Low temperature is a key factor that limits growth and productivity of many important agronomical crops worldwide. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is negatively affected already at temperatures below +10°C and is therefore denoted as chilling sensitive. However, chilling tolerant rice cultivars exist and can be commercially cultivated at altitudes up to 3,050 meters with temperatures reaching as low as +4°

Predictions on displacement of suitable habitats due to climate change suggest that plant species with poor colonization ability may be unable to move fast enough to match forecasted climate-induced changes in habitat distribution. However, studies on early Holocene plant migration show fast migration of many plant species that are poor colonizers today We hypothesize that warmer temperatures duri

It has been suggested that organic farming may benefit farmland biodiversity more in landscapes that have lost a significant part of its former landscape heterogeneity. We tested this hypothesis by comparing bird species richness and abundance during the breeding season in organic and conventional farms, matched to eliminate all differences not directly linked to the farming practice, situated in

Background: Prostate cancer screening depends on a careful balance of benefits, in terms of reduced prostate cancer mortality, and harms, in terms of overdiagnosis and overtreatment. We aimed to estimate the effect on overdiagnosis of restricting prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing by age and baseline PSA. Methods: Estimates of the effects of age on overdiagnosis were based on population based

We report on the fabrication of a self-aligned regrown In0.53Ga0.47As metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) and a resonant tunneling diode (RTD). The performance of these devices is demonstrated by integrating them in parallel with an inductive coplanar waveguide stub to form a highly energy-efficient 70-GHz wavelet generator. The fast switching and low on-resistance of the MO

A theoretical scheme is presented to calculate non-linear optical spectra of molecules in solution. Starting with electronic structure calculations of the ground and excited state, a subset of vibrational coordinates exhibiting the largest Huang-Rhys factors is assigned. It is used to set up a model Hamiltonian for density matrix multi configurational time-dependent Hartree (MCTDH) calculations. T

Cell death in neurodegenerative diseases is often thought to be governed by apoptosis; however, an increasing body of evidence suggests the involvement of alternative cell death mechanisms in neuronal degeneration. We studied retinal neurodegeneration using 10 different animal models, covering all major groups of hereditary human blindness (rd1, rd2, rd10, Cngb1 KO, Rho KO, S334ter, P23H, Cnga3 KO

Popular Abstract in English In earlier times, patients suffering from mental illness were nursed in large psychiatric institutions, often experiencing extended, sometimes life-long, institutionalization. These institutions were responsible for the patients during the entire course of their lives and provided housing as well as activities along with the care. The patients’ social contacts were mainThe overall aim of this thesis is to 1) investigate the prevalence of stigmatizing experiences and beliefs of devaluation and discrimination among persons with mental illness, and 2) to investigate the relationship between beliefs of devalua¬tion/¬discrimination, rejection experiences and sociodemographic/clinical patient characteristics, social networks, self esteem, empowerment and subjective qu

This paper presents a new framework for solving geometric structure and motion problems based on the L-infinity-norm. Instead of using the common sum-of-squares cost function, that is, the L-2-norm, the model-fitting errors are measured using the L-infinity-norm. Unlike traditional methods based on L-2, our framework allows for the efficient computation of global estimates. We show that a variety

We previously reported a disease segregating causal germline mutation in a melanoma family and recurrent somatic mutations in metastasized tumours from unrelated patients in the core promoter region of the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene. Here we show that the TERT promoter mutations, besides causing an increased gene expression, associate with increased patient age, increased Breslow

Novel DNA-chitosan particles were prepared based on associative phase separation and interfacial diffusion. These particles formed at water/water emulsion type interfaces were characterized with respect to several properties including stability, DNA conformational state, and entrapment and release of DNA. In particular it was found that the chitosan molecular weight is a good controlling parameter

Abstract This dissertation examines the function of metaphor and simile in Cicero’s dialogue De senectute. For this purpose, it employs Lakoff-Johnsonian metaphor theory and compares the metaphorical concepts that the scholars of that tradition have found in English with the metaphors found in Cicero’s text. Many languages are being investigated today by scholars who use this theory, and differen

Theory predicts that variability in size and the shape of a morphological trait should often be stable both at the intra- and interspecific level. We studied variation in beak integration among several populations of two species of the genus Passer, a hybrid species, the Italian sparrow (Passer italiae) and one of its parents, the Spanish sparrow (Passer hispaniolensis). We show that the general s

Non-patients attributing annoyance to either smells (smell annoyed; SA, n= 29) or electrical equipment (electrically annoyed; EA, n= 17), or both (generally annoyed; GA, n= 38), were monitored for 2 weeks through daily self-ratings of arousal (stress), sleep disturbances, health complaints, worry about hypersensitivity reactions, avoidance behaviors, and attributions of health complaints to electr

Many animals rely on a sun compass for spatial orientation and long-range navigation. In addition to the Sun, insects also exploit the polarization pattern and chromatic gradient of the sky for estimating navigational directions. Analysis of polarization-vision pathways in locusts and crickets has shed first light on brain areas involved in sky compass orientation. Detection of sky polarization re

We extend earlier work on leading logarithms in the massive nonlinear O(n) sigma model to the case of SU(N) x SU(N)/SU(N) which coincides with mesonic Chiral Perturbation Theory for N flavours of light quarks. We discuss the leading logarithms for the mass and decay constant to six loops and for the vacuum expectation value ((q) over barq) to seven loops. For dynamical quantities the expressions g

Four high-spin collective bands have been populated in Er-154(68)86 via the Pd-110(Ti-48, (4)n gamma)Er-154 reaction. Average transition quadrupole moments Q(t) have been measured for three of the bands by using the Doppler-shift attenuation method. The strongest band has a value of Q(t) = 11.0 +/- 1.0 e b, similar to values found recently for four triaxial strongly deformed (TSD) bands in Er-157,

Methylhexahydrophthalic anhydride (MHHPA) is a reactive, low molecular weight chemical used in products such as plastics, paints, and electronic components. Exposure to MHHPA may lead to work-related airway diseases such as rhinitis, conjunctivitis, and asthma. Twelve subjects employed at a plant manufacturing electrical capacitors using MHHPA were included in this study. Nasal lavages were collec

Aims. "Earthshine" is the dim light seen on the otherwise dark side of the Moon, particularly when it is close to new. "Earthlight", or reflected sunlight from the Earth, is the source of Earthshine. Using B and V band CCD images of both the dark and bright sides of the Moon, we aim to estimate the Johnson photometry B V colour of the Earthshine for the first time since the late 1960s. From these

In recent times, trilayer graphene has attracted wide attention owing to its stacking and electric-field-dependent electronic properties. However, a direct and well-resolved experimental visualization of its band structure has not yet been reported. In this paper, we present angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy data which show with high resolution the electronic band structure of trilayer gra