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Physiological processes of terrestrial plants regulate the land-atmosphere exchange of carbon, water, and energy, yet few studies have explored the acclimation responses of mature boreal conifer trees to climate change. Here we explored the acclimation responses of photosynthesis, respiration, and stomatal conductance to elevated temperature and/or CO2 concentration ([CO2]) in a 3-year field exper
Multiple sclerosis is a neuroinflammatory degenerative disease, caused by activated immune cells infiltrating the CNS. The disease etiology involves both genetic and environmental factors. The mouse genetic locus, Eae27, linked to disease development in the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model for multiple sclerosis, was studied in order to identify contributing disease susceptibi
This dissertation deals with memory, recognition and solidarity in the Nowa Huta district of Kraków, Poland. Nowa Huta was founded as an independent, socialist model town in 1949, together with the large Lenin Steel Plant, and was incorporated into Kraków in 1951. In the 1980s the steel plant and district became one of the main centers of the oppositional Solidarity movement in Poland. Situated be
Radical energy efficiency improvements are needed to keep global warming within 1.5 °C until the end of the century. Minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) are a widely applied policy instrument to improve the energy efficiency of appliances and reduce CO2 emissions, but they are criticized as redundant if an overarching carbon pricing scheme is in place. In order to better understand how MEP
Small-angle scattering of X-rays and neutrons is a routine method for the determination of nanoparticle sizes. The so-called Guinier law represents the low-q approximation for the small-angle scattering curve from an assembly of particles. The Guinier law has originally been derived for nonmagnetic particle-matrix-type systems and it is successfully employed for the estimation of particle sizes in
For a long time, laboratory work has been an important part of science teaching. Curricular objectives of laboratory work have remained mostly unchanged for over a century but have changed somewhat over the past sixty years as a result of political decisions and educational trends. Technology development is reflected in the increased use of digital equipment, which has also led to continuously cha
The shear plate dowel joint (SPDJ) is a novel connection design for heavy timber structures. The connection uses a single large diameter dowel and glued-on steel plates to transfer loads between members. Consequently, the design of the dowel is of great influence for the global performance of the connection. This paper presents an experimental and numerical investigation of the influence of the ge
Most migrating birds need to stopover in between flights in order to refuel. Lately, additional purposes of stopover have been suggested, including physiological recovery from metabolically demanding migratory flight. One apparently unavoidable, but harmful physiological effect of migratory flight is increased oxidative damage to lipids and proteins. We here, for the first time, tested whether mig
Pleiotropy (multiple phenotypic effects of single genes) and epistasis (gene interaction) have key roles in the development of complex phenotypes, especially in polymorphic taxa. The development of discrete and heritable phenotypic polymorphisms often emerges from major-effect genes that interact with other loci and have pleiotropic effects on multiple traits. We quantified gene expression changes
BACKGROUND: Myocardial and coronary endothelial injury occurs in donor hearts due to warm ischemia during cardiac transplantation. Coronary endothelial structure and function play a critical role in long-term outcomes for patients after cardiac transplantation. OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of hypoxia-induced warm ischemia (20 minutes) on coronary endothelial function of porcine donor hearts afte
Glycero-3-phosphocholine (GPC), the product of the complete deacylation of phosphatidylcholine (PC), was long thought to not be a substrate for reacylation. However, it was recently shown that cell-free extracts from yeast and plants could acylate GPC with acyl groups from acyl-CoA. By screening enzyme activities of extracts derived from a yeast knock-out collection, we were able to identify and c
Physical cognition involves a host of cognitive abilities that enable understanding and manipulation of the physical world. Corvids, the bird family that includes crows, ravens and jays, are renowned for their cognitive abilities, but still little is known about their folk physics. This thesis explores the origins of physical cognition in corvids by investigating its mechanisms, development,fitnes
In order to meet the incremental requirements from clients, fifth generation Wireless Local Area Network(WLAN) protocol IEEE 802.11ac provides a lot more throughput than his predecessors. However, in all distributed channel access 802.11 protocols, probability of packet loss increases with respect to number of available stations; consecutive packet losses in link layer activates congestion control
Recent experiments have suggested that high energy charge carriers can have a significant effect on the operation of group III nitride (III-N) light-emitting diodes (LEDs), possibly playing an important role in the efficiency droop. As hot carriers are not accounted for by device simulation tools based on drift-diffusion (DD) and quasiequilibrium conditions, more advanced tools are needed. Here, f
Some species of long-distance migrant birds are thought to follow spatiotemporal patterns of high food availability during the non-breeding season, a strategy termed "itinerancy," instead of being sedentary in one specific site. We tracked the migration of a small Eurasian songbird, the Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus), using archival light-level geolocators. The birds showed a distinct c
In this work, we studied cobalt nitride (Co-N) thin films deposited using a dc magnetron sputtering method at a substrate temperature (Ts) of 523 K. We find that independent of the reactive gas flow (RN2 ) used during sputtering, the phases of Co-N formed at this temperature seems to be identical having N at.% ∼ 5. This is contrary to Co-N phases formed at lower Ts. For example at Ts∼ 300 K, an ev
The derivation of dopamine neurons from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) now offers a promising alternative to fetal tissue for cell replacement therapy (CRT) in Parkinson´s disease (PD). Using the appropriate chemical cues in vitro, hESCs can be patterned towards bona-fide ventral midbrain (VM) DA neurons that survive, reinnervate, release DA and provide functional recovery when transplanted in
Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative affliction to which researchers have long striven to find a cure. The human embryo is a source of vital cells used in regenerative medicine, as well as a powerful symbol of life. Using foetal cells from aborted embryos for transplantation to the brains of Parkinson patients is an avenue that has been explored by neuroscientists on and off for the last thi
Vietnam is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change impacts, especially from extreme weather events such as storms and floods. Thus, climate change adaptation is crucial, especially for natural resource-dependent farmers. Based on a qualitative research approach using a feminist political ecology lens, this article investigates gendered patterns of rural agrarian livelihoods and clim
We ask what caused poverty to decline in Brazil during the first decade of the 21st century. Our contribution lies in the introduction of a structural change perspective to assess the evolution of poverty by considering the sectoral impact of growth and the social policies at the federal, state and municipal level. By structural change we mean the recomposition of output and employment over time.
