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A kinetic model of the fermentative production of lactic acid from glucose by Lactococcus lactis ssp. lactis ATCC 19435 in whole-wheat flour has been developed. The model consists of terms for substrate and product inhibition as well as for the influence of pH and temperature. Experimental data from fermentation experiments under different physical conditions were used to fit and verify the model.
Background: It has been shown previously that an anterior cruciate ligament injury may affect postural control, measured by balance in single-limb stance. To our knowledge, no studies have reported the influence of measures of impairment on postural control after such an injury. Purpose: To assess the influence of knee laxity, proprioception, and muscle strength on balance in single-limb stance an
Mollusks have received increasing interest in ecotoxicological studies but so far the available scientific analyses of how their genes are affected by anthropogenic pollutants are scarce. The focus of this study is to identify an estrogen receptor (er) gene in the common prosobranch snail Bithynia tentaculata and to test a hypothesis that 17α-Ethinylestradiol (EE2) will modulate er gene expression
The Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami hit coastal cities in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima Prefectures of Tohoku Region devastating the energy supply system in the region. Electricity and fuel shortages caused severe problems in the city of Kamaishi varying from lack of mobility, communication, heating to reduced health conditions. This paper, aims to analyze the impacts of the earthquake and t
This reflection, based on a keynote address to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Disasters on 14 September 2017, begins by considering some of the prevailing assumptions that existed at the time of the journal's creation. Next is a summary of significant milestones during the past 40 years, covering major global trends, changing disaster impacts, and key developments in disaster risk managemen
This chapter describes the basic principles inside the VEG extension to the ForSAFE model system. It allows changes in ground vegetation to be calculated, an important part of biodiversity. In the VEG model, the basis for modelling ground vegetation dynamics is a competition strength model based on soil chemistry promoting and retarding factors, nutrients, water and light. The strength is used in
Training and exercises programmes are not independent activities, forming part of a larger, risk-based, process of disaster management preparedness. In order to have an impact on an individual's skills knowledge or behaviours, or to influence organizational learning or procedures, the programmes needs a cyclic and holistic approach. It should focus on clearly identified outcomes that are designed
This paper introduces the concept of 'dynamic capability' (DC) in relation to disaster management - in particular to disaster management exercises (DME). Firstly this paper discusses changes and challenges in DME and the concept of dynamic capabilities as one potential approach dealing with the existing challenges in DME. Thereafter it outlines basic contents of developing DC in DME. The paper con
We studied the relative contribution of each sex and total effort expended in feeding nestlings in the great tit Parus major in relation to artificially altered brood size. A recent model suggests that feeding frequency should reflect the optimal trade-off between parental and fledgling survival, the former being negatively, the latter positively, influenced by high feeding frequencies. In both se
This study reports an aviary experiment aimed at determining what affects social dominance in the great tit (Parus major), especially why older birds (adults) in nature normally dominate younger ones (juveniles). When birds were matched with respect to age, prior residency determined dominance. Without a difference in prior residency older birds dominated younger ones. However, when juvenile birds
In the Marsh Tit Parus palustris, breeding performance improved with the age of both the male and the female parent-older birds produced larger clutches earlier in the season. The effect of male age, however, was mainly due to a positive association with the age of the female. When the effect of laying date was accounted for, there was no additional effect of female age on clutch-size. However, pa
A cross-fostering experiment demonstrated that tarsus length of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) was heritable. The tarsus length of the foster-parent had no effect. A full-sib resemblance analysis showed that sibs were much more similar in tarsus length than explained by heritability alone. This was partly due to an effect of female mating status on offspring tarsus length. When nestling gro
In this paper we show that nestling mass hierarchies in the European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) are due to asynchronous hatching. The parents may, by starting to incubate the day the penultimate egg is laid, or earlier, affect the degree of hatching asynchrony and thereby the nestling weight hierarchy. Intra-clutch variation in egg size had no effect on nestling weight hierarchies, explaining onl
A novel formulation of the theory of parent-offspring conflict is proposed. The basis of this formulation is an application of traditional life-history theory in combination with simple genetic arguments. The advanatage with this approach is conceptual, and the formulation is not in variance with earlier studies in the area. Parent-offspring conflict is, in our forumlation, not seen as a conflict
In polygynous passerines, males of some species provide food for their nestlings, but male incubation seems to be rare. In the European starling both the mating system and the extent to which males help with incubation vary. This enabled the relationship between mating system and male incubation to be investigated. The extent to which males provided care to a particular nest depended on mating sta
Males should invest in mate attraction, mate guarding and paternal care in relation to the marginal fitness value of each of those behaviours. Since time and energy are limited, trade-offs between these activities are expected. This study demonstrates that monogamous male European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) decrease their paternal effort in response to increased opportunities to attract addition
In altricial birds, growth rates and nestling morphology vary between broods. For natural selection to produce evolutionary change in these variables, there must exist heritable variation. Since nestling traits are not any longer present in parents, traditional offspring-parent regressions cannot estimate heritabilities of these. In this study, a partial cross-fostering experiment was performed, w
