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Sven Siefken und Hilmar Rommetvedt (Hrsg.). 2021. Parliamentary committees in the policy process
(2023)
Never again?
(2023)
The Holocaust was the most terrible atrocity of the 20th century. In many ways, it was also unprecedented in the history of atrocities: for its comprehensiveness and systematic nature; for the fanaticism with which its perpetrators scoured an entire continent in their pursuit of Jews; for the awful potency of the Nazis’ insinuation that the victims represented a pernicious and existential threat. Collectively, we have spent decades—and published millions of words—trying to understand what happened and why.
Starch is a complex carbohydrate polymer produced by plants and especially by crops in huge amounts. It consists of amylose and amylopectin, which have alpha-1,4-and alpha-1,6-linked glucose units. Despite this simple chemistry, the entire starch metabolism is complex, containing various (iso)enzymes/proteins. However, whose interplay is still not yet fully understood. Starch is essential for humans and animals as a source of nutrition and energy. Nowadays, starch is also commonly used in non-food industrial sectors for a variety of purposes. However, native starches do not always satisfy the needs of a wide range of (industrial) applications. This review summarizes the structural properties of starch, analytical methods for starch characterization, and in planta starch modifications.
The simultaneous detection of gravitational waves and light from the binary neutron star merger GW170817 led to independent measurements of distance and redshift, providing a direct estimate of the Hubble constant H-0 that does not rely on a cosmic distance ladder, nor assumes a specific cosmological model.
By using gravitational waves as "standard sirens", this approach holds promise to arbitrate the existing tension between the H-0 value inferred from the cosmic microwave background and those obtained from local measurements.
However, the known degeneracy in the gravitational-wave analysis between distance and inclination of the source led to a H-0 value from GW170817 that was not precise enough to resolve the existing tension.
In this review, we summarize recent works exploiting the viewing-angle dependence of the electromagnetic signal, namely the associated short gamma-ray burst and kilonova, to constrain the system inclination and improve on H-0.
We outline the key ingredients of the different methods, summarize the results obtained in the aftermath of GW170817 and discuss the possible systematics introduced by each of these methods.
Western-style obesity-promoting diets are associated with increased inflammation, higher disease incidence and mortality.
In contrast, plant-based diets (PBDs), which incorporate large amounts of vegetables and fruit, legumes, whole grains and only a small amount of meat, are generally associated with better health and lower mortality.
This narrative review summarizes the evidence on health and life span in adults adhering to PBDs and discusses the potentially longevity-promoting mechanism of PBDs as well as limitations due to nutrient deficiencies.
Epidemiologic studies consistently report lower mortality rates in adults who adhering to PBDs when compared with people whose diet regularly includes meat.
PBDs are associated with many health benefits, such as improved metabolic and inflammatory profile.
In turn, the incidence of cardiovascular disease is lower in adults consuming PBDs, which contributes to their better health. The health-promoting effects of PBDs are still not entirely clear but most likely multifactorial and include modulation of the gut microbiome. The interest in possible longevity-promoting mechanisms of PBDs has increased in recent years, as many characteristics of PBDs such as protein restriction and restriction of certain amino acids are known to extend the life span.
While there is ample evidence from animal studies, large-scale human studies, which also provide insight into the specific mechanisms of the effect of PBDs on longevity, are missing.
However, due to the lower protein content of PBDs, there appears to be an age limit for the anticipated health effects, as adults over 65 require larger amounts of protein.
The most profound shift in the African hydroclimate of the last 1 million years occurred around 300 thousand years (ka) ago.
This change in African hydroclimate is manifest as an east-west change in moisture balance that cannot be fully explained through linkages to high latitude climate systems.
The east-west shift is, instead, probably driven by a shift in the tropical Walker Circulation related to sea surface temperature change driven by orbital forcing. Comparing records of past vegetation change, and hominin evolution and development, with this breakpoint in the climate system is challenging owing to the paucity of study sites available and uncertainties regarding the dating of records. Notwithstanding these uncertainties we find that, broadly speaking, both vegetation and hominins change around 300 ka.
The vegetative backdrop suggests that relative abundance of vegetative resources shifted from western to eastern Africa, although resources would have persisted across the continent.
The climatic and vegetation changes probably provided challenges for hominins and are broadly coincident with the appearance of Homo sapiens (ca 315 ka) and the emergence of Middle Stone Age technology.
The concomitant changes in climate, vegetation and hominin evolution suggest that these factors are closely intertwined.
This article is part of the theme issue 'Tropical forests in the deep human past'.
Physically interacting proteins form macromolecule complexes that drive diverse cellular processes. Advances in experimental techniques that capture interactions between proteins provide us with protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks from several model organisms. These datasets have enabled the prediction and other computational analyses of protein complexes. Here we provide a systematic review of the state-of-the-art algorithms for protein complex prediction from PPI networks proposed in the past two decades. The existing approaches that solve this problem are categorized into three groups, including: cluster-quality-based, node affinity-based, and network embedding-based approaches, and we compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages. We further include a comparative analysis by computing the performance of eighteen methods based on twelve well-established performance measures on four widely used benchmark protein-protein interaction networks. Finally, the limitations and drawbacks of both, current data and approaches, along with the potential solutions in this field are discussed, with emphasis on the points that pave the way for future research efforts in this field. (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Research Network of Computational and Structural Biotechnology. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/).
In this paper, I discuss Karen Ng's reconstruction of Hegel's concept of life. On Ng's account, Hegel's conception of life has a remarkable double role to play: Life is both the proper object of judgment as well as a fundamental characterization of the activity of the judging subject. In a first step, I highlight the insight that Ng's account sheds on the internal connection of life and self-consciousness and the peculiar normativity of life. In a second step, I raise three concerns about Ng's strong focus on the logical notion of life which she characterizes as non-empirical and a priori. I argue that in order to uncover the full significance of the notion of life for Hegel we have to turn to his Philosophy of Nature and Spirit.
Tacitus and cinema
(2021)
The identification of buried soil horizons in agricultural landscapes helps to quantify sediment budgets and erosion-related carbon dynamics. High-resolution mapping of buried horizons using conventional soil surveys is destructive and time consuming. Geoelectrical sensors can offer a fast and non-destructive alternative for determining horizon positions and properties. In this paper, we compare the suitability of several geoelectrical methods for measuring the depth to buried horizons (Apb, Ahb and Hab) in the hummocky ground moraine landscape of northeastern Germany. Soil profile descriptions were developed for 269 locations within a 6-ha experimental field "CarboZALF-D". A stepwise linear discriminant analysis (LDA) estimated the lateral position of the buried horizons using electromagnetic induction data and terrain attributes. To predict the depth of a buried horizon, multiple linear regression (MLR) was used for both a 120-m transect and a 0.2-ha pseudo-three-dimensional (3D) area. At these scales, apparent electrical conductivity (ECa), electrical resistivity (ER) and terrain attributes were used as independent variables. The LDA accurately predicted Apb- and Ahb-horizons (a correct classification of 93%). The LDA of the Hab-horizon had a misclassification of 24%, which was probably related to the smaller test set and the higher depth of this horizon. The MLR predicted the depth of the Apb-, Ahb- and Hab-horizons with relative root mean square errors (RMSEs) of 7, 3 and 13%, respectively, in the pseudo-3D area. MLR had a lower accuracy for the 2D transect compared to the pseudo-3D area. Overall, the use of LDA and MLR has been an efficient methodological approach for predicting buried horizon positions. Highlights The suitability of geoelectrical measurements for digital modelling of diagnostic buried soil horizons was determined. LDA and MLR were used to detect multiple horizons with geoelectrical devices and terrain attributes. Geoelectrical variables were significant predictors of the position of the target soil horizons. The use of these tested digital technologies gives an opportunity to develop high-resolution soil mapping procedures.
Electrochemical methods offer the simple characterization of the synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) and the readouts of target binding. The binding of electroinactive analytes can be detected indirectly by their modulating effect on the diffusional permeability of a redox marker through thin MIP films. However, this process generates an overall signal, which may include nonspecific interactions with the nonimprinted surface and adsorption at the electrode surface in addition to (specific) binding to the cavities. Redox-active low-molecular-weight targets and metalloproteins enable a more specific direct quantification of their binding to MIPs by measuring the faradaic current. The in situ characterization of enzymes, MIP-based mimics of redox enzymes or enzyme-labeled targets, is based on the indication of an electroactive product. This approach allows the determination of both the activity of the bio(mimetic) catalyst and of the substrate concentration.
Brownian motion and viscoelastic anomalous diffusion in homogeneous environments are intrinsically Gaussian processes. In a growing number of systems, however, non-Gaussian displacement distributions of these processes are being reported. The physical cause of the non-Gaussianity is typically seen in different forms of disorder. These include, for instance, imperfect "ensembles" of tracer particles, the presence of local variations of the tracer mobility in heteroegenous environments, or cases in which the speed or persistence of moving nematodes or cells are distributed. From a theoretical point of view stochastic descriptions based on distributed ("superstatistical") transport coefficients as well as time-dependent generalisations based on stochastic transport parameters with built-in finite correlation time are invoked. After a brief review of the history of Brownian motion and the famed Gaussian displacement distribution, we here provide a brief introduction to the phenomenon of non-Gaussianity and the stochastic modelling in terms of superstatistical and diffusing-diffusivity approaches.
Aging has been viewed both as a random process due to accumulation of molecular and cellular damage over time and as a programmed process linked to cellular pathway important for growth and maturation. These views converge on mitochondria as both the major producer of damaging reactive oxidant species (ROS) and as signaling organelles. A finite proton leak across the inner mitochondrial membrane leading to a slight uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation and respiration is an intrinsic property of all mitochondria and according to the "uncoupling to survive" hypothesis it has evolved to protect against ROS production to minimize oxidative damage. This hypothesis is supported by evidence linking an increased endogenous, uncoupling protein (UCP1) mediated, as well as experimentally induced mitochondrial uncoupling to an increased lifespan in rodents. This is possibly due to the synergistic activation of molecular pathways linked to life extending effects of caloric restriction as well as a mitohormetic response. Mitohormesis is an adaptive stress response through mitonuclear signaling which increases stress resistance resulting in health promoting effects. Part of this response is the induction of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) and growth and differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), two stress-induced mitokines which elicit beneficial systemic metabolic effects via endocrine action.
The biosynthesis of the molybdenum cofactor (Moco) is highly conserved among all kingdoms of life. In all molybdoenzymes containing Moco, the molybdenum atom is coordinated to a dithiolene group present in the pterin-based 6-alkyl side chain of molybdopterin (MPT). In general, the biosynthesis of Moco can be divided into four steps in in bacteria: (i) the starting point is the formation of the cyclic pyranopterin monophosphate (cPMP) from 5 '-GTP, (ii) in the second step the two sulfur atoms are inserted into cPMP leading to the formation of MPT, (iii) in the third step the molybdenum atom is inserted into MPT to form Moco and (iv) in the fourth step bis-Mo-MPT is formed and an additional modification of Moco is possible with the attachment of a nucleotide (CMP or GMP) to the phosphate group of MPT, forming the dinucleotide variants of Moco. This review presents an update on the well-characterized Moco biosynthesis in the model organism Escherichia coli including novel discoveries from the recent years.