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Background: Evidence from animal studies suggests that leptin metabolism is associated with zinc (Zn) status. However, research investigating this relationship in adolescents and young adults with anorexia nervosa (AN) is scarce; the present study aims to fill that gap.
Methods: Serum concentrations of leptin, the soluble leptin receptor (sOB-R) and the free leptin index (FLI) were obtained in healthy control subjects (n=19), acutely ill individuals (n=14) and recovered patients with AN (n=15). Serum Zn concentrations noted in previous research data were also incorporated for all groups.
Results: Leptin, FLI and Zn concentrations were higher in recovered subjects with AN when compared with acutely ill AN patients. Remitted patients showed higher sOB-R concentrations but no difference in FLI compared with the control group. Leptin and FLI were lower in the acutely ill patients compared with the control subjects, who showed no differences in Zn concentrations. Zn concentrations were not correlated with leptin, sOB-R or FLI concentrations in any of the three investigated subgroups.
Conclusions: The present investigation does not entirely support an association between Zn, Leptin and FLI concentrations in subjects with AN, possibly due to limited statistical power. Further research and replication of the present findings related to the interaction between leptin and Zn is warranted. However, with respect to serum leptin levels the data of the present investigation indicate that acutely ill and remitted patients with AN differ as regards serum leptin concentrations and FLI, which is in line with previous research.
Recent psychophysical research supports the notion that horizontal information of a face is primarily important for facial identity processes. Even though this has been demonstrated to be valid for young adults, the concept of horizontal information as primary informative source has not yet been applied to older adults’ ability to correctly identify faces. In the current paper, the role different filtering methods might play in an identity processing task is examined for young and old adults, both taken from student populations. Contrary to most findings in the field of developmental face perception, only a near-significant age effect is apparent in upright and un-manipulated presentation of stimuli, whereas a bigger difference between age groups can be observed for a condition which removes all but horizontal information of a face. It is concluded that a critical feature of human face perception, the preferential processing of horizontal information, is less efficient past the age of 60 and is involved in recognition processes that undergo age-related decline usually found in the literature.
The diet of feral cats Felis catus on Santa Luzia, Cape Verde Islands, was studied. A total of 147 prey items were identified during the analysis of 26 scat groups collected during the summer of 2010. House mouse Mus musculus was the most important prey, both in percentage of biomass and number of preys consumed (89.7% and n= 117, respectively). Reptiles were the second most important prey, represented by one skink species (Chioninia stangeri) and an unidentified gecko species. The remainder of the identified prey consisted of one bird species (Passer iagoensis) and one undetermined Tettigoniidae species (Insecta). No endangered species were identified in scats of this introduced predator, but future surveys must be carried out to further avoid threats to the island's biodiversity.
Background: Highly infectious diseases (HIDs) are defined as being transmissible from person to person, causing life-threatening illnesses and presenting a serious public health hazard. The sampling, handling and transport of specimens from patients with HIDs present specific bio-safety concerns. Findings The European Network for HID project aimed to record, in a cross-sectional study, the infection control capabilities of referral centers for HIDs across Europe and assesses the level of achievement to previously published guidelines. In this paper, we report the current diagnostic capabilities and bio-safety measures applied to diagnostic procedures in these referral centers. Overall, 48 isolation facilities in 16 European countries were evaluated. Although 81% of these referral centers are located near a biosafety level 3 laboratory, 11% and 31% of them still performed their microbiological and routine diagnostic analyses, respectively, without bio-safety measures.
Conclusions: The discrepancies among the referral centers surveyed between the level of practices and the European Network of Infectious Diseases (EUNID) recommendations have multiple reasons of which the interest of the individuals in charge and the investment they put in preparedness to emerging outbreaks. Despite the fact that the less prepared centers can improve by just updating their practice and policies any support to help them to achieve an acceptable level of biosecurity is welcome.
Development of single-port cholecystectomy : results of a case-control study matched to one surgeon
(2012)
Background: Single-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy is an evolving technique which is now widely established. Up until now, the safety of the procedure and a respective learning curve have not been adequately reported in most studies. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that single-port cholecystectomy is a safe procedure, with a positive learning curve from a case-control study matched to one surgeon.
Methods: One hundred single-port cholecystectomies performed by one surgeon (AB) were retrospectively matched to 100 patients who underwent conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy carried out by the same surgeon. The two groups were matched in respect of surgical indication, gender, age, and body mass index. The groups were compared with respect to operation time, use of additional trocars, analgesics required in the post anesthesia care unit, postoperative complications, and duration of hospital stay.
Results: No significant difference was found between the two groups with respect to postoperative complications and stay in hospital. The operation time increased slightly in the single-port group. Directly after the operation, the analgesic use required in the post anesthesia care unit was higher in the single-port group. Consumption of analgesics on the surgical ward was very similar in each group. In respect to the learning curve, the operation time and use of additional trocars showed a positive trend, starting with the thirtieth operation.
Conclusion: Single-port cholecystectomy is a feasible and safe procedure in a specialist setting. The procedure can be done under the same safety rules as those for conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Considering the learning curve, starting with the thirtieth operation, a positive trend was seen. Long-term studies will be needed to establish the incidence and rate of incisional hernias.
In the first part of this work, the development of a novel two-dimensional native gel electrophoretic system (2-D BN/hrCNE) is described. This new system simplifies proteomics and biochemical analysis of mega protein complexes that are dissociated into the constituent complexes during 2-D electrophoresis, thereby reducing the complexity of the system considerably. This technique is exceptionally well suited for the in-gel detection of fluorescence-labeled proteins and the identification of individual enzymes and protein complexes by specific in-gel assays on native gels.
In the second part, a new technique for the native immunoblotting of blue native gels (NIBN) was developed. This new technique allows for the identification of conformation-specific antibodies and the discrimination of antibodies recognizing linear epitopes of denatured proteins. Identification of conformation-specific antibodies is becoming increasingly important not only for the electron microscopic identification of native proteins but also for structural investigations in general. For this purpose, a commonly used protocol for Western blotting of blue native gels was modified in such a way that the native state of proteins and protein complexes was retained throughout the complete protocol. Instead of using the denaturing methanol in Western blotting protocols, mild detergents such as Tween 20, digitonin and Brij 35 were used for the obligatory removal of protein bound Coomassie-dye.
The detection of respiratory complex I by activity staining on the blot membrane demonstrated that all three non-ionic detergents preserved the native state of complex I. The native state of the enzyme on the blot membrane was also monitored and confirmed with the help of a set of conformation-specific antibodies. NIBN can be used as a simple alternative method to the demanding native ELISA to screen for conformation-specific antibodies for structural studies. Unlike the time consuming native ELISA, NIBN does not require introduction of appropriate affinity tags and purification of the target protein by chromatography. Thus, the NIBN technique is especially useful for microscale projects and for proteins not easily accessible to genetic manipulation.
The third part aimed at identification of the immediate protein interaction partners of Cox26, a hydrophobic protein that has been identified by our group as a novel component of yeast respiratory supercomplex. Multi-dimensional electrophoretic techniques were applied to identify non-covalent and covalent protein-protein interactions of Cox26. Three-dimensional electrophoresis (BNE/BNE/SDS-PAGE) gave both qualitative and quantitative information on covalent and non-covalent interactions of Cox26 and subunits of cytochrome c oxidase (complex IV), and showed that most of the Cox26 protein was non-covalently bound to the complex IV moiety of the respirasomes. Four-dimensional electrophoresis (BNE/BNE/SDS/SDS-PAGE) applying reducing and non-reducing conditions revealed that a minor fraction of Cox26 used a single cysteine residue in the center of a predicted transmembrane helix to form a disulfide bond with the Cox2 subunit of complex IV. A structural role of Cox26 protein in the assembly/stability of respiratory strings or patches has been suggested.
The last part of this work focused on the isolation and characterization of native and morphologically intact nucleoids from bovine heart mitochondria, since only a few studies on nucleoid organization and composition have been carried out on mammalian tissues. The nucleoids appeared as distinct bands (apparent mass around 30-36 MDa) in blue native-PAGE on large pore gels. The moderate variation in particle size seems to reflect variations in the binding of loosely nucleoid-associated components like respiratory chain complexes. The estimated 30-36 MDa mass of nucleoids on native gels suggested that each nucleoid contains one mtDNA molecule provided that nucleoids contains equal amounts of DNA, protein and RNA (Miyakawa et al., 1987).
Electron microscopic analysis of native nucleoids, which was performed by Dr. Karen Davies from the Max-Planck-Institute of Biophysics, Department of Structural Biology, Frankfurt, showed homogenous pool of particles with dimensions in 85x100 nm (in negative stain) and 100x150 nm (in cryo-tomography). Some of the nucleoids showed dumbbell-shape indicating dimerization of nucleoids. Recent EM and high-resolution light microscopy analysis of mammalian nucleoids have reported that nucleoids have a size of 70 nm in average. We also observed the same size of 70 nm in cryo-tomogramms when we applied harsher treatment of the native nucleoid particles with dimensions 100x150 nm. This observation is in agreement with published nucleoid sizes from both EM and high-resolution light microscopy, if we assume that native nucleoids have been dissociated under harsher treatment.
The protein composition of bovine heart mt-nucleoids was analyzed by a number of complementary approaches to identify low and highly abundant, easily dissociating and tightly bound proteins, and to rank the 90 most abundant mt-nucleoid proteins. Native and denaturing gel electrophoresis techniques were coupled to LC-MS/MS to achieve a comprehensive protein component analysis. Qualitative MS analysis of highly purified nucleoids identified more than 400 proteins, including well known nucleoid proteins such as mitochondrial transcription factor and mtDNA-binding protein (TFAM), mitochondrial single-stranded DNA-binding protein (mtSSB), mitochondrial DNA polymerase subunit gamma-2 (POLG2) and mitochondrial helicase C26H10ORF2 protein (Twinkle). These proteins were ranked according to Mascot scores, and sorted according to presumed functional properties. A large group of proteins involved in protein synthesis comprised an almost complete set of subunits of mitochondrial ribosomes suggesting that the nucleoids contained significant amounts of mitochondrial ribosomes. Identification of sixty six proteins from the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) system comprising around 100 proteins in total suggested that OXPHOS proteins are also associated with mt-nucleoids.
Interestingly, TFAM, described as a main mtDNA packaging factor in human and other mammalian cells, was not confirmed here as a major nucleoid component from bovine heart mitochondria. Fluorescence staining of protein spots on 2-D IEF/SDS gels clearly identified TFAM, but according to the stain intensity, this protein did not rank in the list of the 90 most abundant nucleoid proteins. Western blot analysis of sucrose gradient fractions revealed an enrichment of putative TFAM isoform in nucleoid fractions. Unexpectedly, the uncharacterized mitochondrial protein Es1 was identified as the most abundant nucleoid protein in bovine heart nucleoids instead. This implicates that nucleoid organization may differ between species and tissues. A functional characterization of Es1 is required to clarify its role in mammalian nucleoids.
The magnetic compass of a migratory bird, the European robin (Erithacus rubecula), was shown to be lateralized in favour of the right eye/left brain hemisphere. However, this seems to be a property of the avian magnetic compass that is not present from the beginning, but develops only as the birds grow older. During first migration in autumn, juvenile robins can orient by their magnetic compass with their right as well as with their left eye. In the following spring, however, the magnetic compass is already lateralized, but this lateralization is still flexible: it could be removed by covering the right eye for 6 h. During the following autumn migration, the lateralization becomes more strongly fixed, with a 6 h occlusion of the right eye no longer having an effect. This change from a bilateral to a lateralized magnetic compass appears to be a maturation process, the first such case known so far in birds. Because both eyes mediate identical information about the geomagnetic field, brain asymmetry for the magnetic compass could increase efficiency by setting the other hemisphere free for other processes.
This thesis will first introduce in more detail the Bayesian theory and its use in integrating multiple information sources. I will briefly talk about models and their relation to the dynamics of an environment, and how to combine multiple alternative models. Following that I will discuss the experimental findings on multisensory integration in humans and animals. I start with psychophysical results on various forms of tasks and setups, that show that the brain uses and combines information from multiple cues. Specifically, the discussion will focus on the finding that humans integrate this information in a way that is close to the theoretical optimal performance. Special emphasis will be put on results about the developmental aspects of cue integration, highlighting experiments that could show that children do not perform similar to the Bayesian predictions. This section also includes a short summary of experiments on how subjects handle multiple alternative environmental dynamics. I will also talk about neurobiological findings of cells receiving input from multiple receptors both in dedicated brain areas but also primary sensory areas. I will proceed with an overview of existing theories and computational models of multisensory integration. This will be followed by a discussion on reinforcement learning (RL). First I will talk about the original theory including the two different main approaches model-free and model-based reinforcement learning. The important variables will be introduced as well as different algorithmic implementations. Secondly, a short review on the mapping of those theories onto brain and behaviour will be given. I mention the most in uential papers that showed correlations between the activity in certain brain regions with RL variables, most prominently between dopaminergic neurons and temporal difference errors. I will try to motivate, why I think that this theory can help to explain the development of near-optimal cue integration in humans. The next main chapter will introduce our model that learns to solve the task of audio-visual orienting. Many of the results in this section have been published in [Weisswange et al. 2009b,Weisswange et al. 2011]. The model agent starts without any knowledge of the environment and acts based on predictions of rewards, which will be adapted according to the reward signaling the quality of the performed action. I will show that after training this model performs similarly to the prediction of a Bayesian observer. The model can also deal with more complex environments in which it has to deal with multiple possible underlying generating models (perform causal inference). In these experiments I use di#erent formulations of Bayesian observers for comparison with our model, and find that it is most similar to the fully optimal observer doing model averaging. Additional experiments using various alterations to the environment show the ability of the model to react to changes in the input statistics without explicitly representing probability distributions. I will close the chapter with a discussion on the benefits and shortcomings of the model. The thesis continues whith a report on an application of the learning algorithm introduced before to two real world cue integration tasks on a robotic head. For these tasks our system outperforms a commonly used approximation to Bayesian inference, reliability weighted averaging. The approximation is handy because of its computational simplicity, because it relies on certain assumptions that are usually controlled for in a laboratory setting, but these are often not true for real world data. This chapter is based on the paper [Karaoguz et al. 2011]. Our second modeling approach tries to address the neuronal substrates of the learning process for cue integration. I again use a reward based training scheme, but this time implemented as a modulation of synaptic plasticity mechanisms in a recurrent network of binary threshold neurons. I start the chapter with an additional introduction section to discuss recurrent networks and especially the various forms of neuronal plasticity that I will use in the model. The performance on a task similar to that of chapter 3 will be presented together with an analysis of the in uence of different plasticity mechanisms on it. Again benefits and shortcomings and the general potential of the method will be discussed. I will close the thesis with a general conclusion and some ideas about possible future work.
To compare the development of the auditory system in hearing and completely acoustically deprived animals, naive congenitally deaf white cats (CDCs) and hearing controls (HCs) were investigated at different developmental stages from birth till adulthood. The CDCs had no hearing experience before the acute experiment. In both groups of animals, responses to cochlear implant stimulation were acutely assessed. Electrically evoked auditory brainstem responses (E-ABRs) were recorded with monopolar stimulation at different current levels. CDCs demonstrated extensive development of E-ABRs, from first signs of responses at postnatal (p.n.) day 3 through appearance of all waves of brainstem response at day 8 p.n. to mature responses around day 90 p.n.. Wave I of E-ABRs could not be distinguished from the artifact in majority of CDCs, whereas in HCs, it was clearly separated from the stimulus artifact. Waves II, III, and IV demonstrated higher thresholds in CDCs, whereas this difference was not found for wave V. Amplitudes of wave III were significantly higher in HCs, whereas wave V amplitudes were significantly higher in CDCs. No differences in latencies were observed between the animal groups. These data demonstrate significant postnatal subcortical development in absence of hearing, and also divergent effects of deafness on early waves II–IV and wave V of the E-ABR.
Escherichia coli nitrate reductase A (NarGHI) is a membrane-bound enzyme that couples quinol oxidation at a periplasmically oriented Q-site (Q(D)) to proton release into the periplasm during anaerobic respiration. To elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying such a coupling, endogenous menasemiquinone-8 intermediates stabilized at the Q(D) site (MSQ(D)) of NarGHI have been studied by high-resolution pulsed EPR methods in combination with (1)H2O/2H2O exchange experiments. One of the two non-exchangeable proton hyperfine couplings resolved in hyperfine sublevel correlation (HYSCORE) spectra of the radical displays characteristics typical from quinone methyl protons. However, its unusually small isotropic value reflects a singularly low spin density on the quinone carbon α carrying the methyl group, which is ascribed to a strong asymmetry of the MSQ(D) binding mode and consistent with single-sided hydrogen bonding to the quinone oxygen O1. Furthermore, a single exchangeable proton hyperfine coupling is resolved, both by comparing the HYSCORE spectra of the radical in 1H2O and 2H2O samples and by selective detection of the exchanged deuterons using Q-band 2H Mims electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) spectroscopy. Spectral analysis reveals its peculiar characteristics, i.e. a large anisotropic hyperfine coupling together with an almost zero isotropic contribution. It is assigned to a proton involved in a short ∼1.6 Å in-plane hydrogen bond between the quinone O1 oxygen and the Nδ of the His-66 residue, an axial ligand of the distal heme b(D). Structural and mechanistic implications of these results for the electron-coupled proton translocation mechanism at the Q(D) site are discussed, in light of the unusually high thermodynamic stability of MSQ(D).
From its very inception, detective fiction has enjoyed a great popularity among the young and the old, the learned and the not so learned. By some unfortunate stroke of irony, its respect has not kept pace with its enormous popularity. For over half a century now, it has remained the bane of creative writing. In strict intellectual circles, it is very rare to find people talk defensively and interestingly about the genre. Yet Asong has chosen to do just that. He has stoutly defended the weak by putting up a good case for its continued existence. He has also shown how irresistible key elements of the genre are to even the best respected novelists. Finally he has demonstrated for the first time, how the genre has been domesticated by African writers of very great repute such as Ngugi, Sembene and Lessing. That he has been able to prove that these writers have used techniques of detective fiction is a significant broadening of the horizons for appreciating creative writing in Africa.
We present a non-parametric and computationally efficient method that detects spatiotemporal firing patterns and pattern sequences in parallel spike trains and tests whether the observed numbers of repeating patterns and sequences on a given timescale are significantly different from those expected by chance. The method is generally applicable and uncovers coordinated activity with arbitrary precision by comparing it to appropriate surrogate data. The analysis of coherent patterns of spatially and temporally distributed spiking activity on various timescales enables the immediate tracking of diverse qualities of coordinated firing related to neuronal state changes and information processing. We apply the method to simulated data and multineuronal recordings from rat visual cortex and show that it reliably discriminates between data sets with random pattern occurrences and with additional exactly repeating spatiotemporal patterns and pattern sequences. Multineuronal cortical spiking activity appears to be precisely coordinated and exhibits a sequential organization beyond the cell assembly concept.
Pasolini was simultaneously a revolutionary Marxist and a man forever influenced by his religious childhood. So his question was: do the revolutionary becoming of history and political negativity represent a destruction of the tragic beauty of the Greek myths and of the peaceful promise of Christianity? Or do we have to speak of a subtraction where an affirmative reconciliation of beauty and peace becomes possible in a new egalitarian world?
Dual- or multi-target ligands have gained increased attention in the past years due to several advantages, including more simple pharmacokinetic and phamarcodynamic properties compared to a combined application of several drugs. Furthermore multi-target ligands often possess improved efficacy. We present a new approach for the discovery of dual-target ligands using aligned pharmacophore models combined with a shape-based scoring. Starting with two sets of known active compounds for each target, a number of different pharmacophore models is generated and subjected to pairwise graph-based alignment using the Kabsch-Algorithm. Since a compound may be able to bind to different targets in different conformations, the algorithm aligns pairs of pharmacophore models sharing the same features which are not necessarily at the exactly same spatial distance. Using the aligned models, a pharmacophore search on a multi-conformation-database is performed to find compounds matching both models. The potentially “dual” ligands are scored by a shape-based comparison with the known active molecules using ShaEP.
Using this approach, we performed a prospective fragment-based virtual screening for dual 5-LO/sEH inhibitors. Both enzymes play an important role in the arachidonic acid cascade and are involved in inflammatory processes, pain, cardiovascular diseases and allergic reactions. Beside several new selective inhibitors we were able to find a compound inhibiting both enzymes in low micromolar concentrations. The results indicate that the idea of aligned pharmacophore models can be successfully employed for the discovery of dual-target ligands.
The genus Candobrasilopsis gen. nov. is here described, with C. rochai gen. nov. sp. nov. as type species, from the alluvial valley of the Upper Paraná River. The enigmatic Candonopsis brasiliensis Sars, 1901 is here redescribed and transferred to this new genus, the new combination being Candobrasilopsis brasiliensis (Sars, 1901). The new candonid genus belongs to the tribe Candonopsini, because of the absence of the proximal seta on the caudal ramus. It is closely related to Latinopsis Karanovic & Datry, 2009, because of the relatively short terminal segment of the mandibular palp (length less than 1.5 times the basal width, while this segment is longer than three times the basal width in Candonopsis) and the large and stout b-seta on the T1. However, it differs markedly from Latinopsis in the size and shape of the calcified inner lamellae of both valves and in the type of hemipenis. We also discuss the doubtful allocation of several other genera to the Candonopsini, raise Abcandonopsis Karanovic, 2004 to generic status and reassess the uncertain position of Candonopsis anisitsi Daday, 1905 within Latinopsis.
Introduction: Acute kidney injury (AKI) after cardiac surgery increases length of hospital stay and in-hospital mortality. A significant number of patients undergoing cardiac surgical procedures require perioperative intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) support. Use of an IABP has been linked to an increased incidence of perioperative renal dysfunction and death. This might be due to dislodgement of atherosclerotic material in the descending thoracic aorta (DTA). Therefore, we retrospectively studied the correlation between DTA atheroma, AKI and in-hospital mortality.
Methods: A total of 454 patients were retrospectively matched to one of four groups: -IABP/-DTA atheroma, +IABP/-DTA atheroma, -IABP/+DTA atheroma, +IABP/+DTA atheroma. Patients were then matched according to presence/absence of DTA atheroma, presence/absence of IABP, performed surgical procedure, age, gender and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). DTA atheroma was assessed through standard transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) imaging studies of the descending thoracic aorta.
Results: Basic patient characteristics, except for age and gender, did not differ between groups. Perioperative AKI in patients with -DTA atheroma/+IABP was 5.1% versus 1.7% in patients with -DTA atheroma/-IABP. In patients with +DTA atheroma/+IABP the incidence of AKI was 12.6% versus 5.1% in patients with +DTA atheroma/-IABP. In-hospital mortality in patients with +DTA atheroma/-IABP was 3.4% versus 8.4% with +DTA atheroma/+IABP. In patients with +DTA atheroma/+IABP in hospital mortality was 20.2% versus 6.4% with +DTA atheroma/-IABP. Multivariate logistic regression identified DTA atheroma > 1 mm (P = *0.002, odds ratio (OR) = 4.13, confidence interval (CI) = 1.66 to 10.30), as well as IABP support (P = *0.015, OR = 3.04, CI = 1.24 to 7.45) as independent predictors of perioperative AKI and increased in-hospital mortality. DTA atheroma in conjunction with IABP significantly increased the risk of developing acute kidney injury (P = 0.0016) and in-hospital mortality (P = 0.0001) when compared to control subjects without IABP and without DTA atheroma.
Conclusions: Perioperative IABP and DTA atheroma are independent predictors of perioperative AKI and in-hospital mortality. Whether adding an IABP in patients with severe DTA calcification increases their risk of developing AKI and mortality postoperatively cannot be clearly answered in this study. Nevertheless, when IABP and DTA are combined, patients are more likely to develop AKI and to die postoperatively in comparison to patients without IABP and DTA atheroma.
Sucrose is known to repress the translation of Arabidopsis thaliana AtbZIP11 transcript which encodes a protein belonging to the group of S (S - stands for small) basic region-leucine zipper (bZIP)-type transcription factor. This repression is called sucrose-induced repression of translation (SIRT). It is mediated through the sucrose-controlled upstream open reading frame (SC-uORF) found in the AtbZIP11 transcript. The SIRT is reported for 4 other genes belonging to the group of S bZIP in Arabidopsis. Tobacco tbz17 is phylogenetically closely related to AtbZIP11 and carries a putative SC-uORF in its 5′-leader region. Here we demonstrate that tbz17 exhibits SIRT mediated by its SC-uORF in a manner similar to genes belonging to the S bZIP group of the Arabidopsis genus. Furthermore, constitutive transgenic expression of tbz17 lacking its 5′-leader region containing the SC-uORF leads to production of tobacco plants with thicker leaves composed of enlarged cells with 3–4 times higher sucrose content compared to wild type plants. Our finding provides a novel strategy to generate plants with high sucrose content.
The study of systems whose properties are governed by electronic correlations is a corner stone of modern solid-state physics. Often, such systems feature unique and distinct properties like Mott metal-insulator transitions, rich phase diagrams, and high sensitivity to subtle changes in the applied conditions. Whereas the standard approach to electronic structure calculations, density functional theory (DFT), is able to address the complexity of real-world materials but is known to have serious limitations in the description of correlations, the dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) has become an established method for the treatment of correlated fermions, first on the level of minimal models and later in combination with DFT, termed LDA+DMFT.
This thesis presents theoretical calculations on different materials exhibiting correlated physics, where we aim at covering a range in terms of systems --from rather weakly correlated to strongy correlated-- as well as in terms of methods, from DFT calculations to combined LDA+DMFT calculations. We begin with a study on a selection of iron pnictides, a recently discovered family of high-temperature superconductors with varying degree of correlation strength, and show that their magnetic and optical properties can be assessed to some degree within DFT, despite the correlated nature of these systems. Next, extending our analysis to the inclusion of correlations in the framework of LDA+DMFT, we discuss the electronic structure of the iron pnictide LiFeAs which we find to be well described by Fermi liquid theory with regard to many of its properties, yet we see distinct changes in its Fermi surface upon inclusion of correlations. We continue the study of low-energy properties and specifically Fermi surfaces on two more iron pnictides, LaFePO and LiFeP, and predict a topology change of their Fermi surfaces due to the effect of correlations, with possible implications for their superconducting properties. In our last study, we close the circle by presenting LDA+DMFT calculations on an organic molecular crystal on the verge of a Mott metal-insulator transition; there, we find the spectral and optical properties to display signatures of strong electronic correlations beyond Fermi liquid theory.
While the general elections in Myanmar in November 2010 were widely condemned, both national and international actors approached the by-elections of April 2012 as a political rite-de-passage to improve relations between the government and the opposition inside, and between the former pariah state and the international community outside the country. An undercurrent to the government-led transition process from an authoritarian to a formally more democratic regime was the development of a politically oriented civil society that found ways to engage in the electoral process. This article describes the emerging spaces of election-related civil society activism in the forms of civic and voter education, national election observation, and election-related agency in the media. Noting that, in particular, election observation offers connections for civil society to regional and international debates, the paper draws preliminary conclusions about further developments ahead of the general elections in Myanmar expected for 2015.
New technologies generate risks, for the evaluation of which various mechanisms have been developed; the most frequent of these mechanisms consists of advice from committees of experts to the bodies whose role is to decide whether a new technology should be implemented or not. Such committees try to measure the magnitude of the threats that accompany the introduction of a new technology in order that the policy-makers may take their decisions in the light of the reports of the experts. The legitimacy of such reports is not only found in the technical capacity of its authors, but also in the impartiality of their recommendations. On numerous occasions, nevertheless, the effective presence of this evaluation finds itself today under suspicion. There are various methods that can be employed to try to resolve this problem. Firstly by reinforcing the mechanisms on which the technocratic evaluation of the risk are based; for example, through transparency in the selection of the experts. Secondly, by means of the incorporation of democratic mechanisms in the scientific-technological policy. The exposure of the internal conditions to the dynamics of the technological change that make possible the institutionalised involvement of society in the control of risk, as well as of the mechanisms to realise it are the principal subjects of this work.
This work intends to analysis the philosophy of history and to discuss the consequences of this death to the Critical Theory. The concept of reason and the devices of democracy and human rights are discussed in a revision of the historical debate about the end of history operates the life in the interior of the modern society, especially about the intellectual condition at the information society.
Since the mid-1980s, there has been much federalism talk in Cameroon where federation (said to have been created in Foumban in 1961) had supposedly been 'overwhelmingly' rejected in 1972 by Cameroonians. 'Confusioncracy' is the one good term that could conveniently explain it. Written with the trilogy of criticism, provocation, and construction in mind, this book aims at reconstructing a new and vigorous society in Cameroon that ensures respect for fundamental human rights and certain basic shared values. Much as the book centres on the Anglophone Problem; it is principally about human rights and their excessive violations - the direct result of the absence of separation of powers and constitutionalism. It largely condemns Cameroon's government for incessantly singing democracy and rule of law at the same time as it is massively torturing and wantonly killing citizens that dare to question the confusion. While sharing the position that a state like Cameroon must be seen to ensure that its laws and other practices accord with its international commitments, the book nonetheless strives to apportion the blame for Cameroon's human rights catastrophe accordingly; showing how the English-speaking minority itself, generally speaking, contributes to a large extent in propping up the dictatorship that is oppressing not only that minority but Cameroonians at large. The book challenges Cameroon to assume a leadership role in uniting Africans through meaningful federalization rather than further splitting them into incapable mini-states on the challenging world stage.
The main goal of adequate organ preservation is to avoid further cellular metabolism during the phase of ischemia. However, modern preservation solutions do rarely achieve this target. In donor organs hypoxia and ischemia induce a broad spectrum of pathologic molecular mechanisms favoring primary graft dysfunction (PGD) after transplantation. Increased hypoxia-induced transcriptional activity leads to increased vascular permeability which in turn is the soil of a reperfusion edema and the enhancement of a pro-inflammatory response in the graft after reperfusion. We hypothesize that inhibition of the respiration chain in mitochondria and thus inhibition of the hypoxia induced mechanisms might reduce reperfusion edema and consecutively improve survival in vivo. In this study we demonstrate that the rotenoid Deguelin reduces the expression of hypoxia induced target genes, and especially VEGF-A, dose-dependently in hypoxic human lung derived cells. Furthermore, Deguelin significantly suppresses the mRNA expression of the HIF target genes VEGF-A, the pro-inflammatory CXCR4 and ICAM-1 in ischemic lungs vs. control lungs. After lung transplantation, the VEGF-A induced reperfusion-edema is significantly lower in Deguelin-treated animals than in controls. Deguelin-treated rats exhibit a significantly increased survival-rate after transplantation. Additionally, a downregulation of the pro-inflammatory molecules ICAM-1 and CXCR4 and an increase in the recruitment of immunomodulatory monocytes (CD163+ and CD68+) to the transplanted organ involving the IL4 pathway was observed. Therefore, we conclude that ischemic periods preceding reperfusion are mainly responsible for the increased vascular permeability via upregulation of VEGF. Together with this, the resulting endothelial dysfunction also enhances inflammation and consequently lung dysfunction. Deguelin significantly decreases a VEGF-A induced reperfusion edema, induces the recruitment of immunomodulatory monocytes and thus improves organ function and survival after lung transplantation by interfering with hypoxia induced signaling.
Background: Europe was certified to be polio-free in 2002 by the WHO. However, wild polioviruses remain endemic in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria, occasionally causing polio outbreaks, as in Tajikistan in 2010. Therefore, effective surveillance measures and vaccination campaigns remain important. To determine the poliovirus immune status of a German study population, we retrospectively evaluated the seroprevalence of neutralizing antibodies (NA) to the poliovirus types 1, 2 and 3 (PV1, 2, 3) in serum samples collected from 1,632 patients admitted the University Hospital of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in 2001, 2005 and 2010.
Methods: Testing was done by using a standardized microneutralization assay.
Results: Level of immunity to PV1 ranged between 84.2% (95%CI: 80.3-87.5), 90.4% (88.3-92.3) and 87.5% (85.4-88.8) in 2001, 2005 and 2010. For PV2, we found 90.8% (87.5-90.6), 91.3% (89.3-93.1) and 89.8% (88.7-90.9), in the same period. Seroprevalence to PV3 was 76.6% (72.2-80.6), 69.8% (66.6-72.8) and 72.9% (67.8-77.5) in 2001 and 2005 and 2010, respectively. In 2005 and 2010 significant lower levels of immunity to PV3 in comparison to PV1 and 2 were observed. Since 2001, immunity to PV3 is gradually, but not significantly decreasing.
Conclusion: Immunity to PV3 is insufficient in our cohort. Due to increasing globalization and worldwide tourism, the danger of polio-outbreaks is not averted - even not in developed countries, such as Germany. Therefore, vaccination remains necessary.
The present study describes five new free-living nematode species and provides three new species records of the family Comesomatidae (genera Cervonema Wieser, 1954, Dorylaimopsis Ditlevsen, 1918, Hopperia Vitiello, 1969, and Kenyanema Muthumbi et al., 1997) from the continental margin of New Zealand, Southwest Pacific. Dichotomous identification keys are provided for all known species of Dorylaimopsis and Hopperia. Cervonema shiae Chen & Vincx, 2000 is recorded for the first time outside the type locality (Beagle Channel, Chile). C. kaikouraensis sp. nov. is characterised by amphideal fovea with 5.5 turns situated at 1.7 head diameter from anterior end, jointed outer labial setae, equal in length to cephalic setae, sperm dimorphism, and 5-6 small pre-cloacal supplements. C. multispira sp. nov. is characterised by amphideal fovea with 8.0-8.5 turns situated at 2.6-4.0 head diameter from anterior end, cephalic setae 2-3 μm long, slightly shorter than outer labial setae, presence of six uninucleated cells in males (potentially pseudocoelomocytes or supplementary excretory cells), 5 small pre-cloacal supplements, and strongly cuticularised, arcuate spicules with capitulum. C. proberti sp. nov. is characterised by amphideal fovea with 5 turns and located at < 1 head diameter from anterior end, cephalic setae 1.6-2.0 times longer than outer labial setae, and 8 small pre-cloacal supplements. Dorylaimopsis nodderi sp. nov. is characterised by cuticle with lateral differentiation consisting of three longitudinal rows of larger dots in the pharyngeal and caudal regions, two rows of larger dots in middle region of body, and spicules with rounded ventral projection at one third of spicule length from distal end, giving appearance of a joint. Hopperia ancora sp. nov. is characterised by short conical cephalic setae, spicules with hook-like projection at distal end, gubernaculum with bent apophyses, and 11-13 pre-cloacal supplements. H. beaglense Chen & Vincx, 1998 is recorded from Kaikoura Canyon, the fi rst record of this species outside the type locality (Beagle Channel, Chile). Kenyanema monorchis Muthumbi et al., 1997 is also recorded for the first time outside the type locality (Indian Ocean).
Decorin, a member of the small leucine-rich proteoglycan gene family, exists and functions wholly within the tumor microenvironment to suppress tumorigenesis by directly targeting and antagonizing multiple receptor tyrosine kinases, such as the EGFR and Met. This leads to potent and sustained signal attenuation, growth arrest, and angiostasis. We thus sought to evaluate the tumoricidal benefits of systemic decorin on a triple-negative orthotopic breast carcinoma xenograft model. To this end, we employed a novel high-density mixed expression array capable of differentiating and simultaneously measuring gene signatures of both Mus musculus (stromal) and Homo sapiens (epithelial) tissue origins. We found that decorin protein core modulated the differential expression of 374 genes within the stromal compartment of the tumor xenograft. Further, our top gene ontology classes strongly suggests an unexpected and preferential role for decorin protein core to inhibit genes necessary for immunomodulatory responses while simultaneously inducing expression of those possessing cellular adhesion and tumor suppressive gene properties. Rigorous verification of the top scoring candidates led to the discovery of three genes heretofore unlinked to malignant breast cancer that were reproducibly found to be induced in several models of tumor stroma. Collectively, our data provide highly novel and unexpected stromal gene signatures as a direct function of systemic administration of decorin protein core and reveals a fundamental basis of action for decorin to modulate the tumor stroma as a biological mechanism for the ascribed anti-tumorigenic properties.
Mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy play a key role in ensuring mitochondrial quality control. Impairment thereof was proposed to be causative to neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, and cancer. Accumulation of mitochondrial dysfunction was further linked to aging. Here we applied a probabilistic modeling approach integrating our current knowledge on mitochondrial biology allowing us to simulate mitochondrial function and quality control during aging in silico. We demonstrate that cycles of fusion and fission and mitophagy indeed are essential for ensuring a high average quality of mitochondria, even under conditions in which random molecular damage is present. Prompted by earlier observations that mitochondrial fission itself can cause a partial drop in mitochondrial membrane potential, we tested the consequences of mitochondrial dynamics being harmful on its own. Next to directly impairing mitochondrial function, pre-existing molecular damage may be propagated and enhanced across the mitochondrial population by content mixing. In this situation, such an infection-like phenomenon impairs mitochondrial quality control progressively. However, when imposing an age-dependent deceleration of cycles of fusion and fission, we observe a delay in the loss of average quality of mitochondria. This provides a rational why fusion and fission rates are reduced during aging and why loss of a mitochondrial fission factor can extend life span in fungi. We propose the ‘mitochondrial infectious damage adaptation’ (MIDA) model according to which a deceleration of fusion–fission cycles reflects a systemic adaptation increasing life span.
Death of Hardship
(2012)
Death of Hardship kaleidoscopically unveils human intrigues, predicaments and woes. It brings into sharp focus the most dreaded products of cruel oppression, exploitation, and destruction - the worst forms of human degradation and sufferings. However, it also sheds beams of hope, celebrating optimism in the struggle and eventually opening the curtain to the stage of victory of the oppressed and impoverished under the shameless sky.
Temporal variation in the detectability of a species can bias estimates of relative abundance if not handled correctly. For example, when effort varies in space and/or time it becomes necessary to take variation in detectability into account when data are analyzed. We demonstrate the importance of incorporating seasonality into the analysis of data with unequal sample sizes due to lost traps at a particular density of a species. A case study of count data was simulated using a spring-active carabid beetle. Traps were ‘lost’ randomly during high beetle activity in high abundance sites and during low beetle activity in low abundance sites. Five different models were fitted to datasets with different levels of loss. If sample sizes were unequal and a seasonality variable was not included in models that assumed the number of individuals was log-normally distributed, the models severely under- or overestimated the true effect size. Results did not improve when seasonality and number of trapping days were included in these models as offset terms, but only performed well when the response variable was specified as following a negative binomial distribution. Finally, if seasonal variation of a species is unknown, which is often the case, seasonality can be added as a free factor, resulting in well-performing negative binomial models. Based on these results we recommend (a) add sampling effort (number of trapping days in our example) to the models as an offset term, (b) if precise information is available on seasonal variation in detectability of a study object, add seasonality to the models as an offset term; (c) if information on seasonal variation in detectability is inadequate, add seasonality as a free factor; and (d) specify the response variable of count data as following a negative binomial or over-dispersed Poisson distribution.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae CEN.PK 113-7D is widely used for metabolic engineering and systems biology research in industry and academia. We sequenced, assembled, annotated and analyzed its genome. Single-nucleotide variations (SNV), insertions/deletions (indels) and differences in genome organization compared to the reference strain S. cerevisiae S288C were analyzed. In addition to a few large deletions and duplications, nearly 3000 indels were identified in the CEN.PK113-7D genome relative to S288C. These differences were overrepresented in genes whose functions are related to transcriptional regulation and chromatin remodelling. Some of these variations were caused by unstable tandem repeats, suggesting an innate evolvability of the corresponding genes. Besides a previously characterized mutation in adenylate cyclase, the CEN.PK113-7D genome sequence revealed a significant enrichment of non-synonymous mutations in genes encoding for components of the cAMP signalling pathway. Some phenotypic characteristics of the CEN.PK113-7D strains were explained by the presence of additional specific metabolic genes relative to S288C. In particular, the presence of the BIO1 and BIO6 genes correlated with a biotin prototrophy of CEN.PK113-7D. Furthermore, the copy number, chromosomal location and sequences of the MAL loci were resolved. The assembled sequence reveals that CEN.PK113-7D has a mosaic genome that combines characteristics of laboratory strains and wild-industrial strains.
Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) has become an important treatment modality for patients with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and is also under investigation for soft tissue sarcomas. The therapeutic success is still limited by minimal residual disease (MRD) status ultimately leading to patients’ relapse. Adoptive donor lymphocyte infusions based on MRD status using IL-15-expanded cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells may prevent relapse without causing graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD). To generate preclinical data we developed mouse models to study anti-leukemic- and anti-tumor-potential of CIK cells in vivo. Immunodeficient mice (NOD/SCID/IL-2Rγc−, NSG) were injected intravenously with human leukemic cell lines THP-1, SH-2 and with human rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) cell lines RH41 and RH30 at minimal doses required for leukemia or tumor engraftment. Mice transplanted with THP-1 or RH41 cells were randomly assigned for analysis of CIK cell treatment. Organs of mice were analyzed by flow cytometry as well as quantitative polymerase chain reaction for engraftment of malignant cells and CIK cells. Potential of CIK cells to induce GvHD was determined by histological analysis. Tissues of the highest degree of THP-1 cell expansion included bone marrow followed by liver, lung, spleen, peripheral blood (PB), and brain. RH30 and RH41 engraftment mainly took place in liver and lung, but was also detectable in spleen and PB. In spite of delayed CIK cell expansion compared with malignant cells, CIK cells injected at equal amounts were sufficient for significant reduction of RH41 cells, whereas against fast-expanding THP-1 cells 250 times more CIK than THP-1 cells were needed to achieve comparable results. Our preclinical in vivo mouse models showed a reliable 100% engraftment of malignant cells which is essential for analysis of anti-cancer therapy. Furthermore our data demonstrated that IL-15-activated CIK cells have potent cytotoxic capacity against AML and RMS cells without causing GvHD.
Background: The branched chain alcohol isobutanol exhibits superior physicochemical properties as an alternative biofuel. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae naturally produces low amounts of isobutanol as a by-product during fermentations, resulting from the catabolism of valine. As S. cerevisiae is widely used in industrial applications and can easily be modified by genetic engineering, this microorganism is a promising host for the fermentative production of higher amounts of isobutanol.
Results: Isobutanol production could be improved by re-locating the valine biosynthesis enzymes Ilv2, Ilv5 and Ilv3 from the mitochondrial matrix into the cytosol. To prevent the import of the three enzymes into yeast mitochondria, N-terminally shortened Ilv2, Ilv5 and Ilv3 versions were constructed lacking their mitochondrial targeting sequences. SDS-PAGE and immunofluorescence analyses confirmed expression and re-localization of the truncated enzymes. Growth tests or enzyme assays confirmed enzymatic activities. Isobutanol production was only increased in the absence of valine and the simultaneous blockage of the mitochondrial valine synthesis pathway. Isobutanol production could be even more enhanced after adapting the codon usage of the truncated valine biosynthesis genes to the codon usage of highly expressed glycolytic genes. Finally, a suitable ketoisovalerate decarboxylase, Aro10, and alcohol dehydrogenase, Adh2, were selected and overexpressed. The highest isobutanol titer was 0.63 g/L at a yield of nearly 15 mg per g glucose.
Conclusion: A cytosolic isobutanol production pathway was successfully established in yeast by re-localization and optimization of mitochondrial valine synthesis enzymes together with overexpression of Aro10 decarboxylase and Adh2 alcohol dehydrogenase. Driving forces were generated by blocking competition with the mitochondrial valine pathway and by omitting valine from the fermentation medium. Additional deletion of pyruvate decarboxylase genes and engineering of co-factor imbalances should lead to even higher isobutanol production.
We recorded the tent-web spider Cyrtophora citricola (Forsskål, 1775) (Araneidae: Cyrtophorinae) from Turkey for the first time at two sites. Body measurements and a brief description of the female are presented, as well as information on the sites (olive and orange orchards, shrubs) and the accompanying spider fauna.
The influence of an ac current of arbitrary amplitude and frequency on the mixed-state dc-voltage-ac-drive tiltingratchet response of a superconducting film with uniaxial cosine pinning potential at finite temperature is theoretically investigated. The results are obtained in the single-vortex approximation, within the frame of an exact solution of the Langevin equation for non-interacting vortices. Both experimentally achievable, the dc ratchet response and absorbed ac power are predicted to demonstrate a pronounced filter-like behavior at microwave frequencies. Based on our findings, we propose a cut-off filter and discuss its operating curves as functions of the driving parameters, i.e, ac amplitude, frequency, and dc bias. The predicted results can be examined, e.g, on superconducting films with a washboard pinning potential landscape.
'[C]ulture as text' initially proved to be a pivotal bridging metaphor between cultural anthropology and literary studies. Following an admittedly ambivalent career path, the concept of 'culture as text' has nevertheless continued to rise and has become an over-determined general principle, an emphatic key metaphor, even an overall "programmatic motto for the study of culture" […]. At first, this concept was still closely connected to ethnographic research and to the semiotic framework of interpretive cultural anthropology. However, since the end of the 1990s it has been utilised to encompass a much broader interdisciplinary horizon for the study of culture. 'Culture as text' advanced from being a conceptual metaphor for the condensation of cultural meanings to a rather free-floating formula frequently referred to in analyses within disciplines involved in the study of culture. Surprisingly, 'culture as text' has remained a consistent key phrase throughout the discourses concerned with the study of culture—even after the culture debate had long since turned away from the holistic understanding of culture implied by the formula.
The habitat as well as the unicellular thallus margins of Aneura maxima lead to the assumption that this species could be a hygromorphosis of A. pinguis. Therefore specimens of A. pinguis were cultivated in water. Even after four months the multicellular thallus margins were retained, which proved to be a stable character to separate A. pinguis from A. maxima. Therefore plants even with a small unistratose border, which are attributed to aquatic forms of A. pinguis, may belong to A. maxima. It is supposed that A. maxima was overlooked in Europe but regarded as aquatic forms of A. pinguis named as fo. rivularis. Such plants show unicellular thallus margins and are regarded as hygrophytic form of A. maxima. The presence viz. absence of an unicellular thallus margin seems to be a sufficient character to separate both species. The discussion about the width of the unistratose thallus margin is useless because the type of A. maxima has only 2-4 rows of unicellular cells and not 6-12 or more as attributed by European hepaticologists. This raises doubts whether the European material is identical with A. maxima rather with A. pellioides from Japan.
Cryptogams form a large part of dry grassland plant species richness. As a frequently used tool in grassland restoration, hay transfer is known to transfer cryptogam species. This might result in cryptogam stands differing from those achieved by natural succession. To assess hay transfer as a medium for cryptogam restoration, I analysed species composition of cryptogams in the hay of dry grasslands in Southern Germany, how fast they establish, and how fast they colonize adjacent plots. Cryptogam samples from hay showed species combinations similar to those of the mown sites and large shoot numbers to be present in the hay. Even low-growing and rare species were found in the hay. Hay receptor sites showed larger pleurocarpous moss and fruticose lichen patches than comparable sites without hay transfer, indicating earlier arrival of viable diaspores at the receptor sites. For acrocarpous mosses that colonize new sites by spores, no differences in turf size between succession and restoration plots were found. This shows that species transferred by hay have a distinct advantage over species that have to arrive at newly opened sites by natural means, i.e. many years later. The colonization from small restoration sites into adjacent areas without hay transfer proceeds with moderate speeds of about 1 to 2 m per year, probably with wind drift as the most important dispersal agent. Abundant cryptogam species including most pleurocarpous mosses and some Cladonia species rarely producing spores will be greatly enhanced by hay transfer. Nevertheless, the facilitation of pleurocarpous mosses may be detrimental to acrocarpous moss and epigaeic and saxicolous lichen species diversity, which should be considered in dry grassland restoration. I suggest a combination of different restoration measures in a mosaic pattern to create suitable conditions for a maximum of cryptogam species.
A decade since the availability of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) genome sequence, no promising drug has seen the light of the day. This not only indicates the challenges in discovering new drugs but also suggests a gap in our current understanding of Mtb biology. We attempt to bridge this gap by carrying out extensive re-annotation and constructing a systems level protein interaction map of Mtb with an objective of finding novel drug target candidates. Towards this, we synergized crowd sourcing and social networking methods through an initiative ‘Connect to Decode’ (C2D) to generate the first and largest manually curated interactome of Mtb termed ‘interactome pathway’ (IPW), encompassing a total of 1434 proteins connected through 2575 functional relationships. Interactions leading to gene regulation, signal transduction, metabolism, structural complex formation have been catalogued. In the process, we have functionally annotated 87% of the Mtb genome in context of gene products. We further combine IPW with STRING based network to report central proteins, which may be assessed as potential drug targets for development of drugs with least possible side effects. The fact that five of the 17 predicted drug targets are already experimentally validated either genetically or biochemically lends credence to our unique approach.
Race has been a term avoided in the Swedish debates, while at the same time, protections with respect to unlawful discrimination on the basis of race or ethnic origins have not been vigilantly upheld by the courts. This paper looks at the treatment of race by the Swedish legislature, as well as the treatment by the courts, specifically the Labour Court, with respect to claims of unlawful discrimination in employment on the basis of ethnic origins, against the background of Critical Race Theory. The disparities between the intent of the legislature and the outcome of the cases brought to the Swedish courts can be in least in part explained through the lens of Critical Race Theory, particularly with respect to the liberal approach taken by the courts when applying the law.
Since the XIX century, a pleiad of philosophers and historians support the idea that Greek philosophy, usually reported to have started with the presocratics, lays its basis in a previous moment: the Greek myths – systematized by Homer and Hesiod – and the Greek arts, in particular the lyric and tragedy literature. According to this, it is important to retrieve philosophical elements even before the pre-Socratics to understand the genesis of specific concepts in Philosophy of Law. Besides, assuming that the Western’s core values are inherited from Ancient Greece, it is essential to recuperate the basis of our own justice idea, through the Greek myths and tragedy literature. As a case study, this paper aims on the comparison of two key-works, each one representing a phase of the Greek tragedy: The Orestea, by Aeschylus, and Orestes, by Euripides. Both contain the same story, telling how the Greeks understood the necessity of solving their conflicts not by blood revenge, but through a political way, and also the political drama. Although, in Aeschylus’s one, men still leashed by their fate, while the gods play a major role, in order to punish human pride (hybris). In a different way, on Euripides’s work men face their own loneliness, in a world fulfilled with gods, each one demanding divergent actions. That represents a necessary moment to the flourishing freedom and human subjectivity, and, once the exterior divinity is unable to resolve human problems, men will need to discover their interior divinity: that is how the Philosophy emerges.
The demarcation of authority between parents and the State regarding education of children has become an increasingly complex issue over the past three decades. During the same period the number of parents around the world choosing educational alternatives such as homeschooling has grown exponentially, causing significant legislative and jurisprudential shifts in the United States as well as other Western nations. If the State is responsible for education or has a significant interest therein, then it must have broad authority by which to prescribe the method, mechanism, and acceptable outcomes of education; it must also be able to review and enforce these desired outcomes. If parents, on the other hand, are responsible, then it is the State’s duty to defer to parents absent a compelling reason to interfere. A survey of the philosophical foundations from ancient to modern times demonstrates the tension between the State and parents in the realm of education; however, modern human rights norms contained in post-1945 international human rights documents provide explicit grounds on which the State must defer to parental choice in education.
The most popularised concept in the economics of innovation literature has been the national system of innovation (NSI). It was in the late 1980s that the concept that Frederik List coined as the National Political Economy of Production took off again with different thinkers writing about the peculiarities and distinctions of the Japanese, American, British, German, East Asian Tigers and other varieties of system construction. Freeman defines National System of Innovation as the network of institutions in the public and private sectors whose activities and interactions initiate, import, modify and diff use new technologies. Richard Nelson defines it as a set of institutions whose interactions determine the innovative performance of national firms. Lundvall defines the system of innovation as the elements and relationships which interact in the production, diffusion and use of new and economically useful knowledge and are either located within or rooted inside the borders of a nation state. The normative assumption is that those nations that succeeded in building economic strength relied on the science, engineering, technology and innovation capability that made them to achieve an innovation advantage to put them ahead in the world, acquiring national or regional economic leadership as the case may be depending on what level of analyses is selected to look at particular failure, success or progress they made.. In this volume we have a glimpse of how in different African economies from Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria specific cases have been taken to explore how systems of innovation is evolving.
In dieser Arbeit werden Schmelz- und Anreicherungsprozesse des Erdmantels, sowie Kristallisationsereignisse der Erdkruste zweier ausgewählter Gebiete in Namibia und Spanien mithilfe geochemischer Methoden rekonstruiert und in einen zeitlichen Zusammenhang gebracht. Ein Vergleich der gewonnenen Ergebnisse beider Kompartimente soll dabei weitere Informationen liefern inwieweit Prozesse des Erdmantels und der Erdkruste miteinander verknüpft waren. Insbesondere soll ein weitere Beitrag zur aktuellen Diskussion geliefert werden, bei der sich das sogenannte „pulsed growth“ und „steady accumulation“ Modell gegenüberstehen (siehe Zusammenstellung Pearson et al., 2007). Zudem tragen die neu gewonnenen Daten dazu bei, die regionalen geologischen Gegebenheiten im besonderen Hinblick auf die geotektonische Geschichte besser zu verstehen.
Das Gibeon Kimberlit Feld befindet sich in der tektonischen Einheit des Rehoboth Terranes in Namibia und ist gekennzeichnet von Vulkanismus vor etwa 72.5 Ma (Davies et al., 2001), der Granat Peridotite und krustale Xenolithe mit an die Oberfläche beförderte. Eine klare Einordnung des Rehoboth Terranes in die Gesamtheit des Süd Afrikanischen Plattenverbunds ist noch nicht vollständig geklärt.
Die Südöstliche vulkanische Provinz in Spanien (SEVP) mit besonderem Hinblick auf die Region um Casas de Tallante stellt das zweite Probengebiet für diese Arbeit dar. Vor etwa 2.6 Ma (Bellon et al., 1983) kam es zur Extrusion von alkali-basaltischen Schmelzen, die zahlreiche Spinell / Plagioklas Peridotite mit sich brachten. Tufflagen, sowie die Matrix der Basalte ermöglichen einen Einblick in die untere Kruste der Region.
Untersuchungen der Erdmantelproben aus Namibia auf ihre Haupt- und Spurenelementchemie, sowie Lu-Hf und Sm-Nd Isotopie zeigten, dass zwei verschiedene Manteltypen vorliegen („N“ und „σ“ Typ), die zu einem Zeitpunkt um etwa 850 Ma („N“) und 1.9 Ga („σ“) angereichert wurden. Eine letzte Anreicherung beider Typen fand vermutlich während der Pan–Afrikanischen Orogenese um etwa 450 Ma statt. Die Reinterpretation eines zuvor publizierten Datensatzes (Pearson et al., 2004), suggeriert, dass es zu einer ersten Verarmung der σ Peridotite um etwa 2.9 Ga kam.
Untersuchungen der U-Pb und Hf Isotopie an Zirkonen aus der unteren Kruste des Probengebiets in Namibia ergaben, dass es zur Bildung von juvenilem Krustenmaterial vermutlich bereits im Archaikum kam (wie bereits vorgeschlagen durch z.B. Hoal et al., 1995; Franz et al., 1996), sowie in den Zeiträumen von 2.3 bis 2.7 und 1.5 bis 1.6 Ga, mit jeweils anschließendem krustalem Recycling und Krustenmischung. Eine Übereinstimmung von Mantel- und Krustenevents konnte für die Zeiträume von etwa 1.8, 0.8 - 0.9 Ga und 0.4 – 0.5 Ga gefunden werden. Eine mögliche erste Verarmung des σ Mantels wird bestätigt durch Zirkonalter im Bereich von 2.7 bis 2.9 Ga.
Die Analyse ausgewählter Spinell / Plagioklas Peridotite aus der SEVP, ergaben, dass ein heterogener Mantel mit mindestens 3 verschiedenen Typen vorliegt. Eine Korrelation der Lu-Hf Isotopie von 3 Proben dieses Probensatzes, sowie den Hf Isotopien einer weiteren Probe von Bianchini et al. (2011) suggerieren, dass es eventuell zu einem Verarmungsereignis zu einem Zeitpunkt von etwa 550 Ma kam. Sr Isotopien von Klinopyroxenen und Plagioklasen im Vergleich ergaben, dass die Sr Isotopie der Plagioklase, im Gegensatz zu den Klinopyroxenen, von denen der Alkali Basalte überprägt wurden.
Zirkonanalysen aus Lokalitäten innerhalb der SEVP (U-Pb, Hf) ergaben ein weitreichendes Altersspektrum, beginnend bei etwa 2-3 Ma bis hin ins Archaikum (2.7 bis 2.9 Ga) mit Provenance Ursprung aus Gondwana und dem Arabisch-Nubischen Schild. Die Kombination der U-Pb Altersinformationen mit den entsprechenden Hf Isotopien, zeigten, dass es vermutlich bereits im Archaikum zu juveniler Krustenbildung kam. Zirkone > 100 µm datieren den Zeitpunkt der Eruption der Alkali Basalte mit Altern um etwa 2.6 Ma und Hf Isotopien, die einem leicht verarmten Mantel entsprechen. Ein mögliches Verarmungsereignis im Erdmantel zu einem Zeitpunkt von etwa 550 Ma, ist im Einklang mit Krustenrecycling zu selbigem Zeitpunkt.
Die neugewonnenen Daten dieser Arbeit unterstützten das „pulsed growth“ Modell.
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