Toxische Wirkung von Schadstoffen auf Fischzellen. Bestimmung von DNA-Strangbrüchen mit dem Comet-Assay

The alkaline comet assay is a method of detecting DNA strand breaks and alkali labile sites in individual cells. The method was used to detect DNA strand breaks in isolated blood cells (leukocytes) of carp (Cyprius carpio). DNA damage have been induced by exposure of the cells to sediment extract. Therefore comet assay can be applied as in vitro bioassay for investigations on toxicity of marine sediments

THE ROLE OF PHONOLOGY AND SEMANTICS IN THE LEXICAL PROCESSING OF ASL CORE LEXICAL ITEMS AND CLASSIFIER CONSTRUCTIONS

This MA thesis explores lexical processing in American Sign Language (ASL). Although a model of lexical processing exists for spoken languages, the research on lexical processing, storage, and organization in signed languages is not very extensive and has been focused on the core lexicon. The present study, for the first time, investigates the role of classifier constructions in ASL lexical processing. Classifier constructions form an essential part of the sign language lexicon, but have previously not been the foci of psycholinguistic studies. The present study compares processing of classifier constructions, with that of core lexical items and nonce signs with the help of a phoneme monitoring task. This task was performed by two participant groups: Deaf signers and hearing non-signers. An interaction of phonology and semantics was observed. Classifier constructions are processed differently than core or nonce signs in signers. Differences in processing time for classifier constructions vs. core signs are interpreted as a reflection of the fact that the meaning of a classifier construction cannot be anticipated prior to completion of the sign movement. Additionally, signers\u27 responses to classifier constructions were slower than responses to nonce signs, suggesting that signers not only wait for the end of the movement, but then also have additional processing load of integrating classifier constructions with prior semantic context. Non-signers completed the task as rapidly as signers but did not display a difference in reaction times for the different sign types, which rules out the possibility that form differences such as sign complexity or sign duration were responsible for the differences observed in the Deaf signers\u27 performance

Time-Dependent Cauchy-Navier Splines and their Application to Seismic Wave Front Propagation

In this paper a known orthonormal system of time- and space-dependent functions, that were derived out of the Cauchy-Navier equation for elastodynamic phenomena, is used to construct reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces. After choosing one of the spaces the corresponding kernel is used to define a function system that serves as a basis for a spline space. We show that under certain conditions there exists a unique interpolating or approximating, respectively, spline in this space with respect to given samples of an unknown function. The name "spline" here refers to its property of minimising a norm among all interpolating functions. Moreover, a convergence theorem and an error estimate relative to the point grid density are derived. As numerical example we investigate the propagation of seismic waves

Developing a method of accounting for the material use of biomass/biochar and its positive side benefits within the company carbon footprint: A case study at Hochschule Geisenheim University

The federal state of Hesse announced the aim to achieve a „CO2-neutral administration“. In this context, the carbon footprint (CF) of the 16 universities in the federal area has been accounted. The CF by common units (kg CO2 per student or square meter) of the Hochschule Geisenheim University (HGU) is comparably high, due to the campus’ structure with (monument protected) building stock, a big share of greenhouses integrated into the campus and a comparably small number of students (Müller & Person, 2015, S. 27ff). Please click on the file below for full content of the abstract

Spinning nanorods - active optical manipulation of semiconductor nanorods using polarised light

In this Letter we show how a single beam optical trap offers the means for three-dimensional manipulation of semiconductor nanorods in solution. Furthermore rotation of the direction of the electric field provides control over the orientation of the nanorods, which is shown by polarisation analysis of two photon induced fluorescence. Statistics over tens of trapped agglomerates reveal a correlation between the measured degree of polarisation, the trap stiffness and the intensity of the emitted light, confirming that we are approaching the single particle limit.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Der Fischei-Test: Ein Toxizitätstest für ökotoxikologische Untersuchungen

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos have been used to quantify the teratogenic potential of environmental samples and harmful substances respectively. The short spawning interval renders this species a good test organism in toxicological research. Due to the transparency of the eggs several lethal and non-lethal endpoints can be detected in parallel after 48 h of embryonic development. Zebrafishembryos have been shown to be sensitive to a number of environmental relevant contaminants, as well as to ex-tracts from polluted sediment

An exciton-polariton laser based on biologically produced fluorescent protein

Under adequate conditions, cavity-polaritons form a macroscopic coherent quantum state, known as Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). Compared to Wannier-Mott excitons in inorganic semiconductors, the localized Frenkel excitons in organic emitter materials show weaker interaction but stronger coupling, which recently enabled the first realization of BEC at room temperature. However, this required ultrafast optical pumping which limits the applications of organic BECs. Here, we demonstrate room-temperature BEC of cavity-polaritons in simple laminated microcavities filled with the biologically produced enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP). The unique molecular structure of eGFP prevents exciton annihilation even at high excitation densities, thus facilitating BEC under conventional nanosecond pumping. BEC is clearly evidenced by a distinct threshold, an interaction-induced blueshift of the condensate, long-range coherence and the presence of a second threshold at higher excitation density which is associated with the onset of photon lasing and results from thermalization of the exciton reservoir.Comment: 13(+8) pages, 4(+7) figure

How Self-Esteem Affects Eye Fixation When Viewing Images of Strangers Compared to Images of Self

Self-esteem has been shown to play a role in overall health. A previous study explained that humans are self-motivated to protect and enhance self-esteem and when self-esteem is enhanced, psychological wellbeing shows improvements. With that, another study evaluated depression and facial fixation and found that those who had depression looked at the mouth region more so than the eye region. By keeping prior research in mind, we aimed to evaluate how self-esteem plays a role in how one views themselves compared to a stranger. Thus, we hypothesized that those who exhibit lower self-esteem will demonstrate fixations on the mouth more so than the eyes. We also expect that those who show lower self-esteem will have more specific fixation on their own face, compared to the faces of others. This study is a within-group experimental design with the independent variable being a photo of each participant placed into a mix of other faces pulled from the Chicago Face Database. This allowed us to compare the visual attention on strangers compared to their own face by drawing areas of interest on specific facial features such as the eyes, nose, and mouth. Our participants were Belmont students aged 18 years or older and excluded anyone who depend on glasses to see

Compagnons de voyage. Les médias et l’Unité allemande

La représentation ou, plus précisément : la vision que nous avons de l’Unité alle­mande est essentiellement l’œuvre des médias. Karl Brenke ne rappelle-t-il pas dans ce numéro le rôle fondamental joué par une petite phrase du chan­ce­lier Kohl dans la perception de l’état de l’économie est-allemande ? Eugen Spitznagel ne montre-t-il pas, lui aussi, en filigrane, le caractère vivace du rêve perdu des « paysages fleuris » quand on regarde le marché du travail dans les nouveaux Län­der ? Et Thomas Petersen ne nous retrace-t-il pas à quel point l’évolution de l’opinion alle­mande au fil des 20 ans écoulés est fonction de la relation que les médias font des événements ? Nous avons donc demandé à un acteur de l’information, un de ceux qui ont ac­compagné au jour le jour les événements qui se bousculaient depuis l’été 1989, puis le processus de l’unification jusqu’à aujourd’hui, de nous faire part de son té­moignage comme de son analyse. Uwe Kammann exerçait alors de hautes res­ponsabilités : il était rédacteur en chef du service médias (Kirche und Rundfunk,  rebaptisé ensuite epd medien) de l’agence d’informationde l’Eglise protes­tante d’Allemagne : epd (créée en 1948. En tant que fournisseur d’information aux autres médias, il était tenu au profond respect de la déontologie, à commencer par la rigueur dans l’exposé des faits ; mais il était aussi observateur et critique des contenus délivrés par les médias : en tant que tel, il lui revenait en parallèle d’examiner et de relater la manière dont les autres présentaient les faits. Revivons avec lui les étapes d’un processus à l’issue duquel l’Allemagne s’est forgé une nouvelle identité… (IB