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In 2020, anti-Asian racism re-emerged during the coronavirus pandemic in Germany and elsewhere, manifesting in media narratives, and evoking different forms of violence and exclusion, especially in public space. Racialisation as an everyday process creates "counter-frames" by racialised groups. They are constructed in relation to institutionalised interpellation as "the other." Building on Feagin's concept of "white framing" and "counter-framing" and Löw's concept of space, this paper discusses the effects of racialisation, coping and anti-racist resistance strategies as developed by the Asian diaspora. Social change regarding racism will be analysed through Foroutan's concept of "postmigrant society." We based this study on a convenience sample of people with Asian heritage which we conducted in 2020 in Germany. In addition, we included a diary study for which a subset has been sampled. We argue that the pandemic influenced the formation of counter-frames against anti-Asian racism in the specific context of Berlin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seismic phase picking and magnitude estimation are fundamental aspects of earthquake monitoring and seismic event analysis. Accurate phase picking allows for precise characterization of seismic wave arrivals, contributing to a better understanding of earthquake events. Likewise, accurate magnitude estimation provides crucial information about an earthquake's size and potential impact. Together, these components enhance our ability to monitor seismic activity effectively. In this study, we explore the application of deep-learning techniques for earthquake detection and magnitude estimation using continuous seismic recordings. Our approach introduces DynaPicker, which leverages dynamic convolutional neural networks to detect seismic body-wave phases in continuous seismic data. We demonstrate the effectiveness of DynaPicker using various open-source seismic datasets, including both window-format and continuous recordings. We evaluate its performance in seismic phase identification and arrival-time picking, as well as its robustness in classifying seismic phases using low-magnitude seismic data in the presence of noise. Furthermore, we integrate the phase arrival-time information into a previously published deep-learning model for magnitude estimation. We apply this workflow to continuous recordings of aftershock sequences following the Turkey earthquake. The results of this case study showcase the reliability of our approach in earthquake detection, phase picking, and magnitude estimation, contributing valuable insights to seismic event analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionVentricular septal defect (VSD) is the most common congenital heart defect, with larger VSDs typically being corrected with an open-heart surgery during infancy. Long-term consequences of a VSD-corrective surgery on stress systems of child and mother are still unknown. The aim of the present study is to investigate the associations of an early corrected VSD and diurnal cortisol release of child and mother.Methods26 children (12 boys) between 6 and 9 years old, who underwent surgery for an isolated VSD within the first 3 years of life, and their mothers participated in the study. Their diurnal cortisol profiles were compared to a sex-, age-, and socioeconomic status-matched healthy control group. Within the VSD group, associations between cortisol and characteristics of surgery and hospitalization were investigated. Child and mother psychopathological symptoms were considered as a possible interfering mechanism of altered cortisol profiles.ResultsDiurnal cortisol profiles of children with an early corrected VSD did not differ from those of controls. However, mothers of affected children exhibited higher cortisol levels in the morning (p

Seismic phase picking and magnitude estimation are essential components of real-time earthquake monitoring and earthquake early warning systems. Reliable phase picking enables the timely detection of seismic wave arrivals, facilitating rapid earthquake characterization and early warning alerts. Accurate magnitude estimation provides crucial information about an earthquake’s size and potential impact. Together, these steps contribute to effective earthquake monitoring, enhancing our ability to implement appropriate response measures in seismically active regions and mitigate risks. In this study, we explore the potential of deep learning in real-time earthquake monitoring. To that aim, we begin by introducing DynaPicker which leverages dynamic convolutional neural networks to detect seismic body wave phases. Subsequently, DynaPicker is employed for seismic phase picking on continuous seismic recordings. To showcase the efficacy of Dynapicker, several open-source seismic datasets including window-format data and continuous seismic data are used to demonstrate it’s performance in seismic phase identification, and arrival-time picking. Additionally, DynaPicker’s robustness in classifying seismic phases was tested on the low-magnitude seismic data polluted by noise. Finally, the phase arrival time information is integrated into a previously published deep-learning model for magnitude estimation. This workflow is then applied and tested on the continuous recording of the aftershock sequences following the Turkey earthquake to detect the earthquakes, seismic phase picking and estimate the magnitude of the corresponding event. The results obtained in this case study exhibit a high level of reliability in detecting the earthquakes and estimating the magnitude of aftershocks following the Turkey earthquake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The German DeZIM.panel is an online access panel that provides data specifically for topics regarding migration and integration. It includes an oversampling for several migrant groups in Germany, and thus allows specific subgroup analyses. Due to its longitudinal structure, its long-term development and the effects of sudden external events can be traced and analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saproxylic beetles (Coleoptera) are important for biomonitoring to evaluate the state of ecological conservation of forest ecosystems. However, beetle larvae are rarely considered due to their difficult identification.Here, we evaluate the use of beetle larvae, alongside adult specimens, for monitoring. Forty sifting samples from deadwood structures were analysed from eight different forest sites near Münster (Germany). Larvae were identified by matching with DNA sequences (COI) of identified adults (from GBOL database/BOLD) using various standard DNA‐based species delimitation methods.Our main objective was to figure out whether larvae can be sampled, barcoded, and identified successfully on a larger scale, and whether the inclusion of larval data improved the ecological and taxonomic results of the survey.Altogether we found 129 species as larvae and 313 as imagos. Four larva species could not be identified to species level because of a lack of a match with adult reference sequences. Among all sifting samples, 41% of the species recorded as larva were not found as imago.The inclusion of larvae increased the expected species richness and generated a more precise differentiation between the sites in respect of saproxylic species richness and assemblage composition. Moreover, almost 30% of identified larvae are not morphologically described, so they cannot be identified morphologically.This study showed that the use of larvae could considerably improve the accuracy of ecological surveys, particularly at meso‐ and microhabitat level, while for higher level, geographical scales sequencing and sampling efforts would be at the moment excessive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This case-control study examined the long-term consequences of surgical correction for ventricular septal defect (VSD; the most common congenital heart defect) in infancy. It assessed children who had undergone VSD surgery and the factors related to maternal conditions, surgery, and hospital stay.Method: Thirty-nine children (23 females, 16 males; age range 6y 1mo-9y 7mo [mean 7y 4mo, SD 1y]) with repaired isolated, non-syndromic, non-genetic VSD were compared with 39 typically developing children (22 females, 17 males; age range 6y-9y 2mo [mean 7y 3mo, SD 10mo]). The children completed behavioural tests of neurodevelopment and a quality of life (QoL) questionnaire. Mothers rated children's emotional/behavioural symptoms and QoL. Measures of maternal parenting behaviour and psychopathology were treated as moderators.Results: Affected children showed reduced language skills (p=0.002) unless mothers reported high parenting behaviour subscale scores (p=0.04). Children's anxiety symptoms were elevated when mothers had anxiety symptoms (p=0.01). Longer hospital stay was associated with lower intelligence (p=0.003) and psychomotor scores (p=0.006). Longer scars predicted elevated child anxiety (p=0.008), and age at surgery and QoL were inversely related (p=0.01).Interpretation: Impairments could be mitigated if VSD repair was performed early in life with a relatively small scar and uncomplicated hospital stay. This outcome depends on maternal parenting behaviour and anxiety symptoms.What This Paper Adds: Children's cognitive and psychomotor development after surgical ventricular septal defect repair was unimpaired. Children showed no mental health restrictions when their mothers reported few anxiety symptoms themselves. Language impairments might be preventable by pro-active parenting. The outcome also depends on variables related to surgery and hospital stay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, large-scale DNA barcoding campaigns have generated an enormous amount of COI barcodes, which are usually stored in NCBI's GenBank and the official Barcode of Life database ( BOLD). BOLD data are generally associated with more detailed and better curated meta-data, because a great proportion is based on expert-verified and vouchered material, accessible in public collections. In the course of the initiative German Barcode of Life data were generated for the reference library of 2,846 species of Coleoptera from 13,516 individuals., Confronted with the high effort associated with the identification, verification and data validation, a bioinformatic pipeline, 'Tax CI' was developed that (1) identifies taxonomic inconsistencies in a given tree topology (optionally including a reference dataset), (2) discriminates between different cases of incongruence in order to identify contamination or misidentified specimens, (3) graphically marks those cases in the tree, which finally can be checked again and, if needed, corrected or removed from the dataset. For this, 'Tax CI' may use DNA-based species delimitations from other approaches (e.g. mPTP) or may perform implemented threshold-based clustering., The data-processing pipeline was tested on a newly generated set of barcodes, using the available BOLD records as a reference. A data revision based on the first run of the Tax CI tool resulted in the second Tax CI analysis in a taxonomic match ratio very similar to the one recorded from the reference set (92% vs. 94%). The revised dataset improved by nearly 20% through this procedure compared to the original, uncorrected one., Overall, the new processing pipeline for DNA barcode data allows for the rapid and easy identification of inconsistencies in large datasets, which can be dealt with before submitting them to public data repositories like BOLD or GenBank. Ultimately, this will increase the quality of submitted data and the speed of data submission, while primarily avoiding the deterioration of the accuracy of the data repositories due to ambiguously identified or contaminated specimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The criteria-oriented assessment of the population with a migration background that is common in Germany is currently being criticized from a social science and methodological perspective, among others. In particular, its usefulness as an indicator of perceived discrimination against the population with a migration background can be critically questioned based on the current state of research METHOD: Based on a population-representative data set (N=1,989) for the city of Berlin, the subjective perception of a migration background based on self-attribution and anticipated external attribution of a migration background was recorded in addition to the objective assessment of a migration background. Furthermore, socio-demographic and migration-specific characteristics as well as perceived discrimination were assessed. Using descriptive and inferential statistical methods, differences between the objective and subjective assessment of a migration background and their relationship with perceived discrimination were analyzed., Results: Less than half (38%, 154/400) of the respondents identified as having a migrant background using the criterion-oriented approach reported describing themselves as migrants. 36% (144/405) reported that they believed that others in Germany described them as a person with a migrantion background. Respondents with a migration background are significantly more likely to experience discrimination on grounds of skin color, religion or country of origin compared to respondents without a migration background. Furthermore, it was found that both the self-attribution and the anticipated attribution by others as a migrant are positively associated with experiences of discrimination and racism., Discussion: The results suggest that migration-sensitive research should not simply differentiate between people with and without a migration background according to official criteria. Rather, the subjective perceptions of one's own attribution as a migrant seem more suitable as indicators of discrimination and should be taken into account in future research or surveys on experiences of discrimination., Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Ventricular septal defect (VSD) is the most common congenital heart defect, with larger VSDs typically being corrected with an open-heart surgery during infancy. Long-term consequences of a VSD-corrective surgery on stress systems of child and mother are still unknown. The aim of the present study is to investigate the associations of an early corrected VSD and diurnal cortisol release of child and mother., Methods: 26 children (12 boys) between 6 and 9 years old, who underwent surgery for an isolated VSD within the first 3 years of life, and their mothers participated in the study. Their diurnal cortisol profiles were compared to a sex-, age-, and socioeconomic status-matched healthy control group. Within the VSD group, associations between cortisol and characteristics of surgery and hospitalization were investigated. Child and mother psychopathological symptoms were considered as a possible interfering mechanism of altered cortisol profiles., Results: Diurnal cortisol profiles of children with an early corrected VSD did not differ from those of controls. However, mothers of affected children exhibited higher cortisol levels in the morning ( p  < 0.001, [Formula: see text]) and a steeper diurnal cortisol slope ( p  = 0.016, [Formula: see text]) than mothers of healthy children., Conclusion: Results indicate a favorable development of children with an early corrected VSD, in terms of comparable diurnal cortisol profiles with healthy controls, according to a comparable mother-rated psychopathology. Mothers of affected children reveal altered diurnal cortisol levels, without differences in self-rated psychopathology. This divergence should be clarified in future research.