Refine
Year of publication
Document Type
- Article (30512)
- Part of Periodical (11474)
- Book (8226)
- Doctoral Thesis (5594)
- Part of a Book (3869)
- Working Paper (3369)
- Review (2921)
- Contribution to a Periodical (2277)
- Preprint (1809)
- Report (1561)
Language
- German (42242)
- English (28307)
- French (1060)
- Portuguese (840)
- Spanish (309)
- Croatian (302)
- Multiple languages (255)
- Italian (197)
- mis (174)
- Turkish (168)
Has Fulltext
- yes (74178) (remove)
Keywords
- Deutsch (1076)
- Literatur (857)
- taxonomy (738)
- Deutschland (551)
- Rezension (511)
- new species (438)
- Rezeption (349)
- Frankfurt <Main> / Universität (341)
- Übersetzung (311)
- Geschichte (299)
Institute
- Medizin (7363)
- Präsidium (5062)
- Physik (4110)
- Extern (2738)
- Wirtschaftswissenschaften (2643)
- Gesellschaftswissenschaften (2362)
- Biowissenschaften (2111)
- Biochemie und Chemie (1950)
- Center for Financial Studies (CFS) (1607)
- Informatik (1577)
Germany experienced a 6-month second lockdown (November 2020–April 2021) during the COVID-19 pandemic, which included the closure of all physical activity (PA) facilities. The use of online exercise classes (OECs) was promoted by public health and exercise organizations. Using the present cross-sectional online survey, we assess the use of and opinion towards OECs in Germany during the second lockdown. We used contingency tables and the Chi2 test to calculate the frequency of awareness and use of OECs according to PA status, well-being and demographic data, and conducted a binary logistic regression with OEC awareness or use and dichotomized independent predictors. The associations between opinion and activity status, frequency of use, educational attainment, age and body mass index were calculated using Spearman correlations. A total of 993 datasets were analyzed in detail. Of the 785 (79.1%) participants reporting awareness of OECs, 536 tried them, and 262, 188 and 85 used them <1 per week, 1–2 per week and ≥3 per week, respectively. The users were typically active, female participants with poorer mental well-being. The opinions towards OECs varied according to participant characteristics, such as activity status, BMI and age. Overall, regular OEC use was quite limited, and, as such, cannot replace in-person exercise opportunities. Keeping physical activity facilities open and safe must be prioritized in the ongoing pandemic.
We investigate the decisions of listed firms to go private once again. We start by revealing that while a significant number of firms which go public is VC-backed, an overproportional share of these VC-backed firms go private later on (they stay on the exchange for an average of 8.5 years). We interpret this very robust pattern such that IPOs of VC-backed firms are to a large extent a temporary rather than a permanent feature of the corporate governance of these firms. We investigate various potential hypotheses why VCs actually seem to be able to bring marginal firms to the exchange by relating the going-private decisions to various characteristics of the IPO market as well as to VC characteristics. We find strong support for the certification ability of VCs: more experienced and reputable VCs are more able to bring marginal firms to public exchanges via an IPOs. These marginal firms backed-by more reputable and experienced VCs are more likely to go private later on. Hence, our analysis suggests that IPOs backed by experienced VCs are most likely to be a temporary rather than the final stage in the life of the portfolio firm. We find no support that reputable VCs underprice their IPO-exits more implying that they have no need to leave more money on the table to take the marginal firms public.
We examine the degree to which competition amongst lenders interacts with the cyclicality in lending standards using a simple measure, the average physical distance of borrowers from banks’ branches. We propose that this novel measure captures the extent to which lenders are willing to stretch their lending portfolio. Consistent with this idea, we find a significant cyclical component in the evolution of lending distances. Distances widen considerably when credit conditions are lax and shorten considerably when credit conditions become tighter. Next, we show that a sharp departure from the trend in distance between banks and borrowers is indicative of increased risk taking. Finally, we provide evidence that as competition in banks’ local markets increases, their willingness to make loans at greater distance increases. Since average lending distance is easily measurable, it is potentially a useful measure for bank supervisors.
Around the world, more young people than ever before are attending university. Student numbers in South Africa have doubled since democracy and for many families, higher education is a route to a better future for their children. But alongside the overwhelming demand for higher education, questions about its purposes have intensified. Deliberations about the curriculum, culture and costing of public higher education abound from student activists, academics, parents, civil society and policy-makers. We know, from macro research, that South African graduates generally have good employment prospects. But little is known at a detailed level about how young people actually make use of their university experiences to craft their life courses. And even less is known about what happens to those who drop out. This accessible book brings together the rich life stories of 73 young people, six years after they began their university studies. It traces how going to university influences not only their employment options, but also nurtures the agency needed to chart their own way and to engage critically with the world around them. The book offers deep insights into the ways in which public higher education is both a private and public good, and it provides significant conclusions pertinent to anyone who works in and cares about universities.
Introduction: The 2017 update to the Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) strategy document includes recommendations for treatment intensification or step-down in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), although recognises that limited supporting information is available.
DACCORD is an ongoing observational, non-interventional study, recruiting patients following COPD maintenance treatment change or initiation, a subset of whom were receiving a long-acting β2-agonist (LABA) plus a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) fixed-dose combination (FDC) on entry. Since there were no requirements in terms of prior medication (and no washout before commencing LABA/LAMA FDC), this provides an opportunity to generate "real world" data to test the GOLD 2017 recommendations.
Methods: To reduce heterogeneity, the current analyses include patients receiving indacaterol/glycopyrronium at baseline, and who, prior to the study, were receiving no COPD maintenance medication ("none"), LABA or LAMA monotherapy ("mono"), LABA plus inhaled corticosteroid (ICS; "LABA/ICS"), or triple therapy ("triple"). At the baseline visit, data collected included: demographic and disease characteristics; COPD Assessment Test (CAT); and exacerbations in the 6 months prior to entry. At 3, 6, 9 and 12 months data on exacerbations were collected, with CAT recorded at 3 and 12 months.
Results: A total of 2724 patients were included in the baseline analyses: 795, 954, 598 and 377 in the "none", "mono", "LABA/ICS" and "triple" subgroups, respectively. There were no clinically relevant differences in baseline demographics between the four groups. In terms of disease characteristics, the "triple" group had the highest proportion of patients with a disease duration of more than 1 year since diagnosis and with severe/very severe airflow limitation, but a similar percentage of non-exacerbators compared to the "none" group.
Over the 1-year follow-up, the majority of patients in all four subgroups did not exacerbate (exacerbation rates 0.16, 0.19, 0.21, and 0.26 in the "none", "mono", "LABA/ICS" and "triple" groups, respectively). At 12 months, 61.4%, 65.0%, 71.0% and 52.4% of patients had a clinically relevant improvement in CAT score.
Conclusions: Overall, the results support the GOLD recommendations in suggesting that a switch from a mono-bronchodilator or LABA plus ICS to LABA/LAMA FDC is a valid treatment option for patients with COPD. The results also validate the use of a LABA/LAMA FDC as initial maintenance treatment for COPD, and provide first "real world" evidence to support the newly added "step down" recommendation (from triple to LABA/LAMA FDC).
Interaction of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in the vicinity of cells’ membrane with a pulsed laser (λ = 532 nm, τ = 1 ns) leads to perforation of the cell membrane, thereby allowing extracellular molecules to diffuse into the cell. The objective of this study was to develop an experimental setting to deliver molecules into primary human gingival fibroblasts (pHFIB-G) by using ns-laser pulses interacting with AuNPs (study group). To compare the parameters required for manipulation of pHFIB-G with those needed for cell lines, a canine pleomorphic adenoma cell line (ZMTH3) was used (control group). Non-laser-treated cells incubated with AuNPs and the delivery molecules served as negative control. Laser irradiation (up to 35 mJ/cm2) resulted in a significant proportion of manipulated fibroblasts (up to 85%, compared to non-irradiated cells: p < 0.05), while cell viability (97%) was not reduced significantly. pHFIB-G were perforated as efficiently as ZMTH3. No significant decrease of metabolic cell activity was observed up to 72 h after laser treatment. The fibroblasts took up dextrans with molecular weights up to 500 kDa. Interaction of AuNPs and a pulsed laser beam yields a spatially selective technique for manipulation of even primary cells such as pHFIB-G in high throughput.
Nanoparticles (particles sized between 1 and 100 nanometers) are more and more used in all fields of science and medicine for their physicochemical properties. As gold has traditionally been considered as chemically inert and biocompatible, in particular, gold nanoparticles have been established as valuable tools in several areas of biomedical research. But in contrast to the multitude of studies that addressed the clinical use of gold nanoparticles, only little is known about potential toxicological effects such as induction of inflammatory immune responses, possible apoptotic cell death or developmental growth inhibition in embryos. Therefore the present study performed a systematic review of toxicological data, especially experimentally acquired data concerning in-vivo-toxicity, published in the PubMed. It can be stated that the data in this area of research is still largely limited. Especially, knowledge about size-, charge- and surface-chemistry dependent in-vivo-toxicity is needed to predict the hazard potential of auric nanoparticles (AuNPs) for humans.
Stephen Kauta Msiska was ordained to the ministry in 1945 and served the Livingstonia Synod in a number of lakeshore parishes before being appointed ?rst a tutor and later Principal of the united CCAP Theological College at Nkhoma where he taught from 1962 to 1974. His ?rm stand for what he understood to be the principles of the Christian Gospel led to a clash with the one-party regime and he was forced to ?ee to his home village and to live there in relative obscurity. This book makes accessible some of the fruits not only of his years of active pastoral ministry and theological teaching but also of his time of lonely suffering and sorrow. Distinctive in the writing of this pioneering theologian is a profound, though not uncritical, sympathy with the traditional religion of his people combined with a passionate concern for authentic Christian discipleship. Careful readers of this original and thoughtful book will ?nd the 'golden buttons' which Stephen Kauta is determined should not be lost.
Coarse-grained modeling has become an important tool to supplement experimental measurements, allowing access to spatio-temporal scales beyond all-atom based approaches. The GōMartini model combines structure- and physics-based coarse-grained approaches, balancing computational efficiency and accurate representation of protein dynamics with the capabilities of studying proteins in different biological environments. This paper introduces an enhanced GōMartini model, which combines a virtual-site implementation of Gō models with Martini 3. The implementation has been extensively tested by the community since the release of the new version of Martini. This work demonstrates the capabilities of the model in diverse case studies, ranging from protein-membrane binding to protein-ligand interactions and AFM force profile calculations. The model is also versatile, as it can address recent inaccuracies reported in the Martini protein model. Lastly, the paper discusses the advantages, limitations, and future perspectives of the Martini 3 protein model and its combination with Gō models.