@article{BryantDaviesSoletal.2022, author = {Bryant, Seth and Davies, Evan and Sol, David and Davis, Sandy}, title = {The progression of flood risk in southern Alberta since the 2013 flood}, series = {Journal of flood risk management}, volume = {15}, journal = {Journal of flood risk management}, number = {3}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {1753-318X}, doi = {10.1111/jfr3.12811}, pages = {18}, year = {2022}, abstract = {After a century of semi-restricted floodplain development, Southern Alberta, Canada, was struck by the devastating 2013 Flood. Aging infrastructure and limited property-level floodproofing likely contributed to the \$4-6 billion (CAD) losses. Following this catastrophe, Alberta has seen a revival in flood management, largely focused on structural protections. However, concurrent with the recent structural work was a 100,000+ increase in Calgary's population in the 5 years following the flood, leading to further densification of high-hazard areas. This study implements the novel Stochastic Object-based Flood damage Dynamic Assessment (SOFDA) model framework to quantify the progression of the direct-damage flood risk in a mature urban neighborhood after the 2013 Flood. Five years of remote-sensing data, property assessment records, and inundation simulations following the flood are used to construct the model. Results show that in these 5 years, vulnerability trends (like densification) have increased flood risk by 4\%; however, recent structural mitigation projects have reduced overall flood risk by 47\% for this case study. These results demonstrate that the flood management revival in Southern Alberta has largely been successful at reducing flood risk; however, the gains are under threat from continued development and densification absent additional floodproofing regulations.}, language = {en} } @article{MinutilloRuanoRosaAbdelfattahetal.2022, author = {Minutillo, Serena A. and Ruano-Rosa, David and Abdelfattah, Ahmed and Schena, Leonardo and Malacrino, Antonino}, title = {The fungal microbiome of wheat flour includes potential mycotoxin producers}, series = {Foods}, volume = {11}, journal = {Foods}, number = {5}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel}, issn = {2304-8158}, doi = {10.3390/foods11050676}, pages = {9}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Consumers are increasingly demanding higher quality and safety standards for the products they consume, and one of this is wheat flour, the basis of a wide variety of processed products. This major component in the diet of many communities can be contaminated by microorganisms before the grain harvest, or during the grain storage right before processing. These microorganisms include several fungal species, many of which produce mycotoxins, secondary metabolites that can cause severe acute and chronic disorders. Yet, we still know little about the overall composition of fungal communities associated with wheat flour. In this study, we contribute to fill this gap by characterizing the fungal microbiome of different types of wheat flour using culture-dependent and -independent techniques. Qualitatively, these approaches suggested similar results, highlighting the presence of several fungal taxa able to produce mycotoxins. In-vitro isolation of fungal species suggest a higher frequency of Penicillium, while metabarcoding suggest a higher abundance of Alternaria. This discrepancy might reside on the targeted portion of the community (alive vs. overall) or in the specific features of each technique. Thus, this study shows that commercial wheat flour hosts a wide fungal diversity with several taxa potentially representing concerns for consumers, aspects that need more attention throughout the food production chain.}, language = {en} } @article{WassermannAbdelfattahWicaksonoetal.2022, author = {Wassermann, Birgit and Abdelfattah, Ahmed and Wicaksono, Wisnu Adi and Kusstatscher, Peter and M{\"u}ller, Henry and Cernava, Tomislav and Goertz, Simon and Rietz, Steffen and Abbadi, Amine and Berg, Gabriele}, title = {The Brassica napus seed microbiota is cultivar-specific and transmitted via paternal breeding lines}, series = {Microbial biotechnology}, volume = {15}, journal = {Microbial biotechnology}, number = {9}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {1751-7915}, doi = {10.1111/1751-7915.14077}, pages = {2379 -- 2390}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Seed microbiota influence germination and plant health and have the potential to improve crop performance, but the factors that determine their structure and functions are still not fully understood. Here, we analysed the impact of plant-related and external factors on seed endophyte communities of 10 different oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) cultivars from 26 field sites across Europe. All seed lots harboured a high abundance and diversity of endophytes, which were dominated by six genera: Ralstonia, Serratia, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas, Pantoea, and Sphingomonas. The cultivar was the main factor explaining the variations in bacterial diversity, abundance and composition. In addition, the latter was significantly influenced by diverse biotic and abiotic factors, for example host germination rates and disease resistance against Plasmodiophora brassicae. A set of bacterial biomarkers was identified to discriminate between characteristics of the seeds, for example Sphingomonas for improved germination and Brevundimonas for disease resistance. Application of a Bayesian community approach suggested vertical transmission of seed endophytes, where the paternal parent plays a major role and might even determine the germination performance of the offspring. This study contributes to the understanding of seed microbiome assembly and underlines the potential of the microbiome to be implemented in crop breeding and biocontrol programmes.}, language = {en} } @article{StolpmannMollenhauerMorgensternetal.2022, author = {Stolpmann, Lydia and Mollenhauer, Gesine and Morgenstern, Anne and Hammes, Jens S. and Boike, Julia and Overduin, Pier Paul and Grosse, Guido}, title = {Origin and pathways of dissolved organic carbon in a small catchment in the Lena River Delta}, series = {Frontiers in Earth Science}, volume = {9}, journal = {Frontiers in Earth Science}, publisher = {Frontiers Media}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {2296-6463}, doi = {10.3389/feart.2021.759085}, pages = {15}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The Arctic is rich in aquatic systems and experiences rapid warming due to climate change. The accelerated warming causes permafrost thaw and the mobilization of organic carbon. When dissolved organic carbon is mobilized, this DOC can be transported to aquatic systems and degraded in the water bodies and further downstream. Here, we analyze the influence of different landscape components on DOC concentrations and export in a small (6.45 km(2)) stream catchment in the Lena River Delta. The catchment includes lakes and ponds, with the flow path from Pleistocene yedoma deposits across Holocene non-yedoma deposits to the river outlet. In addition to DOC concentrations, we use radiocarbon dating of DOC as well as stable oxygen and hydrogen isotopes (delta O-18 and delta D) to assess the origin of DOC. We find significantly higher DOC concentrations in the Pleistocene yedoma area of the catchment compared to the Holocene non-yedoma area with medians of 5 and 4.5 mg L-1 (p < 0.05), respectively. When yedoma thaw streams with high DOC concentration reach a large yedoma thermokarst lake, we observe an abrupt decrease in DOC concentration, which we attribute to dilution and lake processes such as mineralization. The DOC ages in the large thermokarst lake (between 3,428 and 3,637 C-14 y BP) can be attributed to a mixing of mobilized old yedoma and Holocene carbon. Further downstream after the large thermokarst lake, we find progressively younger DOC ages in the stream water to its mouth, paired with decreasing DOC concentrations. This process could result from dilution with leaching water from Holocene deposits and/or emission of ancient yedoma carbon to the atmosphere. Our study shows that thermokarst lakes and ponds may act as DOC filters, predominantly by diluting incoming waters of higher DOC concentrations or by re-mineralizing DOC to CO2 and CH4. Nevertheless, our results also confirm that the small catchment still contributes DOC on the order of 1.2 kg km(-2) per day from a permafrost landscape with ice-rich yedoma deposits to the Lena River.}, language = {en} } @article{Haenel2022, author = {H{\"a}nel, Hilkje C.}, title = {Einleitung: Epistemische Ungerechtigkeiten}, series = {Zeitschrift f{\"u}r praktische Philosophie}, volume = {9}, journal = {Zeitschrift f{\"u}r praktische Philosophie}, number = {1}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}t Salzburg, Zentrum f{\"u}r Ethik und Armutsforschung}, address = {Salzburg}, issn = {2409-9961}, doi = {10.22613/zfpp/9.1.5}, pages = {141 -- 154}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Die Debatte um epistemische Ungerechtigkeit verbindet normative Gerechtigkeitstheorien mit erkenntnistheoretischen Theorien und stellt somit die Art von wichtigen Fragen, die in den letzten Jahren sowohl innerhalb als auch außerhalb der Wissenschaft internationale Aufmerksamkeit erfahren haben. Verwiesen sei hier etwa auf soziale Bewegungen wie \#MeToo und \#BlackLivesMatter zeigen. Theorien der epistemischen Ungerechtigkeit (sowie verwandte Theorien wie Epistemologie des Unwissens, feministische Erkenntnistheorie und Standpunkttheorie) k{\"o}nnen sowohl epistemische Praktiken analysieren und einen Beitrag zu Gerechtigkeitstheorien und sozialer Epistemologie liefern, als auch zu ad{\"a}quateren Verst{\"a}ndnissen von existierenden Ungerechtigkeiten beitragen. In dem hier vorliegenden Schwerpunkt werden Beitr{\"a}ge zu eben solchen bislang wenig erforschten Ungerechtigkeiten sowie neue Diskussionsbeitr{\"a}ge zur Debatte um epistemische Ungerechtigkeiten geliefert.}, language = {de} } @article{GengAndreevKruseetal.2022, author = {Geng, Rongwei and Andreev, Andrei and Kruse, Stefan and Heim, Birgit and van Geffen, Femke and Pestryakova, Luidmila and Zakharov, Evgenii and Troeva, Elena I. and Shevtsova, Iuliia and Li, Furong and Zhao, Yan and Herzschuh, Ulrike}, title = {Modern pollen assemblages from lake sediments and soil in East Siberia and relative pollen productivity estimates for Major Taxa}, series = {Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution}, volume = {10}, journal = {Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution}, publisher = {Frontiers Media}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {2296-701X}, doi = {10.3389/fevo.2022.837857}, pages = {17}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Modern pollen-vegetation-climate relationships underpin palaeovegetation and palaeoclimate reconstructions from fossil pollen records. East Siberia is an ideal area for investigating the relationships between modern pollen assemblages and near natural vegetation under cold continental climate conditions. Reliable pollen-based quantitative vegetation and climate reconstructions are still scarce due to the limited number of modern pollen datasets. Furthermore, differences in pollen representation of samples from lake sediments and soils are not well understood. Here, we present a new pollen dataset of 48 moss/soil and 24 lake surface-sediment samples collected in Chukotka and central Yakutia in East Siberia. The pollen-vegetation-climate relationships were investigated by ordination analyses. Generally, tundra and taiga vegetation types can be well distinguished in the surface pollen assemblages. Moss/soil and lake samples contain generally similar pollen assemblages as revealed by a Procrustes comparison with some exceptions. Overall, modern pollen assemblages reflect the temperature and precipitation gradients in the study areas as revealed by constrained ordination analysis. We estimate the relative pollen productivity (RPP) of major taxa and the relevant source area of pollen (RSAP) for moss/soil samples from Chukotka and central Yakutia using Extended R-Value (ERV) analysis. The RSAP of the tundra-forest transition area in Chukotka and taiga area in central Yakutia are ca. 1300 and 360 m, respectively. For Chukotka, RPPs relative to both Poaceae and Ericaceae were estimated while RPPs for central Yakutia were relative only to Ericaceae. Relative to Ericaceae (reference taxon, RPP = 1), Larix, Betula, Picea, and Pinus are overrepresented while Alnus, Cyperaceae, Poaceae, and Salix are underrepresented in the pollen spectra. Our estimates are in general agreement with previously published values and provide the basis for reliable quantitative reconstructions of East Siberian vegetation.}, language = {en} } @article{KuschelSonnenburgEngel2022, author = {Kuschel, Luciano Bruno and Sonnenburg, Dominik and Engel, Tilman}, title = {Factors of muscle quality and determinants of muscle strength}, series = {Healthcare}, volume = {10}, journal = {Healthcare}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel}, issn = {2227-9032}, doi = {10.3390/healthcare10101937}, pages = {29}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Muscle quality defined as the ratio of muscle strength to muscle mass disregards underlying factors which influence muscle strength. The aim of this review was to investigate the relationship of phase angle (PhA), echo intensity (EI), muscular adipose tissue (MAT), muscle fiber type, fascicle pennation angle (θf), fascicle length (lf), muscle oxidative capacity, insulin sensitivity (IS), neuromuscular activation, and motor unit to muscle strength. PubMed search was performed in 2021. The inclusion criteria were: (i) original research, (ii) human participants, (iii) adults (≥18 years). Exclusion criteria were: (i) no full-text, (ii) non-English or -German language, (iii) pathologies. Forty-one studies were identified. Nine studies found a weak-moderate negative (range r: [-0.26]-[-0.656], p < 0.05) correlation between muscle strength and EI. Four studies found a weak-moderate positive correlation (range r: 0.177-0.696, p < 0.05) between muscle strength and PhA. Two studies found a moderate-strong negative correlation (range r: [-0.446]-[-0.87], p < 0.05) between muscle strength and MAT. Two studies found a weak-strong positive correlation (range r: 0.28-0.907, p < 0.05) between θf and muscle strength. Muscle oxidative capacity was found to be a predictor of muscle strength. This review highlights that the current definition of muscle quality should be expanded upon as to encompass all possible factors of muscle quality.}, language = {en} } @article{AlshareefOtterbachAlluetal.2022, author = {Alshareef, Nouf Owdah and Otterbach, Sophie L. and Allu, Annapurna Devi and Woo, Yong H. and de Werk, Tobias and Kamranfar, Iman and M{\"u}ller-R{\"o}ber, Bernd and Tester, Mark and Balazadeh, Salma and Schm{\"o}ckel, Sandra M.}, title = {NAC transcription factors ATAF1 and ANAC055 affect the heat stress response in Arabidopsis}, series = {Scientific reports}, volume = {12}, journal = {Scientific reports}, number = {1}, publisher = {Nature Research}, address = {Berlin}, issn = {2045-2322}, doi = {10.1038/s41598-022-14429-x}, pages = {15}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Pre-exposing (priming) plants to mild, non-lethal elevated temperature improves their tolerance to a later higher-temperature stress (triggering stimulus), which is of great ecological importance. 'Thermomemory' is maintaining this tolerance for an extended period of time. NAM/ATAF1/2/ CUC2 (NAC) proteins are plant-specific transcription factors (TFs) that modulate responses to abiotic stresses, including heat stress (HS). Here, we investigated the potential role of NACs for thermomemory. We determined the expression of 104 Ara bidopsis NAC genes after priming and triggering heat stimuli, and found ATAF1 expression is strongly induced right after priming and declines below control levels thereafter during thermorecovery. Knockout mutants of ATAF1 show better thermomemory than wild type, revealing a negative regulatory role. Differential expression analyses of RNA-seq data from ATAF1 overexpressor, ataf1 mutant and wild-type plants after heat priming revealed five genes that might be priming-associated direct targets of ATAF1: AT2G31260 (ATG9), AT2G41640 (GT61), AT3G44990 (XTH31), AT4G27720 and AT3G23540. Based on co-expression analyses applied to the aforementioned RNA-seq profiles, we identified ANAC055 to be transcriptionally co-regulated with ATAF1. Like atafl, anac055 mutants show improved thermomemory, revealing a potential co-control of both NACTFs over thermomemory. Our data reveals a core importance of two NAC transcription factors, ATAF1 and ANAC055, for thermomemory.}, language = {en} } @article{DietzeBellOeztuerketal.2022, author = {Dietze, Michael and Bell, Rainer and {\"O}zt{\"u}rk, Ugur and Cook, Kristen L. and Andermann, Christoff and Beer, Alexander R. and Damm, Bodo and Lucia, Ana and Fauer, Felix S. and Nissen, Katrin M. and Sieg, Tobias and Thieken, Annegret H.}, title = {More than heavy rain turning into fast-flowing water - a landscape perspective on the 2021 Eifel floods}, series = {Natural hazards and earth system sciences}, volume = {22}, journal = {Natural hazards and earth system sciences}, number = {6}, publisher = {Copernicus}, address = {G{\"o}ttingen}, issn = {1561-8633}, doi = {10.5194/nhess-22-1845-2022}, pages = {1845 -- 1856}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Rapidly evolving floods are rare but powerful drivers of landscape reorganisation that have severe and long-lasting impacts on both the functions of a landscape's subsystems and the affected society. The July 2021 flood that particularly hit several river catchments of the Eifel region in western Germany and Belgium was a drastic example. While media and scientists highlighted the meteorological and hydrological aspects of this flood, it was not just the rising water levels in the main valleys that posed a hazard, caused damage, and drove environmental reorganisation. Instead, the concurrent coupling of landscape elements and the wood, sediment, and debris carried by the fast-flowing water made this flood so devastating and difficult to predict. Because more intense floods are able to interact with more landscape components, they at times reveal rare non-linear feedbacks, which may be hidden during smaller events due to their high thresholds of initiation. Here, we briefly review the boundary conditions of the 14-15 July 2021 flood and discuss the emerging features that made this event different from previous floods. We identify hillslope processes, aspects of debris mobilisation, the legacy of sustained human land use, and emerging process connections and feedbacks as critical non-hydrological dimensions of the flood. With this landscape scale perspective, we develop requirements for improved future event anticipation, mitigation, and fundamental system understanding.}, language = {en} } @article{LandisSaikinZhelavskayaetal.2022, author = {Landis, Daji August and Saikin, Anthony and Zhelavskaya, Irina and Drozdov, Alexander and Aseev, Nikita and Shprits, Yuri Y. and Pfitzer, Maximilian F. and Smirnov, Artem G.}, title = {NARX Neural Network Derivations of the Outer Boundary Radiation Belt Electron Flux}, series = {Space Weather: the international journal of research and applications}, volume = {20}, journal = {Space Weather: the international journal of research and applications}, number = {5}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, address = {Washington}, issn = {1542-7390}, doi = {10.1029/2021SW002774}, pages = {18}, year = {2022}, abstract = {We present two new empirical models of radiation belt electron flux at geostationary orbit. GOES-15 measurements of 0.8 MeV electrons were used to train a Nonlinear Autoregressive with Exogenous input (NARX) neural network for both modeling GOES-15 flux values and an upper boundary condition scaling factor (BF). The GOES-15 flux model utilizes an input and feedback delay of 2 and 2 time steps (i.e., 5 min time steps) with the most efficient number of hidden layers set to 10. Magnetic local time, Dst, Kp, solar wind dynamic pressure, AE, and solar wind velocity were found to perform as predicative indicators of GOES-15 flux and therefore were used as the exogenous inputs. The NARX-derived upper boundary condition scaling factor was used in conjunction with the Versatile Electron Radiation Belt (VERB) code to produce reconstructions of the radiation belts during the period of July-November 1990, independent of in-situ observations. Here, Kp was chosen as the sole exogenous input to be more compatible with the VERB code. This Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite-era reconstruction showcases the potential to use these neural network-derived boundary conditions as a method of hindcasting the historical radiation belts. This study serves as a companion paper to another recently published study on reconstructing the radiation belts during Solar Cycles 17-24 (Saikin et al., 2021, ), for which the results featured in this paper were used.}, language = {en} } @article{BuschKuboschBendauetal.2022, author = {Busch, Aglaja and Kubosch, Eva Johanna and Bendau, Antonia and Leonhart, Rainer and Meidl, Verena and Bretthauer, Berit and Petzold, Moritz Bruno and Dallmann, Petra and Wrobel, Nina and Plag, Jens and Str{\"o}hle, Andreas and Hirschm{\"u}ller, Anja}, title = {Mental health in German paralympic athletes during the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to a general population sample}, series = {Frontiers in sports and active living}, volume = {4}, journal = {Frontiers in sports and active living}, publisher = {Frontiers Media}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {2624-9367}, doi = {10.3389/fspor.2022.870692}, pages = {9}, year = {2022}, abstract = {IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has huge influences on daily life and is not only associated with physical but also with major psychological impacts. Mental health problems and disorders are frequently present in elite paralympic athletes. Due to the pandemic situation, new stressors (e.g., loss of routine, financial insecurity) might act upon the athletes. Therefore, the assessment of mental health in athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic is important to identify prevalence of psychological problems and propose countermeasures. MethodsThe mental health of German paralympic athletes was longitudinally monitored (starting in May 2019). The athletes completed the Patient Health Questionnaire 4 (PHQ-4) on a weekly basis and reported a stress level, training hours, and training load. During the pandemic, 8 measurement time points (March 2020 to April 2021) were used to reflect the psychological health course of the athletes. In parallel, a convenience sample of the general population was questioned about their psychological distress, including the PHQ-4. To be included in the analysis, participants of both groups had to complete at least 4 measurement time points. Matching of the para-athletes and the general population sample was prioritized upon completion of the same measurement time points, gender, and age. ResultsSeventy-eight paralympic athletes (40 women, 38 men, age: 29.8 +/- 11.4 years) met the inclusion criteria. Seventy-eight matched pairs of the general population (40 women; 38 men; age: 30.5 +/- 10.9 years) were identified. The para-athletes had a significantly (p r <0.48) lower PHQ-4 value at each measurement time point compared to the matched control group. No significant age or sex differences were evident regarding the symptom burden. In para-athletes, no significant and a weak positive correlation was found between decreased training load and PHQ-4 values and a stress level, respectively. Reduced physical activity was significantly (p <0.0001) associated with higher PHQ-4 values in the general population sample. DiscussionLower PHQ-4 values were reported by the para-athletes compared to the general population sample. However, small sample sizes must be considered while interpreting the data. Nevertheless, adequate support for individuals suffering from severe psychopathological symptoms should be provided for para-athletes as well as for the general population.}, language = {en} } @article{SandmannMuenzbergBresseletal.2022, author = {Sandmann, Michael and M{\"u}nzberg, Marvin and Bressel, Lena and Reich, Oliver and Hass, Roland}, title = {Inline monitoring of high cell density cultivation of Scenedesmus rubescens in a mesh ultra-thin layer photobioreactor by photon density wave spectroscopy}, series = {BMC Research Notes / Biomed Central}, volume = {15}, journal = {BMC Research Notes / Biomed Central}, number = {1}, publisher = {Biomed Central (London)}, address = {London}, issn = {1756-0500}, doi = {10.1186/s13104-022-05943-2}, pages = {7}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Objective Due to multiple light scattering that occurs inside and between cells, quantitative optical spectroscopy in turbid biological suspensions is still a major challenge. This includes also optical inline determination of biomass in bioprocessing. Photon Density Wave (PDW) spectroscopy, a technique based on multiple light scattering, enables the independent and absolute determination of optical key parameters of concentrated cell suspensions, which allow to determine biomass during cultivation. Results A unique reactor type, called "mesh ultra-thin layer photobioreactor" was used to create a highly concentrated algal suspension. PDW spectroscopy measurements were carried out continuously in the reactor without any need of sampling or sample preparation, over 3 weeks, and with 10-min time resolution. Conventional dry matter content and coulter counter measurements have been employed as established offline reference analysis. The PBR allowed peak cell dry weight (CDW) of 33.4 g L-1. It is shown that the reduced scattering coefficient determined by PDW spectroscopy is strongly correlated with the biomass concentration in suspension and is thus suitable for process understanding. The reactor in combination with the fiber-optical measurement approach will lead to a better process management.}, language = {en} } @article{GutschmannSimoesSchieweetal.2022, author = {Gutschmann, Bj{\"o}rn and Sim{\~o}es, Matilde Maldonado and Schiewe, Thomas and Schr{\"o}ter, Edith S. and M{\"u}nzberg, Marvin and Neubauer, Peter and Bockisch, Anika and Riedel, Sebastian Lothar Stefan}, title = {Continuous feeding strategy for polyhydroxyalkanoate production from solid waste animal fat at laboratory- and pilot-scale}, series = {Microbial biotechnology / Society for Applied Microbiology}, journal = {Microbial biotechnology / Society for Applied Microbiology}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {1751-7915}, doi = {10.1111/1751-7915.14104}, pages = {12}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Bioconversion of waste animal fat (WAF) to polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) is an approach to lower the production costs of these plastic alternatives. However, the solid nature of WAF requires a tailor-made process development. In this study, a double-jacket feeding system was built to thermally liquefy the WAF to employ a continuous feeding strategy. During laboratory-scale cultivations with Ralstonia eutropha Re2058/pCB113, 70\% more PHA (45 g(PHA) L-1) and a 75\% higher space-time yield (0.63 g(PHA) L-1 h(-1)) were achieved compared to previously reported fermentations with solid WAF. During the development process, growth and PHA formation were monitored in real-time by in-line photon density wave spectroscopy. The process robustness was further evaluated during scale-down fermentations employing an oscillating aeration, which did not alter the PHA yield although cells encountered periods of oxygen limitation. Flow cytometry with propidium iodide staining showed that more than two-thirds of the cells were viable at the end of the cultivation and viability was even little higher in the scale-down cultivations. Application of this feeding system at 150-L pilot-scale cultivation yielded in 31.5 g(PHA) L-1, which is a promising result for the further scale-up to industrial scale.}, language = {en} } @article{PueblaAntunesFelser2022, author = {Puebla Antunes, Cecilia and Felser, Claudia}, title = {Discourse Prominence and Antecedent MisRetrieval during Native and Non-Native Pronoun Resolution}, series = {Discours : revue de linguistique, psycholinguistique et informatique}, journal = {Discours : revue de linguistique, psycholinguistique et informatique}, number = {29}, publisher = {Universit{\´e} de Paris-Sorbonne, Maion Recherche}, address = {Paris}, issn = {1963-1723}, doi = {10.4000/discours.11720}, pages = {33}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Previous studies on non-native (L2) anaphor resolution suggest that L2 comprehenders are guided more strongly by discourse-level cues compared to native (L1) comprehenders. Here we examine whether and how a grammatically inappropriate antecedent's discourse status affects the likelihood of it being considered during L1 and L2 pronoun resolution. We used an interference paradigm to examine how the extrasentential discourse impacts the resolution of German object pronouns. In an eye-tracking-during-reading experiment we examined whether an elaborated local antecedent ruled out by binding Condition B would be mis-retrieved during pronoun resolution, and whether initially introducing this antecedent as the discourse topic would affect the chances of it being mis-retrieved. While both participant groups rejected the inappropriate antecedent in an offline questionnaire irrespective of its discourse prominence, their real-time processing patterns differed. L1 speakers initially mis-retrieved the inappropriate antecedent regardless of its contextual prominence. L1 Russian/L2 German speakers, in contrast, were affected by the antecedent's discourse status, considering it only when it was discourse-new but not when it had previously been introduced as the discourse topic. Our findings show that L2 comprehenders are highly sensitive to discourse dynamics such as topic shifts, supporting the claim that discourse-level cues are more strongly weighted during L2 compared to L1 processing.}, language = {en} } @article{ZieglerPfitznerSchulzetal.2022, author = {Ziegler, Joceline and Pfitzner, Bjarne and Schulz, Heinrich and Saalbach, Axel and Arnrich, Bert}, title = {Defending against Reconstruction Attacks through Differentially Private Federated Learning for Classification of Heterogeneous Chest X-ray Data}, series = {Sensors}, volume = {22}, journal = {Sensors}, edition = {14}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel, Schweiz}, issn = {1424-8220}, doi = {10.3390/s22145195}, pages = {25}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Privacy regulations and the physical distribution of heterogeneous data are often primary concerns for the development of deep learning models in a medical context. This paper evaluates the feasibility of differentially private federated learning for chest X-ray classification as a defense against data privacy attacks. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to directly compare the impact of differentially private training on two different neural network architectures, DenseNet121 and ResNet50. Extending the federated learning environments previously analyzed in terms of privacy, we simulated a heterogeneous and imbalanced federated setting by distributing images from the public CheXpert and Mendeley chest X-ray datasets unevenly among 36 clients. Both non-private baseline models achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.940.94 on the binary classification task of detecting the presence of a medical finding. We demonstrate that both model architectures are vulnerable to privacy violation by applying image reconstruction attacks to local model updates from individual clients. The attack was particularly successful during later training stages. To mitigate the risk of a privacy breach, we integrated R{\´e}nyi differential privacy with a Gaussian noise mechanism into local model training. We evaluate model performance and attack vulnerability for privacy budgets ε∈{1,3,6,10}�∈{1,3,6,10}. The DenseNet121 achieved the best utility-privacy trade-off with an AUC of 0.940.94 for ε=6�=6. Model performance deteriorated slightly for individual clients compared to the non-private baseline. The ResNet50 only reached an AUC of 0.760.76 in the same privacy setting. Its performance was inferior to that of the DenseNet121 for all considered privacy constraints, suggesting that the DenseNet121 architecture is more robust to differentially private training.}, language = {en} } @article{MontiRautenstrauchGhanbarietal.2022, author = {Monti, Remo and Rautenstrauch, Pia and Ghanbari, Mahsa and Rani James, Alva and Kirchler, Matthias and Ohler, Uwe and Konigorski, Stefan and Lippert, Christoph}, title = {Identifying interpretable gene-biomarker associations with functionally informed kernel-based tests in 190,000 exomes}, series = {Nature Communications}, volume = {13}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Nature Publishing Group UK}, address = {London}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-022-32864-2}, pages = {16}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Here we present an exome-wide rare genetic variant association study for 30 blood biomarkers in 191,971 individuals in the UK Biobank. We compare gene- based association tests for separate functional variant categories to increase interpretability and identify 193 significant gene-biomarker associations. Genes associated with biomarkers were ~ 4.5-fold enriched for conferring Mendelian disorders. In addition to performing weighted gene-based variant collapsing tests, we design and apply variant-category-specific kernel-based tests that integrate quantitative functional variant effect predictions for mis- sense variants, splicing and the binding of RNA-binding proteins. For these tests, we present a computationally efficient combination of the likelihood- ratio and score tests that found 36\% more associations than the score test alone while also controlling the type-1 error. Kernel-based tests identified 13\% more associations than their gene-based collapsing counterparts and had advantages in the presence of gain of function missense variants. We introduce local collapsing by amino acid position for missense variants and use it to interpret associations and identify potential novel gain of function variants in PIEZO1. Our results show the benefits of investigating different functional mechanisms when performing rare-variant association tests, and demonstrate pervasive rare-variant contribution to biomarker variability.}, language = {en} } @article{LiApriyantoFloresCastellanosetal.2022, author = {Li, Xiaoping and Apriyanto, Ardha and Flores Castellanos, Junio and Compart, Julia and Muntaha, Sidratul Nur and Fettke, J{\"o}rg}, title = {Dpe2/phs1 revealed unique starch metabolism with three distinct phases characterized by different starch granule numbers per chloroplast, allowing insights into the control mechanism of granule number regulation by gene co-regulation and metabolic profiling}, series = {Frontiers in Plant Science}, journal = {Frontiers in Plant Science}, publisher = {Frontiers}, address = {Lausanne, Schweiz}, issn = {1664-462X}, doi = {10.3389/fpls.2022.1039534}, pages = {1 -- 16}, year = {2022}, abstract = {An Arabidopsis mutant lacking both the cytosolic Disproportionating enzyme 2 (DPE2) and the plastidial glucan Phosphorylase 1 (PHS1) revealed a unique starch metabolism. Dpe2/phs1 has been reported to have only one starch granule number per chloroplast when grown under diurnal rhythm. For this study, we analyzed dpe2/phs1 in details following the mutant development, and found that it showed three distinct periods of granule numbers per chloroplast, while there was no obvious change observed in Col-0. In young plants, the starch granule number was similar to that in Col-0 at first, and then decreased significantly, down to one or no granule per chloroplast, followed by an increase in the granule number. Thus, in dpe2/phs1, control over the starch granule number is impaired, but it is not defective in starch granule initiation. The data also indicate that the granule number is not fixed, and is regulated throughout plant growth. Furthermore, the chloroplasts revealed alterations during these three periods, with a partially strong aberrant morphology in the middle phase. Interestingly, the unique metabolism was perpetuated when starch degradation was further impaired through an additional lack of Isoamylase 3 (ISA3) or Starch excess 4 (SEX4). Transcriptomic studies and metabolic profiling revealed the co-regulation of starch metabolism-related genes and a clear metabolic separation between the periods. Most senescence-induced genes were found to be up-regulated more than twice in the starch-less mature leaves. Thus, dpe2/phs1 is a unique plant material source, with which we may study starch granule number regulation to obtain a more detailed understanding.}, language = {en} } @article{HenschkeKaplickWochatzetal.2022, author = {Henschke, Jakob and Kaplick, Hannes and Wochatz, Monique and Engel, Tilman}, title = {Assessing the validity of inertial measurement units for shoulder kinematics using a commercial sensor-software system}, series = {Health science reports}, volume = {5}, journal = {Health science reports}, number = {5}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {2398-8835}, doi = {10.1002/hsr2.772}, pages = {1 -- 11}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Background and Aims Wearable inertial sensors may offer additional kinematic parameters of the shoulder compared to traditional instruments such as goniometers when elaborate and time-consuming data processing procedures are undertaken. However, in clinical practice simple-real time motion analysis is required to improve clinical reasoning. Therefore, the aim was to assess the criterion validity between a portable "off-the-shelf" sensor-software system (IMU) and optical motion (Mocap) for measuring kinematic parameters during active shoulder movements. Methods 24 healthy participants (9 female, 15 male, age 29 +/- 4 years, height 177 +/- 11 cm, weight 73 +/- 14 kg) were included. Range of motion (ROM), total range of motion (TROM), peak and mean angular velocity of both systems were assessed during simple (abduction/adduction, horizontal flexion/horizontal extension, vertical flexion/extension, and external/internal rotation) and complex shoulder movements. Criterion validity was determined using intraclass-correlation coefficients (ICC), root mean square error (RMSE) and Bland and Altmann analysis (bias; upper and lower limits of agreement). Results ROM and TROM analysis revealed inconsistent validity during simple (ICC: 0.040-0.733, RMSE: 9.7 degrees-20.3 degrees, bias: 1.2 degrees-50.7 degrees) and insufficient agreement during complex shoulder movements (ICC: 0.104-0.453, RMSE: 10.1 degrees-23.3 degrees, bias: 1.0 degrees-55.9 degrees). Peak angular velocity (ICC: 0.202-0.865, RMSE: 14.6 degrees/s-26.7 degrees/s, bias: 10.2 degrees/s-29.9 degrees/s) and mean angular velocity (ICC: 0.019-0.786, RMSE:6.1 degrees/s-34.2 degrees/s, bias: 1.6 degrees/s-27.8 degrees/s) were inconsistent. Conclusions The "off-the-shelf" sensor-software system showed overall insufficient agreement with the gold standard. Further development of commercial IMU-software-solutions may increase measurement accuracy and permit their integration into everyday clinical practice.}, language = {en} } @article{SchaeferBittmann2022, author = {Schaefer, Laura and Bittmann, Frank}, title = {Case Study: Intra- and Interpersonal Coherence of Muscle and Brain Activity of Two Coupled Persons during Pushing and Holding Isometric Muscle Action}, series = {Brain Sciences}, volume = {12}, journal = {Brain Sciences}, edition = {6}, publisher = {MDPI Open Access Publishing}, address = {Basel, Schweiz}, issn = {2076-3425}, doi = {10.3390/brainsci12060703}, pages = {27}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Inter-brain synchronization is primarily investigated during social interactions but had not been examined during coupled muscle action between two persons until now. It was previously shown that mechanical muscle oscillations can develop coherent behavior between two isometrically interacting persons. This case study investigated if inter-brain synchronization appears thereby, and if differences of inter- and intrapersonal muscle and brain coherence exist regarding two different types of isometric muscle action. Electroencephalography (EEG) and mechanomyography/mechanotendography (MMG/MTG) of right elbow extensors were recorded during six fatiguing trials of two coupled isometrically interacting participants (70\% MVIC). One partner performed holding and one pushing isometric muscle action (HIMA/PIMA; tasks changed). The wavelet coherence of all signals (EEG, MMG/MTG, force, ACC) were analyzed intra- and interpersonally. The five longest coherence patches in 8-15 Hz and their weighted frequency were compared between real vs. random pairs and between HIMA vs. PIMA. Real vs. random pairs showed significantly higher coherence for intra-muscle, intra-brain, and inter-muscle-brain activity (p < 0.001 to 0.019). Inter-brain coherence was significantly higher for real vs. random pairs for EEG of right and central areas and for sub-regions of EEG left (p = 0.002 to 0.025). Interpersonal muscle-brain synchronization was significantly higher than intrapersonal one, whereby it was significantly higher for HIMA vs. PIMA. These preliminary findings indicate that inter-brain synchronization can arise during muscular interaction. It is hypothesized both partners merge into one oscillating neuromuscular system. The results reinforce the hypothesis that HIMA is characterized by more complex control strategies than PIMA. The pilot study suggests investigating the topic further to verify these results on a larger sample size. Findings could contribute to the basic understanding of motor control and is relevant for functional diagnostics such as the manual muscle test which is applied in several disciplines, e.g., neurology, physiotherapy.}, language = {en} } @article{DechBittmannSchaefer2022, author = {Dech, Silas and Bittmann, Frank and Schaefer, Laura}, title = {Muscle oxygenation and time to task failure of submaximal holding and pulling isometric muscle actions and influence of intermittent voluntary muscle twitches}, series = {BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation}, volume = {55}, journal = {BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, address = {London}, issn = {1758-2555}, doi = {10.1186/s13102-022-00447-9}, pages = {1 -- 10}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Background Isometric muscle actions can be performed either by initiating the action, e.g., pulling on an immovable resistance (PIMA), or by reacting to an external load, e.g., holding a weight (HIMA). In the present study, it was mainly examined if these modalities could be differentiated by oxygenation variables as well as by time to task failure (TTF). Furthermore, it was analyzed if variables are changed by intermittent voluntary muscle twitches during weight holding (Twitch). It was assumed that twitches during a weight holding task change the character of the isometric muscle action from reacting (≙ HIMA) to acting (≙ PIMA). Methods Twelve subjects (two drop outs) randomly performed two tasks (HIMA vs. PIMA or HIMA vs. Twitch, n = 5 each) with the elbow flexors at 60\% of maximal torque maintained until muscle failure with each arm. Local capillary venous oxygen saturation (SvO2) and relative hemoglobin amount (rHb) were measured by light spectrometry. Results Within subjects, no significant differences were found between tasks regarding the behavior of SvO2 and rHb, the slope and extent of deoxygenation (max. SvO2 decrease), SvO2 level at global rHb minimum, and time to SvO2 steady states. The TTF was significantly longer during Twitch and PIMA (incl. Twitch) compared to HIMA (p = 0.043 and 0.047, respectively). There was no substantial correlation between TTF and maximal deoxygenation independently of the task (r = - 0.13). Conclusions HIMA and PIMA seem to have a similar microvascular oxygen and blood supply. The supply might be sufficient, which is expressed by homeostatic steady states of SvO2 in all trials and increases in rHb in most of the trials. Intermittent voluntary muscle twitches might not serve as a further support but extend the TTF. A changed neuromuscular control is discussed as possible explanation.}, language = {en} }