Untersuchungen von Wein aus Integriertem, Organischem und Biologisch-Dynamischem Anbau mit Bildschaffenden Methoden

Nine encoded wine samples from a German long-term field trial on the comparison of different cultivation systems were examined with the image forming methods biocrystallization, capillary dynamolysis and circular chromatography. The images of the encoded samples were i. differentiated into three groups of images with similar form expression, ii. characterised as ‘fresh – aged’ based on a catalogue of reference images, iii. ranked (according to the quality characterization) and iv. assigned to the different cultivation systems (classified). Images gained with samples from integrated farming showed more structures indicating enhanced degradation compared with the samples from organic and especially from biodynamic origin. Based on these observations, a correct assignment of all encoded samples to cultivation systems was possible. These results are interpreted as indicating higher product quality of biodynamic and organic wine compared to wine from integrated farming

Zur Lehre von den Bewegungen des Auges

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Untersuchungen zu verschiedenen Bewirtschaftungssystemen im Weinbau unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der biologisch-dynamischen Wirtschaftsweise und des Präparateeinsatzes – Ergebnisse aus der Umstellungsphase 2006-2009

World wide many wine farms are converting into organic or biodynamic viticulture. The main reasons are better wine quality and healthier wine with the long-term aim of sustainability in viticulture. In 2005 a long-term study started in Geisenheim. The objective of the research program is to investigate, compare and optimise the techniques of integrated, organic and particularly biodynamic wine production in terms of resource protection and food quality. The goals of this study are to look at the effects on the biological and microbial activity in the soil, the vegetative and generative growth of the vine, microbiology, the grape and wine quality and the sustainability of the three viticultural systems

Wüchsigkeit und physiologische Aktivität der Rebe in Abhängigkeit von verschiedenen weinbaulichen Bewirtschaftungssystemen

Based on a field trial, the impact of three different viticultural management strategies on vigour and grapevine physiology of Vitis vinifera cv. Riesling was compared. The vines were planted in 1991 at Geisenheim (Rheingau, Germany) and three different management strategies i.e. integrated (code of good practice), organic (European Union Regulation 834/07 and ECOVIN standard) and biodynamic (European Union Regulation 834/07 and DEMETER standard) were established in 2006. Even though all treatments received the same level of nutrients and water a decline in vigour, expressed as lateral growth, was observed for the organic and biodynamic treatment during three seasons (2010 to 2012). During dryer conditions (2011) a reduction of physiological activity expressed as stomatal conductance gs, assimilation rate A and transpiration E two weeks after full-bloom and a reduction in pre-dawn water potential at veraison were assessed for the biological treatments. In 2012 under wetter growing conditions neither differences in physiological activity nor in pre-dawn water potential were observed. Therefore changes in physiological activity and pre-dawn water potential are just partially responsible for the reduced vigour in the biological treatments

Myocardium at Risk in ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Comparison of T2-Weighted Edema Imaging With the MR-Assessed Endocardial Surface Area and Validation Against Angiographic Scoring

ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to assess the area at risk (AAR) in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction with 2 different cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging methods and to compare them with the validated angiographic Alberta Provincial Project for Outcome Assessment in Coronary Heart Disease Score (APPROACH-score) in a large consecutive patient cohort.BackgroundEdema imaging with T2-weighted CMR and the endocardial surface area (ESA) assessed by late gadolinium enhancement have been introduced as relatively new methods for AAR assessment in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. However, data on the utility and validation of these techniques are limited.MethodsA total of 197 patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention in acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction were included. AAR (assessed with T2-weighted edema imaging and the ESA method), infarct size, and myocardial salvage (AAR minus infarct size) were determined by CMR 2 to 4 days after primary angioplasty. Angiographic AAR scoring was performed by use of the APPROACH-score. All measurements were done offline by blinded observers.ResultsThe AAR assessed by T2-weighted imaging showed good correlation with the angiographic AAR (r = 0.87; p < 0.001), whereas the ESA showed only a moderate correlation either to T2-weighted imaging (r = 0.56; p < 0.001) or the APPROACH-score (r = 0.44; p < 0.001). Mean AAR by ESA (20.0 ± 11.7% of left ventricular mass) was significantly (p < 0.001) smaller than the AAR assessed by T2-weighted imaging (35.6 ± 10.9% of left ventricular mass) or the APPROACH-score (27.9 ± 10.5% of left ventricular mass) and showed a significant negative dependence on myocardial salvage index. In contrast, no dependence of T2-weighted edema imaging or the APPROACH-score on myocardial salvage index was seen.ConclusionsThe AAR can be reliably assessed by T2-weighted CMR, whereas assessment of the AAR by ESA seems to be dependent on the degree of myocardial salvage, thereby underestimating the AAR in patients with high myocardial salvage such as aborted infarction. Thus, assessment of the AAR with the ESA method cannot be recommended. (Myocardial Salvage and Contrast Dye Induced Nephropathy Reduction by N-Acetylcystein [LIPSIA-N-ACC]; NCT00463749

Follow-up of the GHSG HD16 trial of PET-guided treatment in early-stage favorable Hodgkin lymphoma.

The primary analysis of the GHSG HD16 trial indicated a significant loss of tumor control with PET-guided omission of radiotherapy (RT) in patients with early-stage favorable Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). This analysis reports long-term outcomes. Overall, 1150 patients aged 18-75 years with newly diagnosed early-stage favorable HL were randomized between standard combined-modality treatment (CMT) (2x ABVD followed by PET/CT [PET-2] and 20 Gy involved-field RT) and PET-2-guided treatment omitting RT in case of PET-2 negativity (Deauville score [DS] < 3). The study aimed at excluding inferiority of PET-2-guided treatment and assessing the prognostic impact of PET-2 in patients receiving CMT. At a median follow-up of 64 months, PET-2-negative patients had a 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) of 94.2% after CMT (n = 328) and 86.7% after ABVD alone (n = 300; HR = 2.05 [1.20-3.51]; p = 0.0072). 5-year OS was 98.3% and 98.8%, respectively (p = 0.14); 4/12 documented deaths were caused by second primary malignancies and only one by HL. Among patients assigned to CMT, 5-year PFS was better in PET-2-negative (n = 353; 94.0%) than in PET-2-positive patients (n = 340; 90.3%; p = 0.012). The difference was more pronounced when using DS4 as cut-off (DS 1-3: n = 571; 94.0% vs. DS ≥ 4: n = 122; 83.6%; p < 0.0001). Taken together, CMT should be considered standard treatment for early-stage favorable HL irrespective of the PET-2-result

Linking the Epigenome to the Genome: Correlation of Different Features to DNA Methylation of CpG Islands

DNA methylation of CpG islands plays a crucial role in the regulation of gene expression. More than half of all human promoters contain CpG islands with a tissue-specific methylation pattern in differentiated cells. Still today, the whole process of how DNA methyltransferases determine which region should be methylated is not completely revealed. There are many hypotheses of which genomic features are correlated to the epigenome that have not yet been evaluated. Furthermore, many explorative approaches of measuring DNA methylation are limited to a subset of the genome and thus, cannot be employed, e.g., for genome-wide biomarker prediction methods. In this study, we evaluated the correlation of genetic, epigenetic and hypothesis-driven features to DNA methylation of CpG islands. To this end, various binary classifiers were trained and evaluated by cross-validation on a dataset comprising DNA methylation data for 190 CpG islands in HEPG2, HEK293, fibroblasts and leukocytes. We achieved an accuracy of up to 91% with an MCC of 0.8 using ten-fold cross-validation and ten repetitions. With these models, we extended the existing dataset to the whole genome and thus, predicted the methylation landscape for the given cell types. The method used for these predictions is also validated on another external whole-genome dataset. Our results reveal features correlated to DNA methylation and confirm or disprove various hypotheses of DNA methylation related features. This study confirms correlations between DNA methylation and histone modifications, DNA structure, DNA sequence, genomic attributes and CpG island properties. Furthermore, the method has been validated on a genome-wide dataset from the ENCODE consortium. The developed software, as well as the predicted datasets and a web-service to compare methylation states of CpG islands are available at http://www.cogsys.cs.uni-tuebingen.de/software/dna-methylation/

Evidence from diatom-bound nitrogen isotopes for subarctic Pacific stratification during the last ice age and a link to North Pacific denitrification changes

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2007. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Paleoceanography 22 (2007): PA1215, doi:10.1029/2005PA001205.In a piston core from the central Bering Sea, diatom microfossil-bound N isotopes and the concentrations of opal, biogenic barium, calcium carbonate, and organic N are measured over the last glacial/interglacial cycle. Compared to the interglacial sections of the core, the sediments of the last ice age are characterized by 3‰ higher diatom-bound δ 15N, 70 wt % lower opal content and 1200 ppm lower biogenic barium. Taken together and with constraints on sediment accumulation rate, these results suggest a reduced supply of nitrate to the surface due to stronger stratification of the upper water column of the Bering Sea during glacial times, with more complete nitrate consumption resulting from continued iron supply through atmospheric deposition. This finding extends the body of evidence for a pervasive link between cold climates and polar ocean stratification. In addition, we hypothesize that more complete nutrient consumption in the glacial age subarctic Pacific contributed to the previously observed ice age reduction in suboxia and denitrification in the eastern tropical North Pacific by lowering the nutrient content of the intermediate-depth water formed in the subpolar North Pacific. In the deglacial interval of the Bering Sea record, two apparent peaks in export productivity are associated with maxima in diatom-bound and bulk sediment δ 15N. The high δ 15N in these intervals may have resulted from greater surface nutrient consumption during this period. However, the synchroneity of the deglacial peaks in the Bering Sea with similar bulk sediment δ 15N changes in the eastern Pacific margin and the presence of sediment lamination within the Bering Sea during the deposition of the productivity peaks raise the possibility that both regional and local denitrification worked to raise the δ 15N of the nitrate feeding Bering Sea surface waters at these times.Financial support for this work was provided by NSF grants OCE-0136449, OCE-9981479, ANT-0453680, by BP and Ford Motor Company through the Princeton Carbon Migration Initiative, and by a NDSEG fellowship to B.G.B. Work conducted aboard the USCG Healy (Healy 0202) was funded by grant OPP-9912122