Biochemostratigraphy of the Eger floodplain (Southern Germany) - Detection and quantification of heavy metal contamination and paleoenvironmental conditions: The basic dataset.

The current state of floodplains - their morphology, sedimentation regimes and rates, biochemistry and ecosystem health - highlights the interconnectedness of human activities and natural ecosystems. Over the centuries, floodplains have been used for and transformed by many anthropogenic purposes including agriculture, industry and urban development. These activities have resulted in the accumulation of pollutants in highly vulnerable floodplains, yet we understand little about the historical evolution of Fluvial Anthropospheres.

On the Effective Dissemination and Use of Learning Objectives Catalogs for Health Information Curricula Development.

Catalogs of competency-based learning objectives (CLO) were introduced and promoted as a prerequisite for high-quality, systematic curriculum development. While this is common in medicine, the consistent use of CLO is not yet well established in epidemiology, biometry, medical informatics, biomedical informatics, and nursing informatics especially in Germany. This paper aims to identify underlying obstacles and give recommendations in order to promote the dissemination of CLO for curricular development in health data and information sciences.

Climate change disrupts core habitats of marine species.

Driven by climate change, marine biodiversity is undergoing a phase of rapid change that has proven to be even faster than changes observed in terrestrial ecosystems. Understanding how these changes in species composition will affect future marine life is crucial for conservation management, especially due to increasing demands for marine natural resources. Here, we analyse predictions of a multiparameter habitat suitability model covering the global projected ranges of >33,500 marine species from climate model projections under three CO emission scenarios (RCP2.

Combining trapped ion mobility spectrometry with liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry for analysis of isomeric PDE-5 inhibitor analogs.

The detection and identification of phosphodiesterase type 5 enzyme (PDE-5) inhibitors in dietary supplements poses an analytical challenge due to the large number of analogs and isomers currently available and the continued introduction of novel analogs. The use of trapped ion mobility spectrometry (TIMS) in conjunction with liquid chromatography (LC) and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) was explored for the analysis of two groups of isomeric PDE-5 inhibitor analogs using a 5-minute method. Of the eight compounds studied, six were resolved by a combination of LC and TIMS; the two remaining isomers were distinguished by one or more unique product ions in the MS/MS spectrum.

Accuracy and Reproducibility of Laboratory Diffuse Reflectance Measurements with Portable VNIR and MIR Spectrometers for Predictive Soil Organic Carbon Modeling.

Soil spectroscopy in the visible-to-near infrared (VNIR) and mid-infrared (MIR) is a cost-effective method to determine the soil organic carbon content (SOC) based on predictive spectral models calibrated to analytical-determined SOC reference data. The degree to which uncertainty in reference data and spectral measurements contributes to the estimated accuracy of VNIR and MIR predictions, however, is rarely addressed and remains unclear, in particular for current handheld MIR spectrometers. We thus evaluated the reproducibility of both the spectral reflectance measurements with portable VNIR and MIR spectrometers and the analytical dry combustion SOC reference method, with the aim to assess how varying spectral inputs and reference values impact the calibration and validation of predictive VNIR and MIR models.

Hydro-sedimentary provenance analyses in the Weiße Elster catchment (Central Germany): The basic dataset.

This manuscript documents geological master data and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) data of a standardized 8*8 km sampling grid of the entire Weiße Elster catchment in Central Germany. Further, the manuscript documents XRF data of a refined 4*4 km sampling grid in the proximity of Salsitz floodplain transect as well as grain size data and XRF data of Salsitz SC40 core that was recovered from the Weiße Elster floodplain. The data provide opportunities for hydro-sedimentary provenance analyses as presented in the corresponding research article by Ballasus et al.

Overbank silt-clay deposition and intensive Neolithic land use in a Central European catchment - Coupled or decoupled?

Hydro-sedimentary processes such as soil erosion, sediment transport, deposition, and re-deposition influence the environmental evolution of floodplains, especially in loess-covered catchments. Holocene floodplain deposits are thus a source of information on previous hydro-sedimentary dynamics and land use in the catchment. Resulting from forest clearings in the catchment, the onset of overbank silt-clay deposition is considered as an initial and significant human-induced process affecting Central European floodplain evolution and ecosystems.

Health Informatics Learning Objectives on an Interoperable, Collaborative Platform.

Catalogues of learning objectives for Biomedical and Health Informatics are relevant prerequisites for systematic and effective qualification. Catalogue management needs to integrate different catalogues and support collaborative revisioning. The Health Informatics Learning Objectives Navigator (HI-LONa) offers an open, interoperable platform based on Semantic Web Technology.

Towards Precise Descriptions of Medical Free/Libre and Open Source Software.

The web portal Medfloss.org lists over 360 medical free/libre and open source software (MEDFLOSS) projects. These projects are described with the help of a self-developed nomenclature.

Catchment soils as a factor of trace metal accumulation in sediments of the reservoir Klingenberg (eastern Ore Mountains, Germany).

The release and accumulation dynamics of trace metals in soils and aquatic sediments were exemplarily investigated in the catchment area of the Reservoir Klingenberg (Germany). Catchment soils were examined for mobilizable and total concentrations of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chrome (Cr), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) and compared with trace metal quantities accumulated in riverbed and reservoir sediments. The comparison of all samples showed relatively small variations of Cr (7.

The SNIK Graph: Visualization of a Medical Informatics Ontology.

SNIK, a medical informatics ontology, combines knowledge from different literature sources dealing with the management of hospital information systems (HIS). Concepts and relations were extracted from literature, modeled as an ontology and visualized as a graph on a website. We demonstrate the potential of the graph visualization for tuitional scenarios.

Open and Linkable Knowledge About Management of Health Information Systems.

Given a care delivery organization, its health information system can be defined as the part of the organization that processes and stores data, information, and knowledge. There is an enormous number of frameworks, textbooks and articles that describe the scope of health information system management from the perspective of medical informatics. Transforming this knowledge to Linked Open Data results in a structured data representation that is accessible for both humans and machines, the Semantic Network of Information Management in Hospitals (SNIK).

Technical Environment for Developing the SNIK Ontology of Information Management in Hospitals.

The SNIK project converts textbooks about information management in hospitals to a domain ontology that provides a shared vocabulary for institutions to model and integrate processes, data and infrastructure. To accommodate user groups with different requirements and technical backgrounds, and to support incremental and cooperative development, we create a system architecture to publish, visualize, browse and query the ontology, as well as to evaluate and improve the data quality.

Structural investigation of the C-terminal catalytic fragment of presenilin 1.

The gamma-secretase complex has a decisive role in the development of Alzheimer's disease, in that it cleaves a precursor to create the amyloid beta peptide whose aggregates form the senile plaques encountered in the brains of patients. Gamma-secretase is a member of the intramembrane-cleaving proteases which process their transmembrane substrates within the bilayer. Many of the mutations encountered in early onset familial Alzheimer's disease are linked to presenilin 1, the catalytic component of gamma-secretase, whose active form requires its endoproteolytic cleavage into N-terminal and C-terminal fragments.

Membrane protein expression in cell-free systems.

Cell-free expression has emerged as a promising tool for the fast and efficient production of membrane proteins. The rapidly growing number of successfully produced targets in combination with the continuous development of new applications significantly promotes the distribution of this technology. Membrane protein synthesis by cell-free expression does not appear to be restricted by origin, size or topology of the target, and its global application is therefore a highly valuable characteristic.

Spatial and temporal small-scale variability of nitrogen mobilization in a forest ecosystem with high N deposition in NW-Germany.

For conifer stands in NW-Germany with high DIN load (23-35 kg N ha(-1) a(-1)) and a long history of nitrogen export the risk of N mobilization were investigated. Ammonium is the most mobilized N species, pointing towards either conditions not favoring nitrification or, more likely - under the dominant aerobic conditions - a very high amount of ammonium in the forest floor. Independence of net nitrification and net ammonification from each other indicates the existence of two separate systems.

Efficient mining of myxobacterial metabolite profiles enabled by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation-time-of-flight mass spectrometry and compound-based principal component analysis.

Bacteria producing secondary metabolites are an important source of natural products with highly diverse structures and biological activities. Developing methods to efficiently mine procaryotic secondary metabolomes for the presence of potentially novel natural products is therefore of considerable interest. Modern mass spectrometry-coupled liquid chromatography can effectively capture microbial metabolic diversity with ever improving sensitivity and accuracy.

Transmembrane segment enhanced labeling as a tool for the backbone assignment of alpha-helical membrane proteins.

Recent advances in cell-free expression protocols have opened a new avenue toward high-resolution structural investigations of membrane proteins by x-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy. One of the biggest challenges for liquid-state NMR-based structural investigations of membrane proteins is the significant peak overlap in the spectra caused by large line widths and limited chemical shift dispersion of alpha-helical proteins. Contributing to the limited chemical shift dispersion is the fact that approximately 60% of the amino acids in transmembrane regions consist of only six different amino acid types.

Preparative scale expression of membrane proteins in Escherichia coli-based continuous exchange cell-free systems.

Cell-free expression is emerging as a prime method for the rapid production of preparative quantities of high-quality membrane protein samples. The technology facilitates easy access to large numbers of proteins that have been extremely difficult to obtain. Most frequently used are cell-free systems based on extracts of Escherichia coli cells, and the reaction procedures are reliable and efficient.

Preparative scale cell-free expression systems: new tools for the large scale preparation of integral membrane proteins for functional and structural studies.

Cell-free expression techniques have emerged as promising tools for the production of membrane proteins for structural and functional analysis. Elimination of toxic effects and a variety of options to stabilize the synthesized proteins enable the synthesis of otherwise difficult to obtain proteins. Modifications in the reaction design result in preparative scale production rates of cell-free reactions and yield in milligram amounts of membrane proteins per one millilitre of reaction volume.

Cell-free expression as an emerging technique for the large scale production of integral membrane protein.

Membrane proteins are highly underrepresented in structural data banks due to tremendous difficulties that occur upon approaching their structural analysis. Inefficient sample preparation from conventional cellular expression systems is in many cases the first major bottleneck. Preparative scale cell-free expression has now become an emerging alternative tool for the high level production of integral membrane proteins.

Combination of cell-free expression and NMR spectroscopy as a new approach for structural investigation of membrane proteins.

Despite major technical advance in methods used for structural investigations of proteins structure determination of membrane proteins still poses a significant challenge. Recently, the application of cell-free expression systems to membrane proteins has demonstrated that this technique can be used to produce quantities sufficient for structural investigations for many different membrane proteins. In particular for NMR spectroscopy, cell-free expression provides major advantages since it allows for amino acid type selective and even amino acid position specific labeling.

Role of the N-terminal extension of the (betaalpha)8-barrel enzyme indole-3-glycerol phosphate synthase for its fold, stability, and catalytic activity.

Indole-3-glycerol phosphate synthase (IGPS) catalyzes the fifth step in the biosynthesis of tryptophan. It belongs to the large and versatile family of (betaalpha)(8)-barrel enzymes but has an unusual N-terminal extension of about 40 residues. Limited proteolysis with trypsin of IGPS from both Sulfolobus solfataricus (sIGPS) and Thermotoga maritima (tIGPS) removes about 25 N-terminal residues and one of the two extra helices contained therein.

Hyperhomocysteinaemia in treated patients with Huntington's disease homocysteine in HD.

Significantly increased plasma total homocysteine levels (t-Hcys) appeared in treated Huntington disease (HD) patients compared to controls and untreated HD subjects. Because the protein Huntingtin interacts with the homocysteine metabolism modulating enzyme cystathionine beta-synthase, we hypothesize that homocysteine promotes neurodegeneration in HD.