Table of Contents

Table of Contents for Volume 5, Issue 1 of the Linfield Magazin

It's not the economy, stupid! Explaining the electoral success of the German right-wing populist AfD

Right-wing populism is on the rise. Everywhere? Until recently, the resilience of the German party system to such a party has been an exception to this general trend. The establishment of the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in the wake of the Eurozone crisis put an end to this German exceptionalism. This paper tests the ‘losers of modernization’-thesis, one of the most dominant explanations for right-wing populist voting, for the case of the AfD. Based on district level data from the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development and official data on electoral outcomes, we examine whether the socio-economic characteristics of a district yield any explanatory power for the AfD’s electoral success in the federal elections of 2013 and the elections to the European Parliament in 2014. With this data, we avoid problems of representativeness and reliability of survey data with respect to socioeconomically marginalized groups and their voting behavior. Our findings suggest that the modernization thesis bears little relevance for the success of the populist right in Germany. By contrast, we find a strong correlation between the AfD’s electoral success and the success of radical right parties in previous elections in the same district. We explain this intriguing finding with a “tradition of radical right voting” and a specific political culture on which the AfD has been able to draw once the broader political and social context allowed for the creation of a right-wing populist party in Germany

Bacillus anthracis requires siderophore biosynthesis for growth in macrophages and mouse virulence

Systemic anthrax infections can be characterized as proceeding in stages, beginning with an early intracellular establishment stage within phagocytes that is followed by extracelluar stages involving massive bacteraemia, sepsis and death. Because most bacteria require iron, and the host limits iron availability through homeostatic mechanisms, we hypothesized that B. anthracis requires a high-affinity mechanism of iron acquisition during its growth stages. Two putative types of siderophore synthesis operons, named B acillus a nthracis c atechol, bac (anthrabactin), and a nthrax s iderophore b iosynthesis, asb (anthrachelin), were identified. Directed gene deletions in both anthrabactin and anthrachelin pathways were generated in a B. anthracis (Sterne) 34F2 background resulting in mutations in asbA and bacCEBF . A decrease in siderophore production was observed during iron-depleted growth in both the δ asbA and δ bacCEBF strains, but only the δ asbA strain was attenuated for growth under these conditions. In addition, the δ asbA strain was severely attenuated both for growth in macrophages (Mφ) and for virulence in mice. In contrast, the δ bacCEBF strain did not differ phenotypically from the parental strain. These findings support a requirement for anthrachelin but not anthrabactin in iron assimilation during the intracellular stage of anthrax.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72033/1/j.1365-2958.2003.03861.x.pd

Role of the gerP Operon in Germination and Outgrowth of Bacillus anthracis Spores

Germination of Bacillus anthracis spores occurs when nutrients such as amino acids or purine nucleosides stimulate specific germinant receptors located in the spore inner membrane. The gerPABCDEF operon has been suggested to play a role in facilitating the interaction between germinants and their receptors in spores of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus cereus. B. anthracis mutants containing deletions in each of the six genes belonging to the orthologue of the gerPABCDEF operon, or deletion of the entire operon, were tested for their ability to germinate. Deletion of the entire gerP operon resulted in a significant delay in germination in response to nutrient germinants. These spores eventually germinated to levels equivalent to wild-type, suggesting that an additional entry point for nutrient germinants may exist. Deletions of each individual gene resulted in a similar phenotype, with the exception of ΔgerPF, which showed no obvious defect. The removal of two additional gerPF-like orthologues was necessary to achieve the germination defect observed for the other mutants. Upon physical removal of the spore coat, the mutant lacking the full gerP operon no longer exhibited a germination defect, suggesting that the GerP proteins play a role in spore coat permeability. Additionally, each of the gerP mutants exhibited a severe defect in calcium-dipicolinic acid (Ca-DPA)–dependent germination, suggesting a role for the GerP proteins in this process. Collectively, these data implicate all GerP proteins in the early stages of spore germination

Is there loss of corn dry matter in the field after maturity?

Mystery yield loss, phantom yield loss, and now invisible yield loss – all are terms used for the concept that dry matter (yield) is being lost in-field between maturity (at about 28% moisture) and harvest (approximately 15% moisture). Popular press articles continue to indicate up to 1% dry matter loss per 1% grain moisture decrease. If this amount of dry matter loss occurs, it would be significant in marketing terms. Some believe that this loss is caused by seed respiration