308 research outputs found
Primary structure and functional expression of the mouse and frog α-subunit of the gastric H<sup>+</sup>-K<sup>+</sup>-ATPase
No full text Pages C1207-C1214: Paul M. Mathews, Dirk Claeys, Frédéric Jaisser, Käthi Geering, Jean-Daniel Horisberger, Jean-Pierre Kraehenbuhl, and Bernard C. Rossier. “Primary structure and functional expression of the mouse and frog agr-subunit of the gastric H+-K+-ATPase.” Page C1214: the following sentence was inadvertently omitted from the acknowledgments: Paul M. Mathews and Dirk Claeys contributed equally to this study. </jats:p
Derogation on the EU Nitrates Directive: does it make a difference?
No full textThe paper discusses an ex ante evaluation of the derogation on the Nitrates Directive for Flanders, Belgium, which is a case of intensive but highly productive livestock areas. The aim is to develop an accurate simulation model to detect small differences in manure surpluses caused by changes of manure production and/or utilization. The system of models consists of various modules to fine tune the calculations of manure production, fertilizing behaviour and manure allocation and disposal on and off farm. The results show that derogation may cause the existing manure surpluses to expire, if only nitrogen limits are considered and no transactions costs are taken into account. When also phosphate fertilization limits are considered, the increase in manuring possibilities is much lower than expected. Ongoing research focuses on the marginal shifts in manure surplus at farm level and possible effects of transactions costs.Nitrates Directive, derogation, modelling, Environmental Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries,
Utopia at Five Hundred: Some Reflections
No full textPublished in 1516, Thomas More's Utopia has come to signify attempts to reform society in a dramatic, radical, and substantial manner. Thanks to the influence of Karl Marx in the twentieth century, it has become identified as the classic precursor of the modern argument for communism as the solution to mankind's most essential woes. This article will sketch the main themes and context of Utopia, suggesting that to modern readers More presents a highly ambiguous, even "dystopian" portrait of an "ideal society." It then trace the contours of the development of the utopian idea across the centuries to the present, focussing on the relationship between utopianism and millenarianism in particular, and the development of euchronia and the modern idea of progress in the eighteenth century. It will then ask what relevance, if any, More's central themes have to the modern reader, and suggest that in its warnings about the effects of machinery upon humanity and in its varied visions of global environmental catastrophe the dystopian tradition offers later modern readers a stark warning about our possible future.A&HCIARTICLE3,SI402-4112
Quotient-space boundary element methods for scattering at complex screens
No full textInternational audienceA complex screen is an arrangement of panels that may not be even locally orientable because of junction lines. A comprehensive trace space framework for first-kind variational boundary integral equations on complex screens has been established in Claeys and Hiptmair (Integr Equ Oper Theory 77:167–197, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00020-013-2085-x) for the Helmholtz equation, and in Claeys and Hiptmair (Integr Equ Oper Theory 84:33–68, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00020-015-2242-5) for Maxwell’s equations in frequency domain. The gist is a quotient space perspective that allows to make sense of jumps of traces as factor spaces of multi-trace spaces modulo single-trace spaces without relying on orientation. This paves the way for formulating first-kind boundary integral equations in weak form posed on energy trace spaces. In this article we extend that idea to the Galerkin boundary element (BE) discretization of first-kind boundary integral equations. Instead of trying to approximate jumps directly, the new quotient space boundary element method employs a Galerkin BE approach in multi-trace boundary element spaces. This spawns discrete boundary integral equations with large null spaces comprised of single-trace functions. Yet, since the right-hand-sides of the linear systems of equations are consistent, Krylov subspace iterative solvers like GMRES are not affected by the presence of a kernel and still converge to a solution. This is strikingly confirmed by numerical tests
Expression of Molecular Markers of Resilience against Varroa destructor and Bee Viruses in Ethiopian Honey Bees (Apis mellifera simensis) Focussing on Olfactory Sensing and the RNA Interference Machinery
No full textVarroa destructor mites and the viruses it vectors are two major factors leading to high losses of honey bees (Apis mellifera) colonies worldwide. However, honey bees in some African countries show resilience to varroa infestation and/or virus infections, although little is known about the mechanisms underlying this resilience. In this study, we investigated the expression profiles of some key molecular markers involved in olfactory sensing and RNA interference, as these processes may contribute to the bees’ resilience to varroa infestation and virus infection, respectively. We found significantly higher gene expression of the odorant binding protein, OBP14, in the antennae of Ethiopian bees compared to Belgian bees. This result suggests the potential of OBP14 as a molecular marker of resilience to mite infestation. Scanning electron microscopy showed no significant differences in the antennal sensilla occurrence and distribution, suggesting that resilience arises from molecular processes rather than morphological adaptations. In addition, seven RNAi genes were upregulated in the Ethiopian honey bees and three of them—Dicer-Drosha, Argonaute 2, and TRBP2—were positively correlated with the viral load. We can conclude that the antiviral immune response was triggered when bees were experiencing severe viral infection and that this might contribute to the bees’ resilience to viruses
Fertilization: trade-offs between manure abatement and plant productivity
No full textIn 2005, 30% of the Flemish farms faced a manure excess, while at aggregated level still 9.7% of the emission rights were unused. This means that, despite the various possibilities, Flemish farmers do not succeed in an effective exchange of manure between farms. In current paper is shown how inorganic fertilizer use influences the use and exchange of organic nitrogen. Because of the mutual interdependency between organic and inorganic nitrogen emission rights (or quota), inorganic nitrogen use limits the emission rights for organic nitrogen. Utilisation of these emission rights are analysed as a trade-offs choice between plant productivity (use of inorganic nitrogen) and manure disposal, as the major abatement alternative of manure production. Farmers still prefer inorganic fertilizers because of their effect on plant productivity and income. However, by changing the quota rent of organic nitrogen, the fertilization behaviour can be influenced. A higher quota rent of organic nitrogen would increase the use of manure. This trade-off behaviour seriously influences effectiveness of policies. When the objective is to lower the total nitrogen use, a mere reduction of organic quota can partially be counteracted by a higher inorganic nitrogen use. When the objective is to better spread the manure, increasing the quota rent for deficit farms will increase their acceptance of manure.manure abatement, nutrient emission rights, Tobit model, Crop Production/Industries,
It's all about context: hormonal regulation of plant growth in response to developmental and environmental cues
No full textBiomechanische karakteristieken van het schoen-voet systeem tijdens de hielstoot bij het lopen
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