@article{DobbertinEilmannBleuleretal.2010, author = {Dobbertin, Matthias and Eilmann, Britta and Bleuler, Peter and Giuggiola, Arnaud and Graf Pannatier, Elisabeth and Landolt, Werner and Schleppi, Patrick and Rigling, Andreas}, title = {Effect of irrigation on needle morphology, shoot and stem growth in a drought-exposed Pinus sylvestris forest}, series = {Tree Physiology}, volume = {30}, journal = {Tree Physiology}, number = {3}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {1758-4469 (Online)}, doi = {10.1093/treephys/tpp123}, pages = {346 -- 360}, year = {2010}, abstract = {In Valais, Switzerland, Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris L.) are declining, mainly following drought. To assess the impact of drought on tree growth and survival, an irrigation experiment was initiated in 2003 in a mature pine forest, approximately doubling the annual precipitation. Tree crown transparency (lack of foliage) and leaf area index (LAI) were annually assessed. Seven irrigated and six control trees were felled in 2006, and needles, stem discs and branches were taken for growth analysis. Irrigation in 2004 and 2005, both with below-average precipitation, increased needle size, area and mass, stem growth and, with a 1-year delay, shoot length. This led to a relative decrease in tree crown transparency (-14\%) and to an increase in stand LAI (+20\%). Irrigation increased needle length by 70\%, shoot length by 100\% and ring width by 120\%, regardless of crown transparency. Crown transparency correlated positively with mean needle size, shoot length and ring width and negatively with specific leaf area. Trees with high crown transparency (low growth, short needles) experienced similar increases in needle mass and growth with irrigation than trees with low transparency (high growth, long needles), indicating that seemingly declining trees were able to 'recover' when water supply became sufficient. A simple drought index before and during the irrigation explained most of the variation found in the parameters for both irrigated and control trees.}, language = {en} } @article{RiglingEilmannKoechlietal.2010, author = {Rigling, Andreas and Eilmann, Britta and Koechli, Roger and Dobbertin, Matthias}, title = {Mistletoe-induced crown degradation in Scots pine in a xeric environment}, volume = {30}, number = {7}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {1758-4469 (Online)}, doi = {10.1093/treephys/tpq038}, pages = {845 -- 832}, year = {2010}, abstract = {Increasing Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) mortality has been recently observed in the dry inner valleys of the European Alps. Besides drought, infection with pine mistletoe (Viscum album ssp. austriacum) seems to play an important role in the mortality dynamics of Scots pines, but how mistletoes promote pine decline remains unclear. To verify whether pine mistletoe infection weakens the host via crown degradation, as observed for dwarf mistletoes, we studied the negative effects of pine mistletoe infestation on the photosynthetic tissues and branch growth of pairs of infested and non-infested branches. Pine mistletoe infection leads to crown degradation in its host by reducing the length, the radial increment, the ramification, the needle length and the number of needle years of the infested branches. This massive loss in photosynthetic tissue results in a reduction in primary production and a subsequent decrease in carbohydrate availability. The significant reduction in needle length due to mistletoe infection is an indication for a lower water and nutrient availability in infested branches. Thus, mistletoe infection might lead to a decrease in the availability of water and carbohydrates, the two most important growth factors, which are already shortened due to the chronic drought situation in the area. Therefore, pine mistletoe increases the risk of drought-induced mortality of its host when growing in a xeric environment.}, language = {en} } @article{RibitschKarlBirnerGruenbergeretal.2010, author = {Ribitsch, D. and Karl, W. and Birner-Gruenberger, R. and Gruber, K. and Eiteljoerg, I. and Remler, P. and Wieland, S. and Siegert, Petra and Maurer, Karl-Heinz and Schwab, H.}, title = {C-terminal truncation of a metagenome-derived detergent protease for effective expression in E. coli}, series = {Journal of biotechnology}, volume = {150}, journal = {Journal of biotechnology}, number = {3}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {1873-4863 (E-Journal); 0168-1656 (Print)}, doi = {10.1016/j.jbiotec.2010.09.947}, pages = {408 -- 416}, year = {2010}, abstract = {Recently, a new alkaline protease named HP70 showing highest homology to extracellular serine proteases of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Xanthomonas campestris was found in the course of a metagenome screening for detergent proteases (Niehaus et al., submitted for publication). Attempts to efficiently express the enzyme in common expression hosts had failed. This study reports on the realization of overexpression in Escherichia coli after structural modification of HP70. Modelling of HP70 resulted in a two-domain structure, comprising the catalytic domain and a C-terminal domain which includes about 100 amino acids. On the basis of the modelled structure the enzyme was truncated by deletion of most of the C-terminal domain yielding HP70-C477. This structural modification allowed effective expression of active enzyme using E. coli BL21-Gold as the host. Specific activity of HP70-C477 determined with suc-l-Ala-l-Ala-l-Pro-l-Phe-p-nitroanilide as the substrate was 30 ± 5 U/mg compared to 8 ± 1 U/mg of the native enzyme. HP70-C477 was most active at 40 °C and pH 7-11; these conditions are prerequisite for a potential application as detergent enzyme. Determination of kinetic parameters at 40 °C and pH = 9.5 resulted in KM = 0.23 ± 0.01 mM and kcat = 167.5 ± 3.6 s⁻¹. MS-analysis of peptide fragments obtained from incubation of HP70 and HP70-C477 with insulin B indicated that the C-terminal domain influences the cleavage preferences of the enzyme. Washing experiments confirmed the high potential of HP70-C477 as detergent protease.}, language = {en} } @article{FerreinNiemuellerSteinbauer2010, author = {Ferrein, Alexander and Niem{\"u}ller, Tim and Steinbauer, Gerald}, title = {Team Zadeat 2010 : application for participation}, pages = {5 Seiten}, year = {2010}, language = {en} } @article{DegeringEggertPulsetal.2010, author = {Degering, Christian and Eggert, Thorsten and Puls, Michael and Bongaerts, Johannes and Evers, Stefan and Maurer, Karl-Heinz and Jaeger, Karl-Erich}, title = {Optimization of protease secretion in Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis by screening of homologous and herologous signal peptides}, series = {Applied and environmental microbiology}, volume = {76}, journal = {Applied and environmental microbiology}, number = {19}, publisher = {American Society for Microbiology}, address = {Washington, DC}, issn = {1098-5336 (E-Journal); 0003-6919 (Print); 0099-2240 (Print)}, doi = {10.1128/AEM.01146-10}, pages = {6370 -- 6378}, year = {2010}, abstract = {Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis are widely used for the large-scale industrial production of proteins. These strains can efficiently secrete proteins into the culture medium using the general secretion (Sec) pathway. A characteristic feature of all secreted proteins is their N-terminal signal peptides, which are recognized by the secretion machinery. Here, we have studied the production of an industrially important secreted protease, namely, subtilisin BPN′ from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. One hundred seventy-three signal peptides originating from B. subtilis and 220 signal peptides from the B. licheniformis type strain were fused to this secretion target and expressed in B. subtilis, and the resulting library was analyzed by high-throughput screening for extracellular proteolytic activity. We have identified a number of signal peptides originating from both organisms which produced significantly increased yield of the secreted protease. Interestingly, we observed that levels of extracellular protease were improved not only in B. subtilis, which was used as the screening host, but also in two different B. licheniformis strains. To date, it is impossible to predict which signal peptide will result in better secretion and thus an improved yield of a given extracellular target protein. Our data show that screening a library consisting of homologous and heterologous signal peptides fused to a target protein can identify more-effective signal peptides, resulting in improved protein export not only in the original screening host but also in different production strains.}, language = {en} } @article{MukherjeePrahlBlecketal.2010, author = {Mukherjee, Krishnendu and Prahl, Ulrich and Bleck, Wolfgang and Reisgen, Uwe and Schleser, Markus and Abdurakhmanov, Aydemir}, title = {Characterization and modelling techniques for gas metal arc welding of DP 600 sheet steels}, series = {Materialwissenschaft und Werkstofftechnik}, volume = {41}, journal = {Materialwissenschaft und Werkstofftechnik}, number = {11}, publisher = {Wiley-VCH}, address = {Weinheim}, issn = {1521-4052}, doi = {10.1002/mawe.201000692}, pages = {972 -- 983}, year = {2010}, abstract = {The objectives of the present work are to characterize the Gas Metal Arc Welding process of DP 600 sheet steel and to summarize the modelling techniques. The time-temperature evolution during the welding cycle was measured experimentally and modelled with the softwaretool SimWeld. To model the phase transformations during the welding cycle dilatometer tests were done to quantify the parameters for phase field modelling by MICRESS®. The important input parameters are interface mobility, nucleation density, etc. A contribution was made to include austenite to bainite transformation in MICRESS®. This is useful to predict the microstructure in the fast cooling segments. The phase transformation model is capable to predict the microstructure along the heating and cooling cycles of welding. Tensile tests have shown the evidence of failure at the heat affected zone, which has the ferrite-tempered martensite microstructure.}, language = {en} } @article{ReisgenSchleserMokrovetal.2010, author = {Reisgen, Uwe and Schleser, Markus and Mokrov, Oleg and Ahmed, Essam}, title = {Uni- and bi-axial deformation behavior of laser welded advanced high strength steel sheets}, series = {Journal of materials processing technology}, volume = {210}, journal = {Journal of materials processing technology}, number = {15}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0924-0136}, doi = {http10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2010.08.003}, pages = {2188 -- 2196}, year = {2010}, abstract = {Bead-on-plate butt joints of 2.5 mm hot rolled DP600/DP600 and 1.2 mm cold rolled TRIP700/TRIP700 steel sheets were performed using 6 kW CO2 laser beam welding. The welding speed ranged from 1.5 to 3.0 and from 2.1 to 3.9 m/min in DP/DP and TRIP/TRIP steel weldments respectively. A top surface helium gas was used as a shielding gas at a flow rate of 20 l/min. Metallographic examinations and transverse tensile testing (DIN EN 895: 1995) were carried out to characterize the weldments. The formability of base metals and weldments were investigated by standard Erichsen test (DIN EN ISO 20482). It was found that the uniaxial plastic behavior of both DP600 and TRIP700 base metals was in agreement with Swift and modified Mecking-Kocks models respectively. In a perpendicular tensile test to the weld line, all specimens were fractured at the base metal however the strengths were somewhat higher than those of base metal. There was a significant reduction in formability caused by welding of both DP/DP and TRIP/TRIP steel weldments and the formability has been improved with the increase of the welding speed.}, language = {en} } @article{ReisgenSchleserMokrovetal.2010, author = {Reisgen, Uwe and Schleser, Markus and Mokrov, Oleg and Ahmed, Essam}, title = {Shielding gas influences on laser weldability of tailored blanks of advanced automotive steels}, series = {Applied surface science}, volume = {257}, journal = {Applied surface science}, number = {5}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0169-4332 (E-Journal); 0169-4332 (Print)}, doi = {10.1016/j.apsusc.2010.08.042}, pages = {1401 -- 1406}, year = {2010}, abstract = {The effects of shielding gas types and flow rates on CO2 laser weldability of DP600/TRIP700 steel sheets were studied in this work. The evaluated shielding gases were helium (He), argon (Ar) and different mixtures of He and Ar. Weld penetration, tensile strength and formability (Erichsen test) of laser welds were found to be strongly dependent upon the shielding gas types. The ability of shielding gas in removing plasma plume and thus increasing weld penetration is believed to be closely related to ionization potential and atomic weight which determine the period of plasma formation and disappearance. It was found that the higher helium shielding gas flow rate, the deeper weld penetration and the lower weld width.}, language = {en} } @article{AhmedReisgenSchleseretal.2010, author = {Ahmed, Essam and Reisgen, Uwe and Schleser, Markus and Mokrov, Oleg}, title = {On formability of tailor laser welded blanks of DP/TRIP steel sheets}, series = {Science and technology of welding and joining}, volume = {15}, journal = {Science and technology of welding and joining}, number = {5}, publisher = {Maney}, address = {Leeds}, issn = {1743-2936}, doi = {10.1179/136217110X12731414739754}, pages = {337 -- 342}, year = {2010}, abstract = {This paper aims to evaluate the formability of tailor welded blanks of dual phase (DP600)/transformation induced plasticity (TRIP700) steel sheets. In this work, bead on plate butt joints of 2·5 mm DP600 and 1·2 mm TRIP700 steel sheets were performed using CO2 laser beam welding. Microhardness measurements and transverse tensile testing were carried out to characterise the welds. The formability of base metals and welds were investigated by standard Erichsen test. In a perpendicular tensile test to the weld line, all specimens were fractured at the TRIP base metal, and the strengths were somewhat higher than those of base metal. There was a significant reduction in formability caused by welding of the DP600/TRIP700 steel sheets, and the formability increased with increasing welding speed.}, language = {en} } @article{HeinzelSchaeferMuelleretal.2010, author = {Heinzel, Alexander and Sch{\"a}fer, Ralf and M{\"u}ller, Hans-Wilhelm and Schieffer, Andre and Ingenhag, Ariane and Northoff, Georg and Franz, Matthias and Hautzel, Hubertus}, title = {Differential modulation of valence and arousal in high-alexithymic and low-alexithymic individuals}, series = {Neuroreport}, volume = {21}, journal = {Neuroreport}, number = {15}, publisher = {Lippincott Williams \& Wilkins}, address = {London}, issn = {1473-558X}, doi = {10.1097/WNR.0b013e32833f38e0}, pages = {998 -- 1002}, year = {2010}, abstract = {High-alexithymic individuals are characterized by an impaired ability to identify and communicate emotions whereas low-alexithymic individuals have a wide-ranging ability to deal with emotions. This study examined the hypothesis that valence and arousal modifications of emotional stimuli differentially modulate cortical regions in high-alexithymic and low-alexithymic individuals. To this end, 28 high-alexithymic and 25 low-alexithymic individuals were investigated with event-related fMRI using visual emotional stimuli. We found differential neural activations in the dorsal anterior cingulate, the insula and the amygdala. We suggest that these differences may account for the impaired ability of high-alexithymic individuals to appropriately handle emotional stimuli.}, language = {en} }