The Core Human Microbiome: Does It Exist and How Can We Find It? A Critical Review of the Concept

The core microbiome, which refers to a set of consistent microbial features across populations, is of major interest in microbiome research and has been addressed by numerous studies. Understanding the core microbiome can help identify elements that lead to dysbiosis, and lead to treatments for microbiome-related health states. However, defining the core microbiome is a complex task at several levels. In this review, we consider the current state of core human microbiome research. We consider the knowledge that has been gained, the factors limiting our ability to achieve a reliable description of the core human microbiome, and the fields most likely to improve that ability. DNA sequencing technologies and the methods for analyzing metagenomics and amplicon data will most likely facilitate higher accuracy and resolution in describing the microbiome. However, more effort should be invested in characterizing the microbiome’s interactions with its human host, including the immune system and nutrition. Other components of this holobiontic system should also be emphasized, such as fungi, protists, lower eukaryotes, viruses, and phages. Most importantly, a collaborative effort of experts in microbiology, nutrition, immunology, medicine, systems biology, bioinformatics, and machine learning is probably required to identify the traits of the core human microbiome

The Mid-infrared Instrument for JWST and Its In-flight Performance

The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) extends the reach of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to 28.5 μm. It provides subarcsecond-resolution imaging, high sensitivity coronagraphy, and spectroscopy at resolutions of λ/Δλ ∼ 100-3500, with the high-resolution mode employing an integral field unit to provide spatial data cubes. The resulting broad suite of capabilities will enable huge advances in studies over this wavelength range. This overview describes the history of acquiring this capability for JWST. It discusses the basic attributes of the instrument optics, the detector arrays, and the cryocooler that keeps everything at approximately 7 K. It gives a short description of the data pipeline and of the instrument performance demonstrated during JWST commissioning. The bottom line is that the telescope and MIRI are both operating to the standards set by pre-launch predictions, and all of the MIRI capabilities are operating at, or even a bit better than, the level that had been expected. The paper is also designed to act as a roadmap to more detailed papers on different aspects of MIRI

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

Digitalisierte historische Bauzeitschriften auf dem Digitalen Repositorium (OPUS)

Die Universitätsbibliothek der BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg digitalisiert seit 2005 historische Bauzeitschriften, um häufig nachgefragte Titel digital verfügbar zu machen. Diese Maßnahme dient nebenbei auch dem Bestandsschutz. Um Überschneidungen zu vermeiden, wird zunächst überprüft, ob bereits durch andere Einrichtungen wie z.B. der Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin, beziehungsweise Projekte (z.B. ANNO, ZDB) digitalisiert wird. Der Workflow des Digitalisierungsprojekts verläuft folgendermaßen: Nach dem Scannen werden die Dokumente mittels OCR (Optical Character Recognition) in maschinenlesbare PDF-Dateien umgewandelt. Anschließend erfolgt der Upload in Opus und die Vergabe der Metadaten für die inhaltliche und formale Beschreibung. Diese dienen der Such– und Auffindbarkeit der Bauzeitschriften auch außerhalb von OPUS. Die Digitalisate werden auf dem Digitalen Repositorium der BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg archiviert und sind frei zugänglich. Die digitalisierten Zeitschriften werden in der Zeitschriftendatenbank und der Elektronischen Zeitschriftenbibliothek nachgewiesen. Bei der Digitalisierung wurde darauf geachtet, dass die Bestände möglichst vollständig abgebildet sind und es wurde ein Zeitschnitt bei 1920 gemacht. Dieser Service wird von den Mitarbeitern der BTU, anderen Einrichtungen und externen Nutzern sehr gut angenommen

The third BMW art guide by independent collectors

This guide includes several sections contributed by Anne Reimers, including: essays on buying art at auction, the London art scene, and short entries on three private art collections in the UK, Norway and France. About the book - from the publisher: The revised and expanded BMW Art Guide by Independent Collectors presents 236 private collections of contemporary art accessible to the public - large and small, famous and still undiscovered. Portraits of the collections with colour illustrations take the reader to more than thirty-nine countries, often to regions or urban districts that are off the beaten path. This practical guide is a collaborative publication stemming from the partnership between BMW and Independent Collectors, the international online network for collectors of contemporary art. Collectors, gallerists, artists, and journalists assisted in the research and revision of this work

The fourth BMW art guide by independent collectors

The revised and expanded BMW Art Guide by Independent Collectors presents 256 private collections of contemporary art accessible to the public—large and small, famous and still undiscovered. Succinct portraits of the collections with countless color illustrations take the reader to more than forty countries, often to regions or urban districts that are off the beaten path. This practical guide is a collaborative publication stemming from the partnership between BMW and Independent Collectors, the international online network for collectors of contemporary art. Collectors, gallerists, artists, and journalists assisted in the extensive research and revision of this unique standard work. To date, neither the internet nor any book has ever contained a comparable assembly of international private collections, including several that have opened their doors to art lovers and connoisseurs for the first time