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1. Despite recent interest in linkages between above- and below-ground communities and their consequences for ecosystem processes, much remains unknown about their responses to long-term ecosystem change. We synthesize multiple lines of evidence from a long-term natural experiment to illustrate how ecosystem retrogression (the decline in ecosystem process rates due to long-term absence of major di

Network re-optimization is a process that must be triggered periodically in order to improve the inefficient resource allocation of online routing heuristics due to the uncertainty of online lightpath demand arrivals and departures. Network re-optimization involves two tasks: a) finding new lightpaths for a (sub)set of current demands, i.e. rerouting, and b) migrating the current traffic to the ne

In this study, the residual stresses in a thermal-sprayed tungsten carbide-cobalt coating are numerically investigated after a plasma-spraying process and after a subsequent roller-burnishing process. The results from the simulations are compared to the first experimental results obtained by a classical hole-drilling method. First, effective material parameters are identified by a detailed microst

When double-stranded DNA molecules are heated, or exposed to denaturing agents, the two strands are separated. The statistical physics of this process has a long history and is commonly described in terms of the Poland-Scheraga (PS) model. Crucial to this model is the configurational entropy for a melted region (compared to the entropy of an intact region of the same size), quantified by the loop

Whether chromosome abnormalities observed in tumor cells may in some cases reflect low-grade somatic mosaicism for anomalies present already at zygote formation, rather than acquired somatic mutations, has for long remained a speculation. We here report a patient with Wilms tumor, where constitutional somatic mosaicism of trisomy 8 was detected in a previously healthy 2 ½-year-old boy. Single Nucl

Monogenic causes of autoimmunity provide key insights into the complex regulation of the immune system. We report a new monogenic cause of autoimmunity resulting from de novo germline activating STAT3 mutations in five individuals with a spectrum of early-onset autoimmune disease, including type 1 diabetes. These findings emphasize the critical role of STAT3 in autoimmune disease and contrast with

The main purpose of the recently introduced Bürger-Diehl simulation model for secondary settling tanks was to resolve spatial discretization problems when both hindered settling and the phenomena of compression and dispersion are included. Straightforward time integration unfortunately means long computational times. The next step in the development is to introduce and investigate time-integration

We use a 2-dimensional (2-D) Vernier gated-ring-oscillator (GRO) time-to-digital-converter (TDC) in a cascade structure (MASH), so that a larger raw quantization step can be allowed without sacrificing the final resolution performance. The 2-D approach effectively reduces the latency time under a large input, while the MASH structure provides a 2nd-order noise shaping that produces a lower in-band

Leukocyte migration into the epithelial compartment is an important feature in the active phase of mycobacterial infections. In this study, we used the Transwell model to investigate the mechanisms behind mycobacteria-induced leukocyte recruitment and investigated the role of TLR2 and TLR4 in this process. Infection of epithelial cells resulted in significantly increased secretion of the neutrophi

Over the last decade, a great variety of visionary ideas and beliefs have been brought forward, regarding the potentials of using computer games as a tool for learning and mediation in educational settings. This thesis aims at contributing to research in this field, by empirically exploring what happens when students play and reflect on their computer game play in science education. Three empirica

For a prepared state exact expressions for the time-dependent mean fidelity as well as for the mean inverse participation ratio are obtained analytically. The prepared state is taken as an eigenstate of the unperturbed system, and the studied fidelity is identical to the survival probability. The full distribution functions of fidelity in the long-time limit and of inverse participation ratio are

In this study, five different flexible osmium based redox polymers were investigated for their ability to efficiently "wire" the oxidoreductase pyranose dehydrogenase (PDH, EC 1.1.99.29) from Agaricus meleagris, on graphite electrodes for possible applications in biofuel cells. A series of newly synthesised osmium based redox polymers covering the potential range between -270 and +160mV vs. Ag|AgC

On the basis of a T = 1 icosahedral capsid model, the capsomer-polyion co-assembly process has been investigated by molecular dynamics simulations using capsomers with different net charge and charge distribution as well as linear, branched, and hyper-branched polyions. The assembly process was characterized in terms of the time-dependent cluster size probabilities, averaged cluster size, encapsul

Psychoanalysis opens a variety of windows into understanding contemporary consumption and consumerism. The psychoanalytic theory of defence and the unconscious enables us to understand why commodities, from fast cars to luxury chocolate, so readily stand in to offer substitute gratification for deeper repressed desires and why the meaning of such commodities is liable to become mobile and unstable