TY - JOUR A1 - Streck, Charlotte T1 - Who owns REDD+? BT - carbon markets, carbon rights and entitlements to REDD+ finance JF - Forests N2 - The question of who is entitled to benefit from transactions under the United Nations framework to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) remains one of the most controversial issues surrounding cooperative efforts to reduce deforestation in developing countries. REDD+ has been conceived as an international framework to encourage voluntary efforts in developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance carbon removals from forest activities. It was designed as an international framework under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to enable the generation of emission reductions and removals (ERRs) at the national-and, provisionally, the subnational-level and is, thus, primarily a creature of international law. However, in defining forest carbon ERRs, the international framework competes with national emission trading systems and domestic REDD+ legislation as well as private standards that define units traded on the voluntary carbon market. As results-based and carbon market systems emerge, the question remains: Who can claim participation in REDD+ and voluntary carbon market projects? The existence of different international, national and private standards that value ERRs poses a challenge to countries that participate in REDD+ as well as to communities and private actors participating in voluntary carbon market projects. This paper seeks to clarify the nature and limitation of rights pertaining to REDD+ market transactions. It also links the notion of carbon rights to both carbon markets and government's decision on benefit sharing. Applying a legal lens, this paper helps to understand the various claims and underlying rights to participate in REDD+ transactions and addresses ambiguities that can lead to conflict around REDD+ implementation. The definition of carbon rights and the legal nature of carbon credits depend on local law and differ between countries. However, by categorizing carbon rights, the paper summarizes several legal considerations that are relevant for regulating REDD+ and sharing the financial benefits of transacting ERRs. KW - REDD plus KW - REDD+ KW - avoided deforestation KW - voluntary carbon markets KW - emissions KW - trading KW - carbon rights KW - benefit sharing Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/f11090959 SN - 1999-4907 VL - 11 IS - 9 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dordevic, Milos A1 - Hölzer, Sonja A1 - Russo, Augusta A1 - García Alanis, José Carlos A1 - Müller, Notger Germar T1 - The Role of the Precuneus in Human Spatial Updating in a Real Environment Setting—A cTBS Study JF - Life N2 - As we move through an environment, we update positions of our body relative to other objects, even when some objects temporarily or permanently leave our field of view—this ability is termed egocentric spatial updating and plays an important role in everyday life. Still, our knowledge about its representation in the brain is still scarce, with previous studies using virtual movements in virtual environments or patients with brain lesions suggesting that the precuneus might play an important role. However, whether this assumption is also true when healthy humans move in real environments where full body-based cues are available in addition to the visual cues typically used in many VR studies is unclear. Therefore, in this study we investigated the role of the precuneus in egocentric spatial updating in a real environment setting in 20 healthy young participants who underwent two conditions in a cross-over design: (a) stimulation, achieved through applying continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) to inhibit the precuneus and (b) sham condition (activated coil turned upside down). In both conditions, participants had to walk back with blindfolded eyes to objects they had previously memorized while walking with open eyes. Simplified trials (without spatial updating) were used as control condition, to make sure the participants were not affected by factors such as walking blindfolded, vestibular or working memory deficits. A significant interaction was found, with participants performing better in the sham condition compared to real stimulation, showing smaller errors both in distance and angle. The results of our study reveal evidence of an important role of the precuneus in a real-environment egocentric spatial updating; studies on larger samples are necessary to confirm and further investigate this finding. KW - precuneus KW - spatial updating KW - TMS KW - cTBS Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/life12081239 SN - 2075-1729 VL - 12 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Schweiz ET - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Everardo Pérez, Flavio Omar A1 - Osorio, Mauricio T1 - Towards an answer set programming methodology for constructing programs following a semi-automatic approach BT - extended and revised version JF - Electronic notes in theoretical computer science N2 - Answer Set Programming (ASP) is a successful rule-based formalism for modeling and solving knowledge-intense combinatorial (optimization) problems. Despite its success in both academic and industry, open challenges like automatic source code optimization, and software engineering remains. This is because a problem encoded into an ASP might not have the desired solving performance compared to an equivalent representation. Motivated by these two challenges, this paper has three main contributions. First, we propose a developing process towards a methodology to implement ASP programs, being faithful to existing methods. Second, we present ASP encodings that serve as the basis from the developing process. Third, we demonstrate the use of ASP to reverse the standard solving process. That is, knowing answer sets in advance, and desired strong equivalent properties, “we” exhaustively reconstruct ASP programs if they exist. This paper was originally motivated by the search of propositional formulas (if they exist) that represent the semantics of a new aggregate operator. Particularly, a parity aggregate. This aggregate comes as an improvement from the already existing parity (xor) constraints from xorro, where lacks expressiveness, even though these constraints fit perfectly for reasoning modes like sampling or model counting. To this end, this extended version covers the fundaments from parity constraints as well as the xorro system. Hence, we delve a little more in the examples and the proposed methodology over parity constraints. Finally, we discuss our results by showing the only representation available, that satisfies different properties from the classical logic xor operator, which is also consistent with the semantics of parity constraints from xorro. KW - answer set programming KW - combinatorial optimization problems KW - parity aggregate operator Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcs.2020.10.004 SN - 1571-0661 VL - 354 SP - 29 EP - 44 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam [u.a.] ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Christopher Ashwood, Wout Bittremieux A1 - Bittremieux, Wout A1 - Deutsch, Eric W. A1 - Doncheva, Nadezhda T. A1 - Dorfer, Viktoria A1 - Gabriels, Ralf A1 - Gorshkov, Vladimir A1 - Gupta, Surya A1 - Jones, Andrew R. A1 - Käll, Lukas A1 - Kopczynski, Dominik A1 - Lane, Lydie A1 - Lautenbacher, Ludwig A1 - Legeay, Marc A1 - Locard-Paulet, Marie A1 - Mesuere, Bart A1 - Sachsenberg, Timo A1 - Salz, Renee A1 - Samaras, Patroklos A1 - Schiebenhoefer, Henning A1 - Schmidt, Tobias A1 - Schwämmle, Veit A1 - Soggiu, Alessio A1 - Uszkoreit, Julian A1 - Van Den Bossche, Tim A1 - Van Puyvelde, Bart A1 - Van Strien, Joeri A1 - Verschaffelt, Pieter A1 - Webel, Henry A1 - Willems, Sander A1 - Perez-Riverolab, Yasset A1 - Netz, Eugen A1 - Pfeuffer, Julianus T1 - Proceedings of the EuBIC-MS 2020 Developers’ Meeting JF - EuPA Open Proteomics N2 - The 2020 European Bioinformatics Community for Mass Spectrometry (EuBIC-MS) Developers’ meeting was held from January 13th to January 17th 2020 in Nyborg, Denmark. Among the participants were scientists as well as developers working in the field of computational mass spectrometry (MS) and proteomics. The 4-day program was split between introductory keynote lectures and parallel hackathon sessions. During the latter, the participants developed bioinformatics tools and resources addressing outstanding needs in the community. The hackathons allowed less experienced participants to learn from more advanced computational MS experts, and to actively contribute to highly relevant research projects. We successfully produced several new tools that will be useful to the proteomics community by improving data analysis as well as facilitating future research. All keynote recordings are available on https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3890181. KW - computational mass spectrometry KW - proteomics KW - bioinformatics KW - spectrum clustering KW - phosphoproteomics KW - XIC extraction KW - proteomics graph networks KW - predicted spectra Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euprot.2020.11.001 SN - 2212-9685 VL - 24 SP - 1 EP - 6 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Müller, Marik A1 - Nedielkov, Ruslan A1 - Arndt, Katja M. T1 - Strategies for Enzymatic Inactivation of the Veterinary Antibiotic Florfenicol JF - Antibiotics N2 - Large quantities of the antibiotic florfenicol are used in animal farming and aquaculture, contaminating the ecosystem with antibiotic residues and promoting antimicrobial resistance, ultimately leading to untreatable multidrug-resistant pathogens. Florfenicol-resistant bacteria often activate export mechanisms that result in resistance to various structurally unrelated antibiotics. We devised novel strategies for the enzymatic inactivation of florfenicol in different media, such as saltwater or milk. Using a combinatorial approach and selection, we optimized a hydrolase (EstDL136) for florfenicol cleavage. Reaction kinetics were followed by time-resolved NMR spectroscopy. Importantly, the hydrolase remained active in different media, such as saltwater or cow milk. Various environmentally-friendly application strategies for florfenicol inactivation were developed using the optimized hydrolase. As a potential filter device for cost-effective treatment of waste milk or aquacultural wastewater, the hydrolase was immobilized on Ni-NTA agarose or silica as carrier materials. In two further application examples, the hydrolase was used as cell extract or encapsulated with a semi-permeable membrane. This facilitated, for example, florfenicol inactivation in whole milk, which can help to treat waste milk from medicated cows, to be fed to calves without the risk of inducing antibiotic resistance. Enzymatic inactivation of antibiotics, in general, enables therapeutic intervention without promoting antibiotic resistance. KW - aquaculture KW - antibiotic inactivation KW - enzyme optimization KW - enzymatic inactivation KW - florfenicol KW - immobilization KW - industrial farming Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics11040443 SN - 2079-6382 VL - 11 IS - 4 SP - 1 EP - 18 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Schweiz ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Urbach, Dietmar A1 - Awiszus, Friedemann A1 - Leiß, Sven A1 - Venton, Tamsin A1 - De Specht, Alexander Vincent A1 - Apfelbacher, Christian T1 - Associations of medications with lower odds of typical COVID-19 symptoms BT - cross-sectional symptom surveillance study JF - JMIR public health and surveillance N2 - Background: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the globe, the search for an effective medication to treat the symptoms of COVID-19 continues as well. It would be desirable to identify a medication that is already in use for another condition and whose side effect profile and safety data are already known and approved. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different medications on typical COVID-19 symptoms by using data from an online surveillance survey. Methods: Between early April and late-July 2020, a total of 3654 individuals in Lower Saxony, Germany, participated in an online symptom-tracking survey conducted through the app covid-nein-danke.de. The questionnaire comprised items on typical COVID-19 symptoms, age range, gender, employment in patient-facing healthcare, housing status, postal code, previous illnesses, permanent medication, vaccination status, results of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and antibody tests for COVID-19 diagnosis, and consequent COVID-19 treatment if applicable. Odds ratio estimates with corresponding 95% CIs were computed for each medication and symptom by using logistic regression models. Results: Data analysis suggested a statistically significant inverse relationship between typical COVID-19 symptoms self-reported by the participants and self-reported statin therapy and, to a lesser extent, antihypertensive therapy. When COVID-19 diagnosis was based on restrictive symptom criteria (ie, presence of 4 out of 7 symptoms) or a positive RT-PCR test, a statistically significant association was found solely for statins (odds ratio 0.28, 95% CI 0.1-0.78). Conclusions: Individuals taking statin medication are more likely to have asymptomatic COVID-19, in which case they may be at an increased risk of transmitting the disease unknowingly. We suggest that the results of this study be incorporated into symptoms-based surveillance and decision-making protocols in regard to COVID-19 management. Whether statin therapy has a beneficial effect in combating COVID-19 cannot be deduced based on our findings and should be investigated by further study. KW - COVID-19 KW - SARS-CoV-2 KW - statins KW - antihypertensives KW - surveillance KW - hydroxymethyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors;online survey Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.2196/22521 SN - 2369-2960 VL - 6 IS - 4 PB - JMIR Publications CY - Toronto ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heidler, Maria-Dorothea A1 - Salzwedel, Annett A1 - Jöbges, Michael A1 - Lück, Olaf A1 - Dohle, Christian A1 - Seifert, Michael A1 - von Helden, Andrea A1 - Hollweg, Wibke A1 - Völler, Heinz T1 - Decannulation of tracheotomized patients after long-term mechanical ventilation - results of a prospective multicentric study in German neurological early rehabilitation hospitals JF - BMC Anesthesiology N2 - Background: In the course of neurological early rehabilitation, decannulation is attempted in tracheotomized patients after weaning due to its considerable prognostic significance. We aimed to identify predictors of a successful tracheostomy decannulation. Methods: From 09/2014 to 03/2016, 831 tracheotomized and weaned patients (65.4 +/- 12.9 years, 68% male) were included consecutively in a prospective multicentric observation study. At admission, sociodemographic and clinical data (e.g. relevant neurological and internistic diseases, duration of mechanical ventilation, tracheotomy technique, and nutrition) as well as functional assessments (Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R), Early Rehabilitation Barthel Index, Bogenhausener Dysphagia Score) were collected. Complications and the success of the decannulation procedure were documented at discharge. Results: Four hundred seventy patients (57%) were decannulated. The probability of decannulation was significantly negatively associated with increasing age (OR 0.68 per SD = 12.9 years, p < 0.001), prolonged duration of mechanical ventilation (OR 0.57 per 33.2 days, p < 0.001) and complications. An oral diet (OR 3.80; p < 0.001) and a higher alertness at admission (OR 3.07 per 7.18 CRS-R points; p < 0.001) were positively associated. Conclusions: This study identified practically measurable predictors of decannulation, which in the future can be used for a decannulation prognosis and supply optimization at admission in the neurological early rehabilitation clinic. KW - Mechanical ventilation KW - Tracheostomy KW - Decannulation KW - Prognosis Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12871-018-0527-3 SN - 1471-2253 VL - 18 PB - BMC CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Miklashevsky, Alex T1 - Catch the star! Spatial information activates the manual motor system JF - PLoS ONE N2 - Previous research demonstrated a close bidirectional relationship between spatial attention and the manual motor system. However, it is unclear whether an explicit hand movement is necessary for this relationship to appear. A novel method with high temporal resolution–bimanual grip force registration–sheds light on this issue. Participants held two grip force sensors while being presented with lateralized stimuli (exogenous attentional shifts, Experiment 1), left- or right-pointing central arrows (endogenous attentional shifts, Experiment 2), or the words "left" or "right" (endogenous attentional shifts, Experiment 3). There was an early interaction between the presentation side or arrow direction and grip force: lateralized objects and central arrows led to a larger increase of the ipsilateral force and a smaller increase of the contralateral force. Surprisingly, words led to the opposite pattern: larger force increase in the contralateral hand and smaller force increase in the ipsilateral hand. The effect was stronger and appeared earlier for lateralized objects (60 ms after stimulus presentation) than for arrows (100 ms) or words (250 ms). Thus, processing visuospatial information automatically activates the manual motor system, but the timing and direction of this effect vary depending on the type of stimulus. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262510 SN - 1932-6203 SP - 1 EP - 30 PB - PLOS CY - San Francisco, California, US ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zingraff-Hamed, Aude A1 - Hüesker, Frank A1 - Lupp, Gerd A1 - Begg, Chloe A1 - Huang, Josh A1 - Oen, Amy M. P. A1 - Vojinović, Zoran A1 - Kuhlicke, Christian A1 - Pauleit, Stephan T1 - Stakeholder mapping to co-create nature-based solutions BT - who is on board? JF - Sustainability N2 - Nature-based solutions (NBS) are inspired and supported by nature but designed by humans. Historically, governmental stakeholders have aimed to control nature using a top-down approach; more recently, environmental governance has shifted to collaborative planning. Polycentric governance and co-creation procedures, which include a large spectrum of stakeholders, are assumed to be more effective in the management of public goods than traditional approaches. In this context, NBS projects should benefit from strong collaborative governance models, and the European Union is facilitating and encouraging such models. While some theoretical approaches exist, setting-up the NBS co-creation process (namely co-design and co-implementation) currently relies mostly on self-organized stakeholders rather than on strategic decisions. As such, systematic methods to identify relevant stakeholders seem to be crucial to enable higher planning efficiency, reduce bottlenecks and time needed for planning, designing, and implementing NBS. In this context, this contribution is based on the analysis of 16 NBS and 359 stakeholders. Real-life constellations are compared to theoretical typologies, and a systematic stakeholder mapping method to support co-creation is presented. Rather than making one-fit-all statements about the "right" stakeholders, the contribution provides insights for those "in charge" to strategically consider who might be involved at each stage of the NBS project. KW - ecosystem-based KW - natural hazard mitigation KW - participative planning KW - co-design KW - polycentric governance KW - living labs KW - societal resilience KW - sustainable development goals Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208625 SN - 2071-1050 VL - 12 IS - 20 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - de Brito, Mariana Madruga A1 - Kuhlicke, Christian A1 - Marx, Andreas T1 - Near-real-time drought impact assessment BT - a text mining approach on the 2018/19 drought in Germany JF - Environmental research letters N2 - Contemporary drought impact assessments have been constrained due to data availability, leading to an incomplete representation of impact trends. To address this, we present a novel method for the comprehensive and near-real-time monitoring of drought socio-economic impacts based on media reports. We tested its application using the case of the exceptional 2018/19 German drought. By employing text mining techniques, 4839 impact statements were identified, relating to livestock, agriculture, forestry, fires, recreation, energy and transport sectors. An accuracy of 95.6% was obtained for their automatic classification. Furthermore, high levels of performance in terms of spatial and temporal precision were found when validating our results against independent data (e.g. soil moisture, average precipitation, population interest in droughts, crop yield and forest fire statistics). The findings highlight the applicability of media data for rapidly and accurately monitoring the propagation of drought consequences over time and space. We anticipate our method to be used as a starting point for an impact-based early warning system. KW - drought impacts KW - Germany KW - text analytics KW - newspaper KW - validation Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aba4ca SN - 1748-9326 VL - 15 IS - 10 PB - IOP Publ. CY - Bristol ER -