Temperate forests cover 25% of the world's forest area and most of them are managed for timber production. To increase yields, native deciduous trees have been commonly replaced by fast-growing conifers, especially in Western and Central Europe. Despite the importance of forest soils for a variety of ecosystem functions, the effects of forest management intensity on soil biological processes have not yet been sufficiently understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFisheries social-ecological systems (SES) in the North Sea region confront multifaceted challenges stemming from environmental changes, offshore wind farm expansion, and marine protected area establishment. In this paper, we demonstrate the utility of a Bayesian Belief Network (BN) approach in comprehensively capturing and assessing the intricate spatial dynamics within the German plaice-related fisheries SES. The BN integrates ecological, economic, and socio-cultural factors to generate high-resolution maps of profitability and adaptive capacity potential (ACP) as prospective management targets.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To investigate the prospects of a multigradient-echo (mGRE) acquisition for in vivo myelin water imaging at 0.55 T.
Methods: Scans were performed on the brain of four healthy volunteers at 0.
Purpose: To improve the gray/white matter contrast of magnetization prepared rapid gradient echo (MP-RAGE) MRI at 0.55 T by optimizing the acquisition and sequence kernel parameters.
Methods: A segmented magnetization prepared rapid gradient echo prototype sequence was implemented with (MP-RAGE*) and without (MP-FISP*) radiofrequency spoiling.
Synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs, "Spice") are a diverse group of recreational drugs, with their structural and pharmacological variability still evolving. Forensic toxicologists often rely on previous reports to assess their role in intoxication cases. This work provides detailed information on the "Spice"-related fatalities around Munich, Germany, from 2014 to 2020.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMultiple synostoses syndrome (OMIM: #186500, #610017, #612961, #617898) is a genetically heterogeneous group of autosomal dominant diseases characterized by abnormal bone unions. The joint fusions frequently involve the hands, feet, elbows or vertebrae. Pathogenic variants in have been associated with multiple synostoses syndrome type 3 (SYNS3).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSynthetic cathinones comprise psychostimulants with desired effects like euphoria, increased vigilance, appetite suppression, and-mainly depending on certain structural features-entactogenic properties. 3,4-EtPV (1-(bicyclo[4.2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDeficiency of Adenosine Deaminase Type 2 (DADA2) is a rare autosomal recessive inherited disorder with a variable phenotype including generalized or cerebral vasculitis and bone marrow failure. It is caused by variations in the adenosine deaminase 2 gene (), which leads to decreased adenosine deaminase 2 enzyme activity. Here we present three instructive scenarios that demonstrate DADA2 spectrum characteristics and provide a clear and thorough diagnostic and therapeutic workflow for effective patient care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNovel substances for which none or limited analytical data are available constitute a challenge for police and customs forensic laboratories. The time-consuming process of structural elucidation and acquisition of analytical data has been centralized in the ADEBAR project in Germany, co-funded since 2017 by the EU's Internal Security Fund. The project aims to comprehensively characterize substances relevant for forensic-toxicological casework within the analytical competence network.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNew chemical moieties continue to appear in synthetic cannabimimetics (SC), the largest group of new psychoactive substances in the EU. We describe the first comprehensive characterisation of the novel SC Cumyl-Tosyl-Indazole-3-Carboxamide (Cumyl-TsINACA) (N-[2-phenylpropan-2-yl]-1-tosyl-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide) from seized case samples. Structure elucidation was performed within the EU-project ADEBAR plus to facilitate confident identification by other researchers and practitioners worldwide.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSynthetic cannabimimetics (SC) are a diverse group of new psychoactive substances with varying potency and harm potential. New SCs appear on the drug market every year, and reliable and correct identification of these new derivatives independent from the matrix relies on the availability of verified spectra. Three new synthetic cannabimimetics featuring a norbornyl methyl side chain and varying core structure elements were identified in different seizures and forms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To show that for tissues the conspicuous asymmetries in the frequency response function of bSSFP can be mitigated by using a short enough TR.
Theory And Methods: Configuration theory indicates that bSSFP becomes apparently "pure" (i.e.
The chemokine CCL18 is produced in cells of the myelomonocytic lineage and represents one of the most highly expressed chemokines in lesional skin and serum of atopic dermatitis patients. We investigated the role of histamine in CCL18 production in human monocyte-derived M2 macrophages differentiated in the presence of M-CSF and activated with IL-4, IL-13 or with IL-10. Since expression and regulation of histamine H1 receptor (H1R), H2R and H4R by IL-4 and IL-13 on human M2 macrophages were described, we analyzed expression of the histamine receptors in response to IL-10 stimulation by quantitative RT-PCR.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAssessing the transport and reactive processes of contaminants in freshwater streams is crucial in managing water resources sustainably. Particularly the hyporheic zone, the sediment-water interface where surface water and groundwater mix, may possess significant contaminant removal capacities due to its myriad physical, chemical, and microbiological processes. However, modelling approaches aiming at assessing the hyporheic zone's reactivity are either based on simple assumptions, such as, predefining the shape of the residence times distribution (RTD) function, or are computationally not feasible due to a too detailed system characterisation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUrban streams receive increasing loads of organic micropollutants from treated wastewaters. A comprehensive understanding of the in-stream fate of micropollutants is thus of high interest for water quality management. Bedforms induce pumping effects considerably contributing to whole stream hyporheic exchange and are hotspots of biogeochemical turnover processes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To introduce phase-based conductivity mapping from a configuration space analysis.
Methods: The frequency response function of balanced SSFP (bSSFP) is used to perform a configuration space analysis. It is shown that the transceive phase for conductivity mapping can be directly obtained by a simple fast Fourier transform of a series of phase-cycled bSSFP scans.
Since the beginning of the phenomenon of new psychoactive substances (NPS), synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs) have been the largest and most prevalent subclass of these drugs in Europe. Many countries implemented specific legislation scheduling classes of substances defined on the basis of their chemical structure to reduce supply. We describe the identification and analytical characterization within the EU project ADEBAR plus of 1-(cyclobutylmethyl)-N-(2-phenylpropan-2-yl)-1H-indole-3-carboxamide which resulted in the formal notification through the Early Warning System of the European Monitoring Centre for Drug and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVerveri-Brady syndrome (VBS, # 617982) is a rare developmental disorder, and loss-of-function variants in QRICH1 were implicated in its etiology. Furthermore, a recognizable phenotype was proposed comprising delayed speech, learning difficulties and dysmorphic signs. Here, we present four unrelated individuals with one known nonsense variant (c.
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