Electronic properties of LaOFFeAs in the normal state probed by NMR/NQR

We report 139La, 57Fe and 75As nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) measurements on powders of the new LaO1-xFxFeAs superconductor for x = 0 and x = 0.1 at temperatures up to 480 K, and compare our measured NQR spectra with local density approximation (LDA) calculations. For all three nuclei in the x = 0.1 material, it is found that the local Knight shift increases monotonically with an increase in temperature, and scales with the macroscopic susceptibility, suggesting a single magnetic degree of freedom. Surprisingly, the spin lattice relaxation rates for all nuclei also scale with one another, despite the fact that the form factors for each site sample different regions of q-space. This result suggests a lack of any q-space structure in the dynamical spin susceptibility that might be expected in the presence of antiferromagnetic correlations. Rather, our results are more compatible with simple quasi-particle scattering. Furthermore, we find that the increase in the electric field gradient at the As cannot be accounted for by LDA calculations, suggesting that structural changes, in particular the position of the As in the unit cell, dominate the NQR response.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figure

Molecular and functional heterogeneity of IL-10-producing CD4 + T cells

IL-10 is a prototypical anti-inflammatory cytokine, which is fundamental to the maintenance of immune homeostasis, especially in the intestine. There is an assumption that cells producing IL-10 have an immunoregulatory function. However, here we report that IL-10-producing CD4 + T cells are phenotypically and functionally heterogeneous. By combining single cell transcriptome and functional analyses, we identified a subpopulation of IL-10-producing Foxp3 neg CD4 + T cells that displays regulatory activity unlike other IL-10-producing CD4 + T cells, which are unexpectedly pro-inflammatory. The combinatorial expression of co-inhibitory receptors is sufficient to discriminate IL-10-producing CD4 + T cells with regulatory function from others and to identify them across different tissues and disease models in mice and humans. These regulatory IL-10-producing Foxp3 neg CD4 + T cells have a unique transcriptional program, which goes beyond the regulation of IL-10 expression. Finally, we found that patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease demonstrate a deficiency in this specific regulatory T-cell subpopulation

Comprehensive analysis of chemical and biological problems associated with browning agents used in aquatic studies

Inland waters receive and process large amounts of colored organic matter from the terrestrial surroundings. These inputs dramatically affect the chemical, physical, and biological properties of water bodies, as well as their roles as global carbon sinks and sources. However, manipulative studies, especially at ecosystem scale, require large amounts of dissolved organic matter with optical and chemical properties resembling indigenous organic matter. Here, we compared the impacts of two leonardite products (HuminFeed and SuperHume) and a freshly derived reverse osmosis concentrate of organic matter in a set of comprehensive mesocosm- and laboratory-scale experiments and analyses. The chemical properties of the reverse osmosis concentrate and the leonardite products were very different, with leonardite products being low and the reverse osmosis concentrate being high in carboxylic functional groups. Light had a strong impact on the properties of leonardite products, including loss of color and increased particle formation. HuminFeed presented a substantial impact on microbial communities under light conditions, where bacterial production was stimulated and community composition modified, while in dark potential inhibition of bacterial processes was detected. While none of the browning agents inhibited the growth of the tested phytoplankton Gonyostomum semen, HuminFeed had detrimental effects on zooplankton abundance and Daphnia reproduction. We conclude that the effects of browning agents extracted from leonardite, particularly HuminFeed, are in sharp contrast to those originating from terrestrially derived dissolved organic matter. Hence, they should be used with great caution in experimental studies on the consequences of terrestrial carbon for aquatic systems

Economic burden associated with alcohol dependence in a German primary care sample : a bottom-up study

BACKGROUND: A considerable economic burden has been repeatedly associated with alcohol dependence (AD) - mostly calculated using aggregate data and alcohol-attributable fractions (top-down approach). However, this approach is limited by a number of assumptions, which are hard to test. Thus, cost estimates should ideally be validated with studies using individual data to estimate the same costs (bottom-up approach). However, bottom-up studies on the economic burden associated with AD are lacking. Our study aimed to fill this gap using the bottom-up approach to examine costs for AD, and also stratified the results by the following subgroups: sex, age, diagnostic approach and severity of AD, as relevant variations could be expected by these factors. METHODS: SAMPLE: 1356 primary health care patients, representative for two German regions. AD was diagnosed by a standardized instrument and treating physicians. Individual costs were calculated by combining resource use and productivity data representing a period of six months prior to the time of interview, with unit costs derived from the literature or official statistics. The economic burden associated with AD was determined via excess costs by comparing utilization of various health care resources and impaired productivity between people with and without AD, controlling for relevant confounders. Additional analyses for several AD characteristics were performed. RESULTS: Mean costs among alcohol dependent patients were 50 % higher compared to the remaining patients, resulting in 1836 € excess costs per alcohol dependent patient in 6 months. More than half of these excess costs incurred through increased productivity loss among alcohol dependent patients. Treatment for alcohol problems represents only 6 % of these costs. The economic burden associated with AD incurred mainly among males and among 30 to 49 year old patients. Both diagnostic approaches were significantly related to the economic burden, while costs increased with alcohol use disorder severity but not with other AD severity indicators. CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms previous studies using top-down approaches to estimate the economic burden associated with AD. Further, we highlight the need for efforts aimed at preventing adverse outcomes for health and occupational situation associated with alcohol dependence based on factors associated with particularly high economic burden

Using Goal- and Grip-Related Information for Understanding the Correctness of Other’s Actions: An ERP Study

Detecting errors in other’s actions is of pivotal importance for joint action, competitive behavior and observational learning. Although many studies have focused on the neural mechanisms involved in detecting low-level errors, relatively little is known about error-detection in everyday situations. The present study aimed to identify the functional and neural mechanisms whereby we understand the correctness of other’s actions involving well-known objects (e.g. pouring coffee in a cup). Participants observed action sequences in which the correctness of the object grasped and the grip applied to a pair of objects were independently manipulated. Observation of object violations (e.g. grasping the empty cup instead of the coffee pot) resulted in a stronger P3-effect than observation of grip errors (e.g. grasping the coffee pot at the upper part instead of the handle), likely reflecting a reorienting response, directing attention to the relevant location. Following the P3-effect, a parietal slow wave positivity was observed that persisted for grip-errors, likely reflecting the detection of an incorrect hand-object interaction. These findings provide new insight in the functional significance of the neurophysiological markers associated with the observation of incorrect actions and suggest that the P3-effect and the subsequent parietal slow wave positivity may reflect the detection of errors at different levels in the action hierarchy. Thereby this study elucidates the cognitive processes that support the detection of action violations in the selection of objects and grips

Effect of intraperitoneally administered recombinant murine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rmGM-CSF) on the cytotoxic potential of murine peritoneal cells

We studied the effect of recombinant murine granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor(rmGM-CSF) on the cytotoxic potential of murine peritoneal cells. Mice received rmGM-CSF intraperitoneally using different dosages and injection schemes. At different time points after the last injection, mice were sacrificed, peritoneal cells isolated and their tumour cytotoxicity was determined by a cytotoxicity assay using syngeneic [methyl-3H]thymidine-labelled colon carcinoma cells. Also, the cytotoxic response to a subsequent in vitro stimulation with lipopolysaccharide was determined. Upon daily injection of 6000–54 000 U rmGM-CSF over a 6-day period, the number of peritoneal cells increased over ten fold with the highest rmGM-CSF dose. Increases in cell numbers was mainly due to increases in macrophage numbers. Upon injection of three doses of 3000 U rmGM-CSF per day for 3 consecutive days, the number of macrophages remained elevated for minimally 6 days. Although the peritoneal cells from rmGM-CSF-treated mice were not activated to a tumoricidal state, they could be activated to high levels of cytotoxicity with an additional in vitro stimulation of lipopolysaccharide. Resident cells isolated from control mice could be activated only to low levels of tumour cytotoxicity with lipopolysaccharide. Tumour cytotoxicity strongly correlated with nitric oxide secretion. When inhibiting nitric oxide synthase, tumour cell lysis decreased. Thus, the expanded peritoneal cell population induced by multiple injections of rmGM-CSF has a strong tumour cytotoxic potential and might provide a favourable condition for immunotherapeutic treatment of peritoneal neoplasms. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Characteristics and drivers of forest cover change in the post-socialist era in Croatia: evidence from a mixed-methods approach

© 2016, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.Extensive forests in Croatia represent an important biological and economic resource in Europe. They are characterised by heterogeneity in forest management practices dating back to the socialist planned economy of the pre-1991 era. In this study we investigated the difference in rates of deforestation and reforestation in private- and state-owned forests during the post-socialist period and the causal drivers of change. The selected region of Northern Croatia is characterised by a high percentage of privately owned forests with minimal national monitoring and control. We used a mixed-methods approach which combines remote sensing, statistical modelling and a household-based questionnaire survey to assess the rates of forest cover change and factors influencing those changes. The results show that predominantly privately owned forests in Northern Croatia have recorded a net forest loss of 1.8 % during the 1991–2011 period, while Croatia overall is characterised by a 10 % forest cover increase in predominantly state-owned forests. Main factors influencing forest cover changes in private forests are slope, altitude, education structure, population age and population density. The results also show that the deforestation in private forests is weakening overall, mostly due to the continuation of the de-agrarisation and de-ruralisation processes which began during socialism

Deoxynivalenol and its toxicity

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is one of several mycotoxins produced by certain Fusarium species that frequently infect corn, wheat, oats, barley, rice, and other grains in the field or during storage. The exposure risk to human is directly through foods of plant origin (cereal grains) or indirectly through foods of animal origin (kidney, liver, milk, eggs). It has been detected in buckwheat, popcorn, sorgum, triticale, and other food products including flour, bread, breakfast cereals, noodles, infant foods, pancakes, malt and beer. DON affects animal and human health causing acute temporary nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache, dizziness, and fever. This review briefly summarizes toxicities of this mycotoxin as well as effects on reproduction and their antagonistic and synergic actions

A global agenda for advancing freshwater biodiversity research

This manuscript is a contribution of the Alliance for Freshwater Life (www.allianceforfreshwaterlife.org). We thank Nick Bond, Lisa Bossenbroek, Lekima Copeland, Dean Jacobsen, Maria Cecilia Londo?o, David Lopez, Jaime Ricardo Garcia Marquez, Ketlhatlogile Mosepele, Nunia Thomas-Moko, Qiwei Wei and the authors of Living Waters: A Research Agenda for the Biodiversity of Inland and Coastal Waters for their contributions. We also thank Peter Thrall, Ian Harrison and two anonymous referees for their valuable comments that helped improve the manuscript. Open access funding enabled and organised by Projekt DEAL