Diverse and rich fortified cultural heritage of the Iberian Peninsula. Basis for culture tourism with the European Culture Route Fortified Monuments FORTE CULTURA®

[EN] Fortresses are architectural pearls, cultural sites, event locations, experience places and memorials, mostly situated at breath-taking places on mountains, rivers or in the under-ground. Fortresses are monuments of common European history, they mirror the past into the present, connect cultures and offer deep insights into the historical conflicts. Fortified monuments are part of what makes Europe unique and attractive. This cultural heritage has to be preserved and made accessible for the culture tourism at the same time. The Iberian fortified heritage has big potential for new culture touristic topics and travel routes away from mass tourism. Therefore, cultural routes are a useful instrument. The European Culture Route Fortified Monuments –FORTE CULTURA®– is the European umbrella brand for fortress tourism. It offers useful instruments for international marketing of fortified monuments. The implementation of the attractive architectura militaris of the Iberian Peninsula into the culture route FORTE CULTURA® makes it possible to network this culture asset touristically, make it visible and experienceable on international tourism markets and market it Europe-wide. By implementing a new touristic regional brand “FORTE CULTURA – Iberian Fortified Heritage” the qualified culture tourism will be addressed. This supports a balance between over and under presented monuments and extends the sphere of activity of local actors onto whole Europe.Neumann, H.; Röder, D.; Röder, H. (2020). Diverse and rich fortified cultural heritage of the Iberian Peninsula. Basis for culture tourism with the European Culture Route Fortified Monuments FORTE CULTURA®. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 971-976. https://doi.org/10.4995/FORTMED2020.2020.11394OCS97197

The Quark-Mass Dependence of T_C in QCD: Working up from m=0 or down from m=infinity ?

We analyze the dependence of the QCD transition temperature on the quark (or pion) mass. We find that a linear sigma model, which links the transition to chiral symmetry restoration, predicts a much stronger dependence of T_c on m_pi than seen in present lattice data for m_pi >~ 0.4 GeV. On the other hand, working down from m_pi=infinity, an effective Lagrangian for the Polyakov loop requires only small explicit symmetry breaking, b_1 ~ exp(-m_pi), to describe T_c(m_pi) in the above mass range. Physically, this is a consequence of the flat potential (large correlation length) for the Polyakov loop in the three-color pure gauge theory at T_c. We quantitatively estimate the end point of the line of first order deconfining phase transitions: m_pi = 1.8 GeV and Tc = 240 MeV for three flavors and three colors.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures; v2: renormalization of vacuum fluctuations in the linear sigma model and some references added; final version to appear in PR

Entwicklung des Datenangebots und deren Nachfrage in neun Jahren Forschungsdatenzentrum der Rentenversicherung (2004 bis 2012)

"Der vorliegende Aufsatz dokumentiert einerseits das unter Einhaltung des Datenschutzes und der Datensicherheit aufbereitete Datenangebot des Forschungsdatenzentrums der Ren-tenversicherung (FDZ-RV). Andererseits wird die Entwicklung der Nachfrage nach diesen Daten seit der Gründung des Forschungsdatenzentrums im Jahr 2004 skizziert. Das Daten-angebot wurde kontinuierlich erweitert und umfasst inzwischen Querschnitts- wie Längs-schnittsdaten der Renten-, Versicherten- sowie Rehabilitationsstatistiken. Die Entwicklung und Bereitstellung der FDZ-RV-Daten bietet den Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftlern die Möglichkeit Analysen in den Themenfeldern Alterssicherung, Rehabilitationsleistungen, Erwerbsbiografien und weiterer Themen zu erforschen. Die Datenprodukte finden eine stei-gende Nachfrage: zunehmend mehr Wissen Schaffende verschiedener Disziplinen, die an Universitäten und Forschungsinstituten beschäftigt sind, beantragen die Mikrodaten des For-schungsdatenzentrums und gehen mit dem FDZ-RV Kooperationsprojekte ein. Die wach-sende Nachfrage nach Daten spiegelt sich auch in einem Zuwachs an Veröffentlichungen wider, der im beobachteten Zeitraum zu verzeichnen ist." [Autorenreferat] Inhalt: 1. Einleitung; 2. Datenangebot und Zugangswege; 3. Qualität der Daten; 4. Datennachfrage und auf dieser basierende Publikationen; 5. Forschungsschwerpunkte; 6. Zusammenfassun

Chiral symmetry restoration in linear sigma models with different numbers of quark flavors

Chiral symmetry restoration at nonzero temperature is studied in the framework of the O(4) linear sigma model and the U(N_f)_r x U(N_f)_l linear sigma model with N_f=2,3, and 4 quark flavors. We investigate the temperature dependence of the masses of the scalar and pseudoscalar mesons, and the non-strange, strange, and charm condensates within the Hartree approximation as derived from the Cornwall-Jackiw-Tomboulis formalism. We find that the masses of the non-strange and strange mesons at nonzero temperature depend sensitively on the particular symmetry of the model and the number of light quark flavors N_f. On the other hand, due to the large charm quark mass, neither do charmed mesons significantly affect the properties of the other mesons, nor do their masses change appreciably in the temperature range around the chiral symmetry restoration temperature. In the chiral limit, the transition temperatures for chiral symmetry restoration are surprisingly close to those found in lattice QCD.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figure

Optical control of a receptor-linked guanylyl cyclase using a photoswitchable peptidic hormone

The photoswitchable peptidomimetic hormone TOP271 allows the precise optical control of cGMP generation via the receptor-linked enzyme NPR-A in explanted aortic rings and islets of Langerhans.</p

Die neue Kartieranleitung zur Erfassung aktueller Wassererosionsformen

Das DVWK-Merkblatt 239 „Bodenerosion durch Wasser – Kartieranleitung zur Erfassung aktueller Erosionsformen“ bietet seit 1996 den Standard für die Erosionskartierung für angewandte und wissenschaftliche Fragestellungen. Diese Kartieranleitung ermöglicht die Einschätzung von Erosionsursachen, -auswirkungen und -schäden und wird in der Wasserwirtschaft, dem Bodenschutz und in der Landwirtschaft angewendet. Allerdings haben sich Erfordernisse und Nutzungsmöglichkeiten inzwischen verändert. So müssen beispielsweise für die digitale Umsetzung der Symbole und Parameter in der Datenverarbeitung eindeutige Schlüssel gefunden werden. Neue technische Werkzeuge bei der Aufnahme der Geländeparameter - wie der Einsatz von Koptern und Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) - sind zu berücksichtigen. Darüber hinaus gelten inzwischen neue rechtliche Regelungen, welche die Bedeutung der Erosionskartierung hervorheben. Eine Arbeitsgruppe der Deutschen Vereinigung für Wasserwirtschaft, Abwasser und Abfall und des Bundesverbands Boden befasst sich mit der Aktualisierung der Kartieranleitung und stellt den Entwurf der Neufassung vor

Conditional and Reversible Activation of Class A and B G Protein-Coupled Receptors Using Tethered Pharmacology

Understanding the activation and internalization of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) using conditional approaches is paramount to developing new therapeutic strategies. Here, we describe the design, synthesis, and testing of ExONatide, a benzylguanine-linked peptide agonist of the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R), a class B GPCR required for maintenance of glucose levels in humans. ExONatide covalently binds to SNAP-tagged GLP-1R-expressing cells, leading to prolonged cAMP generation, Ca2+ rises, and intracellular retention of the receptor. These effects were readily switched OFF following cleavage of the introduced disulfide bridge using the cell-permeable reducing agent beta-mercaptoethanol (BME). A similar approach could be extended to a class A GPCR using GhrelON, a benzylguanine-linked peptide agonist of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor 1a (GHS-R1a), which is involved in food intake and growth. Thus, ExONatide and GhrelON allow SNAP-tag-directed activation of class A and B GPCRs involved in gut hormone signaling in a reversible manner. This tactic, termed reductively cleavable agONist (RECON), may be useful for understanding GLP-1R and GHS-R1a function both in vitro and in vivo, with applicability across GPCRs

Inhibition of ADAM17 impairs endothelial cell necroptosis and blocks metastasis

Metastasis is the major cause of death in cancer patients. Circulating tumor cells need to migrate through the endothelial layer of blood vessels to escape the hostile circulation and establish metastases at distant organ sites. Here, we identified the membrane-bound metalloprotease ADAM17 on endothelial cells as a key driver of metastasis. We show that TNFR1-dependent tumor cell–induced endothelial cell death, tumor cell extravasation, and subsequent metastatic seeding is dependent on the activity of endothelial ADAM17. Moreover, we reveal that ADAM17-mediated TNFR1 ectodomain shedding and subsequent processing by the γ-secretase complex is required for the induction of TNF-induced necroptosis. Consequently, genetic ablation of ADAM17 in endothelial cells as well as short-term pharmacological inhibition of ADAM17 prevents long-term metastases formation in the lung. Thus, our data identified ADAM17 as a novel essential regulator of necroptosis and as a new promising target for antimetastatic and advanced-stage cancer therapie

Effects on the Ventilation of a Two-Storey Building under Different Thermal Conditions

In this paper it is shown how the air flow rate of decentralized ventilation devices can be affected by a staircase of a two-storey building under different thermal conditions. Since these devices need local fans for supplying the requested volume flow, pressure loads have a significant impact on the delivered volume flow rates. Regarding this, the study comprises two analyses: First, a CFD-model is developed to simulate the ventilation air flow through a simplified staircase. By varying parameters for rooms’ temperature and ventilation direction, the hydrostatic pressure in the staircase is evaluated. The simulations – characterized by high Archimedes numbers – are successfully validated with findings from preliminary work. In a second part, the pressure conditions inside the staircase are referred to outside conditions. Consequently, a static pressure difference at the ventilation device on each storey can be observed. We found that the deliverable volume air flow rate can decrease up to 10 % from the nominal flow rate due to temperature differences between the storeys and outside. Therefore, heat recovery and ventilation effectiveness may also be impaired