How will land degradation neutrality change future land system patterns?:A scenario simulation study

Land degradation is a major global issue and achieving a land degradation-neutral world is one of the Sustainable Development Goals. However, striving for land degradation neutrality (LDN) is challenged by increasing claims on land resources and could result in major land use conflicts. The aim of this study is to demonstrate how LDN can be implemented in land system modelling and how achieving LDN alongside sufficient supplies of food, timber and shelter could affect future land system patterns, using the Republic of Turkey as a case study. We developed a LDN scenario with full implementation of the guidelines and a business-as-usual scenario without pursuing LDN, and compared the resulting differences in land system changes. Additionally, the influence of different elements of the LDN framework on the land use projections was tested. Our results show that although it is possible to achieve LDN in the context of increasing demands for resources and housing, it might require a considerable re-organization of the land systems. Intensification of annual cropland systems was the main driver of new land degradation, which was in the LDN scenario primarily counterbalanced by large areas of afforestation, while other land improvement options only played a minor role. To achieve a no-net-loss, about 20% of Turkey’s territory was afforested in our scenario, mainly claiming extensively used annual cropland (~70%) and grassland (~30%). All individual LDN principles had a substantial impact on the final land system patterns meaning that the final outcome is not the result of just one of the principles, it is affected by all. Our findings suggest that pursuing LDN under growing demands for land-based products could stimulate a land sparing approach which might have trade-offs with other sustainability dimensions. This highlights the need for local support and new solutions for rural areas, thereby avoiding poverty, migration and illegal use of restoration areas

Induction of a Photostationary Ring-Opening—Ring-Closing State of Spiropyran Monolayers on the Semimetallic Bi(110) Surface

Molecular switches on metal surfaces typically show very little photoreactivity. Using scanning tunneling microscopy, we show that the ring- opening–ring-closing switch nitrospiropyran thermally and optically isomerizes to the open merocyanine form on a Bi(110) surface. Irradiation by blue light of a monolayer of spiropyran molecules leads to mixed domains of the two isomers. At large illumination intensities a photostationary state is established, indicating the bidirectional ring-opening and ring-closing reaction of these molecules on the bismuth surface. The enhanced photoactivity contrasts with the case of adsorption on other metal surfaces, probably due to the low density of states at the Fermi level of the semimetallic Bi(110) surface

„Ich bin durch den Dienst Teil meiner Gemeinde“: Ergebnisse einer explorativen Studie zu Selbstverständnis, Motivation, und Religiosität von Ministrant*innen heute

Über 350.000 Kinder und Jugendliche sind in den deutschen Diözesen als Ministrant*innen tätig. Sie „dienen“ regelmäßig in der Messfeier und sind auch sonst eine wichtige Gruppe kirchlicher Jugendpastoral. Die Zahl der wissenschaftlichen Studien über diese mit der Gemeinde verbundenen Kinder und Jugendlichen ist überschaubar. Eine studentische Forschungsinitiative aus Münster hat sich zum Ziel gesetzt, mehr Erkenntnisse über diese wichtige Gruppe junger Menschen zu gewinnen, um einen Beitrag zu einer religionspädagogisch reflektierten Bildungsarbeit für Ministrant*innen zu leisten. Die Ergebnisse einer ersten explorativen Studie sind ermutigend. Over 350,000 children and youngsters are involved in German dioceses as ministrants. They regularly “serve” in Mass and are an important group of church youth pastoral care. There are very few scientific studies on this large number of children and adolescents. A student research initiative from Münster focused on this important group of young people in order to gain knowledge and to reflect on educational work of ministrants. The results of an initial exploratory study are encouraging

Glycolytic Shunts Replenish the Calvin-Benson-Bassham Cycle as Anaplerotic Reactions in Cyanobacteria

The recent discovery of the Entner-Doudoroff (ED) pathway as a third glycolytic route beside Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas (EMP) and oxidative pentose phosphate (OPP) pathway in oxygenic photoautotrophs requires a revision of their central carbohydrate metabolism. In this study, unexpectedly, we observed that deletion of the ED pathway alone, and even more pronounced in combination with other glycolytic routes, diminished photoautotrophic growth in continuous light in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Furthermore, we found that the ED pathway is required for optimal glycogen catabolism in parallel to an operating Calvin–Benson–Bassham (CBB) cycle. It is counter-intuitive that glycolytic routes, which are a reverse to the CBB cycle and do not provide any additional biosynthetic intermediates, are important under photoautotrophic conditions. However, observations on the ability to reactivate an arrested CBB cycle revealed that they form glycolytic shunts that tap the cellular carbohydrate reservoir to replenish the cycle. Taken together, our results suggest that the classical view of the CBB cycle as an autocatalytic, completely autonomous cycle that exclusively relies on its own enzymes and CO2 fixation to regenerate ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate for Rubisco is an oversimplification. We propose that in common with other known autocatalytic cycles, the CBB cycle likewise relies on anaplerotic reactions to compensate for the depletion of intermediates, particularly in transition states and under fluctuating light conditions that are common in nature

ZeM-Levumi. Test zum Zahlenverständnis zur Lernverlaufsdiagnostik-„Zahlenstrahl ergänzen“ der Onlineplattform www.levumi.de

Die Onlineplattform Levumi (www.levumi.de) verfügt im Bereich Mathematik Grundlagen - Zahlenverständnis über die Testverfahren Zahlenstrahl ergänzen im Zahlenraum bis 10 und bis 20. Die Anforderung der Tests besteht darin, auf einem beschrifteten Zahlenstrahl die fehlende Zahl zu ergänzen. Dieser Zahlenverständnistest ist als schüler*innenzentrierter Speedtest mit einer reinen Bearbeitungszeit von 90 Sekunden konstruiert. Im Folgenden wird ein kurzer Einblick in die Konzeption der Testverfahren Zahlenstrahl ergänzen und deren Umsetzung auf der Onlineplattform Levumi gegeben. Zur Übersicht sind dem Dokument die Itemlisten angehängt