Wie wirken die biologisch-dynamischen Präparate im Grünland?

Der Bericht zeigt die Ergebnisse eines zweijährigen Grünlandversuches zu der Wirkung biologisch-dynamischer Präparate auf. Neben der stoffbasierten Analyse aus der Qualitätsforschung, welche keine gesicherten Unterschiede der Varianten lieferte, konnte durch die Anwendung der bildschaffenden Methoden eine höhere Vitalität der mit Präparaten versehenen Varianten dargestellt werden

Anisotropic Bruggeman Effective Medium Approaches for Slanted Columnar Thin Films

Two different formalisms for the homogenization of composite materials containing ellipsoidal inclusions based on Bruggeman's original formula for spherical inclusions can be found in the literature. Both approximations determine the effective macroscopic permittivity of such an idealized composite assuming randomly distributed dielectric particles of equal shape and differ only in the definition of the depolarization factors. The two approaches are applied to analyze ellipsometric Mueller matrix spectra acquired in the visible and near-infrared spectral region from metal and semiconductor slanted columnar thin films. Furthermore, the effective dielectric function tensor generated by the two Bruggeman formalisms is compared to effective major axes dielectric functions individually determined with a homogeneous biaxial layer approach. Best-match model parameters of all three model approaches are discussed and compared to estimates from scanning electron microscope images. The structural parameters obtained from all three optical modeling approaches agree well with the electron microscopy technique. A comparative discussion is given for the validity and applicability of the three model approaches for analysis of future devices structures that may require optical readout using generalized ellipsometry methods.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 3 table

The Impact of Demographic Change on Human Capital Accumulation

This paper investigates whether and to what extent demographic change has an impact on human capital accumulation. The effect of the relative cohort size on educational attainment of young adults in Germany is analyzed utilizing data from the German Socio-Economic Panel for West-German individuals of the birth cohorts 1966 to 1986. These are the cohorts which entered the labor market since the 1980's. Particular attention is paid to the effect of changes in labor market conditions, which constitute an important channel through which demographic change may affect human capital accumulation. Our findings suggest that the variables measuring demographic change exert a considerable though heterogeneous impact on the human capital accumulation of young Germans. Changing labor market conditions during the 1980's and 1990's exhibit a sizeable impact on both the highest schooling and the highest professional degree obtained by younger cohorts.schooling, vocational training, demographic change

The Impact of Demographic Change on Human Capital Accumulation

This paper investigates whether and to what extent demographic change has an impact on human capital accumulation. The effect of the relative cohort size on educational attainment of young adults in Germany is analyzed utilizing data from the German Socio-Economic Panel forWest-German individuals of the birth cohorts 1966 to 1986. These are the cohorts which entered the labor market since the 1980’s. Particular attention is paid to the effect of changes in labor market conditions, which constitute an important channel through which demographic change may affect human capital accumulation. Our findings suggest that the variables measuring demographic change exert a considerable though heterogeneous impact on the human capital accumulation of young Germans. Changing labor market conditions during the 1980’s and 1990’s exhibit a sizeable impact on both the highest schooling and the highest professional degree obtained by younger cohorts.Demographic change, schooling, vocational training

Perceiving animacy from shape

Superordinate visual classification—for example, identifying an image as “animal,” “plant,” or “mineral”—is computationally challenging because radically different items (e.g., “octopus,” “dog”) must be grouped into a common class (“animal”). It is plausible that learning superordinate categories teaches us not only the membership of particular (familiar) items, but also general features that are shared across class members, aiding us in classifying novel (unfamiliar) items. Here, we investigated visual shape features associated with animate and inanimate classes. One group of participants viewed images of 75 unfamiliar and atypical items and provided separate ratings of how much each image looked like an animal, plant, and mineral. Results show systematic tradeoffs between the ratings, indicating a class-like organization of items. A second group rated each image in terms of 22 midlevel shape features (e.g., “symmetrical,” “curved”). The results confirm that superordinate classes are associated with particular shape features (e.g., “animals” generally have high “symmetry” ratings). Moreover, linear discriminant analysis based on the 22-D feature vectors predicts the perceived classes approximately as well as the ground truth classification. This suggests that a generic set of midlevel visual shape features forms the basis for superordinate classification of novel objects along the animacy continuum

The Impact of Demographic Change on Human Capital Accumulation

This paper investigates whether and to what extent demographic change has an impact on human capital accumulation. The effect of the relative cohort size on educational attainment of young adults in Germany is analyzed utilizing data from the German Socio-Economic Panel for West-German individuals of the birth cohorts 1966 to 1986. These are the cohorts which entered the labor market since the 1980's. Particular attention is paid to the effect of changes in labor market conditions, which constitute an important channel through which demographic change may affect human capital accumulation. Our findings suggest that the variables measuring demographic change exert a considerable though heterogeneous impact on the human capital accumulation of young Germans. Changing labor market conditions during the 1980's and 1990's exhibit a sizeable impact on both the highest schooling and the highest professional degree obtained by younger cohorts.Demographic Change, Schooling, Vocational Training

Ökologische Putenmast: Abstimmung von Genotyp, Haltung und Fütterung

In der Studie sollte überprüft werden, ob in der ökologischen Putenmast für das Verlustgeschehen sowie relevante Merkmale der Mastleistung und des Schlachtkörperwertes zwischen Genotyp (schnell (BIG 6) vs. langsam wachsende Herkunft (Kelly BBB)), Haltung (Auslauf vs. kein Auslauf) und Fütterung (Variante (M = mittlere Fütterungsintensität) vs. Variante (L = niedrige Fütterungsintensität) Interaktionen bestehen. Es wurde in zwei zeitlich aufeinander folgenden Durchgängen mit jeweils 192 Tieren (männliche Eintagsküken) eine vierphasige Mast durchgeführt (Aufzuchtphase, drei Mastphasen, Schlachtung in der 21. Lebenswoche). Die Haltung erfolgte in der Aufzuchtphase in einem klimatisierten Feststall. Die eigentlichen Mastphasen wurden in Mobilställen (mit oder ohne Auslaufmöglichkeit) absolviert. Für die Fütterungsgruppen wurden abgestufte ME- und Aminosäuren-Gehalte in den Alleinfuttermischungen eingestellt (Gruppe M: ca. 12 MJ ME/kg; Gruppe L ca. 11,0 MJ ME/kg). Es ergaben sich durchschnittliche Verluste in Höhe von 21%. Die Verluste traten gehäuft in der Aufzucht sowie am Ende der Mast auf. Hierbei waren bei den nahezu schlachtreifen Tieren Herz-/Kreislaufversagen häufige Abgangsursachen. Hiervon betroffen waren vornehmlich die Tiere der Haltungsgruppe ohne Auslauf. Die Herkunft BIG 6 zeigt sich in der Mehrzahl der Mastleistungsmerkmale der Herkunft Kelly BBB signifikant überlegen. Lediglich beim Futteraufwand pro kg Zuwachs unterscheiden sich die beiden Herkünfte nicht. Auch im Schlachtkörperwert weisen die BIG 6-Hähne signifikant höhere Gewichte auf (Schlachtkörpergewicht + 3,5 kg; Brustmenge + 1,5 kg). Die Mastputen mit Auslauf verzeichnen am Ende der Mast signifikant erhöhte Endgewichte und daraus folgend erhöhte Schlachtkörpergewichte sowie einen verbesserten Schlachtwert (Brustmenge + 0,7 kg). Puten, die mit ME-reduzierten Futtermischungen versorgt werden, zeigen auch unter Auslaufbedingungen eine Kompensation, indem sie erhöhte Futtermengen aufnehmen und nahezu gleiche Endgewichte erreichen. Eine ökologische Putenmast auf der Basis von Futtermischungen mit abgesenkten ME- und Aminosäuren-Gehalten, in Verbindung mit einem Auslaufangebot führt zu geringeren Tierverlusten und hohen Mast- und Schlachtleistungen. Für die untersuchten Merkmale können keine Genotyp-Umwelt-Interaktionen festgestellt werden

Mollusken im Auengrünland des Biosphärenreservates Mittelelbe vor und nach dem extremen Sommerhochwasser 2002

Hochwasserereignisse sind von besonderer Bedeutung, da sie die Auenlandschaft räumlich und zeitlich strukturieren und so eine große Vielfalt an Habitaten schaffen. Mollusken sind von großem Artenreichtum, der in den mitteleuropäischen Flussauen am höchsten ist. Sie sind relativ leicht zu determinieren und besitzen zudem eine geringe Mobilität und dementsprechend kleine Minimalareale. Darüber hinaus sind Ökologie und Habitatansprüche der meisten Arten gut bekannt. Dadurch eignen sich Mollusken sehr gut zur ökologischen Charakterisierung (Indikation) und zur naturschutzfachlichen Bewertung von Auenökosystemen. Obwohl in zahlreichen Studien bereits Molluskenzönosen in Auen beschrieben wurden, ist über die Reaktion von Mollusken auf Hochwasser, insbesondere Extremhochwasser, wenig bekannt, zumal kaum Daten vorliegen, die den Zustand vor und nach einem Extremereignis beschreiben. In diesem Beitrag werden die kurz- und mittelfristigen Auswirkungen des Sommerhochwassers 2002 auf Molluskengemeinschaften im Auengrünland der Mittleren Elbe beschrieben

Long-term in vivo imaging of fibrillar tau in the retina of P301S transgenic mice.

Tauopathies are widespread neurodegenerative disorders characterised by the intracellular accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau. Especially in Alzheimer's disease, pathological alterations in the retina are discussed as potential biomarkers to improve early diagnosis of the disease. Using mice expressing human mutant P301S tau, we demonstrate for the first time a straightforward optical approach for the in vivo detection of fibrillar tau in the retina. Longitudinal examinations of individual animals revealed the fate of single cells containing fibrillar tau and the progression of tau pathology over several months. This technique is most suitable to monitor therapeutic interventions aimed at reducing the accumulation of fibrillar tau. In order to evaluate if this approach can be translated to human diagnosis, we tried to detect fibrillar protein aggregates in the post-mortem retinas of patients that had suffered from Alzheimer's disease or Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. Even though we could detect hyperphosphorylated tau, we did not observe any fibrillar tau or Aß aggregates. In contradiction to previous studies, our observations do not support the notion that Aβ or tau in the retina are of diagnostic value in Alzheimer's disease

Interrelation of inflammation and APP in sIBM: IL-1 beta induces accumulation of beta-amyloid in skeletal muscle.

Distinct interrelationships between inflammation and beta-amyloid-associated degeneration, the two major hallmarks of the skeletal muscle pathology in sporadic inclusion body myositis (sIBM), have remained elusive. Expression of markers relevant for these pathomechanisms were analysed in biopsies of sIBM, polymyositis (PM), dermatomyositis (DM), dystrophic and non-myopathic muscle as controls, and cultured human myotubes. By quantitative PCR, a higher upregulation was noted for the mRNA-expression of CXCL-9, CCL-3, CCL-4, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha and IL-1 beta in sIBM muscle compared to PM, DM and controls. All inflammatory myopathies displayed overexpression of degeneration-associated markers, yet only in sIBM, expression of the mRNA of amyloid precursor protein (APP) significantly and consistently correlated with inflammation in the muscle and mRNA-levels of chemokines and IFN-gamma. Only in sIBM, immunohistochemical analysis revealed that inflammatory mediators including IL-1 beta co-localized to beta-amyloid depositions within myofibres. In human myotubes, exposure to IL-1 beta caused upregulation of APP with subsequent intracellular aggregation of beta-amyloid. Our data suggest that, in sIBM muscle, production of high amounts of pro-inflammatory mediators specifically induces beta-amyloid-associated degeneration. The observations may help to design targeted treatment strategies for chronic inflammatory disorders of the skeletal muscle