Biodegradation of estrogens in stream water

Estrogens of human and animal origin that reach the aquatic environment may enter human or animal organism and act as endocrine disruptors.To investigate the persistency of estrogens in laboratory experiments, estrone respectively 17beta-estradiol were added to stream water sampled from river Spree in Berlin. The concentration of estrone and 17beta-estradiol was quantified using enzyme-immuno-assay. The estrone concentration decreased to less than 5 % of the starting concentration at storage temperature of 5 degrees C within 56 days and at storage temperature of 20 degrees C within 14 days. If the estrone were added to autoclaved stream water, no biodegradation was observed. Biodegradation was enhanced when activated sludge was added. Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas fluorenscens and Aeromonas hydrophila in monoculture did not degrade estrone in autoclaved stream water.The concentrations of 17beta-estradiol and estrone decreased similarly.The logistic function proved to be suitable to describe the course of time for the decrease of concentration.     

Studies of Coxiella burnetii infections in dairy herds with special regard to infections in men

Investigations of 1167 dairy cows out of 105 herds with fertility disorders on secretion of Coxiella burnetii (C. burnetii) by the genitals as well as serological studies of these animals using ELISA demonstrated that C. burnetii infections are significantly associated with abortions but not with repeated inseminations without success or vaginal excretions. The demonstration of an increased risk of infections for persons caring for those dairy herds could be shown by a total of 253 serological studies. A comparison of these studies of farmers caring for dairy herds suffering from abortions a seroprevalence of > or = 20% showed that these persons revealed significantly more frequent antibodies against C. burnetii than farmers of the group compared with. Further studies showed that in herds suffering from abortions a seroprevalence of > or = 20% means an additional risk of infections of farmers. Vice versa abortions of the cows in herds with a seroprevalence of > or = 20% imply an additional infectious risk.     

Repeated administrations of adrenocorticotropic hormone during gestation in gilts: Effects on growth, behaviour and immune responses of their piglets

This study investigated whether repeated administrations of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) during mid or late gestation, a treatment which induces endogenous cortisol release, affect growth performance, early vitality, open-field behaviour and immune responses of neonatal pigs. Administrations of ACTH (100 IU per animal, Synacthen^® Depot) were given intramuscularly to gilts every second day either during mid (Day 49 until 75, Experiment 1) or late gestation (Day 85 until 107, Experiment 2). Control gilts received repeated injections of saline. The repeated ACTH stimulation of gilts during late gestation significantly reduced their daily weight gain during this period, but not when applied during mid gestation. Gestation length, number of born piglets and vitality measures of the newborn piglets, such as the rectal temperatures after birth and times elapsed between birth and first udder contact or milk uptake were not affected by the prenatal treatments. Administration of ACTH during late but not during mid gestation significantly increased the birth weights of piglets, and this difference in postnatal body weight was detectable until an age of 21 days. In addition, only the stimulation with ACTH during late gestation had an immunosuppressive effect on the lymphocyte proliferation of piglets 1 day after birth in response to the T-cell mitogen ConA and, in tendency, on the proliferation in response to the B-cell mitogen LPS. Twenty-four day old piglets from gilts treated during late gestation showed significantly more escape behaviour in an open-field than piglets from control litters. In conclusion, elevated maternal glucocorticoid levels during critical periods of prenatal development in pigs may affect prenatal growth, cell-mediated immunity and emotional reactivity in the neonatal piglets. The occurrence of these effects depends on the timing of increased maternal cortisol levels during gestation.     

Classification of thermally modified wood by FT-NIR spectroscopy and SIMCA

Quality assessment of thermally modified wood has evolved as one of the major fields in the research on thermal modification of wood. This study investigates NIR spectroscopy in combination with the pattern recognition method of soft independent modeling of class analogies (SIMCA). Focus is put on identifying different treatment intensities of thermally modified samples of beech, ash, and Norway spruce. The results indicate that SIMCA classification based on NIR spectroscopy could be used for quality control of thermally modified wood. The method might be applicable for producers (pre-delivery checks) and customers (reception control). However, transfer from laboratory to industrial conditions needs further investigation.     

Behaviour of lignin during thermal treatments of wood

Different thermal treatments or processes (combustion, welding, thermowood) of several wood species were examined and compared. Each procedure resulted in different temperature loads on wood. The changes of lignin after thermal treatments were determined by different suitable methods, both wet chemical and instrumental analyses.The characterisation of the wood meals by means of FTIR spectroscopy has shown that changes of the aromatic skeletal vibrations occur, which indicate condensation reactions of lignin. The variations within the FTIR spectra of hardwood were more evident than those of softwood.The decomposition of lignin has also been proven in the acetone extracts of “thermowood”, which contained a lignan, identified by GC/MS.Moreover, the thioacidolysis showed the decrease of monomeric degradation products in all thermal treated samples. This is due to the cleavage of structural units bound by arylgycerol-β-ether linkages.However, it can be assumed that in addition to the degradation of specified types of bonds also condensation reactions have occurred and these products were not detectable by means of GC/MS. This conclusion would also support the above-mentioned results of FTIR spectroscopy.     

多球果型马尾松的形态和生殖生物学特征研究

本文对多球果型马尾松和常见型马尾松在生长状态、形态结构、生殖发育等方面的差异进行研究和分析.在多球果型马尾松雌性生殖枝上,能够着生40～80个球果(大孢子叶球),有的甚至可以达到193个以上.而在常见型马尾松的雌性生殖枝上, 通常只着生有1～8个球果,最常见的是着生2～4个球果.多球果型马尾松和常见型马尾松在雌球花的芽组织结构和雌球花的分化过程中有着明显的差异.通过显微分析我们发现:多球果型马尾松雌球花原基的发育在当年生过冬顶芽的下部,在它的上部,还发育有一系列的营养芽原基(10列以上).而常见型马尾松雌球花原基的发育在当年生过冬顶芽的顶端.雌球花发育机理的不同,决定了多球果型马尾松球果的着生部位发生了变异.多球果型马尾松球果着生在春梢的下(基)部,常见型马尾松球果着生在春梢的顶部.多球果型马尾松与常见型马尾松球果(大孢子叶球)的发育过程和发育起始时间不相同.通过对8～12月标本进行显微切片分析,多球果型马尾松球果的发育起始时间在当年的8月(过冬顶芽开始形成的同时),与小孢子叶球的发育起始时间同步.常见型马尾松球果的发育起始时间是当年的11月,两种类型马尾松的大孢子叶球都是在次年4月受粉,到第三年的11月种子成熟.多球果型马尾松球果比常见型马尾松球果多3个月的发育时间.多球果型马尾松个体大量的长串状多球果性状在历年都能重复出现,这说明该性状具有个体水平的稳定性.无性繁殖研究证明,多球果型马尾松的长串状多球果性状,可以通过嫩枝嫁接的方式,进行性状的传递.对多球果型马尾松进行有性繁殖研究时我们发现,多球果型马尾松的球果可以发育出种子,且成熟种子的发芽率为60%～76%.这说明多球果型马尾松与常见型马尾松一样,可以用种子进行后代繁殖.多球果型马尾松与常见型马尾松在形态和生长速率方面没有明显差异.     

Trade-off between wheat yield and drainage under current and climate change conditions in northeast Germany

In the temperate climate of northeast Germany, a trade-off exists between water use in agricultural crop production and groundwater recharge which is important for urban water supply, irrigation, forestry and peat protection. The APSIM-Nwheat model was used to analyze the impact of climate change scenarios on deep drainage (DD), the water loss below the maximum root zone as the main source of groundwater recharge, and wheat production for two main soil types. A linear and a nonlinear climate scenario were used in this study: The linear scenario for 2001–2050 was based on a simple linearly modified historical climate record from 1951 to 2000. The nonlinear scenario used the same 1951–2000 historical climate record but combined it nonlinearly with a Global Circulation Model climate scenario for 2001–2050. Simulation results showed different distributions of deep drainage and grain yield with the linear and nonlinear scenarios, but no difference in the 50-year averages. Hence, a linear manipulation of climate records can be as effective for climate change impact studies on deep drainage and grain yield as nonlinearly manipulated climate data, if long-term average changes are of main interest. The simulation results indicated that a trade-off between deep drainage and grain yields can be potentially controlled through N management. However, such control mechanism was more effective under current climate conditions than under future climate and on a better water-holding silt soil compared to a poorer water-holding loamy sand. It is suggested that areas with poor water-holding soils should be managed extensively for groundwater recharge harvesting while better water-holding soils should be used for high input grain production.     

Die Bestimmung der effektiven Kationenaustauschkapazität von Gesteinen

The determination of the effective cation exchange capacity of rocks The extractable cations (1 N NH₄Cl) of broken, mortared, and ground rocks (Sandstone, Clay schist, Diabase, Alkali-Olivinbasalt) were determined using vibration extraction and percolation. These methods were evaluated by re-exchange experiments. In addition mineralogical components, specific surface and effective porosity of the rocks were determined. Al-silicates which are cation exchangers like Illite and Zeolite minerals were found in these rocks. Mortaring and grinding increased the specific surface and the exchange capacity of the rocks which have a low porosity (Clay schist and Basalt). For example, the CEC of broken Clay schist was 27 μmol_c g^?1 and increased to ≈ 40 μmol_c g^?1 after mortaring. The CEC of the rocks with a high porosity (Diabase and Sandstone) did not depend on the particle size. Therefore we assume, that inner parts of the broken rocks were reached by extraction. The CEC amounts to ≈ 50–80% of the sum of the cations, which could be extracted with NH₄Cl. This difference is probably due to the dissolution of salts. Mortaring and grinding increased the amount of cations derived from dissolving of salts. The results show, that rocks are of signficance not only for silicate weathering, but also for the cation exchange.