of Eimeria sp. was significantly higher during the rainy season, and peak counts were recorded either during or soon after a peak rainfall. A similar trend was observed for Moniezia spp., although the results were marginally not significant. There were also no significant differences in mean intensity values, relative to host sex, age or season. Y1 - 2006 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1076/JOH2006343 SN - 0022-149X VL - 80 IS - 3 SP - 213 EP - 218 PB - Univ. Press CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Apio, Ann A1 - Plath, Martin A1 - Wronski, Torsten T1 - Localised defecation sites : a tactic to avoid re-infection by gastro-intestinal tract parasites in bushbuck, Tragelaphus scriptus? N2 - Bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus) often deposit faeces at specific localised defecation sites (LDS). We tested whether LDS have a function in the context of parasite avoidance. In a population of bushbuck in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, seven radio-collared individuals were observed. We recorded feeding behaviour inside and outside LDS. Furthermore, pasture contamination with gastro-intestinal tract parasites inside and outside LDS was examined. There were significant differences between the expected and the observed feeding rates inside LDS, but, contrary to our prediction, the bushbuck increased their feeding rate inside LDS. There was no significant difference in the parasite contamination of pastures inside and outside LDS. We discuss the hypothesis that LDS mainly serve a social function in bushbuck communities, whereas parasite avoidance seems to play a minor or no role Y1 - 2006 UR - http://www.springerlink.com/content/105357 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-005-0166-2 SN - 0289-0771 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Anishchenko, Vadim S. A1 - Nikolaev, S A1 - Kurths, Jürgen T1 - Winding number locking on a two-dimensional torus : synchronization of quasiperiodic motions N2 - We propose a new autonomous dynamical system of dimension N=4 that demonstrates the regime of stable two- frequency motions and period-doubling bifurcations of a two-dimensional torus. It is shown that the period-doubling bifurcation of the two-dimensional torus is not followed by the resonance phenomenon, and the two-dimensional ergodic torus undergoes a period-doubling bifurcation. The interaction of two generators is also analyzed. The phenomenon of external and mutual synchronization of two-frequency oscillations is observed, for which winding number locking on a two- dimensional torus takes place Y1 - 2006 UR - http://pre.aps.org/ U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/Physreve.73.056202 SN - 1539-3755 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Anger, Christian A1 - Gebser, Martin A1 - Schaub, Torsten T1 - Approaching the core of unfounded sets Y1 - 2006 UR - http://www.cs.uni-potsdam.de/wv/pdfformat/angesc06a.pdf ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Anger, Christian A1 - Gebser, Martin A1 - Janhunen, Tomi A1 - Schaub, Torsten T1 - What's a head without a body? Y1 - 2006 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Andrianov, Ivan A1 - Saalfrank, Peter T1 - Free vibrational relaxation of H adsorbed on a Si(100) surface investigated with the multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree method JF - Chemical physics letters N2 - The results of a quantum-mechanical study of vibrational relaxation of hydrogen adsorbed on a Si(100) surface with the multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree (MCTDH) method are presented. A two-dimensional subsystem is coupled non-linearly to a bath of harmonic oscillators (phonons of the Si bulk), and the relaxation of subsystem vibrations proceeds primarily via a two-phonon process. Characteristic times of the system evolution agree well with our previous perturbation theory study. The vibrational population decay is non-exponential, exhibiting pronounced recurrences due to finite bath size. The dependence of the lifetimes of the vibrational levels on the bath size and on the coupling details is investigated. Y1 - 2006 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cplett.2006.11.067 SN - 0009-2614 VL - 433 SP - 91 EP - 96 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Andrianov, Ivan A1 - Saalfrank, Peter T1 - Theoretical study of vibration-phonon coupling of H adsorbed on a Si(100) surface N2 - In this paper a perturbation-theory study of vibrational lifetimes for the bending and stretching modes of hydrogen adsorbed on a Si(100) surface is presented. The hydrogen-silicon interaction is treated with a semiempirical bond-order potential. Calculations are performed for H-Si clusters of different sizes. The finite lifetime is due to vibration-phonon coupling, which is assumed to be linear or bilinear in the phonon and nonlinear in the H-Si stretching and bending modes. Lifetimes and vibrational transition rates are evaluated with one- and two-phonon processes taken into account. Temperature effects are also discussed. In agreement with the experiment and previous theoretical treatment it is found that the H-Si (upsilon(s)=1) stretching vibration decays on a nanosecond timescale, whereas for the H-Si (upsilon(b)=1) bending mode a picosecond decay is predicted. For higher-excited vibrations, simple scaling laws are found if the excitation energies are not too large. The relaxation mechanisms for the excited H-Si stretching and the H-Si bending modes are analyzed in detail. Y1 - 2006 UR - http://jcp.aip.org/ U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2161191 SN - 0021-9606 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Andresen, Katja A1 - Gronau, Norbert T1 - Managing Change : determining the adaptability of information systems Y1 - 2006 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Andresen, Heiko A1 - Grötzinger, Carsten A1 - Zarse, Kim A1 - Birringer, Marc A1 - Hessenius, Carsten A1 - Kreuzer, Oliver Johannes A1 - Ehrentreich-Förster, Eva A1 - Bier, Frank Fabian T1 - Peptide microarrays with site-specifically immobilized synthetic peptides for antibody diagnostics N2 - Peptide microarrays bear the potential to discover molecular recognition events on protein level, particularly in the field of molecular immunology, in a manner and with an efficiency comparable to the performance of DNA microarrays. We developed a novel peptide microarray platform for the detection of antibodies in liquid samples. The system comprises site-specific solution phase coupling of biotinylated peptides to NeutrAvidin, localized microdispensing of peptide-NeutrAvidin conjugates onto activated glass slides and a fluorescence immuno sandwich assay format for antibody capture and detection. Our work includes synthetic peptides deduced from amino acid sequences of immunodominant linear epitopes, such as the T7 phage capsid protein, Herpes simplex virus glycoprotein D, c-myc protein and three domains of the Human coronavirus 229E polymerase polyprotein. We demonstrate that our method produces peptide arrays with excellent spot morphology which are capable of specific and sensitive detection of monoclonal antibodies from fluid samples. Y1 - 2006 UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09254005 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2005.07.033 SN - 0925-4005 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Andresen, Heiko A1 - Grotzinger, Carsten A1 - Zarse, Kim A1 - Kreuzer, Oliver Johannes A1 - Ehrentreich-Förster, Eva A1 - Bier, Frank Fabian T1 - Functional peptide microarrays for specific and sensitive antibody diagnostics N2 - Peptide microarrays displaying biologically active small synthetic peptides in a high-density format provide an attractive technology to probe complex samples for the presence and/or function of protein analytes. We present a new approach for manufacturing functional peptide microarrays for molecular immune diagnostics. Our method relies on the efficiency of site-specific solution-phase coupling of biotinylated synthetic peptides to NeutrAvidin (NA) and localized microdispensing of peptide-NA-complexes onto activated glass surfaces. Antibodies are captured in a sandwich manner between surface immobilized peptide probes and fluorescence-labeled secondary antibodies. Our work includes a total of 54 peptides derived from immunodominant linear epitopes of the T7 phage capsid protein, Herpes simplex virus glycoprotein D, c-myc protein, and three domains of the Human coronavirus polymerase polyprotein and their cognate mAbs. By using spacer molecules of different type and length for NA-mediated peptide presentation, we show that the incorporation of a minimum spacer length is imperative for antibody binding, whereas the peptide immobilization direction has only secondary importance for antibody affinity and binding. We further demonstrate that the peptide array is capable of detecting low-picomolar concentrations of mAbs in buffered solutions and diluted human serum with high specificity Y1 - 2006 UR - http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/76510741 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/pmic.200500343 SN - 1615-9853 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Andert, Christoph U. A1 - Sanchaisuriya, Pattara A1 - Sanchaisuriya, Kanokwan A1 - Schelp, Frank P. A1 - Schweigert, Florian J. T1 - Nutritional status of pregnant women in Northeast Thailand N2 - A comparative study on the nutritional status of primiparous and multiparous women in the first trimester of pregnancy was conducted in the northeastern province of Thailand, Khon Kaen, to investigate differences in protein- energy-mal nutrition, iron deficiency anaemia, vitamin A deficiency and carotenoid status between both parity groups. 94 subjects were recruited at first attendance of antenatal clinic. Data about weight, height, haemoglobin and haematocrit were obtained from hospital records. Anthropometric measurements of mid-upper arm circumference and triceps skinfold were done on a sub sample. Retinol, carotenoids and alpha-tocopherol were analysed using a reversed-phase high- performance liquid chromatography method. Ferritin, transthyretin and retinol-binding protein were determined by enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay. Primiparous women showed lower body mass index, mid-upper arm circumference, corrected arm muscle area (P <0.001) as well as lower retinol, cholesterol and triceps skinfold (P <0.05). After adjusting for age and socio-economical status the significant difference persisted for all parameters but triceps skinfold. No significant differences of alpha-tocopherol, serum proteins, carotenoids and iron indices could be observed, even though a tendency to higher values for ferritin, haemoglobin and haematocrit was shown in multiparous women. Prevalence of protein-energy- malnutrition (body mass index <18.5 kg/m(2)) in the primiparous group was significantly higher compared to the multiparous group (P<0.05). Prevalence of protein-energy-malnutrition, iron deficiency anaemia and vitamin A deficiency were 15.1%, 6.3% and 3.3%, respectively, in the total study population. No differences between parity groups could be observed for prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia and vitamin A deficiency Y1 - 2006 UR - http://www.healthyeatingclub.com/APJCN/ SN - 0964-7058 ER -