Moosgesellschaften auf Baumfarnstämmen in Südostbrasilien

The floristic composition of epiphytic bryophytes on trunks of the tree ferns species Cyathea arborea and Dicksonia sellowiana was studied in SE-Brazil. A total of 142 bryophyte species were found, of which 20 were found in more than 10% of the vegetation analyses, 77 species occurred only one to three times. Five new bryophyte associations are described in two new classes: the Syrrhopodetum proliferi, Porotricho-Syrrhopodetum incompleti and Orthostichello-Syrrhopodetum parasitici within the Hymenodontetalia aeruginosae, which is almost confined to Caythea arborea. They prefer humid habitats in coastal rain forests and cloud forests. The Campylopodetum extincti and Campylopodetum occculti are united within the class Syrrhopodetalia gaudichaudii. They grow on Dicksonia sellowiana and occur within Araucaria forests. The predominant life form in both classes are wefts and mats. The characteristic life forms of the Hymenodontetalia are short turfs, dendroids, fans and tails, which are an expression of the humid habitat conditions, but short and tall turfs in the Syrrhopodetalia.Die floristische Untersuchung epiphytischer Moose auf Stämmen der Baumfarne Cyathea arborea und Dicksonia sellowiana belegt eine große Artenvielfalt von Laub- und Lebermoosen. Von insgesamt 142 Arten wurden 20 in mehr als 10 % der Aufnahmen nachgewiesen; 77 Arten kamen nur 1 bis 3 mal vor. Es wurden fünf neue Assoziationen in zwei neuen Ordnungen beschrieben: Die Assoziationen der Ordnung Hymenodontetalia aeruginosae (Syrrhopodetum proliferi, Porotricho-Syrrhopodetum incompleti und Orthostichello-Syrrhopodetum parasitici) kommen fast ausschließlich auf Cyathea arborea vor. Sie bevorzugen luftfeuchte Habitate in Küstenregenwäldern, Nebelwäldern und in Feuchtwäldern landeinwärts der Küstengebirge. Das Campylopodetum extincti und das Campylopodetum occulti aus der neuen Ordnung Syrrhopodetetalia gaudichaudii bevorzugen Dicksonia sellowiana als Phorophyt. Daher trifft man diese Assoziationen hauptsächlich auf dem Planalto der südlichen Staaten Brasiliens an, wo Araukarienwald vorherrschend ist. In beiden Ordnungen sind die beherrschenden Wuchsformen Filze und Decken (meist Lebermoose). Die charakteristischen Elemente der Hymenodetetalia aeruginosae waren die Kurzrasen und vom Substrat abstehende Lebensformen (Bäumchen, Wedel, Schweif). Für die Ordnung Syrrhopodetetalia gaudichaudii sind dagegen die Kurzrasen-Polster-Mischform und Hochrasen typisch, die sich v.a. aus Camyplopus- und Syrrhopodon-Arten zusammensetzen

Challenging Climate Strikers' Youthfulness: The Evolution of the Generational Gap in Environmental Attitudes Since 1999

In 2019, youth took to the street to express their fears and ambitions in relation to climate change. Alongside, many adult and senior citizens expressed their solidarity. While the media present environmental issues as being generationally dividing, we know little about potential differences between generations in terms of environmental attitudes. In this paper, we analyze data collected in the framework of street demonstrations in Switzerland and longitudinal data collected in the Swiss population. Our analyses of survey data on climate strike demonstrators in Switzerland show that while the early demonstrations attracted mostly youth, the age composition of climate strike demonstrators became more diverse over time increasingly including members of different generations. Furthermore, we explore how age differences evolved over the last 20 years using the Swiss Household Panel data. Our analyses show that the share of individuals who favor the environment over the economy is greater among younger generations and that the climate strike generation stands out with the largest share of pro-environmental attitudes. However, all generations have moved in parallel over the last twenty years following a non-linear but generally upward trend illustrating that the political context affects all generations. Overall, our analyses contribute to understanding incremental changes in public attitudes in the environmental area and the role played by generational renewal in these regards

Revision der Gattung Rhabdoweisia (Musci, Dicranaceae)

The species included in Rhabdoweisia were revised. Rhabdoweisia lineata Richards et Argent is regarded as synonymous with R. fugax (Hedw.) B.S.G. and R. collenchymatica (J.Fröhlich) Eddy with R. crispata (With). R. fugax is lectotypified.Die zur Gattung Rhabdoweisia gestellten Arten wurden revidiert. Rhabdoweisia lineata Richards et Argent ist ein Synonym von R. fugax (Hedw.) und R. collenchymatica (J. Fröhlich) Eddy ein Synonym von R. crispata (With). Für R. fugax wird ein Lektotypus gewählt

Acute effects of stochastic resonance whole body vibration.

AIM: To investigate the acute effects of stochastic resonance whole body vibration (SR-WBV) training to identify possible explanations for preventive effects against musculoskeletal disorders. METHODS: Twenty-three healthy, female students participated in this quasi-experimental pilot study. Acute physiological and psychological effects of SR-WBV training were examined using electromyography of descending trapezius (TD) muscle, heart rate variability (HRV), different skin parameters (temperature, redness and blood flow) and self-report questionnaires. All subjects conducted a sham SR-WBV training at a low intensity (2 Hz with noise level 0) and a verum SR-WBV training at a higher intensity (6 Hz with noise level 4). They were tested before, during and after the training. Conclusions were drawn on the basis of analysis of variance. RESULTS: Twenty-three healthy, female students participated in this study (age = 22.4 ± 2.1 years; body mass index = 21.6 ± 2.2 kg/m2). Muscular activity of the TD and energy expenditure rose during verum SR-WBV compared to baseline and sham SR-WBV (all P < 0.05). Muscular relaxation after verum SR-WBV was higher than at baseline and after sham SR-WBV (all P < 0.05). During verum SR-WBV the levels of HRV were similar to those observed during sham SR-WBV. The same applies for most of the skin characteristics, while microcirculation of the skin of the middle back was higher during verum compared to sham SR-WBV (P < 0.001). Skin redness showed significant changes over the three measurement points only in the middle back area (P = 0.022). There was a significant rise from baseline to verum SR-WBV (0.86 ± 0.25 perfusion units; P = 0.008). The self-reported chronic pain grade indicators of pain, stiffness, well-being, and muscle relaxation showed a mixed pattern across conditions. Muscle and joint stiffness (P = 0.018) and muscular relaxation did significantly change from baseline to different conditions of SR-WBV (P < 0.001). Moreover, muscle relaxation after verum SR-WBV was higher than after sham SR-WBV (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Verum SR-WBV stimulated musculoskeletal activity in young healthy individuals while cardiovascular activation was low. Training of musculoskeletal capacity and immediate increase in musculoskeletal relaxation are potential mediators of pain reduction in preventive trials. Key Words: Musculoskeletal system, Electromyography, Quasi-experimental study, Prevention, Relaxation Core tip: Musculoskeletal function improves after application of stochastic whole body vibration (SR-WBV). The pathway of the beneficial effect, however, is unclear. This study shows SR-WBV to increase muscle activity of descending trapezius muscle, the muscle that is often associated with reported pain in computer work. Participants report improved muscular relaxation after SR-WBV while the cardiovascular activation was very low. In addition to ergonomic interventions SR-WBV may help to prevent trapezius muscle related pain at work

PEMer: a computational framework with simulation-based error models for inferring genomic structural variants from massive paired-end sequencing data

Paired-End Mapper (PEMer) enables mapping of genomic structural variants at considerably enhanced sensitivity, specificity and resolution over previous approaches

Artificial escape from XCI by DNA methylation editing of the CDKL5 gene.

A significant number of X-linked genes escape from X chromosome inactivation and are associated with a distinct epigenetic signature. One epigenetic modification that strongly correlates with X-escape is reduced DNA methylation in promoter regions. Here, we created an artificial escape by editing DNA methylation on the promoter of CDKL5, a gene causative for an infantile epilepsy, from the silenced X-chromosomal allele in human neuronal-like cells. We identify that a fusion of the catalytic domain of TET1 to dCas9 targeted to the CDKL5 promoter using three guide RNAs causes significant reactivation of the inactive allele in combination with removal of methyl groups from CpG dinucleotides. Strikingly, we demonstrate that co-expression of TET1 and a VP64 transactivator have a synergistic effect on the reactivation of the inactive allele to levels &gt;60% of the active allele. We further used a multi-omics assessment to determine potential off-targets on the transcriptome and methylome. We find that synergistic delivery of dCas9 effectors is highly selective for the target site. Our findings further elucidate a causal role for reduced DNA methylation associated with escape from X chromosome inactivation. Understanding the epigenetics associated with escape from X chromosome inactivation has potential for those suffering from X-linked disorders

Is aggregated synthetic amorphous silica toxicologically relevant?

The regulatory definition(s) of nanomaterials (NMs) frequently uses the term 'agglomerates and aggregates' (AA) despite the paucity of evidence that AA are significantly relevant from a nanotoxicological perspective. This knowledge gap greatly affects the safety assessment and regulation of NMs, such as synthetic amorphous silica (SAS). SAS is used in a large panel of industrial applications. They are primarily produced as nano-sized particles (1-100 nm in diameter) and considered safe as they form large aggregates (> 100 nm) during the production process. So far, it is indeed believed that large aggregates represent a weaker hazard compared to their nano counterpart. Thus, we assessed the impact of SAS aggregation on in vitro cytotoxicity/biological activity to address the toxicological relevance of aggregates of different sizes

Mass media and the contagion of fear: The case of Ebola in America

Background: In the weeks following the first imported case of Ebola in the U. S. on September 29, 2014, coverage of the very limited outbreak dominated the news media, in a manner quite disproportionate to the actual threat to national public health; by the end of October, 2014, there were only four laboratory confirmed cases of Ebola in the entire nation. Public interest in these events was high, as reflected in the millions of Ebola-related Internet searches and tweets performed in the month following the first confirmed case. Use of trending Internet searches and tweets has been proposed in the past for real-time prediction of outbreaks (a field referred to as digital epidemiology ), but accounting for the biases of public panic has been problematic. In the case of the limited U. S. Ebola outbreak, we know that the Ebola-related searches and tweets originating the U. S. during the outbreak were due only to public interest or panic, providing an unprecedented means to determine how these dynamics affect such data, and how news media may be driving these trends. Methodology: We examine daily Ebola-related Internet search and Twitter data in the U. S. during the six week period ending Oct 31, 2014. TV news coverage data were obtained from the daily number of Ebola-related news videos appearing on two major news networks. We fit the parameters of a mathematical contagion model to the data to determine if the news coverage was a significant factor in the temporal patterns in Ebola-related Internet and Twitter data. Conclusions: We find significant evidence of contagion, with each Ebola-related news video inspiring tens of thousands of Ebola-related tweets and Internet searches. Between 65% to 76% of the variance in all samples is described by the news media contagion model. © 2015 Towers et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited