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Computational complexity as a potential limitation on brain–behaviour mapping
Get PDFWithin the reductionist framework, researchers in the special sciences formulate key terms and concepts and try to explain them with lower-level science terms and concepts. For example, behavioural vision scientists describe contrast perception with a psychometric function, in which the perceived brightness increases logarithmically with the physical contrast of a light patch (the Weber-Fechner law). Visual neuroscientists describe the output of neural circuits with neurometric functions. Intuitively, the key terms from two adjacent scientific domains should map onto each other; for instance, psychometric and neurometric functions may map onto each other. Identifying such mappings has been the very goal of neuroscience for nearly two centuries. Yet mapping behaviour to brain measures has turned out to be difficult. Here, we provide various arguments as to why the conspicuous lack of robust brain–behaviour mappings is rather a rule than an exception. First, we provide an overview of methodological and conceptual issues that may stand in the way of successful brain–behaviour mapping. Second, extending previous theoretical work (Herzog, Doerig and Sachse, 2023), we show that brain–behaviour mapping may be limited by complexity barriers. In this case, reduction may be impossible
What if extreme droughts occur more frequently? Mechanisms and limits of forest adaptation in pine monocultures and mixed forests in Berlin–Brandenburg, Germany
Get PDFForests in eastern Germany are already experiencing the detrimental effects of droughts, exemplified by the severe conditions of the 2018 drought year. With climate change, such extreme events are expected to become more frequent and severe. Previous work suggests that mixed forests exhibit greater resilience against droughts than monocultures. Our study aims to investigate the impact of increased frequency of extreme droughts, such as those seen in 2018, on biomass, structure, and traits of forests in the eastern German federal states of Berlin and Brandenburg. Utilizing the flexible-trait dynamic global vegetation model LPJmL-FIT, we simulate the growth and competition of individual trees in both pine monoculture forests and mixed forests. The trees belong to different plant functional types or in the case of pine forests are parametrized as Pinus sylvestris . We create drought scenarios from high-resolution climate input data by re-shuffling the contemporary climate with increased frequencies of the extreme drought year 2018. For each scenario, we simulated vegetation dynamics over 800 simulation years which, allowed us to analyze shorter-term impacts in the first decades of the drought scenarios, as well as the long-term adaptation of the two forest types to those new climate normals. We evaluated the resulting long-term changes in biomass, plant functional traits, and forest structure to examine the new equilibrium state emerging for each scenario. Our findings revealed nuanced responses to increased drought frequency. In pine monoculture forests, increased drought frequency reduced biomass and increased biomass variance, indicating higher system instability. Conversely, in mixed forests, biomass initially declined in scenarios with increased drought frequency but eventually recovered and even exceeded baseline levels after 100–150 years. We explain recovery and increase in biomass through two forest adaptation mechanisms; first, we saw a shift in the plant community towards broadleaved trees, and second, plant traits shifted towards increased average wood density, decreased average tree height, and increased average tree age. However, for the most extreme scenario with drought occurring each year, the adaptive capacity of the mixed forest was exceeded, and the biomass halved compared to the baseline scenario. In our study, for the first time LPJmL-FIT is used with a resolution as high as 2 ×2 km 2 , which allows us to observe spatial heterogeneity drought impacts within the Berlin–Brandenburg area. Pine monocultures suffered, especially in the warmer urban areas, and mixed forests in the central–western part of Brandenburg benefitted in the long term. This study highlights the capacity of natural mixed forests in contrast to pine monocultures to adapt to increasing drought frequency up to a certain limit. The results underscore the importance of considering biodiversity in forest management strategies, especially with regard to more frequent dry periods under climate change
Corrigendum to “The climatology and nature of warm-season convective cells in cold-frontal environments over Germany” published in Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 3703–3721, 2023
Get PDFViolence against medical professionals in the delivery room – a mixed methods study at obstetric clinics in Berlin
Get PDFEinleitung: Gewalt gegen medizinisches Personal ist ein vor allem aus der Notfallmedizin und Psychiatrie bekanntes Problem. Gewalterfahrungen können sich auf die Gesundheit und Arbeitsleistung der Betroffenen und somit auch auf die Qualität der Patientenversorgung auswirken. Der Kreißsaal zählt wie die Notaufnahme zur Akutversorgung der Krankenhäuser und weist Parallelen in der Versorgungssituation auf. Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist es daher, Berliner Kreißsäle erstmals in Hinblick auf eine mögliche Gewaltproblematik zu untersuchen.
Methodik: Die Studie richtete sich an das ärztliche Personal und die Hebammen der Berliner Kreißsäle. Es wurde ein Mixed-Methods-Forschungsdesign gewählt. Der quantitative Studienteil bestand aus einem berlinweit ausgehändigten Fragebogen, der die Häufigkeit, Umstände und Folgen von Gewalterfahrungen innerhalb der letzten sechs Monate sowie weitere Sicherheitsaspekte am Arbeitsplatz erfasste. Parallel wurden im qualitativen Studienteil vertiefende Leitfadeninterviews in fünf Kreißsälen geführt, die anschließend gemäß der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse nach Mayring ausgewertet wurden.
Ergebnisse: 86 % von 173 Befragten berichteten von verbaler und 47 % von körperlicher Gewalt innerhalb der letzten sechs Monate. 26 % von körperlicher Gewalt Betroffener gaben Verletzungen an. Gewaltbegünstigende Faktoren stellten die Ausnahmesituation der Geburt an sich, Personalmangel, hohe Erwartungshaltungen an die Versorgung sowie soziokulturelle Faktoren dar. Als Gewaltauslöser wurden Unzufriedenheit, Hilflosigkeit und Überforderung seitens der Schwangeren und Begleitpersonen angeführt. Besonders Hebammen und junges Personal berichteten von Gewalt. Gewalterfahrungen wirkten sich auf das Sicherheitsgefühl aus. Knapp 40 % fühlten sich unsicherer als zu Beginn ihrer Berufstätigkeit, 66 % fühlten sich nicht auf eskalierende Situationen vorbereitet. Der Umgang mit und eine etwaige Aufarbeitung von Gewaltvorfällen erfolgte meist im Austausch mit dem Team; selten zeigten sich konkrete Kenntnisse über aktuelle Präventions- oder Interventionsmaßnahmen. In den Vorschlägen zur Gewaltprävention nahm Kommunikation einen hohen Stellenwert ein; mehrfach wurden Deeskalationsschulungen, Sprachmittlerdienste und eine verstärkte Aufklärung der Familien genannt. Als Interventionsmaßnahmen wurden Notrufsysteme sowie verfügbares Sicherheitspersonal gewünscht. Für den Umgang mit Gewalterfahrungen wurden ein Meldesystem und die Möglichkeit externer Ansprechpartner befürwortet.
Schlussfolgerungen: Gewalt gegen medizinisches Personal im Kreißsaal ist ein relevantes Problem. Eine umfassendere Aufklärung über Geburts- und Krankenhausabläufe sowie eine Entlastung der Kreißsäle – durch ausreichendes Personal bzw. eine adäquate Inanspruchnahme der Versorgungsangebote – könnten Gewalt vorbeugen. Ein Meldesystem würde einen ersten aktiven Schritt zur Sensibilisierung medizinischen Personals gegenüber einer bislang noch oft tolerierten Gewaltproblematik darstellen.Introduction: Violence against healthcare workers is a well-known problem, particularly in emergency medicine and psychiatry. Experiences of violence can have an impact on the health and work performance of those affected and thereby also on the quality of patient care. The delivery room, like the emergency room, is part of the acute care system of hospitals and shares similar characteristics in the medical care situation. Despite these parallels, the prevalence of violence in delivery rooms has not been investigated. The goal of this study is thus to examine whether violence is a relevant problem in delivery rooms in Berlin.
Methods: The study focused on physicians and midwives working in delivery rooms in Berlin. A mixed-methods research design was chosen. The quantitative part of the study consisted of a questionnaire distributed throughout Berlin. It recorded the frequency, circumstances, and consequences of experiences of violence within the last six months as well as other safety aspects in the workplace. In parallel, for the qualitative part of the study, interviews were conducted in five delivery rooms. The interviews were analyzed using Mayring's qualitative content analysis.
Results: 86 % of 173 respondents reported verbal violence and 47 % reported physical violence within the last six months. 26 % of those affected by physical violence reported injuries. Factors conducive to violence were the exceptional situation of the birth, staff shortages, high expectations of care and socio-cultural factors. Dissatisfaction, helplessness, and feelings of being overwhelmed on the part of pregnant women and their partners were frequently cited as triggers for violence. Midwives and young staff in particular reported violence. Experiences of violence impacted safety perceptions. Close to 40 % felt more insecure than at the beginning of their career, 66 % felt unprepared for escalating situations. The handling and processing of violent incidents were mostly dealt with within the medical team. There was rarely any concrete knowledge of current prevention or intervention measures. Regarding suggested preventive measures, improved communication played a particularly important role; de-escalation training, interpreters and increased education of families were mentioned several times. Emergency call systems and available security personnel were requested as interventional measures. A reporting system and the possibility of external contacts were advocated for to deal with experiences of violence.
Conclusions: Violence against medical staff in the delivery room is a relevant problem. Providing comprehensive information about birth and hospital procedures as well as reducing the workload in delivery rooms - through sufficient staffing or adequate use of the available care services - could prevent violence. A reporting system would represent a first active step towards sensitizing medical staff to violence as a problem, which has thus far often been tolerated
Staphylococcus aureus in Rwandan dogs predominantly representing human-associated lineages
Get PDFThe present study aimed at examining the nasal and ear carriage of Staphylococcus aureus of Rwandan dogs and cats. Sixty-five S. aureus isolates were detected, all originating from the nostrils of dogs. Resistance to penicillin, penicillin/erythromycin/clindamycin, penicillin/tetracycline, and tetracycline solely was observed. The isolates were assigned to 23 different spa types, among them three novel (t21589, t21661, and t21662) variants, associated with eleven clonal complexes (CCs) (CC1, CC5, CC12, CC15, CC22, CC30, CC45, CC97, CC152, CC707, and CC834). Four isolates could not be assigned to any known CC. MLST revealed that one of them belonged to the new sequence type (ST) 9069. Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL) genes (lukF-PV/lukS-PV), the bovine leukocidin genes (lukM/lukF-P83), the toxic shock syndrome toxin gene tst-1, and various virulence-associated genes were detected. These findings demonstrate the dogs are colonized with human lineages of S. aureus. Coupled with the limited availability of S. aureus data from human medicine in Rwanda underscores the importance of hygiene measures and supports the need for a rigorous One-Health Surveillance program of the companion animals–human interface
Weiterer Beitrag über die eiweiß- resp. peptonabbauende Wirkung im Plasma resp. Serum nach parenteraler Zufuhr von Eiweiß
Get PDFDigitalisat der Ausgabe von 1913, erschienen 202
Anti-Aging-Effekte von Spermidin und Proteinrestriktion. Von Fliegen und Menschen.
No full textAging is a complex biological process associated with systemic and cellular dysfunctions.
Both fasting (i.e., time-restricted feeding) and dietary protein restriction (PR) are among the most promising interventions to promote healthy aging. Since the two paradigms are hardly compatible, it has remained unclear whether they may exert synergistic effects. However, recent studies have shown that the endogenous polyamine spermidine increases during fasting in both the fruit fly, Drosophila, and humans. In my dissertation, I therefore treated Drosophila with a combination of dietary spermidine supplementation (SPD) and PR to assess whether their effects are additive or synergistic. My observations confirmed that both interventions act through orthogonal mechanisms, which encourages future clinical studies in this direction. The Drosophila study included behavioral analyses (lifespan, locomotion, and fecundity) combined with polyamine quantification and proteome profiling. Both SPD and PR alone promoted healthspan and lifespan in flies, while their combination provided additional benefits — including extended lifespan, improved locomotion, and prolonged fecundity in aging flies. SPD (but not PR) increased putrescine and spermidine levels in PR-fed flies and reprogrammed the proteome toward specific metabolic pathways — including mitochondrial metabolism, autophagy, and hypusination. Hypusination is a posttranslational modification of the eukaryotic initiation factor 5A (eIF5A), in which spermidine donates an aminobutyl group to a specific lysine residue, forming hypusine (Nε-[4-amino-2-hydroxybutyl]-lysine).
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In the second part of this work (ImmuneAge trial in human participants), we investigated the role of SPD in immune rejuvenation and conducted a comprehensive analysis of polyamine biokinetics in blood fractions (plasma, serum, and cellular components) in collaboration Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke (DIfE), Leibniz Institute for Analytical Sciences – ISAS – e.V., and The Longevity Labs GmbH (TLL). The ImmuneAge Trial used a multi-parameter molecular profiling approach, including ELISA for inflammatory markers, LC-MS for polyamine quantification, proteomics, western blot analysis for autophagy and hypusination markers, and flow cytometry to evaluate immune responses. We showed that a 20-day SPD significantly enhanced autophagy and hypusination in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), particularly in younger participants (20–40 years), with similar trends observed in older individuals (60–90 years). These effects correlated with SPD’s strong ability to counteract the age-related decline of spermidine levels in PBMCs. Moreover, SPD reduced inflammaging and improved aspects of both innate and adaptive immune responses to the SARS-CoV-2 spike peptide, with stronger effects in younger participants. Plasma proteomics revealed that SPD strengthened the immune system, lowered thrombosis risk, and reduced inflammation in older participants, while in younger participants, it improved lipid metabolism and triggered changes considered cardioprotective
Time series data analysis to predict the status of mastitis in dairy cows by applying machine learning models to automated milking systems data
Get PDFMastitis in dairy cows is one of the most important issues that not only pose risk to animal health and welfare but also cause huge direct and indirect economic losses to the dairy sector. In recent times, automated milking systems (AMS) have gained sharp rise in popularity and adaptation by dairy farmers. Mastitis detection under AMS operations becomes more difficult due to lack of direct human inspection of milk and udder during milking. The AMS technology consistently produces large amounts of milking records, which create the opportunity of developing algorithms to identify mastitis. The aim of this study was to predict mastitis in individual dairy cows through application of machine learning (ML) models on AMS generated high resolution data. The multivariable time series data with seven daily observed predictor variables and mastitis records of 1790 individual cows was collected from two dairy farms situated in Saxony and Brandenburg states of Germany for a period of four years. We applied six ML models: logistic regression, support vector machine, decision tree, random forest, gradient boosting and multi-layer perceptron, to correctly predict the status of mastitis (i) one day prior and (ii) on the day of clinical observation. Due to class imbalance, synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE) was used to balance the training data. Each ML model varied in its efficiency for mastitis predictions. The overall accuracy, sensitivity and specificity scores of ML models ranged between (i) 0.80–0.90, 0.64–0.78 and 0.80–0.90 and, (ii) 0.84–0.93, 0.76–0.91 and 0.84–0.93 respectively. Our findings not only indicated the improvement in ML model performances in comparison to other studies with similar background, but also demonstrated the robustness of time series AMS data by predicting the future events. We propose inclusion of additional variables from AMS records and integration of other sensorial data for further improvement of ML models in future studies
Development of payment level and volume for new examination and treatment methods in Germany
Get PDFHintergrund: Der zeitnahe und weitflächige Zugang zu neuen, innovativen Diagnose- und Behandlungsverfahren ist ein Schlüsselelement in der Gesundheitsversorgung. Ein maßgeblicher Einflussfaktor ist dabei die Erstattung. In Deutschland erfolgt die Vergütung sogenannter neuer Untersuchungs- und Behandlungsmethoden (NUB) über extrabudgetäre Entgelte, um die Folgen des retrospektiven Kalkulationsverfahren der German-DRG (G-DRG) abzumildern. Basierend auf Krankenhausabrechnungsdaten untersucht die vorliegende Arbeit den Nutzungsgrad, die Entgelthöhe und die Pfade zur Integration von NUB in das G-DRG-System. Methodik: Krankenhausabrechnungsdaten für abgerechnete NUB-Entgelte in den Jahren 2013 bis 2019 wurden mit den Informationen des Anfrage- und Bewertungsverfahrens verknüpft. Es erfolgte eine Klassifikation in drei Gruppen (Arzneimittel, Medizinprodukte, medizinische Verfahren) basierend auf der Art der Innovation. Kernparameter wurden longitudinal, differenziert nach NUB-Art und Jahr, mittels einer mixed ANOVA betrachtet. Der Erlös wurde berechnet anhand der Anzahl der Fälle sowie der Entgelthöhe. Bezüglich der Art der Integration der NUB in das G-DRG-System erfolgte eine Klassifizierung und Quantifizierung. Ergebnisse: Arzneimittel wurden signifikant häufiger positiv beschieden und den Kostenträgern in Rechnung gestellt als Medizinprodukte (p<0,05). Die Entgelthöhe für NUB sank über die Jahre ohne signifikante Unterschiede zwischen den NUB-Arten, Der gesamte jährliche Erlös für NUB stieg von 74,7 Mio. € im Jahr 2013 auf 232,8 Mio. € im Jahr 2017. Die Analyse der Pfade zur Integration der NUB in das G-DRG-System zeigte, dass die Mehrheit innerhalb des NUB-Prozesses verbleibt. Lediglich für eine geringe Anzahl wurde eine systemimmanente Erstattungsgrundlage in Form einer DRG oder eines Zusatzentgeltes geschaffen. Schlussfolgerung: Die Ergebnisse lassen darauf schließen, dass die Finanzierung medizinischer Innovationen mittels extrabudgetärer Entgelte in den letzten Jahren an finanzieller Relevanz für deutsche Krankenhäuser gewonnen haben. Insbesondere Arzneimittel sind Gegenstand des NUB-Verfahrens mit einer hohen Erfolgsrate aufgrund gut separierbarer und die DRG-Vergütung deutlich übersteigende Kosten.Background: The ability of healthcare systems to allow rapid and broad access to new medical innovations is an essential factor in patient care. A key factor for integration is the reimbursement. Therefore, reimbursement mechanisms have to be evaluated constantly, e.g. to assess the consequences of delays in reimbursement as due to retrospective calculation approaches like in the German Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG) for new examination and treatment methods (NUB). Based on hospital claims data, this study examined the utilization, payment level and pathways for the integration of new medical innovations into the German DRG system for the first time. Methods: Hospital billing data on invoiced NUB from 2013 to 2019 were linked to the information on the application and assessment process. NUB were classified into three groups (drugs, medical devices, medical procedures) depending on the type of innovation. Key process parameters were evaluated over time by NUB type using a mixed ANOVA. Revenue was calculated based on quantity and payment level. Integration into the DRG system was clustered and quantified. Results: Compared to medical devices and medical procedures, drugs were significantly more often assessed positive for reimbursement and invoiced by hospitals to the statutory health insurances (p<0,05). The payment level for NUB decreased slightly over time with no significant differences between the types. The total annual revenue for NUB increased from 74.7 to 232.8 mEUR from 2013 to 2017. Analysis of pathways for a lasting integration into the DRG system showed that the majority of NUB stays in the application process and only for a minor number of innovations a standalone reimbursement was established. Conclusion: The results indicate that the reimbursement of medical innovation by separate payments for NUB gained increasing financial importance in the last years in Germany. Especially new drugs are subject to the NUB process with high success rates as their costs exceed the regular DRG payments
Comparative genomics of Elusimicrobiaceae (phylum Elusimicrobiota) and description of the isolates Elusimicrobium simillimum sp. nov., Elusimicrobium posterum sp. nov., and Parelusimicrobium proximum gen. nov. sp. nov.
Get PDFThe tree of life comprises many deep-branching lineages with no or only very few cultured representatives. One such lineage is the phylum Elusimicrobiota, which contains only two described species and whose biology has been only poorly explored. We isolated three new species from this phylum from the intestinal tracts of cockroaches. Like their closest relative, Elusimicrobium minutum, the only member of the family Elusimicrobiaceae described to date, they are small, pleomorphic gram-negative rods characterized by a distinct cell cycle, and like all ultramicrobacteria, they pass through a 0.22-μm filter membrane. Physiological characterization of all isolates revealed that they are obligately anaerobic fermenters that lack catalase and cytochrome c oxidase activities but can remove oxygen from their environment in a non-respiratory manner. Their substrate range is limited to a few hexoses, such as d-glucose, d-galactose, and N-acetyl-d-glucosamine, which are fermented to lactate, acetate, ethanol, and hydrogen as major products. Comparative genome analysis, which included more than 100 MAGs of uncultured lineages of Elusimicrobiaceae, revealed the underlying metabolic pathways and outlined a new phylogenomic framework of the family. Based on phylogenomic, physiological, and morphological evidence, we describe the new isolates as Parelusimicrobium proximum gen. nov., sp. nov., Elusimicrobium posterum sp. nov., and Elusimicrobium simillimum sp. nov. under the rules of ICNP. Based on high-quality genomes of all uncultured representatives, we propose a comprehensive taxonomy of all lineages in the family under the rules of SeqCode, including the new genera Avelusimicrobium, Proelusimicrobium, and the candidate genus “Pseudelusimicrobium”