Investigation of visual pathways in honeybees (Apis mellifera) and desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria): anatomical, ultrastructural, and physiological approaches

Many insect species demonstrate sophisticated abilities regarding spatial orientation and navigation, despite their small brain size. The behaviors that are based on spatial orientation differ dramatically between individual insect species according to their lifestyle and habitat. Central place foragers like bees and ants, for example, orient themselves in their surrounding and navigate back to the nest after foraging for food or water. Insects like some locust and butterfly species, on the other hand, use spatial orientation during migratory phases to keep a stable heading into a certain direction over a long period of time. In both scenarios, homing and long-distance migration, vision is the primary source for orientation cues even though additional features like wind direction, the earth’s magnetic field, and olfactory cues can be taken into account as well. Visual cues that are used for orientational purposes range from landmarks and the panorama to celestial cues. The latter consists in diurnal insects of the position of the sun itself, the sun-based polarization pattern and intensity and spectral gradient, and is summarized as sky-compass system. For a reliable sky-compass orientation, the animal needs, in addition to the perception of celestial cues, to compensate for the daily movement of the sun across the sky. It is likely that a connection from the circadian pacemaker system to the sky-compass network could provide the necessary circuitry for this time compensation. The present thesis focuses on the sky-compass system of honeybees and locusts. There is a large body of work on the navigational abilities of honeybees from a behavioral perspective but the underlying neuronal anatomy and physiology has received less attention so far. Therefore, the first two chapters of this thesis reveals a large part of the anatomy of the anterior sky-compass pathway in the bee brain. To this end, dye injections, immunohistochemical stainings, and ultrastructural examinations were conducted. The third chapter describes a novel methodical protocol for physiological investigations of neurons involved in the sky-compass system using calcium imaging in behaving animals. The fourth chapter of this thesis deals with the anatomical basis of time compensation in the sky-compass system of locusts. Therefore, the ultrastructure of synaptic connections in a brain region of the desert locust where the contact of both systems could be feasible has been investigated

Renal complications in patients with Henoch Schönlein purpura

Henoch Schönleinova purpura (HSP) je sistemski IgA vaskulitis. Iako je većinom blaga i izlječiva dječja bolest, komplikacije i morbiditet do kojih može doći isključivo su povezane sa zahvaćanjem bubrega. Prema EULAR/PRINTO/PRES kriterijima, bubrežna bolest u HSP se može očitovati kao proteinurija, hematurija ili patohistološki kao nefritis s predominantno IgA depozitima u mezangiju glomerula. Cilj ovog rada je upravo istražiti vrstu bubrežne komplikacije i način liječenja u bolesnika kojima je dijagnosticirana HSP te primijeniti postojeću Oxfordsku i Haasovu klasifikaciju u onih pacijenata koji su imali biopsiju bubrega. U naše istraživanje uključena su sva djeca s HSP koja su u razdoblju od 2006. do 2016. godine razvila bubrežnu bolest i koja su liječena u KBC Zagreb na Klinici za pedijatriju u Zavodu za kliničku imunologiju i reumatologiju. Od 166 pacijenata s dijagnosticiranom HSP kroz navedeno razdoblje, njih 28 (16,8%) odgovara EULAR/PRINTO/PRES kriterijima za bubrežnu bolest. Prosječna dob prilikom dijagnoze HSP je bila 6.8±3.35, a bubrežna bolest je bila zastupljena u 14 djevojčica i 14 dječaka. Najveći broj pacijenata je imao hematuriju (53,6%), potom hematuriju i proteinuriju (39,3%), a najmanje samo proteinuriju (7,1%). Biopsija bubrega je napravljena u 9 pacijenata (32,1%), od čega su dvije trećine bili pacijenti s hematurijom i proteinurijom. Prema nalazima biopsije, 4 pacijenta odgovaraju stupnju III klasifikacije prema Haasu, 3 odgovara stupnju I, a 2 pacijenata stupnju II Haasove klasifikacije. 21 pacijent je liječen kortikosteroidima (75%), 13 NSAID (46,4%), 6 ACE inhibitorima (21,4%), a 5 pacijenata imunosupresivnim lijekovima (17,8%). U usporedbi s drugim literaturnim podacima, ovo istraživanje ima slične rezultate učestalosti bubrežnih komplikacija, nalaza biopsija bubrega i liječenja imunosupresivnim lijekovima.Henoch Schönlein purpura (HSP) is an IgA, systemic vasculitis. Although HSP is mostly a benign and curable children's disease, complications and morbidity that can occur are exclusively related to renal damage. According to EULAR/PRINTO/PRES criteria for HSP, kidney disease can manifest as proteinuria, hematuria, or patohistologically as nephritis with predominantly IgA deposits in the glomerular mesangium. The aim of this study is to investigate the types of renal complications and medical treatment in patients with diagnosed HSP and to apply the existing Oxford and Haas classifications in patients with renal biopsy. In our study are include children with HSP who are developed renal complications during the period from 2006 to 2016 and are treated at the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, University Hospital Center Zagreb. Out of 166 patients with HSP, there were 28 with EULAR/PRINTO/PRES criteria for kidney damage. The mean age at disease onset was 6.8 ± 3.35 and renal complications were present in 14 girls and 14 boys. The largest number of patient had hematuria (53,6%), then hematuria and proteinuria (39,3%), and the smallest had only proteinuria (7,1%). Renal biopsy was preformed in 9 patients (32,1%), of which two thirds were patients with both hematuria and proteinuria. According to biopsy findings, 4 patients had subclass III according to Haas, 3 had subclass I according to Haas and 2 had subclass II according to Haas. 21 patient were managed with corticosteroids (75%), 13 with NSAIDs (46,4%), 6 with ACEi (21,4%) and 5 patients were on immunomodulators (17,8%). To conclude, in comparison to available studies, this study has similar results in types of renal complications, in kidney biopsies and in immunomodulator managment

Long-term memory magnetic correlations in the Hubbard model: A dynamical mean-field theory analysis

We investigate the onset of a not-decaying asymptotic behavior of temporal magnetic correlations in the Hubbard model in infinite dimensions. This long-term memory feature of dynamical spin correlations can be precisely quantified by computing the difference between the zero-frequency limit of the Kubo susceptibility and the corresponding static isothermal one. Here, we present a procedure for reliably evaluating this difference starting from imaginary time-axis data, and apply it to the testbed case of the Mott-Hubbard metal-insulator transition (MIT). At low temperatures, we find long-term memory effects in the entire Mott regime, abruptly ending at the first order MIT. This directly reflects the underlying local moment physics and the associated degeneracy in the many-electron spectrum. At higher temperatures, a more gradual onset of an infinitely-long time-decay of magnetic correlations occurs in the crossover regime, not too far from the Widom line emerging from the critical point of the MIT. Our work has relevant algorithmic implications for the analytical continuation of dynamical susceptibilities in strongly correlated regimes and offers a new perspective for unveiling fundamental properties of the many-particle spectrum of the problem under scrutiny.Comment: 36 pages, 14 figures, resubmission to SciPos

Implementation of an Agent-based Bidding Consortium in the Architecture of an Agent-based Virtual Marketplace

In this research project we intend to transfer the whole AEC-Bidding process to an agent-based virtual marketplace. Hereby, the existing legal regulations have to be considered. Important aspects in developing the virtual marketplace are to provide the possibility to realize an agentbased bidding consortium as well as to integrate subcontractors

Knowledge Based Systems in Distributed Desgin Environments

Today’s building industry not only demands more and more reduced construction time on building site, but also an advanced and mostly construction attendant design phase. Even though there is software available to support design processes in distributed environments, most applications only support simple document based exchange of information. In this paper a knowledge based system is presented to support cooperative, comprehensive design processes in distributed environments. The presented research project is financially supported by the German Research Community (DFG – Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ROMAN STATE AND CHRISTIANITY AND THECLASSICAL ROMAN JURISPRUDENCE

U radu se analizira odnos između rimske države i kršćanstva iz perspektive klasične rimske jurisprudencije. Ona je nastajala otprilike u prva dva i pol stoljeća kršćanstva, a nakon toga bila je preuzeta u zakonodavnom pothvatu cara Justinijana u 6. stoljeću, što joj daje dodatnu relevantnost u kontekstu odnosa između rimske države i kršćanstva. Najprije se daje opći pregled razvoja tog odnosa s isticanjem prevrjednovanja općeg pogleda na razloge njihova sukoba. Nakon toga analizira se klasična rimska jurisprudencija u trima područjima za koja je utvrđeno da svjedoče o općenitom odnosu države s religijom te, makar i posredno, s kršćanstvom. Riječ je o eksplikaciji koncepata javnog i sakralnog prava (ius publicum i ius sacrum) i njihovu međusobnom odnosu, stvarnopravnoj kategoriji res divini iuris s potpodjelom na res sacrae, religiosae i sanctae po kojoj su navedene stvari bile izvan pravnog prometa, te problematikom deliktnog prava u kontekstu kršćana i kršćanstva. Uz zaključne napomene ukratko se problematizira pitanje prihvaćanja klasične jurisprudencije u kontekstu kršćanskog carstva usprkos njezinoj vezanosti za poganske koncepte odnosa između sakralne i javne, odnosno državne sfere te njezinoj ulozi u progonu kršćanstva.Author analyses the relationship between Roman state and Christianity taking into account treatment of the religion (and Christianity, at least indirectly) in the classical Roman jurisprudence. First part of the article deals with the conceptual conflict between pagan and Christian views on the relationship between sacral and public. This dissent existed from the beginnings of Christianity and can be recognised both in the initially sporadic but cruel persecution of Christians and in the philosophic and apologetic discussions and polemics between pagans and Christians. Persecution culminated after Christianity significantly grew in numbers and strenght, and when the pagan paradigm was definitively formulated in the neoplatonist philosophy and political theory at the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th century A.D. Central part of the article aims to determine whether mentioned conceptual clash was reflected in the classical Roman jurisprudence. Firstly, the matter of the definition ius publicum is dealt with, which in the classical Roman jurisprudence was closely connected with ius sacrum. With this association public interests and interests of the state were explicitly interconnected with the religious sphere. Besides that, in private Roman law also the link between sacral and profane can be detected. Specific category of things exempt from legal transactions on the basis of divine law existed, which was in essence determined by the religious authorities and was closely associated with the upkeep of the public interests. Finally, in the law of delicts there can be found both implied and explicit, albeit indirect references on the punishability of Christian world view which threatened Roman public legal order, which also affirms the mentioned conceptual clash. Final part of the article puts the analysis in the context of the subsequent reception of the classical Roman jurisprudence by the Christian emperor Justinian in the 6th century, which happened even though classical Roman jurisprudence clearly and unequivocally espoused pagan views on the relationship between state and religion and treated Christianity more or less as a crime, and was generally anti-Christian. However, after the affairs of state and religious affairs were strictly and clearly divided in the work of Saint Augustine, the matter of ius publicum was philosophically fundamentally separated from the religious matters. For that reason, it is our opinion, classical jurisprudence was not problematic for Justinian in any relevant manner. Accordingly, the same goes for the subsequent treatment and analysis of the Roman legal sources in the medieval period of Christian Europe

Leichte Platten aus Beton als bionische Struktur

Im vorliegenden Beitrag werden drei bionische Strukturen vorgestellt, die für den Einsatz in Stahlbetonplatten mit biaxialen Lastabtrag entwickelt wurden: Bewehrungsführung nach dem Funktionsprinzip des Spinnennetzes, bionische Querschnittsgestaltung an der Plattenunterseite sowie eine Optimierung der Form und Anordnung von Hohlkörpern. Durch diese innovativen Tragstrukturen wird der Kraftfluss beeinflusst und es stellt sich ein verbessertes Tragverhalten ein. Zur Formfindung und Entwicklung der Strukturen wurden evolutionäre Optimierungsprozesse kombiniert mit (nichtlinearen) Finite-Elemente-Berechnungen eingesetzt. Zum Abschluss der Forschungsphase werden die entwickelten Plattensysteme experimentell untersucht

Leichte Platten aus Beton mit biaxialem Lastabtrag als bionische Strukturen

Das Ziel des Forschungsvorhabens ist die Entwicklung von leichten, ressourcenschonenden und tragfähigen Stahlbetonplatten als bionische Struktur, die durch Adaption natürlicher Formen und Prinzipien einen naturähnlichen Kraftfluss aufweisen. Es wurden drei voneinander unabhängige bionische Stahlbetonplattenstrukturen entwickelt und hinsichtlich des Tragverhaltens untersucht. Das Forschungsprojekt gliedert sich in die drei Arbeitsphasen: 1. Untersuchung und Optimierung einer spinnennetzartigen Bewehrungsanordnung, 2. Entwicklung einer bionischen Querschnittsgestaltung an der Plattenunterseite, 3. Optimierung des Kraftflusses durch die Form und die Anordnung von Hohlkörpern im Platteninneren. Die naturinspirierte Gestaltung der Plattenunterseite führt neben der veränderten Tragstruktur zu einer innovativen Formgebung, die die überwiegend kantigen und „langweiligen“ Betonstrukturen ersetzen kann. [Aus: Forschungsanlass

Povezanost kožnih manifestacija i kliničkih značajki IgA vaskulitisa

Introduction: IgA vasculitis (IgAV ) is the most common systemic vasculitis in childhood. Purpuric rash is a mandatory criterion for diagnosing IgAV , it is mostly localized on the lower extremities and gluteal region, although it can also appear atypically affecting the face, trunk and upper extremities. In the most severe cases, ulcerations, necrosis and bullae can be present. Objectives: To evaluate the characteristics of cutaneous manifestations in patients with IgAV and to examine its association with clinical features. Subjects and methods: Retrospective analysis of data from patients with IgAV diagnosed and treated at the Referral Centre for Paediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia, in the period from January 2009 to December 2021. Results: IgAV was diagnosed in 234 patients, 124 boys and 110 girls with the median (range) age at the time of diagnosis of 6.5 (4.5–8.2) years. All patients had a purpuric rash, and in 127 of them (54.3%) IgAV began with a rash. Cutaneous manifestations were most often presented in the form of palpable purpura and/or petechiae (87.2%) and in all patients were localized on the lower extremities. In 103 patients (44%) purpuric rash spread further to the upper extremities, trunk and/or face. At least one skin relapse occurred in 47 patients (20.1%). The most severe cutaneous manifestations which included ulcerations and necrosis developed in 11 patients (4.7%). Patients with cutaneous manifestations spread above the waist had a more statistically significant gastrointestinal involvement compared to patients with cutaneous manifestations affecting the lower extremities and gluteal region (50.5% vs. 36.6%, p=0.033), higher incidence of IgA vasculitis nephritis (IgAVN ) (31.1% vs. 19.8%, p=0.048) and were more frequently treated with systemic glucocorticoids (68% vs. 52.7%, p=0.018) and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (14.5% vs. 5.3%, p=0.016). Almost all patients with ulcerations and necrosis required treatment with systemic glucocorticoids compared to the rest (90.9% vs. 57.8%,p=0.031). Conclusion: We observed that patients with purpuric rash spread above the waist have more frequently affected gastrointestinal system and a higher incidence of IgAVN . The prevalence of ulcerations and necrosis in IgAV is less common than the standard purpuric rash and this group of patients required systemic glucocorticoid therapy.Uvod: IgA vaskulitis (IgAV ) najčešći je sistemski vaskulitis dječje dobi. Purpurični osip ključan je kriterij za dijagnozu IgAV -a, a najčešće je rasprostranjen po donjim udovima i gluteusima, iako može biti proširen i na atipičnim mjestima poput lica, trupa i gornjih udova. U najtežim slučajevima mogu biti prisutne ulceracije, nekroze i bule. Cilj: Utvrditi osobitosti kožnih promjena u bolesnika s IgAV -om te ispitati njihovu povezanost s kliničkim značajkama. Ispitanici i metode: Retrospektivna analiza podataka bolesnika s IgAV -om dijagnosticiranih i liječenih u Referentnom centru za pedijatrijsku i adolescentnu reumatologiju Ministarstva zdravstva RH, u razdoblju od siječnja 2009. do prosinca 2021. godine. Rezultati: IgAV je dijagnosticiran u 234 bolesnika, 124 dječaka i 110 djevojčica s medijanom (rasponom) dobi u trenutku dijagnoze 6,5 (4,5 – 8,2) godina. Svi su bolesnici imali kožni osip, a u njih 127 (54,3%) IgAV je i započeo osipom. Kožne promjene najčešće su bile zastupljene u obliku palpabilne purpure i/ili petehija (87,2%) i u svih bolesnika bile su lokalizirane po donjim udovima. U 103 bolesnika (44%) kožni osip se dalje proširio na ruke, trup i/ili lice. U 47 bolesnika (20,1%) došlo je do barem jednog recidiva kožnih promjena. Najteže kožne promjene u vidu ulceracija i nekroza razvilo je 11 bolesnika (4,7%). Bolesnici s kožnim promjenama proširenim iznad donjih udova imali su statistički značajno češće zahvaćen gastrointestinalni sustav u odnosu na bolesnike s kožnim osipom ograničenim na donje udove i glutealno (50,5% u odnosu na 36,6%, p=0,033), veću pojavnost nefritisa (IgAVN) (31,1% u odnosu na 19,8%, p=0,048) te su češće liječeni sistemskim glukokortikoidima (68% u odnosu na 52,7%, p=0,018) i inhibitorima angiotenzin konvertaze (14,5% u odnosu na 5,3%, p=0,016). Gotovi svi bolesnici s ulceracijama i nekrozama zahtjevali su liječenje sistemskim glukokortikoidima u odnosu na sve preostale bolesnike (90,9% u odnosu na 57,8%, p=0,031). Zaključak: Uočili smo da bolesnici s kožnim osipom proširenim iznad donjih udova imaju češće zahvaćen gastrointestinalni sustav i češću pojavu IgAVN -a. Učestalost ulceracija i nekroza u IgAV -u rjeđa je od klasične slike kožnog osipa i takvi bolesnici zahtijevali su liječenje sistemskim glukokortikoidima

SiReAM - An Agent Based Virtual Marketplace for AEC-Bidding

Today´s procedures for the awarding of public construction performance contracts are mainly paper-based. Although the usage of electronic means is permitted in the VOB, the regulations are not sufficient yet. Especially software agents within the AEC-bidding process were not considered at all. The acceptance of an agent-based virtual marketplace for AEC-bidding depends on a reliable and trustworthy public key infrastructure according to the (German) digital signature act. Only if confidentiality, integrity, non-repudiation, and authentication are provided reliably, users will assign sensitive business processes like public tendering procedures to software agents. The development of a secure agent-based virtual marketplace for AEC-bidding according to legal regulations is an entirely new approach from a technical as well as from a legal point of view. The objective of this research project is the development of intelligent software-agents which are able to legally call for bids, to calculate proposals, and to award the successful bidder