Sparsamer durch reduzierte Bodenbearbeitung

Verglichen mit konventionellen Betrieben verbrauchen Biohöfe weniger Energie. Bei Gemischtbetrieben macht der Unterschied fast 50 Prozent aus. Aber auch Ökolandwirte können noch sparsamer arbeiten: Wer aufs Pflügen verzichtet, senkt den Energieeinsatz um bis zu einem Viertel

The Study of Heavy Metal Adsorption on the Surface of Fungi Compost

The heavy meta l adsorption on the surface of fungi compost is one of the alternative technologies. In this study fungi composts were used and we measured the heavy metal adsorption capacities. The laboratorical methods were the preparing solutions of heavy metals, the a dsorptions of heavy metals on the surface of fungi compost by shaking method, the sample degradation and the analytical measurements by ICP - MS. The heavy metal adsorption properties of fungi compost could be used in wastewater treatment because wastewater sometimes contains a high concentration of heavy metals

Biodiversitätsbewertung in landwirtschaftlichen Ökobilanzen: Eine Herausforderung

Within the last years the demand and use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for calculating and comparing the ecological impacts of agricultural products has increased. In addition there is growing awareness that biodiversity impacts should be included in comprehensive LCAs. This has led to research efforts with the goal to develop and implement methods for biodiversity impact assessment. Especially for organic agriculture such a development is important because thus the often in literature described biodiversity differences between conventional and organic farming could be pictured. In a review, twenty-two different biodiversity impact assessment methods have been analyzed. Their suitability for the evaluation of agricultural products was questioned. Different criteria, have been selected to investigate the identified methods. It was found that so far none of the existing methods can be applied globally while at the same time being able to differentiate between various agricultural intensities. Global value chains of agricultural production systems demand the development of evaluation methods that are able to overcome these shortcomings

Fragmentation methods on the balance: unambiguous top-down mass spectrometric characterization of oxaliplatin-ubiquitin binding sites

The interaction between oxaliplatin and the model protein ubiquitin (Ub) was investigated in a top-down approach by means of high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) using diverse tandem mass spectrometric (MS/MS) techniques, including collision-induced dissociation (CID), higher-energy C-trap dissociation (HCD), and electron transfer dissociation (ETD). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that metallodrug-protein adducts were analyzed for the metal-binding site by ETD-MS/MS, which outperformed both CID and HCD in terms of number of identified metallated peptide fragments in the mass spectra and the localization of the binding sites. Only ETD allowed the simultaneous and exact determination of Met1 and His68 residues as binding partners for oxaliplatin. CID-MS/MS experiments were carried out on orbitrap and ion cyclotron resonance (ICR)-FT mass spectrometers and both instruments yielded similar results with respect to number of metallated fragments and the localization of the binding sites. A comparison of the protein secondary structure with the intensities of peptide fragments generated by collisional activation of the [Ub + Pt-(chxn)] adduct [chxn = (1R,2R)-cyclohexanediamine] revealed a correlation with cleavages in solution phase random coil areas, indicating that the N-terminal β-hairpin and α-helix structures are retained in the gas phase. Figure CID, HCD and ETD were used to determine the binding site of the anticancer agent oxaliplatin on ubiquitin in a top-down approac

On the binding modes of metal NHC complexes with DNA secondary structures: implications for therapy and imaging

Organometallic compounds currently occupy an important place in the field of medicinal inorganic chemistry due to the unique chemical properties of metal coordination compounds. Particularly, metal compounds ligated by N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) have shown high potential for biomedical applications as antimicrobial and anticancer agents during the recent 15 years. Although further studies are necessary to validate the modes of action of this family of compounds, a number of biological targets have been identified, including DNA secondary structures. This perspective review aims at providing an overview of the most representative examples of metal NHC complexes reacting with nucleic acids via different binding modes. It is organized according to the type of DNA secondary structure targeted by metal NHCs, highlighting the possible advantages of biomedical applications, including therapy and imaging

Scalable dissolution-dynamic nuclear polarization with rapid transfer of a polarized solid

In dissolution-dynamic nuclear polarization, nuclear spins are hyperpolarized at cryogenic temperatures using radicals and microwave irradiation. The hyperpolarized solid is dissolved with hot solvent and the solution is transferred to a secondary magnet where strongly enhanced magnetic resonance signals are observed. Here we present a method for transferring the hyperpolarized solid. A bullet containing the frozen, hyperpolarized sample is ejected using pressurized helium gas, and shot into a receiving structure in the secondary magnet, where the bullet is retained and the polarized solid is dissolved rapidly. The transfer takes approximately 70 ms. A solenoid, wound along the entire transfer path ensures adiabatic transfer and limits radical-induced low-field relaxation. The method is fast and scalable towards small volumes suitable for high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy while maintaining high concentrations of the target molecule. Polarization levels of approximately 30% have been observed for 1-13C-labelled pyruvic acid in solution