Negative storm surges in the Elbe estuary — Large-scale meteoro-logical conditions and future climate change

This article belongs to the Special Issue "Impacts of Climate Change on Transportation Infrastructure, Networks and Nodes"; https://www.mdpi.com/journal/atmosphere/special_issues/climate_transportatio

Report on the evaluation of the RBRargo|2000 OEM sensor from at sea data analysis

Report of evaluation of the RBRargo|2000 OEM sensor based on at sea experiments on Baltic Sea and North Atlantic, and other national experiment

Analysis of two large functionally uncharacterized regions in the Methanopyrus kandleri AV19 genome

Background: For most sequenced prokaryotic genomes, about a third of the protein coding genes annotated are "orphan proteins", that is, they lack homology to known proteins. These hypothetical genes are typically short and randomly scattered throughout the genome. This trend is seen for most of the bacterial and archaeal genomes published to date.Results: In contrast we have found that a large fraction of the genes coding for such orphan proteins in the Methanopyrus kandleri AV19 genome occur within two large regions. These genes have no known homologs except from other M. kandleri genes. However, analysis of their lengths, codon usage, and Ribosomal Binding Site (RBS) sequences shows that they are most likely true protein coding genes and not random open reading frames.Conclusions: Although these regions can be considered as candidates for massive lateral gene transfer, our bioinformatics analysis suggests that this is not the case. We predict many of the organism specific proteins to be transmembrane and belong to protein families that are non-randomly distributed between the regions. Consistent with this, we suggest that the two regions are most likely unrelated, and that they may be integrated plasmids

Outcome of Communication Training in Veterinary Studies: Influence on the Perception of the Relevance of Veterinary Competencies and Self-Assessment of Communication Skills

Since communication skills contribute significantly to professional success among veterinarians, there is a particular focus on developing communication classes in veterinary curricula. At Freie Universität Berlin, an e-learning course covering the basics of communication and a practical communication course based on role plays with and without simulation persons have been established. The outcome of these communication courses on the assessment of the relevance of several veterinary competencies and on the self-assessment of communication skills using the SE-12 questionnaire was investigated. For this purpose, students were surveyed before and after the e-learning course as well as before and after the practical course. Veterinarians were also surveyed on the relevance of veterinary competencies. The relevance of communicative competencies for professional success was rated significantly higher by the students after completing the practical course than by the other students and the veterinarians. Self-assessment of communication skills showed little increase after the e-learning course, but a significant increase after the practical course. Thus, an effective outcome of the communication classes was observed mainly after the practical course. However, the effect of the e-learning course cannot be ruled out since the students participating in the practical course have also completed the e-learning course beforehand

The role of the gut microbiome in the association between habitual anthocyanin intake and visceral abdominal fat in population-level analysis

BACKGROUND: Flavonoid intake modifies the composition of the gut microbiome, which contributes to the metabolism of flavonoids. Few studies have examined the contribution of the gut microbiome to the health benefits associated with flavonoid intake. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to examine associations between habitual intakes of flavonoid subclasses and MRI-determined visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous (SAT) adipose tissue. Uniquely, we also identified associations between the aforementioned measurements and gut microbiome composition sequenced from 16S ribosomal RNA genes. METHODS: We undertook cross-sectional analyses of 618 men and women (n = 368 male), aged 25-83 y, from the PopGen cohort. RESULTS: Higher intake of anthocyanins was associated with lower amounts of VAT [tertile (T)3-T1: -0.49 dm3; β: -8.9%; 95% CI: -16.2%, -1.1%; P = 0.03] and VAT:SAT ratio (T3-T1: -0.04; β: -7.1%; 95% CI: -13.5%, -0.3%; P = 0.03). Higher intakes of anthocyanin-rich foods were also inversely associated with VAT [quantile (Q)4-Q1: -0.39 dm3; β: -9.9%; 95% CI: -17.4%, -1.6%; P = 0.02] and VAT:SAT ratio (Q4-Q1: -0.04; β: -6.5%; 95% CI: -13.3%, -0.9%; P = 0.03). Participants with the highest intakes of anthocyanin-rich foods also had higher microbial diversity (Q4-Q1: β: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.06, 0.31; P < 0.01), higher abundances of Clostridiales (Q4-Q1: β: 449; 95% CI: 96.3, 801; P = 0.04) and Ruminococcaceae (Q4-Q1: β: 313; 95% CI: 33.6, 591; P = 0.04), and lower abundance of Clostridium XIVa (Q4-Q1: β: -41.1; 95% CI: -72.4, -9.8; P = 0.04). Participants with the highest microbial diversity, abundances of Clostridiales and Ruminococcaceae, and lower abundance of Clostridium XIVa had lower amounts of VAT. Up to 18.5% of the association between intake of anthocyanin-rich foods and VAT could be explained by the gut microbiome. CONCLUSIONS: These novel data suggest that higher microbial diversity and abundance of specific taxa in the Clostridiales order may contribute to the association between higher intake of anthocyanins and lower abdominal adipose tissue

Clarifying the Dominant Sources and Mechanisms of Cirrus Cloud Formation

Formation of cirrus clouds depends on the availability of ice nuclei to begin condensation of atmospheric water vapor. Although it is known that only a small fraction of atmospheric aerosols are efficient ice nuclei, the critical ingredients that make those aerosols so effective have not been established. We have determined in situ the composition of the residual particles within cirrus crystals after the ice was sublimated. Our results demonstrate that mineral dust and metallic particles are the dominant source of residual particles, whereas sulfate and organic particles are underrepresented, and elemental carbon and biological materials are essentially absent. Further, composition analysis combined with relative humidity measurements suggests that heterogeneous freezing was the dominant formation mechanism of these clouds.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF AGS-0840732)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF grant AGS-1036275)United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA Earth and Space Science Graduate Fellowship)United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA Radiation Sciences Program award number NNX07AL11G)United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA Radiation Sciences Program award number NNX08AH57G)United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA Earth Science Division Atmospheric Composition program award number NNH11AQ58UI

Progress achieved in restricting the marketing of high-fat, sugary and salty food and beverage products to children

In May 2010, 192 Member States endorsed Resolution WHA63.14 to restrict the marketing of food and non-alcoholic beverage products high in saturated fats, trans fatty acids, free sugars and/or salt to children and adolescents globally. We examined the actions taken between 2010 and early 2016 – by civil society groups, the World Health Organization (WHO) and its regional offices, other United Nations (UN) organizations, philanthropic institutions and transnational industries – to help decrease the prevalence of obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases among young people. By providing relevant technical and policy guidance and tools to Member States, WHO and other UN organizations have helped protect young people from the marketing of branded food and beverage products that are high in fat, sugar and/or salt. The progress achieved by the other actors we investigated appears variable and generally less robust. We suggest that the progress being made towards the full implementation of Resolution WHA63.14 would be accelerated by further restrictions on the marketing of unhealthy food and beverage products and by investing in the promotion of nutrient-dense products. This should help young people meet government-recommended dietary targets. Any effective strategies and actions should align with the goal of WHO to reduce premature mortality from noncommunicable diseases by 25% by 2025 and the aim of the UN to ensure healthy lives for all by 2030

Precision Nutrition in Chronic Inflammation

The molecular foundation of chronic in fl ammatory diseases (CIDs) can differ markedly between individuals. As our understanding of the biochemical mechanisms underlying individual disease manifestations and progressions expands, new strategies to adjust treatments to the patient ’ s characteristics will continue to profoundly transform clinical practice. Nutrition has long been recognized as an important determinant of in fl ammatory disease phenotypes and treatment response. Yet empirical work demonstrating the therapeutic effectiveness of patient-tailored nutrition remains scarce. This is mainly due to the challenges presented by long-term effects of nutrition, variations in inter-individual gastrointestinal microbiota, the multiplicity of human metabolic pathways potentially affected by food ingredients, nutrition behavior, and the complexity of food composition. Historically, these challenges have been addressed in both human studies and experimental model laboratory studies primarily by using individual nutrition data collection in tandem with large- scale biomolecular data acquisition (e.g. genomics, metabolomics, etc.). This review highlights recent fi ndings in the fi eld of precision nutrition and their potential implications for the development of personalized treatment strategies for CIDs. It emphasizes the importance of computational approaches to integrate nutritional information into multi- omics data analysis and to predict which molecular mechanisms may explain how nutrients intersect with disease pathways. We conclude that recent fi ndings point towards the unexhausted potential of nutrition as part of personalized medicine in chronic in fl ammation

CORUM: the comprehensive resource of mammalian protein complexes—2009

CORUM is a database that provides a manually curated repository of experimentally characterized protein complexes from mammalian organisms, mainly human (64%), mouse (16%) and rat (12%). Protein complexes are key molecular entities that integrate multiple gene products to perform cellular functions. The new CORUM 2.0 release encompasses 2837 protein complexes offering the largest and most comprehensive publicly available dataset of mammalian protein complexes. The CORUM dataset is built from 3198 different genes, representing ∼16% of the protein coding genes in humans. Each protein complex is described by a protein complex name, subunit composition, function as well as the literature reference that characterizes the respective protein complex. Recent developments include mapping of functional annotation to Gene Ontology terms as well as cross-references to Entrez Gene identifiers. In addition, a ‘Phylogenetic Conservation’ analysis tool was implemented that analyses the potential occurrence of orthologous protein complex subunits in mammals and other selected groups of organisms. This allows one to predict the occurrence of protein complexes in different phylogenetic groups. CORUM is freely accessible at (http://mips.helmholtz-muenchen.de/genre/proj/corum/index.html)