Factors determining the occurrence of Flat Bugs (Aradidae) in beech dominated forests

The habitat requirements of most Aradidae and the decisive factors that influence their occurrence are still poorly understood. To reduce this lack of knowledge a standardised survey of Aradidae in two large beech forest areas of Bavaria (northern Steigerwald and High Spessart) was conducted. The following hypotheses were tested: 1) With increasing habitat tradition (temporal continuity), population densities of Aradidae increase, 2) Increasing dead wood supply supports higher abundance of Aradidae, 3) There are key structures for particular species with respect to type of dead wood, diameter and exposure to sunlight, and 4) The occurrence of particular fungi species determines the occurrence of Aradidae. In our study, Aradidae were sampled in point sample plots by flight-interception traps and time-standardised hand collection. To analyse specific habitat requirements additional sampling was performed to increase the sample size. Four species of Aradidae were observed in the two forest areas: Aneurus avenius, Aradus betulae, A. conspicuus and A. depressus. The results demonstrate that all species have different and specific habitat requirements. Especially for A. betulae habitat tradition of standing dead wood of large dimensions infested by Fomes fomentarius seems to be crucial. Hence, A. betulae was only observed in the Spessart and only at the sites with habitat tradition.Die Habitatansprüche der meisten Aradidae sowie die entscheidenden Faktoren die ihr Auftreten bedingen werden immer noch wenig verstanden. Um diese Wissenslücke zu verringern wurde eine standardisierte Aufnahme der Aradidae in zwei großen Buchenwaldgebieten Bayerns (nördlicher Steigerwald, Hochspessart) durchgeführt. Dabei wurden folgende Hypothesen ge-testet: 1) Die Populationsdichten der Aradidae steigen mit zunehmender Totholztradition, 2) erhöhte Verfügbarkeit an Totholz fördert eine höhere Abundanz der Aradidae, 3) es gibt Schlüsselstrukturen für bestimmte Arten in Bezug auf Totholztyp, -durchmesser und Sonnen-Exposition und 4) das Auftreten bestimmter Pilzarten bestimmt das Vorkommen der Aradidae. Zu diesem Zweck wurden Aradidae im Probekreisen mit Hilfe von Lufteklektoren und zeitnormierte Handaufsammlungen erfasst. Zur Analyse von spezifischen Habitatansprüchen wurden zusätzliche Fänge durchgeführt um die Stichprobengröße zu erhöhen. Vier Arten der Aradidae wurden in den bei-den Gebieten festgestellt: Aneurus avenius, Aradus betulae, A. conspicuus und A. depressus. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass alle Arten unterschiedliche und spezifische Habitatansprüche haben. Besonders für A. betulae scheint die Totholztradition, von starkem, von Fomes fomentarius besiedeltem, stehendem Totholz, eine entscheidende Rolle zu spielen. Folglich wurde sie Art nur am Totholz-traditionsreicheren Waldstandort, dem Spessart, gefunden

A paper waste prediction model

The aim of this paper is to develop a model predicting the collected amount of waste paper at the regional level of municipalities. Leaming about the factors that influence the amount of collected paper is a prerequisite for the evaluation and reorganization of collection systems. We hypothesize that the amount of collected paper depends on both, the waste potential and factors which influence the convenience such as the density of collection sites. For this study, we use a sample of 649 municipalities. The data show a high variance in terms of the collected waste paper per person and year between the municipalities. We develop a multivariate regression model providing valuable insights about the relationship between demographic parameters and the amount of collected waste paper. Furthermore, in this novel approach we found a significant positive impact of the convenience of the collection system

Adding low-dose antidepressants to interferon alpha treatment for chronic hepatitis C improved psychiatric tolerability in a patient with schizoaffective psychosis

Treatment of chronic hepatitis C with interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) is relatively contraindicated in patients with psychiatric disorders because of possible severe psychiatric side effects. We report on a case of a female patient with a chronic schizoaffective psychosis, who was treated for 3 months with 3 x 3 mio IE IFN-alpha s.c./week because of a chronic hepatitis C (genotype Ib). Psychosis was stable with flupentixol monotherapy. After 2 months, she developed a severe depressive syndrome which lead to suicidal ideation. Until this time, she was without any antidepressive medication. Depressive symptoms disappeared after interferon therapy was stopped. Under prophylactic treatment with low-dose trimipramine (50 mg) or nefazodone (200 mg/day) therapy with IFN-alpha 3 x 3 mio IE/week was re-established after several months and again 2 years later adding ribavirin 1200 mg/day, a virustaticum. In contrast to the symptoms during monotherapy with IFN-alpha, during the time of both combination treatments, no psychiatric side effects occurred. While for ribavirin antidepressant effects are not known, we suppose that antidepressants may in serotonergic or noradrenergic caused by IFN-alpha. prevent changes neurotransmission caused by IFN-alpha. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel

Computations of quasiconvex hulls of isotropic sets

We design an algorithm for computations of quasiconvex hulls of isotropic compact sets in in the space of 2x2 real matrices. Our approach uses a recent result by the first author [Adv. Calc. Var. (2014), DOI: 10.1515acv-2012-0008] on quasiconvex hulls of isotropic compact sets in the space of 2x2 real matrices. We show that our algorithm has the time complexity of O(N log N ) where N is the number of orbits of the set. We show some applications of our results to relaxation of L∞ variational problems

Public Support of the Processing and Marketing of Agricultural Products: A Driver of Innovation in the Food Industry?

At issue in this paper is the role of innovation within the public support of food-industries under EU rural development policy. It is focused on the questions: Are there fundamental economic characteristics of highly innovative in comparison to less innovative enterprises? And, what are successful strategies to promote innovations by intervention of the state. Baseline information is given through the data ascertainment of investment grant applications and collaboration with local state departments.Innovation, industrial policy, investment assistance, food-industry, state-intervention, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Marketing,