Organische Stickstoffdüngung bei mehrjährigen und mehrschnittigen Kulturen am Beispiel der Pfefferminze

Im ökologischen Anbau von Arznei- und Gewürzpflanzen zeigen sich bei mehrjährigen Kulturen starke Ertragseinbußen durch unzureichende Stickstoffdüngung. Das betrifft besonders Arten mit hohen Stickstoffentzügen, die drei bis viermal pro Jahr beerntet werden (beispielsweise Brennessel, Pfefferminze, Zitronenmelisse). Am Beispiel der Pfefferminze wird der Einfluss verschiedener Stickstoffdünger auf das Ertrags- und Qualitätsverhalten getestet

Technical note: formation of airborne ice crystals in a wall independent reactor (WIR) under atmospheric conditions

Both, gas and particle scavenging contribute to the transport of organic compounds by ice crystals in the troposphere. To simulate these processes an experimental setup was developed to form airborne ice crystals under atmospheric conditions. Experiments were performed in a wall independent reactor (WIR) installed in a walk-in cold chamber maintained constantly at -20°C. Aerosol particles were added to the carrier gas of ambient air by an aerosol generator to allow heterogeneous ice formation. Temperature variations and hydrodynamic conditions of the WIR were investigated to determine the conditions for ice crystal formation and crystal growth by vapour deposition. In detail, the dependence of temperature variations from flow rate and temperature of the physical wall as well as temperature variations with an increasing reactor depth were studied. The conditions to provide a stable aerosol concentration in the carrier gas flow were also studied. The temperature distribution inside the reactor was strongly dependent on flow rate and physical wall temperature. At an inlet temperature of -20°C, a flow rate of 30 L•min exp -1 and a physical wall temperature of +5°C turned out to provide ideal conditions for ice formation. At these conditions a sharp and stable laminar down draft "jet stream" of cold air in the centre of the reactor was produced. Temperatures measured at the chamber outlet were kept well below the freezing point in the whole reactor depth of 1.0 m. Thus, melting did not affect ice formation and crystal growth. The maximum residence time for airborne ice crystals was calculated to at 40 s. Ice crystal growth rates increased also with increasing reactor depth. The maximum ice crystal growth rate was calculated at 2.82 mg• exp -1. Further, the removal efficiency of the cleaning device for aerosol particles was 99.8% after 10 min. A reliable particle supply was attained after a preliminary lead time of 15 min. Thus, the minimum lead time was determined at 25 min. Several test runs revealed that the WIR is suitable to perform experiments with airborne ice crystals

Immunmonitoring toleranzinduzierender Zellpopulationen nach Herztransplantation

Die Herztransplantation ist der Goldstandard der Therapie der terminalen Herzinsuffizienz. Dank einer über 50-jährigen Erfahrung und stetig verbesserten postoperativen Therapiestrategien konnte die mittlere Überlebenszeit auf 12,2 Jahre verlängert werden. Nichtsdestotrotz limitieren die Nebenwirkungen der immunsuppressiven Therapie einerseits und die Folgen einer chronischen Abstoßungsreaktion andererseits bis heute das Langzeitüberleben herztransplantierter Patienten. Einen vielversprechenden Lösungsansatz dieser Problematik stellt dabei die Induktion von Immuntoleranz dar, um sowohl chronische Abstoßung zu vermeiden, als auch den Einsatz von Immunsuppressiva zu reduzieren. Da diese Problematik auch nach der Transplantation anderer Organe eine zentrale Rolle einnimmt, rückte die Induktion von Immuntoleranz in den letzten Jahren zunehmend in den Blick internationaler Forschungsgruppen. Während bestimmte Zellpopulationen und Medikamentenkombinationen als toleranzinduzierend identifiziert wurden, blieb der genaue Mechanismus der Toleranzentstehung jedoch bis heute ungeklärt. Um einen weiteren Beitrag in diesem Bereich der Forschung zu leisten, wurden in der vorliegenden Studie Patienten vor und nach Herztransplantation in zwei Studienarmen untersucht. Ziel war es, zum einen die Zellpopulationen und Konstellationen des Immunstatus zu erkennen, die einen abstoßungsfreien Verlauf nach Herztransplantation ermöglichen. Zum anderen sollte der Vergleich von Patienten mit unterschiedlichen immunsuppressiven Therapieschemata zeigen, welchen Einfluss diese auf ausgewählte immunologische Zellpopulationen und den Immunstatus der Patienten haben. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie werden zur Entwicklung eines klinischen Monitoringinstrumentes zur Messung des Toleranzstatus nach Herztransplantation beitragen. Zu diesem Zweck wurden Blutproben von 80 Patienten verteilt auf drei Patientenkollektive untersucht. Unter der Verwendung von Durchflusszytometrie, Multiplexanalyse und ELISA wurden im kardiochirurgische Forschungslabor des Herzzentrums Leipzig quantitativ und qualitativ zirkulierende regulatorische T-Zellen und dendritische Zellen, sowie die Serumspiegel von Zytokinen gemessen. Zusätzlich wurden demografische und klinische Daten mit Hilfe der Patientendatenbank der Klinik erhoben. Zur statistischen Auswertung wurde neben dem quantitativen Vergleich der Zellpopulationen und ihrer Subpopulationen die Analyseverfahren der Hauptkomponentenanalyse und der Clusteranalyse genutzt. Im Vergleich der Patienten, die auf eine Herztransplantation warten, und Langzeittransplantierten zeigte sich eine Abnahme der regulatorischen T-Zellen und dendritischen Zellen nach Transplantation. Bei den dendritischen Zellen hingegen erhöhte sich der Anteil der plasmazytoiden dendritischen Zellen nach Transplantation. Zudem konnte bei den Patienten vor Herztransplantation ein höherer Spiegel an Interleukin 4 und 10 sowie an Interferon γ gemessen werden, jedoch ein niedrigerer Spiegel an Interleukin 2. Ein größerer Anteil der regulatorischen T-Zellen konnte in der Gruppe mit mTOR Inhibitoren behandelter Patienten im Vergleich zu Calcineurininhibitoren behandelter Patienten gemessen werden. Außerdem zeigten die Patienten unter mTOR Inhibitor Therapie eine größere Population an CD39+ regulatorischen T-Zellen. Diese stellen eine stabilere und effektiver wirkende Subpopulation der regulatorischen T-Zellen dar. Die gemessenen Zytokinspiegel unterschieden sich ebenso stark in beiden Gruppen. Des Weiteren wurden die in der Hauptkomponentenanalyse ermittelten vier Parameter mit der höchsten Aussagekraft für die Unterscheidung zwischen der mTOR-Inhibitor- und Calcineurininhibitoren-Gruppe zur Analyse der Patienten mit und ohne Abstoßungsreaktion innerhalb einer Gruppe verwendet. Dabei konnte gezeigt werden, dass für Patienten mit mTOR-Inhibitor-basierter Immunsuppression ein hoher Anteil regulatorischer T-Zellen ein schützender Faktor für die Vermeidung von Abstoßungsreaktionen zu sein scheint. Im Gegensatz dazu deuten die Ergebnisse darauf hin, dass für Patienten mit Calcineurininhibitoren-basierter Therapie die plasmazytoiden dendritischen Zellen für die Abstoßungsprophylaxe bedeutender zu sein scheinen

Schlussbericht - Projektförderung im Rahmen des Programms "KMU-innovativ - Verbundvorhaben Ressourceneffizienz"

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Entwicklung und Simulation von adaptiven Dämpfersystemen auf Basis magnetosensitiver Elastomere

Magnetosensitive Elastomere (MSE) sind Elastomere, die mit Füllstoffen versetzt sind und deren Materialverhalten unter Einfluss eines Magnetfelds veränderlich ist. Die vor-liegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der numerischen Modellierung des Materialverhaltens von MSEs in Abhängigkeit von der magnetischen Flussdichte eines äußeren Magnetfelds und der Volumenkonzentration der als Füllstoff verwendeten Carbonyl-Eisen-Partikel (CIP). Die Berechnungsmodelle basieren auf den experimentell ermittelten Material- und Systemparametern, welche durch Ausschwingversuche an eingespannten MSE-Balken bestimmt wurden. Neben der ausführlichen Aufarbeitung des Standes der Technik werden modale und transiente Berechnungsmodelle entwickelt, um die experimentell bestimmten Daten numerisch abbilden zu können. Der Fokus liegt auf der exakten Modellierung des magnetfeldabhängigen Dämpfungsverhaltens der MSE. Es werden die Vergrößerungs- und Phasenverschiebungsfunktion für zylindrische MSE-Proben berechnet, um deren potenzielle Anwendung als adaptive Dämpferelemente zu evaluieren.Magnetorheological elastomers (MRE) are elastomers mixed with additives and whose material behavior changes under the influence of a magnetic field. The present work deals with the numerical modelling of the material behavior of MREs in dependency of the magnetic flux density of an external magnetic field and the volume concentration of the carbonyl iron particles (CIP) used as fillers. The calculation models are based on experimentally determined material and system parameters, which were obtained through oscillation tests on clamped MRE beams. In addition to an extensive review of the state of the art, modal and transient calculation models are developed to numerically replicate the experimentally obtained data. The primary focus is on the accurate modelling of the magnetic field-dependent damping behavior of MREs. The magnification and phase shift functions for cylindrical MRE samples are calculated to evaluate their potential application as adaptive damping elements

Everolimus-Induced Immune Effects after Heart Transplantation: A Possible Tool for Clinicians to Monitor Patients at Risk for Transplant Rejection

Background: Patients treated with an inhibitor of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTORI) in a calcineurin inhibitor (CNI)-free immunosuppressive regimen after heart transplantation (HTx) show a higher risk for transplant rejection. We developed an immunological monitoring tool that may improve the identification of mTORI-treated patients at risk for rejection. Methods: Circulating dendritic cells (DCs) and regulatory T cells (Tregs) were analysed in 19 mTORI- and 20 CNI-treated HTx patients by flow cytometry. Principal component and cluster analysis were used to identify patients at risk for transplant rejection. Results: The percentages of total Tregs (p = 0.02) and CD39+ Tregs (p = 0.05) were higher in mTORI-treated patients than in CNI-treated patients. The principal component analysis revealed that BDCA1+, BDCA2+ and BDCA4+ DCs as well as total Tregs could distinguish between non-rejecting and rejecting mTORI-treated patients. Most mTORI-treated rejectors showed higher levels of BDCA2+ and BDCA4+ plasmacytoid DCs and lower levels of BDCA1+ myeloid DCs and Tregs than mTORI non-rejectors. Conclusion: An mTORI-based immunosuppressive regimen induced a sufficient, tolerance-promoting reaction in Tregs, but an insufficient, adverse effect in DCs. On the basis of patient-specific immunological profiles, we established a flow cytometry-based monitoring tool that may be helpful in identifying patients at risk for rejection

Mucins and Pathogenic Mucin-Like Molecules Are Immunomodulators During Infection and Targets for Diagnostics and Vaccines

Mucins and mucin-like molecules are highly O-glycosylated proteins present on the cell surface of mammals and other organisms. These glycoproteins are highly diverse in the apoprotein and glycan cores and play a central role in many biological processes and diseases. Mucins are the most abundant macromolecules in mucus and are responsible for its biochemical and biophysical properties. Mucin-like molecules cover various protozoan parasites, fungi and viruses. In humans, modifications in mucin glycosylation are associated with tumors in epithelial tissue. These modifications allow the distinction between normal and abnormal cell conditions and represent important targets for vaccine development against some cancers. Mucins and mucin-like molecules derived from pathogens are potential diagnostic markers and targets for therapeutic agents. In this review, we summarize the distribution, structure, role as immunomodulators, and the correlation of human mucins with diseases and perform a comparative analysis of mucins with mucin-like molecules present in human pathogens. Furthermore, we review the methods to produce pathogenic and human mucins using chemical synthesis and expression systems. Finally, we present applications of mucin-like molecules in diagnosis and prevention of relevant human diseases

Circular solar industry supply chain through product technological design changes

Climate change forces countries and organisations to transition towards renewable energies (RE). The transition requires a substantial amount of renewable energy installations, such as PV (photovoltaic) systems. EU solar cells (main PV panels component) manufacturing capacity in 2019 were only 0,2% compared to the world producers’ capacity. It makes the European Union energy transition dependable on the foreign countries. In addition, the supply chain of the solar industry is facing issues of silicon solar panels having critical raw material (CRM) silver and toxic materials such as lead. The solar panels themselves are a complex combination of components making recovery of the materials a difficult process (Ha, 2020). These and further issues of the lack of circularity in the solar value chain endangers reliable access to solar energy in the long term. The goal of this research is to increase the circularity in the industry by designing technologically the product in a circular way. In order to achieve this goal, the authors blended information provided in the contemporary scientific literature with the shared expertise of producers and other stakeholders. Insights about the possible technological design changes of the solar panels, their issues, and their impact on the supply chain were gathered through an online workshop and EU Horizon 2020 project CIRCUSOL. As a result of the research, the authors proposed product circularity improvement’ steps and specific technological solutions, which would allow enhancing circular solar industry supply chain. The proposed technological solutions are radio-frequency identification (RFID), lead-free ribbons with bismuth as lead replacement, an electrically conductive adhesive (ECA), new industrial cell encapsulation (N.I.C.E), and fluorine-free back sheet

Hepatitis C prevalence in Denmark -an estimate based on multiple national registers

Background: A national survey for chronic hepatitis C has not been performed in Denmark and the prevalence is unknown. Our aim was to estimate the prevalence of chronic hepatitis C from public registers and the proportion of these patients who received specialized healthcare. Methods: Patients with a diagnosis of chronic hepatitis C were identified from four national registers: a laboratory register, the Hospital Discharge Register, a clinical database of chronic viral hepatitis and the Register of Communicable Diseases. The total population diagnosed with hepatitis C was estimated by capture-recapture analysis. The population with undiagnosed hepatitis C was derived from the national register of drug users by comparing diagnosed and tested persons. Results: A total of 6,935 patients diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C were identified in the four registers and the estimated population diagnosed with the disease was 9,166 persons (95% C.I. interval 8,973 – 9,877), corresponding to 0.21% (95% CI 0.21%-0.23%) of the Danish population over 15years of age. The prevalence was highest among persons 40–49years old (0.39%) and males (0.28%). It was estimated that 40% of the diagnosed patients lived in the capital region, and 33.5% had attended specialised healthcare. It was estimated that 46% of hepatitis C patients had not been diagnosed and the total population with chronic hepatitis C in Denmark was 16,888 (95% C.I. 16,474-18,287), corresponding to 0.38% (95% CI 0.37-0.42) of the population over 15years of age. Conclusions: The estimated prevalence of chronic hepatitis C in Denmark was 0.38%. Less than half of the patients with chronic hepatitis C in Denmark have been identified and among these patients, one in three has attended specialised care

EUNIS Habitat Classification: Expert system, characteristic species combinations and distribution maps of European habitats

Aim: The EUNIS Habitat Classification is a widely used reference framework for European habitat types (habitats), but it lacks formal definitions of individual habitats that would enable their unequivocal identification. Our goal was to develop a tool for assigning vegetation‐plot records to the habitats of the EUNIS system, use it to classify a European vegetation‐plot database, and compile statistically‐derived characteristic species combinations and distribution maps for these habitats. Location: Europe. Methods: We developed the classification expert system EUNIS‐ESy, which contains definitions of individual EUNIS habitats based on their species composition and geographic location. Each habitat was formally defined as a formula in a computer language combining algebraic and set‐theoretic concepts with formal logical operators. We applied this expert system to classify 1,261,373 vegetation plots from the European Vegetation Archive (EVA) and other databases. Then we determined diagnostic, constant and dominant species for each habitat by calculating species‐to‐habitat fidelity and constancy (occurrence frequency) in the classified data set. Finally, we mapped the plot locations for each habitat. Results: Formal definitions were developed for 199 habitats at Level 3 of the EUNIS hierarchy, including 25 coastal, 18 wetland, 55 grassland, 43 shrubland, 46 forest and 12 man‐made habitats. The expert system classified 1,125,121 vegetation plots to these habitat groups and 73,188 to other habitats, while 63,064 plots remained unclassified or were classified to more than one habitat. Data on each habitat were summarized in factsheets containing habitat description, distribution map, corresponding syntaxa and characteristic species combination. Conclusions: EUNIS habitats were characterized for the first time in terms of their species composition and distribution, based on a classification of a European database of vegetation plots using the newly developed electronic expert system EUNIS‐ESy. The data provided and the expert system have considerable potential for future use in European nature conservation planning, monitoring and assessment