TY - JOUR A1 - Ye, Fangyuan A1 - Zhang, Shuo A1 - Warby, Jonathan A1 - Wu, Jiawei A1 - Gutierrez-Partida, Emilio A1 - Lang, Felix A1 - Shah, Sahil A1 - Saglamkaya, Elifnaz A1 - Sun, Bowen A1 - Zu, Fengshuo A1 - Shoai, Safa A1 - Wang, Haifeng A1 - Stiller, Burkhard A1 - Neher, Dieter A1 - Zhu, Wei-Hong A1 - Stolterfoht, Martin A1 - Wu, Yongzhen T1 - Overcoming C₆₀-induced interfacial recombination in inverted perovskite solar cells by electron-transporting carborane JF - Nature Communications N2 - Inverted perovskite solar cells still suffer from significant non-radiative recombination losses at the perovskite surface and across the perovskite/C₆₀ interface, limiting the future development of perovskite-based single- and multi-junction photovoltaics. Therefore, more effective inter- or transport layers are urgently required. To tackle these recombination losses, we introduce ortho-carborane as an interlayer material that has a spherical molecular structure and a three-dimensional aromaticity. Based on a variety of experimental techniques, we show that ortho-carborane decorated with phenylamino groups effectively passivates the perovskite surface and essentially eliminates the non-radiative recombination loss across the perovskite/C₆₀ interface with high thermal stability. We further demonstrate the potential of carborane as an electron transport material, facilitating electron extraction while blocking holes from the interface. The resulting inverted perovskite solar cells deliver a power conversion efficiency of over 23% with a low non-radiative voltage loss of 110 mV, and retain >97% of the initial efficiency after 400 h of maximum power point tracking. Overall, the designed carborane based interlayer simultaneously enables passivation, electron-transport and hole-blocking and paves the way toward more efficient and stable perovskite solar cells. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-34203-x SN - 2041-1723 VL - 13 IS - 1 PB - Springer Nature CY - London ER - TY - THES A1 - Braun, Tobias T1 - Recurrences in past climates T1 - Rekurrenzen in vergangenen Klimaperioden BT - novel concepts & tools for the study of Palaeoseasonality and beyond BT - neue Konzepte und Methoden zur Analyse von Paläosaisonalität und darüber hinaus N2 - Our ability to predict the state of a system relies on its tendency to recur to states it has visited before. Recurrence also pervades common intuitions about the systems we are most familiar with: daily routines, social rituals and the return of the seasons are just a few relatable examples. To this end, recurrence plots (RP) provide a systematic framework to quantify the recurrence of states. Despite their conceptual simplicity, they are a versatile tool in the study of observational data. The global climate is a complex system for which an understanding based on observational data is not only of academical relevance, but vital for the predurance of human societies within the planetary boundaries. Contextualizing current global climate change, however, requires observational data far beyond the instrumental period. The palaeoclimate record offers a valuable archive of proxy data but demands methodological approaches that adequately address its complexities. In this regard, the following dissertation aims at devising novel and further developing existing methods in the framework of recurrence analysis (RA). The proposed research questions focus on using RA to capture scale-dependent properties in nonlinear time series and tailoring recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) to characterize seasonal variability in palaeoclimate records (‘Palaeoseasonality’). In the first part of this thesis, we focus on the methodological development of novel approaches in RA. The predictability of nonlinear (palaeo)climate time series is limited by abrupt transitions between regimes that exhibit entirely different dynamical complexity (e.g. crossing of ‘tipping points’). These possibly depend on characteristic time scales. RPs are well-established for detecting transitions and capture scale-dependencies, yet few approaches have combined both aspects. We apply existing concepts from the study of self-similar textures to RPs to detect abrupt transitions, considering the most relevant time scales. This combination of methods further results in the definition of a novel recurrence based nonlinear dependence measure. Quantifying lagged interactions between multiple variables is a common problem, especially in the characterization of high-dimensional complex systems. The proposed ‘recurrence flow’ measure of nonlinear dependence offers an elegant way to characterize such couplings. For spatially extended complex systems, the coupled dynamics of local variables result in the emergence of spatial patterns. These patterns tend to recur in time. Based on this observation, we propose a novel method that entails dynamically distinct regimes of atmospheric circulation based on their recurrent spatial patterns. Bridging the two parts of this dissertation, we next turn to methodological advances of RA for the study of Palaeoseasonality. Observational series of palaeoclimate ‘proxy’ records involve inherent limitations, such as irregular temporal sampling. We reveal biases in the RQA of time series with a non-stationary sampling rate and propose a correction scheme. In the second part of this thesis, we proceed with applications in Palaeoseasonality. A review of common and promising time series analysis methods shows that numerous valuable tools exist, but their sound application requires adaptions to archive-specific limitations and consolidating transdisciplinary knowledge. Next, we study stalagmite proxy records from the Central Pacific as sensitive recorders of mid-Holocene El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) dynamics. The records’ remarkably high temporal resolution allows to draw links between ENSO and seasonal dynamics, quantified by RA. The final study presented here examines how seasonal predictability could play a role for the stability of agricultural societies. The Classic Maya underwent a period of sociopolitical disintegration that has been linked to drought events. Based on seasonally resolved stable isotope records from Yok Balum cave in Belize, we propose a measure of seasonal predictability. It unveils the potential role declining seasonal predictability could have played in destabilizing agricultural and sociopolitical systems of Classic Maya populations. The methodological approaches and applications presented in this work reveal multiple exciting future research avenues, both for RA and the study of Palaeoseasonality. N2 - Unsere Fähigkeit, den Zustand eines Systems vorherzusagen, hängt grundlegend von der Tendenz des Systems ab, zu früheren Zuständen zurückzukehren. Solche "Rekurrenzen" sind sogar Bestandteil unserer Intuition und alltäglichen Erfahrungswelt: regelmäßige Routinen, soziale Zusammentreffen and die Wiederkehr der Jahreszeiten sind hierfür nur vereinzelte Beispiele. Rekurrenzplots (RPs) stellen uns in diesem Kontext eine systematische Methode zur Verfügung, um die Wiederkehreigenschaften von Systemzuständen quantitativ zu untersuchen. Obwohl RPs konzeptionell vergleichsweise simpel sind, stellen sie eine vielseitige Methode zur Analyse von gemessenen Beobachtungsdaten dar. Das globale Klimasystem ist ein komplexes System, bei dem ein datenbasiertes Verständnis nicht lediglich von rein akademischen Wert ist – es ist viel mehr relevant für das Fortbestehen der Gesellschaft innerhalb der natürlichen planetaren Grenzen. Um die heute beobachteten Klimaveränderungen allerdings in einen langfristigen Kontext einzuordnen, benötigen wir empirische Daten, die weit über die Periode hinaus gehen, für die instrumentelle Daten verfügbar sind. Paläoklimatologische Datenreihen repräsentieren hier ein wertvolles Archiv, dessen Auswertung jedoch Analysemethoden erfordert, die an die Komplexitäten von paläoklimatologischen ‘Proxydaten’ angepasst sind. Um einen wissenschaftlichen Beitrag zu dieser Problemstellung zu leisten, befasst sich diese Doktorarbeit mit der Konzeptionierung neuer Methoden und der problemstellungsbezogenen Anpassung bewährter Methoden in der Rekurrenzanalyse (RA). Die hier formulierten zentralen Forschungsfragen konzentrieren sich auf den Nachweis zeitskalen-abhängiger Eigenschaften in nichtlinearen Zeitreihen und, insbesondere, der Anpassung von quantitativen Maßen in der RA, um paläosaisonale Proxydaten zu charakterisieren (‘Paläosaisonalität’). Im ersten Teil dieser Arbeit liegt der Schwerpunkt auf der Entwicklung neuer methodischer Ansätze in der RA. Die Vorhersagbarkeit nichtlinearer (paläo)klimatologischer Zeitreihen ist durch abrupte Übergänge zwischen dynamisch grundlegend verschiedenen Zuständen erschwert (so zum Beispiel das Übertreten sogenannter ‘Kipppunkte’). Solche Zustandsübergänge zeigen oft charakteristische Zeitskalen-Abhängigkeiten. RPs haben sich als Methode zum Nachweis von Zustandsübergängen bewährt und sind darüber hinaus geeignet, Skalenabhängigkeiten zu identifizieren. Dennoch wurden beide Aspekte bislang selten methodisch zusammengeführt. Wir kombinieren hier bestehende Konzepte aus der Analyse selbstähnlicher Strukturen und RPs, um abrupte Zustandsübergänge unter Einbezug der relevantesten Zeitskalen zu identifizieren. Diese Kombination von Konzepten führt uns ferner dazu, ein neues rekurrenzbasiertes, nichtlineares Abhängigkeitsmaß einzuführen. Die quantitative Untersuchung zeitversetzter Abhängigkeiten zwischen zahlreichen Variablen ist ein zentrales Problem, das insbesondere in der Analyse hochdimensionaler komplexer Systeme auftritt. Das hier definierte ‘Rekurrenzfluß’-Abhängigkeitsmaß ermöglicht es auf elegante Weise, derartige Abhängigkeiten zu charakterisieren. Bei räumlich ausgedehnten komplexen Systemen führen Interaktionen zwischen lokalen Variablen zu der Entstehung räumlicher Muster. Diese räumlichen Muster zeigen zeitliche Rekurrenzen. In einer auf dieser Beobachtung aufbauenden Publikation stellen wir eine neue Methode vor, mit deren Hilfe differenzierbare, makroskopische Zustände untersucht werden können, die zu zentralen, zeitlich wiederkehrenden räumlichen Mustern korrespondieren. Folgend leiten wir über zum zweiten Teil dieser Arbeit, indem wir uns Anpassungen von Methoden zur Untersuchung von Paläosaisonalität zuwenden. Messreihen paläoklimatologischer Proxydaten geben uns nur indirekt Informationen über die ihnen zugrunde liegenden Klimavariablen und weisen inhärente Limitationen auf, wie zum Beispiel unregelmäßige Zeitabstände zwischen Datenpunkten. Wir zeigen statistische Verzerrungseffekte auf, die in der quantitativen RA auftreten, wenn Signale mit nichtstationärer Abtastrate untersucht werden. Eine Methode zur Korrektur wird vorgestellt und anhand von Messdaten validiert. Der zweite Teil dieser Dissertation befasst sich mit angewandten Analysen von paläosaisonalen Zeitreihen. Eine Literaturauswertung verbreiteter und potentiell vielversprechender Zeitreihenanalysemethoden zeigt auf, dass es eine Vielzahl solcher Methoden gibt, deren adäquate Anwendung aber Anpassungen an Klimaarchiv-spezifische Grenzen und Probleme sowie eine Zusammenführung interdisziplinärer Fähigkeiten erfordert. Daraufhin untersuchen wir an einem Stalagmiten gemessene Proxydaten aus der zentralen Pazifikregion als ein natürliches Archiv für potentielle Veränderungen der El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) währen des mittleren Holozäns. Die bemerkenswert hohe zeitliche Auflösung der Proxy-Zeitreihen erlaubt es uns, Verbindungen zwischen der Ausprägung der ENSO und saisonalen Zyklen herzustellen, wobei wir erneut Gebrauch von der RA machen. Die letzte Publikation in dieser Arbeit untersucht, in wie fern die Vorhersagbarkeit saisonaler Veränderungen eine Rolle für die Stabilität von Gesellschaften spielen könnte, deren Nahrungsversorgung auf Landwirtschaft beruht. Die klassische Maya-Zivilisation erlitt zwischen 750-950 CE eine drastische Fragmentierung urbaner Zentren, die mit regionalen Dürren in Verbindung gebracht werden. Auf Grundlage von saisonal-aufgelösten Proxydaten aus der Yok Balum Höhle in Belize, definieren wir ein quantitatives Maß für saisonale Vorhersagbarkeit. Dies erlaubt Schlussfolgerungen über die potentielle Rolle, die ein Verlust saisonaler Vorhersagbarkeit für die sich destablisierenden agrarwirtschaftlichen und soziopolitischen Systeme der Maya gehabt haben könnte. Die methodischen Ansätze und Anwendungen in dieser Arbeit zeigen vielseitige, spannende Forschungsfragen für zukünftige Untersuchungen in der RA und Paläosaisonalität auf. KW - recurrence analysis KW - palaeoclimate KW - seasonality KW - nonlinear time series analysis KW - self-similarity KW - regime shifts KW - climate impact research KW - Klimafolgenforschung KW - nichtlineare Zeitreihenanalyse KW - Paläoklima KW - Rekurrenzanalyse KW - abrupte Übergänge KW - Selbstähnlichkeit Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-586900 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Quarmby, Andrew James A1 - Mönnig, Jamal A1 - Mugele, Hendrik A1 - Henschke, Jakob A1 - Kim, MyoungHwee A1 - Cassel, Michael A1 - Engel, Tilman T1 - Biomechanics and lower limb function are altered in athletes and runners with achilles tendinopathy compared with healthy controls: A systematic review JF - Frontiers in Sports and Active Living N2 - Achilles tendinopathy (AT) is a debilitating injury in athletes, especially for those engaged in repetitive stretch-shortening cycle activities. Clinical risk factors are numerous, but it has been suggested that altered biomechanics might be associated with AT. No systematic review has been conducted investigating these biomechanical alterations in specifically athletic populations. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review was to compare the lower-limb biomechanics of athletes with AT to athletically matched asymptomatic controls. Databases were searched for relevant studies investigating biomechanics during gait activities and other motor tasks such as hopping, isolated strength tasks, and reflex responses. Inclusion criteria for studies were an AT diagnosis in at least one group, cross-sectional or prospective data, at least one outcome comparing biomechanical data between an AT and healthy group, and athletic populations. Studies were excluded if patients had Achilles tendon rupture/surgery, participants reported injuries other than AT, and when only within-subject data was available.. Effect sizes (Cohen's d) with 95% confidence intervals were calculated for relevant outcomes. The initial search yielded 4,442 studies. After screening, twenty studies (775 total participants) were synthesised, reporting on a wide range of biomechanical outcomes. Females were under-represented and patients in the AT group were three years older on average. Biomechanical alterations were identified in some studies during running, hopping, jumping, strength tasks and reflex activity. Equally, several biomechanical variables studied were not associated with AT in included studies, indicating a conflicting picture. Kinematics in AT patients appeared to be altered in the lower limb, potentially indicating a pattern of “medial collapse”. Muscular activity of the calf and hips was different between groups, whereby AT patients exhibited greater calf electromyographic amplitudes despite lower plantar flexor strength. Overall, dynamic maximal strength of the plantar flexors, and isometric strength of the hips might be reduced in the AT group. This systematic review reports on several biomechanical alterations in athletes with AT. With further research, these factors could potentially form treatment targets for clinicians, although clinical approaches should take other contributing health factors into account. The studies included were of low quality, and currently no solid conclusions can be drawn. KW - achilles tendinopathy KW - biomechanics KW - neuromuscular KW - kinetics KW - electromyography KW - athletes KW - runners KW - kinematics Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2022.1012471 SN - 2624-9367 PB - Frontiers CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - GEN A1 - Stone, Kate A1 - Nicenboim, Bruno A1 - Vasishth, Shravan A1 - Rösler, Frank T1 - Understanding the effects of constraint and predictability in ERP T2 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Intuitively, strongly constraining contexts should lead to stronger probabilistic representations of sentences in memory. Encountering unexpected words could therefore be expected to trigger costlier shifts in these representations than expected words. However, psycholinguistic measures commonly used to study probabilistic processing, such as the N400 event-related potential (ERP) component, are sensitive to word predictability but not to contextual constraint. Some research suggests that constraint-related processing cost may be measurable via an ERP positivity following the N400, known as the anterior post-N400 positivity (PNP). The PNP is argued to reflect update of a sentence representation and to be distinct from the posterior P600, which reflects conflict detection and reanalysis. However, constraint-related PNP findings are inconsistent. We sought to conceptually replicate Federmeier et al. (2007) and Kuperberg et al. (2020), who observed that the PNP, but not the N400 or the P600, was affected by constraint at unexpected but plausible words. Using a pre-registered design and statistical approach maximising power, we demonstrated a dissociated effect of predictability and constraint: strong evidence for predictability but not constraint in the N400 window, and strong evidence for constraint but not predictability in the later window. However, the constraint effect was consistent with a P600 and not a PNP, suggesting increased conflict between a strong representation and unexpected input rather than greater update of the representation. We conclude that either a simple strong/weak constraint design is not always sufficient to elicit the PNP, or that previous PNP constraint findings could be an artifact of smaller sample size. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 829 KW - N400 KW - anterior PNP KW - posterior P600 KW - probabilistic processing KW - constraint KW - predictability KW - entropy Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-587594 SN - 1866-8364 IS - 829 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stone, Kate A1 - Nicenboim, Bruno A1 - Vasishth, Shravan A1 - Rösler, Frank T1 - Understanding the effects of constraint and predictability in ERP JF - Neurobiology of language N2 - Intuitively, strongly constraining contexts should lead to stronger probabilistic representations of sentences in memory. Encountering unexpected words could therefore be expected to trigger costlier shifts in these representations than expected words. However, psycholinguistic measures commonly used to study probabilistic processing, such as the N400 event-related potential (ERP) component, are sensitive to word predictability but not to contextual constraint. Some research suggests that constraint-related processing cost may be measurable via an ERP positivity following the N400, known as the anterior post-N400 positivity (PNP). The PNP is argued to reflect update of a sentence representation and to be distinct from the posterior P600, which reflects conflict detection and reanalysis. However, constraint-related PNP findings are inconsistent. We sought to conceptually replicate Federmeier et al. (2007) and Kuperberg et al. (2020), who observed that the PNP, but not the N400 or the P600, was affected by constraint at unexpected but plausible words. Using a pre-registered design and statistical approach maximising power, we demonstrated a dissociated effect of predictability and constraint: strong evidence for predictability but not constraint in the N400 window, and strong evidence for constraint but not predictability in the later window. However, the constraint effect was consistent with a P600 and not a PNP, suggesting increased conflict between a strong representation and unexpected input rather than greater update of the representation. We conclude that either a simple strong/weak constraint design is not always sufficient to elicit the PNP, or that previous PNP constraint findings could be an artifact of smaller sample size. KW - N400 KW - anterior PNP KW - posterior P600 KW - probabilistic processing KW - constraint KW - predictability KW - entropy Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1162/nol_a_00094 SN - 2641-4368 VL - 4 IS - 2 SP - 221 EP - 256 PB - MIT Press CY - Cambridge, MA, USA ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Thulin, Mirjam ED - Elyada, Ada ED - Wallach, Kerry T1 - Le-Dor va-Dor or Discontinuities? BT - family history and the Transnational Turn in (German-)Jewish Studies JF - German-Jewish Studies: Next Generations KW - German-Jewish History Y1 - 2022 SN - 978-1-80073-677-1 SN - 978-1-80073-678-8 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3167/9781800736771 VL - 2022 SP - 17 EP - 37 PB - Berghahn CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Warschburger, Petra A1 - Wortmann, Hanna Rosalie A1 - Gisch, Ulrike Alexandra A1 - Baer, Nadja-Raphaela A1 - Schenk, Liane A1 - Anton, Verena A1 - Bergmann, Manuela M. T1 - An experimental approach to training interoceptive sensitivity BT - study protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial JF - Nutrition Journal N2 - Background Eating in absence of hunger is quite common and often associated with an increased energy intake co-existent with a poorer food choice. Intuitive eating (IE), i.e., eating in accordance with internal hunger and satiety cues, may protect from overeating. IE, however, requires accurate perception and processing of one’s own bodily signals, also referred to as interoceptive sensitivity. Training interoceptive sensitivity might therefore be an effective method to promote IE and prevent overeating. As most studies on eating behavior are conducted in younger adults and close social relationships influence health-related behavior, this study focuses on middle-aged and older couples. Methods The present pilot randomized intervention study aims at investigating the feasibility and effectiveness of a 21-day mindfulness-based training program designed to increase interoceptive sensitivity. A total of N = 60 couples participating in the NutriAct Family Study, aged 50–80 years, will be recruited. This randomized-controlled intervention study comprises three measurement points (pre-intervention, post-intervention, 4-week follow-up) and a 21-day training that consists of daily mindfulness-based guided audio exercises (e.g., body scan). A three-arm intervention study design is applied to compare two intervention groups (training together as a couple vs. training alone) with a control group (no training). Each measurement point includes the assessment of self-reported and objective indicators of interoceptive sensitivity (primary outcome), self-reported indicators of intuitive and maladaptive eating (secondary outcomes), and additional variables. A training evaluation applying focus group discussions will be conducted to assess participants’ overall acceptance of the training and its feasibility. Discussion By investigating the feasibility and effectiveness of a mindfulness-based training program to increase interoceptive sensitivity, the present study will contribute to a deeper understanding of how to promote healthy eating in older age. KW - Digital intervention KW - Older adults KW - Interoception KW - Eating behavior KW - Intuitive eating KW - Partnership KW - Mindfulness KW - Randomized-controlled trial KW - NutriAct Family Study KW - Mixed methods Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-022-00827-4 SN - 1475-2891 VL - 21 PB - Springer Nature CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sposini, Vittoria A1 - Krapf, Diego A1 - Marinari, Enzo A1 - Sunyer, Raimon A1 - Ritort, Felix A1 - Taheri, Fereydoon A1 - Selhuber-Unkel, Christine A1 - Benelli, Rebecca A1 - Weiss, Matthias A1 - Metzler, Ralf A1 - Oshanin, Gleb T1 - Towards a robust criterion of anomalous diffusion JF - Communications Physics N2 - 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. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-022-01079-8 SN - 2399-3650 VL - 5 PB - Springer Nature CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ginsburg, Shai T1 - Marina Zilbergerts, The Yeshiva and the Rise of Modern Hebrew Literature (Bloomington, In: Indiana University Press, 2022), 184 pp., $ 35.00 JF - PaRDeS : Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies in Germany JF - PaRDeS : Zeitschrift der Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e.V. Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-585985 SN - 978-3-86956-552-1 SN - 1614-6492 SN - 1862-7684 IS - 28 SP - 143 EP - 147 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cooperman, Jessica T1 - Mark Wortman, Admiral Hyman Rickover: Engineer of Power (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2022), 328 pp., $ 26.00 JF - PaRDeS : Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies in Germany JF - PaRDeS : Zeitschrift der Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e.V. Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-585943 SN - 978-3-86956-552-1 SN - 1614-6492 SN - 1862-7684 IS - 28 SP - 137 EP - 140 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Haase, Jennifer A1 - Hanel, Paul H. P. T1 - Priming creativity: Doing math reduces creativity and happiness whereas playing short online games enhance them JF - Frontiers in Education N2 - 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. KW - creativity KW - priming KW - enhancement KW - math KW - games KW - happiness Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.976459 SN - 2504-284X PB - Frontiers CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jessen, Caroline T1 - Kathrin Wittler, Morgenländischer Glanz: Eine deutsche jüdische Literaturgeschichte (1750 – 1850) (= Schriftenreihe wissenschaftlicher Abhandlungen des Leo Baeck Instituts 79) (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2019), 620 S., 99,00 € JF - PaRDeS : Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies in Germany JF - PaRDeS : Zeitschrift der Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e.V. Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-585898 SN - 978-3-86956-552-1 SN - 1614-6492 SN - 1862-7684 IS - 28 SP - 128 EP - 131 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schachter, Allison T1 - Barry Trachtenberg, The Holocaust & the Exile of Yiddish: A History of the Algemeyne Entsiklopedye (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2022), 336 pp., $ 37.50 JF - PaRDeS : Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies in Germany JF - PaRDeS : Zeitschrift der Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e.V. Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-585836 SN - 978-3-86956-552-1 SN - 1614-6492 SN - 1862-7684 IS - 28 SP - 121 EP - 125 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - THES A1 - Kim, Jiyong T1 - Synthesis of InP quantum dots and their applications N2 - Technologically important, environmentally friendly InP quantum dots (QDs) typically used as green and red emitters in display devices can achieve exceptional photoluminescence quantum yields (PL QYs) of near-unity (95-100%) when the-state-of-the-art core/shell heterostructure of the ZnSe inner/ZnS outer shell is elaborately applied. Nevertheless, it has only led to a few industrial applications as QD liquid crystal display (QD–LCD) which is applied to blue backlight units, even though QDs has a lot of possibilities that able to realize industrially feasible applications, such as QD light-emitting diodes (QD‒LEDs) and luminescence solar concentrator (LSC), due to their functionalizable characteristics. Before introducing the main research, the theoretical basis and fundamentals of QDs are described in detail on the basis of the quantum mechanics and experimental synthetic results, where a concept of QD and colloidal QD, a type-I core/shell structure, a transition metal doped semiconductor QDs, the surface chemistry of QD, and their applications (LSC, QD‒LEDs, and EHD jet printing) are sequentially elucidated for better understanding. This doctoral thesis mainly focused on the connectivity between QD materials and QD devices, based on the synthesis of InP QDs that are composed of inorganic core (core/shell heterostructure) and organic shell (surface ligands on the QD surface). In particular, as for the former one (core/shell heterostructure), the ZnCuInS mid-shell as an intermediate layer is newly introduced between a Cu-doped InP core and a ZnS shell for LSC devices. As for the latter one (surface ligands), the ligand effect by 1-octanethiol and chloride ion are investigated for the device stability in QD‒LEDs and the printability of electro-hydrodynamic (EHD) jet printing system, in which this research explores the behavior of surface ligands, based on proton transfer mechanism on the QD surface. Chapter 3 demonstrates the synthesis of strain-engineered highly emissive Cu:InP/Zn–Cu–In–S (ZCIS)/ZnS core/shell/shell heterostructure QDs via a one-pot approach. When this unconventional combination of a ZCIS/ZnS double shelling scheme is introduced to a series of Cu:InP cores with different sizes, the resulting Cu:InP/ZCIS/ZnS QDs with a tunable near-IR PL range of 694–850 nm yield the highest-ever PL QYs of 71.5–82.4%. These outcomes strongly point to the efficacy of the ZCIS interlayer, which makes the core/shell interfacial strain effectively alleviated, toward high emissivity. The presence of such an intermediate ZCIS layer is further examined by comparative size, structural, and compositional analyses. The end of this chapter briefly introduces the research related to the LSC devices, fabricated from Cu:InP/ZCIS/ZnS QDs, currently in progress. Chapter 4 mainly deals with ligand effect in 1-octanethiol passivation of InP/ZnSe/ZnS QDs in terms of incomplete surface passivation during synthesis. This chapter demonstrates the lack of anionic carboxylate ligands on the surface of InP/ZnSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs), where zinc carboxylate ligands can be converted to carboxylic acid or carboxylate ligands via proton transfer by 1-octanethiol. The as-synthesized QDs initially have an under-coordinated vacancy surface, which is passivated by solvent ligands such as ethanol and acetone. Upon exposure of 1-octanethiol to the QD surface, 1-octanthiol effectively induces the surface binding of anionic carboxylate ligands (derived from zinc carboxylate ligands) by proton transfer, which consequently exchanges ethanol and acetone ligands that bound on the incomplete QD surface. The systematic chemical analyses, such as thermogravimetric analysis‒mass spectrometry and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, directly show the interplay of surface ligands, and it associates with QD light-emitting diodes (QD‒LEDs). Chapter 5 shows the relation between material stability of QDs and device stability of QD‒LEDs through the investigation of surface chemistry and shell thickness. In typical III–V colloidal InP quantum dots (QDs), an inorganic ZnS outermost shell is used to provide stability when overcoated onto the InP core. However, this work presents a faster photo-degradation of InP/ZnSe/ZnS QDs with a thicker ZnS shell than that with a thin ZnS shell when 1-octanethiol was applied as a sulfur source to form ZnS outmost shell. Herein, 1-octanethiol induces the form of weakly-bound carboxylate ligand via proton transfer on the QD surface, resulting in a faster degradation at UV light even though a thicker ZnS shell was formed onto InP/ZnSe QDs. Detailed insight into surface chemistry was obtained from proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis–mass spectrometry. However, the lifetimes of the electroluminescence devices fabricated from InP/ZnSe/ZnS QDs with a thick or a thin ZnS shell show surprisingly the opposite result to the material stability of QDs, where the QD light-emitting diodes (QD‒LEDs) with a thick ZnS shelled QDs maintained its luminance more stable than that with a thin ZnS shelled QDs. This study elucidates the degradation mechanism of the QDs and the QD light-emitting diodes based on the results and discuss why the material stability of QDs is different from the lifetime of QD‒LEDs. Chapter 6 suggests a method how to improve a printability of EHD jet printing when QD materials are applied to QD ink formulation, where this work introduces the application of GaP mid-shelled InP QDs as a role of surface charge in EHD jet printing technique. In general, GaP intermediate shell has been introduced in III–V colloidal InP quantum dots (QDs) to enhance their thermal stability and quantum efficiency in the case of type-I core/shell/shell heterostructure InP/GaP/ZnSeS QDs. Herein, these highly luminescent InP/GaP/ZnSeS QDs were synthesized and applied to EHD jet printing, by which this study demonstrates that unreacted Ga and Cl ions on the QD surface induce the operating voltage of cone jet and cone jet formation to be reduced and stabilized, respectively. This result indicates GaP intermediate shell not only improves PL QY and thermal stability of InP QDs but also adjusts the critical flow rate required for cone-jet formation. In other words, surface charges of quantum dots can have a significant role in forming cone apex in the EHD capillary nozzle. For an industrially convenient validation of surface charges on the QD surface, Zeta potential analyses of QD solutions as a simple method were performed, as well as inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) for a composition of elements. Beyond the generation of highly emissive InP QDs with narrow FWHM, these studies talk about the connection between QD material and QD devices not only to make it a vital jumping-off point for industrially feasible applications but also to reveal from chemical and physical standpoints the origin that obstructs the improvement of device performance experimentally and theoretically. N2 - Umweltfreundliche InP Quantenpunkte (QDs) sind technologisch relevant und werden typischerweise als grüne und rote Emitter in Bildschirmen verwendet. Nach dem Stand der Technik kann eine sorgfältig hergestellte Kern-Schale-Heterostruktur (ZnSe innen/ZnS außen) zu außergewöhnlich hohen Photolumineszenz-Quantenausbeuten (PL-QYs) von nahezu Eins (95 - 100 %) führen. Dennoch gibt es bisher nur einige wenige industrielle Anwendungen wie QD-Flüssigkristall-Bildschirme (liquid crystal display, QD-LCD), in denen die Anregung durch eine blaue Hintergrundbeleuchtung realisiert wird. Dabei haben QDs aufgrund ihrer Modifizierbarkeit noch viele weitere industrielle Einsatzmöglichkeiten, beispielsweise QD basierte lichtemittierende Dioden (QD-LEDs) und lumineszierende Solarkollektoren (luminescence solar concentrator, LSC). Vor dem Hauptteil werden in den Kapiteln 1 und 2 die Grundlagen von QDs und die theoretischen Grundlagen basierend auf quantenmechanischer Beschreibung und experimentellen Ergebnissen eingeführt. Zum besseren Verständnis werden: das Konzept der QDs, kolloidale QDs, Kern-Schale-Strukturen vom Typ I, mit Übergangsmetallen dotierte Halbleiter-QDs, die Oberflächenchemie von QDs und ihre Anwendungen (LSC, QD-LEDs und electrohydrodynamic EHD-Jet-Printing), nacheinander eingeführt. Der Schwerpunkt dieser Doktorarbeit liegt hauptsächlich auf der Kombination von QD-Materialien und QD-Bauelementen, basierend auf der Synthese von InP QDs mit einem anorganischen Kern (Kern-Schale-Heterostruktur) und einer organischen Hülle (Oberflächenliganden auf der QD-Oberfläche). In die Kern-Schale-Heterostruktur wird eine ZnCuInS-Mittelschale als Zwischenschicht zwischen einem Cu-dotierten InP Kern und einer ZnS-Schale für LSC-Bauelemente neu eingeführt. Bei den Oberflächenliganden wird der Ligandeneffekt von 1-Oktanthiol und Chloridionen auf die Stabilität von QD-LEDs und die Druckbarkeit mit EHD-Jet-Printing hin untersucht. Dabei erhält der Protonentransfermechanismus auf der QD-Oberfläche ein besonderes Augenmerk. In Kapitel 3 wird die Eintopfsynthese von hocheffizient emittierenden QDs mit einer Cu:InP/Zn-Cu-In-S (ZCIS)/ZnS Kern/Schale/Schale-Heterostruktur beschrieben. Wenn diese neuartige Kombination einer ZCIS/ZnS-Doppelschalenstruktur mit eine Reihe von Cu:InP-Kerne mit unterschiedlichen Größen kombiniert wird, ergeben die daraus entstehenden Cu:InP/ZCIS/ZnS-QDs die bisher höchsten publizierten PL-QYs von 71,5 – 82,4 % im nahen IR-Bereich von 694 – 850 nm mit einstellbarer PL Wellenlänge. Diese Ergebnisse weisen auf die Wirksamkeit der ZCIS-Zwischenschicht hin, welche die Grenzflächenspannung zwischen Kern und Schale effektiv mildert und damit zu einem solch hohen Emissionsvermögen führt. Diese ZCIS-Zwischenschicht wird durch vergleichende Größen-, Struktur- und Zusammensetzungsanalysen weiter untersucht. Am Ende des Kapitels wird der aktuellen Stand der Forschung auf dem Gebiet der LSC-Bauelemente aus solchen Cu:InP/ZCIS/ZnS-QDs vorgestellt. Kapitel 4 befasst sich hauptsächlich mit dem Ligandeneffekt bei der Passivierung mit 1-Oktanthiol von InP/ZnSe/ZnS-QDs im Hinblick auf die unvollständige Oberflächenpassivierung während der Synthese. Es fehlen anionischen Carboxylat-Liganden auf der InP/ZnSe/ZnS-Oberfläche der QDs, an denen Zink Carboxylat Liganden durch Protonentransfer vom 1-Oktanthiol in Carbonsäure-Liganden umgewandelt werden könnten. Die so synthetisierten QDs haben zunächst eine unterkoordinierte Oberfläche mit Leerstellen, die durch Lösungsmittel-Liganden wie Ethanol oder Aceton passiviert werden. Wenn 1-Octanthiol an die QD-Oberfläche bindet bewirkt der Protonentransfer die Bindung von Carboxylat-Liganden (aus Zink-Carboxylat) an die Oberfläche, wobei Ethanol- oder Aceton-Liganden ausgetauscht werden. Systematische Analysen wie Thermogravimetrie (thermogravimetric analysis TGA), Massenspektrometrie (MS) und Protonen-Kernmagnetresonanz (proton nuclear magnetic resonance 1H-NMR) zeigen direkt den Zusammenhang zwischen Oberflächenliganden und QD-LEDs. Kapitel 5 zeigt den Zusammenhang zwischen der Materialstabilität von QDs und der Bauteilstabilität von QD-LEDs durch Untersuchung der Oberflächenchemie und der Schalendicke. In typischen kolloidalen III-V-InP-QDs wird eine anorganische ZnS-Außenhülle auf den InP Kern aufgetragen, um Stabilität zu gewährleisten. In dieser Arbeit wird jedoch eine schnellere Photodegradation von InP/ZnSe/ZnS-QDs mit einer dickeren statt einer dünneren ZnS-Schale gezeigt, wenn 1-Oktanthiol als Schwefelquelle zur Bildung der äußersten ZnS-Schale verwendet wurde. 1-Oktanthiol induziert die Bildung eines schwach gebundenen Carboxylatliganden durch Protonentransfer auf der QD-Oberfläche, was zu einem schnelleren Abbau unter UV-Licht trotz dickerer ZnS-Schale führt. Detailliertere Einblicke in die Oberflächenchemie werden durch 1H-NMR, TGA und MS gewonnen. Überraschenderweise zeigen jedoch die Lebensdauern der aus InP/ZnSe/ZnS-QDs mit dicken oder dünnen ZnS-Hüllen hergestellten EL-Bauelemente eine gegenteilige Stabilität: Die QD-LEDs mit QDs mit dicker ZnS-Hülle haben eine längere Lebensdauer, als jene mit dünner ZnS-Hülle. Es wird der Degradationsmechanismus der QDs und der QD-Leuchtdioden anhand der Ergebnisse erläutert und der Effekt auf die unterschiedlichen Lebensdauern von Material und Bauteil diskutiert. In Kapitel 6 wird eine Methode vorgeschlagen, wie die Druckbarkeit von QD-Tintenformulierungen beim EHD-Jet-Druck über die QD-Materialien verbessert werden kann. Dazu werden InP-QDs mit GaP-Zwischenschalen erweitert, um die Oberflächenladung zu beeinflussen. Darüber hinaus verbessern GaP-Zwischenschalen in III-V kolloidalen InP-QDs deren thermische Stabilität und PL-QY im Falle von Typ-I-Kern/Schale/Schale-Heterostrukturen (InP/GaP/ZnSeS-QDs). Diese stark lumineszierenden InP/GaP/ZnSeS-QDs wurden synthetisiert und für den EHD-Jet-Druck verwendet. Nicht umgesetzte Ga und Cl-Ionen auf der QD-Oberfläche reduzieren die benötigte Betriebsspannung zur Ausbildung eines Taylor-Kegels und eines stabilen Tinten-Jets. Dieses Ergebnis deutet darauf hin, dass die Oberflächenladungen der Quantenpunkte eine wichtige Rolle bei der Ausbildung des Taylor-Kegels spielen. Mittels Zeta-Potenzial-Messung von QD-Tinten wurde eine industriell erprobte und einfache Methode zur Untersuchung der Oberflächenladungen verwendet. Darüber hinaus wurde optische Emissionsspektrometrie mit induktiv gekoppeltem Plasma (inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy ICP-OES) zur Bestimmung der Elementzusammensetzung durchgeführt. Diese Dissertation beschäftigt sich sowohl mit der Synthese von hocheffizienten InP QDs mit schmalbandiger Emission (full width at half maximum FWHM), als auch den Zusammenhängen zwischen QD-Material und QD-Bauelementen. Die Ergebnisse sind einerseits relevant für die breitere industrielle Anwendung dieser Materialien und andererseits für ein tieferes chemisch-physikalisches, theoretisches und experimentelles Verständnis der Prozesse, die zu langlebigen und stabilen Bauelementen führen. KW - colloidal quantum dot KW - Cu doped InP KW - surface chemistry KW - QD stability KW - QD device KW - kolloidaler Quantenpunkt KW - Cu-dotiertes InP KW - Oberflächenchemie KW - QD-Stabilität KW - QD-Gerät Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-585351 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jacob, Frank T1 - Shaul Magid, Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2021), 296 pp., $ 35.00 JF - PaRDeS : Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies in Germany JF - PaRDeS : Zeitschrift der Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e.V. Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-585827 SN - 978-3-86956-552-1 SN - 1614-6492 SN - 1862-7684 IS - 28 SP - 119 EP - 121 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Studemund-Halévy, Michael T1 - Desperados at Sea JF - PaRDeS : Zeitschrift der Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e.V. JF - PaRDeS : Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies in Germany N2 - Pirates are fortune-seeking fighters at sea. Their exploits fire the imaginations of their victims and admirers, drawing a veil over individuals who rarely bear a real name and pursue their adventurous occupations as buccaneers, filibusters, freebooters, privateers, pirates, or corsairs. Piracy, corsairing, and contraband trade were epidemic among the Egyptians and the Phoenicians, the Greeks and the Vikings, the Spaniards and the Ottomans, the Muslims, and the Christians. And the Jews. Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-585796 SN - 978-3-86956-552-1 SN - 1614-6492 SN - 1862-7684 IS - 28 SP - 100 EP - 115 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wassner, Dalia T1 - The Port Jew and Nuestra América BT - Narratives of Collective Responsibility and Belonging JF - PaRDeS : Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies in Germany JF - PaRDeS : Zeitschrift der Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e.V. N2 - Jacob Brandon Maduro’s Memoirs and Related Observations (Havana, 1953) speak to the lasting yet malleable legacy of Jewish Caribbean/Atlantic mercantile communities that defined early modern settlement in the Americas. A close reading of the Memoirs, alongside relevant archival records and community narratives, lends new perspectives to scholarship on Port Jewries and the Atlantic Diaspora. Specifically concerned with Jacob’s adoption of such leading intellectual and political tropes as the Monroe doctrine, José Martí’s Nuestra America, and a Zionism that evolved from an ideology to a reality, the Memoirs reveal a narrative at once defined by the tremendous upheavals of the first half of the 20th century, and an enduring sense of Jewish diasporic peoplehood defined through a Port Jew paradigm whereby the preservation of Jewish ethnicity is understood as synonymous with the championing of modernity. Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-585580 SN - 978-3-86956-552-1 SN - 1614-6492 SN - 1862-7684 IS - 28 SP - 84 EP - 99 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Siegel, Björn T1 - “Creating a Maritime Future” BT - Hamburg and the Revival of Jewish Seafaring and Fishing Traditions in the 1940s and 1950s JF - PaRDeS : Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies in Germany JF - PaRDeS : Zeitschrift der Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e.V. N2 - This article explores the importance of the port city of Hamburg in the evolving discourses on the creation of a maritime future, a vision which became influential in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. While some Jewish representatives in the city aimed at preserving and intertwining Hanseatic and Jewish traditions in order to secure a Jewish presence in the port city under the pressure of the Nazi regime and thereafter, others wanted to create new emigration opportunities, especially to Mandatory Palestine, and create a Jewish maritime future in Eretz Israel. Different Zionist organizations supported the newly evolving maritime ideas, such as the “conquest of the sea”, and promoted the image of a Jewish seafaring nation. Despite the difficulties in the 1940s, these concepts gained influence post-1945 and led to the foundation of the fishery kibbutz “Zerubavel” in Blankenese/Hamburg. However, the idea of a Hanseatic Jewish future also remained influential and illustrates how differently a “Jewish maritime future” was imagined and used to link past, present and future. Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-585575 SN - 978-3-86956-552-1 SN - 1614-6492 SN - 1862-7684 IS - 28 SP - 68 EP - 82 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weinmann, Franziska T1 - Mothers of Seafaring BT - Henrietta Diamond and the Question of Female Representation in the Jewish Maritime Realm JF - PaRDeS : Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies in Germany JF - PaRDeS : Zeitschrift der Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e.V. N2 - The article aims to trace the contribution of Jewish women in the Yishuv’s maritime history. Taking the example of Henrietta Diamond, a founding member and chairperson of the Zebulun Seafaring Society, the article seeks to explore the representation and role of women in a growing Jewish maritime domain from the 1930s to the 1950s. It examines Zionist narratives on the ‘New Jew’ and the Jewish body and studies their relevance for the emerging field of maritime activities in the Yishuv. By contextualizing the work and depiction of Henrietta Diamond, the article sheds new light on the gendered notions that underlay the emergence of the Jewish maritime domain and illustrates the patterns of inclusion and exclusion in it. Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-585563 SN - 978-3-86956-552-1 SN - 1614-6492 SN - 1862-7684 IS - 28 SP - 52 EP - 67 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cohen-Hattab, Kobi T1 - Pioneers of Independent Jewish Shipping BT - The Emergence of Private Jewish Shipping Companies in Palestine, 1934 – 1939 JF - PaRDeS : Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies in Germany JF - PaRDeS : Zeitschrift der Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e.V. N2 - The birth of the Yishuv’s national shipping company, ZIM was preceded by private enterprise; the sea had not traditionally been a focus of the Zionist movement. In the 1930s, a five-year span of private commercial shipping saw three companies in the Jewish community in Palestine – Palestine Shipping Company, Palestine Maritime Lloyd, and Atid – before shipping was cut short by the outbreak of the Second World War. Despite their brief lifespans and their negligible contribution to general shipping, these companies constituted an important milestone. Their existence helped shift the Yishuv leadership’s attitudes about shipping’s importance for the community and the need for it to be supported by national institutions. Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-585542 SN - 978-3-86956-552-1 SN - 1614-6492 SN - 1862-7684 IS - 28 SP - 34 EP - 50 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schlör, Joachim T1 - “Israel am Meere” BT - The Sea Voyage as a Place and Time for Questions about Jewish Identity JF - PaRDeS : Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies in Germany JF - PaRDeS : Zeitschrift der Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e.V. N2 - For Jews in Germany, the period following the Nazis’ rise to power in January 1933 was a period of decision-making on many levels: How should they respond to the persecution? If they decided to emigrate, many more decisions had to be made: How does one leave a country, and where should one go? A key moment in the process and in the cultural practice of emigration is the beginning of the sea voyage – when the need for departure and the hope for a new arrival jointly create a period of liminality. Looking at reports from sea voyages of exploration and emigration from the 1930s, this contribution discusses the question whether, and in what ways, such reflections can be read in the context of religious experiences and in the search for Jewish identities in times of turmoil. Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-585537 SN - 978-3-86956-552-1 SN - 1614-6492 SN - 1862-7684 IS - 28 SP - 18 EP - 32 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Siegel, Björn T1 - “They Took to the Sea” – Jewish History and Culture in Maritime Perspective(s) JF - PaRDeS : Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies in Germany JF - PaRDeS : Zeitschrift der Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e.V. Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-585509 SN - 978-3-86956-552-1 SN - 1614-6492 SN - 1862-7684 IS - 28 SP - 11 EP - 16 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Hajos, Yael T1 - A Critical Overview of the Public Health Emergency of International Concern Mechanism BT - The Case of Covid-19 T2 - Staat, Recht und Politik – Forschungs- und Diskussionspapiere T2 - State, Law, and Politics — Research and Discussion Papers N2 - The last years have been affected by Covid-19 and the international emergency mecha-nism to deal with health-related threats. The effects of this period manifested differ-ently worldwide, depending on matters such as international relations, national policies, power dynamics etc. Additionally, the impact of this time will likely have long-term effects which are yet to be known. This paper gives a critical overview of the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) mechanism in the context of Covid-19. It does so by explaining the legal framework for states of emergency, specifically in the context of a PHEIC, while considering its restrictions and limitations on human rights. It further outlines issues in the manifestation of global protections and limitations on human rights during Covid-19. Lastly, considering the likelihood of future PHEICs and the known systemic obstructions, this paper offers ways to im-prove this mechanism from a holistic, non-zero-sum perspective. N2 - Die letzten Jahre waren geprägt von Covid-19 und dem internationalen Notfallmecha-nismus zur Bewältigung gesundheitsbe-zogener Bedrohungen. Die Auswirkungen dieser Zeit zeigten sich weltweit unter-schiedlich, abhängig von den internatio-nalen Beziehungen, der nationalen Politik, der Machtdynamik usw. Außerdem werden die Auswirkungen dieser Zeit wahrschein-lich langfristige, heute noch unbekannte Folgen haben. Diese Studie gibt einen kriti-schen Überblick über den Mechanismus für internationale gesundheitliche Notfälle (Public Health Emergency of International Concern – PHEIC) im Kontext von Covid-19. Zu diesem Zweck wird der rechtliche Rahmen für Notfälle, insbesondere im Zusammenhang mit PHEIC, erläutert, und es werden die damit verbundenen Ein-schränkungen und Begrenzungen der Menschenrechte betrachtet. In Anbetracht der Wahrscheinlichkeit künftiger PHEICs und der bekannten systemischen Hin-dernisse bietet dieses Papier schließlich Möglichkeiten zur Verbesserung dieses Mechanismus aus einer ganzheitlichen Per-spektive. T3 - Staat, Recht und Politik – Forschungs- und Diskussionspapiere = State, Law, and Politics - Research and Discussion Papers - 15 Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-585238 SN - 2509-6974 IS - 15 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - THES A1 - Pellegrino, Antonio T1 - miRNA profiling for diagnosis of chronic pain in polyneuropathy T1 - miRNA profiling zur Diagnose von chronischem Schmerz in Polyneuropathie N2 - This dissertation aimed to determine differential expressed miRNAs in the context of chronic pain in polyneuropathy. For this purpose, patients with chronic painful polyneuropathy were compared with age matched healthy patients. Taken together, all miRNA pre library preparation quality controls were successful and none of the samples was identified as an outlier or excluded for library preparation. Pre sequencing quality control showed that library preparation worked for all samples as well as that all samples were free of adapter dimers after BluePippin size selection and reached the minimum molarity for further processing. Thus, all samples were subjected to sequencing. The sequencing control parameters were in their optimal range and resulted in valid sequencing results with strong sample to sample correlation for all samples. The resulting FASTQ file of each miRNA library was analyzed and used to perform a differential expression analysis. The differentially expressed and filtered miRNAs were subjected to miRDB to perform a target prediction. Three of those four miRNAs were downregulated: hsa-miR-3135b, hsa-miR-584-5p and hsa-miR-12136, while one was upregulated: hsa-miR-550a-3p. miRNA target prediction showed that chronic pain in polyneuropathy might be the result of a combination of miRNA mediated high blood flow/pressure and neural activity dysregulations/disbalances. Thus, leading to the promising conclusion that these four miRNAs could serve as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of chronic pain in polyneuropathy. Since TRPV1 seems to be one of the major contributors of nociception and is associated with neuropathic pain, the influence of PKA phosphorylated ARMS on the sensitivity of TRPV1 as well as the part of AKAP79 during PKA phosphorylation of ARMS was characterized. Therefore, possible PKA-sites in the sequence of ARMS were identified. This revealed five canonical PKA-sites: S882, T903, S1251/52, S1439/40 and S1526/27. The single PKA-site mutants of ARMS revealed that PKA-mediated ARMS phosphorylation seems not to influence the interaction rate of TRPV1/ARMS. While phosphorylation of ARMST903 does not increase the interaction rate with TRPV1, ARMSS1526/27 is probably not phosphorylated and leads to an increased interaction rate. The calcium flux measurements indicated that the higher the interaction rate of TRPV1/ARMS, the lower the EC50 for capsaicin of TRPV1, independent of the PKA phosphorylation status of ARMS. In addition, the western blot analysis confirmed the previously observed TRPV1/ARMS interaction. More importantly, AKAP79 seems to be involved in the TRPV1/ARMS/PKA signaling complex. To overcome the problem of ARMS-mediated TRPV1 sensitization by interaction, ARMS was silenced by shRNA. ARMS silencing resulted in a restored TRPV1 desensitization without affecting the TRPV1 expression and therefore could be used as new topical therapeutic analgesic alternative to stop ARMS mediated TRPV1 sensitization. N2 - Ziel dieser Dissertation war es, differentiell exprimierte miRNAs im Kontext von chronischen Schmerzen bei Polyneuropathie zu bestimmen. Zu diesem Zweck wurden Patienten mit chronisch schmerzhafter Polyneuropathie und altersgleiche gesunde Patienten verglichen. Insgesamt waren alle Qualitätskontrollen zur Erstellung der miRNA-Bibliothek erfolgreich und keine der Proben wurde als Ausreißer identifiziert oder ausgeschlossen. Die Qualitätskontrolle vor der Sequenzierung zeigte, dass die Bibliothekserstellung für alle Proben funktionierte, sowie dass alle Proben frei von Adapterdimeren waren und die Mindestmolalität erreichten, woraufhin alle Proben sequenziert wurden. Die Kontrollparameter für die Sequenzierung lagen im optimalen Bereich und führten bei allen Proben zu gültigen Sequenzierungsergebnissen mit einer starken Korrelation zwischen den Proben. Die resultierende FASTQ-Datei jeder miRNA-Bibliothek wurde analysiert und für eine differenzielle Expressionsanalyse verwendet. Die differenziell exprimierten und gefilterten miRNAs wurden mittels miRDB analysiert, um eine Zielvorhersage zu erhalten. Drei dieser vier miRNAs wurden herunterreguliert: hsa-miR-3135b, hsa-miR-584-5p und hsa-miR-12136, während eine hochreguliert wurde: hsa-miR-550a-3p. Die miRNA-Zielvorhersage zeigte, dass chronische Schmerzen bei Polyneuropathie das Ergebnis von miRNA induziertem hohen Blutdruck und neuralen Aktivitätsdysregulationen sein könnten. Daraus ergibt sich die Schlussfolgerung, dass diese vier miRNAs als potenzielle Biomarker für die Diagnose von chronischen Schmerzen bei Polyneuropathie dienen könnten. Da TRPV1 mit Nozizeption und neuropathischen Schmerzen in Verbindung gebracht wird, wurde der Einfluss von PKA-phosphoryliertem ARMS auf die Sensitivität von TRPV1 sowie die Rolle von AKAP79 während der PKA-Phosphorylierung von ARMS untersucht. Dazu wurden mögliche PKA-Stellen in der Sequenz von ARMS identifiziert. Dies ergab fünf kanonische PKA-Stellen: S882, T903, S1251/52, S1439/40 und S1526/27. Die einzelnen ARMS-Mutanten zeigten, dass die PKA-vermittelte ARMS-Phosphorylierung die Interaktion von TRPV1/ARMS nicht zu beeinflussen scheint. Während die Phosphorylierung von ARMST903 die Interaktionsrate mit TRPV1 nicht erhöht, wird ARMSS1526/27 vermutlich nicht phosphoryliert und führt zu einer erhöhten Interaktionsrate. Zusätzlich zeigten Kalziumflussmessungen, dass der EC50 für Capsaicin von TRPV1 umso niedriger ist, je höher die Interaktionsrate von TRPV1/ARMS ist, unabhängig vom PKA-Phosphorylierungsstatus von ARMS. Darüber hinaus bestätigte die Western-Blot-Analyse, dass AKAP79 an dem TRPV1/ARMS/PKA-Signalkomplex beteiligt zu sein scheint. Letztlich sorgte die Stilllegung von ARMS mittels shRNA zu einer wiederhergestellten TRPV1-Desensibilisierung, ohne die TRPV1-Expression zu beeinträchtigen, und könnte als neue topische therapeutische Analgetika-Alternative verwendet werden. KW - miRNA KW - miRNA KW - chronic pain KW - chronischer Schmerz KW - polyneuropathy KW - Polyneuropathie KW - TRPV1 KW - TRPV1 KW - ARMS KW - ARMS Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-583858 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hermanussen, Michael A1 - Scheffler, Christiane T1 - Nutrition, size, and tempo JF - Human biology and public health N2 - Nutrition is a prerequisite, but not a regulator of growth. Growth is defined as increase in size over time. The understanding of growth includes an understanding of the binary concept of physical time and individual tempo. Excess food causes tempo acceleration. Food restriction delays tempo. Tempo reflects the pace of life. It is a dynamic physical response to a broad spectrum of social, economic, political, and emotional (SEPE) factors and can affect life expectancy. Variations in tempo create distortions of the z-score patterns of height and weight. Illness or intermediate food shortage lead to intermediate halts in development and create short dips in the z-score patterns. Children who develop throughout life at delayed pace usually run at lower z-scores for height and weight, and show a characteristic adolescent trough; children who develop throughout life at faster than average pace usually run at higher z-scores and show a characteristic adolescent peak in their z-score patterns. During adolescence, almost half of the height variance is due to tempo variation. There is not one tempo for the whole body. Different organ systems grow and mature at different pace. KW - food access KW - physical time KW - SEPS factors KW - pace of life KW - catch-up-growth Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.52905/hbph2022.3.37 SN - 2748-9957 VL - 2022 IS - 3 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scheffler, Christiane A1 - Hermanussen, Michael T1 - What does stunting tell us? JF - Human biology and public health N2 - Stunting is commonly linked with undernutrition. Yet, already after World War I, German pediatricians questioned this link and stated that no association exists between nutrition and height. Recent analyses within different populations of Low- and middle-income countries with high rates of stunted children failed to support the assumption that stunted children have a low BMI and skinfold sickness as signs of severe caloric deficiency. So, stunting is not a synonym of malnutrition. Parental education level has a positive influence on body height in stunted populations, e.g., in India and in Indonesia. Socially disadvantaged children tend to be shorter and lighter than children from affluent families. Humans are social mammals; they regulate growth similar to other social mammals. Also in humans, body height is strongly associated with the position within the social hierarchy, reflecting the personal and group-specific social, economic, political, and emotional environment. These non-nutritional impact factors on growth are summarized by the concept of SEPE (Social-Economic-Political-Emotional) factors. SEPE reflects on prestige, dominance-subordination, social identity, and ego motivation of individuals and social groups. KW - SEPE Factors KW - physical fitness KW - height in history KW - malnutrition Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.52905/hbph2022.3.36 SN - 2748-9957 VL - 2022 IS - 3 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - THES A1 - Störmann, Florian Konstantin T1 - Multifunctional Microballoons for the active and passive control of fluid-flows N2 - Functional materials, also called "Smart Materials", are described by their ability to fulfill a desired task through targeted interaction with its environment. Due to this functional integration, such materials are of increased interest, especially in areas where the increasing micronization of components is required. Modern manufacturing processes (e.g. microfluidics) and the availability of a wide variety of functional materials (e.g. shape memory materials) now enable the production of particle-based switching components. This category includes micropumps and microvalves, whose basic function is the active control of liquid flows. One approach in realizing those microcomponents as pursued by this work, enables variable size-switching of water-filled microballoons by implementing a stimulus-sensitive switching motif in the capsule's membrane shell, while being under the influence of a constant driving force. The switching motif with its gatekeeper function has a critical influence on one or more material parameters, which modulate the capsule's resistance against the driving force in microballoon expansion process. The advantage of this concept is that even non-variable analyte conditions, such as concentration levels of ions, can be capitalized to generate external force fields that, under the control of the membrane, cause an inflation of the microballoon by an osmotically driven water influx. In case of osmotic pressure gradients as the driving force for the capsule expansion, material parameters associated with the gatekeeper function are specifically the permeability and the mechanical stiffness of the shell material. While a modulation of the shell permeability could be utilized to kinetically impede the water influx on large time scales, a modulation of the shell's mechanical stiffness even might be utilized to completely prevent the capsule inflation due to a possible non-deformability beneath a certain threshold pressure. In polymer networks, which are a suitable material class for the demanded capsule shell because of their excellent elasticity, both the permeability and the mechanical properties are strongly influenced by the crystallinity of the material. Since the permeability is effectively reduced with increasing crystallinity, while the mechanical stiffness is simultaneously greatly increased, both effects point in the same direction in terms of their functional relationship. For this reason and due to a reversible and contactless modulation of the membrane crystallinity by heat input, crystallites may be suitable switching motifs for controlling the capsule expansion. As second design element of reversible expandable microballoons, the capsule geometry, defined by an aqueous core enveloped by the temperature-sensitive polymer network membrane, should allow an osmotic pressure gradient across the membrane layer. The strength of the inflation pressure and the associated inflation velocity upon membrane melting should be controlled by the salt concentration within the aqueous core, while a turn in the osmotic gradient should furthermore allow the reversible process of capsule deflation. Therefore, it should be possible to build either microvalves and micropumps, while their intended action of either pumping or valving is determined by their state of expansion and the direction of the osmotic pressure gradient.. Microballoons of approximately 300 µm in diameter were formed via droplet-based microfluidics from double-emulsion templates (w/o/w). The elastomeric capsule membrane was formed by photo-crosslinking of methacrylate (MA) functionalized oligo(ε-caprolactone) precursors (≈ 3.8 MA-arms, Mn ≈ 12000 g mol-1) within the organic medium layer (o) via UV-exposure after droplet-formation. After removal of the toluene/chloroform mixture by slow extraction via the continuous aqueous phase, the capsules solidified under the development of a characteristic "mushroom"-like shape at specific experimental conditions (e.g. λ = 308 nm, 57 mJ·s-1·cm-2, 16 min). It could be furthermore shown that in dependency to the process parameters: oligomer concentration and curing-time also spherical capsules were accessible. Long curing-times and high oligomer concentrations at a fixed light-intensity favored the formation of "mushroom"-like capsules, whereas the contrary led to spherical shaped capsules. A comparative study on thin polymer network films of same composition and equal treatment proved a correlation between the film's crosslink density and their contraction capability, while stronger crosslinked polymer networks showed a stronger contraction after solvent removal. In combination with observations during capsule solidification via light-microscopy, where a continuous shaping from almost spherical crosslinked templates to "mushroom"-shaped and solidified capsules was stated, the following mechanism was proposed. In case of low oligomer contents and short curing-times, the contraction of the capsule shell during solvent removal is strongly diminished due to a low degree of crosslinking. Therefore, the solidifying shell could freely collapse onto the aqueous core. In the other case, high oligomer concentrations and long curing-times will favor the formation of highly crosslinked capsule membranes with a strong contraction capability. Due to an observed decentered location of the aqueous core within the swollen polymer network, an uneven radial stress along the capsule's circumference is exerted to the incompressible core. This lead to an uneven contraction during solvent removal and a directed flow of the core fluid into the direction of the minimal stress vector. In consequence, the initially thicker spherical cap contracts, whereas the opposing thinner spherical cap get stretched. The "mushroom"-shape over some advantages over their spherical shaped counterparts, why they were selected for the further experiments. Besides the necessity of a high density of crosslinking for the purpose of extraordinary elasticity and toughness, the form-anisotropy promotes a faster microballoon expandability due to a partial reduction of the membrane thickness. Additionally, pre-stretched regions of thin thickness might provide a better resistance against inflation pressure than spherical but non-stretched capsules of equal membrane thickness. The resulting "mushroom"-shaped microcapsules exhibited a melting point of Tm ≈ 50 - 60 °C and a degree of crystallinity of Xc ≈ 29 - 38 % depending on the membrane thickness and internal salt content, which is slightly lower than for the non-crosslinked oligomer and reasoned by a limited chain mobility upon crosslinking. Nonetheless, the melting transition of the polymer network was associated with a strong drop in its mechanical stiffness, which was shown to have a strong influence on the osmotic driven expansion of the microcapsules. Capsules that were subjected to osmotic pressures between 1.5 and 4.7 MPa did not expand if the temperature was well below the melting point of the capsule's membrane, i.e. at room temperature. In contrast, a continuous expansion, while approaching asymptotically to a final capsule size, was observed if the temperature exceeded the melting point, i.e. 60 °C. Microballoons, which were kept for 56 days at ∆Π = 1.5 MPa and room temperature, did not change significantly in diameter, why the impact of the mechanical stiffness on the expansion behavior is considered to be the greater than the influence of the shell permeability. The time-resolved expansion behavior of the microballoons above their Tm was subsequently modeled, using difusion equations that were corrected for shape anisotropy and elastic restoring forces. A shape-related and expansion dependent pre-factor was used to dynamically address the influence of the shell thickness differences along the circumference on the inflation velocity, whereas the microballoon's elastic contraction upon inflation was rendered by the inclusion of a hyperelastic constitutive model. An important finding resulting from this model was the pronounced increase in inflation velocity compared to hypothetical capsules with a homogeneous shell thickness, which stresses the benefit of employing shape anisotropic balloon-like capsules in this study. Furthermore, the model was able to predict the finite expandability on basis of entropy-elastic recovery forces and strain-hardening effects. A comparison of six different microballoons with different shell thicknesses and internal salt contents showed the linear relationship between the volumetric expansion, the shell thickness and the applied osmotic pressure, as represented by the model. As the proposed model facilitates the prediction of the expansion kinetics depending on the membranes mechanical and diffusional characteristics, it might be a screening tool for future material selections. In course of the microballoon expansion process, capsules of intermediate diameters could be isolated by recrystallization of the membrane, which is mainly caused by a restoration of the membrane's mechanical stiffness and is otherwise difficult to achieve with other stimuli-sensitive systems. The capsule's crystallinity of intermediate expansion states was nearly unchanged, whereas the lamellar crystal size tends to decreased with the expansion ratio. Therefore, it was assumed that the elastic modulus was only minimally altered and might increased due to the networks segment-chain extension. In addition to the volume increase achieved by inflation, a turn in the osmotic gradient also facilitated the reversible deflation, which was shown in inflation/deflation cycles. These both characteristics of the introduced microballoons are important parameter regarding the realization of micropumps and microvalves. The fixation of expanded microcapsules via recrystallization enabled the storage of entropy-elastic strain-energy, which could be utilized for pumping actions in non-aqueous media. Here, the pumping velocity depended on both, the type of surrounding medium and the applied temperature. Surrounding media that supported the fast transport of pumped liquid showed an accelerated deflation, while high temperatures further accelerate the pumping velocity. Very fast rejection of the incorporated payload was furthermore realized with pierced expanded microballoons, which were subjected to temperatures above their Tm. The possible fixation of intermediate particle sizes provide opportunities for vent constructions that allowed the precise adjustment of specific flow-rates and multiple valve openings and closings. A valve construction was realized by the insertion of a single or multiple microballoons in a microfluidic channel. A complete and a partial closing of the microballoon-valves was demonstrated as a function of the heating period. In this context, a difference between the inflation and deflation velocity was stated, summarizing slower expansion kinetics. Overall, microballoons, which presented both on-demand pumping and reversible valving by a temperature-triggered change in the capsule's volume, might be suitable components that help to design fully integrated LOC devices, due to the implementation of the control switch and controllable inflation/deflation kinetics. In comparison to other state of the art stimuli-sensitive materials, one has to highlight the microballoons capability of stabilizing almost continuously intermediate capsule sizes by simple recrystallization of the microballoon's membrane. N2 - Funktionsmaterialien, auch "Smart Materials" genannt, werden durch ihre Fähigkeit, durch die gezielte Interaktion mit seiner Umgebung eine gewünschte Aufgabe zu erfüllen, beschrieben. Aufgrund dieser Funktionsintegration sind solche Materialien vor allem in Bereichen, in denen die zunehmende Mikronisierung von Bauteilen benötigt wird, von gesteigerten Interesse. Moderne Fertigungsverfahren (z..B. Mikrofluidik) und die Verfügbarkeit verschiedenster Funktionsmaterialien (z.B. Formgedächtnismaterialien) ermöglichen heutzutage die Herstellung partikelbasierter Schaltkomponenten. In diese Kategorie fallen unter anderem Mikropumpen und Mikroventile, deren grundsätzliche Funktion die aktive Steuerung von Flüssigkeitsströmen ist. Ein Ansatz zur Realisierung solcher Mikroschalter, der von dieser Arbeit verfolgt wurde, basiert auf wassergefüllten Mikroballons mit einem integrierten stimuli-sensitiven Schaltelement, welche unter dem Einfluss einer konstanten Antriebskraft eine Gröÿenänderung erfahren. Das Schaltmotiv als kontrollierende Instanz entscheidet dabei über die Auswirkung der einwirkenden Kraft auf die Gröÿenänderung durch ihren Einfluss auf einen oder mehrere Materialparameter. Dies ermöglicht die Ausnutzung nicht-variabler Analytbedingungen, wie zum Beispiel Ionenkonzentrationsunterschiede, zur Erzeugung von Kraftfeldern, welche eine Expansion der Mikroballons durch Osmose hervorrufen. Materialparameter welche mit osmotischen Volumenströmen assoziiert sind und diese steuern, sind im Speziellen die Permeabilität und die mechanische Steifigkeit der Kapselmembran. Durch eine Verringerung der Permeabilität kann die Expansionsgeschwindigkeit der Kapseln kinetisch gehemmt und zu langen Zeitperioden hin verschoben werden, wohingegen eine Verstärkung der mechanischen Steifigkeit die Expansion der Kapseln komplett unterbinden kann, indem der angelegte osmotische Druck unterhalb des zur Dehnung notwendigen Schwellendruck liegt.. In Verbindung mit Polymernetzwerken, welche aufgrund ihrer herausragenden Elastizität und Zähfestigkeit eine geeignete Materialklasse für die Herstellung der Kapselmembran darstellen, sind sowohl die Permeabilität als auch die mechanische Steifigkeit mit der Kristallinität des Materials assoziiert. Grundsätzlich kann festgestellt werden, dass die Permeabilität mit der Kristallinität sinkt, wohingegen die Steifigkeit mit ihr steigt. Die Expansion der Kapseln sollte demnach in Abhängigkeit der Kristallinität des Hüllmaterials ermöglicht oder unterbunden werden können, weswegen sich Kristallite als temperatur-sensitive Schaltmotive eignen sollten. Das zweite Designelement von reversibel expandierbaren Mikroballons wird durch die Kapselgeometrie beschrieben, welche sowohl einen wässrigen Kern als auch eine elastomere, semi-permeable Membran aufweist. Diese Kompartimentierung ermöglicht zum einen die Generierung eines osmotischen Druckgradientens zwischen Kapselkern und Umgebung und zum anderen die Erzeugung einer dünnen und umspannenden Polymermembran. Der osmotische Druck als auch die hiermit einhergehende Expansionsgeschwindigkeit nach Aufschmelzen der Kapselmembran sollte durch das Einstellen des Salzgehaltes des Partikelkerns möglich sein. Eine reversible Kapselschrumpfung nach erfolgter Expansion sollte durch Änderungen des äußeren Salzgehaltes zugänglich sein. Auf Basis dieses Konzepts sollten demnach reversibel schaltbare Mikropumpen und Mikroventile realisierbar sein, wobei die Art ihrer Funktion sowohl von ihrem Expansionszustand als auch von der Richtung des osmotischen Druckgradienten abhängt. Die templat-basierte Erzeugung von Mikroballons mit einem Durchmesser von ca. 300 µm erfolgte aus (w/o/w) Doppelemulsionströpfchen mittels Mikrofluidik. Die elastomere Kapselmembran wurde durch Photovernetzung von Methacrylat funktionalisierten oligo(ϵ-caprolacton) Vorläufern (≈ 3.8 MA-Arme, Mn ≈ 12000 g mol-1) aus der organischen Phase (o) und nach Abschluss der Tröpfchenformierung erzeugt. Nach Verfestigung der Kapselmembran durch langsames extrahieren des Lösungsmittelgemisches (Toluol/Chloroform) über die kontinuierliche wässrige Phase, wurden unter bestimmten Reaktionsbedingungen während der Photovernetzung (e.g. λ = 308 nm, 57 mJ·s-1·cm-2, 16 min) formanisotrope "pilzförmige" Mikrokapseln erhalten. Es wurde festgestellt, dass über die Syntheseparameter der Oligomerkonzentration und Belichtungszeit, die Formgebung zwischen kugelförmigen und "pilzförmigen" Kapseln gesteuert werden konnte. Im Fall von niedrigen Oligomerkonzentrationen und kurzen Belichtungszeiten wurden kugelförmige Mikrokapseln und ansonsten "pilzförmige" Kapseln erzeugt. In einer vergleichenden Studie an dünnen Polymernetzwerkfilmen gleicher Zusammensetzung und Behandlung konnte ein Zusammenhang zwischen den beiden Syntheseparametern und der Kontraktilität der Filme bestätigt werden, wobei im Falle höherer Oligomerkonzentrationen und längeren Belichtungszeiten eine stärkere Kontraktion der Filme nach Abdampfen des Lösungsmittelgemisches beobachtet werden konnte. Zusammen mit Beobachtungen eines kontinuierlichen Ausprägens der "Pilzform" von initial annähernd kugelförmigen Kapseln im Laufe des Verfestigungsprozesses mittels Lichtmikroskopie wird folgender Mechanismus der Formausprägung vorgeschlagen. Kapseln mit niedriger Vernetzungsdichte zeigen nur eine geringe Kontraktilität, wodurch das Polymernetzwerk nach Extraktion des Lösungsmittelgemisches frei auf der Kernoberfläche kollabieren kann. Stark vernetzte Kapseln weisen hingegen eine sehr starke Schrumpfung infolge des Lösungsmittelverlustes auf. Aufgrund der nicht mittigen Positionierung des wässrigen Kerns mit Abschluss der Tröpfchenbildung und der darauf ausgebildeten inhomogenen Schichtdickenverteilung ergeben sich unterschiedlich starke radiale Spannungsunterschiede entlang der Membran. Bereiche großer Materialstärke kontrahieren infolge stärker und sorgen für eine Verformung des inkompressiblen wässrigen Kerns in Richtung dünnerer Membransegmente, welche daraufhin gedehnt werden. Nach Abschluss der Membranverfestigung liegen demnach entspannte und stark vorgedehnte Membransegmente vor, die aufgrund der Kristallisation konserviert werden. Die "Pilzform" bietet hinsichtlich der Expansionseigenschaften der Mikroballons einige Vorteile gegenüber ihrem kugelförmigen Pendant, weswegen diese für die weiteren Experimente verwendet wurden. Neben den Anforderung hoher Vernetzungsdichten zum Zwecke der geforderten Elastizität, wird durch die Formanisotropie und der damit verbundenen Schichtdickenunterschiede die Expansionsgeschwindigkeit der Kapseln gesteigert. Weiterhin könnte die Vorstreckung der dünnen Membranschichten eine zusätzliche Stabilität gegenüber dem angelegten osmotischen Drucks aufweisen und somit ein ungewolltes Expandieren unterhalb der Schmelztemperatur erschweren. Die resultierenden "pilzförmigen" Mikroballons wiesen je nach eingestellter Schichtdicke und innerer Salzkonzentration, einen Schmelzpunkt von Tm ≈ 50 - 60 °C und einen Kristallisationsgrad von Xc ≈ 29 - 38 % auf, welche verglichen mit dem unvernetzten PCL Homopolymer geringfügig kleiner waren. Dies liegt zum einen an der erhöhten Anzahl von Kettenenden und zum anderen an der eingeschränkten Kettenmobilität infolge der Oligomervernetzung. Es konnte jedoch weiterhin eine starke Verringerung der mechanischen Steifigkeit nach dem Überschreiten der Schmelztemperatur beobachtet werden. Der große Einfluss der Temperatur auf die Expansion der Mikroballons konnte für mehrere Kapseln bestätigt werden. Kapseln welche einem osmotischen Druck von 1.5 bis 4.7 MPa ausgesetzt waren zeigten keine Größenveränderung bei Raumtemperatur, d.h. weit unterhalb der Schmelztemperatur. Im Gegensatz hierzu wurde eine starke Volumenzunahme aller Kapseln nach dem Überschreiten der Schmelztemperatur, bei 60 °C festgestellt. Mikroballons welche für 56 Tage einem osmotischen Druck von 1.5 MPa bei Raumtemperatur ausgesetzt waren zeigten keine signifikanten Volumenänderungen, weswegen insbesondere der Effekt der mechanischen Erweichung ausschlaggebend für das Schaltprinzip gemacht werden kann. Das zeitaufgelöste Expansionsverhalten der Mikroballons oberhalb ihres Schmelzpunktes wurde daraufhin unter Verwendung von Diffusionsgleichungen, welche für die Formanisotropie und elastische Rückstellkräfte korrigiert wurden, modelliert. Ein formabhängiger Vorfaktor, der die Expansionsgeschwindigkeit in Abhängigkeit der Schichtdickenunterschiede und des Expansionszustandes beschreibt, wurde ebenso eingeführt wie ein Term zur Beschreibung der mechanischen Rückstellkräfte auf Basis eines hyperelastischen Materialmodells. Das Model ermöglichte zum einen eine Beschreibung der endlichen Expandierfähigkeit aufgrund entropie-elastischer Rückstellkräfte sowie aufgrund von Kaltverfestigungen, und zum anderen eine deutliche Beschleunigung des Expandiervorganges aufgrund der Kapselanisotropie. Der Vergleich sechs unterschiedlicher Kapseln mit unterschiedlichen Schichtdicken und inneren Salzgehalten zeigte zudem, in Übereinstimmung mit dem Modell, eine lineare Abhängigkeit von Schichtdicke, osmotischen Druck und der Volumenzunahme. Die mit dem Modell einhergehende Vorhersagemöglichkeit der Expansionskinetik hinsichtlich der mechanischen und diffusionsbedingten Materialcharakteristika stellen somit möglicherweise eine Hilfestellung dar, eine zukünftige Materialauswahl zu treffen. Weiterhin konnte gezeigt werden, dass durch Rekristallisation der Kapselmembran und der damit verbundenen Wiederherstellung der mechanischen Steifigkeit, intermediäre Kapselgrößen isoliert werden konnten, was nach besten Wissen des Standes-der-Technik andernfalls nur schwer zu erreichen ist. Ungeachtet des Expansionsgrades konnten nur geringe Änderungen der Kristallinität festgestellt werden, wohingegen die Kristallgröße mit zunehmender Expansion abnahm. Diesbezüglich wird angenommen dass der Elastizitätsmodulus nur geringfügigen Veränderungen unterliegt oder sogar aufgrund einer Kettenversteifung tendenziell zunimmt. Zusätzlich der Betrachtung einer Volumenzunahme, konnte durch die Änderung des Druckgradienten ebenfalls ein Schrumpfen der Kapseln erreicht werden. Die Reversibilität dieses Prozesses wurde in Expansions/Deflations-Zyklen bestätigt und ist eine wichtige Eigenschaft der Mikroballons hinsichtlich ihrer Verwendung als Mikropumpe und Mikroventil. Die Fixierung expandierter Mikrokapseln durch Rekristallisierung der Membran ermöglichte weiterhin eine Pumpfunktion in nicht-wässrigen Medien. Dabei konnte festgestellt werden, dass die Pumpleistung sowohl von dem umgebenden Medium als auch von der applizierten Temperatur abhingen. Medien, die einen schnellen Abtransport der freigesetzten Flüssigkeit ermöglichten, als auch hohe Temperaturen steigerten hierbei die Pumpleistung. Mikroballons mit einer sehr großen Auswurfleistung konnten durch das Einbringen einer Öffnung in die Membran erzeugt werden. Die Fixierung intermediärer Kapselgrößen ermöglichte Ventilkonstruktionen, welche eine präzise Flussrateneinstellung und ein vielfaches öffnen und Schließen des Ventils ermöglichte. Diese Konstruktionen wurden durch das Einbringen eines oder mehrerer Mikroballons realisiert. Ein teilweises und vollkommenes Schließen dieser Mikroballon-basierten Ventilen wurde mit einem periodischen Versuchsaufbau in Abhängigkeit der Heizperiode gezeigt. Dabei wurden unterschiedliche Expansions- und Deflationskinetiken mit einem schnelleren Schrumpfverhalten bestätigt. Zusammenfassend wurden Mikroballons entwickelt, welche sowohl eine "on-demand" Pumpfunktion als auch eine reversible Ventilfunktion aufweisen. Die Implementierung des Schaltmotives in die Partikelmembran sowie die kontrollierbaren Expansions/Deflationskinetiken machen die Mikroballons gegebenenfalls zu geeigneten Komponenten für hochintegrierbare LOC-Systeme. Im Vergleich zu anderen Stimuli-sensitiven Materialien ist die Möglichkeit der nahezu kontinuierlichen Stabilisierung von intermediärer Partikelgrößen hervorzuheben. Dieses Verhalten wird dabei durch Wechselspiel zwischen Materialeigenschaften und Kapselgeometrie erzeugt. KW - microcapsules KW - expansion KW - stimuli-sensitivity KW - microfluidics KW - polymer network KW - Mikrokapseln KW - expandierbar KW - Stimuli-Sensitivität KW - Mikrofluidik KW - Polymernetzwerk Y1 - 2023 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - EL-Ashker, Said A1 - Chaabene, Helmi A1 - Prieske, Olaf T1 - Maximal isokinetic elbow and knee flexor–extensor strength measures in combat sports athletes: the role of movement velocity and limb side JF - BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation N2 - Background Maximal isokinetic strength ratios of joint flexors and extensors are important parameters to indicate the level of muscular balance at the joint. Further, in combat sports athletes, upper and lower limb muscle strength is affected by the type of sport. Thus, this study aimed to examine the differences in maximal isokinetic strength of the flexors and extensors and the corresponding flexor–extensor strength ratios of the elbows and knees in combat sports athletes. Method Forty male participants (age = 22.3 ± 2.5 years) from four different combat sports (amateur boxing, taekwondo, karate, and judo; n = 10 per sport) were tested for eccentric peak torque of the elbow/knee flexors (EF/KF) and concentric peak torque of the elbow/knee extensors (EE/KE) at three different angular velocities (60, 120, and 180°/s) on the dominant and non-dominant side using an isokinetic device. Results Analyses revealed significant, large-sized group × velocity × limb interactions for EF, EE, and EF–EE ratio, KF, KE, and KF–KE ratio (p ≤ 0.03; 0.91 ≤ d ≤ 1.75). Post-hoc analyses indicated that amateur boxers displayed the largest EE strength values on the non-dominant side at ≤ 120°/s and the dominant side at ≥ 120°/s (p < 0.03; 1.21 ≤ d ≤ 1.59). The largest EF–EE strength ratios were observed on amateur boxers’ and judokas’ non-dominant side at ≥ 120°/s (p < 0.04; 1.36 ≤ d ≤ 2.44). Further, we found lower KF–KE strength measures in karate (p < 0.04; 1.12 ≤ d ≤ 6.22) and judo athletes (p ≤ 0.03; 1.60 ≤ d ≤ 5.31) particularly on the non-dominant side. Conclusions The present findings indicated combat sport-specific differences in maximal isokinetic strength measures of EF, EE, KF, and KE particularly in favor of amateur boxers on the non-dominant side. KW - Dynamometry KW - Martial arts KW - Hamstring-quadriceps ratio KW - Eccentric muscle action KW - Injury Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-022-00432-2 SN - 1758-2555 VL - 13 PB - Springer Nature CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yang, Jingdan A1 - Kim, Jae-Hyun A1 - Tuomainen, Outi A1 - Rattanasone, Nan Xu T1 - Bilingual Mandarin-English preschoolers’ spoken narrative skills and contributing factors BT - A remote online story-retell study JF - Frontiers in Psyhology N2 - This study examined the spoken narrative skills of a group of bilingual Mandarin–English speaking 3–6-year-olds (N = 25) in Australia, using a remote online story-retell task. Bilingual preschoolers are an understudied population, especially those who are speaking typologically distinct languages such as Mandarin and English which have fewer structural overlaps compared to language pairs that are typologically closer, reducing cross-linguistic positive transfer. We examined these preschoolers’ spoken narrative skills as measured by macrostructures (the global organization of a story) and microstructures (linguistic structures, e.g., total number of utterances, nouns, verbs, phrases, and modifiers) across and within each language, and how various factors such as age and language experiences contribute to individual variability. The results indicate that our bilingual preschoolers acquired spoken narrative skills similarly across their two languages, i.e., showing similar patterns of productivity for macrostructure and microstructure elements in both of their two languages. While chronological age was positively correlated with macrostructures in both languages (showing developmental effects), there were no significant correlations between measures of language experiences and the measures of spoken narrative skills (no effects for language input/output). The findings suggest that although these preschoolers acquire two typologically diverse languages in different learning environments, Mandarin at home with highly educated parents, and English at preschool, they displayed similar levels of oral narrative skills as far as these macro−/micro-structure measures are concerned. This study provides further evidence for the feasibility of remote online assessment of preschoolers’ narrative skills. KW - narrative skills KW - Mandarin-English bilinguals KW - preschoolers KW - macrostructure KW - microstructure Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.797602 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 13 PB - Frontiers Media SA CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Maaß, Ulrike A1 - Kühne, Franziska A1 - Heinze, Peter Eric A1 - Ay-Bryson, Destina Sevde A1 - Weck, Florian T1 - The concise measurement of clinical communication skills BT - Validation of a short scale JF - Frontiers in Psychiatry N2 - Objective: There is a lack of brief rating scales for the reliable assessment of psychotherapeutic skills, which do not require intensive rater training and/or a high level of expertise. Thus, the objective is to validate a 14-item version of the Clinical Communication Skills Scale (CCSS-S). Methods: Using a sample of N = 690 video-based ratings of role-plays with simulated patients, we calculated a confirmatory factor analysis and an exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM), assessed convergent validities, determined inter-rater reliabilities and compared these with those who were either psychology students, advanced psychotherapy trainees, or experts. Results: Correlations with other competence rating scales were high (rs > 0.86–0.89). The intraclass correlations ranged between moderate and good [ICC(2,2) = 0.65–0.80], with student raters yielding the lowest scores. The one-factor model only marginally replicated the data, but the internal consistencies were excellent (α = 0.91–95). The ESEM yielded a two-factor solution (Collaboration and Structuring and Exploration Skills). Conclusion: The CCSS-S is a brief and valid rating scale that reliably assesses basic communication skills, which is particularly useful for psychotherapy training using standardized role-plays. To ensure good inter-rater reliabilities, it is still advisable to employ raters with at least some clinical experience. Future studies should further investigate the one- or two-factor structure of the instrument. KW - standardized patient KW - treatment integrity KW - measurement KW - therapist competence KW - role-play KW - psychotherapy process Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.977324 SN - 1664-0640 VL - 13 PB - Frontiers CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kwarikunda, Diana A1 - Schiefele, Ulrich A1 - Muwonge, Charles Magoba A1 - Ssenyonga, Joseph T1 - Profiles of learners based on their cognitive and metacognitive learning strategy use: occurrence and relations with gender, intrinsic motivation, and perceived autonomy support JF - Humanities and Social Sciences Communications N2 - 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. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01322-1 SN - 2055-1045 VL - 9 PB - Springer Nature ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Timme, Sinika A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Englert, Chris A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - Tracking Self-Control – Task Performance and Pupil Size in a Go/No-Go Inhibition Task JF - Frontiers in Psychology N2 - 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. KW - self-control KW - response inhibition KW - psychophysiological KW - behavioral and self-report measures KW - pupil diameter Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.915016 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 13 PB - Frontiers CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kühne, Franziska A1 - Fauth, Henriette A1 - Destina Sevde, Ay-Bryson A1 - Visser, Leonie N.C. A1 - Weck, Florian T1 - Communicating the diagnosis of cancer or depression: Results of a randomized controlled online study using video vignettes JF - Cancer Medicine N2 - Background Communicating a diagnosis is highly important, yet complex, especially in the context of cancer and mental disorders. The aim was to explore the communication style of an oncologist vs. psychotherapist in an online study. Methods Patients (N = 136: 65 cancer, 71 depression) were randomly assigned to watch a standardized video vignette with one of two communication styles (empathic vs. unempathic). Outcome measures of affectivity, information recall, communication skills, empathy and trust were applied. Results Regardless of diagnosis, empathic communication was associated with the perception of a significantly more empathic (p < 0.001, η2partial = 0.08) and trustworthy practitioner (p = 0.014, η2partial = 0.04) with better communication skills (p = 0.013, η2partial = 0.05). Cancer patients reported a larger decrease in positive affect (p < 0.001, η2partial = 0.15) and a larger increase in negative affect (p < 0.001, η2partial = 0.14) from pre- to post-video than depressive patients. Highly relevant information was recalled better in both groups (p < 0.001, d = 0.61–1.06). Conclusions The results highlight the importance of empathy while communicating both a diagnosis of cancer and a mental disorder. Further research should focus on the communication of a mental disorder in association with cancer. KW - consultation KW - mental health KW - oncology KW - psycho-oncology KW - skills Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.4396 SN - 2045-7634 VL - 10 SP - 9012 EP - 9021 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken, New Jersey, USA ET - 24 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pietrek, Anou F. A1 - Kangas, Maria A1 - Kliegl, Reinhold A1 - Rapp, Michael A. A1 - Heinzel, Stephan A1 - Van der Kaap-Deeder, Jolene A1 - Heissel, Andreas T1 - Basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration in major depressive disorder JF - Frontiers in Psychiatry - Mood Disorders N2 - Basic psychological needs theory postulates that a social environment that satisfies individuals’ three basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness leads to optimal growth and well-being. On the other hand, the frustration of these needs is associated with ill-being and depressive symptoms foremost investigated in non-clinical samples; yet, there is a paucity of research on need frustration in clinical samples. Survey data were compared between adult individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD; n = 115; 48.69% female; 38.46 years, SD = 10.46) with those of a non-depressed comparison sample (n = 201; 53.23% female; 30.16 years, SD = 12.81). Need profiles were examined with a linear mixed model (LMM). Individuals with depression reported higher levels of frustration and lower levels of satisfaction in relation to the three basic psychological needs when compared to non-depressed adults. The difference between depressed and non-depressed groups was significantly larger for frustration than satisfaction regarding the needs for relatedness and competence. LMM correlation parameters confirmed the expected positive correlation between the three needs. This is the first study showing substantial differences in need-based experiences between depressed and non-depressed adults. The results confirm basic assumptions of the self-determination theory and have preliminary implications in tailoring therapy for depression. KW - basic need satisfaction and frustration KW - depressive symptoms KW - clinical sample KW - need profiles KW - social environment Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.962501 SN - 1664-0640 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Frontiers Media S.A. CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Liebe, Thomas A1 - Dordevic, Milos A1 - Kaufmann, Jörn A1 - Avetisyan, Araks A1 - Skalej, Martin A1 - Müller, Notger Germar T1 - Investigation of the functional pathogenesis of mild cognitive impairment by localisation-based locus coeruleus resting-state fMRI JF - Human Brain Mapping N2 - Dementia as one of the most prevalent diseases urges for a better understanding of the central mechanisms responsible for clinical symptoms, and necessitates improvement of actual diagnostic capabilities. The brainstem nucleus locus coeruleus (LC) is a promising target for early diagnosis because of its early structural alterations and its relationship to the functional disturbances in the patients. In this study, we applied our improved method of localisation-based LC resting-state fMRI to investigate the differences in central sensory signal processing when comparing functional connectivity (fc) of a patient group with mild cognitive impairment (MCI, n = 28) and an age-matched healthy control group (n = 29). MCI and control participants could be differentiated in their Mini-Mental-State-Examination (MMSE) scores (p < .001) and LC intensity ratio (p = .010). In the fMRI, LC fc to anterior cingulate cortex (FDR p < .001) and left anterior insula (FDR p = .012) was elevated, and LC fc to right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ, FDR p = .012) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC, FDR p = .021) was decreased in the patient group. Importantly, LC to rTPJ connectivity was also positively correlated to MMSE scores in MCI patients (p = .017). Furthermore, we found a hyperactivation of the left-insula salience network in the MCI patients. Our results and our proposed disease model shed new light on the functional pathogenesis of MCI by directing to attentional network disturbances, which could aid new therapeutic strategies and provide a marker for diagnosis and prediction of disease progression. KW - attention KW - locus coeruleus KW - mild cognitive impairment KW - resting-state fMRI Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.26039 SN - 1097-0193 VL - 43 SP - 5630 EP - 5642 PB - Wiley CY - New York, NY, USA ET - 18 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Dehnen, Elias T1 - Juridifying Bolsonaro’s mass deforestation policies in Brazil through the International Criminal Court BT - Chances and Challenges T2 - Staat, Recht und Politik – Forschungs- und Diskussionspapiere T2 - State, Law, and Politics — Research and Discussion Papers N2 - Under Brazil's ex-president Bolsonaro, deforestation of the Amazon increased dramatically. An Austrian NGO filed a complaint to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Bolsonaro in October 2021, accusing him of crimes against humanity against the backdrop of his involvement in environmental destruction. This paper deals with the question of whether this initi-ative constitutes a promising means of juridification to mitigate conflicts revolving around mass deforestation in Brazil. It thematizes attempts to juridify environmental destruction in international criminal law and examines the Climate Fund Case at the Brazilian Supreme Court. Finally, emerging problems and arguments in favour of starting preliminary examinations at the ICC against Bolsonaro are illuminated. This paper provides arguments as to why the initiative might be a promising undertaking, even though it is unlikely that Bolsonaro will be arrested. N2 - In der Amtszeit des brasilianischen Ex-Präsidenten Bolsonaro nahm die Abholzung des Amazonasgebiets drastisch zu. Eine österreichi-sche NGO reichte im Oktober 2021 beim Anklä-ger des Internationalen Strafgerichtshofs (IStGH) eine Beschwerde gegen Bolsonaro ein, die seine Abholzungspolitik als Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit einstuft. Der Beitrag behandelt die Frage, ob die Initiative ein vielversprechen-des Mittel der Verrechtlichung darstellt, um Kon-flikte rund um die Massenabholzung des Amazo-nas zu entschärfen. Dafür werden Versuche be-leuchtet, Umweltzerstörung im internationalen Strafrecht zu verrechtlichen. Zudem wird der Klimafonds-Fall vor dem Obersten Gerichtshof Brasiliens vorgestellt. Abschließend werden Probleme und Argumente für die Einleitung von Voruntersuchungen gegen Bolsonaro vor dem IStGH diskutiert. Der Beitrag liefert Argumente, weshalb die Initiative erfolgreich sein könnte, obgleich es unwahrscheinlich ist, dass Bolsonaro verhaftet wird. T3 - Staat, Recht und Politik – Forschungs- und Diskussionspapiere = State, Law, and Politics - Research and Discussion Papers - 14 Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-581742 SN - 2509-6974 IS - 14 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ziegler, Joceline A1 - Pfitzner, Bjarne A1 - Schulz, Heinrich A1 - Saalbach, Axel A1 - Arnrich, Bert T1 - Defending against Reconstruction Attacks through Differentially Private Federated Learning for Classification of Heterogeneous Chest X-ray Data JF - Sensors N2 - 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 Rényi 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. KW - federated learning KW - privacy and security KW - privacy attack KW - X-ray Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/s22145195 SN - 1424-8220 VL - 22 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Schweiz ET - 14 ER - TY - THES A1 - Kruse, Marlen T1 - Characterization of biomolecules and their interactions using electrically controllable DNA nanolevers N2 - In this work, binding interactions between biomolecules were analyzed by a technique that is based on electrically controllable DNA nanolevers. The technique was applied to virus-receptor interactions for the first time. As receptors, primarily peptides on DNA nanostructures and antibodies were utilized. The DNA nanostructures were integrated into the measurement technique and enabled the presentation of the peptides in a controllable geometrical order. The number of peptides could be varied to be compatible to the binding sites of the viral surface proteins. Influenza A virus served as a model system, on which the general measurability was demonstrated. Variations of the receptor peptide, the surface ligand density, the measurement temperature and the virus subtypes showed the sensitivity and applicability of the technology. Additionally, the immobilization of virus particles enabled the measurement of differences in oligovalent binding of DNA-peptide nanostructures to the viral proteins in their native environment. When the coronavirus pandemic broke out in 2020, work on binding interactions of a peptide from the hACE2 receptor and the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus revealed that oligovalent binding can be quantified in the switchSENSE technology. It could also be shown that small changes in the amino acid sequence of the spike protein resulted in complete loss of binding. Interactions of the peptide and inactivated virus material as well as pseudo virus particles could be measured. Additionally, the switchSENSE technology was utilized to rank six antibodies for their binding affinity towards the nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV-2 for the development of a rapid antigen test device. The technique was furthermore employed to show binding of a non-enveloped virus (adenovirus) and a virus-like particle (norovirus-like particle) to antibodies. Apart from binding interactions, the use of DNA origami levers with a length of around 50 nm enabled the switching of virus material. This proved that the technology is also able to size objects with a hydrodynamic diameter larger than 14 nm. A theoretical work on diffusion and reaction-limited binding interactions revealed that the technique and the chosen parameters enable the determination of binding rate constants in the reaction-limited regime. Overall, the applicability of the switchSENSE technique to virus-receptor binding interactions could be demonstrated on multiple examples. While there are challenges that remain, the setup enables the determination of affinities between viruses and receptors in their native environment. Especially the possibilities regarding the quantification of oligo- and multivalent binding interactions could be presented. N2 - In dieser Arbeit wurden Bindungsinteraktionen zwischen biologischen Molekülen mit Hilfe von elektrisch kontrollierbaren DNA-Nanohebeln untersucht. Die Technologie wurde zum ersten Mal auf Virus-Rezeptor Interaktionen angewendet. Als Rezeptoren wurden überwiegend Peptide und Antikörper untersucht. Die Peptide wurden auf vierarmigen DNA-Nanohebeln angeordnet. Ihre geometrische Anordnung entsprach der Anordnung der Rezeptorbindungsstellen der Proteine auf der Virusoberfläche. An Influenza A Viren wurde die Machbarkeit der Bindungsmessung zuerst demonstriert. Dabei konnte die Anwendbarkeit und Sensitivität der Technologie durch Variation der Peptide, der Ligandendichte auf der Sensoroberfläche, der Messtemperatur und der Virussubtypen gezeigt werden. Weiterhin wurde Virusmaterial auf der Sensoroberfläche immobilisiert und anschließend wurden quantitative Bindungsmessungen mit den oligovalenten DNA-Peptid-Strukturen durchgeführt. Dieser Versuchsaufbau ermöglichte die Messung der Bindungsstärke in Abhängigkeit der Anzahl der pro DNA-Struktur gekoppelten Peptide. Im Zuge des Ausbruchs der Coronavirus-Pandemie im Jahr 2020 wurden Bindungsinteraktionsmessungen zwischen einem Peptid aus dem hACE2-Rezeptor und SARS-CoV-2 Spike Proteinen durchgeführt. Auch hier konnten oligovalente Bindungseffekte quantifiziert werden. Außerdem wurde festgestellt, dass Veränderungen an der Aminosäuresequenz des SARS-CoV-2 Proteins starke Auswirkungen auf das Bindungsverhalten hatten. Auch Interaktionen zwischen dem Peptid und sowohl inaktiviertem Virusmaterial als auch Pseudoviruspartikeln wurden gemessen. Für die Entwicklung eines Antigenschnelltests wurden die Affinitäten von sechs Antikörpern an das Nucleocapsidprotein des SARS-CoV-2 bestimmt. Weiterhin konnte gezeigt werden, dass mit der Technologie auch die Bindung von unbehüllten Viren (am Beispiel von Adenoviren) und Virus-ähnlichen Partikeln (am Beispiel von Norovirus-ähnlichen Partikeln) an Antikörper vermessen werden kann. Neben Bindungsinteraktionen, wurden auch Größenbestimmungen mit Hilfe von DNA Origamis durchgeführt. Die Hebellänge von ca. 50 nm ermöglichte die elektrische Bewegung ("switching") von Virusmaterial. Es konnte so gezeigt werden, dass die Technologie es ermöglicht, Objekte mit einem hydrodynamischen Durchmesser von mehr als 14 nm zu bewegen. In einer theoretischen Betrachtung der Experimente konnte gezeigt werden, dass der Sensoraufbau und die verwendeten Parameter die Messung von Bindungsratenkonstanten in einem Reaktions-limitierten Bereich ermöglichen. Insgesamt konnte die Arbeit an vielen Beispielen zeigen, dass die switch-SENSE Technologie für die Messung von Virus-Rezeptor Interaktionen geeignet ist. Während es weiterhin Herausforderungen gibt, so ermöglicht der Aufbau doch die Bestimmung von Affinitäten zwischen Viren und Rezeptoren. Insbesondere die Möglichkeiten zur Quantifizierung von oligo- und multivalenten Bindungsinteraktionen konnten aufgezeigt werden. T2 - Charakterisierung von Biomolekülen und deren Interaktionen mittels elektrisch kontrollierbarer DNA Nanohebel KW - biomolecule KW - binding interactions KW - switchSENSE KW - virus KW - receptor KW - Biomoleküle KW - Bindungsinteraktion KW - switchSENSE Technologie KW - Virus KW - Rezeptor Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-577384 ER - TY - THES A1 - Ehlert, Kristian T1 - Simulations of active galactic nuclei feedback with cosmic rays and magnetic fields N2 - The central gas in half of all galaxy clusters shows short cooling times. Assuming unimpeded cooling, this should lead to high star formation and mass cooling rates, which are not observed. Instead, it is believed that condensing gas is accreted by the central black hole that powers an active galactic nuclei jet, which heats the cluster. The detailed heating mechanism remains uncertain. A promising mechanism invokes cosmic ray protons that scatter on self-generated magnetic fluctuations, i.e. Alfvén waves. Continuous damping of Alfvén waves provides heat to the intracluster medium. Previous work has found steady state solutions for a large sample of clusters where cooling is balanced by Alfvénic wave heating. To verify modeling assumptions, we set out to study cosmic ray injection in three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical simulations of jet feedback in an idealized cluster with the moving-mesh code arepo. We analyze the interaction of jet-inflated bubbles with the turbulent magnetized intracluster medium. Furthermore, jet dynamics and heating are closely linked to the largely unconstrained jet composition. Interactions of electrons with photons of the cosmic microwave background result in observational signatures that depend on the bubble content. Those recent observations provided evidence for underdense bubbles with a relativistic filling while adopting simplifying modeling assumptions for the bubbles. By reproducing the observations with our simulations, we confirm the validity of their modeling assumptions and as such, confirm the important finding of low-(momentum) density jets. In addition, the velocity and magnetic field structure of the intracluster medium have profound consequences for bubble evolution and heating processes. As velocity and magnetic fields are physically coupled, we demonstrate that numerical simulations can help link and thereby constrain their respective observables. Finally, we implement the currently preferred accretion model, cold accretion, into the moving-mesh code arepo and study feedback by light jets in a radiatively cooling magnetized cluster. While self-regulation is attained independently of accretion model, jet density and feedback efficiencies, we find that in order to reproduce observed cold gas morphology light jets are preferred. N2 - Das zentrale Gas in der Hälfte aller Galaxienhaufen weist kurze Kühlzeiten auf. Dies sollte zu hohen Sternentstehungs- und Massenkühlungsraten führen. Bei ungehinderter Kühlung würden jedoch viel mehr Sterne entstehen als beobachtet. Stattdessen wird vermutet, dass das kondensierende Gas durch das zentrale Schwarze Loch akkretiert wird, das einen aktiven Galaxienkerne antreibt, der den Haufen heizt. Der genaue Heizmechanismus ist noch unklar. Ein vielversprechender Mechanismus geht von Protonen der kosmischen Strahlung aus, die an selbst erzeugten magnetischen Fluktuationen, d.h. Alfvénwellen, streuen. Die kontinuierliche Dämpfung der Alfvénwellen heizt das Gas. Für eine große Anzahl von Galaxienhaufen wurden stationäre Lösungen gefunden, bei denen Kühlen durch Alfvénwellenheizen ausgeglichen wird. Um die Modellierungsannahmen zu überprüfen, untersuchen wir die CR-Injektion in magnetohydrodynamischen 3D-Simulationen von Jets in einem idealisierten Cluster mit dem Code arepo. Wir simulieren die Entstehung und Entwicklung von Gasblasen durch energetische Ausflüsse in einer turbulenten, magnetische Atmosphäre. Darüberhinaus ist die Dynamik des Jets und das Heizen eng verknüpft mit der soweit unklaren Zusammensetzung des Jets. DieWechselwirkung von Elektronen mit dem kosmischen Mikrowellenhintergrund führt zu beobachtbaren Signaturen, die vom Inhalt der Blasen abhängen. Diese jüngsten Beobachtungen lieferten Beweise für unterdichte Blasen mit einer relativistischen Füllung, wobei vereinfachende Modellannahmen für die Blasen angenommen wurden. Indem wir die Beobachtungen mit unseren Simulationen reproduzieren, bestätigen wir die Gültigkeit ihrer Modellannahmen und damit die wichtige Erkenntnis, dass Jets eine niedrige (Impuls-)Dichte haben. Außerdem haben die Geschwindigkeits- und Magnetfeldstruktur der Haufenatmosphäre tiefgreifende Auswirkungen auf die Blasenentwicklung und Heizprozesse. Da Geschwindigkeits- und Magnetfelder physikalisch gekoppelt sind, zeigen wir, dass numerische Simulationen dazu beitragen können, die jeweiligen Beobachtungsdaten in direkte Verbindung zu setzen, um sie dadurch besser abschätzen zu können. Schließlich implementieren wir das derzeit bevorzugte Akkretionsmodell, cold accretion, in arepo und untersuchen die Rückkopplung durch leichte Jets in einem explizit kühlenden magnetisierten Haufen. Während die Selbstregulierung unabhängig vom Akkretionsmodell, der Jetdichte und der Jeteffizienz erreicht wird, ist die Morphologie des kalten Gases bei Simulationen mit leichten Jets Beobachtungen am ähnlichsten. T2 - Simulationen vom Heizen von Galaxienhaufen durch aktive Galaxienkerne mit kosmischer Strahlung und Magnetfeldern KW - galaxy clusters KW - intracluster medium KW - active galactic nuclei KW - magnetohydrodynamics KW - cosmic rays KW - Galaxienhaufen KW - aktive Galaxienkerne KW - Magnetohydrodynamik KW - kosmische Strahlung Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-578168 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Herold, Fabian A1 - Theobald, Paula A1 - Gronwald, Thomas A1 - Rapp, Michael A. A1 - Müller, Notger Germar T1 - Going digital – a commentary on the terminology used at the intersection of physical activity and digital health JF - European review of aging and physical activity N2 - In recent years digital technologies have become a major means for providing health-related services and this trend was strongly reinforced by the current Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. As it is well-known that regular physical activity has positive effects on individual physical and mental health and thus is an important prerequisite for healthy aging, digital technologies are also increasingly used to promote unstructured and structured forms of physical activity. However, in the course of this development, several terms (e.g., Digital Health, Electronic Health, Mobile Health, Telehealth, Telemedicine, and Telerehabilitation) have been introduced to refer to the application of digital technologies to provide health-related services such as physical interventions. Unfortunately, the above-mentioned terms are often used in several different ways, but also relatively interchangeably. Given that ambiguous terminology is a major source of difficulty in scientific communication which can impede the progress of theoretical and empirical research, this article aims to make the reader aware of the subtle differences between the relevant terms which are applied at the intersection of physical activity and Digital Health and to provide state-of-art definitions for them. KW - Digital Health KW - Electronic Health KW - Mobile Health KW - Telehealth KW - Telemedicine KW - Physical activity KW - Physical training KW - Aging Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s11556-022-00296-y SN - 1861-6909 VL - 19 PB - Springer CY - Berlin ; Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lindner, Nadja A1 - Moeller, Korbinian A1 - Hildebrandt, Frauke A1 - Hasselhorn, Marcus A1 - Lonnemann, Jan T1 - Children's use of egocentric reference frames in spatial language is related to their numerical magnitude understanding JF - Frontiers in Psychology N2 - Numerical magnitude information is assumed to be spatially represented in the form of a mental number line defined with respect to a body-centred, egocentric frame of reference. In this context, spatial language skills such as mastery of verbal descriptions of spatial position (e.g., in front of, behind, to the right/left) have been proposed to be relevant for grasping spatial relations between numerical magnitudes on the mental number line. We examined 4- to 5-year-old’s spatial language skills in tasks that allow responses in egocentric and allocentric frames of reference, as well as their relative understanding of numerical magnitude (assessed by a number word comparison task). In addition, we evaluated influences of children’s absolute understanding of numerical magnitude assessed by their number word comprehension (montring different numbers using their fingers) and of their knowledge on numerical sequences (determining predecessors and successors as well as identifying missing dice patterns of a series). Results indicated that when considering responses that corresponded to the egocentric perspective, children’s spatial language was associated significantly with their relative numerical magnitude understanding, even after controlling for covariates, such as children’s SES, mental rotation skills, and also absolute magnitude understanding or knowledge on numerical sequences. This suggests that the use of egocentric reference frames in spatial language may facilitate spatial representation of numbers along a mental number line and thus seem important for preschoolers’ relative understanding of numerical magnitude. KW - spatial language KW - frames of reference KW - numerical development KW - mental number line KW - preschool children Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.943191 SN - 1664-1078 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - Frontiers CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wilbert, Jürgen A1 - Börnert-Ringleb, Moritz A1 - Lüke, Timo T1 - Statistical Power of Piecewise Regression Analyses of Single-Case Experimental Studies Addressing Behavior Problems JF - Frontiers in Education N2 - In intervention research, single-case experimental designs are an important way to gain insights into the causes of individual changes that yield high internal validity. They are commonly applied to examine the effectiveness of classroom-based interventions to reduce problem behavior in schools. At the same time, there is no consensus on good design characteristics of single-case experimental designs when dealing with behavioral problems in schools. Moreover, specific challenges arise concerning appropriate approaches to analyzing behavioral data. Our study addresses the interplay between the test power of piecewise regression analysis and important design specifications of single-case research designs. Here, we focus on the influence of the following specifications of single-case research designs: number of measurement times, the initial frequency of the behavior, intervention effect, and data trend. We conducted a Monte-Carlo study. First, simulated datasets were created with specific design conditions based on reviews of published single-case intervention studies. Following, data were analyzed using piecewise Poisson-regression models, and the influence of specific design specifications on the test power was investigated. Our results indicate that piecewise regressions have a high potential of adequately identifying the effects of interventions for single-case studies. At the same time, test power is strongly related to the specific design specifications of the single-case study: Few measurement times, especially in phase A, and low initial frequencies of the behavior make it impossible to detect even large intervention effects. Research designs with a high number of measurement times show robust power. The insights gained are highly relevant for researchers in the field, as decisions during the early stage of conceptualizing and planning single-case experimental design studies may impact the chance to identify an existing intervention effect during the research process correctly. KW - single-case design KW - single case analysis KW - Monte-Carlo simulation KW - behavior problems KW - special education KW - research design KW - single-case experimental design Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.917944 SN - 2504-284X VL - 7 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ramirez-Campillo, Rodrigo A1 - Moran, Jason A1 - Oliver, Jonathan L. A1 - Pedley, Jason S. A1 - Lloyd, Rhodri S. A1 - Granacher, Urs T1 - Programming Plyometric-Jump Training in Soccer: A Review JF - Sports N2 - The aim of this review was to describe and summarize the scientific literature on programming parameters related to jump or plyometric training in male and female soccer players of different ages and fitness levels. A literature search was conducted in the electronic databases PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus using keywords related to the main topic of this study (e.g., “ballistic” and “plyometric”). According to the PICOS framework, the population for the review was restricted to soccer players, involved in jump or plyometric training. Among 7556 identified studies, 90 were eligible for inclusion. Only 12 studies were found for females. Most studies (n = 52) were conducted with youth male players. Moreover, only 35 studies determined the effectiveness of a given jump training programming factor. Based on the limited available research, it seems that a dose of 7 weeks (1–2 sessions per week), with ~80 jumps (specific of combined types) per session, using near-maximal or maximal intensity, with adequate recovery between repetitions (<15 s), sets (≥30 s) and sessions (≥24–48 h), using progressive overload and taper strategies, using appropriate surfaces (e.g., grass), and applied in a well-rested state, when combined with other training methods, would increase the outcome of effective and safe plyometric-jump training interventions aimed at improving soccer players physical fitness. In conclusion, jump training is an effective and easy-to-administer training approach for youth, adult, male and female soccer players. However, optimal programming for plyometric-jump training in soccer is yet to be determined in future research. KW - human physical conditioning KW - exercise KW - resistance training KW - muscle strength KW - plyometric exercise KW - musculoskeletal and neural physiological phenomena KW - movement KW - sports KW - football KW - youth sport Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/sports10060094 SN - 2075-4663 VL - 10 SP - 1 EP - 20 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Schweiz ET - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hecker, Pascal A1 - Steckhan, Nico A1 - Eyben, Florian A1 - Schuller, Björn Wolfgang A1 - Arnrich, Bert T1 - Voice Analysis for Neurological Disorder Recognition – A Systematic Review and Perspective on Emerging Trends JF - Frontiers in Digital Health N2 - Quantifying neurological disorders from voice is a rapidly growing field of research and holds promise for unobtrusive and large-scale disorder monitoring. The data recording setup and data analysis pipelines are both crucial aspects to effectively obtain relevant information from participants. Therefore, we performed a systematic review to provide a high-level overview of practices across various neurological disorders and highlight emerging trends. PRISMA-based literature searches were conducted through PubMed, Web of Science, and IEEE Xplore to identify publications in which original (i.e., newly recorded) datasets were collected. Disorders of interest were psychiatric as well as neurodegenerative disorders, such as bipolar disorder, depression, and stress, as well as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's disease, and speech impairments (aphasia, dysarthria, and dysphonia). Of the 43 retrieved studies, Parkinson's disease is represented most prominently with 19 discovered datasets. Free speech and read speech tasks are most commonly used across disorders. Besides popular feature extraction toolkits, many studies utilise custom-built feature sets. Correlations of acoustic features with psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders are presented. In terms of analysis, statistical analysis for significance of individual features is commonly used, as well as predictive modeling approaches, especially with support vector machines and a small number of artificial neural networks. An emerging trend and recommendation for future studies is to collect data in everyday life to facilitate longitudinal data collection and to capture the behavior of participants more naturally. Another emerging trend is to record additional modalities to voice, which can potentially increase analytical performance. KW - neurological disorders KW - voice KW - speech KW - everyday life KW - multiple modalities KW - machine learning KW - disorder recognition Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2022.842301 SN - 2673-253X PB - Frontiers Media SA CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - THES A1 - Lepre, Enrico T1 - Nitrogen-doped carbonaceous materials for energy and catalysis N2 - Facing the environmental crisis, new technologies are needed to sustain our society. In this context, this thesis aims to describe the properties and applications of carbon-based sustainable materials. In particular, it reports the synthesis and characterization of a wide set of porous carbonaceous materials with high nitrogen content obtained from nucleobases. These materials are used as cathodes for Li-ion capacitors, and a major focus is put on the cathode preparation, highlighting the oxidation resistance of nucleobase-derived materials. Furthermore, their catalytic properties for acid/base and redox reactions are described, pointing to the role of nitrogen speciation on their surfaces. Finally, these materials are used as supports for highly dispersed nickel loading, activating the materials for carbon dioxide electroreduction. N2 - Angesichts der Umweltkrise werden neue Technologien benötigt, um unsere Gesellschaft zu erhalten. In diesem Zusammenhang zielt diese Arbeit darauf ab, die Eigenschaften und Anwendungen von nachhaltigen Materialien auf Kohlenstoffbasis zu untersuchen. Insbesondere wird über die Synthese und Charakterisierung eines breiten Spektrums poröser, kohlenstoffhaltiger Materialien berichtet, welche einen hohen Stickstoffgehalt, besitzen und aus Nukleobasen gewonnen werden. Diese Materialien werden als Kathoden für Li-Ionen-Kondensatoren verwendet, wobei der Schwerpunkt auf der Kathodenherstellung liegt und die Oxidationsbeständigkeit, der aus Nukleobasen gewonnenen Materialien, hervorgehoben wird. Darüber hinaus werden ihre katalytischen Eigenschaften für Säure/Base- und Redoxreaktionen beschrieben, wobei die Rolle der Speziierung des Stickstoffs auf ihren Oberflächen hervorgehoben wird. Schließlich werden diese Materialien als Träger für eine hochdisperse Beladung mit Nickel verwendet, wodurch die Materialien für die Kohlendioxid Elektroreduktion aktiviert werden. KW - heteroatom-doped carbons KW - heteroatom-dotierte Kohlenstoffe KW - porous materials KW - poröse Materialien KW - salt melt templating KW - Salzschmelze-Templating KW - heterogeneous catalysis KW - heterogene Katalyse KW - single-atom catalysis KW - Einzelatomkatalyse KW - Li-ion capacitor KW - Li-Ionen-Kondensator Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-577390 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ogunkola, Moses Olalekan A1 - Guiraudie-Capraz, Gaelle A1 - Féron, François A1 - Leimkühler, Silke T1 - The Human Mercaptopyruvate Sulfurtransferase TUM1 Is Involved in Moco Biosynthesis, Cytosolic tRNA Thiolation and Cellular Bioenergetics in Human Embryonic Kidney Cells JF - Biomolecules N2 - Sulfur is an important element that is incorporated into many biomolecules in humans. The incorporation and transfer of sulfur into biomolecules is, however, facilitated by a series of different sulfurtransferases. Among these sulfurtransferases is the human mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (MPST) also designated as tRNA thiouridine modification protein (TUM1). The role of the human TUM1 protein has been suggested in a wide range of physiological processes in the cell among which are but not limited to involvement in Molybdenum cofactor (Moco) biosynthesis, cytosolic tRNA thiolation and generation of H2S as signaling molecule both in mitochondria and the cytosol. Previous interaction studies showed that TUM1 interacts with the L-cysteine desulfurase NFS1 and the Molybdenum cofactor biosynthesis protein 3 (MOCS3). Here, we show the roles of TUM1 in human cells using CRISPR/Cas9 genetically modified Human Embryonic Kidney cells. Here, we show that TUM1 is involved in the sulfur transfer for Molybdenum cofactor synthesis and tRNA thiomodification by spectrophotometric measurement of the activity of sulfite oxidase and liquid chromatography quantification of the level of sulfur-modified tRNA. Further, we show that TUM1 has a role in hydrogen sulfide production and cellular bioenergetics. KW - Moco biosynthesis KW - sulfite oxidase KW - cytosolic tRNA thiolation KW - 5-methoxycarbonylmethyl-2-thiouridine KW - H2S biosynthesis KW - cellular bioenergetics Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/biom13010144 SN - 2218-273X VL - 13 SP - 1 EP - 23 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Schweiz ET - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Marggraf, Lara Christin A1 - Lindecke, Oliver A1 - Voigt, Christian C. A1 - Pētersons, Gunārs A1 - Voigt-Heucke, Silke Luise T1 - Nathusius’ bats, Pipistrellus nathusii, bypass mating opportunities of their own species, but respond to foraging heterospecifics on migratory transit flights JF - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution N2 - In late summer, migratory bats of the temperate zone face the challenge of accomplishing two energy-demanding tasks almost at the same time: migration and mating. Both require information and involve search efforts, such as localizing prey or finding potential mates. In non-migrating bat species, playback studies showed that listening to vocalizations of other bats, both con-and heterospecifics, may help a recipient bat to find foraging patches and mating sites. However, we are still unaware of the degree to which migrating bats depend on con-or heterospecific vocalizations for identifying potential feeding or mating opportunities during nightly transit flights. Here, we investigated the vocal responses of Nathusius’ pipistrelle bats, Pipistrellus nathusii, to simulated feeding and courtship aggregations at a coastal migration corridor. We presented migrating bats either feeding buzzes or courtship calls of their own or a heterospecific migratory species, the common noctule, Nyctalus noctula. We expected that during migratory transit flights, simulated feeding opportunities would be particularly attractive to bats, as well as simulated mating opportunities which may indicate suitable roosts for a stopover. However, we found that when compared to the natural silence of both pre-and post-playback phases, bats called indifferently during the playback of conspecific feeding sounds, whereas P. nathusii echolocation call activity increased during simulated feeding of N. noctula. In contrast, the call activity of P. nathusii decreased during the playback of conspecific courtship calls, while no response could be detected when heterospecific call types were broadcasted. Our results suggest that while on migratory transits, P. nathusii circumnavigate conspecific mating aggregations, possibly to save time or to reduce the risks associated with social interactions where aggression due to territoriality might be expected. This avoidance behavior could be a result of optimization strategies by P. nathusii when performing long-distance migratory flights, and it could also explain the lack of a response to simulated conspecific feeding. However, the observed increase of activity in response to simulated feeding of N. noctula, suggests that P. nathusii individuals may be eavesdropping on other aerial hawking insectivorous species during migration, especially if these occupy a slightly different foraging niche. KW - playback KW - phonotaxis KW - bats KW - acoustic communication KW - animal migration KW - eavesdropping KW - echolocation KW - Pipistrellus nathusii Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.908560 SN - 2296-701X SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Frontiers CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kiemel, Katrin A1 - Gurke, Marie A1 - Paraskevopoulou, Sofia A1 - Havenstein, Katja A1 - Weithoff, Guntram A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph T1 - Variation in heat shock protein 40 kDa relates to divergence in thermotolerance among cryptic rotifer species JF - Scientific Reports N2 - 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. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-27137-3 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 12 PB - Springer Nature CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Göldel, Julia Marlen A1 - Kamrath, Clemens A1 - Minden, Kirsten A1 - Wiegand, Susanna A1 - Lanzinger, Stefanie A1 - Sengler, Claudia A1 - Weihrauch-Blüher, Susann A1 - Holl, Reinhard A1 - Tittel, Sascha René A1 - Warschburger, Petra T1 - Access to Healthcare for Children and Adolescents with a Chronic Health Condition during the COVID-19 Pandemic: First Results from the KICK-COVID Study in Germany JF - Children N2 - This study examines the access to healthcare for children and adolescents with three common chronic diseases (type-1 diabetes (T1D), obesity, or juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)) within the 4th (Delta), 5th (Omicron), and beginning of the 6th (Omicron) wave (June 2021 until July 2022) of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany in a cross-sectional study using three national patient registries. A paper-and-pencil questionnaire was given to parents of pediatric patients (<21 years) during the routine check-ups. The questionnaire contains self-constructed items assessing the frequency of healthcare appointments and cancellations, remote healthcare, and satisfaction with healthcare. In total, 905 parents participated in the T1D-sample, 175 in the obesity-sample, and 786 in the JIA-sample. In general, satisfaction with healthcare (scale: 0–10; 10 reflecting the highest satisfaction) was quite high (median values: T1D 10, JIA 10, obesity 8.5). The proportion of children and adolescents with canceled appointments was relatively small (T1D 14.1%, JIA 11.1%, obesity 20%), with a median of 1 missed appointment, respectively. Only a few parents (T1D 8.6%; obesity 13.1%; JIA 5%) reported obstacles regarding health services during the pandemic. To conclude, it seems that access to healthcare was largely preserved for children and adolescents with chronic health conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. KW - chronic health condition KW - children and adolescents KW - health care KW - COVID-19 pandemic KW - diabetes KW - rheumatic diseases KW - obesity Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/children10010010 SN - 2227-9067 VL - 10 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Schweiz ET - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heissel, Andreas A1 - Pietrek, Anou F. A1 - Kangas, Maria A1 - Van der Kaap-Deeder, Jolene A1 - Rapp, Michael A. T1 - The Mediating Role of Rumination in the Relation between Basic Psychological Need Frustration and Depressive Symptoms JF - Journal of Clinical Medicine N2 - Research within the framework of Basic Psychological Need Theory (BPNT) finds strong associations between basic need frustration and depressive symptoms. This study examined the role of rumination as an underlying mechanism in the association between basic psychological need frustration and depressive symptoms. A cross-sectional sample of N = 221 adults (55.2% female, mean age = 27.95, range = 18–62, SD = 10.51) completed measures assessing their level of basic psychological need frustration, rumination, and depressive symptoms. Correlational analyses and multiple mediation models were conducted. Brooding partially mediated the relation between need frustration and depressive symptoms. BPNT and Response Styles Theory are compatible and can further advance knowledge about depression vulnerabilities. KW - psychopathology KW - elf-determination theory KW - response styles theory KW - frustration KW - depressive disorder KW - emotional regulation KW - rumination Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12020395 SN - 2077-0383 VL - 12 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Schweiz ET - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Miklashevsky, Alex A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Lindemann, Oliver T1 - Spatial-numerical associations without a motor response? Grip force says ‘Yes’ JF - Acta Psychologica N2 - In numerical processing, the functional role of Spatial-Numerical Associations (SNAs, such as the association of smaller numbers with left space and larger numbers with right space, the Mental Number Line hypothesis) is debated. Most studies demonstrate SNAs with lateralized responses, and there is little evidence that SNAs appear when no response is required. We recorded passive holding grip forces in no-go trials during number processing. In Experiment 1, participants performed a surface numerical decision task (“Is it a number or a letter?”). In Experiment 2, we used a deeper semantic task (“Is this number larger or smaller than five?”). Despite instruction to keep their grip force constant, participants' spontaneous grip force changed in both experiments: Smaller numbers led to larger force increase in the left than in the right hand in the numerical decision task (500–700 ms after stimulus onset). In the semantic task, smaller numbers again led to larger force increase in the left hand, and larger numbers increased the right-hand holding force. This effect appeared earlier (180 ms) and lasted longer (until 580 ms after stimulus onset). This is the first demonstration of SNAs with passive holding force. Our result suggests that (1) explicit motor response is not a prerequisite for SNAs to appear, and (2) the timing and strength of SNAs are task-dependent. (216 words). KW - SNARC KW - Mental number line KW - Number processing KW - Embodied cognition KW - Grip force KW - Motor system Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103791 SN - 1873-6297 VL - 231 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Thonig, Richard A1 - Del Rio, Pablo A1 - Kiefer, Christoph A1 - Lazaro Touza, Lara A1 - Escribano, Gonzalo A1 - Lechon, Yolanda A1 - Spaeth, Leonhard A1 - Wolf, Ingo A1 - Lilliestam, Johan T1 - Does ideology influence the ambition level of climate and renewable energy policy? BT - Insights from four European countries JF - Energy sources, part B: economics, planning, and policy N2 - 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. KW - political ideology KW - climate policy KW - energy policy KW - europe KW - european KW - Union KW - renewable energy KW - flexibility Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/15567249.2020.1811806 SN - 1556-7249 SN - 1556-7257 VL - 16 IS - 1 SP - 4 EP - 22 PB - Taylor & Francis Group CY - Philadelphia ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Giraudier, Manon A1 - Ventura-Bort, Carlos A1 - Burger, Andreas M. A1 - Claes, Nathalie A1 - D'Agostini, Martina A1 - Fischer, Rico A1 - Franssen, Mathijs A1 - Kaess, Michael A1 - Koenig, Julian A1 - Liepelt, Roman A1 - Nieuwenhuis, Sander A1 - Sommer, Aldo A1 - Usichenko, Taras A1 - Van Diest, Ilse A1 - von Leupoldt, Andreas A1 - Warren, Christopher Michael A1 - Weymar, Mathias T1 - Evidence for a modulating effect of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) on salivary alpha-amylase as indirect noradrenergic marker: A pooled mega-analysis JF - Brain Stimulation N2 - Background Non-invasive transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) has received tremendous attention as a potential neuromodulator of cognitive and affective functions, which likely exerts its effects via activation of the locus coeruleus-noradrenaline (LC-NA) system. Reliable effects of taVNS on markers of LC-NA system activity, however, have not been demonstrated yet. Methods The aim of the present study was to overcome previous limitations by pooling raw data from a large sample of ten taVNS studies (371 healthy participants) that collected salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) as a potential marker of central NA release. Results While a meta-analytic approach using summary statistics did not yield any significant effects, linear mixed model analyses showed that afferent stimulation of the vagus nerve via taVNS increased sAA levels compared to sham stimulation (b = 0.16, SE = 0.05, p = 0.001). When considering potential confounders of sAA, we further replicated previous findings on the diurnal trajectory of sAA activity. Conclusion(s) Vagal activation via taVNS increases sAA release compared to sham stimulation, which likely substantiates the assumption that taVNS triggers NA release. Moreover, our results highlight the benefits of data pooling and data sharing in order to allow stronger conclusions in research. KW - Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation KW - tVNS KW - sAA KW - Noradrenaline KW - Biomarker KW - Data pooling Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2022.09.009 SN - 1876-4754 VL - 15 SP - 1378 EP - 1388 PB - Elsevier CY - New York, NY, USA ET - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wutzler, Bianca A1 - Hudson, Paul A1 - Thieken, Annegret T1 - Adaptation strategies of flood-damaged businesses in Germany JF - Frontiers in Water N2 - Flood risk management in Germany follows an integrative approach in which both private households and businesses can make an important contribution to reducing flood damage by implementing property-level adaptation measures. While the flood adaptation behavior of private households has already been widely researched, comparatively less attention has been paid to the adaptation strategies of businesses. However, their ability to cope with flood risk plays an important role in the social and economic development of a flood-prone region. Therefore, using quantitative survey data, this study aims to identify different strategies and adaptation drivers of 557 businesses damaged by a riverine flood in 2013 and 104 businesses damaged by pluvial or flash floods between 2014 and 2017. Our results indicate that a low perceived self-efficacy may be an important factor that can reduce the motivation of businesses to adapt to flood risk. Furthermore, property-owners tended to act more proactively than tenants. In addition, high experience with previous flood events and low perceived response costs could strengthen proactive adaptation behavior. These findings should be considered in business-tailored risk communication. KW - risk management KW - climate change adaptation KW - floods KW - disaster risk reduction KW - Germany KW - precaution KW - emergency management Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2022.932061 SN - 2624-9375 PB - Frontiers Media SA CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - THES A1 - Drobyshev, Evgenii T1 - Toxic or beneficial? What is the role of food-relevant selenium species selenoneine? T1 - Giftig oder nützlich? Welche Rolle spielt die lebensmittelrelevante Selenspezies Selenonein? N2 - Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element that is ubiquitously present in the environment in small concentrations. Essential functions of Se in the human body are manifested through the wide range of proteins, containing selenocysteine as their active center. Such proteins are called selenoproteins which are found in multiple physiological processes like antioxidative defense and the regulation of thyroid hormone functions. Therefore, Se deficiency is known to cause a broad spectrum of physiological impairments, especially in endemic regions with low Se content. Nevertheless, being an essential trace element, Se could exhibit toxic effects, if its intake exceeds tolerable levels. Accordingly, this range between deficiency and overexposure represents optimal Se supply. However, this range was found to be narrower than for any other essential trace element. Together with significantly varying Se concentrations in soil and the presence of specific bioaccumulation factors, this represents a noticeable difficulty in the assessment of Se epidemiological status. While Se is acting in the body through multiple selenoproteins, its intake occurs mainly in form of small organic or inorganic molecular mass species. Thus, Se exposure not only depends on daily intake but also on the respective chemical form, in which it is present. The essential functions of selenium have been known for a long time and its primary forms in different food sources have been described. Nevertheless, analytical capabilities for a comprehensive investigation of Se species and their derivatives have been introduced only in the last decades. A new Se compound was identified in 2010 in the blood and tissues of bluefin tuna. It was called selenoneine (SeN) since it is an isologue of naturally occurring antioxidant ergothioneine (ET), where Se replaces sulfur. In the following years, SeN was identified in a number of edible fish species and attracted attention as a new dietary Se source and potentially strong antioxidant. Studies in populations whose diet largely relies on fish revealed that SeN represents the main non-protein bound Se pool in their blood. First studies, conducted with enriched fish extracts, already demonstrated the high antioxidative potential of SeN and its possible function in the detoxification of methylmercury in fish. Cell culture studies demonstrated, that SeN can utilize the same transporter as ergothioneine, and SeN metabolite was found in human urine. Until recently, studies on SeN properties were severely limited due to the lack of ways to obtain the pure compound. As a predisposition to this work was firstly a successful approach to SeN synthesis in the University of Graz, utilizing genetically modified yeasts. In the current study, by use of HepG2 liver carcinoma cells, it was demonstrated, that SeN does not cause toxic effectsup to 100 μM concentration in hepatocytes. Uptake experiments showed that SeN is not bioavailable to the used liver cells. In the next part a blood-brain barrier (BBB) model, based on capillary endothelial cells from the porcine brain, was used to describe the possible transfer of SeN into the central nervous system (CNS). The assessment of toxicity markers in these endothelial cells and monitoring of barrier conditions during transfer experiments demonstrated the absence of toxic effects from SeN on the BBB endothelium up to 100 μM concentration. Transfer data for SeN showed slow but substantial transfer. A statistically significant increase was observed after 48 hours following SeN incubation from the blood-facing side of the barrier. However, an increase in Se content was clearly visible already after 6 hours of incubation with 1 μM of SeN. While the transfer rate of SeN after application of 0.1 μM dose was very close to that for 1 μM, incubation with 10 μM of SeN resulted in a significantly decreased transfer rate. Double-sided application of SeN caused no side-specific transfer of SeN, thus suggesting a passive diffusion mechanism of SeN across the BBB. This data is in accordance with animal studies, where ET accumulation was observed in the rat brain, even though rat BBB does not have the primary ET transporter – OCTN1. Investigation of capillary endothelial cell monolayers after incubation with SeN and reference selenium compounds showed no significant increase of intracellular selenium concentration. Speciesspecific Se measurements in medium samples from apical and basolateral compartments, as good as in cell lysates, showed no SeN metabolization. Therefore, it can be concluded that SeN may reach the brain without significant transformation. As the third part of this work, the assessment of SeN antioxidant properties was performed in Caco-2 human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells. Previous studies demonstrated that the intestinal epithelium is able to actively transport SeN from the intestinal lumen to the blood side and accumulate SeN. Further investigation within current work showed a much higher antioxidant potential of SeN compared to ET. The radical scavenging activity after incubation with SeN was close to the one observed for selenite and selenomethionine. However, the SeN effect on the viability of intestinal cells under oxidative conditions was close to the one caused by ET. To answer the question if SeN is able to be used as a dietary Se source and induce the activity of selenoproteins, the activity of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and the secretion of selenoprotein P (SelenoP) were measured in Caco-2 cells, additionally. As expected, reference selenium compounds selenite and selenomethionine caused efficient induction of GPx activity. In contrast to those SeN had no effect on GPx activity. To examine the possibility of SeN being embedded into the selenoproteome, SelenoP was measured in a culture medium. Even though Caco-2 cells effectively take up SeN in quantities much higher than selenite or selenomethionine, no secretion of SelenoP was observed after SeN incubation. Summarizing, we can conclude that SeN can hardly serve as a Se source for selenoprotein synthesis. However, SeN exhibit strong antioxidative properties, which appear when sulfur in ET is exchanged by Se. Therefore, SeN is of particular interest for research not as part of Se metabolism, but important endemic dietary antioxidant. N2 - Selen (Se) ist ein essentielles Spurenelement, das in geringen Konzentrationen ubiquitär in der Umwelt vorkommt. Essentielle Funktionen von Se im menschlichen Körper manifestieren sich in einer Vielzahl von Proteinen, die Selenocystein als aktives Zentrum enthalten. Solche Proteine werden Selenoproteine genannt, die in zahlreichen physiologischen Prozessen wie der antioxidativen Abwehr und der Regulierung der Schilddrüsenhormonfunktionen vorkommen. Daher ist bekannt, dass ein Se-Mangel ein breites Spektrum physiologischer Beeinträchtigungen verursacht, insbesondere in solchen Regionen mit niedrigem Se-Bodengahlten. Dennoch kann Se als essentielles Spurenelement auch toxische Wirkungen entfalten, wenn seine Aufnahme das tolerierbare Maß überschreitet. Dementsprechend stellt dieser Bereich zwischen Mangel und Überbelichtung eine optimale Se-Versorgung dar. Dieser Bereich erwies sich jedoch als enger als bei jedem anderen essentiellen Spurenelement. Zusammen mit stark schwankenden SeKonzentrationen im Boden und dem Vorliegen spezifischer Bioakkumulationsfaktoren stellt dies eine deutliche Schwierigkeit bei der Beurteilung des epidemiologischen Selenstatus dar. Während im Körper mehrere Selenoproteine vorliegen, erfolgt seine Aufnahme hauptsächlich in Form kleiner organischer oder anorganischer Moleküle. Somit hängt die Se-Exposition nicht nur von der täglichen Aufnahme ab, sondern auch von der jeweiligen chemischen Form, in der es vorliegt. Die essentiellen Funktionen von Selen sind seit langem bekannt und seine Primärformen in verschiedenen Nahrungsquellen dominierenden Formen wurden bereits gut beschrieben. Dennoch wurden erst in den letzten Jahrzehnten neue analytische Möglichkeiten für eine umfassendere Untersuchung von Se-Spezies und ihren Derivaten entwickelt. Beispielsweise wurde 2010 eine neue Se-Verbindung im Blut und im Gewebe von Rotem Thunfisch identifiziert. Es wurde Selenonein (SeN) genannt, da es ein Isolog des natürlich vorkommenden Antioxidans Ergothionein (ET) ist, bei dem Se durch Schwefel ersetzt ist. In den folgenden Jahren wurde SeN in einer Reihe von essbaren Fischarten identifiziert und erregte einerseits als neue Nahrungsquelle für Se und andererseits als potenziell starkes Antioxidans Aufmerksamkeit. Studien an Probanden, deren Ernährung hauptsächlich von Fisch geprägt ist, haben gezeigt, dass SeN den hauptsächlichen nicht-proteingebundenen Se-Pool in ihrem Blut darstellt. Erste Studien mit angereicherten Fischextrakten zeigten bereits das hohe antioxidative Potenzial von SeN und seine mögliche Funktion bei der Entgiftung von Methylquecksilber im Fisch. Zellkulturstudien zeigten, dass SeN den gleichen Transporter wie Ergothionein nutzen kann und ein weiterer SeN-Metabolit wurde im menschlichen Urin gefunden. Bis vor kurzem waren Studien zu den Eigenschaften von SeN aufgrund fehlender Möglichkeiten, die reine Verbindung zu erwerben, stark eingeschränkt. Als wichtige Grundlage für die vorliegende Arbeit diente zunächst die erfolgreiche Synthese des SeN, welche an der Universität Graz unter Verwendung gentechnisch veränderter Hefen erfolgte. In der aktuellen Studie wurde unter Verwendung von HepG2-Leberkarzinomzellen gezeigt, dass SeN in physiologisch relevanten Konzentrationen keine toxischen Effekte in diesen Hepatozyten induziert. Bioverfügbarkeitsexperimente zeigten, dass SeN für die verwendeten Leberzellen nicht bioverfügbar ist. Im nächsten Teil wurde ein Modell der Blut-Hirn-Schranke (BHS) verwendet, das auf kapillaren Endothelzellen aus dem Schweinehirn basiert, um den möglichen Transfer von SeN in das zentrale Nervensystem (ZNS) zu untersuchen. Die Bewertung von Toxizitätsmarkern in diesen Endothelzellen und die online Überwachung der Barriere-Bedingungen während der Transferexperimente zeigten, dass bei physiologisch relevanten Konzentrationen keine toxischen Wirkungen von SeN auf das BHS-Endothel auftreten. Daten bezüglich des Übergangs der Selenspezies SeN zeigten zwar eine langsame, jedoch eine nicht zu vernachlässigenden Menge, die die Barriere passieren kann. Die gleichzeitige Inkubation von SeN auf beiden Barriere-Seiten verursachte keinen seitenspezifischen Transfer von SeN, was auf einen passiven Diffusionsmechanismus von SeN über die BHS hindeutet. Diese Daten stimmen mit Tierstudien überein, in denen eine ET-Akkumulation im Rattengehirn beobachtet wurde, obwohl die BHS der Ratte nicht über den primären ET-Transporter – OCTN1 – verfügt. Die Untersuchung von Monolayern aus kapillaren Endothelzellen nach Inkubation mit SeN und Referenzselenverbindungen zeigte keinen signifikanten Anstieg der intrazellulären Selenkonzentration. Speziesspezifische Se-Messungen in Mediumproben aus den apikalen und basolateralen Kompartimenten, sowie in den Zelllysaten zeigten keine SeN-Metabolisierung. Daraus kann geschlossen werden, dass SeN das Gehirn ohne signifikante Transformation erreichen kann. Als dritter Teil dieser Arbeit wurde die Bewertung der antioxidativen Eigenschaften von SeN in menschlichen Caco-2, also kolorektale Adenokarzinomzellen, durchgeführt. Frühere Studien zeigten, dass das Darmepithel in der Lage ist, SeN aktiv vom Darmlumen zur Blutseite zu transportieren und dort SeN anzureichern. Weitere Untersuchungen im Rahmen der aktuellen Arbeiten zeigten ein viel höheres antioxidatives Potenzial von SeN im Vergleich zu ET. Die Aktivität als Radikalfänger nach Inkubation mit SeN war ähnlich wie bei Selenit und Selenomethionin. Wobei die Wirkung von SeN auf die Lebensfähigkeit von Darmzellen unter oxidativen Bedingungen jedoch ähnlich der durch ET verursachten war. Um die Frage zu beantworten, ob SeN als diätetische Se-Quelle verwendet werden kann um die Aktivität von Selenoproteinen zu induzieren, wurden zusätzlich die Aktivität der Glutathionperoxidase (GPx) und die Sekretion von Selenoprotein P (SelenoP) in Caco-2-Zellen gemessen. Wie erwartet, bewirkten die Referenz-Selenverbindungen Selenit und Selenomethionin eine effiziente Induktion der GPx-Aktivität, im Gegensatz zu diesen hatte SeN keinen Einfluss auf die GPx-Aktivität. Um die Möglichkeit einer Einbettung von SeN in das Selenoproteom zu untersuchen, wurde SelenoP im Kulturmedium gemessen. Obwohl Caco-2-Zellen SeN effektiv in viel höherenMengen als Selenit oder Selenomethionin aufnehmen, wurde nach der SeN-Inkubation keine Sekretion von SelenoP beobachtet. Zusammenfassend können wir schlussfolgern, dass SeN kaum als Se-Quelle für die Selenoproteinsynthese dienen kann. SeN weist jedoch starke antioxidative Eigenschaften auf, die auftreten, wenn Schwefel in ET durch Se ausgetauscht wird. Daher ist SeN von besonderem Interesse für die Forschung, nicht als Teil des Se-Stoffwechsels, sondern als wichtiges endemisches diätetisches Antioxidans. KW - selenium KW - selenoneine KW - HepG2 KW - Caco-2 KW - PBCEC KW - Caco-2 KW - HepG2 KW - PBCEC KW - Selen KW - Selenonein Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-573794 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Prasse, Paul A1 - Iversen, Pascal A1 - Lienhard, Matthias A1 - Thedinga, Kristina A1 - Herwig, Ralf A1 - Scheffer, Tobias T1 - Pre-Training on In Vitro and Fine-Tuning on Patient-Derived Data Improves Deep Neural Networks for Anti-Cancer Drug-Sensitivity Prediction JF - MDPI N2 - Large-scale databases that report the inhibitory capacities of many combinations of candidate drug compounds and cultivated cancer cell lines have driven the development of preclinical drug-sensitivity models based on machine learning. However, cultivated cell lines have devolved from human cancer cells over years or even decades under selective pressure in culture conditions. Moreover, models that have been trained on in vitro data cannot account for interactions with other types of cells. Drug-response data that are based on patient-derived cell cultures, xenografts, and organoids, on the other hand, are not available in the quantities that are needed to train high-capacity machine-learning models. We found that pre-training deep neural network models of drug sensitivity on in vitro drug-sensitivity databases before fine-tuning the model parameters on patient-derived data improves the models’ accuracy and improves the biological plausibility of the features, compared to training only on patient-derived data. From our experiments, we can conclude that pre-trained models outperform models that have been trained on the target domains in the vast majority of cases. KW - deep neural networks KW - drug-sensitivity prediction KW - anti-cancer drugs Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14163950 SN - 2072-6694 VL - 14 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Schweiz ET - 16 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Stiegler, Jonas A1 - Lins, Alisa A1 - Dammhahn, Melanie A1 - Kramer-Schadt, Stephanie A1 - Ortmann, Sylvia A1 - Blaum, Niels T1 - Personality drives activity and space use in a mammalian herbivore T2 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Background Animal personality has emerged as a key concept in behavioral ecology. While many studies have demonstrated the influence of personality traits on behavioral patterns, its quantification, especially in wild animal populations, remains a challenge. Only a few studies have established a link between personality and recurring movements within home ranges, although these small-scale movements are of key importance for identifying ecological interactions and forming individual niches. In this regard, differences in space use among individuals might reflect different exploration styles between behavioral types along the shy-bold continuum. Methods We assessed among-individual differences in behavior in the European hare (Lepus europaeus), a characteristic mammalian herbivore in agricultural landscapes using a standardized box emergence test for captive and wild hares. We determined an individuals’ degree of boldness by measuring the latencies of behavioral responses in repeated emergence tests in captivity. During capture events of wild hares, we conducted a single emergence test and recorded behavioral responses proven to be stable over time in captive hares. Applying repeated novel environment tests in a near-natural enclosure, we further quantified aspects of exploration and activity in captive hares. Finally, we investigated whether and how this among-individual behavioral variation is related to general activity and space use in a wild hare population. Wild and captive hares were treated similarly and GPS-collared with internal accelerometers prior to release to the wild or the outdoor enclosure, respectively. General activity was quantified as overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA) obtained from accelerometers. Finally, we tested whether boldness explained variation in (i) ODBA in both settings and (ii) variation in home ranges and core areas across different time scales of GPS-collared hares in a wild population. Results We found three behavioral responses to be consistent over time in captive hares. ODBA was positively related to boldness (i.e., short latencies to make first contact with the new environment) in both captive and wild hares. Space use in wild hares also varied with boldness, with shy individuals having smaller core areas and larger home ranges than bold conspecifics (yet in some of the parameter space, this association was just marginally significant). Conclusions Against our prediction, shy individuals occupied relatively large home ranges but with small core areas. We suggest that this space use pattern is due to them avoiding risky, and energy-demanding competition for valuable resources. Carefully validated, activity measurements (ODBA) from accelerometers provide a valuable tool to quantify aspects of animal personality along the shy-bold continuum remotely. Without directly observing—and possibly disturbing—focal individuals, this approach allows measuring variability in animal personality, especially in species that are difficult to assess with experiments. Considering that accelerometers are often already built into GPS units, we recommend activating them at least during the initial days of tracking to estimate individual variation in general activity and, if possible, match them with a simple novelty experiment. Furthermore, information on individual behavioral types will help to facilitate mechanistic understanding of processes that drive spatial and ecological dynamics in heterogeneous landscapes. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 1299 KW - Animal personality KW - Movement ecology KW - Inter-individual differences KW - ODBA KW - Energy expenditure KW - European hare Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-577327 SN - 1866-8372 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stiegler, Jonas A1 - Lins, Alisa A1 - Dammhahn, Melanie A1 - Kramer-Schadt, Stephanie A1 - Ortmann, Sylvia A1 - Blaum, Niels T1 - Personality drives activity and space use in a mammalian herbivore JF - Movement Ecology N2 - Background Animal personality has emerged as a key concept in behavioral ecology. While many studies have demonstrated the influence of personality traits on behavioral patterns, its quantification, especially in wild animal populations, remains a challenge. Only a few studies have established a link between personality and recurring movements within home ranges, although these small-scale movements are of key importance for identifying ecological interactions and forming individual niches. In this regard, differences in space use among individuals might reflect different exploration styles between behavioral types along the shy-bold continuum. Methods We assessed among-individual differences in behavior in the European hare (Lepus europaeus), a characteristic mammalian herbivore in agricultural landscapes using a standardized box emergence test for captive and wild hares. We determined an individuals’ degree of boldness by measuring the latencies of behavioral responses in repeated emergence tests in captivity. During capture events of wild hares, we conducted a single emergence test and recorded behavioral responses proven to be stable over time in captive hares. Applying repeated novel environment tests in a near-natural enclosure, we further quantified aspects of exploration and activity in captive hares. Finally, we investigated whether and how this among-individual behavioral variation is related to general activity and space use in a wild hare population. Wild and captive hares were treated similarly and GPS-collared with internal accelerometers prior to release to the wild or the outdoor enclosure, respectively. General activity was quantified as overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA) obtained from accelerometers. Finally, we tested whether boldness explained variation in (i) ODBA in both settings and (ii) variation in home ranges and core areas across different time scales of GPS-collared hares in a wild population. Results We found three behavioral responses to be consistent over time in captive hares. ODBA was positively related to boldness (i.e., short latencies to make first contact with the new environment) in both captive and wild hares. Space use in wild hares also varied with boldness, with shy individuals having smaller core areas and larger home ranges than bold conspecifics (yet in some of the parameter space, this association was just marginally significant). Conclusions Against our prediction, shy individuals occupied relatively large home ranges but with small core areas. We suggest that this space use pattern is due to them avoiding risky, and energy-demanding competition for valuable resources. Carefully validated, activity measurements (ODBA) from accelerometers provide a valuable tool to quantify aspects of animal personality along the shy-bold continuum remotely. Without directly observing—and possibly disturbing—focal individuals, this approach allows measuring variability in animal personality, especially in species that are difficult to assess with experiments. Considering that accelerometers are often already built into GPS units, we recommend activating them at least during the initial days of tracking to estimate individual variation in general activity and, if possible, match them with a simple novelty experiment. Furthermore, information on individual behavioral types will help to facilitate mechanistic understanding of processes that drive spatial and ecological dynamics in heterogeneous landscapes. KW - Animal personality KW - Movement ecology KW - Inter-individual differences KW - ODBA KW - Energy expenditure KW - European hare Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-022-00333-6 SN - 2051-3933 VL - 10 PB - BioMed Central (BMC), Springer Nature CY - London ER - TY - THES A1 - Siegmund, Nicole T1 - Wind driven soil particle uptake Quantifying drivers of wind erosion across the particle size spectrum T1 - Partikelaufwirbelung durch Wind - Über die Quantifizierung von Winderosion über das ganze Partikel-Größenspektrum N2 - Among the multitude of geomorphological processes, aeolian shaping processes are of special character, Pedogenic dust is one of the most important sources of atmospheric aerosols and therefore regarded as a key player for atmospheric processes. Soil dust emissions, being complex in composition and properties, influence atmospheric processes and air quality and has impacts on other ecosystems. In this because even though their immediate impact can be considered low (exceptions exist), their constant and large-scale force makes them a powerful player in the earth system. dissertation, we unravel a novel scientific understanding of this complex system based on a holistic dataset acquired during a series of field experiments on arable land in La Pampa, Argentina. The field experiments as well as the generated data provide information about topography, various soil parameters, the atmospheric dynamics in the very lower atmosphere (4m height) as well as measurements regarding aeolian particle movement across a wide range of particle size classes between 0.2μm up to the coarse sand. The investigations focus on three topics: (a) the effects of low-scale landscape structures on aeolian transport processes of the coarse particle fraction, (b) the horizontal and vertical fluxes of the very fine particles and (c) the impact of wind gusts on particle emissions. Among other considerations presented in this thesis, it could in particular be shown, that even though the small-scale topology does have a clear impact on erosion and deposition patterns, also physical soil parameters need to be taken into account for a robust statistical modelling of the latter. Furthermore, specifically the vertical fluxes of particulate matter have different characteristics for the particle size classes. Finally, a novel statistical measure was introduced to quantify the impact of wind gusts on the particle uptake and its application on the provided data set. The aforementioned measure shows significantly increased particle concentrations during points in time defined as gust event. With its holistic approach, this thesis further contributes to the fundamental understanding of how atmosphere and pedosphere are intertwined and affect each other. N2 - Unter der Vielzahl geomorphologischer Prozesse nehmen äolische Formgebungsprozesse eine besondere Stellung ein, denn obwohl ihre unmittelbaren Auswirkungen als gering einzuschätzen sind (Ausnahmen existieren), sind sie aufgrund ihrer konstanten und großen Kraft ein mächtiger Akteur im Erdsystem. Pedogener Staub ist eine der wichtigsten Quellen atmosphärischer Aerosole und kann daher als Schlüsselfaktor für atmosphärische Prozesse angesehen werden. Bodenstaubemissionen, die in Zusammensetzung und Eigenschaften komplex sind, beeinflussen atmosphärische Prozesse und Luftqualität und haben Auswirkungen auf andere Ökosysteme. Um zum wissenschaftlichen Verständnis dieses komplexen Systems beizutragen, dokumentiert diese Arbeit eine Reihe von Veröffentlichungen, die alle auf einem ganzheitlichen Datensatz basieren, die während einer Reihe von Feldexperimenten auf Ackerland in La Pampa, Argentinien, gewonnen wurden. Die Feldexperimente sowie die generierten Daten liefern Informationen über Topographie, verschiedene Bodenparameter, die atmosphärische Dynamik in der unteren Atmosphäre (4 m Höhe) sowie Messungen zur äolischen Partikelbewegung über einen weiten Bereich von Partikelgrößenklassen zwischen 0,2μm und groben Sand. Die Untersuchungen konzentrieren sich auf drei Themen: Die Auswirkungen kleinräumiger Landschaftsstrukturen auf äolische Transportprozesse der groben Partikelfraktion, die horizontalen und vertikalen Strömungen der sehr feinen Partikel und der Einfluss von Windböen auf die Partikelemissionen. Neben anderen in dieser Arbeit vorgestellten Überlegungen konnte insbesondere gezeigt werden, dass, obwohl die kleinräumige Topologie einen deutlichen Einfluss auf Erosions- und Ablagerungsmuster hat, auch physikalische Bodenparameter für eine robuste statistische Modellierung berücksichtigt werden müssen. Darüber hinaus weisen speziell die vertikalen Feinstaubflüsse unterschiedliche Eigenschaften für die Partikelgrößenklassen auf. Schließlich wurde ein neuartiges statistisches Maß eingeführt, um den Einfluss von Windböen auf die Partikelkonzentration der Luft zu quantifizieren, und seine Anwendung auf den bereitgestellten Datensatz zeigt signifikant erhöhte Partikelkonzentrationen zu Zeitpunkten, die als Böen definiert wurden. Mit ihrem ganzheitlichen Ansatz trägt diese Arbeit weiter zum grundlegenden Verständnis bei, wie Atmosphäre und Pedosphäre miteinander verflochten sind und sich gegenseitig beeinflussen. KW - Winderosion KW - winderosion KW - PM10, PM2, PM1 KW - Horizontal flux KW - horizontaler Fluss KW - Vertical flux KW - vertikaler Fluss KW - Argentina KW - Argentinien KW - wind gusts KW - Windböen Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-574897 ER - TY - THES A1 - Simsek, Ibrahim T1 - Ink-based preparation of chalcogenide perovskites as thin films for PV applications T1 - Präparation von Chalkogeniden Perowskiten auf Basis von molekularer Tinte als Dünnschichten für PV Anwendungen N2 - The increasing demand for energy in the current technological era and the recent political decisions about giving up on nuclear energy diverted humanity to focus on alternative environmentally friendly energy sources like solar energy. Although silicon solar cells are the product of a matured technology, the search for highly efficient and easily applicable materials is still ongoing. These properties made the efficiency of halide perovskites comparable with silicon solar cells for single junctions within a decade of research. However, the downside of halide perovskites are poor stability and lead toxicity for the most stable ones. On the other hand, chalcogenide perovskites are one of the most promising absorber materials for the photovoltaic market, due to their elemental abundance and chemical stability against moisture and oxygen. In the search of the ultimate solar absorber material, combining the good optoelectronic properties of halide perovskites with the stability of chalcogenides could be the promising candidate. Thus, this work investigates new techniques for the synthesis and design of these novel chalcogenide perovskites, that contain transition metals as cations, e.g., BaZrS3, BaHfS3, EuZrS3, EuHfS3 and SrHfS3. There are two stages in the deposition techniques of this study: In the first stage, the binary compounds are deposited via a solution processing method. In the second stage, the deposited materials are annealed in a chalcogenide atmosphere to form the perovskite structure by using solid-state reactions. The research also focuses on the optimization of a generalized recipe for a molecular ink to deposit precursors of chalcogenide perovskites with different binaries. The implementation of the precursor sulfurization resulted in either binaries without perovskite formation or distorted perovskite structures, whereas some of these materials are reported in the literature as they are more favorable in the needle-like non-perovskite configuration. Lastly, there are two categories for the evaluation of the produced materials: The first category is about the determination of the physical properties of the deposited layer, e.g., crystal structure, secondary phase formation, impurities, etc. For the second category, optoelectronic properties are measured and compared to an ideal absorber layer, e.g., band gap, conductivity, surface photovoltage, etc. N2 - Der stetig wachsende Energieverbrauch in der aktuellen technologischen Ära und die kürzliche Entscheidung der Politik auf Nuklearenergie zu verzichten hat die Menschheit dazu geleitet sich auf alternative umweltfreundliche Energiequellen wie Solare Energie zu fokussieren. Obwohl Silizium Solarzellen das Produkt einer ausgereiften Technologie sind geht die Suche nach hocheffizienten Materialien, die einfach umzusetzen sind weiter. Diese Eigenschaften führten zur Vergleichbarkeit von Halogeniden Perowskiten mit Silizium in Einfachsolarzellen innerhalb eines Jahrzehnts der Forschung. Allerdings mangelt es bei Halogeniden Perowskiten an Stabilität und jene stabile haben eine Blei-Toxizität. Andererseits bieten Chalkogenide Perowskite aussichtsreiche Eigenschaften als Absorber Materialien für den Photovoltaik Markt auf Grund des hohen Vorkommens der Elemente auf dem Planeten und ihrer chemischen Stabilität in Luft. Auf der Suche nach dem ultimativen Absorber Material für Solarzellen könnte sich eine Kombination der guten optoelektronischen Eigenschaften von Halogeniden Perowskiten mit der Stabilität von Chalkogeniden als guter Kandidat herausstellen. Infolgedessen untersucht diese Arbeit neue Methoden für die Synthese und das Design dieser neuartigen Chalkogeniden Perowskite, welche Übergangsmetalle als Kationen enthalten, z.B. BaZrS3, BaHfS3, EuZrS3, EuHfS3 and SrHfS3. Es gibt zwei Schritte in den Methoden der Deposition in dieser Untersuchung: Im ersten Schritt werden die binären Verbindungen durch eine Lösungsmittelprozessierung auf dem Substrat aufgebracht. Daraufhin wird im zweiten Schritt das aufgetragene Material in einer Chalkogeniden Atmosphäre getempert, um die Perowskit Struktur durch Festkörperreaktion zu bilden. Die Untersuchung fokussiert sich außerdem auf die Optimierung eines generalisierten Rezeptes für molekulare Tinte zur Deposition eines Präkursors aus unterschiedlichen binären Verbindungen. Die Implementierung der Präkursor Schwefelung führt entweder zu einer Formation der binären Verbindungen ohne Perowskit Struktur oder in der verzerrten Perowskit Struktur, obwohl für manche dieser Materialien laut Literatur die nadelförmige nicht-Perowskit Struktur günstiger sein sollte. Zuletzt gibt es zwei Kategorien für die Evaluierung der hergestellten Materialien: Die erste Kategorie behandelt die Determinierung der physikalischen Eigenschaften der deponierten Dünnschicht, z.B. Kristallstruktur, Sekundärphasen, Unreinheiten. In der zweiten Kategorie werden die optoelektronischen Eigenschaften gemessen und mit einem idealen Absorber verglichen, z.B. Bandlücke, Leitfähigkeit, Oberflächen Photospannung, etc. KW - chalcogenide KW - perovskite KW - Perowskite KW - Chalkogenide Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-572711 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Baganz, Melissa A1 - de Teresa, Aurelia Gómez A1 - Lingg, Rosana T. A1 - Montijo, Yuriditzi Pascacio T1 - A critical assessment on National Action Plans BT - Challenges and benefits for the promotion and protection of Human Rights T2 - Staat, Recht und Politik – Forschungs- und Diskussionspapiere T2 - State, Law, and Politics - Research and Discussion Papers N2 - National Action Plans (NAPs) have been increas-ingly adopted world-wide after the Vienna Dec-laration in 1993, where it was urged to consider the improvement and promotion of Human Rights. In this paper, we discuss their usefulness and success by analysing the challenges present-ed during NAP processes as well as the benefits this set of actions entails: The challenges for their implementation outweigh its actual benefits. Nevertheless, NAPs have great potential. Based on new research, we elaborate a set of recom-mendations for improving the design and imple-mentation of national action planning. In order to effectively bring NAP into practice, we consider it crucial to plan and analyse every state local circumstances in detail. The latter is important, since the implementation of a concrete set of actions is intended to directly transform and improve the local living conditions of the people. In a long-term perspective, we defend the benefit of NAP’s implementation for complying obliga-tions set up by HR treaties. N2 - Nationale Aktionspläne (NAP) werden seit der Wiener Erklärung von 1993, in der die Verbesse-rung und Förderung der Menschenrechte gefor-dert wird, weltweit zunehmend angenommen. In diesem Papier diskutieren wir ihren Nutzen und Erfolg, indem wir die Herausforderungen, die sich während der NAP-Prozesse ergeben, sowie die Vorteile, die dieses Maßnahmenpaket mit sich bringt, analysieren: Die Herausforderungen bei ihrer Umsetzung überwiegen die tatsächlichen Vorteile. Dennoch haben NAPs ein großes Poten-zial. Beruhend auf neueren Forschungen erarbei-ten wir eine Reihe von Empfehlungen zur Ver-besserung der Gestaltung und Umsetzung der nationalen Aktionsplanung. Um einen NAP effek-tiv in die Praxis umzusetzen, halten wir es für entscheidend, die lokalen Gegebenheiten jedes Staates im Detail zu planen und zu analysieren. Letzteres ist wichtig, da die Umsetzung eines konkreten Maßnahmenpakets die Lebensbedin-gungen der Menschen vor Ort direkt verändern und verbessern soll. Langfristig gesehen vertei-digen wir den Nutzen der Umsetzung des NAP für die Einhaltung der in den Menschenrechts-verträgen festgelegten Verpflichtungen. T3 - Staat, Recht und Politik – Forschungs- und Diskussionspapiere = State, Law, and Politics - Research and Discussion Papers - 13 Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-576797 SN - 2509-6974 IS - 13 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmidt, Lena Katharina A1 - Francke, Till A1 - Rottler, Erwin A1 - Blume, Theresa A1 - Schöber, Johannes A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - Suspended sediment and discharge dynamics in a glaciated alpine environment BT - identifying crucial areas and time periods on several spatial and temporal scales in the Ötztal, Austria JF - Earth surface dynamics N2 - Glaciated high-alpine areas are fundamentally altered by climate change, with well-known implications for hydrology, e.g., due to glacier retreat, longer snow-free periods, and more frequent and intense summer rainstorms. While knowledge on how these hydrological changes will propagate to suspended sediment dynamics is still scarce, it is needed to inform mitigation and adaptation strategies. To understand the processes and source areas most relevant to sediment dynamics, we analyzed discharge and sediment dynamics in high temporal resolution as well as their patterns on several spatial scales, which to date few studies have done. We used a nested catchment setup in the Upper Ötztal in Tyrol, Austria, where high-resolution (15 min) time series of discharge and suspended sediment concentrations are available for up to 15 years (2006–2020). The catchments of the gauges in Vent, Sölden and Tumpen range from 100 to almost 800 km2 with 10 % to 30 % glacier cover and span an elevation range of 930 to 3772 m a.s.l. We analyzed discharge and suspended sediment yields (SSY), their distribution in space, their seasonality and spatial differences therein, and the relative importance of short-term events. We complemented our analysis by linking the observations to satellite-based snow cover maps, glacier inventories, mass balances and precipitation data. Our results indicate that the areas above 2500 m a.s.l., characterized by glacier tongues and the most recently deglaciated areas, are crucial for sediment generation in all sub-catchments. This notion is supported by the synchronous spring onset of sediment export at the three gauges, which coincides with snowmelt above 2500 m but lags behind spring discharge onsets. This points at a limitation of suspended sediment supply as long as the areas above 2500 m are snow-covered. The positive correlation of annual SSY with glacier cover (among catchments) and glacier mass balances (within a catchment) further supports the importance of the glacier-dominated areas. The analysis of short-term events showed that summer precipitation events were associated with peak sediment concentrations and yields but on average accounted for only 21 % of the annual SSY in the headwaters. These results indicate that under current conditions, thermally induced sediment export (through snow and glacier melt) is dominant in the study area. Our results extend the scientific knowledge on current hydro-sedimentological conditions in glaciated high-alpine areas and provide a baseline for studies on projected future changes in hydro-sedimentological system dynamics. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-653-2022 SN - 2196-632X SN - 2196-6311 VL - 10 IS - 3 SP - 653 EP - 669 PB - Copernicus Publications CY - Göttingen ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Kalkuhl, Matthias A1 - Franks, Max A1 - Gruner, Friedemann A1 - Lessmann, Kai A1 - Edenhofer, Ottmar T1 - Pigou’s Advice and Sisyphus’ Warning BT - Carbon Pricing with Non-Permanent Carbon-Dioxide Removal T2 - CEPA Discussion Papers N2 - Carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere is becoming an important option to achieve net zero climate targets. This paper develops a welfare and public economics perspective on optimal policies for carbon removal and storage in non-permanent sinks like forests, soil, oceans, wood products or chemical products. We derive a new metric for the valuation of non-permanent carbon storage, the social cost of carbon removal (SCC-R), which embeds also the conventional social cost of carbon emissions. We show that the contribution of CDR is to create new carbon sinks that should be used to reduce transition costs, even if the stored carbon is released to the atmosphere eventually. Importantly, CDR does not raise the ambition of optimal temperature levels unless initial atmospheric carbon stocks are excessively high. For high initial atmospheric carbon stocks, CDR allows to reduce the optimal temperature below initial levels. Finally, we characterize three different policy regimes that ensure an optimal deployment of carbon removal: downstream carbon pricing, upstream carbon pricing, and carbon storage pricing. The policy regimes differ in their informational and institutional requirements regarding monitoring, liability and financing. T3 - CEPA Discussion Papers - 62 KW - Carbon Dioxide Removal KW - Carbon Capture KW - Social Cost of Carbon KW - Climate Policy KW - Impermanence Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-575882 SN - 2628-653X IS - 62 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schäfer, Marjänn Helena A1 - Kakularam, Kumar Reddy A1 - Reisch, Florian A1 - Rothe, Michael A1 - Stehling, Sabine A1 - Heydeck, Dagmar A1 - Püschel, Gerhard Paul A1 - Kuhn, Hartmut T1 - Male Knock-in Mice Expressing an Arachidonic Acid Lipoxygenase 15B (Alox15B) with Humanized Reaction Specificity Are Prematurely Growth Arrested When Aging JF - Biomedicines N2 - Mammalian arachidonic acid lipoxygenases (ALOXs) have been implicated in cell differentiation and in the pathogenesis of inflammation. The mouse genome involves seven functional Alox genes and the encoded enzymes share a high degree of amino acid conservation with their human orthologs. There are, however, functional differences between mouse and human ALOX orthologs. Human ALOX15B oxygenates arachidonic acid exclusively to its 15-hydroperoxy derivative (15S-HpETE), whereas 8S-HpETE is dominantly formed by mouse Alox15b. The structural basis for this functional difference has been explored and in vitro mutagenesis humanized the reaction specificity of the mouse enzyme. To explore whether this mutagenesis strategy may also humanize the reaction specificity of mouse Alox15b in vivo, we created Alox15b knock-in mice expressing the arachidonic acid 15-lipoxygenating Tyr603Asp+His604Val double mutant instead of the 8-lipoxygenating wildtype enzyme. These mice are fertile, display slightly modified plasma oxylipidomes and develop normally up to an age of 24 weeks. At later developmental stages, male Alox15b-KI mice gain significantly less body weight than outbred wildtype controls, but this effect was not observed for female individuals. To explore the possible reasons for the observed gender-specific growth arrest, we determined the basic hematological parameters and found that aged male Alox15b-KI mice exhibited significantly attenuated red blood cell parameters (erythrocyte counts, hematocrit, hemoglobin). Here again, these differences were not observed in female individuals. These data suggest that humanization of the reaction specificity of mouse Alox15b impairs the functionality of the hematopoietic system in males, which is paralleled by a premature growth arrest. KW - eicosanoids KW - lipid peroxidation KW - oxidative stress KW - polyenoic fatty acids KW - erythropoiesis Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines10061379 SN - 2227-9059 VL - 10 SP - 1 EP - 22 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Schweiz ET - 6 ER - TY - THES A1 - Giuri, Chiara T1 - VERITAS Dark Matter search in dwarf spheroidal galaxies: an extended analysis T1 - VERITAS-Suche nach dunkler Materie in sphäroidischen Zwerggalaxien: eine erweiterte Analyse” N2 - In the last century, several astronomical measurements have supported that a significant percentage (about 22%) of the total mass of the Universe, on galactic and extragalactic scales, is composed of a mysterious ”dark” matter (DM). DM does not interact with the electromagnetic force; in other words it does not reflect, absorb or emit light. It is possible that DM particles are weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) that can annihilate (or decay) into Standard Model (SM) particles, and modern very- high-energy (VHE; > 100 GeV) instruments such as imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) can play an important role in constraining the main properties of such DM particles, by detecting these products. One of the most privileged targets where to look for DM signal are dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs), as they are expected to be high DM-dominated objects with a clean, gas-free environment. Some dSphs could be considered as extended sources, considering the angular resolution of IACTs; their angu- lar resolution is adequate to detect extended emission from dSphs. For this reason, we performed an extended-source analysis, by taking into account in the unbinned maximum likelihood estimation both the energy and the angular extension dependency of observed events. The goal was to set more constrained upper limits on the velocity-averaged cross-section annihilation of WIMPs with VERITAS data. VERITAS is an array of four IACTs, able to detect γ-ray photons ranging between 100 GeV and 30 TeV. The results of this extended analysis were compared against the traditional spectral analysis. We found that a 2D analysis may lead to more constrained results, depending on the DM mass, channel, and source. Moreover, in this thesis, the results of a multi-instrument project are presented too. Its goal was to combine already published 20 dSphs data from five different experiments, such as Fermi-LAT, MAGIC, H.E.S.S., VERITAS and HAWC, in order to set upper limits on the WIMP annihilation cross-section in the widest mass range ever reported. N2 - Im letzten Jahrhundert haben verschiedene mehrere astronomische Messungen gezeigt, dass ein erheblicher Prozentsatz (etwa 22 %) der Gesamtmasse des Universums auf galaktischer und extragalaktischer Ebene aus einer geheimnisvollen ”dunklen” Materie (DM) besteht. DM interagiert nicht mit der elektromagnetischen Kraft und reflektiert, absorbiert oder emittiert daher kein Licht. Es ist möglich, dass es sich bei DM-Teilchen um schwach wechselwirkende massive Teilchen (engl. weakly interacting massive particles, WIMPs) handelt, die in Teilchen des Standardmodells (SM) annihilieren (oder zerfallen) können. Indem sie diese Produkte nachweisen, können moderne Detektoren für sehr hoch energetische (engl. very-high-energy, VHE; 100 GeV) Gammastrahlung, wie zum Beispiel bildgebende atmosphärische Cherenkov-Teleskope (engl. imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, IACTs), eine wichtige Rolle bei der Bestimmung der Haupteigenschaften solcher DM-Teilchen spielen. Eines der am besten geeignetsten Ziele für die Suche nach DM-Signalen sind sphäroidische Zwerggalaxien (engl. dwarf spheroidal galaxies, dSphs), da diese stark DM-dominierte Objekte mit einer gasfreien Umgebung sind. Die Winkelauflösung von IACTs ist ausreichend, um ausgedehnte Emission von dSphs zu entdecken. Aus diesem Grund haben wir eine Analyse dieser Quellen durchgeführt, indem wir in der unbinned Maximum-Likelihood-Schätzung sowohl die Energie als auch die Abhängigkeit der Winkelausdehnung der beobachteten Gammastrahlung berücksichtigt haben. Das Ziel war es, mit Hilfe der VERITAS-Daten genauere Obergrenzen für den geschwindigkeitsgemittelten Annihilationsquerschnitt von WIMPs zu bestimmen. VERITAS ist eine Anordnung von vier IACTs, die Gammastrahlen im Bereich von 100 GeV bis 30 TeV detektieren können. Die Ergebnisse dieser erweiterten Analyse wurden mit der traditionellen Spektralanalyse verglichen. Es zeigte sich, dass je nach DM-Masse, Kanal und Quelle eine 2D-Analyse zu aussagekräftigeren Ergebnissen führen kann. Darüber hinaus werden in dieser Arbeit auch die Ergebnisse eines Multi-Instrumenten-Projekts vorgestellt. Das Ziel war es, die bereits veröffentlichte 20 dSphs-Datensätze von Fermi-LAT, MAGIC, H.E.S.S., VERITAS und HAWC zu kombinieren, um obere Grenzwerte für den WIMP-Annihilationsquerschnitt im breitesten jemals veröffentlichten Massenbereich zu bestimmen. KW - Dark Matter KW - data analysis KW - Cherenkov telescopes KW - dwarf spheroidal galaxies KW - Dunkle Materie KW - Datenanalyse KW - Cherenkov-Teleskope KW - sphäroidische Zwerggalaxien Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-575869 ER - TY - THES A1 - Djalali, Saveh Arman T1 - Multiresponsive complex emulsions: Concepts for the design of active and adaptive liquid colloidal systems T1 - Multiresponsive komplexe Emulsionen: Konzepte für das Design von aktiven und adaptiven flüssig-kolloidalen Systemen N2 - Complex emulsions are dispersions of kinetically stabilized multiphasic emulsion droplets comprised of two or more immiscible liquids that provide a novel material platform for the generation of active and dynamic soft materials. In recent years, the intrinsic reconfigurable morphological behavior of complex emulsions, which can be attributed to the unique force equilibrium between the interfacial tensions acting at the various interfaces, has become of fundamental and applied interest. As such, particularly biphasic Janus droplets have been investigated as structural templates for the generation of anisotropic precision objects, dynamic optical elements or as transducers and signal amplifiers in chemo- and bio-sensing applications. In the present thesis, switchable internal morphological responses of complex droplets triggered by stimuli-induced alterations of the balance of interfacial tensions have been explored as a universal building block for the design of multiresponsive, active, and adaptive liquid colloidal systems. A series of underlying principles and mechanisms that influence the equilibrium of interfacial tensions have been uncovered, which allowed the targeted design of emulsion bodies that can alter their shape, bind and roll on surfaces, or change their geometrical shape in response to chemical stimuli. Consequently, combinations of the unique triggerable behavior of Janus droplets with designer surfactants, such as a stimuli-responsive photosurfactant (AzoTAB) resulted for instance in shape-changing soft colloids that exhibited a jellyfish inspired buoyant motion behavior, holding great promise for the design of biological inspired active material architectures and transformable soft robotics. In situ observations of spherical Janus emulsion droplets using a customized side-view microscopic imaging setup with accompanying pendant dropt measurements disclosed the sensitivity regime of the unique chemical-morphological coupling inside complex emulsions and enabled the recording of calibration curves for the extraction of critical parameters of surfactant effectiveness. The deduced new "responsive drop" method permitted a convenient and cost-efficient quantification and comparison of the critical micelle concentrations (CMCs) and effectiveness of various cationic, anionic, and nonionic surfactants. Moreover, the method allowed insightful characterization of stimuli-responsive surfactants and monitoring of the impact of inorganic salts on the CMC and surfactant effectiveness of ionic and nonionic surfactants. Droplet functionalization with synthetic crown ether surfactants yielded a synthetically minimal material platform capable of autonomous and reversible adaptation to its chemical environment through different supramolecular host-guest recognition events. Addition of metal or ammonium salts resulted in the uptake of the resulting hydrophobic complexes to the hydrocarbon hemisphere, whereas addition of hydrophilic ammonium compounds such as amino acids or polypeptides resulted in supramolecular assemblies at the hydrocarbon-water interface of the droplets. The multiresponsive material platform enabled interfacial complexation and thus triggered responses of the droplets to a variety of chemical triggers including metal ions, ammonium compounds, amino acids, antibodies, carbohydrates as well as amino-functionalized solid surfaces. In the final chapter, the first documented optical logic gates and combinatorial logic circuits based on complex emulsions are presented. More specifically, the unique reconfigurable and multiresponsive properties of complex emulsions were exploited to realize droplet-based logic gates of varying complexity using different stimuli-responsive surfactants in combination with diverse readout methods. In summary, different designs for multiresponsive, active, and adaptive liquid colloidal systems were presented and investigated, enabling the design of novel transformative chemo-intelligent soft material platforms. N2 - Komplexe Emulsionen sind Dispersionen kinetisch stabilisierter mehrphasiger Emulsionströpfchen, die aus zwei oder mehreren nicht mischbaren Flüssigkeiten bestehen und eine neuartige Materialplattform für die Herstellung aktiver und dynamischer weicher Materialien darstellen. In den letzten Jahren haben komplexe Emulsionen aufgrund ihres intrinsisch rekonfigurierbaren morphologischen Verhaltens, dass auf ein einzigartiges Kräftegleichgewicht zwischen den an den verschiedenen Grenzflächen wirkenden Grenzflächenspannungen zurückzuführen ist, zunehmendes wissenschaftliches Interesse erfahren. So wurden insbesondere zweiphasige Janus-Tropfen als strukturelle Vorlagen für die Erzeugung anisotroper Präzisionsobjekte, dynamischer optischer Elemente oder als Wandler und Signalverstärker in Chemo- und Bio-Sensorik-Anwendungen untersucht. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden schaltbare interne morphologische Veränderungen komplexer Tröpfchen erforscht, die durch Stimulus-induzierte Verschiebungen des Grenzflächenspannungsgleichgewichts ausgelöst werden. Diese können als universelle Bausteine für das Design multiresponsiver, aktiver und adaptiver flüssiger kolloidaler Systeme dienen. Es wurde eine Reihe von grundlegenden Prinzipien und Mechanismen zur Beeinflussung des Grenzflächenspannungsgleichgewichtes erforscht, die die gezielte Entwicklung von formverändernden, sich an Oberflächen bindenden und in Reaktion auf chemische Stimuli verändernden Emulsionskörpern ermöglicht. Die Kombination des einzigartigen responsiven Verhaltens von Janus-Tropfen mit maßgeschneiderten Tensiden erlaubt die Erschließung von biologisch inspirierten aktiven Materialarchitekturen. So führte beispielsweise die Funktionalisierung von Janus-Tropfen mit einem photo-responsiven Tensid (AzoTAB) zu formverändernden weichen Kolloiden, die ein von Quallen inspiriertes Schwimmverhalten zeigten und damit vielversprechend für die Anwendung im Forschungsfeld der transformierbaren „soft-robotics“ sind. Die In-situ-Beobachtung von sphärischen Janus-Emulsionströpfchen mit einem Seitenansichts-Mikroskop und begleitenden Pendant-Drop-Messungen ermöglichten es das Empfindlichkeitsregime der einzigartigen chemisch-morphologischen Kopplung innerhalb komplexer Emulsionen offenzulegen. Die resultierende Kalibrierungskurve erlaubt die Extraktion von kritischen Parametern der Tensidwirksamkeit. Die daraus abgeleitete neue "responsive drop"-Methode ermöglicht eine einfache, kosteneffiziente Quantifizierung der kritischen Mizellenkonzentrationen (CMCs) und einen Vergleich der Wirksamkeit verschiedener kationischer, anionischer und nichtionischer Tenside. Darüber hinaus ermöglichte die Methode eine aufschlussreiche Charakterisierung Stimuli-responsiver Tenside und die Überwachung des Einflusses anorganischer Salze auf die CMC und die Tensidwirksamkeit ionischer und nichtionischer Tenside. Die Funktionalisierung von Tröpfchen mit synthetischen Kronenether-Tensiden führte zu einer synthetisch minimalen Materialplattform, die in der Lage ist, sich durch verschiedene supramolekulare Wirts-Gast-Erkennungsereignisse selbständig und reversibel an ihre chemische Umgebung anzupassen. Die Zugabe von Metall- oder Ammoniumsalzen hatte eine Aufnahme der resultierenden hydrophoben Komplexe in die Kohlenwasserstoff-Hemisphäre zur Folge, während die Zugabe von hydrophilen Ammoniumverbindungen wie Aminosäuren oder Polypeptiden zu supramolekularen Assemblierungen an der Kohlenwasserstoff-Wasser-Grenzfläche der Tröpfchen führte. Die multiresponsive Materialplattform ermöglicht die Grenzflächenkomplexierung und damit die morphologische Reaktion der Tröpfchen auf eine Vielzahl von chemischen Triggern, darunter Metallionen, Ammoniumverbindungen, Aminosäuren, Antikörper, Kohlenhydrate sowie aminofunktionalisierte feste Oberflächen. Im letzten Kapitel werden die ersten dokumentierten optischen Logikgatter und kombinatorischen Logikschaltungen auf der Grundlage von komplexen Emulsionen vorgestellt. Zur Realisierung von Tropfen-basierten Logikgattern unterschiedlicher Komplexität wurden die einzigartigen rekonfigurierbaren und multiresponsiven Eigenschaften komplexer Emulsionen ausgenutzt. Dabei wurden Stimuli-responsive Tenside in Kombination mit unterschiedlichen Auslesemethoden verwendet. Zusammenfassend wurden verschiedene Designs für multiresponsive, aktive und adaptive flüssige kolloidale Systeme vorgestellt und untersucht, die die Entwicklung neuartiger chemo-intelligenter weicher Materialplattformen ermöglichen. KW - complex emulsion KW - emulsion KW - multiresponsive KW - komplexe Emulsion KW - Emulsion KW - multiresponsiv Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-575203 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jara Muñoz, Julius A1 - Melnick, Daniel A1 - Li, Shaoyang A1 - Socquet, Anne A1 - Cortés-Aranda, Joaquín A1 - Brill, Dominik A1 - Strecker, Manfred T1 - The cryptic seismic potential of the Pichilemu blind fault in Chile revealed by off-fault geomorphology JF - Nature Communications N2 - The first step towards assessing hazards in seismically active regions involves mapping capable faults and estimating their recurrence times. While the mapping of active faults is commonly based on distinct geologic and geomorphic features evident at the surface, mapping blind seismogenic faults is complicated by the absence of on-fault diagnostic features. Here we investigated the Pichilemu Fault in coastal Chile, unknown until it generated a Mw 7.0 earthquake in 2010. The lack of evident surface faulting suggests activity along a partly-hidden blind fault. We used off-fault deformed marine terraces to estimate a fault-slip rate of 0.52 ± 0.04 m/ka, which, when integrated with satellite geodesy suggests a 2.12 ± 0.2 ka recurrence time for Mw~7.0 normal-faulting earthquakes. We propose that extension in the Pichilemu region is associated with stress changes during megathrust earthquakes and accommodated by sporadic slip during upper-plate earthquakes, which has implications for assessing the seismic potential of cryptic faults along convergent margins and elsewhere. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30754-1 SN - 2041-1723 VL - 13 PB - Springer Nature CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Agne, Stefanie A1 - Preick, Michaela A1 - Straube, Nicolas A1 - Hofreiter, Michael T1 - Simultaneous Barcode Sequencing of Diverse Museum Collection Specimens Using a Mixed RNA Bait Set JF - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution N2 - 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. KW - target capture KW - type specimens KW - molecular species identification KW - museum specimens KW - cross-species capture Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.909846 SN - 2296-701X VL - 10 PB - Frontiers Media S.A. CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sarabadani, Jalal A1 - Metzler, Ralf A1 - Ala-Nissila, Tapio T1 - Driven polymer translocation into a channel: Isoflux tension propagation theory and Langevin dynamics simulations JF - Physical Review Research N2 - 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. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.033003 SN - 2643-1564 VL - 4 SP - 033003-1 EP - 033003-14 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park, Maryland, USA ET - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Smirnov, Lev A. A1 - Bolotov, Maxim A1 - Bolotov, Dmitri A1 - Osipov, Grigory V. A1 - Pikovsky, Arkady T1 - Finite-density-induced motility and turbulence of chimera solitons JF - New Journal of Physics N2 - We consider a one-dimensional oscillatory medium with a coupling through a diffusive linear field. In the limit of fast diffusion this setup reduces to the classical Kuramoto–Battogtokh model. We demonstrate that for a finite diffusion stable chimera solitons, namely localized synchronous domain in an infinite asynchronous environment, are possible. The solitons are stable also for finite density of oscillators, but in this case they sway with a nearly constant speed. This finite-density-induced motility disappears in the continuum limit, as the velocity of the solitons is inverse proportional to the density. A long-wave instability of the homogeneous asynchronous state causes soliton turbulence, which appears as a sequence of soliton mergings and creations. As the instability of the asynchronous state becomes stronger, this turbulence develops into a spatio-temporal intermittency. KW - chimera KW - soliton KW - finite-size effects Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ac63d9 SN - 1367-2630 VL - 24 PB - IOP CY - London ER - TY - THES A1 - Werhahn, Maria T1 - Simulating galaxy evolution with cosmic rays: the multi-frequency view T1 - Galaxienentwicklung in Simulationen mit komischer Strahlung und deren Strahlungsprozessen N2 - Cosmic rays (CRs) constitute an important component of the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies and are thought to play an essential role in governing their evolution. In particular, they are able to impact the dynamics of a galaxy by driving galactic outflows or heating the ISM and thereby affecting the efficiency of star-formation. Hence, in order to understand galaxy formation and evolution, we need to accurately model this non-thermal constituent of the ISM. But except in our local environment within the Milky Way, we do not have the ability to measure CRs directly in other galaxies. However, there are many ways to indirectly observe CRs via the radiation they emit due to their interaction with magnetic and interstellar radiation fields as well as with the ISM. In this work, I develop a numerical framework to calculate the spectral distribution of CRs in simulations of isolated galaxies where a steady-state between injection and cooling is assumed. Furthermore, I calculate the non-thermal emission processes arising from the modelled CR proton and electron spectra ranging from radio wavelengths up to the very high-energy gamma-ray regime. I apply this code to a number of high-resolution magneto-hydrodynamical (MHD) simulations of isolated galaxies, where CRs are included. This allows me to study their CR spectra and compare them to observations of the CR proton and electron spectra by the Voyager-1 satellite and the AMS-02 instrument in order to reveal the origin of the measured spectral features. Furthermore, I provide detailed emission maps, luminosities and spectra of the non-thermal emission from our simulated galaxies that range from dwarfs to Milk-Way analogues to starburst galaxies at different evolutionary stages. I successfully reproduce the observed relations between the radio and gamma-ray luminosities with the far-infrared (FIR) emission of star-forming (SF) galaxies, respectively, where the latter is a good tracer of the star-formation rate. I find that highly SF galaxies are close to the limit where their CR population would lose all of their energy due to the emission of radiation, whereas CRs tend to escape low SF galaxies more quickly. On top of that, I investigate the properties of CR transport that are needed in order to match the observed gamma-ray spectra. Furthermore, I uncover the underlying processes that enable the FIR-radio correlation (FRC) to be maintained even in starburst galaxies and find that thermal free-free-emission naturally explains the observed radio spectra in SF galaxies like M82 and NGC 253 thus solving the riddle of flat radio spectra that have been proposed to contradict the observed tight FRC. Lastly, I scrutinise the steady-state modelling of the CR proton component by investigating for the first time the influence of spectrally resolved CR transport in MHD simulations on the hadronic gamma-ray emission of SF galaxies revealing new insights into the observational signatures of CR transport both spectrally and spatially. N2 - Kosmische Strahlung (CR) ist ein essentieller Bestandteil des interstellaren Mediums (ISM) von Galaxien und spielt eine wichtige Rolle in deren Entwicklung. Insbesondere ist sie in der Lage, die Dynamik einer Galaxie zu beeinflussen, indem sie galaktische Ausflüsse treibt oder das ISM aufheizt und sich dadurch auf die Effizienz der Sternentstehung auswirkt. Um Galaxienentstehung zu verstehen ist es daher notwendig, diesen nicht-thermischen Bestandteil des ISM genau zu modellieren. Aber außerhalb unserer lokalen Umgebung innerhalb der Milchstraße haben wir keine Möglichkeit, um CRs in anderen Galaxien direkt zu messen. Allerdings gibt es viele Möglichkeiten, CRs indirekt über die Strahlung zu beobachten, die sie auf Grund ihrer Interaktion mit Magnetfeldern und interstellarer Strahlung sowie mit dem ISM emittieren. In dieser Arbeit habe ich einen numerischen Code entwickelt, der die spektrale Verteilung der CRs in Simulationen von isolierten Galaxien berechnet, wobei ein stationäres Verhältnis zwischen Injektion und Kühlen angenommen wird. Des Weiteren berechnet er die nicht-thermischen Strahlungsprozesse, die aus den modellierten CR Protonen- und Elektronenspektren hervorgehen. Diese reichen von Radiowellenlängen bis hin zu hochenergetischer Gammastrahlung. Ich wende diesen Code auf eine Vielzahl von hoch aufgelösten, magneto-hydrodynamischen Simulationen von isolierten Galaxien an, die CRs beinhalten. Das ermöglicht es mir, ihre CR Spektren zu untersuchen und mit Beobachtungen des Voyager-1 Satelliten sowie des AMS-02 Instruments von CR Protonen- und Elektronenspektren zu vergleichen, um dem Ursprung von den gemessenen spektralen Besonderheiten nachzugehen. Außerdem lege ich detaillierte Emissionskarten, Leuchtkräfte und Spektren der nicht-thermischen Strahlung unserer simulierten Galaxien vor, die von Zwerggalaxien über Milchstraßen-ähnliche Galaxien bis hin zu Starburst-Galaxien bei verschiedensten Entwicklungsstadien reichen. Damit kann ich erfolgreich die beobachteten Zusammenhänge zwischen jeweils der Radio- und Gammastrahlungsleuchtkraft mit der Ferninfrarot (FIR) Strahlung der sternbildenden Galaxien reproduzieren, wobei die FIR Strahlung ein guter Indikator für die Rate der Sternentstehung ist. Dabei finde ich heraus, dass Galaxien mit einer hohen Rate an Sternentstehung sehr nah an dem Limit sind, in dem ihre CR Population all ihre Energie an die Produktion von Strahlung verlieren würde, während CRs dazu tendieren, Galaxien mit einer niedrigen Sternentstehungsrate schneller zu verlassen. Zusätzlich untersuche ich die Eigenschaften des Transports von CRs, die benötigt werden, um die beobachteten Spektren der Gammastrahlung zu reproduzieren. Außerdem decke ich die zugrundeliegenden physikalischen Prozesse auf, durch die die Korrelation zwischen der FIR- und Radioleuchtkraft auch in Starburst-Galaxien aufrecht erhalten werden kann und finde heraus, dass die thermische Emission natürlicherweise die beobachteten Radiospektren in Galaxien wie M82 und NGC 253 erklärt, wodurch sich das Rätsel der flachen Radiospektren löst, die scheinbar im Widerspruch zum beobachteten engen Zusammenhang zwischen der FIR- und Radioleuchtkraft standen. Zuletzt hinterfrage ich die Annahme eines stationären Zustandes bei der Modellierung der CR Protonenspektren, indem ich zum ersten Mal den Einfluss von spektral aufgelöstem Transport von CR Protonen in magneto-hydrodynamischen Simulationen auf die hadronische Gammastrahlung von sternbildenden Galaxien untersuche, was neue Einblicke in beobachtbare Signaturen, sowohl spektral als auch räumlich, von CR-Transport ermöglicht. KW - galaxies KW - cosmic rays KW - numerical astrophysics KW - kosmische Strahlung KW - Galaxien KW - numerische Astrophysik Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-572851 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tofelde, Stefanie A1 - Bufe, Aaron A1 - Turowski, Jens M. T1 - Hillslope Sediment Supply Limits Alluvial Valley Width JF - AGU Advances N2 - River-valley morphology preserves information on tectonic and climatic conditions that shape landscapes. Observations suggest that river discharge and valley-wall lithology are the main controls on valley width. Yet, current models based on these observations fail to explain the full range of cross-sectional valley shapes in nature, suggesting hitherto unquantified controls on valley width. In particular, current models cannot explain the existence of paired terrace sequences that form under cyclic climate forcing. Paired river terraces are staircases of abandoned floodplains on both valley sides, and hence preserve past valley widths. Their formation requires alternating phases of predominantly river incision and predominantly lateral planation, plus progressive valley narrowing. While cyclic Quaternary climate changes can explain shifts between incision and lateral erosion, the driving mechanism of valley narrowing is unknown. Here, we extract valley geometries from climatically formed, alluvial river-terrace sequences and show that across our dataset, the total cumulative terrace height (here: total valley height) explains 90%–99% of the variance in valley width at the terrace sites. This finding suggests that valley height, or a parameter that scales linearly with valley height, controls valley width in addition to river discharge and lithology. To explain this valley-width-height relationship, we reformulate existing valley-width models and suggest that, when adjusting to new boundary conditions, alluvial valleys evolve to a width at which sediment removal from valley walls matches lateral sediment supply from hillslope erosion. Such a hillslope-channel coupling is not captured in current valley-evolution models. Our model can explain the existence of paired terrace sequences under cyclic climate forcing and relates valley width to measurable field parameters. Therefore, it facilitates the reconstruction of past climatic and tectonic conditions from valley topography. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1029/2021AV000641 SN - 2576-604X PB - American Geophysical Union (AGU); Wiley CY - Hoboken, New Jersey, USA ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Novine, Masiar A1 - Mattsson, Cecilie Cordua A1 - Groth, Detlef T1 - Network reconstruction based on synthetic data generated by a Monte Carlo approach JF - Human biology and public health N2 - Background: Network models are useful tools for researchers to simplify and understand investigated systems. Yet, the assessment of methods for network construction is often uncertain. Random resampling simulations can aid to assess methods, provided synthetic data exists for reliable network construction. Objectives: We implemented a new Monte Carlo algorithm to create simulated data for network reconstruction, tested the influence of adjusted parameters and used simulations to select a method for network model estimation based on real-world data. We hypothesized, that reconstructs based on Monte Carlo data are scored at least as good compared to a benchmark. Methods: Simulated data was generated in R using the Monte Carlo algorithm of the mcgraph package. Benchmark data was created by the huge package. Networks were reconstructed using six estimator functions and scored by four classification metrics. For compatibility tests of mean score differences, Welch’s t-test was used. Network model estimation based on real-world data was done by stepwise selection. Samples: Simulated data was generated based on 640 input graphs of various types and sizes. The real-world dataset consisted of 67 medieval skeletons of females and males from the region of Refshale (Lolland) and Nordby (Jutland) in Denmark. Results: Results after t-tests and determining confidence intervals (CI95%) show, that evaluation scores for network reconstructs based on the mcgraph package were at least as good compared to the benchmark huge. The results even indicate slightly better scores on average for the mcgraph package. Conclusion: The results confirmed our objective and suggested that Monte Carlo data can keep up with the benchmark in the applied test framework. The algorithm offers the feature to use (weighted) un- and directed graphs and might be useful for assessing methods for network construction. KW - Monte Carlo method KW - network reconstruction KW - mcgraph KW - random sampling KW - linear enamel hypoplasia Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.52905/hbph2021.3.26 SN - 2748-9957 VL - 2021 IS - 3, Summer School Supplement PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mumm, Rebekka A1 - Hermanussen, Michael T1 - The dilemma of misclassifying weight in short and in historic population JF - Human biology and public health N2 - Background: Clinicians often refer anthropometric measures of a child to so-called “growth standards” and “growth references. Over 140 countries have meanwhile adopted WHO growth standards. Objectives: The present study was conducted to thoroughly examine the idea of growth standards as a common yardstick for all populations. Weight depends on height. We became interested in whether also weight-for-height depends on height. First, we studied the age-group effect on weight-for-height. Thereafter, we tested the applicability of weight-for-height references in short and in historic populations. Sample and Methods: We analyzed body height and body weight and weight-for-height of 3795 healthy boys and 3726 healthy girls aged 2 to 5 years measured in East-Germany between 1986 and 1990. We chose contemporary height and weight charts from Germany, the UK, and the WHO growth chart and compared these with three geographically commensurable growth charts from the end of the 19th century. Results: We analyzed body height and body weight and weight-for-height of 3795 healthy boys and 3726 healthy girls aged 2 to 5 years measured in East-Germany between 1986 and 1990. We chose contemporary height and weight charts from Germany, the UK, and the WHO growth chart and compared these with three geographically commensurable growth charts of the end of the 19th century. Conclusion: Weight-for-height depends on age and sex and apart from the nutritional state, reflects body proportion and body built particularly during infancy and early childhood. Populations with a relatively short average height are prone to high values of weight-for-height for arithmetic reasons independent of the nutritional state. KW - growth standards KW - growth references KW - body mass index KW - nutritional status Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.52905/hbph2021.3.28 SN - 2748-9957 VL - 2021 IS - 3, Summer School Supplement PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Boeker, Sonja A1 - Hermanussen, Michael A1 - Scheffler, Christiane T1 - Dental age is an independent marker of biological age JF - Human biology and public health N2 - Background: Biological age markers are a crucial indicator whether children are decelerated in growth tempo. Skeletal maturation is the standard measure. Yet, it relies on exposing children to x-radiation. Dental eruption is a potential, but highly debated, radiation free alternative.  Objectives: We assess the interrelationship between dental eruption and other maturational markers. We hypothesize that dental age correlates with body height and skeletal age. We further evaluate how the three different variables behave in cohorts from differing social backgrounds. Sample and Method: Dental, skeletal and height data from the 1970s to 1990s from Guatemalan boys were converted into standard deviation scores, using external references for each measurement. The boys, aged between 7 and 12, derived from different social backgrounds (middle SES (N = 6529), low-middle SES (N = 736), low SES Ladino (N = 3653) and low SES Maya (N = 4587). Results: Dental age shows only a weak correlation with skeletal age (0.18) and height (0.2). The distinction between cohorts differs according to each of the three measurements. All cohorts differ significantly in height. In skeletal maturation, the middle SES cohort is significantly advanced compared to all other cohorts. The periodically malnourished cohorts of low SES Mayas and Ladinos are significantly delayed in dental maturation compared to the well-nourished low-middle and middle class Ladino children. Conclusion: Dental development is an independent system, that is regulated by different mechanisms than skeletal development and growth. Tooth eruption is sensitive to nutritional status, whereas skeletal age is more sensitive to socioeconomic background. KW - dental eruption KW - biological age KW - skeletal age KW - growth tempo KW - maturation KW - malnutrition Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.52905/hbph2021.3.24 SN - 2748-9957 VL - 2021 IS - 3, Summer School Supplement PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hermanussen, Michael A1 - Groth, Detlef A1 - Scheffler, Christiane T1 - Human growth data analyses and statistics BT - The 4th Gülpe International Student Summer School JF - Human biology and public health N2 - Students learn by repetition. Repetition is essential, but repetition needs questioning, and questioning the repertoire belongs to the essential tasks of student education. Guiding students to questioning was and is our prime motive to offer our International Student Summer Schools. The data were critically discussed among the students, in the twilight of Just So Stories, common knowledge, and prompted questioning of contemporary solutions. For these schools, the students bring their own data, carry their preliminary concepts, and in group discussions, they may have to challenge these concepts. Catch-up growth is known to affect long bone growth, but different opinions exist to what extent it also affects body proportions. Skeletal age and dental development are considered appropriate measures of maturation, but it appears that both system develop independently and are regulated by different mechanisms. Body weight distributions are assumed to be skewed, yet, historic data disproved this assumption. Many discussions focused on current ideas of global growth standards as a common yardstick for all populations world-wide, with new statistical tools being developed including network reconstruction and evaluation of the reconstructs to determine the confidence of graph prediction methods. KW - Just so stories KW - Summer Schools KW - questioning solutions KW - repetition Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.52905/hbph2021.3.29 SN - 2748-9957 VL - 2021 IS - 3, Summer School Supplement PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hermanussen, Michael A1 - Scheffler, Christiane T1 - Evidence of chronic undernutrition in late 19th century German infants of all social classes JF - Human biology and public health N2 - 125 years ago, European infants grew differently from modern infants. We show weight gains of 20 healthy children weighed longitudinally from birth to age 1 year, published by Camerer in 1882. The data illustrate the historically prevalent concepts of infant nutrition practiced by German civil servants, lawyers, merchants, university professors, physicians, foresters and farmers. Breastfeeding by the mother was not truly appreciated in those days; children were often breastfed by wet nurses or received bottled milk. Bottle feeding mainly used diluted cow’s milk with some added carbohydrates, without evidence that appropriate amounts of oil, butter or other fatty components were added. French children from 1914 showed similar weight gain patterns suggesting similar feeding practices. The historical data suggest that energy deficient infant formula was fed regularly in the late 19th and early 20th century Europe, regardless of wealth and social class. The data question current concerns that temporarily feeding energy deficient infant formula may warrant serious anxieties regarding long-term cognitive, social and emotional behavioral development. KW - chronic undernutrition KW - breastfeeding KW - historical growth KW - social class KW - translation Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.52905/hbph2022.2.42 SN - 2748-9957 VL - 2022 IS - 2 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rösler, Antonia A1 - Gasparatos, Nikolaos A1 - Hermanussen, Michael A1 - Scheffler, Christiane T1 - Practicability and user-friendliness of height measurements by proof of concept APP using Augmented Reality, in 22 healthy children JF - Human biology and public health N2 - Background: Child growth is a dynamic process. When measured at short intervals, children’s growth shows characteristic patterns that can be of great importance for clinical purposes. Objective: To study whether measuring height on a daily basis using an APP is practicable and user-friendly. Methods: Recruitment took place via Snowball Sampling. Thirteen out of 14 contacted families signed up for a study period of 12 weeks with altogether 22 healthy children aged 3 to 13 years (response rate 93%). The study started with a visit to the family home for the setup of the measurement site, conventional height measuring and initial training of the new measurement process. Follow-up appointments were made at four, eight and 12 weeks. The children’s height was measured at daily intervals at their family homes over a period of three months. Results: The parents altogether recorded 1704 height measurements and meticulously documented practicability and problems when using the device. A 93% response rate in recruitment was achieved by maintaining a high motivation within the families. Contact with the principal investigator was permanently available, including open communication, personal training and attendance during the appointments at the family homes. Conclusion: Measuring height by photographic display is interesting for children and parents and can be used for height measurements at home. A positive response rate of 13 out of 14 families with altogether 22 children highlights feasible recruitment and the high convenience and user-friendliness of daily APP-supported height measurements. Daily APP measurements appear to be a promising new tool for longitudinal growth studies. KW - body height KW - guideline KW - augmented reality KW - daily home-made measurements KW - iPhone KW - APP Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.52905/hbph2022.2.48 SN - 2748-9957 VL - 2022 IS - 2 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - THES A1 - Folikumah, Makafui Yao T1 - Stimuli-promoted in situ formation of hydrogels with thiol/thioester containing peptide precursors T1 - Stimuli-induzierte In-Situ-Bildung von Hydrogelen durch Peptid-Prekursor mit Thiol/Thioestergruppen N2 - Hydrogels are potential synthetic ECM-like substitutes since they provide functional and structural similarities compared to soft tissues. They can be prepared by crosslinking of macromolecules or by polymerizing suitable precursors. The crosslinks are not necessarily covalent bonds, but could also be formed by physical interactions such as π-π interactions, hydrophobic interactions, or H-bonding. On demand in situ forming hydrogels have garnered increased interest especially for biomedical applications over preformed gels due to the relative ease of in vivo delivery and filling of cavities. The thiol-Michael addition reaction provides a straightforward and robust strategy for in situ gel formation with its fast reaction kinetics and ability to proceed under physiological conditions. The incorporation of a trigger function into a crosslinking system becomes even more interesting since gelling can be controlled with stimulus of choice. The use of small molar mass crosslinker precursors with active groups orthogonal to thiol-Michael reaction type electrophile provides the opportunity to implement an on-demand in situ crosslinking without compromising the fast reaction kinetics. It was postulated that short peptide sequences due to the broad range structural-function relations available with the different constituent amino acids, can be exploited for the realisation of stimuli-promoted in situ covalent crosslinking and gelation applications. The advantages of this system over conventional polymer-polymer hydrogel systems are the ability tune and predict material property at the molecular level. The main aim of this work was to develop a simplified and biologically-friendly stimuli-promoted in situ crosslinking and hydrogelation system using peptide mimetics as latent crosslinkers. The approach aims at using a single thiodepsipeptide sequence to achieve separate pH- and enzyme-promoted gelation systems with little modification to the thiodepsipeptide sequence. The realization of this aim required the completion of three milestones. In the first place, after deciding on the thiol-Michael reaction as an effective in situ crosslinking strategy, a thiodepsipeptide, Ac-Pro-Leu-Gly-SLeu-Leu-Gly-NEtSH (TDP) with expected propensity towards pH-dependent thiol-thioester exchange (TTE) activation, was proposed as a suitable crosslinker precursor for pH-promoted gelation system. Prior to the synthesis of the proposed peptide-mimetic, knowledge of the thiol-Michael reactivity of the would-be activated thiol moiety SH-Leu, which is internally embedded in the thiodepsipeptide was required. In line with pKa requirements for a successful TTE, the reactivity of a more acidic thiol, SH-Phe was also investigated to aid the selection of the best thiol to be incorporated in the thioester bearing peptide based crosslinker precursor. Using ‘pseudo’ 2D-NMR investigations, it was found that only reactions involving SH-Leu yielded the expected thiol-Michael product, an observation that was attributed to the steric hindrance of the bulkier nature of SH-Phe. The fast reaction rates and complete acrylate/maleimide conversion obtained with SH-Leu at pH 7.2 and higher aided the direct elimination of SH-Phe as a potential thiol for the synthesis of the peptide mimetic. Based on the initial studies, for the pH-promoted gelation system, the proposed Ac-Pro-Leu-Gly-SLeu-Leu-Gly-NEtSH was kept unmodified. The subtle difference in pKa values between SH-Leu (thioester thiol) and the terminal cysteamine thiol from theoretical conditions should be enough to effect a ‘pseudo’ intramolecular TTE. In polar protic solvents and under basic aqueous conditions, TDP successfully undergoes a ‘pseudo’ intramolecular TTE reaction to yield an α,ω-dithiol tripeptide, HSLeu-Leu-Gly-NEtSH. The pH dependence of thiolate ion generation by the cysteamine thiol aided the incorporation of the needed stimulus (pH) for the overall success of TTE (activation step) – thiol-Michael addition (crosslinking) strategy. Secondly, with potential biomedical applications in focus, the susceptibility of TDP, like other thioesters, to intermolecular TTE reaction was probed with a group of thiols of varying thiol pKa values, since biological milieu characteristically contain peptide/protein thiols. L-cysteine, which is a biologically relevant thiol, and a small molecular weight thiol, methylthioglycolate both with relatively similar thiol pKa, values, led to an increase concentration of the dithiol crosslinker when reacted with TDP. In the presence of acidic thiols (p-NTP and 4MBA), a decrease in the dithiol concentration was observed, an observation that can be attributed to the inability of the TTE tetrahedral intermediate to dissociate into exchange products and is in line with pKa requirements for successful TTE reaction. These results additionally makes TDP more attractive and the potentially the first crosslinker precursor for applications in biologically relevant media. Finally, the ability of TDP to promote pH-sensitive in situ gel formation was probed with maleimide functionalized 4-arm polyethylene glycol polymers in tris-buffered media of varying pHs. When a 1:1 thiol: maleimide molar ratio was used, TDP-PEG4MAL hydrogels formed within 3, 12 and 24 hours at pH values of 8.5, 8.0 and 7.5 respectively. However, gelation times of 3, 5 and 30 mins were observed for the same pH trend when the thiol: maleimide molar was increased to 2:1. A direct correlation of thiol content with G’ of the gels at each pH could also be drawn by comparing gels with thiol: maleimide ratios of 1:1 to those with 2:1 thiol: maleimide mole ratios. This is supported by the fact that the storage modulus (G') is linearly dependent on the crosslinking density of the polymer. The values of initial G′ for all gels ranged between (200 – 5000 Pa), which falls in the range of elasticities of certain tissue microenvironments for example brain tissue 200 – 1000 Pa and adipose tissue (2500 – 3500 Pa). Knowledge so far gained from the study on the ability to design and tune the exchange reaction of thioester containing peptide mimetic will give those working in the field further insight into the development of new sequences tailored towards specific applications. TTE substrate design using peptide mimetic as presented in this work has revealed interesting new insights considering the state-of-the-art. Using the results obtained as reference, the strategy provides a possibility to extend the concept to the controlled delivery of active molecules needed for other robust and high yielding crosslinking reactions for biomedical applications. Application for this sequentially coupled functional system could be seen e.g. in the treatment of inflamed tissues associated with urinary tract like bladder infections for which pH levels above 7 were reported. By the inclusion of cell adhesion peptide motifs, the hydrogel network formed at this pH could act as a new support layer for the healing of damage epithelium as shown in interfacial gel formation experiments using TDP and PEG4MAL droplets. The versatility of the thiodepsipeptide sequence, Ac-Pro-Leu-Gly-SLeu-Leu-Gly-(TDPo) was extended for the design and synthesis of a MMP-sensitive 4-arm PEG-TDPo conjugate. The purported cleavage of TDPo at the Gly-SLeu bond yields active thiol units for subsequent reaction of orthogonal Michael acceptor moieties. One of the advantages of stimuli-promoted in situ crosslinking systems using short peptides should be the ease of design of required peptide molecules due to the predictability of peptide functions their sequence structure. Consequently the functionalisation of a 4-arm PEG core with the collagenase active TDPo sequence yielded an MMP-sensitive 4-arm thiodepsipeptide-PEG conjugate (PEG4TDPo) substrate. Cleavage studies using thiol flourometric assay in the presence of MMPs -2 and -9 confirmed the susceptibility of PEG4TDPo towards these enzymes. The resulting time-dependent increase in fluorescence intensity in the presence of thiol assay signifies the successful cleavage of TDPo at the Gly-SLeu bond as expected. It was observed that the cleavage studies with thiol flourometric assay introduces a sigmoid non-Michaelis-Menten type kinetic profile, hence making it difficult to accurately determine the enzyme cycling parameters, kcat and KM . Gelation studies with PEG4MAL at 10 % wt. concentrations revealed faster gelation with MMP-2 than MMP-9 with 28 and 40 min gelation times respectively. Possible contributions by hydrolytic cleavage of PEG4TDPo has resulted in the gelation of PEG4MAL blank samples but only after 60 minutes of reaction. From theoretical considerations, the simultaneous gelation reaction would be expected to more negatively impact the enzymatic than hydrolytic cleavage. The exact contributions from hydrolytic cleavage of PEG4TDPo would however require additional studies. In summary this new and simplified in situ crosslinking system using peptide-based crosslinker precursors with tuneable properties exhibited in situ crosslinking gelation kinetics on similar levels with already active dithiols reported. The advantageous on-demand functionality associated with its pH-sensitivity and physiological compatibility makes it a strong candidate worth further research as biomedical applications in general and on-demand material synthesis is concerned. Results from MMP-promoted gelation system unveils a simple but unexplored approach for in situ synthesis of covalently crosslinked soft materials, that could lead to the development of an alternative pathway in addressing cancer metastasis by making use of MMP overexpression as a trigger. This goal has so far not being reach with MMP inhibitors despite the extensive work this regard. N2 - Hydrogele sind synthetische, potenziell ECM-ähnliche Substituenten, die funktionelle und strukturelle Ähnlichkeiten mit Weichteilgeweben aufweisen. Sie können durch Vernetzung von Makromolekülen oder durch Polymerisation geeigneter Precursoren hergestellt werden. Die Vernetzungen müssen nicht unbedingt aus kovalenten Bindungen bestehen, sondern können auch durch physikalische Wechselwirkungen wie π-π-Wechselwirkungen, hydrophoben Wechselwirkungen oder Wasserstoff-Brückenbindungen entstehen. In-situ-Hydrogele, die on-demand gebildet werden, haben vor allem für biomedizinische Anwendungen gegenüber vorgefertigten Gelen zunehmend an Interesse gewonnen, da sie relativ einfach in-vivo eingebracht und somit Fehlstellen gefüllt werden können. Die Thiol-Michael-Additionsreaktion bietet mit ihrer schnellen Reaktionskinetik und ihrer Fähigkeit, unter physiologischen Bedingungen abzulaufen, eine unkomplizierte und robuste Strategie für die in-situ-Gelbildung. Der Einbau einer Triggerfunktion in ein Vernetzungssystem ist besonders interessant, da die Gelierung durch einen gewählten Stimulus gesteuert werden kann. Die Verwendung eines Precursors mit geringer Molmasse und aktiven Gruppen, die orthogonal zu den Elektrophilen des Thiol-Michael-Reaktionstyps sind, bietet die Möglichkeit, eine bedarfsgesteuerte in-situ-Vernetzung zu realisieren, ohne die schnelle Reaktionskinetik zu beeinträchtigen. Es wurde postuliert, dass kurze Peptidsequenzen aufgrund der weitreichenden Struktur-Funktions-Beziehungen, die mit den verschiedenen konstituierenden Aminosäuren zur Verfügung stehen, für die Realisierung von Stimulus-ausgelösten, in-situ kovalenten Vernetzungs- und Gelierungsanwendungen genutzt werden können. Die Vorteile dieses Systems gegenüber herkömmlichen Polymer-Polymer-Hydrogelsystemen liegen in der Möglichkeit, die Materialeigenschaften auf molekularer Ebene zu justieren und vorherzusagen. Das Hauptziel dieser Arbeit war die Entwicklung eines vereinfachten und biologisch-geeigneten, stimulierungsgeförderten in-situ-Vernetzungs- und Hydrogelierungssystems unter Verwendung von Peptidmimetika als latente Vernetzer. Der Ansatz zielt darauf ab, eine einzige Thiodepsipeptidsequenz zu verwenden, um getrennte pH- und enzymausgelöste Gelierungssysteme mit geringen Modifikationen der Thiodepsipeptidsequenz zu erreichen. Zur Verwirklichung dieses Ziels, mussten drei Meilensteine erreicht werden. Nach der Wahl der Thiol-Michael-Reaktion als in-situ-Vernetzungsstrategie, musste ein Thiodepsipeptid, Ac-Pro-Leu-Gly-SLeu-Leu-Gly-NEtSH (TDP) mit einer zu erwartenden Neigung zu einer pH-abhängigen Thiol-Thioester-Austausch-Aktivierung (TTE), als geeignetem Vernetzer-Precursor für das pH-unterstützte Gelierungssystem designt werden. Vor der Synthese dieses Peptid-Mimetikums war die Untersuchung der Thiol-Michael-Reaktivität der potenziell aktivierten Thiolkomponente SH-Leu erforderlich, die intern in das Thiodepsipeptid eingebettet ist. In Übereinstimmung mit den pKa-Anforderungen für eine erfolgreiche TTE wurde auch die Reaktivität eines saureren Thiols, SH-Phe, untersucht, um die Auswahl des besten Thiols zu ermöglichen, das in den Thioester-tragenden Peptid-basierten Vernetzer-Precursor eingebaut werden sollte. Pseudo-2D-NMR-Untersuchungen zeigten, dass nur Reaktionen mit SH-Leu das erwartete Thiol-Michael-Produkt ergaben, eine Beobachtung, die auf die sterische Hinderung durch die sperrige Natur von SH-Phe zurückzuführen ist. Wegen der schnellen Reaktionsgeschwindigkeiten und der vollständigen Acrylat/Maleimid-Umwandlung, die mit SH-Leu bei einem pH-Wert von 7,2 und höher erzielt wurde, kam SH-Phe als potenzielles Thiol für die Synthese des Peptidmimetikums nicht mehr infrage. Auf der Grundlage der ersten Studien wurde für das pH-basierte Gelierungssystem das vorgeschlagene Ac-Pro-Leu-Gly-SLeu-Leu-Gly-NEtSH unverändert beibehalten. Der geringe Unterschied in den pKa-Werten zwischen SH-Leu (Thioesterthiol) und dem terminalen Cysteaminthiol sollte ausreichen, um eine "pseudo"-intramolekulare TTE zu bewirken. In polaren protischen Lösungsmitteln und unter basischen wässrigen Bedingungen verläuft die "pseudo"-intramolekulare TTE-Reaktion bei TDP erfolgreich, bei der ein α,ω-Dithiol-Tripeptid, HSLeu-Leu-Gly-NEtSH, entsteht. Die pH-Abhängigkeit der Thiolat-Ionen-Generierung durch das Cysteamin-Thiol trug dazu bei, den notwendigen Stimulus (pH) für den Gesamterfolg der TTE (Aktivierungsschritt) - Thiol-Michael-Addition (Vernetzung) Strategie einzubauen. Zweitens wurde mit Blick auf potenzielle biomedizinische Anwendungen die Empfindlichkeit von TDP, wie auch anderer Thioester, für die intermolekulare TTE-Reaktion mit einer Gruppe von Thiolen mit unterschiedlichen Thiol-pKa-Werten untersucht, da biologische Milieus typischerweise Peptid-/Proteinthiole enthalten. L-Cystein, ein biologisch relevantes Thiol, und ein Thiol mit geringem Molekulargewicht, Methylthioglykolat, die beide relativ ähnliche Thiol-pKa-Werte besitzen, führten bei der Reaktion mit TDP zu einer erhöhten Konzentration des Dithiol-Vernetzers. In Gegenwart von sauren Thiolen (p-NTP und 4MBA) wurde eine Abnahme der Dithiolkonzentration beobachtet, eine Beobachtung, die auf die Unfähigkeit des tetraedrischen TTE-Zwischenprodukts in Austauschprodukte zu dissoziieren zurückgeführt werden kann und mit den pKa-Anforderungen für eine erfolgreiche TTE-Reaktion in Einklang steht. Diese Ergebnisse machen TDP noch attraktiver und zum potenziell ersten Vernetzer-Precursor für Anwendungen in biologisch relevanten Medien. Schließlich wurde die Fähigkeit von TDP, die pH-empfindliche in-situ-Gelbildung zu fördern, mit Maleimid-funktionalisierten 4-armigen Polyethylenglykolpolymeren in tris-gepufferten Medien mit unterschiedlichen pH-Werten untersucht. Bei einem Molverhältnis von 1:1 Thiol zu Maleimid bildeten sich TDP-PEG4MAL-Hydrogele innerhalb von 3, 12 und 24 Stunden bei pH-Werten von 8,5, 8,0 bzw. 7,5. Bei einer Erhöhung des Molverhältnisses von Thiol zu Maleimid auf 2:1 wurden jedoch Gelierzeiten von 3, 5 und 30 Minuten für denselben pH-Trend beobachtet. Ein direkter Zusammenhang zwischen dem Thiolgehalt und G' der Gele bei jedem pH-Wert konnte auch durch den Vergleich von Gelen mit einem Thiol/Maleimid-Molverhältnis von 1:1 mit solchen mit einem Thiol/Maleimid-Molverhältnis von 2:1 hergestellt werden. Dies wird durch die Tatsache unterstützt, dass der Speichermodulus (G') linear von der Vernetzungsdichte des Polymers abhängig ist. Die Werte des anfänglichen G′ für alle Gele lagen bei 200 - 5000 Pa, was in den Bereich der Elastizitäten bestimmter Gewebe-Mikroumgebungen fällt, z. B. Gehirngewebe (200 - 1000 Pa) und Fettgewebe (2500 - 3500 Pa). Die bisher aus der Studie gewonnenen Erkenntnisse über die Möglichkeit, die Austauschreaktion von Thioester-haltigen Peptidmimetika zu entwerfen und abzustimmen, geben weitere Einblicke in die Entwicklung neuer, auf spezifische Anwendungen zugeschnittener Sequenzen. Das Design von TTE-Substraten unter Verwendung von Peptidmimetika, wie es in dieser Arbeit vorgestellt wurde, hat interessante neue Erkenntnisse im Hinblick auf den Stand der Technik gebracht. Mit den erzielten Ergebnissen als Basis bietet die Strategie die Möglichkeit, das Konzept auf die kontrollierte Freisetzung aktiver Moleküle zu erweitern, die für andere robuste Vernetzungsreaktionen mit hohem Umsatz für biomedizinische Anwendungen benötigt werden. Dieses sequentiell gekoppelte funktionelle System könnte z. B. bei der Behandlung von entzündetem Gewebe im Zusammenhang mit Harnwegsinfektionen wie Blasenentzündungen eingesetzt werden, für die pH-Werte über 7 berichtet wurden. Durch die Einbeziehung von Zelladhäsionspeptidmotiven könnte das bei diesem pH-Wert gebildete Hydrogelnetz als neue Stützschicht für die Heilung von geschädigtem Epithel fungieren, wie in Experimenten zur Bildung von Grenzflächengelen mit TDP- und PEG4MAL-Tropfen gezeigt wurde. Die Vielseitigkeit der Thiodepsipeptidsequenz Ac-Pro-Leu-Gly-SLeu-Leu-Gly-(TDPo) wurde um Design und die Synthese eines MMP-empfindlichen 4-armigen PEG-TDPo-Konjugats erweitert. Die beabsichtigte Spaltung von TDPo an der Gly-SLeu-Bindung liefert aktive Thiol-Einheiten für die anschließende Reaktion orthogonaler Michael-Akzeptor-Einheiten. Einer der Vorteile stimulierungsgestützter in-situ-Vernetzungssysteme unter Verwendung kurzer Peptide dürfte darin liegen, dass sich die erforderlichen Peptidmoleküle aufgrund der Vorhersagbarkeit der Peptidfunktionen und ihrer Sequenzstruktur leicht entwerfen lassen. Die Funktionalisierung eines vierarmigen PEG-Kerns mit der kollagenaseaktiven TDPo-Sequenz führte zu einem MMP-empfindlichen vierarmigen Thiodepsipeptid-PEG-Konjugat (PEG4TDPo). Spaltungs-Studien unter Verwendung eines thiolfluorimetrischen Assays in Gegenwart der MMPs -2 und -9 bestätigten die Spaltbarkeit von PEG4TDPo durch diese Enzyme. Der daraus resultierende zeitabhängige Anstieg der Fluoreszenzintensität in Anwesenheit des Thiol-Assays deutet auf die erfolgreiche Spaltung von TDPo an der Gly-SLeu-Bindung hin. Es wurde festgestellt, dass die Spaltungsstudien mit dem thiol-fluorimetrischen Assay ein sigmoides, nicht-Michaelis-Menten-artiges kinetisches Profil ergeben, was eine genaue Bestimmung der Enzymzyklusparameter, kcat und KM, erschwert. Gelierungsstudien mit PEG4MAL in einer Konzentration von 10 Gew.-% ergaben eine schnellere Gelierung mit MMP-2 als mit MMP-9 mit Gelierungszeiten von 28 bzw. 40 Minuten. Eventuelle Beiträge durch hydrolytische Spaltung von PEG4TDPo an der Gelierung wurden an PEG4MAL-Blindproben untersucht und führten erst nach 60 Minuten Reaktionszeit zu einer Gelierung. Aus theoretischen Überlegungen heraus wäre zu erwarten, dass sich die gleichzeitige Gelierungsreaktion negativer auf die enzymatische als auf die hydrolytische Spaltung auswirkt. Genaues zum Beitrag der hydrolytischen Spaltung von PEG4TDPo bedürfte jedoch weiterer Untersuchungen. Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass dieses neue in-situ-Vernetzungssystem, bei dem Peptid-basierte Vernetzungs-Precursor mit einstellbaren Eigenschaften verwendet werden, eine in-situ-Vernetzungs-Gelierungskinetik auf ähnlichem Niveau wie bei bereits berichteten aktiven Dithiole aufweist. Die vorteilhafte On-Demand-Funktionalität in Verbindung mit ihrer pH-Sensitivität und physiologischen Verträglichkeit macht sie zu einem interessanten Kandidaten für weitere Forschungen im Bereich biomedizinischer Anwendungen im Allgemeinen und der On-Demand-Materialsynthese. Die Ergebnisse des MMP-geförderten Gelierungssystems weisen einen einfachen, aber unerforschten Ansatz für die in-situ-Synthese kovalent vernetzter weicher Materialien, der zur Entwicklung eines alternativen Weges zur Bekämpfung der Krebsmetastasierung führen könnte, indem er die MMP-Überexpression als Auslöser nutzt. Mit MMP-Inhibitoren wurde dieses Ziel trotz umfangreicher Arbeiten in dieser Hinsicht bisher nicht erreicht. KW - hydrogels KW - stimuli KW - peptide KW - thioester KW - crosslinker KW - Hydrogele KW - Vernetzer KW - Peptid KW - Thioester KW - Stimuli Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-569713 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Borck, Rainald A1 - Schrauth, Philipp T1 - Urban pollution BT - A global perspective T2 - CEPA Discussion Papers N2 - We use worldwide satellite data to analyse how population size and density affect urban pollution. We find that density significantly increases pollution exposure. Looking only at urban areas, we find that population size affects exposure more than density. Moreover, the effect is driven mostly by population commuting to core cities rather than the core city population itself. We analyse heterogeneity by geography and income levels. By and large, the influence of population on pollution is greatest in Asia and middle-income countries. A counterfactual simulation shows that PM2.5 exposure would fall by up to 36% and NO2 exposure up to 53% if within countries population size were equalized across all cities. T3 - CEPA Discussion Papers - 60 KW - population density KW - air pollution KW - gridded data Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-572049 SN - 2628-653X IS - 60 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jafarnezhadgero, Amir Ali A1 - Noroozi, Raha A1 - Fakhri Mirzanag, Ehsan A1 - Granacher, Urs A1 - de Souza Castelo Oliveira, Anderson T1 - The Impact of COVID-19 and Muscle Fatigue on Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Running Kinetics in Female Recreational Runners JF - Frontiers in Physiology N2 - Background: There is evidence that fully recovered COVID-19 patients usually resume physical exercise, but do not perform at the same intensity level performed prior to infection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 infection and recovery as well as muscle fatigue on cardiorespiratory fitness and running biomechanics in female recreational runners. Methods: Twenty-eight females were divided into a group of hospitalized and recovered COVID-19 patients (COV, n = 14, at least 14 days following recovery) and a group of healthy age-matched controls (CTR, n = 14). Ground reaction forces from stepping on a force plate while barefoot overground running at 3.3 m/s was measured before and after a fatiguing protocol. The fatigue protocol consisted of incrementally increasing running speed until reaching a score of 13 on the 6–20 Borg scale, followed by steady-state running until exhaustion. The effects of group and fatigue were assessed for steady-state running duration, steady-state running speed, ground contact time, vertical instantaneous loading rate and peak propulsion force. Results: COV runners completed only 56% of the running time achieved by the CTR (p < 0.0001), and at a 26% slower steady-state running speed (p < 0.0001). There were fatigue-related reductions in loading rate (p = 0.004) without group differences. Increased ground contact time (p = 0.002) and reduced peak propulsion force (p = 0.005) were found for COV when compared to CTR. Conclusion: Our results suggest that female runners who recovered from COVID-19 showed compromised running endurance and altered running kinetics in the form of longer stance periods and weaker propulsion forces. More research is needed in this area using larger sample sizes to confirm our study findings. KW - hospitalization KW - running mechanics KW - ground reaction forces KW - virus infection KW - COVID-19 Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.942589 SN - 1664-042X VL - 13 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Frontiers CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Deeken, Friederike A1 - Reichert, Markus A1 - Zech, Hilmar A1 - Wenzel, Julia A1 - Wedemeyer, Friederike A1 - Aguilera, Alvaro A1 - Aslan, Acelya A1 - Bach, Patrick A1 - Bahr, Nadja Samia A1 - Ebrahimi, Claudia A1 - Fischbach, Pascale Christine A1 - Ganz, Marvin A1 - Garbusow, Maria A1 - Großkopf, Charlotte M. A1 - Heigert, Marie A1 - Hentschel, Angela A1 - Karl, Damian A1 - Pelz, Patricia A1 - Pinger, Mathieu A1 - Riemerschmid, Carlotta A1 - Rosenthal, Annika A1 - Steffen, Johannes A1 - Strehle, Jens A1 - Weiss,, Franziska A1 - Wieder, Gesine A1 - Wieland, Alfred A1 - Zaiser, Judith A1 - Zimmermann, Sina A1 - Walter, Henrik A1 - Lenz, Bernd A1 - Deserno, Lorenz A1 - Smolka, Michael N. A1 - Liu, Shuyan A1 - Ebner-Priemer, Ulrich Walter A1 - Heinz, Andreas A1 - Rapp, Michael A. T1 - Patterns of Alcohol Consumption Among Individuals With Alcohol Use Disorder During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Lockdowns in Germany JF - JAMA Network Open N2 - Importance Alcohol consumption (AC) leads to death and disability worldwide. Ongoing discussions on potential negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on AC need to be informed by real-world evidence. Objective To examine whether lockdown measures are associated with AC and consumption-related temporal and psychological within-person mechanisms. Design, Setting, and Participants This quantitative, intensive, longitudinal cohort study recruited 1743 participants from 3 sites from February 20, 2020, to February 28, 2021. Data were provided before and within the second lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: before lockdown (October 2 to November 1, 2020); light lockdown (November 2 to December 15, 2020); and hard lockdown (December 16, 2020, to February 28, 2021). Main Outcomes and Measures Daily ratings of AC (main outcome) captured during 3 lockdown phases (main variable) and temporal (weekends and holidays) and psychological (social isolation and drinking intention) correlates. Results Of the 1743 screened participants, 189 (119 [63.0%] male; median [IQR] age, 37 [27.5-52.0] years) with at least 2 alcohol use disorder (AUD) criteria according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth Edition) yet without the need for medically supervised alcohol withdrawal were included. These individuals provided 14 694 smartphone ratings from October 2020 through February 2021. Multilevel modeling revealed significantly higher AC (grams of alcohol per day) on weekend days vs weekdays (β = 11.39; 95% CI, 10.00-12.77; P < .001). Alcohol consumption was above the overall average on Christmas (β = 26.82; 95% CI, 21.87-31.77; P < .001) and New Year’s Eve (β = 66.88; 95% CI, 59.22-74.54; P < .001). During the hard lockdown, perceived social isolation was significantly higher (β = 0.12; 95% CI, 0.06-0.15; P < .001), but AC was significantly lower (β = −5.45; 95% CI, −8.00 to −2.90; P = .001). Independent of lockdown, intention to drink less alcohol was associated with lower AC (β = −11.10; 95% CI, −13.63 to −8.58; P < .001). Notably, differences in AC between weekend and weekdays decreased both during the hard lockdown (β = −6.14; 95% CI, −9.96 to −2.31; P = .002) and in participants with severe AUD (β = −6.26; 95% CI, −10.18 to −2.34; P = .002). Conclusions and Relevance This 5-month cohort study found no immediate negative associations of lockdown measures with overall AC. Rather, weekend-weekday and holiday AC patterns exceeded lockdown effects. Differences in AC between weekend days and weekdays evinced that weekend drinking cycles decreased as a function of AUD severity and lockdown measures, indicating a potential mechanism of losing and regaining control. This finding suggests that temporal patterns and drinking intention constitute promising targets for prevention and intervention, even in high-risk individuals. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.24641 SN - 2574-3805 VL - 5 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - JAMA Network / American Medical Association CY - Chicago, Illinois, USA ET - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ramirez-Campillo, Rodrigo A1 - Pérez-Castilla, Alejandro A1 - Thapa, Rohit Kumar A1 - Afonso, José A1 - Clemente, Filipe Manuel Batista A1 - Colado, Juan C. A1 - Eduardo, Saéz de Villarreal A1 - Chaabene, Helmi T1 - Effects of Plyometric Jump Training on Measures of Physical Fitness and Sport-Specific Performance of Water Sports Athletes BT - A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis JF - Sports Medicine - Open N2 - 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). KW - Plyometric exercise KW - Musculoskeletal and neural physiological phenomena KW - Human physical conditioning KW - Movement KW - Muscle strength KW - Resistance training Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-022-00502-2 SN - 2198-9761 VL - 8 SP - 1 EP - 27 PB - Springer CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mtilatila, Lucy Mphatso Ng'ombe A1 - Bronstert, Axel A1 - Vormoor, Klaus Josef T1 - Temporal evaluation and projections of meteorological droughts in the Greater Lake Malawi Basin, Southeast Africa JF - Frontiers in Water N2 - The study examined the potential future changes of drought characteristics in the Greater Lake Malawi Basin in Southeast Africa. This region strongly depends on water resources to generate electricity and food. Future projections (considering both moderate and high emission scenarios) of temperature and precipitation from an ensemble of 16 bias-corrected climate model combinations were blended with a scenario-neutral response surface approach to analyses changes in: (i) the meteorological conditions, (ii) the meteorological water balance, and (iii) selected drought characteristics such as drought intensity, drought months, and drought events, which were derived from the Standardized Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Index. Changes were analyzed for a near-term (2021–2050) and far-term period (2071–2100) with reference to 1976–2005. The effect of bias-correction (i.e., empirical quantile mapping) on the ability of the climate model ensemble to reproduce observed drought characteristics as compared to raw climate projections was also investigated. Results suggest that the bias-correction improves the climate models in terms of reproducing temperature and precipitation statistics but not drought characteristics. Still, despite the differences in the internal structures and uncertainties that exist among the climate models, they all agree on an increase of meteorological droughts in the future in terms of higher drought intensity and longer events. Drought intensity is projected to increase between +25 and +50% during 2021–2050 and between +131 and +388% during 2071–2100. This translates into +3 to +5, and +7 to +8 more drought months per year during both periods, respectively. With longer lasting drought events, the number of drought events decreases. Projected droughts based on the high emission scenario are 1.7 times more severe than droughts based on the moderate scenario. That means that droughts in this region will likely become more severe in the coming decades. Despite the inherent high uncertainties of climate projections, the results provide a basis in planning and (water-)managing activities for climate change adaptation measures in Malawi. This is of particular relevance for water management issues referring hydro power generation and food production, both for rain-fed and irrigated agriculture. KW - meteorological drought KW - drought intensity KW - climate change KW - drought events KW - Lake Malawi KW - Shire River KW - drought projections KW - South-Eastern Africa Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2022.1041452 SN - 2624-9375 SP - 1 EP - 16 PB - Frontiers Media S.A. CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - THES A1 - Zeitz, Maria T1 - Modeling the future resilience of the Greenland Ice Sheet T1 - Numerische Modellierung der zukünftigen Resilienz des grönländischen Eisschildes BT - from the flow of ice to the interplay of feedbacks N2 - The Greenland Ice Sheet is the second-largest mass of ice on Earth. Being almost 2000 km long, more than 700 km wide, and more than 3 km thick at the summit, it holds enough ice to raise global sea levels by 7m if melted completely. Despite its massive size, it is particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic climate change: temperatures over the Greenland Ice Sheet have increased by more than 2.7◦C in the past 30 years, twice as much as the global mean temperature. Consequently, the ice sheet has been significantly losing mass since the 1980s and the rate of loss has increased sixfold since then. Moreover, it is one of the potential tipping elements of the Earth System, which might undergo irreversible change once a warming threshold is exceeded. This thesis aims at extending the understanding of the resilience of the Greenland Ice Sheet against global warming by analyzing processes and feedbacks relevant to its centennial to multi-millennial stability using ice sheet modeling. One of these feedbacks, the melt-elevation-feedback is driven by the temperature rise with decreasing altitudes: As the ice sheet melts, its thickness and surface elevation decrease, exposing the ice surface to warmer air and thus increasing the melt rates even further. The glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) can partly mitigate this melt-elevation feedback as the bedrock lifts in response to an ice load decrease, forming the negative GIA feedback. In my thesis, I show that the interaction between these two competing feedbacks can lead to qualitatively different dynamical responses of the Greenland Ice Sheet to warming – from permanent loss to incomplete recovery, depending on the feedback parameters. My research shows that the interaction of those feedbacks can initiate self-sustained oscillations of the ice volume while the climate forcing remains constant. Furthermore, the increased surface melt changes the optical properties of the snow or ice surface, e.g. by lowering their albedo, which in turn enhances melt rates – a process known as the melt-albedo feedback. Process-based ice sheet models often neglect this melt-albedo feedback. To close this gap, I implemented a simplified version of the diurnal Energy Balance Model, a computationally efficient approach that can capture the first-order effects of the melt-albedo feedback, into the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM). Using the coupled model, I show in warming experiments that the melt-albedo feedback almost doubles the ice loss until the year 2300 under the low greenhouse gas emission scenario RCP2.6, compared to simulations where the melt-albedo feedback is neglected, and adds up to 58% additional ice loss under the high emission scenario RCP8.5. Moreover, I find that the melt-albedo feedback dominates the ice loss until 2300, compared to the melt-elevation feedback. Another process that could influence the resilience of the Greenland Ice Sheet is the warming induced softening of the ice and the resulting increase in flow. In my thesis, I show with PISM how the uncertainty in Glen’s flow law impacts the simulated response to warming. In a flow line setup at fixed climatic mass balance, the uncertainty in flow parameters leads to a range of ice loss comparable to the range caused by different warming levels. While I focus on fundamental processes, feedbacks, and their interactions in the first three projects of my thesis, I also explore the impact of specific climate scenarios on the sea level rise contribution of the Greenland Ice Sheet. To increase the carbon budget flexibility, some warming scenarios – while still staying within the limits of the Paris Agreement – include a temporal overshoot of global warming. I show that an overshoot by 0.4◦C increases the short-term and long-term ice loss from Greenland by several centimeters. The long-term increase is driven by the warming at high latitudes, which persists even when global warming is reversed. This leads to a substantial long-term commitment of the sea level rise contribution from the Greenland Ice Sheet. Overall, in my thesis I show that the melt-albedo feedback is most relevant for the ice loss of the Greenland Ice Sheet on centennial timescales. In contrast, the melt-elevation feedback and its interplay with the GIA feedback become increasingly relevant on millennial timescales. All of these influence the resilience of the Greenland Ice Sheet against global warming, in the near future and on the long term. N2 - Das grönländische Eisschild ist die zweitgrößte Eismasse der Erde. Es fasst genug Eis, um den globalen Meeresspiegel um 7m anzuheben, wenn er vollständig schmilzt. Trotz seiner Größe ist es durch den vom Menschen verursachten Klimawandel immens gefährdet: Die Temperaturen über Grönland sind in den letzten 30 Jahren um mehr als 2,7◦C gestiegen, doppelt so stark wie im globalen Mittel. Daher verliert das Eisschild seit den 1980er Jahren an Masse und die Verlustrate hat sich seitdem versechsfacht. Zudem ist das grönländische Eisschild ein Kippelement des Erdsystems, es könnte sich unwiederbringlich verändern, wenn die globale Erwärmung einen Schwellwert überschreiten sollte. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, das Verständnis für die Resilienz des grönländischen Eisschildes zu erweitern, indem relevante Rückkopplungen und Prozesse analysiert werden. Eine dieser Rückkopplungen, die positive Schmelz-Höhen-Rückkopplung wird durch den Temperaturanstieg bei abnehmender Höhe angetrieben: Wenn der Eisschild schmilzt, nehmen seine Dicke und die Oberflächenhöhe ab, wodurch die Eisoberfläche wärmerer Luft ausgesetzt wird und die Schmelzraten noch weiter ansteigen. Die glaziale isostatische Anpassung (GIA) kann die Schmelz-Höhen-Rückkopplung teilweise abschwächen, da sich der Erdmantel als Reaktion auf die abnehmende Eislast hebt und so die negative GIA-Rückkopplung bildet. Ich zeige, dass die Interaktion zwischen diesen beiden konkurrierenden Rückkopplungen zu qualitativ unterschiedlichem dynamischen Verhalten des grönländischen Eisschildes bei Erwärmung führen kann - von permanentem Verlust bis hin zu unvollständiger Erholung. Das Zusammenspiel dieser Rückkopplungen kann zudem Oszillationen des Eisvolumens in einem konstanten Klima auslösen. Die verstärkte Oberflächenschmelze ändert die optischen Eigenschaften von Schnee und Eis und verringert deren Albedo, was wiederum die Schmelzraten erhöht – die sogenannte Schmelz-Albedo Rückkopplung. Da viele Eisschildmodelle diese vernachlässigen, habe ich eine vereinfachte Version des tageszeitlichen Energiebilanzmodells, welches die Effekte der Schmelz-Albedo-Rückkopplung erster Ordnung erfassen kann, in das Eisschildmodell PISM implementiert. Mithilfe des gekoppelten Modells zeige ich, dass die Schmelz-Albedo-Rückkopplung den Eisverlust bis zum Jahr 2300 im moderaten Klimaszenario RCP2.6 fast verdoppelt und im RCP8.5-Szenario, welches von starken Emissionen ausgeht, bis zu 58% zusätzlichen Eisverlust verursacht, im Vergleich zu Simulationen in denen die Schmelz-Albedo-Rückkopplung vernachlässigt wird. Bis zum Jahr 2300 trägt die Schmelz-Albedo-Rückkopplung mehr zum Eisverlust bei als die Schmelz-Höhen-Rückkopplung. Ein weiterer Prozess, der die Widerstandsfähigkeit des grönländischen Eisschilds beeinflussen könnte, ist die Erweichung des Eises bei steigenden Temperaturen, sowie die daraus resultierende Zunahme des Eisflusses. In meiner Dissertation zeige ich, wie sich die parametrische Unsicherheit in dem Flussgesetz auf die Ergebnisse von PISM Simulationen bei Erwärmung auswirkt. In einem idealisierten, zweidimensionalen Experiment mit fester klimatischer Massenbilanz führt die Unsicherheit in den Strömungsparametern zu einer Bandbreite des Eisverlustes, die mit der Bandbreite durch unterschiedliche Erwärmungen vergleichbar ist. Neben den grundsätzlichen Prozessen und Rückkopplungen untersuchte ich auch die Auswirkungen konkreter Klimaszenarien auf den Eisverlust von Grönland. Um die Flexibilität des Kohlenstoffbudgets zu erhöhen sehen einige Erwärmungsszenarien eine temporäre Überschreitung der globalen Temperaturen über das Ziel von 1,5◦C vor. Ich zeige, dass eine solche Temperaturerhöhung den kurz- und langfristigen Eisverlust von Grönland um mehrere Zentimeter erhöht. Der langfristige Meeresspiegelanstieg ist auf die anhaltende Temperaturerhöhung in hohen Breitengraden zurückzuführen. Solche Prozesse führen zu einem langfristigen und bereits festgelegtem Meeresspiegelanstieg, selbst wenn die Temperaturen nicht weiter steigen. Insgesamt zeige ich in meiner Arbeit, dass die Schmelz-Albedo-Rückkopplung für den Eisverlust des grönländischen Eisschilds in den nächsten Jahrhunderten am wichtigsten ist. Im Gegensatz dazu werden die Schmelz-Höhen-Rückkopplung und ihr Zusammenspiel mit der GIA-Rückkopplung auf längeren Zeiträumen immer relevanter. KW - Greenland Ice Sheet KW - ice-flow modeling KW - sea-level rise KW - Grönländisches Eisschild KW - Computersimulation KW - Meeresspiegelanstieg Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-568839 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fischer, Melanie A1 - Brettin, Jana A1 - Roessner, Sigrid A1 - Walz, Ariane A1 - Fort, Monique A1 - Korup, Oliver T1 - Rare flood scenarios for a rapidly growing high-mountain city: Pokhara, Nepal JF - Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences N2 - 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. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3105-2022 SN - 1684-9981 VL - 22 SP - 3105 EP - 3123 PB - Copernicus Publications CY - Katlenburg-Lindau ET - 9 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Caliendo, Marco A1 - Kritikos, Alexander A1 - Stier, Claudia T1 - The Influence of Start-up Motivation on Entrepreneurial Performance T2 - CEPA Discussion Papers N2 - Predicting entrepreneurial development based on individual and business-related characteristics is a key objective of entrepreneurship research. In this context, we investigate whether the motives of becoming an entrepreneur influence the subsequent entrepreneurial development. In our analysis, we examine a broad range of business outcomes including survival and income, as well as job creation, expansion and innovation activities for up to 40 months after business formation. Using self-determination theory as conceptual background, we aggregate the start-up motives into a continuous motivational index. We show – based on a unique dataset of German start-ups from unemployment and non-unemployment – that the later business performance is better, the higher they score on this index. Effects are particularly strong for growth oriented outcomes like innovation and expansion activities. In a next step, we examine three underlying motivational categories that we term opportunity, career ambition, and necessity. We show that individuals driven by opportunity motives perform better in terms of innovation and business expansion activities, while career ambition is positively associated with survival, income, and the probability of hiring employees. All effects are robust to the inclusion of a large battery of covariates that are proven to be important determinants of entrepreneurial performance. T3 - CEPA Discussion Papers - 59 KW - Entrepreneurship KW - Push and Pull Theories KW - Start-up Motivation KW - Survival KW - Job Creation KW - Firm Growth KW - Innovation Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-571152 SN - 2628-653X IS - 59 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Evans, Myfanwy E. A1 - Hyde, Stephen T. T1 - Symmetric Tangling of Honeycomb Networks JF - Symmetry N2 - 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. KW - tangles KW - knots KW - networks KW - periodic entanglement KW - molecular weaving KW - graphs Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/sym14091805 SN - 2073-8994 VL - 14 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Schweiz ET - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reeg, Jette A1 - Strigl, Lea A1 - Jeltsch, Florian T1 - Agricultural buffer zone thresholds to safeguard functional bee diversity BT - Insights from a community modeling approach JF - Ecology and Evolution N2 - Wild bee species are important pollinators in agricultural landscapes. However, population decline was reported over the last decades and is still ongoing. While agricultural intensification is a major driver of the rapid loss of pollinating species, transition zones between arable fields and forest or grassland patches, i.e., agricultural buffer zones, are frequently mentioned as suitable mitigation measures to support wild bee populations and other pollinator species. Despite the reported general positive effect, it remains unclear which amount of buffer zones is needed to ensure a sustainable and permanent impact for enhancing bee diversity and abundance. To address this question at a pollinator community level, we implemented a process-based, spatially explicit simulation model of functional bee diversity dynamics in an agricultural landscape. More specifically, we introduced a variable amount of agricultural buffer zones (ABZs) at the transition of arable to grassland, or arable to forest patches to analyze the impact on bee functional diversity and functional richness. We focused our study on solitary bees in a typical agricultural area in the Northeast of Germany. Our results showed positive effects with at least 25% of virtually implemented agricultural buffer zones. However, higher amounts of ABZs of at least 75% should be considered to ensure a sufficient increase in Shannon diversity and decrease in quasi-extinction risks. These high amounts of ABZs represent effective conservation measures to safeguard the stability of pollination services provided by solitary bee species. As the model structure can be easily adapted to other mobile species in agricultural landscapes, our community approach offers the chance to compare the effectiveness of conservation measures also for other pollinator communities in future. KW - agricultural landscape KW - buffer zones KW - community model KW - functional traits KW - solitary bees KW - spatially explicit Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8748 SN - 2045-7758 VL - 12 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - Wiley Online Library CY - Hoboken, New Jersey, USA ET - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Röthlisberger, Livia T1 - Transformative Justice in South Sudan BT - The Transformative Potential of a Contextualized Transitional Justice Process JF - Transitional Justice : Theoretical and Practical Approaches (Potsdamer Studien zu Staat, Recht und Politik ; 7) N2 - This chapter takes the ongoing conflict in South Sudan as a starting point for assessing the concept of transitional justice as such and its implementation in the country in particular. Following a brief description of the conflict and the peace processes, the author sheds light on the shortcomings of the established concept of transitional justice in the situation at hand. Then, the author outlines the alternate concept of transformational justice und takes a closer look at its implications on the situation in South Sudan. The author highlights existing initiatives of transformative justice and is very much in favour of their victim-centered approach. Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-570480 SN - 978-3-86956-473-9 SN - 1869-2443 SN - 1867-2663 IS - 7 SP - 167 EP - 191 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Maaser, Lucas T1 - Transitional Justice and Nonviolent Resistance BT - Mutually Reinforcing Frameworks for the Consolidation of Democracies? JF - Transitional Justice : Theoretical and Practical Approaches (Potsdamer Studien zu Staat, Recht und Politik ; 7) N2 - At different times and places, civic engagement in nonviolent resistance (NVR) has repeatedly shown to be an effective tool in times of conflict to initiate societal change from below. History teaches us that there have been successes (Mahatma Gandhi in India) and failures (the Tiananmen Square protests in China). Along with the recognition of the duality between transformative potential and stark consequences, the historical development of NVR was accompanied by the emergence of scholarly debate, fractured along disputes around purpose, character and effectivity of nonviolent actions taken by civil society stakeholders engaged in making their voices heard. One of the field’s current points of interest is the examination of the long-term effects of NVR movements resulting in societal transformation on the stability and adequacy of a subsequently altered or emerging democracy, suggesting that NVR contributes positively to the sustainable and representative design of an egalitarian governing system. The conclusion of the Nepalese civil war in 2006 should pose as an unambiguous example for the illustration of this phenomenon, but simultaneously raises the question why there was no successful implementation of a transitional process focusing on the needs of the victims. Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-570470 SN - 978-3-86956-473-9 SN - 1869-2443 SN - 1867-2663 IS - 7 SP - 139 EP - 165 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Conner, Sean T1 - Structural and Socioeconomic Approaches to Justice BT - Transformative Justice in Nicaragua’s ‘Dual Transition’ JF - Transitional Justice : Theoretical and Practical Approaches (Potsdamer Studien zu Staat, Recht und Politik ; 7) N2 - Transitional justice is conventionally theorized as how a society deals with past injustices after regime change and alongside democratization. Nonetheless, scholars have not reached a consensus on what is to be included or excluded. Recent ideas of transformative justice seek to expand the understanding of transitional justice to include systemic restructuring and socioeconomic considerations. In the context of Nicaragua — where two transitions occurred within an 11-year span — very little transitional justice took place, in terms of the conventional concept of top-down legalistic mechanisms; however, distinct structural changes and socioeconomic policies can be found with each regime change. By analyzing the transformative justice elements of Nicaragua’s dual transition, this chapter seeks to expand the understanding of transitional justice to include how these factors influence goals of transitions such as sustainable peace and reconciliation for past injustices. The results argue for increased attention to transformative justice theories and a more nuanced conception of justice. Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-570170 SN - 978-3-86956-473-9 SN - 1869-2443 SN - 1867-2663 IS - 7 SP - 111 EP - 138 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schlör, Anja A1 - Hirschberg, Stefan A1 - Ben Amor, Ghada A1 - Meister, Toni Luise A1 - Arora, Prerna A1 - Pöhlmann, Stefan A1 - Hoffmann, Markus A1 - Pfänder, Stephanie A1 - Eddin, Omar Kamal A1 - Kamhieh-Milz, Julian A1 - Hanack, Katja T1 - SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing camelid heavy-chain-only antibodies as powerful tools for diagnostic and therapeutic applications JF - Frontiers in Immunology N2 - 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 naïve 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. KW - camelid heavy-chain-only antibodies KW - single domain antibodies KW - nanobodies KW - SARS-CoV-2 KW - neutralization KW - Omicron Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.930975 SN - 1664-3224 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Frontiers Media SA CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mair, Theresa T1 - Transforming Transitional Justice to Address Colonial Crime BT - The Nama’s and Herero’s Claim for Justice for Germany’s Colonial Genocide in Namibia JF - Transitional Justice : Theoretical and Practical Approaches (Potsdamer Studien zu Staat, Recht und Politik ; 7) N2 - While the concept of transitional justice and its range of measures have gained importance on an international level to come to terms with major crimes of the past, colonial crimes and mass violence committed by Western actors have not been addressed by transitional justice so far. In this chapter, the Herero’s and Nama’s struggle for justice for the genocide on their ancestors by Germany from 1904 – 1908 and the arising challenges are set in relation to conceptual debates in the field of transitional justice. Building on current debates in the field, suggesting more structural and transformative conceptualizations of transitional justice and an approach ‘from below’, it is argued that decolonial activism of formerly colonized communities and transitional justice debates can inform each other in a dialogic and fruitful form to formulate suggestions for a process towards post-colonial justice. Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-570160 SN - 978-3-86956-473-9 SN - 1869-2443 SN - 1867-2663 IS - 7 SP - 73 EP - 109 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Francisco Vásquez Carruthers, Juan T1 - Transitional Justice and Political Opportunism JF - Transitional Justice : Theoretical and Practical Approaches (Potsdamer Studien zu Staat, Recht und Politik ; 7) N2 - This paper aims to contribute a different approach to transitional justice, one in which political decisions are rocketed to the forefront of the research. Theory asserts that, after a transition to democracy, it is the constituency who defines the direction a country will take. Therefore, pleasing them should be at the fore of the responses taken by those in power. However, reality distances itself from theory. History provides us with many examples of the contrary, which indicates that the politicization of transitional justice is an ever-present event. The first section will outline current definitions and obstacles faced by transitional justice, focusing on the implicit ties between them and the aforementioned politicization. An original categorization of Transitional Justice as a method of analysis will also be introduced, which I denominate Political Opportunism. The case of Argentina, a country that is usually described as a model to export but that after 35 years is still dealing with the consequences brought by the contradictions of using several methods of justice, will then be reinterpreted through this perspective. At the end of the paper, the inevitable question will be posed: can this new angle be exported and implemented in every transition? Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-570153 SN - 978-3-86956-473-9 SN - 1869-2443 SN - 1867-2663 IS - 7 SP - 39 EP - 71 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Verlaan, Stephanie T1 - The Misapplication of Western Conflict and Reconciliation Theories on New World Wars JF - Transitional Justice : Theoretical and Practical Approaches (Potsdamer Studien zu Staat, Recht und Politik ; 7) N2 - This chapter deals with the problem that theories of peace building, conflict resolution and reconciliation were predominately created in the West and, therefore, do not necessarily fit the understanding of peace, conflict, and resolution in non-Western societies and cultures. Within these societies, the acceptance of suffering may also be higher, which leads to different priorities of conflict resolution approaches. Furthermore, this chapter deals with the question of whether the current understanding of wars and the nature of conflict change the basis of established conflict theories. These theoretical approaches are then applied in Sierra Leone as a non-Western negotiation scenario. Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-570149 SN - 978-3-86956-473-9 SN - 1869-2443 SN - 1867-2663 IS - 7 SP - 11 EP - 38 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Püschel, Gerhard A1 - Klauder, Julia A1 - Henkel-Oberländer, Janin T1 - Macrophages, low-grade inflammation, insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia BT - A mutual ambiguous relationship in the development of metabolic diseases JF - Journal of Clinical Medicine : open access journal N2 - 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. KW - NAFLD/MAFLD KW - type 2 diabetes KW - obesity KW - vicious cycle KW - TLR signaling KW - M1/M2 differentiation KW - Akt pathway Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11154358 SN - 2077-0383 VL - 11 IS - 15 SP - 1 EP - 30 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Schweiz ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hering, Robert A1 - Hauptfleisch, Morgan A1 - Jago, Mark A1 - Smith, Taylor A1 - Kramer-Schadt, Stephanie A1 - Stiegler, Jonas A1 - Blaum, Niels T1 - Don't stop me now: Managed fence gaps could allow migratory ungulates to track dynamic resources and reduce fence related energy loss JF - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution N2 - In semi-arid environments characterized by erratic rainfall and scattered primary production, migratory movements are a key survival strategy of large herbivores to track resources over vast areas. Veterinary Cordon Fences (VCFs), intended to reduce wildlife-livestock disease transmission, fragment large parts of southern Africa and have limited the movements of large wild mammals for over 60 years. Consequently, wildlife-fence interactions are frequent and often result in perforations of the fence, mainly caused by elephants. Yet, we lack knowledge about at which times fences act as barriers, how fences directly alter the energy expenditure of native herbivores, and what the consequences of impermeability are. We studied 2-year ungulate movements in three common antelopes (springbok, kudu, eland) across a perforated part of Namibia's VCF separating a wildlife reserve and Etosha National Park using GPS telemetry, accelerometer measurements, and satellite imagery. We identified 2905 fence interaction events which we used to evaluate critical times of encounters and direct fence effects on energy expenditure. Using vegetation type-specific greenness dynamics, we quantified what animals gained in terms of high quality food resources from crossing the VCF. Our results show that the perforation of the VCF sustains herbivore-vegetation interactions in the savanna with its scattered resources. Fence permeability led to peaks in crossing numbers during the first flush of woody plants before the rain started. Kudu and eland often showed increased energy expenditure when crossing the fence. Energy expenditure was lowered during the frequent interactions of ungulates standing at the fence. We found no alteration of energy expenditure when springbok immediately found and crossed fence breaches. Our results indicate that constantly open gaps did not affect energy expenditure, while gaps with obstacles increased motion. Closing gaps may have confused ungulates and modified their intended movements. While browsing, sedentary kudu's use of space was less affected by the VCF; migratory, mixed-feeding springbok, and eland benefited from gaps by gaining forage quality and quantity after crossing. This highlights the importance of access to vast areas to allow ungulates to track vital vegetation patches. KW - veterinary cordon fence KW - ungulate KW - fence ecology KW - resource-tracking KW - energy expenditure KW - accelerometer KW - GPS KW - wildlife and habitat management Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.907079 SN - 2296-701X SP - 1 EP - 18 PB - Frontiers CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pawlak, Julia A1 - Noetzel, Dominique Christian A1 - Drago, Claudia A1 - Weithoff, Guntram T1 - Assessing the toxicity of polystyrene beads and silica particles on the microconsumer Brachionus calyciflorus at different timescales JF - Frontiers in Environmental Science N2 - 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. KW - microplastics KW - rotifer KW - freshwater KW - natural particle KW - toxicity KW - environmental pollution Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.955425 SN - 2296-665X SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Frontiers CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weithoff, Guntram A1 - Bell, Elanor Margaret T1 - Complex Trophic Interactions in an Acidophilic Microbial Community JF - Microorganisms N2 - Extreme habitats often harbor specific communities that differ substantially from non-extreme habitats. In many cases, these communities are characterized by archaea, bacteria and protists, whereas the number of species of metazoa and higher plants is relatively low. In extremely acidic habitats, mostly prokaryotes and protists thrive, and only very few metazoa thrive, for example, rotifers. Since many studies have investigated the physiology and ecology of individual species, there is still a gap in research on direct, trophic interactions among extremophiles. To fill this gap, we experimentally studied the trophic interactions between a predatory protist (Actinophrys sol, Heliozoa) and its prey, the rotifers Elosa woralli and Cephalodella sp., the ciliate Urosomoida sp. and the mixotrophic protist Chlamydomonas acidophila (a green phytoflagellate, Chlorophyta). We found substantial predation pressure on all animal prey. High densities of Chlamydomonas acidophila reduced the predation impact on the rotifers by interfering with the feeding behaviour of A. sol. These trophic relations represent a natural case of intraguild predation, with Chlamydomonas acidophila being the common prey and the rotifers/ciliate and A. sol being the intraguild prey and predator, respectively. We further studied this intraguild predation along a resource gradient using Cephalodella sp. as the intraguild prey. The interactions among the three species led to an increase in relative rotifer abundance with increasing resource (Chlamydomonas) densities. By applying a series of laboratory experiments, we revealed the complexity of trophic interactions within a natural extremophilic community. KW - acid mine drainage KW - extremophiles KW - food web KW - heliozoa KW - intraguild predation KW - mining lakes KW - Rotifera Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10071340 SN - 2076-2607 VL - 10 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Schweiz ET - 7 ER -