Approximation Schemes for Node-Weighted Geometric Steiner Tree Problems

In this paper we introduce a new technique for approximation schemes for geometrical optimization problems. As an example problem, we consider the following variant of the geometric Steiner tree problem. Every point u which is not included in the tree costs a penalty of π(u) units. Furthermore, every Steiner point that we use costs c S units. The goal is to minimize the total length of the tree plus the penalties. Our technique yields a polynomial time approximation scheme for the problem, if the points lie in the plan

NOVOMIR: De Novo Prediction of MicroRNA-Coding Regions in a Single Plant-Genome

MicroRNAs (miRNA) are small regulatory, noncoding RNA molecules that are transcribed as primary miRNAs (pri-miRNA) from eukaryotic genomes. At least in plants, their regulatory activity is mediated through base-pairing with protein-coding messenger RNAs (mRNA) followed by mRNA degradation or translation repression. We describe NOVOMIR, a program for the identification of miRNA genes in plant genomes. It uses a series of filter steps and a statistical model to discriminate a pre-miRNA from other RNAs and does rely neither on prior knowledge of a miRNA target nor on comparative genomics. The sensitivity and specificity of NOVOMIR for detection of premiRNAs from Arabidopsis thaliana is ~0.83 and ~0.99, respectively. Plant pre-miRNAs are more heterogeneous with respect to size and structure than animal pre-miRNAs. Despite these difficulties, NOVOMIR is well suited to perform searches for pre-miRNAs on a genomic scale. NOVOMIR is written in Perl and relies on two additional, free programs for prediction of RNA secondary structure (RNALFOLD, RNASHAPES)

Economic viability of extracting high value metals from end of life vehicles

Electronics containing growing quantities of high value and critical metals are increasingly used in automobiles. The conventional treatment practice for end-of-life vehicles (ELV) is shredding after de-pollution and partial separation of spare parts. Despite opportunities for resource recovery, the selective separation of components containing relevant amounts of critical metals for the purpose of material recycling is not commonly implemented. This article is aimed to contribute to recycling strategies for future critical metal quantities and the role of extended material recovery from ELVs. The study examines the economic feasibility of dismantling electronic components from ELVs for high value metal recycling. The results illustrate the effects of factors as dismantling time, labour costs and logistics on the economic potential of resource recovery from ELVs. Manual dismantling is profitable for only a few components at the higher labour costs in western/northern parts of Europe and applicable material prices, including the inverter for hybrid vehicles, oxygen sensor, side assistant sensor, distance and near distance sensors. Depending on the vehicle model, labour costs and current material prices, manual dismantling can also be cost-efficient for also some other such as the heating blower, generator, starter, engine and transmission control, start/stop motor, drive control, infotainment and chassis control

Bad neighbors? Niche overlap and asymmetric competition between native and Lessepsian limpets in the Eastern Mediterranean rocky intertidal.

Abstract The Eastern Mediterranean Sea hosts more non-indigenous species than any other marine region, yet their impacts on the native biota remain poorly understood. Focusing on mollusks from the Israeli rocky intertidal, we explored the hypothesis that this abiotically harsh habitat supports a limited trait diversity, and thus may promote niche overlap and competition between native and non-indigenous species. Indeed, native and non-indigenous assemblage components often had a highly similar trait composition, caused by functionally similar native (Patella caerulea) and non-indigenous (Cellana rota) limpets. Body size of P. caerulea decreased with increasing C. rota prevalence, but not vice versa, indicating potential asymmetric competition. Although both species have coexisted in Israel for >15 years, a rapid 'replacement' of native limpets by C. rota has been reported for a thermally polluted site, suggesting that competition and regionally rapid climate-related seawater warming might interact to progressively erode native limpet performance along the Israeli coast

Serum neprilysin and the risk of death in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of non-traumatic origin

Background: Early risk stratification remains an unmet clinical need in patients with in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. We hypothesised that soluble neprilysin may represent a promising biomarker in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of non-traumatic origin and provide new pathobiological insight. Methods: This pilot study was a biomarker analysis from the Heidelberg Resuscitation Registry. Serum soluble neprilysin levels on admission were measured in 144 patients with successful return of spontaneous circulation after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of non-traumatic origin. The primary endpoint was time to all-cause mortality. KM Event Rates are reported. Cox models were adjusted for age, bystander resuscitation, initial ECG rhythm, baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate, baseline lactate, left ventricular function at baseline, and targeted temperature management. Results: In total, 90 (62.5%) patients died over a follow-up of at least 30 days. Soluble neprilysin correlated weakly with high-sensitivity troponin T (r=0.18, P=0.032) but did not correlate significantly with estimated glomerular filtration rate (r=−0.12) or lactate (r=0.11). Patients with elevated soluble neprilysin levels on admission were at significantly higher risk of all-cause mortality (Q4 69.1% vs. Q1 48.4%). After multivariable adjustment, soluble neprilysin in the top quartile (Q4) was significantly associated with all-cause mortality (Q4 vs. Q1: adjusted hazard ratio 2.48 (1.20–5.12)). In an adjusted multimarker model including high-sensitivity troponin T and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, soluble neprilysin and high-sensitivity troponin T remained independently associated with all-cause mortality (soluble neprilysin: adjusted hazard ratio 2.27 (1.08–4.78); high-sensitivity troponin T: adjusted hazard ratio 3.40 (1.63–7.09)). Conclusion: Soluble neprilysin, measured as early as on hospital admission, was independently associated with allcause mortality in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of non-traumatic origin and may prove to be useful in the estimation of risk in these patients

Inquiry Based Science Learning: Design-based Research zur didaktischen Weiterentwicklung klassischer Experimentiermaterialien

Experimentierboxen sind oft noch für einen Unterricht konzipiert, in dem alle Schülerinnen und Schüler einer Klasse die vorgesehenen Experimente zur gleichen Zeit durchführen sollen. Um diesem Zweck gerecht zu werden, finden sich i.d.R. jeweils Klassen- bzw. Mehrfachsätze an Experimentiermaterialien in den Experimentierkästen. Ein naturwissenschaftsbezogener Unterricht, in dem alle Kinder zur gleichen Zeit dasselbe lernen, erscheint heute nicht mehr zeitgemäß. Darüber hinaus können die meisten in Kästen angebotenen Lernmaterialien und Experimentiergeräte als „fachlich didaktisiert“ beschrieben werden. Dieser Umstand ist nicht per se kritikwürdig, denn auch heute gilt es, einen wissenschaftsorientierten Sachunterricht zu gestalten. Allerdings genügt die alleinige Ausrichtung an Wissenschaftlichkeit und Fachlichkeit den modernen Anforderungen an einen naturwissenschaftlichen Sach- und Naturwissenschaftsunterricht nicht mehr. Der Beitrag stellt die theoretischen Grundlagen sowie Beispiele zur Weiterentwicklung von naturwissenschaftsbezogenen Experimentierkästen im Sinne des Inquiry Based Science Learning-Ansatzes dar.

Inquiry Based Science Learning: Design-based Research zur didaktischen Weiterentwicklung klassischer Experimentiermaterialien

Experimentierboxen sind oft noch für einen Unterricht konzipiert, in dem alle Schülerinnen und Schüler einer Klasse die vorgesehenen Experimente zur gleichen Zeit durchführen sollen. Um diesem Zweck gerecht zu werden, finden sich i.d.R. jeweils Klassen- bzw. Mehrfachsätze an Experimentiermaterialien in den Experimentierkästen. Ein naturwissenschaftsbezogener Unterricht, in dem alle Kinder zur gleichen Zeit dasselbe lernen, erscheint heute nicht mehr zeitgemäß. Darüber hinaus können die meisten in Kästen angebotenen Lernmaterialien und Experimentiergeräte als „fachlich didaktisiert“ beschrieben werden. Dieser Umstand ist nicht per se kritikwürdig, denn auch heute gilt es, einen wissenschaftsorientierten Sachunterricht zu gestalten. Allerdings genügt die alleinige Ausrichtung an Wissenschaftlichkeit und Fachlichkeit den modernen Anforderungen an einen naturwissenschaftlichen Sach- und Naturwissenschaftsunterricht nicht mehr. Der Beitrag stellt die theoretischen Grundlagen sowie Beispiele zur Weiterentwicklung von naturwissenschaftsbezogenen Experimentierkästen im Sinne des Inquiry Based Science Learning-Ansatzes dar.

Alleged Lessepsian foraminifera prove native and suggest Pleistocene range expansions into the Mediterranean Sea

Biogeographical patterns are increasingly modified by the human-driven translocation of species, a process that accelerated several centuries ago. Observational datasets, however, rarely range back more than a few decades, implying that a large part of invasion histories went unobserved. Small-sized organisms, like benthic foraminifera, are more likely to have been reported only recently due to their lower detectability compared to larger-sized organisms. Recently detected native species of tropical affinity may have thus been mistaken for non-indigenous species due to the lack of evidence of their occurrence in pre-invasion records. To uncover the unobserved past of the Lessepsian invasion—the entrance of tropical species into the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal—we collected sediment cores on the southern Israeli shelf. We deployed state-of-the-art radiocarbon techniques to date 7 individual foraminiferal tests belonging to 5 alleged non-indigenous species and show that they are centuries to millennia old, thus native. Two additional species previously considered non-indigenous occurred in centennial to millennia-old sediments, suggesting their native status. The evidence of multiple tropical foraminiferal species supposed to be non-indigenous but proved native in the eastern Mediterranean suggests either survival in refugia during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (5.96−5.33 million years) or, more likely, dispersal from the tropical Atlantic and Indo-Pacific during the Pleistocene. In the interglacials of this epoch, higher sea levels may have allowed biological connectivity between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea for shallow-water species, showing that the Isthmus of Suez was possibly a more biologically porous barrier than previously considered

Kartierung des anthropogenen Lagers in Deutschland zur Optimierung der Sekundärrohstoffwirtschaft

Deutschland hat ein enormes Vermögen in Form von Bauwerken, Infrastrukturen und sonstigen langlebigen Gütern angehäuft. Hierin befindet sich ein wertvolles Sekundärrohstoffreservoir - ein anthropogenes Materiallager. Es ist als Kapitalstock der Zukunft zu begreifen, den es systematisch zu bewirtschaften gilt. In der überwiegend Input-dominierten Ressourceneffizienzdiskussion findet dieser Kapitalstock bislang nur wenig Beachtung. Eine Ursache hierfür ist unzureichendes Wissen über die Größe und Zusammensetzung dieses Materiallagers sowie über dessen Veränderungsdynamik. Das Vorhaben sollte dazu beitragen, die Wissensbasis diesbezüglich deutlich zu erweitern. Mit den Ergebnissen des Projektes liegt nun ein differenziertes Bild über Materialflüsse und Materialbestände vor, die in langlebigen Gütern in Deutschland gebunden sind und von diesen ausgelöst werden. Neben umfangreichen Daten wurde ein Konzept vorgelegt, das Grundlagen zum Aufbau eines langfristigen Monitorings des anthropogenen Lagers durch eine kontinuierliche Fortschreibung von Bestandsveränderungen liefert

MaxDIA enables library-based and library-free data-independent acquisition proteomics

MaxDIA is a software platform for analyzing data-independent acquisition (DIA) proteomics data within the MaxQuant software environment. Using spectral libraries, MaxDIA achieves deep proteome coverage with substantially better coefficients of variation in protein quantification than other software. MaxDIA is equipped with accurate false discovery rate (FDR) estimates on both library-to-DIA match and protein levels, including when using whole-proteome predicted spectral libraries. This is the foundation of discovery DIA—hypothesis-free analysis of DIA samples without library and with reliable FDR control. MaxDIA performs three- or four-dimensional feature detection of fragment data, and scoring of matches is augmented by machine learning on the features of an identification. MaxDIA’s bootstrap DIA workflow performs multiple rounds of matching with increasing quality of recalibration and stringency of matching to the library. Combining MaxDIA with two new technologies—BoxCar acquisition and trapped ion mobility spectrometry—both lead to deep and accurate proteome quantification.publishedVersio