Die Interpretation von K/Ca-Austauschkurven mit Hilfe einer einfachen GAPON-Gleichung

The interpretation of K/Ca exchange isotherms by a simple GAPON equation K/Ca exchange isotherms of various soils can be described by a GAPON equation, where the coefficients being fitted to the measured values by iteration. The resulting values for the “labile potassium” are very similar to those of exchangeable K, whereas only 5–25% of the cec is involved in the short-term K/Ca exchange.     

Axonal neuregulin-1 regulates myelin sheath thickness

In the nervous system of vertebrates, myelination is essential for rapid and accurate impulse conduction. Myelin thickness depends on axon fiber size. We use mutant and transgenic mouse lines to show that axonal Neuregulin-1 (Nrg1) signals information about axon size to Schwann cells. Reduced Nrg1 expression causes hypomyelination and reduced nerve conduction velocity. Neuronal overexpression of Nrg1 induces hypermyelination and demonstrates that Nrg1 type III is the responsible isoform. We suggest a model by which myelin-forming Schwann cells integrate axonal Nrg1 signals as a biochemical measure of axon size.     

Compressibility of M3C60 Fullerene Superconductors: Relation Between Tc and Lattice Parameter

X-ray diffraction and diamond anvil techniques were used to measure the isothermal compressibility of K(3)C(60) and Rb(3)C(60), the superconducting, binary alkali-metal intercalation compounds of solid buckminsterfullerene. These results, combined with the pressure dependence of the superconducting onset temperature T(c) measured by other groups, establish a universal first-order relation between T(c) and the lattice parameter a over a broad range, between 13.9 and 14.5 angstroms. A small secondorder intercalate-specific effect was observed that appears to rule out the participation of intercalate-fullerene optic modes in the pairing interaction.     

Stomatal opening: role of potassium uptake by guard cells

Stomata in isolated epidermal strips open in response to light plus air free of carbon dioxide when the strips are floated on potassium chloride solutions of low concentrations. This opening depends on the stimulation of active accumulation of potassium in quantities sufficient to account for the observed changes in solute potential of the guard cells.     

Localization of a short-term memory in Drosophila

Memories are thought to be due to lasting synaptic modifications in the brain. The search for memory traces has relied predominantly on determining regions that are necessary for the process. However, a more informative approach is to define the smallest sufficient set of brain structures. The rutabaga adenylyl cyclase, an enzyme that is ubiquitously expressed in the Drosophila brain and that mediates synaptic plasticity, is needed exclusively in the Kenyon cells of the mushroom bodies for a component of olfactory short-term memory. This demonstrates that synaptic plasticity in a small brain region can be sufficient for memory formation.     

Increase of atmospheric methane recorded in antarctic ice core

Air entrapped in bubbles of cold ice has essentially the same composition as that of the atmosphere at the time of bubble formation. Measurements of the methane concentration in air extracted by two different methods from ice samples from Siple Station in western Antarcitica allow the reconstruction of the history of the increase of the atmospheric methane during the past 200 years.