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Workplace friendships
(2023)
Workplace friendships, i.e., when work colleagues are also friends, are a widespread phenomenon in organizations which has attracted increasing research interest in recent decades. Numerous studies have investigated consequences of workplace friendships and found positive outcomes, such as increased employee job satisfaction or organizational performance, as well as negative outcomes, such as decreased knowledge-sharing between different friendship cliques. Other studies have examined what shapes workplace friendships, focusing on determinants such as personality or the spatial composition of organizations. Finally, an increasing number of studies focus on multiplex workplace friendships, where employees who are friends are also linked by a specific work-focused relationship. In this chapter, we first take stock of the literature on workplace friendships by providing an overview of their antecedents and consequences at the individual, the group, and the organizational level, and review the smaller body of research on multiplex workplace friendships. Second, we critically discuss practical implications of workplace friendships, focusing on their relevance to three current challenges for employees and organizations: the increase in virtual work, social inequalities in organizations, and the increased overlap of professional and private life. Finally, we provide recommendations for organizations on how to address these challenges and effectively manage workplace friendships.
In Immobilienkaufverträgen finden sich nicht selten Vertragsklauseln, welche die Maklerprovision auf den anderen Beteiligten abwälzen sollen. Die rechtliche Ausgangssituation hat sich für diese sog. Maklerprovisionsklauseln durch die Novellierung des Maklerrechts (§§ 656a–656d BGB) im Zuge des Gesetzes über die Verteilung der Maklerkosten bei der Vermittlung von Kaufverträgen über Wohnungen und Einfamilienhäuser (BGBl. 2020 I 1245) grundlegend verändert. An diese Entwicklung knüpft die vorliegende Klausur an. Sie behandelt Grundfragen des Textformerfordernisses bei Abschluss eines Maklervertrags (§ 656a, § 126b BGB) sowie die Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Provisionsabwälzung auf einen Verbraucher. Im Mittelpunkt des Falls steht eine Maklerprovisionsklausel aus der Kautelarpraxis. Damit dient der nachfolgende Beitrag nicht nur der Vermittlung des examensrelevanten neuen Maklerrechts, sondern auch der Förderung vertragsgestalterischer Fähigkeiten.
In this paper, we study how the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) used different legitimacy strategies between 2004 and 2021 to secure its organisational survival. Although EFRAG is now an established player within the regulatory space of corporate reporting, the organisation’s path towards this position was not straightforward. Based on 20 interviews with current and former members of EFRAG and archival documents, we investigate how EFRAG initially gained and maintained its legitimacy and how it responded to a legitimacy crisis arising in the aftermath of the 2008–2009 financial crisis. Based on prior research on organisational strategies for legitimising actions, we derive a framework for our analysis and show how EFRAG has adapted various legitimacy strategies over time. We further find that the use of legitimacy strategies is constrained by various systemic factors and show how EFRAG’s adaptations to its legitimacy strategies led to new tensions. Our findings contribute to the literature on private regulatory organisations’ legitimacy and the political economy of standard setting.
Siedlerkolonialismus
(2024)
„Siedlerkolonialismus“ ist der erste in deutscher Sprache erscheinende Band zum in Deutschland vernachlässigten geschichts- und sozialwissenschaftlichen Paradigma des Siedlerkolonialismus. Diese international breit diskutierte Perspektive eröffnet einen neuen Blick auf die westliche Moderne und ihrem Verhältnis zum Rest der Welt. Seit 1492 beobachten wir den immer eliminatorischen, oft auch genozidalen Charakter weißer europäischer Siedlergesellschaften in ihrem Verhältnis zu Indigenen, deren Land sie besetzen, sich aneignen und die sie bis heute ausplündern. Die versammelten Grundlagentexte des Paradigmas sowie aktuelle Analysen führen in das Paradigma ein und verdeutlichen, seine entscheidende Bedeutung gerade für deutsche Debatten.
The Gutenberg-Richter (GR) and the Omori-Utsu (OU) law describe the earthquakes' energy release and temporal clustering and are thus of great importance for seismic hazard assessment. Motivated by experimental results, which indicate stress-dependent parameters, we consider a combined global data set of 127 main shock-aftershock sequences and perform a systematic study of the relationship between main shock-induced stress changes and associated seismicity patterns. For this purpose, we calculate space-dependent Coulomb Stress (& UDelta;CFS) and alternative receiver-independent stress metrics in the surrounding of the main shocks. Our results indicate a clear positive correlation between the GR b-value and the induced stress, contrasting expectations from laboratory experiments and suggesting a crucial role of structural heterogeneity and strength variations. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the aftershock productivity increases nonlinearly with stress, while the OU parameters c and p systematically decrease for increasing stress changes. Our partly unexpected findings can have an important impact on future estimations of the aftershock hazard.
The genus Microhyla Tschudi, 1838 includes 52 species and is one of the most diverse genera of the family Microhylidae, being the most species-rich taxon of the Asian subfamily Microhylinae. The recent, rapid description of numerous new species of Microhyla with complex phylogenetic relationships has made the taxonomy of the group especially challenging. Several recent phylogenetic studies suggested paraphyly of Microhyla with respect to Glyphoglossus Gunther, 1869, and revealed three major phylogenetic lineages of mid-Eocene origin within this assemblage. However, comprehensive works assessing morphological variation among and within these lineages are absent. In the present study we investigate the generic taxonomy of Microhyla-Glyphoglossus assemblage based on a new phylogeny including 57 species, comparative morphological analysis of skeletons from cleared-and-stained specimens for 23 species, and detailed descriptions of generalized osteology based on volume-rendered micro-CT scans for five speciesal-together representing all major lineages within the group. The results confirm three highly divergent and well-supported clades that correspond with external and osteological morphological characteristics, as well as respective geographic distribution. Accordingly, acknowledging ancient divergence between these lineages and their significant morphological differentiation, we propose to consider these three lineages as distinct genera: Microhyla sensu stricto, Glyphoglossus, and a newly described genus, Nanohyla gen. nov.
V-Edge
(2022)
As we move from 5G to 6G, edge computing is one of the concepts that needs revisiting. Its core idea is still intriguing: Instead of sending all data and tasks from an end user's device to the cloud, possibly covering thousands of kilometers and introducing delays lower-bounded by propagation speed, edge servers deployed in close proximity to the user (e.g., at some base station) serve as proxy for the cloud. This is particularly interesting for upcoming machine-learning-based intelligent services, which require substantial computational and networking performance for continuous model training. However, this promising idea is hampered by the limited number of such edge servers. In this article, we discuss a way forward, namely the V-Edge concept. V-Edge helps bridge the gap between cloud, edge, and fog by virtualizing all available resources including the end users' devices and making these resources widely available. Thus, V-Edge acts as an enabler for novel microservices as well as cooperative computing solutions in next-generation networks. We introduce the general V-Edge architecture, and we characterize some of the key research challenges to overcome in order to enable wide-spread and intelligent edge services.
Allegory and the Poetic Self
(2022)
This book is the first collective examination of Late Medieval intimate first-person narratives that blurred the lines between author, narrator, and protagonist and usually feature personification allegory and courtly love tropes, creating an experimental new family of poetry. In this volume, contributors analyze why the allegorical first-person romance embedded itself in the vernacular literature of Western Europe and remained popular for more than two centuries. The editors identify and discuss three predominant forms within this family: debate poetry, dream allegories, and autobiographies. Contributors offer textual analyses of key works from late medieval German, French, Italian, and Iberian literature, with discussion of developments in England, as well. Allegory and the Poetic Self offers a sophisticated, theoretically current discussion of relevant literature. This exploration of medieval “I” narratives offers insights not just into the premodern period but also into Western literature’s subsequent traditions of self-analysis and identity crafting through storytelling.
Breaking down barriers
(2024)
Many researchers hesitate to provide full access to their datasets due to a lack of knowledge about research data management (RDM) tools and perceived fears, such as losing the value of one's own data. Existing tools and approaches often do not take into account these fears and missing knowledge. In this study, we examined how conversational agents (CAs) can provide a natural way of guidance through RDM processes and nudge researchers towards more data sharing. This work offers an online experiment in which researchers interacted with a CA on a self-developed RDM platform and a survey on participants’ data sharing behavior. Our findings indicate that the presence of a guiding and enlightening CA on an RDM platform has a constructive influence on both the intention to share data and the actual behavior of data sharing. Notably, individual factors do not appear to impede or hinder this effect.
Large earthquakes are usually modeled with simple planar fault surfaces or a combination of several planar fault segments. However, in general, earthquakes occur on faults that are non-planar and exhibit significant geometrical variations in both the along-strike and down-dip directions at all spatial scales. Mapping of surface fault ruptures and high-resolution geodetic observations are increasingly revealing complex fault geometries near the surface and accurate locations of aftershocks often indicate geometrical complexities at depth. With better geodetic data and observations of fault ruptures, more details of complex fault geometries can be estimated resulting in more realistic fault models of large earthquakes. To address this topic, we here parametrize non-planar fault geometries with a set of polynomial parameters that allow for both along-strike and down-dip variations in the fault geometry. Our methodology uses Bayesian inference to estimate the non-planar fault parameters from geodetic data, yielding an ensemble of plausible models that characterize the uncertainties of the non-planar fault geometry and the fault slip. The method is demonstrated using synthetic tests considering slip spatially distributed on a single continuous finite non-planar fault surface with varying dip and strike angles both in the down-dip and along-strike directions. The results show that fault-slip estimations can be biased when a simple planar fault geometry is assumed in presence of significant non-planar geometrical variations. Our method can help to model earthquake fault sources in a more realistic way and may be extended to include multiple non-planar fault segments or other geometrical fault complexities.
Der mutmaßlich erste Roman Rudolfs von Ems ist in mehrfacher Hinsicht eine literarische Ausnahmeerscheinung: Sein Protagonist Gerhart ist kein Ritter, sondern ein Kölner Kaufmann. Und nicht ein allwissender Erzähler, sondern Gerhart selbst erzählt seine vorbildliche Lebensgeschichte, um Kaiser Otto, der sich eines Frevels schuldig gemacht hatte, zu Einsicht und Besserung zu führen. Geschickt verbindet der Autor Elemente der Autobiographie, des Aventiure- und Minneromans.
Norbert Kössinger und Katharina Philipowski legen mit dieser zweisprachigen Ausgabe einen handschriftennahen Text, eine genaue und dennoch lesbare neuhochdeutsche Übersetzung mit Stellenkommentar und ein ausführliches Nachwort vor.
Introduction
(2022)
The introduction addresses the combination of allegory and the first-person narrative form. This combination, which would prove extremely successful as a template in the following decades, seems to have appeared for the first time shortly after 1200. Not long afterward, the Roman de la Rose was the first text to combine the use of the vernacular, the first person, and allegoricity with courtly tropes. This text stands at the beginning of the impressive history of the “family of texts.” The introduction provides an overview of the main characteristics of this family and text types belonging to it: debates, dream allegories, and autobiographical texts, by integrating important results of the case studies presented in the volume.
Social media constitute an important arena for public debates and steady interchange of issues relevant to society. To boost their reputation, commercial organizations also engage in political, social, or environmental debates on social media. To engage in this type of digital activism, organizations increasingly utilize the social media profiles of executive employees and other brand ambassadors. However, the relationship between brand ambassadors’ digital activism and corporate reputation is only vaguely understood. The results of a qualitative inquiry suggest that digital activism via brand ambassadors can be risky (e.g., creating additional surface for firestorms, financial loss) and rewarding (e.g., emitting authenticity, employing ‘megaphones’ for industry change) at the same time. The paper informs both scholarship and practitioners about strategic trade-offs that need to be considered when employing brand ambassadors for digital activism.
Disinformation campaigns spread rapidly through social media and can cause serious harm, especially in crisis situations, ranging from confusion about how to act to a loss of trust in government institutions. Therefore, the prevention of digital disinformation campaigns represents an important research topic. However, previous research in the field of information systems focused on the technical possibilities to detect and combat disinformation, while ethical and legal perspectives have been neglected so far. In this article, we synthesize previous information systems literature on disinformation prevention measures and discuss these measures from an ethical and legal perspective. We conclude by proposing questions for future research on the prevention of disinformation campaigns from an IS, ethical, and legal perspective. In doing so, we contribute to a balanced discussion on the prevention of digital disinformation campaigns that equally considers technical, ethical, and legal issues, and encourage increased interdisciplinary collaboration in future research.
Virtual reality promises high potential as an immersive, hands-on learning tool for training 21st-century skills. However, previous research revealed that the mere use of digital tools in higher education does not automatically translate into learning outcomes. Instead, information systems studies emphasized the importance of effective use behavior to achieve technology usage goals. Applying the affordance network approach, we investigated what constitutes effective usage behavior regarding a virtual reality collaboration system in digital education. Therefore, we conducted 18 interviews with students and observations of six course sessions. The results uncover how affordance actualization contributed to the achievement of learning goals. A comparison with findings of previous studies on other information systems (i.e., electronic medical record systems, big data analytics, fitness wearables) allowed us to highlight system-specific differences in effective use behavior. We also demonstrated a clear distinction between concepts surrounding effective use theory facilitating the application of the affordance network approach in information systems research.
Wie wurden die Soldaten der Wehrmacht – in der Kaserne und an der Front – von ihren Unteroffizieren und Offizieren behandelt? Wie war deren Menschenführung beeinflusst vom Nationalsozialismus und welche Bedeutung hatte sie für den Zusammenhalt des deutschen Heeres im Zweiten Weltkrieg? Konstantin Franz Eckert schließt, gestützt auf eine breite Quellenbasis, eine wichtige Forschungslücke. Seine Studie zeigt, wie junge Männer auf ihren Militärdienst vorbereitet wurden und was sie von ihren Vorgesetzten erwarteten. Sie weist nach, dass Vorbild und persönlicher Einsatz, Konstruktivität und absolute Unterordnung unter das Gehorsamsprinzip im Dienst des NS-Regimes zentrale Führungselemente der Wehrmacht waren. Zudem wirft sie einen Blick auf die militärische Ausbildung und ordnet die alten Narrative vom »Kasernenhofschleifer« sachlich ein.
Between reality & fantasy
(2023)
Synthetische Medien ermöglichen die zunehmend automatisierte Erstellung virtueller Influencer, von denen bereits einige Millionen Follower in sozialen Medien gewonnen haben. Unter der Leitung von Professor Stefan Stieglitz und Sünje Clausen (Universität Potsdam) und in Kooperation mit Sanofi hat ein Forschungsprojekt untersucht, wie computergenerierten Charaktere für die Influencer-Kommunikation im Unternehmensumfeld genutzt werden können. Nähere Informationen zu den Forschungsergebnissen können in der Communication Insights nachgelesen werden: eine kurze Einführung in die Influencer-Kommunikation, potenziellen Vorteile als auch Herausforderungen von virtuellen Influencern, Tipps für den Prozess der Gestaltung und Nutzung eines virtuellen Influencers.
Mastery is a psychological resource that is defined as the extent to which individuals perceive having control over important circumstances of their lives. Although mastery has been associated with various physical and psychological health outcomes, studies assessing its relationship with weight status and dietary behavior are lacking. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the relationship between mastery and weight status, food intake, snacking, and eating disorder (ED) symptoms in the NutriNet-Sante cohort study. Mastery was measured with the Pearlin Mastery Scale (PMS) in 32,588 adults (77.45% female), the mean age was 50.04 (14.53) years. Height and weight were self-reported. Overall diet quality and food group consumption were evaluated with >= 3 self-reported 24-h dietary records (range: 3-27). Snacking was assessed with an ad-hoc question. ED symptoms were assessed with the Sick-Control-One-Fat-Food Questionnaire (SCOFF). Linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between mastery and weight status, food intake, snacking, and ED symptoms, controlling for sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics. Females with a higher level of mastery were less likely to be underweight (OR: 0.88; 95%CI: 0.84, 0.93), overweight [OR: 0.94 (0.91, 0.97)], or obese [class I: OR: 0.86 (0.82, 0.90); class II: OR: 0.76 (0.71, 0.82); class III: OR: 0.77 (0.69, 0.86)]. Males with a higher level of mastery were less likely to be obese [class III: OR: 0.75 (0.57, 0.99)]. Mastery was associated with better diet quality overall, a higher consumption of fruit and vegetables, seafood, wholegrain foods, legumes, non-salted oleaginous fruits, and alcoholic beverages and with a lower consumption of meat and poultry, dairy products, sugary and fatty products, milk-based desserts, and sweetened beverages. Mastery was also associated with lower snacking frequency [OR: 0.89 (0.86, 0.91)] and less ED symptoms [OR: 0.73 (0.71, 0.75)]. As mastery was associated with favorable dietary behavior and weight status, targeting mastery might be a promising approach in promoting healthy behaviors.
What does the future hold for corporate communications? The Communications Trend Radar is an applied research project. On an annual basis, it identifies relevant trends for corporate communications from the fields of society, management, and technology. The research team at the University of Potsdam (Professor Stefan Stieglitz, Sünje Clausen, MS.) and Leipzig University (Professor Ansgar Zerfass, Dr Michelle Wloka) identified the following trends for 2024: Information Inflation, AI Literacy, Workforce Shift, Content Integrity, Decoding Humans. More information on the trends can be found in the Communications Trend Radar Report 2024
Tula orthohantavirus (TULV) is a rodent-borne hantavirus with broad geographical distribution in Europe. Its major reservoir is the common vole (Microtus arvalis), but TULV has also been detected in closely related vole species. Given the large distributional range and high amplitude population dynamics of common voles, this host-pathogen complex presents an ideal system to study the complex mechanisms of pathogen transmission in a wild rodent reservoir. We investigated the dynamics of TULV prevalence and the subsequent potential effects on the molecular evolution of TULV in common voles of the Central evolutionary lineage. Rodents were trapped for three years in four regions of Germany and samples were analyzed for the presence of TULV-reactive antibodies and TULV RNA with subsequent sequence determination. The results show that individual (sex) and population-level factors (abundance) of hosts were significant predictors of local TULV dynamics. At the large geographic scale, different phylogenetic TULV clades and an overall isolation-by-distance pattern in virus sequences were detected, while at the small scale (<4 km) this depended on the study area. In combination with an overall delayed density dependence, our results highlight that frequent, localized bottleneck events for the common vole and TULV do occur and can be offset by local recolonization dynamics.
Comb-like geometric constraints leading to emergence of the time-fractional Schrödinger equation
(2021)
This paper presents an overview over several examples, where the comb-like geometric constraints lead to emergence of the time-fractional Schrodinger equation. Motion of a quantum object on a comb structure is modeled by a suitable modification of the kinetic energy operator, obtained by insertion of the Dirac delta function in the Laplacian. First, we consider motion of a free particle on two- and three-dimensional comb structures, and then we extend the study to the interacting cases. A general form of a nonlocal term, which describes the interactions of the particle with the medium, is included in the Hamiltonian, and later on, the cases of constant and Dirac delta potentials are analyzed. At the end, we discuss the case of non-integer dimensions, considering separately the case of fractal dimension between one and two, and the case of fractal dimension between two and three. All these examples show that even though we are starting with the standard time-dependent Schrodinger equation on a comb, the time-fractional equation for the Green's functions appears, due to these specific geometric constraints.
Epistemic logic programs constitute an extension of the stable model semantics to deal with new constructs called subjective literals. Informally speaking, a subjective literal allows checking whether some objective literal is true in all or some stable models. As it can be imagined, the associated semantics has proved to be non-trivial, since the truth of subjective literals may interfere with the set of stable models it is supposed to query. As a consequence, no clear agreement has been reached and different semantic proposals have been made in the literature. Unfortunately, comparison among these proposals has been limited to a study of their effect on individual examples, rather than identifying general properties to be checked. In this paper, we propose an extension of the well-known splitting property for logic programs to the epistemic case. We formally define when an arbitrary semantics satisfies the epistemic splitting property and examine some of the consequences that can be derived from that, including its relation to conformant planning and to epistemic constraints. Interestingly, we prove (through counterexamples) that most of the existing approaches fail to fulfill the epistemic splitting property, except the original semantics proposed by Gelfond 1991 and a recent proposal by the authors, called Founded Autoepistemic Equilibrium Logic.
Der Band stellt ein Modell für einen differenzierenden Literaturunterricht vor, der individuelle Förderung für unterschiedliche Bereiche von Heterogenität ermöglicht.
Eine ergiebige Differenzierung nutzt die Aspekte Ziele, Themen und Methoden des Unterrichts sowie Lenkung und Aufgabenformat. Diese Aspekte werden mit Blick auf die einzelnen Phasen des Unterrichts präzisiert. Dabei werden Leistungsunterschiede, sprachliche, kulturelle und soziale sowie individuelle Voraussetzungen der einzelnen Schüler:innen deutlicher adressiert.
Einzelne exemplarische Aufgabensets mit ausführlicher Erläuterung dienen der Veranschaulichung des Modells. Zudem werden Unterrichtseinheiten vorgestellt, die systematisch Möglichkeiten der Differenzierung nutzen.
Earthquake source parameters such as seismic stress drop and corner frequency are observed to vary widely, leading to persistent discussion on potential scaling of stress drop and event size. Physical mechanisms that govern stress drop variations arc difficult to evaluate in nature and are more readily studied in controlled laboratory experiments. We perform two stick-slip experiments on fractured (rough) and cut (smooth) Westerly granite samples to explore fault roughness effects on acoustic emission (AE) source parameters. We separate large stick-slip events that generally saturate the seismic recording system from populations of smaller AE events which are sensitive to fault stresses prior to slip. AE event populations show many similarities to natural seismicity and may be interpreted as laboratory equivalent of natural microseismic events. We then compare the temporal evolution of mechanical data such as measured stress release during slip to temporal changes in stress drops derived from Alis using the spectral ratio technique. We report on two primary observations: (1) In contrast to most case studies for natural earthquakes, we observe a strong increase in seismic stress drop with AE size. (2) The scaling of stress drop with magnitude is governed by fault roughness, whereby the rough fault shows a more rapid increase of the stress drop magnitude relation with progressing large stick-slip events than the smooth fault. The overall range of AE sizes on the rough surface is influenced by both the average grain size and the width of the fault core. The magnitudes of the smallest AE events on smooth faults may also be governed by grain size. However, AEs significantly grow beyond peak roughness and the width of the fault core. Our laboratory tests highlight that source parameters vary substantially in the presence of fault zone heterogeneity (i.e. roughness and narrow grain size distribution), which may affect seismic energy partitioning and static stress drops of small and large AE events.
The study of diamond frogs (genus Rhombophryne, endemic to Madagascar) has been historically hampered by the paucity of available specimens, because of their low detectability in the field. Over the last 10 years, 13 new taxa have been described, and 20 named species are currently recognized. Nevertheless, undescribed diversity within the genus is probably large, calling for a revision of the taxonomic identification of published records and an update of the known distribution of each lineage. Here we generate DNA sequences of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene of all specimens available to us, revise the genetic data from public databases, and report all deeply divergent mitochondrial lineages of Rhombophryne identifiable from these data. We also generate a multi-locus dataset (including five mitochondrial and eight nuclear markers; 9844 bp) to infer a species-level phylogenetic hypothesis for the diversification of this genus and revise the distribution of each lineage. We recognize a total of 10 candidate species, two of which are identified here for the first time. The genus Rhombophryne is here proposed to be divided into six main species groups, and phylogenetic relationships among some of them are not fully resolved. These frogs are primarily distributed in northern Madagascar, and most species are known from only few localities. A previous record of this genus from the Tsingy de Bemaraha (western Madagascar) is interpreted as probably due to a mislabelling and should not be considered further unless confirmed by new data. By generating this phylogenetic hypothesis and providing an updated distribution of each lineage, our findings will facilitate future species descriptions, pave the way for evolutionary studies, and provide valuable information for the urgent conservation of diamond frogs.
Providing students with efficient instruction tailored to their individual characteristics in the cognitive and affective domains is an important goal in research on computer-based learning. This is especially important when seeking to enhance students' learning experience, such as by counteracting boredom, a detrimental emotion for learning. However, studies comparing instructional strategies triggered by either cognitive or emotional characteristics are surprisingly scarce. In addition, little research has examined the impact of these types of instructional strategies on performance and boredom trajectories within a lesson. In the present study, we compared the effectiveness of an intelligent tutoring system that adapted variable levels of hint details to a combination of students' dynamic, self-reported emotions and task performance (i.e., the experimental condition) to a traditional hint delivery approach consisting of a progressive, incremental supply of details following students' failures (i.e., the control condition). Linear mixed models of time-related changes in task performance and the intensity of boredom over two 1-h sessions showed that students (N = 104) in the two conditions exhibited equivalent progression in task performance and similar trajectories in boredom intensity. However, a consideration of students' achievement levels in the analyses (i.e., their final performance on the task) revealed that higher achievers in the experimental condition showed a reduction in boredom during the first session, suggesting possible benefits of using emotional information to increase the contingency of the hint delivery strategy and improve students’ learning experience.
One of the main challenges of education in modern societies is to effectively address the variability of students in academic learning settings. Students vary in terms of their individual learning preconditions, such as achievement and preknowledge, but also motivation and emotion. Teachers, in turn, have limited resources to provide each learner with individually tailored instruction. This research overview reviews research on artificially intelligent teaching assistants and their role in providing adaptive learning opportunities in relation to learners’ heterogeneous individual learning preconditions in the field of motivation and emotion.
We would like to inform the readers and editors of the journal that we have discovered some errors in the references of our paper. These errors were brought to our attention by a reader who noticed some inconsistencies between the citations in the text and the bibliography. Upon further investigation, we realized that our literature management software had mistakenly linked some of the references to wrong or non-existent sources. We apologize for this oversight and assure you that it did not affect the validity or quality of our arguments and results, which were based on the correct sources. Below you find a list of the incorrect references along with their corresponding correct ones. We hope that this correction statement will clarify any confusion or misunderstanding that may have arisen from this mistake. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Purpose
This study investigates the communication behavior of public health organizations on Twitter during the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Brazil. It contributes to the understanding of the organizational framing of health communication by showcasing several instances of framing devices that borrow from (Brazilian) internet culture. The investigation of this case extends the knowledge by providing a rich description of the organizational framing of health communication to combat misinformation in a politically charged environment.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected a Twitter dataset of 77,527 tweets and analyzed a purposeful subsample of 536 tweets that contained information provided by Brazilian public health organizations about COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. The data analysis was carried out quantitatively and qualitatively by combining social media analytics techniques and frame analysis.
Findings
The analysis showed that Brazilian health organizations used several framing devices that have been identified by previous literature such as hashtags, links, emojis or images. However, the analysis also unearthed hitherto unknown visual framing devices for misinformation prevention and debunking that borrow from internet culture such as “infographics,” “pop culture references” and “internet-native symbolism.”
Research limitations/implications
First, the identification of framing devices relating to internet culture add to our understanding of the so far little addressed framing of misinformation combat messages. The case of Brazilian health organizations provides a novel perspective to knowledge by offering a notion of internet-native symbols (e.g. humor, memes) and popular culture references for misinformation combat, including misinformation prevention. Second, this study introduces a frontier of political contextualization to misinformation research that does not relate to the partisanship of the spreaders but that relates to the political dilemmas of public organizations with a commitment to provide accurate information to citizens.
Practical implications
The findings inform decision-makers and public health organizations about framing devices that are tailored to internet-native audiences and can guide strategies to carry out information campaigns in misinformation-laden social media environments.
Social implications
The findings of this case study expose the often-overlooked cultural peculiarities of framing information campaigns on social media. The report of this study from a country in the Global South helps to contrast several assumptions and strategies that are prevalent in (health) discourses in Western societies and scholarship.
Originality/value
This study uncovers unconventional and barely addressed framing devices of health organizations operating in Brazil, which provides a novel perspective to the body of research on misinformation. It contributes to existing knowledge about frame analysis and broadens the understanding of frame devices borrowing from internet culture. It is a call for a frontier in misinformation research that deals with internet culture as part of organizational strategies for successful misinformation combat.
Purpose
Kettle holes are small inland water bodies known to be dominated by terrigenous material; however, the processes and structures that drive the enrichment and depletion of specific geochemical elements in the water column and kettle hole sediment remain unclear. We hypothesized that the mobile elements (Ca, Fe, K, P) behave different from each other in their transport, intermediate soil retention, and final accumulation in the kettle hole sediment.
Methods
Topsoils from transects spanning topographic positions from erosional to depositional areas, sediment cores, shallow groundwater, and kettle hole water of two glacial kettle holes in NE Germany (Rittgarten (RG) and Kraatz (KR)) were collected. The Fe, Ca, K, and total P (TP) concentrations were quantified and additionally the major anions in shallow groundwater and kettle hole water. The element-specific mobilization, relocation, and, finally, accumulation in the sediment were investigated by enrichment factors. Furthermore, a piper diagram was used to estimate groundwater flow directions and pond-internal processes.
Results
At KR only, the upper 10 cm of the kettle hole sediment reflected the relative element composition of the eroded terrestrial soils. The sediment from both kettle holes was enriched in Ca, Fe, K, and P compared to topsoils, indicating several possible processes including the input of clay and silt sized particles enriched in these elements, fertilizer input, and pond-internal processes including biogenic calcite and hydroxyapatite precipitation, Fe-P binding (KR), FeSx formation (RG), and elemental fixation and deposition via floating macrophytes (RG). High Ca concentrations in the kettle hole water indicated a high input of Ca from shallow groundwater inflow, while Ca precipitation in the kettle hole water led to lower Ca concentration in groundwater outflow.
Conclusions
The considerable element losses in the surrounding soils and the inputs into the kettle holes should be addressed by comprehensive soil and water protection measures, i.e., avoiding tillage, fertilizing conservatively, and creating buffer zones.
Digitale Medien erlangen eine zunehmende Bedeutung für die Gestaltung von unterrichtlichen Lehr- und Lernprozessen (KMK, 2021; Scheiter, 2021). Die erfolgreiche Integration digitaler Medien und die qualitätsvolle Gestaltung digitalgestützten Unterrichts ist dabei abhängig von den digitalen Kompetenzen der beteiligten Lehrkräfte (KMK, 2021; Lachner et al., 2020). Lehrkräftefortbildungen zu Themen digitaler Medien sind in diesem Kontext von großer Relevanz. Die Teilnahme an Fortbildungen zu digitalen Themen kann zur Förderung der (selbsteingeschätzten) digitalen Kompetenzen sowie des digitalgestützten Unterrichts beitragen (KMK, 2021; SWK, 2022). Die Zusammenhänge zwischen Lehrkräftefortbildungen, Kompetenzen und Handeln von Lehrkräften werden auf theoretischer Ebene im Modell der Determinanten und Konsequenzen der professionellen Kompetenz von Lehrkräften nach Kunter et al. (2011) beschrieben. Allerdings ist bislang ungeklärt, inwiefern die für allgemeine Lehrkräftefortbildungen formulierten Zusammenhänge auch auf den digitalen Kontext übertragbar sind. Bisher weisen nur wenige empirische Ergebnisse darauf hin, dass digitalbezogene Lehrkräftefortbildungen mit selbsteingeschätzten digitalen Kompetenzen (z. B. Mayer et al., 2021; Ning et al., 2022; Reisoğlu, 2022) und dem digitalgestützten Unterrichtshandeln zusammenhängen (z. B. Alt, 2018; Gisbert Cervera & Lázaro Cantabrana, 2015). Eine zentrale Rolle für qualitätsvolles Unterrichtshandeln spielen die Handlungskompetenzen von Lehrkräften (Kunter et al., 2011). Auch im digitalen Kontext sind (selbsteingeschätzte) Kompetenzen von Lehrkräften für das unterrichtliche Handeln mit digitalen Medien relevant (z. B. Hatlevik, 2017; Spiteri & Rundgren, 2020). Eine systematische Darstellung von Kompetenzen von Lehrkräften für den unterrichtsbezogenen Einsatz digitaler Medien leistet der European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu; Redecker & Punie, 2017). Jedoch liegen bisher nur wenige empirische Forschungsarbeiten zur Validierung dieses Rahmenmodells vor (z. B. Antonietti et al., 2022). Dabei bietet das DigCompEdu-Modell im Vergleich zu anderen Kompetenzmodellen wie beispielsweise dem Modell des Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK; Mishra & Koehler, 2006) einen differenzierten Blick auf verschiedene Kompetenzdimensionen.
Die aufgezeigten Forschungslücken aufnehmend, befasst sich die vorliegende Dissertation mit den Faktoren, die zu einer hohen Unterrichtsqualität im digitalgestützten Unterricht beitragen. Die drei empirischen Studien dieser Dissertation behandeln aus verschiedenen Perspektiven die Zusammenhänge zwischen der Teilnahme an digitalbezogenen Lehrkräftefortbildungen, den selbsteingeschätzten digitalen Kompetenzen von Lehrkräften und der selbstberichteten digitalgestützten Unterrichtsqualität. Die Studien orientieren sich dabei theoriegeleitet an den Annahmen des Modells der Determinanten und Konsequenzen der professionellen Kompetenz von Lehrkräften nach Kunter et al. (2011).
Studie 1 widmet sich der Frage, inwieweit die Teilnahme an digitalbezogenen Fortbildungen und Lehrkräftekooperationen im digitalen Kontext mit selbsteingeschätzten digitalen Kompetenzen, Interesse am digitalgestützten Unterrichten und qualitätsvollem Unterrichten mit digitalen Medien zusammenhängen. Die Ergebnisse manifester Pfadmodelle verdeutlichen, dass die Teilnahme an digitalbezogenen Fortbildungen und Kooperationen mit hohen digitalen Kompetenzen, einem hohen Interesse am digitalgestützten Unterrichten und einem selbstberichteten häufigen Einsatz digitaler Medien zur Umsetzung qualitätsvollen Unterrichtens (kognitive Aktivierung und Individualisierung) einhergingen. Digitalgestütztes Unterrichtshandeln wurde in bisherigen empirischen Studien vorrangig über die Nutzungshäufigkeit digitaler Medien im Unterricht erhoben, welche jedoch keine Rückschlüsse auf die Qualität des Einsatzes zulässt (Lachner et al., 2020; Scheiter, 2021). Der qualitätsvolle Einsatz digitaler Medien entlang der drei generischen Basisdimensionen (Klieme et al., 2009) wird daher in allen drei Studien der Dissertation berücksichtigt. In Studie 1 konnte zudem gezeigt werden, dass die selbsteingeschätzten digitalen Kompetenzen im Bereich TPACK die querschnittlichen Zusammenhänge zwischen der Teilnahmehäufigkeit von Lehrkräften an digitalbezogenen Fortbildungen und der Nutzungshäufigkeit digitaler Medien zur Umsetzung von kognitiver Aktivierung und Individualisierung vermitteln.
In Studie 2 wurden Skalen zur Erfassung selbsteingeschätzter digitaler Kompetenzen basierend auf dem DigCompEdu-Modell entwickelt und getestet. Konkret wurde dabei die Kompetenzdimension der Lernerorientierung mit den Subdimensionen Differenzierung und Aktive Einbindung von Schüler*innen in den Blick genommen. Die Ergebnisse der durchgeführten Strukturgleichungsmodellierungen legen eine bifaktorielle Faktorstruktur nahe, die sowohl die zwei theoretisch angenommenen Subdimensionen repräsentiert als auch einen generellen Faktor beinhaltet, der sich als übergreifende Lernerorientierung interpretiert lässt. Die selbsteingeschätzten digitalen Kompetenzen in Bereich der Lernerorientierung standen in signifikant positivem Zusammenhang mit dem selbstberichteten Einsatz digitaler Medien zur selbstberichteten Umsetzung qualitätsvollen Unterrichtshandelns (Klassenführung, kognitive Aktivierung und konstruktive Unterstützung).
Studie 3 führt die Themenfelder der Fortbildungen und der Kompetenzen im digitalen Kontext zusammen und befasst sich mit dem Zusammenhang zwischen Fortbildungsthemen und digitalen Kompetenzen. Ergebnisse von Pfadmodellierungen zeigen, dass die Teilnahme an digitalbezogenen Fortbildungen zu den technologisch-pädagogisch-inhaltlichen Themen „Computergestützte Förderung der Schüler*innen“ und „Fachspezifische Unterrichtsentwicklung mit digitalen Medien“ mit dem selbstberichteten qualitätsvollen Einsatz digitaler Medien zur kognitiven Aktivierung und konstruktiven Unterstützung einhergehen. Diese Befunde stärken die Annahme, dass Lehrkräfte für einen qualitätsvollen Einsatz digitaler Medien sowohl technologische als auch pädagogisch didaktische Kompetenzen benötigen (Lipowsky & Rzejak, 2021; Mishra & Koehler, 2006; Scheiter & Lachner, 2019) und Fortbildungen folglich technologische mit unterrichtspraktischen Inhalten kombinieren sollten (Bonnes et al., 2022). Zudem zeigt die Studie basierend auf den theoretischen Annahmen von Kunter et al. (2011), dass selbsteingeschätzte digitale Kompetenzen von Lehrkräften die Zusammenhänge zwischen der Teilnahmehäufigkeit an digitalbezogenen Fortbildungen und der selbstberichteten digitalgestützten Unterrichtsqualität vermittelten.
In der abschließenden Gesamtdiskussion der Dissertation werden die Befunde vor dem Hintergrund des dargelegten Forschungsstandes und hinsichtlich der Forschungslücken diskutiert und auf Grundlage der Befunde der drei Studien forschungs- und praxisrelevante Implikationen abgeleitet.
Examining the dissemination of evidence on social media, we analyzed the discourse around eight visible scientists in the context of COVID-19. Using manual (N = 1,406) and automated coding (N = 42,640) on an account-based tracked Twitter/X dataset capturing scientists’ activities and eliciting reactions over six 2-week periods, we found that visible scientists’ tweets included more scientific evidence. However, public reactions contained more anecdotal evidence. Findings indicate that evidence can be a message characteristic leading to greater tweet dissemination. Implications for scientists, including explicitly incorporating scientific evidence in their communication and examining evidence in science communication research, are discussed.
Simple Summary Gliomas are heterogenous types of cancer, therefore the therapy should be personalized and targeted toward specific pathways. We developed a methodology that corrected strong batch effects from The Cancer Genome Atlas datasets and estimated glioma grade-specific co-enrichment mechanisms using machine learning. Our findings created hypotheses for annotations, e.g., pathways, that should be considered as therapeutic targets. Gliomas develop and grow in the brain and central nervous system. Examining glioma grading processes is valuable for improving therapeutic challenges. One of the most extensive repositories storing transcriptomics data for gliomas is The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). However, such big cohorts should be processed with caution and evaluated thoroughly as they can contain batch and other effects. Furthermore, biological mechanisms of cancer contain interactions among biomarkers. Thus, we applied an interpretable machine learning approach to discover such relationships. This type of transparent learning provides not only good predictability, but also reveals co-predictive mechanisms among features. In this study, we corrected the strong and confounded batch effect in the TCGA glioma data. We further used the corrected datasets to perform comprehensive machine learning analysis applied on single-sample gene set enrichment scores using collections from the Molecular Signature Database. Furthermore, using rule-based classifiers, we displayed networks of co-enrichment related to glioma grades. Moreover, we validated our results using the external glioma cohorts. We believe that utilizing corrected glioma cohorts from TCGA may improve the application and validation of any future studies. Finally, the co-enrichment and survival analysis provided detailed explanations for glioma progression and consequently, it should support the targeted treatment.
We present the discovery of a new double-detonation progenitor system consisting of a hot subdwarf B (sdB) binary with a white dwarf companion with a P (orb) = 76.34179(2) minutes orbital period. Spectroscopic observations are consistent with an sdB star during helium core burning residing on the extreme horizontal branch. Chimera light curves are dominated by ellipsoidal deformation of the sdB star and a weak eclipse of the companion white dwarf. Combining spectroscopic and light curve fits, we find a low-mass sdB star, M (sdB) = 0.383 +/- 0.028 M (circle dot) with a massive white dwarf companion, M (WD) = 0.725 +/- 0.026 M (circle dot). From the eclipses we find a blackbody temperature for the white dwarf of 26,800 K resulting in a cooling age of approximate to 25 Myr whereas our MESA model predicts an sdB age of approximate to 170 Myr. We conclude that the sdB formed first through stable mass transfer followed by a common envelope which led to the formation of the white dwarf companion approximate to 25 Myr ago. Using the MESA stellar evolutionary code we find that the sdB star will start mass transfer in approximate to 6 Myr and in approximate to 60 Myr the white dwarf will reach a total mass of 0.92 M (circle dot) with a thick helium layer of 0.17 M (circle dot). This will lead to a detonation that will likely destroy the white dwarf in a peculiar thermonuclear supernova. PTF1 J2238+7430 is only the second confirmed candidate for a double-detonation thermonuclear supernova. Using both systems we estimate that at least approximate to 1% of white dwarf thermonuclear supernovae originate from sdB+WD binaries with thick helium layers, consistent with the small number of observed peculiar thermonuclear explosions.
The West Burma Terrane (WBT) is a small terrane bounded to the east by the Asian Sibumasu Block and to the west by the Indo-Burman Ranges (IBR), the latter being an exhumed accretionary prism that formed during subduction of Indian oceanic lithosphere beneath Asia. Understanding the geological history of the WBT is important for reconstruction of the closure history of the Tethys Ocean and India-Asia collision. Currently there are major discrepancies in the proposed timings of collision between the WBT with both India and Asia; whether the WBT collided with India or Asia first is debated, and proposed timings of collisions stretch from the Mesozoic to the Cenozoic. We undertook a multi-technique provenance study involving petrography, detrital zircon U-Pb and Hf analyses, rutile U-Pb analyses and Sr-Nd bulk rock analyses on sediments of the Central Myanmar Basins of the WBT. We determined that the first arrival of Asian material into the basin occurred after the earliest late Eocene and by the early Oligocene, thus placing a minimum constraint on the timing of WBT-Asia collision. Our low temperature thermochronological study of the IBR records two periods of exhumation, in the early-middle Eocene, and at the Oligo-Miocene boundary. The Eocene event may be associated with the collision of the WBT with India. The later event at the Oligo-Miocene boundary may be associated with changes in wedge dynamics resulting from increased sediment supply to the system; however a number of other possible causes provide equally plausible explanations for both events.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of listening to preferred music during a warm up or exercise, on performance during a 6-min all-out exercise test (6-MT) in young adult males. Twenty-five healthy males volunteered to participate in this study. Following a within subject design, participants performed three test conditions (MDT: music during the test; MDW: music during the warm-up; WM: without music) in random order. Outcomes included mean running speed over the 6-min test (MRS6), total distance covered (TDC), heart rate responses (HRpeak, HRmean), blood lactate (3-min after the test), and the rating of perceived exertion (RPE); additionally, feeling scale scores were recorded. Listening to preferred music during running resulted in significant TDC (Delta up arrow 10%, p=0.006, ES=0.80) and MRS6 (Delta up arrow 14%, p=0.012, ES=1.02) improvement during the 6-MT, improvement was also noted for the warm-up with music condition (TDC:Delta up arrow 8%, p=0.028, ES=0.63; MRS6:Delta up arrow 8%, p=0.032, ES=0.61). A similar reverse "J-shaped" pacing profile was detected during the three conditions. Blood lactate was lower in the MDT condition by 8% (p=0.01, ES=1.10), but not the MDW condition, compared to MW. In addition, no statistically significant differences were found between the test sessions for the HR, RPE, and feeling scale scores. In conclusion, listening to music during exercise testing would be more beneficial for optimal TDC and MRS6 performances compared to MDW and WM.
This study focuses on three key aspects: (a) crude throat swab samples in a viral transport medium (VTM) as templates for RT-LAMP reactions; (b) a biotinylated DNA probe with enhanced specificity for LFA readouts; and (c) a digital semi-quantification of LFA readouts. Throat swab samples from SARS-CoV-2 positive and negative patients were used in their crude (no cleaning or pre-treatment) forms for the RT-LAMP reaction. The samples were heat-inactivated but not treated for any kind of nucleic acid extraction or purification. The RT-LAMP (20 min processing time) product was read out by an LFA approach using two labels: FITC and biotin. FITC was enzymatically incorporated into the RT-LAMP amplicon with the LF-LAMP primer, and biotin was introduced using biotinylated DNA probes, specifically for the amplicon region after RT-LAMP amplification. This assay setup with biotinylated DNA probe-based LFA readouts of the RT-LAMP amplicon was 98.11% sensitive and 96.15% specific. The LFA result was further analysed by a smartphone-based IVD device, wherein the T-line intensity was recorded. The LFA T-line intensity was then correlated with the qRT-PCR Ct value of the positive swab samples. A digital semi-quantification of RT-LAMP-LFA was reported with a correlation coefficient of R2 = 0.702. The overall RT-LAMP-LFA assay time was recorded to be 35 min with a LoD of three RNA copies/µL (Ct-33). With these three advancements, the nucleic acid testing-point of care technique (NAT-POCT) is exemplified as a versatile biosensor platform with great potential and applicability for the detection of pathogens without the need for sample storage, transportation, or pre-processing.
Urbanization promotes specific bacteria in freshwater microbiomes including potential pathogens
(2022)
Freshwater ecosystems are characterized by complex and highly dynamic microbial communities that are strongly structured by their local environment and biota. Accelerating urbanization and growing city populations detrimentally alter freshwater environments. To determine differences in freshwater microbial communities associated with urban-ization, full-length 16S rRNA gene PacBio sequencing was performed in a case study from surface waters and sedi-ments from a wastewater treatment plant, urban and rural lakes in the Berlin-Brandenburg region, Northeast Germany. Water samples exhibited highly habitat specific bacterial communities with multiple genera showing clear urban signatures. We identified potentially harmful bacterial groups associated with environmental parameters specific to urban habitats such as Alistipes, Escherichia/Shigella, Rickettsia and Streptococcus. We demonstrate that urban-ization alters natural microbial communities in lakes and, via simultaneous warming and eutrophication and creates favourable conditions that promote specific bacterial genera including potential pathogens. Our findings are evidence to suggest an increased potential for long-term health risk in urbanized waterbodies, at a time of rapidly expanding global urbanization. The results highlight the urgency for undertaking mitigation measures such as targeted lake restoration projects and sustainable water management efforts.
The physiological dependence of animals on dietary intake of vitamins, amino acids, and fatty acids is ubiquitous. Sharp differences in the availability of these vital dietary biomolecules among different resources mean that consumers must adopt a range of strategies to meet their physiological needs. We review the emerging work on omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, focusing predominantly on predator-prey interactions, to illustrate that trade-off between capacities to consume resources rich in vital biomolecules and internal synthesis capacity drives differences in phenotype and fitness of consumers. This can then feedback to impact ecosystem functioning. We outline how focus on vital dietary biomolecules in eco-eco-devo dynamics can improve our understanding of anthropogenic changes across multiple levels of biological organization.
The study addresses the question, if observed changes in terms of Arctic-midlatitude linkages during winter are driven by Arctic Sea ice decline alone or if the increase of global sea surface temperatures plays an additional role. We compare atmosphere-only model experiments with ECHAM6 to ERA-Interim Reanalysis data. The model sensitivity experiment is implemented as a set of four combinations of sea ice and sea surface temperature boundary conditions. Atmospheric circulation regimes are determined and evaluated in terms of their cyclone and blocking characteristics and changes in frequency during winter. As a prerequisite, ECHAM6 reproduces general features of circulation regimes very well. Tropospheric changes induced by the change of boundary conditions are revealed and further impacts on the large-scale circulation up into the stratosphere are investigated. In early winter, the observed increase of atmospheric blocking in the region between Scandinavia and the Urals are primarily related to the changes in sea surface temperatures. During late winter, we f nd a weakened polar stratospheric vortex in the reanalysis that further impacts the troposphere. In the model sensitivity study a climatologically weakened polar vortex occurs only if sea ice is reduced and sea surface temperatures are increased together. This response is delayed compared to the reanalysis. The tropospheric response during late winter is inconclusive in the model, which is potentially related to the weak and delayed response in the stratosphere. The model experiments do not reproduce the connection between early and late winter as interpreted from the reanalysis. Potentially explaining this mismatch, we identify a discrepancy of ECHAM6 to reproduce the weakening of the stratospheric polar vortex through blocking induced upward propagation of planetary waves.
This paper deals with the long-term behavior of positive operator semigroups on spaces of bounded functions and of signed measures, which have applications to parabolic equations with unbounded coefficients and to stochas-tic analysis. The main results are a Tauberian type theorem characterizing the convergence to equilibrium of strongly Feller semigroups and a generalization of a classical convergence theorem of Doob. None of these results requires any kind of time regularity of the semigroup.
In real-world scene perception, human observers generate sequences of fixations to move image patches into the high-acuity center of the visual field. Models of visual attention developed over the last 25 years aim to predict two-dimensional probabilities of gaze positions for a given image via saliency maps. Recently, progress has been made on models for the generation of scan paths under the constraints of saliency as well as attentional and oculomotor restrictions. Experimental research demonstrated that task constraints can have a strong impact on viewing behavior. Here, we propose a scan-path model for both fixation positions and fixation durations, which include influences of task instructions and interindividual differences. Based on an eye-movement experiment with four different task conditions, we estimated model parameters for each individual observer and task condition using a fully Bayesian dynamical modeling framework using a joint spatial-temporal likelihood approach with sequential estimation. Resulting parameter values demonstrate that model properties such as the attentional span are adjusted to task requirements. Posterior predictive checks indicate that our dynamical model can reproduce task differences in scan-path statistics across individual observers.
INTRODUCTION:
We investigated the impact of changes in lifestyle habits on colorectal cancer (CRC) risk in a multicountry European cohort.
METHODS:
We used baseline and follow-up questionnaire data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer cohort to assess changes in lifestyle habits and their associations with CRC development. We calculated a healthy lifestyle index (HLI) score based on smoking status, alcohol consumption, body mass index, and physical activity collected at the 2 time points. HLI ranged from 0 (most unfavorable) to 16 (most favorable). We estimated the association between HLI changes and CRC risk using Cox regression models and reported hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).
RESULTS:
Among 295,865 participants, 2,799 CRC cases were observed over a median of 7.8 years. The median time between questionnaires was 5.7 years. Each unit increase in HLI from the baseline to the follow-up assessment was associated with a statistically significant 3% lower CRC risk. Among participants in the top tertile at baseline (HLI > 11), those in the bottom tertile at follow-up (HLI <= 9) had a higher CRC risk (HR 1.34; 95% CI 1.02-1.75) than those remaining in the top tertile. Among individuals in the bottom tertile at baseline, those in the top tertile at follow-up had a lower risk (HR 0.77; 95% CI 0.59-1.00) than those remaining in the bottom tertile.
DISCUSSION:
Improving adherence to a healthy lifestyle was inversely associated with CRC risk, while worsening adherence was positively associated with CRC risk. These results justify and support recommendations for healthy lifestyle changes and healthy lifestyle maintenance for CRC prevention.