Modelling Interregional Trade of Energy Crops in Eastern Germany

Renewable resources gain in importance in our modern society. The line of reasoning is based on their positive effects on agriculture, the environment and the economy. To support renewable energy from biomass the EU promotes the cultivation of energy crops. A spatial equilibrium model is applied based on the concept of maximizing net welfare, to provide information whether energy crop production competes with food production for land area. The Model of Interregional Trade of Energy Crops (ITEC) refers to Eastern Germany and adjacent areas of Poland. First results show that the regions have enough feedstocks to meet the required demand for food and biofuel production. In many cases both food crops and biofuels are either traded on interregional basis or exported to "Rest of Europe" indicating that there is no competition between food and energy crops. Only green maize for biogas production strongly competes in areas where the crop is required as feed for cattle.Energy crops, spatial equilibrium analysis, interregional trade, International Relations/Trade,

VLT Diffraction Limited Imaging and Spectroscopy in the NIR: Weighing the black hole in Centaurus A with NACO

We present high spatial resolution near-infrared spectra and images of the nucleus of Centaurus A (NGC 5128) obtained with NAOS-CONICA at the VLT. The adaptive optics corrected data have a spatial resolution of 0.06" (FWHM) in K- and 0.11" in H-band, four times higher than previous studies. The observed gas motions suggest a kinematically hot disk which is orbiting a central object and is oriented nearly perpendicular to the nuclear jet. We model the central rotation and velocity dispersion curves of the [FeII] gas orbiting in the combined potential of the stellar mass and the (dominant) black hole. Our physically most plausible model, a dynamically hot and geometrically thin gas disk, yields a black hole mass of M_bh = (6.1 +0.6/-0.8) 10^7 M_sun. As the physical state of the gas is not well understood, we also consider two limiting cases: first a cold disk model, which completely neglects the velocity dispersion; it yields an M_bh estimate that is almost two times lower. The other extreme case is to model a spherical gas distribution in hydrostatic equilibrium through Jeans equation. Compared to the hot disk model the best-fit black hole mass increases by a factor of 1.5. This wide mass range spanned by the limiting cases shows how important the gas physics is even for high resolution data. Our overall best-fitting black hole mass is a factor of 2-4 lower than previous measurements. With our revised M_bh estimate, Cen A's offset from the M_bh-sigma relation is significantly reduced; it falls above this relation by a factor of ~2, which is close to the intrinsic scatter of this relation. (Abridged)Comment: 12 pages, 14 figures, including minor changes following the referee report; accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Tomato linalool synthase is induced in trichomes by jasmonic acid

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) plants emit a blend of volatile organic compounds, which mainly consists of terpenes. Upon herbivory or wounding, the emission of several terpenes increases. We have identified and characterized the first two tomato monoterpene synthases, LeMTS1 and LeMTS2. Although these proteins were highly homologous, recombinant LeMTS1 protein produced (R)-linalool from geranyl diphosphate (GPP) and (E)-nerolidol from farnesyl diphosphate (FPP), while recombinant LeMTS2 produced β-phellandrene, β-myrcene, and sabinene from GPP. In addition, these genes were expressed in different tissues: LeMTS1 was expressed in flowers, young leaves, stems, and petioles, while LeMTS2 was strongest expressed in stems and roots. LeMTS1 expression in leaves was induced by spider mite-infestation, wounding and jasmonic acid (JA)-treatment, while LeMTS2 did not respond to these stimuli. The expression of LeMTS1 in stems and petioles was predominantly detected in trichomes and could be induced by JA. Because JA treatment strongly induced emission of linalool and overexpression of LeMTS1 in tomato resulted in increased production of linalool, we propose that LeMTS1 is a genuine linalool synthase. Our results underline the importance of trichomes in JA-induced terpene emission in tomato

Plecotus microdontus (Mammalia: Vespertilionidae), nova vrsta šišmiša iz Austrije

SPITZENBERGER et al. (2001) reported the existence of more than two different genetic clades within long-eared bats in Austria. A genetic analysis of one specimen from the Dalmatian island of Lastovo (Croatia), close to the locus typicus of Plecotus kolombatovici, and an additional morphological analysis of specimens from some other Dalmatian islands revealed the fact that in contrast to the previous interpretation, clade 2 in SPITZENBERGER et al. (2001) does not represent P. kolombatovici, which is a separate species related to P. austriacus. Clade 2 has to be considered a new species, P. microdontus n. sp., which is the sister group of P. auritus. It is distinguishable in external, skull and teeth characters from other European Plecotus species. It is known from the Alps between Liguria and Slovenia.SPITZENBERGER et al. (2001) su objavili da u Austriji postoji više od dvije genetički različite grupe dugouhih šišmiša. Genetička analiza jednog primjerka šišmiša ove skupine s dalmatinskog otoka Lastova (Hrvatska) koji je neposredno uz locus typicus vrste Plecotus kolombatovici, te dodatna morfološka analiza primjeraka s drugih dalmatinskih otoka, pokazali su suprotno prethodnom objašnjenju da grupa 2 u SPITZENBERGER et al. (2001) ne predstavlja vrstu P. kolombatovici, koja je odijeljena vrsta srodna s P. austriacus. Za navedenu grupu 2 iz tog rada smatramo da predstavlja za znanost novu vrstu, P. microdontus n. sp., koja pripada grupi P. auritus. Ona se od ostalih europskih vrsta roda Plecotus razlikuje u vanjskoj morfologiji, značajkama lubanje i zubiju. Poznata je iz Alpa u području između Ligurije i Slovenije

Preventing dentures and putting aside the fry bread: A systematic review of micro, mezzo, and macro conditions for dental health and obesity interventions for Native American youth

This systematic literature review was focused on childhood obesity and dental health interventions which have relevance to Native American communities. Childhood oral health and obesity have become significant problems across North America and among Nati

Further Insights into the Reaction Be14(CH2,X)10He

A previously published measurement of the reaction of a 59 MeV/nucleon 14Be beam on a deuterated polyethylene target was further analyzed to search for 12He as well as initial state effects in the population of the 10He ground state. No evidence for either was found. A lower limit of about 1 MeV was determined for a possible resonance in 12He. In addition, the three-body decay energy spectrum of 10He could not be described by a reaction mechanism calculation based on the halo structure of the initial 14Be assuming a direct α-particle removal reaction

ODORANT1 targets multiple metabolic networks in petunia flowers

Scent bouquets produced by the flowers of Petunia spp. (petunia) are composed of a complex mixture of floral volatile benzenoid and phenylpropanoid compounds (FVBPs), which are specialized metabolites derived from phenylalanine (Phe) through an interconnected network of enzymes. The biosynthesis and emission of high levels of these volatiles requires coordinated transcriptional activation of both primary and specialized metabolic networks. The petunia R2R3‐MYB transcription factor ODORANT 1 (ODO1) was identified as a master regulator of FVBP production and emission; however, our knowledge of the direct regulatory targets of ODO1 has remained limited. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP‐seq) in petunia flowers, we identify genome‐wide ODO1‐bound genes that are enriched not only in genes involved in the biosynthesis of the Phe precursor, as previously reported, but also genes associated with the specialized metabolic pathways involved in generating phenylpropanoid intermediates for FVBPs. ODO1‐bound genes are also involved in methionine and S‐adenosylmethionine metabolism, which could modulate methyl group supplies for certain FVBPs. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR) and RNA‐seq analysis in an ODO1 RNAi knockdown line revealed that ODO1‐bound targets are expressed at lower levels when ODO1 is suppressed. A cis‐regulatory motif, CACCAACCCC, was identified as a potential binding site for ODO1 in the promoters of genes that are both bound and activated by ODO1, which was validated by in planta promoter reporter assays with wild‐type and mutated promoters. Overall, our work presents a mechanistic model for ODO1 controlling an extensive gene regulatory network that contributes to FVBP production to give rise to floral scent

Structure and Decay Correlations of Two-Neutron Systems Beyond the Dripline

The two-neutron unbound systems of 16Be, 13Li, 10He, and 26O have been measured using the Modular Neutron Array (MoNA) and 4 Tm Sweeper magnet setup. The correlations of the 3-body decay for the 16Be and 13Li were extracted and demonstrated a strong correlated enhancement between the two neutrons. The measurement of the 10He ground state resonance from a 14Be(−2p2n) reaction provided insight into previous predictions that wavefunction of the entrance channel, projectile, can influence the observed decay energy spectrum for the unbound system. Lastly, the decay-in-target (DiT) technique was utilized to extract the lifetime of the 26O ground state. The measured lifetime of 4.5+1.1 −1.5 (stat.)±3(sys.) ps provides the first indication of two-neutron radioactivity

The Race Between Stars and Quasars in Reionizing Cosmic Hydrogen

The cosmological background of ionizing radiation has been dominated by quasars once the Universe aged by ~2 billion years. At earlier times (redshifts z>3), the observed abundance of bright quasars declined sharply, implying that cosmic hydrogen was reionized by stars instead. Here, we explain the physical origin of the transition between the dominance of stars and quasars as a generic feature of structure formation in the concordance LCDM cosmology. At early times, the fraction of baryons in galaxies grows faster than the maximum (Eddington-limited) growth rate possible for quasars. As a result, quasars were not able to catch up with the rapid early growth of stellar mass in their host galaxies.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, Accepted for publication in JCA