Biogenic volatile organic compounds in tropical, temperate and boreal forest ecosystems

Biogene flüchtige organische Verbindungen (BFOV) werden in großen Mengen aus terrestrischenrnÖkosystemen, insbesondere aus Wäldern und Wiesen, in die untere Troposphäre emittiert. Austausch-rnFlüsse von BFOVs sind in der troposphärischen Chemie wichtig, weil sie eine bedeutende Rolle in derrnOzon- und Aerosolbildung haben. Trotzdem bleiben die zeitliche und räumliche Änderung der BFOVrnEmissionen und ihre Rolle in Bildung und Wachstum von Aerosolen ungewiss.rnDer Fokus dieser Arbeit liegt auf der in-situ Anwendung der Protonen Transfer ReaktionsrnMassenspektrometrie (PTR-MS) und der Messung von biogenen flüchtigen organischen Verbindungen inrnnordländischen, gemäßigten und tropischen Waldökosystemen während drei unterschiedlicherrnFeldmesskampagnen. Der Hauptvorteil der PTR-MS-Technik liegt in der hohen Messungsfrequenz,rnwodurch eine eventuelle Änderung in der Atmosphäre durch Transport, Vermischung und Chemiernonline beobachtet werden kann. Die PTR-MS-Messungen wurden zweimal am Boden aus und einmalrnvon einem Forschungsflugzug durchgeführt.rnIn Kapitel 3 werden die PTR-MS-Daten, gesammelt während der Flugmesskampagne über demrntropischen Regenwald, vorgelegt. Diese Studie zeigt den Belang der Grenzschichtdynamik für diernVerteilung von Spurengasen mittels eines eindimensionalen Säule - Chemie und KlimaModells (SCM).rnDer Tagesablauf von Isopren zeigte zwischen 14:00 und 16:15 Uhr lokaler Zeit einen Mittelwert vonrn5.4 ppbv auf der Höhe der Baumspitzen und von 3.3 ppbv über 300 m Höhe. Dies deutet darauf hin, dassrnsowohl der turbulente Austausch als auch die hohe Reaktionsfähigkeit von Isopren mit den OxidantienrnOH und Ozon eine wichtige Rolle spielen. Nach dem Ausgleich von chemischen Verlusten undrnEntrainment (Ein- und Ausmischung von Luft an der Grenzschicht), wurde ein Fluss vonrn8.4 mg Isopren m-2h-1 unter teilweise bewölkten Bedingungen für den tropischen Regenwald in derrnGuyanregion abgeschätzt. Dies entspricht einem täglichen Emissionsfluss von 28 mg Isopren prornQuadratmeter.rnIm Kapitel 4 werden die Messungen, welche auf einer Hügellage in gemäßigter Breite inrnsüddeutschland stattgefunden haben, diskutiert. Bei diesem Standort ist die Grenzschicht nachts unter diernStandorthöhe abgefallen, was den Einsatzort von Emissionen abgesondert hatte. Während diernGrenzschicht morgens wieder über die Höhe des Einsatzortes anstieg, konnten die eingeschlossenenrnnächtlichen Emissionen innerhalb der bodennahen Schicht beobachtet werden. Außerdem wurde einrndeutlicher Anstieg von flüchtigen organischen Verbindungen gemessen, wenn die Luftmassen überrnMünchen geführt wurden oder wenn verschmutzte Luftmassen aus dem Po-Tal über die Alpen nachrnDeutschland transportiert wurden. Daten von dieser Kampagne wurden genutzt, um die Änderungen inrndem Mischungsverhältnis der flüchtigen organischen Verbindungen, verbunden mit dem Durchfluss vonrnwarmen und kalten Wetterfronten sowie bei Regen zu untersuchen.rnIm Kapitel 5 werden PTR-MS-Messungen aus dem nördlichen Nadelwaldgürtel beschrieben. Starkernnächtliche Inversionen mit einer niedrigen Windgeschwindigkeit fingen die Emissionen vonrnnahegelegenen Kiefernwäldern und andere BFOV-Quellen ab, was zu hohen nächtlichen BFOVMischverhältnissenrnführte. Partikelereignisse wurden für Tag und Nacht detailliert analysiert. Diernnächtlichen Partikelereignisse erfolgten synchron mit starken extremen von Monoterpenen, obwohl dasrnzweite Ereignis Kernbildung einschloss und nicht mit Schwefelsäure korrelierte. Die MonoterpenrnMischungsverhältnisse von über 16 ppbv waren unerwartet hoch für diese Jahreszeit. NiedrigernWindgeschwindigkeiten und die Auswertung von Rückwärtstrajektorien deuten auf eine konzentrierternQuelle in der Nähe von Hyytiälä hin. Die optische Stereoisomerie von Monoterpenen hat bestätigt, dassrndie Quelle unnatürlich ist, da das Verhältnis von [(+)-α-pinen]/[(−)-α-pinen] viel höher ist als dasrnnatürliches Verhältnis der beiden Enantiomeren.

The role of bifidobacteria in newborn health and the intestinal microbial balance

Gut microbial acquisition during the early stage of life is an extremely important event since it affects the health status of the host. In this contest the healthy properties of the genus Bifidobacterium have a central function in newborns. The aim of this thesis was to explore the dynamics of the gut microbial colonization in newborns and to suggest possible strategies to maintain or restore a correct balance of gut bacterial population in infants. The first step of this work was to review the most recent studies on the use of probiotics and prebiotics in infants. Secondly, in order to prevent or treat intestinal disorders that may affect newborns, the capability of selected Bifidobacterium strains to reduce the amount of Enterobacteriaceae and against the infant pathogen Streptococcus agalactiae was evaluated in vitro. Furthermore, the ability of several commercial fibers to stimulate selectively the growth of bifidobacterial strains was checked. Finally, the gut microbial composition in the early stage of life in response to the intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) against group B Streptococcus was studied using q-PCR, DGGE and next generation sequencing. The results globally showed that Bifidobacterium breve B632 strain is the best candidate for the use in a synbiotic product coupled to a mixture of two selected prebiotic fibers (galactooligosaccharides and fructooligosaccharides) for gastrointestinal disorders in infants. Moreover, the early gut microbial composition was affected by IAP treatment with infants showing lower counts of Bifidobacterium spp. and Bacteroides spp. coupled to a decrement of biodiversity of bacteria, compared to control infants. These studies have shown that IAP could affect the early intestinal balance in infants and they have paved the way to the definition of new strategies alternative to antibiotic treatment to control GBS infection in pregnant women.

Controllable assembly of graphene hybrid materials and their application in energy storage and conversion

Hybrid Elektrodenmaterialien (HEM) sind der Schlüssel zu grundlegenden Fortschritten in der Energiespeicherung und Systemen zur Energieumwandlung, einschließlich Lithium-Ionen-Batterien (LiBs), Superkondensatoren (SCs) und Brennstoffzellen (FCs). Die faszinierenden Eigenschaften von Graphen machen es zu einem guten Ausgangsmaterial für die Darstellung von HEM. Jedoch scheitern traditionelle Verfahren zur Herstellung von Graphen-HEM (GHEM) scheitern häufig an der fehlenden Kontrolle über die Morphologie und deren Einheitlichkeit, was zu unzureichenden Grenzflächenwechselwirkungen und einer mangelhaften Leistung des Materials führt. Diese Arbeit konzentriert sich auf die Herstellung von GHEM über kontrollierte Darstellungsmethoden und befasst sich mit der Nutzung von definierten GHEM für die Energiespeicherung und -umwandlung. Die große Volumenausdehnung bildet den Hauptnachteil der künftigen Lithium-Speicher-Materialien. Als erstes wird ein dreidimensionaler Graphen Schaumhybrid zur Stärkung der Grundstruktur und zur Verbesserung der elektrochemischen Leistung des Fe3O4 Anodenmaterials dargestellt. Der Einsatz von Graphenschalen und Graphennetzen realisiert dabei einen doppelten Schutz gegen die Volumenschwankung des Fe3O4 bei dem elektrochemischen Prozess. Die Leistung der SCs und der FCs hängt von der Porenstruktur und der zugänglichen Oberfläche, beziehungsweise den katalytischen Stellen der Elektrodenmaterialien ab. Wir zeigen, dass die Steuerung der Porosität über Graphen-basierte Kohlenstoffnanoschichten (HPCN) die zugängliche Oberfläche und den Ionentransport/Ladungsspeicher für SCs-Anwendungen erhöht. Desweiteren wurden Stickstoff dotierte Kohlenstoffnanoschichten (NDCN) für die kathodische Sauerstoffreduktion (ORR) hergestellt. Eine maßgeschnittene Mesoporosität verbunden mit Heteroatom Doping (Stickstoff) fördert die Exposition der aktiven Zentren und die ORR-Leistung der metallfreien Katalysatoren. Hochwertiges elektrochemisch exfoliiertes Graphen (EEG) ist ein vielversprechender Kandidat für die Darstellung von GHEM. Allerdings ist die kontrollierte Darstellung von EEG-Hybriden weiterhin eine große Herausforderung. Zu guter Letzt wird eine Bottom-up-Strategie für die Darstellung von EEG Schichten mit einer Reihe von funktionellen Nanopartikeln (Si, Fe3O4 und Pt NPs) vorgestellt. Diese Arbeit zeigt einen vielversprechenden Weg für die wirtschaftliche Synthese von EEG und EEG-basierten Materialien.

Inference of Raja miraletus population structure using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA: comparing the resolution power of molecular markers in exploring species and population boundaries

This study focused on the role of oceanographic discontinuities and the presence of transitional areas in shaping the population structure and the phylogeography of the Raja miraletus species complex, coupled with the test of the effective occurrence of past speciation events. The comparisons between the Atlantic African and the North-Eastern Atlantic-Mediterranean geographic populations were unravelled using both Cytochrome Oxidase I and eight microsatellite loci. This approach guaranteed a robust dataset for the identification of a speciation event between the Atlantic African clade, corresponding to the ex Raja ocellifera nominal species, and the NE Atlantic-Mediterranean R. miraletus clade. As a matter of fact, the origin of the Atlantic Africa and the NE Atlantic-Mediterranean deep split dated about 11.74MYA and was likely due to the synergic influence currents and two upwelling areas crossing the Western African Waters. Within the Mediterranean Sea, particular attention was also paid to the transitional area represented by Adventura and Maltese Bank, that might have contributed in sustaining the connectivity of the Western and the Eastern Mediterranean geographical populations. Furthermore, the geology of the easternmost part of Sicily and the geo-morphological depression of the Calabrian Arc could have driven the differentiation of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Although bathymetric and oceanographic discontinuity could represent barriers to dispersal and migration between Eastern and Western Mediterranean samples, a clear and complete genetic separation among them was not detected. Results produced by this work identified a speciation event defining Raja ocellifera and R. miraletus as two different species, and describing the R. miraletus species complex as the most ancient cryptic speciation event in the family Rajidae, representing another example of how strictly connected the environment, the behavioural habits and the evolutionary and ecologic drivers are.

Different molecular and structural adaptations with eccentric and conventional strength training in elderly men and women

Reprogramming of gene expression contributes to structural and functional adaptation of muscle tissue in response to altered use. The aim of this study was to investigate mechanisms for observed improvements in leg extension strength, gain in relative thigh muscle mass and loss of body and thigh fat content in response to eccentric and conventional strength training in elderly men (n = 14) and women (n = 14; average age of the men and women: 80.1 ± 3.7 years) by means of structural and molecular analyses. Biopsies were collected from m. vastus lateralis in the resting state before and after 12 weeks of training with two weekly resistance exercise sessions (RET) or eccentric ergometer sessions (EET). Gene expression was analyzed using custom-designed low-density PCR arrays. Muscle ultrastructure was evaluated using EM morphometry. Gain in thigh muscle mass was paralleled by an increase in muscle fiber cross-sectional area (hypertrophy) with RET but not with EET, where muscle growth is likely occurring by the addition of sarcomeres in series or by hyperplasia. The expression of transcripts encoding factors involved in muscle growth, repair and remodeling (e.g., IGF-1, HGF, MYOG, MYH3) was increased to a larger extent after EET than RET. MicroRNA 1 expression was decreased independent of the training modality, and was paralleled by an increased expression of IGF-1 representing a potential target. IGF-1 is a potent promoter of muscle growth, and its regulation by microRNA 1 may have contributed to the gain of muscle mass observed in our subjects. EET depressed genes encoding mitochondrial and metabolic transcripts. The changes of several metabolic and mitochondrial transcripts correlated significantly with changes in mitochondrial volume density. Intramyocellular lipid content was decreased after EET concomitantly with total body fat. Changes in intramyocellular lipid content correlated with changes in body fat content with both RET and EET. In the elderly, RET and EET lead to distinct molecular and structural adaptations which might contribute to the observed small quantitative differences in functional tests and body composition parameters. EET seems to be particularly convenient for the elderly with regard to improvements in body composition and strength but at the expense of reducing muscular oxidative capacity.

TILLING for Mutations in Model Plants and Crops

A growing world population, changing climate and limiting fossil fuels will provide new pressures on human production of food, medicine, fuels and feed stock in the twenty-first century. Enhanced crop production promises to ameliorate these pressures. Crops can be bred for increased yields of calories, starch, nutrients, natural medicinal compounds, and other important products. Enhanced resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses can be introduced, toxins removed, and industrial qualities such as fibre strength and biofuel per mass can be increased. Induced and natural mutations provide a powerful method for the generation of heritable enhanced traits. While mainly exploited in forward, phenotype driven, approaches, the rapid accumulation of plant genomic sequence information and hypotheses regarding gene function allows the use of mutations in reverse genetic approaches to identify lesions in specific target genes. Such gene-driven approaches promise to speed up the process of creating novel phenotypes, and can enable the generation of phenotypes unobtainable by traditional forward methods. TILLING (Targeting Induced Local Lesions IN Genome) is a high-throughput and low cost reverse genetic method for the discovery of induced mutations. The method has been modified for the identification of natural nucleotide polymorphisms, a process called Ecotilling. The methods are general and have been applied to many species, including a variety of different crops. In this chapter the current status of the TILLING and Ecotilling methods and provide an overview of progress in applying these methods to different plant species, with a focus on work related to food production for developing nations.

Optimizing human in vivo dosing and delivery of β-alanine supplements for muscle carnosine synthesis

Interest into the effects of carnosine on cellular metabolism is rapidly expanding. The first study to demonstrate in humans that chronic β-alanine (BA) supplementation (~3-6 g BA/day for ~4 weeks) can result in significantly augmented muscle carnosine concentrations (>50%) was only recently published. BA supplementation is potentially poised for application beyond the niche exercise and performance-enhancement field and into other more clinical populations. When examining all BA supplementation studies that directly measure muscle carnosine (n=8), there is a significant linear correlation between total grams of BA consumed (of daily intake ranges of 1.6-6.4 g BA/day) versus both the relative and absolute increases in muscle carnosine. Supporting this, a recent dose-response study demonstrated a large linear dependency (R2=0.921) based on the total grams of BA consumed over 8 weeks. The pre-supplementation baseline carnosine or individual subjects' body weight (from 65 to 90 kg) does not appear to impact on subsequent carnosine synthesis from BA consumption. Once muscle carnosine is augmented, the washout is very slow (~2%/week). Recently, a slow-release BA tablet supplement has been developed showing a smaller peak plasma BA concentration and delayed time to peak, with no difference in the area under the curve compared to pure BA in solution. Further, this slow-release profile resulted in a reduced urinary BA loss and improved retention, while at the same time, eliciting minimal paraesthesia symptoms. However, our complete understanding of optimizing in vivo delivery and dosing of BA is still in its infancy. Thus, this review will clarify our current knowledge of BA supplementation to augment muscle carnosine as well as highlight future research questions on the regulatory points of control for muscle carnosine synthesis.

Identification of venous variants in the pineal region with three-dimensional preoperative magnetic resonance imaging navigation in patients harbouring tumors in this area: significance for surgical approach to the lesion

The purpose of this study was to identify the anatomy of pineal region venous complex using neuronavigation software when distorted by the presence of a space-occupying lesion and to describe the anatomical relationship between lesion and veins. Moreover we discuss its influence on the choice of the surgical strategy.

Auditory motion direction encoding in auditory cortex and high-level visual cortex

The aim of this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was to identify human brain areas that are sensitive to the direction of auditory motion. Such directional sensitivity was assessed in a hypothesis-free manner by analyzing fMRI response patterns across the entire brain volume using a spherical-searchlight approach. In addition, we assessed directional sensitivity in three predefined brain areas that have been associated with auditory motion perception in previous neuroimaging studies. These were the primary auditory cortex, the planum temporale and the visual motion complex (hMT/V5+). Our whole-brain analysis revealed that the direction of sound-source movement could be decoded from fMRI response patterns in the right auditory cortex and in a high-level visual area located in the right lateral occipital cortex. Our region-of-interest-based analysis showed that the decoding of the direction of auditory motion was most reliable with activation patterns of the left and right planum temporale. Auditory motion direction could not be decoded from activation patterns in hMT/V5+. These findings provide further evidence for the planum temporale playing a central role in supporting auditory motion perception. In addition, our findings suggest a cross-modal transfer of directional information to high-level visual cortex in healthy humans.

Romany Families in Romania: Intelligence and Personality of Children Cross-cultural and Specific Problems of Development

Psychogenetic research has emphasised the influence of social factors on a child's intellectual development. In her work, Ms. Dumitrascu examines two such factors; family size and order of birth. However, since these formal parameters tend to be unstable, other more informal factors should be taken into consideration. Of these, perhaps the most interesting is the "style" of parental education, which Ms. Dumitrascu regards as an expression of national traditions at the family level. This educational style is culture dependent. Only a comparative, cross-cultural study can reveal the real mechanism through which educational style influences the development of a child's intellect and personality. Ms. Dumitrascu conducted an experimental cross-cultural study aimed at examining the effects of the family environment on a child's intellectual development. Three distinct populations were involved in her investigation, each having quite a distinct status in their geographical area; Romanians, Romanies (Gypsies) from Romania, and Russians from the Republic of Moldova. She presented her research in the form of a series of articles written in English totalling 85 pages, and also on disc. A significant difference was revealed between the intelligence of a child living in a large family, and that of a child with no brothers or sisters. In the case of Romany children, the gap is remarkably large. Ms. Dumitrascu concludes that the simultaneous action of several negative factors (low socio-economic status, large family size, socio-cultural isolation of a population) may delay child development. Subjected to such a precarious environment, Romany children do not seek self-realisation, but rather struggle to survive the hardship. Most of them remain out of civilisation. Unfortunately, adult Romanies seldom express any concern regarding their children's successful social integration. The school as main socialisation tool has no value for most parents. Ms. Dumitrascu argues the need for a major effort aimed at helping Romany's social integration. She hopes this project will be of some help for psychologists, social workers, teachers, and all those who are interested in the integration into society of minority groups.

The Dynamics of the Policies of Ethnic Cleansing in Silesia in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

Through studying German, Polish and Czech publications on Silesia, Mr. Kamusella found that most of them, instead of trying to objectively analyse the past, are devoted to proving some essential "Germanness", "Polishness" or "Czechness" of this region. He believes that the terminology and thought-patterns of nationalist ideology are so deeply entrenched in the minds of researchers that they do not consider themselves nationalist. However, he notes that, due to the spread of the results of the latest studies on ethnicity/nationalism (by Gellner, Hobsbawm, Smith, Erikson Buillig, amongst others), German publications on Silesia have become quite objective since the 1980s, and the same process (impeded by under funding) has been taking place in Poland and the Czech Republic since 1989. His own research totals some 500 pages, in English, presented on disc. So what are the traps into which historians have been inclined to fall? There is a tendency for them to treat Silesia as an entity which has existed forever, though Mr. Kamusella points out that it emerged as a region only at the beginning of the 11th century. These same historians speak of Poles, Czechs and Germans in Silesia, though Mr. Kamusella found that before the mid-19th century, identification was with an inhabitant's local area, religion or dynasty. In fact, a German national identity started to be forged in Prussian Silesia only during the Liberation War against Napoleon (1813-1815). It was concretised in 1861 in the form of the first Prussian census, when the language a citizen spoke was equated with his/her nationality. A similar census was carried out in Austrian Silesia only in 1881. The censuses forced the Silesians to choose their nationality despite their multiethnic multicultural identities. It was the active promotion of a German identity in Prussian Silesia, and Vienna's uneasy acceptance of the national identities in Austrian Silesia which stimulated the development of Polish national, Moravian ethnic and Upper Silesian ethnic regional identities in Upper Silesia, and Polish national, Czech national, Moravian ethnic and Silesian ethnic identities in Austrian Silesia. While traditional historians speak of the "nationalist struggle" as though it were a permanent characteristic of Silesia, Mr. Kamusella points out that such a struggle only developed in earnest after 1918. What is more, he shows how it has been conveniently forgotten that, besides the national players, there were also significant ethnic movements of Moravians, Upper Silesians, Silesians and the tutejsi (i.e. those who still chose to identify with their locality). At this point Mr. Kamusella moves into the area of linguistics. While traditionally historians have spoken of the conflicts between the three national languages (German, Polish and Czech), Mr Kamusella reminds us that the standardised forms of these languages, which we choose to dub "national", were developed only in the mid-18th century, after 1869 (when Polish became the official language in Galicia), and after the 1870s (when Czech became the official language in Bohemia). As for standard German, it was only widely promoted in Silesia from the mid 19th century onwards. In fact, the majority of the population of Prussian Upper Silesia and Austrian Silesia were bi- or even multilingual. What is more, the "Polish" and "Czech" Silesians spoke were not the standard languages we know today, but a continuum of West-Slavic dialects in the countryside and a continuum of West-Slavic/German creoles in the urbanised areas. Such was the linguistic confusion that, from time to time, some ethnic/regional and Church activists strove to create a distinctive Upper Silesian/Silesian language on the basis of these dialects/creoles, but their efforts were thwarted by the staunch promotion of standard German, and after 1918, of standard Polish and Czech. Still on the subject of language, Mr. Kamusella draws attention to a problem around the issue of place names and personal names. Polish historians use current Polish versions of the Silesian place names, Czechs use current Polish/Czech versions of the place names, and Germans use the German versions which were in use in Silesia up to 1945. Mr. Kamusella attempted to avoid this, as he sees it, nationalist tendency, by using an appropriate version of a place name for a given period and providing its modern counterpart in parentheses. In the case of modern place names he gives the German version in parentheses. As for the name of historical figures, he strove to use the name entered on the birth certificate of the person involved, and by doing so avoid such confusion as, for instance, surrounds the Austrian Silesian pastor L.J. Sherschnik, who in German became Scherschnick, in Polish, Szersznik, and in Czech, Sersnik. Indeed, the prospective Silesian scholar should, Mr. Kamusella suggests, as well as the three languages directly involved in the area itself, know English and French, since many documents and books on the subject have been published in these languages, and even Latin, when dealing in depth with the period before the mid-19th century. Mr. Kamusella divides the policies of ethnic cleansing into two categories. The first he classifies as soft, meaning that policy is confined to the educational system, army, civil service and the church, and the aim is that everyone learn the language of the dominant group. The second is the group of hard policies, which amount to what is popularly labelled as ethnic cleansing. This category of policy aims at the total assimilation and/or physical liquidation of the non-dominant groups non-congruent with the ideal of homogeneity of a given nation-state. Mr. Kamusella found that soft policies were consciously and systematically employed by Prussia/Germany in Prussian Silesia from the 1860s to 1918, whereas in Austrian Silesia, Vienna quite inconsistently dabbled in them from the 1880s to 1917. In the inter-war period, the emergence of the nation-states of Poland and Czechoslovakia led to full employment of the soft policies and partial employment of the hard ones (curbed by the League of Nations minorities protection system) in Czechoslovakian Silesia, German Upper Silesia and the Polish parts of Upper and Austrian Silesia. In 1939-1945, Berlin started consistently using all the "hard" methods to homogenise Polish and Czechoslovakian Silesia which fell, in their entirety, within the Reich's borders. After World War II Czechoslovakia regained its prewar part of Silesia while Poland was given its prewar section plus almost the whole of the prewar German province. Subsequently, with the active involvement and support of the Soviet Union, Warsaw and Prague expelled the majority of Germans from Silesia in 1945-1948 (there were also instances of the Poles expelling Upper Silesian Czechs/Moravians, and of the Czechs expelling Czech Silesian Poles/pro-Polish Silesians). During the period of communist rule, the same two countries carried out a thorough Polonisation and Czechisation of Silesia, submerging this region into a new, non-historically based administrative division. Democratisation in the wake of the fall of communism, and a gradual retreat from the nationalist ideal of the homogeneous nation-state with a view to possible membership of the European Union, caused the abolition of the "hard" policies and phasing out of the "soft" ones. Consequently, limited revivals of various ethnic/national minorities have been observed in Czech and Polish Silesia, whereas Silesian regionalism has become popular in the westernmost part of Silesia which remained part of Germany. Mr. Kamusella believes it is possible that, with the overcoming of the nation-state discourse in European politics, when the expression of multiethnicity and multilingualism has become the cause of the day in Silesia, regionalism will hold sway in this region, uniting its ethnically/nationally variegated population in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity championed by the European Union.

Changes in the volume and density of calvarial split bone grafts after alveolar ridge augmentation

OBJECTIVES: One main problem occurring after bone grafting is resorption, leading to insufficient bone volume and quality, and may subsequently cause dental implant failure. Comparison of graft volume and bone density of iliac crest and calvarial transplants determined by animal studies demonstrates significantly lower resorption of bone grafts harvested from the skull. This paper is the first clinical study evaluating bone volume and density changes of calvarial split bone grafts after alveolar ridge reconstruction. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Bone volume and density were determined using CT scans and the software program Dicom Works in a total of 51 calvarial grafts after alveolar ridge augmentation in 15 patients. CT scans were taken in all 15 patients immediately after grafting (T0) and before implantation after a postoperative period of 6 months (T1). In five patients (26 calvarial grafts), a 1-year follow-up was performed (T2). RESULTS: A mean volume reduction of 16.2% at T1 (15 patients) and 19.2% at T2 (five patients) was observed. Bone density was high--about 1000 Hounsfield units--and did not change during the 1-year period. At the time of implantation, 41 transplants were classified as quality 1 bone and 10 as quality 2-3 bone. Grafting area and the technique used for grafting (inlay or onlay graft) did not affect the postoperative bone volume reduction. Generalized osteoporosis did not increase the resorption rate of calvarial transplants. CONCLUSION: Based on these findings, calvarial split bone grafts are a promising alternative for alveolar ridge reconstruction in dental implantology.

Responsiveness and habituation of soluble icam-1 to acute psychosocial stress in men: determinants and efect of stress-hemoconcentration

We studied the psychophysiology of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) in 25 apparently healthy middle-aged men who underwent an acute psychosocial stressor three times with one week apart. Measures of the biological stress response were obtained at week one and three. The magnitude of the sICAM-1 stress response showed no habituation between visits. At week one, cognitive stress appraisal independently predicted integrated sICAM-1 area under the curve (AUC) between rest, immediately post-stress, and 45 min and 105 min post-stress (beta=.67, p=.012, deltaR(2)=.41). Diastolic blood pressure AUC (beta=-.45, p=.048, deltaR(2)=.21) and heart rate (AUC) (beta=.44, p=.055, deltaR(2)=.21) were independent predictors of sICAM-1 (AUC) at week three. Adjustment for hemoconcentration yielded a decrease in sICAM-1 levels from rest to post-stress (p<.001). Stress responsiveness of plasma sICAM-1 was predicted by stress perception and hemodynamic reactivity and affected by stress-hemoconcentration but unrelated to cortisol reactivity and not readily adapting to stress repeats.

Ascorbate is depleted by smoking and repleted by moderate supplementation: a study in male smokers and nonsmokers with matched dietary antioxidant intakes

BACKGROUND: Lack of reliable dietary data has hampered the ability to effectively distinguish between effects of smoking and diet on plasma antioxidant status. As confirmed by analyses of comprehensive food-frequency questionnaires, the total dietary intakes of fruit and vegetables and of dietary antioxidants were not significantly different between the study groups in the present study, thereby enabling isolation of the effect of smoking. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to investigate the effect of smoking on plasma antioxidant status by measuring ascorbic acid, alpha-tocopherol, gamma-tocopherol, beta-carotene, and lycopene, and subsequently, to test the effect of a 3-mo dietary supplementation with a moderate-dose vitamin cocktail. DESIGN: In a double-blind, placebo-controlled design, the effect of a vitamin cocktail containing 272 mg vitamin C, 31 mg all-rac-alpha-tocopheryl acetate, and 400 microg folic acid on plasma antioxidants was determined in a population of smokers (n = 37) and nonsmokers (n = 38). The population was selected for a low intake of fruit and vegetables and recruited from the San Francisco Bay area. RESULTS: Only ascorbic acid was significantly depleted by smoking per se (P < 0.01). After the 3-mo supplementation period, ascorbic acid was efficiently repleted in smokers (P < 0.001). Plasma alpha-tocopherol and the ratio of alpha- to gamma-tocopherol increased significantly in both supplemented groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that previous reports of lower concentrations of plasma vitamin E and carotenoids in smokers than in nonsmokers may primarily have been caused by differences in dietary habits between study groups. Plasma ascorbic acid was depleted by smoking and repleted by moderate supplementation.