Long Term Observation of the Grassland Vegetation Used Intensively or Extensively and Ecologically

The aim of the present paper was to study alterations of the grassland flora from 55 plots following a more extensive management under long term observation within 6 years. Extensification of grassland use leads to an increase of the numbers of plant species by 32%, “Red-list-species” included. The moisture number of the soils slightly increased and the reaction and nitrogen numbers decreased. Results are presented for different vegetation units

Driving forces and structural determinants of steric zipper peptide oligomer formation elucidated by atomistic simulations.

Understanding the structural and energetic requirements of non-fibrillar oligomer formation harbors the potential to decipher an important yet still elusive part of amyloidogenic peptide and protein aggregation. Low-molecular-weight oligomers are described to be transient and polymorphic intermediates in the nucleated self-assembly process to highly ordered amyloid fibers and were additionally found to exhibit a profound cytotoxicity. However, detailed structural information on the oligomeric species involved in the nucleation cannot be readily inferred from experiments. Here, we study the spontaneous assembly of steric zipper peptides from the tau protein, insulin and α-synuclein with atomistic molecular dynamics simulations on the microsecond timescale. Detailed analysis of the forces driving the oligomerization reveals a common two-step process akin to a general condensation-ordering mechanism and thus provides a rational understanding of the molecular basis of peptide self-assembly. Our results suggest that the initial formation of partially ordered peptide oligomers is governed by the solvation free energy, whereas the dynamical ordering and emergence of β-sheets are mainly driven by optimized inter-peptide interactions in the collapsed state. A novel mapping technique based on collective coordinates is employed to highlight similarities and differences in the conformational ensemble of small oligomer structures. Elucidating the dynamical and polymorphic β-sheet oligomer conformations at atomistic detail furthermore suggests complementary sheet packing characteristics similar to steric zipper structures, but with a larger heterogeneity in the strand alignment pattern and sheet-to-sheet arrangements compared to the cross-β motif found in the fibrillar or crystalline states

Xenogeneic, extracorporeal liver perfusion in primates improves the ratio of branched-chain amino acids to aromatic amino acids (Fischer's ratio)

In fulminant hepatic failure (FHF), the development of hepatic encephalopathy is associated with grossly abnormal concentrations of plasma amino acids (PAA). Normalization of the ratio of branched-chain amino acids to aromatic amino acids (Fischer's ratio) correlates with clinical improvement. This study evaluated changes in PAA metabolism during 4 h of isolated, normothermic extracorporeal liver perfusion using a newly designed system containing human blood and a rhesus monkey liver. Bile and urea production were within the physiological range. Release of the transaminases AST, ALT and LDH were minimal. The ratio of branched (valine, leucine, isoleucine) to aromatic (tyrosine, phenylalanine) amino acids increased significantly. These results indicate that a xenogeneic extracorporeal liver perfusion system is capable of significantly increasing Fischer's ratio and may play a role in treating and bridging patients in FHF in the future

Influence of Grassland Management and Grazing by Different Farm Animals on Animal Performance and Flora Alterations

The objectives of this study were to test the possibilities of using different farm animals for landscape care on extensive pasture, taking into account their particular performance, and to analyse alterations of the flora in consequence of grazing by different animals and various pasture management. Salers had the highest (836g/d) and Galloways (584g/d) the lowest live weight gain as compared with the other breeds (771g/d). Lambs had higher live weight when grazing together with cattle and horses (mixed grazing) than under one species grazing. The number of legume increased and that of grass decreased. Following 3 years the grazing animals effected an increase of plant numbers in order of: Horses 86%, Cattle 15%, Mixed grazing 14% and sheep no effect. The most success of increasing plant numbers was registered when combined grazing and mowing of pasture was used

Corrigendum: Reduced mu power in response to unusual actions is context-dependent in 1-year-olds

During social interactions infants predict and evaluate other people’s actions. Previous behavioral research found that infants’ imitation of others’ actions depends on these evaluations and is context-dependent: 1-year-olds predominantly imitated an unusual action (turning on a lamp with one’s forehead) when the model’s hands were free compared to when the model’s hands were occupied or restrained. In the present study, we adapted this behavioral paradigm to a neurophysiological study measuring infants’ brain activity while observing usual and unusual actions via electroencephalography. In particular, we measured differences in mu power (6 – 8 Hz) associated with motor activation. In a between-subjects design, 12- to 14-month-old infants watched videos of adult models demonstrating that their hands were either free or restrained. Subsequent test frames showed the models turning on a lamp or a soundbox by using their head or their hand. Results in the hands-free condition revealed that 12- to 14-month-olds displayed a reduction of mu power in frontal regions in response to unusual and thus unexpected actions (head touch) compared to usual and expected actions (hand touch). This may be explained by increased motor activation required for updating prior action predictions in response to unusual actions though alternative explanations in terms of general attention or cognitive control processes may also be considered. In the hands-restrained condition, responses in mu frequency band did not differ between action outcomes. This implies that unusual head-touch actions compared to hand-touch actions do not necessarily evoke a reduction of mu power. Thus, we conclude that reduction of mu frequency power is context-dependent during infants’ action perception. Our results are interpreted in terms of motor system activity measured via changes in mu frequency band as being one important neural mechanism involved in action prediction and evaluation from early on

Approximation of conformal mappings using conformally equivalent triangular lattices

Consider discrete conformal maps defined on the basis of two conformally equivalent triangle meshes, that is edge lengths are related by scale factors associated to the vertices. Given a smooth conformal map $f$, we show that it can be approximated by such discrete conformal maps $f^\epsilon$. In particular, let $T$ be an infinite regular triangulation of the plane with congruent triangles and only acute angles (i.e.\ $<\pi/2$). We scale this tiling by $\epsilon>0$ and approximate a compact subset of the domain of $f$ with a portion of it. For $\epsilon$ small enough we prove that there exists a conformally equivalent triangle mesh whose scale factors are given by $\log|f'|$ on the boundary. Furthermore we show that the corresponding discrete conformal maps $f^\epsilon$ converge to $f$ uniformly in $C^1$ with error of order $\epsilon$.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures; v2 typos corrected, revised introduction, some proofs extende

The Role of Grass Feeding in Improving Oxidative Stability and Increasing Vitamin B\u3csub\u3e12\u3c/sub\u3e Content of Beef and Veal

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of grass feeding of cattle on the decontamination capacity against free radical (DCAFR) and vitamin B12 content of beef and veal. The meat samples from intensively (26 cattle, final weight 485±9 kg, concentrate feeding) and ecologically (25 heifers, final weight 472±32 kg, and 28 calves, final weight 260±24 kg, pasture grazing) managed cattle groups were investigated. The DCAFR was colorimetric assessed by examining damage to 1.4 benzoquinone. Vitamin B12 was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. Data indicate that the oxidative stability of meat samples from ecological management were significant (p \u3c 0.05) higher (1.39 mg/ ml sec) compared to samples from intensive management (1.09 mg/ ml sec). Meat from pasture grazed animals proves to be an especially good source of vitamin B12, which was present in the high amount in beef (3.24 mg/100g) and veal (3.32 mg/100g). This paper establishes the importance of grass feeding at the levels of the relevant essential nutrients supplied by meat

Airbag-related chest wall burn as a marker of underlying injury: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>This case of a man who sustained an airbag-induced thoracic injury and burn, highlights the potential harm that can be caused by airbags. It also serves to illustrate that a surface burn which looks small and benign can actually be a surface marker of a more serious injury. Staff working in emergency departments need to be aware of the risk of possible airbag-associated injuries.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 65-year-old man was the driver in a frontal collision. He was wearing a seatbelt. The airbag was activated and caused a superficial chest wall burn. Initial chest x-rays were unremarkable but following deterioration in his condition, a computed tomography scan revealed a serious sternal fracture. The location of the fracture was marked on the surface by the burn.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Airbags can cause significant chest wall injuries and burns. Surface burns at the point of impact should not be dismissed as trivial as the forces involved can cause significant injury. We recommend that all people with chest wall injuries and/or burns due to airbags should have more detailed chest imaging as initial emergency radiographs can be falsely reassuring.</p

Constructing solutions to the Bj\"orling problem for isothermic surfaces by structure preserving discretization

In this article, we study an analog of the Bj\"orling problem for isothermic surfaces (that are more general than minimal surfaces): given a real analytic curve $\gamma$ in ${\mathbb R}^3$, and two analytic non-vanishing orthogonal vector fields $v$ and $w$ along $\gamma$, find an isothermic surface that is tangent to $\gamma$ and that has $v$ and $w$ as principal directions of curvature. We prove that solutions to that problem can be obtained by constructing a family of discrete isothermic surfaces (in the sense of Bobenko and Pinkall) from data that is sampled along $\gamma$, and passing to the limit of vanishing mesh size. The proof relies on a rephrasing of the Gauss-Codazzi-system as analytic Cauchy problem and an in-depth-analysis of its discretization which is induced from the geometry of discrete isothermic surfaces. The discrete-to-continuous limit is carried out for the Christoffel and the Darboux transformations as well.Comment: 29 pages, some figure