TY  - THES
A1  - Adhikari, Rishi Ram
T1  - Quantification of total microbial biomass and metabolic activity in subsurface sediments
T1  - Quantification of total microbial biomass and metabolic activity in subsurface sediments
N2  - Metabolically active microbial communities are present in a wide range of subsurface environments. Techniques like enumeration of microbial cells, activity measurements with radiotracer assays and the analysis of porewater constituents are currently being used to explore the subsurface biosphere, alongside with molecular biological analyses. However, many of these techniques reach their detection limits due to low microbial activity and abundance. Direct measurements of microbial turnover not just face issues of insufficient sensitivity, they only provide information about a single specific process but in sediments many different process can occur simultaneously. Therefore, the development of a new technique to measure total microbial activity would be a major improvement. A new tritium-based hydrogenase-enzyme assay appeared to be a promising tool to quantify total living biomass, even in low activity subsurface environments. In this PhD project total microbial biomass and microbial activity was quantified in different subsurface sediments using established techniques (cell enumeration and pore water geochemistry) as well as a new tritium-based hydrogenase enzyme assay. By using a large database of our own cell enumeration data from equatorial Pacific and north Pacific sediments and published data it was shown that the global geographic distribution of subseafloor sedimentary microbes varies between sites by 5 to 6 orders of magnitude and correlates with the sedimentation rate and distance from land. Based on these correlations, global subseafloor biomass was estimated to be 4.1 petagram-C and ~0.6 % of Earth's total living biomass, which is significantly lower than previous estimates. Despite the massive reduction in biomass the subseafloor biosphere is still an important player in global biogeochemical cycles. To understand the relationship between microbial activity, abundance and organic matter flux into the sediment an expedition to the equatorial Pacific upwelling area and the north Pacific Gyre was carried out. Oxygen respiration rates in subseafloor sediments from the north Pacific Gyre, which are deposited at sedimentation rates of 1 mm per 1000 years, showed that microbial communities could survive for millions of years without fresh supply of organic carbon. Contrary to the north Pacific Gyre oxygen was completely depleted within the upper few millimeters to centimeters in sediments of the equatorial upwelling region due to a higher supply of organic matter and higher metabolic activity. So occurrence and variability of electron acceptors over depth and sites make the subsurface a complex environment for the quantification of total microbial activity. Recent studies showed that electron acceptor processes, which were previously thought to thermodynamically exclude each other can occur simultaneously. So in many cases a simple measure of the total microbial activity would be a better and more robust solution than assays for several specific processes, for example sulfate reduction rates or methanogenesis. Enzyme or molecular assays provide a more general approach as they target key metabolic compounds. Since hydrogenase enzymes are ubiquitous in microbes, the recently developed tritium-based hydrogenase radiotracer assay is applied to quantify hydrogenase enzyme activity as a parameter of total living cell activity. Hydrogenase enzyme activity was measured in sediments from different locations (Lake Van, Barents Sea, Equatorial Pacific and Gulf of Mexico). In sediment samples that contained nitrate, we found the lowest cell specific enzyme activity around 10^(-5) nmol H_(2) cell^(-1) d^(-1). With decreasing energy yield of the electron acceptor used, cell-specific hydrogenase activity increased and maximum values of up to 1 nmol H_(2) cell^(-1) d^(-1) were found in samples with methane concentrations of >10 ppm. Although hydrogenase activity cannot be converted directly into a turnover rate of a specific process, cell-specific activity factors can be used to identify specific metabolism and to quantify the metabolically active microbial population. In another study on sediments from the Nankai Trough microbial abundance and hydrogenase activity data show that both the habitat and the activity of subseafloor sedimentary microbial communities have been impacted by seismic activities. An increase in hydrogenase activity near the fault zone revealed that the microbial community was supplied with hydrogen as an energy source and that the microbes were specialized to hydrogen metabolism.
N2  - Mikrobielle Gesellschaften und ihre aktiven Stoffwechselprozesse treten in einer Vielzahl von Sedimenten unterschiedlichster Herkunft auf. In der Erforschung dieser tiefen Biosphäre werden derzeit Techniken wie Zellzählungen, Aktivitätsmessungen mit Radiotracer-Versuchen und Analysen der Porenwasserzusammensetzung angewendet, darüber hinaus auch molekularbiologische Analysen. Viele dieser Methoden stoßen an ihre Nachweisgrenze, wenn Sedimente mit geringer Zelldichte und mikrobieller Aktivität untersucht werden. Bei der Untersuchung von Stoffwechselprozessen mit herkömmlichen Techniken kommt dazu, dass von mehreren Prozessen, die zeitgleich ablaufen können, jeweils nur einer erfasst wird. Deswegen wäre die Entwicklung einer neuartigen Messtechnik für die gesamte mikrobielle Aktivität ein wesentlicher Fortschritt für die Erforschung der tiefen Biosphäre. Ein vielversprechender Ansatz, um die gesamte lebende Biomasse auch in Proben mit geringer Aktivität zu bestimmen, ist eine Hydrogenase-Enzym-Versuchsanordnung mit Tritium als quantifizierbarer Messgröße. In dieser Doktorarbeit wurde die gesamte mikrobielle Biomasse und Aktivität von unterschiedlichen Sedimentproben einerseits mit herkömmlichen Methoden (Zellzählungen, Analyse der Porenwasserzusammensetzung) als auch mit einer neu entwickelten Hydrogenase-Enzym-Versuchsanordnung quantifiziert. Mit einer großen Anzahl eigener Zellzählungsdaten von Sedimenten aus dem Äquatorialpazifik und dem Nordpazifik und ergänzenden publizierten Daten konnte gezeigt werden, dass Zellzahlen sich in ihrer globalen geographischen Verteilung je nach Bohrlokation um 5 bis 6 Größenordnungen unterscheiden. Dabei bestehen Korrelationen zur Sedimentationsrate und zur Entfernung zum Land, mit deren Hilfe sich die Gesamtbiomasse in Tiefseesedimenten zu 4,1 Petagramm-C abschätzen lässt. Das entspricht ~0,6 % der Gesamtbiomasse der Erde und ist damit erheblich weniger als in früheren Schätzungen angegeben. Trotz der Korrektur auf diesen Wert spielt die Biomasse der tiefen Biosphäre weiterhin eine erhebliche Rolle in biogeochemischen Kreisläufen. Um die Zusammenhänge zwischen Aktivität der Mikroben, der Häufigkeit ihres Auftretens und Zustrom von organischem Material zu verstehen, wurde eine Expedition ins Auftriebsgebiet des Äquatorialpazifiks und zum nordpazifischen Wirbel durchgeführt. Daten der Sauerstoffaufnahme in Sedimenten des nordpazifischen Wirbels, die mit Sedimentationsraten von 1 mm pro 1000 Jahren abgelagert werden, zeigen, dass mikrobielle Gesellschaften über Millionen von Jahren ohne Zufuhr von frischem organischen Kohlenstoff überleben konnten. Im Gegensatz zum nordpazifischen Wirbel wird in Sedimenten des äquatorialpazifischen Auftriebsgebiets Sauerstoff bei höherer mikrobieller Aktivität und Verfügbarkeit organischer Verbindungen oberflächennah in den ersten Milli- bis Zentimetern komplett umgesetzt. Auftreten und Variabilität von Elektronenakzeptoren nach Tiefe und Bohrlokation machen die tiefe Biosphäre zu einer komplexen Umgebung für die Quantifizierung der gesamten mikrobiellen Aktivität. Aktuelle Studien zeigen das verschiedene Elektronenakzeptorprozesse gleichzeitig ablaufen können, obwohl man bisher davon ausgegangen war, dass diese sich thermodynamisch ausschließen. In vielen Fällen wäre also eine einfache Methode zur Messung der gesamten mikrobiellen Aktivität eine bessere und verlässlichere Lösung aktueller Analyseaufgaben als Messungen mehrerer Einzelprozesse wie beispielsweise Sulfatreduktion und Methanogenese. Enzym-oder Molekular-Versuchsanordnungen sind ein prozessumfassender Ansatz, weil hier Schlüsselkomponenten der Stoffwechselprozesse untersucht werden. Das Hydrogenase-Enzym ist eine solche Schlüsselkomponente und in Mikroben allgegenwärtig. Deshalb kann die Quantifizierung seiner Aktivität mit der neu entwickelten Hydrogenase-Enzym-Versuchsanordnung als Parameter für die gesamte mikrobielle Aktivität der lebenden Zellen verwendet werden. Hydrogenase-Aktivitäten wurden in Sedimenten unterschiedlicher Lokationen (Vansee, Barentssee, Äquatorialpazifik, und Golf von Mexico) gemessen. In Sedimentproben, die Nitrat enthielten, haben wir mit ca. 10^(-5) nmol H_(2) cell^(-1) d^(-1) die geringste zellspezifische Hydrogenase-Aktivität gefunden. Mit geringerem Energiegewinn des genutzten Elektronenakzeptors steigt die zellspezifische Hydrogenase-Aktivität. Maximalwerte von bis zu 1 nmol H_(2) cell^(-1) d^(-1) wurden in Sedimentproben mit >10 ppm Methankonzentration gefunden. Auch wenn die Hydrogenase-Aktivität nicht direkt in die Umsatzrate eines spezifischen Prozesses konvertierbar ist, können zellspezifische Aktivitätsfaktoren verwendet werden, um die metabolisch aktive Mikrobenpopulation zu quantifizieren. In einer weiteren Studie mit Sedimenten des Nankai-Grabens zeigen Daten der Zelldichte und der Hydrogenase-Aktivität einen Einfluss von seismischen Ereignissen auf Lebensraum und Aktivität der mikrobiellen Gesellschaften. Ein Anstieg der Hydrogenase-Aktivität nahe der Verwerfungszone machte deutlich, dass die mikrobiellen Gesellschaften mit Wasserstoff als Energiequelle versorgt wurden und dass die Mikroben auf einen Wasserstoff-Stoffwechsel spezialisiert waren.
KW  - Hydrogenase
KW  - Tritium Versuchsanordnung
KW  - Untergrunduntersuchung der Biosphäre
KW  - Hydrogenase
KW  - Tritium Assay
KW  - Subsurface Biosphere
Y1  - 2013
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-67773
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Aguzzi, Jacopo
A1  - Costa, C.
A1  - Ketmaier, V.
A1  - Angelini, C.
A1  - Antonucci, F.
A1  - Menesatti, P.
A1  - Company, J. B.
T1  - Light-dependent genetic and phenotypic differences in the squat lobster Munida tenuimana (Crustacea: Decapoda) along deep continental margins
JF  - Progress in oceanography
N2  - The levels of environmental light experienced by organisms during the behavioral activity phase deeply influence the performance of important ecological tasks. As a result, their shape and coloring may experience a light-driven selection process via the day-night rhythmic behavior. In this study, we tested the phenotypic and genetic variability of the western Mediterranean squat lobster (Munida tenuimana). We sampled at depths with different photic conditions and potentially, different burrow emergence rhythms. We performed day-night hauling at different depths, above and below the twilight zone end (i.e., 700 m, 1200 m, 1350 m, and 1500 m), to portray the occurrence of any burrow emergence rhythmicity. Collected animals were screened for shape and size (by geometric morphometry), spectrum and color variation (by photometric analysis), as well as for sequence variation at the mitochondria] DNA gene encoding for the NADH dehydrogenase subunit I. We found that a weak genetic structuring and shape homogeneity occurred together with significant variations in size, with the smaller individuals living at the twilight zone inferior limit and the larger individuals above and below. The infra-red wavelengths of spectral reflectance varied significantly with depth while the blue-green ones were size-dependent and expressed in smaller animals, which has a very small spectral reflectance. The effects of solar and bioluminescence lighting are discussed as depth-dependent evolutionary forces likely influencing the behavioral rhythms and coloring of M. tenuimana.
Y1  - 2013
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2013.07.011
SN  - 0079-6611
VL  - 118
IS  - 4
SP  - 199
EP  - 209
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Oxford
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Akçay, Pinar
A1  - Düşer, Ece
A1  - Nozon, Hannes
A1  - Strehmel, Christian
T1  - Deepening understanding
JF  - Potsdamer geographische Praxis
N2  - 1. Introduction 2. What is deepening understanding and why do we need it? 3. Which concepts were offered to explainthe differences between countries? 4. Maps 5. Summary of the appreciation andperception of the student teachers 6. Summary of the appreciation and perception of the pupils
KW  - Europäische Werteerziehung
KW  - Familie
KW  - Lehrevaluation
KW  - Studierendenaustausch
KW  - Unterrichtseinheiten
KW  - Curriculum Framework
KW  - European values education
KW  - Family
KW  - lesson evaluation
KW  - student exchange
KW  - teaching units
KW  - curriculum framework
Y1  - 2013
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-65957
SN  - 2194-1599
SN  - 2194-1602
IS  - 3
SP  - 53
EP  - 59
PB  - Universitätsverlag Potsdam
CY  - Potsdam
ER  - 
TY  - BOOK
A1  - Al-Saffar, Loay Talib Ahmed
T1  - Where girls the role of boys in CS - attitudes of CS students in a female-dominated environment
Y1  - 2013
SN  - 978-3-86956-220-9
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Al-Saffar, Loay Talib Ahmed
T1  - Where girls take the role of boys in CS
BT  - attitudes of CS students in a female-dominated environment
JF  - Commentarii informaticae didacticae : (CID)
N2  - A survey has been carried out in the Computer Science (CS) department at the University of Baghdad to investigate the attitudes of CS students in a female dominant environment, showing the differences between male and female students in different academic years. We also compare the attitudes of the freshman students of two different cultures (University of Baghdad, Iraq, and the University of Potsdam).
Y1  - 2013
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-65034
SN  - 1868-0844
SN  - 2191-1940
IS  - 5
SP  - 149
EP  - 154
PB  - Universitätsverlag Potsdam
CY  - Potsdam
ER  - 
TY  - BOOK
A1  - Albert, Claudia
T1  - Ringvorlesung: Theodor-Fontane: Stadt und Text bei Theodor Fonane
T3  - Ringvorlesung: Theodor Fontane: Berlin-Brandenburg, Preußen-Deutschland, Europa und die Welt
Y1  - 2013
UR  - http://info.ub.uni-potsdam.de/multimedia/show_multimediafile.php?mediafile_id=501
PB  - Univ.-Bibl.
CY  - Potsdam
ER  - 
TY  - THES
A1  - Albrecht, Alexander
T1  - Understanding and managing extract-transform-load systems
Y1  - 2013
ER  - 
TY  - THES
A1  - Albrecht, Torsten
T1  - A dynamic memory of fracture processes in ice shelves
Y1  - 2013
CY  - Potsdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ali, Mostafa
A1  - Homann, Thomas
A1  - Khalil, Mahmoud
A1  - Kruse, Hans-Peter
A1  - Rawel, Harshadrai Manilal
T1  - Milk whey protein modification by coffee-specific phenolics effect on structural and functional properties
JF  - Journal of agricultural and food chemistry : a publication of the American Chemical Society
N2  - A suitable vehicle for integration of bioactive plant constituents is proposed. It involves modification of proteins using phenolics and applying these for protection of labile constituents. It dissects the noncovalent and covalent interactions of beta-lactoglobulin with coffee-specific phenolics. Alkaline and polyphenol oxidase modulated covalent reactions were compared. Tryptic digestion combined with MALDI-TOF-MS provided tentative allocation of the modification type and site in the protein, and an in silico modeling of modified beta-lactoglobulin is proposed. The modification delivers proteins with enhanced antioxidative properties. Changed structural properties and differences in solubility, surface hydrophobicity, and emulsification were observed. The polyphenol oxidase modulated reaction provides a modified beta-lactoglobulin with a high antioxidative power, is thermally more stable, requires less energy to unfold, and, when emulsified with lutein esters, exhibits their higher stability against UV light. Thus, adaptation of this modification provides an innovative approach for functionalizing proteins and their uses in the food industry.
KW  - coffee phenolic compounds
KW  - whey proteins
KW  - antioxidants
KW  - protein-phenol interactions
KW  - modeling
KW  - functionalizing proteins
Y1  - 2013
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1021/jf402221m
SN  - 0021-8561
VL  - 61
IS  - 28
SP  - 6911
EP  - 6920
PB  - American Chemical Society
CY  - Washington
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Aliu, E.
A1  - Archambault, S.
A1  - Arlen, T.
A1  - Aune, T.
A1  - Beilicke, M.
A1  - Benbow, W.
A1  - Bird, R.
A1  - Boettcher, Markus
A1  - Bouvier, A.
A1  - Bugaev, V.
A1  - Byrum, K.
A1  - Cesarini, A.
A1  - Ciupik, L.
A1  - Collins-Hughes, E.
A1  - Connolly, M. P.
A1  - Cui, W.
A1  - Dickherber, R.
A1  - Duke, C.
A1  - Dumm, J.
A1  - Errando, M.
A1  - Falcone, A.
A1  - Federici, Simone
A1  - Feng, Q.
A1  - Finley, J. P.
A1  - Finnegan, G.
A1  - Fortson, L.
A1  - Furniss, A.
A1  - Galante, N.
A1  - Gall, D.
A1  - Gillanders, G. H.
A1  - Griffin, S.
A1  - Grube, J.
A1  - Gyuk, G.
A1  - Hanna, D.
A1  - Holder, J.
A1  - Hughes, G.
A1  - Humensky, T. B.
A1  - Kaaret, P.
A1  - Kertzman, M.
A1  - Khassen, Y.
A1  - Kieda, D.
A1  - Krawczynski, H.
A1  - Krennrich, F.
A1  - Lang, M. J.
A1  - Madhavan, A. S.
A1  - Maier, G.
A1  - Majumdar, P.
A1  - McArthur, S.
A1  - McCann, A.
A1  - Moriarty, P.
A1  - Mukherjee, R.
A1  - Nelson, T.
A1  - de Bhroithe, A. O'Faolain
A1  - Ong, R. A.
A1  - Orr, M.
A1  - Otte, A. N.
A1  - Park, N.
A1  - Perkins, J. S.
A1  - Pichel, A.
A1  - Pohl, Martin
A1  - Popkow, A.
A1  - Prokoph, H.
A1  - Quinn, J.
A1  - Ragan, K.
A1  - Reyes, L. C.
A1  - Reynolds, P. T.
A1  - Roache, E.
A1  - Saxon, D. B.
A1  - Schroedter, M.
A1  - Sembroski, G. H.
A1  - Skole, C.
A1  - Smith, A. W.
A1  - Staszak, D.
A1  - Telezhinsky, Igor O.
A1  - Theiling, M.
A1  - Tyler, J.
A1  - Varlotta, A.
A1  - Vassiliev, V. V.
A1  - Wakely, S. P.
A1  - Weekes, T. C.
A1  - Weinstein, A.
A1  - Welsing, R.
A1  - Williams, D. A.
A1  - Zitzer, B.
T1  - Multiwavelenght observations and modeling of 1ES 1959+650 in a low flux state
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - We report on the VERITAS observations of the high-frequency peaked BL Lac object 1ES 1959+650 in the period 2007-2011. This source is detected at TeV energies by VERITAS at 16.4 standard deviation (sigma) significance in 7.6 hr of observation in a low flux state. A multiwavelength spectral energy distribution (SED) is constructed from contemporaneous data from VERITAS, Fermi-LAT, RXTE PCA, and Swift UVOT. Swift XRT data is not included in the SED due to a lack of simultaneous observations with VERITAS. In contrast to the orphan gamma-ray flare exhibited by this source in 2002, the X-ray flux of the source is found to vary by an order of magnitude, while other energy regimes exhibit less variable emission. A quasi-equilibrium synchrotron self-Compton model with an additional external radiation field is used to describe three SEDs corresponding to the lowest, highest, and average X-ray states. The variation in the X-ray spectrum is modeled by changing the electron injection spectral index, with minor adjustments of the kinetic luminosity in electrons. This scenario produces small-scale flux variability of the order of less than or similar to 2 in the high energy (E > 1MeV) and very high energy (E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray regimes, which is corroborated by the Fermi-LAT, VERITAS, and Whipple 10 m telescope light curves.
KW  - BL Lacertae objects: general
KW  - BL Lacertae objects: individual (1ES 1959+650=VER J1959+651)
KW  - galaxies: active
KW  - gamma rays: galaxies
Y1  - 2013
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/775/1/3
SN  - 0004-637X
VL  - 775
IS  - 1
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  -