@article{OrlandPadubrin2022, author = {Orland, Andreas and Padubrin, Max}, title = {Is there a gender hiring gap in academic economics? Evidence from a network analysis}, series = {Royal Society Open Science}, volume = {9}, journal = {Royal Society Open Science}, edition = {2}, publisher = {Royal Society of London}, address = {London}, issn = {2054-5703}, doi = {10.1098/rsos.210717}, pages = {1 -- 9}, year = {2022}, abstract = {We collect a network dataset of tenured economics faculty in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. We rank the 100 institutions included with a minimum violation ranking. This ranking is positively and significantly correlated with the Times Higher Education ranking of economics institutions. According to the network ranking, individuals on average go down about 23 ranks from their doctoral institution to their employing institution. While the share of females in our dataset is only 15\%, we do not observe a significant gender hiring gap (a difference in rank changes between male and female faculty). We conduct a robustness check with the Handelsblatt and the Times Higher Education ranking. According to these rankings, individuals on average go down only about two ranks. We do not observe a significant gender hiring gap using these two rankings (although the dataset underlying this analysis is small and these estimates are likely to be noisy). Finally, we discuss the limitations of the network ranking in our context.}, language = {en} } @article{dePinhoTavaresLealdaSilvaRochaGomesetal.2021, author = {de Pinho Tavares Leal, Pedro Ernesto and da Silva, Alexandre Alves and Rocha-Gomes, Arthur and Riul, Tania Regina and Cunha, Rennan Augusto and Reichetzeder, Christoph and Villela, Daniel Campos}, title = {High-Salt Diet in the Pre- and Postweaning Periods Leads to Amygdala Oxidative Stress and Changes in Locomotion and Anxiety-Like Behaviors of Male Wistar Rats}, series = {Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience}, volume = {15}, journal = {Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne, Schweiz}, issn = {1662-5153}, doi = {10.3389/fnbeh.2021.779080}, pages = {1 -- 12}, year = {2021}, abstract = {High-salt (HS) diets have recently been linked to oxidative stress in the brain, a fact that may be a precursor to behavioral changes, such as those involving anxiety-like behavior. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study has evaluated the amygdala redox status after consuming a HS diet in the pre- or postweaning periods. This study aimed to evaluate the amygdala redox status and anxiety-like behaviors in adulthood, after inclusion of HS diet in two periods: preconception, gestation, and lactation (preweaning); and only after weaning (postweaning). Initially, 18 females and 9 male Wistar rats received a standard (n = 9 females and 4 males) or a HS diet (n = 9 females and 5 males) for 120 days. After mating, females continued to receive the aforementioned diets during gestation and lactation. Weaning occurred at 21-day-old Wistar rats and the male offspring were subdivided: control-control (C-C)—offspring of standard diet fed dams who received a standard diet after weaning (n = 9-11), control-HS (C-HS)—offspring of standard diet fed dams who received a HS diet after weaning (n = 9-11), HS-C—offspring of HS diet fed dams who received a standard diet after weaning (n = 9-11), and HS-HS—offspring of HS diet fed dams who received a HS diet after weaning (n = 9-11). At adulthood, the male offspring performed the elevated plus maze and open field tests. At 152-day-old Wistar rats, the offspring were euthanized and the amygdala was removed for redox state analysis. The HS-HS group showed higher locomotion and rearing frequency in the open field test. These results indicate that this group developed hyperactivity. The C-HS group had a higher ratio of entries and time spent in the open arms of the elevated plus maze test in addition to a higher head-dipping frequency. These results suggest less anxiety-like behaviors. In the analysis of the redox state, less activity of antioxidant enzymes and higher levels of the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in the amygdala were shown in the amygdala of animals that received a high-salt diet regardless of the period (pre- or postweaning). In conclusion, the high-salt diet promoted hyperactivity when administered in the pre- and postweaning periods. In animals that received only in the postweaning period, the addition of salt induced a reduction in anxiety-like behaviors. Also, regardless of the period, salt provided amygdala oxidative stress, which may be linked to the observed behaviors.}, language = {en} } @article{VogelPatonAich2021, author = {Vogel, Johannes and Paton, Eva Nora and Aich, Valentin}, title = {Seasonal ecosystem vulnerability to climatic anomalies in the Mediterranean}, series = {Biogeosciences}, volume = {18}, journal = {Biogeosciences}, edition = {22}, publisher = {Copernicus}, address = {G{\"o}ttingen}, issn = {1726-4189}, doi = {10.5194/bg-18-5903-2021}, pages = {5903 -- 5927}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Mediterranean ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to climate change and the associated increase in climate anomalies. This study investigates extreme ecosystem responses evoked by climatic drivers in the Mediterranean Basin for the time span 1999-2019 with a specific focus on seasonal variations as the seasonal timing of climatic anomalies is considered essential for impact and vulnerability assessment. A bivariate vulnerability analysis is performed for each month of the year to quantify which combinations of the drivers temperature (obtained from ERA5-Land) and soil moisture (obtained from ESA CCI and ERA5-Land) lead to extreme reductions in ecosystem productivity using the fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FAPAR; obtained from the Copernicus Global Land Service) as a proxy. The bivariate analysis clearly showed that, in many cases, it is not just one but a combination of both drivers that causes ecosystem vulnerability. The overall pattern shows that Mediterranean ecosystems are prone to three soil moisture regimes during the yearly cycle: they are vulnerable to hot and dry conditions from May to July, to cold and dry conditions from August to October, and to cold conditions from November to April, illustrating the shift from a soil-moisture-limited regime in summer to an energy-limited regime in winter. In late spring, a month with significant vulnerability to hot conditions only often precedes the next stage of vulnerability to both hot and dry conditions, suggesting that high temperatures lead to critically low soil moisture levels with a certain time lag. In the eastern Mediterranean, the period of vulnerability to hot and dry conditions within the year is much longer than in the western Mediterranean. Our results show that it is crucial to account for both spatial and temporal variability to adequately assess ecosystem vulnerability. The seasonal vulnerability approach presented in this study helps to provide detailed insights regarding the specific phenological stage of the year in which ecosystem vulnerability to a certain climatic condition occurs. How to cite. Vogel, J., Paton, E., and Aich, V.: Seasonal ecosystem vulnerability to climatic anomalies in the Mediterranean, Biogeosciences, 18, 5903-5927, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5903-2021, 2021.}, language = {en} } @article{WiepkeMiklashevsky2021, author = {Wiepke, Axel P. and Miklashevsky, Alex}, title = {Imaginary Worlds and Their Borders: An Opinion Article}, series = {Frontiers Media SA}, volume = {12}, journal = {Frontiers Media SA}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne, Schweiz}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2021.793764}, pages = {1 -- 2}, year = {2021}, language = {en} } @article{TeichmannLewandowskiAlemani2022, author = {Teichmann, Erik and Lewandowski, Heather J. and Alemani, Micol}, title = {Investigating students' views of experimental physics in German laboratory classes}, series = {Physical Review Physics Education Research}, volume = {18}, journal = {Physical Review Physics Education Research}, edition = {1}, publisher = {APS}, address = {College Park, Maryland, United States}, issn = {1554-9178}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.010135}, pages = {010135-1 -- 010135-17}, year = {2022}, abstract = {There is a large variety of goals instructors have for laboratory courses, with different courses focusing on different subsets of goals. An often implicit, but crucial, goal is to develop students' attitudes, views, and expectations about experimental physics to align with practicing experimental physicists. The assessment of laboratory courses upon this one dimension of learning has been intensively studied in U.S. institutions using the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey for Experimental Physics (E-CLASS). However, there is no such an instrument available to use in Germany, and the influence of laboratory courses on students views about the nature of experimental physics is still unexplored at German-speaking institutions. Motivated by the lack of an assessment tool to investigate this goal in laboratory courses at German-speaking institutions, we present a translated version of the E-CLASS adapted to the context at German-speaking institutions. We call the German version of the E-CLASS, the GE-CLASS. We describe the translation process and the creation of an automated web-based system for instructors to assess their laboratory courses. We also present first results using GE-CLASS obtained at the University of Potsdam. A first comparison between E-CLASS and GE-CLASS results shows clear differences between University of Potsdam and U.S. students' views and beliefs about experimental physics.}, language = {en} } @article{EhlertPoltzQuandteetal.2022, author = {Ehlert, Antje and Poltz, Nadine and Quandte, Sabine and Kohn-Henkel, Juliane and Kucian, Karin and Aster, Michael von and Esser, G{\"u}nter}, title = {Taking a closer look: The relationship between pre-school domain general cognition and school mathematics achievement when controlling for intelligence}, series = {Journal of Intelligence}, volume = {10}, journal = {Journal of Intelligence}, edition = {3}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel, Schweiz}, issn = {2079-3200}, doi = {10.3390/jintelligence10030070}, pages = {1 -- 23}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Intelligence, as well as working memory and attention, affect the acquisition of mathematical competencies. This paper aimed to examine the influence of working memory and attention when taking different mathematical skills into account as a function of children's intellectual ability. Overall, intelligence, working memory, attention and numerical skills were assessed twice in 1868 German pre-school children (t1, t2) and again at 2nd grade (t3). We defined three intellectual ability groups based on the results of intellectual assessment at t1 and t2. Group comparisons revealed significant differences between the three intellectual ability groups. Over time, children with low intellectual ability showed the lowest achievement in domain-general and numerical and mathematical skills compared to children of average intellectual ability. The highest achievement on the aforementioned variables was found for children of high intellectual ability. Additionally, path modelling revealed that, depending on the intellectual ability, different models of varying complexity could be generated. These models differed with regard to the relevance of the predictors (t2) and the future mathematical skills (t3). Causes and conclusions of these findings are discussed.}, language = {en} } @article{LadleifWeske2021, author = {Ladleif, Jan and Weske, Mathias}, title = {Which event happened first?}, series = {Frontiers in blockchain}, volume = {4}, journal = {Frontiers in blockchain}, publisher = {Frontiers in Blockchain}, address = {Lausanne, Schweiz}, issn = {2624-7852}, doi = {10.3389/fbloc.2021.758169}, pages = {1 -- 16}, year = {2021}, abstract = {First come, first served: Critical choices between alternative actions are often made based on events external to an organization, and reacting promptly to their occurrence can be a major advantage over the competition. In Business Process Management (BPM), such deferred choices can be expressed in process models, and they are an important aspect of process engines. Blockchain-based process execution approaches are no exception to this, but are severely limited by the inherent properties of the platform: The isolated environment prevents direct access to external entities and data, and the non-continual runtime based entirely on atomic transactions impedes the monitoring and detection of events. In this paper we provide an in-depth examination of the semantics of deferred choice, and transfer them to environments such as the blockchain. We introduce and compare several oracle architectures able to satisfy certain requirements, and show that they can be implemented using state-of-the-art blockchain technology.}, language = {en} } @article{Moeller2022, author = {M{\"o}ller, Klaus-Peter}, title = {In der Ruhmeshalle der deutschen Literatur}, series = {Fontanes Medien}, journal = {Fontanes Medien}, publisher = {de Gruyter}, address = {Berlin}, isbn = {978-3-11-073323-5}, doi = {10.1515/9783110733235-031}, pages = {533 -- 574}, year = {2022}, language = {de} } @article{SarabadaniMetzlerAlaNissila2022, author = {Sarabadani, Jalal and Metzler, Ralf and Ala-Nissila, Tapio}, title = {Driven polymer translocation into a channel: Isoflux tension propagation theory and Langevin dynamics simulations}, series = {Physical Review Research}, volume = {4}, journal = {Physical Review Research}, edition = {3}, publisher = {American Physical Society}, address = {College Park, Maryland, USA}, issn = {2643-1564}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.033003}, pages = {033003-1 -- 033003-14}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Isoflux tension propagation (IFTP) theory and Langevin dynamics (LD) simulations are employed to study the dynamics of channel-driven polymer translocation in which a polymer translocates into a narrow channel and the monomers in the channel experience a driving force fc. In the high driving force limit, regardless of the channel width, IFTP theory predicts τ ∝ f βc for the translocation time, where β = -1 is the force scaling exponent. Moreover, LD data show that for a very narrow channel fitting only a single file of monomers, the entropic force due to the subchain inside the channel does not play a significant role in the translocation dynamics and the force exponent β = -1 regardless of the force magnitude. As the channel width increases the number of possible spatial configurations of the subchain inside the channel becomes significant and the resulting entropic force causes the force exponent to drop below unity.}, language = {en} } @article{SposiniKrapfMarinarietal.2022, author = {Sposini, Vittoria and Krapf, Diego and Marinari, Enzo and Sunyer, Raimon and Ritort, Felix and Taheri, Fereydoon and Selhuber-Unkel, Christine and Benelli, Rebecca and Weiss, Matthias and Metzler, Ralf and Oshanin, Gleb}, title = {Towards a robust criterion of anomalous diffusion}, series = {Communications Physics}, volume = {5}, journal = {Communications Physics}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, address = {London}, issn = {2399-3650}, doi = {10.1038/s42005-022-01079-8}, pages = {10}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Anomalous-diffusion, the departure of the spreading dynamics of diffusing particles from the traditional law of Brownian-motion, is a signature feature of a large number of complex soft-matter and biological systems. Anomalous-diffusion emerges due to a variety of physical mechanisms, e.g., trapping interactions or the viscoelasticity of the environment. However, sometimes systems dynamics are erroneously claimed to be anomalous, despite the fact that the true motion is Brownian—or vice versa. This ambiguity in establishing whether the dynamics as normal or anomalous can have far-reaching consequences, e.g., in predictions for reaction- or relaxation-laws. Demonstrating that a system exhibits normal- or anomalous-diffusion is highly desirable for a vast host of applications. Here, we present a criterion for anomalous-diffusion based on the method of power-spectral analysis of single trajectories. The robustness of this criterion is studied for trajectories of fractional-Brownian-motion, a ubiquitous stochastic process for the description of anomalous-diffusion, in the presence of two types of measurement errors. In particular, we find that our criterion is very robust for subdiffusion. Various tests on surrogate data in absence or presence of additional positional noise demonstrate the efficacy of this method in practical contexts. Finally, we provide a proof-of-concept based on diverse experiments exhibiting both normal and anomalous-diffusion.}, language = {en} } @article{EvansHyde2022, author = {Evans, Myfanwy E. and Hyde, Stephen T.}, title = {Symmetric Tangling of Honeycomb Networks}, series = {Symmetry}, volume = {14}, journal = {Symmetry}, edition = {9}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel, Schweiz}, issn = {2073-8994}, doi = {10.3390/sym14091805}, pages = {1 -- 13}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Symmetric, elegantly entangled structures are a curious mathematical construction that has found their way into the heart of the chemistry lab and the toolbox of constructive geometry. Of particular interest are those structures—knots, links and weavings—which are composed locally of simple twisted strands and are globally symmetric. This paper considers the symmetric tangling of multiple 2-periodic honeycomb networks. We do this using a constructive methodology borrowing elements of graph theory, low-dimensional topology and geometry. The result is a wide-ranging enumeration of symmetric tangled honeycomb networks, providing a foundation for their exploration in both the chemistry lab and the geometers toolbox.}, language = {en} } @article{StuchteyBlockOseietal.2022, author = {Stuchtey, Fidelis Christin and Block, Andrea and Osei, Francis and Wippert, Pia-Maria}, title = {Lipid Biomarkers in Depression: Does Antidepressant Therapy Have an Impact?}, series = {Healthcare : open access journal}, volume = {10}, journal = {Healthcare : open access journal}, edition = {2}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel, Schweiz}, issn = {2227-9032}, doi = {10.3390/healthcare10020333}, pages = {1 -- 11}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Studies have revealed mixed results on how antidepressant drugs affect lipid profiles of patients with major depression disorder (MDD). Even less is known about how patients respond to a switch of antidepressant medication with respect to their metabolic profile. For this, effects of a switch in antidepressants medication on lipid markers were studied in MDD patients. 15 participants (females = 86.67\%; males = 13.33\%; age: 49.45 ± 7.45 years) with MDD and a prescribed switch in their antidepressant medication were recruited at a psychosomatic rehabilitation clinic. Participants were characterized (with questionnaires and blood samples) at admission to the rehabilitation clinic (baseline, T0) and followed up with a blood sample two weeks (T1) later. HDL, LDL, total cholesterol, and triglycerides were determined (T0), and their change analyzed (Wilcoxon test) at follow up (T1). Decrements in HDL (p = 0.041), LDL (p < 0.001), and total cholesterol (p < 0.001) were observed two weeks after a switch in antidepressant medication. Triglycerides showed no difference (p = 0.699). Overall, LDL, HDL, and total cholesterol are affected by a change in antidepressant drugs in patients with MDD. These observations are of clinical relevance for medical practitioners in the planning and management of treatment strategies for MDD patients.}, language = {en} } @article{KadenItzerott2003, author = {Kaden, Klaus and Itzerott, Sibylle}, title = {Die hydrologischen Verh{\"a}ltnisse der Unteren Havelniederung}, series = {Brandenburgische Umwelt-Berichte : BUB ; Schriftenreihe der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakult{\"a}t der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, volume = {13}, journal = {Brandenburgische Umwelt-Berichte : BUB ; Schriftenreihe der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakult{\"a}t der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, issn = {1434-2375}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-4023}, pages = {27 -- 52}, year = {2003}, language = {de} } @article{KadenItzerott2003, author = {Kaden, Klaus and Itzerott, Sibylle}, title = {Eine landschaftliche Charakteristik der Unteren Havelniederung bei G{\"u}lpe}, series = {Brandenburgische Umwelt-Berichte : BUB ; Schriftenreihe der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakult{\"a}t der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, volume = {13}, journal = {Brandenburgische Umwelt-Berichte : BUB ; Schriftenreihe der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakult{\"a}t der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, issn = {1434-2375}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-4010}, pages = {16 -- 26}, year = {2003}, language = {de} } @article{UllrichAbramowicz2023, author = {Ullrich, Rebecca and Abramowicz, Isidoro}, title = {Ein unbekannter Piyyut f{\"u}r Schabbat aus Reckendorf}, series = {Genisa-Bl{\"a}tter IV}, journal = {Genisa-Bl{\"a}tter IV}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}tsverlag Potsdam}, address = {Potsdam}, isbn = {978-3-86956-539-2}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-58489}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-584897}, pages = {73 -- 82}, year = {2023}, language = {de} } @article{RichterKunterMarxetal.2021, author = {Richter, Eric and Kunter, Mareike and Marx, Alexandra and Richter, Dirk}, title = {Who participates in content-focused teacher professional development?}, series = {Frontiers in education}, journal = {Frontiers in education}, number = {6}, publisher = {Frontiers Media}, address = {Lausanne, Schweiz}, issn = {2504-284X}, doi = {10.3389/feduc.2021.722169}, pages = {1 -- 10}, year = {2021}, abstract = {This study investigates the relationship between teacher quality and teachers' engagement in professional development (PD) activities using data on 229 German secondary school mathematics teachers. We assessed different aspects of teacher quality (e.g. professional knowledge, instructional quality) using a variety of measures, including standardised tests of teachers' content knowledge, to determine what characteristics are associated with high participation in PD. The results show that teachers with higher scores for teacher quality variables take part in more content-focused PD than teachers with lower scores for these variables. This suggests that teacher learning may be subject to a Matthew effect, whereby more proficient teachers benefit more from PD than less proficient teachers.}, language = {en} } @article{BrendelMatznerMenzel2021, author = {Brendel, Nina and Matzner, Nils and Menzel, Max-Peter}, title = {Geographisches Gezwitscher - Analyse von Twitter-Daten als Methode im GW-Unterricht}, series = {GW-Unterricht}, journal = {GW-Unterricht}, publisher = {Verlag der {\"O}sterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften}, address = {Wien}, issn = {2414-4169}, doi = {10.1553/gw-unterricht164s72}, pages = {72 -- 85}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Soziale Medien sind ein wesentlicher Bestandteil des Alltags von Sch{\"u}ler*innen und gleichzeitig zunehmend wichtig in Wirtschaft, Politik und Wissenschaft. Am Beispiel von Twitter zeigt dieser Beitrag, dass soziale Medien im Unterricht auch f{\"u}r die Beantwortung geographischer Fragestellungen verwendet werden k{\"o}nnen. Hierf{\"u}r eignen sich Twitter-Daten aufgrund ihrer Georeferenzierung und weiterer interessanter Inhalte besonders. Der Beitrag gibt einen {\"U}berblick {\"u}ber die Verwendung von Twitter f{\"u}r sozialwissenschaftliche und humangeographische Fragestellungen und reflektiert die Nutzung von Twitter im Unterricht. F{\"u}r die Unterrichtspraxis werden Beispiele zu den Themen Braunkohle, Flutereignisse und Raumwahrnehmungen sowie Anleitungen zur Auswertung, Anwendung und Reflexion von Twitter-Analysen vorgestellt.}, language = {de} } @article{ThonigDelRioKieferetal.2020, author = {Thonig, Richard and Del Rio, Pablo and Kiefer, Christoph and Lazaro Touza, Lara and Escribano, Gonzalo and Lechon, Yolanda and Spaeth, Leonhard and Wolf, Ingo and Lilliestam, Johan}, title = {Does ideology influence the ambition level of climate and renewable energy policy?}, series = {Energy sources, part B: economics, planning, and policy}, volume = {16}, journal = {Energy sources, part B: economics, planning, and policy}, number = {1}, publisher = {Taylor \& Francis Group}, address = {Philadelphia}, issn = {1556-7249}, doi = {10.1080/15567249.2020.1811806}, pages = {4 -- 22}, year = {2020}, abstract = {We investigate whether political ideology has an observable effect on decarbonization ambition, renewable power aims, and preferences for power system balancing technologies in four European countries. Based on the Energy Logics framework, we identify ideologically different transition strategies (state-centered, market-centered, grassroots-centered) contained in government policies and opposition party programs valid in 2019. We compare these policies and programs with citizen poll data. We find that ideology has a small effect: governments and political parties across the spectrum have similar, and relatively ambitious, decarbonization and renewables targets. This mirrors citizens' strong support for ambitious action regardless of their ideological self-description. However, whereas political positions on phasing out fossil fuel power are clear across the policy space, positions on phasing in new flexibility options to balance intermittent renewables are vague or non-existent. As parties and citizens agree on strong climate and renewable power aims, the policy ambition is likely to remain high, even if governments change.}, language = {en} } @article{SteinfathGaertnerLisecetal.2009, author = {Steinfath, Matthias and G{\"a}rtner, Tanja and Lisec, Jan and Meyer, Rhonda Christiane and Altmann, Thomas and Willmitzer, Lothar and Selbig, Joachim}, title = {Prediction of hybrid biomass in Arabidopsis thaliana by selected parental SNP and metabolic markers}, series = {Theoretical and applied genetics : TAG ; international journal of plant breeding research}, volume = {120}, journal = {Theoretical and applied genetics : TAG ; international journal of plant breeding research}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Berlin}, issn = {0040-5752}, doi = {10.1007/s00122-009-1191-2}, pages = {239 -- 247}, year = {2009}, abstract = {A recombinant inbred line (RIL) population, derived from two Arabidopsis thaliana accessions, and the corresponding testcrosses with these two original accessions were used for the development and validation of machine learning models to predict the biomass of hybrids. Genetic and metabolic information of the RILs served as predictors. Feature selection reduced the number of variables (genetic and metabolic markers) in the models by more than 80\% without impairing the predictive power. Thus, potential biomarkers have been revealed. Metabolites were shown to bear information on inherited macroscopic phenotypes. This proof of concept could be interesting for breeders. The example population exhibits substantial mid-parent biomass heterosis. The results of feature selection could therefore be used to shed light on the origin of heterosis. In this respect, mainly dominance effects were detected.}, language = {en} } @article{SmithZottaBoultonetal.2023, author = {Smith, Taylor and Zotta, Ruxandra-Maria and Boulton, Chris A. and Lenton, Timothy M. and Dorigo, Wouter and Boers, Niklas}, title = {Reliability of resilience estimation based on multi-instrument time series}, series = {Earth System Dynamics}, volume = {14}, journal = {Earth System Dynamics}, publisher = {Copernicus Publications}, address = {G{\"o}ttingen}, issn = {2190-4987}, doi = {10.5194/esd-14-173-2023}, pages = {173 -- 183}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Many widely used observational data sets are comprised of several overlapping instrument records. While data inter-calibration techniques often yield continuous and reliable data for trend analysis, less attention is generally paid to maintaining higher-order statistics such as variance and autocorrelation. A growing body of work uses these metrics to quantify the stability or resilience of a system under study and potentially to anticipate an approaching critical transition in the system. Exploring the degree to which changes in resilience indicators such as the variance or autocorrelation can be attributed to non-stationary characteristics of the measurement process - rather than actual changes in the dynamical properties of the system - is important in this context. In this work we use both synthetic and empirical data to explore how changes in the noise structure of a data set are propagated into the commonly used resilience metrics lag-one autocorrelation and variance. We focus on examples from remotely sensed vegetation indicators such as vegetation optical depth and the normalized difference vegetation index from different satellite sources. We find that time series resulting from mixing signals from sensors with varied uncertainties and covering overlapping time spans can lead to biases in inferred resilience changes. These biases are typically more pronounced when resilience metrics are aggregated (for example, by land-cover type or region), whereas estimates for individual time series remain reliable at reasonable sensor signal-to-noise ratios. Our work provides guidelines for the treatment and aggregation of multi-instrument data in studies of critical transitions and resilience.}, language = {en} } @article{PueschelKlauderHenkelOberlaender2022, author = {P{\"u}schel, Gerhard and Klauder, Julia and Henkel-Oberl{\"a}nder, Janin}, title = {Macrophages, low-grade inflammation, insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia}, series = {Journal of Clinical Medicine : open access journal}, volume = {11}, journal = {Journal of Clinical Medicine : open access journal}, number = {15}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel, Schweiz}, issn = {2077-0383}, doi = {10.3390/jcm11154358}, pages = {1 -- 30}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Metabolic derangement with poor glycemic control accompanying overweight and obesity is associated with chronic low-grade inflammation and hyperinsulinemia. Macrophages, which present a very heterogeneous population of cells, play a key role in the maintenance of normal tissue homeostasis, but functional alterations in the resident macrophage pool as well as newly recruited monocyte-derived macrophages are important drivers in the development of low-grade inflammation. While metabolic dysfunction, insulin resistance and tissue damage may trigger or advance pro-inflammatory responses in macrophages, the inflammation itself contributes to the development of insulin resistance and the resulting hyperinsulinemia. Macrophages express insulin receptors whose downstream signaling networks share a number of knots with the signaling pathways of pattern recognition and cytokine receptors, which shape macrophage polarity. The shared knots allow insulin to enhance or attenuate both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory macrophage responses. This supposedly physiological function may be impaired by hyperinsulinemia or insulin resistance in macrophages. This review discusses the mutual ambiguous relationship of low-grade inflammation, insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia and the insulin-dependent modulation of macrophage activity with a focus on adipose tissue and liver.}, language = {en} } @article{AgnePreickStraubeetal.2022, author = {Agne, Stefanie and Preick, Michaela and Straube, Nicolas and Hofreiter, Michael}, title = {Simultaneous Barcode Sequencing of Diverse Museum Collection Specimens Using a Mixed RNA Bait Set}, series = {Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution}, volume = {10}, journal = {Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution}, publisher = {Frontiers Media S.A.}, address = {Lausanne, Schweiz}, issn = {2296-701X}, doi = {10.3389/fevo.2022.909846}, pages = {5}, year = {2022}, abstract = {A growing number of publications presenting results from sequencing natural history collection specimens reflect the importance of DNA sequence information from such samples. Ancient DNA extraction and library preparation methods in combination with target gene capture are a way of unlocking archival DNA, including from formalin-fixed wet-collection material. Here we report on an experiment, in which we used an RNA bait set containing baits from a wide taxonomic range of species for DNA hybridisation capture of nuclear and mitochondrial targets for analysing natural history collection specimens. The bait set used consists of 2,492 mitochondrial and 530 nuclear RNA baits and comprises specific barcode loci of diverse animal groups including both invertebrates and vertebrates. The baits allowed to capture DNA sequence information of target barcode loci from 84\% of the 37 samples tested, with nuclear markers being captured more frequently and consensus sequences of these being more complete compared to mitochondrial markers. Samples from dry material had a higher rate of success than wet-collection specimens, although target sequence information could be captured from 50\% of formalin-fixed samples. Our study illustrates how efforts to obtain barcode sequence information from natural history collection specimens may be combined and are a way of implementing barcoding inventories of scientific collection material.}, language = {en} } @article{ZuehlkeMeilingRoderetal.2021, author = {Z{\"u}hlke, Martin and Meiling, Till Thomas and Roder, Phillip and Riebe, Daniel and Beitz, Toralf and Bald, Ilko and L{\"o}hmannsr{\"o}ben, Hans-Gerd and Janßen, Traute and Erhard, Marcel and Repp, Alexander}, title = {Photodynamic inactivation of E. coli bacteria via carbon nanodots}, series = {ACS omega / American Chemical Society}, volume = {6}, journal = {ACS omega / American Chemical Society}, number = {37}, publisher = {ACS Publications}, address = {Washington, DC}, issn = {2470-1343}, doi = {10.1021/acsomega.1c01700}, pages = {23742 -- 23749}, year = {2021}, abstract = {The increasing development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria has been a major problem for years, both in human and veterinary medicine. Prophylactic measures, such as the use of vaccines, are of great importance in reducing the use of antibiotics in livestock. These vaccines are mainly produced based on formaldehyde inactivation. However, the latter damages the recognition elements of the bacterial proteins and thus could reduce the immune response in the animal. An alternative inactivation method developed in this work is based on gentle photodynamic inactivation using carbon nanodots (CNDs) at excitation wavelengths λex > 290 nm. The photodynamic inactivation was characterized on the nonvirulent laboratory strain Escherichia coli K12 using synthesized CNDs. For a gentle inactivation, the CNDs must be absorbed into the cytoplasm of the E. coli cell. Thus, the inactivation through photoinduced formation of reactive oxygen species only takes place inside the bacterium, which means that the outer membrane is neither damaged nor altered. The loading of the CNDs into E. coli was examined using fluorescence microscopy. Complete loading of the bacterial cells could be achieved in less than 10 min. These studies revealed a reversible uptake process allowing the recovery and reuse of the CNDs after irradiation and before the administration of the vaccine. The success of photodynamic inactivation was verified by viability assays on agar. In a homemade flow photoreactor, the fastest successful irradiation of the bacteria could be carried out in 34 s. Therefore, the photodynamic inactivation based on CNDs is very effective. The membrane integrity of the bacteria after irradiation was verified by slide agglutination and atomic force microscopy. The method developed for the laboratory strain E. coli K12 could then be successfully applied to the important avian pathogens Bordetella avium and Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale to aid the development of novel vaccines.}, language = {en} } @article{JonesGonzalezFortesConnelletal.2015, author = {Jones, Eppie R. and Gonz{\´a}lez-Fortes, Gloria M. and Connell, Sarah and Siska, Veronika and Eriksson, Anders and Martiniano, Rui and McLaughlin, Russell L. and Llorente, Marcos Gallego and Cassidy, Lara M. and Gamba, Cristina and Meshveliani, Tengiz and Bar-Yosef, Ofer and Mueller, Werner and Belfer-Cohen, Anna and Matskevich, Zinovi and Jakeli, Nino and Higham, Thomas F. G. and Currat, Mathias and Lordkipanidze, David and Hofreiter, Michael and Manica, Andrea and Pinhasi, Ron and Bradley, Daniel G.}, title = {Upper Palaeolithic genomes reveal deep roots of modern Eurasians}, series = {Nature Communications}, volume = {6}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Nature Publishing Group}, address = {London}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/ncomms9912}, pages = {8}, year = {2015}, abstract = {We extend the scope of European palaeogenomics by sequencing the genomes of Late Upper Palaeolithic (13,300 years old, 1.4-fold coverage) and Mesolithic (9,700 years old, 15.4-fold) males from western Georgia in the Caucasus and a Late Upper Palaeolithic (13,700 years old, 9.5-fold) male from Switzerland. While we detect Late Palaeolithic-Mesolithic genomic continuity in both regions, we find that Caucasus hunter-gatherers (CHG) belong to a distinct ancient clade that split from western hunter-gatherers similar to 45 kya, shortly after the expansion of anatomically modern humans into Europe and from the ancestors of Neolithic farmers similar to 25 kya, around the Last Glacial Maximum. CHG genomes significantly contributed to the Yamnaya steppe herders who migrated into Europe similar to 3,000 BC, supporting a formative Caucasus influence on this important Early Bronze age culture. CHG left their imprint on modern populations from the Caucasus and also central and south Asia possibly marking the arrival of Indo-Aryan languages.}, language = {en} } @article{BarthWeingartenOgden2021, author = {Barth-Weingarten, Dagmar and Ogden, Richard}, title = {"Chunking" spoken language}, series = {Open linguistics}, volume = {7}, journal = {Open linguistics}, number = {1}, publisher = {De Gruyter}, address = {Berlin}, issn = {2300-9969}, doi = {10.1515/opli-2020-0173}, pages = {531 -- 548}, year = {2021}, abstract = {In this introductory paper to the special issue on "Weak cesuras in talk-in-interaction", we aim to guide the reader into current work on the "chunking" of naturally occurring talk. It is conducted in the methodological frameworks of Conversation Analysis and Interactional Linguistics - two approaches that consider the interactional aspect of humans talking with each other to be a crucial starting point for its analysis. In doing so, we will (1) lay out the background of this special issue (what is problematic about "chunking" talk-in-interaction, the characteristics of the methodological approach chosen by the contributors, the cesura model), (2) highlight what can be gained from such a revised understanding of "chunking" in talk-in-interaction by referring to previous work with this model as well as the findings of the contributions to this special issue, and (3) indicate further directions such work could take starting from papers in this special issue. We hope to induce a fruitful exchange on the phenomena discussed, across methodological divides.}, language = {en} } @article{PawlakNoetzelDragoetal.2022, author = {Pawlak, Julia and Noetzel, Dominique Christian and Drago, Claudia and Weithoff, Guntram}, title = {Assessing the toxicity of polystyrene beads and silica particles on the microconsumer Brachionus calyciflorus at different timescales}, series = {Frontiers in Environmental Science}, journal = {Frontiers in Environmental Science}, publisher = {Frontiers}, address = {Lausanne, Schweiz}, issn = {2296-665X}, doi = {10.3389/fenvs.2022.955425}, pages = {1 -- 11}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Environmental pollution by microplastics has become a severe problem in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and, according to actual prognoses, problems will further increase in the future. Therefore, assessing and quantifying the risk for the biota is crucial. Standardized short-term toxicological procedures as well as methods quantifying potential toxic effects over the whole life span of an animal are required. We studied the effect of the microplastic polystyrene on the survival and reproduction of a common freshwater invertebrate, the rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus, at different timescales. We used pristine polystyrene spheres of 1, 3, and 6 µm diameter and fed them to the animals together with food algae in different ratios ranging from 0 to 50\% nonfood particles. As a particle control, we used silica to distinguish between a pure particle effect and a plastic effect. After 24 h, no toxic effect was found, neither with polystyrene nor with silica. After 96 h, a toxic effect was detectable for both particle types. The size of the particles played a negligible role. Studying the long-term effect by using life table experiments, we found a reduced reproduction when the animals were fed with 3 µm spheres together with similar-sized food algae. We conclude that the fitness reduction is mainly driven by the dilution of food by the nonfood particles rather than by a direct toxic effect.}, language = {en} } @article{FischerBrettinRoessneretal.2022, author = {Fischer, Melanie and Brettin, Jana and Roessner, Sigrid and Walz, Ariane and Fort, Monique and Korup, Oliver}, title = {Rare flood scenarios for a rapidly growing high-mountain city: Pokhara, Nepal}, series = {Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences}, volume = {22}, journal = {Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences}, edition = {9}, publisher = {Copernicus Publications}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, issn = {1684-9981}, doi = {10.5194/nhess-22-3105-2022}, pages = {3105 -- 3123}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Pokhara (ca. 850 m a.s.l.), Nepal's second-largest city, lies at the foot of the Higher Himalayas and has more than tripled its population in the past 3 decades. Construction materials are in high demand in rapidly expanding built-up areas, and several informal settlements cater to unregulated sand and gravel mining in the Pokhara Valley's main river, the Seti Khola. This river is fed by the Sabche glacier below Annapurna III (7555 m a.s.l.), some 35 km upstream of the city, and traverses one of the steepest topographic gradients in the Himalayas. In May 2012 a sudden flood caused >70 fatalities and intense damage along this river and rekindled concerns about flood risk management. We estimate the flow dynamics and inundation depths of flood scenarios using the hydrodynamic model HEC-RAS (Hydrologic Engineering Center's River Analysis System). We simulate the potential impacts of peak discharges from 1000 to 10 000 m3 s-1 on land cover based on high-resolution Maxar satellite imagery and OpenStreetMap data (buildings and road network). We also trace the dynamics of two informal settlements near Kaseri and Yamdi with high potential flood impact from RapidEye, PlanetScope, and Google Earth imagery of the past 2 decades. Our hydrodynamic simulations highlight several sites of potential hydraulic ponding that would largely affect these informal settlements and sites of sand and gravel mining. These built-up areas grew between 3- and 20-fold, thus likely raising local flood exposure well beyond changes in flood hazard. Besides these drastic local changes, about 1 \% of Pokhara's built-up urban area and essential rural road network is in the highest-hazard zones highlighted by our flood simulations. Our results stress the need to adapt early-warning strategies for locally differing hydrological and geomorphic conditions in this rapidly growing urban watershed.}, language = {en} } @article{CajarEngbertLaubrock2022, author = {Cajar, Anke and Engbert, Ralf and Laubrock, Jochen}, title = {Potsdam Eye-Movement Corpus for Scene Memorization and Search With Color and Spatial-Frequency Filtering}, series = {Frontiers in psychology / Frontiers Research Foundation}, volume = {13}, journal = {Frontiers in psychology / Frontiers Research Foundation}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne, Schweiz}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2022.850482}, pages = {1 -- 7}, year = {2022}, language = {en} } @article{StoneVasishthMalsburg2022, author = {Stone, Kate and Vasishth, Shravan and Malsburg, Titus von der}, title = {Does entropy modulate the prediction of German long-distance verb particles?}, series = {PLOS ONE}, journal = {PLOS ONE}, publisher = {PLOS ONE}, address = {San Francisco, California, US}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0267813}, pages = {1 -- 25}, year = {2022}, abstract = {In this paper we examine the effect of uncertainty on readers' predictions about meaning. In particular, we were interested in how uncertainty might influence the likelihood of committing to a specific sentence meaning. We conducted two event-related potential (ERP) experiments using particle verbs such as turn down and manipulated uncertainty by constraining the context such that readers could be either highly certain about the identity of a distant verb particle, such as turn the bed […] down, or less certain due to competing particles, such as turn the music […] up/down. The study was conducted in German, where verb particles appear clause-finally and may be separated from the verb by a large amount of material. We hypothesised that this separation would encourage readers to predict the particle, and that high certainty would make prediction of a specific particle more likely than lower certainty. If a specific particle was predicted, this would reflect a strong commitment to sentence meaning that should incur a higher processing cost if the prediction is wrong. If a specific particle was less likely to be predicted, commitment should be weaker and the processing cost of a wrong prediction lower. If true, this could suggest that uncertainty discourages predictions via an unacceptable cost-benefit ratio. However, given the clear predictions made by the literature, it was surprisingly unclear whether the uncertainty manipulation affected the two ERP components studied, the N400 and the PNP. Bayes factor analyses showed that evidence for our a priori hypothesised effect sizes was inconclusive, although there was decisive evidence against a priori hypothesised effect sizes larger than 1μV for the N400 and larger than 3μV for the PNP. We attribute the inconclusive finding to the properties of verb-particle dependencies that differ from the verb-noun dependencies in which the N400 and PNP are often studied.}, language = {en} } @article{TofeldeBernhardtGueritetal.2020, author = {Tofelde, Stefanie and Bernhardt, Anne and Guerit, Laure and Romans, Brian W.}, title = {Times Associated With Source-to-Sink Propagation of Environmental Signals During Landscape Transience}, series = {Frontiers in Earth Science}, volume = {9}, journal = {Frontiers in Earth Science}, publisher = {Frontiers Media}, address = {Lausanne, Schweiz}, issn = {2296-6463}, doi = {10.3389/feart.2021.628315}, pages = {1 -- 26}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Sediment archives in the terrestrial and marine realm are regularly analyzed to infer changes in climate, tectonic, or anthropogenic boundary conditions of the past. However, contradictory observations have been made regarding whether short period events are faithfully preserved in stratigraphic archives; for instance, in marine sediments offshore large river systems. On the one hand, short period events are hypothesized to be non-detectable in the signature of terrestrially derived sediments due to buffering during sediment transport along large river systems. On the other hand, several studies have detected signals of short period events in marine records offshore large river systems. We propose that this apparent discrepancy is related to the lack of a differentiation between different types of signals and the lack of distinction between river response times and signal propagation times. In this review, we (1) expand the definition of the term 'signal' and group signals in sub-categories related to hydraulic grain size characteristics, (2) clarify the different types of 'times' and suggest a precise and consistent terminology for future use, and (3) compile and discuss factors influencing the times of signal transfer along sediment routing systems and how those times vary with hydraulic grain size characteristics. Unraveling different types of signals and distinctive time periods related to signal propagation addresses the discrepancies mentioned above and allows a more comprehensive exploration of event preservation in stratigraphy - a prerequisite for reliable environmental reconstructions from terrestrially derived sedimentary records.}, language = {en} } @article{FuehrerSchlaad2014, author = {Fuehrer, Felix N. and Schlaad, Helmut}, title = {ADMET polymerization of amino-acid-based diene}, series = {Macromolecular chemistry and physics}, volume = {215}, journal = {Macromolecular chemistry and physics}, number = {22}, publisher = {Wiley-VCH}, address = {Weinheim}, issn = {1022-1352}, doi = {10.1002/macp.201400166}, pages = {2268 -- 2273}, year = {2014}, abstract = {1,4-Di(homo)allyl-2,5-diketopiperazines are synthesized and polymerized via ADMET using the Hoveyda-Grubbs 2nd generation catalyst. The but-3-enylated diketopiperazine can be converted into unsaturated tertiary polyamide with molar mass of <3000 g mol(-1), whereas the allylated diketopiperazine cannot. Double-bond isomerization occurs regardless of whether or not benzoquinone is present. A polyesteramide with a higher molar mass of ca. 4800 g mol(-1) is obtained by the alternating copolymerization (ALTMET) of 1,4-di(but-3-enyl)-2,5-di ketopiperazine and ethylene glycol diacrylate. A post-polymerization modification of the poly(ester)amides via radical thiol-ene chemistry, however, fails.}, language = {en} } @article{KotthoffLisecSchwerdtleetal.2019, author = {Kotthoff, Lisa and Lisec, Jan and Schwerdtle, Tanja and Koch, Matthias}, title = {Prediction of transformation products of monensin by electrochemistry compared to microsomal assay and hydrolysis}, series = {Molecules}, volume = {24}, journal = {Molecules}, number = {15}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel}, issn = {1420-3049}, doi = {10.3390/molecules24152732}, pages = {12}, year = {2019}, abstract = {The knowledge of transformation pathways and identification of transformation products (TPs) of veterinary drugs is important for animal health, food, and environmental matters. The active agent Monensin (MON) belongs to the ionophore antibiotics and is widely used as a veterinary drug against coccidiosis in broiler farming. However, no electrochemically (EC) generated TPs of MON have been described so far. In this study, the online coupling of EC and mass spectrometry (MS) was used for the generation of oxidative TPs. EC-conditions were optimized with respect to working electrode material, solvent, modifier, and potential polarity. Subsequent LC/HRMS (liquid chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry) and MS/MS experiments were performed to identify the structures of derived TPs by a suspected target analysis. The obtained EC-results were compared to TPs observed in metabolism tests with microsomes and hydrolysis experiments of MON. Five previously undescribed TPs of MON were identified in our EC/MS based study and one TP, which was already known from literature and found by a microsomal assay, could be confirmed. Two and three further TPs were found as products in microsomal tests and following hydrolysis, respectively. We found decarboxylation, O-demethylation and acid-catalyzed ring-opening reactions to be the major mechanisms of MON transformation.}, language = {en} } @article{HaaseHanel2022, author = {Haase, Jennifer and Hanel, Paul H. P.}, title = {Priming creativity: Doing math reduces creativity and happiness whereas playing short online games enhance them}, series = {Frontiers in Education}, journal = {Frontiers in Education}, publisher = {Frontiers}, address = {Lausanne, Schweiz}, issn = {2504-284X}, doi = {10.3389/feduc.2022.976459}, pages = {14}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Creative thinking is an indispensable cognitive skill that is becoming increasingly important. In the present research, we tested the impact of games on creativity and emotions in a between-subject online experiment with four conditions (N = 658). (1) participants played a simple puzzle game that allowed many solutions (priming divergent thinking); (2) participants played a short game that required one fitting solution (priming convergent thinking); (3) participants performed mental arithmetic; (4) passive control condition. Results show that divergent and convergent creativity were higher after playing games and lower after mental arithmetic. Positive emotions did not function as a mediator, even though they were also heightened after playing the games and lower after mental arithmetic. However, contrary to previous research, we found no direct effect of emotions, creative self-efficacy, and growth- vs. fixed on creative performance. We discuss practical implications for digital learning and application settings.}, language = {en} } @article{SchloerHirschbergBenAmoretal.2022, author = {Schl{\"o}r, Anja and Hirschberg, Stefan and Ben Amor, Ghada and Meister, Toni Luise and Arora, Prerna and P{\"o}hlmann, Stefan and Hoffmann, Markus and Pf{\"a}nder, Stephanie and Eddin, Omar Kamal and Kamhieh-Milz, Julian and Hanack, Katja}, title = {SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing camelid heavy-chain-only antibodies as powerful tools for diagnostic and therapeutic applications}, series = {Frontiers in Immunology}, journal = {Frontiers in Immunology}, publisher = {Frontiers Media SA}, address = {Lausanne, Schweiz}, issn = {1664-3224}, doi = {10.3389/fimmu.2022.930975}, pages = {1 -- 14}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Introduction: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation caused by SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern such as B.1.617.2 (Delta) and recently, B.1.1.529 (Omicron) is posing multiple challenges to humanity. The rapid evolution of the virus requires adaptation of diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Objectives: In this study, we describe camelid heavy-chain-only antibodies (hcAb) as useful tools for novel in vitro diagnostic assays and for therapeutic applications due to their neutralizing capacity. Methods: Five antibody candidates were selected out of a na{\"i}ve camelid library by phage display and expressed as full length IgG2 antibodies. The antibodies were characterized by Western blot, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, surface plasmon resonance with regard to their specificity to the recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein and to SARS-CoV-2 virus-like particles. Neutralization assays were performed with authentic SARS-CoV-2 and pseudotyped viruses (wildtype and Omicron). Results: All antibodies efficiently detect recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein and SARS-CoV-2 virus-like particles in different ELISA setups. The best combination was shown with hcAb B10 as catcher antibody and HRP-conjugated hcAb A7.2 as the detection antibody. Further, four out of five antibodies potently neutralized authentic wildtype SARS-CoV-2 and particles pseudotyped with the SARS-CoV-2 Spike proteins of the wildtype and Omicron variant, sublineage BA.1 at concentrations between 0.1 and 0.35 ng/mL (ND50). Conclusion: Collectively, we report novel camelid hcAbs suitable for diagnostics and potential therapy.}, language = {en} } @article{CzarneckaWeicheltRoedigeretal.2022, author = {Czarnecka, Malgorzata and Weichelt, Ulrike and R{\"o}diger, Stefan and Hanack, Katja}, title = {Novel Anti Double-Stranded Nucleic Acids Full-Length Recombinant Camelid Heavy-Chain Antibody for the Detection of miRNA}, series = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences}, volume = {23}, journal = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences}, edition = {11}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel, Schweiz}, issn = {1422-0067}, doi = {10.3390/ijms23116275}, pages = {1 -- 18}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The discovery that certain diseases have specific miRNA signatures which correspond to disease progression opens a new biomarker category. The detection of these small non-coding RNAs is performed routinely using body fluids or tissues with real-time PCR, next-generation sequencing, or amplification-based miRNA assays. Antibody-based detection systems allow an easy onset handling compared to PCR or sequencing and can be considered as alternative methods to support miRNA diagnostic in the future. In this study, we describe the generation of a camelid heavy-chain-only antibody specifically recognizing miRNAs to establish an antibody-based detection method. The generation of nucleic acid-specific binders is a challenge. We selected camelid binders via phage display, expressed them as VHH as well as full-length antibodies, and characterized the binding to several miRNAs from a signature specific for dilated cardiomyopathy. The described workflow can be used to create miRNA-specific binders and establish antibody-based detection methods to provide an additional way to analyze disease-specific miRNA signatures.}, language = {en} } @article{KempaHummelSchwemmeretal.2009, author = {Kempa, Stefan and Hummel, Jan and Schwemmer, Thorsten and Pietzke, Matthias and Strehmel, Nadine and Wienkoop, Stefanie and Kopka, Joachim and Weckwerth, Wolfram}, title = {An automated GCxGC-TOF-MS protocol for batch-wise extraction and alignment of mass isotopomer matrixes from differential C-13-labelling experiments : a case study for photoautotrophic-mixotrophic grown Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cells}, issn = {0233-111X}, doi = {10.1002/jobm.200800337}, year = {2009}, abstract = {Two dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GCxGC-TOF-MS) is a promising technique to overcome limits of complex metabolome analysis using one dimensional GC-TOF-MS. Especially at the stage of data export and data mining, however, convenient procedures to cope with the complexity of GCxGC-TOF-MS data are still in development. Here, we present a high sample throughput protocol exploiting first and second retention index for spectral library search and subsequent construction of a high dimensional data matrix useful for statistical analysis. The method was applied to the analysis of 13 C-labelling experiments in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. We developed a rapid sampling and extraction procedure for Chlamydomonas reinhardtii laboratory strain (CC503), a cell wall deficient mutant. By testing all published quenching protocols we observed dramatic metabolite leakage rates for certain metabolites. To circumvent metabolite leakage, samples were directly quenched and analyzed without separation of the medium. The growth medium was adapted to this rapid sampling protocol to avoid interference with GCxGC-TOF-MS analysis. To analyse batches of samples a new software tool, MetMax, was implemented which extracts the isotopomer matrix from stable isotope labelling experiments together with the first and second retention index (RI1 and RI2). To exploit RI1 and RI2 for metabolite identification we used the Golm metabolome database (GMD [1] with RI1/ RI2-reference spectra and new search algorithms. Using those techniques we analysed the dynamics of (CO2)-C-13 and C-13- acetate uptake in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cells in two different steady states namely photoautotrophic and mixotrophic growth conditions.}, language = {en} } @article{PrasadBaier2014, author = {Prasad, Sushma and Baier, Janina}, title = {Tracking the impact of mid- to late Holocene climate change and anthropogenic activities on Lake Holzmaar using an updated Holocene chronology}, series = {Global and planetary change}, volume = {122}, journal = {Global and planetary change}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0921-8181}, doi = {10.1016/j.gloplacha.2014.08.020}, pages = {251 -- 264}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The mid- to late Holocene interval is characterised by a highly variable climate in response to a gradual change in orbital insolation. The seasonal impact of these changes on the Eifel Maar region is not yet well documented largely due to uncertainties about the completeness of this archive ("missing varves" in the well known Lake Holzmaar) and a limited understanding of the factors (e.g. temperature, precipitation) influencing the seasonality archived within the lamination/varves. In this study we approach these challenges from a different perspective. Using detailed microfacies investigations we: (1) demonstrate that the ambiguity about the "missing varves" is related to the climate induced complex biotic and abiotic laminations that led to mis-identification of varves; (2) use a combination of detailed microfacies investigations (varve structure, seasonality of biotic and abiotic signals), lamination quality, varve counts on multiple cores, published and new radiocarbon dates to develop a continuous master chronology based on the Bayesian modelling approach. The dates of major climate, volcanic, and archaeological event(s) determined using our model are in good agreement with the independently determined ages of the same events from other archives, confirming the accuracy of our age model; (3) test the sensitivity of the seasonal proxies to the available data on mid-Holocene changes in temperature and precipitation; (4) demonstrate that the changes in lake eutrophicity are correlative with temperature changes in NW Europe and probably triggered by solar variability; and (5) show that the early Iron Age onset of eutrophication in Lake Holzmaar was climate induced and began several decades before the impact of anthropogenic activity was seen in the form of intensified detrital erosion in the catchment area. Our work has implications for understanding the impact of climate change and anthropogenic activities on limnological systems. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.}, language = {en} } @article{KiemelGurkeParaskevopoulouetal.2022, author = {Kiemel, Katrin and Gurke, Marie and Paraskevopoulou, Sofia and Havenstein, Katja and Weithoff, Guntram and Tiedemann, Ralph}, title = {Variation in heat shock protein 40 kDa relates to divergence in thermotolerance among cryptic rotifer species}, series = {Scientific Reports}, volume = {12}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, address = {London}, issn = {2045-2322}, doi = {10.1038/s41598-022-27137-3}, pages = {14}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Genetic divergence and the frequency of hybridization are central for defining species delimitations, especially among cryptic species where morphological differences are merely absent. Rotifers are known for their high cryptic diversity and therefore are ideal model organisms to investigate such patterns. Here, we used the recently resolved Brachionus calyciflorus species complex to investigate whether previously observed between species differences in thermotolerance and gene expression are also reflected in their genomic footprint. We identified a Heat Shock Protein gene (HSP 40 kDa) which exhibits cross species pronounced sequence variation. This gene exhibits species-specific fixed sites, alleles, and sites putatively under positive selection. These sites are located in protein binding regions involved in chaperoning and may therefore reflect adaptive diversification. By comparing three genetic markers (ITS, COI, HSP 40 kDa), we revealed hybridization events between the cryptic species. The low frequency of introgressive haplotypes/alleles suggest a tight, but not fully impermeable boundary between the cryptic species.}, language = {en} } @article{RosenblumPikovskijKuehnetal.2021, author = {Rosenblum, Michael and Pikovskij, Arkadij and K{\"u}hn, Andrea A. and Busch, Johannes Leon}, title = {Real-time estimation of phase and amplitude with application to neural data}, series = {Scientific reports}, volume = {11}, journal = {Scientific reports}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, address = {London}, issn = {2045-2322}, doi = {10.1038/s41598-021-97560-5}, pages = {11}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Computation of the instantaneous phase and amplitude via the Hilbert Transform is a powerful tool of data analysis. This approach finds many applications in various science and engineering branches but is not proper for causal estimation because it requires knowledge of the signal's past and future. However, several problems require real-time estimation of phase and amplitude; an illustrative example is phase-locked or amplitude-dependent stimulation in neuroscience. In this paper, we discuss and compare three causal algorithms that do not rely on the Hilbert Transform but exploit well-known physical phenomena, the synchronization and the resonance. After testing the algorithms on a synthetic data set, we illustrate their performance computing phase and amplitude for the accelerometer tremor measurements and a Parkinsonian patient's beta-band brain activity.}, language = {en} } @article{SaguTchewonpiHuschekWaldbachBragaetal.2022, author = {Sagu Tchewonpi, Sorel and Huschek, Gerd and Waldbach Braga, Tess and Rackiewicz, Michal and Homann, Thomas and Rawel, Harshadrai Manilal}, title = {Design of Experiment (DoE) for Optimization of HPLC Conditions for the Simultaneous Fractionation of Seven α-Amylase/Trypsin Inhibitors from Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)}, series = {Processes : open access journal}, volume = {10}, journal = {Processes : open access journal}, edition = {2}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel, Schweiz}, issn = {2227-9717}, doi = {10.3390/pr10020259}, pages = {1 -- 18}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Wheat alpha-amylase/trypsin inhibitors remain a subject of interest considering the latest findings showing their implication in wheat-related non-celiac sensitivity (NCWS). Understanding their functions in such a disorder is still unclear and for further study, the need for pure ATI molecules is one of the limiting problems. In this work, a simplified approach based on the successive fractionation of ATI extracts by reverse phase and ion exchange chromatography was developed. ATIs were first extracted from wheat flour using a combination of Tris buffer and chloroform/methanol methods. The separation of the extracts on a C18 column generated two main fractions of interest F1 and F2. The response surface methodology with the Doehlert design allowed optimizing the operating parameters of the strong anion exchange chromatography. Finally, the seven major wheat ATIs namely P01083, P17314, P16850, P01085, P16851, P16159, and P83207 were recovered with purity levels (according to the targeted LC-MS/MS analysis) of 98.2 ± 0.7; 98.1 ± 0.8; 97.9 ± 0.5; 95.1 ± 0.8; 98.3 ± 0.4; 96.9 ± 0.5, and 96.2 ± 0.4\%, respectively. MALDI-TOF-MS analysis revealed single peaks in each of the pure fractions and the mass analysis yielded deviations of 0.4, 1.9, 0.1, 0.2, 0.2, 0.9, and 0.1\% between the theoretical and the determined masses of P01083, P17314, P16850, P01085, P16851, P16159, and P83207, respectively. Overall, the study allowed establishing an efficient purification process of the most important wheat ATIs. This paves the way for further in-depth investigation of the ATIs to gain more knowledge related to their involvement in NCWS disease and to allow the absolute quantification in wheat samples.}, language = {en} } @article{GrebenkovMetzlerOshanin2021, author = {Grebenkov, Denis S. and Metzler, Ralf and Oshanin, Gleb}, title = {Distribution of first-reaction times with target regions on boundaries of shell-like domains}, series = {New Journal of Physics (NJP)}, volume = {2021}, journal = {New Journal of Physics (NJP)}, edition = {23}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, address = {London}, issn = {1367-2630}, doi = {10.1088/1367-2630/ac4282}, pages = {1 -- 23}, year = {2021}, abstract = {We study the probability density function (PDF) of the first-reaction times between a diffusive ligand and a membrane-bound, immobile imperfect target region in a restricted 'onion-shell' geometry bounded by two nested membranes of arbitrary shapes. For such a setting, encountered in diverse molecular signal transduction pathways or in the narrow escape problem with additional steric constraints, we derive an exact spectral form of the PDF, as well as present its approximate form calculated by help of the so-called self-consistent approximation. For a particular case when the nested domains are concentric spheres, we get a fully explicit form of the approximated PDF, assess the accuracy of this approximation, and discuss various facets of the obtained distributions. Our results can be straightforwardly applied to describe the PDF of the terminal reaction event in multi-stage signal transduction processes.}, language = {en} } @article{PurintonBookhagen2021, author = {Purinton, Benjamin and Bookhagen, Bodo}, title = {Beyond Vertical Point Accuracy}, series = {Frontiers in Earth Science}, journal = {Frontiers in Earth Science}, publisher = {Frontiers Media}, address = {Lausanne, Schweiz}, issn = {2296-6463}, doi = {10.3389/feart.2021.758606}, pages = {1 -- 24}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Quantitative geomorphic research depends on accurate topographic data often collected via remote sensing. Lidar, and photogrammetric methods like structure-from-motion, provide the highest quality data for generating digital elevation models (DEMs). Unfortunately, these data are restricted to relatively small areas, and may be expensive or time-consuming to collect. Global and near-global DEMs with 1 arcsec (∼30 m) ground sampling from spaceborne radar and optical sensors offer an alternative gridded, continuous surface at the cost of resolution and accuracy. Accuracy is typically defined with respect to external datasets, often, but not always, in the form of point or profile measurements from sources like differential Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), spaceborne lidar (e.g., ICESat), and other geodetic measurements. Vertical point or profile accuracy metrics can miss the pixel-to-pixel variability (sometimes called DEM noise) that is unrelated to true topographic signal, but rather sensor-, orbital-, and/or processing-related artifacts. This is most concerning in selecting a DEM for geomorphic analysis, as this variability can affect derivatives of elevation (e.g., slope and curvature) and impact flow routing. We use (near) global DEMs at 1 arcsec resolution (SRTM, ASTER, ALOS, TanDEM-X, and the recently released Copernicus) and develop new internal accuracy metrics to assess inter-pixel variability without reference data. Our study area is in the arid, steep Central Andes, and is nearly vegetation-free, creating ideal conditions for remote sensing of the bare-earth surface. We use a novel hillshade-filtering approach to detrend long-wavelength topographic signals and accentuate short-wavelength variability. Fourier transformations of the spatial signal to the frequency domain allows us to quantify: 1) artifacts in the un-projected 1 arcsec DEMs at wavelengths greater than the Nyquist (twice the nominal resolution, so > 2 arcsec); and 2) the relative variance of adjacent pixels in DEMs resampled to 30-m resolution (UTM projected). We translate results into their impact on hillslope and channel slope calculations, and we highlight the quality of the five DEMs. We find that the Copernicus DEM, which is based on a carefully edited commercial version of the TanDEM-X, provides the highest quality landscape representation, and should become the preferred DEM for topographic analysis in areas without sufficient coverage of higher-quality local DEMs.}, language = {en} } @article{RamirezCampilloPerezCastillaThapaetal.2022, author = {Ramirez-Campillo, Rodrigo and P{\´e}rez-Castilla, Alejandro and Thapa, Rohit Kumar and Afonso, Jos{\´e} and Clemente, Filipe Manuel Batista and Colado, Juan C. and Eduardo, Sa{\´e}z de Villarreal and Chaabene, Helmi}, title = {Effects of Plyometric Jump Training on Measures of Physical Fitness and Sport-Specific Performance of Water Sports Athletes}, series = {Sports Medicine - Open}, volume = {8}, journal = {Sports Medicine - Open}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Berlin}, issn = {2198-9761}, doi = {10.1186/s40798-022-00502-2}, pages = {1 -- 27}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Background A growing body of literature is available regarding the effects of plyometric jump training (PJT) on measures of physical fitness (PF) and sport-specific performance (SSP) in-water sports athletes (WSA, i.e. those competing in sports that are practiced on [e.g. rowing] or in [e.g. swimming; water polo] water). Indeed, incoherent findings have been observed across individual studies making it difficult to provide the scientific community and coaches with consistent evidence. As such, a comprehensive systematic literature search should be conducted to clarify the existent evidence, identify the major gaps in the literature, and offer recommendations for future studies. Aim To examine the effects of PJT compared with active/specific-active controls on the PF (one-repetition maximum back squat strength, squat jump height, countermovement jump height, horizontal jump distance, body mass, fat mass, thigh girth) and SSP (in-water vertical jump, in-water agility, time trial) outcomes in WSA, through a systematic review with meta-analysis of randomized and non-randomized controlled studies. Methods The electronic databases PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched up to January 2022. According to the PICOS approach, the eligibility criteria were: (population) healthy WSA; (intervention) PJT interventions involving unilateral and/or bilateral jumps, and a minimal duration of ≥ 3 weeks; (comparator) active (i.e. standard sports training) or specific-active (i.e. alternative training intervention) control group(s); (outcome) at least one measure of PF (e.g. jump height) and/or SSP (e.g. time trial) before and after training; and (study design) multi-groups randomized and non-randomized controlled trials. The Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies. The DerSimonian and Laird random-effects model was used to compute the meta-analyses, reporting effect sizes (ES, i.e. Hedges' g) with 95\% confidence intervals (95\% CIs). Statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. Certainty or confidence in the body of evidence for each outcome was assessed using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE), considering its five dimensions: risk of bias in studies, indirectness, inconsistency, imprecision, and risk of publication bias. Results A total of 11,028 studies were identified with 26 considered eligible for inclusion. The median PEDro score across the included studies was 5.5 (moderate-to-high methodological quality). The included studies involved a total of 618 WSA of both sexes (330 participants in the intervention groups [31 groups] and 288 participants in the control groups [26 groups]), aged between 10 and 26 years, and from different sports disciplines such as swimming, triathlon, rowing, artistic swimming, and water polo. The duration of the training programmes in the intervention and control groups ranged from 4 to 36 weeks. The results of the meta-analysis indicated no effects of PJT compared to control conditions (including specific-active controls) for in-water vertical jump or agility (ES =  - 0.15 to 0.03; p = 0.477 to 0.899), or for body mass, fat mass, and thigh girth (ES = 0.06 to 0.15; p = 0.452 to 0.841). In terms of measures of PF, moderate-to-large effects were noted in favour of the PJT groups compared to the control groups (including specific-active control groups) for one-repetition maximum back squat strength, horizontal jump distance, squat jump height, and countermovement jump height (ES = 0.67 to 1.47; p = 0.041 to < 0.001), in addition to a small effect noted in favour of the PJT for SSP time-trial speed (ES = 0.42; p = 0.005). Certainty of evidence across the included studies varied from very low-to-moderate. Conclusions PJT is more effective to improve measures of PF and SSP in WSA compared to control conditions involving traditional sport-specific training as well as alternative training interventions (e.g. resistance training). It is worth noting that the present findings are derived from 26 studies of moderate-to-high methodological quality, low-to-moderate impact of heterogeneity, and very low-to-moderate certainty of evidence based on GRADE. Trial registration The protocol for this systematic review with meta-analysis was published in the Open Science platform (OSF) on January 23, 2022, under the registration doi https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/NWHS3 (internet archive link: https://archive.org/details/osf-registrations-nwhs3-v1).}, language = {en} } @article{PawassarTiberius2021, author = {Pawassar, Christian Matthias and Tiberius, Victor}, title = {Virtual reality in health care}, series = {JMIR Serious Games}, volume = {9}, journal = {JMIR Serious Games}, edition = {4}, publisher = {JMIR Publications}, address = {Toronto, Kanada}, issn = {2291-9279}, doi = {10.2196/32721}, pages = {1 -- 19}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Background: Research into the application of virtual reality technology in the health care sector has rapidly increased, resulting in a large body of research that is difficult to keep up with. Objective: We will provide an overview of the annual publication numbers in this field and the most productive and influential countries, journals, and authors, as well as the most used, most co-occurring, and most recent keywords. Methods: Based on a data set of 356 publications and 20,363 citations derived from Web of Science, we conducted a bibliometric analysis using BibExcel, HistCite, and VOSviewer. Results: The strongest growth in publications occurred in 2020, accounting for 29.49\% of all publications so far. The most productive countries are the United States, the United Kingdom, and Spain; the most influential countries are the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The most productive journals are the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR), JMIR Serious Games, and the Games for Health Journal; the most influential journals are Patient Education and Counselling, Medical Education, and Quality of Life Research. The most productive authors are Riva, del Piccolo, and Schwebel; the most influential authors are Finset, del Piccolo, and Eide. The most frequently occurring keywords other than "virtual" and "reality" are "training," "trial," and "patients." The most relevant research themes are communication, education, and novel treatments; the most recent research trends are fitness and exergames. Conclusions: The analysis shows that the field has left its infant state and its specialization is advancing, with a clear focus on patient usability.}, language = {en} } @article{NeumannTiberiusBiendarra2022, author = {Neumann, Daniel and Tiberius, Victor and Biendarra, Florin}, title = {Adopting wearables to customize health insurance contributions}, series = {BMC medical informatics and decision making}, volume = {22}, journal = {BMC medical informatics and decision making}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, address = {London}, issn = {1472-6947}, doi = {10.1186/s12911-022-01851-4}, pages = {1 -- 7}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Background Wearables, as small portable computer systems worn on the body, can track user fitness and health data, which can be used to customize health insurance contributions individually. In particular, insured individuals with a healthy lifestyle can receive a reduction of their contributions to be paid. However, this potential is hardly used in practice. Objective This study aims to identify which barrier factors impede the usage of wearables for assessing individual risk scores for health insurances, despite its technological feasibility, and to rank these barriers according to their relevance. Methods To reach these goals, we conduct a ranking-type Delphi study with the following three stages. First, we collected possible barrier factors from a panel of 16 experts and consolidated them to a list of 11 barrier categories. Second, the panel was asked to rank them regarding their relevance. Third, to enhance the panel consensus, the ranking was revealed to the experts, who were then asked to re-rank the barriers. Results The results suggest that regulation is the most important barrier. Other relevant barriers are false or inaccurate measurements and application errors caused by the users. Additionally, insurers could lack the required technological competence to use the wearable data appropriately. Conclusion A wider use of wearables and health apps could be achieved through regulatory modifications, especially regarding privacy issues. Even after assuring stricter regulations, users' privacy concerns could partly remain, if the data exchange between wearables manufacturers, health app providers, and health insurers does not become more transparent.}, language = {en} } @article{KwarikundaSchiefeleMuwongeetal.2022, author = {Kwarikunda, Diana and Schiefele, Ulrich and Muwonge, Charles Magoba and Ssenyonga, Joseph}, title = {Profiles of learners based on their cognitive and metacognitive learning strategy use: occurrence and relations with gender, intrinsic motivation, and perceived autonomy support}, series = {Humanities and Social Sciences Communications}, volume = {9}, journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, issn = {2055-1045}, doi = {10.1057/s41599-022-01322-1}, pages = {12}, year = {2022}, abstract = {For life-long learning, an effective learning strategy repertoire is particularly important during acquisition of knowledge in lower secondary school—an educational level characterized with transition into more autonomous learning environments with increased complex academic demands. Using latent profile analysis, we explored the occurrence of different secondary school learner profiles depending on their various combinations of cognitive and metacognitive learning strategy use, as well as their differences in perceived autonomy support, intrinsic motivation, and gender. Data were collected from 576 ninth grade students in Uganda using self-report questionnaires. Four learner profiles were identified: competent strategy user, struggling user, surface-level learner, and deep-level learner profiles. Gender differences were noted in students' use of elaboration and organization strategies to learn Physics, in favor of girls. In terms of profile memberships, significant differences in gender, intrinsic motivation and perceived autonomy support were also noted. Girls were 2.4-2.7 times more likely than boys to be members of the competent strategy user and surface-level learner profiles. Additionally, higher levels of intrinsic motivation predicted an increased likelihood membership into the deep-level learner profile, while higher levels of perceived teacher autonomy predicted an increased likelihood membership into the competent strategy user profile as compared to other profiles. Further, implications of the findings were discussed.}, language = {en} } @article{BrandNosratSpaethetal.2022, author = {Brand, Ralf and Nosrat, Sanaz and Sp{\"a}th, Constantin and Timme, Sinika}, title = {Using COVID-19 Pandemic as a Prism: A Systematic Review of Methodological Approaches and the Quality of Empirical Studies on Physical Activity Behavior Change}, series = {Frontiers in Sports and Active Living}, volume = {4}, journal = {Frontiers in Sports and Active Living}, publisher = {Frontiers}, address = {Lausanne, Schweiz}, issn = {2624-9367}, doi = {10.3389/fspor.2022.864468}, pages = {1 -- 17}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of scientific endeavors. The goal of this systematic review is to evaluate the quality of the research on physical activity (PA) behavior change and its potential to contribute to policy-making processes in the early days of COVID-19 related restrictions. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of methodological quality of current research according to PRISMA guidelines using Pubmed and Web of Science, of articles on PA behavior change that were published within 365 days after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). Items from the JBI checklist and the AXIS tool were used for additional risk of bias assessment. Evidence mapping is used for better visualization of the main results. Conclusions about the significance of published articles are based on hypotheses on PA behavior change in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Among the 1,903 identified articles, there were 36\% opinion pieces, 53\% empirical studies, and 9\% reviews. Of the 332 studies included in the systematic review, 213 used self-report measures to recollect prepandemic behavior in often small convenience samples. Most focused changes in PA volume, whereas changes in PA types were rarely measured. The majority had methodological reporting flaws. Few had very large samples with objective measures using repeated measure design (pre and during the pandemic). In addition to the expected decline in PA duration, these studies show that many of those who were active prepandemic, continued to be active during the pandemic. Conclusions: Research responded quickly at the onset of the pandemic. However, most of the studies lacked robust methodology, and PA behavior change data lacked the accuracy needed to guide policy makers. To improve the field, we propose the implementation of longitudinal cohort studies by larger organizations such as WHO to ease access to data on PA behavior, and suggest those institutions set clear standards for this research. Researchers need to ensure a better fit between the measurement method and the construct being measured, and use both objective and subjective measures where appropriate to complement each other and provide a comprehensive picture of PA behavior.}, language = {en} } @article{TimmeWolffEnglertetal.2022, author = {Timme, Sinika and Wolff, Wanja and Englert, Chris and Brand, Ralf}, title = {Tracking Self-Control - Task Performance and Pupil Size in a Go/No-Go Inhibition Task}, series = {Frontiers in Psychology}, volume = {13}, journal = {Frontiers in Psychology}, publisher = {Frontiers}, address = {Lausanne, Schweiz}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2022.915016}, pages = {11}, year = {2022}, abstract = {There is an ongoing debate about how to test and operationalize self-control. This limited understanding is in large part due to a variety of different tests and measures used to assess self-control, as well as the lack of empirical studies examining the temporal dynamics during the exertion of self-control. In order to track changes that occur over the course of exposure to a self-control task, we investigate and compare behavioral, subjective, and physiological indicators during the exertion of self-control. Participants completed both a task requiring inhibitory control (Go/No-Go task) and a control task (two-choice task). Behavioral performance and pupil size were measured during the tasks. Subjective vitality was measured before and after the tasks. While pupil size and subjective vitality showed similar trajectories in the two tasks, behavioral performance decreased in the inhibitory control-demanding task, but not in the control task. However, behavioral, subjective, and physiological measures were not significantly correlated. These results suggest that there is a disconnect between different measures of self-control with high intra- and interindividual variability. Theoretical and methodological implications for self-control theory and future empirical work are discussed.}, language = {en} } @article{WangCherstvyMetzleretal.2022, author = {Wang, Wei and Cherstvy, Andrey G. and Metzler, Ralf and Sokolov, Igor M.}, title = {Restoring ergodicity of stochastically reset anomalous-diffusion processes}, series = {Physical Review Research}, volume = {4}, journal = {Physical Review Research}, edition = {1}, publisher = {American Physical Society}, address = {College Park, Maryland, United States}, issn = {2643-1564}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.013161}, pages = {013161-1 -- 013161-13}, year = {2022}, abstract = {How do different reset protocols affect ergodicity of a diffusion process in single-particle-tracking experiments? We here address the problem of resetting of an arbitrary stochastic anomalous-diffusion process (ADP) from the general mathematical points of view and assess ergodicity of such reset ADPs for an arbitrary resetting protocol. The process of stochastic resetting describes the events of the instantaneous restart of a particle's motion via randomly distributed returns to a preset initial position (or a set of those). The waiting times of such resetting events obey the Poissonian, Gamma, or more generic distributions with specified conditions regarding the existence of moments. Within these general approaches, we derive general analytical results and support them by computer simulations for the behavior of the reset mean-squared displacement (MSD), the new reset increment-MSD (iMSD), and the mean reset time-averaged MSD (TAMSD). For parental nonreset ADPs with the MSD(t)∝ tμ we find a generic behavior and a switch of the short-time growth of the reset iMSD and mean reset TAMSDs from ∝ _μ for subdiffusive to ∝ _1 for superdiffusive reset ADPs. The critical condition for a reset ADP that recovers its ergodicity is found to be more general than that for the nonequilibrium stationary state, where obviously the iMSD and the mean TAMSD are equal. The consideration of the new statistical quantifier, the iMSD—as compared to the standard MSD—restores the ergodicity of an arbitrary reset ADP in all situations when the μth moment of the waiting-time distribution of resetting events is finite. Potential applications of these new resetting results are, inter alia, in the area of biophysical and soft-matter systems.}, language = {en} } @article{XuZhouMetzleretal.2022, author = {Xu, Pengbo and Zhou, Tian and Metzler, Ralf and Deng, Weihua}, title = {Stochastic harmonic trapping of a L{\´e}vy walk}, series = {New journal of physics : the open-access journal for physics / Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft ; IOP, Institute of Physics}, volume = {24}, journal = {New journal of physics : the open-access journal for physics / Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft ; IOP, Institute of Physics}, number = {3}, publisher = {Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft}, address = {Bad Honnef}, issn = {1367-2630}, doi = {10.1088/1367-2630/ac5282}, pages = {1 -- 28}, year = {2022}, abstract = {We introduce and study a L{\´e}vy walk (LW) model of particle spreading with a finite propagation speed combined with soft resets, stochastically occurring periods in which an harmonic external potential is switched on and forces the particle towards a specific position. Soft resets avoid instantaneous relocation of particles that in certain physical settings may be considered unphysical. Moreover, soft resets do not have a specific resetting point but lead the particle towards a resetting point by a restoring Hookean force. Depending on the exact choice for the LW waiting time density and the probability density of the periods when the harmonic potential is switched on, we demonstrate a rich emerging response behaviour including ballistic motion and superdiffusion. When the confinement periods of the soft-reset events are dominant, we observe a particle localisation with an associated non-equilibrium steady state. In this case the stationary particle probability density function turns out to acquire multimodal states. Our derivations are based on Markov chain ideas and LWs with multiple internal states, an approach that may be useful and flexible for the investigation of other generalised random walks with soft and hard resets. The spreading efficiency of soft-rest LWs is characterised by the first-passage time statistic.}, language = {en} }