Cover crops in Black currant

With the objective to identify the effect of soil cultivation and nitrogen supply in organic production of black currant a field trial was planted autumn 1996 under Unsprayed conditions. The bush rows were cleaned mechanically for weed, and cover crops were established in the alleyways. During establishment all four cover crops gave a sufficient nitrogen supply. The level of nitrogen in soil and the growth were smallest in the annual sown cover crop. Minirhitzotrons were used to follow black currant root growth in total mechanical cleaned plots and plots with sown alleyways. The maximum root dept of black currants of 125 cm were obtained direct under the bush in autumn 1998, whereas the roots only were present down to 40 cm 1.5 meters from the centre of the row. The variety 'Titania' had a deeper root pattern than 'Ben Lomond'. There were no significant yield differences among the soil treatments. There was a tendency to a higher yield for 'Titania' in 2000 in the annual sown cover crop, probably due to the deeper root pattern of 'Titania' and thereby less susceptibility to mechanical root damage. 'Titania' had the highest yield in the two cropping years 1999 and 2000, whereas 'Ben Lomond' had a very low yield due to severe infections of American gooseberry mildew (Sphaerotheca Illors-uvae), which caused very little shoot growth. ' Farleigh ' was susceptible to white pine blister rust (Cronartiunl ribicola) and infections of leaf spot (Gloeosporidie//a ribis) occurred every year. 'Titania' and 'Intercontinental' had the best field resistance to diseases

Dividend Yield and Stability versus Performance at the German Stock Market

It is often examined in the literature whether the dividend yields of stocks correlate with their total returns. This paper analyzes the effect of dividend yield on return as well as on risk and on performance of stocks and stock portfolios. Not only the influence of dividend yield but also of dividend stability is subject of our analysis. Furthermore, tax aspects are considered. Our data set comprises daily adjusted stock prices and dividend payment data from the German capital market over the period 2000 to 2006. We use stocks from the HDAX, which include blue chips (DAX), stocks of medium-sized companies (MDAX), and stocks of technology firms (TecDAX). Our findings suggest that the performance generally improves with an increasing dividend yield. However, this result is rather based on risk reduction than on a higher return where risk reduction diminishes by increasing the degree of diversification.dividend yield, dividend stability, diversification, performance

EURONATUR-Preis für Dr. Ernst Paul Dörfler

Am 5. Oktober 2010 verlieh die Stiftung EURONATUR auf der Insel Mainau bei Radolfzell am Bodensee den EURONATUR-Preis an Ernst Paul Dörfler. EURONATUR ehrt damit Persönlichkeiten, die europaweit besondere Verdienste um den Schutz der Natur erworben haben. Ernst Paul Dörfler wurde 1950 in Kemberg nahe dem Fluss Elbe geboren, der zu dieser Zeit ein Teil der DDR und gleichzeitig Grenze zwischen Ost und West während der 40-jährigen Teilung des Landes war. Vieles, was in der DDR die Umwelt belastete, was Natur zerstörte und Menschen verunsicherte, forderte Ernst Paul Dörfler heraus und ließ ihn bis zur politischen Wende persönlich oder in der Gesellschaft für Natur und Umwelt aktiv sein. Die friedliche Revolution und die Zeit des politischen Umbruchs waren gefüllt mit Runden Tischen und politischer Arbeit. Endlich wurden seine Anliegen gehört. Umweltschutz wurde ein Thema

Mandated Health Insurance Benefits and the Utilization and Outcomes of Infertility Treatments

During the last two decades, the treatment of infertility has improved dramatically. These treatments, however, are expensive and rarely covered by insurance, leading many states to adopt regulations mandating that health insurers cover them. In this paper, we explore the effects of benefit mandates on the utilization and outcomes of infertility treatments. We find that use of infertility treatments is significantly greater in states adopting comprehensive versions of these mandates. While greater utilization had little impact on the number of deliveries, mandated coverage was associated with a relatively large increase in the probability of a multiple birth. For relatively low fertility patients who responded to the expanded insurance coverage, treatment was often unsuccessful and did not result in a live birth. For relatively high fertility patients, in contrast, treatment often led to a multiple, rather than a singleton, birth. We also find evidence that the beneficial effects on the intensive treatment margin that have been proposed in other studies are relatively small. We conclude that, while benefit mandates potentially solve a problem of adverse selection in this market, these benefits must be weighed against the costs of the significant moral hazard in utilization they induce.

Norms and the meaning of omissive enabling conditions

People often reason about omissions. One line of research shows that people can distinguish between the semantics of omissive causes and omissive enabling conditions: for instance, not flunking out of college enabled you (but didn’t cause you) to graduate. Another line of work shows that people rely on the normative status of omissive events in inferring their causal role: if the outcome came about because the omission violated some norm, reasoners are more likely to select that omission as a cause. We designed a novel paradigm that tests how norms interact with the semantics of omissive enabling conditions. The paradigm concerns the circuitry of a mechanical device that plays music. Two experiments used the paradigm to stipulate norms and present a distinct set of possibilities to participants. Participants chose which causal verb best described the operations of the machine. The studies revealed that participants’ responses are best predicted by their tendency to consider the semantics of omissive relations. In contrast, norms had little to no effect in participants’ responses. We conclude by marshaling the evidence and considering what role norms may play in people’s understanding of omissions

What is Known about the Dual Diagnosis of ASD and Down Syndrome?

The poster will provide an overview of what is known about the dual diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder and Down Syndrome. Two common ways DS-ASD present will be separated into two groups. Identifiable brain differences that distinguish children with DS-ASD from those diagnosed with DS alone will be stated. The importance, obstacles, how to keep individuals with DS-ASD from falling through the cracks will be discussed.https://griffinshare.fontbonne.edu/slp-posters/1015/thumbnail.jp

Mapping the interaction of VWF and factor XIIa and its potential as a new anticoagulant target

Von Willebrand Factor and Factor XII have well established roles in haemostasis and coagulation. While VWF is a mediator of platelet capture to sites of vascular injury under high shear stress, FXII initiates the intrinsic pathway of coagulation. Interestingly, multiple studies have shown that absence or inhibition of FXII does not impair haemostatic function but has a thrombo-protective effect, rendering it a potentially safe anticoagulant target. In this study, I investigated a novel binding interaction between VWF and FXII. Using substrate based activation assays, I showed that VWF is a potent and previously unrecognised activator of FXII. Additionally, I demonstrated that both inactive FXII and activated FXII bind to VWF but not to VWF lacking the A1 domain suggesting that the FXII binding site lies within the A1 domain. By carrying out further binding studies using static binding assays and surface plasmon resonance with isolated and full-length VWF A1 domain mutants, I identified amino acids E1452 and D1459 on the α-6 helix of the A1 domain as the FXII binding site in VWF. The physiological relevance of the VWF/FXII interaction was examined using plate-based thrombolysis as well as perfusion assays investigating the formation of platelet rich blood clots under conditions of flow. Using adapted thrombolysis assays, I showed that clot lysis times were significantly reduced when either VWF, FXIIa or activity of both proteins was blocked. Furthermore, I demonstrated that the interaction between VWF and FXIIa facilitates VWF mediated platelet capture under conditions of high shear and that interference with FXII/VWF binding has a prohibitive effect on overall thrombus formation. Based on these results, I hypothesise binding of VWF to FXII is an important component of thrombus formation and inhibition of this interaction might be a novel and safe way to prevent thrombosis without increasing the risk of bleeding side effects.Open Acces