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Abflussprozesse werden maßgeblich vom Boden gesteuert Da ausreichend aufgelöste Bodendaten in Gebirgsräumen nur selten zur Verfügung stehen, wurde anfaand eines kleinen alpinen Einzugsgebiets untersucht, inwieweit geomorphometrische Parameter zur Generierung von Abflussprozesskarten herangezogen werden und die fehlenden Informationen zumindest ansatzweise ersetzen können. Dazu wurde das Datamining-Programm CART (Classification and Regression Tree) benutzt. Ein mit Vegetationstypen und Reliefparametern als erklärende Variable erstellter Klassifikationsbaum konnte die zuvor erstellte hydrologische Raumgliederung sehr gut nachbilden. Als wichtigste Reliefparameter erwiesen sich dabei die horizontale und vertikale Krümmung sowie die Hangneigung (jeweils in der 690 m × 690 m-Umgebung) und der aus Neigung und Einzugsgebietsgröße abgeleitete Feudhteindex (Topographic wetness index).

Unter den bodenbildenden Faktoren kommt dem Relief eine dominierende Rolle zu. Dies zeigt sich insbesondere in Gebirgsräumen, wo die hohe Reliefenergie eine Vielzahl morphodynamischer Prozesse auslöst, die entscheidenden Einfluss auf die Bodenbildung haben. Auch die indirekten Wirkungen des Reliefs dürfen nicht vernachlässigt werden. So werden beispielsweise durch Höhenlage, Exposition und Neigung das Mikroklima und der lokale Wasserhaushalt, nicht zuletzt aber auch die Landnutzung mit bestimmt, was wiederum Verwitterung, Stoffverlagerung und Humusbildung der Böden maßgeblich beeinflusst.Die vorliegenden Ausführungen zeigen, wie Reliefinformationen für die Ableitung von Bodendaten nutzbar gemacht werden können und welches Potential die seit kurzer Zeit zur Verfügung stehenden, hochauflösenden Geländemodelle, basierend auf LiDAR-Daten, dafür bieten. Zudem werden die wichtigsten Zusatzinformationen in Hinblick auf die Bodenbildung herausgearbeitet. Neben den morphometrischen Analysen, welche auch Aussagen zum Wasserhaushalt und zur potentiellen Morphodynamik ermöglichen, betrifft dies die Vegetation und die Landnutzung sowie differenzierte Informationen über die quartären Lockergesteine. Die weitaus meisten Böden der Alpen haben sich auf Lockermaterial unterschiedlicher Genese und Struktur entwickelt, welches in den geologischen Karten meist jedoch nur unzureichend differenziert ist.An konkreten Beispielen wird der Einfluss des Reliefs auf die räumliche Verteilung der Böden für drei Reliefbereiche - die Tallagen, die mittleren Höhenlagen und die Hochlagen oberhalb der Waldgrenze - auf der Grundlage umfangreicher Geländebefunde aus den Ostalpen erläutert. Dabei zeigtsich nicht nur, dass dem Relief als steuerndem Faktor eine unterschiedlich große Bedeutung in den betrachteten Landschaftseinheiten zukommt, sondern auch, welche zusätzlichen Faktoren für die Bodenentwicklung am relevantesten sind: Für die Tallagen sind dies vor allem die fluviale Dynamik und der Wasserhaushalt, für die mittleren Lagen die spätglaziale und holozäne Morphodynamik sowie die Landnutzungsgeschichte und für die Lagen oberhalb der Waldgrenze die kleinräumig wechselnden Verhält-nisse von Mikroklima und Vegetation.Auf dieser Grundlage aufbauend kann eine Regelbasis entwickelt werden, die plausible, rechnergestützte Ableitungen von Bodeneigenschaften aus Sekundärinformationen ermöglicht. Derartige Ansätze des ,,Digital Soil Mapping sind gerade für die Alpen zu begrüßen, da Bodeninformationen hier nur sehr begrenzt vorliegen, für unterschiedliche ökologische Fragestellungen aber immer wichtiger werden. Dementsprechend ist die systematische Erhebung von Bodendaten auch in Artikel 19 des Bodenschutzprotokolls der Alpenkonvention gefordert.

Advanced treatment of residues from anaerobic digestion of leftovers and kitchen waste originating from an industrial waste treatment plant was carried out by means of cocomposting in order to reveal potential synergistic effects. After a retention time of two weeks in the anaerobic reactor, microbial activity of the residues remained high. The biogas produced is of use in combined heat and power generation. Lab-scale experiments in the liquid phase have demonstrated “cracking” of the anaerobic stabilized organic matter under aerobic conditions. The advanced aerobic treatment of residues from anaerobic digestion by means of cocomposting leads to high quality composts. The addition of output material to biowaste from the separated bin collection may improve the formation of humic substances. Extractable humic acids are considered to represent a reliable parameter in describing high quality composts. Thus, the improvement of humic acid formation by means of composting is a goal to be achieved. Process control was performed by assessing parameters such as loss of ignition, total organic carbon, nitrogen and humic acid content as well as by modern analytic methods like FT-IR spectroscopy and thermogravimetry.

The article presents profile of Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, which provide excellence training and musethica that combines intensive performance training and low-threshold concert offers with mutual benefits. Topics include group of international teachers at the Conservatory of Zaragoza joined forces with professors from the university; and active network with collaborations in numerous European countries and in Israel.

A very important aspect in the treatment of traumatic injuries is to determine the extent of skin involvement. Traditionally, this has involved clinical examinations, a more or less subjective technique. Therefore, various techniques, supplementing the clinical diagnosis, have been suggested, but none has yet achieved widespread clinical acceptance. Experiments have shown that the blood flow in injured tissue indicates the extent of tissue damage.

Normal erythropoiesis critically depends on the balance between the renewal of precursor cells and their differentiation. If the renewal phase is shortened, the decrease in the precursor pool results in anemia; conversely, impaired differentiation increases the number of proliferating progenitors and the potential risk of leukemic transformation. Using gene ablation, we have discovered 2 self-sustaining signal transduction loops that antagonize each other and regulate erythroid progenitor proliferation and differentiation, respectively. We identify Raf-1 as the main activator of the MEK/ERK cascade and as the key molecule in maintaining progenitor proliferation. Differentiation, in contrast, is mediated by Fas via the activation of both the ASK1/JNK/p38 module and the caspase cascade. The point of convergence between the 2 cascades is activated ERK, which positively feeds back on the proliferation pathway by maintaining the expression of Raf-1, while inhibiting the expression of Fas and therefore differentiation. In turn, Fas, once expressed, antagonizes proliferation by exerting a negative feedback on ERK activation and Raf-1 expression. Simultaneously, Fas-mediated caspase activation precipitates differentiation. These results identify Raf-1 and Fas as the key molecules whose expression finely tunes erythropoiesis and the extent of ERK activation as the switch that tips the balance between them. (Blood. 2006;108:152-159)

Pineal evolution is envisaged as a gradual transformation of pinealocytes (a gradual regression of pinealocyte sensory capacity within a particular cell line), the so-called sensory cell line of the pineal organ. In most non-mammals the pineal organ is a directly photosensory organ, while the pineal organ of mammals (epiphysis cerebri) is a non-sensory neuroendocrine organ under photoperiod control. The phylogenetic transformation of the pineal organ is reflected in the morphology and physiology of the main parenchymal cell type, the pinealocyte. In anamniotes, pinealocytes with retinal cone photoreceptor-like characteristics predominate, whereas in sauropsids so-called rudimentary photoreceptors predominate. These have well-developed secretory characteristics, and have been interpreted as intermediaries between the anamniote pineal photoreceptors and the mammalian non-sensory pinealocytes. We have re-examined the original studies on which the gradual transformation hypothesis of pineal evolution is based, and found that the evidence for this model of pineal evolution is ambiguous. In the light of recent advances in the understanding of neural development mechanisms, we propose a new hypothesis of pineal evolution, in which the old notion ‘gradual regression within the sensory cell line’ should be replaced with ‘changes in fate restriction within the neural lineage of the pineal field’.

AbstractSerum cholinesterase activities were measured in 300 patients with thermal injuries. The samples were drawn immediately upon admission and thereafter daily until the time of the patients' discharge or death. According to the burn severity a characteristic decrease was noted during the first days. The decline during the first 24 hours as well as its value (measured 24 hours after admission) was found to be correlated with the total body surface area burned. In all patients the decrease in cholinesterase activity persisted for days, but in patients with inhalation trauma this decrease was significantly greater than in patients without lung injury.It seems that serum cholinesterase activity reflects not only the presence of an inhalation trauma. The cholinesterase measurement seems to be also a good method to observe the course of illness after a burn injury. Our data suggest a correlation between cholinesterase activity and morbidity. The inhalation trauma aggravates the thermal trauma.

We have examined the responses of neurones in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of the rat to retinal illumination under photopic and scotopic conditions to identify the types of photoreceptor input to these nuclei.The majority of visually responsive SCN neurones studied under dark adaptation received rod input (48 of 52, 92 %). The action spectrum conformed to the sensitivity of rhodopsin, with maximal sensitivity at around 505 nm.When also studied under light adaptation, most visually responsive SCN neurones (20 out of 26, 77 %) responded to input from cones. The action spectra conformed to the spectrum of green cone opsin, with a main sensitivity peak at 510 nm and a significant secondary peak in the near‐ultraviolet region of the spectrum.The frequency of spontaneous activity was typically low under scotopic conditions (range 0.2‐17.2 Hz) and higher under photopic conditions (range 0.6‐40 Hz) for any given neurone. The most common response under scotopic conditions was an ‘on‐excitation’ (32 of 48, 62.5 %), which changed under photopic conditions to an on‐excitation followed by a more prominent off‐inhibition.Responses also changed due to endogenous ultradian cycles. Depending on the phase, responses could be altogether absent and even reverted from excitation to inhibition on opposite phases of a cycle. Ultradian cycles had a circadian dependence and were most common at around the light phase:dark phase (L:D) and D:L transition points of the circadian cycle.Under photopic conditions, SCN neurones showed rhythmic electrical activity, with a preferred firing interval that had a value between 18 and 39 ms. This rhythmic activity was probably the result of endogenous subthreshold membrane potential oscillations.In conclusion, light acting either via rod or cone pathways could have powerful, opposing actions on SCN neurones. These actions were state dependent. The presence of these neuronal responses suggests a role for rod and cone photoreceptors in SCN function.

The teleost pineal organ is a photoreceptive endocrine organ that synthesizes the hormone melatonin through specialized intrapineal photoreceptor cells in a light-dependent manner. The present study investigated whether the methoxyindoles 5-methoxytryptophol (5-MTOL), 5-methoxyindoleacetic acid (5-MIAA), and 5-methoxytryptamine (5-MT) correspond to melatonin secretion synthesized and released from explanted, superfused pineal organs in response to direct light stimulation and whether their release is correlated with the level of dark adaptation. Melatonin release in superfusion cultures using Hank's buffer was clearly dependent on irradiance of the incident light and increased with decreasing light intensity from an average release of 1 ng/pineal/hr in light-adapted pineal glands to about 9 ng/pineal/hr in dark-adapted pineal glands. The maximal release could be further enhanced if Medium 199 was used as the superfusion medium. Although the other methoxyindoles showed a less clear response to light and their production was clearly dependent on the external medium, their mean secretion rate in the light-adapted state was considerably higher than that of melatonin. In Hank's superfusion culture, 5-MTOL production decreased with decreasing light irradiances, but 5-MT and 5-MIAA concentrations remained almost constant. Using Medium 199 as the superfusion culture medium, concentrations of 5-MTOL and 5-MT showed no changes with light intensity, but 5-MIAA production clearly increased with decreasing irradiances. Pargyline, a monoamine oxidase inhibitor, significantly reduced the secretion of 5-MIAA and 5-MTOL, but caused a dramatic increase of 5-methoxytryptamine concentrations. The production of melatonin was not affected. A slight decrease of 5-MTOL secretion was also observed after the addition of 1 μMeserine, an inhibitor of the melatonin deacetylase, to the superfusion medium, whereas melatonin release remained constant. These results indicate that the pineal gland of the trout releases the methoxyindoles 5-MTOL, 5-MIAA, and 5-MT in addition to melatonin. The release appears to be only partly light dependent. Furthermore, the present results suggest that methoxyindoles released from the trout pineal gland are independent from melatonin deacetylation.

Overlapping and non-overlapping closing mechanisms of the ball valve type were evaluated in regard to rates of haemolysis. the test chamber used in this experimental study permitted an almost physiological valve function in a minimal volume of human whole blood. An overlapping closing mechanism was represented by the Starr-Edwards aortic silastic ball valve and a non-overlapping one by the Smeloff-Cutter aortic silastic ball valve.Red cell destruction was significantly lower with a non-overlapping ball than with an overlapping one on valve closure. the magnitude of red cells destroyed in 80 ml of blood/hour was, on average, 0.29 % and 0.73 % respectively. the Bjork-Shiley tilting disc valve was tested as a control and accounted for a red cell destruction of 0.20%.Assuming a linear progression of haemolysis with time, a blood volume of 4 800 ml, and a normal erythrocyte survival time of 120 days, the red cell destruction attributable to the prosthetic closing mechanisms could be extrapolated to in uiuo conditions. the production rate of red cells by the bone marrow would have to increase by 14% in a patient with a single Smeloff-Cutter valve replacement in order to prevent the development of anaemia. in a patient with single Starr-Edwards valve replacement, a corresponding value of 34% was calculated. These values would increase two or three fold after double or triple valve replacement.An overlapping closing mechanism has again been shown to cause a significantly larger degree of haemolysis than non-overlapping mechanism, presumably due to the mechanical crushing of red cells.

In 45 burn patients serum amino acids together with liver enzymes and other serum parameters were determined. Phe levels, Phe:Tyr and Phe:TAA ratios were correlated with the clinical course of the patient's condition. Based on empirical data, an increase in the Phe: TAA ratio of over 3 % was found to be the best indicator of a critical period in the clinical course. An increase in the Phe: TAA ratio above 3 % accompanied the signs of sepsis. If the patient recovered, the ratio decreased. Ratios which kept constant or even increased -indicating a possible fatal clinical outcome - were found to be alarming. In our experience Phe levels or Phe:Tyr ratios did not have indicative functions.

A case of severe traumatic injury to the thumb treated by an extended variation of the first dorsal metacarpal artery neurovascular pedicled island flap is reported.