Leitlinien zur molekulargenetischen Diagnostik: Fragiles-X und Fragiles-X assoziiertes Tremor/Ataxie Syndrom

Ohne Zusammenfassung

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Individual variability of behavioural responses by Wandering Albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) to human disturbance

Sub-Antarctic Marion Island has had a permanent research station for 50 years and the islands Wandering Albatrosses have been intensively studied for 20 years. The reactions of breeding birds to approaches by a human on foot were recorded. Three response variables were calculated: intensity of vocal reaction (IVR), intensity of non-vocal reaction (INR) and overall response index (ORI). At 5 m from the nest, twice as many birds stood and/or vocalised as at 15 m. Nearest neighbour distance, age and gender did not explain individual variability of responses. Study colony birds had higher IVR scores than non-study colony birds; birds at colonies closest to the station had the highest ORI scores. A better breeding record was associated with lower IVR and ORI scores, but a causative relationship remains to be demonstrated. A minimum viewing distance of 25 m is recommended for breeding Wandering Albatrosses.

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neo-Clerodane diterpenoids from Ajuga: structural elucidation and biological activity

The presence of several types of allelochemicals has been reported from Ajuga, a Labiatae genus comprising more than 40 species of wide distribution in extratropical regions of both hemispheres. The genus is of great medicinal and economic importance and among the biological properties of the secondary metabolites, the antifeedant activity against pest insects appears to be related to the presence of neo-clerodane type diterpenes. This review focuses on the isolation and structural elucidation of this type of compounds from Ajuga species and the hemisynthetic compounds of closely related structure obtained. The reported biological activity of crude extracts and isolated diterpenes will be briefly commented.

A private management approach to coral reef conservation in Sabah,Malaysia

Many marine protected areas (MPAs), particularly in developing countries, have failed because of a lack of enforcement and monitoring due to limited public funds for conservation. Private investment and management in MPAs offers a potential solution, and has been applied with initial positive results at the Sugud Islands Marine Conservation Area (SIMCA) in Sabah, Malaysia. Conservation fees charged to visitors to Lankayan Island Dive Resort within the SIMCA have generated a sustainable source of financing to meet the majority of management costs for the conservation area, which is separately managed by a private organization called Reef Guardian. The availability of adequate funds has enabled Reef Guardian to invest in personnel training and surveillance technology to enforce the rules and regulations of the conservation area. In collaboration with government enforcement agencies, Reef Guardian has reduced threats such as illegal fishing and turtle egg poaching. As a result, there is a comparatively high abundance of commercially important fish, and turtle nestings at Lankayan Island have increased. Private management can be effective in conserving biodiversity in MPAs, and may well succeed regionally in suitable locations.

Two new species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mycena</Emphasis> from alpine sites in Norway

Mycena aphanes and Mycena exilis, belonging to section Filipedes and section Polyadelphia, are proposed as new species. They are described and illustrated and compared to other species in the two sections. Mycena aphanes is a strikingly characteristic Mycena with fulvous or yellowish brown colours of both pileus and stipe. Mycena exilis is characterized by its occurrence on fallen Salix leaves, a pale brown pileus, occasionally with a pale pink tinge, narrowly adnate lamellae, four-spored basidia, and the presence of clamp connections.

Predictive performance modelling of parallel component compositions

Large-scale scientific computing applications frequently make use of closely-coupled distributed parallel components. The performance of such applications is therefore dependent on the component parts and their interaction at run-time. This paper describes a methodology for predictive performance modelling and evaluation of parallel applications composed of multiple interacting components. In this paper, the fundamental steps and required operations involved in the modelling and evaluation process are identified—including component decomposition, component model combination, M×N communication modelling, dataflow analysis and overall performance evaluation. A case study is presented to illustrate the modelling process and the methodology is verified through experimental analysis.

Donor Perspectives on Issues Associated with Donation of Genetic Samples and Information: An Australian Viewpoint

This paper provides a legal overview of key issues associated with donation of genetic samples and information from a donor perspective. In particular, it addresses the property status of samples as well as issues in respect of consent, privacy, commercialisation and benefit sharing. The paper highlights the need for appropriate protection and safeguards for individuals, but also, importantly, for understanding what donors actually think and want in terms of genetic research and the use of their samples and information. The paper seeks to emphasise the importance of transparency and accountability in the conduct of research in order to maximise donor participation and confidence and public trust in general.

Evidence of gonochorism in a grouper, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mycteroperca rosacea</Emphasis>, from the Gulf of California,Mexico

The sexual pattern and sexual development of the leopard grouper, Mycteroperca rosacea, were investigated from 483 specimens collected from the Gulf of California, Mexico. Histological and population data indicated a gonochoric sexual pattern. Some juveniles passed through an immature bisexual phase of gonadal development, but no evidence of post-maturational sex change was found. The immature bisexual phase is believed to be associated only with male development. The size distribution and size at sexual maturity were similar for both males and females. In accordance with predictions of the size-advantage model, the gonochoric sexual pattern of M. rosacea is likely influenced by its group-spawning mating system.

Leaf Chlorophyll Fluorescence: Background and Fundamentals for Plant Biologists

This review on chlorophyll a fluorescence starts with an overview of the primary photochemistry occurring at PSII and a characterization of the so-called “open” and “closed” states of its reaction centers. This provides the theoretical background for understanding the origin of PSII-emitted fluorescence and how its yield varies with the fraction of open reaction centers. The review proceeds to discuss the changes in fluorescence emission following illumination of a dark-adapted leaf and to define the PSII intrinsic quantum yield of photochemistry, which in turn provides an indication of PSII capacity. In light-adapted leaves, it is discussed how the use of modulated fluorometers and the double lighting technique allow an evaluation of photochemical and non-photochemical quenching, two parameters that give useful information about the plant’s photosynthetic performance under field conditions. Finally, it is described how the PSII operational efficiency can be used to calculate the photosynthetic electron transport rate and the conditions under which this is linearly related to the CO₂ assimilation rate. Some requirements for a valid application of the technique as well as some limitations in interpreting its results are discussed.

Hennigian Phylogenetic Systematics and the ‘Groundplan’ vs. ‘Post-Groundplan’ Approaches: A Reply to Kukalová-Peck

The recent contribution by Jarmila Kukalová-Peck on Hennigian phylogenetics and hexapod limb evolution is critically evaluated.

Gridcast—a next generation broadcast infrastructure?

Gridcast is an R&D project investigating grid ideas and technologies in the broadcasting technical infrastructure. In this paper I discuss the business and technical issues in building infrastructures to support broadcasters and outline the structure of the Gridcast grid-based service oriented architecture for broadcasting playout support.

Is it a revolution?

Jablonka and Lamb's claim that evolutionary biology is undergoing a ‘revolution’ is queried. But the very concept of revolutionary change has uncertain application to a field organized in the manner of contemporary biology. The explanatory primacy of sequence properties is also discussed.

Population trend over 100?years and conservation needs of breeding sandwich terns ( Sterna sandvicensis ) on the German North Sea coast

The breeding population of the sandwich tern (Sterna sandvicensis) on the German North Sea coast has undergone substantial fluctuations throughout the last 100 years. Numbers of breeding birds were fluctuating quite strongly in the first 30 years of the twentieth century. From 1930 to the mid-1950s, a relatively steady decrease occurred. A minimum was reached in 1965 with 2,243 pairs. Around 1970, numbers increased quite markedly up to the mid-1990s and reached a centurial maximum with 10,138 pairs in 1996. Most recently, the numbers have dropped to only 5,681 pairs in 2005, the lowest number over the last 30 years. Some colonies have existed over long periods, others only for short periods, with often substantial and sudden changes. The distribution at sea was studied by transect counts from ships. During the reproductive period, high totals were found between the mainland coast and the islands, up to 30 km from the outer coast/island line. The seaward extent of the sandwich tern distribution coincided quite well with the 20-m depth line. Maximum foraging ranges for single colonies were estimated to be ca. 45 km for Trischen, ca. 35 km for Norderoog and ca. 30 km for both Scharh?rn/Nigeh?rn and Juist. Overall flight ranges for all colonies were estimated at 33.8 km for 95% of the birds. Germany has a high international responsibility for the protection of this species. Only a few colonies exist every year, making this species very vulnerable to anthropogenic disturbance, pollution events and fishing activities.

Metabolic activity interferometer: description and calibration of an interferometric method to measure growth of mycobacteria

An interferometer that measures the refractive index changes due to bacterial metabolism is described. The apparatus permits simultaneous and real time measurement of bacterial growth in several samples of slowly growing mycobacteria. The error sources are discussed and the sensitivity of the apparatus is tested. For the species Mycobacterium bovis BCG and M. smegmatis, a relation between refractive index change and bacterial concentration is determined experimentally and the time constant of bacterial growth is measured.

Hierarchical analysis of piecewise affine models of gene regulatory networks

A key point in the analysis of dynamical models of biological systems is to handle systems of relatively high dimensions. In the present paper we propose a method to hierarchically organize a certain type of piecewise affine (PWA) differential systems. This specific class of systems has been extensively studied for the past few years, as it provides a good framework to model gene regulatory networks. The method, shown on several examples, allows a qualitative analysis of the asymptotic behavior of a PWA system, decomposing it into several smaller subsystems. This technique, based on the well-known strongly connected components decomposition, is not new. However, its adaptation to the non-smooth PWA differential equations turns out to be quite relevant because of the strong discrete structure underlying these equations. Its biological relevance is shown on a 7-dimensional PWA system modeling the gene network responsible for the carbon starvation response in Escherichia coli.

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An autonomic provisioning framework for outsourcing data center based on virtual appliances

As outsourcing data centers emerge to host applications and services from many different organizations, it is critical for data center owners to isolate different applications while dynamically and optimally allocate sharable resources among them. To address this issue, we propose a virtual-appliance-based autonomic resource provisioning framework for large virtualized data centers. We present the architecture of the data center with enriched autonomic features. We define a non-linear constrained optimization model for dynamic resource provisioning and present a novel analytic solution. Key factors, including virtualization overhead and reconfiguration delay, are incorporated into the model. Experimental results based on a prototype demonstrate that the system-level performance has been greatly improved by taking advantage of fine-grained server consolidation, and the whole system exhibits flexible adaptation in failure scenarios. Experiments with the impact of switching delay also show the efficiency of the framework due to significantly reduced provisioning time.

Piaroa Manioc Varietals: Hyperdiversity or Social Currency?

The maintenance of exceptionally high numbers of folk varieties by the Piaroa people of the Venezuelan Amazon is considered. We cataloged 113 manioc folk varieties, their nomenclature, use and relevant characters, revealing significant insights into the role of manioc in Piaroa social life. Through a qualitative investigation of the cultivation, processing and symbolic significance of manioc (Manihot esculenta) in two Piaroa regions over a period of 18 years, we have found that such agrobiodiversity can only be fully explained by a combination of multiple factors, including pragmatic and ecological considerations, the subtle and complex diversity of Piaroa manioc preparations and a variety of sociocultural factors, such as manioc’s role as a mediator of social relationships and as a marker of cultural and social heritage.