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Biotic and abiotic factors interact with dominant plants���the locally most frequent or with the largest coverage���and nondominant plants differently, partially because dominant plants modify the environment where nondominant plants grow. For instance, if dominant plants compete strongly, they will deplete most resources, forcing nondominant plants into a narrower niche space. Conversely, if dominant plants are constrained by the environment, they might not exhaust available resources but instead may ameliorate environmental stressors that usually limit nondominants. Hence, the nature of interactions among nondominant species could be modified by dominant species. Furthermore, these differences could translate into a disparity in the phylogenetic relatedness among dominants compared to the relatedness among nondominants. By estimating phylogenetic dispersion in 78 grasslands across five continents, we found that dominant species were clustered (e.g., co-dominant grasses), suggesting dominant species are likely organized by environmental filtering, and that nondominant species were either randomly assembled or overdispersed. Traits showed similar trends for those sites (

Objective The purpose of this study was to examine differences in self-reported physical functioning via the Modified Disablement in the Physically Active Scale (mDPA) and single-leg hop limb symmetry index (LSI) between individuals with a history of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) and SRC compared to an ACLR group without history of SRC. Methods Forty participants [24 female; mean age = 24.3 +/− 4.1 years; height (cm) = 169.9 (SD = 9.1); weight (kg) = 73.2 (SD = 15.1)] with a history of ACLR (≥1-year post-operative) were separated into a SRC history group (SRC; n = 11) and no SRC history group (NO SRC; n = 29). Participants completed the mDPA physical summary component (mDPA-PSC) and hop testing (single-leg hop, crossover-hop, and triple-hop all for distance). SRC history was self-reported as yes/no and LSI was calculated using the equation: (mean distance involved limb/mean distance uninvolved limb) x 100. Mann–Whitney U tests (p Results The SRC history group reported worse physical functioning on the mDPA-PSC compared to the no SRC history group [SRC = 10 (IQR = 13), NO SRC = 5 (IQR = 10), p = 0.02, ES = -0.79, 95%CI = -1.49 to −0.08]. No statistical differences were observed for the single-leg hop or triple-hop, but the SRC history group performed worse on the crossover-hop [SRC = 0.96 (IQR = 0.07), NO SRC = 1.02 (IQR = 0.10), p = 0.006, ES = 0.74, 95%CI = 0.03–1.43]. Conclusions These results suggest that SRC history may negatively influence subjective evaluation of physical functioning and objective lower-extremity functional performance in patients after ACLR.

Biomarkers represent a critical research area in neurodegeneration disease as they can contribute to studying potential disease-modifying agents, fostering timely therapeutic interventions, and alleviating associated financial costs. Functional connectivi

An early stage of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) often displays a mix of behavioral disturbances and personality changes hindering a differential diagnosis from elderly bipolar disorder (BD), making this process a big challenge. Howeve

Ice cores are established as archives for environmental changes since many years. On Severnaya Zemlya, the easternmost archipelago with considerable glaciation in the Eurasian Arctic, a 724 m long ice core has been drilled on Akademii Nauk the largest ice cap there. Stable water isotope and major ions concentrations in this ice core are presented (e.g. Fritzsche et al., 2005, Opel et al., 2013). They represent more than 3000 years of regional climate and environmental history. A well‐known depth‐age relationship is necessary for a paleoclimate interpretation of the data. In a first approach the dating was performed by counting of annual cycles of stable isotopes well‐preserved in the core even though overprinted by the effect of percolating melt water from summer surface melting. The depth‐age scale produced by counting has been matched to volcanic eruption events with well‐known ages detectable in the sulphate record of the core. This approach has some disadvantages due to the fact that the pattern of stratospheric volcanic events recorded in well‐dated ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica is influenced by rather regional tropospheric eruptions as in our case probably in Iceland and Kamchatka, partly less precisely dated. The depth‐age relationship has therefore to be proofed by an independent method. The isotope 10Be is produced by cosmic radiation in the Earth’s atmosphere. Its residence time there is about one year, shorter than it is for 14C, for which reason variability of 10Be in archives like glaciers is much higher compared to 14C. The production rate of both radionuclides is depending on the solar activity. Their concentrations were used for the reconstruction of heliomagnetic variations in the past and can be vice versa used for dating of ice cores. Today, accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) allows measurements of 10Be in ice cores. Its concentration is depending on the geomagnetic coordinates of the location of its production, transport and deposition mechanisms, accumulation rates etc. Therefore, local differences in 10Be concentrations are observed (Berggren et al., 2009). Here, we present 10Be concentrations measured by the team of DREsden AMS (DREAMS) (Akhmadaliev et al., 2013) in discrete Akademii Nauk ice core samples of about 300 g. Our 10Be record shows its general potential to validate our depth‐age model matching the 10Be concentration pattern to that of Greenlandic ice cores as well as 14C production reconstruction. References Akhmadaliev, S., Heller, R., Hanf, D., Rugel, G., and S. Merchel (2013): The new 6 MV AMS‐facility DREAMS at Dresden, Nucl. Instr. and Meth. in Phys. Res. B., 294, pp .5‐10. doi:10.1016/j.nimb.2012.01.053. Berggren, A.‐M., J. Beer, G. Possnert, A. Aldahan, P. Kubik, M. Christl, S. J. Johnsen, J. Abreu and B. M. Vinther (2009): A 600‐year annual 10Be record from the NGRIP ice core, Greenland, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L11801, doi:10.1029/2009GL038004. Fritzsche, D., Schütt, R., Meyer, H., Miller, H., Wilhelms, F., Opel, T. and Savatyugin, L. M. (2005): A 275 year ice core record from Akademii Nauk ice cap, Severnaya Zemlya, Russian Arctic, Annals of Glaciology, 42, pp. 361‐366. doi:10.3189/172756405781812862. Opel, T., Fritzsche, D. and Meyer, H. (2013): Eurasian Arctic climate over the past millennium as recorded in the Akademii Nauk ice core (Severnaya Zemlya) , Climate of the Past, 9 (5), pp. 2379‐2389. doi:10.5194/cp‐9‐2379‐2013.

Introduction: Long-lived radionuclides with half-lives of 0.1-16 Ma (Tab. 1) have nowadays thousands of exciting applications, especially within environmental and geosciences. In nature, the so-called cosmogenic nuclides (CNs) are products of nuclear reactions induced by primary and secondary cosmic rays. Hence, they can be found in extraterrestrial material such as meteorites - originating from the asteroid belt, the Moon or Mars - and lunar samples in higher concentrations (e.g. ~1010 10Be atoms/g or < 0.5 mBq/g). A combination of several CNs is used to reconstruct the exposure history of this unique material while in space (irradiation age) and on Earth (terrestrial age). Though, in terrestrial material the concentrations are typically only on the order of 104-109 atoms/g (i.e. μBq/g - nBq/g) for 10Be produced in the Earth’s atmosphere, so-called atmospheric or meteoric 10Be, transported to the surface and further absorbed and incorporated at and in, e.g. sediments or ice. Some of the lowest 10Be concentrations (~103 atoms/g), produced in-situ by neutron- and muon-induced nuclear reactions from e.g. oxygen and silicon in quartz, can be found in samples taken from the Earth’s surface. The concentrations of atmospheric or in-situ produced CNs record information to reconstruct sudden geomorphological events such as volcanic eruptions, rock avalanches, tsunamis, meteor impacts, earthquakes and glacier movements. Additionally, glacier movements and data from ice cores give hints for the reconstruction of historic climate changes and providing information for the validation of climate model predicting future changes. Slower processes such as sedimentation, river incision and erosion rates can also be investigated and last but not least, indirect dating of bones as old as several Ma’s is possible. Anthropogenic production by release from nuclear reprocessing, accidents and weapons testing led to increased levels of CNs in surface water and soil (129I,…), ice (36Cl,…) and of course, material from nuclear installations themselves (41Ca,…). Some of the CNs can be further used as natural or artificial tracers to follow pathways in oceanography, to date and identify sources of groundwater, to perform retrospective dosimetry and to study aspects in radioecology, phytology, nutrition, toxicology and pharmacology. Method: Today, the analytical method of choice for long-lived cosmogenic radionuclides – especially non-gamma-active ones - is accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). In contrast to decay counting, AMS scientists do not wait for the disintegration of the radioactive nucleus. In fact, the not-yet-decayed radionuclides are identified more efficiently by mass spectrometry. The main advantage of using a high-energy accelerator for mass spectrometry is the nearly complete elimination of background and interfering signals, resulting from molecular ions and ions with similar masses e.g. isobars. Thus, AMS generally provides much lower detection limits in comparison to conventional mass spectrometry. Our DREAMS (DREsden AMS) system (Akhmadaliev et al., 2013) offers excellent measurement capabilities also for external users. Table 1. Radionuclides measured by AMS at DREAMS. Nuclide t1/2 [Ma] Nuclide ratios of samples [10-12] (machine blank level) 10Be 1.387 0.01-300 (5x10-16) 10Be/9Be 26Al 0.705 0.001-60 (8x10-16) 26Al/27Al 36Cl 0.301 0.007-700 (2x10-16) 36Cl/35Cl 41Ca 0.104 0.02-9000 (8x10-15) 41Ca/40Ca 129I 15.7 artificial samples (3x10-14) 129I/127I actinides under development The benefits from using AMS are obvious and manifold: Smaller sample sizes, easier and faster sample preparation, higher sample throughput and the redundancy for radiochemistry laboratories are largely reducing costs. Lower detection limits widen applications to shorter and longer time-scales and to sample types that could never be investigated before. Nevertheless, basic but accurate radiochemical sample separation is an essential prerequisite for AMS measurements. Model applications: Some of the first successful CN-projects performed at DREAMS had been: • Dating of marine sediments (with ANU, ETH, TANDAR, TUM & VERA) by 10Be & 26Al and search for supernova-origin 60Fe (by AMS at ANU & TUM) • Growth rates of deep-sea manganese nodules by 10Be and 26Al (with Senckenberg) • 41Ca-determination in water and concrete from a nuclear power plant by LSC and AMS (with VKTA) • Reconstruction of meteorites’ history by 10Be, 26Al, 36Cl, 41Ca (with U Poznan & Bern, MPI Mainz,…). Acknowledgments Thanks to all brave DREAMS-users working with a newly installed AMS-facility and for help from colleagues at other AMS-facilities (ANSTO, ANU, ASTER, ETH, VERA…) with cross-measurements and setting-up the time-of-flight-system for future actinide measurements. References Akhmadaliev et al. (2013) Nucl. Instr. Meth. Phys. Res. B 294, 5-10.

Perceiving and evaluating intentional harms in an interpersonal context engages both cognitive and emotional domains. This process involves inference of intentions, moral judgment, and, crucially, empathy towards others' suffering. This latter skill is no

It is commonly assumed that early emotional signals provide relevant information for social cognition tasks. The goal of this study was to test the association between (a) cortical markers of face emotional processing and (b) social-cognitive measures, and also to build a model which can predict this association (a and b) in healthy volunteers as well as in different groups of psychiatric patients. Thus, we investigated the early cortical processing of emotional stimuli (N170, using a face and word valence task) and their relationship with the social-cognitive profiles (SCPs, indexed by measures of theory of mind, fluid intelligence, speed processing and executive functions). Group comparisons and individual differences were assessed among schizophrenia (SCZ) patients and their relatives, individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), individuals with euthymic bipolar disorder (BD) and healthy participants (educational level, handedness, age and gender matched). Our results provide evidence of emotional N170 impairments in the affected groups (SCZ and relatives, ADHD and BD) as well as subtle group differences. Importantly, cortical processing of emotional stimuli predicted the SCP, as evidenced by a structural equation model analysis. This is the first study to report an association model of brain markers of emotional processing and SCP.