Newest publications
Opportunities and challenges of blockchain technology for negotiation support systems
(2025) Witt, Josepha; Schoop, Mareike; Knaus, Konstantin
Blockchain Technology (BCT) is the backbone of the next generation of the internet and thus affects how electronic business (e-business) is conducted. While the usage of BCT for the initiation and transaction phases in e-business has been studied, the negotiation aspect has not been considered in a comprehensive manner. The current literature on the utilisation of BCT in electronic negotiations (e-negotiations) primarily focuses on autonomous agents and lacks research on the support of e-negotiations conducted by human negotiators using negotiation support systems (NSSs). This results in the issue that the consequences of a transition to Web3.0-based NSSs are unclear, while other areas of e-business already apply Web3.0 technologies. We address this lack of knowledge following a design-oriented approach in three steps exploring the opportunities and challenges of using BCT for e-negotiations via NSSs. Firstly, the well-established negotiation support system Negoisst is extended by BCT features resulting in the development of a Web3.0-based NSS called NegoisstBCT to demonstrate the technical feasibility of this approach. Secondly, the potential opportunities and challenges of a Blockchain-based NSS are analysed referring to its technical architecture. Thirdly, a generalised view of the application of Web3.0-based NSSs in different settings is taken, discussing future research on BCT in e-negotiations. The present research thus fosters the application of Blockchain-based NSSs in e-negotiations and of NSSs in BCT application areas.
Enhancing weed suppression in plants by artificial stress induction
(2025) Merkle, Michael; Petschenka, Georg; Belz, Regina; Gerhards, Roland
Various plant species from the Poaceae, Cannabaceae, and Brassicaceae families are used as cover crops to suppress weeds and volunteer crops through competition and allelopathy. This study examined the effects of artificially induced stress on the physiological processes, total phenolic content (TPC), and allelopathic potential of the plant species Avena strigosa, Cannabis sativa , and Sinapis alba at an early growth stage with the aim to increase their weed suppression abilities. Stress was induced at the 3–4 leaf stage in greenhouse-grown plants via harrowing, methyl jasmonate (MeJA) application, insect stress simulation, or a combination of insect stress and harrowing. Maximum quantum yield of photosystem II and shoot dry matter in the three plant species were only minimally or not affected a few days after treatment (DAT). Insect stress caused visible symptoms on treated leaves in all plants. The TPC in the shoot extracts of combined stress-treated C. sativa and insect-stressed S. alba was significantly higher by 1.7 and 1.9 times, respectively, five DAT compared to the shoot extracts from untreated control plants. Additionally, laboratory bioassays with aqueous shoot extracts from the untreated and treated plants were conducted to identify changes in allelopathic potential within the shoot tissues. The application of shoot extracts from MeJA-treated C. sativa and S. alba resulted in the lowest seed germination rates for the two weed species Alopecurus myosuroides and Stellaria media , as well as for the volunteer wheat Triticum aestivum , which were up to 65% lower 10 DAT compared to seeds treated with shoot extracts from non-stressed plants. However, the root-suppressing effect of the shoot extracts on weeds was not influenced by the stress treatments. This study reveals that artificial stress induction can be a suitable management strategy to enhance weed and volunteer cereal suppression in plants in an early growth stage but may vary between stress types and plant species, and requires further optimization and field testing.
Effect of cutting set variations on structural and functional properties of hamburgers
(2024) Berger, Lisa M.; Adam, Felix; Gibis, Monika; Witte, Franziska; Terjung, Nino; Weiss, Jochen
Meat grinders are composed of a combination of individual functional elements (e.g., screw conveyor, perforated plates, knives). This setup, and in particular the chosen cutting set, influences the characteristics of ground meat and hamburgers produced. In this study, we took a closer look at the effect of cutting set variations and process parameters on structural, functional, and physicochemical properties of beef hamburgers produced. It was found that the specific mechanical energy input during grinding increased when cutting levels, i.e., a set of one hole plate and one knife, were increased, causing more cell disintegration ( r = 0.387, p = 0.02). Surprisingly though, an influence on the functional and quality parameters of the hamburgers could not be found for most parameters tested. The findings indicate that variations in the cutting set affect the process parameters and the stress applied to the meat, but residence times in this zone are too small to cause noticeable effects on the analytical and qualitative properties of hamburgers. As such, there are options for energy and cost optimization of industrial grinding processes without sacrificing quality.
Guidelines for improved quantification and reporting of carbon stocks and additional carbon storage in agroforestry systems
(2025) Cardinael, Rémi; Cadisch, Georg; Dupraz, Christian; Lojka, Bohdan; Oelbermann, Maren
The number of scientific publications related to biomass carbon or soil organic carbon under various land management practices has globally and dramatically increased during the last two decades, the same applies to the peer reviewed Agroforestry Systems journal. However, the quality of papers on carbon sequestration in agroforestry systems is very heterogeneous, and many studies do not fulfil simple requirements that would ensure the scientific value of these studies, resulting in high rates of rejections before and after review. The aim of this paper, co-authored by the Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors of the Agroforestry Systems journal is to provide some basic guidelines to improve the quantification and reporting of carbon stocks and additional carbon storage in agroforestry systems, and to maximize manuscript acceptance. These guidelines are also of use for any other international peer-reviewed journal publishing studies on this topic. We also provide a checklist, for both authors and reviewers, of compulsory and recommended variables to be included before submission of an original study related to soil and/or biomass carbon stocks and sequestration in agroforestry systems.
A novel, robust peptidyl-lys metalloendopeptidase from Trametes coccinea recombinantly expressed in Komagataella phaffii
(2024) Ahmed, Uzair; Stadelmann, Tobias; Heid, Daniel; Würtz, Berit; Pfannstiel, Jens; Ochsenreither, Katrin; Eisele, Thomas
A novel peptidyl-lys metalloendopeptidase ( Tc -LysN) from Tramates coccinea was recombinantly expressed in Komagataella phaffii using the native pro-protein sequence. The peptidase was secreted into the culture broth as zymogen (~38 kDa) and mature enzyme (~19.8 kDa) simultaneously. The mature Tc -LysN was purified to homogeneity with a single step anion-exchange chromatography at pH 7.2. N-terminal sequencing using TMTpro Zero and mass spectrometry of the mature Tc- LysN indicated that the pro-peptide was cleaved between the amino acid positions 184 and 185 at the Kex2 cleavage site present in the native pro-protein sequence. The pH optimum of Tc -LysN was determined to be 5.0 while it maintained ≥60% activity between pH values 4.5—7.5 and ≥30% activity between pH values 8.5—10.0, indicating its broad applicability. The temperature maximum of Tc -LysN was determined to be 60 °C. After 18 h of incubation at 80 °C, Tc -LysN still retained ~20% activity. Organic solvents such as methanol and acetonitrile, at concentrations as high as 40% (v/v), were found to enhance Tc -LysN’s activity up to ~100% and ~50%, respectively. Tc -LysN’s thermostability, ability to withstand up to 8 M urea, tolerance to high concentrations of organic solvents, and an acidic pH optimum make it a viable candidate to be employed in proteomics workflows in which alkaline conditions might pose a challenge. The nano-LC-MS/MS analysis revealed bovine serum albumin (BSA)’s sequence coverage of 84% using Tc -LysN which was comparable to the sequence coverage of 90% by trypsin peptides.
Key points
• A novel LysN from Trametes coccinea (Tc-LysN) was expressed in Komagataella phaffii and purified to homogeneity • Tc-LysN is thermostable, applicable over a broad pH range, and tolerates high concentrations of denaturants • Tc-LysN was successfully applied for protein digestion and mass spectrometry fingerprinting