During the day, a non-uniform distribution of long and short wavelength light generates a colour gradient across the sky. This gradient could be used as a compass cue, particularly by animals such as dung beetles that rely primarily on celestial cues for orientation. Here, we tested if dung beetles can use spectral cues for orientation by presenting them with monochromatic (green and UV) light spo

Within the family of voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs), L-type channels (L-VGCCs) represent a well-established therapeutic target for calcium channel blockers, which are widely used to treat hypertension and myocardial ischemia. L-VGCCs outside the cardiovascular system also control key physiological processes such as neuronal plasticity, sensory cell function (e.g. in the inner ear and retin

Environmental effects on population growth are often quantified by coupling environmental covariates with population time series, using statistical models that make particular assumptions about the shape of density dependence. We hypothesized that faulty assumptions about the shape of density dependence can bias estimated effect sizes of temporally autocorrelated covariates. We investigated the pr

New drill cores from the largest known impact structure in Europe, the relict of the Siljan meteorite crater, provide new possibilities to reconstruct Early Palaeozoic marine environments and ecosystems, and to document changes in sedimentary facies, sea level and palaeoclimate in Baltoscandia. The impact crater is an important target of the project "Concentric Impact Structures in the Palaeozoic"

In this work, the syntheses of covalently grafted C-protected Cu(II)-amino acid (methylesters of l-histidine and l-cystine) uniform and mixed ligand complexes with two different amino acid esters are described using chloropropylated silica gel as the support. The conditions of the syntheses were systematically altered. The structural features of the substances obtained were studied by the Kjeldahl

Although -synuclein (-SYN) aggregation is a hallmark of sporadic and familial Parkinsons disease (PD), it is not known how it contributes to early events of PD pathogenesis such as oxidative and inflammatory stress. Here, we addressed this question in a new animal model based on stereotaxic delivery of an adeno-associated viral vector (rAAV) for expression of human -SYN in the ventral midbrain of

Objectives: Hairdressers have several work-related health hazards. Little is known of their strategies for the work environment. The aim of this study was to explore female hairdressers' own views on their physical, social and psychological work environment as possibilities of influencing it, implementation of their knowledge, financial impacts and how work-related symptoms affect their views. Met

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common, dangerous and interesting. Susceptible individuals experience multiple, often clustered episodes, and in a subset of patients, infections progress to acute pyelonephritis (APN), sometimes accompanied by uro-sepsis. Others develop asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU). Here, we review the molecular basis for these differences, with the intention to distinguish e

Measurements of charged particle distributions, sensitive to the underlying event, have been performed with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are based on data collected using a minimum-bias trigger to select proton-proton collisions at center-of-mass energies of 900 GeV and 7 TeV. The "underlying event" is defined as those aspects of a hadronic interaction attributed not to the hard

Platelet-derived growth factor A-chain (PDGF-A) exists in two evolutionarily conserved isoforms, PDGF-Along and PDGF-Ashort, generated by alternative RNA splicing. They differ by the presence (in PDGF-Along) or absence (in PDGF-Ashort) of a carboxyterminal heparin/heparan sulfate proteoglycan-binding motif. In mice, similar motifs present in other members of the PDGF and vascular endothelial growt

Phytate, the major source of phosphorus in seeds, exists as a complex with different metal ions. Alkaline phytases are known to dephosphorylate phytate complexed with calcium ions in contrast to acid phytases that act only on phytic acid. A recombinant alkaline phytase from Bacillus sp. MD2 has been purified and characterized with respect to the effect of divalent metal ions on the enzyme activity

Apolipoprotein M (apoM) is a member of the lipocalin super family and circulates in plasma attached to high density lipoprotein particles. ApoM plays a role in cholesterol metabolism and has recently been identified as transporter for the signaling lipid Sphingosine-1-Phosphate (S1P) in plasma. S1P is implicated in several inflammatory diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis.

A new step-by-step comprehensive MR physics simulator (MRISIMUL) of the Bloch equations is presented. The aim was to develop a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) simulator that makes no assumptions with respect to the underlying pulse sequence and also allows for complex large-scale analysis on a single computer without requiring simplifications of the MRI model. We hypothesized that such a simulati

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) is a pleiotropic cytokine with the capability to act as tumour suppressor or tumour promoter depending on the cellular context. TGF-beta receptor type-2 (TGFBR2) is the ligand-binding receptor for all members of the TGF-β family. Data from mouse model experiments demonstrated that loss of Tgfbr2 expression in mammary fibroblasts was linked to tumour initiati

Biotic homogenization (BH) is a process whereby some species (losers) are systematically replaced by others (winners). While this process has been related to the effects of anthropogenic activities, whether and how BH is occurring across regions and the role of native species as a driver of BH has hardly been investigated. Here, we examine the trend in the community specialization index (CSI) for

We have studied whether the efficiency of alchemical free-energy calculations with the Bennett acceptance ratio method of protein-ligand binding energies can be improved by simulating only part of the protein. To this end, we solvated the full protein in a spherical droplet with a radius of 46 angstrom, surrounded by a vacuum. Then, we systematically reduced the size of the droplet and at the same