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Background
For rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the treat-to-target concept suggests attaining remission or at least low disease activity (LDA) after 12 weeks.
Objectives
This German, prospective, multicenter, non-interventional study aimed to determine the proportion of patients with RA who achieved their treat-to-target aim after 12 and 24 weeks of etanercept (ETN) treatment in a real-life setting, as opposed to patients achieving their therapeutic target at a later timepoint (week 36 or 52).
Methods
A total of 824 adults with a confirmed diagnosis of RA without prior ETN treatment were included. Remission and LDA were defined as DAS28 < 2.6 and DAS28 ≤ 3.2, respectively.
Results
The proportion of patients achieving remission was 24% at week 12 and 31% at week 24. The proportion of patients achieving LDA was 39% at week 12 and 45% at week 24. The proportion of patients achieving remission or LDA further increased beyond week 24 up to week 52. Improvement in pain and reduction in concomitant glucocorticoid treatment were observed. Improvements in patient-reported outcomes were also seen in patients who did not reach remission or LDA. No new safety signals were detected.
Conclusions
A considerable proportion of patients with RA attained the target of remission or LDA after 12 weeks of ETN treatment. Even beyond that timepoint, the proportion of patients achieving treatment targets continued to increase up to week 52.
Trial Registration
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02486302.
Plain Language Summary
Physicians measure response to treatment of rheumatoid arthritis using a disease activity score (DAS28). People with a DAS28 of less than 2.6 have very few to no symptoms (also called remission). People with a DAS28 of 3.2 or less, called low disease activity, may experience mild symptoms. When people do not respond to treatment after 12 weeks, it is usually recommended to prescribe a different treatment. Researchers do not know how many people who do not respond after 12 weeks would respond if treatment were continued. A total of 824 German people with rheumatoid arthritis who received a drug called etanercept for up to 52 weeks took part in this study. Researchers wanted to know how many people had remission or low disease activity after 12 weeks and 24 weeks of treatment.
After 12 weeks, 24 in 100 people had remission; this increased to 31 in 100 people after 24 weeks. Thirty-nine in 100 people had low disease activity after 12 weeks; this increased to 45 in 100 people after 24 weeks. The number of people with remission or low disease activity increased with longer treatment (up to 52 weeks). People needed less additional treatment with a type of drug called glucocorticoids. The people in this study experienced side effects that were similar to those reported by people who took etanercept in previous studies.
The researchers concluded that a considerable proportion of people responded to treatment with etanercept after 12 weeks. This proportion increased when treatment was continued for longer than 12 weeks.
Porous tantalum trabecular metal biomaterial has a similar structure to trabecular bone, and was recently added to titanium dental implants as a surface enhancement. The purpose of this prospective pilot study was to describe 5-year survival results and crestal bone level changes around immediately-provisionalized Trabecular Metal Dental Implants. Eligible patients were adults in need of ≥1 implants in the posterior jaw. A non-occluding single acrylic provisional crown was in place for up to 14 days before final restoration. Clinical evaluations with radiographs were conducted at each follow-up visit (1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 to 5 years). The primary endpoint was implant survival, characterized using the Kaplan-Meier method. The secondary endpoint was changes in crestal bone level, evaluated using a paired t-test to compare mean crestal bone levels between the baseline, 6-month, and annual follow-up values. In total, 30 patients (37 implants) were treated. Mean patient age was 45.5 years, and 63% were female. There was one implant failure; cumulative survival at 5 years was 97.2%. After the initial bone loss of 0.40 mm in the first 6 months, there were no statistically significant changes in crestal bone level over time up to 5 years of follow-up.
Objective
Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) is a tool used to screen for significant fibrosis and portal hypertension. The aim of this retrospective multicentre study was to develop an easy tool using LSM for clinical outcomes in advanced chronic liver disease (ACLD) patients.
Design
This international multicentre cohort study included a derivation ACLD patient cohort with valid two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE) results. Clinical and laboratory parameters at baseline and during follow-up were recorded. LSM by transient elastography (TE) was also recorded if available. The primary outcome was overall mortality. The secondary outcome was the development of first/further decompensation.
Results
After screening 2148 patients (16 centres), 1827 patients (55 years, 62.4% men) were included in the 2D-SWE cohort, with median liver SWE (L-SWE) 11.8 kPa and a model for end stage liver disease (MELD) score of 8. Combination of MELD score and L-SWE predict independently of mortality (AUC 0.8). L-SWE cut-off at ≥20 kPa combined with MELD ≥10 could stratify the risk of mortality and first/further decompensation in ACLD patients. The 2-year mortality and decompensation rates were 36.9% and 61.8%, respectively, in the 305 (18.3%) high-risk patients (with L-SWE ≥20 kPa and MELD ≥10), while in the 944 (56.6%) low-risk patients, these were 1.1% and 3.5%, respectively. Importantly, this M10LS20 algorithm was validated by TE-based LSM and in an additional cohort of 119 patients with valid point shear SWE-LSM.
Conclusion
The M10LS20 algorithm allows risk stratification of patients with ACLD. Patients with L-SWE ≥20 kPa and MELD ≥10 should be followed closely and receive intensified care, while patients with low risk may be managed at longer intervals.
Rationale: Studies have suggested mental health improvements following the use of the psychotropic plant concoction ayahuasca in non-clinical and clinical samples.
Objectives: The present observational study assessed depressive symptomatology in 20 clinically depressed patients (symptom score > 13 on the Beck’s Depression Inventory) before attendance of an ayahuasca ceremony and 1 month and 1 year after. Secondary measures included ratings of altered states of consciousness and ego dissolution during the ayahuasca ceremony as well as global measures of mindfulness, satisfaction with life, depression, anxiety, and stress.
Results: Twenty participants completed baseline and 1-day follow-up, 19 completed measures at 1-month follow-up, and 17 completed measures at 1-year follow-up. BDI scores reduced from baseline (M = 22.7) to all post-ceremony measures (Ms 11.45, 12.89, and 8.88, for 1-day, 1-month, and 1-year follow-up, respectively). After 1 day, 12/20 participants were in remission (BDI < 13). Remission rates after 1 month and 1 year were 13/19 and 12/17, respectively. Three participants remained mildly depressed (BDI 14–19) at the 1-month and 1-year follow-up. Two participants did not respond and remained at a moderate/severe level of depression at 1-year follow-up. Reductions on the secondary mental health measures and increases in mindfulness and satisfaction with life were found up to 1 year post-ceremony. Improvements in clinical depression and mental health correlated with levels of experienced ego dissolution and oceanic boundlessness during the ceremony up to 1 month after the ceremony. Engagement in additional mental health treatments or use of another psychedelic during study participation may have contributed to improved mental health ratings at 1-year follow-up.
Conclusion: Ayahuasca produces long-term mental health improvements in clinically depressed patients, which highlights its therapeutic potential.
Rapidity-odd directed flow measurements at midrapidity are presented for Λ, Λ¯, K±, K0s and ϕ at sNN−−−−√= 7.7, 11.5, 14.5, 19.6, 27, 39, 62.4 and 200 GeV in Au+Au collisions recorded by the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. These measurements greatly expand the scope of data available to constrain models with differing prescriptions for the equation of state of quantum chromodynamics. Results show good sensitivity for testing a picture where flow is assumed to be imposed before hadron formation and the observed particles are assumed to form via coalescence of constituent quarks. The pattern of departure from a coalescence-inspired sum-rule can be a valuable new tool for probing the collision dynamics.
Surface temperature is a fundamental parameter of Earth’s climate. Its evolution through time is commonly reconstructed using the oxygen isotope and the clumped isotope compositions of carbonate archives. However, reaction kinetics involved in the precipitation of carbonates can introduce inaccuracies in the derived temperatures. Here, we show that dual clumped isotope analyses, i.e., simultaneous ∆47 and ∆48 measurements on the single carbonate phase, can identify the origin and quantify the extent of these kinetic biases. Our results verify theoretical predictions and evidence that the isotopic disequilibrium commonly observed in speleothems and scleractinian coral skeletons is inherited from the dissolved inorganic carbon pool of their parent solutions. Further, we show that dual clumped isotope thermometry can achieve reliable palaeotemperature reconstructions, devoid of kinetic bias. Analysis of a belemnite rostrum implies that it precipitated near isotopic equilibrium and confirms the warmer-than-present temperatures during the Early Cretaceous at southern high latitudes.
We study the beam-energy and system-size dependence of \phi meson production (using the hadronic decay mode \phi -- K+K-) by comparing the new results from Cu+Cu collisions and previously reported Au+Au collisions at \sqrt{s_NN} = 62.4 and 200 GeV measured in the STAR experiment at RHIC. Data presented are from mid-rapidity (|y|<0.5) for 0.4 < pT < 5 GeV/c. At a given beam energy, the transverse momentum distributions for \phi mesons are observed to be similar in yield and shape for Cu+Cu and Au+Au colliding systems with similar average numbers of participating nucleons. The \phi meson yields in nucleus-nucleus collisions, normalised by the average number of participating nucleons, are found to be enhanced relative to those from p+p collisions with a different trend compared to strange baryons. The enhancement for \phi mesons is observed to be higher at \sqrt{s_NN} = 200 GeV compared to 62.4 GeV. These observations for the produced \phi(s\bar{s}) mesons clearly suggest that, at these collision energies, the source of enhancement of strange hadrons is related to the formation of a dense partonic medium in high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions and cannot be alone due to canonical suppression of their production in smaller systems.
We report measurements of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry, ALL, for inclusive jet and dijet production in polarized proton-proton collisions at midrapidity and center-of-mass energy s√ = 510 GeV, using the high luminosity data sample collected by the STAR experiment in 2013. These measurements complement and improve the precision of previous STAR measurements at the same center-of-mass energy that probe the polarized gluon distribution function at partonic momentum fraction 0.015 ≲x≲ 0.25. The dijet asymmetries are separated into four jet-pair topologies, which provide further constraints on the x dependence of the polarized gluon distribution function. These measurements are in agreement with previous STAR measurements and with predictions from current next-to-leading order global analyses. They provide more precise data at low dijet invariant mass that will better constraint the shape of the polarized gluon distribution function of the proton.
Einleitung : Eine sinnvolle Einbindung von Pflegefachpersonen mit Hochschulabschluss in die Versorgungsabläufe wird international häufig mit besseren Behandlungsergebnissen bei den Patient*innen assoziiert. In Deutschland fehlt es derzeit noch an verlässlichen Zahlen über Absolvent*innen und deren Aufgabenfeldern. Ziel dieser Erhebung war daher, durch Wiederholung einer früheren Erhebung erneut den Anteil von Pflegefachpersonen mit Bachelor- oder Masterabschlüssen in der direkten Patient*innenversorgung zu ermitteln.
Methode: In einer Querschnittserhebung wurden die Pflegedirektor*innen der Universitätskliniken und Medizinischen Hochschulen (UK) Deutschlands mittels einer standardisierten Befragung nach der Anzahl der Pflegefachpersonen mit Hochschulabschlüssen (Bachelor, Master und Doktor) gefragt. Weitere Fragen betrafen deren Aufgabengebiete und Integrationsmaßnahmen. Die Daten wurden mittels deskriptiver Statistik ausgewertet.
Ergebnisse: Insgesamt konnten n = 29 gültige Fragebögen aus 35 UK in die Analyse eingeschlossen werden, daraus ergibt sich eine Rücklaufquote von 82,85%. Für insgesamt 18 UK konnte eine Steigerung der hochschulisch qualifizierten Pflegefachpersonen um n = 786, von 2015 (n = 593) auf 2018 (n = 1379) erreicht werden. Der Anteil an Pflegefachpersonen mit Hochschulabschluss in den teilnehmenden UK liegt bei 3,16% (SD = 1,66; Min - Max = 1,09 - 6,69; Q1 - Q3 = 1,49 - 4,04; 95% KI = 2,30 – 3,95). In der direkten Versorgung beträgt der Anteil 2,11% (SD = 1,40; Min – Max = 0,47 - 5,42; Q1 – Q3 = 0,87 – 3,16; 95% KI 1,36 - 2,76). Die Aufgabenschwerpunkte liegen im Bereich der Regelversorgung und Patient*innenedukation (Bachelorabsolvent*innen), der evidenzbasierten Pflegepraxisentwicklung (Masterabsolvent*innen) und Forschung (promovierte Absolvent*innen).
Diskussion: Im Vergleich zu 2015 ist der Anteil hochschulisch qualifizierter Pflegefachpersonen zwar angestiegen, doch er liegt immer noch auf einem sehr niedrigen Niveau. Die Hochschulabsolvent*innen nehmen versorgungs- und entwicklungsrelevante Aufgaben wahr, doch besteht hinsichtlich ihrer Aufgabengebiete Bedarf an kompetenzorientierter Differenzierung.
Transverse spin transfer to Λ and ¯Λ hyperons in polarized proton-proton collisions at √𝑠=200 GeV
(2018)
The transverse spin transfer from polarized protons to Λ and Λ¯ hyperons is expected to provide sensitivity to the transversity distribution of the nucleon and to the transversely polarized fragmentation functions. We report the first measurement of the transverse spin transfer to Λ and Λ¯ along the polarization direction of the fragmenting quark, DTT, in transversely polarized proton-proton collisions at s√=200GeV with the STAR detector at RHIC. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 18pb−1 and cover the pseudorapidity range |η|<1.2 and transverse momenta pT up to 8GeV/c. The dependence on pT and η are presented. The DTT results are found to be comparable with a model prediction, and are also consistent with zero within uncertainties.
We present the first inclusive measurements of the invariant and SoftDrop jet mass in proton-proton collisions at s√=200 GeV at STAR. The measurements are fully corrected for detector effects, and reported differentially in both the jet transverse momentum and jet radius parameter. We compare the measurements to established leading-order Monte Carlo event generators and find that STAR-tuned PYTHIA-6 reproduces the data, while LHC tunes of PYTHIA-8 and HERWIG-7 do not agree with the data, providing further constraints on parameter tuning. Finally, we observe that SoftDrop grooming, for which the contribution of wide-angle non-perturbative radiation is suppressed, shifts the jet mass distributions into closer agreement with the partonic jet mass as determined by both PYTHIA-8 and a next-to-leading-logarithmic accuracy perturbative QCD calculation. These measurements complement recent LHC measurements in a different kinematic region, as well as establish a baseline for future jet mass measurements in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC.
Aim
How species respond to climate change is influenced by their sensitivity to climatic conditions (i.e. their climatic niche) and aspects of their adaptive capacity (e.g. their dispersal ability and ecological niche). To date, it is largely unknown whether and how species’ sensitivity to climate change and their adaptive capacity covary. However, understanding this relationship is important to predict the potential consequences of a changing climate for species assemblages. Here, we test how species’ sensitivity to climate change and trait-based measures of their ecological adaptive capacity (i) vary along a broad elevational gradient and (ii) covary across a large number of bird species.
Location
A Neotropical elevational gradient (300–3600 m.a.s.l.) in the Manú Biosphere Reserve, south-east Peru.
Methods
We focus on 215 frugivorous bird species along a Neotropical elevational gradient. We approximate species’ sensitivity to climate change by their climatic niche breadth, based on species occurrences across South America and bioclimatic variables. In addition, we use a trait-based approach to estimate the dispersal ability of species (approximated by their wing pointedness), their dietary niche breadth (approximated by bill width) and their habitat niche breadth (the number of used habitat classes).
Results
We found that (i) species’ climatic niche breadth increased with elevation, while their trait-based dispersal ability and dietary niche breadth decreased with elevation, and (ii) sensitivity to climate change and trait-based adaptive capacity were not related across species.
Main conclusions
These results suggest different mechanisms of how species in lowland and highland assemblages might respond to climate change. The independent variation of species’ sensitivity to climate change and their trait-based adaptive capacity suggests that accounting for both dimensions will improve assessments of species’ susceptibility to climate change and potential impacts of climate change on diverse species assemblages.
Glecaprevir/pibrentasvir, a pangenotypic, direct-acting antiviral combination approved for chronic hepatitis C virus treatment, has limited real-world evidence supporting 8-week therapy in compensated cirrhosis. We investigated effectiveness and safety of 187 hepatitis C virus-infected, treatment-naïve, patients with compensated cirrhosis receiving 8-week glecaprevir/pibrentasvir therapy in the German Hepatitis C-Registry between 2 August 2017 and 1 January 2020. Sustained virologic response was 98.4% (127/129) in the per-protocol analysis (excluding patients lost to follow-up or who discontinued treatment due to compliance) and was 85.8% (127/148) in patients with data available in an intention-to-treat analysis. Nineteen patients were lost to follow-up; nine genotype 3 patients, nine nongenotype 3 patients and one mixed genotype patient. One patient relapsed, and one died, unrelated to treatment. Adverse events (>5%) were fatigue and headache. Two serious adverse events occurred; no adverse events resulted in drug discontinuation. An 8-week glecaprevir/pibrentasvir therapy was effective and well-tolerated in this real-world analysis.
A linearly polarized photon can be quantized from the Lorentz-boosted electromagnetic field of a nucleus traveling at ultrarelativistic speed. When two relativistic heavy nuclei pass one another at a distance of a few nuclear radii, the photon from one nucleus may interact through a virtual quark-antiquark pair with gluons from the other nucleus, forming a short-lived vector meson (e.g., ρ0). In this experiment, the polarization was used in diffractive photoproduction to observe a unique spin interference pattern in the angular distribution of ρ0 → π+π− decays. The observed interference is a result of an overlap of two wave functions at a distance an order of magnitude larger than the ρ0 travel distance within its lifetime. The strong-interaction nuclear radii were extracted from these diffractive interactions and found to be 6.53 ± 0.06 fm (197Au) and 7.29 ± 0.08 fm (238U), larger than the nuclear charge radii. The observable is demonstrated to be sensitive to the nuclear geometry and quantum interference of nonidentical particles. Polarized photon-gluon fusion reveals quantum wave interference of non-identical particles and shape of high-energy nuclei.
Measurements of mass and Λ binding energy of 4ΛH and 4ΛHe in Au+Au collisions at sNN−−−√=3 GeV are presented, with an aim to address the charge symmetry breaking (CSB) problem in hypernuclei systems with atomic number A = 4. The Λ binding energies are measured to be 2.22±0.06(stat.)±0.14(syst.) MeV and 2.38±0.13(stat.)±0.12(syst.) MeV for 4ΛH and 4ΛHe, respectively. The measured Λ binding-energy difference is 0.16±0.14(stat.)±0.10(syst.) MeV for ground states. Combined with the γ-ray transition energies, the binding-energy difference for excited states is −0.16±0.14(stat.)±0.10(syst.) MeV, which is negative and comparable to the value of the ground states within uncertainties. These new measurements on the Λ binding-energy difference in A = 4 hypernuclei systems are consistent with the theoretical calculations that result in ΔB4Λ(1+exc)≈−ΔB4Λ(0+g.s.)<0 and present a new method for the study of CSB effect using relativistic heavy-ion collisions.
Exploration of macrofungi in the Jammu and Kashmir regions, India, led to the discovery of two novel species, described herein as Lactarius indohirtipes sp. nov. and L. sharmai sp. nov. This paper presents detailed morphological descriptions and illustrations, as well as a phylogenetic analysis based on nrITS sequences. A comparative analysis with related species is also included.
Particulate matter (PM) largely consists of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) that is formed via oxidation of biogenic and anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Unambiguous identification of SOA molecules and their assignment to their precursor vapors is a challenge that has so far only succeeded for a few SOA marker compounds, which are now well characterized and (partly) available as authentic standards. In this work, we resolve the complex composition of SOA by a top-down approach based on a newly created aerosolomics database, which is fed by non-target analysis results of filter samples from oxidation flow reactor experiments. We investigated the oxidation products from the five biogenic VOCs α-pinene, β-pinene, limonene, 3-carene, and trans-caryophyllene and from the four anthropogenic VOCs toluene, o-xylene, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, and naphthalene. Using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to a high-resolution (Orbitrap) mass spectrometer, we determine the molecular formula of 596 chromatographically separated compounds based on exact mass and isotopic pattern. We utilize retention time and fragmentation mass spectra as a basis for unambiguous attribution of the oxidation products to their parent VOCs. Based on the molecular-resolved application of the database, we are able to assign roughly half of the total signal of oxygenated hydrocarbons in ambient suburban PM2.5 to one of the nine studied VOCs. The application of the database enabled us to interpret the appearance of diurnal compound clusters that are formed by different oxidation processes. Furthermore, the application of a hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) on the same set of filter samples enabled us to identify compound clusters that depend on sulfur dioxide mixing ratio and temperature. This study demonstrates how aerosolomics tools (database and HCA) applied on PM filter samples can improve our understanding of SOA sources, their formation pathways, and temperature-driven partitioning of SOA compounds.
The acceptance-corrected dielectron excess mass spectra, where the known hadronic sources have been subtracted from the inclusive dielectron mass spectra, are reported for the first time at mid-rapidity |yee|<1 in minimum-bias Au+Au collisions at sNN−−−−√ = 19.6 and 200 GeV. The excess mass spectra are consistently described by a model calculation with a broadened ρ spectral function for Mee<1.1 GeV/c2. The integrated dielectron excess yield at sNN−−−−√ = 19.6 GeV for 0.4<Mee<0.75 GeV/c2, normalized to the charged particle multiplicity at mid-rapidity, has a value similar to that in In+In collisions at sNN−−−−√ = 17.3 GeV. For sNN−−−−√ = 200 GeV, the normalized excess yield in central collisions is higher than that at sNN−−−−√ = 17.3 GeV and increases from peripheral to central collisions. These measurements indicate that the lifetime of the hot, dense medium created in central Au+Au collisions at sNN−−−−√ = 200 GeV is longer than those in peripheral collisions and at lower energies.
Partons traversing the strongly interacting medium produced in heavy-ion collisions are expected to lose energy depending on their color charge and mass. We measure the nuclear modification factors for charm- and bottom-decay electrons, defined as the ratio of yields, scaled by the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions, in sNN−−−√ = 200 GeV Au+Au collisions to p+p collisions (RAA), or in central to peripheral Au+Au collisions (RCP). We find the bottom-decay electron RAA and RCP to be significantly higher than that of charm-decay electrons. Model calculations including mass-dependent parton energy loss in a strongly coupled medium are consistent with the measured data. These observations provide clear evidence of mass ordering of charm and bottom quark energy loss when traversing through the strongly coupled medium created in heavy-ion collisions.
Particulate matter (PM) largely consists of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) that is formed via oxidation of biogenic and anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Unambiguous identification of SOA molecules and their assignment to their precursor vapors are challenges that have so far only succeeded for a few SOA marker compounds, which are now well characterized and (partly) available as authentic standards. In this work, we resolve the complex composition of SOA by means of a top-down approach based on the newly created Aerosolomics database, which is fed by non-target analysis results of filter samples from oxidation flow reactor experiments. We investigated the oxidation products from the five biogenic VOCs α-pinene, β-pinene, limonene, 3-carene, and trans-caryophyllene and from the four anthropogenic VOCs toluene, o-xylene, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, and naphthalene. Using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a high-resolution (Orbitrap) mass spectrometer, we determine the molecular formula of 596 chromatographically separated compounds based on exact mass and isotopic pattern. We utilize retention time and fragmentation mass spectra as a basis for unambiguous attribution of the oxidation products to their parent VOCs. Based on the molecular-resolved application of the database, we are able to assign roughly half of the total signal of oxygenated hydrocarbons in ambient suburban PM2.5 to one of the nine studied VOCs. The application of the database enabled us to interpret the appearance of diurnal compound clusters that are formed by different oxidation processes. Furthermore, by performing a hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) on the same set of filter samples, we identified compound clusters that depend on sulfur dioxide mixing ratio and temperature. This study demonstrates how Aerosolomics tools (database and HCA) applied to PM filter samples can improve our understanding of SOA sources, their formation pathways, and temperature-driven partitioning of SOA compounds.
Adaptive teaching is considered fundamental to teaching quality and student learning. It describes teachers’ practices of adjusting their instruction to students’ diverse needs and levels of understanding. Adaptive teaching on a micro level has also been labeled as contingent support and has been shown to be effective in one-to-one and small-group settings. In the literature, the interplay of teachers’ diagnostic strategies and instructional prompts aiming at tailored support are emphasized. Our study adds to this research by presenting a reliable measurement approach to adaptive classroom discourse in elementary science which includes a global index and the single indices of diagnostic strategies, instructional support, and student understanding. Applying this coding scheme, we investigate whether N = 17 teachers’ adaptive classroom discourse predicts N = 341 elementary school students’ conceptual understanding of “floating and sinking” on two posttests. In multilevel regression analyses, adaptive classroom discourse was shown to be effective for long-term student learning in the final posttest, while no significant effects were found for the intermediate posttest. Further, the single index of diagnostic strategies in classroom discourse contributed to long-term conceptual restructuring. Overall, teachers rarely acted adaptively which points to the relevance of teacher professional development.
This article attempts to read the Transcendental Dialectic through Meillassoux’s model of the absolute contingency of being in order to rethink some of its central difficulties. Specifically, this concerns better understanding the role played by the categories of relation and modality in the empirical use of the ideas of reason, which underlies their regulative use that is directed at an absolute unity of reason. It will be discussed which questions are implied in the central claim of Meillassoux’s ontology, i.e., that it is possible to derive from the necessity of contingency the existence and noncontradictory being of the thing in itself. First, I will retrace basic points of Meillassoux’s critique of “correlationism”, by means of which he reconfigures the divisions between metaphysics, physics, and ontology. Second, against the background of the Kantian concept of hope, I will examine a relation between the Transcendental Dialectic and ethics, as, respectively, conceived of in Kant and in Meillassoux’s reinterpretation. Third, I will critically ask in how far absolute contingency can be understood as grounding a concept of experience and in which sense the idea of the antinomy chapter in the Transcendental Dialectic contains an argument more complex than Meillassoux’s model suggests.
We fabricated memristive devices using focused electron beam-induced deposition (FEBID) as a direct-writing technique employing a Pt/TiO2/Pt sandwich layer device configuration. Pinching in the measured current-voltage characteristics (i-v), the characteristic fingerprint of memristive behavior was clearly observed. The temperature dependence was measured for both high and low resistive states in the range from 290 K down to about 2 K, showing a stretched exponential behavior characteristic of Mott-type variable-range hopping. From this observation, a valence change mechanism of the charge transport inside the TiO2 layer can be deduced.
Di-hadron correlations with identified leading hadrons in 200 GeV Au+Au and d+Au collisions at STAR
(2015)
The STAR collaboration presents for the first time two-dimensional di-hadron correlations with identified leading hadrons in 200 GeV central Au+Au and minimum-bias d+Au collisions to explore hadronization mechanisms in the quark gluon plasma. The enhancement of the jet-like yield for leading pions in Au+Au data with respect to the d+Au reference and the absence of such an enhancement for leading non-pions (protons and kaons) are discussed within the context of a quark recombination scenario. The correlated yield at large angles, specifically in the \emph{ridge region}, is found to be significantly higher for leading non-pions than pions. The consistencies of the constituent quark scaling, azimuthal harmonic model and a mini-jet modification model description of the data are tested, providing further constraints on hadronization.
A decisive experimental test of the Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME) is considered one of the major scientific goals at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) towards understanding the nontrivial topological fluctuations of the Quantum Chromodynamics vacuum. In heavy-ion collisions, the CME is expected to result in a charge separation phenomenon across the reaction plane, whose strength could be strongly energy dependent. The previous CME searches have been focused on top RHIC energy collisions. In this Letter, we present a low energy search for the CME in Au+Au collisions at sNN−−−√=27 GeV. We measure elliptic flow scaled charge-dependent correlators relative to the event planes that are defined at both mid-rapidity |η|<1.0 and at forward rapidity 2.1<|η|<5.1. We compare the results based on the directed flow plane (Ψ1) at forward rapidity and the elliptic flow plane (Ψ2) at both central and forward rapidity. The CME scenario is expected to result in a larger correlation relative to Ψ1 than to Ψ2, while a flow driven background scenario would lead to a consistent result for both event planes. In 10-50\% centrality, results using three different event planes are found to be consistent within experimental uncertainties, suggesting a flow driven background scenario dominating the measurement. We obtain an upper limit on the deviation from a flow driven background scenario at the 95\% confidence level. This work opens up a possible road map towards future CME search with the high statistics data from the RHIC Beam Energy Scan Phase-II.
We report on the first measurements of J/ψ production at very low transverse momentum (pT< 0.2 GeV/c) in hadronic Au+Au collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV and U+U collisions at √sNN = 193 GeV. Remarkably, the inferred nuclear modification factor of J/ψ at mid-rapidity in Au+Au (U+U) collisions reaches about 24 (52) for pT< 0.05 GeV/c in the 60-80% collision centrality class. This noteworthy enhancement cannot be explained by hadronic production accompanied by cold and hot medium effects. In addition, the dN/dt distribution of J/ψ for the very low pT range is presented for the first time. The distribution is consistent with that expected from the Au nucleus and shows a hint of interference. Comparison of the measurements to theoretical calculations of coherent production shows that the excess yield can be described reasonably well and reveals a partial disruption of coherent production in semi-central collisions, perhaps due to the violent hadronic interactions. Incorporating theoretical calculations, the results strongly suggest that the dramatic enhancement of J/ψ yield observed at extremely low pT originates from coherent photon-nucleus interactions. In particular, coherently produced J/ψ's in violent hadronic collisions may provide a novel probe of the quark-gluon-plasma.
We present measurements of the differential cross sections of inclusive J/ψ meson production as a function of transverse momentum (pJ/ψT) using the μ+μ− and e+e− decay channels in proton+proton collisions at center-of-mass energies of 510 and 500 GeV, respectively, recorded by the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The measurement from the μ+μ− channel is for 0 <pJ/ψT< 9 GeV/c and rapidity range |yJ/ψ|< 0.4, and that from the e+e− channel is for 4 <pJ/ψT< 20 GeV/c and |yJ/ψ|< 1.0. The ψ(2S) to J/ψ ratio is also measured for 4 <pmesonT< 12 GeV/c through the e+e− decay channel. Model calculations, which incorporate different approaches toward the J/ψ production mechanism, are compared with experimental results and show reasonable agreement within uncertainties.
A comprehensive checklist and host plants of Aphididae (Aphidomorpha: Hemiptera) from Pakistan
(2024)
The family Aphididae (Hemiptera) represents one of the most diverse groups of sap-sucking insect pests referred to as aphids or plant-lice, with 366 species reported in Pakistan, associated with wide array of agricultural and horticultural crops, including fruit and forest trees, weeds, grasses, shrubs, and vines. This work aims to provide an updated checklist of aphids and their associated host plants documented across various regions of Pakistan. The checklist consolidates information from various published literature sources, including annotated checklists, regional distribution data, and host plant records from Pakistan. In this study, we present an annotated checklist of 366 aphid species, belonging to 134 genera and 11 subfamilies, associated with a total of 359 host plant species stretched over 84 families in Pakistan.
The first evaluation of an ultra-high granularity digital electromagnetic calorimeter prototype using 1.0–5.8 GeV/c electrons is presented. The 25 × 106 pixel detector consists of 24 layers of ALPIDE CMOS MAPS sensors, with a pitch of around 30 μm, and has a depth of almost 20 radiation lengths of tungsten absorber. Ultra-thin cables allow for a very compact design. The properties that are critical for physics studies are measured: electromagnetic shower response, energy resolution and linearity. The stochastic energy resolution is comparable with the state-of-the art resolution for a Si-W calorimeter, with data described well by a simulation model using Geant4 and Allpix2. The performance achieved makes this technology a good candidate for use in the ALICE FoCal upgrade, and in general demonstrates the strong potential for future applications in high-energy physics.
Using (10087±44)×106 J/ψ events collected with the BESIII detector, numerous Ξ− and Λ decay asymmetry parameters are simultaneously determined from the process J/ψ→Ξ−Ξ¯+→Λ(pπ−)π−Λ¯(n¯π0)π+ and its charge-conjugate channel. The precisions of α0 for Λ→nπ0 and α¯0 for Λ¯→n¯π0 compared to world averages are improved by factors of 4 and 1.7, respectively. The ratio of decay asymmetry parameters of Λ→nπ0 to that of Λ→pπ−, ⟨α0⟩/⟨αΛ−⟩, is determined to be 0.873±0.012+0.011−0.010, where the first and the second uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. The ratio is smaller than unity more than 5σ, which signifies the existence of the ΔI=3/2 transition in Λ for the first time. Beside, we test for CP violation in Ξ−→Λπ− and in Λ→nπ0 with the best precision to date.
Using e+e− collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 892pb−1 collected at center-of-mass energies from 4.84 to 4.95\,GeV with the BESIII detector, we search for the process e+e−→K+K−ψ(3770) by reconstructing two charged kaons and one D meson from ψ(3770). No significant signal of e+e−→K+K−ψ(3770) is found and the upper limits of the Born cross sections are reported at 90\% confidence level.
Understanding how epigenetic variation in non-coding regions is involved in distal gene-expression regulation is an important problem. Regulatory regions can be associated to genes using large-scale datasets of epigenetic and expression data. However, for regions of complex epigenomic signals and enhancers that regulate many genes, it is difficult to understand these associations. We present StitchIt, an approach to dissect epigenetic variation in a gene-specific manner for the detection of regulatory elements (REMs) without relying on peak calls in individual samples. StitchIt segments epigenetic signal tracks over many samples to generate the location and the target genes of a REM simultaneously. We show that this approach leads to a more accurate and refined REM detection compared to standard methods even on heterogeneous datasets, which are challenging to model. Also, StitchIt REMs are highly enriched in experimentally determined chromatin interactions and expression quantitative trait loci. We validated several newly predicted REMs using CRISPR-Cas9 experiments, thereby demonstrating the reliability of StitchIt. StitchIt is able to dissect regulation in superenhancers and predicts thousands of putative REMs that go unnoticed using peak-based approaches suggesting that a large part of the regulome might be uncharted water.
Highlights
• Single nucleotide variants (SNVs) may affect transcription factor (TF) binding
• Fast statistical approach to assess significance of differential TF binding for SNVs
• Validate new approach on in vitro and in vivo TF binding assays
• Applications on GWAS SNVs and large eQTL studies illustrate utility
Summary
Non-coding variants located within regulatory elements may alter gene expression by modifying transcription factor (TF) binding sites, thereby leading to functional consequences. Different TF models are being used to assess the effect of DNA sequence variants, such as single nucleotide variants (SNVs). Often existing methods are slow and do not assess statistical significance of results. We investigated the distribution of absolute maximal differential TF binding scores for general computational models that affect TF binding. We find that a modified Laplace distribution can adequately approximate the empirical distributions. A benchmark on in vitro and in vivo datasets showed that our approach improves upon an existing method in terms of performance and speed. Applications on eQTLs and on a genome-wide association study illustrate the usefulness of our statistics by highlighting cell type-specific regulators and target genes. An implementation of our approach is freely available on GitHub and as bioconda package.
Human 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) is the key enzyme of leukotriene biosynthesis, mostly expressed in leukocytes and thus a crucial component of the innate immune system.
In this study, we show that 5-LO, besides its canonical function as an arachidonic acid metabolizing enzyme, is a regulator of gene expression associated with euchromatin. By Crispr-Cas9-mediated 5-LO knockout (KO) in MonoMac6 (MM6) cells and subsequent RNA-Seq analysis, we identified 5-LO regulated genes which could be clustered to immune/defense response, cell adhesion, transcription and growth/developmental processes. Analysis of differentially expressed genes identified cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2, PTGS2) and kynureninase (KYNU) as strongly regulated 5-LO target genes. 5-LO knockout affected MM6 cell adhesion and tryptophan metabolism via inhibition of the degradation of the immunoregulator kynurenine. By subsequent FAIRE-Seq and 5-LO ChIP-Seq analyses, we found an association of 5-LO with euchromatin, with prominent 5-LO binding to promoter regions in actively transcribed genes. By enrichment analysis of the ChIP-Seq results, we identified potential 5-LO interaction partners. Furthermore, 5-LO ChIP-Seq peaks resemble patterns of H3K27ac histone marks, suggesting that 5-LO recruitment mainly takes place at acetylated histones.>
In summary, we demonstrate a noncanonical function of 5-LO as transcriptional regulator in monocytic cells.
Samples of Crustacea and Annelida (Polychaeta, Sipuncula, and Hirudinea) were collected in the Bering Sea and the northwestern Pacific Ocean during scientific cruise SO-249 BERING in 2016. Biological samples were collected from 32 locations by the team on-board RV Sonne using a chain bag dredge at depths ranging between 330–5,070 m, and preserved in 96% ethanol. Specimens were morphologically identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible using a Leica M60 stereomicroscope. The generated data here comprise taxonomic information as well as annotated bathymetric and biogeographic information from a total of 78 samples (26 Crustacea, 47 Polychaeta, 4 Sipuncula, and 1 Hirudinea). The dataset was prepared following Darwin Core Biodiversity standards for FAIR data sharing based on Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS) and Global Biodiversity Facility (GBIF) guidelines. The standardised digitised data were then mobilised to both OBIS and GBIF under CC BY 4.0 licence to publicly share and adopt the data. As records of these important marine taxa from bathyal and abyssal depths are sparse, especially from the deep Bering Sea, the herein generated and digitised data aid in filling existing knowledge gaps on their diversity and distribution in that region. As part of the “Biogeography of the NW Pacific deep-sea fauna and their possible future invasions into the Arctic Ocean” (BENEFICIAL) project, this dataset thus not only increases our knowledge in re-assessing and uncovering the deep-sea diversity of these taxa, but also serves policy and management sectors by providing first-hand data for global report assessments.
The monophyly of Theraphosinae is supported by both morphological and molecular phylogenies. However, intergeneric relationships often show polytomies and branches with low support. A previous phylogenetic study proposed an intergeneric relationship for the subfamily based on molecular data and divided it into three tribes: Grammostolini, Hapalopini and Theraphosini. However, not all genera of Theraphosinae were sampled, and some relationships were inferred based on morphological similarities. Regarding the Hapalopini from Brazil, the relationships of some genera are still uncertain, such as Kochiana, Catanduba, and Munduruku. In this paper, we describe four new species of Hapalopini from Brazil: Cyriocosmus paresi sp. nov., Hapalopus akroa sp. nov., H. guidonae sp. nov., and K. fukushimae sp. nov. In addition, we propose an updated diagnosis for these three genera and for the species K. brunnipes and M. bicoloratum.
Ophioderma teres (Lyman, 1860), an ophiuroid previously believed to have a wide distribution in the eastern Pacific, has been found to have an unclear taxonomic identity. While considered a well-known species, recent studies have revealed that O. teres lacks a holotype and has vague boundaries with its congeners Ophioderma teres unicolor H.L. Clark, 1940 and Ophioderma sodipallaresi Caso, 1986, as well as with two additional new morphotypes detected in Mexico and Nicaragua, causing continuous misidentifications. This study utilized an integrative taxonomy approach based on morphologic, morphometric, and molecular evidence to clarify the taxonomic status of O. teres, O. sodipallaresi, O. teres unicolor, and the two new morphotypes. Data integration led to the following results: 1) the neotype designation and redescription of O. teres; 2) the proposal of O. sodipallaresi as a junior synonym of O. teres; 3) the status change of O. unicolor stat. nov. from subspecies to species, and 4) the description of the morphotypes as the new species Ophioderma aija sp. nov. and Ophioderma bichi sp. nov. An identification key to the eastern Pacific species of Ophioderma was also developed. This work contributes to the knowledge of Ophioderma in the region, increasing the number of described species and providing resources for their accurate identification.
In this study, we describe two new species of Mesobiotus based on morphological data collected through light and scanning electron microscopy. Descriptions include DNA sequences of four commonly used molecular markers (18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, ITS-2, and COI). Mesobiotus efa sp. nov. was discovered in North-West Russia and belongs to the group of species with smooth cuticle, harmsworthi-type OCA, typical Mesobiotus claws IV with unindented lunules, and egg chorion with reticulated processes in form of ‘sharp wide cones’ or ‘cones with long slender endings’, egg process bases with well-developed crone of dark thickenings without finger-like projections, and egg shell surface between the processes with ridges without reticulation, areolation or semi-areolation. It can be distinguished from all know species of this group by a unique combination of morphological and morphometric characters. Mesobiotus vulpinus sp. nov. was found in the Russian Far East, and is similar to Mesobiotus mauccii by having an egg chorion with polygonal relief. The new species can be distinguished from M. mauccii by having a narrower buccal tube, by details of oral cavity armature, and by longer egg chorion processes. Furthermore, we provide results of the phylogenetic analyses of the genus Mesobiotus conducted in this study.
Although semi-aquatic cockroaches have been known for a long time, these insects remain little studied and their diversity underestimated. While a few species are known from Asia or South America, only a single one is known to be associated with water in Africa. Here, we report two species of semi-aquatic cockroaches of the subfamily Epilamprinae from Cameroon. One of these species is new: Rhabdoblatta fotoi Nyame Mbia, Legendre & Biram à Ngon sp. nov. Africalolampra camerunensis (Borg, 1902) comb. nov. was also found associated to these streams and we provide an extended description of this species, as well as for Africalolampra stipata comb. nov., also known from streams in West Africa. Another species was found in Cameroonian streams and is described here, although only identified at the family level (Blattellidae). The descriptions are based on morpho-anatomic characters, including male genitalia. Because nymphs were found primarily associated with water – more than adults – we provide a description of nymphs whenever possible. We provide molecular data (12S rRNA marker) for two of these water-associated species that we compared with published and unpublished sequences of Epilamprinae in a Maximum Likelihood approach. We also illustrate all but one species from continental Africa in the genera Africalolampra and Rhabdoblatta, including R. punctipennis (Saussure, 1895) which we reinstate. We provide a map and list of localities for Africalolampra and Rhabdoblatta spp. from continental Africa and Madagascar, as well as an identification key for species of Africalolampra. We finally discuss putative adaptations of semi-aquatic cockroaches.
Discoveries of new species often depend on one or a few specimens, leading to delays as researchers wait for additional context, sometimes for decades. There is currently little professional incentive for a single expert to publish a stand-alone species description. Additionally, while many journals accept taxonomic descriptions, even specialist journals expect insights beyond the descriptive work itself. The combination of these factors exacerbates the issue that only a small fraction of marine species are known and new discoveries are described at a slow pace, while they face increasing threats from accelerating global change. To tackle this challenge, this first compilation of Ocean Species Discoveries (OSD) presents a new collaborative framework to accelerate the description and naming of marine invertebrate taxa that can be extended across all phyla. Through a mode of publication that can be speedy, taxonomy-focused and generate higher citation rates, OSD aims to create an attractive home for single species descriptions. This Senckenberg Ocean Species Alliance (SOSA) approach emphasises thorough, but compact species descriptions and diagnoses, with supporting illustrations and with molecular data when available. Even basic species descriptions carry key data for distributions and ecological interactions (e.g., host-parasite relationships) besides universally valid species names; these are essential for downstream uses, such as conservation assessments and communicating biodiversity to the broader public.This paper presents thirteen marine invertebrate taxa, comprising one new genus, eleven new species and one re-description and reinstatement, covering wide taxonomic, geographic, bathymetric and ecological ranges. The taxa addressed herein span three phyla (Mollusca, Arthropoda, Echinodermata), five classes, eight orders and twelve families. Apart from the new genus, an updated generic diagnosis is provided for four other genera. The newly-described species of the phylum Mollusca are Placiphorella methanophila Vončina, sp. nov. (Polyplacophora, Mopaliidae), Lepetodrilus marianae Chen, Watanabe & Tsuda, sp. nov. (Gastropoda, Lepetodrilidae), Shinkailepas gigas Chen, Watanabe & Tsuda, sp. nov. (Gastropoda, Phenacolepadidae) and Lyonsiella illaesa Machado & Sigwart, sp. nov. (Bivalvia, Lyonsiellidae). The new taxa of the phylum Arthropoda are all members of the subphylum Crustacea: Lepechinella naces Lörz & Engel, sp. nov. (Amphipoda, Lepechinellidae), Cuniculomaera grata Tandberg & Jażdżewska, gen. et sp. nov. (Amphipoda, Maeridae), Pseudionella pumulaensis Williams & Landschoff, sp. nov. (Isopoda, Bopyridae), Mastigoniscus minimus Wenz, Knauber & Riehl, sp. nov. (Isopoda, Haploniscidae), Macrostylis papandreas Jonannsen, Riehl & Brandt, sp. nov. (Isopoda, Macrostylidae), Austroniscus indobathyasellus Kaiser, Kniesz & Kihara, sp. nov. (Isopoda, Nannoniscidae) and Apseudopsis daria Esquete & Tato, sp. nov. (Tanaidacea, Apseudidae). In the phylum Echinodermata, the reinstated species is Psychropotes buglossa E. Perrier, 1886 (Holothuroidea, Psychropotidae).The study areas span the North and Central Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the North, East and West Pacific Ocean and depths from 5.2 m to 7081 m. Specimens of eleven free-living and one parasite species were collected from habitats ranging from an estuary to deep-sea trenches. The species were illustrated with photographs, line drawings, micro-computed tomography, confocal laser scanning microscopy and scanning electron microscopy images. Molecular data are included for nine species and four species include a molecular diagnosis in addition to their morphological diagnosis.The five new geographic and bathymetric distribution records comprise Lepechinella naces Lörz & Engel, sp. nov., Cuniculomaera grata Tandberg & Jażdżewska, sp. nov., Pseudionella pumulaensis Williams & Landschoff, sp. nov., Austroniscus indobathyasellus Kaiser, Kniesz & Kihara, sp. nov. and Psychropotes buglossa E. Perrier, 1886, with the novelty spanning from the species to the family level. The new parasite record is Pseudionella pumulaensis Williams & Landschoff, sp. nov., found in association with the hermit crab Pagurus fraserorum Landschoff & Komai, 2018.
Osteocalcin (auch Bone 6 la Protein [B G P] genannt), ein 49 Aminosäuren enthaltendes Knochenmatrixprotein, wird in den Osteoblasten synthetisiert und bei gesteigertem Knochenumsatz im Serum erhöht gefunden. Osteocalcin im Serum kann mittels eines Hadioimmunoassays gemessen werden. Die Werte steigen mit dem Lebensalter an und zeigen einen zirkadianen Rhythmus. Beim primären Hyperparathyreoidismus sind die Osteocalcinwerte erhöht. Bei Patienten mit Mammacarcinom zeigt ein Osteocalcinanstieg stets eine Metastasierung im Knochen an. Die Hyperthyreose geht mit erhöhten Osteocalcinwerten einher. Über den diagnostischen Wert einer Osteocalcinbestimmung beim Plasmozytom läßt sich zur Zeit noch keine sichere Aussage machen. Patienten mit einer histomorphometrisch gesicherten „low-turnover'"Osteoporose weisen niedrige Osteocalclnspiegel auf. Die stark erhöhten Osteocalcinwerte bei der renalen Osteopathie (sekundärer Hyperparathyreoidismus, Osteomalazie) sind z.T. auch au feine verminderte renale Elimination von Osteocalcin bei eingeschränkter glomerulärer Filtrationsrate zurückzuführen. Zusammenfassend stellt die Osteocalcinbestimmung eine Bereicherung der diagnostischen Möglichkeiten zur Beurteilung des Knochenumsatzes darf sollte vorerst jedoch noch vorwiegend wissenschaftlichen Fragestellungen vorbehalten sein.
Im Zeitraum von 1991 - 1992 wurden 2000 Stuhlproben von a) Tropenreisenden (n = 600), b) Patienten mit Durch fall (n = 500) und c) Patienten mit gastrointestinalen Symptomen, jedoch ohne Durchfall (n = 900) auf Campylobacter spp. untersucht Hierfür wurden drei Kultivierungsmethoden parallel eingesetzt: 7. eine Filtermembranmethode, 2. ein blutfreies Campylobacter-Selektivmedium und 3. ein Blutmedium mit Butzler-Supplement Zusätzlich wurde der Einfluß von Transportbedingungen untersucht mittels Vergleiches zwischen Nativ-Stuhlproben versus Stühlen, die in ein Transportnährmedium (Cary-Blair-Medium) gegeben worden waren (n = 517).
Insgesamt waren 54/2000 (2,7%) Stuhlproben positiv. Die Campylobacter-Auffindungsrate in flüssigen Stühlen (Gruppe B) lag dreifach höher im Vergleich zu nicht-durchfälligen Proben (p < 0.01). In den Gruppen b) und c) waren Patienten, die älter als 40 Jahre waren, signifikant seltener mit Campylobacter infiziert als jüngere Personen, während es bei den Tropenreisenden keinen Alterseffekt gab. Unter den drei Kultivierungsmethoden war das Filtermembranverfahren dasjenige mit der besten Campylobacter-Ausbeute (p < 0.01): Methode 1 ergab 57,5%, Methode 2 50% und Methode 3 40,7% positive Isolate. Durch den Einsatz von Cary-Blair-Transportmedium konnte die Campylobacter-Isolierungsrate um 25% gesteigert werden. Die am häufigsten isolierten Spezies waren C. jejuni und C. coli.
Das neue immunoluminometrische BeriLux® PSA - ein Test für das Routinelabor. Ein Methodenvergleich
(1993)
In dieser Studie wurde der immunoluminometrische BeriLux® PSA-Test mit zwei radio-immunologischen und einem fluorometrischen Verfahren verglichen. Für den BeriLux® PSA wurden an 150 gesunden Probanden (100 Männer und 50 Frauen) die Referenzbereiche ermittelt. Bei Männern lag die 95%-Perzentile bei 3,77 ng/ml, für Frauen lag die 95%-Perzentile bei0,1 ng/ml. Der Korrelationskoeffizient zwischen der immunoluminometrischen Methode und radioimmunologischen Methode liegt bei r = 0,99, die analytische Sensitivität von BeriLux9 PSA liegt bei 0,03 ng/ml. Die Stabilität der Serumproben bei Lagerungstemperaturen zwischen 2°C und 8°C ist über einen Tag garantiert. Über diesen Zeitraum hinaussollten Serumproben bei -20° C gelagert werden.
Purpose: To assess the diagnostic precision of three different workstations for measuring thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAAs) in vivo and ex vivo using either pre-interventional computed tomography angiography scans (CTA) or a specifically designed phantom model.
Methods: This retrospective study included 23 patients with confirmed TAA on routinely performed CTAs. In addition to phantom tube diameters, one experienced blinded radiologist evaluated the dimensions of TAAs on three different workstations in two separate rounds. Precision was assessed by calculating measurement errors. In addition, correlation analysis was performed using Pearson correlation.
Results: Measurements acquired at the Siemens workstation deviated by 3.54% (range, 2.78–4.03%; p = 0.14) from the true size, those at General Electric by 4.05% (range, 1.46–7.09%; p < 0.0001), and at TeraRecon by 4.86% (range, 3.22–6.45%; p < 0.0001). Accordingly, Siemens provided the most precise workstation at simultaneously most fluctuating values (scattering of 4.46%). TeraRecon had the smallest fluctuation (scattering of 2.83%), but the largest deviation from the true size of the phantom. The workstation from General Electric showed a scattering of 2.94%. The highest overall correlation between the 1st and 2nd rounds was observed with measurements from Siemens (r = 0.898), followed by TeraRecon (r = 0.799), and General Electric (r = 0.703). Repetition of measurements reduced processing times by 40% when using General Electric, by 20% with Siemens, and by 18% with TeraRecon.
Conclusions: In conclusion, all three workstations facilitated precise assessment of dimensions in the majority of cases at simultaneously high reproducibility, ensuring accurate pre-interventional planning of thoracic endovascular aortic repair.
This study evaluates whether the short version of the German LITMUS quasi-universal nonword repetition task (LITMUS-QU-NWR) can be used as an index test for monolingual and early second language learners (eL2) of German aged 8 to 10 years. The NWR taps into quasi-universal phonological knowledge via the so-called language-independent part and into language-specific phonological knowledge via the language-dependent part. Thirty-six monolingual and thirty-three eL2 learners of German, typically developing (TD) and diagnosed as language-impaired (DLD), participated in the study. The effects of the language group (Mo vs. eL2) and the clinical status (TD vs. DLD) on repetition accuracy are investigated by a logistic mixed-model analysis. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) and likelihood ratios are calculated to determine the diagnostic accuracy of the two parts. The group comparisons showed significant effects of the clinical status but not of the language group. The ROC analyses and the likelihood ratios reveal better diagnostic values for the language-dependent compared to the language-independent part and almost similar diagnostic values for the monolingual and the eL2 group. The results indicate that the LITMUS-QU-NWR helps to disentangle DLD and DLD in monolingual children and eL2 learners aged 8 to 10 years.
Background: Opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome (OMS) is a rare, immune-mediated neurological disorder. In adults, the pathogenesis can be idiopathic, post-infectious or paraneoplastic, the latter etiology belonging to the ever-expanding group of defined paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNS). In contrast to other phenotypes of PNS, OMS cannot be ascribed to a single pathogenic autoantibody. Here, we report the first detailed case of paraneoplastic, antibody-negative OMS occurring in association with a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (pNET).
Case presentation: A 33-year-old female presented with a two-week history of severe ataxia of stance and gait, dysarthria, head tremor, myoclonus of the extremities and opsoclonus. Her past medical history was notable for a metastatic pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor, and she was subsequently diagnosed with paraneoplastic opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome. Further workup did not reveal a paraneoplastic autoantibody. She responded well to plasmapheresis, as she was refractory to the first-line therapy with corticosteroids.
Conclusions: This case expands current knowledge on tumors associated with paraneoplastic opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome and the age group in which it can occur. It further adds evidence to the effectiveness of plasmapheresis in severe cases of opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome with a lack of response to first-line therapy.
The ALICE Collaboration measures the production of low-mass dielectrons in pp, p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC. The main detectors used in the analyses are the Inner Tracking System, Time Projection Chamber and Time-Of-Flight detector, all located around mid-rapidity. The production of virtual photons relative to the inclusive yield in pp collisions is determined by analyzing the dielectron excess with respect to the expected hadronic sources. The direct photon cross section is then calculated and found to be in agreement with NLO pQCD calculations. Results from the invariant mass analysis in p-Pb collisions show an overall agreement between data and hadronic cocktail. In Pb-Pb collisions, uncorrected background-subtracted yields have been extracted in two centrality classes. A feasibility study for LHC run 3 after the ALICE upgrade indicates the possibility for a future measurement of the early effective temperature.
Structured management programs have been developed for single diseases but rarely for patients with multiple medications. We conducted a qualitative study to investigate the views of stakeholders on the development and implementation of a polypharmacy management program in Germany. Overall, we interviewed ten experts in the fields of health policy and clinical practice. Using content analysis, we identified inclusion criteria for the selection of suitable patients, the individual elements that should make up such a program, healthcare providers and stakeholders that should be involved, and factors that may support or hinder the program’s implementation. All stakeholders were well aware of polypharmacy-related risks and challenges, as well as the urgent need for change. Intervention strategies should address all levels of care and include all concerned patients, caregivers, healthcare providers and stakeholders, and involved parties should agree on a joint approach.
We investigate the thermodynamic geometry of the quark-meson model at finite temperature, T, and quark number chemical potential, μ. We extend previous works by the inclusion of fluctuations exploiting the functional renormalization group approach. We use recent developments to recast the flow equation into the form of an advection-diffusion equation. We adopt the local potential approximation for the effective average action. We focus on the thermodynamic curvature, R, in the (μ,T) plane, in proximity of the chiral crossover, up to the critical point of the phase diagram. We find that the inclusion of fluctuations results in a smoother behavior of R near the chiral crossover. Moreover, for small μ, R remains negative, signaling the fact that bosonic fluctuations reduce the capability of the system to completely overcome the fermionic statistical repulsion of the quarks. We investigate in more detail the small μ region by analyzing a system in which we artificially lower the pion mass, thus approaching the chiral limit in which the crossover is actually a second order phase transition. On the other hand, as μ is increased and the critical point is approached, we find that R is enhanced and a sign change occurs, in agreement with mean field studies. Hence, we completely support the picture that R is sensitive to a crossover and a phase transition, and provides information about the effective behavior of the system at the phase transition.
Zielsetzung: Ziel der Studie ist die Frage, ob es möglich ist, einen Kommunikationskurs für ca. 400 Studierende erfolgreich in ein Blended Learning-Format (asynchrone Theorievermittlung/digitaler synchroner Praxisteil) umzustellen. Hauptfokus war dabei die Beurteilung des subjektiven Lernzuwachses und die Frage, inwiefern die Bedeutung des Themas Kommunikation und Gesprächsführung online abgebildet werden kann. Die Betrachtung erfolgt auf Basis von Evaluationsergebnissen der Studierenden und Dozierenden dieses Kurses.
Methodik: Die Studierenden des vierten vorklinischen Semesters aus dem Jahr 2020 wurden durch einen Selbsteinschätzungsbogen zu Beginn sowie durch eine Evaluation nach Abschluss des Kurses befragt. Zusätzlich wurden die Rückmeldungen der Dozierenden zum Kurs ausgewertet. Um die Ergebnisse vergleichen und mögliche Unterschiede feststellen zu können, wurden die entsprechenden Selbsteinschätzungs- und Evaluationsergebnisse der vorangegangenen zehn Jahre (in Form von Präsenzkursen) herangezogen.
Ergebnisse: Im Onlineformat wurde ein deutlicher subjektiver Lernzuwachs angegeben, der höher ausfiel als in den Vorjahren in Präsenz. Die Eignung des Onlineformats wurde von Studierenden sowie Dozierenden eher kritisch bewertet, während die Kursatmosphäre positiv gesehen wurde. Die Relevanz ärztlicher Gesprächsführung wurde im Onlineformat insgesamt besonders gut bewertet.
Schlussfolgerung: Aufgrund der Evaluationsergebnisse werden die Erfahrungen mit dem Blended Learning-Format auch in Zukunft in das Kommunikations-Curriculum des Medizinstudiums der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt einfließen. Die Ergebnisse haben gezeigt, dass das Erlernen ärztlicher Gesprächsführung online gut möglich ist. Daher kann dieses Format für zukünftige neue Konzepte empfohlen werden.
The photoelectric effect describes the ejection of an electron upon absorption of one or several photons. The kinetic energy of this electron is determined by the photon energy reduced by the binding energy of the electron and, if strong laser fields are involved, by the ponderomotive potential in addition. It has therefore been widely taken for granted that for atoms and molecules, the photoelectron energy does not depend on the electron’s emission direction, but theoretical studies have questioned this since 1990. Here, we provide experimental evidence that the energies of photoelectrons emitted against the light propagation direction are shifted toward higher values, while those electrons that are emitted along the light propagation direction are shifted to lower values. We attribute the energy shift to a nondipole contribution to the ponderomotive potential that is due to the interaction of the moving electrons with the incident photons.
The ALICE experiment at the LHC investigates the properties of the hot and dense nuclear matter created in heavy-ion collisions. By comparing the particle production in pp and p-Pb collisions, possible nuclear initial state effects can be isolated. Measurements of the ω meson pT-spectra in pp and p-Pb collisions not only allow for a determination of the nuclear modification factor RpPb, but also provide insight into the fragmentation process and serve as vital input for decay background simulations for direct photons. In this contribution, measurements of the ω meson production in pp and p-Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV are presented. This includes the signal extraction and various corrections of the ω meson yields, leading to their production cross sections and the first measured nuclear modification factor RpPb of the ω meson at LHC energies.
Objectives: To assess the impact of noise-optimised virtual monoenergetic imaging (VMI+) on image quality and diagnostic evaluation in abdominal dual-energy CT scans with impaired portal-venous contrast.
Methods: We screened 11,746 patients who underwent portal-venous abdominal dual-energy CT for cancer staging between 08/2014 and 11/2019 and identified those with poor portal-venous contrast.
Standard linearly-blended image series and VMI+ image series at 40, 50, and 60 keV were reconstructed. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of abdominal organs and vascular structures were calculated. Image noise, image contrast and overall image quality were rated by three radiologists using 5-point Likert scale.
Results: 452 of 11,746 (4%) exams were poorly opacified. We excluded 190 cases due to incomplete datasets or multiple exams of the same patient with a final study group of 262. Highest CNR values in all abdominal organs (liver, 6.4 ± 3.0; kidney, 17.4 ± 7.5; spleen, 8.0 ± 3.5) and vascular structures (aorta, 16.0 ± 7.3; intrahepatic vein, 11.3 ± 4.7; portal vein, 15.5 ± 6.7) were measured at 40 keV VMI+ with significantly superior values compared to all other series. In subjective analysis, highest image contrast was seen at 40 keV VMI+ (4.8 ± 0.4), whereas overall image quality peaked at 50 keV VMI+ (4.2 ± 0.5) with significantly superior results compared to all other series (p < 0.001).
Conclusions: Image reconstruction using VMI+ algorithm at 50 keV significantly improves image contrast and image quality of originally poorly opacified abdominal CT scans and reduces the number of non-diagnostic scans.
Advances in knowledge: We validated the impact of VMI+ reconstructions in poorly attenuated DECT studies of the abdomen in a big data cohort.
In the deep-sea, the interaction between benthic fauna and substrate mainly occurs through bioturbational processes which can be preserved as traces (i.e., lebensspuren). Lebensspuren are common features of deep seafloor landscapes and usually more abundant than the organism that produce them (i.e., tracemakers), rendering them promising proxies to infer biodiversity. The density and diversity relationships between lebensspuren and benthic fauna are to the present day unclear and contradicting hypotheses have been proposed suggesting negative, positive, or even null correlations. To test these hypotheses, in this study lebensspuren, tracemakers (specific epibenthic fauna that produce these traces), degrading fauna (benthic fauna that can erase lebensspuren), and fauna in general were characterized taxonomically at eight deep-sea stations in the Kuril Kamchatka Trench area. No general correlation (over-all study area) could be observed between diversities of lebensspuren, tracemakers, degrading fauna and fauna. However, a diversity correlation was observed between specific stations, showing both negative and positive correlations depending on: 1) the number of unknown tracemakers (especially significant for dwelling lebensspuren); and 2) the lebensspuren with multiple origins; and 3) tracemakers that can produce different lebensspuren. Lebensspuren and faunal density were not correlated. However, lebensspuren density was either positively or negatively correlated with tracemaker densities, depending on the lebensspuren morphotypes. A positive correlation was observed for resting lebensspuren (e.g., ophiuroid impressions, Actinaria circular impressions), while negative correlations were observed for locomotion-feeding lebensspuren (e.g., echinoid trails). In conclusion, lebensspuren diversity may be a good proxy for tracemaker biodiversity when the lebensspuren-tracemaker tandem can be reliable characterized; and lebensspuren-density correlations vary depending the specific lebensspuren residence time, tracemaker density and associated behaviour (rate of movement), but on a global scale abiotic and other biotic 42 factors may also play an important role.
In the deep sea, interactions between benthic fauna and seafloor sediment primarily occur through bioturbation that can be preserved as traces (i.e. lebensspuren). Lebensspuren are common features of deep-sea landscapes and are more abundant than the organisms that produce them (i.e. tracemakers), rendering lebensspuren promising proxies for inferring biodiversity. The density and diversity relationships between lebensspuren and benthic fauna remain unclear, and contradicting correlations have been proposed (i.e. negative, positive, or even null correlations). To approach these variable correlations, lebensspuren and benthic fauna were characterized taxonomically at eight deep-sea stations in the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench area, together with two novel categories: tracemakers (specific epibenthic fauna that produce these traces) and degrading fauna (benthic fauna that can erase lebensspuren). No general correlation (overall study area) was observed between diversities of lebensspuren, tracemakers, degrading fauna, and fauna. However, a diversity correlation was observed at specific stations, showing both negative and positive correlations depending on: (1) the number of unknown tracemakers (especially significant for dwelling lebensspuren); (2) the lebensspuren with multiple origins; and (3) tracemakers that can produce different lebensspuren. Lebensspuren and faunal density were not correlated. However, lebensspuren density was either positively or negatively correlated with tracemaker densities, depending on the lebensspuren morphotypes. A positive correlation was observed for resting lebensspuren (e.g. ophiuroid impressions, Actiniaria circular impressions), while negative correlations were observed for locomotion-feeding lebensspuren (e.g. echinoid trails). In conclusion, lebensspuren diversity may be a good proxy for tracemaker biodiversity when the lebensspuren–tracemaker relationship can be reliable characterized. Lebensspuren–density correlations vary depending on the specific lebensspuren residence time, tracemaker density, and associated behaviour (rate of movement). Overall, we suggest that lebensspuren density and diversity correlations should be studied with tracemakers rather than with general benthic fauna. On a global scale, abiotic (e.g. hydrodynamics, substrate consistency) and other biotic factors (e.g. microbial degradation) may also play an important role.
Der Artikel gibt einen Überblick über die unterschiedlichen Sammlungsbestände von Comics, Graphic Novels und Manga in wissenschaftlichen Bibliotheken in Deutschland. Im weiteren Verlauf wird ein Schwerpunkt auf die Herausforderungen und Probleme in Bezug auf Bestandsaufbau, Erschließung, Archivierung bzw. Verfügbarmachung sowie Findmittel gelegt.
Observation of χcJ → 3(K⁺K⁻)
(2024)
By analyzing (27.12±0.14)×108 𝜓(3686) events collected with the BESIII detector operating at the BEPCII collider, the decay processes 𝜒𝑐𝐽→3(𝐾+𝐾−) (𝐽=0, 1, 2) are observed for the first time with statistical significances of 8.2𝜎, 8.1𝜎, and 12.4𝜎, respectively. The product branching fractions of 𝜓(3686)→𝛾𝜒𝑐𝐽, 𝜒𝑐𝐽→3(𝐾+𝐾−) are presented and the branching fractions of 𝜒𝑐𝐽→3(𝐾+𝐾−) decays are determined to be ℬ𝜒𝑐0→3(𝐾+𝐾−)=(10.7±1.8±1.1)×10−6, ℬ𝜒𝑐1→3(𝐾+𝐾−)=(4.2±0.9±0.5)×10−6, and ℬ𝜒𝑐2→3(𝐾+𝐾−)=(7.2±1.1±0.8)×10−6, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic.
Using data samples with an integrated luminosity of 6.4~fb−1 collected by the BESIII detector operating at the BEPCII storage ring, the process of e+e−→γϕJ/ψ is studied. The processes of e+e−→ϕχc1,c2, χc1,c2→γJ/ψ are observed with a significance of more than 10σ. The s√-dependent cross section of e+e−→ϕχc1,c2 is measured between 4.600 and 4.951~GeV, and evidence of a resonance structure is found for the first time in the ϕχc2 process. We also search for the processes of e+e−→γX(4140), γX(4274) and γX(4500) via the γϕJ/ψ final state, but no obvious structures are found. The upper limits on the production cross section times the branching fraction for these processes at the 90% confidence level are reported.
The cross section of the process e+e−→K+K− is measured at a number of center-of-mass energies s√ from 2.00 to 3.08 GeV with the BESIII detector at the Beijing Electron Positron Collider (BEPCII). The results provide the best precision achieved so far. A resonant structure around 2.2 GeV is observed in the cross section line shape. A Breit-Wigner fit yields a mass of M=2239.2±7.1±11.3~and a width of Γ=139.8±12.3±20.6 MeV, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second ones are systematic. In addition, the time-like electromagnetic form factor of the kaon is determined at the individual center-of-mass energy points.
Using a 3.19 fb−1 data sample collected at an 𝑒+𝑒− center-of-mass energy of 𝐸cm=4.178 GeV with the BESIII detector, we measure the branching fraction of the leptonic decay 𝐷+𝑠→𝜇+𝜈𝜇 to be ℬ𝐷+𝑠→𝜇+𝜈𝜇=(5.49±0.16stat±0.15syst)×10−3. Combining our branching fraction with the masses of the 𝐷+𝑠 and 𝜇+ and the lifetime of the 𝐷+𝑠, we determine 𝑓𝐷+𝑠|𝑉𝑐𝑠|=246.2±3.6stat±3.5syst MeV. Using the 𝑐→𝑠 quark mixing matrix element |𝑉𝑐𝑠| determined from a global standard model fit, we evaluate the 𝐷+𝑠 decay constant 𝑓𝐷+𝑠=252.9±3.7stat±3.6syst MeV. Alternatively, using the value of 𝑓𝐷+𝑠 calculated by lattice quantum chromodynamics, we find |𝑉𝑐𝑠|=0.985±0.014stat±0.014syst. These values of ℬ𝐷+𝑠→𝜇+𝜈𝜇, 𝑓𝐷+𝑠|𝑉𝑐𝑠|, 𝑓𝐷+𝑠 and |𝑉𝑐𝑠| are each the most precise results to date.
Using a data sample of 448.1×106 𝜓(3686) events collected at √𝑠=3.686 GeV with the BESIII detector at the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider II, we search for the rare decay 𝐽/𝜓→𝜙𝑒+𝑒− via 𝜓(3686)→𝜋+𝜋−𝐽/𝜓. No signal events are observed and the upper limit on the branching fraction is set to be ℬ(𝐽/𝜓→𝜙𝑒+𝑒−)<1.2×10−7 at the 90% confidence level, which is still about one order of magnitude higher than the Standard Model prediction.
Five new species of the spider genus Heteropoda Latreille, 1804 (Araneae: Sparassidae) from China
(2024)
Five new species of Heteropoda (Araneae, Sparassidae, Heteropodinae) are described from China: H. bawanglingensis sp. nov. (female; Hainan), H. dulongensis sp. nov. (male, female; Yunnan), H. hainanensis sp. nov. (male, female; Hainan), H. longa sp. nov. (female; Guizhou), and H. vaginalis sp. nov. (female; Yunnan). We provide descriptions and illustrations for each species as well as a distribution map in the current paper.
Scalibregmatidae Malmgren, 1867 is a family of annelids, with only few taxa reported from Brazil. In this work, we describe two new species of Asclerocheilus Ashworth, 1901. The new species A. geiseae sp. nov. and A. blakei sp. nov. were collected during scientific expeditions to the Espírito Santo and Campos sedementary basins. These expeditions were coordinated by PETROBRAS/CENPES. The species A. geiseae sp. nov. is unique among its congeners by the presence of acicular spines with rounded and curved tips in two rows. The second species, A. blakei sp. nov., differs from its congeners by the combination of the presence of a trapezoidal prostomium, acicular spines on chaetigers 1–3, lyrate chaetae from chaetiger 3 on notopodia and 2 on neuropodia. Moreover, we report the species A. tropicus Blake, 1981 from the localities sampled on this study. We also provide an identification key to all species of Asclerocheilus of the world.
Sipunculans are a poorly studied group in the Tropical Eastern Pacific. For the Southern Mexican Pacific (SMP) there is only one record of a sipunculan species. The main objective of this work was to determine the species composition of the phylum Sipuncula present in the SMP. The study area covered three Mexican states: Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas; specimens from 28 localities were examined from both intertidal and subtidal zones. A total of 551 specimens were reviewed, from which 11 species were identified. Five of them have previously been recorded in the Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP): Apionsoma (A.) hespera comb. nov., A. (Edmondsius) pectinatum, Aspidosiphon (A.) elegans, Phascolosoma (P.) puntarenae and Themiste (T.) hennahi; four species are similar to nominal species: Sipunculus (S.) cf. polymyotus, Siphonosoma cf. vastum, Siphonosoma cf. cumanense and Phascolosoma (P.) cf. perlucens; and two new species are described: Aspidosiphon (Paraspidosiphon) cutleri sp. nov. and Aspidosiphon (Paraspidosiphon) pastori sp. nov. A checklist and an identification key for all sipunculan species from the TEP are presented. The checklist includes 53 taxa, 25 of which are questionable records. This work generated 11 new records of sipunculans in the SMP and five new records in the TEP.
A taxonomic study on the Afrotropical genera Afrepipona Giordani Soika, 1965 and Afrepsilon gen. nov. is presented. Twenty new species are described, of which 15 are in Afrepipona (Afrepipona anomala sp. nov., Afrepipona cellularis sp. nov., Afrepipona clonata sp. nov., Afrepipona cuprea sp. nov., Afrepipona lamellata sp. nov., Afrepipona lamptula sp. nov., Afrepipona lobulata sp. nov., Afrepipona meridionalis sp. nov., Afrepipona occidentalis sp. nov., Afrepipona orientalis sp. nov., Afrepipona punctatissima sp. nov., Afrepipona scabra sp. nov., Afrepipona segregata sp. nov., Afrepipona ulterior sp. nov., Afrepipona vulcanica sp. nov.) and five are in Afrepsilon (Afrepsilon aterrimum gen. et sp. nov., Afrepsilon ferrugineoaureum gen. et sp. nov., Afrepsilon hybridum gen. et sp. nov., Afrepsilon minor gen. et sp. nov., and Afrepsilon pictum gen. et sp. nov.). Afrepipona lamptoensis Giordani Soika, 1965 is withdrawn from synonymy with A. angusta (de Saussure, 1863) and subsequently revalidated. Afrepipona unifasciata Gusenleitner, 2012 is transferred to the genus Antodynerus de Saussure, 1855 (Antodynerus unifasciatus comb. nov.). Keys to all known species are provided.
Description of four new species of the Neotropical genus Scione Walker, 1850 (Diptera: Tabanidae)
(2024)
After 94 years after the last revision of the genus and after 22 years since the last species was named, we describe four new species of Scione from Ecuador and Peru: S. cooperi sp. nov., S. gertrudeae sp. nov., S. kroeberi sp. nov. and S. merianae sp. nov. We provide diagnoses, descriptions, photographs and discussions for each of the species.
Members of the arginine–serine-rich protein family (SR proteins) are multifunctional RNA-binding proteins that have emerged as key determinants for mRNP formation, identity and fate. They bind to pre-mRNAs early during transcription in the nucleus and accompany bound transcripts until they are translated or degraded in the cytoplasm. SR proteins are mostly known for their essential roles in constitutive splicing and as regulators of alternative splicing. However, many additional activities of individual SR proteins, beyond splicing, have been reported in recent years. We will summarize the different functions of SR proteins and discuss how multifunctionality can be achieved. We will also highlight the difficulties of studying highly versatile SR proteins and propose approaches to disentangle their activities, which is transferrable to other multifunctional RBPs.
Cell-free (CF) synthesis with highly productive E. coli lysates is a convenient method to produce labeled proteins for NMR studies. Despite reduced metabolic activity in CF lysates, a certain scrambling of supplied isotope labels is still notable. Most problematic are conversions of 15N labels of the amino acids L-Asp, L-Asn, L-Gln, L-Glu and L-Ala, resulting in ambiguous NMR signals as well as in label dilution. Specific inhibitor cocktails suppress most undesired conversion reactions, while limited availability and potential side effects on CF system productivity need to be considered. As alternative route to address NMR label conversion in CF systems, we describe the generation of optimized E. coli lysates with reduced amino acid scrambling activity. Our strategy is based on the proteome blueprint of standardized CF S30 lysates of the E. coli strain A19. Identified lysate enzymes with suspected amino acid scrambling activity were eliminated by engineering corresponding single and cumulative chromosomal mutations in A19. CF lysates prepared from the mutants were analyzed for their CF protein synthesis efficiency and for residual scrambling activity. The A19 derivative “Stablelabel” containing the cumulative mutations asnA, ansA/B, glnA, aspC and ilvE yielded the most useful CF S30 lysates. We demonstrate the optimized NMR spectral complexity of selectively labeled proteins CF synthesized in “Stablelabel” lysates. By taking advantage of ilvE deletion in "Stablelabel", we further exemplify a new strategy for methyl group specific labeling of membrane proteins with the proton pump proteorhodopsin.
Measurements of vertical velocity from vertically pointing Doppler lidars are used to derive the profiles of vertical velocity variance. Observations were taken during the FESSTVaL (Field Experiment on Submesoscale Spatio-Temporal Variability in Lindenberg) campaign during the warm seasons of 2020 and 2021. Normalized by the square of convective velocity scale, the average vertical velocity variance profile follows the universal profile of Lenschow et al. (1980), however, daily profiles still show a high day-to-day variability. We found that moisture transport and the content of moisture in the boundary layer could explain the remaining variability of the normalized vertical velocity variance. The magnitude of the normalized vertical velocity variance is highest on clear-sky days, and decreases as the relative humidity increase and surface latent heat flux decrease in cloud-topped and rainy days. This suggests that moisture content and moisture transport are limiting factors for the intensity of turbulence in the convective boundary layer. We also found that the intensity of turbulence decreases with an increase in boundary layer cloud fraction during FESSTVaL, while the latent heating in the cloud layer was not a relevant source of turbulence in this case. We conclude that a new vertical velocity scale has to be defined that would take into account the moist processes in the convective boundary layer.
Measurements of vertical velocity from vertically pointing Doppler lidars are used to derive the profiles of normalized vertical velocity variance. Observations were taken during the FESSTVaL (Field Experiment on Submesoscale Spatio-Temporal Variability in Lindenberg) campaign during the warm seasons of 2020 and 2021. Normalized by the square of the convective velocity scale, the average vertical velocity variance profile follows the universal profile of Lenschow et al. (1980). However, daily profiles still show a high day-to-day variability. We found that moisture transport and the content of moisture in the boundary layer could explain the remaining variability of the normalized vertical velocity variance. The magnitude of the normalized vertical velocity variance is highest on clear-sky days and decreases as the absolute humidity increases and surface latent heat flux decreases on cloud-topped days. This suggests that moisture content and moisture transport are limiting factors for the intensity of turbulence in the convective boundary layer. We also found that the intensity of turbulence decreases with an increase in the boundary layer cloud fraction during FESSTVaL, while the latent heating in the cloud layer was not a relevant source of turbulence in this case. We conclude that a new vertical velocity scale has to be defined that would take into account the moist processes in the convective boundary layer.
Highlights
• Linking ecological and ecotoxicological data from 30 river sites.
• Bioassays indicate complex mixture of chemicals with different modes of action.
• Macroinvertebrate community deteriorates along a toxicity gradient.
• Macroinvertebrate response has low potential for toxicity-specific bioindicators.
• Effect-based methods could isolate toxicity effects from multiple stressors.
Abstract
Chemical pollution is one of the most important threats to freshwater ecosystems. The plethora of potentially occurring chemicals and their effects in complex mixtures challenge standard monitoring methods. Effect-based methods (EBMs) are proposed as complementary tools for the assessment of chemical pollution and toxic effects. To investigate the effects of chemical pollution, the ecological relevance of EBMs and the potential of macroinvertebrates as toxicity-specific bioindicators, ecological and ecotoxicological data were linked. Baseline toxicity, mutagenicity, dioxin-like and estrogenic activity of water and sediment samples from 30 river sites in central Germany were quantified with four in vitro bioassays. The responses of macroinvertebrate communities at these sites were assessed by calculating 16 taxonomic and functional metrics and by investigating changes in the taxonomic and trait composition. Principal component analysis revealed an increase in toxicity along a joint gradient of chemicals with different modes of action. This toxicity gradient was associated with a decrease in biodiversity and ecological quality, as well as significant changes in taxonomic and functional composition. The strength of the effects suggested a strong impact of chemical pollution and underlined the suitability of EBMs in detecting ecological relevant effects. However, the metrics, taxa, and traits associated with vulnerability or tolerance to toxicity were found to also respond to other stressors in previous studies and thus may have only a low potential as toxicity-specific bioindicators. Because macroinvertebrates respond integratively to all present stressors, linking both ecological and environmental monitoring is necessary to investigate the overall effects but also isolate individual stressors. EBMs have a high potential to separate the toxicity of chemical mixtures from other stressors in a multiple stressor scenario, as well as identifying the presence of chemical groups with specific modes of action.
We investigate the early time dynamics of heavy ion collisions studying the time evolution of the energy-momentum tensor as well as energy-momentum correlations within a uniformly thermalizing holographic QGP. From these quantities, we suggest a far-from equilibrium definition of shear viscosity, which is a crucial property of QCD matter as it significantly determines the generation of elliptic flow already at early times. During an exemplary initial heating phase of the holographic QGP the shear viscosity of entropy density ratio decreases down to 60%, followed by an overshoot to 110% of the near-equilibrium value, η/s=1/(4π). Implications for the QCD QGP are discussed. Subsequently, we consider a holographic QGP which is Bjorken-expanding. Its energy-momentum tensor components have a known hydrodynamic attractor to which all time evolutions collapse independent of the initial conditions. Based on this, we propose a definition for a far from equilibrium speed of sound, and analytically compute its hydrodynamic attractor. Subjecting this Bjorken-expanding plasma to an external magnetic field and an axial chemical potential, we study the chiral magnetic effect far from equilibrium.
Heavy quarks are useful probes to investigate the properties of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) produced in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC, since they are produced in initial hard scattering processes. To single out the signals that are characteristic of the QGP, it is nevertheless crucial to understand the primordial heavy-quark production in vacuum, and to disentangle hot from cold nuclear matter effects. Moreover, observations of collective effects in high-multiplicity pp and p-Pb collisions show surprising similarities with those in heavy-ion collisions. Heavy-flavour production in such collisions could give further insight into the underlying processes. The heavy-flavour production can be studied with e+e− pairs from correlated semileptonic decays of heavy-flavour hadrons. Compared to single heavy-flavour measurements, the dielectron yield contains information about the initial kinematical correlations between the charm and anti-charm quarks, which is otherwise not accessible, and is sensitive to soft heavy-flavour production. We report results on correlated e+e− pairs in pp collisions recorded by the ALICE detector at different collision energies. The production of heavy quarks is discussed by comparing the yield of dielectrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays as a function of invariant mass, pair transverse momentum and distance of closest approach to the primary vertex with different Monte Carlo event generators. The heavy-flavour production cross sections are also presented. Results from high-multiplicity pp collisions at √s=13 TeV and the status of the p-Pb analysis at √sNN=5.02 TeV are reported as well.
Electromagnetic probes such as photons and dielectrons (e+e− pairs) are a unique tool to study the space-time evolution of the hot and dense matter created in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. At low dielectron invariant mass (mee), thermal radiation from the hot hadronic phase contributes to the dielectron spectrum via decays of ρ mesons, whose spectral function is sensitive to chiral-symmetry restoration. At larger mee, thermal radiation from the quark–gluon plasma carries information about the early temperature of the medium. At LHC energies, it is nevertheless dominated by a large background from correlated heavy-flavor hadron decays affected by energy loss and flow in the medium. Complementary to the real photon measurements, dielectron data also allow the extraction of the real direct photon fraction, including thermal photons at low pair transverse momentum pT,ee. The latest ALICE results on dielectron studies in Pb-Pb, and in inelastic and high-multiplicity pp collisions, at √sNN = 5.02 TeV and at √s = 13 TeV, respectively, are presented and compared to simulations and expectations from theory. The status of the Run 3 analysis is also reported.
Three Nearctic species of Episyron Schiødte (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae: Pompilinae: Pompilini) were examined morphologically, geographically, and ecologically with intent to infer an aposematic correlation with habitat type, protarsal digging rake morphology, and host spider association. Episyron quinquenotatus quinquenotatus (Say) and E. conterminus cressoni (Dewitz), two subspecies with extensive aposematic markings and more and longer protarsal comb spines, were associated with bare or sparsely vegetated sandy soils near water courses. Episyron biguttatus biguttatus (Fabricus), with few aposematic markings and less and shorter protarsal comb spines, was associated with more densely vegetated terrain and gravelly and loamy soils. Three subspecies of Anoplius apiculatus (Smith) (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae: Pompilinae: Pompilini) are discussed as an aposematic-habitat comparison.
ZooBank registration. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:6A128918-F0FC-4B58-BDDF-992DEDCD2755
Therates tuberosus Fleutiaux, 1893 and Calochroa octogramma octogramma (Chaudoir, 1852) (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) are newly recorded for Vietnam. Ten additional species are reported to have new provincial records in Vietnam.
ZooBank registration. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:53ADD674-7C16-40E7-ADF2-D9766125867C
Pulchriphyllium anangu Cumming et al., 2023 is here reported for the first time from Maharashtra state, India. Also, this is the first record of a leaf insect (Phasmatodea: Phylliidae) for Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary, District Raigad, Maharashtra. This sighting represents the northernmost distribution in the Western Ghats for Pulchriphyllium anangu.
ZooBank registration. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7A6F51C4-A097-4C63-B4F7-81252007F055
Homocopris Burmeister, 1846 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) is a small genus of South American dung beetles composed of four species distributed in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Recently, a neotype was designated for Copris torulosus Eschscholtz, 1822 (currently H. torulosus) based on the assumption that the original type series had been lost. However, this designation is invalid for failing to comply with articles 75.2, 75.3, 75.3.1, and 75.3.4. of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Furthermore, even if it had been nomenclaturally valid, the neotype now loses its type status because we found a syntype in the material of the Johann Friedrich Eschscholtz collection, preserved in the collection of Zoological Museum, Moscow Lomonosov State University, Moscow, Russia. We present evidence supporting the recognition of this specimen as a syntype and newly designate it as the lectotype. Photographs of the lectotype and its labels are provided. Additionally, the geographic distributions of H. punctatissimus (Curtis, 1844) and H. torulosus (Eschscholtz, 1822) in Chile are corrected.
ZooBank registration. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:2E05482A-282E-4206-8FE5-D3C59C5F149A
Fifteen new species of longhorned beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae, Disteniidae) from Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti) are diagnosed, described, and illustrated: Novantinoe pilithorax Lingafelter, new species (Disteniini); Eburiola ciferrii Lingafelter, new species (Eburiini), Eburiola konstantinovi Lingafelter, new species (Eburiini), Elaphidion jaragua Lingafelter, new species (Elaphidiini), Linsleyonides guerreroi Lingafelter, new species (Elaphidiini), Compsibidion iviei Lingafelter, new species (Tropidini: Subtribe Neoibidionina), Hormathus albisetosus Lingafelter, new species (Tropidini: Subtribe Compsina), Trichrous eryphoides Lingafelter, new species (Dichophyiini), Plectrocerum woodruffi Lingafelter, new species (Dichophyiini), Oreodera nearnsi Lingafelter, new species (Acrocinini/Acanthoderini), Acrepidopterum fuscum Lingafelter, new species (Apomecynini), Acrepidopterum giesberti Lingafelter, new species (Apomecynini), Estola touroulti Lingafelter, new species (Desmiphorini), Eupogonius baorucensis Lingafelter, new species (Desmiphorini), and Eupogonius nigroapicalis Lingafelter, new species (Desmiphorini). Callidium biguttatum Sallé, 1856 is transferred to Calliclytus Fisher, 1932 new combination. The tribe Callidiini is thus removed from the West Indian fauna. Smodicum miserum Thomson, 1878 is a new synonym of Enosmaeus cubanus Thomson, 1878. Heterops hispaniolae Fisher, 1932 is a new synonym of Eburiola geminata (Fabricius, 1787) and the Dominican Republic is a new country record for the species. Linsleyonides portoricensis (Fisher, 1932) is newly recorded for Hispaniola and the Dominican Republic, new country and island record. Mallosoma bicolor Sallé, 1856 (formerly Trichrous) is transferred to Pseudothonalmus Guerrero in Lingafelter and Micheli, 2004, new combination. Trichrous bicolor Fisher, 1932 (now Trichrous fisheri Monné and Giesbert, 1992 due to homonymy) is a new synonym of Trichrous jaegeri Chevrolat, 1858. Rhopalophora baracoana Zayas, 1975 is transferred to Plectrocerum Dejean, 1835, new combination, and this removes Rhopalophorini from the West Indian fauna. Plectrocerum cribratum Sallé, 1856 is a new synonym of Plectrocerum spinicorne (Olivier, 1800). Plinthocoelium virens (Linnaeus, 1758) is reestablished as the proper name for the West Indian species previously known as Plinthocoelium columbinum (Guérin-Méneville, 1838). The African species called Philematium virens (Linnaeus) should use the senior-most synonym and be called Philematium sansibaricum (Gerstaecker, 1871). Plinthocoelium domingoensis (Fisher, 1922) is a new synonym of Plinthocoelium virens (Linnaeus, 1758). Neoclytus pallidicornis Fisher, 1932 is a new synonym of Neoclytus podagricus White, 1855.
ZooBank registration. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B6A71A8B-0730-4ECA-B0EC-6128421D40AB
Based on the examination of an extensive series of specimens and available type material, three out of the six species of Aleyrodes Latreille (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Aleyrodidae) described from California, A. diasemus Bemis, 1904, A. essigi Penny, 1922, and A. osmaroniae Sampson, 1945, are newly synonymized under A. spiraeoides Quaintance, 1900. The species of Aleyrodes reported from California are keyed and diagnosed based on characters from puparia and male genitalia, and character variability is documented and illustrated.
ZooBank registration. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:EE1FB0AE-45B7-40D6-8B6F-4B2509A08FDC
The genera Lophalia Casey, 1912, Mannophorus LeConte, 1854 and Ischnocnemis Thomas, 1864 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae: Trachyderini) are recharacterized by providing additional morphological features to enhance the delineation of these genera. Two species Lophalia cribricollis Bates, 1892 and Ischnocnemis luteicollis (Bates, 1885) are transferred to a new genus Lophaliamorpha Eya with Lophaliamorpha luteicollis (Bates) new combination as the type species. Ischnocnemis skillmani Chemsak and Hovore, 2010 is transferred to a new genus Paramannophorus Eya with Paramannophorus skillmani (Chemsak and Hovore) new combination as the type species. A new genus Microteroschema is created to accommodate two additional species from Mexico: Microteroschema parvum Eya new species (Oaxaca and Chiapas) and Microteroschema pseudolaetum Eya new species (Chiapas) with M. parvum as the type species. Additional new species from Mexico include: Lophalia nigricollis Eya new species (Morelos and Michoacán), Mannophorus tricostatus Eya new species (Chiapas), Ischnocnemis edmundi Eya new species (Chiapas), and Ischnocnemis brevis Eya new species (Michoacán and Guerrero). Other new combinations include: three species previously included in Neotaranomis Chemsak and Linsley, 1982 (N. australis, Chemsak and Linsley, 1982, N. sinaloae Chemsak and Linsley, 1982 and N. atropurpurea Chemsak and Noguera, 2001) are transferred to Cyphosterna Chevrolat, 1862; Lophalia auricomis Chemsak and Linsley, 1979 is transferred to Zalophia Casey, 1912; and two species, Chemsakiella virgulata (Chemsak, 1987) and Ischnocnemis minor Bates, 1880 are transferred to Mannophorus LeConte, 1854. Furthermore, Ischnocnemis virescens Eya, 2010 is also transferred to Mannophorus as a new combination and new subspecies of Mannophorus virgulata (Chemsak). New synonymies include two species previously in Ischnocnemis, i.e., I. cribellatus (Bates, 1892), and I. cyaneus Bates, 1892 synonymized with Mannophorus laetus LeConte, 1854 and I. caerulescens Bates, 1885, respectively. A key to Sphaenothecus-like trachyderines, which includes all the above-mentioned genera, and keys to species of Lophalia, Lophaliamorpha, Mannophorus, Ischnocnemis, Microteroschema, and Cyphosterna are provided. Illustrations of the available species in color are included.
ZooBank registration. zoobank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5671A77B-2ECB-445F-8F61-246A9E442CDE
A new species of Gaindaphodius Král and Mencl from Nepal (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae)
(2024)
A new species from Nepal, Gaindaphodius marigold (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae), is described, illustrated and compared with G. gainda Král and Mencl, 2024, the only other species in the genus Gaindaphodius Král and Mencl, 2024.
ZooBank registration. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:C18D0E89-34D2-452F-B836-BA6A1A6411C5
We reanalyze some critical exponents of the 𝑂(𝑁) model within the functional renormalization group (FRG) approach in the local potential approximation (LPA). We use recent advances which are based on the observation that the FRG flow equation in LPA can be put into the form of an advection-diffusion equation. This allows to employ well-tested hydrodynamical algorithms for its solution to better estimate various sources of errors. Our results complement previous results for the critical exponents obtained within the FRG approach in LPA and compare favorably with those obtained via other methods.
Highlights
• We propose a framework to address landscape effects on ecosystem services.
• We expect ecosystem service flows to be modulated by the amount and configuration of supply and demand areas.
• We stress the role of neutral areas in facilitating or hindering ecosystem service flows.
• Supply/demand ratios, spatial overlap, and ES characteristics need to be accounted for when assessing flows.
• We propose a research agenda with challenges to couple the effects of landscape configuration on ES flow.
Abstract
Despite advances in understanding the effects of landscape structure on ecosystem services (ES), many challenges related to these complex spatial interactions remain. In particular, the integration of landscape effects on different components of the service provision chain (supply, demand, and flow) remains poorly understood and conceptualized. Here we propose a theoretical framework to further explore how the spatial flow of ES can vary according to landscape structure (i.e. composition and configuration) emphasizing the role played by the configuration of supply, demand, and neutral areas, as well as individual characteristics of ES (e.g., service rivalry). For this, we expand the discussion on how landscape changes can affect ES flows and propose a theoretical representation of ES flows variation led by different supply-demand ratios. Additionally, we expand this discussion by integrating the potential effects of neutral areas in the landscape as well as of supply/demand spatial overlap. This novel approach links the spatial arrangement (e.g. fragmentation, network complexity, matrix resistance) usually captured by landscape metrics, and ratios of ES supply and demand areas to potential effects on spatial flows of ES. We discuss the application of this model using widely studied ES, such as pollination, pest control by natural enemies, and microclimate regulation. Finally, we propose a research agenda to connect the presented ideas with other prominent research topics that must be further developed to support landscape management targeting ES provision. The prominence of ES science calls for contributions such as this to give the scientific community the opportunity to reflect on the underlying mechanisms of ES and avoid oversimplified spatial assessments.
A comprehensive study of sillenite Bi12SiO20 single-crystal properties, including elastic stiffness and piezoelectric coefficients, dielectric permittivity, thermal expansion and molar heat capacity, is presented. Brillouin-interferometry measurements (up to 27 GPa), which were performed at high pressures for the first time, and ab initio calculations based on density functional theory (up to 50 GPa) show the stability of the sillenite structure in the investigated pressure range, in agreement with previous studies. Elastic stiffness coefficients c11 and c12 are found to increase continuously with pressure while c44 increases slightly for lower pressures and remains nearly constant above 15 GPa. Heat-capacity measurements were performed with a quasi-adiabatic calorimeter employing the relaxation method between 2 K and 395 K. No phase transition could be observed in this temperature interval. Standard molar entropy, enthalpy change and Debye temperature are extracted from the data. The results are found to be roughly half of the previous values reported in the literature. The discrepancy is attributed to the overestimation of the Debye temperature which was extracted from high-temperature data. Additionally, Debye temperatures obtained from mean sound velocities derived by Voigt-Reuss averaging are in agreement with our heat-capacity results. Finally, a complete set of electromechanical coefficients was deduced from the application of resonant ultrasound spectroscopy between 103 K and 733 K. No discontinuities in the temperature dependence of the coefficients are observed. High-temperature (up to 1100 K) resonant ultrasound spectra recorded for Bi12MO20 crystals revealed strong and reversible acoustic dissipation effects at 870 K, 960 K and 550 K for M = Si, Ge and Ti, respectively. Resonances with small contributions from the elastic shear stiffness c44 and the piezoelectric stress coefficient e123 are almost unaffected by this dissipation.
Arbeit und Spiel fungieren im allgemeinen Sprachgebrauch als Gegensätze. Spielen wird im Kontext dieser Oppositionsbeziehung als autotelische Handlung, also als eine freiwillige Beschäftigung mit unproduktivem Charakter, definiert, die primär der Freude oder Entspannung dient. Arbeiten hingegen wird als zweckorientierte Tätigkeit gefasst, die mit Ernsthaftigkeit und Mühsal assoziiert wird. In einer sich verändernden Arbeitswelt lösen sich diese binären Zuordnungen, sofern sie in dieser Schärfe überhaupt jemals bestanden haben, jedoch zunehmend auf. Arbeit und Spiel verschränken sich, sie bilden Hybridformen aus, bei denen sich Verschiebungen von Spielenden zu Arbeitenden und umgekehrt beobachten lassen. Die Etablierung der Spieleindustrie als Wirtschaftsbranche oder die Professionalisierung des Wettkampfsports bringen beispielsweise Formen des Play-as-Work hervor: "Sämtliche Tätigkeiten mit einer unterstellten Wirkabsicht können demnach als Arbeit begriffen werden. Daher können auch aus traditionellen Gründen oder aus Unterhaltungs- und Zerstreuungsgründen ausgeführte Tätigkeiten nunmehr als Arbeit verstanden werden, wenn ihnen eine Wirkabsicht unterstellt werden kann." Zudem werden in Arbeitsbereichen der postfordistischen Wissensökonomie ludische Elemente wie Kreativität, Improvisation oder Risikobereitschaft in einer Abwendung von der normierten Rationalisierung von Arbeit des Taylorismus aufgewertet und spielhaftes Arbeiten ohne kodifizierte Regeln (wieder) als Mittel wirtschaftlicher Produktivität erkannt. Seit den 1990er Jahren lassen sich ferner Tendenzen einer zunehmenden Entgrenzung und Subjektivierung von Erwerbstätigkeit ausmachen; hierbei wird die mit der Industrialisierung entstandene Trennung von Arbeit und Leben abgeschwächt und das Konzept Arbeit neu definiert, denn diese wird nun nicht mehr vornehmlich negativ als Plage oder göttliche Strafe gerahmt, sondern positiv als Mittel der Selbstverwirklichung konnotiert. Arbeit soll infolgedessen spielend von der Hand gehen und Vergnügen bereiten. Auf diese Weise wird eine work-as-play-Mentalität erzeugt, die die Differenz von Ernst und Spiel in der Betrachtungsweise der Handlung festmacht: Es hängt vom Ausführenden ab, ob eine Tätigkeit als Spiel oder als Arbeit klassifiziert wird. So kann letztlich jede Aktivität einfach zum Spiel erklärt werden. [...] Im Fokus dieses Artikels soll jedoch eine andere Form der Hybridisierung von Arbeit und Spiel stehen: die Repräsentation von Büroarbeit im Computerspiel. [...] Untersucht werden soll im Folgenden, welche Inszenierungsstrategien und Spielmechaniken eingesetzt werden, um das Büro spielbar zu machen. Wie wird das Setting für das Gameplay funktionalisiert und wie werden Arbeitsprozesse ludifiziert? Zu welcher Form des Spiels lädt das Büro ein? Welche Aspekte des Büroalltags werden aufgegriffen und welche Erzählungen sowie Figuren werden mit dem Schauplatz verbunden? Des Weiteren soll analysiert werden, wie über die räumliche Ästhetik inhaltliche Aussagen über die kulturelle Bedeutung und gesellschaftliche Wahrnehmung des Büros transportiert werden.
Der Begriff der Verblendung, ein oft implizit immer wiederkehrendes Thema in der Literatur, Philosophie, und auch in der Religion, hat eine komplexe Bedeutungsebene, die es vielleicht wohl zu bewahren gilt, anstatt sie zu fixieren und damit die Lesemöglichkeiten, die er eröffnen kann, zu reduzieren. Das Wort, das Offenes (etwa eine Hingabe an einen Glauben, die auch eine Selbsttäuschung, ein Fehler sein kann, aber auch Mut bedeuten kann) und Verborgenes (eine mehr oder weniger bewusste Täuschung anderer) zugleich andeutet, entzieht sich durch diese doppelte Struktur von 'Oberfläche' und 'Hintergrund' in gewisser Weise, ohnehin einer festen BeDeutungsgebung. In besonderer Weise bleibt der Begriff mit dem als 'Verliebtheit' umschriebenen Zustand als einer ambivalenten un/wahren, irrational und affektiv besetzten, relationalen, inneren Vorstellung und äußeren Projektion des Selbst und eines Anderen verbunden. Der Begriff kann die Hingabe an eine (trügerische) Romantik oder eine (trügerische) Hingabe an eine Romantik meinen, der ein Selbst und ein Anderes in eine affektive Beziehung zueinander setzt, und so auch die Möglichkeit des Unheimlichen, das Hineinbrechen eines Trug(-Bild)-es kennzeichnen. Dies wiederum ist engstens mit Angst und Wut, den oft als destruktiv dargestellten Affekten und affektiv besetzten Effekten verbunden. Verblendung ist somit auch ein Begriff, der Vorstellungen von 'Rationalität' und (affektiv-besetzter) 'Irrationalität', von 'Richtigkeit' und 'Falschheit' beinhaltet.
E.T.A. Hoffmanns Erzählung "Der Sandmann" ist dank Freuds Interpretation zu einem seiner wichtigsten Werke geworden. Die Novelle, die die Leser mit dem jungen Studenten Nathanael, der mit sich ein Kindheitstrauma trägt, bekannt macht, ist ein komplexes Werk, das auch den weltbekannten Mediziner fasziniert hat. Diese Arbeit befasst sich mit der schon erwähnten Novelle, mit Freuds Artikel "Das Unheimliche" und mit der sehr relevanten Verfilmung aus dem Jahr 2012. Das Motiv des Unheimlichen kommt in dieser Arbeit als eine Kontaktstelle vor, die auf drei verschiedenen Ebenen interpretiert wird: aus der Perspektive des Unheimlichen in der Novelle, aus Sigmund Freuds Perspektive und wie es im Film auftaucht. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es zu beweisen, dass das Motiv des Unheimlichen in der Verfilmung anders als im Buch begriffen werden kann, d.h. dass Freuds Motiv des Unheimlichen im Text als gruseliger und verwirrender empfunden werden kann.
This paper relies on an unedited and unpublished nineteenth century love correspondence of a heterosexual couple from the German speaking area. The aim of this study is to contribute to the knowledge regarding the nineteenth century love experience of ordinary and unknown lovers. In fact, while there are plenty of books on love correspondences of famous personalities, little research has been dedicated to love letters and romantic experiences of 'ordinary and unknown' people. For this reason the main aim of this article is to shed light on love stories and love experiences that otherwise will fall into the abyss of oblivion. A new theory regarding the love experience in the nineteenth will be proposed: in this century love was perceived more in its material than in its abstract nature; I argue that in the nineteenth love was more about what people did, than to what they said. Lovers are in constant need of material and 'seeable' proof in order to perceive the love of their partners as real and authentic. The examples extrapolated from the following correspondence will corroborate this statement. Furthermore, this article has the purpose to underline the great value of love letters not only from an historical perspective (being evidence of past lives and dynamics), but also and more importantly from a cultural and societal one: analyzing love letters means to acquire knowledge not only about cultural and societal dynamics, but also and more importantly to add knowledge to the love discourse. In fact, they say a lot about the way people talked, expressed and materialized love in their daily lives. Correspondences without any publication in view are the most precious ones because they represent an unregulated and more spontaneous expression 'of the language of the heart'.
L'obiettivo del presente articolo è quello di offrire una visione complementare a quella abituale del romanzo "Die Entdeckung der Currywurst" di Uwe Timm in cui vengano privilegiati gli aspetti del romanzo che lo identificano come opera di World Literature. Se fino ad ora il romanzo è stato principalmente letto come un romanzo tedesco di guerra, con questa lettura si intende far emergere gli aspetti che di esso oltrepassano i confini nazionali e linguistici. Per fare questo si osserveranno in breve i punti di contatto fra la WL e la letteratura postcoloniale, dalla quale la WL stessa ha origine. In particolare si concentrerà l'attenzione sugli elementi del romanzo che evidenziano il rapporto con le letterature e culture di oltre confine, come la cornice narrativa, in cui la narrazione principale si iscrive; le contaminazioni letterarie che emergono dal racconto e infine i numerosi esempi di relazione fra centro e periferia. Inoltre, verrà evidenziato come il periodo storico in cui il romanzo è ambientato, ovvero quello della 'Stunde Null', abbia esso stesso dei contatti intrinseci con le teorie postcoloniali. Si mostrerà come la tesi dell'afferenza del presente romanzo alla WL, sia sostenuta dal fatto che anche attraverso romanzi precedenti, Uwe Timm mostra un interesse spiccato nei confronti delle realtà degli altri paesi e continenti e dell’eredità coloniale dell'Europa.
A search for a massless dark photon 𝛾′ is conducted using 4.5 fb−1 of 𝑒+𝑒− collision data collected at center-of-mass energies between 4.600 and 4.699 GeV with the BESIII detector at BEPCII. No significant signal is observed, and the upper limit on the branching fraction ℬ(Λ+𝑐→𝑝𝛾′) is determined to be 8.0×10−5 at 90% confidence level.
We report the first observation of the decay Λ+c→Σ−π+π+π0, based on data obtained in e+e− annihilations with an integrated luminosity of 567~pb−1 at s√=4.6~GeV. The data were collected with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII storage rings. The absolute branching fraction B(Λ+c→Σ−π+π+π0) is determined to be (2.11±0.33(stat.)±0.14(syst.))%. In addition, an improved measurement of B(Λ+c→Σ−π+π+) is determined as (1.81±0.17(stat.)±0.09(syst.))%.
We measured the Born cross sections for the process e+e− → ωη′ at 22 center-of-mass energies from 2.000 to 3.080 GeV with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider. We observed a resonant structure with a statistical significance of 9.6σ. A Breit-Wigner fit determines its mass to be MR = (2153 ± 30 ± 31) MeV/c2 and its width to be ΓR = (167 ± 77 ± 7) MeV, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic.
Measurement of the absolute branching fraction of the singly Cabibbo suppressed decay Λc⁺ → pη′
(2022)
The singly Cabibbo suppressed decay Λ+𝑐→𝑝𝜂′ is measured using 4.5 fb−1 of 𝑒+𝑒− collision data collected at center-of-mass energies between 4.600 and 4.699 GeV with the BESIII detector at BEPCII. Evidence for Λ+𝑐→𝑝𝜂′ with a statistical significance of 3.6𝜎 is reported with a double-tag approach. The Λ+𝑐→𝑝𝜂′ absolute branching fraction is determined to be (5.62+2.46−2.04±0.26)×10−4, where the first and second uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. Our result is consistent with the branching fraction obtained by the Belle collaboration within the uncertainty of 1𝜎.
Based on 7.33 fb−1 of 𝑒+𝑒− collision data collected at center-of-mass energies between 4.128 and 4.226 GeV with the BESIII detector, the experimental studies of the doubly Cabibbo-suppressed decays 𝐷+𝑠→𝐾+𝐾+𝜋− and 𝐷+𝑠→𝐾+𝐾+𝜋−𝜋0 are reported. We determine the absolute branching fraction of 𝐷+𝑠→𝐾+𝐾+𝜋− to be (1.24+0.28−0.26(stat)±0.06(syst))×10−4. No significant signal of 𝐷+𝑠→𝐾+𝐾+𝜋−𝜋0 is observed and the upper limit on its decay branching fraction at 90% confidence level is set to be 1.7×10−4.
Improved measurement of the branching fractions of the inclusive decays D⁺ → Kₛ⁰X and D⁰ → Kₛ⁰X
(2023)
By analyzing 2.93 fb−1 of 𝑒+𝑒− collision data taken at the center-of-mass energy of 3.773 GeV with the BESIII detector, the branching fractions of the inclusive decays 𝐷+→𝐾0 𝑆𝑋 and 𝐷0→𝐾0 𝑆𝑋 are measured to be (33.11±0.13±0.36)% and (20.75±0.12±0.20)%, respectively, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. These results are consistent with the world averages of previous measurements, but with much improved precision.
Using 5.9 pb−1 of e+e− annihilation data collected at center-of-mass energies from 3.640 to 3.701 GeV with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII Collider, we measure the observed cross sections of e+e−→K0SX (where X=anything). From a fit to these observed cross sections with the sum of continuum and ψ(3686) and J/ψ Breit-Wigner functions and considering initial state radiation and the BEPCII beam energy spread, we obtain for the first time the inclusive decay branching fraction B(ψ(3686)→K0SX)=(16.04±0.29±0.90)%, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic.