Book Reviews

Hablar de felicidad y bienestar después de que grandes filósofos hayan llenado páginas y aplicar estos conceptos al espacio biblioteca, que por tradición tiene unas connotaciones muy estrictas, es una responsabilidad que puede parecer presuntuosa. Primero se fundamenta que el concepto de biblioteca actual ha cambiado y tiene que adecuarse a las necesidades sociales haciendo uso de los avances tecnológicos y entendiendo la especialización como vía de apoyo a los estudios, la investigación y la innovación; hay que elegir los servicios que se tienen que mantener y valorar las novedades para buscar elementos que favorezcan la finalidad. Además, se analizan una serie de técnicas de apoyo que se relacionan con la percepción sensorial y se buscan los argumentos teóricos para avalar la práctica que ya se está experimentando en diferentes ámbitos e instituciones. Se evalúan los colores, el sonido, el aroma y lo que se refiere a ambientación. Después se determina qué conceptos de felicidad y bienestar se persiguen en el presente para poder desarrollar la Propuesta sobre el espacio más allá de valores subjetivos, como el confort, ambientes agradables, etc., y así se argumenta la elección con los elementos objetivos necesarios y la finalidad que cumplen para satisfacer a los usuarios. A partir del Estado del Arte se plantea que la reordenación de espacios y la incorporación de elementos sencillos de aporte sensorial sobre la actual biblioteca de la EPSEB favorecerán su uso y proporcionarán a la comunidad universitaria bienestar y felicidad. Se contrasta la hipótesis con expertos bibliotecarios y con profesionales e instituciones que utilizan las técnicas de apoyo sensorial para obtener beneficios en salud y aprendizaje. Así, se corrobora que los colores o la música se están utilizando con finalidades terapéuticas en instituciones de prestigio como la Fundación Guttman (Badalona), quienes, además, están diseñando en Barcelona un edificio robotizado que tiene como objetivo principal proporcionar bienestar. También la aromatología cuenta con escuelas superiores certificadas que demuestran la importancia de los olores y el paisajismo interior se abre camino en empresas de arquitectura para determinar una vertiente que ayude a mejorar la vida de los seres humanos. Finalmente la Propuesta se ha desarrollado sobre la infraestructura actual, desde la objetividad, con la aplicación de técnicas de apoyo beneficiosas para la salud y el aprendizaje que fortalecen la felicidad y el bienestar. Se presenta la imagen de la nueva biblioteca de la EPSEB en 3D y se pretende que sea el escaparate de esta facultad para mostrar que en ella se investiga, se innova, se expone y se aplica. Además los fundamentos teóricos y prácticos se pueden hacer extensibles a otras bibliotecas universitarias o escolares, por similitud, y tener en cuenta en las bibliotecas generales a las que también se hace referencia

Inside the German Miracle. How trade unions shape the future of industrial working conditions

Low unemployment rates during the crisis and a quick recovery are the main characteristics of the «German miracle». The general role of social partners and in particular the role of trade unions in the affected sectors appear to be undervalued especially in macro-level economic analysis. This article provides an insight into the activities of the metalworkers union (IG Metall) in developing strategies for innovative and sustainable solutions to improve future production and working conditions

Upstream Stimulating Factors 1 and 2 Enhance Transcription from the Placenta-Specific Promoter 1.1 of the Bovine Cyp19 Gene

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Placenta-derived oestrogens have an impact on the growth and differentiation of the trophoblast, and are involved in processes initiating and facilitating birth. The enzyme that converts androgens into oestrogens, aromatase cytochrome P450 (P450arom), is encoded by the <it>Cyp19 </it>gene. In the placenta of the cow, expression of <it>Cyp19 </it>relies on promoter 1.1 (P1.1). Our recent studies of P1.1 <it>in vitro </it>and in a human trophoblast cell line (Jeg3) revealed that interactions of placental nuclear protein(s) with the E-box element at position -340 are required for full promoter activity. The aim of this work was to identify and characterise the placental E-box (-340)-binding protein(s) (E-BP) as a step towards understanding how the expression of <it>Cyp19 </it>is regulated in the bovine placenta.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The significance of the E-box was confirmed in cultured primary bovine trophoblasts. We enriched the E-BP from placental nuclear extracts using DNA-affinity Dynabeads and showed by Western blot analysis and supershift EMSA experiments that the E-BP is composed of the transcription factors upstream stimulating factor (USF) 1 and USF2. Depletion of the USFs by RNAi and expression of a dominant-negative USF mutant, were both associated with a significant decrease in P1.1-dependent reporter gene expression. Furthermore, scatter plot analysis of P1.1 activity <it>vs. </it>USF binding to the E-box revealed a strong positive correlation between the two parameters.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>From these results we conclude that USF1 and USF2 are activators of the bovine placenta-specific promoter P1.1 and thus act in the opposite mode as in the case of the non-orthologous human placenta-specific promoter.</p

Reanalysis datasets outperform other gridded climate products in vegetation change analysis in peripheral conservation areas of Central Asia

Abstract Global environmental research requires long-term climate data. Yet, meteorological infrastructure is missing in the vast majority of the world’s protected areas. Therefore, gridded products are frequently used as the only available climate data source in peripheral regions. However, associated evaluations are commonly biased towards well observed areas and consequently, station-based datasets. As evaluations on vegetation monitoring abilities are lacking for regions with poor data availability, we analyzed the potential of several state-of-the-art climate datasets (CHIRPS, CRU, ERA5-Land, GPCC-Monitoring-Product, IMERG-GPM, MERRA-2, MODIS-MOD10A1) for assessing NDVI anomalies (MODIS-MOD13Q1) in two particularly suitable remote conservation areas. We calculated anomalies of 156 climate variables and seasonal periods during 2001–2018, correlated these with vegetation anomalies while taking the multiple comparison problem into consideration, and computed their spatial performance to derive suitable parameters. Our results showed that four datasets (MERRA-2, ERA5-Land, MOD10A1, CRU) were suitable for vegetation analysis in both regions, by showing significant correlations controlled at a false discovery rate < 5% and in more than half of the analyzed areas. Cross-validated variable selection and importance assessment based on the Boruta algorithm indicated high importance of the reanalysis datasets ERA5-Land and MERRA-2 in both areas but higher differences and variability between the regions with all other products. CHIRPS, GPCC and the bias-corrected version of MERRA-2 were unsuitable and not important in both regions. We provide evidence that reanalysis datasets are most suitable for spatiotemporally consistent environmental analysis whereas gauge- or satellite-based products and their combinations are highly variable and may not be applicable in peripheral areas

Mechanism and function of Cdc123 mediated eIF2 assembly

The eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2) is a protein complex which is conserved among all eukaryotes and has a homolog in archaea, called archaeal initiation factor 2 (aIF2). It fulfills essential functions in protein synthesis and is made up of three subunits (α, β and γ). Together with GTP and the initiator tRNA Met-tRNAiMet (tRNAi), eIF2 forms the ternary complex (TC). eIF2 leads tRNAi to the ribosomal 40S subunit and scans the mRNA in collaboration with other initiation factors. Upon binding of tRNAi to a start codon, γ-phosphate of the GTP and subsequently all initiation factors are released (Algire et al., 2005). The ribosomal subunits join to form an active 80S ribosome and elongation phase, in which the peptide chain is synthesized, commences. eIF2 is involved in selection of the right start codon and important for the accuracy of protein synthesis. It is a hub for central regulational mechanisms, which adjust cell metabolism under conditions of stress. Amino acid starvation, unfolded protein stress and other stress factors activate certain kinases, which phosphorylate eIF2α, reduce TC activity and thus protein synthesis rate (Pakos-Zebrucka et al., 2016). On a molecular level, defects in eIF2 lead to inefficient protein synthesis and inaccurate selection of start codons, hence affecting cell growth and increasing susceptibility to exogenous stressors. In humans, several rare mutations of eIF2γ are known which negatively affect the activity of eIF2 and lead to organ dysfunction and neuronal defects in particular. The molecular cause is lowered TC activity, since binding of tRNAi and assembly of trimeric eIF2 are affected (Borck et al., 2012; Young-Baird et al., 2019c). This work pays particular attention to the assembly mechanism of eIF2. To date, no dedicated scaffold protein or chaperone that necessary for aIF2 assembly in archaea is known. In eukaryotes however, previous studies established that the protein Cdc123 is indispensable for assembly of the the α-, β- and γ-subunits to active trimeric eIF2 (Perzlmaier et al., 2013). Meanwhile, little is known about the order of assembly and the individual functions of each subunit as well as Cdc123. However, the mechanism of complex formation is of great interest to understand molecular causes of eIF2-related hereditary defects. Here, detailed studies of eIF2 subunit interactions and eIF2-Cdc123 interactions will be presented. The majority of experiments were performed in the budding yeast S. cerevisiae. Thanks to its ease of handling and fast replication, it is an ideal model organism for fundamental cellular processes. The high conservation of the translation process in general and eIF2 in particular allow for conclusions about the respective processes in human cells. In yeast, the endogenous proteins and, by heterologous expression, the human proteins were investigated. Some results were verified in human cell culture. At the end, a model for stepwise assembly of eIF2 will be presented and individual roles of each eIF2 subunit and Cdc123 will be discussed

Preserving a Comprehensive Vegetation Knowledge Base - An Evaluation of Four Historical Soviet Vegetation Maps of the Western Pamirs (Tajikistan)

Vanselow KA, Samimi C, Breckle S-W. Preserving a Comprehensive Vegetation Knowledge Base - An Evaluation of Four Historical Soviet Vegetation Maps of the Western Pamirs (Tajikistan). PLOS ONE. 2016;11(2): e0148930.We edited, redrew, and evaluated four unpublished historical vegetation maps of the Western Pamirs (Tajikistan) by the Soviet geobotanist Okmir E. Agakhanjanz. These maps cover an area of 5,188 km(2) and date from 1958 to 1960. The purpose of this article is to make the historic vegetation data available to the scientific community and thus preserve a hitherto non available and up to now neglected or forgotten data source with great potential for studies on vegetation and ecosystem response to global change. The original hand-drawn maps were scanned, georeferenced, and digitized and the corresponding land cover class was assigned to each polygon. The partly differing legends were harmonized and plant names updated. Furthermore, a digital elevation model and generalized additive models were used to calculate response curves of the land cover classes and to explore vegetation-topography relationships quantitatively. In total, 2,216 polygons belonging to 13 major land cover classes were included that are characterized by 252 different plant species. As such, the presented maps provide excellent comparison data for studies on vegetation and ecosystem change in an area that is deemed to be an important water tower in Central Asia

Book reviews

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