Autotrophy in Groundwater Ecosystems

The major role in global net CO2 fixation plays photosynthesis of green plants, algae and cyanobacteria, but other microorganisms are also important concerning autotrophy; i.e. autotrophic microorganisms can be found in most bacterial groups (Eubacteria) and there are even numerous representatives within the Archaea. CO2 fixation is not only one of the world’s most important biogeochemical processes and responsible for the buildup of organic compounds which are needed for biological functions (e.g. cell growth or nutrition of heterotrophic organisms); ultimately all ecosystems are based on inputs of carbon and energy provided by autotrophic organisms which can be found in almost all environments. While the importance of CO2 fixation on the surface is known, there is almost no information about autotrophic processes in the subsurface. The widespread opinion is that subsurface communities are dominated by heterotrophic microorganisms, but it is unlikely that all subsurface biomass depends on the limited amounts of organic carbon imported from the surface or on pollution dumping. Groundwater systems comply with all requirements for autotrophic growth processes (electron donors e.g. H2, S2O3 2- and electron acceptors e.g. NO3-, O2 are available as well as plenty of inorganic carbon), so autotrophic microorganisms could significantly contribute to the carbon flux in at least some of those systems. In summary, the existence and the role of chemolithoautotrophic CO2 fixation in the terrestrial subsurface is hardly known. To date, five CO2 fixation pathways are described, i.e. the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle (Calvin cycle), the reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle, the reductive acetyl CoA pathway, the 3-hydroxypropionate cycle and the 3-hydroxypropionate/4-hydroxybutyrate CO2 fixation pathway, with the Calvin cycle being the most intensively studied and probably the most abundant one. A sixth fixation pathway was just recently discovered. Objective of this thesis was to prove the CO2 fixation potential within the microbial communities in different groundwater ecosystems by means of functional gene analysis (cbbL, cbbM and acl genes) and to link this potential with in situ autotrophic activities as evaluated by different isotope and fatty acid approaches (FISH-MAR and PLFA analysis). Furthermore enrichment cultures under obligate chemolithoautotrophic conditions were started to get an idea about the diversity of those communities. The detection of the cbb genes in a contaminated and a pristine aquifer proved the occurrence of CO2 fixation potential being present in the bacterial communities of those ecosystems. Concerning the tar-oil contaminated aquifer, the majority of all retrieved cbb sequences was closely related to the cbbL and cbbM sequences belonging to the genus Thiobacillus, indicating that this genus might be of importance in groundwater ecosystems. This hypothesis is further supported by the results retrieved in the investigation at the organically poor site, the Testfield Scheyern. Here, most cbbM sequences detected were also closely related to the cbb sequences of Thiobacillus ssp.. The successful labelling of bacterial cells deriving from the tar-oil contaminated aquifer via fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) indicated considerable bacterial activity in this aquifer, but the detection of radiolabeled cells failed. 13C-labelled CaCO3 was exposed together with sterile sediment in the same aquifer. Cell counts suggested a successful colonization of the exposed sediments, but PFLA concentration was low. However, the incorporation of 13C-carbon into two of the detected fatty acids was a direct hint for bacterial CO2-uptake. Successful enrichment cultures out of both investigated aquifers proved the actual occurrence of autotrophs in those ecosystems. In total four new chemolithoautotrophic bacterial strains could be isolated, one of them, belonging to the genus Thiobacillus, was further characterized. It was an obligate chemolithoautotrophic strain, using the Calvin cycle for CO2 fixation. It was described as a new species, Thiobacillus thiophilus D24TN sp. nov.

Pictogramas na literatura inclusiva

O estudo dos formatos aplicados de pictogramas para literatura infantil tem por objetivo identificar facilitadores da leitura para crianças com défice intelectual e baixa visão. A produção literária em múltiplos formatos para promover a inclusão de crianças com NEE (necessidades educativas especiais) nos leva a investigar os caminhos e resultados do que está sendo feito. Os livros infantis com pictogramas ainda são poucos e com formatos e tamanhos diversificados. Um levantamento da biblioteca infantil inclusiva, disponível no CRID (Centro de Recursos para Inclusão Digital) da Escola Superior de Educação e Ciências Sociais do Instituto Politécnico de Leiria, Portugal, nos permitiu conhecer os dados das medidas de ilustrações dos pictogramas nas obras já produzidas. A partir dos resultados, experimentamos as medidas de estudos com um grupo de crianças atendidas no CRID para perceber a percetividade dos textos com pictogramas e qual o formato, medidas e espaçamento que os torna de mais fácil a compreensão na leitura. Este formato de literatura conhecido como “multiformato”, ou múltiplo formato precisa ser mais explorada por uma forma importante de desenho inclusivo ou universal na literatura infantil.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Vorstudie für eine Repräsentativbefragung zur Teilhabe von Menschen mit Behinderung(en)

Schröttle M, Hornberg C, Zapfel S, et al. Vorstudie für eine Repräsentativbefragung zur Teilhabe von Menschen mit Behinderung(en). Forschungsbericht. Vol 447. Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales (BMAS); 2014

Abschlussbericht: "Vorstudie für eine Repräsentativbefragung zur Teilhabe von Menschen mit Behinderung(en)"

Die Vorstudie enthält ein Konzept für Forschungsdesign und Erhebungsinstrumente für eine repräsentative quantitative Befragung zur Teilhabe von Menschen mit Behinderungen. Im Einzelnen werden Inhalte und Themenfelder, Grundüberlegungen zur Realisierung der Repräsentativität, relevante Teilpopulationen, die Stichprobenkonzeption und Zielgruppengewinnung sowie die Entwicklung eines geeigneten Fragebogens in Anlehnung an bestehende (inter-)nationale Surveys und andere Erhebungen konkretisiert. Die Studie empfiehlt Methodik und Konzeption von vertiefenden qualitativen Befragungen. Sie prüft bereits bestehende regelmäßige bundesweite Befragungen und Datenerhebungen, um festzustellen, wie ergänzend ein Aufbau von Längsschnittdaten für das Monitoring erfolgen kann und macht dazu Erweiterungsvorschläge

Clinical and virological characteristics of hospitalised COVID-19 patients in a German tertiary care centre during the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: a prospective observational study

Purpose: Adequate patient allocation is pivotal for optimal resource management in strained healthcare systems, and requires detailed knowledge of clinical and virological disease trajectories. The purpose of this work was to identify risk factors associated with need for invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), to analyse viral kinetics in patients with and without IMV and to provide a comprehensive description of clinical course. Methods: A cohort of 168 hospitalised adult COVID-19 patients enrolled in a prospective observational study at a large European tertiary care centre was analysed. Results: Forty-four per cent (71/161) of patients required invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). Shorter duration of symptoms before admission (aOR 1.22 per day less, 95% CI 1.10-1.37, p < 0.01) and history of hypertension (aOR 5.55, 95% CI 2.00-16.82, p < 0.01) were associated with need for IMV. Patients on IMV had higher maximal concentrations, slower decline rates, and longer shedding of SARS-CoV-2 than non-IMV patients (33 days, IQR 26-46.75, vs 18 days, IQR 16-46.75, respectively, p < 0.01). Median duration of hospitalisation was 9 days (IQR 6-15.5) for non-IMV and 49.5 days (IQR 36.8-82.5) for IMV patients. Conclusions: Our results indicate a short duration of symptoms before admission as a risk factor for severe disease that merits further investigation and different viral load kinetics in severely affected patients. Median duration of hospitalisation of IMV patients was longer than described for acute respiratory distress syndrome unrelated to COVID-19

CANDELS: The Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey

The Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) is designed to document the first third of galactic evolution, over the approximate redshift (z) range 8--1.5. It will image >250,000 distant galaxies using three separate cameras on the Hubble Space Telescope, from the mid-ultraviolet to the near-infrared, and will find and measure Type Ia supernovae at z>1.5 to test their accuracy as standardizable candles for cosmology. Five premier multi-wavelength sky regions are selected, each with extensive ancillary data. The use of five widely separated fields mitigates cosmic variance and yields statistically robust and complete samples of galaxies down to a stellar mass of 10^9 M_\odot to z \approx 2, reaching the knee of the ultraviolet luminosity function (UVLF) of galaxies to z \approx 8. The survey covers approximately 800 arcmin^2 and is divided into two parts. The CANDELS/Deep survey (5\sigma\ point-source limit H=27.7 mag) covers \sim 125 arcmin^2 within GOODS-N and GOODS-S. The CANDELS/Wide survey includes GOODS and three additional fields (EGS, COSMOS, and UDS) and covers the full area to a 5\sigma\ point-source limit of H \gtrsim 27.0 mag. Together with the Hubble Ultra Deep Fields, the strategy creates a three-tiered "wedding cake" approach that has proven efficient for extragalactic surveys. Data from the survey are nonproprietary and are useful for a wide variety of science investigations. In this paper, we describe the basic motivations for the survey, the CANDELS team science goals and the resulting observational requirements, the field selection and geometry, and the observing design. The Hubble data processing and products are described in a companion paper.Comment: Submitted to Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series; Revised version, subsequent to referee repor

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Removal of EpCAM-positive tumor cells from blood collected during major oncological surgery using the Catuvab device - a pilot study

Background: Intraoperative blood salvage (IBS) is regarded as an alternative to allogeneic blood transfusion excluding the risks associated with allogeneic blood. Currently, IBS is generally avoided in tumor surgeries due to concern for potential metastasis caused by residual tumor cells in the erythrocyte concentrate. Methods: The feasibility, efficacy and safety aspects of the new developed Catuvab procedure using the bispecific trifunctional antibody Catumaxomab was investigated in an ex-vivo pilot study in order to remove residual EpCAM positive tumor cells from the autologous erythrocyte concentrates (EC) from various cancer patients, generated by a IBS device. Results: Tumor cells in intraoperative blood were detected in 10 of 16 patient samples in the range of 69–2.6 × 105 but no residual malignant cells in the final erythrocyte concentrates after Catuvab procedure. IL-6 and IL-8 as pro-inflammatory cytokines released during surgery, were lowered in mean 28-fold and 52-fold during the Catuvab procedure, respectively, whereas Catumaxomab antibody was detected in 8 of 16 of the final EC products at a considerable decreased and uncritical residual amount (37 ng in mean). Conclusion: The preliminary study results indicate efficacy and feasibility of the new medical device Catuvab allowing potentially the reinfusion of autologous erythrocyte concentrates (EC) produced by IBS device during oncological high blood loss surgery. An open-label, multicenter clinical study on the removal of EpCAM-positive tumor cells from blood collected during tumor surgery using the Catuvab device is initiated to validate these encouraging results

Nanostructured ZnO thin films prepared by sol-gel spin-coating

ZnO thin films deposited on silica flat plates were prepared by spin-coating and studied by applying several techniques for structural characterization. The films were prepared by depositing different numbers of layers, each deposition being followed by a thermal treatment at 200 °C to dry and consolidate the successive layers. After depositing all layers, a final thermal treatment at 450 °C during 3 h was also applied in order to eliminate organic components and to promote the crystallization of the thin films. The total thickness of the multilayered films – ranging from 40 nm up to 150 nm – was determined by AFM and FESEM. The analysis by GIXD showed that the thin films are composed of ZnO crystallites with an average diameter of 25 nm circa. XR results demonstrated that the thin films also exhibit a large volume fraction of nanoporosity, typically 30–40 vol.% in thin films having thicknesses larger than ∼70 nm. GISAXS measurements showed that the experimental scattering intensity is well described by a structural model composed of nanopores with shape of oblate spheroids, height/diameter aspect ratio within the 0.8–0.9 range and average diameter along the sample surface plane in the 5–7 nm range.Fil: Heredia, Eduardo Armando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estratégico para la Defensa. Ministerio de Defensa. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estratégico para la Defensa; ArgentinaFil: Bojorge, Claudia Daniela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estratégico para la Defensa. Ministerio de Defensa. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estratégico para la Defensa; ArgentinaFil: Casanova, Jorge Ramón. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estratégico para la Defensa. Ministerio de Defensa. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estratégico para la Defensa; ArgentinaFil: Canepa, Horacio Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estratégico para la Defensa. Ministerio de Defensa. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estratégico para la Defensa; ArgentinaFil: Craievich, A.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Kellermann, G.. Universidade Federal do Paraná; Brasi