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In the future, learning will be essentially characterized by the ability to regulate the learning process and monitor success independently from a teacher. The technical possibilities offer better access to learning contents, precise and more individualized feedback, and learning phases adapted precisely to the needs of the learner in terms of scope and pace. In this study, we investigate an important aspect of the digitization of teaching/learning processes using the example of laboratory scripts for chemistry students at university. The focus is on looking up terms and concepts in preparation for the lab internships, firstly in a paper-based glossary and secondly in a digital glossary. During a two-day study, a total of 16 students prepared for experiments on two topics with completely identical materials. We then studied the influence of content knowledge, motivation, and cognitive load. While all students show significant learning achievements, there are no significant differences between the groups. Furthermore, results show that pure digitization of information has no effect, despite the theoretically assumed advantages.

The way medical students learn anatomy is constantly evolving. Nowadays, technologies such as tablets support established learning methods like drawing. In this study, the effect of drawing on a tablet on medical students' anatomy learning was investigated compared to drawing or summarizing on paper. The quality of drawings or summaries was assessed as a measure of the quality of strategy implementation. Learning outcome was measured with an anatomy test, both immediately afterward and after 4-6 weeks to assess its sustainability. There were no significant group differences in learning outcome at both measurement points. For all groups, there was a significant medium strength correlation between the quality of the drawings or summaries and the learning outcome (p < 0.05). Further analysis revealed that the quality of strategy implementation moderated outcomes in the delayed test: When poorly implemented, drawing on a tablet (M = 48.81) was associated with lower learning outcome than drawing on paper (M = 58.95); The latter (M = 58.89) was related to higher learning outcome than writing summaries (M = 45.59). In case of high-quality strategy implementation, drawing on a tablet (M = 60.98) outperformed drawing on paper (M = 52.67), which in turn was outperformed by writing summaries (M = 62.62). To conclude, drawing on a tablet serves as a viable alternative to paper-based methods for learning anatomy if students can make adequate use of this strategy. Future research needs to identify how to support student drawing, for instance, by offering scaffolds with adaptive feedback to enhance learning.

The German school system employs centrally organized performance assessments (some of which are called "VERA") as a way of promoting lesson development. In recent years, several German federal states introduced a computer-based performance testing system which will replace the paper-pencil testing system in the future. Scores from computer-based testing are required to be equivalent to paper-pencil testing scores so that the new testing medium does not lead to disadvantages for students. Therefore, the current study aimed at investigating the size of the mode effect and the moderating impact of students' gender, academic achievement and mainly spoken language in everyday life. In addition, the variance of the mode effect across tasks was investigated. The study was conducted in four German federal states in 2019 using a field experimental design. The test scores of 5140 eighth-graders from 165 schools in the subject German were analysed. The results of multi-level modelling revealed that students' test scores in the computerized version of the VERA test were significantly lower than in the paper-pencil version. Students with a lower academic achievement were more disadvantaged by the VERA computerized test. The results were inconsistent regarding the interactions between testing mode and students' gender and mainly spoken language in everyday life. The variance of the mode effect across tasks was high. Research into different subjects and in other federal states and countries under different testing conditions might yield further evidence about the generalizability of these results.

Progress monitoring of academic achievement is an essential element to prevent learning disorders. A prominent approach is curriculum-based measurement (CBM). Various studies have documented positive effects of CBM on students' achievement. Nevertheless, the use of CBM is associated with additional work for teachers. The use of tablets may be of help here. Yet, although many advantages of computer- or tablet-based assessments are being discussed in the literature (e. g. innovative item formats, adaptive testing, automated scoring and feedback), there are still concerns regarding the comparability of different assessment modes (paper-pencil vs. tablet). In the study presented, we analyze the CBM data of 98 fourth graders. They processed the exact same computation items once with paper and pen and once in a tablet application. The analyses point to comparable results in the test modes, although some significant deviations can be found at item level. In addition, the children report perceived benefits when working with the tablet.

This essay explores the material imperatives of nineteenth-century statistical ambition, at a time when the nature of paper itself underwent rapid change. It expands the concept of paper technologies to include knowledge about the materials themselves, as well as the infrastructures, techniques, and agreements that made it possible for the right kind of paper to be made available for particular purposes. Taking the production of the forms for the Prussian census as a case in point, it argues that the enumeration effort of Prussian census statisticians went far beyond designing a form, collecting information, noting and compiling figures, or creating tables. Paper knowledge to define and control the material substance of the forms mattered as much as political impetus and statistical methods in getting the census right. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Incisional hernia (IH) is one of the most common complications after abdominal surgeries and may bring great suffering to patients. This study aims to evaluate the global trends in IH research from 2003 to 2023 and visualize the frontiers using bibliometric analysis., Methods: The literature search was conducted on the Web of Science for IH studies published from 2003 to 2023 and sorted by citation frequency. The top 100 most-cited articles were analyzed by the annual publication number, prolific countries and institutions, influential author and journal, and the number of citations through descriptive statistics and visualization., Results: The top paper was cited 1075 times and the median number of citations was 146. All studies were published between 2003 and 2019 and the most prolific year was 2003 with 14 articles. Jeekel J and Rosen M were regarded as the most productive authors with ten articles each and acquired 2738 and 2391 citations, respectively. The top three institutions with the most productive articles were Erasmus Mc, Carolinas Med Ctr, and Univ Utah, while the top three countries were the United States, Netherlands and Germany. The most frequent keyword was "incisional hernia" with 55 occurrences, followed by "mesh repair", "randomized controlled trial", and "polypropylene"., Conclusion: The 100 most-cited papers related to IH were published predominantly by USA and European countries, with randomized controlled trial (RCT) and observational study designs, addressing topics related to risk factors, complications, mesh repair, and mesh components., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag France SAS, part of Springer Nature.)

Paper-based visual analogue scale (VAS) items were developed 100 years ago. Although they gained great popularity in clinical and medical research for assessing pain, they have been scarcely applied in other areas of psychological research for several decades. However, since the beginning of digitization, VAS have attracted growing interest among researchers for carrying out computerized and paper-based data assessments. In the present study, we investigated the research question "Which different design characteristics of paper-based VAS items are preferred by women and men?" Based on a sample of 115 participants (68 female), our results revealed that the respondents preferred a paper-based VAS item with a horizontal, 8-cm long, 3 DTP ("desktop publishing point") wide, black line, with flat line endpoints, and the ascending numerical anchors "0" and "10", both for women and men. Although we did not identify any gender difference in these characteristics, our findings uncovered clear preferences on how to design paper-based VAS items.

The present recommendations on the therapy of sarcoidosis of the German Respiratory Society (DGP) was written in 2023 as a German-language supplement and update of the international guidelines of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) from 2021. It contains 5 PICO questions (Patients, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes) agreed in the consensus process, which are explained in the background text of the four articles: Confirmation of diagnosis and monitoring of the disease under therapy, general therapy recommendations, therapy of cutaneous sarcoidosis, therapy of cardiac sarcoidosis., Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (Georg Thieme Verlag KG Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany.)

The process of implementing early detection of lung cancer with low-dose CT (LDCT) in Germany has gained significant momentum in recent years. It is expected that the ordinance of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) on early detection of lung cancer, which has been commented on by the professional societies, will come into effect by the end of 2023. Based on this regulation, the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) will set up a program for early lung cancer detection with LDCT in the near future. In this position paper, the specialist societies involved in lung cancer screening present concrete cornerstones for a uniform, structured and quality-assured early detection program for lung cancer in Germany to make a constructive contribution to this process., Competing Interests: T. G. B. gibt eine Forschungsförderung von EU4Health an.J. V.-C. gibt Forschungsförderungen von BMBF, NIH, AstraZeneca, Siemens Healthineers, Glaxo Smith Kline und Boehringer Ingelheim sowie Vortrags- oder Beratungshonorare von AstraZeneca, Siemens Healthineers, GlaxoSmithKline und Boehringer Ingelheim an. S. A. gibt eine Mitarbeit im Aktionsbündnis Nichtraucherschutz und in der Task Force Tabakentwöhnung der DGP an.H.-U. K. gibt Forschungsförderungen von Siemens, Philips und Boehringer Ingelheim sowie Vortrags- oder Beratungshonorare von Siemens, Boehringer Ingelheim, Philips, Sanofi und Median an.Alle weiteren Autorinnen und Autoren haben keine potenziellen COI angegeben., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

The process of implementing early detection of lung cancer with low-dose CT (LDCT) in Germany has gained significant momentum in recent years. It is expected that the ordinance of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) on the early detection of lung cancer, which has been commented on by the professional societies, will come into effect by the end of 2023. Based on this regulation, the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) will set up a program for early lung cancer detection with LDCT in the near future. In this position paper, the specialist societies involved in lung cancer screening present key points for a uniform, structured and quality-assured early detection program for lung cancer in Germany to make a constructive contribution to this process. CITATION FORMAT: · Vogel-Claussen J, Blum TG, Andreas S et al. Position paper on the implementation of a nationally organized program in Germany for the early detection of lung cancer in high-risk populations using low-dose CT screening including the management of screening findings requiring further workup. Fortschr Röntgenstr 2024; 196: DOI 10.1055/a-2178-2846., Competing Interests: T. G. B. gibt eine Forschungsförderung von EU4Health an.J. V.-C. gibt Forschungsförderungen von BMBF, NIH, AstraZeneca, Siemens Healthineers, GlaxoSmithKline und Boehringer Ingelheim sowie Vortrags- oder Beratungshonorare von AstraZeneca, Siemens Healthineers, GlaxoSmithKline und Boehringer Ingelheim an.S. A. gibt eine Mitarbeit im Aktionsbündnis Nichtraucherschutz und in der Task Force Tabakentwöhnung der DGP an.H.-U. K. gibt Forschungsförderungen von Siemens, Philips und Boehringer Ingelheim sowie Vortrags- oder Beratungshonorare von Siemens, Boehringer Ingelheim, Philips, Sanofi und Median an.Alle weiteren Autorinnen und Autoren haben keine potenziellen COI angegeben., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Hundreds of thousands of individuals who experience lasting sequelae after sepsis and infections in Germany do not receive optimal care. In this White Paper we present measures for improvement, which were developed by a multidisciplinary expect panel as part of the SEPFROK project. Improved care rests on four pillars: 1. cross-sectoral assessment of sequelae and a structured discharge and transition management, 2. interdisciplinary rehabilitation and aftercare with structural support, 3. strengthening the specific health literacy of patients and families, and 4. increased research into causes, prevention and treatment of sequelae. To achieve this, appropriate cross-sectoral care structures and legal frameworks must be created., Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Point-of-care sonography is a precondition in acute and emergency medicine for the diagnosis and initiation of therapy for critically ill and injured patients. While emergency sonography is a mandatory part of the training for clinical acute and emergency medicine, it is not everywhere required for prehospital emergency medicine. Although some medical societies in Germany have already established their own learning concepts for emergency ultrasound, a uniform national training concept for the use of emergency sonography in the out-of-hospital setting is still lacking. Experts of several professional medical societies have therefore joined forces and developed a structured training concept for emergency sonography in the prehospital setting. The consensus paper serves as quality assurance in prehospital emergency sonography., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.)

Up to the publication of the results of Germany's first participation in the PISA study in 2001, there had been no national educational standards in Germany's 16 federal states. In the aftermath of the discussions about the disappointing outcomes, Germany's federal states decided to develop national standards, yet focusing on "core subjects" and leaving geography disregarded. Consequently, the DGfG, which is the governing body of all professional geography associations in Germany, agreed on solving the problem on its own and published its own Educational Standards in Geography in 2006. Even though there have been countless efforts to foster the implementation of these widely-accepted, yet without legislative validation, standards we do not know exactly to what extent they have been implemented in the particular German federal states. The study presented here addresses this research gap bifid: Firstly, a research tool designed to analyze the paper implementation (i.e., putting into place new policies and procedures with the adoption of an innovation as the rationale for the policies and procedures, Fixsen et al., 2005, p. 6) of standards in curricula is introduced. Secondly, the results of a thorough examination of all curricula valid for the grammar schools in Germany are presented and discussed. As it becomes obvious, the Educational Standards have become increasingly implemented within the past years despite a lack of support by the legislations of the 16 federal states. However, there are some gaps that remain to be closed in order to ensure a complete, entirely successful paper implementation, ranging from particular areas of competence within the curricula in some states that have not adopted standards based geography instruction.

Introduction: We report an investigation on collaboration practices in research papers published in the most prestigious English-medium astrophysics journals. Method: We propose an evaluation method based on three numerical indicators to study and compare, in absolute terms, three different types of collaboration (international, national and local) and authors' mobility on the basis of co-authorship. Analysis: We analysed 300 randomly selected research papers in three different time periods and used the student's t-test to determine whether the paired two-sample differences observed were statistically significant or not. Results: International collaboration is more common than national and local collaboration. International, national and local authors' mobility and intra-national collaboration do not seriously affect the indicators of the principal levels of collaboration. International collaboration and authors' mobility are more relevant for authors publishing in European journals, whereas national and intra-national collaboration and national mobility are more important for authors publishing in US journals. Conclusions: We explain the observed differences and patterns in terms of the specific scope of each journal and the socio-economic and political situation in both geographic contexts (Europe and the USA). Our study provides a global picture of collaboration practices in astrophysics and its possible application to many other sciences and fields would undoubtedly help bring into focus the really big issues for overall research management and policy.

Objective:  The aim was to develop a new curriculum for radiology in medical studies, to reach a national consensus and to integrate it into the new national competence-based learning objectives catalog (NKLM 2.0). In this statement of the German Radiological Society (DRG), the process of curriculum development is described and the new curriculum is presented together with suggestions for practical implementation., Materials and Methods:  The DRG has developed a new curriculum for radiology. This was coordinated nationally among faculty via an online survey and the result was incorporated into the NKLM 2.0. Furthermore, possibilities for the practical implementation of the competency-based content are shown and different teaching concepts are presented., Results:  The developed curriculum is competency-based and aims to provide students with important skills and abilities for their future medical practice. The general part of the curriculum is divided into the topics "Radiation Protection", "Radiological Methods" and radiologically-relevant "Digital Skills". Furthermore, there is a special part on the individual organ systems and the specific diseases. In order to implement this in a resource-saving way, new innovative teaching concepts are needed that combine the advantages of face-to-face teaching in small groups for practical and case-based learning with digital teaching offers for resource-saving teaching of theoretical content., Conclusion:  We have created a uniform radiology curriculum for medical studies in Germany, coordinated it nationally and integrated it into the NKLM 2.0. The curriculum forms the basis of a uniform mandatory radiology teaching and should be the basis for the individual curriculum development of each faculty and strengthen the position of radiology in the interdisciplinary context., Key Points:   · A radiology curriculum for undergraduate medical education was developed.. · The curriculum was brought into agreement among the faculties in Germany and integrated into the NKLM 2.0.. · This curriculum is intended to be the basis for curriculum development and to strengthen the position of radiology.. · In order to implement the competence-based teaching, new innovative teaching concepts are necessary.., Citation Format: · Dettmer S, Barkhausen J, Volmer E et al. White Paper: Radiology Curriculum for Undergraduate Medical Education in Germany and Integration into the NKLM 2.0. Fortschr Röntgenstr 2021; 193: 1294 - 1303., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

The process of implementing early detection of lung cancer with low-dose CT (LDCT) in Germany has gained significant momentum in recent years. It is expected that the ordinance of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) on early detection of lung cancer, which has been commented on by the professional societies, will come into effect by the end of 2023. Based on this regulation, the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) will set up a program for early lung cancer detection with LDCT in the near future. In this position paper, the specialist societies involved in lung cancer screening present concrete cornerstones for a uniform, structured and quality-assured early detection program for lung cancer in Germany to make a constructive contribution to this process., Competing Interests: T.G.B. gibt eine Forschungsförderung von EU4Health an.J.V.-C. gibt Forschungsförderungen von BMBF, NIH, AstraZeneca, Siemens Healthineers, GlaxoSmithKline und Boehringer Ingelheim sowie Vortrags- oder Beratungshonorare von AstraZeneca, Siemens Healthineers, GlaxoSmithKline und Boehringer Ingelheim an. S.A. gibt eine Mitarbeit im Aktionsbündnis Nichtraucherschutz und in der Task Force Tabakentwöhnung der DGP an.H.-U.K. gibt Forschungsförderungen von Siemens, Philips und Boehringer Ingelheim sowie Vortrags- oder Beratungshonorare von Siemens, Boehringer Ingelheim, Philips, Sanofi und Median an.Alle weiteren Autorinnen und Autoren haben keine potenziellen Interessenkonflikte angegeben., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Since December 2019, digital health applications (DiGA) have been included in standard care in Germany and are therefore reimbursed by the statutory health insurance funds to support patients in the treatment of diseases or impairments. There are 48 registered DiGA listed in the directory of the Federal Institute of Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM), mainly in the areas of mental health; hormones and metabolism; and muscles, bones, and joints. In this article, the "Digital Health" specialist group of the German Informatics Society describes the current developments around DiGA as well as the current sentiment on topics such as user-centricity, patient and practitioner acceptance, and innovation potential. In summary, over the past three years, DiGA have experienced a positive development, characterized by a gradually increasing availability of various DiGA and coverage areas as well as prescription numbers. Nevertheless, significant regulatory adjustments are still required in some areas to establish DiGA as a well-established instrument in long-term routine healthcare. Key challenges include user-centeredness and the sustainable use of the applications., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht.

Background and objectives: Waste paper recycling utilization has been increasing in Iran and world paper industries which offers many benefits to the environment and humans. Municipal waste is also reused after recycling processes. Cardboard recycling industry has great environmental and economic importance and helps overcone the lack of wood resources and high demand for paper products. It plays an important role in the development of paper-related industries. However, recycling can be associated with the reduction in the optical properties of the paper. The use of nanoparticles in the paper industry is also expanding gradually. Nanosilica is one of the most important nanoparticles which is used as a retention aid in the paper industry. In order to reduce the consumption of long fibers and obtain the desired optical properties, the use of nanosilica alone or in combination with other materials such as cationic starch and cationic polyacrylamide is investigated. The purpose of this research is to compare the effect of individual and combined use of nanosilica additives, cationic polyacrylamide, cationic starch and long fibers on the optical properties of white liner paper pulp. Methodology: In this study, white paper pulp with the brightness of at least 78% and the gloss of at least 45% was used to prepare handmade paper sheets. Long fiber kraft chemical pulp from coniferous wood imported from Russia with the brightness of 89% was used in the laboratory paper sheet making. Nanosilica powder (NanoSiO2) (Degussa), Germany, cationic polyacrylamide (Farinret K325 brand, Degussa, Germany), and cationic starch (LyckebyAmylex, Slovakia) were used. Independent treatments included the addition of 10% refined long fibers pulp, 6% nanosilica, 1.5% cationic starch and 0.15% cationic polyacrylamide and combined treatments included 6% nanosilica and 1.5% cationic starch and 6% nanosilica and 0.15% cationic polyacrylamide. Then 127 g.m-2 handmade papers were prepared and the optical and microscopic properties were evaluated. Results: The results showed that by adding 10% long fibers, the brightness decreased and by using 6% nanosilica, the maximum brightness was reached. Meanwhile, the whiteness of papers with 6% nanosilica was minimum and with the dosage of only 0.15% cationic polyacrylamide, the whiteness reached at the maximum value. Opacity showed its highest value with the combination of 6% nanosilica and 0.15% cationic polyacrylamide. Also, by increasing the amount of polyacrylamide and cationic starch, individually or in combination with nanosilica, the opacity increased. The light absorption coefficient was the lowest in papers with 6% nanosilica and the light scattering coefficient was the highest in papers containing 6% nanosilica and 0.15% cationic polyacrylamide. A colorimeter was used to measure the color components and the results showed that the additives had an effect on the brightness and whiteness of the papers. Also, changes in the color spectrum and the value of color change were also observed. Additives increased the darkness and changes in different colors. Conclusion: The use of nanosilica individually and in combination with starch and cationic polyacrylamide increases the brightness of papers. Also, the use of cationic polyacrylamide individually and in combination with nanosilica leads to an increase in the whiteness and opacity of papers. The brightness factor of the papers, which is representative of the L* component, decreased with the exception of the addition of 10% long fibers and 6% nanosilica. The amount of overall color change with ΔE* was the lowest in samples containing 1.5% cationic starch and the highest in samples containing 0.15% cationic polyacrylamide. The use of some treatments can lead to a decrease in the optical properties and a decrease in the printability quality of the white liner. To solve this problem, mechanical pulp that has been decolorized or coated on the surface of the paper can be used. The presence of nano-silica particles in the structure of the paper improves the surface structure and reduces the prosity, which results in the reduction of surface roughness and less light refraction, and increases the light reflection and brightness of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple sclerosis is a complex, autoimmune-mediated disease of the central nervous system characterized by inflammatory demyelination and axonal/neuronal damage. The approval of various disease-modifying therapies and our increased understanding of disease mechanisms and evolution in recent years have significantly changed the prognosis and course of the disease. This update of the Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Consensus Group treatment recommendation focuses on the most important recommendations for disease-modifying therapies of multiple sclerosis in 2021. Our recommendations are based on current scientific evidence and apply to those medications approved in wide parts of Europe, particularly German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)., (© 2021. The Author(s).)