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Rapid decline of glomerular filtration rate estimated from creatinine (eGFRcrea) is associated with severe clinical endpoints. In contrast to cross-sectionally assessed eGFRcrea, the genetic basis for rapid eGFRcrea decline is largely unknown. To help define this, we meta-analyzed 42 genome-wide association studies from the Chronic Kidney Diseases Genetics Consortium and United Kingdom Biobank to identify genetic loci for rapid eGFRcrea decline. Two definitions of eGFRcrea decline were used: 3 mL/min/1.73m(2)/year or more ("Rapid3"; encompassing 34,874 cases, 107,090 controls) and eGFRcrea decline 25% or more and eGFRcrea under 60 mL/min/1.73m(2) at follow-up among those with eGFRcrea 60 mL/min/1.73m(2) or more at baseline ("CKDi25"; encompassing 19,901 cases, 175,244 controls). Seven independent variants were identified across six loci for Rapid3 and/or CKDi25: consisting of five variants at four loci with genome-wide significance (near UMOD-PDILT (2), PRKAG2, WDR72, OR2S2) and two variants among 265 known eGFRcrea variants (near GATM, LARP4B). All these loci were novel for Rapid3 and/or CKDi25 and our bioinformatic follow-up prioritized variants and genes underneath these loci. The OR2S2 locus is novel for any eGFRcrea trait including interesting candidates. For the five genome-wide significant lead variants, we found supporting effects for annual change in blood urea nitrogen or cystatin-based eGFR, but not for GATM or (LARP4B). Individuals at high compared to those at low genetic risk (8-14 vs. 0-5 adverse alleles) had a 1.20-fold increased risk of acute kidney injury (95% confidence interval 1.08-1.33). Thus, our identified loci for rapid kidney function decline may help prioritize therapeutic targets and identify mechanisms and individuals at risk for sustained deterioration of kidney function.
One of the biggest successes of the Cassini mission is the detection of small moons (moonlets) embedded in Saturns rings that cause S-shaped density structures in their close vicinity, called propellers. Here, we present isothermal hydrodynamic simulations of moonlet-induced propellers in Saturn's A ring that denote a further development of the original model. We find excellent agreement between these new hydrodynamic and corresponding N-body simulations. Furthermore, the hydrodynamic simulations confirm the predicted scaling laws and the analytical solution for the density in the propeller gaps. Finally, this mean field approach allows us to simulate the pattern of the giant propeller Blériot, which is too large to be modeled by direct N-body simulations. Our results are compared to two stellar occultation observations by the Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (UVIS), which intersect the propeller Blériot. Best fits to the UVIS optical depth profiles are achieved for a Hill radius of 590 m, which implies a moonlet diameter of about 860 m. Furthermore, the model favors a kinematic shear viscosity of the surrounding ring material of ν0 = 340 cm2 s−1, a dispersion velocity in the range of 0.3 cm s−1 < c0 < 1.5 cm s−1, and a fairly high bulk viscosity 7 < ξ0/ν0 < 17. These large transport values might be overestimated by our isothermal ring model and should be reviewed by an extended model including thermal fluctuations.
Unraveling the effect of transition-metal doping on the energy storage properties of bimetallic sulfides remains a grand challenge. Herein, we construct bimetallic sulfide nanosheets and hence deliberately introduce transition-metal doping domains on their surface. The resulting materials show not only an enhanced density of states near the Fermi level but also partially delocalized charge as shown by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Fe-doped NiCo2S4 nanosheets wrapped on N,S-doped ordered mesoporous carbon (Fe-NiCo2S4@N,S-CMK-3) are prepared, which show an enhanced specific capacitance of 197.8 F g(-1) in ionic liquid-based supercapacitors at a scan rate of 2 mV s(-1). This is significantly higher as compared to the capacitance of 155.2 and 135.9 F g(-1) of non-iron-doped NiCo2S4@N,S-CMK and Fe-NiCo2S4@CMK-3 electrodes, respectively. This result arises from the enhanced ionic liquid polarization effect and transportation ability from the Fe-NiCo2S4 surface and N,S-CMK-3 structure. Furthermore, the importance of matching multi-dimensional structures and ionic liquid ion sizes in the fabrication of asymmetric supercapacitors (ASCs) is demonstrated. As a result, the ASC device exhibits a high energy density of 107.5 W h kg(-1) at a power density of 100 W kg(-1) in a working-voltage window of 4 V when using Fe-NiCo2S4@N,S-CMK-3 and N,S-CMK-3 as positive and negative electrodes, respectively. This work puts forward a new direction to design supercapacitor composite electrodes for efficient ionic liquid coupling.
A nova is a cataclysmic event on the surface of a white dwarf in a binary system that increases the overall brightness by several orders of magnitude. Although binary systems with a white dwarf are expected to be overabundant in globular clusters compared with in the Galaxy, only two novae from Galactic globular clusters have been observed. We present the discovery of an emission nebula in the Galactic globular cluster M 22 (NGC 6656) in observations made with the integral-field spectrograph MUSE. We extracted the spectrum of the nebula and used the radial velocity determined from the emission lines to confirm that the nebula is part of NGC 6656. Emission-line ratios were used to determine the electron temperature and density. It is estimated to have a mass of 1-17 x 10(-5) M-circle dot. This mass and the emission-line ratios indicate that the nebula is a nova remnant. Its position coincides with the reported location of a "guest star", an ancient Chinese term for transients, observed in May 48 BCE. With this discovery, this nova may be one of the oldest confirmed extra-solar events recorded in human history.
Synthesis of 3D flower-like zinc-nitrilotriacetic acid (ZnNTA) mesocrystals and their conformal transformation to hierarchically porous N-doped carbon superstructures is reported. During the solvothermal reaction, 2D nanosheet primary building blocks undergo oriented attachment and mesoscale assembly forming stacked layers. The secondary nucleation and growth preferentially occurs at the edges and defects of the layers, leading to formation of 3D flower-like mesocrystals comprised of interconnected 2D micropetals. By simply varying the pyrolysis temperature (550-1000 degrees C) and the removal method of in the situ-generated Zn species, nonporous parent mesocrystals are transformed to hierarchically porous carbon flowers with controllable surface area (970-1605 m(2) g(-1)), nitrogen content (3.4-14.1 at%), pore volume (0.95-2.19 cm(3) g(-1)), as well as pore diameter and structures. The carbon flowers prepared at 550 degrees C show high CO2/N-2 selectivity due to the high nitrogen content and the large fraction of (ultra)micropores, which can greatly increase the CO2 affinity. The results show that the physicochemical properties of carbons are highly dependent on the thermal transformation and associated pore formation process, rather than directly inherited from parent precursors. The present strategy demonstrates metal-organic mesocrystals as a facile and versatile means toward 3D hierarchical carbon superstructures that are attractive for a number of potential applications.
The electrochemical conversion of N-2 at ambient conditions using renewably generated electricity is an attractive approach for sustainable ammonia (NH3) production. Considering the chemical inertness of N-2, rational design of efficient and stable catalysts is required. Therefore, in this work, it is demonstrated that a C-doped TiO2/C (C-TixOy/C) material derived from the metal-organic framework (MOF) MIL-125(Ti) can achieve a high Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 17.8 %, which even surpasses most of the established noble metal-based catalysts. On the basis of the experimental results and theoretical calculations, the remarkable properties of the catalysts can be attributed to the doping of carbon atoms into oxygen vacancies (OVs) and the formation of Ti-C bonds in C-TixOy. This binding motive is found to be energetically more favorable for N-2 activation compared to the non-substituted OVs in TiO2. This work elucidates that electrochemical N-2 reduction reaction (NRR) performance can be largely improved by creating catalytically active centers through rational substitution of anions into metal oxides.
For millennia, humans have affected landscapes all over the world. Due to horizontal expansion, agriculture plays a major role in the process of fragmentation. This process is caused by a substitution of natural habitats by agricultural land leading to agricultural landscapes. These landscapes are characterized by an alternation of agriculture and other land use like forests. In addition, there are landscape elements of natural origin like small water bodies. Areas of different land use are beside each other like patches, or fragments. They are physically distinguishable which makes them look like a patchwork from an aerial perspective. These fragments are each an own ecosystem with conditions and properties that differ from their adjacent fragments. As open systems, they are in exchange of information, matter and energy across their boundaries. These boundary areas are called transition zones. Here, the habitat properties and environmental conditions are altered compared to the interior of the fragments. This changes the abundance and the composition of species in the transition zones, which in turn has a feedback effect on the environmental conditions.
The literature mainly offers information and insights on species abundance and composition in forested transition zones. Abiotic effects, the gradual changes in energy and matter, received less attention. In addition, little is known about non-forested transition zones. For example, the effects on agricultural yield in transition zones of an altered microclimate, matter dynamics or different light regimes are hardly researched or understood. The processes in transition zones are closely connected with altered provisioning and regulating ecosystem services. To disentangle the mechanisms and to upscale the effects, models can be used.
My thesis provides insights into these topics: literature was reviewed and a conceptual framework for the quantitative description of gradients of matter and energy in transition zones was introduced. The results of measurements of environmental gradients like microclimate, aboveground biomass and soil carbon and nitrogen content are presented that span from within the forest into arable land. Both the measurements and the literature review could not validate a transition zone of 100 m for abiotic effects. Although this value is often reported and used in the literature, it is likely to be smaller.
Further, the measurements suggest that on the one hand trees in transition zones are smaller compared to those in the interior of the fragments, while on the other hand less biomass was measured in the arable lands’ transition zone. These results support the hypothesis that less carbon is stored in the aboveground biomass in transition zones. The soil at the edge (zero line) between adjacent forest and arable land contains more nitrogen and carbon content compared to the interior of the fragments. One-year measurements in the transition zone also provided evidence that microclimate is different compared to the fragments’ interior.
To predict the possible yield decreases that transition zones might cause, a modelling approach was developed. Using a small virtual landscape, I modelled the effect of a forest fragment shading the adjacent arable land and the effects of this on yield using the MONICA crop growth model. In the transition zone yield was less compared to the interior due to shading. The results of the simulations were upscaled to the landscape level and exemplarily calculated for the arable land of a whole region in Brandenburg, Germany.
The major findings of my thesis are: (1) Transition zones are likely to be much smaller than assumed in the scientific literature; (2) transition zones aren’t solely a phenomenon of forested ecosystems, but significantly extend into arable land as well; (3) empirical and modelling results show that transition zones encompass biotic and abiotic changes that are likely to be important to a variety of agricultural landscape ecosystem services.
Human-driven fragmentation of landscapes leads to the formation of transition zones between ecosystems that are characterised by fluxes of matter, energy and information. These transition zones may offer rather inhospitable habitats that could jeopardise biodiversity. On the other hand, transition zones are also reported to be hotspots for biodiversity and even evolutionary processes. The general mechanisms and influence of processes in transition zones are poorly understood. Although heterogeneity and diversity of land use of fragments and the transition zones between them play an important role, most studies only refer to forested transition zones. Often, only an extrapolation of measurements in the different fragments themselves is reported to determine gradients in transition zones. This paper contributes to a quantitative understanding of agricultural landscapes beyond individual ecotopes, and towards connected ecosystem mosaics that may be beneficial for the provision of ecosystem services.
One of the most intriguing facets of Saturn's rings are the sharp edges of gaps in the rings where the surface density abruptly drops to zero. This is despite of the fact that the range over which a moon transfers angular momentum onto the ring material is much larger. Recent UVIS-scans of the edges of the Encke and Keeler gap show that this drop occurs over a range approximately equal to the rings' thickness. Borderies et al. show that this striking feature is likely related to the local reversal of the usually outward directed viscous transport of angular momentum in strongly perturbed regions. In this article we revise the Borderies et al. model using a granular flow model to define the shear and bulk viscosities, ν and ζ, and incorporate the angular momentum flux reversal effect into the axisymmetric diffusion model we developed for gaps in dense planetary rings. Finally, we apply our model to the Encke and Keeler division in order to estimate the shear and bulk viscosities in the vicinity of both gaps
Tree species diversity can positively affect the multifunctionality of forests. This is why conifer monocultures of Scots pine and Norway spruce, widely promoted in Central Europe since the 18th and 19th century, are currently converted into mixed stands with naturally dominant European beech. Biodiversity is expected to benefit from these mixtures compared to pure conifer stands due to increased abiotic and biotic resource heterogeneity. Evidence for this assumption is, however, largely lacking. Here, we investigated the diversity of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens at the plot (alpha diversity) and at the landscape (gamma diversity) level in pure and mixed stands of European beech and conifer species (Scots pine, Norway spruce, Douglas fir) in four regions in Germany. We aimed to identify compositions of pure and mixed stands in a hypothetical forest landscape that can optimize gamma diversity of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens within regions. Results show that gamma diversity of the investigated groups is highest when a landscape comprises different pure stands rather than tree species mixtures at the stand scale. Species mainly associated with conifers rely on light regimes that are only provided in pure conifer forests, whereas mixtures of beech and conifers are more similar to beech stands. Combining pure beech and pure conifer stands at the landscape scale can increase landscape level biodiversity and conserve species assemblages of both stand types, while landscapes solely composed of stand scale tree species mixtures could lead to a biodiversity reduction of a combination of investigated groups of 7 up to 20%.