Böden in der Dauerbeobachtung: Räumliche und zeitliche Veränderung von organischem Kohlenstoff und Gesamtstickstoff im Oberboden auf fünf unterschiedlich genutzten Ackerstandorten im Biosphärenreservat Schorfheide-Chorin

Die Biosphärenreservate sind durch die Vorgaben des MAB-Programms dazu angehalten eine ökosystemar ausgerichtete Umweltbeobachtung zu installieren. Im Rahmen der „Ökosystemaren Umweltbeobachtungen in den Biosphärenreservaten Brandenburgs“(ÖUB) werden seit 1999 regelmäßig fünf Ackerstandorte im Biophärenreservat Schorfheide-Chorin (BR SC) untersucht. Der Boden stellt dabei, neben der Flora und Fauna, einen wichtigen Untersuchungskomplex dar. Ziel der Beobachtung ist es Veränderungen der Bodenfunktionen (Veränderungen der Humusgehalte, Trophie) auf unterschiedlichen Standorttypen und unter differierender Bewirtschaftung (konventionell und Ökolandbau) aufzuzeigen. Aus diesem Grund sind jeweils zwei „Standortpaare“ mit ähnlicher Bodenformenausstattung (Pararendzina-Parabraunerden-Kolluvisol auf D5b2-07-Standort bzw. Parabraunerde-Kolluvisol auf D5a1-09-Standort), aber unterschiedlicher Bewirtschaftungsform ausgewählt worden. Alle diese Dauerbeobachtungsflächen weisen ein mittel bis stark welliges Relief mit eingestreuten Söllen auf. Der fünfte Standort ist ein Acker mit durchgängig sandigem Substrat (D1a1-01-Standort), der zu DDR-Zeiten als Güllehochlastfläche diente. Um die in sich sehr heterogenen Standorte hinsichtlich ihrer strukturellen und chemischen Bodenentwicklung charakterisieren zu können, wurden jeweils Hangcatenen zur Beprobung angelegt und in einem 3 bzw. 6-jährigen Turnus untersucht. Im Beitrag werden Ergebnisse der 18-jährigen Untersuchungsreihen der fünf Hangcatenen präsentiert. Der Fokus wird auf die Beschreibung und Interpretation von zeitlichen Veränderungen des organischen Kohlenstoffs und des Gesamtstickstoffs entlang der Hangcatenen gelegt einschließlich der räumlichen Differenzierungen. Die aufgezeigten Entwicklungen werden den erhobenen Daten zur Nutzung und Witterungsdaten gegenübergestellt und analysiert, welchen Einfluss die verschiedenen Bewirtschaftungsformen bzw. die Witterung auf beide Parameter ausüben. Außerdem wird analysiert, ob sich innerhalb des Untersuchungszeitraumes Unterschiede im räumlichen Muster entlang der Catena ergeben haben

Tree-ring analysis elucidating palaeo-environmental effects captured in an in situ fossil forest – The last 80 years within an early Permian ecosystem

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. The early Permian Chemnitz Fossil L agerstätte (Leukersdorf Formation, Chemnitz Basin, SE Germany) represents a diverse T 0 assemblage of a fossil forest ecosystem around the Sakmarian-Artinskian transition (290.6 ± 1.8 Ma), which was preserved by pyroclastic deposits of a multi-phased volcanic eruption. The multi-aged plant community consists of predominantly hygrophilous elements, which grew on an alluvial plain mineral substrate under sub-humid conditions, representing a wet spot environment. Strong seasonality triggered the formation of annual tree rings in arborescent woody plants, such as pycnoxylic gymnosperms, medullosan seed ferns and calamitaleans. From several hundred fossil trees, the 53 best-preserved specimens were selected and investigated in detail by measuring 2,081 tree rings in individual sequences of up to 77 rings. Ring sequences were analysed by standard dendrochronological methods to determine both annual growth rates and mean sensitivity. Morphological and statistical analyses on single tree rings reveal different tree-ring types according to the different plant groups. Pycnoxylic gymnosperms have distinct and regular tree rings, whereas medullosan seed ferns and calamitaleans show indistinct and regular tree rings as well as so called event rings. Results reveal differences between plant groups regarding their physiological reactions or adaptations to seasonal fluctuations. In comparison to pycnoxylic gymnosperms, both medullosan seed ferns and calamitaleans exhibit reduced growth rates and more sensitive reaction to environmental perturbances as water deficiency pointing to comparably lower adaptation to seasonally dry palaeoclimate. In this context, event rings are in many cases traced back to plant physiological stress during particularly severe drought periods. Altogether, these fossil trees serve as sensitive environmental archives, which shed light on growth conditions several decades back in time from the entombing eruption

Palaeoclimatic and site-specific conditions in the early Permian fossil forest of Chemnitz-Sedimentological, geochemical and palaeobotanical evidence

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. As significant indicators of deep-time palaeoclimate, a number of new palaeontological, pedological and geochemical characteristics are provided for the Chemnitz Fossil Lagerstätte to depict more precisely its environmental conditions. For the first time, several lines of evidence indicate that this fossil forest, instantaneously preserved by volcanic deposits, once received an annual precipitation of around 800-1100 mm, but grew on a nearly unweathered palaeosol. Although the composition of this rich and diverse T0 assemblage suggests a hygrophilous, dense and multi-aged vegetation dominated by conservative lineages, the habitat was affected by environmental disturbances and pronounced seasonality. Repeated changes in local moisture availability are suggested by geochemical proxies, the co-occurrence to intergrowth of calcic and ferric glaebules in the palaeosol and developmental traits of perennial vegetational elements. Specific substrate adaptation is reflected by different root systems and cyclic growth interruptions recorded in the stems, branches and roots of long-lived woody plants. Many differentially adapted terrestrial animals complete the more comprehensive reconstruction of a late Sakmarian ecosystem and its climatic and preservational controls. Albeit spatially confined, this diverse in-situ record may contribute to understand wetland-dryland dynamics of sub-tropical Northern Hemisphere Pangaea

UV and X-Ray Monitoring of AG Draconis During the 1994/1995 Outbursts

The recent 1994-1995 active phase of AG Draconis has given us for the first time the opportunity to follow the full X-ray behaviour of a symbiotic star during two successive outbursts and to compare with its quiescence X-ray emission. With \ros observations we have discovered a remarkable decrease of the X-ray flux during both optical maxima, followed by a gradual recovering to the pre-outburst flux. In the UV the events were characterized by a large increase of the emission line and continuum fluxes, comparable to the behaviour of AG Dra during the 1980-81 active phase. The anticorrelation of X-ray/UV flux and optical brightness evolution is shown to very likely be due to a temperature decrease of the hot component. Such a temperature decrease could be produced by an increased mass transfer to the burning compact object, causing it to slowly expand to about twice its original size.Comment: 12 pages postscript incl. figures, Proc. of Workshop on Supersoft X-Ray Sources, to appear in Lecture Notes in Physics vol. 472 (1996

When who and how matter: explaining the success of referendums in Europe

This article aims to identify the institutional factors that make a referendum successful. This comparative analysis seeks to explain the success of top-down referendums organized in Europe between 2001 and 2013. It argues and tests for the main effect of three institutional factors (popularity of the initiator, size of parliamentary majority, and political cues during referendum campaigns) and controls for the type of referendum and voter turnout. The analysis uses data collected from referendums and electoral databases, public opinion surveys, and newspaper articles. Results show that referendums proposed by a large parliamentary majority or with clear messages from political parties during campaign are likely to be successful

Comparison of digital and conventional impression techniques: evaluation of patients’ perception, treatment comfort, effectiveness and clinical outcomes

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare two impression techniques from the perspective of patient preferences and treatment comfort.Methods: Twenty-four (12 male, 12 female) subjects who had no previous experience with either conventional or digital impression participated in this study. Conventional impressions of maxillary and mandibular dental arches were taken with a polyether impression material (Impregum, 3 M ESPE), and bite registrations were made with polysiloxane bite registration material (Futar D, Kettenbach). Two weeks later, digital impressions and bite scans were performed using an intra-oral scanner (CEREC Omnicam, Sirona). Immediately after the impressions were made, the subjects' attitudes, preferences and perceptions towards impression techniques were evaluated using a standardized questionnaire. The perceived source of stress was evaluated using the State-Trait Anxiety Scale. Processing steps of the impression techniques (tray selection, working time etc.) were recorded in seconds. Statistical analyses were performed with the Wilcoxon Rank test, and p < 0.05 was considered significant.Results: There were significant differences among the groups (p < 0.05) in terms of total working time and processing steps. Patients stated that digital impressions were more comfortable than conventional techniques.Conclusions: Digital impressions resulted in a more time-efficient technique than conventional impressions. Patients preferred the digital impression technique rather than conventional techniques

Survival Rate, Fracture Strength and Failure Mode of Ceramic Implant Abutments After Chewing Simulation

The aim of this study was to compare titanium-reinforced ZrO2 and pure Al2O3 abutments regarding their outcome after chewing simulation and static loading. Forty-eight standard diameter implants with an external hexagon were divided into three groups of 16 implants each and restored with three different types of abutments (group A: ZrO2 abutments with titanium inserts; group B: densely sintered high-purity Al2O3 abutments; group C: titanium abutments). All abutments were fixated on the implants with gold-alloy screws at 32 Ncm torque, and metal crowns were adhesively cemented onto the abutments. The specimens were exposed to 1.2 million cycles in a chewing simulator. Surviving specimens were subsequently loaded until fracture in a static testing device. Fracture loads (N) and fracture modes were recorded. A Wilcoxon Rank test to compare fracture loads among the 3 groups and a Fisher exact test to detect group differences in fracture modes were used for statistical evaluation (

A new portable vibrator for plaster pouring: effect on the marginal fit at cylinder-abutment

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to test a new portable vibrator for plaster pouring (developed for this purpose), comparing the effect of its use on the accuracy of working cast of implant-supported restorations to the conventional vibrator. MATERIAL AND METHODS: From a master cast with 2 implants, 30 transfer moldings were made randomly and divided into three groups: Group I (GI): pouring performed in an outsourced dental laboratory with conventional plaster vibrator (10 casts), Group II (GII): pouring performed in the laboratory of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) with conventional plaster vibrator (10 casts) and Group III (GIII): pouring performed with the portable vibrator fabricated for this study (10 casts). The position of the analogue and marginal adaptation of the infrastructure were verified by testing the single screw on the master model and on the working model. The measurement of misfit was blindly performed with a precision microscope and analyzing unit, Quadra-Check 200. The data were statistically analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Holm-Sidak test (α=0.05). RESULTS: Means±standard deviations were as follows: GI: 19.19±4.73 µm; GII: 21.72±5.41 µm; GIII: 13.5±2.39 µm (P<0.05), with GIII significantly lower as compared to the other groups. CONCLUSION: Within the limitations of this study, it was concluded that a greater accuracy of working cast was achieved when a portable vibrator was used for casting molds

Mechanical Properties of Dual-Cured Resin Luting Agents for Ceramic Restoration

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the mechanical properties including surface hardness, flexural strength, and flexural modulus of two dual-cured resin luting agents (New Resin Cement [NRC] and Variolink II [VLII]) irradiated through four different thickness of leucite ceramics (0, 1, 2, and 3 mm) and their shear bond strength to zirconia ceramic (Cercon) using each ceramic primer. Materials and Methods: Knoop hardness was measured on a thin layer of resin luting agent on the ceramic surface. Three-point bending tests were performed after 24 h storage at 37°C. Two different-shaped zirconia ceramic specimens with or without sandblasting with alumina were treated with each primer. The specimens were then cemented together with each resin luting agent. Half of the specimens were stored in water at 37°C for 24 h and the other half were thermocycled 5,000 times. Results: VLII revealed statistically higher Knoop hardness and flexural modulus than NRC for each thickness of ceramic. No significant differences in flexural strength were observed between VLII and NRC for each ceramic spacer. Reduction of the mechanical properties with increase of ceramic thickness varied for each property. However, these properties were similar between the two materials. Blasting with alumina was significantly effective for increasing shear bond strength of both resin luting agents before and after thermal cycling. The use of New Ceramic Primer showed the highest shear bond strength and maintained bond durability after 5,000 thermocycles. Conclusion: Mechanical properties of NRC dual-cured resin luting agent appear adequate for ceramic restorations.This is an electronic version of an Article published in Journal of Prosthodontics 16(5): 370-376, 2007