Refine
Year of publication
Document Type
- Article (23)
- Monograph/Edited Volume (3)
- Postprint (2)
- Conference Proceeding (1)
Is part of the Bibliography
- yes (29)
Keywords
- Biodiversity Exploratories (1)
- Bottom-up effects (1)
- COPSOQ (1)
- Carbon cycling (1)
- Confidence intervals (1)
- Covid-19 (1)
- Digitalisierung (1)
- Ecological synthesis (1)
- Ecosystem processes (1)
- Grasslands (1)
Institute
- Institut für Biochemie und Biologie (6)
- Institut für Chemie (6)
- Institut für Geowissenschaften (5)
- Institut für Mathematik (3)
- Department Psychologie (1)
- Department Sport- und Gesundheitswissenschaften (1)
- Institut für Ernährungswissenschaft (1)
- Institut für Informatik und Computational Science (1)
- Institut für Physik und Astronomie (1)
- Institut für Umweltwissenschaften und Geographie (1)
Background The Covid-19 pandemic led to increased work-related strain and psychosocial burden in nurses worldwide, resulting in high prevalences of mental health problems. Nurses in long-term care facilities seem to be especially affected by the pandemic. Nevertheless, there are few findings indicating possible positive changes for health care workers. Therefore, we investigated which psychosocial burdens and potential positive aspects nurses working in long-term care facilities experience during the Covid-19 pandemic. Methods We conducted a mixed-methods study among nurses and nursing assistants working in nursing homes in Germany. The survey contained the third German version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ III). Using Welch's t-tests, we compared the COPSOQ results of our sample against a pre-pandemic reference group of geriatric nurses from Germany. Additionally, we conducted semi-structured interviews with geriatric nurses with a special focus on psychosocial stress, to reach a deeper understanding of their experiences on work-related changes and burdens during the pandemic. Data were analysed using thematic coding (Braun and Clarke). Results Our survey sample (n = 177) differed significantly from the pre-pandemic reference group in 14 out of 31 COPSOQ scales. Almost all of these differences indicated negative changes. Our sample scored significantly worse regarding the scales 'quantitative demands', 'hiding emotions', 'work-privacy conflicts', 'role conflicts', 'quality of leadership', 'support at work', 'recognition', 'physical demands', 'intention to leave profession', 'burnout', 'presenteeism' and 'inability to relax'. The interviews (n = 15) revealed six main themes related to nurses' psychosocial stress: 'overall working conditions', 'concern for residents', 'management of relatives', 'inability to provide terminal care', 'tensions between being infected and infecting others' and 'technicisation of care'. 'Enhanced community cohesion' (interviews), 'meaning of work' and 'quantity of social relations' (COPSOQ III) were identified as positive effects of the pandemic. Conclusions Results clearly illustrate an aggravation of geriatric nurses' situation and psychosocial burden and only few positive changes due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Pre-existing hardships seem to have further deteriorated and new stressors added to nurses' strain. The perceived erosion of care, due to an overemphasis of the technical in relation to the social and emotional dimensions of care, seems to be especially burdensome to geriatric nurses.
Background
Recent research emphasized the role of inflammatory processes in the pathophysiology of depression. Theories hypothesizes that life events (LE) can affect the immune system and trigger depressive symptoms. LE are also considered as one of the best predictors for the onset and course of depressive disorders.
Methods
Observational study across three treatment settings: n=208 depressive patients (75.5%f, M 46.6 y) were examined on depression (BDI-II), life events (ILE) and inflammatory markers (IL-6, CRP, fibrinogen, ICAM-1, TNF-alpha, E-selectin) at baseline (t0), 5-week(t1) and 5-month(t2) follow-up. Effects and interactions were analyzed with regression models.
Results
LE were associated with depressive symptoms at t0 (beta=.209; p=.002) and both follow-ups. Except for CRP, which was linked to depression symptoms at t2 (betai=-.190; p=.032), there were no effects of inflammatory markers on depressive symptoms. At t1, an interaction between CRP and LE in total (beta=-.249; p=.041) was found as well as for LE in the past five years (beta=-.122; p=.027). Similar interactions were found between cumulative LE and ICAM-1 (beta=-.197; p=.003) and IL-6 (beta=-.425; p=.001).
Conclusion
The cumulative burden of LE effects symptoms and treatment outcome in depressive patients. There is some evidence that inflammatory marker may have long-term effects on treatment outcome as they seem to weaken the determining relation between LE and depression.
Evidence of female preference for odor of distant over local males in a bat with female dispersal
(2021)
Geographic variation of sexually selected male traits is common in animals. Female choice also varies geographically and several studies found female preference for local males, which is assumed to lead to local adaptation and, therefore, increases fitness. As females are the nondispersing sex in most mammalian taxa, this preference for local males might be explained by the learning of male characteristics. Studies on the preference of females in female-dispersing species are lacking so far. To find out whether such females would also show preferences for local males, we conducted a study on greater sac-winged bats (Saccopteryx bilineata), a species where females disperse and males stay in their natal colony. Male greater sac-winged bats possess a wing pouch that is filled with odoriferous secretion and fanned toward females during courtship display. In a combination of chemical analysis and behavioral preference tests, we analyzed whether the composition of wing sac secretion varies between two geographically distinct populations (300 km), and whether females show a preference for local or distant male scent. Using gas chromatography, we found significant differences in the composition of the wing sac odors between the two geographically distinct populations. In addition, the behavioral preference experiments revealed that females of both populations preferred the scent of geographically distant males over local males. The wing sac odor might thus be used to guarantee optimal outbreeding when dispersing to a new colony. This is-to our knowledge-the first study on odor preference of females of a species with female-biased dispersal.
An der Universität Potsdam wurden im Rahmen des Qualitätspakt Lehre-Projekts „Qualität etablieren in Lehre und Lernen (QueLL)“ Maßnahmen für eine Verbesserung der Studienbedingungen und eine Weiterentwicklung der Lehre und des Lernens durchgeführt. Die während der neunjährigen Projektlaufzeit thematisierten Fragestellungen, erarbeiteten Lösungsansätze und entsprechenden Erfahrungen werden im vorliegenden Sammelband in Form von wissenschaftlichen Auseinandersetzungen und Werkstattberichten dargestellt und diskutiert.
Die Beiträge spiegeln in ihrer thematischen Vielfalt unterschiedliche universitäre Übergangsphasen wider, wie in diesem Fall den Übergang in die Hochschule, Übergänge innerhalb der Hochschule (im Kontext der Organisationsentwicklung, der Weiterbildung akademischer Statusgruppen oder der Entwicklung einer digitalen Lehr-Lernkultur) und schließlich den Übergang in die Berufspraxis. Denn während der Projektlaufzeit hat sich gezeigt, dass die Gestaltung von Lehre und Lernen letztlich immer eine Gestaltung solcher Übergänge ist: sowohl zwischen den innerinstitutionellen Ebenen und Bereichen als auch zwischen Akteur/innen der Hochschule und schließlich ebenso innerhalb des Student Life Cycle. Weiterhin wird anhand der Beiträge deutlich, dass die Entwicklung von Lehre und Studium nicht als isolierte Aufgabe verstanden werden kann, sondern in die Strukturen und Prozesse der Universität hineinwirken und Formen der Zusammenarbeit etablieren sollte, die es braucht, um Projekte nachhaltig zu gestalten.
Ziel dieses Bandes ist es, zur Diskussion über Gelingensbedingungen einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung von Lehre und Lernen beizutragen. Damit richtet er sich an Akteur/innen aus der Hochschulleitung, an Lehrende und Forschende sowie Mitarbeitende des Third Space.
Full water splitting into hydrogen and oxygen on semiconductor nanocrystals is a challenging task; overpotentials must be overcome for both half-reactions and different catalytic sites are needed to facilitate them. Additionally, efficient charge separation and prevention of back reactions are necessary. Here, we report simultaneous H-2 and O-2 evolution by CdS nanorods decorated with nanoparticulate reduction and molecular oxidation co-catalysts. The process proceeds entirely without sacrificial agents and relies on the nanorod morphology of CdS to spatially separate the reduction and oxidation sites. Hydrogen is generated on Pt nanoparticles grown at the nanorod tips, while Ru(tpy)(bpy)Cl-2-based oxidation catalysts are anchored through dithiocarbamate bonds onto the sides of the nanorod. O-2 generation from water was verified by O-18 isotope labelling experiments, and time-resolved spectroscopic results confirmed efficient charge separation and ultrafast electron and hole transfer to the reaction sites. The system demonstrates that combining nanoparticulate and molecular catalysts on anisotropic nanocrystals provides an effective pathway for visible-light-driven photocatalytic water splitting.
Mental disorders are among the greatest medical and social challenges facing us. They can occur at all stages of life and are among the most important commonly occurring diseases. In Germany 28 % of the population suffer from a mental disorder every year, while the lifetime risk of suffering from a mental disorder is almost 50 %. Mental disorders cause great suffering for those affected and their social network. Quantitatively speaking, they can be considered to be among those diseases creating the greatest burden for society due to reduced productivity, absence from work and premature retirement. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding a new research network from 2015 to 2019 with up to 35 million euros to investigate mental disorders in order to devise and develop better therapeutic measures and strategies for this population by means of basic and translational clinical research. This is the result of a competitive call for research proposals entitled research network for mental diseases. It is a nationwide network of nine consortia with up to ten psychiatric and clinical psychology partner institutions from largely university-based research facilities for adults and/or children and adolescents. Furthermore, three cross-consortia platform projects will seek to identify shared causes of diseases and new diagnostic modalities for anxiety disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHS), autism, bipolar disorders, depression, schizophrenia and psychotic disorders as well as substance-related and addictive disorders. The spectrum of therapeutic approaches to be examined ranges from innovative pharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatment to novel brain stimulation procedures. In light of the enormous burden such diseases represent for society as a whole, a sustainable improvement in the financial support for those researching mental disorders seems essential. This network aims to become a nucleus for long overdue and sustained support for a German center for mental disorders.
The Net Reclassification Improvement (NRI) has become a popular metric for evaluating improvement in disease prediction models through the past years. The concept is relatively straightforward but usage and interpretation has been different across studies. While no thresholds exist for evaluating the degree of improvement, many studies have relied solely on the significance of the NRI estimate. However, recent studies recommend that statistical testing with the NRI should be avoided. We propose using confidence ellipses around the estimated values of event and non-event NRIs which might provide the best measure of variability around the point estimates. Our developments are illustrated using practical examples from EPIC-Potsdam study.
Die Tagung HDI 2014 in Freiburg zur Hochschuldidaktik der Informatik HDI wurde erneut vom Fachbereich Informatik und Ausbildung / Didaktik der Informatik (IAD) in der Gesellschaft für Informatik e. V. (GI) organisiert. Sie dient den Lehrenden der Informatik in Studiengängen an Hochschulen als Forum der Information und des Austauschs über neue didaktische Ansätze und bildungspolitische Themen im Bereich der Hochschulausbildung aus der fachlichen Perspektive der Informatik.
Die HDI 2014 ist nun bereits die sechste Ausgabe der HDI. Für sie wurde das spezielle Motto „Gestalten und Meistern von Übergängen“ gewählt. Damit soll ein besonderes Augenmerk auf die Übergänge von Schule zum Studium, vom Bachelor zum Master, vom Studium zur Promotion oder vom Studium zur Arbeitswelt gelegt werden.