Policy coherence for the protection of water resources against agricultural pollution in the EU and Norway

Throughout the European Union (EU), agricultural practices contribute significantly to the pollution of water resources by nitrates, phosphorus and pesticides. This article sheds light on the degree of horizontal legal coherence between the main EU legal and policy instruments applicable to the protection of water resources from agricultural pollution. After identifying key coherence challenges at the EU level, the article thoroughly assesses the regulatory and governance approach in Norway. The key question is how certain EU-level coherence challenges could be mitigated at a national level through mechanisms aimed at facilitating cross-sectoral coordination and policy coherence. Three types of mechanisms have been selected for this purpose: (i) legal mechanisms, including cross-referencing and joint institutional responsibility for implementation; (ii) the establishment of platforms for cross-sectoral policy coordination or actor participation; and (iii) the establishment of monitoring and reporting processes that ensure access to information and data sharing.publishedVersio

Mice Chronically Fed High-Fat Diet Have Increased Mortality and Disturbed Immune Response in Sepsis

BACKGROUND: Sepsis is a potentially deadly disease that often is caused by gram-positive bacteria, in particular Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). As there are few effective therapies for sepsis, increased basic knowledge about factors predisposing is needed. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The purpose of this study was to study the effect of Western diet on mortality induced by intravenous S. aureus inoculation and the immune functions before and after bacterial inoculation. Here we show that C57Bl/6 mice on high-fat diet (HFD) for 8 weeks, like genetically obese Ob/Ob mice on low-fat diet (LFD), have increased mortality during S. aureus-induced sepsis compared with LFD-fed C57Bl/6 controls. Bacterial load in the kidneys 5-7 days after inoculation was increased 10-fold in HFD-fed compared with LFD-fed mice. At that time, HFD-fed mice had increased serum levels and fat mRNA expression of the immune suppressing cytokines interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) and IL-10 compared with LFD-fed mice. In addition, HFD-fed mice had increased serum levels of the pro-inflammatory IL-1beta. Also, HFD-fed mice with and without infection had increased levels of macrophages in fat. The proportion and function of phagocytosing granulocytes, and the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by peritoneal lavage cells were decreased in HFD-fed compared with LFD-fed mice. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings imply that chronic HFD disturb several innate immune functions in mice, and impairs the ability to clear S. aureus and survive sepsis

Analysis of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Emissions from a Pilot Scale Silicon Process with Flue Gas Recirculation

Flue gas recirculation (FGR) is a method used in several industries to control emissions and process conditions, such as NOx reduction and temperature levels, and increase the CO2 concentration in the off-gas, to be better suited for methods of carbon capture. In this study, the influence of FGR, varying levels of flue gas flow and oxygen concentration on the emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was investigated during Si alloy production. In addition, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling was performed using OpenFOAM for combustion of C2H2 and H2 with varying O2 levels to simulate FGR and to gain better insight into the impact of furnace operations on the PAH evolution. Experimental results show that increasing FGR (0–82.5%) and decreasing levels of oxygen (20.7–13.3 vol %) increase the PAH-42 concentration from 14.1 to 559.7 μg/Nm3. This is supported by the simulations, where increased formation of all PAHs species was observed at high levels of FGR, especially for the lighter aromatic species (like benzene and naphthalene), due to the lower availability of oxygen and the reduction in temperature. Residence time was identified as another key parameter to promote complete combustion of PAHs. Benzene oxidation can be prevented with temperatures lower than 1000 K and residence times smaller than 1 s, while complete oxidation is found at temperatures of around 1500 K.publishedVersio

Evolución de una intervención institucional de fundamento psicoanalítico: una práctica necesaria y posible

Este estudo trata da evolução de uma intervenção institucional de fundamentação psicanalítica, que foi realizada em uma entidade filantrópica durante três anos por estagiários do 9º. e 10º. semestres do curso de psicologia com supervisões semanais, tendo como instrumento básico que orientava as intervenções, os grupos operativos. Os objetivos foram: apresentar a evolução das intervenções realizadas na instituição; analisar aspectos latentes do funcionamento institucional por meio das concepções psicanalíticas. O trabalho se dividiu em duas etapas; na primeira participaram das atividades de grupo segmentos da população que freqüentavam a instituição e atendentes da creche, e os resultados apontavam, entre outros, para a necessidade de maior comunicação entre os funcionários, a população e a equipe técnica-administrativa. Na segunda etapa baseada no primeiro resultado, foi proposto atendimento às equipes técnico-administrativas, a fim de que pudessem desenvolver maior consciência sobre seus modos de operar. Como produto final das intervenções verificou-se que os objetivos foram atingidos, uma vez que foi possível apresentar os aspectos evolutivos da intervenção, assim como descrever a análise realizada a partir dos aspectos latentes do funcionamento da entidade estudada. A principal ansiedade que predominou nos encontros foi do tipo persecutória, os desejos estavam vinculados à auto-idealização e as defesas se relacionavam à identificação projetiva maciça, à idealização e ao controle onipotente. Conclui-se, portanto, que a prática institucional de fundamentação psicanalítica é possível e necessária, uma vez que foi possível verificar desenvolvimentos nas formas de pensar e operar do grupo na instituição.This study deals with the evolution of an institutional intervention with a psychoanalytical approach, which took place in a philanthropic entity for three years. The intervention was conducted by interns (psychology students) from the 9 th and 10th semesters, under weekly supervision, and having "operative groups" as their guiding instrument in the intervention. The objectives were to present the evolution of the conducted intervention in the institution; and to analyze latent aspects of the institutional functioning through psychoanalytical conceptions. As a final product of the interventions we verified that the objectives were achieved once it was possible to present the evolving aspects of the intervention. We were also able to describe the conducted analysis of the latent aspects of the entity functioning. The main anxiety predominant in the meeting was of the paranoid kind, the desires were linked to self-idealization and to defense mechanisms related to massive projective identification, to idealization, and to omnipotent control. We conclude, therefore, that the institutional practice with a psychoanalytical approach is possible and necessary, for it was possible to identify developments in the ways of thinking and operating of the group in the institution.Este estudio trata de la evolución de una intervención institucional de fundamento psicoanalítico, que fue realizada en una entidad filantrópica durante tres años por practicantes del 9º. y 10º. Semestre del curso de psicología con supervisiones semanales, teniendo como instrumento básico que orientaba las intervenciones, los grupos operativos. Los objetivos fueron: presentar la evolución de las intervenciones realizadas en la institución; analizar aspectos latentes del funcionamiento institucional por medio de los conceptos psicoanalíticos. Como producto final de las intervenciones se verificó que los objetivos fueron alcanzados, una vez que fue posible presentar los aspectos evolutivos de la intervención, asimismo como describir el análisis realizada a partir de los aspectos latentes del funcionamiento de la entidad estudiada. La principal ansiedad que predominó en los encuentros fue de tipo persecutoria, los deseos estaban vinculados a la auto-idealización y las defensas se relacionaban a la identificación proyectiva compacta, a la idealización y al control omnipotente. Se concluye, que la práctica institucional de fundamento psicoanalítico es posible y necesaria, una vez que fue posible verificar el desarrollo en las formas de pensar y operar del grupo en la institución

Capture Hi-C identifies the chromatin interactome of colorectal cancer risk loci.

Multiple regulatory elements distant from their targets on the linear genome can influence the expression of a single gene through chromatin looping. Chromosome conformation capture implemented in Hi-C allows for genome-wide agnostic characterization of chromatin contacts. However, detection of functional enhancer-promoter interactions is precluded by its effective resolution that is determined by both restriction fragmentation and sensitivity of the experiment. Here we develop a capture Hi-C (cHi-C) approach to allow an agnostic characterization of these physical interactions on a genome-wide scale. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with complex diseases often reside within regulatory elements and exert effects through long-range regulation of gene expression. Applying this cHi-C approach to 14 colorectal cancer risk loci allows us to identify key long-range chromatin interactions in cis and trans involving these loci

25th annual computational neuroscience meeting: CNS-2016

The same neuron may play different functional roles in the neural circuits to which it belongs. For example, neurons in the Tritonia pedal ganglia may participate in variable phases of the swim motor rhythms [1]. While such neuronal functional variability is likely to play a major role the delivery of the functionality of neural systems, it is difficult to study it in most nervous systems. We work on the pyloric rhythm network of the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion (STG) [2]. Typically network models of the STG treat neurons of the same functional type as a single model neuron (e.g. PD neurons), assuming the same conductance parameters for these neurons and implying their synchronous firing [3, 4]. However, simultaneous recording of PD neurons shows differences between the timings of spikes of these neurons. This may indicate functional variability of these neurons. Here we modelled separately the two PD neurons of the STG in a multi-neuron model of the pyloric network. Our neuron models comply with known correlations between conductance parameters of ionic currents. Our results reproduce the experimental finding of increasing spike time distance between spikes originating from the two model PD neurons during their synchronised burst phase. The PD neuron with the larger calcium conductance generates its spikes before the other PD neuron. Larger potassium conductance values in the follower neuron imply longer delays between spikes, see Fig. 17.Neuromodulators change the conductance parameters of neurons and maintain the ratios of these parameters [5]. Our results show that such changes may shift the individual contribution of two PD neurons to the PD-phase of the pyloric rhythm altering their functionality within this rhythm. Our work paves the way towards an accessible experimental and computational framework for the analysis of the mechanisms and impact of functional variability of neurons within the neural circuits to which they belong

Conditional targeting of the PDGF-B gene

Platelet derived growth factors (PDGF) are known as mitogens for fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells (SMC) and glia cells in culture. Previous in vivo analyses have shown that PDGF-B is necessary for normal embryonic development and life after birth, but the relative importance of the various cellular sources of PDGF-B during development has not been clarified. In order to evaluate the role of PDGF-B from different cell types in embryonic as well as postnatal development, we have used the Cre/loxP system to enable tissue specific ablation of the PDGF-B gene. In this work we have studied the ablation of PDGF-B in blood vascular endothelium and in neurons. The endothelium-specific PDGF-B knockout leads to phenotypes similar to those seen in the total knockout, including loss of mesangial cells in the kidney glomeruli and loss of pericytes in the brain, leading to dilated capillaries. The severity of the phenotypes varies, depending on a variable chimeric situation caused by incomplete recombination of the PDGF-B gene. Most of the endothelium-specific mutants survive and reach adulthood, enabling studies of the retina, which develops postnatally. In these mice we found a situation similar to diabetic retinopathy, with pericyte loss leading to microangiopathy. However the chimeric situation led to an intraindividual variation of the pericyte amount, that correlated to the type of retinopathy. When the pericyte amount was below 52% of the normal situation, the retina showed signs of proliferative retinopathy, which was never seen above this threshold. We could also correlate the pericyte loss to regression of vessels. These findings indicate that endothelium derived PDGF-B is the critical source for the recruitment of pericytes to blood vessels and mesangial cells to the kidney glomeruli. Our data also suggest a causal link between pericyte loss and microangiopathy as well as proliferative retinopathy.The ablation of PDGF-B in neurons on the other hand did not lead to any obvious phenotypes. The animals develop into adulthood without apparent neuro-anatomical or behavioural defects. To evaluate a possible role of PDGF-B, following CNS trauma, we exposed these mice to electrical brain injury. This led to a normal healing process, showing reactive gliosis and neovascularization of the injured area.These results indicate that PDGF-B does not contribute to normal CNS development or reactive gliosis and hence the function of neural-derived PDGF-B is still unknown

Barnevernarbeideres samtale med barn og unge om mistanke for seksuelle overgrep.

Samtale med barn og unge om seksuelle overgrep kan være krevende for både barnevernsarbeideren og barnet eller den unge. Denne bacheloroppgaven er en litteraturstudie som setter barnesamtalen og seksuelle overgrep i fokus. Problemstillingen som besvares er «Hvordan kan barnevernsarbeidere gjennomføre barnesamtale om mistanke for seksuelle overgrep?». Metoder innen barnesamtalen, eksempelvis Den Dialogiske Samtalemetode, kan være til hjelp for barnevernsarbeideren slik at barnet skal ha mulighet til å fortelle fritt, noe oppgaven viser. Samtale med barn og unge om seksuelle overgrep krever at barnevernsarbeideren tåler å høre det ubehagelige, samt møte barnet med anerkjennelse. Barnet kan på den måten få hjelp og støtte i opplevelsene sine, skape mening og samtidig beholde verdigheten. Barnevernsarbeidere har behov for kunnskap om hvorfor noen barn og unge ikke forteller om overgrepene eller hvorfor det tar lang tid før de forteller. Dersom barnet eller den unge ikke gis mulighet til å fortelle, kan dette videre gi barnet psykiske plager eller et destruktivt forhold til seksualitet i senere tid. Barnets troverdighet i samtaler om seksuelle overgrep er også noe som blir drøftet i oppgaven hvor kunnskap om barns troverdighet kan ha betydning for hva barnevernsarbeideren fanger opp og tolker. Kunnskap om samtaler med barn og unge er viktig i barnevernsfeltet hvor barnet har en rett til å bli hørt etter flere bestemmelser i både barnevernloven og FNs barnekonvensjon, noe som barnevernsarbeideren må etterstrebe. Å tilegne seg kunnskap om samtaler med barn og unge om seksuelle overgrep kan ha viktig overføringsverdi i samtaler med barn og unge som lever under andre utfordrende situasjoner som mishandling, omsorgssvikt eller vold. En skal møte barnet der det er og ta det barnet sier på alvor. Barnet er eksperten på eget liv og opplevelser, noe som må komme frem i samtalen. Barnevernsarbeideren må være tilgjengelig og etterstrebe at barnets perspektiv kommer frem

Research on an alternative LS2P microphone based on a new reciprocity calibration system

The microphone calibration by the reciprocity technique specified in IEC 61094-2 is used to determine the sensitivity of laboratory standard microphones according to the IEC 61094-1 with the smallest measurement uncertainty for the use as reference microphones. So far, laboratory standard microphones by the manufacturer Brüel & Kjær (Type 4160 and Type 4180) are almost exclusively used as laboratory reference microphones. In order to create an alternative, the initiative has been taken to examine the usability of the ½-inch laboratory microphones G.R.A.S. 40AU-1. Studies were launched to check the microphone parameters, the stability and the reciprocity of the microphones as well as the compatibility with microphones by Brüel & Kjær. Basis for the investigation was a new validated reciprocity calibration system. The realization of the system and the research results are presented and discussed. Additionally, results of comparison measurements with national metrology institutes are shown in shortened fashion

Tabelle S14_Vorkommen von kalkigen Nannofossilien in Kernbohrung NÖ-02

The Krems Embayment represents the westernmost fully marine depositional environments of the Karpatian and Badenian transgressions in the Central Paratethys. Four deep drill cores were investigated to analyse the bio- and lithostratigraphic, and tectonic relations. The investigated core sections cover the Karpatian Laa Formation and the Badenian Grund Formation. This dataset contains the counting data of Neogene calcareous nannofossils from drill core NÖ-02. Despite of this, the amount of reworked specimens from Paleogene and Cretaceous sediments are given.Die Kremser Bucht ist das am weitesten westlich gelegene vollmarine Sedimentationsgebiet der karpatischen und badenischen Transgressionen in der Zentralen Paratethys. Die bio- und lithostratigraphischen sowie tektonischen Beziehungen von vier gekernten Tiefbohrungen wurden untersucht und analysiert. Die untersuchten Kernabschnitte umfassen die Laa-Formation (Karpatium) und die Grund-Formation (Badenium). Dieser Datensatz enthält die Zähldaten der Vorkommen von neogenen kalkigen Nannofossilien in der Kernbohrung NÖ-02. Zusätzlich ist die Anzahl der aus paläogenen und kreidezeitlichen Sedimenten umgelagerten Exemplare angegeben.For investigations on calcareous nannoplankton, smear slides were prepared for 38 samples using standard procedures described by Perch-Nielsen (1985). A sufficient amount of view fields were scanned in order to count a statistically relevant number of calcareous nannofossils for each sample (about 300 specimens if possible). In addition to the Neogene specimens, also the number of reworked specimens from Paleogene and Cretaceous sediments are given. Perch-Nielsen, K. (1985): Mesozoic calcareous nannofossils, in Bolli, H. M., Saunders, J. B. & Perch-Nielsen, K. (eds.): Plankton Stratigraphy: Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 329-426.The publication of these data is part of the GK 50/25 geological mapping program. The data serve as a base for several scientific papers, geological maps, and explanatory reports dealing with the paleontology, sedimentology, or tectonic development of the area around Krems in Lower Austria