Klärteiche als "Tertiärbiotop" mit Bedeutung für den Naturschutz

Bis 1992 als Klärschlammdeponie genutzte Teiche in Bramsche-Achmer haben sich für viele Wat- und Wasservogelarten zwischenzeitlich zu einem bedeutenden Lebensraum entwickelt. In dem ca. 3 ha großen Gebiet brüteten 1993-1995 mehrere Arten der "Roten-Liste". Für Rastvögel besitzt das Gebiet lokale bis regionale (= landesweite) Bedeutung. Die Situation der Feuchtgebietsarten in der mitteleuropäischen Kulturlandschaft und die Bedeutung von künstlichen Feuchtgebieten als Trittsteinbiotope wird diskutiert. Gestaltungsvorschläge werden unterbreitet.Sewage plants - a tertiary habitat for nature. A small area of approx. 3 ha near Bramsche, Lower Saxony, formerly used as asewage plant, is still of importance for many waders and waterfowl. Some highly endangered species bred there between 1993-1995, e.g. Teal Anas crecca, Spotted Crake Porzana porzana. The site was also of local and regional importance for many migrating species. The situation of wetlands and the role of artifical wetlands for birds are discussed. Proposals for habitat management and nature conservation measures are given

Zum Bestand des Eisvogels Alcedo atthis in der Stadt Osnabrück im Jahr 2001

Bei Synchronerfassungen durch Studenten der FH Osnabrück wurden im Stadtgebiet Osnabrück (120 km2) maximal 12 Eisvögel am 18. Oktober 2000 beobachtet. Im Frühjahr 2001 wurden alle potenziell geeigneten Gewässer mindestens einmal gezielt auf Brutvorkommen untersucht. Dabei konnten insgesamt neun besetzte Reviere festgestellt werden, in sieben wurde der Brutplatz gefunden. Nach einer Reihe milder Winter war der Brutbestand 2001 im Vergleich zu bislang vorliegenden Schätzungen sehr hoch. Zum Schutz der Vorkommen werden einige Vorschläge unterbreitet.In 2000/2001 we studied in cooperation with students of the Fachhochschule Osnabrück the populations of wintering and breeding kingfishers in the city of Osnabrück (120 km2). In mid of October 12 birds were counted simultaneously, in December just five birds. In the breeding season nine pairs of kingfisher set up territories. In seven cases we located the breeding holes. In comparison to earlier estimates the breeding population was very high in 2001. This might be due to several mild winters in the last decade, since long lasting cold spells were found to present bottlenecks for wintering kingfishers. We discuss several measures for conservation of this species in the city of Osnabrück

Wiesenvogelbestände im Naturschutzgebiet Daschfeld (Landkreis Osnabrück)

In den Jahren 1999, 2003 und 2006 wurden im Naturschutzgebiet Daschfeld (130 ha) die Brutbestände der Wiesenvogelarten erfasst. Mit 4-5 Brutpaaren (BP) ist der Bestand des Großen Brachvogels stabil. Die Bruterfolge lagen zwischen 0,4 und 0,6 flüggen Jungvögeln/BP, was zum Bestandserhalt ausreichen sollte. Das Gebiet ist eines der wichtigsten Vorkommen der Art im Landkreis Osnabrück. Darüber hinaus konnten weitere in Niedersachsen gefährdete und im Landkreis Osnabrück seltene Wiesenvogelarten festgestellt werden (darunter auch Wachtelkönig, Tüpfelsumpfhuhn und Braunkehlchen). Das Gebiet erfüllt unter der aktuellen Nutzung seinen Schutzzweck. Es werden einige Vorschläge zur weiteren Optimierung des Naturschutzgebietes für Wiesenvögel unterbreitet.Monitoring of meadow birds was carried out in the nature reserve Daschfeld in Lower Saxony (Landkreis Osnabrück) in 1999, 2003 and 2006. About half of the 130 ha meadows were used under strict protection measures, the other part under moderate restrictions. Breeding population of Curlew was stable with 4-5 pairs. Breeding success was 0.4 fledglings per breeding pair in 1999 and 0.6 in 2003, which is sufficient to maintain the population of this species. The site is among the most important breeding sites for Curlews in the region. Moreover there could be found several other threatened and in the region rare meadow bird species like Corncrake, Spotted Crake or Winchat. Although the site actually fulfills the purpose of conservation order some measurements were discussed to improve conditions for meadow birds

On the metric dimension of corona product graphs

Given a set of vertices $S=\{v_1,v_2,...,v_k\}$ of a connected graph $G$, the metric representation of a vertex $v$ of $G$ with respect to $S$ is the vector $r(v|S)=(d(v,v_1),d(v,v_2),...,d(v,v_k))$, where $d(v,v_i)$, $i\in \{1,...,k\}$ denotes the distance between $v$ and $v_i$. $S$ is a resolving set for $G$ if for every pair of vertices $u,v$ of $G$, $r(u|S)\ne r(v|S)$. The metric dimension of $G$, $dim(G)$, is the minimum cardinality of any resolving set for $G$. Let $G$ and $H$ be two graphs of order $n_1$ and $n_2$, respectively. The corona product $G\odot H$ is defined as the graph obtained from $G$ and $H$ by taking one copy of $G$ and $n_1$ copies of $H$ and joining by an edge each vertex from the $i^{th}$-copy of $H$ with the $i^{th}$-vertex of $G$. For any integer $k\ge 2$, we define the graph $G\odot^k H$ recursively from $G\odot H$ as $G\odot^k H=(G\odot^{k-1} H)\odot H$. We give several results on the metric dimension of $G\odot^k H$. For instance, we show that given two connected graphs $G$ and $H$ of order $n_1\ge 2$ and $n_2\ge 2$, respectively, if the diameter of $H$ is at most two, then $dim(G\odot^k H)=n_1(n_2+1)^{k-1}dim(H)$. Moreover, if $n_2\ge 7$ and the diameter of $H$ is greater than five or $H$ is a cycle graph, then $dim(G\odot^k H)=n_1(n_2+1)^{k-1}dim(K_1\odot H).

Augmenter of Liver Regeneration Reduces Ischemia Reperfusion Injury by Less Chemokine Expression, Gr-1 Infiltration and Oxidative Stress

Hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) is a major complication in liver resection and transplantation. Here, we analyzed the impact of recombinant human augmenter of liver regeneration (rALR), an anti-oxidative and anti-apoptotic protein, on the deleterious process induced by ischemia reperfusion (IR). Application of rALR reduced tissue damage (necrosis), levels of lipid peroxidation (oxidative stress) and expression of anti-oxidative genes in a mouse IRI model. Damage associated molecule pattern (DAMP) and inflammatory cytokines such as HMGB1 and TNF alpha, were not affected by rALR. Furthermore, we evaluated infiltration of inflammatory cells into liver tissue after IRI and found no change in CD3 or gamma delta TCR positive cells, or expression of IL17/IFN gamma by gamma delta TCR cells. The quantity of Gr-1 positive cells (neutrophils), and therefore, myeloperoxidase activity, was lower in rALR-treated mice. Moreover, we found under hypoxic conditions attenuated ROS levels after ALR treatment in RAW264.7 cells and in primary mouse hepatocytes. Application of rALR also led to reduced expression of chemo-attractants like CXCL1, CXCL2 and CCl2 in hepatocytes. In addition, ALR expression was increased in IR mouse livers after 3 h and in biopsies from human liver transplants with minimal signs of tissue damage. Therefore, ALR attenuates IRI through reduced neutrophil tissue infiltration mediated by lower expression of key hepatic chemokines and reduction of ROS generation

Resolving sets for Johnson and Kneser graphs

A set of vertices $S$ in a graph $G$ is a {\em resolving set} for $G$ if, for any two vertices $u,v$, there exists $x\in S$ such that the distances $d(u,x) \neq d(v,x)$. In this paper, we consider the Johnson graphs $J(n,k)$ and Kneser graphs $K(n,k)$, and obtain various constructions of resolving sets for these graphs. As well as general constructions, we show that various interesting combinatorial objects can be used to obtain resolving sets in these graphs, including (for Johnson graphs) projective planes and symmetric designs, as well as (for Kneser graphs) partial geometries, Hadamard matrices, Steiner systems and toroidal grids.Comment: 23 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabl

Ectopic Atrial Tachycardia in a 12-Month-Old Girl Treated With Ivabradine and Beta-Blocker, a Case Report

We report on a 12-month-old girl with an ectopic atrial tachycardia successfully treated with the combination of a beta blocking agent and Ivabradine that acts on cardiac pacemaker cells by selectively inhibiting the I(f)channel. Standard therapy had failed to control the tachycardia before. No side effects attributable to Ivabradine were noticed. Due to its mechanism of action Ivabradine is a promising novel agent for the therapy of tachycardia due to increased automaticity. Reports on the use of Ivabradine in young children or infants are rare, but show promising results for congenital junctional ectopic tachycardia. This report adds the second case of ectopic atrial tachycardia in this age group and novel treatment with Ivabradine to the literature

Interleukin-1ß Attenuates Expression of Augmenter of Liver Regeneration (ALR) by Regulating HNF4α Independent of c-Jun

Inflammasomes and innate immune cells have been shown to contribute to liver injury, thereby activating Kupffer cells, which release several cytokines, including IL-6, IL-1ß, and TNFα. Augmenter of liver regeneration (ALR) is a hepatotropic co-mitogen that was found to have anti-oxidative and anti-apoptotic properties and to attenuate experimental non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and cholestasis. Additionally, hepatic ALR expression is diminished in patients with NAFLD or cholestasis, but less is known about the mechanisms of its regulation under these conditions. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the role of IL-1ß in ALR expression and to elucidate the molecular mechanism of this regulation in vitro. We found that ALR promoter activity and mRNA and protein expression were reduced upon treatment with IL-1ß. Early growth response protein-1 (Egr-1), an ALR inducer, was induced by IL-1ß but could not activate ALR expression, which may be attributed to reduced Egr-1 binding to the ALR promoter. The expression and nuclear localization of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 α (HNF4α), another ALR-inducing transcription factor, was reduced by IL-1ß. Interestingly, c-Jun, a potential regulator of ALR and HNF4α, showed increased nuclear phosphorylation levels upon IL-1ß treatment but did not change the expression of ALR or HNF4α. In conclusion, this study offers evidence regarding the regulation of anti-apoptotic and anti-oxidative ALR by IL-1ß through reduced Egr-1 promoter binding and diminished HNF4α expression independent of c-Jun activation. Low ALR tissue levels in NAFLD and cholestatic liver injury may be caused by IL-1ß and contribute to disease progression

Plasma Cytokines and Chemokines in Primary Graft Dysfunction Post-Lung Transplantation

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72208/1/j.1600-6143.2008.02497.x.pd