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Making the invisible visible: integrated visualization and automated quantification of thrombus deformation during mechanical thrombectomy
No full textOpen-Access-Publikationsfonds 202
Linear and competition reduction effects of species mingling on tree growth in natural temperate forests
No full textThe role of biodiversity in promoting forest productivity remains a topic of debate among ecologists. While experimental plantations have demonstrated that species diversity can enhance individual tree growth, studies in natural forests have reached inconsistent results. We analyzed tree growth in temperate forests using a dataset of 458 permanent plots, which contained 23 species from Pinus, Quercus, and Arbutus genera. We characterized neighborhood composition using nearest-neighbor indices: mingling, height dominance, and crowding. Using generalized additive mixed models, we evaluated both the linear and interaction effects of these indices on tree growth. The results show that dominance is the main linear predictor of growth across the genera, crowding suppresses growth in Pinus and Quercus, and mingling enhances it in Arbutus and Quercus. At the specific-species level, the linear effect of mingling was not significant in most cases. On the other hand, the interaction effects reveal that trees can sustain or even increase growth under suppression conditions when surrounded by heterospecific neighbors, a pattern observed across the three genera. Some species exhibit both the highest and lowest growth rates in conspecific neighborhoods, suggesting suppression and dominance dynamics that may result in a null linear effect of mingling. In conclusion, while competition is the primary factor shaping individual tree growth, species mingling may modulate its effects. Our findings highlight the complex interplay between biodiversity and competition in a natural forest ecosystem
Gutachten im Auftrag des Bayerischen Staatsministeriums für Wirtschaft, Landesentwicklung und Energie
No full textDie überbetrieblichen Bildungsstätten des Handwerks (ÜBS) sind zentrale Träger der technologischen und digitalen Modernisierung im Handwerk und sichern die Qualität der Fachkräfteausbildung. Ausbleibende Investitionen können daher Wachstums- und Produktivitätsverluste im Handwerk bewirken. Dabei sind Bund und Länder Sparzwängen ausgesetzt, die einen effizienten Mitteleinsatz erzwingen. Gleichwohl ist zu beachten, dass Investitionen in die berufliche Bildungsinfrastruktur sowohl Mehreinnahmen an Steuern und Sozialabgaben generieren, als auch Kosteneinsparungen seitens der öffentlichen Hand und der Sozialversicherungsträger ermöglichen.
Kern des vorliegenden Gutachtens ist in diesem Zusammenhang die quantitative Analyse fiskalischer Effekte zugunsten der öffentlichen Haushalte sowie der Sozialversicherungsträger, die durch zusätzliche ÜBS-Investitionen ausgelöst werden. Ziel der Untersuchung ist es somit, ein effizientes Investitionsniveau zu bestimmen, das eine optimale Rendite der öffentlich eingesetzten Mittel aus Sicht der unterschiedlichen staatlichen Ebenen induziert. Zu diesem Zweck werden zwei Simulationen durchgeführt.
Auf Basis der quantitativen Simulationen der fiskalischen Effekte legt das Gutachten ein deutlich höheres Investitionsvolumen aller staatlichen Ebenen für die überbetrieblichen Bildungsstätten des Handwerks nahe. Der Bund müsste für eine gesamtstaatlich optimale Rendite 415 Mio. € investieren, was eine Steigerung des Niveaus aus 2024 von 332 % impliziert.
Gegeben der Ko-Finanzierung von Bundesländern und Bildungsträgern erzielen die zusätzlichen Investitionen aus gesamtstaatlicher Perspektive eine jährliche fiskalische Rendite von 265 %. Über einen Zeithorizont von 15 Jahren würden sich aus diesen Investitionssummen kumulierte Nettoerträge von etwa 32,7 Mrd. € ergeben.
Ergänzend zu dieser quantitativen Analyse erfolgt eine literaturbasierte qualitative Analyse von insgesamt 16 empirisch schwer zugänglichen Wirkungszusammenhängen. Dabei zeigt sich, dass Investitionen in ÜBS entlang von vier Wirkungsebenen positive Effekte entfalten: (I) individuelle Effekte (soziale Mobilität, Beschäftigungsstabilität, Bildungsrenditen, Anpassungsfähigkeit an den technologischen Wandel); (II) betriebliche Effekte (Technologietransfer, Kooperations- und Netzwerkeffekte, Erhalt einer kleinteiligen, regionalen Betriebsstruktur und damit regionale Resilienz, Produktivitäts- und Innovationssteigerungen); (III) gesamtwirtschaftliche Effekte (erhöhte Standortattraktivität für Investoren, lokale Wertschöpfungsimpulse, Wertschöpfungs- und Einkommenszuwächse, Handwerk-Industrie-Kooperationen, Zubringerfunktion von Fachkräften für Industrie und Mittelstand); (IV) gesellschaftliche Effekte (Erwerbsintegration, Attraktivitätssteigerung beruflicher Bildung, Beiträge zu Nachhaltigkeit, Ressourceneffizienz und Energiewende, Sicherung gleichwertiger Lebensverhältnisse)
Searching for a ghost?! The vain ethnobotany of foraging in three coastal Mediterranean areas
No full textAbstract This paper explores the erosion of foraging-related ethnobotanical knowledge in three coastal Mediterranean areas: Gozo Island (Malta), Kasos Island (Greece), and the Castagniccia region of Corsica Island (France). Based on recent ethnobotanical fieldwork between the summer of 2023 and the spring of 2025 in the three study areas, we document the few remaining wild vegetable uses in each region and contextualise the absence of robust LEK linked to plant foraging within broader socio-environmental changes. Our findings show that land abandonment, mass migration, desertification, and the rise of seasonal tourism have contributed to the disintegration of Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK). These forces have severed communities from everyday land-based practices, transforming vibrant ethnobotanical traditions into fragmented memories. We argue that LEK, particularly foraging knowledge, cannot survive in the absence of continuous interaction with the landscape, and that the revival of such practices requires more than nostalgic return, demanding a reconnection with local agro-ecological systems
Unravelling the nature of enigmatic fossils in the Ediacaran Weng’an phosphorite: a geobiological approach
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Advancing prion diagnostics: full-length human E200K RT-QuIC substrate facilitates prion detection in tear fluid and improves sensitivity in cerebrospinal fluid
No full textAbstract The real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay has revolutionized prion disease diagnosis by detecting amyloidogenic PrP conformers in different tissue types and body fluids. Recently, we achieved a breakthrough by detecting amyloidogenic PrP conformers in tear fluid (TF), a non-invasive biofluid, warranting further evaluation. We refined our RT-QuIC protocol to assess seeding conversion efficiency using various recombinant substrates, including full-length human (FL Hu), and mutant versions linked to genetic prion diseases, such as E200K and D178N, in both CSF and TF samples. Our study included patients with sporadic and familial prion diseases. FL Hu E200K showed the highest seeding efficiency in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), with sensitivity increasing from 78 to 93% for symptomatic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) and from 19 to 75% for fatal familial insomnia (FFI) compared with the hamster-sheep substrate. For tear fluid, diagnostic sensitivity was 85% for sCJD and 64% for symptomatic genetic prion diseases, the assay was also able to detect amyloidogenic PrP in 57% of the healthy mutation carriers (HMC, persons at risk without symptoms). We validated the diagnostic accuracy of the TF RT-QuIC from our previous study (cohort 1) in a second independent study. Additionally, we confirmed that TF RT-QuIC requires FL Hu E200K substrates since hamster-sheep failed in detection of seeding activity in tears. Notably, only 1 out of 184 controls without prion disease tested positive. Studies comparing different disease stages (early vs. late) showed that later stages produced a stronger signal response. Our study demonstrates that the FL Hu E200K rec PrP substrate improves RT-QuIC sensitivity in CSF diagnostics and validates the reliable detection of seeding activity in TF in two cohorts as well as in HMC
Iron plaque in paddy: Formation, properties, functions, and applications
No full texthttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001809 National Natural Science Foundation of Chinahttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100012166 National Key Research and Development Program of Chinahttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004387 Ningbo Universityhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100018647 RUDN Universityhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002855 Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of Chin
Microsurgical Clipping of Ruptured Posterior Fossa Aneurysms in the Semi-Sitting Position
No full textChamber-specific chromatin architecture guides functional interpretation of disease-associated Cis-regulatory elements in human cardiomyocytes
No full textAbstract Cis- regulatory elements (CREs) are noncoding DNA regions regulating cell-type-specific gene expression programs by interacting with distal gene promoters. Here, we aim to decode the function and spatial organization of CRE-promoter interactions in human cardiomyocytes. We analyzed the epigenome and chromatin interactions of human male atrial, ventricular, and failing cardiomyocytes. Atrial and ventricular cardiomyocytes harbored chamber-specific CRE-promoter interactions modulating gene expression as confirmed by functional epigenetic silencing. These CRE-promoter interactions explain the distinct contribution of non-coding genetic variants to atrial and ventricular diseases, such as dilated cardiomyopathy and arrhythmias. We dissected the prototypic KCNJ2 locus, encoding a potassium channel associated with ventricular arrhythmia susceptibility. Functional epigenetic silencing confirmed that CREs, harboring QT-duration-associated genetic risk factors, modulate KCNJ2 gene expression levels, alter KCNJ2-dependent channel currents, and affect cardiomyocyte repolarization. The presented human CM-specific chromatin interaction analysis provides key insights into regulatory mechanisms and aids in interpreting genetic risk factors