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We investigated the efficacy of reminiscence therapy (RT) on symptoms of depression in patients with mild to moderate dementia. Out of 227 patients with mild to moderate dementia from a specialized physician’s office, 27 pairs (N = 54; mean age 79.04 ± 6.16 years) who had either received treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU combined with RT, were matched retrospectively according to age as well as cognitive and depressive symptom scores. After controlling for age and sex, symptoms of depression significantly decreased over time in the RT group compared to TAU (F1,52 = 4.36; p < .05). RT is a promising option for the treatment of depression in mild to moderate dementia. Larger randomized-controlled trials are needed.
In the last few years the method of cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) has gained popularity among hydrologists, physicists, and land-surface modelers. The sensor provides continuous soil moisture data, averaged over several hectares and tens of decimeters in depth. However, the signal still may contain unidentified features of hydrological processes, and many calibration datasets are often required in order to find reliable relations between neutron intensity and water dynamics. Recent insights into environmental neutrons accurately described the spatial sensitivity of the sensor and thus allowed one to quantify the contribution of individual sample locations to the CRNS signal. Consequently, data points of calibration and validation datasets are suggested to be averaged using a more physically based weighting approach. In this work, a revised sensitivity function is used to calculate weighted averages of point data. The function is different from the simple exponential convention by the extraordinary sensitivity to the first few meters around the probe, and by dependencies on air pressure, air humidity, soil moisture, and vegetation. The approach is extensively tested at six distinct monitoring sites: two sites with multiple calibration datasets and four sites with continuous time series datasets. In all cases, the revised averaging method improved the performance of the CRNS products. The revised approach further helped to reveal hidden hydrological processes which otherwise remained unexplained in the data or were lost in the process of overcalibration. The presented weighting approach increases the overall accuracy of CRNS products and will have an impact on all their applications in agriculture, hydrology, and modeling.
In the last few years the method of cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) has gained popularity among hydrologists, physicists, and land-surface modelers. The sensor provides continuous soil moisture data, averaged over several hectares and tens of decimeters in depth. However, the signal still may contain unidentified features of hydrological processes, and many calibration datasets are often required in order to find reliable relations between neutron intensity and water dynamics. Recent insights into environmental neutrons accurately described the spatial sensitivity of the sensor and thus allowed one to quantify the contribution of individual sample locations to the CRNS signal. Consequently, data points of calibration and validation datasets are suggested to be averaged using a more physically based weighting approach. In this work, a revised sensitivity function is used to calculate weighted averages of point data. The function is different from the simple exponential convention by the extraordinary sensitivity to the first few meters around the probe, and by dependencies on air pressure, air humidity, soil moisture, and vegetation. The approach is extensively tested at six distinct monitoring sites: two sites with multiple calibration datasets and four sites with continuous time series datasets. In all cases, the revised averaging method improved the performance of the CRNS products. The revised approach further helped to reveal hidden hydrological processes which otherwise remained unexplained in the data or were lost in the process of overcalibration. The presented weighting approach increases the overall accuracy of CRNS products and will have an impact on all their applications in agriculture, hydrology, and modeling.
Maltose frequently occurs as intermediate of the central carbon metabolism of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Various mutants possess elevated maltose levels. Maltose exists as two anomers, (alpha- and beta-form) which are rapidly interconverted without requiring enzyme-mediated catalysis. As maltose is often abundant together with other oligoglucans, selective quantification is essential. In this communication, we present a photometric maltose assay using 4-alpha-glucanotransferase (AtDPE2) from Arabidopsis thaliana. Under in vitro conditions, AtDPE2 utilizes maltose as glucosyl donor and glycogen as acceptor releasing the other hexosyl unit as free glucose which is photometrically quantified following enzymatic phosphorylation and oxidation. Under the conditions used, DPE2 does not noticeably react with other di- or oligosaccharides. Selectivity compares favorably with that of maltase frequently used in maltose assays. Reducing end interconversion of the two maltose anomers is in rapid equilibrium and, therefore, the novel assay measures total maltose contents. Furthermore, an AtDPE2-based continuous photometric assay is presented which allows to quantify beta-amylase activity and was found to be superior to a conventional test. Finally, the AtDPE2-based maltose assay was used to quantify leaf maltose contents of both Arabidopsis wild type and AtDPE2-deficient plants throughout the light-dark cycle. These data are presented together with assimilatory starch levels. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier Inc.
The present article focuses on the role of situational factors - such as the color red - and their influence on what humans notice in others. Humans form impressions of others instantly. These impressions are predominantly based on physical appearance, which is part due to a person’s search for indicators of a potential partner’s fitness. Attractive individuals are associated with all sorts of positive qualities, whereas their less attractive counterparts are less favorably depicted. This perception process of physical attractiveness is associated with health in male and female faces, and from an evolutionary point of view, serves the survival and the reproductive success of the perceiver. The meaning of the color red for approach and avoidance behavior is demonstrated in a recent study, which shows that women’s use (or avoidance) of red clothing, accessories, and make-up may serve as a subtle and strategic indicator of (missing) sexual interest.
Nicht jeder kann sich wegen Strafvereitelung durch Nichtanzeige einer Straftat bei der Staatsanwaltschaft strafbar machen. Doch wie ist es, wenn eine Anzeige unterbleibt, nachdem die Stellen zur Bekämpfung von Fehlverhalten im Gesundheitswesen einen Verdacht festgestellt haben?
Die Arbeit gibt, nach eingehenden Untersuchungen, die Antwort. Sie zeigt, wer sich strafbar machen kann, erläutert das Aufgabenfeld der Stellen, die Voraussetzungen der Anzeigepflicht und die einzelnen strafrechtlichen Problempunkte. Zu entscheidenden Streitfragen bezieht die Untersuchung Stellung. Beantwortet werden diverse Fragen, u.a. ob die Vorstandsmitglieder der Kassenärztlichen Vereinigungen, der Orts-, Betriebs-, Innungs- und Ersatzkassen, die Geschäftsführer der Deutschen Rentenversicherung Knappschaft-Bahn-See und der Sozialversicherung für Landwirtschaft, Forsten und Gartenbau sowie die Mitarbeiter der jeweiligen Stellen, Garanten zum Schutz der Strafrechtspflege sind.
Studying the temporal variability of BL Lac objects at the highest energies provides unique insights into the extreme physical processes occurring in relativistic jets and in the vicinity of super-massive black holes. To this end, the long-term variability of the BL Lac object PKS 2155 304 is analyzed in the high (HE, 100MeV < E < 300 GeV) and very high energy (VHE, E > 200 GeV) gamma-ray domain. Over the course of similar to 9 yr of H. E. S. S. observations the VHE light curve in the quiescent state is consistent with a log-normal behavior. The VHE variability in this state is well described by flicker noise (power-spectral-density index beta(VHE) = 1 .10(+ 0 : 10) (0 : 13)) on timescales larger than one day. An analysis of similar to 5.5 yr of HE Fermi-LAT data gives consistent results (beta(HE) = 1 : 20(+ 0 : 21) (0 : 23), on timescales larger than 10 days) compatible with the VHE findings. The HE and VHE power spectral densities show a scale invariance across the probed time ranges. A direct linear correlation between the VHE and HE fluxes could neither be excluded nor firmly established. These long-term-variability properties are discussed and compared to the red noise behavior (beta similar to 2) seen on shorter timescales during VHE-flaring states. The difference in power spectral noise behavior at VHE energies during quiescent and flaring states provides evidence that these states are influenced by different physical processes, while the compatibility of the HE and VHE long-term results is suggestive of a common physical link as it might be introduced by an underlying jet-disk connection.
The formation of the Pamir is a key component of the India-Asia collision with major implications for lithospheric processes, plateau formation, land-sea configurations and associated climate changes. Although the formation of the Pamir is traditionally linked to Cenozoic processes associated with the India-Asia collision, the contribution of the Mesozoic tectonic evolution remains poorly understood. The Pamir was formed by the suturing of Gondwanan terranes to the south margin of Eurasia, however, the timing and tectonic mechanisms associated with this Mesozoic accretion remain poorly constrained. These processes are recorded by several igneous belts within these terranes, which are not well studied. Within the Southern Pamir, the Albian-Turonian volcanic rocks and comagmatic plutons of the Kyzylrabat Igneous Complex (KIC) provide an important and still unconstrained record of the Pamir evolution. Here we provide the age, origin and the geodynamic setting of the KIC volcanics by studying their petrology, zircon U-Pb geochronology, geochemistry and isotope composition.17 samples from the KIC volcanics yield U-Pb ages spanning from 92 to 110 Ma. The volcanics are intermediate to acidic in composition (SiO2 = 56-69 wt%) and exhibit high-K calc-alkaline and shoshonitic affinity (K2O/Na2O = 12.2 wt%). They show enrichment in LILE and LREE and depletion in HFSE and HREE with negative Ta, Ti and Nb anomalies, suggesting an arc-related tectonic setting for their formation. Low sNd(t) values (from 9.1 to 4.7), relatively high Sr-87/Sr-86(i) ratios (0.7069-0.7096) and broad range of zircon stif values (from 22.6 to 1.5) suggest a mixture of different magma sources. These features suggest that volcanics were derived by crustal under- or intraplating of an enriched subduction-related mantle shoshonitic magmas, by heating and partial melting of the lower crust, and by mixing of both magma components. Our results further imply that the KIC volcanics represent a shoshonitic suite typical of an evolution from active continental arc to post-collisional setting with a steepening of the Benioff zone and thickening of the crust toward the back-arc. This setting is best explained by the subduction- collision transition along the Shyok suture due to accretion of the Kohistan island arc to the Karakoram. This suggests that a significant part of the crustal shortening and thickening accommodated in the Pamir occurred in the Mesozoic before the India-Asia collision with implications for regional tectonic models. This further suggests the Pamir was already a major topographic feature with potentially important paleoclimate forcing such as the monsoonal circulation. (C) 2017 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
BACKGROUND: Addiction is supposedly characterized by a shift from goal-directed to habitual decision making, thus facilitating automatic drug intake. The two-step task allows distinguishing between these mechanisms by computationally modeling goal-directed and habitual behavior as model-based and model-free control. In addicted patients, decision making may also strongly depend upon drug-associated expectations. Therefore, we investigated model-based versus model-free decision making and its neural correlates as well as alcohol expectancies in alcohol-dependent patients and healthy controls and assessed treatment outcome in patients. METHODS: Ninety detoxified, medication-free, alcohol-dependent patients and 96 age-and gender-matched control subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging during the two-step task. Alcohol expectancies were measured with the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire. Over a follow-up period of 48 weeks, 37 patients remained abstinent and 53 patients relapsed as indicated by the Alcohol Timeline Followback method. RESULTS: Patients who relapsed displayed reduced medial prefrontal cortex activation during model-based decision making. Furthermore, high alcohol expectancies were associated with low model-based control in relapsers, while the opposite was observed in abstainers and healthy control subjects. However, reduced model-based control per se was not associated with subsequent relapse. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that poor treatment outcome in alcohol dependence does not simply result from a shift from model-based to model-free control but is instead dependent on the interaction between high drug expectancies and low model-based decision making. Reduced model-based medial prefrontal cortex signatures in those who relapse point to a neural correlate of relapse risk. These observations suggest that therapeutic interventions should target subjective alcohol expectancies.
Background: The patterns of benzodiazepine prescriptions in older adults are of general and scientific interest as they are not yet well understood. The aim of this study was to compare the prescription patterns of benzodiazepines in elderly people in Germany to determine the share or proportion treated by general practitioners (GP) and neuropsychiatrists (NP). Methods: This study included 31,268 and 6,603 patients between the ages of 65 and 100 with at least one benzodiazepine prescription in 2014 from GP and NP, respectively. Demographic data included age, gender, and type of health insurance coverage. The share of elderly people with benzodiazepine prescriptions was estimated in different age and disease groups for both GP and NP patients. The share of the six most commonly prescribed drugs was also calculated for each type of practice. Results: The share of people taking benzodiazepines prescribed by GP increased from 3.2% in patients aged between 65 and 69 years to 8.6% in patients aged between 90 and 100 years, whereas this share increased from 5.4% to 7.1% in those seen by NP. Benzodiazepines were frequently used by patients suffering from sleep disorders (GP: 33.9%; NP: 5.5%), depression (GP: 17.9%; NP: 29.8%), and anxiety disorders (GP: 14.5%; NP: 22.8%). Lorazepam (30.3%), oxazepam (24.7%), and bromazepam (24.3%) were the three most commonly prescribed drugs for GP patients. In contrast, lorazepam (60.4%), diazepam (14.8%), and oxazepam (11.2%) were those more frequently prescribed to NP patients. Conclusion: Prescription patterns of benzodiazepine in the elderly varied widely between GP and NP.
We study gadolinium thin films as a model system for ferromagnets with negative thermal expansion. Ultrashort laser pulses heat up the electronic subsystem and we follow the transient strain via ultrafast x-ray diffraction. In terms of a simple Grueneisen approach, the strain is decomposed into two contributions proportional to the thermal energy of spin and phonon subsystems. Our analysis reveals that upon femtosecond laser excitation, phonons and spins can be driven out of thermal equilibrium for several nanoseconds.
Substance-dependent individuals often lack the ability to adjust decisions flexibly in response to the changes in reward contingencies. Prediction errors (PEs) are thought to mediate flexible decision-making by updating the reward values associated with available actions. In this study, we explored whether the neurobiological correlates of PEs are altered in alcohol dependence. Behavioral, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were simultaneously acquired from 34 abstinent alcohol-dependent patients (ADP) and 26 healthy controls (HC) during a probabilistic reward-guided decision-making task with dynamically changing reinforcement contingencies. A hierarchical Bayesian inference method was used to fit and compare learning models with different assumptions about the amount of task-related information subjects may have inferred during the experiment. Here, we observed that the best-fitting model was a modified Rescorla-Wagner type model, the “double-update” model, which assumes that subjects infer the knowledge that reward contingencies are anti-correlated, and integrate both actual and hypothetical outcomes into their decisions. Moreover, comparison of the best-fitting model's parameters showed that ADP were less sensitive to punishments compared to HC. Hence, decisions of ADP after punishments were loosely coupled with the expected reward values assigned to them. A correlation analysis between the model-generated PEs and the fMRI data revealed a reduced association between these PEs and the BOLD activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of ADP. A hemispheric asymmetry was observed in the DLPFC when positive and negative PE signals were analyzed separately. The right DLPFC activity in ADP showed a reduced correlation with positive PEs. On the other hand, ADP, particularly the patients with high dependence severity, recruited the left DLPFC to a lesser extent than HC for processing negative PE signals. These results suggest that the DLPFC, which has been linked to adaptive control of action selection, may play an important role in cognitive inflexibility observed in alcohol dependence when reinforcement contingencies change. Particularly, the left DLPFC may contribute to this impaired behavioral adaptation, possibly by impeding the extinction of the actions that no longer lead to a reward.
Cities and Mental Health
(2017)
Background: More than half of the global population currently lives in cities, with an increasing trend for further urbanization. Living in cities is associated with increased population density, traffic noise and pollution, but also with better access to health care and other commodities. Methods: This review is based on a selective literature search, providing an overview of the risk factors for mental illness in urban centers. Results: Studies have shown that the risk for serious mental illness is generally higher in cities compared to rural areas. Epidemiological studies have associated growing up and living in cities with a considerably higher risk for schizophrenia. However, correlation is not causation and living in poverty can both contribute to and result from impairments associated with poor mental health. Social isolation and discrimination as well as poverty in the neighborhood contribute to the mental health burden while little is known about specific inter actions between such factors and the built environment. Conclusion: Further insights on the interaction between spatial heterogeneity of neighborhood resources and socio-ecological factors is warranted and requires interdisciplinary research.
The Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov (GBY) in the Upper Jordan Valley revealed important data on environment and material culture, as well as evidence for hominin behavioural and cognitive patterns documented at the margins of the Hula Palaeo-lake. A 50 m long core (GBY#2) drilled at the archaeological site has provided a long Pleistocene geological, environmental and climatological record, which expands the existing knowledge of hominin-habitat relationships. Bracketed by two basalt flows dated by 40Ar/39Ar and based on the identification of the Matuyama-Brunhes Boundary (MBB) and correlation with the GBY excavation site, the sedimentary sequence provides the climatic history around the MBB. Multi-proxy data including pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs, macro-botanical remains, molluscs and ostracods provide evidence for lake and lake-margin environments during Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 20 and 19. Semi-moist conditions were followed by a pronounced dry phase during MIS 20, and warm and moist conditions with Quercus-Pistacia woodlands prevailed during MIS 19. In contrast to the reconstructed climate change from relatively dry to moister conditions, the depositional environment developed from an open-water lake during MIS 20 to a lake margin environment in MIS 19. Generally shallower conditions at the core site in MIS 19 resulted from the progradation of the lake shore due to the filling of the basin. Micro-charcoal analysis suggests a likelihood of human-induced fire in some parts of the core, which can be correlated with artefact-containing layers of the GBY excavation site. The Hula Palaeo-lake region provided an ideal niche for hominins and other vertebrates during global glacial-interglacial climate fluctuations at the end of the Early Pleistocene.
One of the major challenges in understanding the evolution of our own species is identifying the role climate change has played in the evolution of hominin species. To clarify the influence of climate, we need long and continuous high-resolution paleoclimate records, preferably obtained from hominin-bearing sediments, that are well-dated by tephro- and magnetostratigraphy and other methods. This is hindered, however, by the fact that fossil-bearing outcrop sediments are often discontinuous, and subject to weathering, which may lead to oxidation and remagnetization. To obtain fresh, unweathered sediments, the Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project (HSPDP) collected a ∼216-meter core (WTK13) in 2013 from Early Pleistocene Paleolake Lorenyang deposits in the western Turkana Basin (Kenya). Here, we present the magnetostratigraphy of the WTK13 core, providing a first age model for upcoming HSPDP paleoclimate and paleoenvrionmental studies on the core sediments. Rock magnetic analyses reveal the presence of iron sulfides carrying the remanent magnetizations. To recover polarity orientation from the near-equatorial WTK13 core drilled at 5°N, we developed and successfully applied two independent drill-core reorientation methods taking advantage of (1) the sedimentary fabric as expressed in the Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility (AMS) and (2) the occurrence of a viscous component oriented in the present day field. The reoriented directions reveal a normal to reversed polarity reversal identified as the top of the Olduvai Subchron. From this excellent record, we find no evidence for the ‘Vrica Subchron’ previously reported in the area. We suggest that outcrop-based interpretations supporting the presence of the Vrica Subchron have been affected by the oxidation of iron sulfides initially present in the sediments -as evident in the core record- and by subsequent remagnetization. We discuss the implications of the observed geomagnetic record for human evolution studies.
Sedimentary basins in the interior of orogenic plateaus can provide unique insights into the early history of plateau evolution and related geodynamic processes. The northern sectors of the Iranian Plateau of the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone offer the unique possibility to study middle-late Miocene terrestrial clastic and volcaniclastic sediments that allow assessing the nascent stages of collisional plateau formation. In particular, these sedimentary archives allow investigating several debated and poorly understood issues associated with the long-term evolution of the Iranian Plateau, including the regional spatio-temporal characteristics of sedimentation and deformation and the mechanisms of plateau growth. We document that middle-late Miocene crustal shortening and thickening processes led to the growth of a basement-cored range (Takab Range Complex) in the interior of the plateau. This triggered the development of a foreland-basin (Great Pari Basin) to the east between 16.5 and 10.7Ma. By 10.7Ma, a fast progradation of conglomerates over the foreland strata occurred, most likely during a decrease in flexural subsidence triggered by rock uplift along an intraforeland basement-cored range (Mahneshan Range Complex). This was in turn followed by the final incorporation of the foreland deposits into the orogenic system and ensuing compartmentalization of the formerly contiguous foreland into several intermontane basins. Overall, our data suggest that shortening and thickening processes led to the outward and vertical growth of the northern sectors of the Iranian Plateau starting from the middle Miocene. This implies that mantle-flow processes may have had a limited contribution toward building the Iranian Plateau in NW Iran.
Located along the Izmir-Ankara-Erzincan Suture (IAES), the Maastrichtian - Paleogene Orhaniye Basin has yielded a highly enigmatic-yet poorly dated- Paleogene mammal fauna, the endemic character of which has suggested high faunal provincialism associated with paleogeographic isolation of the Anatolian landmass during the early Cenozoic. Despite its biogeographic significance, the tectono-stratigraphic history of the Orhaniye Basin has been poorly documented; Here, we combine sedimentary, magnetostratigraphic, and geochronological data to infer the chronology and depositional history of the Orhaniye Basin. We then assess how our new data and interpretations for the Orhaniye Basin impact (1) the timing and mechanisms of seaway closure along the IAES and (2) the biogeographic evolution of Anatolia. Our results show that the Orhaniye Basin initially developed as a forearc basin during the Maastrichtian, before shifting to a retroarc foreland basin setting sometime between the early Paleocene and 44 Ma. This chronology supports a two-step scenario for the assemblage of the central Anatolian landmass, with incipient collision during the Paleocene - Early Eocene and final seaway retreat along the IAES during the earliest Late Eocene after the last marine incursion into the foreland basin. Our dating for the Orhaniye mammal fauna (44-43 Ma) indicates the persistence of faunal endemism in northern Anatolia until at least the late Lutetian despite the advanced stage of IAES closure. The tectonic evolution of dispersal corridors linking northern Anatolia with adjacent parts of Eurasia was not directly associated with IAES closure and consecutive uplifts, but rather with the build-up of continental bridges on the margins of Anatolia, in the Alpine and Tibetan-Himalayan orogens.
Measurement of the EBL spectral energy distribution using the VHE gamma-ray spectra of HESS blazars
(2017)
Very high-energy gamma rays (VHE, E greater than or similar to 100 GeV) propagating over cosmological distances can interact with the low-energy photons of the extragalactic background light (EBL) and produce electron-positron pairs. The transparency of the Universe to VHE gamma rays is then directly related to the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the EBL. The observation of features in the VHE energy spectra of extragalactic sources allows the EBL to be measured, which otherwise is very difficult. An EBL model-independent measurement of the EBL SED with the H.E.S.S. array of Cherenkov telescopes is presented. It was obtained by extracting the EBL absorption signal from the reanalysis of high-quality spectra of blazars. From H.E.S.S. data alone the EBL signature is detected at a significance of 9.5 sigma, and the intensity of the EBL obtained in different spectral bands is presented together with the associated gamma-ray horizon.
We search for high-energy gamma-ray emission from the binary neutron star merger GW170817 with the H.E.S.S. Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes. The observations presented here have been obtained starting only 5.3 hr after GW170817. The H.E.S.S. target selection identified regions of high probability to find a counterpart of the gravitational-wave event. The first of these regions contained the counterpart SSS17a that has been identified in the optical range several hours after our observations. We can therefore present the first data obtained by a ground-based pointing instrument on this object. A subsequent monitoring campaign with the H.E.S.S. telescopes extended over several days, covering timescales from 0.22 to 5.2 days and energy ranges between 270 GeV to 8.55 TeV. No significant gamma-ray emission has been found. The derived upper limits on the very-high-energy gamma-ray flux for the first time constrain non-thermal, high-energy emission following the merger of a confirmed binary neutron star system.
Die Beweiswürdigung gilt traditionell als „Domäne des Tatrichters“. Inzwischen untersuchen die Revisionsgerichte tatgerichtliche Urteile allerdings verstärkt auf sogenannte Beweiswürdigungsfehler. Besonders häufig wird hierbei „Lückenhaftigkeit“ moniert. Die Konturen dieses Fehlertyps sind jedoch schwach; ebenso wenig wurde bislang das strukturelle Verhältnis zu den übrigen Fehlertypen herausgearbeitet. Der Verfasser nähert sich dem Problemkreis deduktiv, ausgehend vom verräumlichten Verständnis der Beweiswürdigung als dem Versuch, die Lücke zwischen Prozess- und Tatgeschehen zu schließen.
Die Untersuchung führt an die erkenntnistheoretischen wie auch normativen Grenzen dieses Schließverfahrens und verdeutlicht, dass die Lücke auch unter Idealbedingungen rational nur verkleinert, nicht aber geschlossen werden kann. Anschließend tritt der Verfasser der herrschenden Auffassung entgegen, die für die Überzeugungsbildung eine subjektiv-irrationale Überwindung objektiv-rationaler Ungewissheit fordert. Aus alldem entwickelt er schließlich ein Konzept der lückenhaften Beweiswürdigung.
Die Arbeit wurde mit dem Wolf-Rüdiger-Bub-Preis ausgezeichnet.
We give a new and very short proof of a theorem of Greiner asserting that a positive and contractive -semigroup on an -space is strongly convergent in case it has a strictly positive fixed point and contains an integral operator. Our proof is a streamlined version of a much more general approach to the asymptotic theory of positive semigroups developed recently by the authors. Under the assumptions of Greiner's theorem, this approach becomes particularly elegant and simple. We also give an outlook on several generalisations of this result.
Benthic microbial communities (BMCs) play important roles in the carbon cycle of lakes, and benthic littoral zones in particular have been previously highlighted as biogeochemical hotspots. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) presents the major carbon pool in lakes, and although the effect of DOM composition on the pelagic microbial community composition is widely accepted, little is known about its effect on BMCs, particularly aquatic fungi. Therefore, we investigated the composition of benthic littoral microbial communities in twenty highly diverse lakes in northeast Germany. DOM quality was analyzed via size exclusion chromatography (SEC), fluorescence parallel factor analyses (PRAFACs) and UV-Vis spectroscopy. We determined the BMC composition and biomass using phospholipid-derived fatty acids (PLFA) and extended the interpretation to the analysis of fungi by applying a Bayesian mixed model. We present evidence that the quality of DOM structures the BMCs, which are dominated by heterotrophic bacteria and show low fungal biomass. The fungal biomass increases when the DOM pool is processed by microorganisms of allochthonous origin, whereas the opposite is true for bacteria.
The concept of a Global Monsoon (GM) has been proposed based on modern precipitation observations, but its application over a wide range of temporal scales is still under debate. Here, we present a synthesis of 268 continental paleo-moisture records collected from monsoonal systems in the Eastern Hemisphere, including the East Asian Monsoon (EAsM), the Indian Monsoon (IM), the East African Monsoon (EAfM), and the Australian Monsoon (AuM) covering the last 18,000 years. The overall pattern of late Glacial to Holocene moisture change is consistent with those inferred from ice cores and marine records. With respect to the last 10,000 years (10 ka), i.e. a period that has high spatial coverage, a Fuzzy c-Means clustering analysis of the moisture index records together with "Xie-Beni" index reveals four clusters of our data set. The paleoclimatic meaning of each cluster is interpreted considering the temporal evolution and spatial distribution patterns. The major trend in the tropical AuM, EAfM, and IM regions is a gradual decrease in moisture conditions since the early Holocene. Moisture changes in the EAsM regions show maximum index values between 8 and 6 ka. However, records located in nearby subtropical areas, i.e. in regions not influenced by the intertropical convergence zone, show an opposite trend compared to the tropical monsoon regions (AuM, EAfM and IM), i.e. a gradual increase. Analyses of modern meteorological data reveal the same spatial patterns as in the paleoclimate records such that, in times of overall monsoon strengthening, lower precipitation rates are observed in the nearby subtropical areas. We explain this pattern as the effect of a strong monsoon circulation suppressing air uplift in nearby subtropical areas, and hence hindering precipitation. By analogy to the modern system, this would mean that during the early Holocene strong monsoon period, the intensified ascending airflows within the monsoon domains led to relatively weaker ascending or even descending airflows in the adjacent subtropical regions, resulting in a precipitation deficit compared to the late Holocene. Our conceptual model therefore integrates regionally contrasting moisture changes into the Global Monsoon hypothesis. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.