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Acute respiratory infections during the first six years of life in Germany : an analysis of birth cohort data
Get PDFAcute respiratory infections (ARI) are common in children and pose a high medical and socio-economic burden. To date, only a limited number of studies have investigated the burden of ARI using prospective data collection. This thesis aims to assess the ARI burden in children up to six years of age in Germany, focusing on incidence, symptoms, and risk factors. For a sub-sample, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ARI incidence and viral pathogens is examined. Data were used from LoewenKIDS, a population-based birth cohort which followed 782 children born between 2014 and 2018 from birth until the age of six. The mean cumulative ARI duration was 51.5 weeks. The highest yearly incidence was observed in the second year of life (7.7 ARI). Childcare attendance increased ARI frequency. During the 2020/2021 lockdown winter, ARI incidence dropped sharply, with most viruses disappearing from nasal samples, while human rhinoviruses remained largely unaffected
Synthesis, characterization, DFT and molecular docking analysis of N-phenyl-2-((4-(3-phenylthioureido)phenyl)selanyl)acetamide
Get PDFIn this study, we disclose the synthesis of a new organoselenium (OSe) candidate, N-phenyl-2-((4-(3-phenylthioureido)phenyl)selanyl)acetamide (5), achieved in three synthetic steps starting from the commercially available chemical, aniline. The chemical structure of the target OSe compound 5 was characterised using NMR, IR, and mass spectrometry. The DFT calculations were performed. The results reveal that compound 1 demonstrates the lowest HOMO energy (-5.03 eV) and the most significant energy gap (3.62 eV), indicating high stability and low reactivity. In contrast, compound 2 shows the highest HOMO energy (-3.62 eV) and the smallest energy gap (1.31 eV), confirming its high reactivity and low stability. HB168 and compound 3 demonstrate intermediate properties with moderate reactivity and stability. The Dipole Moment analysis highlights strong polarity in HB168 (6.47 Debye) and weak polarity in S2 (0.27 Debye). Additionally, compound 1 displays the highest electronegativity (3.22 eV) and lowest electrophilicity index (2.86 eV), further supporting its stability and low reactivity. Conversely, compound 2 exhibits the highest electrophilicity index (6.71 eV), indicating a strong electrophilic character. The prepared OSe compound was docked against three bacterial strain protein targets: Escherichia coli (ID: 5L3J) as gram-negative bacteria, whereas Bacillus Subtilis (ID: 7S3L) and Staphylococcus aureus (ID: 3BL6) was chosen as the gram-positive bacteria. Also, molecular docking were performed against three drugs as a reference drug Ampicillin as a wide spectrum antibiotic and Ebselen, Diphenyl diselenide as a Selenium containing drugs
Depressive symptoms, education, gender and history of migration - an intersectional analysis using data from the German National Cohort (NAKO)
Get PDFBackground:
The educational gradient in depressive symptoms is well documented. Gender and history of migration have also been found to be associated with depressive symptoms. Intersectional approaches enable the analysis of the interplay of different social factors at a time to gain a deeper understanding of inequalities in depressive symptoms. In this study, intersectional inequalities in depressive symptoms according to education, gender and history of migration are analysed.
Methods:
The German National Cohort (NAKO, N = 204,783) collected information on depressive symptoms (PHQ-9), which was used as an outcome variable. Educational attainment (ISCED-97), gender, and history of migration constituted the different social strata in the analyses. The predicted probabilities of depressive symptoms for 30 social strata were calculated. Multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy (MAIHDA) was applied, using logistic regression and social strata were introduced as higher-level unit interaction terms.
Results:
The analyses revealed an educational gradient in depressive symptoms, with differences within each educational group when gender and history of migration were introduced to the models. The predicted probabilities of depressive symptoms varied between the most advantaged and the most disadvantaged social strata by more than 20% points. Among the three studied variables, education contributed the most to the variance explained by the MAIHDA models. The between-strata differences were largely explained by additive effects.
Conclusions:
We observed a robust educational gradient in depressive symptoms, but gender and history of migration had substantial contribution on the magnitude of educational inequalities. An intersectional perspective on inequalities in depressive symptoms enhances current knowledge by showing that different social dimensions may intersect and contribute to inequalities in depressive symptoms. Future studies on inequalities in depression may greatly benefit from an intersectional approach, as it reflects lived inequalities in their diversity
Functional signatures of surface pollen and vegetation are broadly similar : good news for past reconstructions of vegetation
Get PDFPollen assemblages are widely used to infer paleoenvironment features, aiming at reconstructing both past climates and biomes. However, the functional link between environmental conditions and pollen assemblages is not straightforward and requires thorough testing to be used confidently. Here, we use a trait-based approach to assess the consistency of functional signatures between pollen and plant assemblages. We assess whether trait values and trait distributions are consistent for surface pollen samples and extant vegetation in the Arid Central Asia biogeographic region. A working plant checklist was compiled for ACA in order to assign trait values to pollen types and vegetation taxa. This was done for two widely used methods of pollen aggregation schemes (coarse and fine pollen type depend on the level of pollen identification). The functional signatures of pollen and vegetation samples were compared both at the taxon and community levels, using large-scale trait and vegetation databases, for the six traits of the global spectrum of plant form and function (i.e., plant height, seed mass, leaf area, specific leaf area, nitrogen content per leaf mass, and stem-specific density). Trait distributions and bivariate trait relationships were broadly similar for pollen types and vegetation taxa, which is also the case for the multivariate spaces of the global spectrum of plant form and function. At the community scale, the trait values weighted by taxon abundance significantly differed among biomes, and these differences were consistent for both pollen aggregation schemes and extant. The pollen aggregation scheme does not impact the organisation of the functional space of the global spectrum of plant form and function, which compares well with that based on species actually present in the vegetation plots. This is also true at the community scale. These findings are very promising for improving climate and biome reconstructions from pollen assemblages and pave the way to a “pollen functional biogeography”
Large language models outperform humans in identifying neuromyths but show sycophantic behavior in applied contexts
Get PDFBackground: Neuromyths are widespread among educators, which raises concerns about misconceptions regarding the (neural) principles underlying learning in the educator population. With the increasing use of large language models (LLMs) in education, educators are increasingly relying on these for lesson planning and professional development. Therefore, if LLMs correctly identify neuromyths, they may help to dispute related misconceptions.
Method: We evaluated whether LLMs can correctly identify neuromyths and whether they may hint educators to neuromyths in applied contexts when users ask questions comprising related misconceptions. Additionally, we examined whether explicitly prompting LLMs to base their answer on scientific evidence or to correct unsupported assumptions would decrease errors in identifying neuromyths.
Results: LLMs outperformed humans in identifying neuromyth statements as used in previous studies. However, when presented with applied user-like questions comprising misconceptions, they struggled to highlight or dispute these. Interestingly, explicitly asking LLMs to correct unsupported assumptions increased the likelihood that misconceptions were flagged considerably, while prompting the models to rely on scientific evidence had only little effects.
Conclusion: While LLMs outperformed humans at identifying isolated neuromyth statements, they struggled to hint users towards the same misconception when they were included in more applied user-like questions—presumably due to LLMs’ tendency toward sycophantic responses. This limitation suggests that, despite their potential, LLMs are not yet a reliable safeguard against the spread of neuromyths in educational settings. However, when users explicitly prompt LLMs to correct unsupported assumptions—an approach that may initially seem counterintuitive–this effectively reduced sycophantic responses
The making of rights of nature : nine patterns in a decade of empirical research on social-ecological drivers and actors
No full textRights of Nature (RoN) cases, where nature is granted legal rights, are rapidly gaining traction across the globe. Although there are many individual and comparative case studies, the extent to which emerging RoN cases share specific patterns that can be observed in the processes leading to the adoption of RoN is yet to be understood. To fill this gap, we provide a systematic literature review of the decade of empirical research on the RoN. Building on the Institutional Analysis and Development framework, our review uses an in-depth analysis, with a special focus on eliciting evolving patterns across cases. The analysis demonstrated that the drivers of RoN processes are extraordinarily complex and case-specific, shaping our understanding of RoN itself. The identified nine patterns show that understanding RoN as a ‘revolutionary ecocentric movement’ is too simplistic, and it should rather be understood as a boundary object that connects place-based non-human and human well-being and relations, as well as formal and informal institutional conditions. The review revealed that themes such as justice, property rights, and personal engagement of powerful actors have been key in driving RoN cases worldwide. Likewise, contrary to the conventional perception, concern for the environment is not a common driver of RoN, and Indigenous or local communities cannot be universally and simply described as advocating actors for RoN, while undoubtedly it is often their interests that are most affected by RoN reforms. However, RoN-related rules tend to create space for questioning the purely instrumental and short-term perspectives towards nature and for redirecting the focus to relational and representational thinking. We found that disciplinary silos contributed to the historically veiled image of RoN due to insufficient engagement with interdisciplinary and decolonizing research methods. The revealed patterns can guide scholars, practitioners, and policymakers in rapidly growing cases worldwide to learn from the existing empirical knowledge. Our study is particularly valuable in times when multiple local-to-global and increasingly acute challenges around nature and biodiversity are putting pressure on societies to develop more ‘fundamental’ or ‘transformative’ approaches bridging science, policy, and practice and especially those that can better integrate diverse knowledge systems of Indigenous and local communities
echoLink - the Heartbeat of Berlin : Enhancing Social activities and Human well-being through Smart city technologies and Resilient landscape design ; Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Internet-of-Things into the Green network surrounding Tempelhofer Feld, Berlin, Germany
No full textMLUH-E-155_1, Circus macrourus (Gmelin, SG, 1770), eggshell
No full textInventory No.: MLUH-E-155_1, Object: eggshell, Species: Circus macrourus (Gmelin, SG, 1770), Preservation: complete preservation, Locality_loc.: Südrussland, Locality today: Southern Federal District, Country: RussiaDate: ?, Collection_coll.: M. Schönwetter, published in Handbuch der Oologie, Schönwetter, Max: Vol. I, p. 175, Identification by: M. Schönwetter, Aquisition: 1910, Aquired from: R. Tancré, ex Collection: ex. Coll. R. Tancr
MLUH-E-268_1, Buteo buteo vulpinus (Gloger, 1833), eggshell
No full textInventory No.: MLUH-E-268_1, Object: eggshell, Species: Buteo buteo vulpinus (Gloger, 1833), Preservation: complete preservation, Locality_loc.: Ashabat, Locality today: [Ashgabat] Turmenistan, Country: TurkmenistanDate: ?, Collection_coll.: M. Schönwetter, published in Handbuch der Oologie, Schönwetter, Max: Vol. I, p. 166, Identification by: M. Schönwetter, Aquisition: 1918, Aquired from: R. Tancré, ex Collection: ex. Coll. R. Tancr
Individualized home training in head and neck cancer patients is safe and has positive short- and medium-term effects : results of a multicenter, single-arm intervention trial (OSHO #94)
No full textIntroduction: Despite targeted exercise interventions alleviating functional deficits in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients, many patients are insufficiently physically active. A promising approach to reducing barriers could be individually adaptable home training. The “OSHO #94” study examined the short-term effectiveness, the medium-term sustainability, and the safety of an individualized home exercise program
Methods: This multicenter, single-arm, interventional study included patients in aftercare or in stable remission. Participants were advised to perform an individualized home exercise program (mobilization, coordination, strengthening, and stretching) at least three times a week and moderate-intensity endurance training two to three times a week. During the 12-week intervention, they kept a training diary and received weekly physiotherapist calls. In the subsequent 12-week follow-up (FU), participants were asked to continue training. The evaluation of short-term effects (between pre- and post-intervention) and medium-term effects (incl. FU), included the assessment of quality of life (QoL), physical activity level (Leisure Score Index (LSI); weekly amount), body composition, shoulder/cervical spine range of motion, fall risk, and aerobic performance. Adverse events were recorded.
Results: Fifty-three patients (57% male) were enrolled, 83% completed the post assessment, and 72% completed FU. During the intervention, participants exercised for 257 min/week (with 95 minutes individual and 162 minutes endurance). The pre-post intervention effect on the global QoL was small (rw=0.20, p=0.186). Moderate effects were found in emotional (rw=0.38, p=0.011) and social functioning (rw=0.46, p=0.002), fatigue (rw=0.37, p=0.013), and dyspnea (rw=0.32, p=0.035). LSI increased significantly (25 vs. 39, p=0.003), whereas total physical activity duration remained unchanged (280 vs. 290 min/week, p=0.160). Small effects were observed on body composition. The largest effects were seen in physical functioning, particularly aerobic performance (rw=0.67, p<0.001). Nine participants (17%) reported training-related adverse events, primarily pain. Half of participants (48%) continued with individual training during FU. Some short-term effects could be detected medium-term.
Discussion: Physical activity level improved despite an unchanged activity duration suggesting an increased training intensity. With individualized home exercises and remote support, home training was effective and safe. After support ended, patients maintained their activity level and the effects were sustained, suggesting suitability for routine care