Das übergeordnete Ziel des geplanten Projektes besteht darin, vom Menschen verursachte Luftverschmutzung in Ballungsräumen besser zu verstehen. Die Untersuchung von Stickstoffdioxid (NO2) und Aerosolen wird sich dabei auf spektrale Messungen mit zwei MAX-DOAS (Multi-Axiale Differentielle Optische Absorptionsspektroskopie) Instrumenten an zwei verschiedenen Standorten in Wien stützen. Die MAX-DOAS Methode wird zur Messung von Streulicht in verschiedenen Blickrichtungen verwendet, aus denen die horizontale und vertikale Verteilung von Spurengasen und Aerosolen in der Troposphäre abgeleitet werden kann. Die Datenauswertung wird sich auf eine schnelle geometrische Annäherung sowie die exaktere Methode der Optimal Estimation stützen und troposphärische Säulen und Vertikalprofile von NO2 und Aerosolen ergeben. Die Vertikalprofile liefern eine wichtige Datengrundlage, die für den Vergleich mit bestehenden in-situ Messungen verwendet werden kann. Die aus den MAX-DOAS Messungen abgeleiteten troposphärischen Vertikalsäulen ermöglichen zusammen mit meteorologischen Messungen (z.B. Windgeschwindigkeit, Windrichtung) die Überwachung von Luftschadstoffen über städtischem Hintergrund, stark befahrenen Straßen, und industriellen Punktquellen auf horizontaler Ebene. Die geplanten Langzeitmessungen (über zwei Jahre) liefern einen wertvollen Datensatz für die Analyse der zeitlichen Variabilität von Luftschadstoffen (NO2 und Aerosole) über Wien. Ein Vergleich der in Wien erhobenen Daten mit vergleichbaren MAX-DOAS Messungen in Athen, Griechenland, oder Bremen, Deutschland, wird Ähnlichkeiten und Unterschiede zwischen den verschmutzten Standorten mit andersartigen meteorologischen und photochemischen Bedingungen aufzeigen. Die troposphärischen NO2-Säulen ermöglichen die Validierung von Satellitenmessungen der OMI, GOME-2, und TROPOMI Instrumente sowie den Vergleich mit Modellsimulationen (z.B. aus dem COPERNICUS Atmosphärenbeobachtungsdienst). Da sich bei den beiden Messgeräten Blickfelder einzelner azimutaler Richtungen teilweise überschneiden und die ergänzenden Messungen von in-situ Instrumenten eine Vielzahl an Information zur räumlichen Ausbreitung von NO2 bieten, soll versucht werden, ein räumlich aufgelöstes Bild der Luftverschmutzung über Wien mit Hilfe der tomographischen Darstellung zu entwickeln. Die Ergebnisse des Projektes werden wichtige Erkenntnisse zur horizontalen und vertikalen Ausbreitung von NO2 und Aerosolen liefern. Neben der Verbesserung der troposphärischen NO2 Auswertung werden die Ergebnisse wichtige Daten für Atmosphärenmodelle bereitstellen, da die Vertikalprofile von NO2 und Aerosolen eine nützliche Ergänzung zu den Punktmessungen von in-situ Messgeräten darstellen.
Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is an important cereal grain which serves as major animal fodder crop as well as basis for malt beverages or staple food. Currently barley is ranked fourth in terms of quantity of cereal crops produced worldwide. In times of a constantly growing world population in conjunction with an unforeseeable climate change and groundwater depletion, the accumulation of knowledge concerning cereal growth and rate of yield gain is important. The Nordic Genetic Resource Center holds a major collection of barley mutants produced by irradiation or chemical treatment. One phenotypic group of barley varieties are dwarf mutants (erectoides, brachytic, semidwarf, uzu). They are characterized by a compact spike and high rate of yield while the straw is short and stiff, enhancing the lodging resistance of the plant. Obviously they are of applied interest, but they are also of scientific interest as virtually nothing is known about the genes behind the development of plant dwarfism. The aim of this project is to identify and isolate the genes carrying the mutations by using state of the art techniques for gene cloning at the Carlsberg Laboratory. The identified genes will be connected with the mutant phenotype to reveal the gene function in general. One or two genes will be overexpressed and the resulting recombinant proteins will be biochemically and structurally characterized. The insights how the mutation effects the protein will display the protein function in particular. Identified genes and their mutant alleles will be tested in the barley breeding program of the Carlsberg brewery.
Evidence is compelling for a positive correlation between urbanisation and increment of allergic sensitisation and diseases. The reason for this association is not clear to date. Some data point to a pro-allergic effect of anthropogenic factors on susceptible individuals. Data analysing the impact of environmental - natural and anthropogenic - factors on the allergenicity of allergen carriers such as pollen grains are scarce, and if applicable only taken from in vitro experimental designs. This study will analyse one of the most common allergy inducers in northern Europe - the birch pollen. Under natural exposure conditions, birch pollen will be analysed with respect to their allergenicity. Within an interdisciplinary research team this study will evaluate the effect of natural (e.g. soil, climate, genetic background) and anthropogenic (e.g. traffic pollutants) factors on birch pollen in a holistic approach including analysis of allergen bioavailability, release of pollen associated lipid mediators from birch pollen grains, in vitro immunostimulatory activity and in vivo allergenic potential. These data collected in the time course of three years will significantly add to our understanding how urbanisation and climate change influence the allergenicity of birch pollen and will help us in the future to set up primary prevention studies.
In the Earth, the dynamo action is strongly linked to core freezing. There is a solid inner core, the growth of which provides a buoyancy flux that drives the dynamo. The buoyancy in this case derives from a difference in composition between the solid inner core and the fluid outer core. In planetary bodies smaller than the Earth, however, this core differentiation process may differ - Fe may precipitate at the core-mantle boundary (CMB) rather than in the center and may fall as iron snow and initially remelt with greater depth. A chemical stable sedimentation zone develops that comprises with time the entire core - at that time a solid inner core starts to grow. The dynamics of this system is not well understood and also whether it can generate a magnetic field or not. The Jovian moon Ganymede, which shows a present-day magnetic dipole field, is a candidate for which such a scenario has been suggested. We plan to study this Fe-snow regime with both a numerical and experimental approach. In the numerical study, we use a 2D/3D thermo-chemical convection model that considers crystallization and sinking of iron crystals together with the dynamics of the liquid core phase (for the 3D case the influence of the rotation of the Fe snow process is further studied).The numerical calculations will be complemented by two series of experiments: (1) investigations in metal alloys by means of X-ray radioscopy, and (2) measurements in transparent analogues by optical techniques. The experiments will examine typical features of the iron snow regime. On the one hand they will serve as a tool to validate the numerical approach and on the other hand they will yield important insight into sub-processes of the iron snow regime, which cannot be accessed within the numerical approach due to their complexity.
Previous studies indicated that the development and biogeochemistry of paddy soils relates to the parent material, thus the original soil paddies derive from. The proposed research focuses on redox-mediated changes in mineral composition and mineral-associated organic matter (OM) during paddy transformation of different soils. We plan to subject soil samples to a series of redox cycles, in order to mimic paddy soil formation and development. Soils with strongly different properties and mineral composition as well as at different states of paddy transformation; ranging from unchanged soils to fully developed paddy soils, are to be included. We hypothesize that dissolved organic matter is one key driver in redox-mediated transformations, serving as an electron donator as well as interacting with dissolved metals and minerals. The extent of effects shall depend on the parent soil's original mineral assemblage and organic matter and their mutual interactions. The experimental paddy soil transformation will tracked by analyses of soil solutions, of the (re-)distribution of carbon (by addition of 13C-labelled rice straw), of indicative biomolecules (sugars, amino sugars, fatty acids, lignin) and of minerals (including the redox state of Fe). For analyses of organic matter as well as of mineral characteristics we plan to utilize EXAFS and XPS, for Fe-bearing minerals also Mößbauer spectroscopy. This approach of experimental pedology seems appropriate to give insight into the major factors during paddy soil formation and development.
Magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) on microcosm soil cores (200 mm Ø) used for CeMiX, comprising naturally stacked subsoil down to 700 mm plus topsoil from CeFiT, will be implemented at a laterally partially open Split 1.5 T magnet, with intended final in-plane spatial resolution of 200 Micro m. Three-dimensional biopore distributions and dynamics of their formation within the cores will be determined non-invasively and compared to complementing CT analyses of SP 2. One major aim is a non-invasive differentiation of the biopores into earthworm- and root system-originating ones and currently air-, water-, root- and earthwormfilled ones, based on NMR relaxation parameters. Attempts will additionally be made to classify different wall coatings of the biopores with regard to their water affinity. Dynamics of water distribution within the microcosm core and its biopore structures, starting from initial values taken from CeFiT (SP 3), will be documented with an in-plane resolution of 5 mm, in parallel to measurements of root growth dynamics for calculation of biomass and root surface area. Special emphasis will be put on the role of the plant root system for a re-distribution of water/D2O (and solutes) between different soil layers. Finally we will attempt MRT-controlled sample collection from the microcosm cores, to get - together with our research unit partners of SPs 4-8 - repeated access to minimally invasively acquired data on nutrient and microorganism distributions in concert with non-invasively collected water and root distribution data as a basis for dynamic modelling of water and solute circuits in SP 10. Beside the microcosm cores, flat rhizotrons as used in SP 3 will be employed to enable measurements of root and shoot hydrostatic pressure profiles with pressure probes, in addition to MRT measurements. In this way water distributions and corresponding driving forces and growth dynamics will be measured altogether in a minimally invasive manner.
Soil structure determines a large part of the spatial heterogeneity in water storage and fluxes from the plot to the hillslope scale. In recent decades important progress in hydrological research has been achieved by including soil structure in hydrological models. One of the main problems herein remains the difficulty of measuring soil structure and quantifying its influence on hydrological processes. As soil structure is very often of biogenic origin (macropores), the main objective of this project is to use the influence of bioactivity and resulting soil structures to describe and support modelling of hydrological processes at different scales. Therefore, local scale bioactivity will be linked to local infiltration patterns under varying catchment conditions. At hillslope scale, the spatial distribution of bioactivity patterns will be linked to connectivity of subsurface structures to explain subsurface stormflow generation. Then we will apply species distribution modelling of key organisms in order to extrapolate the gained knowledge to the catchment scale. As on one hand, bioactivity influences the hydrological processes, but on the other hand the species distribution also depends on soil moisture contents, including the feedbacks between bioactivity and soil hydrology is pivotal for getting reliable predictions of catchment scale hydrological behavior under land use change and climate change.
BACKGROUND: The Kingdom of Jordan belongs to the ten water scarcest countries in the world, and climate change is likely to increase the frequency of future droughts. Jordan is considered among the 10 most water impoverished countries in the world, with per capita water availability estimated at 170 m per annum, compared to an average of 1,000 m per annum in other countries. Jordan Government has taken the strategic decision to develop a conveyor system including a 325 km pipe to pump 100 million cubic meters per year of potable water from Disi-Mudawwara close to the Saudi Border in the south, to the Greater Amman area in the north. The construction of the water pipeline has started end of 2009 and shall be finished in 2013. Later on, the pipeline could serve as a major part of a national water carrier in order to convey desalinated water from the Red Sea to the economically most important central region of the country. The conveyor project will not only significantly increase water supplies to the capital, but also provide for the re-allocation of current supplies to other governorates, and for the conservation of aquifers. In the context of the Disi project that is co-funded by EIB two Environmental and Social Management Plans have been prepared: one for the private project partners and one for the Jordan Government. The latter includes the Governments obligation to re-balance water allocations to irrigation and to gradually restore the protected wetlands of Azraq (Ramsar site) east of Amman that has been depleted due to over-abstraction by re-directing discharge of highland aquifers after the Disi pipeline becomes operational. The Water Strategy recognizes that groundwater extraction for irrigation is beyond acceptable limits. Since the source is finite and priority should be given to human consumption it proposes to tackle the demand for irrigation through tariff adjustments, improved irrigation technology and disincentive to water intensive crops. The Disi aquifer is currently used for irrigation by farms producing all kinds of fruits and vegetables on a large scale and exporting most of their products to the Saudi and European markets and it is almost a third of Jordan's total consumption. The licenses for that commercial irrigation were finished by 2011/12. Whilst the licenses will be not renewed the difficulty will be the enforcement and satellite based information become an important supporting tool for monitoring. OUTLOOK: The ESA funded project Water management had the objective to support the South-North conveyor project and the activities of EIB together with the MWI in Jordan to ensure the supply of water for the increasing demand. EO Information provides a baseline for land cover and elevation and support the monitoring of further stages. usw.
Der Boden beeinflusst durch Wasserhaushalt, Temperaturverhältnisse, Bodenstruktur, Bodenleben, Lufthaushalt und Angebot an Nährstoffen den Charakter und die Qualität des Weines. Der Einfluss des Bodens auf die Weinqualität erfolgt über die Versorgung mit Nährstoffen. Ausreichend und regelmäßig gedüngte Böden erbringen gehaltvollere Weine. Der Nährstoff Kalium spielt in der Rebenernährung eine Schlüsselrolle. Kalium ist für die Wasseraufnahme und den Wasserhaushalt wesentlich, da es quellend wirkt und das Öffnen und Schließen der Spaltöffnungen regelt. Kalium ist als wichtiges Element für viele Enzymreaktionen am Eiweiß- und Kohlehydratstoffwechsel und damit an der Zucker- und Bukettbildung beteiligt. Außerdem fördert es die Trauben- und Holzreife sowie die Frosthärte. Kaliumreiche Weine sind gut gepuffert und dadurch wird die geschmackliche Wirkung der Säuren im Wein als weniger scharf und harmonisch empfunden. In den Richtlinien für die sachgerechte Düngung im Weinbau wird derzeit die jährliche Ausbringung folgender Mengen an Kalium (K) empfohlen: Gehaltsstufe A: 100 kg, Gehaltsstufe B: 83 kg, Gehaltsstufe C: 66 kg und Gehaltsstufe D: 33 kg. Aufgrund immer wieder auftretender Kaliummangelsymptome sowohl an Blättern als auch an Beeren und im Besonderen aufgrund des Auftretens von Traubenwelke soll diese Empfehlung evaluiert und adaptiert werden, um eine gute Versorgung der Reben zu gewährleisten.
Various species of pest insects cause substantial damage to agriculture every year, or transmit deadly diseases to animals and humans. A successful strategy to control pest insect populations is based on the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), which uses the release of mass-reared, radiation sterilized male insects to cause infertile matings and thus reduce the pest population level. However, irradiation is not applicable to every insect species. Thus, new strategies based on genetic modifications of pest insects have been developed or are currently under investigation.The goal of the proposed research is to improve the development and ecological safety of genetically engineered (GE) insects created for enhanced biological control programs, including the SIT and new strategies based on conditional lethality. A major concern for GE insect release programs is transgene stability, and maintenance of their consistent expression. Transgene loss or intra-genomic movement could result in loss of strain attributes, and may ultimately lead to interspecies movement resulting in ecological risks. To address potential transgene instability, a new transposon vector that allows post-integration immobilization will be tested in the Mediterranean, Mexican and Oriental fruit fly tephritid pest species. In addition, the system will be established in the mosquito species Aedes and Anopheles - carriers of dengue and malaria.Random genomic insertion is also problematic for GE strain development due to genomic position effects that suppress transgene expression, and insertional mutations that negatively affect host fitness and viability. Diminished transgene expression could result in the unintended survival of conditional lethal individuals, or the inability to identify them. To target transgene vectors to defined genomic insertion sites having minimal negative effects on gene expression and host fitness, a recombinase-mediated cassette exchange (RMCE) strategy will be developed that. RMCE will also allow for stabilization of the target site, will be tested in tephritid and mosquito species, and will aid to the development of stabilized target-site strains for conditional lethal biocontrol. This will include a molecular and organismal evaluation of an RNAi-based lethality approach. Lethality based on an RNAi mechanism in the proposed insects would increase the species specificity and having multiple targets for lethality versus one target in existing systems. By seeking to improve transgene expressivity and stabilization of transposon-based vector systems, this proposal specifically addresses issues related to new GE insects by reducing their unintended spread after field release, and by limiting the possibilities for transgene introgression.
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