A Tool For Economic Development Agencies For The Model-Based Business Consultation In Location Planning

Location planning is crucial to a company’s long-term success. The increasing concentration of companies in urban areas poses new challenges for regional location planning. For companies to make good long-term location planning and development decisions, they must increasingly cooperate with Economic Development Agencies (EDAs). Against this background, a tool was developed in the DFG research project "TransferMetroPlant" that supports companies in regional location assessment and decision-making by comparing location requirements with assessed and stored locations. This tool makes it possible for EDAs to systematically and objectively carry out location consultancy and to derive development measures for the managed locations in the process. Company and municipal measures for the development of locations over time can be taken into account. This paper presents the structure of the tool and the corresponding workflow and provides insights into its development. In addition, essential findings of the workshop-based validation of the developed planning approach are described

Multiple Cone Visual Pigments and the Potential for Trichromatic Colour Vision in Two Species of Elasmobranch

Elasmobranchs (sharks, skates and rays) are the modern descendents of the first jawed vertebrates and, as apex predators, often occupy the highest trophic levels of aquatic (predominantly marine) ecosystems. However, despite their crucial role in the structure of marine communities, their importance both to commercial and to recreational fisheries, and the inherent interest in their role in vertebrate evolution, very little is known about their visual capabilities, especially with regard to whether or not they have the potential for colour vision. Using microspectrophotometry, we show that the retinae of the giant shovelnose ray (Rhinobatos typus) and the eastern shovelnose ray (Aptychotrema rostrata) contain three spectrally distinct cone visual pigments with wavelengths of maximum absorbance (lamda_max) at 477, 502 and 561 nm and at 459, 492 and 553 nm, respectively. The retinae of R. typus and A. rostrata also contain a single type of rod visual pigment with lamda_max at 504 and 498 nm, respectively. R. typus, living in the same estuarine waters as A. rostrata, were found to have identical visual pigments to R. typus inhabiting coral reef flats, despite a considerable difference in habitat spectral radiance. This is the first time that multiple cone visual pigments have been measured directly in an elasmobranch. The finding raises the possibility that some species are able to discriminate colour - a visual ability traditionally thought to be lacking in this vertebrate class - and it is evident that the visual ecology of elasmobranchs is far more complex than once thought

Association Between High Perceived Stress Over Time and Incident Hypertension in Black Adults: Findings From the Jackson Heart Study.

Background Chronic psychological stress has been associated with hypertension, but few studies have examined this relationship in blacks. We examined the association between perceived stress levels assessed annually for up to 13 years and incident hypertension in the Jackson Heart Study, a community-based cohort of blacks. Methods and Results Analyses included 1829 participants without hypertension at baseline (Exam 1, 2000-2004). Incident hypertension was defined as blood pressure≥140/90 mm Hg or antihypertensive medication use at Exam 2 (2005-2008) or Exam 3 (2009-2012). Each follow-up interval at risk of hypertension was categorized as low, moderate, or high perceived stress based on the number of annual assessments between exams in which participants reported "a lot" or "extreme" stress over the previous year (low, 0 high stress ratings; moderate, 1 high stress rating; high, ≥2 high stress ratings). During follow-up (median, 7.0 years), hypertension incidence was 48.5%. Hypertension developed in 30.6% of intervals with low perceived stress, 34.6% of intervals with moderate perceived stress, and 38.2% of intervals with high perceived stress. Age-, sex-, and time-adjusted risk ratios (95% CI) associated with moderate and high perceived stress versus low perceived stress were 1.19 (1.04-1.37) and 1.37 (1.20-1.57), respectively (P trend<0.001). The association was present after adjustment for demographic, clinical, and behavioral factors and baseline stress (P trend=0.001). Conclusions In a community-based cohort of blacks, higher perceived stress over time was associated with an increased risk of developing hypertension. Evaluating stress levels over time and intervening when high perceived stress is persistent may reduce hypertension risk

Improving reintroduction success in large carnivores through individual-based modelling: How to reintroduce Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) to Scotland

Globally, large carnivores have been heavily affected by habitat loss, fragmentation and persecution, sometimes resulting in local extinctions. With increasing recognition of top-down trophic cascades and complex predator- prey dynamics, reintroductions are of growing interest for restoration of ecosystem functioning. Many re- introductions have however failed, in part due to poor planning and inability to model complex eco-evolutionary processes to give reliable predictions. Using the case study of Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), a large predator being considered for reintroduction to Scotland, we demonstrate how an individual-based model that integrates demography with three distinct phases of dispersal (emigration, transfer and settlement) can be used to explore the relative suitability of three geographically-distant potential reintroduction sites, multi-site reintroductions and two founding population sizes. For a single-site reintroduction of 10 lynx, our simulation results show a clear hierarchy of suitability across all metrics. Reintroduction in the Kintyre Peninsula (west coast) consistently performed best, with a probability of population persistence at year 100 of 83%, and the Scottish component of Kielder Forest (southern Scotland) worst, with only a 21% chance of population persistence to year 100. Simultaneous two-site reintroduction in the Kintyre Peninsula and in Aberdeenshire (near the east coast) of 32 lynx gave a 96% persistence at 100 years. Our model was highly sensitive to survival, particularly of adults, highlighting this parameter's importance for reintroduction success. The results strongly indicate the potential viability of Eurasian lynx reintroduction to Scotland given the current cover of suitable woodland habitat. More generally, our work demonstrates how emerging modelling approaches incorporating increased realism in re- presenting species' demography, ecology and dispersal can have high value for quick, inexpensive assessment of likely reintroduction success and for selection between alternative strategies.REF Compliant by Deposit in Stirling's Repositor

Whole genome transcriptome polymorphisms in Arabidopsis thaliana

New methods for detecting global patterns of gene expression and splicing variation in natural Arabidopsis thaliana populations

Alterations in endocytic protein expression with increasing age in the transgenic APP695 V717I London mouse model of amyloid pathology: Implications for Alzheimer's disease

Copyright © 2017 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved. A major risk factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is increasing age, but the reason behind this association has not been identified. It is thought that the changes in endocytosis seen in AD patients are causal for this condition. Thus, we hypothesized that the increased risk of developing AD associated with ageing may be because of changes in endocytosis. We investigated using Western blotting whether the expression of endocytic proteins involved in clathrin-mediated and clathrin-independent endocytosis are altered by increasing age in a mouse model of amyloid pathology. We used mice transgenic for human amyloid precursor protein containing the V717I London mutation. We compared the London mutation mice with age-matched wild-type (WT) controls at three ages, 3, 9 and 18 months, representing different stages in the development of pathology in this model. Having verified that the London mutation mice overexpressed amyloid precursor protein and β-amyloid, we found that the expression of the smallest isoform of PICALM, a key protein involved in the regulation of clathrin-coated pit formation, was significantly increased in WT mice, but decreased in the London mutation mice with age. PICALM levels in WT 18-month mice and clathrin levels in WT 9-month mice were significantly higher than those in the London mutation mice of the same ages. The expression of caveolin-1, involved in clathrin-independent endocytosis, was significantly increased with age in all mice. Our results suggest that endocytic processes could be altered by the ageing process and such changes could partly explain the association between ageing and AD