TY - JOUR A1 - Reeg, Jette A1 - Schad, Thorsten A1 - Preuss, Thomas G. A1 - Solga, Andreas A1 - Körner, Katrin A1 - Mihan, Christine A1 - Jeltsch, Florian T1 - Modelling direct and indirect effects of herbicides on non-target grassland communities JF - Ecological modelling : international journal on ecological modelling and engineering and systems ecolog N2 - Natural grassland communities are threatened by a variety of factors, such as climate change and increasing land use by mankind. The use of plant protection products (synthetic or organic) is mandatory in agricultural food production. To avoid adverse effects on natural grasslands within agricultural areas, synthetic plant protection products are strictly regulated in Europe. However, effects of herbicides on non-target terrestrial plants are primarily studied on the level of individual plants neglecting interactions between species. In our study, we aim to extrapolate individual-level effects to the population and community level by adapting an existing spatio-temporal, individual-based plant community model (IBC-grass). We analyse the effects of herbicide exposure for three different grassland communities: 1) representative field boundary community, 2) Calthion grassland community, and 3) Arrhenatheretalia grassland community. Our simulations show that herbicide depositions can have effects on non-target plant communities resulting from direct and indirect effects on population level. The effect extent depends not only on the distance to the field, but also on the specific plant community, its disturbance regime (cutting frequency, trampling and grazing intensity) and resource level. Mechanistic modelling approaches such as IBC-grass present a promising novel approach in transferring and extrapolating standardized pot experiments to community level and thereby bridging the gap between ecotoxicological testing (e.g. in the greenhouse) and protection goals referring to real world conditions. KW - Plant community modelling KW - Herbicide exposure KW - Landscape KW - Non-target terrestrial plants KW - Field margins Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2017.01.010 SN - 0304-3800 SN - 1872-7026 VL - 348 SP - 44 EP - 55 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - THES A1 - Knecht, Volker T1 - Modeling Biomolecular Association Y1 - 2017 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Groth, Detlef T1 - Modeling a secular trend by Monte Carlo simulation of height biased migration in a spatial network JF - Anthropologischer Anzeiger : journal of biological and clinical anthropology ; Mitteilungsorgan der Gesellschaft für Anthropologie N2 - Background: In a recent Monte Carlo simulation, the clustering of body height of Swiss military conscripts within a spatial network with characteristic features of the natural Swiss geography was investigated. In this study I examined the effect of migration of tall individuals into network hubs on the dynamics of body height within the whole spatial network. The aim of this study was to simulate height trends. Material and methods: Three networks were used for modeling, a regular rectangular fishing net like network, a real world example based on the geographic map of Switzerland, and a random network. All networks contained between 144 and 148 districts and between 265-307 road connections. Around 100,000 agents were initially released with average height of 170 cm, and height standard deviation of 6.5 cm. The simulation was started with the a priori assumption that height variation within a district is limited and also depends on height of neighboring districts (community effect on height). In addition to a neighborhood influence factor, which simulates a community effect, body height dependent migration of conscripts between adjacent districts in each Monte Carlo simulation was used to re-calculate next generation body heights. In order to determine the direction of migration for taller individuals, various centrality measures for the evaluation of district importance within the spatial network were applied. Taller individuals were favored to migrate more into network hubs, backward migration using the same number of individuals was random, not biased towards body height. Network hubs were defined by the importance of a district within the spatial network. The importance of a district was evaluated by various centrality measures. In the null model there were no road connections, height information could not be delivered between the districts. Results: Due to the favored migration of tall individuals into network hubs, average body height of the hubs, and later, of the whole network increased by up to 0.1 cm per iteration depending on the network model. The general increase in height within the network depended on connectedness and on the amount of height information that was exchanged between neighboring districts. If higher amounts of neighborhood height information were exchanged, the general increase in height within the network was large (strong secular trend). The trend in the homogeneous fishnet like network was lowest, the trend in the random network was highest. Yet, some network properties, such as the heteroscedasticity and autocorrelations of the migration simulation models differed greatly from the natural features observed in Swiss military conscript networks. Autocorrelations of district heights for instance, were much higher in the migration models. Conclusion: This study confirmed that secular height trends can be modeled by preferred migration of tall individuals into network hubs. However, basic network properties of the migration simulation models differed greatly from the natural features observed in Swiss military conscripts. Similar network-based data from other countries should be explored to better investigate height trends with Monte Carlo migration approach. KW - secular trend KW - body height KW - simulation KW - community effect KW - Monte Carlo method KW - network Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1127/anthranz/2017/0703 SN - 0003-5548 SN - 2363-7099 VL - 74 IS - 1 SP - 81 EP - 88 PB - Schweizerbart CY - Stuttgart ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmidt, Marco F. T1 - miRNA Targeting Drugs BT - the next blockbusters? JF - Drug Target miRNA: Methods and Protocols N2 - Only 20 years after the discovery of small non-coding, single-stranded ribonucleic acids, so-called microRNAs (miRNAs), as post-transcriptional gene regulators, the first miRNA-targeting drug Miravirsen for the treatment of hepatitis C has been successfully tested in clinical Phase II trials. Addressing miRNAs as drug targets may enable the cure, or at least the treatment of diseases, which presently seems impossible. However, due to miRNAs’ chemical structure, generation of potential drug molecules with necessary pharmacokinetic properties is still challenging and requires a re-thinking of the drug discovery process. Therefore, this chapter highlights the potential of miRNAs as drug targets, discusses the challenges, and tries to give a complete overview of recent strategies in miRNA drug discovery. KW - miRNA KW - Drug discovery KW - microRNA-induced silencing complex KW - Antisense agents KW - Small-molecule miRNA modulators KW - Argonaute 2 protein Y1 - 2016 SN - 978-1-4939-6563-2 SN - 978-1-4939-6561-8 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6563-2_1 SN - 1064-3745 SN - 1940-6029 VL - 1517 SP - 3 EP - 22 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Eckert, Ester M. A1 - Di Cesare, Andrea A1 - Kettner, Marie Therese A1 - Arias-Andres, Maria A1 - Fontaneto, Diego A1 - Grossart, Hans-Peter A1 - Corno, Gianluca T1 - Microplastics increase impact of treated wastewater on freshwater microbial community JF - Environmental pollution N2 - Plastic pollution is a major global concern with several million microplastic particles entering every day freshwater ecosystems via wastewater discharge. Microplastic particles stimulate biofilm formation (plastisphere) throughout the water column and have the potential to affect microbial community structure if they accumulate in pelagic waters, especially enhancing the proliferation of biohazardous bacteria. To test this scenario, we simulated the inflow of treated wastewater into a temperate lake using a continuous culture system with a gradient of concentration of microplastic particles. We followed the effect of microplastics on the microbial community structure and on the occurrence of integrase 1 (intl), a marker associated with mobile genetic elements known as a proxy for anthropogenic effects on the spread of antimicrobial resistance genes. The abundance of intl increased in the plastisphere with increasing microplastic particle concentration, but not in the water surrounding the microplastic particles. Likewise, the microbial community on microplastic was more similar to the original wastewater community with increasing microplastic concentrations. Our results show that microplastic particles indeed promote persistence of typical indicators of microbial anthropogenic pollution in natural waters, and substantiate that their removal from treated wastewater should be prioritised. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. KW - Microplastics KW - Anthropogenic pollution KW - Treated wastewater KW - Freshwater microbial communities KW - Integrase 1 KW - Biofilm Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.11.070 SN - 0269-7491 SN - 1873-6424 VL - 234 SP - 495 EP - 502 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Raatz, Michael A1 - Weikl, Thomas R. T1 - Membrane Tubulation by Elongated and Patchy Nanoparticles JF - Advanced materials interfaces N2 - Advances in nanotechnology lead to an increasing interest in how nanoparticles interact with biomembranes. Nanoparticles are wrapped spontaneously by biomembranes if the adhesive interactions between the particles and membranes compensate for the cost of membrane bending. In the last years, the cooperative wrapping of spherical nanoparticles in membrane tubules has been observed in experiments and simulations. For spherical nanoparticles, the stability of the particle-filled membrane tubules strongly depends on the range of the adhesive particle-membrane interactions. In this article, it is shown via modeling and energy minimization that elongated and patchy particles are wrapped cooperatively in membrane tubules that are highly stable for all ranges of the particle-membrane interactions, compared to individual wrapping of the particles. The cooperative wrapping of linear chains of elongated or patchy particles in membrane tubules may thus provide an efficient route to induce membrane tubulation, or to store such particles in membranes. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.201600325 SN - 2196-7350 VL - 4 IS - 1 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cabral, Juliano Sarmento A1 - Valente, Luis A1 - Hartig, Florian T1 - Mechanistic simulation models in macroecology and biogeography BT - state-of-art and prospects JF - Ecography : pattern and diversity in ecology N2 - Macroecology and biogeography are concerned with understanding biodiversity patterns across space and time. In the past, the two disciplines have addressed this question mainly with correlative approaches, despite frequent calls for more mechanistic explanations. Recent advances in computational power, theoretical understanding, and statistical tools are, however, currently facilitating the development of more system-oriented, mechanistic models. We review these models, identify different model types and theoretical frameworks, compare their processes and properties, and summarize emergent findings. We show that ecological (physiology, demographics, dispersal, biotic interactions) and evolutionary processes, as well as environmental and human-induced drivers, are increasingly modelled mechanistically; and that new insights into biodiversity dynamics emerge from these models. Yet, substantial challenges still lie ahead for this young research field. Among these, we identify scaling, calibration, validation, and balancing complexity as pressing issues. Moreover, particular process combinations are still understudied, and so far models tend to be developed for specific applications. Future work should aim at developing more flexible and modular models that not only allow different ecological theories to be expressed and contrasted, but which are also built for tight integration with all macroecological data sources. Moving the field towards such a ‘systems macroecology’ will test and improve our understanding of the causal pathways through which eco-evolutionary processes create diversity patterns across spatial and temporal scales. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.02480 SN - 0906-7590 SN - 1600-0587 VL - 40 IS - 2 SP - 267 EP - 280 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bhat, Javaid Y. A1 - Milicic, Goran A1 - Thieulin-Pardo, Gabriel A1 - Bracher, Andreas A1 - Maxwell, Andrew A1 - Ciniawsky, Susanne A1 - Müller-Cajar, Oliver A1 - Engen, John R. A1 - Hartl, F. Ulrich A1 - Wendler, Petra A1 - Hayer-Hartl, Manajit T1 - Mechanism of Enzyme Repair by the AAA(+) Chaperone Rubisco Activase JF - Molecular cell N2 - How AAA(+) chaperones conformationally remodel specific target proteins in an ATP-dependent manner is not well understood. Here, we investigated the mechanism of the AAA(+) protein Rubisco activase (Rca) in metabolic repair of the photosynthetic enzyme Rubisco, a complex of eight large (RbcL) and eight small (RbcS) subunits containing eight catalytic sites. Rubisco is prone to inhibition by tight-binding sugar phosphates, whose removal is catalyzed by Rca. We engineered a stable Rca hexamer ring and analyzed its functional interaction with Rubisco. Hydrogen/deuterium exchange and chemical crosslinking showed that Rca structurally destabilizes elements of the Rubisco active site with remarkable selectivity. Cryo-electron microscopy revealed that Rca docks onto Rubisco over one active site at a time, positioning the C-terminal strand of RbcL, which stabilizes the catalytic center, for access to the Rca hexamer pore. The pulling force of Rca is fine-tuned to avoid global destabilization and allow for precise enzyme repair. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2017.07.004 SN - 1097-2765 SN - 1097-4164 VL - 67 SP - 744 EP - 756 PB - Cell Press CY - Cambridge ER - TY - THES A1 - Swart, Corné T1 - Managing protein activity in A. thaliana BT - A proteomic approach to understanding SUMOylation as well as the regulation of carbohydrate metabolism Y1 - 2017 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fayyaz, Susann A1 - Japtok, Lukasz A1 - Schumacher, Fabian A1 - Wigger, Dominik A1 - Schulz, Tim Julius A1 - Haubold, Kathrin A1 - Gulbins, Erich A1 - Völler, Heinz A1 - Kleuser, Burkhard T1 - Lysophosphatidic acid inhibits insulin signaling in primary rat hepatocytes via the LPA(3) receptor subtype and is increased in obesity JF - Cellular physiology and biochemistry : international journal of experimental cellular physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology N2 - Background/Aims: Obesity is a main risk factor for the development of hepatic insulin resistance and it is accompanied by adipocyte hypertrophy and an elevated expression of different adipokines such as autotaxin (ATX). ATX converts lysophosphatidylcholine to lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and acts as the main producer of extracellular LPA. This bioactive lipid regulates a broad range of physiological and pathological responses by activation of LPA receptors (LPA1-6). Methods: The activation of phosphatidylinositide 3-kinases (PI3K) signaling (Akt and GSK-3ß) was analyzed via western blotting in primary rat hepatocytes. Incorporation of glucose into glycogen was measured by using radio labeled glucose. Real-time PCR analysis and pharmacological modulation of LPA receptors were performed. Human plasma LPA levels of obese (BMI > 30, n = 18) and normal weight individuals (BMI 18.5-25, n = 14) were analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Results: Pretreatment of primary hepatocytes with LPA resulted in an inhibition of insulin-mediated Gck expression, PI3K activation and glycogen synthesis. Pharmacological approaches revealed that the LPA3-receptor subtype is responsible for the inhibitory effect of LPA on insulin signaling. Moreover, human plasma LPA concentrations (16: 0 LPA) of obese participants (BMI > 30) are significantly elevated in comparison to normal weight individuals (BMI 18.5-25). Conclusion: LPA is able to interrupt insulin signaling in primary rat hepatocytes via the LPA3 receptor subtype. Moreover, the bioactive lipid LPA (16: 0) is increased in obesity. KW - Lysophosphatidic acid KW - Insulin signaling KW - Adipose tissue KW - Autotaxin KW - Hepatic insulin resistance KW - LPA(3) receptor subtype Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1159/000480470 SN - 1015-8987 SN - 1421-9778 VL - 43 SP - 445 EP - 456 PB - Karger CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gisder, Sebastian A1 - Schüler, Vivian A1 - Horchler, Lennart L. A1 - Groth, Detlef A1 - Genersch, Elke T1 - Long-Term Temporal Trends of Nosema spp. Infection Prevalence in Northeast Germany BT - Continuous Spread of Nosema ceranae, an Emerging Pathogen of Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), but No General Replacement of Nosema apis JF - Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology N2 - The Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) is widely used as commercial pollinator in worldwide agriculture and, therefore, plays an important role in global food security. Among the parasites and pathogens threatening health and survival of honey bees are two species of microsporidia, Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae. Nosema ceranae is considered an emerging pathogen of the Western honey bee. Reports on the spread of N. ceranae suggested that this presumably highly virulent species is replacing its more benign congener N. apis in the global A. mellifera population. We here present a 12 year longitudinal cohort study on the prevalence of N. apis and N. ceranae in Northeast Germany. Between 2005 and 2016, a cohort of about 230 honey bee colonies originating from 23 apiaries was sampled twice a year (spring and autumn) resulting in a total of 5,600 bee samples which were subjected to microscopic and molecular analysis for determining the presence of infections with N. apis or/and N. ceranae. Throughout the entire study period, both N. apis- and N. ceranae-infections could be diagnosed within the cohort. Logistic regression analysis of the prevalence data demonstrated a significant increase of N. ceranae-infections over the last 12 years, both in autumn (reflecting the development during the summer) and in spring (reflecting the development over winter) samples. Cell culture experiments confirmed that N. ceranae has a higher proliferative potential than N. apis at 27. and 33 degrees C potentially explaining the increase in N. ceranae prevalence during summer. In autumn, characterized by generally low infection prevalence, this increase was accompanied by a significant decrease in N. apis- infection prevalence. In contrast, in spring, the season with a higher prevalence of infection, no significant decrease of N. apis infections despite a significant increase in N. ceranae infections could be observed. Therefore, our data do not support a general advantage of N. ceranae over N. apis and an overall replacement of N. apis by N. ceranae in the studied honey bee population. KW - honey bee KW - Apis mellifera KW - Nosema spp. KW - epidemiology KW - replacement Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2017.00301 SN - 2235-2988 VL - 7 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - THES A1 - Kruse, Stefan T1 - Larix treeline dynamics in northern Siberia inferred from population genetics and individual-based modelling Y1 - 2017 ER - TY - THES A1 - Kersting, Sebastian T1 - Isothermal nucleic acid amplification for the detection of infectious pathogens Y1 - 2017 ER - TY - THES A1 - Janowski, Marcin Andrzej T1 - Investigating role of the essential GTPase - AtRsgA in the assembly of the small ribosomal subunit in Arabidopsis thaliana chloroplast Y1 - 2017 ER - TY - THES A1 - Janowski, Marcin Andrzej T1 - Investigating role of the essential GTPase - AtRsgA in the assembly of the small ribosomal subunit in Arabidopsis thaliana chloroplast N2 - Plastid protein biosynthesis occurs on bacterial-type 70S ribosomes consisting of a large (50S) and a small (30S) subunit. However, since many steps of ribosome biogenesis are not thermodynamically favorable at biological conditions, it requires many assembly factors. One group of assembly factors, circularly permuted GTPases, was implicated in 30S subunit maturation in E. coli, by a protein RsgA. RsgA orthologues are present in bacteria and plastid-containing species and in silico analysis revealed presence of a RsgA-like protein in Arabidopsis thaliana. To functionally characterize the Arabidopsis orthologue, two AtRsgA T-DNA insertion lines were analyzed in this study. The exon line (rsgA-e) led to embryo lethality, while the intron line (rsgA-i) caused severe dwarf, pale green phenotype. Further investigation of rsgA-i mutant line revealed defects in chloroplast biogenesis which led to increased number of chloroplasts, decreased chloroplast size, decreased air space between mesophyll cells and smaller shoot apical meristems, which showed unusual proplastid accumulation. Moreover, rsgA-i plants showed reduction in chlorophyll A and B content, decreased electron transport rate and photosynthetic efficiency. Further analyses revealed that the protein is involved in chloroplast 30S subunit maturation. Interestingly, we observed that while chloroplast-targeted and chloroplast-encoded proteins are generally downregulated in the mutant, a contrasting upregulation of the corresponding transcripts is observed, indicating an elaborate compensatory mechanism. To conclude, the study presented here reveals a ribosome assembly factor and a compensatory mechanism activated during impaired chloroplast function. KW - ribosome assembly KW - GTPase KW - chloro-ribosome KW - translation Y1 - 2017 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Folkesson, Maggie A1 - Vorkapic, Emina A1 - Gulbins, Erich A1 - Japtok, Lukasz A1 - Kleuser, Burkhard A1 - Welander, Martin A1 - Länne, Toste A1 - Wågsäter, Dick T1 - Inflammatory cells, ceramides, and expression of proteases in perivascular adipose tissue adjacent to human abdominal aortic aneurysms JF - Journal of vascular surgery N2 - Background: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a deadly irreversible weakening and distension of the abdominal aortic wall. The pathogenesis of AAA remains poorly understood. Investigation into the physical and molecular characteristics of perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) adjacent to AAA has not been done before and is the purpose of this study. Methods and Results: Human aortae, periaortic PVAT, and fat surrounding peripheral arteries were collected from patients undergoing elective surgical repair of AAA. Control aortas were obtained from recently deceased healthy organ donors with no known arterial disease. Aorta and PVAT was found in AAA to larger extent compared with control aortas. Immunohistochemistry revealed neutrophils, macrophages, mast cells, and T-cells surrounding necrotic adipocytes. Gene expression analysis showed that neutrophils, mast cells, and T-cells were found to be increased in PVAT compared with AAA as well as cathepsin K and S. The concentration of ceramides in PVAT was determined using mass spectrometry and correlated with content of T-cells in the PVAT. Conclusions: Our results suggest a role for abnormal necrotic, inflamed, proteolytic adipose tissue to the adjacent aneurysmal aortic wall in ongoing vascular damage. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvs.2015.12.056 SN - 0741-5214 VL - 65 IS - 4 SP - 1171 EP - 1179 PB - Elsevier CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Henkel, Janin A1 - Coleman, Charles Dominic A1 - Schraplau, Anne A1 - Jöhrens, Korinna A1 - Weber, Daniela A1 - Castro, Jose Pedro A1 - Hugo, Martin A1 - Schulz, Tim Julius A1 - Krämer, Stephanie A1 - Schürmann, Annette A1 - Püschel, Gerhard Paul T1 - Induction of Steatohepatitis (NASH) with Insulin Resistance in Wild-type B6 Mice by a Western-type Diet Containing Soybean Oil and Cholesterol JF - Molecular medicine N2 - Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are hepatic manifestations of the metabolic syndrome. Many currently used animal models of NAFLD/NASH lack clinical features of either NASH or metabolic syndrome such as hepatic inflammation and fibrosis (e.g., high-fat diets) or overweight and insulin resistance (e.g., methionine-choline-deficient diets), or they are based on monogenetic defects (e.g., ob/ob mice). In the current study, a Western-type diet containing soybean oil with high n-6-PUFA and 0.75% cholesterol (SOD + Cho) induced steatosis, inflammation and fibrosis accompanied by hepatic lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress in livers of C57BL/6-mice, which in addition showed increased weight gain and insulin resistance, thus displaying a phenotype closely resembling all clinical features of NASH in patients with metabolic syndrome. In striking contrast, a soybean oil-containing Western-type diet without cholesterol (SOD) induced only mild steatosis but not hepatic inflammation, fibrosis, weight gain or insulin resistance. Another high-fat diet, mainly consisting of lard and supplemented with fructose in drinking water (LAD + Fru), resulted in more prominent weight gain, insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis than SOD + Cho, but livers were devoid of inflammation and fibrosis. Although both LAD + Fru-and SOD + Cho-fed animals had high plasma cholesterol, liver cholesterol was elevated only in SOD + Cho animals. Cholesterol induced expression of chemotactic and inflammatory cytokines in cultured Kupffer cells and rendered hepatocytes more susceptible to apoptosis. In summary, dietary cholesterol in the SOD + Cho diet may trigger hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. SOD + Cho-fed animals may be a useful disease model displaying many clinical features of patients with the metabolic syndrome and NASH. KW - Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) KW - Typical Western Diet KW - Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) KW - Dietary Cholesterol KW - Kupffer Cells Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.2119/molmed.2016.00203 SN - 1076-1551 SN - 1528-3658 VL - 23 SP - 70 EP - 82 PB - Feinstein Inst. for Medical Research CY - Manhasset ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heim, Wieland A1 - Trense, Daronja A1 - Sokolova, Galina V. A1 - Kitagawa, Tamaki T1 - Increased populations of endangered cranes after Amur River flood JF - Waterbirds N2 - Dam construction on the Zeya River, which is an important tributary of the Amur River in Far East Russia, has caused significant declines in water levels and frequency of floods in the adjacent floodplains since 1980. However, an extreme flood event occurred in 2013. Populations of six crane species were monitored before and after these drastic water level changes at Muraviovka Park in Far East Russia, an important breeding and stop-over site. Individuals were counted by territory mapping during the breeding season (2000-2015) and by roosting site counts during autumn migration (2006-2015). The objective of this study was to evaluate whether changes in water levels had a significant impact on local and migratory crane populations. We found a positive effect of flooding on numbers of breeding Red-crowned Cranes (Grus japonensis) and White-naped Cranes (Antigone vipio), as well as on numbers of roosting Hooded Cranes (Grus monacha) in autumn. Siberian Cranes (Leucogeranus leucogeranus) were only observed after the wetlands were flooded. The results of this study highlight the importance of elevated Amur River water levels for crane populations of global importance. KW - Antigone vipio KW - cranes KW - dam construction KW - East Asian flyway KW - floodplain KW - Grus japonensis KW - Grus monacha KW - Leucogeranus leucogeranus KW - population trend KW - water level Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1675/063.040.0309 SN - 1524-4695 SN - 1938-5390 VL - 40 SP - 282 EP - 288 PB - Waterbirds SOC CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Haase, Tobias A1 - Krost, Annalena A1 - Sauter, Tilman A1 - Kratz, Karl A1 - Peter, Jan A1 - Kamann, Stefanie A1 - Jung, Friedrich A1 - Lendlein, Andreas A1 - Zohlnhöfer, Dietlind A1 - Rüder, Constantin T1 - In vivo biocompatibility assessment of poly (ether imide) electrospun scaffolds JF - Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine N2 - Poly(ether imide) (PEI), which can be chemically functionalized with biologically active ligands, has emerged as a potential biomaterial for medical implants. Electrospun PEI scaffolds have shown advantageous properties, such as enhanced endothelial cell adherence, proliferation and low platelet adhesion in in vitro experiments. In this study, the in vivo behaviour of electrospun PEI scaffolds and PEI films was examined in a murine subcutaneous implantation model. Electrospun PEI scaffolds and films were surgically implanted subcutaneously in the dorsae of mice. The surrounding subcutaneous tissue response was examined via histopathological examination at 7 and 28days after implantation. No serious adverse events were observed for both types of PEI implants. The presence of macrophages or foreign body giant cells in the vicinity of the implants and the formation of a fibrous capsule indicated a normal foreign body reaction towards PEI films and scaffolds. Capsule thickness and inflammatory infiltration cells significantly decreased for PEI scaffolds during days 7-28 while remaining unchanged for PEI films. The infiltration of cells into the implant was observed for PEI scaffolds 7days after implantation and remained stable until 28days of implantation. Additionally some, but not all, PEI scaffold implants induced the formation of functional blood vessels in the vicinity of the implants. Conclusively, this study demonstrates the in vivo biocompatibility of PEI implants, with favourable properties of electrospun PEI scaffolds regarding tissue integration and wound healing. KW - poly(ether imide) KW - in vivo study KW - electrospun scaffold KW - capsule formation KW - foreign body giant cells KW - vascularization Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/term.2002 SN - 1932-6254 SN - 1932-7005 VL - 11 IS - 4 SP - 1034 EP - 1044 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tritsch, Christian A1 - Martens, Jochen A1 - Sun, Yue-Hua A1 - Heim, Wieland A1 - Strutzenberger, Patrick A1 - Päckert, Martin T1 - Improved sampling at the subspecies level solves a taxonomic dilemma BT - a case study of two enigmatic Chinese tit species (Aves, Passeriformes, Paridae, Poecile) JF - Molecular phylogenetics and evolution N2 - A recent full species-level phylogeny of tits, titmice and chickadees (Paridae) has placed the Chinese endemic black-bibbed tit (Poecile hypermelaenus) as the sister to the Palearctic willow tit (P. montanus). Because this sister-group relationship is in striking disagreement with the traditional affiliation of P. hypermelaenus close to the marsh tit (P. palustris) we tested this phylogenetic hypothesis in a multi locus analysis with an extended taxon sampling including sixteen subspecies of willow tits and marsh tits. As a taxonomic reference we included type specimens in our analysis. The molecular genetic study was complemented with an analysis of biometric data obtained from museum specimens. Our phylogenetic reconstructions, including a comparison of all GenBank data available for our target species, clearly show that the genetic lineage previously identified as P. hypermelaenus actually refers to P. weigoldicus because sequences were identical to that of a syntype of this taxon. The close relationship of P. weigoldicus and P. montanus - despite large genetic distances between the two taxa - is in accordance with current taxonomy and systematics. In disagreement with the previous phylogenetic hypothesis but in accordance with most taxonomic authorities, all our P. hypermelaenus specimens fell in the sister Glade of all western and eastern Palearctic P. palustris. Though shared haplotypes among the Chinese populations of the two latter species might indicate mitochondrial introgression in this part of the breeding range, further research is needed here due to the limitations of our own sampling. KW - Poecile hypermelaenus KW - Poecile weigoldicus KW - Multi-locus phylogeny KW - Phylogeography KW - DNA barcoding Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2016.12.014 SN - 1055-7903 SN - 1095-9513 VL - 107 SP - 538 EP - 550 PB - Elsevier CY - San Diego ER -