Refine
Has Fulltext
- yes (79)
Year of publication
- 2016 (79) (remove)
Document Type
- Postprint (79) (remove)
Language
- English (79)
Is part of the Bibliography
- yes (79)
Keywords
- model (6)
- climate-change (5)
- Europe (3)
- Greenland (3)
- adaptation (3)
- evolution (3)
- ice-sheet (3)
- organic-matter (3)
- patterns (3)
- projections (3)
- sea-level rise (3)
- trends (3)
- 21st-Century (2)
- Atlantic-Ocean (2)
- CO2 (2)
- Escherichia coli (2)
- West Antarctica (2)
- agriculture (2)
- basin (2)
- biosynthesis (2)
- buildings (2)
- carotenoids (2)
- climate (2)
- collapse (2)
- deficiency (2)
- diet (2)
- diffusion (2)
- elevated CO2 (2)
- event coincidence analysis (2)
- scenarios (2)
- seed dispersal (2)
- social valuation (2)
- system (2)
- temperature (2)
- vulnerability (2)
- A viruses (1)
- Adar formation (1)
- Amazon-River (1)
- Antiphospholipid antibody (1)
- Antiphospholipid syndrome (1)
- Arabidopsis-thaliana (1)
- Aral Sea (1)
- Arctic (1)
- Atlantic-ocean (1)
- Baltic Sea (1)
- Barents Sea (1)
- Bayesian classification (1)
- Beta2 - glycoprotein I (1)
- Blasia (1)
- Borne encephalitis-virus (1)
- Brazilian Amazon (1)
- CU(110) (1)
- Caenorhabitis elegans (1)
- Chinese Loess Plateau (1)
- Chrysopidae (1)
- Climate-Change (1)
- Crotalus (1)
- EFFECTIVE ELASTIC THICKNESS (1)
- East Antarctica (1)
- East-Asian monsoon (1)
- Eastern Gotland basin (1)
- Engineering , Environmental (1)
- Engineering, Civil (1)
- Environmental Sciences (1)
- Equatorial Pacific (1)
- Equatorial plasma irregularities (1)
- F-statistics (1)
- FGF23 (1)
- FTO gene (1)
- Falkland islands (1)
- Flow-cytometry (1)
- Focused Beam Reflectance Measurement (1)
- G-quadruplexes, (1)
- GLDAS (1)
- GNOM ARF-GEF (1)
- GRACE (1)
- Gag (1)
- Geosciences, Multidisciplinary (1)
- Global vegetation model (1)
- Greenland ice-sheet (1)
- Gulf of Mexico (1)
- HIV-1 infection (1)
- Hantaan-virus (1)
- Heat-Island (1)
- Hemorrhagic-fever (1)
- Himalayan Rivers (1)
- Hydrus-2D (1)
- Kenya Rift (1)
- Lake Bonneville (1)
- Lake Lisan (1)
- Lake Mead (1)
- Lake Towuti (1)
- Lake Van (1)
- Line immunoassay (1)
- Manganese (1)
- Mexico-City (1)
- Middle-east (1)
- Mojave toxin (1)
- Mountain Belt (1)
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis (1)
- N-E (1)
- N-linked glycosylation (1)
- NFS1 (1)
- NGAL (1)
- Natural-waters (1)
- Near-east (1)
- Netherlands (1)
- New-Zealand (1)
- North-Atlantic climate (1)
- North-Sea (1)
- Nostoc (1)
- Ocean acidification (1)
- PCO(2) levels (1)
- PLK1 (1)
- Particle Vision Microscope measurement (1)
- Patagonian Shelf (1)
- Peece-III (1)
- Phospholipid binding proteins (1)
- Photon Density Wave spectroscopy (1)
- Pine Island (1)
- Pleistocene (1)
- RNA-Seq (1)
- Regional & Urban Planning (1)
- SCFA (1)
- Salmonella Thyphimurium (1)
- Scotland (1)
- Semliki-forest-virus (1)
- Sentinel-2 MSI (1)
- Solanaceae (1)
- Southeast Finland (1)
- Southern Alps (1)
- Southern Ethiopia (1)
- Southern Levant (1)
- Southwestern Taiwan (1)
- Swarm constellation (1)
- Tibetan Plateau (1)
- Turkana-Basin (1)
- Twister TM (1)
- UAV (1)
- UNESCO (1)
- VI (1)
- Valley fever virus (1)
- WGHM (1)
- Water Resources (1)
- Western Nanling mountains (1)
- Winter rainfall (1)
- Yellow-River (1)
- absorption (1)
- accumulation rates (1)
- accuracy (1)
- acute kidney injury (1)
- adaption measure (1)
- admixture (1)
- aerosol-size distribution (1)
- age (1)
- aggression (1)
- air-temperature (1)
- allelopathy (1)
- alpine foreland (1)
- ancient (1)
- antimicrobial resistance (1)
- aqmeii phase-2 (1)
- archaeology (1)
- ardification (1)
- athmospheric CO2 (1)
- athmospheric circulation patterns (1)
- auxin transport (1)
- avian influenza (1)
- avoidance (1)
- backscatter lidar data (1)
- bacterial frataxin (1)
- behavior (1)
- benzaldehyde (1)
- benzyl alcohol-dehydrogenase (1)
- bile acids (1)
- biogenesis (1)
- biological anthropology (1)
- biological invasion (1)
- biological pest control (1)
- body size (1)
- bottom waters (1)
- box domain (1)
- breast cancer (1)
- brine migration (1)
- calibration standard (1)
- carbon export (1)
- carbon-cycle (1)
- carbon-dioxide emissions (1)
- cardiac surgery (1)
- categories (1)
- cell polarity (1)
- cellulose fibers (1)
- ceramide (1)
- chaotic neural dynamics (1)
- chemistry (1)
- chronic kidney-disease (1)
- cinnamate:CoA ligase (1)
- cirrus detection (1)
- cities (1)
- citizen science (1)
- classification (1)
- climate extremes (1)
- climate variability (1)
- climatic controls (1)
- cloud detection (1)
- coastal erosion (1)
- coastal flood damage (1)
- collective dynamics (1)
- colonization (1)
- colorectal cancer (1)
- commitment (1)
- competition (1)
- composite material (1)
- computational morphodynamics (1)
- consequences (1)
- coral-reefs (1)
- core protein (1)
- cortical network models (1)
- cortical oscillations (1)
- costs (1)
- coupled oscillators (1)
- crystal-structure (1)
- cues (1)
- cyanobacteria (1)
- cysteine desulfurase (1)
- damage (1)
- data standardisation and formatting (1)
- decision trees (1)
- deep biosphere (1)
- delta-D values (1)
- dendrometer measurements (1)
- desert (1)
- diabetes (1)
- diabetes-melllitus (1)
- discharge (1)
- discrimination (1)
- disease (1)
- distance seed dispersial (1)
- ditch irrigation (1)
- diversification (1)
- diversity (1)
- dogs (1)
- domestication (1)
- drought (1)
- dynamic flow (1)
- dynamics (1)
- early diagnosis (1)
- ecology (1)
- ecosystem services (1)
- electron crytomography (1)
- energy harvest (1)
- entry (1)
- environmental association studies (1)
- epidemiology (1)
- evapotranspiration (1)
- events (1)
- exocyst complex (1)
- experiment description (1)
- experimental metadata (1)
- extracellular DNA (1)
- extremes (1)
- failure (1)
- fat mass (1)
- fault reactivation (1)
- filamentous cyanobacteria (1)
- finite element modeling (1)
- floral scent (1)
- flow (1)
- fluid-flow (1)
- fluorescent protein (1)
- forest (1)
- formazine (1)
- fragmented habitats (1)
- fragrance (1)
- free shear layers (1)
- frequency (1)
- full-stokes model (1)
- gene-expression (1)
- genome-wide analysis (1)
- genus capsella (1)
- geological CO2 storage (1)
- geomagnetic field (1)
- geomagnetic models (1)
- geomechanical model (1)
- geothermal-reservoirs (1)
- glacier (1)
- global climate (1)
- global jets (1)
- global vegetation model (1)
- gravity-anomalies (1)
- grounding line motion (1)
- groundwater level (1)
- groundwater surface water interaction (1)
- growth response (1)
- growth-factor 23 (1)
- heat shock proteins (1)
- heat stress response (1)
- heat-flow (1)
- helical magnetic fields (1)
- hepatic ischemia-reperfusion (1)
- hexapoda (1)
- hierarchical modular networks (1)
- high CO2 ocean (1)
- history (1)
- homolog (1)
- hsp-70 (1)
- human dendritic cells (1)
- hybrid origin (1)
- hybridization (1)
- hydrogen isotopes (1)
- hydrogenase (1)
- hydrological condition (1)
- hydroxypyridine-pyridone (1)
- hypercalciuria (1)
- ice-core records (1)
- identification (1)
- impact (1)
- impacts (1)
- in-situ stress (1)
- in-vivo (1)
- induced seismicity (1)
- injection (1)
- injury (1)
- insects (1)
- instability control (1)
- insurance (1)
- integral equations (1)
- interacting protein (1)
- interannual variability (1)
- internet (1)
- intertropical convergence zone (1)
- intervention (1)
- intestinal microbiota (1)
- intrinsic neuronal diversity (1)
- introgression (1)
- invection (1)
- ionospheric current (1)
- ionospheric scale lengths (1)
- iron reduction (1)
- iron-rich sediment (1)
- irregular firing activity (1)
- ischemia/reperfusion (1)
- isolation by distance (IBD) (1)
- isolation by environment (IBE) (1)
- isotopic composition (1)
- kinetic instabilities (1)
- kink instability (1)
- km depth (1)
- lacustrine sedimentary sequence (1)
- land-use (1)
- landscape (1)
- last glacial maximum (1)
- leakage (1)
- life-style intervention (1)
- literature review (1)
- liver-regeneration (1)
- losses (1)
- low-grade inflammation (1)
- lycopene (1)
- lynx (1)
- machine learning (1)
- map project (1)
- marine predator (1)
- marine viruses (1)
- mass index (1)
- mass-balance (1)
- mechanisms (1)
- medium-sized carnivores (1)
- melanocortin-4 receptor gene (1)
- metabolic syndrome (1)
- metabolomics (1)
- meteorology (1)
- mice (1)
- microbial activity (1)
- micronutrient (1)
- microsatellites (1)
- microtubules (1)
- migration (1)
- minimum information recommendations (1)
- molecular evolution (1)
- molecule-1 KIM-1 (1)
- monetary valuation (1)
- monsoons (1)
- mountain-ranges (1)
- mountains (1)
- mountains near cities (1)
- multidrug-resistant (1)
- multiple-pest infestation (1)
- multispectral (1)
- multiwavelength lidar (1)
- n-alkaline distributions (1)
- natural hazards (1)
- neuraminidase (1)
- neutralizing antibody (1)
- neutrophil (1)
- nitrogen-fixation (1)
- nodularia spumigena (1)
- non-monetary valuation (1)
- nuclear-localization (1)
- obesity (1)
- oceanic lithospere (1)
- of-the-art (1)
- olorgesailie formation (1)
- onset extreme obesity (1)
- ontology (1)
- optical-data (1)
- orientation (1)
- origin (1)
- otters (1)
- overweight children (1)
- ozone (1)
- package (1)
- parameters (1)
- parathyroid-hormone (1)
- particle-in-cell simulations (1)
- past 2 kyr (1)
- perception (1)
- performance (1)
- permafrost coasts (1)
- permeability (1)
- petunia flowers (1)
- phosphorus (1)
- phosphorylation (1)
- photon density wave spectroscopy (1)
- phylogeny (1)
- physical erosion (1)
- pine Island (1)
- pink1 (1)
- planar polarity (1)
- plant biology (1)
- plant cell wall (1)
- plant phenology (1)
- plant phenotyping (1)
- plant volatiles (1)
- plasma (1)
- plasma-membrane (1)
- pollinators (1)
- poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (1)
- population (1)
- population history (1)
- postglacial sea-level (1)
- precipitation (1)
- precipitation extremes (1)
- precursor indole-3-butyric acid (1)
- preferences in land management (1)
- pressure management (1)
- principal component (1)
- process analytical technology (1)
- project (1)
- prostate cancer (1)
- proteomic analysis (1)
- protomeric equilibria (1)
- public-participation (1)
- pulmonary syndrome (1)
- purification (1)
- rabies spread (1)
- raman-lidar (1)
- range edge populations (1)
- rate-dependent lower critical solution temperature (1)
- ray-emission-spectroscopy (1)
- recent speciation (1)
- receptor-binding (1)
- recombinant antibodies (1)
- recovery (1)
- regularization method (1)
- reintroduction (1)
- relativistic jets (1)
- required minimum runoff (1)
- reservoir (1)
- responses (1)
- retinol (1)
- retrieval (1)
- retroviral integration (1)
- reverse transcription (1)
- ribosome profiling (1)
- river Rhine (1)
- root hair initiation (1)
- sea plankton community (1)
- seawater (1)
- secondary forests (1)
- secondary metabolites (1)
- secondary structure (1)
- secretion (1)
- sedimentary microbes (1)
- self-association (1)
- self-sustained activity (1)
- selfing syndrome (1)
- sensitivity (1)
- sensitivity-analysis (1)
- sequence (1)
- sequestration (1)
- sexual selection (1)
- shadow detection (1)
- sheet models (1)
- shelf (1)
- shepherd’s purse (1)
- simulation (1)
- simulations (1)
- sites (1)
- snow detection (1)
- soil interface (1)
- soil landscape (1)
- soreq cave (1)
- spatial variations (1)
- specialization (1)
- stable-isotopes (1)
- statistical-model (1)
- statistics (1)
- stimulated glucose-uptake (1)
- stochastic rainfall model (1)
- storm damage (1)
- strategies (1)
- stream-B (1)
- sulfate reduction (1)
- sulfur cluster formation (1)
- summer (1)
- summer monsoon (1)
- surface (1)
- surface snow (1)
- symbiosis (1)
- synchronization (1)
- tecdissolved organic nitrogen (1)
- technical note (1)
- temperature variability (1)
- time-series (1)
- tocopherols (1)
- toxic hydrogen-sulfide (1)
- transcription (1)
- translation (1)
- transport (1)
- tritium assay (1)
- tritrophic system (1)
- tropical plumes (1)
- tropospheric aerosol (1)
- turbidity measurement (1)
- turbidity probes (1)
- turbulence control (1)
- untreatable Gonorrhea (1)
- up-down states (1)
- urban canopy model (1)
- urban green spaces (1)
- urinary ph (1)
- vaccine antigens (1)
- valence (1)
- variability (1)
- venom (1)
- volunteered geographic information (1)
- vulnerability mapping; (1)
- water balance (1)
- water balance model (1)
- water budget (1)
- water fluxes (1)
- water-balance (1)
- weather extremes (1)
- wetland (1)
- wetlands (1)
- whole-genome association (1)
- wind (1)
- within-type variability (1)
- x-ray (1)
Institute
- Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät (79) (remove)
We show that self-consistent partial synchrony in globally coupled oscillatory ensembles is a general phenomenon. We analyze in detail appearance and stability properties of this state in possibly the simplest setup of a biharmonic Kuramoto-Daido phase model as well as demonstrate the effect in limit-cycle relaxational Rayleigh oscillators. Such a regime extends the notion of splay state from a uniform distribution of phases to an oscillating one. Suitable collective observables such as the Kuramoto order parameter allow detecting the presence of an inhomogeneous distribution. The characteristic and most peculiar property of self-consistent partial synchrony is the difference between the frequency of single units and that of the macroscopic field.
Relatedness strongly influences social behaviors in a wide variety of species. For most species, the highest typical degree of relatedness is between full siblings with 50% shared genes. However, this is poorly understood in species with unusually high relatedness between individuals: clonal organisms. Although there has been some investigation into clonal invertebrates and yeast, nothing is known about kin selection in clonal vertebrates. We show that a clonal fish, the Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa), can distinguish between different clonal lineages, associating with genetically identical, sister clones, and use multiple sensory modalities. Also, they scale their aggressive behaviors according to the relatedness to other females: they are more aggressive to non-related clones. Our results demonstrate that even in species with very small genetic differences between individuals, kin recognition can be adaptive. Their discriminatory abilities and regulation of costly behaviors provides a powerful example of natural selection in species with limited genetic diversity.
The outermost cell layer of plants, the epidermis, and its outer (lateral) membrane domain facing the environment are continuously challenged by biotic and abiotic stresses. Therefore, the epidermis and the outer membrane domain provide important selective and protective barriers. However, only a small number of specifically outer membrane-localized proteins are known. Similarly, molecular mechanisms underlying the trafficking and the polar placement of outer membrane domain proteins require further exploration. Here, we demonstrate that ACTIN7 (ACT7) mediates trafficking of the PENETRATION3 (PEN3) outer membrane protein from the trans-Golgi network (TGN) to the plasma membrane in the root epidermis of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and that actin function contributes to PEN3 endocytic recycling. In contrast to such generic ACT7-dependent trafficking from the TGN, the EXOCYST84b (EXO84b) tethering factor mediates PEN3 outer-membrane polarity. Moreover, precise EXO84b placement at the outer membrane domain itself requires ACT7 function. Hence, our results uncover spatially and mechanistically distinct requirements for ACT7 function during outer lateral membrane cargo trafficking and polarity establishment. They further identify an exocyst tethering complex mediator of outer lateral membrane cargo polarity.
More effort — more results
(2016)
The development of 'omics' technologies has progressed to address complex biological questions that underlie various plant functions thereby producing copious amounts of data. The need to assimilate large amounts of data into biologically meaningful interpretations has necessitated the development of statistical methods to integrate multidimensional information. Throughout this review, we provide examples of recent outcomes of 'omics' data integration together with an overview of available statistical methods and tools.
Turbidity measurements are frequently implemented for the monitoring of heterogeneous chemical, physical, or biotechnological processes. However, for quantitative measurements, turbidity probes need calibration, as is requested and regulated by the ISO 7027:1999. Accordingly, a formazine suspension has to be produced. Despite this regulatory demand, no scientific publication on the stability and reproducibility of this polymerization process is available. In addition, no characterization of the optical properties of this calibration material with other optical methods had been achieved so far. Thus, in this contribution, process conditions such as temperature and concentration have been systematically investigated by turbidity probe measurements and Photon Density Wave (PDW) spectroscopy, revealing an influence on the temporal formazine formation onset. In contrast, different reaction temperatures do not lead to different scattering properties for the final formazine suspensions, but give an access to the activation energy for this condensation reaction. Based on PDW spectroscopy data, the synthesis of formazine is reproducible. However, very strong influences of the ambient conditions on the measurements of the turbidity probe have been observed, limiting its applicability. The restrictions of the turbidity probe with respect to scatterer concentration are examined on the basis of formazine and polystyrene suspensions. Compared to PDW spectroscopy data, signal saturation is observed at already low reduced scattering coefficients.
Ecosystem services have a significant impact on human wellbeing. While ecosystem services are frequently represented by monetary values, social values and underlying social benefits remain under explored. The purpose of this study is to assess whether and how social benefits have been explicitly addressed within socio-economic and socio-cultural ecosystem services research, ultimately allowing a better understanding between ecosystem services and human well-being. In this paper, we reviewed 115 international primary valuation studies and tested four hypotheses associated to the identification of social benefits of ecosystem services using logistic regressions. Tested hypotheses were that (1) social benefits are mostly derived in studies that assess cultural ecosystem services as opposed to other ecosystem service types, (2) there is a pattern of social benefits and certain cultural ecosystem services assessed simultaneously, (3) monetary valuation techniques go beyond expressing monetary values and convey social benefits, and (4) directly addressing stakeholder's views the consideration of social benefits in ecosystem service assessments. Our analysis revealed that (1) a variety of social benefits are valued in studies that assess either of the four ecosystem service types, (2) certain social benefits are likely to co-occur in combination with certain cultural ecosystem services, (3) of the studies that employed monetary valuation techniques, simulated market approaches overlapped most frequently with the assessment of social benefits and (4) studies that directly incorporate stakeholder's views were more likely to also assess social benefits. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Mountain and upland regions provide a wide range of ecosystem services to residents and visitors. While ecosystem research in mountain regions is on the rise, the linkages between sociocultural benefits and ecological systems remain little explored. Mountainous regions close to urban areas provide numerous benefits to a large number of individuals, suggesting a high social value, particularly for cultural ecosystem services. We explored and compared visitors' valuation of ecosystem services in the Pentland Hills, an upland range close to the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, and urban green spaces within Edinburgh. Based on 715 responses to user surveys in both study areas, we identified intense use and high social value for both areas. Several ecosystem services were perceived as equally important in both areas, including many cultural ecosystem services. Significant differences were revealed in the value of physically using nature, which Pentland Hills users rated more highly than those in the urban green spaces, and of mitigation of pollutants and carbon sequestration, for which the urban green spaces were valued more highly. Major differences were further identified for preferences in future land management, with nature-oriented management preferred by about 57% of the interviewees in the Pentland Hills, compared to 31% in the urban parks. The study highlights the substantial value of upland areas in close vicinity to a city for physically using and experiencing nature, with a strong acceptance of nature conservation.
In this study, we investigated the scale sizes of equatorial plasma irregularities (EPIs) using measurements from the Swarm satellites during its early mission and final constellation phases. We found that with longitudinal separation between Swarm satellites larger than 0.4°, no significant correlation was found any more. This result suggests that EPI structures include plasma density scale sizes less than 44 km in the zonal direction. During the Swarm earlier mission phase, clearly better EPI correlations are obtained in the northern hemisphere, implying more fragmented irregularities in the southern hemisphere where the ambient magnetic field is low. The previously reported inverted-C shell structure of EPIs is generally confirmed by the Swarm observations in the northern hemisphere, but with various tilt angles. From the Swarm spacecrafts with zonal separations of about 150 km, we conclude that larger zonal scale sizes of irregularities exist during the early evening hours (around 1900 LT).
The onset of modern central Asian atmospheric circulation is traditionally linked to the interplay of surface uplift of the Mongolian and Tibetan-Himalayan orogens, retreat of the Paratethys sea from central Asia and Cenozoic global cooling. Although the role of these players has not yet been unravelled, the vast dust deposits of central China support the presence of arid conditions and modern atmospheric pathways for the last 25 million years (Myr). Here, we present provenance data from older (42-33 Myr) dust deposits, at a time when the Tibetan Plateau was less developed, the Paratethys sea still present in central Asia and atmospheric pCO(2) much higher. Our results show that dust sources and near-surface atmospheric circulation have changed little since at least 42 Myr. Our findings indicate that the locus of central Asian high pressures and concurrent aridity is a resilient feature only modulated by mountain building, global cooling and sea retreat.
The agricultural transition profoundly changed human societies. We sequenced and analysed the first genome (1.39x) of an early Neolithic woman from Ganj Dareh, in the Zagros Mountains of Iran, a site with early evidence for an economy based on goat herding, ca. 10,000 BP. We show that Western Iran was inhabited by a population genetically most similar to hunter-gatherers from the Caucasus, but distinct from the Neolithic Anatolian people who later brought food production into Europe. The inhabitants of Ganj Dareh made little direct genetic contribution to modern European populations, suggesting those of the Central Zagros were somewhat isolated from other populations of the Fertile Crescent. Runs of homozygosity are of a similar length to those from Neolithic farmers, and shorter than those of Caucasus and Western Hunter-Gatherers, suggesting that the inhabitants of Ganj Dareh did not undergo the large population bottleneck suffered by their northern neighbours. While some degree of cultural diffusion between Anatolia, Western Iran and other neighbouring regions is possible, the genetic dissimilarity between early Anatolian farmers and the inhabitants of Ganj Dareh supports a model in which Neolithic societies in these areas were distinct.
Low Earth orbiting geomagnetic satellite missions, such as the Swarm satellite mission, are the only means to monitor and investigate ionospheric currents on a global scale and to make in situ measurements of F region currents. High-precision geomagnetic satellite missions are also able to detect ionospheric currents during quiet-time geomagnetic conditions that only have few nanotesla amplitudes in the magnetic field. An efficient method to isolate the ionospheric signals from satellite magnetic field measurements has been the use of residuals between the observations and predictions from empirical geomagnetic models for other geomagnetic sources, such as the core and lithospheric field or signals from the quiet-time magnetospheric currents. This study aims at highlighting the importance of high-resolution magnetic field models that are able to predict the lithospheric field and that consider the quiet-time magnetosphere for reliably isolating signatures from ionospheric currents during geomagnetically quiet times. The effects on the detection of ionospheric currents arising from neglecting the lithospheric and magnetospheric sources are discussed on the example of four Swarm orbits during very quiet times. The respective orbits show a broad range of typical scenarios, such as strong and weak ionospheric signal (during day- and nighttime, respectively) superimposed over strong and weak lithospheric signals. If predictions from the lithosphere or magnetosphere are not properly considered, the amplitude of the ionospheric currents, such as the midlatitude Sq currents or the equatorial electrojet (EEJ), is modulated by 10–15 % in the examples shown. An analysis from several orbits above the African sector, where the lithospheric field is significant, showed that the peak value of the signatures of the EEJ is in error by 5 % in average when lithospheric contributions are not considered, which is in the range of uncertainties of present empirical models of the EEJ.
We analyzed the population genetic pattern of 12 fragmented Geropogon hybridus ecological range edge populations in Israel along a steep precipitation gradient. In the investigation area (45 x 20 km(2)), the annual mean precipitation changes rapidly from 450 mm in the north (Mediterranean-influenced climate zone) to 300 mm in the south (semiarid climate zone) without significant temperature changes. Our analysis (91 individuals, 12 populations, 123 polymorphic loci) revealed strongly structured populations (AMOVA I broken vertical bar(ST) = 0.35; P < 0.001); however, differentiation did not change gradually toward range edge. IBD was significant (Mantel test r = 0.81; P = 0.001) and derived from sharply divided groups between the northernmost populations and the others further south, due to dispersal or environmental limitations. This was corroborated by the PCA and STRUCTURE analyses. IBD and IBE were significant despite the micro-geographic scale of the study area, which indicates that reduced precipitation toward range edge leads to population genetic divergence. However, this pattern diminished when the hypothesized gene flow barrier was taken into account. Applying the spatial analysis method revealed 11 outlier loci that were correlated to annual precipitation and, moreover, were indicative for putative precipitation-related adaptation (BAYESCAN, MCHEZA). The results suggest that even on micro-geographic scales, environmental factors play prominent roles in population divergence, genetic drift, and directional selection. The pattern is typical for strong environmental gradients, e.g., at species range edges and ecological limits, and if gene flow barriers and mosaic-like structures of fragmented habitats hamper dispersal.
The role that climate and environmental history may have played in influencing human evolution has been the focus of considerable interest and controversy among paleoanthropologists for decades. Prior attempts to understand the environmental history side of this equation have centered around the study of outcrop sediments and fossils adjacent to where fossil hominins (ancestors or close relatives of modern humans) are found, or from the study of deep sea drill cores. However, outcrop sediments are often highly weathered and thus are unsuitable for some types of paleoclimatic records, and deep sea core records come from long distances away from the actual fossil and stone tool remains. The Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project (HSPDP) was developed to address these issues. The project has focused its efforts on the eastern African Rift Valley, where much of the evidence for early hominins has been recovered. We have collected about 2 km of sediment drill core from six basins in Kenya and Ethiopia, in lake deposits immediately adjacent to important fossil hominin and archaeological sites. Collectively these cores cover in time many of the key transitions and critical intervals in human evolutionary history over the last 4 Ma, such as the earliest stone tools, the origin of our own genus Homo, and the earliest anatomically modern Homo sapiens. Here we document the initial field, physical property, and core description results of the 2012-2014 HSPDP coring campaign.
Venomous snakes often display extensive variation in venom composition both between and within species. However, the mechanisms underlying the distribution of different toxins and venom types among populations and taxa remain insufficiently known. Rattlesnakes (Crotalus, Sistrurus) display extreme inter-and intraspecific variation in venom composition, centered particularly on the presence or absence of presynaptically neurotoxic phospholipases A2 such as Mojave toxin (MTX). Interspecific hybridization has been invoked as a mechanism to explain the distribution of these toxins across rattlesnakes, with the implicit assumption that they are adaptively advantageous. Here, we test the potential of adaptive hybridization as a mechanism for venom evolution by assessing the distribution of genes encoding the acidic and basic subunits of Mojave toxin across a hybrid zone between MTX-positive Crotalus scutulatus and MTX-negative C. viridis in southwestern New Mexico, USA. Analyses of morphology, mitochondrial and single copy-nuclear genes document extensive admixture within a narrow hybrid zone. The genes encoding the two MTX subunits are strictly linked, and found in most hybrids and backcrossed individuals, but not in C. viridis away from the hybrid zone. Presence of the genes is invariably associated with presence of the corresponding toxin in the venom. We conclude that introgression of highly lethal neurotoxins through hybridization is not necessarily favored by natural selection in rattlesnakes, and that even extensive hybridization may not lead to introgression of these genes into another species.
Antibodies against spike proteins of influenza are used as a tool for characterization of viruses and therapeutic approaches. However, development, production and quality control of antibodies is expensive and time consuming. To circumvent these difficulties, three peptides were derived from complementarity determining regions of an antibody heavy chain against influenza A spike glycoprotein. Their binding properties were studied experimentally, and by molecular dynamics simulations. Two peptide candidates showed binding to influenza A/Aichi/2/68 H3N2. One of them, termed PeB, with the highest affinity prevented binding to and infection of target cells in the micromolar region without any cytotoxic effect. PeB matches best the conserved receptor binding site of hemagglutinin. PeB bound also to other medical relevant influenza strains, such as human-pathogenic A/California/7/2009 H1N1, and avian-pathogenic A/MuteSwan/Rostock/R901/2006 H7N1. Strategies to improve the affinity and to adapt specificity are discussed and exemplified by a double amino acid substituted peptide, obtained by substitutional analysis. The peptides and their derivatives are of great potential for drug development as well as biosensing.
Neisseria gonorrhoeae is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases worldwide with more than 100 million new infections per year. A lack of intense research over the last decades and increasing resistances to the recommended antibiotics call for a better understanding of gonococcal infection, fast diagnostics and therapeutic measures against N. gonorrhoeae. Therefore, the aim of this work was to identify novel immunogenic proteins as a first step to advance those unresolved problems. For the identification of immunogenic proteins, pHORF oligopeptide phage display libraries of the entire N. gonorrhoeae genome were constructed. Several immunogenic oligopeptides were identified using polyclonal rabbit antibodies against N. gonorrhoeae. Corresponding full-length proteins of the identified oligopeptides were expressed and their immunogenic character was verified by ELISA. The immunogenic character of six proteins was identified for the first time. Additional 13 proteins were verified as immunogenic proteins in N. gonorrhoeae.
Arctic coastal infrastructure and cultural and archeological sites are increasingly vulnerable to erosion and flooding due to amplified warming of the Arctic, sea level rise, lengthening of open water periods, and a predicted increase in frequency of major storms. Mitigating these hazards necessitates decision-making tools at an appropriate scale. The objectives of this paper are to provide such a tool by assessing potential erosion and flood hazards at Herschel Island, a UNESCO World Heritage candidate site. This study focused on Simpson Point and the adjacent coastal sections because of their archeological, historical, and cultural significance. Shoreline movement was analyzed using the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) after digitizing shorelines from 1952, 1970, 2000, and 2011. For purposes of this analysis, the coast was divided in seven coastal reaches (CRs) reflecting different morphologies and/or exposures. Using linear regression rates obtained from these data, projections of shoreline position were made for 20 and 50 years into the future. Flood hazard was assessed using a least cost path analysis based on a high-resolution light detection and ranging (LiDAR) dataset and current Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change sea level estimates. Widespread erosion characterizes the study area. The rate of shoreline movement in different periods of the study ranges from −5.5 to 2.7 m·a⁻¹ (mean −0.6 m·a⁻¹). Mean coastal retreat decreased from −0.6 m·a⁻¹ to −0.5 m·a⁻¹, for 1952–1970 and 1970–2000, respectively, and increased to −1.3 m·a⁻¹ in the period 2000–2011. Ice-rich coastal sections most exposed to wave attack exhibited the highest rates of coastal retreat. The geohazard map combines shoreline projections and flood hazard analyses to show that most of the spit area has extreme or very high flood hazard potential, and some buildings are vulnerable to coastal erosion. This study demonstrates that transgressive forcing may provide ample sediment for the expansion of depositional landforms, while growing more susceptible to overwash and flooding.
Preface
(2016)
The coil-to-globule transition of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) microgel particles suspended in water has been investigated in situ as a function of heating and cooling rate with four optical process analytical technologies (PAT), sensitive to structural changes of the polymer. Photon Density Wave (PDW) spectroscopy, Focused Beam Reflectance Measurements (FBRM), turbidity measurements, and Particle Vision Microscope (PVM) measurements are found to be powerful tools for the monitoring of the temperature-dependent transition of such thermo-responsive polymers. These in-line technologies allow for monitoring of either the reduced scattering coefficient and the absorption coefficient, the chord length distribution, the reflected intensities, or the relative backscatter index via in-process imaging, respectively. Varying heating and cooling rates result in rate-dependent lower critical solution temperatures (LCST), with different impact of cooling and heating. Particularly, the data obtained by PDW spectroscopy can be used to estimate the thermodynamic transition temperature of PNIPAM for infinitesimal heating or cooling rates. In addition, an inverse hysteresis and a reversible building of micrometer-sized agglomerates are observed for the PNIPAM transition process.