Simulering af DOC og DON i indsatsområde "Søndersø" på Fyn: Endelig rapport for Arbejdspakke 6 i projektet "Regional Grundvandsbeskyttelse ved hjælp af optimerede Økologiske Dyrkningssystemer"

Der er gennemført en beregning af udvaskning af nitrat, ammonium, DOC og DON for en konventionel og en økologisk situation i et indsatsområde ved “Søndersø” på Fyn. Beregningerne er udført med DAISY-modellen, indeholdende et nyudviklet DOC/DON-modul og MIKE SHE-modellen. Modelopsætningen, der dækker et noget større område end selve indsatsområdet, baserer sig på den eksisterende arealanvendelse og landbrugssituation for en del af området, og ekstrapoleret i den nordvestlige del. Ekstrapolationen dækker kun en lille del af det faktiske indsatsområde. Modelopsætningerne bygger på tidligere modelleringsstudier i samme område. Koncentrationerne af DOC og DON er stort set ens i de to scenarier på grund af, at den styrende faktor er jordens organiske pulje. På grund af større forekomst af græsmarker i økologisk landbrug ville man forvente en opbygning af den organiske pulje, men DAISY-modellen synes at undervurdere denne faktor. Forskellen i DOC/DON-produktion mellem konventionelt og økologisk jordbrug forventes derfor også at være undervurderet. For at beskrive DOC/DON-dynamikken i grundvandet, er den udvaskede mængde opdelt i forskellige puljer, med forskellige C/N-forhold og nedbrydningstid. Mængden af uorganisk nitrat udvasket fra rodzonen er væsentligt lavere i indsatsområdet efter omlægning til økologisk brug, nemlig 29 kg N/ha i forhold til 70 kg N/ha i gennemsnit før omlægningen. Effekten af omlægningen er noget forsinket. Nitratkoncentrationen til dræn falder fra 13.2 kg nitrat-N/ha (2003-2012) i det konventionelle scenarie til 9.5 kg nitrat-N/ha i det økologiske scenarie, opgjort som gennemsnit for de første 10 år af omlægningen (samme klimaserie og periode). For koncentrationerne i det øverste grundvandsmagasin bliver koncentrationsændringerne først rigtigt synlige mod slutningen af simuleringsperioden, men ikke i alle beregningspunkter. I 2013 er forskellen mellem den gennemsnitlige nitratkoncentration i det konventionelle og økologiske scenarie 9 procent (af koncentrationen for det konventionelle scenarie med redoxzone og DOC-nedbrydning implementeret), men det skylles at kun en lille del af det øverste magasin har en alder på 0-10 år. Fortsættes beregningerne derfor i yderligere 30 år, vil den lavere udvaskning i det økologiske scenarie også slå væsentligt kraftigere igennem på grundvandskoncentrationerne. Men man kan altså ikke forvente en umiddelbar effekt af en dyrkningsomlægning på en nitrattruet grundvandsindvinding. Omkring 52 % af nitraten, der forlader rodzonen i indsatsområdet, reduceres i redoxzonen. Da dette gælder for begge scenarier, er der i de pågældende områder ingen effekt af omlægning. DOC-betinget denitrifikation har fjernet yderligere ca 6 % af nitraten i det konventionelle scenarie. Da den nedvaskede DOC-mængde er lille i beregningerne, kan dette tal være undervurderet, især i det økologiske scenarie. På den anden side er det antaget, at alt DOC-nedbrydning medvirker til denitrifikation, hvilket er en overvurdering. Forskellen mellem denne beregning og det økologiske scenarie er kun yderligere 4 procent i 2013 (konservativ transport og konventionelt scenarie = 100 %). I denne rapport er gjort en række simple antagelser om nedbrydning, nitrifikation, denitrifikation og sorption i grundvandszonen. Antagelserne fører til en udvikling i DOC og DON, der nogenlunde svarer til generelle observationer vedrørende koncentrationer og C/N-forhold, men der foreligger ikke måledata eller detailundersøgelser, der kan anvendes til en mere detaljeret parameterisering og procesforståelse. For at opnå en bedre forståelse af betydningen af DOC-produktion på denitrifikation, ikke mindst i økologisk produktion, kræves derfor yderligere undersøgelser

Differential atom interferometry beyond the standard quantum limit

We analyze methods to go beyond the standard quantum limit for a class of atomic interferometers, where the quantity of interest is the difference of phase shifts obtained by two independent atomic ensembles. An example is given by an atomic Sagnac interferometer, where for two ensembles propagating in opposite directions in the interferometer this phase difference encodes the angular velocity of the experimental setup. We discuss methods of squeezing separately or jointly observables of the two atomic ensembles, and compare in detail advantages and drawbacks of such schemes. In particular we show that the method of joint squeezing may improve the variance by up to a factor of 2. We take into account fluctuations of the number of atoms in both the preparation and the measurement stage, and obtain bounds on the difference of the numbers of atoms in the two ensembles, as well as on the detection efficiency, which have to be fulfilled in order to surpass the standard quantum limit. Under realistic conditions, the performance of both schemes can be improved significantly by reading out the phase difference via a quantum non-demolition (QND) measurement. Finally, we discuss a scheme using macroscopically entangled ensembles.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures; eq. (3) corrected and other minor change

Display of wasp venom allergens on the cell surface of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Yeast surface display is a technique, where the proteins of interest are expressed as fusions with yeast surface proteins and thus remain attached to the yeast cell wall after expression. Our purpose was to study whether allergens expressed on the cell surface of baker's yeast <it>Saccharomyces cerevisiae </it>preserve their native allergenic properties and whether the yeast native surface glycoproteins interfere with IgE binding. We chose to use the major allergens from the common wasp <it>Vespula vulgaris </it>venom: phospholipase A1, hyaluronidase and antigen 5 as the model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The proteins were expressed on the surface as fusions with a-agglutinin complex protein AGA2. The expression was confirmed by fluorescent cytometry (FACS) after staining the cells with antibody against a C-tag attached to the C-terminal end of the allergens. Phospholipase A1 and hyaluronidase retained their enzymatic activities. Phospholipase A1 severely inhibited the growth of the yeast cells. Antigen 5 - expressing yeast cells bound IgE antibodies from wasp venom allergic patient sera but not from control sera as demonstrated by FACS. Moreover, antigen 5 - expressing yeast cells were capable of mediating allergen-specific histamine release from human basophils.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>All the three major wasp venom allergens were expressed on the yeast surface. A high-level expression, which was observed only for antigen 5, was needed for detection of IgE binding by FACS and for induction of histamine release. The non-modified <it>S. cerevisiae </it>cells did not cause any unspecific reaction in FACS or histamine release assay despite the expression of high-mannose oligosaccharides.</p> <p>In perspective the yeast surface display may be used for allergen discovery from cDNA libraries and possibly for sublingual immunotherapy as the cells can serve as good adjuvant and can be produced in large amounts at a low price.</p

Manipulating the torsion of molecules by strong laser pulses

A proof-of-principle experiment is reported, where torsional motion of a molecule, consisting of a pair of phenyl rings, is induced by strong laser pulses. A nanosecond laser pulse spatially aligns the carbon-carbon bond axis, connecting the two phenyl rings, allowing a perpendicularly polarized, intense femtosecond pulse to initiate torsional motion accompanied by an overall rotation about the fixed axis. The induced motion is monitored by femtosecond time-resolved Coulomb explosion imaging. Our theoretical analysis accounts for and generalizes the experimental findings.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PRL; Major revision of the presentation of the material; Correction of ion labels in Fig. 2(a

On the Volume of Boolean expressions of Large Congruent Balls

We consider the volume of a Boolean expression of some congruent balls about a given system of centers in the d-dimensional Euclidean space. When the radius r of the balls is large, this volume can be approximated by a polynomial of r, which will be computed up to an O(r^{d−3}) error term. We study how the top coefficients of this polynomial depend on the set of the centers. It is known that in the case of the union of the balls, the top coefficients are some constant multiples of the intrinsic volumes of the convex hull of the centers. Thus, the coefficients in the general case lead to generalizations of the intrinsic volumes, in particular, to a generalization of the mean width of a set. Some known results on the mean width, along with the theorem on its monotonicity under contractions are extended to the "Boolean analogues" of the mean width

Influence of oxygen ordering kinetics on Raman and optical response in YBa_2Cu_3O_{6.4}

Kinetics of the optical and Raman response in YBa_2Cu_3O_{6.4} were studied during room temperature annealing following heat treatment. The superconducting T_c, dc resistivity, and low-energy optical conductivity recover slowly, implying a long relaxation time for the carrier density. Short relaxation times are observed for the B_{1g} Raman scattering -- magnetic, continuum, and phonon -- and the charge transfer band. Monte Carlo simulations suggest that these two relaxation rates are related to two length scales corresponding to local oxygen ordering (fast) and long chain and twin formation (slow).Comment: REVTeX, 3 pages + 4 PostScript (compressed) figure

In vitro invasion of small-cell lung cancer cell lines correlates with expression of epidermal growth factor receptor.

Formation of metastasis is a multistep process involving attachment to the basement membrane, local proteolysis and migration into surrounding tissues, lymph or bloodstream. In the present study, we have analysed the correlation between in vitro invasion and presence of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in a panel of 21 small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines. We have previously reported that ten of these cell lines expressed EGFR protein detected by radioreceptor and affinity labelling assays. In 11 small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines, EGFR mRNA was detected by Northern blot analysis. In vitro invasion in a Boyden chamber assay was found in all EGFR-positive cell lines, whereas no invasion was detected in the EGFR-negative cell lines. Quantification of the in vitro invasion in 12 selected SCLC cell lines demonstrated that, in the EGFR-positive cell lines, between 5% and 16% of the cells added to the upper chamber were able to traverse the Matrigel membrane. Expression of several matrix metalloproteases (MMP), of tissue inhibitor of MMP (TIMP) and of cathepsin B was evaluated by immunoprecipitation, Western blot analysis and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). However, in vitro invasive SCLC cell lines could not be distinguished from non-invasive cell lines based on the expression pattern of these molecules. In six SCLC cell lines, in vitro invasion was also determined in the presence of the EGFR-neutralizing monoclonal antibody mAb528. The addition of this antibody resulted in a significant reduction of the in vitro invasion in three selected EGFR-positive cell lines. Our results show that only EGFR-positive SCLC cell lines had the in vitro invasive phenotype, and it is therefore suggested that the EGFR might play an important role for the invasion potential of SCLC cell lines