Shipborne nutrient dynamics and impact on the eutrophication in the Baltic Sea.

The Baltic Sea is a severely eutrophicated sea-area where intense shipping as an additional nutrient source is a potential contributor to changes in the ecosystem. The impact of the two most important shipborne nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus, on the overall nutrient-phytoplankton-oxygen dynamics in the Baltic Sea was determined by using the coupled physical and biogeochemical model system General Estuarine Transport Model-Ecological Regional Ocean Model (GETM-ERGOM) in a cascade with the Ship Traffic Emission Assessment Model (STEAM) and the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. We compared two nutrient scenarios in the Baltic Sea: with (SHIP) and without nutrient input from ships (NOSHIP). The model uses the combined nutrient input from shipping-related waste streams and atmospheric depositions originating from the ship emission and calculates the effect of excess nutrients on the overall biogeochemical cycle, primary production, detritus formation and nutrient flows. The shipping contribution is about 0.3% of the total phosphorus and 1.25-3.3% of the total nitrogen input to the Baltic Sea, but their impact to the different biogeochemical variables is up to 10%. Excess nitrogen entering the N-limited system of the Baltic Sea slightly alters certain pathways: cyanobacteria growth is compromised due to extra nitrogen available for other functional groups while the biomass of diatoms and especially flagellates increases due to the excess of the limiting nutrient. In terms of the Baltic Sea ecosystem functioning, continuous input of ship-borne nitrogen is compensated by steady decrease of nitrogen fixation and increase of denitrification, which results in stationary level of total nitrogen content in the water. Ship-borne phosphorus input results in a decrease of phosphate content in the water and increase of phosphorus binding to sediments. Oxygen content in the water decreases, but reaches stationary state eventually.

Pressure response of 31P chemical shifts of adenine nucleotides.

High pressure NMR spectroscopy is a powerful method for identifying rare conformational states of proteins from the pressure response of their chemical shifts. Many proteins have bound adenine nucleotides at their active centers, in most cases in a complex with Mg2+-ions. The 31P NMR signals of phosphate groups of the nucleotides can be used as probes for conformational transitions in the proteins themselves. For distinguishing protein specific pressure effects from trivial pressure responses not due to the protein interaction, data of the pressure response of the free nucleotides must be available. Therefore, the pressure response of 31P chemical shifts of the adenine nucleotides AMP, ADP, and ATP and their Mg2+-complexes has been determined at pH values several units distant from the respective pK-values. It is clearly non-linear for most of the resonances. A negative first order pressure coefficient B1 was determined for all 31P resonances except Mg2+·AMP indicating an upfield shift of the resonances with pressure. The smallest and largest negative values are obtained for the α-phosphate group of ADP and ß-phosphate group of Mg2+·ATP with -0.32 and -4.59ppm/GPa, respectively. With exception of the α-phosphate group of Mg2+·AMP the second order pressure coefficients are positive leading to a saturation like behaviour. The pressure response of the adenine nucleotides is similar but not identical to that observed earlier for guanine nucleotides. The obtained data show that the chemical shift pressure response of the different phosphate groups is rather different dependent on the position of phosphate group in the nucleotide and the nucleotide used.

A pilot study on spatial changes in the maxilla caused by osteopathic therapy.

OBJECTIVES: A variety of theories on the pathogenesis of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) exists resulting in treatment approaches ranging from the fabrication of occlusal splints to alternative treatment modalities such as osteopathy. The goal of this pilot study was to investigate whether osteopathic treatment causes spatial changes in the maxilla. METHOD AND MATERIALS: Following ethics commission approval and informed patient consent, three patients diagnosed with TMD participated in this investigation. In addition to regular treatment, an individualized mandibular occlusal splint was fabricated and a maxillary silicone impression was made. Following osteopathic treatment, the splint was adapted intraorally and another maxillary impression was made. Before and after treatment, the splint and the impressions were scanned three-dimensionally. The resulting images were superimposed using best-fit matching algorithms. RESULTS: Inconsistent spatial changes in the posterior areas were observed both in the maxillary impressions as well as in the mandibular splints reaching maximum absolute values of 0.50 mm. CONCLUSION: Based on this pilot study, it appears that osteopathic treatment may be capable of inducing spatial changes in the maxilla due to sutural movement thereby validating the fundamental principles of osteopathic treatment. Although, based on the study conducted, it cannot be concluded that osteopathy constitutes a successful treatment alternative in TMD patients, practitioners should be aware of this treatment modality.