SARS - eine verpasste Chance für politische Reformen in China? Eine kritische Reflexion des chinesischen Krisenmanagements im Kontext innen- und außenpolitischer Implikationen

"Die im Frühjahr 2003 in China ausgebrochene Lungenkrankheit SARS sowie die monatelangen Bestrebungen der Pekinger Führung, Verlauf, Dimension und Opferzahl der Seuche geheimzuhalten, lassen die Frage nach politischen Reformen in dem fernöstlichen Land wieder lauter werden. Als Peking nach 22 Wochen der Geheimhaltung erstmals Fehler eingestand und erste Köpfe, so die des Hauptstadtbürgermeisters und der Gesundheitsministerin, rollten, zeigte sich das Ausmaß der Folgeschäden des chinesischen Fehlverhaltens auch auf globaler Bühne - die Kehrseite der in der vernetzten Welt herrschenden Mobilität und Interdependenz hatte sich in erschreckender Klarheit geoffenbart. Die Instrumentalisierung der Katastrophe durch den auf dem 16. Parteitag der Kommunistischen Partei Chinas abtretenden Jiang Zemin bzw. dessen Nachfolger der 'Vierten Generation' machten darüber hinaus ebenso wie das mit dem Abklingen der Seuche einhergehende Ende der informationspolitischen Toleranz deutlich, wie weit das Land von einer 'chinesischen Glasnost' oder gar dem Zusammenbruch der kommunistischen Herrschaft entfernt ist. Sicher - SARS hat an den Grundfesten des Systems genagt und dessen internationaler Reputation geschadet. Dessen Ende jedoch ist, auch dank des stabilen Wirtschaftswachstums im derzeitigen China, noch lange nicht in Sicht." (Autorenreferat

Peking und die Wahlen in Hongkong: Auswirkungen auf die Stabilität der ehemaligen Kronkolonie und die Taiwanfrage

"Bei den Wahlen zum Legislative Council in der Sonderverwaltungszone (SVR) Hongkong gewannen 2004 zwar erneut die Pekingtreuen Kräfte, doch nimmt dies den anhaltenden Protesten der Hongkonger gegen die unbeliebte und von der chinesischen Führung getragene Regierung Tung nichts an Vehemenz. Seit einem Jahrzehnt stehen sich in der SVR das prochinesische und das prodemokratische Parteienlager gegenüber, wobei letzterem trotz der von vielen unterstützten Forderung nach Reformen ein Sieg bislang verwehrt blieb. Die Peking-feindliche Stimmung in Hongkong hat ihre Ursachen: Die systematische Aushöhlung der Pressefreiheit und die Bevorzugung Peking-freundlicher Medien hat die Menschen ebenso erbost wie die sinkende Toleranz gegenüber Dissidentengruppen und die Zunahme der Repressionen gegenüber China-kritischen Politikern. Was die VR China zudem nervös macht - die Entwicklung in der SVR bleibt auch in Taiwan nicht unbemerkt, jener Region, deren Anschluss sich Peking so sehr wünscht. In der Tat haben die Wahlerfolge der prochinesischen Parteien den Konflikt zwischen Peking und der SVR nicht gelöst. Der Wunsch nach mehr Demokratie, aber auch die gesellschaftliche Dynamik in Hongkong sind Fakten. Beide zu unterdrücken dürfte sich Peking kaum leisten können." (Autorenreferat

Efecto de dos sistemas de labranzas en genotipos transgénicos de algodón (Gossypium hirsutum L.) En el Valle del Sinú

To contribute to the design of a plan of handling for transgenic genotypes, agreed with the environmental conditions of the Sinú valley, will allow the optimization of the use of this technology. It is of interest to establish a line base of handling information for the transgenic cotton genotypes by means of the evaluation of system of efficient and profitable farming in the use of the varieties RR and Bt. The work was made in the C.I. Turipaná, a design of divided parcels was used (factors: farming and variety), three replicates. The height of the plant was lower in the conventional system farming, the conditions of movement of the ground in direct seedtime did not allow to greater conservation of the stored water and growth in the cotton plants. The height was not affected by the variety. The number of branches, specks, retention of structure by position and sites with abortion of fruits were not affected by the factors analyzed nor its interaction. The varieties Opal Delta and NuOpal were superior in yields to the presented/displayed ones by variety RR. This difference of the yield was possibly due to the effect of the gene incorporated in the variety RR on the physiology of the plant. Direct seedtime presented/displayed favorable conditions such as greater humidity retention so that a greater weight of speck is expressed. Economically the best treatment was direct Sowing of Opal Delta with a rate of marginal return of 18,4%.Contribuir al diseño de un plan de manejo para genotipos transgénicos, acorde con las condiciones ambientales de la zona del Valle del Sinú, permitirá la optimización del uso de esta tecnología. Es de interés establecer una línea base de información de manejo de los genotipos transgénicos de algodón mediante la evaluación de sistema de labranza eficiente y rentable en el uso de las variedades RR (Roundup Ready) y Bt ( Bacillus thurigiensis). El trabajo se realizó en el C.I. Turipaná, se utilizó un diseño de parcelas divididas (factores: labranza y variedad), con tres repeticiones. La altura de la planta fue menor en el sistema de labranza convencional, las condiciones de la siembra directa permitieron mayor conservación de agua almacenada en el suelo y crecimiento de las plantas. La altura no fue afectada por la variedad, el número de ramas, motas, retención de estructura por posición y sitios con aborto de frutos no fueron afectados por los factores analizados ni su interacción. Las variedades Delta Opal y NuOpal fueron superiores en rendimientos a los presentados por la variedad RR; esta diferencia del rendimiento se debió posiblemente al efecto que produce el gen incorporado en la variedad RR sobre la fisiología de la planta. La siembra directa presentó condiciones favorables tales como mayor retención de humedad para que se exprese un mayor peso de mota en las variedades evaluadas. Económicamente el mejor tratamiento fue siembra directa con material Delta Opal con una tasa de retorno marginal de 18,4

Diel metabolic patterns in a migratory oceanic copepod

© The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Tarrant, A. M., McNamara-Bordewick, N., Blanco-Bercial, L., Miccoli, A., & Maas, A. E. Diel metabolic patterns in a migratory oceanic copepod. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 545, (2021): 151643, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2021.151643.Diel vertical migration of zooplankton profoundly impacts the transport of nutrients and carbon through the water column. Despite the acknowledged importance of this active flux to ocean biogeochemistry, these contributions remain poorly constrained, in part because daily variations in metabolic rates are not considered or are modeled as simple functions of temperature. To address this uncertainty, we sampled the subtropical copepod Pleuromamma xiphias at 4- to 7-h intervals throughout the daily migration and measured rates of oxygen consumption, ammonium excretion, fecal pellet production and metabolic enzyme activity. No significant patterns were detected in rates of oxygen consumption or ammonium excretion for freshly caught animals over the diel cycle. Fecal pellet production was highest during mid-night, consistent with several hours of feeding near the surface. Surface feeding resulted in fecal pellet production at depth in the morning, providing direct evidence that active flux of particulate organic carbon occurs in this region. Electron transport system activity was highest during the afternoon, contrary to our prediction of reduced daytime metabolism. Activity of both glutamate dehydrogenase and citrate synthase increased during early night, reflecting higher capacity for excretion and aerobic respiration, respectively. Overall, these results show that activities of metabolic enzymes vary during diel vertical migration. The surprising observation of elevated afternoon enzyme activity coupled with daytime fecal pellet and ammonium production suggests that additional characterization of the daytime activity of migratory zooplankton is warranted.This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [Grants OCE-1829318 to AEMand LBB, and OCE-1829378 to AMT]. Support for NM-B was provided by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's Summer Student Fellows Program

A structural determinant required for RNA editing

RNA editing by adenosine deaminases acting on RNAs (ADARs) can be both specific and non-specific, depending on the substrate. Specific editing of particular adenosines may depend on the overall sequence and structural context. However, the detailed mechanisms underlying these preferences are not fully understood. Here, we show that duplex structures mimicking an editing site in the Gabra3 pre-mRNA unexpectedly fail to support RNA editing at the Gabra3 I/M site, although phylogenetic analysis suggest an evolutionarily conserved duplex structure essential for efficient RNA editing. These unusual results led us to revisit the structural requirement for this editing by mutagenesis analysis. In vivo nuclear injection experiments of mutated editing substrates demonstrate that a non-conserved structure is a determinant for editing. This structure contains bulges either on the same or the strand opposing the edited adenosine. The position of these bulges and the distance to the edited base regulate editing. Moreover, elevated folding temperature can lead to a switch in RNA editing suggesting an RNA structural change. Our results indicate the importance of RNA tertiary structure in determining RNA editing

Momentary mood response to natural outdoor environments in four European cities

Exposure to natural outdoor environments (NOE) has been shown in population-level studies to reduce anxiety and psychological distress. This study investigated how exposure to one’s everyday natural outdoor environments over one week influenced mood among residents of four European cities including Barcelona (Spain), Stoke-on-Trent (United Kingdom), Doetinchem (The Netherlands) and Kaunas (Lithuania). Participants (n = 368) wore a smartphone equipped with software applications to track location and mood (using mobile ecological momentary assessment (EMA) software), for seven consecutive days. We estimated random-effects ordered logistic regression models to examine the association between mood (positive and negative affect), and exposure to green space, represented by two binary variables indicating exposure versus no exposure to NOE using GPS tracking and satellite and aerial imagery, 10 and 30 min prior to participants’ completing the EMA. Models were adjusted for home city, day of the week, hour of the day, EMA survey type, residential NOE exposure, and sex, age, education level, mental health status and neighbourhood socioeconomic status. In addition, we tested for heterogeneity of effect by city, sex, age, residential NOE exposure and mental health status. Within 10 min of NOE exposure, compared to non-exposure, we found that overall there was a positive relationship with positive affect (OR: 1.39, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.81) of EMA surveys, and non-significant negative association with negative affect (OR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.58, 1.10). When stratifying, associations were consistently found for Stoke-on-Trent inhabitants and men, while findings by age group were inconsistent. Weaker and less consistent associations were found for exposure 30 min prior to EMA. Our findings support increasing evidence of psychological and mental health benefits of exposure to natural outdoor environments, especially among urban populations such as those included in our study

Towards a European Health Research and Innovation Cloud (HRIC)

The European Union (EU) initiative on the Digital Transformation of Health and Care (Digicare) aims to provide the conditions necessary for building a secure, flexible, and decentralized digital health infrastructure. Creating a European Health Research and Innovation Cloud (HRIC) within this environment should enable data sharing and analysis for health research across the EU, in compliance with data protection legislation while preserving the full trust of the participants. Such a HRIC should learn from and build on existing data infrastructures, integrate best practices, and focus on the concrete needs of the community in terms of technologies, governance, management, regulation, and ethics requirements. Here, we describe the vision and expected benefits of digital data sharing in health research activities and present a roadmap that fosters the opportunities while answering the challenges of implementing a HRIC. For this, we put forward five specific recommendations and action points to ensure that a European HRIC: i) is built on established standards and guidelines, providing cloud technologies through an open and decentralized infrastructure; ii) is developed and certified to the highest standards of interoperability and data security that can be trusted by all stakeholders; iii) is supported by a robust ethical and legal framework that is compliant with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR); iv) establishes a proper environment for the training of new generations of data and medical scientists; and v) stimulates research and innovation in transnational collaborations through public and private initiatives and partnerships funded by the EU through Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe

Spliceosome malfunction causes neurodevelopmental disorders with overlapping features

Pre-mRNA splicing is a highly coordinated process. While its dysregulation has been linked to neurological deficits, our understanding of the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms remains limited. We implicated pathogenic variants in U2AF2 and PRPF19, encoding spliceosome subunits in neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), by identifying 46 unrelated individuals with 23 de novo U2AF2 missense variants (including 7 recurrent variants in 30 individuals) and 6 individuals with de novo PRPF19 variants. Eight U2AF2 variants dysregulated splicing of a model substrate. Neuritogenesis was reduced in human neurons differentiated from human pluripotent stem cells carrying two U2AF2 hyper-recurrent variants. Neural loss of function (LoF) of the Drosophila orthologs U2af50 and Prp19 led to lethality, abnormal mushroom body (MB) patterning, and social deficits, which were differentially rescued by wild-type and mutant U2AF2 or PRPF19. Transcriptome profiling revealed splicing substrates or effectors (including Rbfox1, a third splicing factor), which rescued MB defects in U2af50deficient flies. Upon reanalysis of negative clinical exomes followed by data sharing, we further identified 6 patients with NDD who carried RBFOX1 missense variants which, by in vitro testing, showed LoF. Our study implicates 3 splicing factors as NDD-causative genes and establishes a genetic network with hierarchy underlying human brain development and function

Heterozygous Variants in KMT2E Cause a Spectrum of Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Epilepsy.

We delineate a KMT2E-related neurodevelopmental disorder on the basis of 38 individuals in 36 families. This study includes 31 distinct heterozygous variants in KMT2E (28 ascertained from Matchmaker Exchange and three previously reported), and four individuals with chromosome 7q22.2-22.23 microdeletions encompassing KMT2E (one previously reported). Almost all variants occurred de novo, and most were truncating. Most affected individuals with protein-truncating variants presented with mild intellectual disability. One-quarter of individuals met criteria for autism. Additional common features include macrocephaly, hypotonia, functional gastrointestinal abnormalities, and a subtle facial gestalt. Epilepsy was present in about one-fifth of individuals with truncating variants and was responsive to treatment with anti-epileptic medications in almost all. More than 70% of the individuals were male, and expressivity was variable by sex; epilepsy was more common in females and autism more common in males. The four individuals with microdeletions encompassing KMT2E generally presented similarly to those with truncating variants, but the degree of developmental delay was greater. The group of four individuals with missense variants in KMT2E presented with the most severe developmental delays. Epilepsy was present in all individuals with missense variants, often manifesting as treatment-resistant infantile epileptic encephalopathy. Microcephaly was also common in this group. Haploinsufficiency versus gain-of-function or dominant-negative effects specific to these missense variants in KMT2E might explain this divergence in phenotype, but requires independent validation. Disruptive variants in KMT2E are an under-recognized cause of neurodevelopmental abnormalities