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The web and the social web play an increasingly important role as an information source for Members of Parliament and their assistants, journalists, political analysts and researchers. It provides important and crucial background information, like reactions to political events and comments made by the general public. The case study presented in this paper is driven by two European parliaments (the Greek and the Austrian parliament) and targets an effective exploration of political web archives. In this paper, we describe semantic technologies deployed to ease the exploration of the archived web and social web content and present evaluation results.
Drought stress is one of the major abiotic factors diminishing crop productivity world wide. In the course of climate change, regions which already experience dry seasons nowadays will suffer from elongated drought periods and water shortage. These climatic changes will not only have an impact on the regional flora and fauna but also on the people inhabiting these areas. It is therefore of great importance to understand the reactions of plants to drought stress to help breeding and biotechnological approaches for the benefit of new robust cereal cultures growing under low water regimes. In this dissertation four grasses of the genus Panicum, P. bisulcatum (C3), P. laetum, P. miliaceum and P. turgidum (all C4 NAD-ME) were subjected to drought stress. The plants diverse reactions were investigated on a physiological as well as on a molecular level to deepen the understanding of drought stress responses. Drought stress was imposed for a species-specific period until a relative leaf water content (RWC) of ~50 % was reached in each grass. Physiological measurements were conducted on leaves with a RWC of ~50 % investigating chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters with a Plant Efficiency Analyzer (PEA) and gas exchange parameters like the photosynthesis rate and stomatal conductance with a Gas Fluorescence Chamber (GFS-3000). Subsequent molecular analysis were conducted on leaf samples taken (RWC = 50 %) analysing different proteins and the transcriptome of the Panicum species. The physiological measurements revealed a higher photosynthesis rate for the C4 grasses under drought stress with no significant differences between the C4 species. Also the water use efficiency was significantly higher in the C4 species in comparison to the C3 species independent from the water regime supporting results from the literature. The chlorophyll a measurements revealed the strongest adaptation to water shortage in the C4 species P. turgidum followed by the C3 species P. bisulcatum. It has been shown before (GHANNOUM 2009) that the C4 photosynthesis apparatus is more prone to drought stress than the C3 apparatus – despite the higher water use efficiency. Results also suggested that the great adaptation of P. turgidum to drought stress arose from its ability to recover from drought stress (all JIP test parameters showed no significant differences between control and recovery samples). The additional down-regulation of PS II but not of PS I under drought stress also helped the plant to endure times of water shortage and facilitated the recovery when water was available again. Protein analyses on the content of PEPC, OEC and RubisCO (LSU and SSU) revealed no changes. Dehydrin 1 in contrast was strongly up-regulated under drought stress and Summary 108 recovery in all four Panicum species. The stable content of the OEC protein was therefore not the catalyst of rising K peaks measured by chlorophyll a fluorescence and a reduced OEC activity was supposed. Transcriptomic analyses revealed a myriad of differentially regulated tags. Due to unsequenced genomes, tags could only be partially (8 % maximum for P. turgidum) annotated to their specific genes. Diverse methods were therefore used to annotate the most highly regulated tags to their genes and their products. Special emphasis was put on the regulation of five gene products confirming the regulation schemata from the HT-SuperSAGE analyses. Interestingly one protein – the NCED1 – was down-regulated under stress conditions, in contrast to results from the literature. It is therefore of great importance to investigate longer lasting drought to understand the full range of drought stress adaptation. Future genome sequencing projects might also include the Panicum species investigated in this dissertation and important gene candidates with no hits (maybe completely new to the research community) might help breeding and biotechnology approaches to produce more drought resistant crop species.
A revised checklist for the butterfly families Papilionidae, Pieridae and Nymphalidae of Trinidad (Trinidad and Tobago) is presented, bringing nomenclature in line with modern usage, indicating synonyms from earlier lists and adding new records since the last checklist was published in 1970. Migrant and vagrant species are provisionally recognised, and records considered incorrect are discussed. The checklist includes 204 species: 15 Papilionidae, 29 Pieridae and 160 Nymphalidae. The only taxonomic change is to treat Hamadryas feronia insularis (Fruhstorfer) as a synonym of H. f. feronia (Linnaeus), syn. nov., and not as a synonym of H. feronia farinulenta (Fruhstorfer).
A revised checklist for the butterfl y families Hedylidae and Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera) of Trinidad (Trinidad and Tobago) is presented, bringing nomenclature in line with modern usage, and indicating synonyms from earlier lists and papers. The following are new records for Trinidad: Thessia athesis (Hewitson), Bungalotis clusia Evans, Sarmientoia eriopis (Hewitson), Pellicia tyana toza Evans, Quadrus contubernalis contubernalis (Mabille) and Decinea decinea derisor (Mabille). The checklist includes two species of Hedylidae and 314 species of 157 genera of Hesperiidae, comprising 87 species of 37 genera of Eudaminae, 73 species of 41 genera of Pyrginae, and 154 species of 80 genera of Hesperiinae.
For the first time Amphipoda have been discovered living in Bryozoa. A new genus and species of the amphipod family Chevaliidae, Bryoconversor tutus gen. et sp. nov. is described from New Zealand at depths of 530–1500 m. The species lives in an inquiline relationship with the cheilostome bryozoan Onchoporoides moseleyi (Calwelliidae), inhabiting an abfrontal basal coelom of the bryozoan beneath the membranous ectocyst (cuticularized epithelium) that conceals and protects the amphipods. The colony is strengthened along all edges by a unique intracoelomic rod of calcium carbonate that is formed within the marginal kenozooids of the colony. The potential benefits and costs to the bryozoan are discussed.
This paper is the first to conduct an incentive-compatible experiment using real monetary payoffs to test the hypothesis of probabilistic insurance which states that willingness to pay for insurance decreases sharply in the presence of even small default probabilities as compared to a risk-free insurance contract. In our experiment, 181 participants state their willingness to pay for insurance contracts with different levels of default risk. We find that the willingness to pay sharply decreases with increasing default risk. Our results hence strongly support the hypothesis of probabilistic insurance. Furthermore, we study the impact of customer reaction to default risk on an insurer’s optimal solvency level using our experimentally obtained data on insurance demand. We show that an insurer should choose to be default-free rather than having even a very small default probability. This risk strategy is also optimal when assuming substantial transaction costs for risk management activities undertaken to achieve the maximum solvency level.
High-throughput metabarcoding studies on fungi and other eukaryotic microorganisms are rapidly becoming more frequent and more complex, requiring researchers to handle ever increasing amounts of raw sequence data. Here, we provide a flexible pipeline for pruning and analyzing fungal barcode (ITS rDNA) data generated as paired-end reads on Illumina MiSeq sequencers. The pipeline presented includes specific steps fine-tuned for ITS, that are mostly missing from pipelines developed for prokaryotes. It (1) employs state of the art programs and follows best practices in fungal high-throughput metabarcoding; (2) consists of modules and scripts easily modifiable by the user to ensure maximum flexibility with regard to specific needs of a project or future methodological developments; and (3) is straightforward to use, also in classroom settings. We provide detailed descriptions and revision techniques for each step, thus giving the user maximum control over data treatment and avoiding a black-box approach. Employing this pipeline will improve and speed up the tedious and error-prone process of cleaning fungal Illumina metabarcoding data.
We study the behavioral underpinnings of adopting cash versus electronic payments in retail transactions. A novel theoretical and experimental framework is developed to primarily assess the impact of sellers’ service fees and buyers’ rewards from using electronic payments. Buyers and sellers face a coordination problem, independently choosing a payment method before trading. In the experiment, sellers readily adopt electronic payments but buyers do not. Eliminating service fees or introducing rewards significantly boosts the adoption of electronic payments. Hence, buyers’ incentives play a pivotal role in the diffusion of electronic payments but monetary incentives cannot fully explain their adoption choices. Findings from this experiment complement empirical findings based on surveys and field data.
Background: Anemia is a common condition in the elderly and a significant risk factor for increased morbidity and mortality, reducing not only functional capacity and mobility but also quality of life. Currently, few data are available regarding anemia in hospitalized geriatric patients. Our retrospective study investigated epidemiology and causes of anemia in 405 hospitalized geriatric patients.
Methods: Data analysis was performed using laboratory parameters determined during routine hospital admission procedures (hemoglobin, ferritin, transferrin saturation, C-reactive protein, vitamin B12, folic acid, and creatinine) in addition to medical history and demographics.
Results: Anemia affected approximately two-thirds of subjects. Of 386 patients with recorded hemoglobin values, 66.3% were anemic according to WHO criteria, mostly (85.1%) in a mild form. Anemia was primarily due to iron deficiency (65%), frequently due to underlying chronic infection (62.1%), or of mixed etiology involving a combination of chronic disease and iron deficiency, with absolute iron deficiency playing a comparatively minor role.
Conclusion: Greater awareness of anemia in the elderly is warranted due to its high prevalence and negative effect on outcomes, hospitalization duration, and mortality. Geriatric patients should be routinely screened for anemia and etiological causes of anemia individually assessed to allow timely initiation of appropriate therapy.
Most available knowledge on fungal arginine metabolism is derived from studies on Saccharomyces cerevisiae, in which arginine catabolism is initiated by releasing urea via the arginase reaction. Orthologues of the S. cerevisiae genes encoding the first three enzymes in the arginase pathway were cloned from Kluyveromyces lactis and shown to functionally complement the corresponding deletion in S. cerevisiae. Surprisingly, deletion of the single K. lactis arginase gene KlCAR1 did not completely abolish growth on arginine as nitrogen source. Growth rate of the deletion mutant strongly increased during serial transfer in shake-flask cultures. A combination of RNAseq-based transcriptome analysis and 13C-15N-based flux analysis was used to elucidate the arginase-independent pathway. Isotopic 13C15N-enrichment in γ-aminobutyrate revealed succinate as the entry point in the TCA cycle of the alternative pathway. Transcript analysis combined with enzyme activity measurements indicated increased expression in the Klcar1Δ mutant of a guanidinobutyrase (EC.3.5.3.7), a key enzyme in a new pathway for arginine degradation. Expression of the K. lactis KLLA0F27995g (renamed KlGBU1) encoding guanidinobutyrase enabled S. cerevisiae to use guanidinobutyrate as sole nitrogen source and its deletion in K. lactis almost completely abolish growth on this nitrogen source. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that this enzyme activity is widespread in fungi.
The abundance of humpback whales occurring around Boa Vista, Cape Verde Islands, was estimated by markrecapture modelling. Photographs of markings on tail flukes of individual whales were collected during the breeding season. Sighting histories were constructed for each individual and an abundance of 171 animals was estimated using a Jolly-Seber mark-recapture model. Correcting for known biases arising due to sex-specific behaviour and temporary emigration insofar as possible, an estimate of 260 whales was obtained. This is significantly higher than the previous estimate of 99 humpback whales from this region. Due to limited survey effort it is not known how representative the study area is of the entire Cape Verde archipelago and this estimate may be considered to be biased low and serves as a minimum estimate. The high recapture probability (0.37) coupled with the low abundance is consistent with a small local population. The low survival rate (0.86) suggests possible emigration and further studies are needed to assess connectivity between humpback whales breeding in Cape Verde and other breeding locations. The amount of exchange between groups of whales breeding in Cape Verde and adjacent areas remains unknown. It is unclear whether the abundance estimate herein applies to part of an isolated population or part of a larger and continuous one.
The cyanogenic diglucoside amygdalin, derived from Rosaceae kernels, is employed by many patients as an alternative anti-cancer treatment. However, whether amygdalin indeed acts as an anti-tumor agent is not clear. Metastasis blocking properties of amygdalin on bladder cancer cell lines was, therefore, investigated. Amygdalin (10 mg/ml) was applied to UMUC-3, TCCSUP or RT112 bladder cancer cells for 24 h or for 2 weeks. Tumor cell adhesion to vascular endothelium or to immobilized collagen as well as tumor cell migration was examined. Effects of drug treatment on integrin α and β subtypes, on integrin-linked kinase (ILK) and total and activated focal adhesion kinase (FAK) were also determined. Integrin knock-down was carried out to evaluate integrin influence on migration and adhesion. A 24 h or 2 week amygdalin application distinctly reduced tumor cell adhesion and migration of UMUC-3 and RT112 cells. TCCSUP adhesion was also reduced, but migration was elevated under amygdalin. Integrin subtype expression was significantly and specifically altered by amygdalin depending on the cell line. ILK was moderately, and activated FAK strongly, lost in all tumor cell lines in the presence of amygdalin. Knock down of β1 integrin caused a significant decrease in both adhesion and migration of UMUC-3 cells, but a significant increase in TCCSUP adhesion. Knock down of β4 integrin caused a significant decrease in migration of RT112 cells. Since the different actions of amygdalin on the different cell lines was mirrored by β1 or β4 knock down, it is postulated that amygdalin influences adhesion and migratory properties of bladder cancer cells by modulating β1 or β4 integrin expression. The amygdalin induced increase in TCCSUP migratory behavior indicates that any anti-tumor benefits from amygdalin (seen with the other two cell lines) may depend upon the cancer cell type.
Amygdalin, a natural compound, has been used by many cancer patients as an alternative approach to treat their illness. However, whether or not this substance truly exerts an anti-tumor effect has never been settled. An in vitro study was initiated to investigate the influence of amygdalin (1.25–10 mg/ml) on the growth of a panel of bladder cancer cell lines (UMUC-3, RT112 and TCCSUP). Tumor growth, proliferation, clonal growth and cell cycle progression were investigated. The cell cycle regulating proteins cdk1, cdk2, cdk4, cyclin A, cyclin B, cyclin D1, p19, p27 as well as the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) related signals phosphoAkt, phosphoRaptor and phosphoRictor were examined. Amygdalin dose-dependently reduced growth and proliferation in all three bladder cancer cell lines, reflected in a significant delay in cell cycle progression and G0/G1 arrest. Molecular evaluation revealed diminished phosphoAkt, phosphoRictor and loss of Cdk and cyclin components. Since the most outstanding effects of amygdalin were observed on the cdk2-cyclin A axis, siRNA knock down studies were carried out, revealing a positive correlation between cdk2/cyclin A expression level and tumor growth. Amygdalin, therefore, may block tumor growth by down-modulating cdk2 and cyclin A. In vivo investigation must follow to assess amygdalin's practical value as an anti-tumor drug.
Altered mucosal immune response after acute lung injury in a murine model of Ataxia Telangiectasia
(2014)
Background: Ataxia telangiectasia (A-T) is a rare but devastating and progressive disorder characterized by cerebellar dysfunction, lymphoreticular malignancies and recurrent sinopulmonary infections. In A-T, disease of the respiratory system causes significant morbidity and is a frequent cause of death.
Methods: We used a self-limited murine model of hydrochloric acid-induced acute lung injury (ALI) to determine the inflammatory answer due to mucosal injury in Atm (A-T mutated)- deficient mice (Atm−/−).
Results: ATM deficiency increased peak lung inflammation as demonstrated by bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) neutrophils and lymphocytes and increased levels of BALF pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g. IL-6, TNF). Furthermore, bronchial epithelial damage after ALI was increased in Atm−/− mice. ATM deficiency increased airway resistance and tissue compliance before ALI was performed.
Conclusions: Together, these findings indicate that ATM plays a key role in inflammatory response after airway mucosal injury.
This paper deals with the control exerted by the mitochondrial translocator FLX1, which catalyzes the movement of the redox cofactor FAD across the mitochondrial membrane, on the efficiency of ATP production, ROS homeostasis, and lifespan of S. cerevisiae. The deletion of the FLX1 gene resulted in respiration-deficient and small-colony phenotype accompanied by a significant ATP shortage and ROS unbalance in glycerol-grown cells. Moreover, the flx1Δ strain showed H2O2 hypersensitivity and decreased lifespan. The impaired biochemical phenotype found in the flx1Δ strain might be justified by an altered expression of the flavoprotein subunit of succinate dehydrogenase, a key enzyme in bioenergetics and cell regulation. A search for possible cis-acting consensus motifs in the regulatory region upstream SDH1-ORF revealed a dozen of upstream motifs that might respond to induced metabolic changes by altering the expression of Flx1p. Among these motifs, two are present in the regulatory region of genes encoding proteins involved in flavin homeostasis. This is the first evidence that the mitochondrial flavin cofactor status is involved in controlling the lifespan of yeasts, maybe by changing the cellular succinate level. This is not the only case in which the homeostasis of redox cofactors underlies complex phenotypical behaviours, as lifespan in yeasts.
This work derived the value of α-induced production cross sections of 77Kr and 77Br at α-energies of 12 MeV and 14 MeV, the thick target yields of 77Kr and 77Br at α-energies of 11.19 MeV, 13 MeV and 15.1 MeV and the thick target yield of 80Br as well as 80mBr at an α-energy of 15.1 MeV using the activation technique...
Background: Chronic particulate matter (PM) exposure is correlated to various health effects, even at low amounts. WHO has defined PM concentration limits as daily and annual mean values which were made legally binding in the European Union. While many studies have focused on PM concentrations in special environments, little is known about the average PM- exposure for both employees and passengers in the German public transportation system.
Methods: Particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5, PM1) - concentrations were monitored for 30 minutes at 15 different areas in Frankfurt am Main with major public traffic. Maximum and mean concentrations and, as a surrogate for the inhaled dosage, the Area Under the Curve (AUC) for 15 minutes of exposure were calculated.
Results: The WHO limits for PM10 and PM2.5 were exceeded at nearly all times and areas. Highest maximum concentrations were found at underground stations, subterranean railway stations and subterranean shopping arcades with much lower values obtained at surface points. In one measurement at a surface test point smokers who neglected the non-smoking policy could be identified as a major cause for a at least temporary strong increase of PM-load as seen in high maximum values and normal averages.
Conclusions: Subterranean areas have high particulate matter contamination exceeding WHO limits. Improvement may be achieved by increased ventilation. Subterranean shops and kiosks, being workplaces with long term exposure, should be equipped with external air supply. The non- smoking policy of the "Deutsche Bahn" for public spaces should be enforced.
Background: Multimorbidity is a common phenomenon in primary care. Until now, no clinical guidelines for multimorbidity exist. For the development of these guidelines, it is necessary to know whether or not patients are aware of their diseases and to what extent they agree with their doctor. The objectives of this paper are to analyze the agreement of self-reported and general practitioner-reported chronic conditions among multimorbid patients in primary care, and to discover which patient characteristics are associated with positive agreement.
Methods: The MultiCare Cohort Study is a multicenter, prospective, observational cohort study of 3,189 multimorbid patients, ages 65 to 85. Data was collected in personal interviews with patients and GPs. The prevalence proportions for 32 diagnosis groups, kappa coefficients and proportions of specific agreement were calculated in order to examine the agreement of patient self-reported and general practitioner-reported chronic conditions. Logistic regression models were calculated to analyze which patient characteristics can be associated with positive agreement.
Results: We identified four chronic conditions with good agreement (e.g. diabetes mellitus κ = 0.80;PA = 0,87), seven with moderate agreement (e.g. cerebral ischemia/chronic stroke κ = 0.55;PA = 0.60), seventeen with fair agreement (e.g. cardiac insufficiency κ = 0.24;PA = 0.36) and four with poor agreement (e.g. gynecological problems κ = 0.05;PA = 0.10).Factors associated with positive agreement concerning different chronic diseases were sex, age, education, income, disease count, depression, EQ VAS score and nursing care dependency. For example: Women had higher odds ratios for positive agreement with their GP regarding osteoporosis (OR = 7.16). The odds ratios for positive agreement increase with increasing multimorbidity in almost all of the observed chronic conditions (OR = 1.22-2.41).
Conclusions: For multimorbidity research, the knowledge of diseases with high disagreement levels between the patients' perceived illnesses and their physicians' reports is important. The analysis shows that different patient characteristics have an impact on the agreement. Findings from this study should be included in the development of clinical guidelines for multimorbidity aiming to optimize health care. Further research is needed to identify more reasons for disagreement and their consequences in health care.
After The Tears
(2014)
Busi is pregnant with Parks' baby. Her granny is sick, there is no money for food, and her mother is still in Jozi. Her friends are supportive, but they don't understand how lonely it feels to be pregnant while they are out partying. She knows she should forget Parks, but she can't. So when he sends her an SMS telling her to meet him she goes - only to find out that he is not alone. And so Busi's life becomes more complicated than she can ever imagine.