Alamandine and Its Receptor MrgD Pair Up to Join the Protective Arm of the Renin-Angiotensin System

Only a few years ago, alamandine was found to be a member of the protective arm of the renin-angiotensin system. It turned out to be an endogenous ligand of the G protein-coupled receptor MrgD. So far, MrgD had predominantly been studied in a neuronal context. The expression of the receptor in non-neuronal tissue showed hitherto unknown effects mediated by MrgD, most strikingly alamandine-induced vasodilation. Alamandine being a part of the non-classical renin-angiotensin system, a protective role of receptor activation seemed natural. This review summarizes the different effects of MrgD activation by alamandine in vasculature, in the central nervous system, and in organs as kidney and heart. Alamandine and MrgD are promising novel drug targets to protect the kidney and heart through anti-hypertensive actions

Genetically Encoded Calcium Indicators: A New Tool in Renal Hypertension Research

Hypertension is ranked as the third cause of disability-adjusted life-years. The percentage of the population suffering from hypertension will continue to increase over the next years. Renovascular disease is one of the most common causes of secondary hypertension. Vascular changes seen in hypertension are partially based on dysfunctional calcium signaling. This signaling can be studied using calcium indicators (loading dyes and genetically encoded calcium indicators; GECIs). Most progress in development has been seen in GECIs, which are used in an increasing number of publications concerning calcium signaling in vasculature and the kidney. The use of transgenic mouse models expressing GECIs will facilitate new possibilities to study dysfunctional calcium signaling in a cell type-specific manner, thus helping to identify more specific targets for treatment of (renal) hypertension

Hamiltonian approach to Yang-Mills theory in Coulomb gauge

Recent results obtained within the Hamiltonian approach to continuum Yang-Mills theory in Coulomb gauge are reviewed.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the ``Quark Confinement and the hadron spectrum VII'' (Portugal 2006) conference proceeding

Ovulatory cycle shifts in human mating psychology - Implications for the evolution of concealed ovulation and female oestrus

Die Existenz von ovulationsbezogenen Zyklusveränderungen in der menschlichen Paarungspsychologie und deren Rolle für die menschliche Fortpflanzung wird seit langem diskutiert. Bisherige Forschung deutet darauf hin, dass Frauen spezifische Veränderung in ihrer Paarungspsychologie während ihrer fertilen Phase ihres Ovulationszyklus zeigen und Männer ebenfalls entsprechende Adaptationen in ihrer Paarungspsychologie aufweisen. Frühere Studien sind jedoch zu großen Teilen von methodischen Schwächen in Studiendesign und Stichprobengröße sowie von analytischer Flexibilität gekennzeichnet, was den Informationsgehalt dieser Studien stark beeinträchtigt. Das Ziel dieser Dissertation und meiner drei zugehörigen Manuskripte war es, diese methodischen Schwächen zu überwinden und somit unser Verständnis von der Natur und Funktion von ovulationsbezogenen Zyklusveränderungen zu erweitern. Die Ergebnisse in Manuskript 1 zeigen, dass Frauen in ihrer fertilen Phase Anstiege in selbst wahrgenommener Attraktivität und verwandten Konstrukten erleben, was zuvor in diesem Ausmaß nicht berichtet wurde. Die Ergebnisse in Manuskript 2 zeigen, dass Frauen zudem robuste Anstiege in ihrer sexuellen Motivation und ihrem sexuellen Verhalten berichten und gleichzeitig weniger Nahrung zu sich nehmen, wenn sie fertil sind. Die Ergebnisse in Manuskript 3 zeigen, dass die männlichen Partner der in Manuskript 2 untersuchten Frauen keine Hinweisreize zur fertilen Phase wahrnehmen. Außerdem zeigten Männer keine Anstiege in ihren Strategien zur Paarerhaltung, um Zugang zu ihren fertilen Partnerinnen zu sichern. Die Ergebnisse meiner Dissertation unterstützen die Theorie eines möglichen adaptiven Wechsels für Frauen in der motivationalen Priorisierung von Sex und Essen über den weiblichen Ovulationszyklus hinweg. Nullbefunde zu möglichen Anpassungen auf die weibliche fertile Phase in Männern hinterfragen jedoch andere aktuelle theoretische Ansätze zur Erklärung von ovulationsbezogenenen Adaptationen bei Männern. Obwohl weitere theoretische und empirische Arbeit nötig ist bevor klare Aussagen getroffen werden können, deuten die Ergebnisse meiner Dissertation darauf hin, dass Frauen möglicherweise eine Oestrus-ähnliche sexuelle Phase besitzen, die jedoch nicht notwendigerweise mit wahrnehmbaren Hinweisreizen verbunden ist. Mit dieser Arbeit bringe ich die derzeitigen wissenschaftlichen Debatten voran und versuche, Widersprüche zwischen bisheriger Zyklusforschung und evolutionären Modellen zu lösen, die auf der Notwendigkeit einer versteckten Ovulation aufbauen.The existence of ovulatory cycle shifts in human mating psychology and their function for reproduction have been subject to a long-standing debate. Past research has provided initial evidence that women experience distinct shifts in their mating psychology during their fertile window and further suggested evolved counteradaptations in men’s mating psychology as well. However, widespread methodological shortcomings in study design, sample size and analytical flexibility restrict the informational value of most of these studies. Using data from two large, preregistered diary studies, I sought to address these methodological shortcomings and thereby advance our understanding of the nature and function of ovulatory cycle shifts in human mating psychology with my three complementing manuscripts. In Manuscript 1, my co-authors and I found that women experienced several ovulatory increases in their self-perceived attractiveness and related constructs that had not been reported before. In Manuscript 2, we found that women also experienced robust ovulatory increases in their sexual motivation and behaviour as well as concurrent ovulatory decreases in their food intake. In Manuscript 3, we found that male partners of those women analysed in Manuscript 2 did neither perceive cues to women’s fertility status nor showed increased mate retention tactics to secure access to their fertile partners. In the face of current debates about ovulatory cycle shifts, my dissertation provides empirical support for a possible adaptive shift in motivational priorities regarding sex and food in women. Results further question the validity of theoretical predictions of counteradaptations to women’s fertile phase in men. While I stress the need for further theoretical and empirical work, one possible implication of this dissertation is that women might have retained an oestrus-like sexual phase which is not necessarily linked to perceptible cues to fertility. Thus, my dissertation advances the scientific discourse while easing the tension between research on ovulatory cycle shifts and evolutionary theories based on concealment of women’s fertility status.2022-02-0

Infrared analysis of propagators and vertices of Yang--Mills theory in Landau and Coulomb gauge

The infrared behaviour of gluon and ghost propagators, ghost-gluon vertex and three-gluon vertex is investigated for both the covariant Landau and the non-covariant Coulomb gauge. Assuming infrared ghost dominance, we find a unique infrared exponent in the d=4 Landau gauge, while in the d=3+1 Coulomb gauge we find two different infrared exponents. We also show that a finite dressing of the ghost-gluon vertex has no influence on the infrared exponents. Finally, we determine the infrared behaviour of the three-gluon vertex analytically and calculate it numerically at the symmetric point in the Coulomb gauge.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev. D, references added, typos correcte