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Portal Wissen = Departure
(2021)
On October 20, 1911, the Norwegian Roald Amundsen left the safe base camp “Framheim” at the Bay of Whales together with four other explorers and 52 sledge dogs to be the first person to reach the South Pole. Ahead of them lay the perpetual ice at temperatures of 20 to 30 degrees Celsius below zero and a distance of 1,400 kilometers. After eight weeks, the group reached its destination on December 13. The men planted the Norwegian flag in the lonely snow and shortly afterwards set off to make their way back – celebrated, honored as conquerors of the South Pole and laden with information and knowledge from the world of Antarctica. The voyage of Amundsen and his companions is undoubtedly so extraordinary because the five proved that it was possible and were the first to succeed. It is, however, also a symbol of what enables humans to push the boundaries of their world: the urge to set out into the unknown, to discover what has not yet been found, explored, and described.
What distinguishes science - even before each discovery and new knowledge – is the element of departure. Questioning apparent certainties, taking a critical look at outdated knowledge, and breaking down encrusted thought patterns is the starting point of exploratory curiosity. And to set out from there for new knowledge is the essence of scientific activities – neither protected nor supported by the reliable and known. Probing, trying, courageously questioning, and sensing that the solid ground, which still lies hidden, can only be reached again in this way. “Research is always a departure for new shoreless waters,” said chemist Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Quadbeck-Seeger. Leaving behind the safe harbor, trusting that new shores are waiting and can be reached is the impetus that makes science so important and valuable.
For the current issue of the University of Potsdam’s research magazine, we looked over the shoulders of some researchers as they set out on new research journeys – whether in the lab, in the library, in space, or in the mind. Astrophysicist Lidia Oskinova, for example, uses the Hubble telescope to search for particularly massive stars, while hydrologist Thorsten Wagener is trying to better understand the paths of water on Earth. Economists and social scientists such as Elmar Kriegler and Maik Heinemann are researching in different projects what politics can do to achieve a turnaround in climate policy and stop climate change.
Time and again, however, such departures are themselves the focus of research: And a group of biologists and environmental scientists is investigating how nature revives forest fire areas and how the newly emerging forests can become more resilient to future fires.
Since – as has already been said – a departure is inherent in every research question, this time the entire issue of “Portal Wissen” is actually devoted to the cover topic. And so we invite you to set out with Romance linguist Annette Gerstenberg to research language in old age, with immunologist Katja Hanack to develop a quick and safe SARS-CoV-2 test, and with the team of the Potsdam Center for Industry 4.0 to the virtual factory of tomorrow. And we will show you how evidence- based economic research can inform and advise politicians, and how a warning system is intended to prevent future accidents involving cyclists.
So, what are you waiting for?!
The field of American Jewish studies has recently trained its focus on the transnational dimensions of its subject, reflecting in more sustained ways than before about the theories and methods of this approach. Yet, much of the insight to be gained from seeing American Jewry as constitutively entangled in many ways with other Jewries has not yet been realized. Transnational American Jewish studies are still in their infancy.
This issue of PaRDeS presents current research on the multiple entanglements of American with Central European, especially German-speaking Jewries in the 19th and 20th centuries. The articles reflect the wide range of topics that can benefit from a transnational understanding of the American Jewish experience as shaped by its foreign entanglements.
Twenty-three scientists met at Krobielowice, Poland to discuss the role of growth, nutrition and economy on body size. Contrasting prevailing concepts, re-analyses of studies in Indonesian and Guatemalan school children with high prevalence of stunting failed to provide evidence for an association between nutritional status and body height. Direct effects of parental education on growth that were not transmitted via nutrition were shown in Indian datasets using network analysis and novel statistical methods (St. Nicolas House Analysis) that translate correlation matrices into network graphs. Data on Polish children suggest significant impact of socioeconomic sensitivity on child growth, with no effect of maternal money satisfaction. Height and maturation tempo affect the position of a child among its peers. Correlations also exist between mood disorders and height. Secular changes in height and weight varied across decades independent of population size. Historic and recent Russian data showed that height of persons whose fathers performed manual work were on average four cm shorter than persons whose fathers were high-degree specialists. Body height, menarcheal age, and body proportions are sensitive to socioeconomic variables. Additional topics included delayed motherhood and its associations with newborn size; geographic and socioeconomic indicators related to low birth weight, prematurity and stillbirth rate; data on anthropometric history of Brazil, 1850-1950; the impact of central nervous system stimulants on the growth of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; and pituitary development and growth hormone secretion. Final discussions debated on reverse causality interfering between social position, and adolescent growth and developmental tempo.
Groundwater arsenic contamination in the Bengal Delta Plain is an important public health issue
(2021)
There is a close association between human biology, epidemiology and public health. Exposure to toxic elements is one area of such associations and global concerns. The Bengal Delta Plain (BDP) is a region where contamination of ground water by arsenic has assumed epidemic proportions. Apart from dermatological manifestations, chronic exposure to arsenic causes a heavy toll through several carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic disorders. This article provides a global overview of groundwater arsenic contamination in the BDP region, especially the sources, speciation, and mobility of arsenic, and critically reviews the effects of arsenic on human health. The present review also provides a summary of comprehensive knowledge on various measures required for mitigation and social consequences of the problem of arsenic contaminated groundwater in the BDP region.
Background
Subjective Social Status is used as an important predictor for psychological and physiological findings, most commonly measured with the MacArthur Scale (Ladder Test). Previous studies have shown that this test fits better in Western cultures. The idea of a social ladder itself and ranking oneself “higher” or “lower” is a concept that accords to the Western thinking.
Objectives
We hypothesize that in a culture where only the elites have adapted to a Western lifestyle, the test results reflect a higher level of accuracy for this stratum. We also expect that self-perception differs per sex.
Sample and Methods
We implemented the Ladder Test in a study of Indonesian schoolchildren aged between 5 and 13 years (boys N = 369, girls N= 364) from non-private and private schools in Kupang in 2020.
Results
Our analysis showed that the Ladder Test results were according to the Western expectations only for the private school, as the Ladder Scores significantly decreased with age (LM: p = 0.04). The Ladder Test results are best explained by “Education Father” for the non-private school pupils (p = 0.01) and all boys (p = 0.04), by “School Grades” for the private school cohort (p = 0.06) and by “Household Score” for girls (p =0.09).
Conclusion
This finding indicates that the concept of ranking oneself “high” or “low” on a social ladder is strongly implicated with Western ideas. A ladder implies social movement by “climbing” up or down. According to that, reflection of self-perception is influenced by culture.
Background
Over the last 20 years, a decreasing trend in external skeletal robusticity and an increasing trend in overweight and obesity was observed worldwide in adults and children as modern lifestyles in nutritional and activity behavior have changed. However, body mass index (BMI) as a measure for overweight is not an ideal predictor of % body fat (%BF) either in children and adolescents or in adults. On the contrary, it disguises a phenomenon called “hidden obesity”.
Objectives
We aim to approximate %BF by combining skeletal robusticity and BMI and develop an estimation-based tool to identify normal weight obese children and adolescents.
Sample and Methods
We analyzed cross-sectional data on height, weight, elbow breadth, and skinfold thickness (triceps and subscapular) of German children aged 6 to 18 years (N=15,034). We used modified Hattori charts and multiple linear regression to develop a tool, the “%BF estimator”, to estimate %BF by using BMI and skeletal robusticity measured as Frame Index.
Results
Independent of sex and age an increase in BMI is associated with an increase in %BF, an increase in Frame Index is associated with a decrease in %BF. The developed tool “%BF estimator” allows the estimation of %BF per sex and age group after calculation of BMI and Frame Index.
Conclusion
The “%BF estimator” is an easily applicable tool for the estimation of %BF in respect of body composition for clinical practice, screening, and public health research. It is non-invasive and has high accuracy. Further, it allows the identification of normal weight obese children and adolescents.
Background
Nicotine consumption during pregnancy and advanced maternal age are well known independent risk factors for poor pregnancy outcome and therefore serious public health problems.
Objectives
Considering the ongoing trend of delaying childbirth in our society, this study investigates potential additive effects of nicotine consumption during pregnancy and advanced maternal age on foetal growth.
Sample and Methods
In a medical record-based study, we analysed the impact of maternal age and smoking behaviour before and during pregnancy on newborn size among 4142 singleton births that took place in Vienna, Austria between 1990 and 1995.
Results
Birth weight (H=82.176, p<0.001), birth length (H=91.525, p<0.001) and head circumference (H=42.097, p<0.001) differed significantly according to maternal smoking behaviour. For birth weight, the adjusted mean differences between smokers and non-smokers increased from 101.8g for the < 18-year-old mothers to 254.8g for >35 year olds, with the respective values for birth length being 0.6 cm to 0.7cm, for head circumference from 0.3 cm to 0.6 cm.
Conclusion
Increasing maternal age amplified the negative effects of smoking during pregnancy on newborn parameters. Our findings identify older smoking mothers as a high-risk group which should be of special interest for public health systems.
Background
There is a recurring and seamless interaction between the biology of human development and the social-economic-political-emotional (SEPE) environment. The SEPE environment influences the quality of the material conditions for human biology and, simultaneously, human growth in height and other dimensions provide social and moral signals that provide information to community networks.
Objectives
This article reviews the role of SEPE factors in human growth, especially skeletal growth.
Sample and Methods
The meaning of SEPE is defined and shown to be related to individual and group prestige, to social identity, and to ego and task motivation. These influence dominance or subordination of communities and the material and moral conditions of societies. Historical and contemporary examples of SEPE effects on skeletal size are presented.
Results
Membership in a SEPE community impacts skeletal size in height and breadth. Higher SEPE classes are taller, lower SEPE classes are broader. In elite level sport the winners have more growth stimulation via the hormone IGF-1 even before the contest. These findings are explained in terms of dominance versus subordination and the Community Effect in Height hypothesis.
Conclusions
SEPE factor regulation of human growth is shown to be a more comprehensive explanation for plasticity in height than traditional concepts such as socioeconomic status and simple-minded genetic determinism. People belonging to upper SEPE class communities, the elites, know that they are superior and are treated as such by the non-elites. The material and moral condition for life operating through these community social networks provide positive stimulation for the elites and negative stimulation for the lower SEPE classes. These differences maintain the gradients in height between SEPE communities in human societies.
Settings Perspective
(2021)