Profitiert der Feldhase vom ökologischen Landbau?

European brown hare numbers have dramatically declined in arable land throughout Europe. Loss of food abundance and cover due to mechanisation and intensification of agriculture are suggested to be the main reasons for this decline. Organic farming should sustain higher hare densities because of better habitat quality and higher food abundance. In our study hare densities estimated during spotlight counts increased from eight hares per km² (1998) up to 55 hares (2008) per km² after conversion of the study site from conventional to organic farming. Reasons for this increase in hare density may be higher abundance of year-round forage and cover as shown by preliminary results of radio-tracking data. Organic farming sustains good habitat quality for European hares and enhances their densities. Conservation strategies should therefore promote organic farming as a management tool

Contextualising the Insider Threat: A Mixed Method Study

The insider threat is potentially the most damaging and costly threat to organisations, and while there is a considerable body of literature aimed at understanding this phenomenon, we contend that the theories contained in such literature are most beneficial if they can be utilised in a way that is contextually relevant. Our research, and this paper, is specifically focussed on developing and improving this contextual validity. We find that malicious acts arising from disgruntlement are perceived as very real problems in practice. We also present a current list of non-malicious aberrant behaviors and show how they rank in relative seriousness to one another. Given that the primary motivation for conducting this study is the view that reliance on the traditional conceptualization of a boundary or perimeter is no longer viable, our essential contribution lies in devising a series of vignettes that empirically reflect this current contextual validity

Linking Threat Avoidance and Security Adoption: A Theoretical Model For SMEs

A deficiency exists in the Information Systems Security literature because of the tendency to regard IT threat avoidance and IT security adoption as separate behaviours. In addressing the deficiency this research in progress focuses on SMEs, for several reasons including their strategic importance globally, the current trend among cybercriminals to conduct more high volume, low risk attacks against weaker targets and also because of the individualistic behavioural patterns in SMEs. Drawing on several well-established behavioural theories, this paper synthesises elements of these theories into a holistic model, with coping theory placed firmly at is centre. This study will make several contributions to the field, initially creating an empirically validated model for behaviours surrounding both avoidance and preventative actions in small firms and also in presenting and prioritising a specific view of the external factors influencing how threats are appraised, assessed and dealt with

Entwicklung eines Radio-Immunoassays und Rezeptor-Assays zum Nachweis von Leptin

In der vorliegenden Studie wurde ein Radioliganden-Rezeptor-Bindungstest zum Nachweis des Plasma-Leptin entwickelt und seine Praktikabilität im Vergleich zur Radioimmunologischen Bestimmung überprüft. Zur Gewinnung von AK gegen Leptin wurden Kaninchen mit rekombinantem Leptin der Maus immunisiert. Alle Tiere antworteten mit einer positiven Immunreaktion. Das Antiserum mit dem höchsten Titer kam im Radioimmunoassay in einer Endverdünnung von 1:28000 zum Einsatz, die Kreuzreaktion mit humanem Leptin belief sich auf 100%. Die IC-50 lag um 30 fmol/tube(350µl) humanem Leptin. In der Durchführung der RBT?s kamen Zellen der Erythroleukämie-Zelllinie K562, die sich durch einen besonders hohen Besatz von Leptinrezeptoren auszeichnen, zur Anwendung. 50% Verdrängung des Radioliganden wurden bei ca. 10 fmol/100µl Leptin beobachtet. Mit beiden Nachweismethoden wurde eine positive Beziehung zwischen BMI und Leptinkonzentration im Plasma gefunden. Die Analyse der Meßwerte in einer limitierten Zahl von Patienten deutet darauf hin, daß mit beiden Verfahren vergleichbare Meßergebnisse erzielt werden. Dies läßt, mit Einschränkung, den Schluß zu, daß mit beiden Methoden das biologisch verfügbare Hormon gemessen wird. Angesichts ähnlicher Leistung bei weitaus höherer Praktikabilität des RIA bleibt die Anwendung des RBT speziellen Studien der Rezeptorphysiologie vorbehalten

Temporal activity patterns of predators and prey across broad geographic scales

Predators and prey are locked in an evolutionary arms race that shapes their behavior and life history. Predators target prey vulnerabilities to maximize hunting success, while prey trade-off foraging against predation avoidance. Though studies have demonstrated how predation risk can alter how prey allocate daily foraging effort, little work has considered the implications of this temporal component of behavior from a predator’s perspective, or assessed its influence on broad-scale predator–prey interactions. We develop a method to compare daily activity patterns of avian predators and prey using data from 2 large citizen science datasets collected on different continents. Our analyses reveal evidence for convergent daily hunting strategies across avian predators, with distinct differences according to prey type. By comparing predator data with correspondent data from songbirds, our study suggests that predators (Accipiters) specialized to hunt songbirds match the activity patterns of their prey species. These results indicate predators have evolved common temporal hunting strategies to exploit temporal patterns in prey behavior

Quantifying sources of methane using light alkanes in the Los Angeles basin, California

Methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and C2-C5 alkanes were measured throughout the Los Angeles (L.A.) basin in May and June 2010. We use these data to show that the emission ratios of CH4/CO and CH4/CO2 in the L.A. basin are larger than expected from population-apportioned bottom-up state inventories, consistent with previously published work. We use experimentally determined CH4/CO and CH4/CO2 emission ratios in combination with annual State of California CO and CO2 inventories to derive a yearly emission rate of CH4 to the L.A. basin. We further use the airborne measurements to directly derive CH4 emission rates from dairy operations in Chino, and from the two largest landfills in the L.A. basin, and show these sources are accurately represented in the California Air Resources Board greenhouse gas inventory for CH4. We then use measurements of C2-C5 alkanes to quantify the relative contribution of other CH4 sources in the L.A. basin, with results differing from those of previous studies. The atmospheric data are consistent with the majority of CH4 emissions in the region coming from fugitive losses from natural gas in pipelines and urban distribution systems and/or geologic seeps, as well as landfills and dairies. The local oil and gas industry also provides a significant source of CH4 in the area. The addition of CH4 emissions from natural gas pipelines and urban distribution systems and/or geologic seeps and from the local oil and gas industry is sufficient to account for the differences between the top-down and bottom-up CH4 inventories identified in previously published work. Key PointsTop-down estimates of CH4 emissions in L.A. are greater than inventory estimatesEstimates of CH4 emissions from landfills in L.A. agree with CARB inventoryPipeline natural gas and/or seeps, and landfills are main sources of CH4 in L.A. ©2013. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved

Interaction between row-type genes in barley controls meristem determinacy and reveals novel routes to improved grain

Hordeum species develop a central spikelet flanked by two lateral spikelets at each inflorescence node. In 'two-rowed' spikes, the central spikelet alone is fertile and sets grain, while in 'six-rowed' spikes, lateral spikelets can also produce grain. Induced loss-of-function alleles of any of five Six-rowed spike (VRS) genes (VRS1-5) cause complete to intermediate gains of lateral spikelet fertility. Current six-row cultivars contain natural defective vrs1 and vrs5 alleles. Little information is known about VRS mechanism(s). We used comparative developmental, expression and genetic analyses on single and double vrs mutants to learn more about how VRS genes control development and assess their agronomic potential. We show that all VRS genes repress fertility at carpel and awn emergence in developing lateral spikelets. VRS4, VRS3 and VRS5 work through VRS1 to suppress fertility, probably by inducing VRS1 expression. Pairing vrs3, vrs4 or vrs5 alleles increased lateral spikelet fertility, despite the presence of a functional VRS1 allele. The vrs3 allele caused loss of spikelet identity and determinacy, improved grain homogeneity and increased tillering in a vrs4 background, while with vrs5, decreased tiller number and increased grain weight. Interactions amongst VRS genes control spikelet infertility, determinacy and outgrowth, and novel routes to improving six-row grain.Monika Zwirek, Robbie Waugh, Sarah M. McKi

F-theory on Genus-One Fibrations

We argue that M-theory compactified on an arbitrary genus-one fibration, that is, an elliptic fibration which need not have a section, always has an F-theory limit when the area of the genus-one fiber approaches zero. Such genus-one fibrations can be easily constructed as toric hypersurfaces, and various $SU(5)\times U(1)^n$ and $E_6$ models are presented as examples. To each genus-one fibration one can associate a $\tau$-function on the base as well as an $SL(2,\mathbb{Z})$ representation which together define the IIB axio-dilaton and 7-brane content of the theory. The set of genus-one fibrations with the same $\tau$-function and $SL(2,\mathbb{Z})$ representation, known as the Tate-Shafarevich group, supplies an important degree of freedom in the corresponding F-theory model which has not been studied carefully until now. Six-dimensional anomaly cancellation as well as Witten's zero-mode count on wrapped branes both imply corrections to the usual F-theory dictionary for some of these models. In particular, neutral hypermultiplets which are localized at codimension-two fibers can arise. (All previous known examples of localized hypermultiplets were charged under the gauge group of the theory.) Finally, in the absence of a section some novel monodromies of Kodaira fibers are allowed which lead to new breaking patterns of non-Abelian gauge groups.Comment: 53 pages, 9 figures, 6 tables. v2: references adde