RBO supplementation at ca. 50% total fat intake improved lipoprotein pattern in mildly hypercholesterolemic men. Methylated sterols in gamma-oryzanol are thought to be largely ineffective at inhibiting dietary cholesterol absorption, but could enhance cholesterol-lowering ability of 4-desmethylsterols. Assuming all ferulated sterols become de-ferulated in the gut, low and high gamma-oryzanolcontaining RBOs provided intestinal loads of 453 and 740 mg/d free 4-desmethylsterols, respectively. This intestinal load of 453-740 mg/d of efficacious free plant sterol equivalents had identical effects on lipoproteins.

The transfer of organic carbon from surface waters to the seafloor was calculated for the northern North Atlantic east of Greenland. This calculation is based on an empirically derived relationship between the rain rate of remineralizable organic carbon, derived by in situ O2 profiles, water depth, and primary production. The reliability of this attempt is supported by the good correspondence of calculated rain rates with an independent data set of particle trap studies and shipboard measurements of O2 profiles. For water depths of > 500 m the total seafloor remineralization rate is 2.7 × 106 tC yr−1 for the northern North Atlantic. Low and nearly similar average rain rates of 0.60 and 0.65 gC m−2 yr−1 have been derived for the deep basins of the Norwegian and Greenland Seas. Therefore, 1.7–1.8% of the primary production is transferred to the seafloor of the basins. A considerably higher average flux of 3.8 gC m−2 yr−1 was calculated for the Iceland Plateau, where ∼3.3% of primary produced organic carbon reaches the seafloor. The sediments of the Iceland Plateau receive 1.0 × 106 tC yr−1 or ∼37% of the organic carbon rain rate to the seafloor derived for the entire northern North Atlantic. The transfer of primary produced organic carbon below water depths of 500 and 1000 m suggests that 10.3 × 106 tC yr−1 and 4.5 × 106 tC yr−1are exported from surface waters. This is 2‐4.4% of the organic carbon produced in the photic zone of the northern North Atlantic east of Greenland.

The galactoside-specific membrane-bound component of the staphylococcal phosphoenolpyruvatedependent phosphotransferase system, enzyme IIlac, was purified to homogeneity. The purification procedure involved several extractions steps at the particulate state, followed by solubilisation with Triton X-100. Up to this stage the biological activity of enzyme 11 was preserved. Isolation of the homogeneous protein involved gel filtration of the dodecylsulfate-denatured material. An apparent molecular weight of the polypeptide chain was estimated by dodecylsulfate gel electrophoresis. The 55000-M, protein is visible in dodecylsulfate gels upon induction of the staphylococcal lac operon as a more intensively stained area. Antibodies against the denatured 55 000-M, protein inhibit the mutant complementation assay of enzyme I1 offered as membrane fragments. This demonstrates that the 55000-M, protein and enzyme IIfac are identical. Polarity and the solubility of the protein in detergents are typical for an integral membrane protein.In the gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus galactosides, like most carbohydrates, are accumulated by the phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent phosphotransferase system [l, 21. This multi-enzyme system catalyzes simultaneously membrane transport and the phosphorylation of the sugar [3,4]. The system consists of three soluble protein components : enzyme I (phosphoenolpyruvate -protein phosphotransferase), the histidine-containing phosphocarrier protein HPr and factor IIIfaC, and a membrane component: enzyme IIfaC. Both factor IIIfac and enzyme IIfac are inducible proteins specific for ,!?-galactosides. The sugar phosphorylation is accomplished by a series of phosphoryl transfers [5 -71. P-enolpyruvate + enzyme I _Melt P-enzyme + pyruvate (I)P-Enzyme I + HPr +P-HPr + enzyme I 3 P-HPr + factor III+P,-factor I11 + 3 HPr ( 3 )Enzymes. Enzyme I, phosphoenolpyruvate-protein phosphotransferase (EC 2.7.3.9); enzyme II'", 8-galactoside phosphorylase of the phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent phosphotransferase system (EC 2.7.1. -).

<p>The O2A (Observation to Archive) is a data-flow framework for heterogeneous sources, including multiple institutions and scales of Earth observation. In the O2A, once data transmission is set up, processes are executed to automatically ingest (i.e. collect and harmonize) and quality control data in near real-time. We consider a web-based sensor description application to support transmission and harmonization of observational time-series data. We also consider a product-oriented quality control, where a standardized and scalable approach should integrate the diversity of sensors connected to the framework. A review of literature and observation networks of marine and terrestrial environments is under construction to allow us, for example, to characterize quality tests in use for generic and specific applications. In addition, we use a standardized quality flag scheme to support both user and technical levels of information. In our outlook, a quality score should pair the quality flag to indicate the overall plausibility of each individual data value or to measure the flagging uncertainty. In this work, we present concepts under development and give insights into the data ingest and quality control currently operating within the O2A framework.</p>

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