Refine
Year of publication
Document Type
- Article (35754)
- Doctoral Thesis (6485)
- Monograph/Edited Volume (5550)
- Postprint (3296)
- Review (2291)
- Part of a Book (1066)
- Other (911)
- Preprint (567)
- Conference Proceeding (539)
- Part of Periodical (525)
Language
- English (30690)
- German (26048)
- Spanish (363)
- French (330)
- Italian (115)
- Russian (112)
- Multiple languages (66)
- Hebrew (36)
- Portuguese (25)
- Polish (24)
Keywords
- Germany (202)
- climate change (183)
- Deutschland (142)
- machine learning (82)
- European Union (79)
- diffusion (78)
- Sprachtherapie (77)
- morphology (74)
- Logopädie (73)
- Migration (73)
Institute
- Institut für Biochemie und Biologie (5448)
- Institut für Physik und Astronomie (5424)
- Institut für Geowissenschaften (3648)
- Institut für Chemie (3481)
- Wirtschaftswissenschaften (2645)
- Historisches Institut (2511)
- Department Psychologie (2346)
- Institut für Mathematik (2145)
- Institut für Romanistik (2108)
- Sozialwissenschaften (1883)
Militär und Moral sind scheinbar zwei sich gegenseitig ausschließende Begriffe. Kriegerische Konflikte und die Tötung von Menschen kommen uns gänzlich unmoralisch vor. Wenn überhaupt, ist die Kampfmoral (Biehl, Heiko. 2012. Einsatzmotivation und Kampfmoral. In Militärsoziologie – Eine Einführung. 2., aktualisierte und ergänzte Aufl., Hrsg. Nina Leonhard und Ines-Jacqueline Werkner, 447–474. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.) ein gängiges Konzept. Nichtsdestotrotz wird im vorliegenden Beitrag angenommen, dass das Militär moralisch handeln kann. Es wird argumentiert, dass das Militär mit widersprüchlichen moralischen und rechtlichen Erwartungshaltungen konfrontiert wird und diese Erwartungen in Entscheidungen übersetzt. Dadurch gerät das Militär jedoch stetig in moralische Entscheidungsdilemmata. Am Beispiel der Seenotrettung im Mittelmeer zwischen 2015 und 2018 soll exemplarisch gezeigt werden, dass das Militär sowohl eine Situationsmoral und moralische Routinen entwickelt als auch Vermeidungsstrategien verfolgt, die jegliche Moralerwartungen von der Organisation fernhalten. Der Beitrag arbeitet hierbei mit einem Moralbegriff philosophischer Provenienz und zeigt verschiedene analytische Dimensionen auf, die zur Analyse von Moral von Organisationen beitragen können.
Aims/hypothesis It was shown that maternal endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) deficiency causes fatty liver disease and numerically lower fasting glucose in female wild-type offspring, suggesting that parental genetic variants may influence the offspring's phenotype via epigenetic modifications in the offspring despite the absence of a primary genetic defect. The aim of the current study was to analyse whether paternal eNOS deficiency may cause the same phenotype as seen with maternal eNOS deficiency. Methods Heterozygous (+/-) male eNOS (Nos3) knockout mice or wild-type male mice were bred with female wild-type mice. The phenotype of wild-type offspring of heterozygous male eNOS knockout mice was compared with offspring from wild-type parents. Results Global sperm DNA methylation decreased and sperm microRNA pattern altered substantially. Fasting glucose and liver glycogen storage were increased when analysing wild-type male and female offspring of +/- eNOS fathers. Wild-type male but not female offspring of +/- eNOS fathers had increased fasting insulin and increased insulin after glucose load. Analysing candidate genes for liver fat and carbohydrate metabolism revealed that the expression of genes encoding glucocorticoid receptor (Gr; also known as Nr3c1) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (Pgc1a; also known as Ppargc1a) was increased while DNA methylation of Gr exon 1A and Pgc1a promoter was decreased in the liver of male wild-type offspring of +/- eNOS fathers. The endocrine pancreas in wild-type offspring was not affected. <br /> Conclusions/interpretation Our study suggests that paternal genetic defects such as eNOS deficiency may alter the epigenome of the sperm without transmission of the paternal genetic defect itself. In later life wild-type male offspring of +/- eNOS fathers developed increased fasting insulin and increased insulin after glucose load. These effects are associated with increased Gr and Pgc1a gene expression due to altered methylation of these genes.
Herein, the concept of constructing binder- and carbon additive-free organosulfur cathode was proved based on thiol-containing conducting polymer poly(4-(thiophene-3-yl) benzenethiol) (PTBT). The PTBT featured the polythiophene-structure main chain as a highly conducting framework and the benzenethiol side chain to copolymerize with sulfur and form a crosslinked organosulfur polymer (namely S/PTBT). Meanwhile, it could be in-situ deposited on the current collector by electro-polymerization, making it a binder-free and free-standing cathode for Li-S batteries. The S/PTBT cathode exhibited a reversible capacity of around 870 mAh g(-1) at 0.1 C and improved cycling performance compared to the physically mixed cathode (namely S&PTBT). This multifunction cathode eliminated the influence of the additives (carbon/binder), making it suitable to be applied as a model electrode for operando analysis. Operando X-ray imaging revealed the remarkable effect in the suppression of polysulfides shuttle via introducing covalent bonds, paving the way for the study of the intrinsic mechanisms in Li-S batteries.
Thousands of glacier lakes have been forming behind natural dams in high mountains following glacier retreat since the early 20th century. Some of these lakes abruptly released pulses of water and sediment with disastrous downstream consequences. Yet it remains unclear whether the reported rise of these glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs) has been fueled by a warming atmosphere and enhanced meltwater production, or simply a growing research effort. Here we estimate trends and biases in GLOF reporting based on the largest global catalog of 1,997 dated glacier-related floods in six major mountain ranges from 1901 to 2017. We find that the positive trend in the number of reported GLOFs has decayed distinctly after a break in the 1970s, coinciding with independently detected trend changes in annual air temperatures and in the annual number of field-based glacier surveys (a proxy of scientific reporting). We observe that GLOF reports and glacier surveys decelerated, while temperature rise accelerated in the past five decades. Enhanced warming alone can thus hardly explain the annual number of reported GLOFs, suggesting that temperature-driven glacier lake formation, growth, and failure are weakly coupled, or that outbursts have been overlooked. Indeed, our analysis emphasizes a distinct geographic and temporal bias in GLOF reporting, and we project that between two to four out of five GLOFs on average might have gone unnoticed in the early to mid-20th century. We recommend that such biases should be considered, or better corrected for, when attributing the frequency of reported GLOFs to atmospheric warming.
With the increasing sensitivity of gravitational-wave detectors, we expect to observe multiple binary neutron-star systems through gravitational waves in the near future. The combined analysis of these gravitational-wave signals offers the possibility to constrain the neutron-star radius and the equation of state of dense nuclear matter with unprecedented accuracy. However, it is crucial to ensure that uncertainties inherent in the gravitational-wave models will not lead to systematic biases when information from multiple detections is combined. To quantify waveform systematics, we perform an extensive simulation campaign of binary neutron-star sources and analyze them with a set of four different waveform models. For our analysis with 38 simulations, we find that statistical uncertainties in the neutron-star radius decrease to 1250 m (2% at 90% credible interval) but that systematic differences between currently employed waveform models can be twice as large. Hence, it will be essential to ensure that systematic biases will not become dominant in inferences of the neutron-star equation of state when capitalizing on future developments.
Rupture directivity, implying a predominant earthquake rupture propagation direction, is typically inferred upon the identification of 2D azimuthal patterns of seismic observations for weak to large earthquakes using surface-monitoring networks. However, the recent increase of 3D monitoring networks deployed in the shallow subsurface and underground laboratories toward the monitoring of microseismicity allows to extend the directivity analysis to 3D modeling, beyond the usual range of magnitudes. The high-quality full waveforms recorded for the largest, decimeter-scale acoustic emission (AE) events during a meter-scale hydraulic fracturing experiment in granites at similar to 410 m depth allow us to resolve the apparent durations observed at each AE sensor to analyze 3D-directivity effects. Unilateral and (asymmetric) bilateral ruptures are then characterized by the introduction of a parameter kappa, representing the angle between the directivity vector and the station vector. While the cloud of AE activity indicates the planes of the hydrofractures, the resolved directivity vectors show off-plane orientations, indicating that rupture planes of microfractures on a scale of centimeters have different geometries. Our results reveal a general alignment of the rupture directivity with the orientation of the minimum horizontal stress, implying that not only the slip direction but also the fracture growth produced by the fluid injections is controlled by the local stress conditions.
In vitro thrombogenicity test systems require co-cultivation of endothelial cells and platelets under blood flow-like conditions. Here, a commercially available perfusion system is explored using plasma-treated cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) as a substrate for the endothelial cell layer. COC was characterized prior to endothelialization and co-cultivation with platelets under static or flow conditions. COC exhibits a low roughness and a moderate hydrophilicity. Flow promoted endothelial cell growth and prevented platelet adherence. These findings show the suitability of COC as substrate and the importance of blood flow-like conditions for the assessment of the thrombogenic risk of drugs or cardiovascular implant materials.
After initial detection of target archival DNA of a 116-year-old syntype specimen of the smooth lantern shark, Etmopterus pusillus, in a single-stranded DNA library, we shotgun-sequenced additional 9 million reads from this same DNA library. Sequencing reads were used for extracting mitochondrial sequence information for analyses of mitochondrial DNA characteristics and reconstruction of the mitochondrial genome. The archival DNA is highly fragmented. A total of 4599 mitochondrial reads were available for the genome reconstruction using an iterative mapping approach. The resulting genome sequence has 12 times coverage and a length of 16 741 bp. All 37 vertebrate mitochondrial loci plus the control region were identified and annotated. The mitochondrial NADH2 gene was subsequently used to place the syntype haplotype in a network comprising multiple E. pusillus samples from various distant localities as well as sequences from a morphological similar species, the shortfin smooth lantern shark Etmopterus joungi. Results confirm the almost global distribution of E. pusillus and suggest E. joungi to be a junior synonym of E. pusillus. As mitochondrial DNA often represents the only available reference information in non-model organisms, this study illustrates the importance of mitochondrial DNA from an aged, wet collection type specimen for taxonomy.
This book provides a new perspective on prosodically marked declaratives, wh-exclamatives, and discourse particles in the Madrid variety of Spanish. It argues that some marked forms differ from unmarked forms in that they encode modal evaluations of the at-issue meaning. Two epistemic evaluations that can be shown to be encoded by intonation in Spanish are obviousness and mirativity, which present the at-issue meaning as expected and unexpected, respectively. An empirical investigation via a production experiment finds that they are associated with distinct intonational features under constant focus scope, with stances of (dis)agreement showing an impact on obvious declaratives. Wh-exclamatives are found not to differ significantly in intonational marking from neutral declaratives, showing that they need not be miratives. Moreover, we find that intonational marking on different discourse particles in natural dialogue correlates with their meaning contribution without being fully determined by it. In part, these findings quantitatively confirm previous qualitative findings on the meaning of intonational configurations in Madrid Spanish. But they also add new insights on the role intonation plays in the negotiation of commitments and expectations between interlocutors.
Numerical studies of the dynamics of gravitational systems, e.g., black hole-neutron star systems, require physical and constraint-satisfying initial data. In this article, we present the newly developed pseudospectral code ELLIPTICA, an infrastructure for construction of initial data for various binary and single gravitational systems of all kinds. The elliptic equations under consideration are solved on a single spatial hypersurface of the spacetime manifold. Using coordinate maps, the hypersurface is covered by patches whose boundaries can adapt to the surface of the compact objects. To solve elliptic equations with arbitrary boundary condition, ELLIPTICA deploys a Schur complement domain decomposition method with a direct solver. In this version, we use cubed sphere coordinate maps and the fields are expanded using Chebyshev polynomials of the first kind. Here, we explain the building blocks of ELLIPTICA and the initial data construction algorithm for a black hole-neutron star binary system. We perform convergence tests and evolve the data to validate our results. Within our framework, the neutron star can reach spin values close to breakup with arbitrary direction, while the black hole can have arbitrary spin with dimensionless spin magnitude ∼0.8.
This paper presents two new pollen records and quantitative climate reconstructions from northern Chukotka documenting environmental changes over the last 27.9 ka. Open tundra- and steppe-like habitats dominated between 27.9 and 18.7 cal. ka BP. Betula and Alnus shrubs might have grown in sheltered microhabitats but disappeared after 18.7 cal. ka BP. Although the climate was rather harsh, local herb-dominated communities supported herbivores as is evident by the presence of coprophilous spores in the sediments. The increase in Salix and Cyperaceae similar to 16.1 cal. ka BP suggests climate amelioration. Shrub Betula appeared similar to 15.9 cal. ka BP, and became dominant after similar to 15.52 cal. ka BP, whilst typical steppe communities drastically reduced. Very high presence of Botryococcus in the Lateglacial sediments reflects widespread shallow habitats, probably due to lake level increase. Shrub Alnus became common after similar to 13 cal. ka BP reflecting further climate amelioration. Simultaneously, herb communities gradually decreased in the vegetation reaching a minimum similar to 11.8 cal. ka BP. A gradual decrease of algae remains suggests a reduction of shallow-water habitats. Shrubby and graminoid tundra was dominant similar to 11.8-11.1 cal. ka BP, later Salix stands significantly decreased. The forest-tundra ecotone established in the Early Holocene, shortly after 11.1 cal. ka BP. Low contents of green algae in the Early Holocene sediments likely reflect deeper aquatic conditions. The most favourable climate conditions were between similar to 10.6 and 7 cal. ka BP. Vegetation became similar to the modern after similar to 7 cal. ka BP but Pinus pumila came to the Ilirney area at about 1.2 cal. ka BP. It is important to emphasize that the study area provided refugia for Betula and Alnus during MIS 2. It is also notable that our records do not reflect evidence of Younger Dryas cooling, which is inconsistent with some regional environmental records but in good accordance with some others.
The nature of the interaction between prehistoric humans and their environment, especially the vegetation, has long been of interest. The Qinghai Lake Basin in North China is well-suited to exploring the interactions between prehistoric humans and vegetation in the Tibetan Plateau, because of the comparatively dense distribution of archaeological sites and the ecologically fragile environment. Previous pollen studies of Qinghai Lake have enabled a detailed reconstruction of the regional vegetation, but they have provided relatively little information on vegetation change within the Qinghai Lake watershed. To address the issue we conducted a pollen-based vegetation reconstruction for an archaeological site (YWY), located on the southern shore of Qinghai Lake. We used high temporal-resolution pollen records from the YWY site and from Qinghai Lake, spanning the interval since the last deglaciation (15.3 kyr BP to the present) to quantitatively reconstruct changes in the local and regional vegetation using Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm models. The results show that, since the late glacial, spruce forest grew at high altitudes in the surrounding mountains, while the lakeshore environment was occupied mainly by shrub-steppe. From the lateglacial to the middle Holocene, coniferous woodland began to expand downslope and reached the YWY site at 7.1 kyr BP. The living environment of the local small groups of Paleolithic-Epipaleolithic humans (during 15.3-13.1 kyr BP and 9-6.4 kyr BP) changed from shrub-steppe to coniferous forest-steppe. The pollen record shows no evidence of pronounced changes in the vegetation community corresponding to human activity. However, based on a comparison of the local and regional vegetation reconstructions, low values of biodiversity and a significant increase in two indicators of vegetation degradation, Chenopodiaceae and Rosaceae, suggest that prehistoric hunters-gatherers likely disturbed the local vegetation during 9.0-6.4 kyr BP. Our findings are a preliminary attempt to study human-environment interactions at Paleolithic-Epipaleolithic sites in the region, and they contribute to ongoing environmental archaeology research in the Tibetan Plateau.
Biodiversity maintains soil multifunctionality and soil organic carbon in novel urban ecosystems
(2022)
Biodiversity in urban ecosystems has the potential to increase ecosystem functions and support a suite of services valued by society, including services provided by soils. Specifically, the sequestration of carbon in soils has often been advocated as a solution to mitigate the steady increase in CO2 concentration in the atmosphere as a key driver of climate change. However, urban ecosystems are also characterized by an often high level of ecological novelty due to profound human-mediated changes, such as the presence of high numbers of non-native species, impervious surfaces or other disturbances. Yet it is poorly understood whether and how biodiversity affects ecosystem functioning and services of urban soils under these novel conditions. In this study, we assessed the influence of above- and below-ground diversity, as well as urbanization and plant invasions, on multifunctionality and organic carbon stocks of soils in non-manipulated grasslands along an urbanization gradient in Berlin, Germany. We focused on plant diversity (measured as species richness and functional trait diversity) and, in addition, on soil organism diversity as a potential mediator for the relationship of plant species diversity and ecosystem functioning. Our results showed positive effects of plant diversity on soil multifunctionality and soil organic carbon stocks along the entire gradient. Structural equation models revealed that plant diversity enhanced soil multifunctionality and soil organic carbon by increasing the diversity of below-ground organisms. These positive effects of plant diversity on soil multifunctionality and soil fauna were not restricted to native plant species only, but were also exerted by non-native species, although to a lesser degree. Synthesis. We conclude that enhancing diversity in plants and soil fauna of urban grasslands can increase the multifunctionality of urban soils and also add to their often underestimated but very valuable role in mitigating effects of climate change.
The geomagnetic activity index Kp is widely used but is restricted by low time resolution (3-hourly) and an upper limit. To address this, new geomagnetic activity indices, Hpo, are introduced. Similar to Kp, Hpo expresses the level of planetary geomagnetic activity in units of thirds (0o, 0+, 1-, 1o, 1+, 2-, horizontal ellipsis ) based on the magnitude of geomagnetic disturbances observed at subauroral observatories. Hpo has a higher time resolution than Kp. 30-min (Hp30) and 60-min (Hp60) indices are produced. The frequency distribution of Hpo is designed to be similar to that of Kp so that Hpo may be used as a higher time-resolution alternative to Kp. Unlike Kp, which is capped at 9o, Hpo is an open-ended index and thus can characterize severe geomagnetic storms more accurately. Hp30, Hp60 and corresponding linearly scaled ap30 and ap60 are available, in near real time, at the GFZ website (https://www.gfz-potsdam.de/en/hpo-index).
Rapidly evolving floods are rare but powerful drivers of landscape reorganisation that have severe and long-lasting impacts on both the functions of a landscape's subsystems and the affected society. The July 2021 flood that particularly hit several river catchments of the Eifel region in western Germany and Belgium was a drastic example. While media and scientists highlighted the meteorological and hydrological aspects of this flood, it was not just the rising water levels in the main valleys that posed a hazard, caused damage, and drove environmental reorganisation. Instead, the concurrent coupling of landscape elements and the wood, sediment, and debris carried by the fast-flowing water made this flood so devastating and difficult to predict. Because more intense floods are able to interact with more landscape components, they at times reveal rare non-linear feedbacks, which may be hidden during smaller events due to their high thresholds of initiation. Here, we briefly review the boundary conditions of the 14-15 July 2021 flood and discuss the emerging features that made this event different from previous floods. We identify hillslope processes, aspects of debris mobilisation, the legacy of sustained human land use, and emerging process connections and feedbacks as critical non-hydrological dimensions of the flood. With this landscape scale perspective, we develop requirements for improved future event anticipation, mitigation, and fundamental system understanding.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system customization is often necessary because companies have unique processes that provide their competitive advantage. Despite new technological advances such as cloud computing or model-driven development, technical ERP customization options are either outdated or ambiguously formulated in the scientific literature. Using a systematic literature review (SLR) that analyzes 137 definitions from 26 papers, the result is an analysis and aggregation of technical customization types by providing clearance and aligning with future organizational needs. The results show a shift from ERP code modification in on-premises systems to interface and integration customization in cloud ERP systems, as well as emerging technological opportunities as a way for customers and key users to perform system customization. The study contributes by providing a clear understanding of given customization types and assisting ERP users and vendors in making customization decisions.
Hawaiki according to Tupaia
(2023)
This essay looks into the concept of an ancestral homeland in Remote Oceania, commonly referred to as Hawaiki (‘Avaiki; Havai‘i; Hawai‘i). Hawaiki intriguingly challenges Eurocentric notions of ‘home.’ Following the rapid settlement of the so-called Polynesian triangle from Samoa/Tonga at around 1000 AD, Hawaiki has emerged as a concept that is both mythological and real; genealogical and geographic; singular and yet portable, existing in plural regional manifestations. I argue that predominantly Pakeha/Popa‘ā research trying to identify Hawaiki as a singular and geographically fixed homeland is misleading. I tap into the archive surrounding the Ra‘iātean tahu‘a and master navigator Tupaia who joined Captain Cook’s crew during his first voyage to the Pacific to offer glimpses of an alternative ontology of home and epistemology of Oceanic ‘homing.’
In light of the growing emotionalization of public discourse, this article deals with the action of shame allocation in Israeli accountability interviews. A qualitative analysis of tokens of the Hebrew verb lehitbayesh ‘to be ashamed’ in political interviews was conducted using Discursive Psychology and Conversation Analysis methods. The findings show that in this public context the verb lehitbayesh is mostly not used to convey an emotional state, nor can its meaning be explained by the classic theoretical conceptualization of shame. Instead, lehitbayesh is mobilized to allocate shame to another actor, and portrays the allocator as morally superior and as someone who sacrifices for what is right. Lehitbayesh is part of the negotiations between journalists and politicians over the question of who is accountable for a transgressive act, what the desired response is, and who the relevant audience for the moral lesson is.
"Writing with my professors”
(2023)
Kollaboratives Forschen quer zu hegemonialen Wissensordnungen gilt als wichtiger Baustein dekolonialer Wissenspraxis. Gemeinsame Schreibprozesse von Wissenschaftler*innen und ihren nicht-wissenschaftlichen Forschungspartner*innen sind allerdings selten und eine methodologische und forschungspraktische Reflexion fehlt. Die Beiträger*innen widmen sich diesen Lücken, indem sie erfolgreiche, aber auch gescheiterte Projekte kollaborativer Textproduktion zwischen Universität und Feld vorstellen und auf ihr Potenzial als transformative und dekoloniale Wissenspraxis befragen. So entsteht eine praktische Orientierungshilfe, die gleichzeitig die interdisziplinäre Diskussion anregt.
Dispersion-curve inversion of Rayleigh waves to infer subsurface shear-wave velocity is a long-standing problem in seismology. Due to nonlinearity and ill-posedness, sophisticated regularization techniques are required to solve the problem for a stable velocity model. We have formulated the problem as a minimization problem with nonlinear operator constraint and then solve it by using an inexact augmented Lagrangian method, taking advantage of the Haney-Tsai Dix-type relation (a global linear approximation of the nonlinear forward operator). This replaces the original regularized nonlinear problem with iterative minimization of a more tractable regularized linear problem followed by a nonlinear update of the phase velocity (data) in which the update can be performed accurately with any forward modeling engine, for example, the finite-element method. The algorithm allows discretizing the medium with thin layers (for the finite-element method) and thus omitting the layer thicknesses from the unknowns and also allows incorporating arbitrary regularizations to shape the desired velocity model. In this research, we use total variation regularization to retrieve the shear-wave velocity model. We use two synthetic and two real data examples to illustrate the performance of the inversion algorithm with total variation regularization. We find that the method is fast and stable, and it converges to the solution of the original nonlinear problem.
In this visualization, the authors show changes in family patterns by different race groups across two cohorts. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (born from 1957 to 1965) and 1997 (born from 1980 to 1984), the authors visualize the relationship-parenthood state distributions at each age between 15 and 35 years by race and cohort. The results suggest the rise of cohabiting mothers and the decline of married and divorced mothers among women born from 1980 to 1984. Black women born from 1980 to 1984 were more likely to experience single/childless and single/parent status compared with Black women born from 1957 to 1965. Although with some visible postponement in the recent cohort, white women in both cohorts were more likely to experience married/parent status than other race groups. The decline in married/parent status across the two generations was sharpest among Hispanic women. These descriptive findings highlight the importance of identifying race when discussing changes in family formation and dissolution trends across generations.
We perform numerical studies of a thermally driven, overdamped particle in a random quenched force field, known as the Sinai model. We compare the unbounded motion on an infinite 1-dimensional domain to the motion in bounded domains with reflecting boundaries and show that the unbounded motion is at every time close to the equilibrium state of a finite system of growing size. This is due to time scale separation: inside wells of the random potential, there is relatively fast equilibration, while the motion across major potential barriers is ultraslow. Quantities studied by us are the time dependent mean squared displacement, the time dependent mean energy of an ensemble of particles, and the time dependent entropy of the probability distribution. Using a very fast numerical algorithm, we can explore times up top 10(17) steps and thereby also study finite-time crossover phenomena.
Both children and adults have been shown to benefit from the integration of multisensory and sensorimotor enrichment into pedagogy. For example, integrating pictures or gestures into foreign language (L2) vocabulary learning can improve learning outcomes relative to unisensory learning. However, whereas adults seem to benefit to a greater extent from sensorimotor enrichment such as the performance of gestures in contrast to multisensory enrichment with pictures, this is not the case in elementary school children. Here, we compared multisensory- and sensorimotor-enriched learning in an intermediate age group that falls between the age groups tested in previous studies (elementary school children and young adults), in an attempt to determine the developmental time point at which children's responses to enrichment mature from a child-like pattern into an adult-like pattern. Twelve-year-old and fourteen-year-old German children were trained over 5 consecutive days on auditorily presented, concrete and abstract, Spanish vocabulary. The vocabulary was learned under picture-enriched, gesture-enriched, and non-enriched (auditory-only) conditions. The children performed vocabulary recall and translation tests at 3 days, 2 months, and 6 months post-learning. Both picture and gesture enrichment interventions were found to benefit children's L2 learning relative to non-enriched learning up to 6 months post-training. Interestingly, gesture-enriched learning was even more beneficial than picture-enriched learning for the 14-year-olds, while the 12-year-olds benefitted equivalently from learning enriched with pictures and gestures. These findings provide evidence for opting to integrate gestures rather than pictures into L2 pedagogy starting at 14 years of age.
Introduction: Remote telemonitoring (RTM) for patients with chronic heart failure (HF) holds promise to improve prognosis and well-being beyond the standard of care (SoC). The CardioBBEAT trial assessed the health economic and clinical impact of an interactive bidirectional RTM system (Motiva(R)) versus SoC for patients with HF and a reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), in Germany.Methods: This multicenter, randomized controlled trial enrolled 621 patients with HFrEF (mean age 63.0 +/- 11.5 years, 88% men). The primary endpoint was the integrated effect of the intervention on total costs and nonhospitalized days alive after 12 months, reported as incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Costs (in keuro) were based on actual charges of patients' statutory health insurance. Among secondary outcome measures were mortality and disease-specific quality of life.Results: We found a neutral effect on nonhospitalized days alive (RTM mean 341 +/- 59 days, SoC 346 +/- 45 days; p = 0.298) associated with increased total costs (RTM 18.5 +/- 39.5 keuro, SoC 12.8 +/- 22.0 keuro; p = 0.046). This yielded an ICER of -1.15 keuro/day. RTM did not impact mortality risk. All quality of life scales were consistently and meaningfully improved in the RTM group at 12 months compared to SoC (all p < 0.01).Conclusions: The first 12 months of RTM were not cost-effective compared to SoC in patients with HFrEF, but associated with a relevant improvement in disease-specific quality of life. The balanced assessment of the potential benefit of RTM requires integration of both the societal and patient perspective.ClinTrials.gov (NCT02293252).
Local biodiversity patterns are expected to strongly reflect variation in topography, land use, dispersal boundaries, nutrient supplies, contaminant spread, management practices, and other anthropogenic influences. Contrary to this expectation, studies focusing on specific taxa revealed a biodiversity homogenization effect in areas subjected to long-term intensive industrial agriculture. We investigated whether land use affects biodiversity levels and community composition (alpha- and beta-diversity) in 67 kettle holes (KH) representing small aquatic islands embedded in the patchwork matrix of a largely agricultural landscape comprising grassland, forest, and arable fields. These KH, similar to millions of standing water bodies of glacial origin, spread across northern Europe, Asia, and North America, are physico-chemically diverse and differ in the degree of coupling with their surroundings. We assessed aquatic and sediment biodiversity patterns of eukaryotes, Bacteria, and Archaea in relation to environmental features of the KH, using deep-amplicon-sequencing of environmental DNA (eDNA). First, we asked whether deep sequencing of eDNA provides a representative picture of KH aquatic biodiversity across the Bacteria, Archaea, and eukaryotes. Second, we investigated if and to what extent KH biodiversity is influenced by the surrounding land use. We hypothesized that richness and community composition will greatly differ in KH from agricultural land use compared with KH in grasslands and forests. Our data show that deep eDNA amplicon sequencing is useful for in-depth assessments of cross-domain biodiversity comprising both micro- and macro-organisms, but has limitations with respect to single-taxa conservation studies. Using this broad method, we show that sediment eDNA, integrating several years to decades, depicts the history of agricultural land-use intensification. Aquatic biodiversity was best explained by seasonality, whereas land-use type explained little of the variation. We concluded that, counter to our hypothesis, land use intensification coupled with landscape wide nutrient enrichment (including atmospheric deposition), groundwater connectivity between KH and organismal (active and passive) dispersal in the tight network of ponds, resulted in a biodiversity homogenization in the KH water, leveling off today's detectable differences in KH biodiversity between land-use types. These findings have profound implications for measures and management strategies to combat current biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes worldwide.
This open access book is about Mozambicans and Angolans who migrated in state-sponsored schemes to East Germany in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. They went to work and to be trained as a vanguard labor force for the intended African industrial revolutions. While they were there, they contributed their labor power to the East German economy.
This book draws on more than 260 life history interviews and uncovers complex and contradictory experiences and transnational encounters. What emerges is a series of dualities that exist side by side in the memories of the former migrants: the state and the individual, work and consumption, integration and exclusion, loss and gain, and the past in the past and the past in the present and future. By uncovering these dualities, the book explores the lives of African migrants moving between the Third and Second worlds.
Devoted to the memories of worker-trainees, this transnational study comes at a time when historians are uncovering the many varied, complicated, and important connections within the global socialist world.
Background: Adolescents and young adults (AYA) with a chronic medical condition show an increased risk for developing mental comorbidities compared to their healthy peers. Internet- and mobile-based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) might be a low-threshold treatment to support affected AYA. In this randomized controlled pilot trial, the feasibility and potential efficacy of youthCOACH(CD), an iCBT targeting symptoms of anxiety and depression in AYA with chronic medical conditions, was evaluated. Methods: A total of 30 AYA (M-age 16.13; SD= 2.34; 73% female), aged 12-21 years either suffering from cystic fibrosis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis or type 1 diabetes, were randomly assigned to either a guided version of the iCBT youthCOACH(CD) (IC, n=15) or to a waitlist control group (CG, n=15), receiving an unguided version of the iCBT six months post-randomization. Participants of the IG and the CG were assessed before (t0), twelve weeks after (t1) and six months after (t2) randomization. Primary outcome was the feasibility of the iCBT. Different parameters of feasibility e.g. acceptance, client satisfaction or potential side effects were evaluated. First indications of the possible efficacy with regard to the primary efficacy outcome, the Patient Health Questionnaire Anxiety and Depression Scale, and further outcome variables were evaluated using linear regression models, adjusting for baseline values. Results: Regarding feasibility, intervention completion was 60%; intervention satisfaction (M = 25.42, SD = 5.85) and perceived therapeutic alliance (M = 2.83, SD = 1.25) were moderate and comparable to other iCBTs. No patterns emerged regarding subjective and objective negative side effects due to participation in youthCOACH(CD). Estimates of potential efficacy showed between group differences, with a potential medium-term benefit of youthCOACH(CD) (beta = -0.55, 95%Cl: -1.17; 0.07), but probably not short-term (beta = 0.20, 95%Cl: -0.47; 0.88). Conclusions: Our results point to the feasibility of youthCOACH(CD) and the implementation of a future definitive randomized controlled trial addressing its effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. Due to the small sample size, conclusions are premature, however, further strategies to foster treatment adherence should be considered.
Recent observations have revealed remarkable insights into the gas reservoir in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of galaxy haloes. In this paper, we characterise the gas in the vicinity of Milky Way and Andromeda analogues in the hestia (High resolution Environmental Simulations of The Immediate Area) suite of constrained Local Group (LG) simulations. The hestia suite comprise of a set of three high-resolution arepo-based simulations of the LG, run using the Auriga galaxy formation model.
For this paper, we focus only on the 𝑧 = 0 simulation datasets and generate mock skymaps along with a power spectrum analysis to show that the distributions of ions tracing low-temperature gas (H i and Si iii) are more clumpy in comparison to warmer gas tracers (O vi, O vii and O viii). We compare to the spectroscopic CGM observations of M31 and low-redshift galaxies.
hestia under-produces the column densities of the M31 observations, but the simulations are consistent with the observations of low-redshift galaxies. A possible explanation for these findings is that the spectroscopic observations of M31 are contaminated by gas residing in the CGM of the Milky Way.
Improving permafrost dynamics in land surface models: insights from dual sensitivity experiments
(2024)
The thawing of permafrost and the subsequent release of greenhouse gases constitute one of the most significant and uncertain positive feedback loops in the context of climate change, making predictions regarding changes in permafrost coverage of paramount importance. To address these critical questions, climate scientists have developed Land Surface Models (LSMs) that encompass a multitude of physical soil processes. This thesis is committed to advancing our understanding and refining precise representations of permafrost dynamics within LSMs, with a specific focus on the accurate modeling of heat fluxes, an essential component for simulating permafrost physics.
The first research question overviews fundamental model prerequisites for the representation of permafrost soils within land surface modeling. It includes a first-of-its-kind comparison between LSMs in CMIP6 to reveal their differences and shortcomings in key permafrost physics parameters. Overall, each of these LSMs represents a unique approach to simulating soil processes and their interactions with the climate system. Choosing the most appropriate model for a particular application depends on factors such as the spatial and temporal scale of the simulation, the specific research question, and available computational resources.
The second research question evaluates the performance of the state-of-the-art Community Land Model (CLM5) in simulating Arctic permafrost regions. Our approach overcomes traditional evaluation limitations by individually addressing depth, seasonality, and regional variations, providing a comprehensive assessment of permafrost and soil temperature dynamics. I compare CLM5's results with three extensive datasets: (1) soil temperatures from 295 borehole stations, (2) active layer thickness (ALT) data from the Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring Network (CALM), and (3) soil temperatures, ALT, and permafrost extent from the ESA Climate Change Initiative (ESA-CCI). The results show that CLM5 aligns well with ESA-CCI and CALM for permafrost extent and ALT but reveals a significant global cold temperature bias, notably over Siberia. These results echo a persistent challenge identified in numerous studies: the existence of a systematic 'cold bias' in soil temperature over permafrost regions. To address this challenge, the following research questions propose dual sensitivity experiments.
The third research question represents the first study to apply a Plant Functional Type (PFT)-based approach to derive soil texture and soil organic matter (SOM), departing from the conventional use of coarse-resolution global data in LSMs. This novel method results in a more uniform distribution of soil organic matter density (OMD) across the domain, characterized by reduced OMD values in most regions. However, changes in soil texture exhibit a more intricate spatial pattern. Comparing the results to observations reveals a significant reduction in the cold bias observed in the control run. This method shows noticeable improvements in permafrost extent, but at the cost of an overestimation in ALT. These findings emphasize the model's high sensitivity to variations in soil texture and SOM content, highlighting the crucial role of soil composition in governing heat transfer processes and shaping the seasonal variation of soil temperatures in permafrost regions.
Expanding upon a site experiment conducted in Trail Valley Creek by \citet{dutch_impact_2022}, the fourth research question extends the application of the snow scheme proposed by \citet{sturm_thermal_1997} to cover the entire Arctic domain. By employing a snow scheme better suited to the snow density profile observed over permafrost regions, this thesis seeks to assess its influence on simulated soil temperatures. Comparing this method to observational datasets reveals a significant reduction in the cold bias that was present in the control run. In most regions, the Sturm run exhibits a substantial decrease in the cold bias. However, there is a distinctive overshoot with a warm bias observed in mountainous areas. The Sturm experiment effectively addressed the overestimation of permafrost extent in the control run, albeit resulting in a substantial reduction in permafrost extent over mountainous areas. ALT results remain relatively consistent compared to the control run. These outcomes align with our initial hypothesis, which anticipated that the reduced snow insulation in the Sturm run would lead to higher winter soil temperatures and a more accurate representation of permafrost physics.
In summary, this thesis demonstrates significant advancements in understanding permafrost dynamics and its integration into LSMs. It has meticulously unraveled the intricacies involved in the interplay between heat transfer, soil properties, and snow dynamics in permafrost regions. These insights offer novel perspectives on model representation and performance.
Dieses Literatur-Review verfolgt angesichts des gegenwärtigen, gesteigerten öffentlichen Interesses zum Thema von Arbeitszeitverkürzungsmodellen mit Gehaltsausgleich das Ziel, den aktuellen deutsch- und englischsprachigen Forschungsstand zum möglichen Nutzen von Arbeitszeitverkürzungen mit Gehaltsausgleich (AZV+) für den öffentlichen Arbeitgeber dar-zustellen und kritisch auszuwerten. Das Review basiert auf insgesamt zehn Publikationen, die zum großen Teil zu dem Schluss kommen, dass AZV+ zu keinen negativen Effekten, sondern zu entweder neutralen oder auch mehrheitlich positiven Auswirkungen auf die Arbeitgebendenseite führen. Dabei handelt es sich insbesondere um verbesserte Stresslevel, gesundheitliche Aspekte, gleichbleibende oder erhöhte Produktivität und Motivation/Energie sowie verringerte Absentismuszahlen. Die Anreiz-Beitrags-Theorie bietet sich als Erklärungsmodell für diese Ergebnisse gut an, da sie Aussagen darüber trifft, inwiefern Anreizsysteme wie eine AZV+ für Arbeitnehmende durch deren subjektive Bedürfnisbefriedigung unter Einhaltung bestimmter Grenzen (keine Überschreitung der Beitragsforderungen durch Anpassung des Workload) zu Effekten führen kann, die sich indirekt auch positiv hinsichtlich der Organisationsziele aus-wirken. Die ebenfalls angewandten motivationstheoretischen Elemente der Cognitive Evaluation Theory und der Motivation Crowding Theorie eignen sich weniger gut in ihrer Erklärungskraft der untersuchten Effekte, da die Differenzierung verschiedener Motivationsarten im Rahmen der hier untersuchten Studien unerheblich zu sein scheint. Insgesamt ist die Studienlage zu dem Thema AZV+ generell, und auch speziell im öffentlichen Sektor, sehr dünn und bietet kaum Möglichkeiten für generalisierende Aus-sagen, sodass ein großer Forschungsbedarf zu diesem Thema besteht.
Das Anliegen, Theologie dialogisch zu betreiben, durchzieht das wissenschaftliche Schaffen und das kirchliche Engagement Bernd Oberdorfers. Dialogizität, Geselligkeit, Freundschaft und Partnerschaftlichkeit bilden nicht nur Themen in seinem Denken, sondern zeichnen auch seine Persönlichkeit aus.
Davon angeregt verfolgt der Sammelband verschiedene Ebenen und Felder menschlichen Zusammenlebens: von Nahbeziehungen in der Partnerschaft und Freundschaft bis hin zu nationalen und globalen Dialogen zwischen Kirchen und Diskursformen in der Gesellschaft. Schwerpunkte liegen auf den Themen Partnerschaft, Geselligkeit und Disput, interdisziplinären Begegnungen mit Literatur, Kultur und Ethik, Friedensethik und Frieden der Religionen und Dogmatik und weltweite Ökumene im Dialog zwischen Theorie und Praxis.
The present study estimated diet-related greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) and land use (LU) in a sample of adults, examined main dietary contributors of GHGE, and evaluated socio demographic, lifestyle, and wellbeing factors as potential determinants of high environmental impact. A cross-sectional design based on data collected from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Potsdam cohort (2010-2012) was used. Usual diet was assessed using food frequency questionnaires. Diet-related GHGE and LU were calculated using a European-average lifecycle analyses-food-item database (SHARP-ID). Information on potential determinants were collected using self-administered questionnaires. Men (n = 404) and women (n = 401) at an average age of 66.0 +/- 8.4 years were included. Dietary-related energy-adjusted GHGE in men was 6.6 +/- 0.9 and in women was 7.0 +/- 1.1 kg CO2 eq per 2000 kcal. LU in men was 7.8 +/- 1.2 and in women was 7.7 +/- 1.2 m(2)/year per 2000 kcal. Food groups contributing to most GHGE included dairy, meat and non-alcoholic beverages. Among women, being single, having a job, being a smoker and having higher BMI were characteristics associated with higher GHGE, whereas for men these included being married, longer sleeping duration and higher BMI. Further studies are warranted to provide insights into population-specific determinants of sustainable dietary choices.
The drug concentrations targeted in meropenem and piperacillin/tazobactam therapy also depend on the susceptibility of the pathogen. Yet, the pathogen is often unknown, and antibiotic therapy is guided by empirical targets. To reliably achieve the targeted concentrations, dosing needs to be adjusted for renal function. We aimed to evaluate a meropenem and piperacillin/tazobactam monitoring program in intensive care unit (ICU) patients by assessing (i) the adequacy of locally selected empirical targets, (ii) if dosing is adequately adjusted for renal function and individual target, and (iii) if dosing is adjusted in target attainment (TA) failure. In a prospective, observational clinical trial of drug concentrations, relevant patient characteristics and microbiological data (pathogen, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)) for patients receiving meropenem or piperacillin/tazobactam treatment were collected. If the MIC value was available, a target range of 1-5 x MIC was selected for minimum drug concentrations of both drugs. If the MIC value was not available, 8-40 mg/L and 16-80 mg/L were selected as empirical target ranges for meropenem and piperacillin, respectively. A total of 356 meropenem and 216 piperacillin samples were collected from 108 and 96 ICU patients, respectively. The vast majority of observed MIC values was lower than the empirical target (meropenem: 90.0%, piperacillin: 93.9%), suggesting empirical target value reductions. TA was found to be low (meropenem: 35.7%, piperacillin 50.5%) with the lowest TA for severely impaired renal function (meropenem: 13.9%, piperacillin: 29.2%), and observed drug concentrations did not significantly differ between patients with different targets, indicating dosing was not adequately adjusted for renal function or target. Dosing adjustments were rare for both drugs (meropenem: 6.13%, piperacillin: 4.78%) and for meropenem irrespective of TA, revealing that concentration monitoring alone was insufficient to guide dosing adjustment. Empirical targets should regularly be assessed and adjusted based on local susceptibility data. To improve TA, scientific knowledge should be translated into easy-to-use dosing strategies guiding antibiotic dosing.
Biochemical markers and wellness status during a congested match play period in elite soccer players
(2022)
Objectives:
To analyze biochemical markers, wellness status, and physical fitness in elite soccer players in relation to changes in training and match exposure during a congested period of match play.
Methods:
Fourteen elite soccer players were evaluated 3 times (T1, T2, and T3) over 12 weeks (T1-T2: 6-wk regular period of match play and T2-T3: 6-wk congested period of match play). Players performed vertical jump tests, repeated shuttle sprint ability test, and the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test at T1, T2, and T3. Plasma C-reactive protein, creatinine, and creatine kinase were analyzed at T1, T2, and T3. Wellness status was measured daily using the Hopper questionnaire (delayed onset of muscle soreness, stress, fatigue, and sleep quality). Training session rating of perceived exertion was also recorded on a daily basis.
Results:
A significant increase was found in stress, fatigue, delayed onset of muscle soreness scores, and Hopper index during the congested period (between T2 and T3) compared with the regular period (between T1 and T2) (.001 < P < .008, 0.8 < ES < 2.3). Between T2 and T3, significant relationships were found between the percentage variations (Delta%) of C-reactive protein, and Delta% of creatine kinase with the Hopper Index, and the Delta% of fatigue score. In addition, the Delta% of fatigue score and Delta% of delayed onset of muscle soreness score correlated with Delta% Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test and Delta% best of repeated shuttle sprint ability test (.49 < r < P < .01).
Conclusions:
An intensive period of congested match play significantly compromised elite soccer players' physical fitness and wellness status. Elite soccer players' wellness status reflects declines in physical fitness during this period while biochemical changes do not.
State- and private-led search-and-rescue are hypothesized to foster irregular migration (and thereby migrant fatalities) by altering the decision calculus associated with the journey. We here investigate this ‘pull factor’ claim by focusing on the Central Mediterranean route, the most frequented and deadly irregular migration route towards Europe during the past decade. Based on three intervention periods—(1) state-led Mare Nostrum, (2) private-led search-and-rescue, and (3) coordinated pushbacks by the Libyan Coast Guard—which correspond to substantial changes in laws, policies, and practices of search-and-rescue in the Mediterranean, we are able to test the ‘pull factor’ claim by employing an innovative machine learning method in combination with causal inference. We employ a Bayesian structural time-series model to estimate the effects of these three intervention periods on the migration flow as measured by crossing attempts (i.e., time-series aggregate counts of arrivals, pushbacks, and deaths), adjusting for various known drivers of irregular migration. We combine multiple sources of traditional and non-traditional data to build a synthetic, predicted counterfactual flow. Results show that our predictive modeling approach accurately captures the behavior of the target time-series during the various pre-intervention periods of interest. A comparison of the observed and predicted counterfactual time-series in the post-intervention periods suggest that pushback policies did affect the migration flow, but that the search-and-rescue periods did not yield a discernible difference between the observed and the predicted counterfactual number of crossing attempts. Hence we do not find support for search-and-rescue as a driver of irregular migration. In general, this modeling approach lends itself to forecasting migration flows with the goal of answering causal queries in migration research.
Wer Religion im mittelalterlichen und frühneuzeitlichen Europa untersuchen will, ist mit ähnlichen Schwierigkeiten konfrontiert wie bei der Anwendung des Begriffs in außereuropäischen Kontexten. Die Menschen damals verfügten allenfalls über vergleichbare, nicht aber identische Konzepte. In meinem Artikel werde ich drei dieser möglichen äquivalenten Religionskonzepte vorstellen und auf ihre Anschlussfähigkeit diskutieren: fides, lex und natio. Um diese Begriffe besser einordnen zu können, wird es zunächst darum gehen, einige grundsätzliche Unterschiede der Rolle von Religion im späten Mittelalter und der Frühen Neuzeit im Gegensatz zur Moderne in den Blick zu nehmen.
Trophic transfer efficiency (TTE) is usually calculated as the ratio of production rates between two consecutive trophic levels. Although seemingly simple, TTE estimates from lakes are rare. In our review, we explore the processes and structures that must be understood for a proper lake TTE estimate.
We briefly discuss measurements of production rates and trophic positions and mention how ecological efficiencies, nutrients (N, P) and other compounds (fatty acids) affect energy transfer between trophic levels and hence TTE.
Furthermore, we elucidate how TTE estimates are linked with size-based approaches according to the Metabolic Theory of Ecology, and how food-web models can be applied to study TTE in lakes.
Subsequently, we explore temporal and spatial heterogeneity of production and TTE in lakes, with a particular focus on the links between benthic and pelagic habitats and between the lake and the terrestrial environment.
We provide an overview of TTE estimates from lakes found in the published literature. Finally, we present two alternative approaches to estimating TTE. First, TTE can be seen as a mechanistic quantity informing about the energy and matter flow between producer and consumer groups.
This approach is informative with respect to food-web structure, but requires enormous amounts of data. The greatest uncertainty comes from the proper consideration of basal production to estimate TTE of omnivorous organisms.
An alternative approach is estimating food-chain and food-web efficiencies, by comparing the heterotrophic production of single consumer levels or the total sum of all heterotrophic production including that of heterotrophic bacteria to the total sum of primary production.
We close the review by pointing to a few research questions that would benefit from more frequent and standardized estimates of TTE in lakes.
Lithium and boron are trace components of magmas, released during exsolution of a gas phase during volcanic activity.
In this study, we determine the diffusivity and isotopic fractionation of Li and B in hydrous silicate melts.
Two glasses were synthesized with the same rhyolitic composition (4.2 wt% water), having different Li and B contents; these were studied in diffusion-couple experiments that were performed using an internally heated pressure vessel, operated at 300 MPa in the temperature range 700-1250 degrees C for durations from 0 s to 24 h. From this we determined activation energies for Li and B diffusion of 57 +/- 4 kJ/mol and 152 +/- 15 kJ/mol with pre-exponential factors of 1.53 x 10(-7) m(2)/s and 3.80 x 10(-8) m(2)/s, respectively.
Lithium isotopic fractionation during diffusion gave beta values between 0.15 and 0.20, whereas B showed no clear isotopic fractionation.
Our Li diffusivities and isotopic fractionation results differ somewhat from earlier published values, but overall confirm that Li diffusivity increases with water content. Our results on B diffusion show that similarly to Li, B mobility increases in the presence of water.
By applying the Eyring relation, we confirm that B diffusivity is limited by viscous flow in silicate melts.
Our results on Li and B diffusion present a new tool for understanding degassing-related processes, offering a potential geospeedometer to measure volcanic ascent rates.
How accurately can we retrieve irrigation timing and water amounts from (satellite) soil moisture?
(2022)
While ensuring food security worldwide, irrigation is altering the water cycle and generating numerous environmental side effects. As detailed knowledge about the timing and the amounts of water used for irrigation over large areas is still lacking, remotely sensed soil moisture has proved potential to fill this gap.
However, the spatial resolution and revisit time of current satellite products represent a major limitation to accurately estimating irrigation. This work aims to systematically quantify their impact on the retrieved irrigation information, hence assessing the value of satellite soil moisture for estimating irrigation timing and water amounts.
In a real-world experiment, we modeled soil moisture using actual irrigation and meteorological data, obtained from farmers and weather stations, respectively. Modeled soil moisture was compared against various remotely sensed products differing in terms of spatio-temporal resolution to test the hypothesis that high-resolution observations can disclose the irrigation signal from individual fields while coarse-scale satellite products cannot.
Then, in a synthetic experiment, we systematically investigated the effect of soil moisture spatial and temporal resolution on the accuracy of irrigation estimates. The analysis was further elaborated by considering different irrigation scenarios and by adding realistic amounts of random errors in the soil moisture time series.
We show that coarse-scale remotely sensed soil moisture products achieve higher correlations with rainfed simulations, while high-resolution satellite observations agree significantly better with irrigated simulations, suggesting that high-resolution satellite soil moisture can inform on field-scale (similar to 40 ha) irrigation. A thorough analysis of the synthetic dataset showed that satisfactory results, both in terms of detection (F-score > 0.8) and quantification (Pearson's correlation > 0.8), are found for noise-free soil moisture observations either with a temporal sampling up to 3 days or if at least one-third of the pixel covers the irrigated field(s).
However, irrigation water amounts are systematically underestimated for temporal samplings of more than one day, and decrease proportionally to the spatial resolution, i.e., coarsening the pixel size leads to larger irrigation underestimations.
Although lower spatial and temporal resolutions decrease the detection and quantification accuracies (e.g., R between 0.6 and 1 depending on the irrigation rate and spatio-temporal resolution), random errors in the soil moisture time series have a stronger negative impact (Pearson R always smaller than 0.85).
As expected, better performances are found for higher irrigation rates, i.e. when more water is supplied during an irrigation event. Despite the potentially large underestimations, our results suggest that high-resolution satellite soil moisture has the potential to track and quantify irrigation, especially over regions where large volumes of irrigation water are applied to the fields, and given that low errors affect the soil moisture observations.
The process of species formation is characterized by the accumulation of multiple reproductive barriers. The evolution of hybrid male sterility, or Haldane's rule, typically characterizes later stages of species formation, when reproductive isolation is strongest.
Yet, understanding how quickly reproductive barriers evolve and their consequences for maintaining genetic boundaries between emerging species remains a challenging task because it requires studying taxa that hybridize in nature.
Here, we address these questions using the meadow grasshopper Pseudochorthippus parallelus, where populations that show multiple reproductive barriers, including hybrid male sterility, hybridize in two natural hybrid zones. Using mitochondrial data, we infer that such populations diverged some 100,000 years ago, at the beginning of the last glacial cycle in Europe.
Nuclear data show that contractions at multiple glacial refugia, and post-glacial expansions have facilitated genetic differentiation between lineages that today interact in hybrid zones.
We find extensive introgression throughout the sampled species range, irrespective of the current strength of reproductive isolation. Populations exhibiting hybrid male sterility in two hybrid zones show repeatable patterns of genomic differentiation, consistent with shared genomic constraints affecting ancestral divergence or with the role of those regions in reproductive isolation.
Together, our results suggest that reproductive barriers that characterize late stages of species formation can evolve relatively quickly, particularly when associated with strong demographic changes. Moreover, we show that such barriers persist in the face of extensive gene flow, allowing future studies to identify associated genomic regions.
In vitro transcribed (IVT)-mRNA has been accepted as a promising therapeutic modality. Advances in facile and rapid production technologies make IVT-mRNA an appealing alternative to protein- or virus-based medicines.
Robust expression levels, lack of genotoxicity, and their manageable immunogenicity benefit its clinical applicability.
We postulated that innate immune responses of therapeutically relevant human cells can be tailored or abrogated by combinations of 5'-end and internal IVT-mRNA modifications.
Using primary human macrophages as targets, our data show the particular importance of uridine modifications for IVT-mRNA performance.
Among five nucleotide modification schemes tested, 5-methoxy-uridine outperformed other modifications up to 4-fold increased transgene expression, triggering moderate proinflammatory and non-detectable antiviral responses.
Macrophage responses against IVT-mRNAs exhibiting high immunogenicity (e.g., pseudouridine) could be minimized upon HPLC purification. Conversely, 5'-end modifications had only modest effects on mRNA expression and immune responses.
Our results revealed how the uptake of chemically modified IVT-mRNA impacts human macrophages, responding with distinct patterns of innate immune responses concomitant with increased transient transgene expression.
We anticipate our findings are instrumental to predictively address specific cell responses required for a wide range of therapeutic applications from eliciting controlled immunogenicity in mRNA vaccines to, e.g., completely abrogating cell activation in protein replacement therapies.
Das Risiko, durch einen Suizid im Gefängnis zu versterben, ist erhöht. Während der COVID-19-Pandemie wurden zum Infektionsschutz zahlreiche Maßnahmen, die beispielsweise eine deutliche Minderung der Kontakt- und Behandlungsangebote zur Folge hatten, eingeführt. Im Rahmen eines Kohortenvergleichs der Suizide und ausgewählter Merkmale der Suizident:innen in den Zeiträumen vom April 2017 bis zum Dezember 2019 sowie vom April 2020 bis zum Dezember 2022 wird untersucht, ob es eine Veränderung der Suizide während der Pandemie gab. Im Ergebnis zeigen sich eine Zunahme der Suizide während der Pandemie, insbesondere in den ersten 14 Tagen der Haft, und eine Zunahme der Suizide von Suizident:innen mit erhöhter Vulnerabilität. Keine Unterschiede wurden in den allgemeinen Risikomerkmalen für Suizide im Gefängnis festgestellt. Es ergeben sich Hinweise auf eine suizidpräventive Wirkung der Kontakt- und Behandlungsangebote. Daraus ergibt sich die Notwendigkeit, intensivere Präventionsangebote für Gefangene mit erhöhter Vulnerabilität bzw. geringerer Resilienz anzubieten.
Non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) as used in state-of-the-art organic solar cells feature highly crystalline layers that go along with low energetic disorder.
Here, the crucial role of energetic disorder in blends of the donor polymer PM6 with two Y-series NFAs, Y6, and N4 is studied.
By performing temperature-dependent charge transport and recombination studies, a consistent picture of the shape of the density of state distributions for free charges in the two blends is developed, allowing an analytical description of the dependence of the open-circuit voltage V-OC on temperature and illumination intensity.
Disorder is found to influence the value of the V-OC at room temperature, but also its progression with temperature. Here, the PM6:Y6 blend benefits substantially from its narrower state distributions.
The analysis also shows that the energy of the equilibrated free charge population is well below the energy of the NFA singlet excitons for both blends and possibly below the energy of the populated charge transfer manifold, indicating a down-hill driving force for free charge formation.
It is concluded that energetic disorder of charge-separated states has to be considered in the analysis of the photovoltaic properties, even for the more ordered PM6:Y6 blend.
The dynamics of grassland ecosystems are highly complex due to multifaceted interactions among their soil, water, and vegetation components.
Precise simulations of grassland productivity therefore rely on accurately estimating a variety of parameters that characterize different processes of these systems.
This study applied three calibration schemes - a Single-Objective (SO-SUFI2), a Multi-Objective Pareto (MO-Pareto), and, a novel Uncertainty-Based Multi-Objective (MO-SUFI2) - to estimate the parameters of MONICA (Model for Nitrogen and Carbon Simulation) agro-ecosystem model in grassland ecosystems across Germany.
The MO-Pareto model is based on a traditional Pareto optimality concept, while the MO-SUFI2 optimizes multiple target variables considering their level of prediction uncertainty.
We used measurements of leaf area index, aboveground biomass, and soil moisture from experimental data at five sites with different intensities of cutting regimes (from two to five cutting events per season) to evaluate model performance.
Both MO-Pareto and MO-SUFI2 outperformed SO-SUFI2 during calibration and validation.
The comparison of the two MO approaches shows that they do not necessarily conflict with each other, but MO-SUFI2 provides complementary information for better estimations of model parameter uncertainty.
We used the obtained parameter ranges to simulate grassland productivity across Germany under different cutting regimes and quantified the uncertainty associated with estimated productivity across regions.
The results showed higher uncertainty in intensively managed grasslands compared to extensively managed grasslands, partially due to a lack of high-resolution input information concerning cutting dates. Furthermore, the additional information on the quantified uncertainty provided by our proposed MO-SUFI2 method adds deeper insights on confidence levels of estimated productivity.
Benefiting from additional management data collected at high resolution and ground measurements on the composition of grassland species mixtures appear to be promising solutions to reduce uncertainty and increase model reliability.
How do the rights of same-sex couples have to be ensured by states, and which kind of environmental obligations are induced by the right to life and to personal integrity? Questions as diverse and far-reaching as these are regularly dealt with by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in its advisory function. This book is the first comprehensive, non-Spanish-written treatise on the advisory function of this Court. It analyzes the scope of the Court's advisory jurisdiction and its procedural practice in comparison with that of other international courts. Moreover, the legal effects of the Court’s advisory opinions and the question when the Court should better reject a request for an advisory opinion are examined.
Objective:
The open expression of hatred, hostility, and violence against minorities has become a common online phenomenon. Adolescents are at particular risk of being involved in different hate speech roles (e.g., witness, perpetrator).
However, the correlates of their involvement as perpetrators and the mechanisms that might explain their involvement in hate speech across different roles have not yet been thoroughly investigated.
To this end, this study investigates moral disengagement and empathy as correlates of online hate speech perpetration and the moderation effects of empathy and moral disengagement in the relationship between witnessing and perpetrating online hate speech.
Method:
The sample consists of 3,560 7th to 9th graders from 40 schools in Germany and Switzerland. Self-report questionnaires were utilized to assess online hate speech involvement, moral disengagement, and empathy.
Results:
Multilevel regression analyses revealed that moral disengagement and witnessing online hate speech were positively associated with online hate speech perpetration, while empathy was negatively associated with it.
The findings also showed that the positive relationship between witnessing and perpetrating online hate speech was stronger at higher levels of moral disengagement and weaker when moral disengagement was low.
The association between witnessing and perpetrating online hate speech was weaker when adolescents had higher rather than lower levels of empathy.
Conclusions:
The findings underscore the need for prevention efforts to accelerate moral engagement and empathy as critical future directions in hate speech prevention. This study also contributes to our understanding of underlying mechanisms that explain adolescents' involvement across different roles in hate speech.
Adolescents around the globe are increasingly exposed to online hate speech (OHS). And yet little is known about the varying roles of involvement and the determinants of adolescents' hate speech perpetration.
Building on previous research, this study aims to test the cycle of violence hypothesis for OHS and to analyze whether moral disengagement (MD) and empathy moderate the victim-to-perpetrator relationship.
The sample consists of 3,560 seventh to ninth graders (52.1 percent girls), recruited from 40 schools across Germany and Switzerland. Self-report questionnaires were administered to assess OHS involvement, MD, and empathy.
Multilevel analyses revealed that victims of OHS were more likely to report OHS perpetration.
In addition, victims of OHS were more likely to report OHS perpetration when they reported higher levels of MD than those with lower levels of MD.
Finally, victims of OHS were less likely to report OHS perpetration when they reported higher levels of empathy than those with lower levels of empathy.
The findings extend the cycle of violence hypothesis to OHS and highlight the need to address MD and empathy in hate speech prevention. Implications for future research will be discussed.