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This paper discusses the process of including a multi-perspective view on stakeholders' needs into a specific project, namely the European project ActiveAdvice. It highlights the factors supporting and hindering the development and the implementation of the ActiveAdvice platform – as an integrated communication tool targeted at bridging the gaps between AAL stakeholders by facilitating cooperation and information exchange – regarding user requirements, preferences, acceptances and expectations. For this, a qualitative study was carried out, taking into account not only the older adults as primary end-users but the whole AAL stakeholder ecosystem. 23 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders of different groups – older adults and their relatives, business as well as government representatives – were conducted. The results show that even though different stakeholders can have conflicting needs, e.g. regarding online communication or feedback, those can be integrated into the requirements analysis, thus including the whole stakeholder ecosystem in the designing process. Furthermore, all three included stakeholder groups agree on the importance of raising awareness of AAL solutions, technologies and products. In including not only consumers but other secondary and tertiary stakeholders as well, ActiveAdvice has the chance to reach a broader audience and thus raise public awareness of AAL.

AbstractEmpirical evidence on the benefits of international ownership for small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) financial performance is either not available for most African and Middle Eastern countries or presents mixed results. In this paper, we investigate this further by examining the effects of ownership structure on firm performance, using financial data covering SMEs in 60 African and Middle Eastern countries, for the years 2006–2015. Results from pooled ordinary least squares and random‐effects estimations indicate that international ownership is significantly positively correlated with firm performance for (most of) Africa and the Middle East. Examining the interaction of international ownership with capital resources, we find that internationally owned firms do not use capital more efficiently than locally owned firms, implying that internationally owned firms use international resources—other than capital—more efficiently.

Vegetation fires play an important role in global and regional carbon cycles. Due to climate warming and land use shifts, fire patterns are changing and fire impacts increasing in many of the world's regions. Reducing uncertainties in carbon budgeting calculations from fires is therefore fundamental to advance our current understanding and forecasting capabilities. Here we study 20 chamber burns from the FIREX FireLab experiment, which burnt a representative set of North American wildland fuels, to assess the following: (i) differences in carbon emission estimations between the commonly used "consumed biomass" approach and the "burnt carbon" approach; (ii) pyrogenic carbon (PyC) production rates; and (iii) thermal and chemical recalcitrance of the PyC produced, as proxies of its biogeochemical stability. We find that the "consumed biomass" approach leads to overestimation of carbon emissions by 2–27% (most values between 2% and 10%). This accounting error arises largely from not considering PyC production and, even if relatively small, can therefore have important implications for medium- and long-term carbon budgeting. A large fraction (34–100%) of this PyC was contained in the charred fine residue, a postfire material frequently overlooked in fire carbon research. However, the most recalcitrant PyC was in the form of woody charcoal, with estimated half-lives for most samples exceeding 1,000 years. Combustion efficiency was relatively high in these laboratory burns compared to actual wildland fire conditions, likely leading to lower PyC production rates. We therefore argue that the PyC production values obtained here, and associated overestimation of carbon emissions, should be taken as low-end estimates for wildland fire conditions. ; Leverhulme Trust Research Grant, Leverhulme Trust [RPG-2014-095]; European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant (EU) [663830]; Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship Leverhulme Trust [RF-2016456\2]; NOAA's Climate Research and Health of the Atmosphere Initiative

This work was supported by a Swansea University, College of Science PhD studentship (Harper), a Leverhulme Research Fellowship RF-2016-456\2 (Doerr) and a Sêr Cymru Fellowship supported by European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 663830 (Santin). The contribution by Paul Sinnadurai represents his personal views and does not necessarily represent those of the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority.

Fieldwork and sample analysis was supported a Leverhulme Trust grant to SD (RPG-2014-095) and a European Research Council Starter Grant ERC-2013-StG-335891-ECOFLAM to CB. During manuscript preparation, SD was supported by a Leverhulme Trust Fellowship (RF-2016-456\2) and CS by a Sêr Cymru Fellowship co-funded by European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 663830).

Neurone dorsaler Hinterwurzelganglien (DRG-Neuronen) sind wichtige Schaltstellen zwischen peripherem und zentralem Nervensystem. Elementar für die elektrische Signalweiterleitung in DRG-Neuronen sind spannungsgesteuerte Natriumkanäle. Reaktive Spezies, die während vieler physiologischer und pathophysiologischer Prozesse gebildet werden, besitzen regulatorische Funktionen, sind aber auch assoziiert mit Neuropathien. Deshalb sollte der Einfluss reaktiver Spezies auf die elektrische Aktivität von DRG-Neuronen der Maus untersucht werden. Mit Hilfe der patch clamp-Methode konnte gezeigt werden, dass geringe Konzentrationen reaktiver Spezies, erzeugt durch das Oxidans Chloramin-T oder durch Blaulicht-Bestrahlung der Zellen, zu einer Verminderung der Aktionspotenzialfrequenz innerhalb 150 s führten. Nähere Untersuchungen ergaben, dass einzeln ausgelöste Aktionspotenziale in Wildtyp-DRG-Neuronen durch reaktive Spezies verbreitert wurden. Bei der Identifikation möglicher Ursachen wurde sich auf spannungsgesteuerte Natriumkanäle konzentriert. Aktionspotenziale von DRG-Neuronen, in denen der spannungsgesteuerte Kanal NaV1.8 fehlte, waren von reaktiven Spezies deutlich weniger betroffen. Dies deutete auf eine wichtige Rolle von NaV1.8 für die Sensitivität von DRG-Neuronen gegenüber reaktiven Spezies hin. Die Untersuchung von NaV1.8-Strömen zeigte, dass Chloramin-T vor allem den Maximalstrom des Kanals reduziert, während blaues Licht hauptsächlich die schnelle Inaktivierung verlangsamt. Andere Natriumkanäle waren von reaktiven Spezies weniger betroffen. Zur Untersuchung molekularer Angriffsorte wurden Natriumkanalchimären verwendet, die aus rNaV1.8 und dem weniger oxidationsempfindlichen Kanal rNaV1.4 zusammengesetzt waren. So zeigte sich für die Stromreduktion vor allem die Domäne I des Kanals NaV1.8 verantwortlich. Die in der vorliegenden Arbeit gezeigten Ergebnisse ermöglichen ein besseres Verständnis des komplexen Einflusses von reaktiven Spezies auf sensorische Signale.

This study uses coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case counts and Google mobility data for 12 of Ontario's largest Public Health Units from Spring 2020 until the end of January 2021 to evaluate the effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs; policy restrictions on business operations and social gatherings) and population mobility on daily cases. Instrumental variables (IV) estimation is used to account for potential simultaneity bias, because both daily COVID-19 cases and NPIs are dependent on lagged case numbers. IV estimates based on differences in lag lengths to infer causal estimates imply that the implementation of stricter NPIs and indoor mask mandates are associated with reductions in COVID-19 cases. Moreover, estimates based on Google mobility data suggest that increases in workplace attendance are correlated with higher case counts. Finally, from October 2020 to January 2021, daily Ontario forecasts from Box–Jenkins time-series models are more accurate than official forecasts and forecasts from a susceptible-infected-removed epidemiology model.

The activity of enzymes is traditionally characterised through bulk-phase biochemical methods that only report on population averages. Single-molecule methods are advantageous in elucidating kinetic and population heterogeneity but are often complicated, time consuming, and lacking statistical power. We present a highly generalisable and high-throughput single-molecule assay to rapidly characterise proteins involved in DNA metabolism. The assay exclusively relies on changes in total fluorescence intensity of surface-immobilised DNA templates as a result of DNA synthesis, unwinding or digestion. Combined with an automated data-analysis pipeline, our method provides enzymatic activity data of thousands of molecules in less than an hour. We demonstrate our method by characterising three fundamentally different nucleic-acid enzyme activities: digestion by the phage λ exonuclease, synthesis by the phage Phi29 polymerase, and unwinding by the E. coli UvrD helicase. We observe a previously unknown activity of the UvrD helicase to remove proteins tightly bound to the ends of DNA. ; The authors thank Dr Jacob Lewis (University of Wollongong) and Prof. Michael O'Donnell (Rockefeller University) for contributing reagents. ; This work was supported by the Australian Research Council (research grants DP150100956 and DP180100858 to A.M.v.O. and an Australian Laureate Fellowship FL140100027 to A.M.v.O.), the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC Investigator grant 2007778 to L.M.S) and an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship (to S.H.M). Funding for open access charge: Australian Research Council.

Fieldwork and sample analysis was supported a Leverhulme Trust Grant to SD (RPG-2014-095) and a European Research Council Starter Grant ERC-2013-StG-335891-ECOFLAM to CB. SN received funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/L002434/1) as part of the GW4+ Doctoral Training Partnership and CS by a Sêr Cymru Fellowship co-funded by European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No.663830).

Pyrogenic carbon (PyC), produced naturally (wildfire charcoal) and anthropogenically (biochar), is extensively studied due to its importance in several disciplines, including global climate dynamics, agronomy and paleosciences. Charcoal and biochar are commonly used as analogues for each other to infer respective carbon sequestration potentials, production conditions, and environmental roles and fates. The direct comparability of corresponding natural and anthropogenic PyC, however, has never been tested. Here we compared key physicochemical properties (elemental composition, δ13C and PAHs signatures, chemical recalcitrance, density and porosity) and carbon sequestration potentials of PyC materials formed from two identical feedstocks (pine forest floor and wood) under wildfire charring- and slow-pyrolysis conditions. Wildfire charcoals were formed under higher maximum temperatures and oxygen availabilities, but much shorter heating durations than slow-pyrolysis biochars, resulting in differing physicochemical properties. These differences are particularly relevant regarding their respective roles as carbon sinks, as even the wildfire charcoals formed at the highest temperatures had lower carbon sequestration potentials than most slow-pyrolysis biochars. Our results challenge the common notion that natural charcoal and biochar are well suited as proxies for each other, and suggest that biochar's environmental residence time may be underestimated when based on natural charcoal as a proxy, and vice versa. ; C.S. and S.H.D. thank the funding support by the 'Bridging the Gaps' EPRSC program and the Leverhulme Trust grant (RPG-2014-095). C.S. was also supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 663830 and S.H.D. by a Leverhulme Fellowship (RF-2016-456\2). We thank N. Loader for the δ13C analysis. ; SI

It is well established in the world's fire-prone regions that wildfires can considerably change the hydrological dynamics of freshwater catchments. Limited research, however, has focused on the potential impacts of wildfire ash toxicity on aquatic biota. Here, we assess the chemical composition and toxicity of ash generated from wildfires in six contrasting vegetation types distributed globally (UK grassland, Spanish pine forest, Spanish heathland, USA chaparral, Australian eucalypt forest and Canadian spruce forest). Acute (48 h) immobilisation tests were conducted on the extensively studied aquatic macroinvertebrate Daphnia magna, a sensitive indicator of aquatic contaminants. We found significant differences between the chemical composition and toxicity of these ash types. The UK and Spanish ash had no detectable toxicity to Daphnia magna, whereas the Australian eucalypt, USA chaparral and Canadian spruce ash all caused significant toxicity (immobilisation). The principal characteristics of the latter ash types were their high pH, and NO3, Cl and conductivity levels. Elevated water-soluble and total concentrations of metals (e.g. Mn, Fe, Zn, Pb, Cu and As) and total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were not linked to toxicity ; This work was supported by a Swansea University College of Science PhD studentship (Harper), a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship REF-2016–456\2 (Doerr) and a Ser Cymru Fellowship supported by European Union's 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska–Curie grant agreement no. 663830 (Santin) and Natural Environment Research Ecotoxicology of wildfire-generated ash Int. J. Wildland Fire 735 Council (NERC) grant NE/R011125/1. Xose Luis Otero was supported by Cross-Research in Environmental Technologies (CRETUS) strategic group (Conselleria de Educacion REF. 2018-PG100) ; SI

STÜBEN, JENS (ed.) (2007): Ostpreußen – Westpreußen – Danzig. Eine historische Literaturlandschaft. München: Oldenbourg Verlag (=Schriften des Bundesinstituts für Kultur und Geschichte der Deutschen im östlichen Europa 30). 762 S. TRABA, ROBERT (2005): 'Wschodniopruskość'. Tożsamość regionalna i narodowa w kulturze politycznej Niemiec. ['Das Ostpreußentum'. Die regionale und nationale Identität in der politischen Kultur Deutschlands]. Poznań/ Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Poznańskiego Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Nauk. 471 S. DAMPC-JAROSZ, RENATA / SZEWCZYK, GRAŻYNA BARBARA (eds.) (2006): Friedrich Schiller. W dwusetną rocznicę śmierci. [Zum 200. Todesjahr]. Wrocław: Oficyna Wydawnicza ATUT – Wrocławskie Wydawnictwo Oświatowe. 261 S. STRELKA, JOSEPH P. (2005): Ernst Schönwiese. Werk und Leben. Frankfurt (M.) / Berlin / Bern u.a.: Peter Lang Verlag (=New Yorker Beiträge zur Literaturwissenschaft 6). 193 S. BIALIK, WŁODZIMIERZ (2005): Die gewöhnliche Trivialität. Zu Sekundärbotschaften und zur Ideologie der En-passant-Aussagen in Heinz Günter Konsaliks später Romanproduktion. Frankfurt (M.)/Berlin/Bern u.a.: Peter Lang Verlag (=Posener Beiträge zur Germanistik 5). 290 S. RUCHNIEWICZ, KRZYSZTOF / ZYBURA, MAREK (eds.) (2006): Niemieckojęzyczni laureaci Literackiej Nagrody Nobla. Wrocław: Oficyna Wydawnicza ATUT – Wrocławskie Wydawnictwo Oświatowe. 285 S. RUCHNIEWICZ, KRZYSZTOF / ZYBURA, MAREK (eds.) (2007): Die höchste Ehrung, die einem Schriftsteller zuteil werden kann. Deutschsprachige Nobelpreisträger für Literatur. Dresden: Neisse Verlag. 354 S. GANSEL, CHRISTINA / JÜRGENS, FRANK (22007): Textlinguistik und Textgrammatik. Eine Einführung. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht / Westdeutscher Verlag Teutsch (=Studienbücher zur Linguistik 6). 270 S. GLÜCK, HELMUT / SCHRÖDER, KONRAD (eds.) (2007): Deutschlernen in den polnischen Ländern vom 15. Jahrhundert bis 1918. Eine teilkommentierte Bibliographie. Bearbeitet von Yvonne Pörzgen und Marcelina Tkocz. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. 319 S. LIPCZUK, RYSZARD (2007): Geschichte und Gegenwart des Fremdwortpurismus in Deutschland und Polen. Frankfurt (M.)/Berlin/Bern u.a.: Peter Lang Verlag (=Danziger Beiträge zur Germanistik 23). 251 S. RICHTER-VAPAATALO, ULRIKE (2007): "Da hatte das Pferd die Nüstern voll". Gebrauch und Funktion von Phraseologie im Kinderbuch. Untersuchungen zu Erich Kästner und anderen Autoren. Frankfurt (M.)/Berlin/ Bern u.a.: Peter Lang Verlag (=Finnische Beiträge zur Germanistik 20). 333 S. LÜSEBRINK, HANS-JÜRGEN (2005): Interkulturelle Kommunikation. Interaktion, Fremdwahrnehmung, Kulturtransfer. Stuttgart/Weimar: Metzler. 201 S.

16 páginas.-- 4 figuras.-- 183 referencias. ; The production of pyrogenic carbon (PyC; a continuum of organic carbon (C) ranging from partially charred biomass and charcoal to soot) is a widely acknowledged C sink, with the latest estimates indicating that ~50% of the PyC produced by vegetation fires potentially sequesters C over centuries. Nevertheless, the quantitative importance of PyC in the global C balance remains contentious, and therefore, PyC is rarely considered in global C cycle and climate studies. Here we examine the robustness of existing evidence and identify the main research gaps in the production, fluxes and fate of PyC from vegetation fires. Much of the previous work on PyC production has focused on selected components of total PyC generated in vegetation fires, likely leading to underestimates. We suggest that global PyC production could be in the range of 116-385 Tg C yr-1, that is ~0.2-0.6% of the annual terrestrial net primary production. According to our estimations, atmospheric emissions of soot/black C might be a smaller fraction of total PyC (<2%) than previously reported. Research on the fate of PyC in the environment has mainly focused on its degradation pathways, and its accumulation and resilience either in situ (surface soils) or in ultimate sinks (marine sediments). Off-site transport, transformation and PyC storage in intermediate pools are often overlooked, which could explain the fate of a substantial fraction of the PyC mobilized annually. We propose new research directions addressing gaps in the global PyC cycle to fully understand the importance of the products of burning in global C cycle dynamics. ; C.S. is grateful to the Spanish Government (EX2010–0498) and to The Leverhulme Trust (Grant RPG-2014-095), J.M.R to the European Commission's Marie-Curie Career Integration Grant (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG-333784) and C.A.M. acknowledges funding from the US National Science Foundation Grant number EAR 0911685. The authors thank two anonymous reviewers, the subject editor and R. Jaffe for helpful comments and suggestions. ; Peer reviewed

Alberta Innovates, Grant/Award Number: 2096, 2343, 2385; European Commission, Grant/Award Number: 655993; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia,Grant/Award Number: IF/01465/2015; Marie Skłodowska‐Curie, Grant/Award Number: 63830; European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme;Swansea University; Sêr Cymru Fellowship; Marie Skłodowska‐Curie Individual Fellowship, Grant/Award Number: 655993; LeverhulmeTrust Fellowship, Grant/AwardNumber: RF‐2016‐456\2; Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, and Melbourne Water; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Grant/Award Number: IF/00586/2015

The effects of fire and its use on European peatlands and heaths are the focus of considerable research and debate due to the important services these ecosystems provide and the threats they face from climatic and land-use change. Whilst in some countries ecologists are actively promoting the restoration of historic fire management regimes, in the UK the debate has become increasingly acrimonious. Positions seem entrenched between continuing the intensive form of management associated with grouse moors or ceasing burning and seeking to eliminate fire altogether. In a recent paper we argued that participants' positions appeared influenced by political and philosophical beliefs associated with, for example, private land-ownership, hunting, and associated conservation conflicts such as raptor persecution. We also suggested there was inadequate engagement with key concepts and evidence from fire and peatland ecology. We argued that management debates should aim to be inclusive and evidence-based, and to understand the benefits and costs of different fire regimes. In a strongly-worded critique of our paper, George Monbiot (author of "Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding") suggested we: i) framed our research question too narrowly; ii) made the implicit assumption that moorlands were the "right" ecosystem for the UK countryside; and iii) failed to adequately engage with arguments put forward for cessation of managed burning. Here we critically examine each of these issues to provide further insight into how adaptive, participatory land-management could develop. We argue that a productive debate must acknowledge that complex trade-offs are inevitable during ecological management. Choosing the "right" ecosystem is difficult, especially in a landscape with a long history of human influence, and the answer depends on the values and ecosystem services we prioritize. Natural resource management decisions will be improved if based on an understanding and valuation of the multiple scales and levels ...