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Honesty and orientation toward the common good are key qualities that people expect from their elected politicians. However, dishonesty in the forms of corruption, vote-buying and identity politics are not uncommon and can lead to a loss of trust in politics. This paper focuses on the cheating behavior of aspirant politicians and students in Kenya. I applied online coin flip experiments as means to detect cheating. In a between-subject design, participants could either (1) cheat to the benefit of a common good, (2) cheat to the benefit of their ethnic group, or (3) cheat to their own monetary advantage. On average, 38% of participants report the payoff-maximizing number of successful coin tosses with no difference between aspirant politicians and students. However, aspirant politicians report the payoff-maximizing outcome more readily than students when cheating benefits a common good. Perceiving corruption as justifiable is correlated with reporting higher numbers of successful coin tosses in the online experiment.

In this paper we explore whether mental representation about birth (birth-related mindset) assessed during pregnancy can predict labor and birth in the sense that the perception of birth as a natural (vs medical) event increases the probability of a low-intervention birth. Birth in turn might affect short- and long-term psychological well-being. These assumptions were tested in a longitudinal study (N = 311), spanning the first half of pregnancy up to six months after birth. Results of a Single Indicator Model displayed a sequential process: women who held a more natural mindset prenatally were more likely to have low-intervention births, which resulted in a more positive evaluation of the birth experience, which in turn predicted well-being in the first weeks after birth (measured with Ecological Momentary Assessment), and subsequently postpartum depression and post-traumatic stress symptoms eight weeks after birth as well as mother-infant bonding six months after birth. The study demonstrates the relevance of psychological factors for childbirth. The construct of a birth-related mindset could contribute to a better understanding of childbirth and help to make women’s birth experiences safer and more satisfying and to improve the transition to motherhood.

Wood modification using phenol-formaldehyde resins (PF resins) is a well-known and commercialized method to improve, amongst others, the dimensional stability and the durability of wood. However, phenol is mainly obtained from non-renewable resources, and the substitution of phenol by renewable resources has been a topic of research interest for years. Due to the high availability of technical lignins, lignin-derived cleavage products are promising candidates. In this study, organic cleavage products obtained from vacuum low-temperature microwave-assisted pyrolysis of softwood kraft lignin were used to substitute up to 45% of phenol in PF resins. The curing behavior and the free formaldehyde content of the resins was studied. Pine sapwood was treated with these resins by a vacuum pressure treatment, and the weight percent gain, leaching, and dimensional stability of the species were examined. Selected samples were analyzed with microscopy. The results indicate that up to 30% substitution of phenol by lignin-based organic products does not lead to significantly inferior wood modifications. At a substitution of 45%, the performance decreases, most likely due to the lower reactivity of the lignin cleavage products compared to pure phenol. The method described in this study could be a way to improve the environmental footprint of wood modification by PF resins.

Background Extremolytes enable microbes to withstand even the most extreme conditions in nature. Due to their unique protective properties, the small organic molecules, more and more, become high-value active ingredients for the cosmetics and the pharmaceutical industries. While ectoine, the industrial extremolyte flagship, has been successfully commercialized before, an economically viable route to its highly interesting derivative 5-hydroxyectoine (hydroxyectoine) is not existing. Results Here, we demonstrate high-level hydroxyectoine production, using metabolically engineered strains of C. glutamicum that express a codon-optimized, heterologous ectD gene, encoding for ectoine hydroxylase, to convert supplemented ectoine in the presence of sucrose as growth substrate into the desired derivative. Fourteen out of sixteen codon-optimized ectD variants from phylogenetically diverse bacterial and archaeal donors enabled hydroxyectoine production, showing the strategy to work almost regardless of the origin of the gene. The genes from Pseudomonas stutzeri (PST) and Mycobacterium smegmatis (MSM) worked best and enabled hydroxyectoine production up to 97% yield. Metabolic analyses revealed high enrichment of the ectoines inside the cells, which, inter alia, reduced the synthesis of other compatible solutes, including proline and trehalose. After further optimization, C. glutamicum Ptuf ectDPST achieved a titre of 74 g L−1 hydroxyectoine at 70% selectivity within 12 h, using a simple batch process. In a two-step procedure, hydroxyectoine production from ectoine, previously synthesized fermentatively with C. glutamicum ectABCopt, was successfully achieved without intermediate purification. Conclusions C. glutamicum is a well-known and industrially proven host, allowing the synthesis of commercial products with granted GRAS status, a great benefit for a safe production of hydroxyectoine as active ingredient for cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications. Because ectoine is already available at commercial scale, its use as precursor appears straightforward. In the future, two-step processes might provide hydroxyectoine de novo from sugar.

People assign attributes to a different degree to other persons depending on whether these are male or female (sex role stereotypes). Such stereotypes continue to exist even in countries with lower gender inequality. The present research tested the idea that parents develop sex role consistent expectations of their babies’ attributes based on fetal sex (by ultrasound diagnostic), as well as gendered perceptions of their recently newborn babies. A total of 304 dyads of predominantly White expecting parents from Germany were followed over the course of pregnancy until after the birth and completed a sex role inventory on their babies’ expected (before birth) as well as perceived traits (after birth). Specifically, they rated to what extent they expected their babies to have normatively feminine traits (e.g., soft-spoken and warm) and normatively masculine traits (e.g., independent and assertive) twice before birth (first half of pregnancy, six weeks before due date) and to what extent they perceived their baby to have these traits eight weeks after birth. The results suggested that fathers held gendered expectations and perceptions, whereas mothers did not. These results suggest that male and female babies are likely to encounter sex role stereotypes about their alleged attributes as soon as their birth.

Seaweeds emerge as promising third-generation renewable for sustainable bioproduction. In the present work, we valorized brown seaweed to produce l -lysine, the world's leading feed amino acid, using Corynebacterium glutamicum, which was streamlined by systems metabolic engineering. The mutant C. glutamicum SEA-1 served as a starting point for development because it produced small amounts of l -lysine from mannitol, a major seaweed sugar, because of the deletion of its arabitol repressor AtlR and its engineered l -lysine pathway. Starting from SEA-1, we systematically optimized the microbe to redirect excess NADH, formed on the sugar alcohol, towards NADPH, required for l -lysine synthesis. The mannitol dehydrogenase variant MtlD D75A, inspired by 3D protein homology modelling, partly generated NADPH during the oxidation of mannitol to fructose, leading to a 70% increased l -lysine yield in strain SEA-2C. Several rounds of strain engineering further increased NADPH supply and l -lysine production. The best strain, SEA-7, overexpressed the membrane-bound transhydrogenase pntAB together with codon-optimized gapN, encoding NADPH-dependent glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, and mak, encoding fructokinase. In a fed-batch process, SEA-7 produced 76 g L−1 l -lysine from mannitol at a yield of 0.26 mol mol−1 and a maximum productivity of 2.1 g L−1 h−1. Finally, SEA-7 was integrated into seaweed valorization cascades. Aqua-cultured Laminaria digitata, a major seaweed for commercial alginate, was extracted and hydrolyzed enzymatically, followed by recovery and clean-up of pure alginate gum. The residual sugar-based mixture was converted to l -lysine at a yield of 0.27 C-mol C-mol−1 using SEA-7. Second, stems of the wild-harvested seaweed Durvillaea antarctica, obtained as waste during commercial processing of the blades for human consumption, were extracted using acid treatment. Fermentation of the hydrolysate using SEA-7 provided l -lysine at a yield of 0.40 C-mol C-mol−1. Our findings enable improvement of the efficiency of seaweed biorefineries using tailor-made C. glutamicum strains.

Over the last decades, teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs have been widely investigated and defined as an overall construct. Recent studies indicate, however, that teachers’ self-efficacy (TSE) belief...

In diesem Artikel berichtet eine ehemalige Studentin des Studiengangs Bibliotheks- und Informationsmanagement der Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg von ihrem Stipendium in der Bibliothek der Maison Heinrich Heine in Paris. Sie erzählt von den Voraussetzungen und den Tätigkeiten im Stipendium sowie von der Erfahrung, in Paris zu leben und zu arbeiten.

We investigate whether and how large-scale agricultural investments (LSAIs) influence the risk of communal conflict. We assess a mechanism that links LSAIs to conflict through interethnic competition over access to plantation employment. Our analyses focus on rural Liberia. We measure communal conflict with joy-of-destruction experiments (JDG). We first investigate associations between access to employment and JDG outcomes---comparing villages that are located below/above a distance threshold at which travel costs to plantations equal daily wages of plantation workers. We find substantively higher levels of destruction in communities with better access to LSAI employment. We then analyze whether participants display more destructive behaviour when members of ethnic minorities interact with members of dominant groups. Contrary to expectations, we find no variation across interethnic experimental constellations. Exploratory descriptive analyses tentatively suggest a link between LSAIs, labor migration and communal conflict.

Background Popliteal artery aneurysms (PAAs) are the most common peripheral aneurysms. Although rare and often asymptomatic, there is a significant risk of thrombosis, embolism, and limb loss. The aim of this study was to evaluate the eligibility for endovascular repair of patients treated for symptomatic and asymptomatic PAAs in accordance with the instructions for use (IFU). Methods All patients treated for PAA with open surgical repair between the years 2010 and 2017 were analyzed if suitable for endovascular treatment. Preoperative imaging was reviewed for applicability with an interventional radiologist and 2 vascular surgeons. Evaluation was performed in accordance with the following criteria adopted from the IFU of the Gore ® Viabahn stent graft: at least a single-vessel tibial runoff, proximal and distal landing zone more than 2 cm, no large difference in vessel diameter proximal and distal to the aneurysm, no overstenting of significant collaterals necessary, and no inadequate kinking of the artery. The patients were classified in 3 categories: the patient was eligible, endovascular treatment was feasible, and endovascular treatment was not appropriate. Results 51 patients with 61 symptomatic and asymptomatic PAAs were identified. Forty-five cases were asymptomatic, 11 cases showed clinical symptoms such as claudication, and in 5 cases, the patients presented with acute ischemia. Twenty-four patients were eligible for endovascular intervention, 14 cases were feasible, and in 23 cases, it was not appropriate in accordance with the IFU. Conclusions In this study, more than one-third of the patients with PAA were not eligible for endovascular treatment in accordance with the IFU and another 23 % showed substantial reasons against endovascular treatment. These data suggest that endovascular repair remains a treatment option for selected patients only. Cross-sectional imaging is mandatory for procedure selection.

Purpose: Non-invasive cerebral oxygen saturation (ScO2) monitoring is an established tool in the intraoperative phase of pediatric congenital cardiac surgery (CCS). This study investigated the association between ScO2 and postoperative outcome by investigating both baseline ScO2 values and intraoperative desaturations from baseline. Methods: All CCS procedures performed in the period 2010-2017 in our institution in which ScO2 was monitored were included in this historical cohort study. Baseline ScO2 was determined after tracheal intubation, before surgical incision. Subgroups were based on cardiac pathology and degree of intracardiac shunting. Poor outcome was defined based on length of stay (LOS) in the intensive care unit (ICU)/hospital, duration of mechanical ventilation (MV), and 30-day mortality. Intraoperatively, ScO2 total time below baseline (TBBL) and ScO2 time-weighted average (TWA) were calculated. Results: Data from 565 patients were analyzed. Baseline ScO2 was significantly associated with LOS in ICU (odds ratio [OR] per percentage decrease in baseline ScO2, 0.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.93 to 0.97; P < 0.001), with LOS in hospital (OR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.91 to 0.96; P < 0.001), with MV duration (OR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.90 to 0.95; P < 0.001) and with 30-day mortality (OR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.91 to 0.98; P = 0.007). Cerebral oxygen saturation TWA had no associations, while ScO2 TBBL had only a small association with LOS in ICU (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.03; P < 0.001), MV duration (OR,1.02; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.03; P = 0.002), and LOS in hospital (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.04; P < 0.001). Conclusion: In pediatric patients undergoing cardiac surgery, low baseline ScO2 values measured after tracheal intubation were associated with several adverse postoperative outcomes. In contrast, the severity of actual intraoperative cerebral desaturation was not associated with postoperative outcomes. Baseline ScO2 measured after tracheal intubation may help identify patients at increased perioperative risk.

In der Praxis erfolgt die Anwendung evidenzbasierter Pflegeinterventionen bei oraler Mukositis unter Chemotherapie bisher noch luckenhaft. Das Pflegepersonal ist laut eigenen Angaben oft unsicher uber den richtigen Einsatz der Therapeutika. Daher wurde ein evidenzbasiertes Konzept bezuglich der Pravention und des pflegerischen Umgangs mit oraler Mukositis erstellt und anschliesend auf einer onkologischen Station implementiert.

Religion has become increasingly contentious in recent years. Faith-based discrimination, hostility and violence seem to have increased worldwide. But how can faith lead to conflict? In this article, we test the impact of two important dimensions of religion that have been neglected in previous research: the belief in ‘one true religion’ and perceptions of threats by other religious groups. Putting these two potential drivers to the test, we conducted a representative survey experiment with 972 respondents in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Results show that one of the tested dimensions, perceptions of threats by others, increases the support to use violence to defend one’s own group. This is particularly the case for religiously intolerant respondents with characteristics such as pre-existing threat perceptions, unfavorable views on intermarriage, or belief in the superiority of their own faith. In contrast, we find relatively weak evidence that the prime of ‘one true religion’ increases the readiness to use violence. Our findings have important implications for policy: We conclude that appeals by leaders to threats by others and intolerance toward other faiths can contribute to more conflict. Political and religious leaders should refrain from capitalizing on such notions and should promote tolerance towards other faiths instead.

Abstract. For years, disgust was conceptualized as a disease-avoidance mechanism. However, research shows that socio-moral or sexual transgressions elicit disgust, too. Until now, no German-language disgust scale has covered all disgust factors discussed in the literature. Here we present an economic Five-Factor Disgust Scale (5-FES; Fünf-Faktoren Ekelskala) along with empirical evidence from three studies corroborating its reliability and validity. Two well-established disgust questionnaires were combined and extended with other disgust-relevant items. Using item reduction and exploratory factor analysis, death-related, moral, food-related, sexual, and pathogen disgust emerged as distinct factors (Study 1: N = 456). Confirmatory factor analysis with two large samples (Study 2: N = 997 and N = 405) demonstrated a good fit of the correlated five-factor solution. The 5-FES correlated weakly with neuroticism, anxiety, and social desirability. A high negative correlation between sexual disgust and sexual openness emerged. Criterion validity was shown using self-reported behaviors (Study 3: N = 203). With food-related disgust comprising items about non-spoiled but exotic foods, a new disgust domain emerged. Results indicate that the 5-FES is a comprehensive and psychometrically sound German-language instrument for the differentiated assessment of disgust propensity.

Focus groups are used in qualitative research and increasingly so in the health and nursing sciences. There has been no previous research on how focus groups are used and reported in this context. A scoping review was conducted to address this question.The databases MEDLINE via PubMed, CINAHL, and SSCI were searched for nursing and health science publications (2009-2019) that reported focus groups as a method. Due to the high number of hits, a one percent random sample was drawn per database. Two individuals checked the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data extraction was performed using a literature-based matrix developed and discussed with experts. Results were content-analysed and quantified.The random sample was n=408 publications, of which n=319 were included after reviewing the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The use of semi-structured interview guides was reported most frequently (43.9 %) (more often referred to as focus group interviews in the publications); open discussions (11 %) and discussions without any guiding questions (6.3 %) were reported less frequently (more often referred to as focus group discussions in the publications). In none of the publications was the aspect of group interaction included into the analysis. Although the reporting is based on international standards, some specific methodological aspects were often inadequately reported or not reported at all: in 92 % of the publications there is no information about the interaction of the participants, and in 72 % the role of the moderating person was not described in detail.Semi-structured forms of focus groups predominate but open forms with only one introductory question are also used. It would have been expected that the interaction among the participants and group dynamic processes would have been considered in the more open approaches. Method-specific reporting items for focus groups have yet to be developed. This could contribute to an improvement of the reporting and critical reflection of, in particular, method-specific aspects. There is evidence that different nomenclature is used in the international literature, depending on the type of focus group. Researchers should choose the nomenclature carefully and describe the procedure precisely.The scoping review provides first insights into how focus groups are conducted and reported in health and nursing science research. The potential of the method could be more fully exploited regarding the analysis of group interaction. Future methodological work dealing with the focus group method should promote the establishment of an internationally consented nomenclature and the development of criteria for transparent reporting for different types of focus groups.

Der Studieneinstieg für die Erstsemesterstudierenden des Studiengangs Bibliotheks- und Informationsmanagement im November 2020 war geprägt von den Maßnahmen zur Eindämmung der Corona-Pandemie. Zum ersten Mal musste ein Teil der Orientierungseinheit digital stattfinden. Die Besonderheiten in der Planung und Durchführung einer hybriden Orientierungseinheit werden in diesem Artikel vorgestellt und ausgewertet.

According to the literature, a lack of resources is seen as a major barrier of implementing inclusive education. Previous studies, which have mostly been limited to the perspective of teachers, show that the perception of resources has a considerable influence on teachers' self-efficacy and in particular on their attitude towards inclusive education. The 'Perception of Resources Questionnaire' (PRQ) by Goldan and Schwab (2018) is the first instrument to assess the perspective of students. The PRQ was applied in the present study comprising N = 701 students from lower-secondary level in Germany. It is aimed to explore whether the perception of resources has an effect on relevant dimensions on the side of the students. Results of multilevel regression analyses show that students' perception of resources is a significant predictor of their well-being in school, academic self-concept and social inclusion. Finally, the results are discussed with regard to practical implications.

Previous studies pointed out that dealing with difficult behaviour is perceived by teachers as a major challenge in inclusive settings. However, research on the students' perception of the classroom behavioural climate (CBC) is rare. Therefore, this study aims to examine students’ perceptions of CBC and to identify predictors of CBC as well as associated variables. The sample consists of 650 German students from secondary schools (5th-9th grade) of whom 83 students are diagnosed with special educational needs (SEN). CBC was measured via four subscales (‘students’ possibilities to study and concentrating on teaching’, ‘disruptive behaviour’, ‘physical and psychological safety’ and ‘caring for the physical environment’). Results show significant differences in students’ perceptions of CBC between students from different school tracks. Furthermore, gender (being male) and SEN (having a) predict the perception of ‘physical and psychological safety’. Additionally, social inclusion, emotional experience as well as teacher support and care are associated with CBC. Accordingly, a positive CBC is important for the successful implementation of inclusive education: while diversity in classrooms is a challenge for behavioural climate, poor behavioural climate may also pose specific barriers to learning for some students with SEN and thus is a general challenge for equity in inclusive classrooms. peerReviewed

Sustainable production from seaweed has grown into an area of intense research and development. Meanwhile, more than 30 million tonnes of seaweed are produced, of which 70% are used as food and 30% have other applications such as feed, fertilizer, chemicals, and energy. Towards biorefining seaweed in an environmentally friendly and economically viable manner, we need efficient approaches that convert its biomass and residuals into added value products. Smart cell factories and fermentation strategies which can be integrated into future seaweed biorefineries are at the heart of the development and therefore receive increasing attention. Here, we review advances in the field including novel fermentation routes from seaweed to chemicals, materials, pharmaceuticals, fuels and energy, and discuss challenges and opportunities.

Contrary to the expectations of secularization theory, religion remains socially important and affects politics in multiple ways - especially regarding conflict between religious communities. Theoretically, religion can increase altruism, but belief in the superiority of one's faith may facilitate intergroup discrimination and related conflict. Previous findings remain inconclusive, however, as specific religious ideas have hardly been tested. In this article, we argue that the content of religious ideas has causal effects on intergroup discrimination. We hence test the impact of two opposing, prominent religious ideas on altruism and discrimination: universal love and the notion of one true religion. Conducting dictator games with Christians and Muslims in Ghana and Tanzania, we find causal effects: Whereas the idea of one true religion increases intergroup discrimination, that of universal love fosters equal treatment. The policy implications hereof are obvious - promoting tolerant religious ideas seems crucial to avoiding conflict.

Within the current policy and legislative context of educating students with and without special educational needs (SEN) together in one classroom, the question that is frequently raised by educato...

Groundwater contaminated with geogenic arsenic (As) is frequently used as drinking water in Burkina Faso, despite adverse health effects. This study focused on testing low-cost filter systems based on zero-valent iron (ZVI), which have not yet been explored in West Africa for As removal. The active ZVI bed was constructed using small-sized iron nails, embedded between sand layers. Household filters were tested for nine months in a remote village relying on tube well water with As concentrations of 400–1350 μg/L. Daily filtered volumes were 40–60 L, with flow rates of ~10 L/h. In parallel, downscaled laboratory filter columns were run to find the best set-up for optimal As removal, with special attention given to the influence of input pH, flow rate and water/nail contact time. Arsenic removal efficiencies in the field were 60–80% in the first six months of operation. The laboratory experiments revealed that trapped air in the nail layer greatly lowered As removal due to preferential flow and decreased water/nail contact time. Measures taken to avoid trapped air led to a partial improvement in the field filters, but effluent As remained >50 μg/L. Similar structural modifications were however very successful in the laboratory columns, where As removal efficiencies were consistently >95% and effluent concentrations frequently 1000 μg/L. A constantly saturated nail bed and careful flow control is necessary for optimal As removal. Slow flow and longer pauses between filtrations are important for sufficient contact times and for transformation of brown amorphous Fe-hydroxides to dense magnetite with incorporated As(V). This preliminary study has shown that nail-based filters have the potential to achieve As removal >90% in a field context if conditions (filter bed saturation, flow rate, pauses between filtrations) are well controlled., Science of The Total Environment, 737, ISSN:0048-9697, ISSN:1879-1026

With the transition to the bio-based economy, it is becoming increasingly important for the chemical industry to obtain basic chemicals from renewable raw materials. Succinic acid, one of the most important bio-based building block chemicals, is used in the food and pharmaceutical industries, as well as in the field of bio-based plastics. An alternative process for the bio-based production of succinic acid was the main objective of this study, focusing on the biotechnological production of succinic acid using a newly isolated organism. Pure glycerol compared to crude glycerol, at the lowest purity, directly from a biodiesel plant side stream, was successfully converted. A maximum final titer of 117 g L&minus, 1 succinic acid and a yield of 1.3 g g&minus, 1 were achieved using pure glycerol and 86.9 g L&minus, 1 succinic acid and a yield of 0.9 g g&minus, 1 using crude glycerol. Finally, the succinic acid was crystallized, achieving maximum yield of 95% and a purity of up to 99%.

Evaluative priming is based on the notion that evaluative classifications of target stimuli are faster (vs. slower) when they are preceded by a prime stimulus of the same (vs. opposite) valence. Although evaluative priming is widely used as an implicit measure of evaluation, there is no common procedure for the treatment of response-latency outliers. To address this limitation, four studies examined common outlier-treatments in terms of (1) the overall size of evaluative priming effects, (2) their internal consistency, and (3) their relation to corresponding explicit measures in the domains of conditioned attitudes (Study 1), political attitudes (Study 2), racial attitudes (Study 3), and ethnic attitudes (Study 4). The algorithm with the best performance uses a priori cutoffs of 300 ms and 1000 ms, treating response times beyond these cutoffs as missing values. Internal consistency was low for all algorithms, indicating limits in the usefulness of evaluative priming for correlational studies.

BackgroundThe global burden of hypertension, currently estimated at 1 billion, is a leading Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) in Sub Saharan Africa. In Tanzania, the reported prevalence of hypertension is 25%. Inherent limitations of the healthcare system to control hypertension include inadequate provider knowledge, system capacity, medication access, and patient awareness, all of which hinder effective screening and disease management. To assess the quality of hypertension screening and patient counseling, we conducted a study in an ambulatory setting in Tanzania.MethodsObservations of patient screening were conducted on 69 adult patients during routine outpatient care and screening camps. In addition, 33 healthcare providers participated in a pre-post knowledge assessment after observing instructional training videos.ResultsPatient observations indicated that blood pressure (BP) measurement was explained to 65% of patients, and 77% of the measurements were made with mercury sphygmomanometers. For several aspects of BP measurement, nurses performed better than doctors: patient's arm supported on a flat surface (doctors, 58% vs nurses 67%, pConclusionEnhancing knowledge and performance competencies of health providers at the primary care level is a critical prerequisite for effective hypertension management in low resource settings.

The amino acid lysine is among the world's most important biotechnological products, and enabling its manufacture from the most attractive new materials is an ever-present challenge. In this study, we describe a cell factory of Corynebacterium glutamicum, which produces lysine from mannitol. A preliminary mutant C. glutamicum SEA-1 obtained by the deletion of the mannitol repressor MtlR in the glucose-based, lysine-producing strain C. glutamicum LYS-12 produced only small amounts of lysine. This limitation was due to a significant accumulation of fructose and a limited NADPH supply, which caused a low flux of only 6% into the oxidative pentose phosphate (PP) pathway. Subsequent expression of fructokinase slightly increased production but failed to substantially redirect the flux from the Emden-Meyerhof-Parnas (EMP) pathway to the PP pathway. This suggested the design of C. glutamicum SEA-3, which overexpressed the NADP-dependent glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase GapN from Streptococcus mutans and coupled the EMP pathway flux to NADPH formation. When grown on mannitol, the SEA-3 strain had a lysine yield of 0.24 mol mol-1 and a specific productivity of 1.3 mmol g-1 h-1, approximately 60% and 75% higher, respectively, than those of the basic producer SEA-1. A computational pathway analysis revealed that this design would potentially enable a lysine yield of 0.9 mol mol-1, providing room for further development. Our findings open new avenues for lysine production from marine macroalgae, which is farmed globally as an attractive third-generation renewable resource. Mannitol is a major constituent of these algae (up to 30% and higher) and can be easily extracted from their biomass with hot water.

The objective of this case report is to introduce a customized CAD/CAM freeze-dried bone allograft (FDBA) block for its use in Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR) procedures for severely deficient maxillary bones. Additionally, a special newly developed remote incision technique is presented to avoid wound dehiscence. The results show an optimal integration behaviour of the FDBA block after six months and the formation of new vital bone. Thus, the results of the present case report confirm the use of the customized CAD/CAM bone block for augmentation of complex defects in the maxillary aesthetic zone as a successful treatment concept.

The objective of this case report is to introduce a customized CAD/CAM freeze- dried bone allograft (FDBA) block for its use in Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR) procedures for severely deficient maxillary bones. Additionally, a special newly developed remote incision technique is presented to avoid wound dehiscence. The results show optimal integration behavior of the FDBA block after six months and the formation of new vital bone. Thus, the results of the present case report confirm the use of the customized CAD/CAM bone block for augmentation of complex defects in the maxillary aesthetic zone as a successful treatment concept. View Full-Text

Since its discovery 60 years ago, Corynebacterium glutamicum has evolved into a workhorse for industrial biotechnology. Traditionally well known for its remarkable capacity to produce amino acids, this Gram-positive soil bacterium, has become a flexible, efficient production platform for various bulk and fine chemicals, materials, and biofuels. The central turnstile of all these achievements is our excellent understanding of its metabolism and physiology. This knowledge base, together with innovative systems metabolic engineering concepts, which integrate systems and synthetic biology into strain engineering, has upgraded C. glutamicum into one of the most successful industrial microorganisms in the world.

Since its discovery 60 years ago, Corynebacterium glutamicum has evolved into a workhorse for industrial biotechnology. Traditionally well known for its remarkable capacity to produce amino acids, this Gram-positive soil bacterium, has become a flexible, efficient production platform for various bulk and fine chemicals, materials, and biofuels. The central turnstile of all these achievements is our excellent understanding of its metabolism and physiology. This knowledge base, together with innovative systems metabolic engineering concepts, which integrate systems and synthetic biology into strain engineering, has upgraded C. glutamicum into one of the most successful industrial microorganisms in the world.

Zusammenfassung Die Generosität der Altersversorgung von Abgeordneten des Bundestages und der Länderparlamente, über die sie souverän entscheiden, stand in der Vergangenheit wiederholt im Blickpunkt öffentlicher Kritik. Unter Verweis auf die Einschränkungen, die den Beteiligten an anderen staatlichen Alterssicherungssystemen zugemutet wurden, haben die Parlamentarier ab etwa 1989jedoch auch an ihren jeweiligen Sondersystemen mehrfach Einschnitte vorgenommen. In diesem Beitrag wird nach den Gründen und dem Umfang der Einschränkungen bei der Altersversorgung von Abgeordneten gefragt. Es werden deshalb zunächst die historische Entwicklung dieses Sondersystems skizziert sowie die Anspruchsregelungen und -niveaus im Bund und in den 16 Bundesländern dargestellt und verglichen. Es schließen sich - ausgehend vom Prinzipal-Agenten-Ansatz - Überlegungen an, warum Abgeordnete freiwillig auf finanzielle Ansprüche vernichten. Vor diesem Hintergrund werden die entsprechenden Änderungen der Abgeordnetengesetze ab ca. 1989 analysiert. Es wird festgestellt, dass die beschlossenen Einschränkungen im Umfang eher geringer ausfielen als in der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung. Dabei ist ein Spezifikum der Neuregelungen, dass sie regelmäßig erst für neu- b%w. wiedergewählte Parlamentarier wirksam werden und diejenigen Abgeordneten, die entsprechende Beschlüsse fassen, weitgehend von Verschlechterungen ausnehmen.

The current research examines the effects of exposure to ideal images on women’s self-evaluations, taking into account the moderating influence of social contextual and individual difference factors. In Study 1, women were exposed to either ideal images of women or neutral images. Participants viewed these images in a context in which (a) men were not present, (b) men were present, or (c) men were present and made comments about some of the images. Results indicated that participants’ weight-esteem was negatively affected in the ideal image/men present condition but that those in the ideal image/men comment condition actually exhibited higher levels of weight-esteem. A second study replicated the results of Study 1 and also showed that the importance participants placed on physical attractiveness influenced the effects of viewing ideal images.