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The ecophysiology of complete ammonia-oxidizingNitrospira(CMX) and their widespread occurrence in groundwater suggests that CMX bacteria have a competitive advantage over ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) in these environments. However, the specific contribution of their activity to nitrification processes has remained unclear. We aimed to disentangle the contribution of CMX, AOA and AOB to nitrification and to identify the environmental drivers of their niche differentiation at different levels of ammonium and oxygen in oligotrophic carbonate rock aquifers. CMX accounted for up to 95% of the ammonia oxidizer communities. Nitrification rates were positively correlated to CMX clade A associated phylotypes and AOB affiliated withNitrosomonas ureae. Surprisingly, short-term incubations amended with the nitrification inhibitors allylthiourea and chlorate suggested that AOB contributed more than 90% to overall ammonia oxidation, while metaproteomics analysis confirmed an active role of CMX in both ammonia and nitrite oxidation. Ecophysiological niche differentiation of CMX clades A and B, AOB and AOA was linked to their requirements for ammonium, oxygen tolerance, and metabolic versatility. Our results demonstrate that despite numerical predominance of CMX, the first step of nitrification in oligotrophic groundwater is primarily governed by AOB. Higher growth yields at lower ammonia turnover rates and energy derived from nitrite oxidation most likely enable CMX to maintain consistently high populations.

Objective: Menopause is associated with multiple health risks. In several studies, a higher incidence or a higher risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in post-menopausal than pre-menopausal women is reported. This study was designed to verify such a connection between menopause and OSA in a population-based sample. Methods: For a subsample (N = 1209) of the Study of Health in Pomerania (N = 4420), complete polysomnography data was available. Of these, 559 females completed a structured interview about their menstrual cycle. Splines and ordinal regression analysis were used to analyze the resulting data. Results: In the ordinal regression analysis, a significant association between the apnea–hypopnea index (AHI) and menopause indicated that post-menopausal women had a substantially higher risk of OSA. In accordance with previous studies, risk indicators such as body mass index (BMI), age, and the influence of hysterectomies or total oophorectomies were included in the model. Conclusions: Our results clearly confirmed the assumed connection between menopause and OSA. This is important because OSA is most often associated with male patients, and it warrants further research into the underlying mechanisms.

Obstructive sleep apnea is known to be an overall public health problem that, among other things, increases morbidity and mortality. Risk factors as well as symptoms of this multidimensional sleep-related breathing disorder negatively affect quality of life. With our study we aimed to expose the association between obstructive sleep apnea and quality of life in the population of Pomerania, Germany. We utilized data from the population-based Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP). Information on health status and risk factors about 4420 participants (2275 women) were gathered within the cohort SHIP-TREND, of which 1209 (559 women) underwent an overnight polysomnography and completed sleep questionnaires. The quality of life of the participants was measured using the Short-Form 12 questionnaire. For our study, an ordinal regression analysis with age, sex, body mass index and the Short-Form 12 health survey as predictors for apnea-hypopnea index was computed. The potential factors affecting quality of life are different between physical and mental dimensions of quality of life. Significant effects were found regarding age, sex, body mass index and the Short-Form 12 Mental Component Score, but not the Physical Component Score.

The environmental prevalence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has come into focus under the One Health concept. Wastewater treatment systems are among the significant sources of AMR in the environment. In such systems, it is uncertain to which extent antimicrobials present at sub-inhibitory concentrations constitute a selective pressure for bacterial maintenance and acquisition of antibiotic resistance (AR) genes. Here, we mapped AMR to inhibitors of folate biosynthesis in an aerated and a non-aerated horizontal subsurface flow treatment wetland receiving the same pre-treated municipal wastewater. General water characteristics and the concentrations of folate inhibitors were determined to define the ambient conditions over the longitudinal axis of the two treatment wetlands. Profiling of AMR as well as class 1 integrons, a carrier of AR genes against folate inhibitors and other antimicrobials, was conducted by cultivation-dependent and -independent methods. The wetlands achieved mean reductions of AR gene copy numbers in the effluents of at least 2 log, with the aerated system performing better. The folate inhibitors had no noticeable effect on the prevalence of respective AR genes. However, there was a transient increase of AR gene copy numbers and AR gene cassette composition in class 1 integrons in the aerated wetland. The comparison of all data from both wetlands suggests that higher levels of cellular stress in the aerated system promoted the mobility of AR genes via enhancing the activity of the DNA recombinase of the class 1 integron. The findings highlight that environmental conditions that modulate the activity of this genetic element can be more important for the fate of associated AR genes in treatment wetlands than the ambient concentration of the respective antimicrobial agents. By extrapolation, the results suggest that cellular stress also contributes to the mobility of AR gene in other wastewater treatment systems.

Purpose Socioeconomic factors are known to modulate health. Concerning sleep apnea, influences of income, education, work, and living in a partnership are established. However, results differ between national and ethnic groups. Results also differ between various clinical studies and population-based approaches. The goal of our study was to determine if such factors can be verified in the population of Pomerania, Germany. Methods A subgroup from the participants of the population-based Study of Health in Pomerania volunteered for an overnight polysomnography. Their data were subjected to an ordinal regressions analysis with age, sex, body mass index (BMI), income, education, work, and life partner as predictors for the apnea–hypopnea index. Results Among the subgroup (N = 1209) from the population-based study (N = 4420), significant effects were found for age, sex, and BMI. There were no significant effects for any of the socioeconomic factors. Conclusion Significant effects for well-established factors as age, sex, and BMI show that our study design has sufficient power to verify meaningful associations with sleep apnea. The lack of significant effects for the socioeconomic factors suggests their clinical irrelevance in the tested population.

Background We previously reported on a pilot study to assess the incorporation of a novel wellness assessment device, the Preventiometer (iPEx5 GmbH, Greifswald, Germany), into an academic medical practice. The present follow-up study expands on those data and evaluates the acceptability of the assessment process in a larger sample population. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate participant satisfaction with the Preventiometer wellness assessment. Methods A total of 60 healthy volunteers participated. Each participant underwent a comprehensive wellness assessment with the Preventiometer and received data from more than 30 diagnostic tests. A 32-question survey (with a numeric rating scale from 0 to 10) was used to rate the wellness assessment tests and participants’ impressions of the wellness assessment. Results Each assessment had a significantly higher rating than 7 ( P < .001), and the majority of participants agreed or strongly agreed that they were satisfied (98.3%), and they strongly agreed that they were engaged the entire time (93.2%), and liked the instant test results feature of the Preventiometer device (93.2%). Conclusion This study confirms findings from our previous pilot study regarding the feasibility of the Preventiometer as a wellness assessment tool. The study further demonstrated that 98% of participants were satisfied with the assessment and that all of them would recommend it to others.

The terrestrial subsurface contains nearly all of Earth’s freshwater reserves1 and harbors upwards of 60% of our planet’s total prokaryotic biomass2,3. While genetic surveys suggest these organisms rely on in situ carbon fixation, rather than the translocation of photosynthetically derived organic carbon4–6, corroborating measurements of carbon fixation in the subsurface are absent. Using a novel ultra-low level 14C-labeling technique, we show that in situ carbon fixation rates in a carbonate aquifer reached 10% of the median rates measured in oligotrophic marine surface waters, and were up to six-fold greater than those observed in lower euphotic zone waters where deep chlorophyll levels peak. Empirical carbon fixation rates were substantiated by both nitrification and anammox rate data. Metagenomic analyses revealed a remarkable abundance of putative chemolithoautotrophic members of an uncharacterized order of Nitrospiria – the first representatives of this class expected to fix carbon via the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway. Based on these fixation rates, we extrapolate global primary production in carbonate groundwaters to be 0.11 Pg of carbon per year.

In times of climate change, the reduction in embodied greenhouse gas emissions is a premise for sustainable concrete infrastructure. As Portland cement clinker is mainly responsible for the high CO2 emissions of concrete, its reduction is necessary. In order to be sustainable, the concrete must meet processing, mechanical and durability properties while taking cost aspects into account. The paper presents (i) the “micro-filler/eco-filler concept” for achieving a clinker reduced, optimised binder and (ii) a performance-based approach to put sustainable “Eco-concrete” into practice. Clinker is substituted by locally available inert fillers by at least two different particle size fractions and supplementary cementitious materials. The method is based on particle packing optimisation, reduction in water demand and optimisation of the mix ratio of the binder blend, which allows the performance requirements to be met. The new Eco-concretes deliver the desired performance in terms of processability, strength and durability (water penetration, frost, carbonation and chloride resistance) while lowering the environmental impact in comparison to standard concrete. One of the new mixes was used for a small animal passage tunnel. The direct comparison of the developed Eco-concrete and standard concrete showed a 24% reduction in CO2, while achieving satisfactory workability, stripping strength and durability performance.

Integrity of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), encoding several subunits of the respiratory chain, is essential to maintain mitochondrial fitness. Mitochondria, as a central hub for metabolism, are affected in a wide variety of human diseases but also during normal ageing, where mtDNA integrity is compromised. Mitochondrial quality control mechanisms work at different levels, and mitophagy and its variants are critical to remove dysfunctional mitochondria together with mtDNA to maintain cellular homeostasis. Understanding the mechanisms governing a selective turnover of mutation-bearing mtDNA without affecting the entire mitochondrial pool is fundamental to design therapeutic strategies against mtDNA diseases and ageing. Here we show that mtDNA depletion after expressing a dominant negative version of the mitochondrial helicase Twinkle, or by chemical means, is due to an exacerbated mtDNA turnover. Targeting of nucleoids is controlled by Twinkle which, together with the mitochondrial transmembrane proteins ATAD3 and SAMM50, orchestrate mitochondrial membrane remodeling to form extrusions. mtDNA removal depends on autophagy and requires the vesicular trafficking protein VPS35 which binds to Twinkle-enriched mitochondrial subcompartments upon mtDNA damage. Stimulation of autophagy by rapamycin selectively removes mtDNA deletions which accumulated during muscle regenerationin vivo, but without affecting mtDNA copy number. With these results we unveil a new complex mechanism specifically targeting and removing mutant mtDNA which occurs outside the mitochondrial network. We reveal the molecular targets involved in a process with multiple potential benefits against human mtDNA related diseases, either inherited, acquired or due to normal ageing.

Blended binders combining different hydraulically active materials and inert fillers, have a high potential to improve sustainability of cement and concrete. In this study a portion of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) up to 40 wt.% was replaced by supplementary cementitious material (SCM): two limestone powders (LSP) of different fineness and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS). Their influence on microstructure and strength development and of blended formulations is presented. While strength development was assessed by compressive strength measurements up to three months, the effects on microstructure were investigated by Mercury intrusion porosimetry and air permeability measurements. The results show that refinement of pore size distribution and altered capillary porosity is strongly influenced by both, the ratio of water to total binder content (w/b) and of water to hydraulically effective portion of binder (w/bhy) related to the effects of combined SCMs. Significantly higher strength gains (between 1st to 28th and 1st to 91st day) of blended mixes were found due to joint contribution of latent-hydraulic reaction of GGBFS and strength accelerating “filler-effect” of inert LSP. Sole influence of inert fillers was found to be significantly higher in case of lower w/b (water content per volume) due to increased packing density.

Nitrification in forest soils is often associated with increased leaching of nitrate to deeper soil layers with potential impacts on groundwater resources, further enhanced under scenarios of anthropogenic atmospheric nitrogen deposition and predicted weather extremes. We aimed to disentangle the relationships between soil nitrification potential, seepage-mediated nitrate leaching and the vertical translocation of nitrifiers in soils of a temperate mixed beech forest in central Germany before, during and after the severe summer drought 2018. Leaching of nitrate assessed below the litter layer and in 4, 16 and 30 cm soil depth showed high temporal and vertical variation with maxima at 16 and 30 cm during and after the drought period. Maximum of soil potential nitrification activity of 4.4 mg N kg-1d-1only partially coincided with maximum nitrate leaching of 10.5 kg N ha-2. Both ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA) were subject to translocation by seepage, and AOB decreased at least by half and AOA increased by one to three orders of magnitude in their abundance in seepage with increasing soil depth. On the level of the total bacterial population, an increasing trend with depth was also observed forCand. Patescibacteria while Bacteroidetes were strongly mobilized from the litter layer but poorly transported further down. Despite stable population densities in soil over time, abundances of AOA, AOB and total bacteria in seepage increased by one order of magnitude after the onset of autumn rewetting. Predicted future higher frequency of drought periods in temperate regions may result in more frequent seepage-mediated seasonal flushes of nitrate and bacteria from forest soils. Moreover, the observed translocation patterns point to taxon-specific differences in the susceptibility to mobilization, suggesting that only selected topsoil derived microbial groups are likely to affect subsoil or groundwater microbial communities and their functional potential.

Despite the high relevance of karstic aquifers as drinking water reservoirs, nitrate pollution of groundwater is posing an increasing threat on a global scale. Under anoxic conditions, nitrate can be converted to N2 by denitrification or anaerobic ammonia oxidation (anammox) and thus be removed from the system. However, in the presence of oxygen, nitrification may continue in the groundwater, supported by the activity of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB), archaea (AOA), and the recently discovered complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox bacteria). We aimed to disentangle different sources and sinks of nitrate and key microbial players involved in nitrogen transformation processes in oligotrophic limestone aquifers of the Hainich Critical Zone Exploratory (CZE; Germany). Assessment of process rates using 15N-labeling techniques revealed a variance of nitrification rates by two orders of magnitude across six oxic groundwater wells. Surprisingly, wells with nitrate concentrations higher than 300 µmol L−1 showed only very low nitrification activity of less than 2 nmol NO3− L−1 d−1, pointing to surface inputs rather than in situ production. In turn, maximum nitrification activity of 127 nmol NO3− L−1 d−1 coincided with a consistently large fraction of comammox bacteria of more than 70% in the groundwater nitrifier community. Estimated per cell activities of ammonia oxidation suggested that a contribution from comammox was needed to sufficiently explain the observed nitrification rates. Anaerobic ammonia oxidation (anammox) and denitrification as potential nitrate or nitrite sinks varied within a smaller range of 1 to 5 nmol N2 L−1 d−1 across anoxic wells and were dominated by anammox, most likely linked to a low availability of organic carbon and suitable inorganic electron donors for chemolithoautotrophic denitrification. Differences in activities agreed well with 100 times higher transcriptional activity of hzsA genes involved in anammox compared to nirS genes involved in denitrification. Our findings provide strong evidence for nitrification supported by comammox bacteria in oligotrophic groundwater and for anammox as the dominating N removing process.

This paper addresses the prediction of the spread-flow of water-powder mixes, which is of particular interest in the mix design of cementitious pastes, mortar and concrete. The model introduced, splits the total water demand which is necessary to achieve a specific spread of water-powder mixes into three parts: (i) water to fill the voids between the solid particles, (ii) water to reach the onset of flow and (iii) water to reach a specific spread. An algorithm developed allows the systematic calculation of the total water demand of mixes with varying proportions of powders after the individual characterization of the source materials regarding their void volume and spread-flow coefficients (i.e. retained water ratio and deformation coefficient). With this approach it is possible to optimize the proportion of mixture in cement-based binders (blended cements) with regard to a minimum water demand for a target spread. An example for the optimization of blends of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) in terms of clinker-efficiency is given leading to improved strength with reduced environmental impact in comparison to OPC based mixes.

Previous studies measuring looking-time suggested that already infants possess intuitive knowledge about physical support. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether children were able...

Abstract. With the Mental Rotation Test (MRT), large and reliable sex differences are found. Used with children younger than about 9 or 10 years, MRT performance is at chance level. Simpler tasks used with younger children have revealed inconclusive results. Moore and Johnson (2008 , 2011 ) observed sex differences in infants using a habituation task with 3D cube figures rotating back and forth in depth through a 240° angle. Thereafter, female infants treated similarly the original figure and a mirror-image cube figure presented revolving through the previously unseen 120° angle, whereas male infants behaved as if they recognized the familiar object. In the present study, 256 adults participated in the MRT as well as in a modified two-alternative forced-choice dynamic version of the infants’ task. Sex differences were present for both tasks. More importantly, there was a positive correlation in performance across both tasks for both women and men. Since the new task turned out to be simpler, it might be suitable also for children. We present the first, although indirect, evidence that the sex effects reported by Moore and Johnson might indeed reflect early sex differences in mental rotation.

Adults' mental rotation performance with body-like stimuli is enhanced if these stimuli are anatomically compatible with a human body, but decreased by anatomically incompatible stimuli. In this study, we investigated these effects for kindergartners and first-graders: When asked to mentally rotate cube configurations attached with human body parts in an anatomically compatible way, allowing for the projection of a human body, children performed better than with pure cube combinations. By contrast, when body parts were attached in an anatomically incompatible way, disallowing the projection of a human body, children performed worse than with pure combinations. This experiment is of specific interest against the background of two different theoretical approaches concerning imagery and the motor system in development: One approach assumes an increasing integration of motor processes and imagery over time that enables older children and adults to requisition motor resources for imagery processes, while the other postulates that imagery stems from early sensorimotor processes in the first place, and is disentangled from it over time. The finding that children of the two age groups tested show exactly the same effects as adults when mentally rotating anatomically compatible and incompatible stimuli is interpreted in favour of the latter approach. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? In mental rotation, adults perform better when rotating anatomically possible stimuli as compared to rotating standard cube combinations. Performance is worse when rotating anatomically impossible stimuli. What does this study add? The present study shows that children's mental transformations mirror those of adults in these respects. In case of the anatomically impossible stimuli, this highlights an inflexible use of embodiment in both age groups. This is in line with the Piagetian assumption of imagery being based on sensorimotor processes.

Abstract. Recent studies have ascertained a link between the motor system and imagery in children. A motor effect on imagery is demonstrated by the influence of stimuli-related movement constraints (i. e., constraints defined by the musculoskeletal system) on mental rotation, or by interference effects due to participants’ own body movements or body postures. This link is usually seen as qualitatively different or stronger in children as opposed to adults. In the present research, we put this interpretation to further scrutiny using a new paradigm: In a motor condition we asked our participants (kindergartners and third-graders) to manually rotate a circular board with a covered picture on it. This condition was compared with a perceptual condition where the board was rotated by an experimenter. Additionally, in a pure imagery condition, children were instructed to merely imagine the rotation of the board. The children’s task was to mark the presumed end position of a salient detail of the respective picture. The children’s performance was clearly the worst in the pure imagery condition. However, contrary to what embodiment theories would suggest, there was no difference in participants’ performance between the active rotation (i. e., motor) and the passive rotation (i. e., perception) condition. Control experiments revealed that this was also the case when, in the perception condition, gaze shifting was controlled for and when the board was rotated mechanically rather than by the experimenter. Our findings indicate that young children depend heavily on external support when imagining physical events. Furthermore, they indicate that motor-assisted imagery is not generally superior to perceptually driven dynamic imagery.

Ultrasonic techniques have been developed worldwide aimed to determine and monitor various important properties of cement-based materials. In recent years, advances in computer and experimental equipment have allowed the development of advanced ultrasonic systems. This chapter describes principles of determination of various properties of cement-based materials using ultrasonic techniques. Advantages and limitations of these techniques are briefly presented and discussed. State-of-the-art form of the chapter gives other researchers a comprehensive overview of the developed ultrasonic procedures. Due to their clear physical basis, accuracy, and ease of use, ultrasonic techniques have a great potential to soon become standard testing techniques for determination of setting and other properties of fresh and early-age cement-based materials. The first steps in this direction have already been performed.

Mainly for methodological reasons, little is known about the course of development of early cognitive competencies diagnosed with the violation of expectation (VoE) method in infants. The goal of this research was to evaluate the use of pupillometry as a unified approach to assess expectancy violations during and beyond the "dark ages" between 1 and 3 years. We tested children aged 1-6 years and adults (N = 279) with pictures of animals combined with matching or mismatching animal sounds. All age groups exhibited significantly greater pupil dilation in mismatched than matched trials. We conclude that pupillometry is a viable alternative to the VoE method that, by contrast to the latter, can be used throughout the life span.

The durability of eco-efficient, clinker reduced concrete is a key factor of its performance. In the presented study, different durability indicators of a newly developed eco-concrete composition (ECO) are tested versus standard normal concrete as reference (REF). The tested durability indicators are open porosity, water penetration depth, rate of water absorption by capillarity and two different methods of measuring air permeability (PermeaTORR AC device versus Testing bubble counter). The ECO mix and in particular its cementitious matrix is designed by a combined filler concept substituting Portland cement partially by properly selected limestone fillers of different grain sizes. The approach is based on a combination of particle packing optimization techniques and the reduction of water demand for certain flowability of the paste. Cement content is below the limits of traditional standards while w/c-ratio exceed such limits. While the performance of the eco-concrete in terms of workability and strength is at least equivalent to the standard mix, ecological impact indicators as global warming potential and embodied energy are substantially improved. Durability indicators overall show nearly equivalent performance of ECO and REF. In detail, the resulting air permeability coefficient tested with a bubble counter differs significantly from the coefficient tested by PermeaTORR.

3D concrete printing is a promising technology recently developed to automate construction. Since no formwork is used in this technology to support and protect fresh concrete, there are two aspects which considerably accelerate the development of capillary pressure in 3D-printed concrete in comparison to conventionally placed concrete: i) high stiffness of 3D-printed needed to provide sufficient buildability, and ii) very early and fast evaporation of pore water. Accelerated development of capillary pressure may lead to severe plastic shrinkage cracking in 3D-printed elements and, hence, need to be mitigated. This investigation aims at providing a poromechanical model for capillary pressure development in 3D-printed elements. To simulate the development of capillary pressure and plastic shrinkage, environmental factors, material properties, and element geometry need to be considered as a whole. The model inputs – coefficient of permeability, static bulk modulus, air entry pressure and chemical shrinkage rate – were determined experimentally. The model was validated for two fine-grained concretes. Both 3D-printed materials yielded faster capillary pressure increase in comparison to cast concrete, while partial substitution of cement with silica fume further accelerated the capillary pressure development. Furthermore, due to the lower permeability of the mixture containing silica fume, the gradient of capillary pressure between 3D-printed layers increased, as did the gradient of plastic shrinkage.

Rationale: In chronic heart failure, increased adrenergic activation contributes to structural remodeling and altered gene expression. Although adrenergic signaling alters histone modifications, it is unknown, whether it also affects other epigenetic processes, including DNA methylation and its recognition. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the mechanism of regulation of the methyl-CpG–binding protein 2 (MeCP2) and its functional significance during cardiac pressure overload and unloading. Methods and Results: MeCP2 was identified as a reversibly repressed gene in mouse hearts after transverse aortic constriction and was normalized after removal of the constriction. Similarly, MeCP2 repression in human failing hearts resolved after unloading by a left ventricular assist device. The cluster miR-212/132 was upregulated after transverse aortic constriction or on activation of α 1 - and β 1 -adrenoceptors and miR-212/132 led to repression of MeCP2. Prevention of MeCP2 repression by a cardiomyocyte-specific, doxycycline-regulatable transgenic mouse model aggravated cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis, and contractile dysfunction after transverse aortic constriction. Ablation of MeCP2 in cardiomyocytes facilitated recovery of failing hearts after reversible transverse aortic constriction. Genome-wide expression analysis, chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments, and DNA methylation analysis identified mitochondrial genes and their transcriptional regulators as MeCP2 target genes. Coincident with its repression, MeCP2 was removed from its target genes, whereas DNA methylation of MeCP2 target genes remained stable during pressure overload. Conclusions: These data connect adrenergic activation with a microRNA—MeCP2 epigenetic pathway that is important for cardiac adaptation during the development and recovery from heart failure.

Three-year-olds and 4-year-olds have severe difficulties solving standard mental rotation tasks. Only 5-year-olds solve such tasks above chance reliably. In contrast studies relying on simplified mental rotation tasks indicate that infants discriminate between an object and its mirror image. Furthermore in another simplified mental rotation task with 3-year-olds, a linear relation between angular disparity and reaction time typical for mental rotation was revealed. Therefore it was assumed that 3-year-olds’ capabilities are underestimated. In the current study, 3-year-olds were trained in two isolated sessions to solve standard mental rotation tasks and were tested in a third session. Three-year-olds solved this test above chance as a group – a substantial number of them doing so on an individual level. However, a linear relation between angular disparity and reaction time, that would indicate an analog mental transformation, was not discernable. Nevertheless, these findings are in accordance with a continuous line describing mental rotation in infants and older children. And, these also indicate that children’s mental rotation capabilities might be underestimated.

Recent advances in concrete technology have enabled the manufacturing of hydrated cements blended with high levels of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). These composites can exhibit mechanical and physical properties similar to ordinary Portland-based cements; yet their equivalent performance in “corrosive” environments has to be proven. In this paper, we describe mineralogical, microstructural and geochemical alteration patterns of hydrated cement pastes, despite adequate curing, containing 10 wt-% up to 70 wt-% replacement of Portland cement by SCMs, due to combined leaching and carbonation attack for 182 days. Such knowledge is highly relevant for assessing degradation features of steel-reinforced concrete in tunnels. The dissolution of portlandite, katoite and tobermorite as well as recrystallization of C-S-H caused the development of a leached layer around the specimen‘s surface. Calcite, vaterite and hydrotalcite precipitated within the altered zone, but no passivation effect due to clogging of pore space by these deposits was observed. The thickness of the altered layer, the amounts of portlandite dissolved and CaCO3 phases neo-formed, the decrease in the Ca/Si molar ratio of C-S-H and the increase in total porosity were highest in pure cement paste. All hydrated cements blended with different types and levels of SCMs (including metakaolin, silica fume, limestone, granulated slag, and their combinations) have behaved better than the pure cement paste, which demonstrates the equivalent performance of these blended mixes in weakly aggressive environments.

Summary Ectopic lipid deposition and altered mitochondrial dynamics contribute to the development of obesity and insulin resistance. However, the mechanistic link between these processes remained unclear. Here we demonstrate that the C16:0 sphingolipid synthesizing ceramide synthases, CerS5 and CerS6, affect distinct sphingolipid pools and that abrogation of CerS6 but not of CerS5 protects from obesity and insulin resistance. We identify proteins that specifically interact with C16:0 sphingolipids derived from CerS5 or CerS6. Here, only CerS6-derived C16:0 sphingolipids bind the mitochondrial fission factor (Mff). CerS6 and Mff deficiency protect from fatty acid-induced mitochondrial fragmentation in vitro, and the two proteins genetically interact in vivo in obesity-induced mitochondrial fragmentation and development of insulin resistance. Our experiments reveal an unprecedented specificity of sphingolipid signaling depending on specific synthesizing enzymes, provide a mechanistic link between hepatic lipid deposition and mitochondrial fragmentation in obesity, and define the CerS6-derived sphingolipid/Mff interaction as a therapeutic target for metabolic diseases.

Polymer composite materials combine high strength with low weight. This makes composites an interesting material for different industrial applications. In the aerospace industry, the use of composites is already common practice, while in the automotive industry carbon fiber-reinforced polymers have begun to replace metal in some parts. However, the nature of damage within composites is different from that within metal parts, so common techniques available for damage detection in metal may not work for composites thus new techniques for damage detection need to be developed. A technique that is often used but requires experienced technicians is the so-called coin tapping test where changes in sound waves generated by the impact of a hard object are detected. LARS is a (new) technique that avoids the errors due to variations in operator technique by using a instrumented impact device to generate controlled sound signals. If a hammer is used as an impact device it could be equipped with a dynamic force sensor to measure and record the excitation force of the sound signal. The force and the excited sound signal are related to the contact stiffness between the hammer and the test part. Flaws such as voids and delaminations affect the contact stiffness and can be detected under certain conditions. To the knowledge of the authors, no such technique has appeared in the literature. In regard to the frequencies, LARS is operated at much shorter wavelengths than in vibration analysis techniques (making it “local”) and at much larger wavelengths than in ultrasound. The material is excited to frequencies that are recorded by a microphone. To demonstrate the method, it is applied to the inspection of wind turbine rotor blades.

Until now, a successful application of the mental rotation paradigm was restricted to children 5 years or older. By contrast, recent findings suggest that even infants can perform mental rotation. Unlike the methods used in infant studies (looking time), our new research paradigm allows for the measurement and interpretation of reaction times. Kindergartners (aged 3–6 years) were presented with a stimulus configuration on a touchscreen and asked to bring a rotated stimulus into an upright position using the shortest path. Mean reaction time (RT) increased linearly with angular disparity. The ensuing linear trend was significant not only for the entire sample but also for the youngest age group analysed separately. To exclude the possibility that linearity was due to movement planning, 3-year-olds had to manually rotate a stimulus about the same trajectory without the need for a corresponding mental transformation in a second experiment. Here, no linear trend was observed. These results are interpreted as evidence for an analogue mental transformation in 3-year-olds, equal to the transformation processes in older children's and adults' mental rotation. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Rationale: Myocardial diastolic stiffness and cardiomyocyte passive force (F passive ) depend in part on titin isoform composition and phosphorylation. Ca 2+ /calmodulin-dependent protein kinase-II (CaMKII) phosphorylates ion channels, Ca 2+ -handling proteins, and chromatin-modifying enzymes in the heart, but has not been known to target titin. Objective: To elucidate whether CaMKII phosphorylates titin and modulates F passive in normal and failing myocardium. Methods and Results: Titin phosphorylation was assessed in CaMKIIδ/γ double-knockout (DKO) mouse, transgenic CaMKIIδC-overexpressing mouse, and human hearts, by Pro-Q-Diamond/Sypro-Ruby staining, autoradiography, and immunoblotting using phosphoserine-specific titin-antibodies. CaMKII-dependent site-specific titin phosphorylation was quantified in vivo by mass spectrometry using s table isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture mouse heart mixed with wild-type (WT) or DKO heart. F passive of single permeabilized cardiomyocytes was recorded before and after CaMKII-administration. All-titin phosphorylation was reduced by >50% in DKO but increased by up to ≈100% in transgenic versus WT hearts. Conserved CaMKII-dependent phosphosites were identified within the PEVK-domain of titin by quantitative mass spectrometry and confirmed in recombinant human PEVK-fragments. CaMKII also phosphorylated the cardiac titin N2B-unique sequence. Phosphorylation at specific PEVK/titin N2B-unique sequence sites was decreased in DKO and amplified in transgenic versus WT hearts. F passive was elevated in DKO and reduced in transgenic compared with WT cardiomyocytes. CaMKII-administration lowered F passive of WT and DKO cardiomyocytes, an effect blunted by titin antibody pretreatment. Human end-stage failing hearts revealed higher CaMKII expression/activity and phosphorylation at PEVK/titin N2B-unique sequence sites than nonfailing donor hearts. Conclusions: CaMKII phosphorylates the titin springs at conserved serines/threonines, thereby lowering F passive . Deranged CaMKII-dependent titin phosphorylation occurs in heart failure and contributes to altered diastolic stress.

Based on violation-of-expectation (VoE) paradigms, amazing cognitive competencies have been demonstrated in young infants, which could not be shown in toddlers or even preschoolers. This divergence might as much be caused by different research methods as by discontinuities in development. As looking-time measures are not readily applicable to older children, we suggest a new method that is suitable for children from two years of age onwards. In an empirical examination of this method, 26 children aged 2–7 years learned by trial and error to always find a target picture among a pair of pictures. Each target picture was an impossible version of the non-target picture. After reaching a learning criterion, children had to generalize the learned concept to pictures belonging to a different category. Results showed that even the youngest participants reached the learning criterion and were able to apply what they had learned to another category.

The structural state of a bridge is currently examined by visual inspection or by wired sensor techniques, which are relatively expensive, vulnerable to inclement conditions, and time consuming to undertake. In contrast, wireless sensor networks are easy to deploy and flexible in application so that the network can adjust to the individual structure. Different sensing techniques have been used with such networks, but the acoustic emission technique has rarely been utilized. With the use of acoustic emission (AE) techniques it is possible to detect internal structural damage, from cracks propagating during the routine use of a structure, e.g. breakage of prestressing wires. To date, AE data analysis techniques are not appropriate for the requirements of a wireless network due to the very exact time synchronization needed between multiple sensors, and power consumption issues. To unleash the power of the acoustic emission technique on large, extended structures, recording and local analysis techniques need better algorithms to handle and reduce the immense amount of data generated. Preliminary results from utilizing a new concept called Acoustic Emission Array Processing to locally reduce data to information are presented. Results show that the azimuthal location of a seismic source can be successfully identified, using an array of six to eight poor-quality AE sensors arranged in a circular array approximately 200 mm in diameter. AE beamforming only requires very fine time synchronization of the sensors within a single array, relative timing between sensors of 1 µs can easily be performed by a single Mote servicing the array. The method concentrates the essence of six to eight extended waveforms into a single value to be sent through the wireless network, resulting in power savings by avoiding extended radio transmission.

Zusammenfassung Durch die Verwendung von intelligenten, drahtlosen Sensornetzwerken wird zukünftig ein breites Anwendungsfeld erschlossen, da derartige Monitoringsysteme gegenüber konventionellen Messsystemen einfacher zu applizieren und deutlich kostengünstiger sind. Derzeit wird an der MPA Universität Stuttgart an den Grundlagen für eine praxisnahe Bauwerksüberwachung auf der Basis von kabelungebundenen Systemen gearbeitet, die preiswert und flexibel einsetzbar sind und eine gezielte Datenerfassung ermöglichen. Dazu sind Arbeiten im Bereich der Sensortechnik, der Mikrointegration und der analogen wie auch digitalen Datenanalyse notwendig. Der vorliegende Beitrag beschreibt die hier verfolgten Lösungsansätze und hierbei insbesondere die ereignisbasierte Messwerterfassung, die aufgrund der beschränkten Ressourcen für manche Messaufgaben unerlässlich ist. Anhand beispielhafter Anwendungen wie der Dehnungs- und Verformungsmessung unter dynamischer Beanspruchung oder auch der Schallemissionsanalyse zur Analyse von Schädigungsprozessen werden zudem konkrete Lösungen beschrieben.

Motor influences on the mental transformation of body parts have been observed in both children and adults. Previous findings indicated that these influences were more pronounced in children than in adults, suggesting a stronger link between motor processes and imagery in children. The present series of two experiments casts doubt on the general validity of such an interpretation. Kindergartners' (aged 5–6 years), first graders' (aged 7 years), and adults' performance in the mental rotation of pictures of body parts was monitored for influences of internal representations of motor constraints (motor effect). In both experiments, evidence for mental rotation was obtained for each group. Unexpectedly, kindergarten boys made significantly more errors than kindergarten girls. A motor effect was only found in the second experiment, where it was least pronounced in the youngest age group. Our results suggest that mental transformations of body parts do not necessarily involve motor processes and that embodiment...

Zusammenfassung. In einem Reaktionszeitexperiment zur mentalen Rotation von Händen, an dem 138 Kindergartenkinder, 82 Grundschüler (2. Klassenstufe) und 82 Erwachsene teilnahmen, konnte ein Einfluss der motorischen Einschränkung von Handbewegungen auf die Vorstellung nachgewiesen werden. Dieser Motoreffekt war jedoch nicht in allen Altersgruppen und Bedingungen zu beobachten. Es konnte auch nicht bestätigt werden, dass er bei jüngeren Kindern generell stärker ausgeprägt ist als bei älteren Kindern und Erwachsenen. Dafür gab es Hinweise darauf, dass die Bedingungen, unter denen ein Motoreffekt auftritt, systematisch mit dem Alter variieren. Insbesondere war bei Kindergartenkindern ein Motoreffekt nur dann zu beobachten, wenn die eigene Handstellung mit der Perspektive auf die präsentierten Hände korrespondierte.

Die in Einzelfaellen vorzunehmende kontinuierliche Ueberwachung von Bauwerken (Monitoring) kann durch eine Reihe geeigneter Messtechniken realisiert werden. Meist kommen dabei kabelgebundene Ueberwachungssysteme zum Einsatz. In neuerer Zeit werden aber immer haeufiger auch drahtlose Ueberwachungssysteme installiert. Der Beitrag beschreibt die Technologie der Bauwerksueberwachung mit drahtlosen Sensornetzwerken, bei denen die Daten mittels Sensorknoten (Motes) an verschiedenen Stellen des Bauwerks erfasst und dann per Funk an einen oder mehrere Zentralrechner uebertragen werden. Da der Stomverbrauch aller Arten von Monitoringsystemen einen wichtigen Kostenfaktor darstellt, sind alle Komponenten des drahtlosen Sensornetzwerks im Hinblick auf einen geringen Stromverbrauch zu waehlen. Dabei koennen durchaus auch konventionelle und kostenguenstige Sensoren zum Einsatz kommen. Eine aktuelle Weiterentwicklung stellen die MEMS-Sensoren (Micro Electro Mechanical System) dar, die bei Massenfertigung schon fuer wenige Euro kostenguenstig eingekauft werden koennen. Grundsaetzlich bieten sich fuer das drahtlose Monitoring zwei verschieden Arten der Datenerfassung an, die ereignisbasierte Messwerterfassung und die zeitdiskrete Messwerterfassung. Bei der zeitdiskreten Erfassung wird in zuvor festgelegten Zeitabstaenden ein Messwert erfasst und abgespeichert. Die ereignisbasierte Erfassung benoetigt hingegen ein ausloesendes Ereignis, zum Beispiel Ueberfahrt eines bestimmten Fahrzeugs ueber eine Bruecke, Wind oberhalb einer festgelegten Windstaerke, Regen oder Erdbeben. Die ereignisbasierte Messwerterfassung eignet sich insbesondere dann, wenn viele Einzelmesswerte erfasst werden sollen, die nur unter bestimmten Bedingungen auftreten. Bei den im Bericht beschriebenen intelligenten Sensornetzwerken wird, im Gegensatz zu einfachen Telemetriesystemen, ein Teil der Datenanalyse lokal in dem jeweiligen Mote durchgefuehrt. Zu den Aufgaben eines Motes gehoert daher neben der Datenerfassung auch die Datenanalyse, zum Beispiel zur Ermittlung moeglicher Schaedigungen oder Bauteilveraenderungen.

Children as young as 3 years can remember an object’s location within an arrangement and can retrieve it from a novel viewpoint (Nardini et al., 2006). However, this ability is impaired if the arrangement is rotated to compensate for the novel viewpoint, or, if the arrangement is rotated and children stand still. There are two dominant explanations for this phenomenon: self-motion induces an automatic spatial updating process which is beneficial if children move around the arrangement, but misleading if the children’s movement is matched by the arrangement and not activated if children stand still and only the arrangement is moved (see spatial updating; Simons and Wang, 1998). Another explanation concerns reference frames: spatial representations might depend on peripheral spatial relations concerning the surrounding room instead on proximal relations within the arrangement, even if these proximal relations are sufficient or more informative. To evaluate these possibilities, we rotated children (N = 120) aged between 3 and 6 years with an occluded arrangement. When the arrangement was in misalignment to the surrounding room, 3- and 4-year-olds’ spatial memory was impaired and 5-year-olds’ was lightly impaired suggesting that they relied on peripheral references of the surrounding room for retrieval. In contrast, 6-years-olds’ spatial representation seemed robust against misalignment indicating a successful integration of spatial representations.

So far, the inspection of building structures and especially of bridges is mainly done visually. Therefore, the condition of the structure is examined from the surface and the interpretation and assessment is based on the experience of the expert. However, the main purpose of monitoring civil structures is not to substitute visual inspection. Continuous structural health monitoring should provide data from the inside of a structure to better understand its structural performance and to predict its durability and remaining life time. Monitoring should render objective data and observable alterations in the structure continuously, which cannot be done by visual inspection. More detailed information is needed with respect to different exposure due to dynamic and static loads and also temperature and moisture. Today mainly wired monitoring systems are used to monitor structures, which are relatively expensive and time consuming to install. In this paper the basic principle of a wireless monitoring system equipped with MEMS sensors is presented, which can be easily installed at different structures. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are small integrated devices or systems that combine electrical and mechanical components. A wireless monitoring sensor network equipped with such MEMS could be produced with a very low budget and becomes very efficient. This permits a wide area of applications not only in civil engineering. With respect to different applications relevant properties of a wireless monitoring system are described. In detail network configuration, power consumption, data acquisition and data aggregation, signal analysis and data reduction as well as reliability and robustness are discussed.

Many attempts have been focused on the textile reinforced mortar structures. The advantages of textiles are mainly a very good load bearing capacity, excellent ductility, thin size and light weight of components, resistance to corrosion, and no magnetic disturbances. Such structures are expected to have wide application foregrounds. The transfer of forces from reinforcement to mortar is accomplished through a bond. Therefore, understanding and further improving bond properties of textiles in mortar are important. In the paper, bond characteristics of various textiles in mortar obtained from pull-out tests and numerical simulations are shown and compared. The textiles used include carbon, alkali resistant glass and aramid. They were plain and impregnated with epoxy resin. Prestressed and nonprestressed specimens were tested. The experimental results show that epoxy resin impregnating and prestressing can strongly enhance the bond strength. Numerical simulations show good agreement with the experimental results and significantly contribute to a better understanding of the bond characteristics of textiles in mortar.