Biological control of the cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi L. (Diptera, Tephriti-dae) by use of entomopathogenic nematodes: first experiences towards practi-cal implementation.

The use of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) is a promising approach to control the cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi L.. We already demonstrated the high potential of EPN to infect larvae after leaving the cherry for pupation in the soil in laboratory and field experiments. For practice, an appli-cation technique is needed, that is both, grower- and EPN friendly. We tested a tractor mounted spray boom for treatment under the canopy area. The achieved rate of EPN in the soil met the ex-pectations. The activity of EPN in soil samples was high after application, but dropped to 60% of the initial activity within one week. Exact forecasting of larval drop from cherries is another major chal-lenge. To obtain basic data, we recorded the phenology of infestation and larval emergence on trees which were not harvested. Sequential infestation on the same cherry variety was observed and larvae dropped from individual trees for several weeks

Kann der Einsatz entomopathogener Nematoden zur nachhaltigen Bekämpfung der Kirschfruchtfliege beitragen?

The cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi L., is the major pest of sweet cherries in Europe. Currently, no efficient control method is available and there is the risk of increasing population densities of this pest. Entomopathogenic nematodes caused high mortality of last instar maggots, when entering the soil for pupation, under laboratory and field conditions. First field applications of these biocontrol agents against pupating larvae in 2005 should test their efficacy to reduce pest densities. Accompanying field observa-tions were made to evaluate the degree of natural mortality of the cherry fruit fly during the pupation phase in order to decide if the application of nematodes could substan-tially contribute to control this pest. According to the results in this year, natural mortal-ity factors reduced the cherry fruit fly population from the period between larvae leav-ing the fruit until hatching of adults in the following year by 95%. The emergence rate of adult flies in spring 2006 was low (10 flies/qm) and no significant differences in the densities of emerging flies in untreated and treated areas were detected. Thus, the effect of applying nematodes remained unclear and additional methods are needed to define their impact separately from natural mortality

Einstellung von Schülern zu Schule und Sachunterricht:Erfassung und Differenzierung von typologischen Einstellungsausprägungen bei Grundschülern

Zur Erfassung der Einstellung von Grundschulkindern zur Schule und zum Sachunterricht wurde ein Erhebungsinstrument im Sinne der klassischen Testtheorie und Testkonstruktion (z.B. Rost, 1996) entwickelt. Dieses Instrument ist ein systematisch konstruierter Fragebogen mit vier verschiedenen Subskalen („Schule und Lernen“, „Bedeutung von Lernen im Sachunterricht“, „Verhalten zu Mitschülern“, „didaktischmethodische Ausgestaltung des Sachunterrichts“), das letztlich mit insgesamt 29 Items (von zuvor 87 Items) die Einstellung der Schüler zu Schule und Sachunterricht operationalisiert. Mit diesem Instrument wurden insgesamt 344 Grundschüler der Jahrgangsstufen 1-4 befragt. Mit Hilfe spezifischer, statistischer Verfahren konnten drei „Einstellungstypen“ identifiziert und beschrieben werden: Der Lernfreude-Typ, der Gelangweilt-Frustrierte Typ und der Zielorientierte Leistungs-Typ. Die didaktisch-methodische Ausgestaltung des Sachunterrichtes im Schülerurteil hat einen bedeutenden Einfluss auf die Lernprozesse. Deshalb stehen mögliche didaktisch-methodische Konsequenzen für den Sach- bzw. Biologieunterricht im Focus des Interesses

Dissociating memory networks in early Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration - a combined study of hypometabolism and atrophy

Introduction: We aimed at dissociating the neural correlates of memory disorders in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Methods: We included patients with AD (n = 19, 11 female, mean age 61 years) and FTLD (n = 11, 5 female, mean age 61 years) in early stages of their diseases. Memory performance was assessed by means of verbal and visual memory subtests from the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS-R), including forgetting rates. Brain glucose utilization was measured by [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) and brain atrophy by voxel-based morphometry (VBM) of T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Using a whole brain approach, correlations between test performance and imaging data were computed separately in each dementia group, including a group of control subjects (n = 13, 6 female, mean age 54 years) in both analyses. The three groups did not differ with respect to education and gender. Results: Patients in both dementia groups generally performed worse than controls, but AD and FTLD patients did not differ from each other in any of the test parameters. However, memory performance was associated with different brain regions in the patient groups, with respect to both hypometabolism and atrophy: Whereas in AD patients test performance was mainly correlated with changes in the parieto-mesial cortex, performance in FTLD patients was correlated with changes in frontal cortical as well as subcortical regions. There were practically no overlapping regions associated with memory disorders in AD and FTLD as revealed by a conjunction analysis. Conclusion: Memory test performance may not distinguish between both dementia syndromes. In clinical practice, this may lead to misdiagnosis of FTLD patients with poor memory performance. Nevertheless, memory problems are associated with almost completely different neural correlates in both dementia syndromes. Obviously, memory functions are carried out by distributed networks which break down in brain degeneration

Benefits of listening to a recording of euphoric joint music making in polydrug abusers

Background and Aims: Listening to music can have powerful physiological and therapeutic effects. Some essential features of the mental mechanism underlying beneficial effects of music are probably strong physiological and emotional associations with music created during the act of music making. Here we tested this hypothesis in a clinical population of polydrug abusers in rehabilitation listening to a previously performed act of physiologically and emotionally intense music making. Methods: Psychological effects of listening to self-made music that was created in a previous musical feedback intervention were assessed. In this procedure, participants produced music with exercise machines (Jymmin) which modulate musical sounds. Results: The data showed a positive effect of listening to the recording of joint music making on self-efficacy, mood, and a readiness to engage socially. Furthermore, the data showed the powerful influence of context on how the recording evoked psychological benefits. The effects of listening to the self-made music were only observable when participants listened to their own performance first; listening to a control music piece first caused effects to deteriorate. We observed a positive correlation between participants' mood and their desire to engage in social activities with their former training partners after listening to the self-made music. This shows that the observed effects of listening to the recording of the single musical feedback intervention are influenced by participants recapitulating intense pleasant social interactions during the Jymmin intervention. Conclusions: Listening to music that was the outcome of a previous musical feedback (Jymmin) intervention has beneficial psychological and probably social effects in patients that had suffered from polydrug addiction, increasing self-efficacy, mood, and a readiness to engage socially. These intervention effects, however, depend on the context in which the music recordings are presented

Physical and Biogeochemical Studies in the Subtropical and Tropical Atlantic

Maria S. Merian Cruise Report MSM18/L2 Cruise No. 18, Leg 2 May 11 – June 19, 2011 Mindelo (Cape Verde Islands) – Mindelo (Cape Verde Islands

Characterization of the metabolic profile associated with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D : a cross-sectional analysis in population-based data

Background: Numerous observational studies have observed associations between vitamin D deficiency and cardiometabolic diseases, but these findings might be confounded by obesity. A characterization of the metabolic profile associated with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels, in general and stratified by abdominal obesity, may help to untangle the relationship between vitamin D, obesity and cardiometabolic health. Methods: Serum metabolomics measurements were obtained from a nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR)- and a mass spectrometry (MS)-based platform. The discovery was conducted in 1726 participants of the population-based KORA-F4 study, in which the associations of the concentrations of 415 metabolites with 25(OH)D levels were assessed in linear models. The results were replicated in 6759 participants (NMR) and 609 (MS) participants, respectively, of the population-based FINRISK 1997 study. Results: Mean [standard deviation (SD)] 25(OH)D levels were 15.2 (7.5) ng/ml in KORA F4 and 13.8 (5.9) ng/ml in FINRISK 1997; 37 metabolites were associated with 25(OH) D in KORA F4 at P <0.05/415. Of these, 30 associations were replicated in FINRISK 1997 at P <0.05/37. Among these were constituents of (very) large very-low-density lipoprotein and small low-density lipoprotein subclasses and related measures like serum triglycerides as well as fatty acids and measures reflecting the degree of fatty acid saturation. The observed associations were independent of waist circumference and generally similar in abdominally obese and non-obese participants. Conclusions: Independently of abdominal obesity, higher 25(OH)D levels were associated with a metabolite profile characterized by lower concentrations of atherogenic lipids and a higher degree of fatty acid polyunsaturation. These results indicate that the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and cardiometabolic diseases is unlikely to merely reflect obesity-related pathomechanisms.Peer reviewe

Die Feldforschungen der KAAK 2014 bis 2016 in Ava Ranga Uka A Toroke Hau und an der Quebrada Vaipú auf der Osterinsel (Chile)

Die seit 2008 laufenden Untersuchungen der KAAK zur voreuropäischen Wassernutzung auf der Osterinsel müssen als archäologische Grundlagenforschung für den gesamten polynesischen Kulturraum gelten. Sie konzentrieren sich auf den Bachlauf der Quebrada Vaipú und insbesondere den hier im Inselzentrum gelegenen Fundplatz Ava Ranga Uka A Toroke Hau. Gerade die dortigen großflächigen Ausgrabungen im Bachbett und den Uferbereichen haben Beobachtungen ermöglicht, wie sie mit anderen, sonst üblichen Vorgehensweisen – Oberflächenbegehungen, Bohrungen und kleindimensionierten Testschnitten – nicht hätten angestellt werden können. Immer wieder überraschen uns neue, auf der Osterinsel zuvor nie beobachtete Befunde, die ein immer stärker differenziertes Bild ergeben, gleichzeitig aber Anpassungen des weiteren wissenschaftlichen Vorgehens erforderlich machen. Nicht zuletzt die zunehmende Vertrautheit mit dem größeren räumlichen Kontext des Fundortes entlang des Bachlaufes von der Quelle bis zur Mündung in den Pazifik und schließlich Vergleiche mit ähnlichen, wenn auch durchweg nicht ergrabenen Fundplätzen in Französisch Polynesien untermauern unser Erklärungsmodell, das Ava Ranga Uka A Toroke Hau als zentrales Wasser- und Fruchtbarkeitsheiligtum innerhalb einer Sakrallandschaft entlang der Quebrada Vaipú identifiziert. Zu einzelnen Aspekten wurden bereits mehrere Artikel veröffentlicht, deshalb soll der nachfolgende Zwischenbericht nur eine Auswahl aktueller, unveröffentlichter Beobachtungen zu den Begehungen entlang des Baches und zu den jüngsten Grabungen in Ava Ranga Uka A Toroke Hau zugänglich machen.