Orthodoxe Kirchenpresse in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

In den orthodoxen Kirchen des Ostens hat sich nur schwer und unter ungünstigenVoraussetzungen eine kirchliche Presse entwickelt. Ein theologischer Konservativismus, der nicht selten in den nach weltlichen Vorbildern ausgerichtetenMassenkommumunikationsmitteln eine Gefährdung des charismatischen Lebens der Gemeinde sah, verhinderte den Aufbau eines Pressewesens, in dem sich die vielfältigen gesellschaftlichen und religiösen Strömungen innerhalb der Kirche widerspiegeln konnten. Mancherorts wurden derartige Versuche durch die politischen Umwälzungen eingeengt oder gar unterdrückt. Nach zwei Weltkriegen führte die ungewollte Ausbreitung der Orthodoxie auf westliche Länder zwangsläufig zu einer Überprüfung der bis dahin eingenommenen Standpunkte. Man wurde durch das Beispiel anderer Kirchen, in deren Nachbarschaft man rückte, angeregt, die Massenmedien intensiver in den Dienst der eigenen Sache zu stellen. (...)EnglishIn the Federal Republic of Germany there are about 60 000 Orthodox Christians from east and southeast European countries. They belong to six different ecclesiastical jurisdictions. For these Christians there are four quarterlies, two in German, one in Russian and one in Ukrainian. The two latter are official publications of their respective churches. Outside the Federal Republic there are five other church papers (one in German, two in Russian, one in Serbian and one in Esthonian) devoted to the faithful in West Germany. Three of these are published monthly, one every second month and one quarterly. All these papers reach only a small number of the people they should reach, because they fail to appeal especially to the young people, who are much more at home in the new society in which they are living than are their parents, who came from the various Orthodox-rite countries. lt mustbe added that only about two of the papers mentioned fulfill the requirements of a good journalistic standard. The idea of putting out just one well clone paper in  common seems not to be welcome to the people responsible

The cyanobiont in an Azolla fern is neither Anabaena nor Nostoc

The cyanobacterial symbionts in the fern Azolla have generally been ascribed to either the Anabaena or Nostoc genera. By using comparisons of the sequences of the phycocyanin intergenic spacer and a fragment of the 16S rRNA, we found that the cyanobiont from an Azolla belongs to neither of these genera.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75153/1/S0378-1097_03_00784-5.pd

Tautomers of N-acetyl-d-allosamine: an NMR and computational chemistry study

d-Allosamine is a rare sugar in Nature but its pyranoid form has been found alpha-linked in the core region of the lipopolysaccharide from the Gram-negative bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis and in the chitanase inhibitor allosamidin, then beta-linked and N-acetylated. In water solution the monosaccharide N-acetyl-d-allosamine (d-AllNAc) shows a significant presence of four tautomers arising from pyranoid and furanoid ring forms and anomeric configurations. The furanoid ring forms both showed (3)J(H1,H2) approximate to 4.85 Hz and to differentiate the anomeric configurations a series of chemical shift anisotropy/dipole-dipole cross-correlated relaxation NMR experiments was performed in which the alpha-anomeric form showed notable different relaxation rates for its components of the H1 doublet, thereby making it possible to elucidate the anomeric configuration of each of the furanoses. The conformational preferences of the different forms of d-AllNAc were investigated by (3)J(HH), (2)J(CH) and (3)J(CH) coupling constants from NMR experiments, molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory calculations. The pyranose form resides in the C-4(1) conformation and the furanose ring form has the majority of its conformers located on the South-East region of the pseudorotation wheel, with a small population in the Northern hemisphere. The tautomeric equilibrium was quite sensitive to changes in temperature, where the beta-anomer of the pyranoid ring form decreased upon a temperature increase while the other forms increased

Sedimentation properties in density gradients correspond with levels of sperm DNA fragmentation, chromatin compaction and binding affinity to hyaluronic acid

Mature spermatozoa bind hyaluronic acid in the extracellular matrix via hyaladherins. Immature spermatozoa may be unable to interact because they do not express the appropriate hyaladherins on their surface. Fresh human semen samples were fractionated using differential density gradient centrifugation (DDGC) and the ability of these fractions to bind hyaluronic acid was evaluated. The presence of sperm hyaladherins was also assessed. CD44 was located mainly on the acrosome and equatorial segment and became more restricted to the equatorial segment in capacitated spermatozoa. Hyaluronic acid-TRITC (hyaluronan acid conjugated with tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanante), a generic hyaluronic-acid-binding reagent, labelled the membrane and the neck region, particularly after capacitation. Sperm populations obtained after DDGC or after interaction with hyaluronic acid were assessed for DNA fragmentation and chromatin maturity. Strong relationships between both measures and sperm sedimentation and hyaluronic-acid-binding profiles were revealed. Capacitation enhanced hyaluronic-acid-binding of both DDGC-pelleted sperm and sperm washed free of seminal fluid. In conclusion, hyaladherins were detected on human sperm and a higher capacity for sperm hyaluronic-acid-binding was shown to correspond with their DDGC sedimentation profiles and with lower levels of DNA fragmentation and better chromatin maturity. Capacitation induced changes in the distribution and presence of hyaladherins may enhance hyaluronic-acid-binding

Kinetic, Isotherm and Thermodynamic Analysis on Adsorption of Cr(VI) Ions from Aqueous Solutions by Synthesis and Characterization of Magnetic-Poly(divinylbenzene-vinylimidazole) Microbeads

The magnetic-poly(divinylbenzene-1-vinylimidazole) [m-poly(DVB-VIM)] microbeads (average diameter 53–212 μm) were synthesized and characterized; their use as adsorbent in removal of Cr(VI) ions from aqueous solutions was investigated. The m-poly(DVB-VIM) microbeads were prepared by copolymerizing of divinylbenzene (DVB) with 1-vinylimidazole (VIM). The m-poly(DVB-VIM) microbeads were characterized by N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms, ESR, elemental analysis, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and swelling studies. At fixed solid/solution ratio the various factors affecting adsorption of Cr(VI) ions from aqueous solutions such as pH, initial concentration, contact time and temperature were analyzed. Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin–Radushkvich isotherms were used as the model adsorption equilibrium data. Langmuir isotherm model was the most adequate. The pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, Ritch-second-order and intraparticle diffusion models were used to describe the adsorption kinetics. The apparent activation energy was found to be 5.024 kJ mol−1, which is characteristic of a chemically controlled reaction. The experimental data fitted to pseudo-second-order kinetic. The study of temperature effect was quantified by calculating various thermodynamic parameters such as Gibbs free energy, enthalpy and entropy changes. The thermodynamic parameters obtained indicated the endothermic nature of adsorption of Cr(VI) ions. Morever, after the use in adsorption, the m-poly(DVB-VIM) microbeads with paramagnetic property were separeted via the applied magnetic force. The magnetic beads could be desorbed up to about 97% by treating with 1.0 M NaOH. These features make the m-poly(DVB-VIM) microbeads a potential candidate for support of Cr(VI) ions removal under magnetic field

Experimental Evolution of a Plant Pathogen into a Legume Symbiont

Following acquisition of a rhizobial symbiotic plasmid, adaptive mutations in the virulence pathway allowed pathogenic Ralstonia solanacearum to evolve into a legume symbiont under plant selection