TY  - JOUR
A1  - Caliendo, Marco
A1  - Goethner, Maximilian
A1  - Weißenberger, Martin
T1  - Entrepreneurial persistence beyond survival: Measurement and determinants
JF  - Journal of Small Business Management
N2  - Entrepreneurial persistence is demonstrated by an entrepreneur’s continued positive maintenance of entrepreneurial motivation and constantly renewed active engagement in a new business venture despite counterforces or enticing alternatives. It thus is a crucial factor for entrepreneurs when pursuing and exploiting their business opportunities and in realizing potential economic gains and benefits. Using rich data on a representative sample of German business founders, we investigated the determinants of entrepreneurial persistence. Next to observed survival, we also constructed a hybrid persistence measure capturing the motivational dimension of persistence. We analyzed the influence of individual-level (human capital and personality) and business-related characteristics on both measures as well as their relative importance. We found that the two indicators emphasize different aspects of persistence. For the survival indicator, the predictive power was concentrated in business characteristics and human capital, while for hybrid persistence the dominant factors were business characteristics and personality. Finally, we showed that results were heterogeneous across subgroups. In particular, formerly unemployed founders did not differ in survival chances, but they were more likely to lack a high psychological commitment to their business ventures.
KW  - entrepreneurship
KW  - startups
KW  - persistence
KW  - survival
Y1  - 2019
VL  - 58
IS  - 3
PB  - Taylor & Francis
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Naliboff, John B.
A1  - Glerum, Anne
A1  - Brune, Sascha
A1  - Péron-Pinvidic, G.
A1  - Wrona, Thilo
T1  - Development of 3-D rift heterogeneity through fault network evolution
JF  - Geophysical Research Letters
N2  - Observations of rift and rifted margin architecture suggest that significant spatial and temporal structural heterogeneity develops during the multiphase evolution of continental rifting. Inheritance is often invoked to explain this heterogeneity, such as preexisting anisotropies in rock composition, rheology, and deformation. Here, we use high-resolution 3-D thermal-mechanical numerical models of continental extension to demonstrate that rift-parallel heterogeneity may develop solely through fault network evolution during the transition from distributed to localized deformation. In our models, the initial phase of distributed normal faulting is seeded through randomized initial strength perturbations in an otherwise laterally homogeneous lithosphere extending at a constant rate. Continued extension localizes deformation onto lithosphere-scale faults, which are laterally offset by tens of km and discontinuous along-strike. These results demonstrate that rift- and margin-parallel heterogeneity of large-scale fault patterns may in-part be a natural byproduct of fault network coalescence.
KW  - magma-poor
KW  - continental lithosphere
KW  - extension
KW  - insights
KW  - margins
KW  - architecture
KW  - systems
KW  - models
KW  - sea
KW  - reactivation
Y1  - 2019
VL  - 47
IS  - 13
PB  - John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
CY  - New Jersey
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Zimmermann, Malte
A1  - De Veaugh-Geiss, Joseph P.
A1  - Tönnis, Swantje
A1  - Onea, Edgar
T1  - (Non-)exhaustivity in focus partitioning across languages
JF  - Approaches to Hungarian
N2  - We present novel experimental evidence on the availability and the status of exhaustivity inferences with focus partitioning in German, English, and Hungarian. Results suggest that German and English focus-background clefts and Hungarian focus share important properties, (É. Kiss 1998, 1999; Szabolcsi 1994; Percus 1997; Onea & Beaver 2009). Those constructions are anaphoric devices triggering an existence presupposition. EXH-inferences are not obligatory in such constructions in English, German, or Hungarian, against some previous literature (Percus 1997; Büring & Križ 2013; É. Kiss 1998), but in line with pragmatic analyses of EXH-inferences in clefts (Horn 1981, 2016; Pollard & Yasavul 2016). The cross-linguistic differences in the distribution of EXH-inferences are attributed to properties of the Hungarian number marking system.
KW  - clefts
KW  - definite pseudoclefts
KW  - Hungarian focus
KW  - exhaustivity
KW  - experimental evidence
KW  - semantics-pragmatics interface
Y1  - 2020
VL  - 16
PB  - John Benjamins
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Zwickel, Theresa
A1  - Kahl, Sandra M.
A1  - Rychlik, Michael
A1  - Müller, Marina E. H.
T1  - Chemotaxonomy of Mycotoxigenic Small-Spored Alternaria Fungi
BT  - Do Multitoxin Mixtures Act as an Indicator for Species Differentiation?
JF  - Frontiers in microbiology
N2  - Necrotrophic as well as saprophytic small-spored Altemaria (A.) species are annually responsible for major losses of agricultural products, such as cereal crops, associated with the contamination of food and feedstuff with potential health-endangering Altemaria toxins. Knowledge of the metabolic capabilities of different species-groups to form mycotoxins is of importance for a reliable risk assessment. 93 Altemaria strains belonging to the four species groups Alternaria tenuissima, A. arborescens, A. altemata, and A. infectoria were isolated from winter wheat kernels harvested from fields in Germany and Russia and incubated under equal conditions. Chemical analysis by means of an HPLC-MS/MS multi-Alternaria-toxin-method showed that 95% of all strains were able to form at least one of the targeted 17 non-host specific Altemaria toxins. Simultaneous production of up to 15 (modified) Altemaria toxins by members of the A. tenuissima, A. arborescens, A. altemata species-groups and up to seven toxins by A. infectoria strains was demonstrated. Overall tenuazonic acid was the most extensively formed mycotoxin followed by alternariol and alternariol mono methylether, whereas altertoxin I was the most frequently detected toxin. Sulfoconjugated modifications of alternariol, alternariol mono methylether, altenuisol and altenuene were frequently determined. Unknown perylene quinone derivatives were additionally detected. Strains of the species-group A. infectoria could be segregated from strains of the other three species-groups due to significantly lower toxin levels and the specific production of infectopyrone. Apart from infectopyrone, alterperylenol was also frequently produced by 95% of the A. infectoria strains. Neither by the concentration nor by the composition of the targeted Altemaria toxins a differentiation between the species-groups A. altemata, A. tenuissima and A. arborescens was possible.
KW  - small-spored Alternaria fungi
KW  - Alternaria species-groups
KW  - Alternaria mycotoxins
KW  - chemotaxonomy
KW  - secondary metabolite profiling
KW  - LC-MS/MS
KW  - wheat
KW  - perylene quinone derivatives
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01368
SN  - 1664-302X
VL  - 9
PB  - Frontiers Research Foundation
CY  - Lausanne
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Heger, Tina
A1  - Nikles, Gabriele
A1  - Jacobs, Brooke S.
T1  - Differentiation in native as well as introduced ranges
BT  - germination reflects mean and variance in cover of surrounding vegetation
JF  - AoB PLANTS
N2  - Germination, a crucial phase in the life cycle of a plant, can be significantly influenced by competition and facilitation. The aim of this study was to test whether differences in cover of surrounding vegetation can lead to population differentiation in germination behaviour of an annual grassland species, and if so, whether such a differentiation can be found in the native as well as in the introduced range. We used maternal progeny of Erodium cicutarium previously propagated under uniform conditions that had been collected in multiple populations in the native and two introduced ranges, in populations representing extremes in terms of mean and variability of the cover of surrounding vegetation. In the first experiment, we tested the effect of germination temperature and mean cover at the source site on germination, and found interlinked effects of these factors. In seeds from one of the introduced ranges (California), we found indication for a 2-fold dormancy, hindering germination at high temperatures even if physical dormancy was broken and water was available. This behaviour was less strong in high cover populations, indicating cross-generational facilitating effects of dense vegetation. In the second experiment, we tested whether spatial variation in cover of surrounding vegetation has an effect on the proportion of dormant seeds. Contrary to our expectations, we found that across source regions, high variance in cover was associated with higher proportions of seeds germinating directly after storage. In all three regions, germination seemed to match the local environment in terms of climate and vegetation cover. We suggest that this is due to a combined effect of introduction of preadapted genotypes and local evolutionary processes.
KW  - Bet-hedging
KW  - competition
KW  - eco-evolutionary experience
KW  - facilitation
KW  - genetic adaptation
KW  - physical and physiological dormancy
KW  - preadaptation
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/ply009
SN  - 2041-2851
VL  - 10
IS  - 1
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
CY  - Oxford
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hesse, Julia
A1  - Klier, Dennis Tobias
A1  - Sgarzi, Massimo
A1  - Nsubuga, Anne
A1  - Bauer, Christoph
A1  - Grenzer, Joerg
A1  - Hübner, Rene
A1  - Wislicenus, Marcus
A1  - Joshi, Tanmaya
A1  - Kumke, Michael Uwe
A1  - Stephan, Holger
T1  - Rapid Synthesis of Sub-10nm Hexagonal NaYF4-Based Upconverting Nanoparticles using Therminol((R))66
JF  - ChemistryOpen : including thesis treasury
N2  - We report a simple one-pot method for the rapid preparation of sub-10nm pure hexagonal (-phase) NaYF4-based upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs). Using Therminol((R))66 as a co-solvent, monodisperse UCNPs could be obtained in unusually short reaction times. By varying the reaction time and reaction temperature, it was possible to control precisely the particle size and crystalline phase of the UCNPs. The upconversion (UC) luminescence properties of the nanocrystals were tuned by varying the concentrations of the dopants (Nd3+ and Yb3+ sensitizer ions and Er3+ activator ions). The size and phase-purity of the as-synthesized core and core-shell nanocrystals were assessed by using complementary transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, X-ray diffraction, and small-angle X-ray scattering studies. In-depth photophysical evaluation of the UCNPs was pursued by using steady-state and time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy. An enhancement in the UC intensity was observed if the nanocrystals, doped with optimized concentrations of lanthanide sensitizer/activator ions, were further coated with an inert/active shell. This was attributed to the suppression of surface-related luminescence quenching effects.
KW  - core-shell materials
KW  - lanthanides
KW  - nanostructures
KW  - photoluminescence
KW  - upconversion
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/open.201700186
SN  - 2191-1363
VL  - 7
IS  - 2
SP  - 159
EP  - 168
PB  - Wiley-VCH
CY  - Weinheim
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Käch, Heidi
A1  - Mathe-Hubert, Hugo
A1  - Dennis, Alice B.
A1  - Vorburger, Christoph
T1  - Rapid evolution of symbiont-mediated resistance compromises biological control of aphids by parasitoids
JF  - Evolutionary applications
N2  - There is growing interest in biological control as a sustainable and environmentally friendly way to control pest insects. Aphids are among the most detrimental agricultural pests worldwide, and parasitoid wasps are frequently employed for their control. The use of asexual parasitoids may improve the effectiveness of biological control because only females kill hosts and because asexual populations have a higher growth rate than sexuals. However, asexuals may have a reduced capacity to track evolutionary change in their host populations. We used a factorial experiment to compare the ability of sexual and asexual populations of the parasitoid Lysiphlebus fabarum to control caged populations of black bean aphids (Aphis fabae) of high and low clonal diversity. The aphids came from a natural population, and one-third of the aphid clones harbored Hamiltonella defensa, a heritable bacterial endosymbiont that increases resistance to parasitoids. We followed aphid and parasitoid population dynamics for 3months but found no evidence that the reproductive mode of parasitoids affected their effectiveness as biocontrol agents, independent of host clonal diversity. Parasitoids failed to control aphids in most cases, because their introduction resulted in strong selection for clones protected by H.defensa. The increasingly resistant aphid populations escaped control by parasitoids, and we even observed parasitoid extinctions in many cages. The rapid evolution of symbiont-conferred resistance in turn imposed selection on parasitoids. In cages where asexual parasitoids persisted until the end of the experiment, they became dominated by a single genotype able to overcome the protection provided by H.defensa. Thus, there was evidence for parasitoid counteradaptation, but it was generally too slow for parasitoids to regain control over aphid populations. It appears that when pest aphids possess defensive symbionts, the presence of parasitoid genotypes able to overcome symbiont-conferred resistance is more important for biocontrol success than their reproductive mode.
KW  - aphids
KW  - Aphis fabae
KW  - biological control
KW  - defensive symbiosis
KW  - Hamiltonella defensa
KW  - Lysiphlebus fabarum
KW  - parasitoid
KW  - resistance
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.12532
SN  - 1752-4571
VL  - 11
IS  - 2
SP  - 220
EP  - 230
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Shi, Jun
A1  - Joshi, Jasmin Radha
A1  - Tielboerger, Katja
A1  - Verhoeven, Koen J. F.
A1  - Macel, Mirka
T1  - Costs and benefits of admixture between foreign genotypes and local populations in the field
JF  - Ecology and evolution
N2  - Admixture is the hybridization between populations within one species. It can increase plant fitness and population viability by alleviating inbreeding depression and increasing genetic diversity. However, populations are often adapted to their local environments and admixture with distant populations could break down local adaptation by diluting the locally adapted genomes. Thus, admixed genotypes might be selected against and be outcompeted by locally adapted genotypes in the local environments. To investigate the costs and benefits of admixture, we compared the performance of admixed and within-population F1 and F2 generations of the European plant Lythrum salicaria in a reciprocal transplant experiment at three European field sites over a 2-year period. Despite strong differences between site and plant populations for most of the measured traits, including herbivory, we found limited evidence for local adaptation. The effects of admixture depended on experimental site and plant population, and were positive for some traits. Plant growth and fruit production of some populations increased in admixed offspring and this was strongest with larger parental distances. These effects were only detected in two of our three sites. Our results show that, in the absence of local adaptation, admixture may boost plant performance, and that this is particularly apparent in stressful environments. We suggest that admixture between foreign and local genotypes can potentially be considered in nature conservation to restore populations and/or increase population viability, especially in small inbred or maladapted populations.
KW  - heterosis
KW  - inbreeding depression
KW  - local adaptation
KW  - Lythrum salicaria
KW  - outbreeding depression
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3946
SN  - 2045-7758
VL  - 8
IS  - 7
SP  - 3675
EP  - 3684
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Totz, Sonja Juliana
A1  - Eliseev, Alexey V.
A1  - Petri, Stefan
A1  - Flechsig, Michael
A1  - Caesar, Levke
A1  - Petoukhov, Vladimir
A1  - Coumou, Dim
T1  - The dynamical core of the Aeolus 1.0 statistical-dynamical atmosphere model
BT  - validation and parameter optimization
JF  - Geoscientific model development : an interactive open access journal of the European Geosciences Union
N2  - Here, we present novel equations for the large-scale zonal-mean wind as well as those for planetary waves. Together with synoptic parameterization (as presented by Coumou et al., 2011), these form the mathematical description of the dynamical core of Aeolus 1.0. The regions of high azonal wind velocities (planetary waves) are accurately captured for all validation experiments. The zonal-mean zonal wind and the integrated lower troposphere mass flux show good results in particular in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, the model tends to produce too-weak zonal-mean zonal winds and a too-narrow Hadley circulation. We discuss possible reasons for these model biases as well as planned future model improvements and applications.
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-665-2018
SN  - 1991-959X
SN  - 1991-9603
VL  - 11
IS  - 2
SP  - 665
EP  - 679
PB  - Copernicus
CY  - Göttingen
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Weithoff, Guntram
A1  - Taube, Anne
A1  - Bolius, Sarah
T1  - The invasion success of the cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii in experimental mesocosms
BT  - genetic identity, grazing loss, competition and biotic resistance
JF  - Aquatic Invasions
N2  - The potentially toxic, invasive cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, originating from sub-tropical regions, has spread into temperate climate zones in almost all continents. Potential factors in its success are temperature, light and nutrient levels. Grazing losses through zooplankton have been measured in the laboratory but are typically not regarded as a factor in (failed) invasion success. In some potentially suitable lakes, C. raciborskii has never been found, although it is present in water bodies close by. Therefore, we tested the invasive potential of three different isolates introduced into natural plankton communities using laboratory mesocosm experiments under three grazing levels: ambient zooplankton densities, removal of large species using 100 mu m mesh and a ca. doubling of large species. Three C. raciborskii isolates originating from the same geographic region (North-East Germany) were added separately to the four replicates of each treatment and kept in semi-continuous cultures for 21 days. Two isolates disappeared from the mesocosms and were also not viable in filtered lake water indicating that the lake water itself or the switch from culture medium to lake water led to the decay of the inoculated C. raciborskii. Only one out of the three isolates persisted in the plankton communities at a rather low level and only in the treatment without larger zooplankton. This result demonstrates that under potentially suitable environmental conditions, top-down control from zooplankton might hamper the establishment of C. raciborskii. Non-metric multidimensional scaling showed distinct variation in resident phytoplankton communities between the different grazing levels, thus differential grazing impact shaped the resident community in different ways allowing C. raciborskii only to invade under competitive (= low grazing pressure) conditions. Furthermore, even after invasion failure, the temporary presence of C. raciborskii influenced the phytoplankton community.
KW  - alien species
KW  - Cyanobacteria
KW  - competitive resistance
KW  - consumptive resistance
KW  - herbivory
KW  - harmful algae
KW  - microbial invasion
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3391/ai.2017.12.3.07
SN  - 1798-6540
SN  - 1818-5487
VL  - 12
SP  - 333
EP  - 341
PB  - Regional Euro-Asian Biological Invasions centre-reabic
CY  - Helsinki
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Vater, Aline
A1  - Moritz, Steffen
A1  - Roepke, Stefan
T1  - Does a narcissism epidemic exist in modern western societies?
BT  - Comparing narcissism and self-esteem in East and West Germany
JF  - PLOS ONE
N2  - Narcissism scores are higher in individualistic cultures compared with more collectivistic cultures. However, the impact of sociocultural factors on narcissism and self-esteem has not been well described. Germany was formerly divided into two different social systems, each with distinct economic, political and national cultures, and was reunified in 1989/90. Between 1949 and 1989/90, West Germany had an individualistic culture, whereas East Germany had a more collectivistic culture. The German reunification provides an exceptional opportunity to investigate the impact of sociocultural and generational differences on narcissism and self-esteem. In this study, we used an anonymous online survey to assess grandiose narcissism with the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) and the Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI) to assess grandiose and vulnerable aspects of narcissism, and self-esteem with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE) in 1,025 German individuals. Data were analyzed according to age and place of birth. Our results showed that grandiose narcissism was higher and self-esteem was lower in individuals who grew up in former West Germany compared with former East Germany. Further analyses indicated no significant differences in grandiose narcissism, vulnerable narcissism or self-esteem in individuals that entered school after the German reunification (≤ 5 years of age in 1989). In the middle age cohort (6–18 years of age in 1989), significant differences in vulnerable narcissism, grandiose narcissism and self-esteem were observed. In the oldest age cohort (> 19 years of age in 1989), significant differences were only found in one of the two scales assessing grandiose narcissism (NPI). Our data provides empirical evidence that sociocultural factors are associated with differences in narcissism and self-esteem.
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0188287
SN  - 1932-6203
VL  - 13
IS  - 1
PB  - Public Library of Science
CY  - San Fransisco
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Wolf, Isabell Ann-Cathrin
A1  - Gilles, Maria
A1  - Peus, Verena
A1  - Scharnholz, Barbara
A1  - Seibert, Julia
A1  - Jennen-Steinmetz, Christine
A1  - Krumm, Bertram
A1  - Rietschel, Marcella
A1  - Deuschle, Michael
A1  - Laucht, Manfred
T1  - Impact of prenatal stress on mother-infant dyadic behavior during the still-face paradigm
JF  - Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation : the official journal of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (NEA.BPD) and Dachverband Dialektisch Behaviorale Therapie (DDBT)
N2  - Background:
Mother-infant interaction provides important training for the infant’s ability to cope with stress and the development of resilience. Prenatal stress (PS) and its impact on the offspring’s development have long been a focus of stress research, with studies highlighting both harmful and beneficial effects. The aim of the current study was to examine the possible influence of both psychological stress and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity during pregnancy with mother-child dyadic behavior following stress exposure.
Methods:
The behavior of 164 mother-infant dyads during the still-face situation was filmed at six months postpartum and coded into three dyadic patterns: 1) both positive, 2) infant protesting-mother positive, and 3) infant protesting-mother negative. PS exposure was assessed prenatally according to psychological measures (i.e., psychopathological, perceived and psychosocial PS; n = 164) and HPA axis activity measures (maternal salivary cortisol, i.e., cortisol decline and area under the curve with respect to ground (AUCg); n = 134).
Results:
Mother-infant dyads in both the high- and low-stress groups showed decreasing positive and increasing negative dyadic behavior in the reunion episode, which is associated with the well-known “still-face” and “carry-over” effect. Furthermore, mother-infant dyads with higher psychosocial PS exhibited significantly more positive dyadic behavior than the low psychosocial PS group in the first play episode, but not in the reunion episode. Similarly, mother-infant dyads with high HPA axis activity (i.e. high AUCg) but steeper diurnal cortisol decline (i.e. cortisol decline) displayed significantly less negative behavior in the reunion episode than dyads with low HPA axis activity. No significant results were found for psychopathological stress and perceived stress.
Conclusions:
The results suggest a beneficial effect of higher psychosocial PS and higher prenatal maternal HPA axis activity in late gestation, which is in line with “stress inoculation” theories.
KW  - Prenatal stress
KW  - Face-to-face still-face paradigm
KW  - Resilience
KW  - Psychosocial stress
KW  - Cortisol
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-018-0078-8
SN  - 2051-6673
VL  - 5
PB  - BioMed Central
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bukowski, Alexandra R.
A1  - Schittko, Conrad
A1  - Petermann, Jana S.
T1  - The strength of negative plant-soil feedback increases from the intraspecific to the interspecific and the functional group level
JF  - Ecology and evolution
N2  - One of the processes that may play a key role in plant species coexistence and ecosystem functioning is plant-soil feedback, the effect of plants on associated soil communities and the resulting feedback on plant performance. Plant-soil feedback at the interspecific level (comparing growth on own soil with growth on soil from different species) has been studied extensively, while plant-soil feedback at the intraspecific level (comparing growth on own soil with growth on soil from different accessions within a species) has only recently gained attention. Very few studies have investigated the direction and strength of feedback among different taxonomic levels, and initial results have been inconclusive, discussing phylogeny, and morphology as possible determinants. To test our hypotheses that the strength of negative feedback on plant performance increases with increasing taxonomic level and that this relationship is explained by morphological similarities, we conducted a greenhouse experiment using species assigned to three taxonomic levels (intraspecific, interspecific, and functional group level). We measured certain fitness-related aboveground traits and used them along literature-derived traits to determine the influence of morphological similarities on the strength and direction of the feedback. We found that the average strength of negative feedback increased from the intraspecific over the interspecific to the functional group level. However, individual accessions and species differed in the direction and strength of the feedback. None of our results could be explained by morphological dissimilarities or individual traits. Synthesis. Our results indicate that negative plant-soil feedback is stronger if the involved plants belong to more distantly related species. We conclude that the taxonomic level is an important factor in the maintenance of plant coexistence with plant-soil feedback as a potential stabilizing mechanism and should be addressed explicitly in coexistence research, while the traits considered here seem to play a minor role.
KW  - Arabidopsis thaliana Col-0
KW  - home-away effect
KW  - intraspecific diversity
KW  - morphological similarities
KW  - dissimilarities of plants
KW  - plant-soil (belowground) interactions
KW  - species coexistence
KW  - taxonomic levels
KW  - trait measurements
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3755
SN  - 2045-7758
VL  - 8
IS  - 4
SP  - 2280
EP  - 2289
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Küçükgöze, Gökhan
A1  - Leimkühler, Silke
T1  - Direct comparison of the four aldehyde oxidase enzymes present in mouse gives insight into their substrate specificities
JF  - PLOS ONE
N2  - Mammalian aldehyde oxidases (AOXs) are molybdo-flavoenzymes which are present in many tissues in various mammalian species, including humans and rodents. Different species contain a different number of AOX isoforms. In particular, the reasons why mammals other than humans express a multiplicity of tissue-specific AOX enzymes is unknown. In mouse, the isoforms mAOX1, mAOX3, mAOX4 and mAOX2 are present. We previously established a codon-optimized heterologous expression systems for the mAOX1-4 isoforms in Escherichia coli that gives yield to sufficient amounts of active protein for kinetic characterizations and sets the basis in this study for site-directed mutagenesis and structure-function studies. A direct and simultaneous comparison of the enzymatic properties and characteristics of the four enzymes on a larger number of substrates has never been performed. Here, thirty different structurally related aromatic, aliphatic and N-heterocyclic compounds were used as substrates, and the kinetic parameters of all four mAOX enzymes were directly compared. The results show that especially mAOX4 displays a higher substrate selectivity, while no major differences between mAOX1, mAOX2 and mAOX3 were identified. Generally, mAOX1 was the enzyme with the highest catalytic turnover for most substrates. To understand the factors that contribute to the substrate specificity of mAOX4, site-directed mutagenesis was applied to substitute amino acids in the substrate-binding funnel by the ones present in mAOX1, mAOX3, and mAOX2. An increase in activity was obtained by the amino acid exchange M1088V in the active site identified to be specific for mAOX4, to the amino acid identified in mAOX3.
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0191819
SN  - 1932-6203
VL  - 13
IS  - 1
PB  - Public Library of Science
CY  - San Fransisco
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Lara, Mark J.
A1  - Nitze, Ingmar
A1  - Grosse, Guido
A1  - Martin, Philip
A1  - McGuire, A. David
T1  - Reduced arctic tundra productivity linked with landform and climate change interactions
JF  - Scientific reports
N2  - Arctic tundra ecosystems have experienced unprecedented change associated with climate warming over recent decades. Across the Pan-Arctic, vegetation productivity and surface greenness have trended positively over the period of satellite observation. However, since 2011 these trends have slowed considerably, showing signs of browning in many regions. It is unclear what factors are driving this change and which regions/landforms will be most sensitive to future browning. Here we provide evidence linking decadal patterns in arctic greening and browning with regional climate change and local permafrost-driven landscape heterogeneity. We analyzed the spatial variability of decadal-scale trends in surface greenness across the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska (similar to 60,000 km(2)) using the Landsat archive (1999-2014), in combination with novel 30 m classifications of polygonal tundra and regional watersheds, finding landscape heterogeneity and regional climate change to be the most important factors controlling historical greenness trends. Browning was linked to increased temperature and precipitation, with the exception of young landforms (developed following lake drainage), which will likely continue to green. Spatiotemporal model forecasting suggests carbon uptake potential to be reduced in response to warmer and/or wetter climatic conditions, potentially increasing the net loss of carbon to the atmosphere, at a greater degree than previously expected.
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-20692-8
SN  - 2045-2322
VL  - 8
PB  - Nature Publ. Group
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Dai, Xiaolin
A1  - Mate, Diana M.
A1  - Glebe, Ulrich
A1  - Garakani, Tayebeh Mirzaei
A1  - Körner, Andrea
A1  - Schwaneberg, Ulrich
A1  - Böker, Alexander
T1  - Sortase-mediated ligation of purely artificial building blocks
JF  - Polymers
N2  - Sortase A (SrtA) from Staphylococcus aureus has been often used for ligating a protein with other natural or synthetic compounds in recent years. Here we show that SrtA-mediated ligation (SML) is universally applicable for the linkage of two purely artificial building blocks. Silica nanoparticles (NPs), poly(ethylene glycol) and poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) are chosen as synthetic building blocks. As a proof of concept, NP-polymer, NP-NP, and polymer-polymer structures are formed by SrtA catalysis. Therefore, the building blocks are equipped with the recognition sequence needed for SrtA reaction-the conserved peptide LPETG-and a pentaglycine motif. The successful formation of the reaction products is shown by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-ToF MS), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The sortase catalyzed linkage of artificial building blocks sets the stage for the development of a new approach to link synthetic structures in cases where their synthesis by established chemical methods is complicated.
KW  - sortase-mediated ligation
KW  - enzymes
KW  - block copolymers
KW  - nanoparticles
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/polym10020151
SN  - 2073-4360
VL  - 10
IS  - 2
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Krapf, Diego
A1  - Marinari, Enzo
A1  - Metzler, Ralf
A1  - Oshanin, Gleb
A1  - Xu, Xinran
A1  - Squarcini, Alessio
T1  - Power spectral density of a single Brownian trajectory
BT  - what one can and cannot learn from it
JF  - New journal of physics : the open-access journal for physics
N2  - The power spectral density (PSD) of any time-dependent stochastic processX (t) is ameaningful feature of its spectral content. In its text-book definition, the PSD is the Fourier transform of the covariance function of X-t over an infinitely large observation timeT, that is, it is defined as an ensemble-averaged property taken in the limitT -> infinity. Alegitimate question is what information on the PSD can be reliably obtained from single-trajectory experiments, if one goes beyond the standard definition and analyzes the PSD of a single trajectory recorded for a finite observation timeT. In quest for this answer, for a d-dimensional Brownian motion (BM) we calculate the probability density function of a single-trajectory PSD for arbitrary frequency f, finite observation time T and arbitrary number k of projections of the trajectory on different axes. We show analytically that the scaling exponent for the frequency-dependence of the PSD specific to an ensemble of BM trajectories can be already obtained from a single trajectory, while the numerical amplitude in the relation between the ensemble-averaged and single-trajectory PSDs is afluctuating property which varies from realization to realization. The distribution of this amplitude is calculated exactly and is discussed in detail. Our results are confirmed by numerical simulations and single-particle tracking experiments, with remarkably good agreement. In addition we consider a truncated Wiener representation of BM, and the case of a discrete-time lattice random walk. We highlight some differences in the behavior of a single-trajectory PSD for BM and for the two latter situations. The framework developed herein will allow for meaningful physical analysis of experimental stochastic trajectories.
KW  - power spectral density
KW  - single-trajectory analysis
KW  - probability density function
KW  - exact results
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/aaa67c
SN  - 1367-2630
VL  - 20
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Goodwin, Guillaume C. H.
A1  - Mudd, Simon M.
A1  - Clubb, Fiona J.
T1  - Unsupervised detection of salt marsh platforms
BT  - a topographic method
JF  - Earth surface dynamics
N2  - Salt marshes filter pollutants, protect coastlines against storm surges, and sequester carbon, yet are under threat from sea level rise and anthropogenic modification. The sustained existence of the salt marsh ecosystem depends on the topographic evolution of marsh platforms. Quantifying marsh platform topography is vital for improving the management of these valuable landscapes. The determination of platform boundaries currently relies on supervised classification methods requiring near-infrared data to detect vegetation, or demands labour-intensive field surveys and digitisation. We propose a novel, unsupervised method to reproducibly isolate salt marsh scarps and platforms from a digital elevation model (DEM), referred to as Topographic Identification of Platforms (TIP). Field observations and numerical models show that salt marshes mature into subhorizontal platforms delineated by subvertical scarps. Based on this premise, we identify scarps as lines of local maxima on a slope raster, then fill landmasses from the scarps upward, thus isolating mature marsh platforms. We test the TIP method using lidar-derived DEMs from six salt marshes in England with varying tidal ranges and geometries, for which topographic platforms were manually isolated from tidal flats. Agreement between manual and unsupervised classification exceeds 94% for DEM resolutions of 1 m, with all but one site maintaining an accuracy superior to 90% for resolutions up to 3 m. For resolutions of 1 m, platforms detected with the TIP method are comparable in surface area to digitised platforms and have similar elevation distributions. We also find that our method allows for the accurate detection of local block failures as small as 3 times the DEM resolution. Detailed inspection reveals that although tidal creeks were digitised as part of the marsh platform, unsupervised classification categorises them as part of the tidal flat, causing an increase in false negatives and overall platform perimeter. This suggests our method may benefit from combination with existing creek detection algorithms. Fallen blocks and high tidal flat portions, associated with potential pioneer zones, can also lead to differences between our method and supervised mapping. Although pioneer zones prove difficult to classify using a topographic method, we suggest that these transition areas should be considered when analysing erosion and accretion processes, particularly in the case of incipient marsh platforms. Ultimately, we have shown that unsupervised classification of marsh platforms from high-resolution topography is possible and sufficient to monitor and analyse topographic evolution.
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-239-2018
SN  - 2196-6311
SN  - 2196-632X
VL  - 6
IS  - 1
SP  - 239
EP  - 255
PB  - Copernicus
CY  - Göttingen
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Roder, Phillip
A1  - Hille, Carsten
T1  - Local tissue manipulation via a force- and pressure-controlled AFM micropipette for analysis of cellular processes
JF  - Scientific reports
N2  - Local manipulation of complex tissues at the single-cell level is challenging and requires excellent sealing between the specimen and the micromanipulation device. Here, biological applications for a recently developed loading technique for a force-and pressure-controlled fluidic force microscope micropipette are described. This technique allows for the exact positioning and precise spatiotemporal control of liquid delivery. The feasibility of a local loading technique for tissue applications was investigated using two fluorescent dyes, with which local loading behaviour could be optically visualised. Thus, homogeneous intracellular distribution of CellTracker Red and accumulation of SYTO 9 Green within nuclei was realised in single cells of a tissue preparation. Subsequently, physiological micromanipulation experiments were performed. Salivary gland tissue was pre-incubated with the Ca2+-sensitive dye OGB-1. An intracellular Ca2+ rise was then initiated at the single-cell level by applying dopamine via micropipette. When pre-incubating tissue with the nitric oxide (NO)-sensitive dye DAF-FM, NO release and intercellular NO diffusion was observed after local application of the NO donor SNP. Finally, local micromanipulation of a well-defined area along irregularly shaped cell surfaces of complex biosystems was shown for the first time for the fluidic force microscope micropipette. Thus, this technique is a promising tool for the investigation of the spatiotemporal effects of locally applied substances in complex tissues.
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-24255-9
SN  - 2045-2322
VL  - 8
PB  - Nature Publ. Group
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Goychuk, Igor
T1  - Sensing magnetic fields with magnetosensitive ion channels
JF  - Sensors
N2  - Magnetic nanoparticles are met across many biological species ranging from magnetosensitive bacteria, fishes, bees, bats, rats, birds, to humans. They can be both of biogenetic origin and due to environmental contamination, being either in paramagnetic or ferromagnetic state. The energy of such naturally occurring single-domain magnetic nanoparticles can reach up to 10-20 room k(B)T in the magnetic field of the Earth, which naturally led to supposition that they can serve as sensory elements in various animals. This work explores within a stochastic modeling framework a fascinating hypothesis of magnetosensitive ion channels with magnetic nanoparticles serving as sensory elements, especially, how realistic it is given a highly dissipative viscoelastic interior of living cells and typical sizes of nanoparticles possibly involved.
KW  - magnetic nanoparticles
KW  - ion channels
KW  - viscoelastic effects and anomalous diffusion
KW  - non-exponential statistics
KW  - influence of weak magnetic fields on living systems
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/s18030728
SN  - 1424-8220
VL  - 18
IS  - 3
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kayhan, Ezgi
A1  - Matthes, Daniel
A1  - Marriott Haresign, Ira
A1  - Bánki, Anna
A1  - Michel, Christine
A1  - Langeloh, Miriam
A1  - Wass, Sam
A1  - Hoehl, Stefanie
T1  - DEEP: A dual EEG pipeline for developmental hyperscanning studies
JF  - Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
N2  - Cutting-edge hyperscanning methods led to a paradigm shift in social neuroscience. It allowed researchers to measure dynamic mutual alignment of neural processes between two or more individuals in naturalistic contexts. The ever-growing interest in hyperscanning research calls for the development of transparent and validated data analysis methods to further advance the field. We have developed and tested a dual electroencephalography (EEG) analysis pipeline, namely DEEP. Following the preprocessing of the data, DEEP allows users to calculate Phase Locking Values (PLVs) and cross-frequency PLVs as indices of inter-brain phase alignment of dyads as well as time-frequency responses and EEG power for each participant. The pipeline also includes scripts to control for spurious correlations. Our goal is to contribute to open and reproducible science practices by making DEEP publicly available together with an example mother-infant EEG hyperscanning dataset.
KW  - Developmental hyperscanning
KW  - Dual EEG analysis
KW  - Adult-child interaction
KW  - Phase Locking Value
KW  - PLV
KW  - Cross-frequency PLV
KW  - FieldTrip
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2022.101104
SN  - 1878-9307
VL  - 54
SP  - 1
EP  - 11
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam, Niederlande
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Costa Tomaz de Souza, Arthur
A1  - Ayzel, Georgy
A1  - Heistermann, Maik
T1  - Quantifying the location error of precipitation nowcasts
JF  - Advances in meteorology
N2  - In precipitation nowcasting, it is common to track the motion of precipitation in a sequence of weather radar images and to extrapolate this motion into the future. The total error of such a prediction consists of an error in the predicted location of a precipitation feature and an error in the change of precipitation intensity over lead time. So far, verification measures did not allow isolating the extent of location errors, making it difficult to specifically improve nowcast models with regard to location prediction. In this paper, we introduce a framework to directly quantify the location error. To that end, we detect and track scale-invariant precipitation features (corners) in radar images. We then consider these observed tracks as the true reference in order to evaluate the performance (or, inversely, the error) of any model that aims to predict the future location of a precipitation feature. Hence, the location error of a forecast at any lead time Delta t ahead of the forecast time t corresponds to the Euclidean distance between the observed and the predicted feature locations at t + Delta t. Based on this framework, we carried out a benchmarking case study using one year worth of weather radar composites of the German Weather Service. We evaluated the performance of four extrapolation models, two of which are based on the linear extrapolation of corner motion from t - 1 to t (LK-Lin1) and t - 4 to t (LK-Lin4) and the other two are based on the Dense Inverse Search (DIS) method: motion vectors obtained from DIS are used to predict feature locations by linear (DIS-Lin1) and Semi-Lagrangian extrapolation (DIS-Rot1). Of those four models, DIS-Lin1 and LK-Lin4 turned out to be the most skillful with regard to the prediction of feature location, while we also found that the model skill dramatically depends on the sinuosity of the observed tracks. The dataset of 376,125 detected feature tracks in 2016 is openly available to foster the improvement of location prediction in extrapolation-based nowcasting models.
KW  - inuosity
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8841913
SN  - 1687-9309
SN  - 1687-9317
VL  - 2020
PB  - Hindawi
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Grubic, Mira
A1  - Wierzba, Marta
T1  - The German additive particle noch
BT  - testing the role of topic situations
JF  - Glossa : a journal of general linguistics
N2  - The particle noch (‘still’) can have an additive reading similar to auch (‘also’). We argue that both particles indicate that a previously partially answered QUD is re-opened to add a further answer. The particles differ in that the QUD, in the case of auch, can be re-opened with respect to the same topic situation, whereas noch indicates that the QUD is re-opened with respect to a new topic situation. This account predicts a difference in the accommodation behavior of the two particles. We present an experiment whose results are in line with this prediction.
KW  - additive particles
KW  - noch
KW  - auch
KW  - German
KW  - topic situation
KW  - semantics
KW  - experiments
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.1275
SN  - 2397-1835
VL  - 6
IS  - 1
PB  - Ubiquity Press
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Malass, Ihsane
A1  - Tarkhanov, Nikolaj Nikolaevič
T1  - A perturbation of the de Rham complex
T1  - Возмущение комплекса де Рама
JF  - Journal of Siberian Federal University : Mathematics & Physics
JF  - Žurnal Sibirskogo Federalʹnogo Universiteta : Matematika i fizika
N2  - We consider a perturbation of the de Rham complex on a compact manifold with boundary. This perturbation goes beyond the framework of complexes, and so cohomology does not apply to it. On the other hand, its curvature is "small", hence there is a natural way to introduce an Euler characteristic and develop a Lefschetz theory for the perturbation. This work is intended as an attempt to develop a cohomology theory for arbitrary sequences of linear mappings.
N2  - Рассмотрим возмущение комплекса де Рама на компактном многообразии с краем. Это возмущение выходит за рамки комплексов, и поэтому когомологии к нему не относятся. С другой стороны, его кривизна "мала", поэтому существует естественный способ ввести характеристику Эйлера и разработать теорию Лефшеца для возмущения. Данная работа предназначена для попытки разработать теорию когомологий для произвольных последовательностей линейных отображений.
KW  - de Rham complex
KW  - cohomology
KW  - Hodge theory
KW  - Neumann problem
KW  - комплекс де Рама
KW  - когомологии
KW  - теория Ходжа
KW  - проблема Неймана
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.17516/1997-1397-2020-13-5-519-532
SN  - 1997-1397
SN  - 2313-6022
VL  - 13
IS  - 5
SP  - 519
EP  - 532
PB  - Siberian Federal University
CY  - Krasnojarsk
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Tiedemann, Kim
A1  - Iobbi-Nivol, Chantal
A1  - Leimkühler, Silke
T1  - The Role of the Nucleotides in the Insertion of the bis-Molybdopterin Guanine Dinucleotide Cofactor into apo-Molybdoenzymes
JF  - Molecules
N2  - The role of the GMP nucleotides of the bis-molybdopterin guanine dinucleotide (bis-MGD) cofactor of the DMSO reductase family has long been a subject of discussion. The recent characterization of the bis-molybdopterin (bis-Mo-MPT) cofactor present in the E. coli YdhV protein, which differs from bis-MGD solely by the absence of the nucleotides, now enables studying the role of the nucleotides of bis-MGD and bis-MPT cofactors in Moco insertion and the activity of molybdoenzymes in direct comparison. Using the well-known E. coli TMAO reductase TorA as a model enzyme for cofactor insertion, we were able to show that the GMP nucleotides of bis-MGD are crucial for the insertion of the bis-MGD cofactor into apo-TorA.
KW  - bis-MGD
KW  - chaperone
KW  - molybdenum cofactor
KW  - TMAO reductase
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27092993
SN  - 1420-3049
VL  - 27
SP  - 1
EP  - 15
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel, Schweiz
ET  - 9
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ouergui, Ibrahim
A1  - Delleli, Slaheddine
A1  - Bouassida, Anissa
A1  - Bouhlel, Ezdine
A1  - Chaabene, Helmi
A1  - Ardigò, Luca Paolo
A1  - Franchini, Emerson
T1  - Technical-tactical analysis of small combat games in male kickboxers
BT  - Effects of varied number of opponents and area size
JF  - BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation
N2  - Background: To handle the competition demands, sparring drills are used for specific technical–tactical training as well as physical–physiological conditioning in combat sports. While the effects of different area sizes and number of within-round sparring partners on physiological and perceptive responses in combats sports were examined in previous studies, technical and tactical aspects were not investigated. This study investigated the effect of different within-round sparring partners number (i.e., at a time; 1 vs. 1, 1 vs. 2, and 1 vs. 4) and area sizes (2 m × 2 m, 4 m × 4 m, and 6 m × 6 m) variation on the technical–tactical aspects of small combat games in kickboxing.

Method: Twenty male kickboxers (mean ± standard deviation, age: 20.3 ± 0.9 years), regularly competing in regional and national events randomly performed nine different kickboxing combats, lasting 2 min each. All combats were video recorded and analyzed using the software Dartfish.

Results: Results showed that the total number of punches was significantly higher in 1 versus 4 compared with 1 versus 1 (p = 0.011, d = 0.83). Further, the total number of kicks was significantly higher in 1 versus 4 compared with 1 versus 1 and 1 versus 2 (p < 0.001; d = 0.99 and d = 0.83, respectively). Moreover, the total number of kick combinations was significantly higher in 1 versus 4 compared with 1 versus 1 and 1 versus 2 (p < 0.001; d = 1.05 and d = 0.95, respectively). The same outcome was significantly lower in 2 m × 2 m compared with 4 m × 4 m and 6 m × 6 m areas (p = 0.010 and d = − 0.45; p < 0.001 and d = − 0.6, respectively). The number of block-and-parry was significantly higher in 1 versus 4 compared with 1 versus 1 (p < 0.001, d = 1.45) and 1 versus 2 (p = 0.046, d = 0.61) and in 2 m × 2 m compared with 4 m × 4 m and 6 × 6 m areas (p < 0.001; d = 0.47 and d = 0.66, respectively). Backwards lean actions occurred more often in 2 m × 2 m compared with 4 m × 4 m (p = 0.009, d = 0.53) and 6 m × 6 m (p = 0.003, d = 0.60). However, the number of foot defenses was significantly lower in 2 m × 2 m compared with 6 m × 6 m (p < 0.001, d = 1.04) and 4 m × 4 m (p = 0.004, d = 0.63). Additionally, the number of clinches was significantly higher in 1 versus 1 compared with 1 versus 2 (p = 0.002, d = 0.7) and 1 versus 4 (p = 0.034, d = 0.45).

Conclusions: This study provides practical insights into how to manipulate within-round sparring partners’ number and/or area size to train specific kickboxing technical–tactical fundamentals.
KW  - Martial arts
KW  - Time-motion analysis
KW  - Punch
KW  - Kick
KW  - Defensive actions
Y1  - 2021
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-021-00391-0
SN  - 2052-1847
N1  - Luca Paolo Ardigò and Emerson Franchini have contributed equally to this work.
IS  - 13
PB  - Springer Nature
CY  - Berlin
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Abdalla, Hassan E.
A1  - Adam, Remi
A1  - Aharonian, Felix A.
A1  - Benkhali, Faical Ait
A1  - Angüner, Ekrem Oǧuzhan
A1  - Arakawa, Masanori
A1  - Arcaro, C
A1  - Armand, Catherine
A1  - Armstrong, T.
A1  - Egberts, Kathrin
T1  - Very high energy γ-ray emission from two blazars of unknown redshift and upper limits on their distance
JF  - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
N2  - We report on the detection of very high energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray emission from the BL Lac objects KUV 00311-1938 and PKS 1440-389 with the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.). H.E.S.S. observations were accompanied or preceded by multiwavelength observations with Fermi/LAT, XRT and UVOT onboard the Swift satellite, and ATOM. Based on an extrapolation of the Fermi/LAT spectrum towards the VHE gamma-ray regime, we deduce a 95 per cent confidence level upper limit on the unknown redshift of KUV 00311-1938 of z < 0.98 and of PKS 1440-389 of z < 0.53. When combined with previous spectroscopy results, the redshift of KUV 00311-1938 is constrained to 0.51 <= z < 0.98 and of PKS 1440-389 to 0.14 (sic) z < 0.53.
KW  - BL Lacertae objects: individual
KW  - galaxies: high-redshift
KW  - gamma-rays: general
KW  - Resolved and unresolved sources as a function of wavelength
Y1  - 2020
VL  - 494
IS  - 4
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Oxford
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Weithoff, Guntram
A1  - Bell, Elanor Margaret
T1  - Complex Trophic Interactions in an Acidophilic Microbial Community
JF  - Microorganisms
N2  - Extreme habitats often harbor specific communities that differ substantially from non-extreme habitats. In many cases, these communities are characterized by archaea, bacteria and protists, whereas the number of species of metazoa and higher plants is relatively low. In extremely acidic habitats, mostly prokaryotes and protists thrive, and only very few metazoa thrive, for example, rotifers. Since many studies have investigated the physiology and ecology of individual species, there is still a gap in research on direct, trophic interactions among extremophiles. To fill this gap, we experimentally studied the trophic interactions between a predatory protist (Actinophrys sol, Heliozoa) and its prey, the rotifers Elosa woralli and Cephalodella sp., the ciliate Urosomoida sp. and the mixotrophic protist Chlamydomonas acidophila (a green phytoflagellate, Chlorophyta). We found substantial predation pressure on all animal prey. High densities of Chlamydomonas acidophila reduced the predation impact on the rotifers by interfering with the feeding behaviour of A. sol. These trophic relations represent a natural case of intraguild predation, with Chlamydomonas acidophila being the common prey and the rotifers/ciliate and A. sol being the intraguild prey and predator, respectively. We further studied this intraguild predation along a resource gradient using Cephalodella sp. as the intraguild prey. The interactions among the three species led to an increase in relative rotifer abundance with increasing resource (Chlamydomonas) densities. By applying a series of laboratory experiments, we revealed the complexity of trophic interactions within a natural extremophilic community.
KW  - acid mine drainage
KW  - extremophiles
KW  - food web
KW  - heliozoa
KW  - intraguild predation
KW  - mining lakes
KW  - Rotifera
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10071340
SN  - 2076-2607
VL  - 10
SP  - 1
EP  - 10
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel, Schweiz
ET  - 7
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Prasse, Paul
A1  - Iversen, Pascal
A1  - Lienhard, Matthias
A1  - Thedinga, Kristina
A1  - Herwig, Ralf
A1  - Scheffer, Tobias
T1  - Pre-Training on In Vitro and Fine-Tuning on Patient-Derived Data Improves Deep Neural Networks for Anti-Cancer Drug-Sensitivity Prediction
JF  - MDPI
N2  - Large-scale databases that report the inhibitory capacities of many combinations of candidate drug compounds and cultivated cancer cell lines have driven the development of preclinical drug-sensitivity models based on machine learning. However, cultivated cell lines have devolved from human cancer cells over years or even decades under selective pressure in culture conditions. Moreover, models that have been trained on in vitro data cannot account for interactions with other types of cells. Drug-response data that are based on patient-derived cell cultures, xenografts, and organoids, on the other hand, are not available in the quantities that are needed to train high-capacity machine-learning models. We found that pre-training deep neural network models of drug sensitivity on in vitro drug-sensitivity databases before fine-tuning the model parameters on patient-derived data improves the models’ accuracy and improves the biological plausibility of the features, compared to training only on patient-derived data. From our experiments, we can conclude that pre-trained models outperform models that have been trained on the target domains in the vast majority of cases.
KW  - deep neural networks
KW  - drug-sensitivity prediction
KW  - anti-cancer drugs
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14163950
SN  - 2072-6694
VL  - 14
SP  - 1
EP  - 14
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel, Schweiz
ET  - 16
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Raju, Rajarshi Roy
A1  - Koetz, Joachim
T1  - Inner rotation of Pickering Janus emulsions
JF  - Nanomaterials : open access journal
N2  - Janus droplets were prepared by vortex mixing of three non-mixable liquids, i.e., olive oil, silicone oil and water, in the presence of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in the aqueous phase and magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs) in the olive oil. The resulting Pickering emulsions were stabilized by a red-colored AuNP layer at the olive oil/water interface and MNPs at the oil/oil interface. The core–shell droplets can be stimulated by an external magnetic field. Surprisingly, an inner rotation of the silicon droplet is observed when MNPs are fixed at the inner silicon droplet interface. This is the first example of a controlled movement of the inner parts of complex double emulsions by magnetic manipulation via interfacially confined magnetic nanoparticles.
KW  - Janus droplets
KW  - Pickering emulsions
KW  - magnetic manipulation
KW  - gold nanoparticles
KW  - magnetite nanoparticles
Y1  - 2021
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11123312
SN  - 2079-4991
VL  - 11
IS  - 12
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Fuchs, Matthias
A1  - Grosse, Guido
A1  - Strauss, Jens
A1  - Günther, Frank
A1  - Grigoriev, Mikhail N.
A1  - Maximov, Georgy M.
A1  - Hugelius, Gustaf
T1  - Carbon and nitrogen pools in thermokarst-affected permafrost landscapes in Arctic Siberia
JF  - Biogeosciences
N2  - Ice-rich yedoma-dominated landscapes store considerable amounts of organic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) and are vulnerable to degradation under climate warming. We investigate the C and N pools in two thermokarst-affected yedoma landscapes - on Sobo-Sise Island and on Bykovsky Peninsula in the north of eastern Siberia. Soil cores up to 3m depth were collected along geomorphic gradients and analysed for organic C and N contents. A high vertical sampling density in the profiles allowed the calculation of C and N stocks for short soil column intervals and enhanced understanding of within-core parameter variability. Profile-level C and N stocks were scaled to the landscape level based on landform classifications from 5 m resolution, multispectral RapidEye satellite imagery. Mean landscape C and N storage in the first metre of soil for Sobo-Sise Island is estimated to be 20.2 kg C m(-2) and 1.8 kg N m(-2) and for Bykovsky Peninsula 25.9 kg C m(-2) and 2.2 kg N m(-2). Radiocarbon dating demonstrates the Holocene age of thermokarst basin deposits but also suggests the presence of thick Holoceneage cover layers which can reach up to 2 m on top of intact yedoma landforms. Reconstructed sedimentation rates of 0.10-0.57 mm yr(-1) suggest sustained mineral soil accumulation across all investigated landforms. Both yedoma and thermokarst landforms are characterized by limited accumulation of organic soil layers (peat). We further estimate that an active layer deepening of about 100 cm will increase organic C availability in a seasonally thawed state in the two study areas by similar to 5.8 Tg (13.2 kg C m(-2)). Our study demonstrates the importance of increasing the number of C and N storage inventories in ice-rich yedoma and thermokarst environments in order to account for high variability of permafrost and thermokarst environments in pan-permafrost soil C and N pool estimates.
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-953-2018
SN  - 1726-4170
SN  - 1726-4189
VL  - 15
IS  - 3
SP  - 953
EP  - 971
PB  - Copernicus
CY  - Göttingen
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Sauermann, Antje
A1  - Höhle, Barbara
T1  - Word order in German child language and child-directed speech
BT  - a corpus analysis on the ordering of double objects in the German middlefield
JF  - Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics
N2  - We report two corpus analyses to examine the impact of animacy, definiteness, givenness and type of referring expression on the ordering of double objects in the spontaneous speech of German-speaking two- to four-year-old children and the child-directed speech of their mothers. The first corpus analysis revealed that definiteness, givenness and type of referring expression influenced word order variation in child language and child-directed speech when the type of referring expression distinguished between pronouns and lexical noun phrases. These results correspond to previous child language studies in English (e.g., de Marneffe et al. 2012). Extending the scope of previous studies, our second corpus analysis examined the role of different pronoun types on word order. It revealed that word order in child language and child-directed speech was predictable from the types of pronouns used. Different types of pronouns were associated with different sentence positions but also showed a strong correlation to givenness and definiteness. Yet, the distinction between pronoun types diminished the effects of givenness so that givenness had an independent impact on word order only in child-directed speech but not in child language. Our results support a multi-factorial approach to word order in German. Moreover, they underline the strong impact of the type of referring expression on word order and suggest that it plays a crucial role in the acquisition of the factors influencing word order variation.
KW  - German
KW  - word order
KW  - corpus study
KW  - language acquisition
KW  - information structure
KW  - referring expression
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.281
SN  - 2397-1835
VL  - 3
IS  - 1
PB  - Ubiquity Press LTD
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Badalyan, Artavazd
A1  - Dierich, Marlen
A1  - Stiba, Konstanze
A1  - Schwuchow, Viola
A1  - Leimkühler, Silke
A1  - Wollenberger, Ulla
T1  - Electrical wiring of the aldehyde oxidoreductase PaoABC with a polymer containing osmium redox centers
BT  - biosensors for benzaldehyde and GABA
JF  - Biosensors
N2  - Biosensors for the detection of benzaldehyde and g-aminobutyric acid (GABA) are reported using aldehyde oxidoreductase PaoABC from Escherichia coli immobilized in a polymer containing bound low potential osmium redox complexes. The electrically connected enzyme already electrooxidizes benzaldehyde at potentials below −0.15 V (vs. Ag|AgCl, 1 M KCl). The pH-dependence of benzaldehyde oxidation can be strongly influenced by the ionic strength. The effect is similar with the soluble osmium redox complex and therefore indicates a clear electrostatic effect on the bioelectrocatalytic efficiency of PaoABC in the osmium containing redox polymer. At lower ionic strength, the pH-optimum is high and can be switched to low pH-values at high ionic strength. This offers biosensing at high and low pH-values. A “reagentless” biosensor has been formed with enzyme wired onto a screen-printed electrode in a flow cell device. The response time to addition of benzaldehyde is 30 s, and the measuring range is between 10–150 µM and the detection limit of 5 µM (signal to noise ratio 3:1) of benzaldehyde. The relative standard deviation in a series (n = 13) for 200 µM benzaldehyde is 1.9%. For the biosensor, a response to succinic semialdehyde was also identified. Based on this response and the ability to work at high pH a biosensor for GABA is proposed by coimmobilizing GABA-aminotransferase (GABA-T) and PaoABC in the osmium containing redox polymer.
KW  - redox polymer
KW  - aldehyde oxidoreductase
KW  - ionic strength
KW  - benzaldehyde
KW  - GABA
KW  - biosensor
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/bios4040403
VL  - 4
IS  - 4
SP  - 403
EP  - 421
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Oguntunde, Philip G.
A1  - Abiodun, Babatunde Joseph
A1  - Lischeid, Gunnar
A1  - Abatan, Abayomi A.
T1  - Droughts projection over the Niger and Volta River basins of West Africa at specific global warming levels
JF  - International Journal of Climatology
N2  - This study investigates possible impacts of four global warming levels (GWLs: GWL1.5, GWL2.0, GWL2.5, and GWL3.0) on drought characteristics over Niger River basin (NRB) and Volta River basin (VRB). Two drought indices-Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI)-were employed in characterizing droughts in 20 multi-model simulation outputs from the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX). The performance of the simulation in reproducing basic hydro-climatological features and severe drought characteristics (i.e., magnitude and frequency) in the basins were evaluated. The projected changes in the future drought frequency were quantified and compared under the four GWLs for two climate forcing scenarios (RCP8.5 and RCP4.5). The regional climate model (RCM) ensemble gives a realistic simulation of historical hydro-climatological variables needed to calculate the drought indices. With SPEI, the simulation ensemble projects an increase in the magnitude and frequency of severe droughts over both basins (NRB and VRB) at all GWLs, but the increase, which grows with the GWLs, is higher over NRB than over VRB. More than 75% of the simulations agree on the projected increase at GWL1.5 and all simulations agree on the increase at higher GWLs. With SPI, the projected changes in severe drought is weaker and the magnitude remains the same at all GWLs, suggesting that SPI projection may underestimate impacts of the GWLs on the intensity and severity of future drought. The results of this study have application in mitigating impact of global warming on future drought risk over the regional water systems.
KW  - climate change
KW  - drought index
KW  - global warming levels
KW  - river basins
KW  - West Africa
KW  - CORDEX data
Y1  - 2019
VL  - 40
IS  - 13
PB  - John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
CY  - New Jersey
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Omane, Paul Okyere
A1  - Höhle, Barbara
T1  - Acquiring syntactic variability
BT  - The production of Wh-questions in children and adults speaking Akan
JF  - Frontiers in communication
N2  - This paper investigates the predictions of the Derivational Complexity Hypothesis by studying the acquisition of wh-questions in 4- and 5-year-old Akan-speaking children in an experimental approach using an elicited production and an elicited imitation task. Akan has two types of wh-question structures (wh-in-situ and wh-ex-situ questions), which allows an investigation of children’s acquisition of these two question structures and their preferences for one or the other. Our results show that adults prefer to use wh-ex-situ questions over wh-in-situ questions. The results from the children show that both age groups have the two question structures in their linguistic repertoire. However, they differ in their preferences in usage in the elicited production task: while the 5-year-olds preferred the wh-in-situ structure over the wh-ex-situ structure, the 4-year-olds showed a selective preference for the wh-in-situ structure in who-questions. These findings suggest a developmental change in wh-question preferences in Akan-learning children between 4 and 5 years of age with a so far unobserved u-shaped developmental pattern. In the elicited imitation task, all groups showed a strong tendency to maintain the structure of in-situ and ex-situ questions in repeating grammatical questions. When repairing ungrammatical ex-situ questions, structural changes to grammatical in-situ questions were hardly observed but the insertion of missing morphemes while keeping the ex-situ structure. Together, our findings provide only partial support for the Derivational Complexity Hypothesis.
KW  - Akan
KW  - wh-questions
KW  - wh-in-situ
KW  - wh-ex-situ
KW  - derivational complexity
KW  - language acquisition
Y1  - 2021
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.604951
SN  - 2297-900X
VL  - 2021
PB  - Frontiers Media
CY  - Lausanne,  Schweiz
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Reich, Eli
T1  - The return of liberal rabbinic education to Berlin
BT  - Abraham Geiger College, Zacharias Frankel College and the School of Jewish Theology
JF  - Nordisk judaistik = Scandinavian Jewish studies
N2  - In Berlin two rabbinical seminaries, a Reform and a Conservative, have recently been established. The historical and intellectual roots of these institutions in the nineteenth century is sketched, and then contrasted with the present curriculum and the religious profile of the students. Some theological questions for the future of these projects conclude the article.
KW  - Abraham Geiger College
KW  - Zacharias Frankel College
KW  - the School of Jewish Theology
KW  - rabbinic education in Berlin
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.30752/nj.84891
SN  - 0348-1646
SN  - 2343-4929
VL  - 31
IS  - 1
SP  - 87
EP  - 92
PB  - Donner Institute
CY  - Åbo
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Baumgardt, Iris
T1  - Berufliche Orientierung von Kindern im Grundschulalter
BT  - Analyse von ausgewählten Projekten, Unterrichtsmaterialien und Lehrplänen
N2  - Die berufliche Orientierung von Kindern im Grundschulalter ist bislang nur in Ansätzen erforscht. Gleichwohl gibt es berufsorientierende Angebote, die auf verschiedenen Ebenen Grundschulkinder adressieren. Die Untersuchung fokussiert aktuelle Forschungsergebnisse, ausgewählte Initiativen, Kinderbücher, Unterrichtsmaterialien usw. zur beruflichen Orientierung von Kindern. Mit dem Ziel der Entwicklung und Ausdifferenzierung eines facettenreichen beruflichen Selbstkonzeptes von Kindern werden spezifische Forschungs- und Entwicklungspotenziale aufgezeigt.
Y1  - 2022
SN  - 978-3-8340-2199-1
SN  - 978-3-7639-7188-6
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3278/9783763971886
PB  - Schneider Verlag Hohengehren GmbH
CY  - Baltmannsweiler
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Taffarello, Denise
A1  - Srinivasan, Raghavan
A1  - Samprogna Mohor, Guilherme
A1  - Bittencourt Guimaraes, Joao Luis
A1  - Calijuri, Maria do Carmo
A1  - Mendiondo, Eduardo Mario
T1  - Modeling freshwater quality scenarios with ecosystem-based adaptation in the headwaters of the Cantareira system, Brazil
JF  - Hydrology and earth system sciences : HESS
N2  - Although hydrologic models provide hypothesis testing of complex dynamics occurring at catchments, fresh-water quality modeling is still incipient at many subtropical headwaters. In Brazil, a few modeling studies assess freshwater nutrients, limiting policies on hydrologic ecosystem services. This paper aims to compare freshwater quality scenarios under different land-use and land-cover (LULC) change, one of them related to ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA), in Brazilian headwaters. Using the spatially semi-distributed Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model, nitrate, total phosphorous (TP) and sediment were modeled in catchments ranging from 7.2 to 1037 km(2). These head-waters were eligible areas of the Brazilian payment for ecosystem services (PES) projects in the Cantareira water supply system, which had supplied water to 9 million people in the Sao Paulo metropolitan region (SPMR). We considered SWAT modeling of three LULC scenarios: (i) recent past scenario (S1), with historical LULC in 1990; (ii) current land-use scenario (S2), with LULC for the period 2010-2015 with field validation; and (iii) future land-use scenario with PES (S2 + EbA). This latter scenario proposed forest cover restoration through EbA following the river basin plan by 2035. These three LULC scenarios were tested with a selected record of rainfall and evapotranspiration observed in 2006-2014, with the occurrence of extreme droughts. To assess hydrologic services, we proposed the hydrologic service index (HSI), as a new composite metric comparing water pollution levels (WPL) for reference catchments, related to the grey water footprint (greyWF) and water yield. On the one hand, water quality simulations allowed for the regionalization of greyWF at spatial scales under LULC scenarios. According to the critical threshold, HSI identified areas as less or more sustainable catchments. On the other hand, conservation practices simulated through the S2 + EbA scenario envisaged not only additional and viable best management practices (BMP), but also preventive decision-making at the headwaters of water supply systems.
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-4699-2018
SN  - 1027-5606
SN  - 1607-7938
VL  - 22
IS  - 9
SP  - 4699
EP  - 4723
PB  - Copernicus
CY  - Göttingen
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Mitic, Kristina
A1  - Grafe, Marianne
A1  - Batsios, Petros
A1  - Meyer, Irene
T1  - Partial Disassembly of the Nuclear Pore Complex Proteins during Semi-Closed Mitosis in Dictyostelium discoideum
JF  - Cells
N2  - Dictyostelium cells undergo a semi-closed mitosis, during which the nuclear envelope (NE) persists; however, free diffusion between the cytoplasm and the nucleus takes place. To permit the formation of the mitotic spindle, the nuclear envelope must be permeabilized in order to allow diffusion of tubulin dimers and spindle assembly factors into the nucleus. In Aspergillus, free diffusion of proteins between the cytoplasm and the nucleus is achieved by a partial disassembly of the nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) prior to spindle assembly. In order to determine whether this is also the case in Dictyostelium, we analysed components of the NPC by immunofluorescence microscopy and live cell imaging and studied their behaviour during interphase and mitosis. We observed that the NPCs are absent from the contact area of the nucleoli and that some nucleoporins also localize to the centrosome and the spindle poles. In addition, we could show that, during mitosis, the central FG protein NUP62, two inner ring components and Gle1 depart from the NPCs, while all other tested NUPs remained at the NE. This leads to the conclusion that indeed a partial disassembly of the NPCs takes place, which contributes to permeabilisation of the NE during semi-closed mitosis.
KW  - nuclear pore complex
KW  - nucleoporins
KW  - semi-closed mitosis
KW  - centrosome
KW  - Dictyostelium
Y1  - 2021
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11030407
SN  - 2073-4409
VL  - 11
IS  - 3
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Mattis, Toni
A1  - Beckmann, Tom
A1  - Rein, Patrick
A1  - Hirschfeld, Robert
T1  - First-class concepts
BT  - Reified architectural knowledge beyond dominant decompositions
JF  - Journal of object technology : JOT / ETH Zürich, Department of Computer Science
N2  - Ideally, programs are partitioned into independently maintainable and understandable modules. As a system grows, its architecture gradually loses the capability to accommodate new concepts in a modular way. While refactoring is expensive and not always possible, and the programming language might lack dedicated primary language constructs to express certain cross-cutting concerns, programmers are still able to explain and delineate convoluted concepts through secondary means: code comments, use of whitespace and arrangement of code, documentation, or communicating tacit knowledge. <br /> Secondary constructs are easy to change and provide high flexibility in communicating cross-cutting concerns and other concepts among programmers. However, such secondary constructs usually have no reified representation that can be explored and manipulated as first-class entities through the programming environment. <br /> In this exploratory work, we discuss novel ways to express a wide range of concepts, including cross-cutting concerns, patterns, and lifecycle artifacts independently of the dominant decomposition imposed by an existing architecture. We propose the representation of concepts as first-class objects inside the programming environment that retain the capability to change as easily as code comments. We explore new tools that allow programmers to view, navigate, and change programs based on conceptual perspectives. In a small case study, we demonstrate how such views can be created and how the programming experience changes from draining programmers' attention by stretching it across multiple modules toward focusing it on cohesively presented concepts. Our designs are geared toward facilitating multiple secondary perspectives on a system to co-exist in symbiosis with the original architecture, hence making it easier to explore, understand, and explain complex contexts and narratives that are hard or impossible to express using primary modularity constructs.
KW  - software engineering
KW  - modularity
KW  - exploratory programming
KW  - program
KW  - comprehension
KW  - remodularization
KW  - architecture recovery
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.5381/jot.2022.21.2.a6
SN  - 1660-1769
VL  - 21
IS  - 2
SP  - 1
EP  - 15
PB  - ETH Zürich, Department of Computer Science
CY  - Zürich
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Marcisz, Katarzyna
A1  - Jassey, Vincent E. J.
A1  - Kosakyan, Anush
A1  - Krashevska, Valentyna
A1  - Lahr, Daniel J. G.
A1  - Lara, Enrique
A1  - Lamentowicz, Lukasz
A1  - Lamentowicz, Mariusz
A1  - Macumber, Andrew
A1  - Mazei, Yuri
A1  - Mitchell, Edward A. D.
A1  - Nasser, Nawaf A.
A1  - Patterson, R. Timothy
A1  - Roe, Helen M.
A1  - Singer, David
A1  - Tsyganov, Andrey N.
A1  - Fournier, Bertrand
T1  - Testate amoeba functional traits and their use in paleoecology
JF  - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
N2  - This review provides a synthesis of current knowledge on the morphological and functional traits of testate amoebae, a polyphyletic group of protists commonly used as proxies of past hydrological changes in paleoecological investigations from peatland, lake sediment and soil archives. A trait-based approach to understanding testate amoebae ecology and paleoecology has gained in popularity in recent years, with research showing that morphological characteristics provide complementary information to the commonly used environmental inferences based on testate amoeba (morpho-)species data. We provide a broad overview of testate amoeba morphological and functional traits and trait-environment relationships in the context of ecology, evolution, genetics, biogeography, and paleoecology. As examples we report upon previous ecological and paleoecological studies that used trait-based approaches, and describe key testate amoebae traits that can be used to improve the interpretation of environmental studies. We also highlight knowledge gaps and speculate on potential future directions for the application of trait-based approaches in testate amoeba research.
KW  - protists
KW  - functional traits
KW  - morphological traits
KW  - ecology
KW  - peatlands
KW  - lakes
KW  - soils
KW  - trait-based approaches
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.575966
SN  - 2296-701X
VL  - 8
PB  - Frontiers Media
CY  - Lausanne
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Grafe, Marianne
A1  - Hofmann, Phillip
A1  - Batsios, Petros
A1  - Meyer, Irene
A1  - Gräf, Ralph
T1  - In vivo assembly of a Dictyostelium lamin mutant induced by light, mechanical stress, and pH
JF  - Cells : open access journal
N2  - We expressedDictyosteliumlamin (NE81) lacking both a functional nuclear localization signal and a CAAX-box for C-terminal lipid modification. This lamin mutant assembled into supramolecular, three-dimensional clusters in the cytosol that disassembled at the onset of mitosis and re-assembled in late telophase, thus mimicking the behavior of the endogenous protein. As disassembly is regulated by CDK1-mediated phosphorylation at serine 122, we generated a phosphomimetic S122E mutant called GFP-NE81-S122E-Delta NLS Delta CLIM. Surprisingly, during imaging, the fusion protein assembled into cytosolic clusters, similar to the protein lacking the phosphomimetic mutation. Clusters disassembled again in the darkness. Assembly could be induced with blue but not green or near ultraviolet light, and it was independent of the fusion tag. Assembly similarly occurred upon cell flattening. Earlier reports and own observations suggested that both blue light and cell flattening could result in a decrease of intracellular pH. Indeed, keeping the cells at low pH also reversibly induced cluster formation. Our results indicate that lamin assembly can be induced by various stress factors and that these are transduced via intracellular acidification. Although these effects have been shown in a phosphomimetic CDK1 mutant of theDictyosteliumlamin, they are likely relevant also for wild-type lamin.
KW  - lamin
KW  - NE81
KW  - Dictyostelium
KW  - nuclear envelope
KW  - nuclear lamina
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/cells9081834
SN  - 2073-4409
VL  - 9
IS  - 8
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Neumann, Bettina
A1  - Wollenberger, Ulla
T1  - Electrochemical biosensors employing natural and artificial heme peroxidases on semiconductors
JF  - Sensors
N2  - Heme peroxidases are widely used as biological recognition elements in electrochemical biosensors for hydrogen peroxide and phenolic compounds. Various nature-derived and fully synthetic heme peroxidase mimics have been designed and their potential for replacing the natural enzymes in biosensors has been investigated. The use of semiconducting materials as transducers can thereby offer new opportunities with respect to catalyst immobilization, reaction stimulation, or read-out. This review focuses on approaches for the construction of electrochemical biosensors employing natural heme peroxidases as well as various mimics immobilized on semiconducting electrode surfaces. It will outline important advances made so far as well as the novel applications resulting thereof.
KW  - electrochemical biosensors
KW  - heme
KW  - peroxidases
KW  - semiconductors
KW  - peroxidase mimics
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/s20133692
SN  - 1424-8220
VL  - 20
IS  - 13
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Rose, Robert
A1  - Groeger, Lars
A1  - Hölzle, Katharina
T1  - The Emergence of Shared Leadership in Innovation Labs
JF  - Frontiers in Psychology
N2  - Implementing innovation laboratories to leverage intrapreneurship are an increasingly popular organizational practice. A typical feature in these creative environments are semi-autonomous teams in which multiple members collectively exert leadership influence, thereby challenging traditional command-and-control conceptions of leadership. An extensive body of research on the team-centric concept of shared leadership has recognized the potential for pluralized leadership structures in enhancing team effectiveness; however, little empirical work has been conducted in organizational contexts in which creativity is key. This study set out to explore antecedents of shared leadership and its influence on team creativity in an innovation lab. Building on extant shared leadership and innovation research, we propose antecedents customary to creative teamwork, that is, experimental culture, task reflexivity, and voice. Multisource data were collected from 104 team members and 49 evaluations of 29 coaches nested in 21 teams working in a prototypical innovation lab. We identify factors specific to creative teamwork that facilitate the emergence of shared leadership by providing room for experimentation, encouraging team members to speak up in the creative process, and cultivating a reflective application of entrepreneurial thinking. We provide specific exemplary activities for innovation lab teams to increase levels of shared leadership.
KW  - innovation laboratories
KW  - intrapreneurship
KW  - team creativity
KW  - shared leadership
KW  - social network analysis
Y1  - 2021
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.685167
SN  - 1664-1078
VL  - 12
SP  - 1
EP  - 13
PB  - Frontiers in psychology
CY  - Lausanne, Schweiz
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Streck, Charlotte
T1  - Who owns REDD+?
BT  - carbon markets, carbon rights and entitlements to REDD+ finance
JF  - Forests
N2  - The question of who is entitled to benefit from transactions under the United Nations framework to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) remains one of the most controversial issues surrounding cooperative efforts to reduce deforestation in developing countries. REDD+ has been conceived as an international framework to encourage voluntary efforts in developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance carbon removals from forest activities. It was designed as an international framework under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to enable the generation of emission reductions and removals (ERRs) at the national-and, provisionally, the subnational-level and is, thus, primarily a creature of international law. However, in defining forest carbon ERRs, the international framework competes with national emission trading systems and domestic REDD+ legislation as well as private standards that define units traded on the voluntary carbon market. As results-based and carbon market systems emerge, the question remains: Who can claim participation in REDD+ and voluntary carbon market projects? The existence of different international, national and private standards that value ERRs poses a challenge to countries that participate in REDD+ as well as to communities and private actors participating in voluntary carbon market projects. This paper seeks to clarify the nature and limitation of rights pertaining to REDD+ market transactions. It also links the notion of carbon rights to both carbon markets and government's decision on benefit sharing. Applying a legal lens, this paper helps to understand the various claims and underlying rights to participate in REDD+ transactions and addresses ambiguities that can lead to conflict around REDD+ implementation. The definition of carbon rights and the legal nature of carbon credits depend on local law and differ between countries. However, by categorizing carbon rights, the paper summarizes several legal considerations that are relevant for regulating REDD+ and sharing the financial benefits of transacting ERRs.
KW  - REDD plus
KW  - REDD+
KW  - avoided deforestation
KW  - voluntary carbon markets
KW  - emissions
KW  - trading
KW  - carbon rights
KW  - benefit sharing
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/f11090959
SN  - 1999-4907
VL  - 11
IS  - 9
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Dordevic, Milos
A1  - Hölzer, Sonja
A1  - Russo, Augusta
A1  - García Alanis, José Carlos
A1  - Müller, Notger Germar
T1  - The Role of the Precuneus in Human Spatial Updating in a Real Environment Setting—A cTBS Study
JF  - Life
N2  - As we move through an environment, we update positions of our body relative to other objects, even when some objects temporarily or permanently leave our field of view—this ability is termed egocentric spatial updating and plays an important role in everyday life. Still, our knowledge about its representation in the brain is still scarce, with previous studies using virtual movements in virtual environments or patients with brain lesions suggesting that the precuneus might play an important role. However, whether this assumption is also true when healthy humans move in real environments where full body-based cues are available in addition to the visual cues typically used in many VR studies is unclear. Therefore, in this study we investigated the role of the precuneus in egocentric spatial updating in a real environment setting in 20 healthy young participants who underwent two conditions in a cross-over design: (a) stimulation, achieved through applying continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) to inhibit the precuneus and (b) sham condition (activated coil turned upside down). In both conditions, participants had to walk back with blindfolded eyes to objects they had previously memorized while walking with open eyes. Simplified trials (without spatial updating) were used as control condition, to make sure the participants were not affected by factors such as walking blindfolded, vestibular or working memory deficits. A significant interaction was found, with participants performing better in the sham condition compared to real stimulation, showing smaller errors both in distance and angle. The results of our study reveal evidence of an important role of the precuneus in a real-environment egocentric spatial updating; studies on larger samples are necessary to confirm and further investigate this finding.
KW  - precuneus
KW  - spatial updating
KW  - TMS
KW  - cTBS
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/life12081239
SN  - 2075-1729
VL  - 12
SP  - 1
EP  - 13
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel, Schweiz
ET  - 8
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Everardo Pérez, Flavio Omar
A1  - Osorio, Mauricio
T1  - Towards an answer set programming methodology for constructing programs following a semi-automatic approach
BT  - extended and revised version
JF  - Electronic notes in theoretical computer science
N2  - Answer Set Programming (ASP) is a successful rule-based formalism for modeling and solving knowledge-intense combinatorial (optimization) problems. Despite its success in both academic and industry, open challenges like automatic source code optimization, and software engineering remains. This is because a problem encoded into an ASP might not have the desired solving performance compared to an equivalent representation. Motivated by these two challenges, this paper has three main contributions. First, we propose a developing process towards a methodology to implement ASP programs, being faithful to existing methods. Second, we present ASP encodings that serve as the basis from the developing process. Third, we demonstrate the use of ASP to reverse the standard solving process. That is, knowing answer sets in advance, and desired strong equivalent properties, “we” exhaustively reconstruct ASP programs if they exist. This paper was originally motivated by the search of propositional formulas (if they exist) that represent the semantics of a new aggregate operator. Particularly, a parity aggregate. This aggregate comes as an improvement from the already existing parity (xor) constraints from xorro, where lacks expressiveness, even though these constraints fit perfectly for reasoning modes like sampling or model counting. To this end, this extended version covers the fundaments from parity constraints as well as the xorro system. Hence, we delve a little more in the examples and the proposed methodology over parity constraints. Finally, we discuss our results by showing the only representation available, that satisfies different properties from the classical logic xor operator, which is also consistent with the semantics of parity constraints from xorro.
KW  - answer set programming
KW  - combinatorial optimization problems
KW  - parity aggregate operator
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcs.2020.10.004
SN  - 1571-0661
VL  - 354
SP  - 29
EP  - 44
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam [u.a.]
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Christopher Ashwood, Wout Bittremieux
A1  - Bittremieux, Wout
A1  - Deutsch, Eric W.
A1  - Doncheva, Nadezhda T.
A1  - Dorfer, Viktoria
A1  - Gabriels, Ralf
A1  - Gorshkov, Vladimir
A1  - Gupta, Surya
A1  - Jones, Andrew R.
A1  - Käll, Lukas
A1  - Kopczynski, Dominik
A1  - Lane, Lydie
A1  - Lautenbacher, Ludwig
A1  - Legeay, Marc
A1  - Locard-Paulet, Marie
A1  - Mesuere, Bart
A1  - Sachsenberg, Timo
A1  - Salz, Renee
A1  - Samaras, Patroklos
A1  - Schiebenhoefer, Henning
A1  - Schmidt, Tobias
A1  - Schwämmle, Veit
A1  - Soggiu, Alessio
A1  - Uszkoreit, Julian
A1  - Van Den Bossche, Tim
A1  - Van Puyvelde, Bart
A1  - Van Strien, Joeri
A1  - Verschaffelt, Pieter
A1  - Webel, Henry
A1  - Willems, Sander
A1  - Perez-Riverolab, Yasset
A1  - Netz, Eugen
A1  - Pfeuffer, Julianus
T1  - Proceedings of the EuBIC-MS 2020 Developers’ Meeting
JF  - EuPA Open Proteomics
N2  - The 2020 European Bioinformatics Community for Mass Spectrometry (EuBIC-MS) Developers’ meeting was held from January 13th to January 17th 2020 in Nyborg, Denmark. Among the participants were scientists as well as developers working in the field of computational mass spectrometry (MS) and proteomics. The 4-day program was split between introductory keynote lectures and parallel hackathon sessions. During the latter, the participants developed bioinformatics tools and resources addressing outstanding needs in the community. The hackathons allowed less experienced participants to learn from more advanced computational MS experts, and to actively contribute to highly relevant research projects. We successfully produced several new tools that will be useful to the proteomics community by improving data analysis as well as facilitating future research. All keynote recordings are available on https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3890181.
KW  - computational mass spectrometry
KW  - proteomics
KW  - bioinformatics
KW  - spectrum clustering
KW  - phosphoproteomics
KW  - XIC extraction
KW  - proteomics graph networks
KW  - predicted spectra
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euprot.2020.11.001
SN  - 2212-9685
VL  - 24
SP  - 1
EP  - 6
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Müller, Marik
A1  - Nedielkov, Ruslan
A1  - Arndt, Katja M.
T1  - Strategies for Enzymatic Inactivation of the Veterinary  Antibiotic Florfenicol
JF  - Antibiotics
N2  - Large quantities of the antibiotic florfenicol are used in animal farming and aquaculture, contaminating the ecosystem with antibiotic residues and promoting antimicrobial resistance, ultimately leading to untreatable multidrug-resistant pathogens. Florfenicol-resistant bacteria often activate export mechanisms that result in resistance to various structurally unrelated antibiotics. We devised novel strategies for the enzymatic inactivation of florfenicol in different media, such as saltwater or milk. Using a combinatorial approach and selection, we optimized a hydrolase (EstDL136) for florfenicol cleavage. Reaction kinetics were followed by time-resolved NMR spectroscopy. Importantly, the hydrolase remained active in different media, such as saltwater or cow milk. Various environmentally-friendly application strategies for florfenicol inactivation were developed using the optimized hydrolase. As a potential filter device for cost-effective treatment of waste milk or aquacultural wastewater, the hydrolase was immobilized on Ni-NTA agarose or silica as carrier materials. In two further application examples, the hydrolase was used as cell extract or encapsulated with a semi-permeable membrane. This facilitated, for example, florfenicol inactivation in whole milk, which can help to treat waste milk from medicated cows, to be fed to calves without the risk of inducing antibiotic resistance. Enzymatic inactivation of antibiotics, in general, enables therapeutic intervention without promoting antibiotic resistance.
KW  - aquaculture
KW  - antibiotic inactivation
KW  - enzyme optimization
KW  - enzymatic inactivation
KW  - florfenicol
KW  - immobilization
KW  - industrial farming
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics11040443
SN  - 2079-6382
VL  - 11
IS  - 4
SP  - 1
EP  - 18
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel, Schweiz
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Urbach, Dietmar
A1  - Awiszus, Friedemann
A1  - Leiß, Sven
A1  - Venton, Tamsin
A1  - De Specht, Alexander Vincent
A1  - Apfelbacher, Christian
T1  - Associations of medications with lower odds of typical COVID-19 symptoms
BT  - cross-sectional symptom surveillance study
JF  - JMIR public health and surveillance
N2  - Background: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the globe, the search for an effective medication to treat the symptoms of COVID-19 continues as well. It would be desirable to identify a medication that is already in use for another condition and whose side effect profile and safety data are already known and approved.
Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different medications on typical COVID-19 symptoms by using data from an online surveillance survey.
Methods: Between early April and late-July 2020, a total of 3654 individuals in Lower Saxony, Germany, participated in an online symptom-tracking survey conducted through the app covid-nein-danke.de. The questionnaire comprised items on typical COVID-19 symptoms, age range, gender, employment in patient-facing healthcare, housing status, postal code, previous illnesses, permanent medication, vaccination status, results of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and antibody tests for COVID-19 diagnosis, and consequent COVID-19 treatment if applicable. Odds ratio estimates with corresponding 95% CIs were computed for each medication and symptom by using logistic regression models.
Results: Data analysis suggested a statistically significant inverse relationship between typical COVID-19 symptoms self-reported by the participants and self-reported statin therapy and, to a lesser extent, antihypertensive therapy. When COVID-19 diagnosis was based on restrictive symptom criteria (ie, presence of 4 out of 7 symptoms) or a positive RT-PCR test, a statistically significant association was found solely for statins (odds ratio 0.28, 95% CI 0.1-0.78).
Conclusions: Individuals taking statin medication are more likely to have asymptomatic COVID-19, in which case they may be at an increased risk of transmitting the disease unknowingly. We suggest that the results of this study be incorporated into symptoms-based surveillance and decision-making protocols in regard to COVID-19 management. Whether statin therapy has a beneficial effect in combating COVID-19 cannot be deduced based on our findings and should be investigated by further study.
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - SARS-CoV-2
KW  - statins
KW  - antihypertensives
KW  - surveillance
KW  - hydroxymethyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors;online survey
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.2196/22521
SN  - 2369-2960
VL  - 6
IS  - 4
PB  - JMIR Publications
CY  - Toronto
ER  -