Browsing by Author "Hoffmann, F."

The associated microbial community in the mesohyl of the Arctic deep-water sponge Tentorium semisuberites Schmidt, 1870 (Hadromerida, Demospongiae) is dominated by Archaea. This is the result of an integral approach applying analyses of microbial lipid biomarkers as well as microscopic investigations using differential fluorescence in situ hybridisation with universal probes and counterstaining with 4 ',6 '-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) on sponge sections based on samples collected in the Greenland Sea in 2001, 2002 and 2005. The distribution of isoprenoidal C-40 hydrocarbons of the biphytane series suggests that affiliates of both major archaeal kingdoms, the Crenarchaeota and the Euryarchaeota, are present in the choanosome of T. semisuberites. Positive signals using the oligonucleotide probe ARCH915 indicate high numbers of Archaea in the mesohyl of this sponge. Based on optical estimations 70-90% of all microbial DAPI signals accounted for archaeal cells. Archaea in these high proportions have never been described in an Arctic deep-sea hadromerid sponge, nor in any other demosponge species. Similar observations in specimens collected over a time scale of 4 years suggest permanent sponge-Archaea associations.

Introduction Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are associated with high services use, but European data on costs are scarce. Objectives Utilisation and annual costs of 385 individuals with ASD (aged 4-67 years; 18.2% females; 37.4% IQ < 85) from German outpatient clinics were assessed. Methods Client Service Receipt Inventory Results Average annual costs per person were 3287 EUR, with psychiatric inpatient care (19.8%), pharmacotherapy (11.1%), and occupational therapy (11.1%) being the largest cost components. Females incurred higher costs than males (4864 EUR vs. 2936 EUR). In a regression model, female sex (Cost Ratio: 1.65), lower IQ (1.90), and Asperger syndrome (1.54) were associated with higher costs. Conclusions In conclusion, ASD-related health costs are comparable to those of schizophrenia, thus underlining its public health relevance. Higher costs in females demand further research. Disclosure No significant relationships.

Oxygen microprofiles were measured over the boundary layer and into the tissue of 10-day-old cultivated tissue fragments (explants of 2-4 cm(3)) from the choanosome of the cold-water sponge Geodia barretti with oxygen-sensitive Clark-type microelectrodes. At this time of cultivation, the surface tissue and the aquiferous system of the explants is regenerating, which makes oxygen and nutrient supply by pumping activity impossible. Oxygen profiles showed a parabolic shape, indicating oxygen flux over a diffusive boundary layer and into the tissue. Oxygen was always depleted only 1 mm below the sponge surface, leaving the major part of the explants anoxic. Diffusive oxygen flux into the explant was calculated from three oxygen profiles using Fick's first law of diffusion and revealed 9 mu mol O-2 cm(-3) day(-1), which is in the lower range of in situ oxygen consumption of whole sponges. The ability of G. barretti to handle continuous tissue anoxia enables choanosomal explants to survive the critical first weeks of cultivation without a functional aquiferous system, when oxygen is supplied to the sponge explant by molecular diffusion over its surface.