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During SPURT (Spurenstofftransport in der Tropopausenregion, trace gas transport in the tropopause region) we performed measurements of a wide range of trace gases with different lifetimes and sink/source characteristics in the northern hemispheric upper troposphere (UT) and lowermost stratosphere (LMS). A large number of in-situ instruments were deployed on board a Learjet 35A, flying at altitudes up to 13.7 km, at times reaching to nearly 380 K potential temperature. Eight measurement campaigns (consisting of a total of 36 flights), distributed over all seasons and typically covering latitudes between 35° N and 75° N in the European longitude sector (10° W–20° E), were performed. Here we present an overview of the project, describing the instrumentation, the encountered meteorological situations during the campaigns and the data set available from SPURT. Measurements were obtained for N2O, CH4, CO, CO2, CFC12, H2, SF6, NO, NOy, O3 and H2O. We illustrate the strength of this new data set by showing mean distributions of the mixing ratios of selected trace gases, using a potential temperature – equivalent latitude coordinate system. The observations reveal that the LMS is most stratospheric in character during spring, with the highest mixing ratios of O3 and NOy and the lowest mixing ratios of N2O and SF6. The lowest mixing ratios of NOy and O3 are observed during autumn, together with the highest mixing ratios of N2O and SF6 indicating a strong tropospheric influence. For H2O, however, the maximum concentrations in the LMS are found during summer, suggesting unique (temperature- and convection-controlled) conditions for this molecule during transport across the tropopause. The SPURT data set is presently the most accurate and complete data set for many trace species in the LMS, and its main value is the simultaneous measurement of a suite of trace gases having different lifetimes and physical-chemical histories. It is thus very well suited for studies of atmospheric transport, for model validation, and for investigations of seasonal changes in the UT/LMS, as demonstrated in accompanying and elsewhere published studies.
Plants, fungi and algae are important components of global biodiversity and are fundamental to all ecosystems. They are the basis for human well-being, providing food, materials and medicines. Specimens of all three groups of organisms are accommodated in herbaria, where they are commonly referred to as botanical specimens.The large number of specimens in herbaria provides an ample, permanent and continuously improving knowledge base on these organisms and an indispensable source for the analysis of the distribution of species in space and time critical for current and future research relating to global biodiversity. In order to make full use of this resource, a research infrastructure has to be built that grants comprehensive and free access to the information in herbaria and botanical collections in general. This can be achieved through digitization of the botanical objects and associated data.The botanical research community can count on a long-standing tradition of collaboration among institutions and individuals. It agreed on data standards and standard services even before the advent of computerization and information networking, an example being the Index Herbariorum as a global registry of herbaria helping towards the unique identification of specimens cited in the literature.In the spirit of this collaborative history, 51 representatives from 30 institutions advocate to start the digitization of botanical collections with the overall wall-to-wall digitization of the flat objects stored in German herbaria. Germany has 70 herbaria holding almost 23 million specimens according to a national survey carried out in 2019. 87% of these specimens are not yet digitized. Experiences from other countries like France, the Netherlands, Finland, the US and Australia show that herbaria can be comprehensively and cost-efficiently digitized in a relatively short time due to established workflows and protocols for the high-throughput digitization of flat objects.Most of the herbaria are part of a university (34), fewer belong to municipal museums (10) or state museums (8), six herbaria belong to institutions also supported by federal funds such as Leibniz institutes, and four belong to non-governmental organizations. A common data infrastructure must therefore integrate different kinds of institutions.Making full use of the data gained by digitization requires the set-up of a digital infrastructure for storage, archiving, content indexing and networking as well as standardized access for the scientific use of digital objects. A standards-based portfolio of technical components has already been developed and successfully tested by the Biodiversity Informatics Community over the last two decades, comprising among others access protocols, collection databases, portals, tools for semantic enrichment and annotation, international networking, storage and archiving in accordance with international standards. This was achieved through the funding by national and international programs and initiatives, which also paved the road for the German contribution to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).Herbaria constitute a large part of the German botanical collections that also comprise living collections in botanical gardens and seed banks, DNA- and tissue samples, specimens preserved in fluids or on microscope slides and more. Once the herbaria are digitized, these resources can be integrated, adding to the value of the overall research infrastructure. The community has agreed on tasks that are shared between the herbaria, as the German GBIF model already successfully demonstrates.We have compiled nine scientific use cases of immediate societal relevance for an integrated infrastructure of botanical collections. They address accelerated biodiversity discovery and research, biomonitoring and conservation planning, biodiversity modelling, the generation of trait information, automated image recognition by artificial intelligence, automated pathogen detection, contextualization by interlinking objects, enabling provenance research, as well as education, outreach and citizen science.We propose to start this initiative now in order to valorize German botanical collections as a vital part of a worldwide biodiversity data pool.
In the context of workplace health promotion, physical activity programs have been shown to reduce musculoskeletal diseases and stress, and to improve the quality of life. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of using the “five-Business” stretch training device for office workers on their quality of life. A total of 313 office workers (173m/137f) participated voluntarily in this intervention–control study with an average age of 43.37 ± 11.24 (SD) years, 175.37 ± 9.35 cm in height and 75.76 ± 15.23 kg in weight, with an average BMI of 24.5 ± 3.81 kg/m2. The participants completed the stretch training twice a week for approximately 10 minutes for a duration of 12 weeks. The SF-36 questionnaire was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention at baseline and after 12 weeks. Significantly improved outcomes in mental sum score (p = 0.008), physical functioning (p < 0.001), bodily pain (p = 0.01), vitality (p = 0.025), role limitations due to physical problems (p = 0.018) and mental health (p = 0.012) were shown after the stretching training. The results suggest that a 12-week stretching program for office desk workers is suitable to improve significantly their health-related quality of life.
Hintergrund: Dehntrainings sind eine Maßnahme der betrieblichen Gesundheitsförderung (BGF) für Büroangestellte zur Prävention von muskuloskeletalen Erkrankungen (MSE). Sie können zu Beweglichkeitszuwächsen führen und auf psychischer Ebene entspannen. Ziel der Studie war es, ein standardisiertes und individualisiertes Dehntraining am Gerät, das „five-Business“, auf MSE, Lebensqualität und Beweglichkeit zu untersuchen. Dies ist eine Zusammenfassung der international publizierten Ergebnisse.
Methodik: In diese Untersuchung wurden 252 Proband(innen) eingeschlossen, 156 in die Interventionsgruppe (IG), 96 in die Kontrollgruppe (KG). Die IG absolvierte für 12 Wochen 22–24 Trainingseinheiten am „five-Business“, möglichst zweimal wöchentlich. Die Datenerhebung erfolgte mittels sportmotorischer bzw. Range-of-motion(ROM)-Tests, dem Nordic Questionnaire (NQ) und dem SF-36-Fragebogen in Form einer Prä-Post-Untersuchung.
Ergebnisse: Nach der Intervention gaben im NQ signifikant weniger Proband(innen) der IG Beschwerden im oberen Rücken (p < 0,001) im Vergleich zur KG an; keine signifikanten Unterschiede wurden bei Beschwerden im Nacken, Schultern, Hüfte und dem unteren Rücken gefunden. Der mit dem SF-36 erhobene allgemeine Gesundheitszustand und die gesundheitsbezogene Lebensqualität haben sich (nach subjektiven Angaben) signifikant verbessert (Summenscore IG: p = 0,005). In den ROM-Tests waren die Prä-Post-Differenzen bei IG-Proband(innen) in der Sagittalebene (Finger-Boden-Abstand und Retroflexion; p < 0,001) und im modifizierten Schultertest nach Janda auf der linken Seite (p = 0,003) signifikant größer.
Diskussion: Trotz des in Zeitdauer und Häufigkeit relativ geringen Trainingsaufwandes wurden sowohl auf körperlicher als auch auf psychischer Ebene relevante Verbesserungen erzielt, so dass das „five-Business“-Dehntraining als BGF-Maßnahme empfohlen werden kann.
A small electrostatic storage ring is the central machine of the Frankfurt Ion Storage Experiments (FIRE) which will be built at the new Stern-Gerlach Center of Frankfurt University. As a true multiuser, multipurpose facility with ion energies up to 50 keV, it will allow new methods to analyze complex many-particle systems from atoms to very large biomolecules. With envisaged storage times of some seconds and beam emittances in the order of a few mm mrad, measurements with up to 6 orders of magnitude better resolutions as compared to single-pass experiments become possible. In comparison to earlier designs, the ring lattice was modified in many details: Problems in earlier designs were related to, e.g., the detection of light particles and highly charged ions with different charge states. Therefore, the deflectors were redesigned completely, allowing a more flexible positioning of the diagnostics. Here, after an introduction to the concept of electrostatic machines, an overview of the planned FIRE is given and the ring lattice and elements are described in detail.
Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a primary immunodeficiency characterized by impaired antimicrobial activity in phagocytic cells. As a monogenic disease affecting the hematopoietic system, CGD is amenable to gene therapy. Indeed in a phase I/II clinical trial, we demonstrated a transient resolution of bacterial and fungal infections. However, the therapeutic benefit was compromised by the occurrence of clonal dominance and malignant transformation demanding alternative vectors with equal efficacy but safety-improved features. In this work we have developed and tested a self-inactivating (SIN) gammaretroviral vector (SINfes.gp91s) containing a codon-optimized transgene (gp91(phox)) under the transcriptional control of a myeloid promoter for the gene therapy of the X-linked form of CGD (X-CGD). Gene-corrected cells protected X-CGD mice from Aspergillus fumigatus challenge at low vector copy numbers. Moreover, the SINfes.gp91s vector generates substantial amounts of superoxide in human cells transplanted into immunodeficient mice. In vitro genotoxicity assays and longitudinal high-throughput integration site analysis in transplanted mice comprising primary and secondary animals for 11 months revealed a safe integration site profile with no signs of clonal dominance.
New neutron cross section measurements of minor actinides have been performed recently in order to reduce the uncertainties in the evaluated data, which is important for the design of advanced nuclear reactors and, in particular, for determining their performance in the transmutation of nuclear waste. We have measured the 241Am(n,γ) cross section at the n_TOF facility between 0.2 eV and 10 keV with a BaF2 Total Absorption Calorimeter, and the analysis of the measurement has been recently concluded. Our results are in reasonable agreement below 20 eV with the ones published by C. Lampoudis et al. in 2013, who reported a 22% larger capture cross section up to 110 eV compared to experimental and evaluated data published before. Our results also indicate that the 241Am(n,γ) cross section is underestimated in the present evaluated libraries between 20 eV and 2 keV by 25%, on average, and up to 35% for certain evaluations and energy ranges.
The accuracy on neutron capture cross section of fissile isotopes must be improved for the design of future nuclear systems such as Gen-IV reactors and Accelerator Driven Systems. The High Priority Request List of the Nuclear Energy Agency, which lists the most important nuclear data requirements, includes also the neutron capture cross sections of fissile isotopes such as 233,235U and 239,241Pu. A specific experimental setup has been used at the CERN n_TOF facility for the measurement of the neutron capture cross section of 235U by a set of micromegas fission detectors placed inside a segmented BaF2 Total Absorption Calorimeter.
Selection and prioritization of patients with HCC for LT are based on pretransplant imaging diagnostic, taking the risk of incorrect diagnosis. According to the German waitlist guidelines, imaging has to be reported to the allocation organization (Eurotransplant) and pathology reports have to be submitted thereafter. In order to assess current procedures we performed a retrospective multicenter analysis in all German transplant centers with focus on accuracy of imaging diagnostic and tumor classification. 1168 primary LT for HCC were conducted between 2007 and 2013 in Germany. Patients inside the Milan, UCSF, and up-to-seven criteria were misclassified with definitive histologic results in 18%, 15%, and 11%, respectively. Patients pretransplant outside the Milan, UCSF, and up-to-seven criteria were otherwise misclassified in 34%, 43%, and 41%. Recurrence-free survival correlated with classification by posttransplant histological report, but not pretransplant imaging diagnostic. Univariate analysis revealed tumor size, vascular invasion, and grading as significant parameters for outcome, while tumor grading was the only parameter persisting by multivariate testing. Conclusion. There was a relevant percentage (15-40%) of patients misclassified by imaging diagnosis at a time prior to LI-RADS and guidelines to improve imaging of HCC. Outcome analysis showed a good correlation to histological, in contrast poor correlation to imaging diagnosis, suggesting an adjustment of the LT selection and prioritization criteria.
Janthinobacteria commonly form biofilms on eukaryotic hosts and are known to synthesize antibacterial and antifungal compounds. Janthinobacterium sp. HH01 was recently isolated from an aquatic environment and its genome sequence was established. The genome consists of a single chromosome and reveals a size of 7.10 Mb, being the largest janthinobacterial genome so far known. Approximately 80% of the 5,980 coding sequences (CDSs) present in the HH01 genome could be assigned putative functions. The genome encodes a wealth of secretory functions and several large clusters for polyketide biosynthesis. HH01 also encodes a remarkable number of proteins involved in resistance to drugs or heavy metals. Interestingly, the genome of HH01 apparently lacks the N-acylhomoserine lactone (AHL)-dependent signaling system and the AI-2-dependent quorum sensing regulatory circuit. Instead it encodes a homologue of the Legionella- and Vibrio-like autoinducer (lqsA/cqsA) synthase gene which we designated jqsA. The jqsA gene is linked to a cognate sensor kinase (jqsS) which is flanked by the response regulator jqsR. Here we show that a jqsA deletion has strong impact on the violacein biosynthesis in Janthinobacterium sp. HH01 and that a jqsA deletion mutant can be functionally complemented with the V. cholerae cqsA and the L. pneumophila lqsA genes.
Bericht der Arbeitsgruppe Technik zur Vorbereitung des Programms "Retrospektive Digitalisierung von Bibliotheksbeständen" im Förderbereich "Verteilte Digitale Forschungsbibliothek" Arbeitssitzungen am 14. Mai 1996 (Frankfurt a. M.), 29.-30. Juli 1996 (München), 12.-13. Dezember 1996 (Göttingen) Mitglieder der Arbeitsgruppe: Prof. Dr. Rudolf Bayer, Technische Universität München, Fakultät für Informatik Dr. Jürgen Bunzel, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Bonn Dr. Marianne Dörr, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München Dr. Reinhard Ecker, Beilstein-Institut bzw. ABC Datenservice GmbH, Frankfurt/Main Dipl.-Math. Heinz-Werner Hoffmann, Hochschulbibliothekszentrum NRW, Köln (als Gast für die AG der Verbundsysteme) Dr. Norbert Lossau, Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen (DFG-Projekt ‘Verteilte Digitale Forschungsbibliothek’) Prof. Dr. Elmar Mittler, Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen Dipl.-Inf. Christian Mönch, FB Informatik der J.W. Goethe-Universität Frankfurt Dr. Wilhelm R. Schmidt, Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt Dr. Hartmut Weber, Landesarchivdirektion, Stuttgart
Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) mediate nucleocytoplasmic transport. Their intricate 120 MDa architecture remains incompletely understood. Here, we report a near-complete structural model of the human NPC scaffold with explicit membrane and in multiple conformational states. We combined AI-based structure prediction with in situ and in cellulo cryo-electron tomography and integrative modeling. We show that linker Nups spatially organize the scaffold within and across subcomplexes to establish the higher-order structure. Microsecond-long molecular dynamics simulations suggest that the scaffold is not required to stabilize the inner and outer nuclear membrane fusion, but rather widens the central pore. Our work exemplifies how AI-based modeling can be integrated with in situ structural biology to understand subcellular architecture across spatial organization levels.
Phase transitions in a non-perturbative regime can be studied by ab initio Lattice Field Theory methods. The status and future research directions for LFT investigations of Quantum Chromo-Dynamics under extreme conditions are reviewed, including properties of hadrons and of the hypothesized QCD axion as inferred from QCD topology in different phases. We discuss phase transitions in strong interactions in an extended parameter space, and the possibility of model building for Dark Matter and Electro-Weak Symmetry Breaking. Methodological challenges are addressed as well, including new developments in Artificial Intelligence geared towards the identification of different phases and transitions.
Die Fundmeldungen in Band 34 von Botanik und Naturschutz in Hessen stammen von: Dirk Bönsel, Martin De Jong, Klaus Dühr, Uta Engel, Benjamin Feller, Christian Feuring, Thomas Gregor, Arthur Händler, Karsten Horn, Diemut Klärner, Julia Kruse, Eric Martiné, Hasko Friedrich Nesemann, Kai Uwe Nierbauer, Uwe Raabe, Susanne Raehse, Felix Reischmann, Bernd Sauerwein, Petra Schmidt, Fabian Schrauth, Christof Nikolaus Schröder, Helmut Siebert, Michael Thieme, Otto Wacker und Rüdiger Wittig.
We measured the Coulomb dissociation of 16O into 4He and 12C at the R3B setup in a first campaign within FAIR Phase 0 at GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt. The goal was to improve the accuracy of the experimental data for the 12C(α,γ)16O fusion reaction and to reach lower center-ofmass energies than measured so far.
The experiment required beam intensities of 109 16O ions per second at an energy of 500 MeV/nucleon. The rare case of Coulomb breakup into 12C and 4He posed another challenge: The magnetic rigidities of the particles are so close because of the same mass-to-charge-number ratio A/Z = 2 for 16O, 12C and 4He. Hence, radical changes of the R3B setup were necessary. All detectors had slits to allow the passage of the unreacted 16O ions, while 4He and 12C would hit the detectors' active areas depending on the scattering angle and their relative energies. We developed and built detectors based on organic scintillators to track and identify the reaction products with sufficient precision.
Four different structural models, which all fit the same X-ray powder pattern, were obtained in the structure determination of 4,11-difluoroquinacridone (C20H10N2O2F2) from unindexed X-ray powder data by a global fit. The models differ in their lattice parameters, space groups, Z, Z′, molecular packing and hydrogen bond patterns. The molecules form a criss-cross pattern in models A and B, a layer structure built from chains in model C and a criss-cross arrangement of dimers in model D. Nevertheless, all models give a good Rietveld fit to the experimental powder pattern with acceptable R-values. All molecular geometries are reliable, except for model D, which is slightly distorted. All structures are crystallochemically plausible, concerning density, hydrogen bonds, intermolecular distances etc. All models passed the checkCIF test without major problems; only in model A a missed symmetry was detected. All structures could have probably been published, although 3 of the 4 structures were wrong. The investigation, which of the four structures is actually the correct one, was challenging. Six methods were used: (1) Rietveld refinements, (2) fit of the crystal structures to the pair distribution function (PDF) including the refinement of lattice parameters and atomic coordinates, (3) evaluation of the colour, (4) lattice-energy minimizations with force fields, (5) lattice-energy minimizations by two dispersion-corrected density functional theory methods, and (6) multinuclear CPMAS solid-state NMR spectroscopy (1H, 13C, 19F) including the comparison of calculated and experimental chemical shifts. All in all, model B (perhaps with some disorder) can probably be considered to be the correct one. This work shows that a structure determination from limited-quality powder data may result in totally different structural models, which all may be correct or wrong, even if they are chemically sensible and give a good Rietveld refinement. Additionally, the work is an excellent example that the refinement of an organic crystal structure can be successfully performed by a fit to the PDF, and the combination of computed and experimental solid-state NMR chemical shifts can provide further information for the selection of the most reliable structure among several possibilities.