Der Einfluss von Korruption auf die Einschätzung des politischen Regimes am Beispiel Estlands und Litauen

"In dieser Arbeit werden die Auswirkungen von Korruption auf die durchschnittliche Bewertung des Regierungssystems untersucht. Als theoretischen Hintergrund wird auf das Konzept der politischen Kultur und insbesondere auf David Eastons Konzept der diffusen Unterstützung zurückgegriffen. Es wird argumentiert, dass ein hohes Maß an Korruption sich negativ auf die diffuse Unterstützung und damit letztendlich auf die Stabilität des Systems auswirken kann. Basierend auf Umfragedaten des 'New Baltic Barometers', dem 'Corruption Perceptions Index' sowie auf den 'Governance Indicators' der Weltbank wird eine vergleichende Fallstudie in Estland und Litauen durchgeführt. Es wird gezeigt, dass Korruption negativ mit der durchschnittlichen Bewertung des Systems korreliert und somit ein Hindernis für die Konsolidierung junger Demokratien darstellen kann." (Autorenreferat

Maine Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus) Spawning Surveys, 2003

Maine spawning surveys of horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) continued for a third season in 2003. Survey sites were located in Yarmouth, Brunswick (2 sites), Woolwich, Nobleboro, Damariscotta, Sedgwick, Franklin and Sullivan. The purpose of this project is to establish quantitative baseline data on horseshoe crab populations in Maine as a basis for management of this species. The 2003 season recorded cooler than normal water temperatures through the end of May, which resulted in negligible activity during the initial historical May spawning period. Warmer water temperatures in June supported normal levels of spawning activity, as documented by the June counts. The tagging study on Taunton Bay in Franklin continued for a third year, with more observations (1255) and more individuals observed (900) than in 2002 (1119 and 741, respectively), but fewer than in 2001 (2273 and 1292 respectively). The overall data indicate that horseshoe crab populations are declining at all but two of the sites, both of which are in Brunswick

Maine Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus) Spawning Surveys, 2004

The Maine Horseshoe Crab Surveys were begun in 2001 to establish quantitative baseline data and determine whether horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) populations are stable or declining. Spawning counts were conducted at sites from Casco Bay (southern Maine) to Frenchman’s Bay (downeast), to establish an index of relative abundance. Few (relatively) abundant populations remain in Maine at Middle Bay (Harpswell/Brunswick), Thomas Point (Brunswick), and in the Damariscotta River. Healthy but less abundant populations persist in the Bagaduce River (Brooksville/ Sedgwick) and in Taunton Bay (Hancock/Franklin/Sullivan). An intensive tagging study has been conducted on Taunton Bay, which offers a natural population with no known history of harvest, and which is effectively closed to immigration and emigration by the physical characteristics of the Bay. During four field seasons, 6176 observations have been logged on 3883 individuals (2595 males, 1288 females; 66.8%, 33.2%). Returns by the 2001 tag year class have varied between 8.7 and 7.5 % in subsequent years. Females comprised 28% (of 116) of the returning 2001 tagged animals in 2002, and 33% (of 113) in 2003, but declined to only 13% (of 100) returning in 2004—just 1% of the original 2001 tag year class of 1333 (individuals). A cause has not yet been attributed, but adult molting is suspected. However, unless adult molting is confirmed, mortality must be assumed instead. Return rates of individuals tagged in 2001 were analyzed to evaluate spawning site fidelity. While return rates from year to year did not exceed 8.7% of the original tag year class of 1333 individuals, 22% of the individuals were observed again in the years from 2002 to 2004. Similarly, observations for 2004 were analyzed to determine the ratio of new individuals to those observed that had been tagged in the three prior years. In 2004, there were 1384 observations of 915 individuals (592 males, 323 females) at the tagging site, of which 25% had been tagged in prior field seasons. This suggests that a significant number of the adult horseshoe crabs in the vicinity of Shipyard Point may now be tagged, and each additional season of data will increase the value of the existing data for understanding the population dynamics of horseshoe crabs in Taunton Bay, and other sites in Maine

Variation of foliar silicon concentrations in temperate forbs : effects of soil silicon, phylogeny and habitat

Silicon (Si) accumulation is known to alleviate various biotic and abiotic stressors in plants with potential ecological consequences. However, for dicotyledonous plants our understanding of Si variation remains limited. We conducted a comparative experimental study to investigate (1) interspecific variation of foliar Si concentrations across 37 dicotyledonous forbs of temperate grasslands, (2) intraspecific variation in foliar Si concentration in response to soil Si availability, the influence of (3) phylogenetic relatedness, and (4) habitat association to moisture. Foliar Si differed markedly (approx. 70-fold) across the investigated forbs, with some species exhibiting Si accumulation similar to grasses. Foliar Si increased with soil Si availability, but the response varied across species: species with higher Si accumulation capacity showed a stronger response, indicating that they did not actively upregulate Si uptake under low soil Si availability. Foliar Si showed a pronounced phylogenetic signal, i.e., closely related species exhibited more similar foliar Si concentrations than distantly related species. Significant differences in foliar Si concentration within closely related species pairs nevertheless support that active Si uptake and associated high Si concentrations has evolved multiple times in forbs. Foliar Si was not higher in species associated with drier habitats, implying that in dicotyledonous forbs of temperate grasslands high foliar Si is not an adaptive trait to withstand drought. Our results demonstrated considerable inter- and intraspecific variation in foliar Si concentration in temperate forbs. This variation should have pervasive, but so far understudied, ecological consequences for community composition and functioning of temperate grasslands under land-use and climate change. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00442-021-04978-9

Glycosylation of Candida albicans cell wall proteins is critical for induction of innate immune responses and apoptosis of epithelial cells.

C. albicans is one of the most common fungal pathogen of humans, causing local and superficial mucosal infections in immunocompromised individuals. Given that the key structure mediating host-C. albicans interactions is the fungal cell wall, we aimed to identify features of the cell wall inducing epithelial responses and be associated with fungal pathogenesis. We demonstrate here the importance of cell wall protein glycosylation in epithelial immune activation with a predominant role for the highly branched N-glycosylation residues. Moreover, these glycan moieties induce growth arrest and apoptosis of epithelial cells. Using an in vitro model of oral candidosis we demonstrate, that apoptosis induction by C. albicans wild-type occurs in early stage of infection and strongly depends on intact cell wall protein glycosylation. These novel findings demonstrate that glycosylation of the C. albicans cell wall proteins appears essential for modulation of epithelial immunity and apoptosis induction, both of which may promote fungal pathogenesis in vivo

Staphylococcal Peptidoglycan Co-Localizes with Nod2 and TLR2 and Activates Innate Immune Response via Both Receptors in Primary Murine Keratinocytes

In mammalian host cells staphylococcal peptidoglycan (PGN) is recognized by Nod2. Whether PGN is also recognized by TLR2 is disputed. Here we carried out PGN co-localization and stimulation studies with TLR2 and Nod2 in wild type and mutant host cells. To exclude contamination with lipoproteins, polymeric staphylococcal PGN (PGNpol) was isolated from Staphylococcus aureus Δlgt (lacking lipidated prelipoproteins). PGNpol was biotinylated (PGN-Bio) for fluorescence monitoring with specific antibodies. Keratinocytes from murine oral epithelium (MK) readily internalized PGN-Bio in an endocytosis-like process. In wt MK, PGNpol induced intracellular accumulation of Nod2 and TLR2 and co-localized with Nod2 and TLR2, but not with TLR4. In TLR2-deficient MK Nod2 and in Nod2-deficient MK TLR2 was induced, indicating that PGNpol recognition by Nod2 is independent of TLR2 and vice versa. In both mutants IL-6 and IL-1B release was decreased by approximately 50% compared to wt MK, suggesting that the immune responses induced by Nod2 and TLR2 are comparable and that the two receptors act additively in MK. In TLR2-tranfected HEK293 cells PGNpol induced NFkB-promoter fused luciferase expression. To support the data, co-localization and signaling studies were carried out with SHL-PGN, a lipase protein covalently tethered to PGN-fragments of varying sizes at its C-terminus. SHL-PGN also co-localized with Nod2 or TLR2 and induced their accumulation, while SHL without PGN did not. The results show that staphylococcal PGN not only co-localizes with Nod2 but also with TLR2. PGN is able to stimulate the immune system via both receptors

Background reduction at the KATRIN experiment by the shifted analysing plane configuration

The KATRIN experiment aims at measuring the electron neutrino mass with a sensitivity of 0.2 eV/c$^2$ after 5 years of data taking. Recently a new upper limit for the neutrino mass of 0.8 eV/c$^2$ (90% CL) was obtained. To reach the design sensitivity, a reduction of the background rate by one order of magnitude is required. The shifted analysing plane (SAP) configuration exploits a specific shaping of the electric and magnetic fields in the KATRIN main spectrometer to reduce the spectrometer background by a factor of two. We discuss the general idea of the SAP configuration and describe the main features of this novel measurement mode