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The number of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites equipped with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers is rapidly increasing. GNSS observations in space are no longer limited to a small number of Earth observation satellites, but large nanosatellite constellations enable the formation of a dense network of GNSS observations around the Earth. Such a space-based GNSS network holds great potential for geodetic Earth observation: First, it allows GNSS double-difference processing in space, where GNSS signals are not affected by tropospheric refraction and where no ground observations are needed. Second, a dense and homogeneous GNSS network in space may improve the sensitivity to certain geodetic parameters by providing a better observation geometry than a few LEO satellites or a ground-based network.In this study, we investigate the feasibility of forming a space-based GNSS network for estimating orbit parameters of LEO and GNSS satellites, as well as low-degree coefficients of the Earth’s gravity field. We therefore process three different datasets: (1) simulated GNSS observations for potential LEO-constellation scenarios; (2) GNSS observations from a pseudo-constellation consisting of existing geodetic Earth observation missions, including GRACE, OSTM/Jason-2 and the Sentinel satellites; (3) GNSS observations from a nanosatellite constellation.We examine the sensitivity of estimated parameters to small errors in the observation data resulting, e.g., from the force model. Furthermore, we analyse how well carrier-phase ambiguities can be resolved and how this depends on the constellation configuration. This allows us to draw conclusions about the potential of large satellite constellations to complement the existing geodetic Earth observation missions., The 28th IUGG General Assembly (IUGG2023) (Berlin 2023)

The science guiding the EUREC⁴A campaign and its measurements is presented. EUREC⁴A comprised roughly 5 weeks of measurements in the downstream winter trades of the North Atlantic – eastward and southeastward of Barbados. Through its ability to characterize processes operating across a wide range of scales, EUREC⁴A marked a turning point in our ability to observationally study factors influencing clouds in the trades, how they will respond to warming, and their link to other components of the earth system, such as upper-ocean processes or the life cycle of particulate matter. This characterization was made possible by thousands (2500) of sondes distributed to measure circulations on meso- (200 km) and larger (500 km) scales, roughly 400 h of flight time by four heavily instrumented research aircraft; four global-class research vessels; an advanced ground-based cloud observatory; scores of autonomous observing platforms operating in the upper ocean (nearly 10 000 profiles), lower atmosphere (continuous profiling), and along the air–sea interface; a network of water stable isotopologue measurements; targeted tasking of satellite remote sensing; and modeling with a new generation of weather and climate models. In addition to providing an outline of the novel measurements and their composition into a unified and coordinated campaign, the six distinct scientific facets that EUREC⁴A explored – from North Brazil Current rings to turbulence-induced clustering of cloud droplets and its influence on warm-rain formation – are presented along with an overview of EUREC⁴A's outreach activities, environmental impact, and guidelines for scientific practice. Track data for all platforms are standardized and accessible at https://doi.org/10.25326/165 (Stevens, 2021), and a film documenting the campaign is provided as a video supplement.

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Prolonged storage of biospecimen can lead to artificially altered metabolite concentrations and thus bias data analysis in metabolomics experiments. To elucidate the potential impact of long-term storage on the metabolite profile, a pooled human plasma sample was aliquoted and stored at 80 degrees C. During a time period of five years, 1012 of the aliquots were measured with the Biocrates AbsoluteIDQ p180 targeted-metabolomics assay at 193 time points. Modeling the concentration courses over time revealed that 55 out of 111 metabolites remained stable. The statistically significantly changed metabolites showed on average an increase or decrease of +13.7% or -14.5%, respectively. In detail, increased concentration levels were observed for amino acids (mean: +15.4%), the sum of hexoses (+7.9%), butyrylcarnitine (+9.4%), and some phospholipids mostly with chain lengths exceeding 40 carbon atoms (mean: +18.0%). Lipids tended to exhibit decreased concentration levels with the following mean concentration changes: acylcarnitines, -12.1%; lysophosphatidylcholines, -15.1%; diacyl-phosphatidylcholines, -17.0%; acyl-alkyl-phosphatidylcholines, -13.3%; sphingomye-lins, -14.8%. We conclude that storage of plasma samples at -80 degrees C for up to five years can lead to altered concentration levels of amino acids, acylcarnitines, glycerophospholipids, sphingomyelins, and the sum of hexoses. These alterations must be considered when analyzing metabolomics data from long-term epidemiological studies.

Quantum Hall bilayer systems at filling fractions near ν= 1 2 + 1 2 undergo a transition from a compressible phase with strong intralayer correlation to an incompressible phase with strong interlayer correlations as the layer separation d is reduced below some critical value. Deep in the intralayer phase (large separation) the system can be interpreted as a fluid of composite fermions (CFs), whereas deep in the interlayer phase (small separation) the system can be interpreted as a fluid of composite bosons (CBs). The focus of this paper is to understand the states that occur for intermediate layer separation by using trial variational wave functions. We consider two main classes of wave functions. In the first class, previously introduced in Möller [Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 176803 (2008)], we consider interlayer BCS pairing of two independent CF liquids. We find that these wave functions are exceedingly good for d 0 with 0 as the magnetic length. The second class of wave functions naturally follows the reasoning of Simon [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 046803 (2003)] and generalizes the idea of pairing wave functions by allowing the CFs also to be replaced continuously by CBs. This generalization allows us to construct exceedingly good wave functions for interlayer spacings of d 0 as well. The accuracy of the wave functions discussed in this work, compared with exact diagonalization, approaches that of the celebrated Laughlin wave function. © 2009 The American Physical Society.

Alto-keto reductases (AKRs) comprise a superfamily of proteins involved in the reduction and oxidation of biogenic and xenobiotic carbonyls. In humans, at least 15 AKR superfamily members have been identified so far. One of these is a newly identified gene locus, AKR1B15, which clusters on chromosome 7 with the other human AKR1B subfamily members (i.e. AKR1B1 and AKR1B10). We show that alternative splicing of the AKR1B15 gene transcript gives rise to two protein isoforms with different N termini: AKR1B15.1 is a 316-amino acid protein with 91% amino acid identity to AKR1B10; AKR1B15.2 has a prolonged N terminus and consists of 344 amino acid residues. The two gene products differ in their expression level, subcellular localization, and activity. In contrast with other AKR enzymes, which are mostly cytosolic, AKR1B15.1 co-localizes with the mitochondria. Kinetic studies show that AKR1B15.1 is predominantly a reductive enzyme that catalyzes the reduction of androgens and estrogens with high positional selectivity (17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity) as well as 3-ketoacyl-CoA conjugates and exhibits strong cofactor selectivity toward NADP(H). In accordance with its substrate spectrum, the enzyme is expressed at the highest levels in steroid-sensitive tissues, namely placenta, testis, and adipose tissue. Placental and adipose expression could be reproduced in the BeWo and SGBS cell lines, respectively. In contrast, AKR1B15.2 localizes to the cytosol and displays no enzymatic activity with the substrates tested. Collectively, these results demonstrate the existence of a novel catalytically active AKR, which is associated with mitochondria and expressed mainly in steroid-sensitive tissues.

Summary: Persistence with and adherence to osteoporosis therapy are critical for fracture reduction. This non-interventional study is evaluating medication-taking behavior of women with postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO) receiving denosumab in Germany, Austria, Greece, and Belgium. Patients were representative of the PMO population and highly persistent with and adherent to denosumab at 12 months. Introduction: Persistence with and adherence to osteoporosis therapy are important for optimal treatment efficacy, namely fracture reduction. This ongoing, non-interventional study will evaluate medication-taking behavior of women with postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO) receiving denosumab in routine practice in four European countries. Methods: The study enrolled women who had been prescribed subcutaneous denosumab (60 mg every 6 months) in accordance with prescribing information and local guidelines. Persistence was defined as receiving the subsequent injection within 6 months + 8 weeks of the previous injection. Adherence was defined as receiving two consecutive injections within 6 months ± 4 weeks of each other. Medication coverage ratio (MCR) was calculated using the time a patient was covered with denosumab, as assessed from prescription records. Treatment was assigned prior to and independently of enrollment; outcomes are recorded during routine practice. Results: These planned 12-month interim analyses included data from 1500 patients from 141 sites. Mean age was 66.4–72.4 years, mean baseline total hip T-scores ranged from −2.0 to −2.1 and femoral neck T-scores from −2.2 to −2.6, and 30.7–62.1 % of patients had prior osteoporotic fracture. Persistence was 87.0–95.3 %, adherence 82.7–89.3 %, and MCR 91.3–95.4 %. In a univariate analysis, increased age, decreased mobility, and increased distance to the clinic were associated with significantly decreased persistence; parental history of hip fracture was associated with significantly increased persistence. Conclusions: These data extend the real-world evidence regarding persistence with and adherence to denosumab, both of which are critical for favorable clinical outcomes, including fracture risk reduction. © 2015, The Author(s).

Anzahl der Teilnehmer: 2-20 Lernziele: Durch die Aktualisierung der Approbationsordnung (ÄAppO) und im aktuellen Entwurf des Nationalen Kompetenzbasierten Lernzielkatalogs hat die Lehre der Kommunikation einen höheren Stellenwert in der medizinischen Ausbildung erhalten. Mit letzterem könnte[for full text, please go to the a.m. URL], Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Medizinische Ausbildung (GMA)

Das Arzt-Patienten-Gespräch ist sicherlich ein Anwärter für die älteste medizinische Tradition. Die Bedeutung für den Therapieerfolg wurde inzwischen mehrfach empirisch belegt (vgl. [ref:1]). Bezüglich der Didaktik geriet dieser Teil der ärztlichen Kunst [for full text, please go to the a.m. URL], Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Medizinische Ausbildung (GMA)

Fragestellung: Im Rahmen des interprofessionellen BMBF-Projekts „ProfKom – Professionalisierung von zukünftigen Ärzten und Lehrkräften im Bereich der Kommunikationskompetenz“ wurde das „Münchner Modell zur Gesprächsführungskompetenz in Lehr[for full text, please go to the a.m. URL], Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Medizinische Ausbildung (GMA)

Fragestellung: Rollenspiele werden vielfach zum Lernen des Arzt-Patienten-Gesprächs eingesetzt, benötigen jedoch viel Ressourcen. Im Projekt ProfKom [[link:http://www.profkom-projekt.de#http://www.profkom-projekt.de]] werden daher für Mediz[for full text, please go to the a.m. URL], Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Medizinische Ausbildung (GMA)

Fragestellung: Im BMBF-Projekt ‚ProfKom’ wurden E-Learningmodule für ein Kommunikationstraining und ein Key Feature-Assessment (KF-A) kommunikativer Leistungen in der spezifischen Gesprächssituation ‚Partizipative Entscheidungsfindung’ entwickelt und in einer Vo[for full text, please go to the a.m. URL], Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Medizinische Ausbildung (GMA)

We provide numerical evidence for composite fermion pairing in quantum Hall bilayer systems at filling $\nu=1/2 + 1/2$ for intermediate spacing between the layers. We identify the phase as $p_x + i p_y$ pairing, and construct high accuracy trial wavefunctions to describe the groundstate on the sphere. For large distances between the layers, and for finite systems, a competing "Hund's rule" state, or composite fermion liquid, prevails for certain system sizes. We argue that for larger systems, the pairing phase will persist to larger layer spacing., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; v2: final version, as published in journal

The purpose of this document is to address the current lack of consensus regarding the management of hyperbilirubinaemia in neonates in South Africa. If left untreated, severe neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia may cause kernicterus and ultimately death and the severity of neonatal jaundice is often underestimated clinically. However, if phototherapy is instituted timely and at the correct intensity an exchange transfusion can usually be avoided. The literature describing intervention thresholds for phototherapy and exchange transfusion in both term and preterm infants is therefore reviewed and specific intervention thresholds that can be used throughout South Africa are proposed and presented graphically. A simplified version for use in a primary care setting is also presented. All academic heads of neonatology departments throughout South Africa were consulted in the process of drawing up this document and consensus was achieved.

The purpose of this document is to address the current lack of consensus regarding the management of hyperbilirubinaemia in neonates in South Africa. If left untreated, severe neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia may cause kernicterus and ultimately death and the severity of neonatal jaundice is often underestimated clinically. However, if phototherapy is instituted timeously and at the correct intensity an exchange transfusion can usually be avoided. The literature describing intervention thresholds for phototherapy and exchange transfusion in both term and preterm infants is therefore reviewed and specific intervention thresholds that can be used throughout South Africa are proposed and presented graphically. A simplified version for use in a primary care setting is also presented. All academic heads of neonatology departments throughout South Africa were consulted in the process of drawing up this document and consensus was achieved.