Search

Abstract Potency assessment of monoclonal antibodies or corresponding biosimilars in cell-based assays is an essential prerequisite in biopharmaceutical research and development. However, cellular bioassays are still subject to limitations in sample throughput, speed, and often need costly reagents or labels as they are based on an indirect readout by luminescence or fluorescence. In contrast, whole-cell Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight (MALDI-TOF) Mass Spectrometry (MS) has emerged as a direct, fast and label-free technology for functional drug screening being able to unravel the molecular complexity of cellular response to pharmaceutical reagents. However, this approach has not yet been used for cellular testing of biologicals. In this study, we have conceived, developed and benchmarked a label-free MALDI-MS based cell bioassay workflow for the functional assessment of complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) of Rituximab antibody. By computational evaluation of response profiles followed by subsequent m/z feature annotation via fragmentation analysis and trapped ion mobility MS, we identified adenosine triphosphate and glutathione as readily MS-assessable metabolite markers for CDC and demonstrate that robust concentration–response characteristics can be obtained by MALDI-TOF MS. Statistical assay performance indicators suggest that whole-cell MALDI-TOF MS could complement the toolbox for functional cellular testing of biopharmaceuticals.

In recent years, there has been a significant amount of literature on design, design thinking, and the design process. Many researchers have conducted studies to describe and explain the essence and mechanisms of the design process, as well as the unique nature of design thinking. However, this research aims to systematically review the literature in the field of design studies and related fields on the subject of negative emotional experiences as perceived in these studies, striving to present a comprehensive content and theoretical framework for previous studies. The study of this topic is significant due to its potential to enhance our understanding of how designers' function during the creative design process and the effects of these emotions on them. This research serves as a foundation for more precise analyses of these negative emotional experiences, which can lead to the development of effective and structured design approaches. n recent years, there has been a significant amount of literature on design, design thinking, and the design process. Many researchers have conducted studies to describe and explain the essence and mechanisms of the design process, as well as the unique nature of design thinking. However, this research aims to systematically review the literature in the field of design studies and related fields on the subject of negative emotional experiences as perceived in these studies, striving to present a comprehensive content and theoretical framework for previous studies.....

Wind power-to-gas concepts have a high potential to sustainably cover the increasing demand for hydrogen as an energy carrier and raw material, as it has been shown in the past that there is an enormous potential in energy overproduction, which currently remains unused due to the shutdown of wind turbines. Thus, there is barely experience in maritime production, offshore storage, and transport of large quantities of liquid hydrogen (LH2) due to the developing market. Instead, tank designs refer to heavy standard onshore storage and transport applications with vacuum insulated double wall hulls made from austenitic stainless steel and comparatively high thermal diffusivity and conductivity. This reduces cost effectiveness due to inevitable boil-off and disregards some other requirements such as mechanical and cyclic strength and high corrosion resistance. Hence, new concepts for LH2 tanks are required for addressing these issues. Two innovative technical concepts from space travel and high-temperature applications were adopted, combined and qualified for use in the wind-power-to-gas scenario. The focus was particularly on the high requirements for transport weight, insulation and cryogenic durability. The first concept part consisted of the implementation of FRP (fiber-reinforced plastics)–steel hybrid tanks which have a high potential as a hull for LH2 tanks. However, these hybrid tanks are currently only used in the space sector. Questions still arise regarding interactions with coatings, production, material, temperature resilience and design for commercial use. Thermally sprayed thermal barrier coatings (TBC) in turn show promising potential for surfaces subject to high thermal and mechanical stress. However, the application is currently limited to use at high temperatures and needed to be extended to the cryogenic temperature range. The research on this second part of the concept thus focused on the validation of standard MCrAlY alloys and innovative (partially) amorphous metal coatings with regard to mechanical-technological and insulating properties in the low temperature range. This article gives an overview regarding the achieved results including manufacturing and measurements on a small tank demonstrator.

All native and many cultivated fig plants are pollinated by representatives of the family Agaonidae (fig wasps), which are specialised, secondarily phytophagous relatives of parasitoid wasps that evolved an obligate mutualism with fig trees. So far, distribution of Agaonidae in Europe has been limited to southern, mostly Mediterranean areas, for example, in Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. Here, we report the first four records of the family for Germany, all in the form of the widespread species Blastophaga psenes (Linnaeus, 1758). New verified records are from three States in western and south-western Germany, Baden-Wuerttemberg (Radolfzell at Lake Constance and Sasbach am Kaiserstuhl near Freiburg), Saarland (Saarbrücken) and Northrhine-Westalia (Bochum) and all are based on citizen-scientist observations and collections. The new records are considerably more northern than previously recorded localities and, strikingly, geographically distant from these. All records can be attributed to the presence of large male caprifig trees (Ficus carica L. var. caprificus), whose three generations of fruits host the development stages of Blastophaga psenes. We generated DNA barcode data of specimens from three localities and added them to the national GBOL (German Barcode of Life) database and the international Barcode of Life database (BOLD). The somewhat surprising occurrence of the species/family in Germany might be attributable to increasing temperatures as a result of global warming, but this needs further investigation. Additionally, the presence of fig wasps, assuming it stabilises, could offer new opportunities for fig farming in Germany.

Abstract Global biodiversity gradients are generally expected to reflect greater species replacement closer to the equator. However, empirical validation of global biodiversity gradients largely relies on vertebrates, plants, and other less diverse taxa. Here we assess the temporal and spatial dynamics of global arthropod biodiversity dynamics using a beta-diversity framework. Sampling includes 129 sampling sites whereby malaise traps are deployed to monitor temporal changes in arthropod communities. Overall, we encountered more than 150,000 unique barcode index numbers (BINs) (i.e. species proxies). We assess between site differences in community diversity using beta-diversity and the partitioned components of species replacement and richness difference. Global total beta-diversity (dissimilarity) increases with decreasing latitude, greater spatial distance and greater temporal distance. Species replacement and richness difference patterns vary across biogeographic regions. Our findings support long-standing, general expectations of global biodiversity patterns. However, we also show that the underlying processes driving patterns may be regionally linked.

Abstract Floatation-REST (Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy) minimizes stimulation of the nervous system by immersing subjects in an environment without sound or light while they effortlessly float in thermoneutral water supersaturated with Epsom salt. Here we investigated the relationship between altered states of consciousness (ASC) and its association with the affective changes induced by Floatation-REST. Using a within-subject crossover design, 50 healthy subjects were randomized to 60 min of Floatation-REST or 60 min of Bed-REST (an active control condition that entailed lying supine on a warm waterbed in a dark and quiet room). Following Floatation-REST, subjects felt significantly more relaxed, less anxious, and less tired than after Bed-REST. Floatation-REST also induced significantly more pronounced ASC characterized by the dissolution of body boundaries and the distortion of subjective time. The loss of body boundaries mediated the loss of anxiety, revealing a novel mechanism by which Floatation-REST exerts its anxiolytic effect.

The study presents DNA barcoding results of five families of Hymenoptera in Germany. DNA barcodes are provided for 24 of the 25 species of Gasteruption occurring in Central Europe, including 18 of the 19 species recorded from Germany. The genetic diversity was higher than expected, with five species exhibiting two or more Barcode Index Number (BINs), whereas BIN sharing occurred in four species. Gasteruption foveiceps Semenov, 1892, stat. nov. is removed from synonymy with G. nigrescens Schletterer, 1885 and treated as a distinct species.

Substantial parts of the European and German insect fauna still remain largely unexplored, the so-called “dark taxa”. In particular, midges (Diptera) and parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera) are abundant and species-rich throughout Europe, yet are often neglected in biodiversity research. One such dark taxon is Microgastrinae wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a group of parasitoids of lepidopteran caterpillars with 252 species reported in Germany so far. As part of the German Barcode of Life Project GBOL III: Dark Taxa, reverse DNA barcoding and integrative taxonomic approaches were used to shed some light on the German Fauna of Microgastrinae wasps. In our workflow, DNA barcoding was used for molecular clustering of our specimens in a first step, morphological examination of the voucher specimens in a second step, and host data compared in a third step. Here, 30 species are reported for the first time in Germany, adding more than 10% to the known German fauna. Information for four species is provided in a new Holarctic context, reporting them for the Nearctic or, respectively, Palaearctic region, and 26 additional country records are added from sequenced material available in the collections accessible to us. Molecular clusters that show signs of discrepancies are discussed. Results show that we are just scratching the tip of the iceberg of the unexplored Microgastrinae diversity in Germany.

Germany is home to a rich cuckoo wasp fauna (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae) with about 108 species. However, several nomenclatural changes, the lack of identification keys, and the discovery of cryptic species difficult to identify based on external morphology have made the identification of several species a challenge. COI barcoding has been instrumental in the identification of some cuckoo wasp species and could help alleviate some of the above problems, but a reliable large reference database containing the cuckoo wasp barcodes is lacking. We present the COI barcodes of more than 800 specimens of 101 cuckoo wasp species native to Germany to lay the foundation for the barcode-based identification of German species. An analysis of the COI barcode sequences suggested groups that are largely consistent with the current taxonomy of the group. We found a few cases of over- or undersplitting of taxa. In some common species, the high degree of barcode divergence suggests the presence of cryptic species that need to be further assessed by integrative approaches. Our library of cuckoo wasp reference barcodes will enhance researchers’ ability to reliably identify species within this fascinating group of insects, in particular for identifying life stages that offer few or no morphological features for species-level identification.

Abstract Background In general, urinary and faecal incontinence is a multifaceted problem that is associated with increasing burdens for those affected, a massive impairment of quality of life and economic consequences. Incontinence is associated with a high level of shame, which in particular reduces the self-esteem of those being incontinent and leads to additional vulnerability. Those affected by incontinence often perceive incontinence and the care they receiveas humiliating, hence they can no longer control their own urination; nursing care and cleansing support then lead to additional dependency. People with incontinence in need of care not uncommonly experience a poor communication and many taboos surrounding the issue as well as the use of force when incontinence products are changed. Aims and methods This RCT aims to validate the benefits of using a digital assistance system to optimise incontinence care and to enable statements concerning the effect of the assistance technology on nursing and social structures and processes as well as on the quality of life from the perspective of the person in need of care. In a two-arm, stratified, randomised, controlled interventional study, primarily incontinence-affected residents of four inpatient nursing facilities will be examined (n = 80). One intervention group will be equipped with a sensor-based digital assistance system, which will transmit care-related information to the nursing staff (via smartphone). The collected data will be compared to the data of the control group. Primary endpoints are falls occurring; secondary endpoints are quality of life and sleep, sleep disturbances and material consumption. In addition, nursing staff (n = 15–20) will be interviewed regarding the effects, experience, acceptance and satisfaction. Discussion The RCT aims at the applicability and effect of assistance technologies on nursing structures and processes. It is assumed that, amongst other things, this technology may lead to a reduction of unnecessary checks and material changes, an improvement of life quality, an avoidance of sleep disturbances and thus an improvement of sleep quality as well as to a reduced risk of falling for people with incontinence in need of care. The further development of incontinence care systems is of social interest as this offers the prospect of improving the quality of care for nursing home residents with incontinence. Trail registration Approval of the RCT is granted by the Ethics Committee at the University of Applied Sciences Neubrandenburg (Reg.-Nr.: HSNB/190/22). This RCT is registered at the German Clinical Trials Register on July 8th, 2022, under the identification number DRKS00029635.

Launched in 2015, the large-scale initiative Indonesian Biodiversity Discovery and Information System (IndoBioSys) is a multidisciplinary German-Indonesian collaboration with the main goal of establishing a standardised framework for species discovery and all associated steps. One aspect of the project includes the application of DNA barcoding for species identification and biodiversity assessments. In this framework, we conducted a large-scale assessment of the insect fauna of the Mount Halimun-Salak National Park which is one of the largest tropical rain-forest ecosystems left in West Java. In this study, we present the results of processing 5,034 specimens of Phoridae (scuttle flies) via DNA barcoding. Despite limited sequencing success, we obtained more than 500 clusters using different algorithms (RESL, ASAP, SpeciesIdentifier). Moreover, Chao statistics indicated that we drastically undersampled all trap sites, implying that the true diversity of Phoridae is, in fact, much higher. With this data release, we hope to shed some light on the hidden diversity of this megadiverse group of flies.

The ubiquitous occurrence of microplastics and nanoplastics in aquatic environments is of major concern as these priority pollutants are readily ingested by a wide variety of aquatic organisms. Although quantitative data on the interaction of microplastics and even more so on nanoplastics in freshwater environments and their interaction with the aquatic food web are still limited, studies have nevertheless demonstrated that even micro- or nanosized plastic particles can be ingested by various members of the zooplankton functioning as primary consumers. Bacterivorous ciliates are crucial members of the microzooplankton. These fascinating microorganisms are critical components of microbial loops in freshwater environments and are essential links between different trophic levels within the aquatic food web. Ingestion of microscopic plastic particles affects the ciliate cell on a cellular and even on the molecular level. Physical and chemical characteristics such as size, density, and surface properties influence the stability, distribution, retention, transportation, and bioavailability of the microplastic particles for ingestion by ciliates. In turn, the environmental fate of microplastics and nanoplastics can affect their ecotoxicity via surface modifications, such as forming the so-called eco-corona. The consequences of the interaction of ciliates with microplastics and nanoplastics are the potential bioaccumulation of plastic particles through the food web and the possible interference of these emerging pollutants with controlling bacterial and possibly even viral abundance in freshwater environments. Due to the limited data available, studies elucidating the environmental bacterivorous ciliate-micro-/nanoplastics interaction are a priority research topic if we want to holistically assess the environmental fate and ecotoxicity of these pollutants.

Natural carotenoids from green microalgae exhibit beneficial effects in treating health-related diseases, primarily due to their antioxidant capacity. Therefore, carotenoid-producing microalgae were isolated and characterized from aqueous samples in KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) under photoautotrophic conditions. Three isolates were characterized comprehensively using light and electron microscopy. In addition, the growth of the three selected microalgae was evaluated under photoautotrophic and photoheterotrophic conditions. Based on the cytological characteristics, the three strains matched the genera Haematococcus, Parachlorella, and Scenedesmus, the latter two additionally confirmed via analysis of the 18S rRNA gene sequence at the genus level. Light and electron microscopy and UV-Vis spectroscopy confirmed pigment production by all three microalgal strains. Both isolate Parachlorella sp. AA1 and Scenedesmus sp. AA2 showed the highest growth rate when cultured with acetate (25 mM) photoheterotrophically, while the isolate Haematococcus sp. AA3 grew best with glucose (50 mM). In addition, all three isolates utilized salicylate as a carbon source under photoheterotrophic conditions, evidently resulting in increased carotenoid production in strains AA1 and AA3. The 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) antioxidant assay confirmed that methanol extracts of all three isolates contained carotenoids that can scavenge radicals, and thin layer chromatography (TLC) analysis showed that β-carotene and astaxanthin were formed by strain AA3 as main carotenoids.

Spatial visualization of metabolites in tissues via mass spectrometry imaging can be prone to user perception bias. Here, the authors report the computational framework moleculaR that introduces probabilistic data-dependent molecular mapping of nonrandom spatial patterns of metabolite signals.

Abstract The use of open-label placebos (OLPs) has shown to be effective in clinical trials. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine whether OLPs are effective in experimental studies with non-clinical populations. We searched five databases on April 15, 2021. We conducted separate analyses for self-reported and objective outcomes and examined whether the level of suggestiveness of the instructions influenced the efficacy of OLPs. Of the 3573 identified records, 20 studies comprising 1201 participants were included, of which 17 studies were eligible for meta-analysis. The studies investigated the effect of OLPs on well-being, pain, stress, arousal, wound healing, sadness, itchiness, test anxiety, and physiological recovery. We found a significant effect of OLPs for self-reported outcomes (k = 13; standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.43; 95% CI = 0.28, 0.58; I 2 = 7.2%), but not for objective outcomes (k = 8; SMD = − 0.02; 95% CI = − 0.25, 0.21; I 2 = 43.6%). The level of suggestiveness of the instructions influenced the efficacy of OLPs for objective outcomes (p = 0.02), but not for self-reported outcomes. The risk of bias was moderate for most studies, and the overall quality of the evidence was rated low to very low. In conclusion, OLPs appear to be effective when examined in experimental studies. However, further research is needed to better understand the mechanisms underlying OLPs.

TPM is the foundation for JIT (Just in Time) and Lean Manufacturing and forms the basis of JIT or on-time delivery. The goal of TPM is to improve equipment effectiveness and optimize equipment performance, namely PQCDSM (Productivity, Quality, Cost and Delivery, Safety and health, environment, and Morale). Many producers have tried to transform their production system to a JIT or Lean production system with the aim of increasing productivity and quality, but thus far with little success. This contribution shows how trekking and climbing tours can be used to illustrate the application of PQCDSM-Logic in mountaineering and how this can be transferred to logistics and maintenance practice. The background is the author's decades of experience with expeditions, trekking and climbing tours, TPM implementations and interviews with numerous experts. There are many similarities between the application of PQCDSM-Logic in mountaineering and in logistics and maintenance practice, which will help both in operational practice in industry and in high mountain tours, especially regarding safety in a changing environment. Presented is the extrapolation from mountain climbing to TPM and the importance of leadership for a successful (summit climbs and the like) transformation of the production system to a JIT or Lean production system.

Situations often arise in intensive care units (ICUs) for which only sparse primary evidence or guidelines are applicable or to which existing evidence cannot be applied owing to interactions of multiple disease states. To improve and guide intensive care management in complex scenarios, ultrasonography and echocardiography are invaluable. In five clinical scenarios involving acute deterioration, serial ultrasound examinations of the respiratory system, general critical care ultrasound (GCCUS), and non-invasive haemodynamic critical care echocardiography (CCE) were used routinely. Ultrasonographic results were used to guide further management and initiate experimental therapy or transition from curative to supportive care. The process of initiation of ultrasound examinations to clinical decision-making in these complex scenarios is outlined. These case vignettes highlight the utility of ultrasound and echocardiography. When clinical management is not clear, or evidence is not available, the use of ultrasound for the evaluation of the respiratory system, GCCUS, and non-invasive haemodynamic CCE can help to guide management, reveal newly developed pathologies, lead to clinical management changes, and support the decision for employing experimental therapy approaches in a dynamic way of which few other imaging modalities or monitoring tools are currently capable.

Since the first checklist of German Chalcidoidea and Mymarommatoidea was published over two decades ago, a revision of the status of these superfamilies in Germany is overdue. The previous list contained chalcidoid species mentioned in published papers up to 2000 and was cross-checked with the data compiled by Noyes in the Universal Chalcidoidea Database. Additional species, determined by the first author, were also included. Since then, revisions of several chalcidoid genera have been published synonymising species or describing new species. The previous checklist also contained several erroneous names and doubtful records that turned out to be incorrect placements or questionable citations and are corrected in the present version.The updated critical checklist of German Chalcidoidea includes 1,610 species from 19 families.

The present study investigates the influence of surface fibrillation of lyocell fibres on the adhesion and resulting properties of short fibre-reinforced polypropylene (PP) and polylactide (PLA) composites. Fibrillation was shown to reduce the tensile strength and elongation at break of the fibres, while not affecting Young's modulus. It was demonstrated that fibrillation improved adhesion significantly compared to non-fibrillated (untreated) fibres, and the critical fibre length determined by microbond tests was reduced. Despite the reduced tensile strength of the fibrillated lyocell fibres, the tensile strength of the composites was increased by a factor of 1.15 for PP and 1.62 for PLA compared to composites produced with untreated fibres. The Young's modulus of the composites was increased using fibrillated fibres by a factor of 1.41 for PP and 1.20 for PLA. The impact strength was also improved by using fibrillated fibres by a factor of 1.38 for PP-based and 1.23 for PLA-based composites. Surface fibrillation of lyocell offers interesting application possibilities, particularly for short fibre-reinforced materials, as the higher specific fibre surface reduces the critical fibre length of lyocell, leading to improved stress transfer from the matrix to the fibre. These fibres seem particularly promising to enhance the mechanical properties of short-fibre reinforced composites for 3D printing applications.

Abstract Head development is a surrogate for brain development in infants and is related to neurocognitive outcome. There is only limited knowledge on early extra-uterine head shape and size assessment in very preterm infants. Here, 26 very preterm infants with a mean gestational age of 29.1 ± 2.2 weeks and a mean birth weight of 1273.8 ± 427.7 g underwent serial stereophotogrammetric 3D head imaging in weekly intervals from birth to term-equivalent age. The main outcome was the longitudinal assessment of the ‘physiological’ preterm head development with cephalometric size (head circumference, cranial volume) and shape parameters (cranial index, cranial vault asymmetry index) according to chronological and postmenstrual age (PMA). Potential clinical risk factors for the development of an abnormal low cranial index (dolichocephaly) were analysed. In serial measurements of 26 infants, the estimated head volume (95% confidence interval) increased from 244 (226–263) cm3 at 28 weeks PMA to 705 (688–721) cm3 at 40 weeks PMA. Moderate or severe dolichocephaly occurred in 21/26 infants (80.8%). Cranial index decreased over time (72.4%; 70.7–74 95% confidence interval). Brachycephaly and plagiocephaly were uncommon. No risk factors for severe dolichocephaly were identified. Our study shows that early detection of head shape and size anomalies utilizing 3D stereophotogrammetry is feasible and safe even in very preterm infants

Abstract In this prospective observational study, non-invasive critical care echocardiography (CCE) was used to obtain quantitative hemodynamic parameters in 107 intensive care unit (ICU) patients; the parameters were then visualized in a novel web graph approach to increase the understanding and impact of CCE abnormalities, as an alternative to thermodilution techniques. Visualizing the CCE hemodynamic data in six-dimensional web graph plots was feasible in almost all ICU patients. In 23.1% of patients, significant tricuspid regurgitation prevented correlation between thermodilution techniques and echocardiographic hemodynamics. Two parameters of longitudinal right ventricular function (TAPSE and S’) did not correlate in ICU patients. Clinical surrogate parameters of hemodynamic compromise did not correlate with measured hemodynamics. 26.2% of the patients with mean arterial pressures above 60 mmHg had cardiac indices (CI) below 2.5 L min−1·m−2. A CI below 2.2 L·min−1·m−2 was associated with a significant ICU survival disadvantage. CCE was feasible in addition or as an alternative to thermodilution techniques for the hemodynamic evaluation of ICU patients. Six-dimensional web graph plots visualized the hemodynamic states and were especially useful in conditions in which thermodilution methods were not reliable. Hemodynamic CCE identified patients with previously unknown low CI, which correlated with a higher ICU mortality.

Purpose: Data comparing lung ultrasound (LUS) and chest X-rays (CXRs) have increased over the past years. However, there still is a lack of knowledge as to how these modalities compare with one another in the critical care setting, and several factors, including artificial study conditions, limit the generalizability of most published studies. Our study aimed to analyze the performance of LUS in comparison with CXRs in real-world critical care practice. Materials and Methods: This study presents new data from the prospective FASP-ICU trial. A total of 209 corresponding datasets of LUS and CXR results from 111 consecutive surgical ICU patients were subanalyzed, and categorial findings were compared. Statistical analysis was performed on the rates of agreement between the different imaging modalities. Results: A total of 1162 lung abnormalities were detected by LUS in ICU patients compared with 1228 detected by CXR, a non-significant difference (p = 0.276; 95% CI −0.886 to 0.254). However, the agreement rates varied between the observed abnormalities: the rate of agreement for the presence of interstitial syndrome ranged from 0 to 15%, consolidation from 0 to 56%, basal atelectasis from 33.9 to 49.34%, pleural effusion from 40.65 to 50%, and compression atelectasis from 14.29 to 19.3%. The rate of agreement was 0% for pneumothorax and 20.95% for hypervolemia. Conclusions: LUS does not detect more lung abnormalities in real-world critical care practice than CXRs, although a higher sensitivity of LUS has been reported in previous studies. Overall, low agreement rates between LUS and CXRs suggest that these diagnostic techniques are not equivalent but instead are complementary and should be used alongside each other.

While four per cent of employees in Germany worked from home before the covid crisis, this figure was around 30 per cent in the first lockdown in April 2020. Now working from home and mobile working are part of the everyday life of many employees. Experience has shown that many activities can also be carried out from other locations than the classic office in the company. Location-flexible work will also still be standard in some sectors after the crisis. This article shows employees' experiences with working from home in corona times, with serious advantages and disadvantages being reported. Best practices as implementation of company agreements are presented based on an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) example: Example of working from home (WFH) / office work, life-phase oriented working time instruments as a personnel management success factor, promotion of cross-border cooperation, efficient use of resources, questions on learning from the pandemic, working through the corona period with employees, recommendations for surviving this crisis and culture of trust versus control.

VIETBIO [Innovative approaches to biodiversity discovery and characterisation in Vietnam] is a bilateral German-Vietnamese research and capacity building project focusing on the development and transfer of new methods and technology towards an integrated biodiversity discovery and monitoring system for Vietnam. Dedicated field training and testing of innovative methodologies were undertaken in Cuc Phuong National Park as part and with support of the project, which led to the new biodiversity data and records made available in this article collection.VIETBIO is a collaboration between the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin – Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science (MfN), the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin (BGBM) and the Vietnam National Museum of Nature (VNMN), the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (IEBR), the Southern Institute of Ecology (SIE), as well as the Institute of Tropical Biology (ITB); all Vietnamese institutions belong to the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST).The article collection "VIETBIO" (https://doi.org/10.3897/bdj.coll.63) reports original results of recent biodiversity recording and survey work undertaken in Cuc Phuong National Park, northern Vietnam, under the framework of the VIETBIO project. The collection consist of this “main” cover paper – characterising the study area, the general project approaches and activities, while also giving an extensive overview on previous studies from this area – followed by individual papers for higher taxa as studied during the project. The main purpose is to make primary biodiversity records openly available, including several new and interesting findings for this biodiversity-rich conservation area. All individual data papers with their respective primary records are expected to provide useful baselines for further taxonomic, phylogenetic, ecological and conservation-related studies on the respective taxa and, thus, will be maintained as separate datasets, including separate GUIDs also for further updating.

Arthropods account for a large proportion of animal biomass and diversity in terrestrial systems, making them crucial organisms in our environments. However, still too little is known about the highly abundant and megadiverse groups that often make up the bulk of collected samples, especially in the tropics. With molecular identification techniques ever more evolving, analysis of arthropod communities has accelerated. In our study, which was conducted within the Global Malaise trap Program (GMP) framework, we operated two closely placed Malaise traps in Padang, Sumatra, for three months. We analyzed the samples by DNA barcoding and sequenced a total of more than 70,000 insect specimens. For sequence clustering, we applied three different delimitation techniques, namely RESL, ASAP, and SpeciesIdentifier, which gave similar results. Despite our (very) limited sampling in time and space, our efforts recovered more than 10,000 BINs, of which the majority are associated with "dark taxa". Further analysis indicates a drastic undersampling of both sampling sites, meaning that the true arthropod diversity at our sampling sites is even higher. Regardless of the close proximity of both Malaise traps (< 360 m), we discovered significantly distinct communities.

Abstract Background The use of ultrasonography in the intensive care unit (ICU) is steadily increasing but is usually restricted to examinations of single organs or organ systems. In this study, we combine the ultrasound approaches the most relevant to ICU to design a whole-body ultrasound (WBU) protocol. Recommendations and training schemes for WBU are sparse and lack conclusive evidence. Our aim was therefore to define the range and prevalence of abnormalities detectable by WBU to develop a simple and fast bedside examination protocol, and to evaluate the value of routine surveillance WBU in ICU patients. Methods A protocol for focused assessments of sonographic abnormalities of the ocular, vascular, pulmonary, cardiac and abdominal systems was developed to evaluate 99 predefined sonographic entities on the day of admission and on days 3, 6, 10 and 15 of the ICU admission. The study was a clinical prospective single-center trial in 111 consecutive patients admitted to the surgical ICUs of a tertiary university hospital. Results A total of 3003 abnormalities demonstrable by sonography were detected in 1275 individual scans of organ systems and 4395 individual single-organ examinations. The rate of previously undetected abnormalities ranged from 6.4 ± 4.2 on the day of admission to 2.9 ± 1.8 on day 15. Based on the sonographic findings, intensive care therapy was altered following 45.1% of examinations. Mean examination time was 18.7 ± 3.2 min, or 1.6 invested minutes per detected abnormality. Conclusions Performing the WBU protocol led to therapy changes in 45.1% of the time. Detected sonographic abnormalities showed a high rate of change in the course of the serial assessments, underlining the value of routine ultrasound examinations in the ICU. Trial registration The study was registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS, 7 April 2017; retrospectively registered) under the identifier DRKS00010428.

Land use is a key control of insect communities. Here the authors investigate relationships of insect biomass and richness with land use along a climate gradient, finding evidence of urbanisation and agriculture as drivers of decline, and of biomass and species richness not being suitable as mutual surrogates.

The present study presents DNA barcoding results for 134 species of Central European Vespoidea, families Mutillidae, Myrmosidae, Sapygidae, Scoliidae, Tiphiidae, Thynnidae, and Vespidae, including DNA barcodes for 100 of the 114 German species. DNA barcoding resulted in unexpected diversity in several families, each with two or more genetic clusters identified by Barcode Index Numbers (BINs). Smicromyrme burgeri Schmid-Egger, sp. nov. and S. langobardensis Schmid-Egger, sp. nov. are described as new from Germany and Italy, respectively. A neotype is designated for Smicromyrme rufipes (Fabricius, 1878). The results of DNA barcoding are discussed in respect to detecting cryptic species and refining species limits.

Abstract Background Histological images show strong variance (e.g. illumination, color, staining quality) due to differences in image acquisition, tissue processing, staining, etc. This can impede downstream image analysis such as staining intensity evaluation or classification. Methods to reduce these variances are called image normalization techniques. Methods In this paper, we investigate the potential of CycleGAN (cycle consistent Generative Adversarial Network) for color normalization in hematoxylin-eosin stained histological images using daily clinical data with consideration of the variability of internal staining protocol variations. The network consists of a generator network G B that learns to map an image X from a source domain A to a target domain B, i.e. G B :X A →X B . In addition, a discriminator network D B is trained to distinguish whether an image from domain B is real or generated. The same process is applied to another generator-discriminator pair (G A ,D A ), for the inverse mapping G A :X B →X A . Cycle consistency ensures that a generated image is close to its original when being mapped backwards (G A (G B (X A ))≈X A and vice versa). We validate the CycleGAN approach on a breast cancer challenge and a follicular thyroid carcinoma data set for various stain variations. We evaluate the quality of the generated images compared to the original images using similarity measures. In addition, we apply stain normalization on pathological lymph node data from our institute and test the gain from normalization on a ResNet classifier pre-trained on the Camelyon16 data set. Results Qualitative results of the images generated by our network are compared to original color distributions. Our evaluation indicates that by mapping images to a target domain, the similarity training images from that domain improves up to 96%. We also achieve a high cycle consistency for the generator networks by obtaining similarity indices greater than 0.9. When applying the CycleGAN normalization to HE-stain images from our institute the kappa-value of the ResNet-model that is only trained on Camelyon16 data is increased more than 50%. Conclusions CycleGANs have proven to efficiently normalize HE-stained images. The approach compensates for deviations resulting from image acquisition (e.g. different scanning devices) as well as from tissue staining (e.g. different staining protocols), and thus overcomes the staining variations in images from various institutions.The code is publicly available at https://github.com/m4ln/stainTransfer_CycleGAN_pytorch . The data set supporting the solutions is available at https://doi.org/10.11588/data/8LKEZF .

The Oxytorinae is a small subfamily of the family Ichneumonidae (Insecta, Hymenoptera) with the single genus Oxytorus Förster and 23 described species. Species were previously known to occur in the Palaearctic, Nearctic and Neotropical regions.The ichneumonid subfamily Oxytorinae is recorded for the first time from the Oriental region. Two species, one from northern and one from central Vietnam, are described as new: Oxytorus carinatus Riedel, sp. n. and O. rufopropodealis Riedel, sp. n.

Introduction Internet use disorder (IUD) is on the rise and is associated with detrimental health consequences. Growing evidence suggests that mindfulness—either as a trait or cultivated in mindfulness-based programmes (MBPs)—is promising in preventing and treating IUD. With this systematic review and meta-analysis, we will examine (1) the association between trait mindfulness (TM) and IUD and (2) the effectiveness of MBPs in reducing IUD.Methods and analysis In October 2022, we will screen Medline, PsycINFO, PSYINDEX, CINAHL, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials without language or publication date restrictions. We will conduct backward and forward citation searches of included studies and relevant reviews. We will include studies that evaluate either (1) the association between TM and IUD or (2) the effectiveness of MBPs in reducing IUD. Two reviewers will independently screen records, select and extract data, and rate the risk of bias. In total, we will conduct three meta-analyses: a first meta-analysis will be on the correlation between TM and IUD, a second meta-analysis will be on between-group data examining the effectiveness of MBPs in reducing IUD in randomised controlled trials (RCTs), and a third meta-analysis will be on within-group pre-postdata examining the effectiveness of MBPs in reducing IUD in all kinds of intervention studies. For the second and third meta-analyses, the primary outcome will be changes in IUD. We will explore moderators and sources of between-study heterogeneity and pursue a narrative synthesis of results. We will use the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation system to assess the overall quality of evidence across intervention studies.Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval is not required. Results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at (inter)national conferences.PROSPERO registration number CRD42022350071.

Abstract Most parasites and parasitoids are adapted to overcome defense mechanisms of their specific hosts and hence colonize a narrow range of host species. Accordingly, an increase in host functional or phylogenetic dissimilarity is expected to increase the species diversity of parasitoids. However, the local diversity of parasitoids may be driven by the accessibility and detectability of hosts, both increasing with increasing host abundance. Yet, the relative importance of these two mechanisms remains unclear. We parallelly reared communities of saproxylic beetle as potential hosts and associated parasitoid Hymenoptera from experimentally felled trees. The dissimilarity of beetle communities was inferred from distances in seven functional traits and from their evolutionary ancestry. We tested the effect of host abundance, species richness, functional, and phylogenetic dissimilarities on the abundance, species richness, and Shannon diversity of parasitoids. Our results showed an increase of abundance, species richness, and Shannon diversity of parasitoids with increasing beetle abundance. Additionally, abundance of parasitoids increased with increasing species richness of beetles. However, functional and phylogenetic dissimilarity showed no effect on the diversity of parasitoids. Our results suggest that the local diversity of parasitoids, of ephemeral and hidden resources like saproxylic beetles, is highest when resources are abundant and thereby detectable and accessible. Hence, in some cases, resources do not need to be diverse to promote parasitoid diversity.

Abstract Background Chronic low back pain is the most frequent medical problem and the condition with the most years lived with disability in Western countries. The objective of this study was to assess a new treatment, Medi-Taping, which aims at reducing complaints by treating pelvic obliquity with a combination of manual treatment of trigger points and kinesio taping in a pragmatic RCT with pilot character. Methods One hundred ten patients were randomized at two study centers either to Medi-Taping or to a standard treatment consisting of patient education and physiotherapy as control. Treatment duration was 3 weeks. Measures were taken at baseline, end of treatment and at follow-up after 2 months. Main outcome criteria were low back pain measured with VAS, the Chronic Pain Grade Scale (CPGS) and the Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire (ODQ). Results Patients of both groups benefited from the treatment by medium to large effect sizes. All effects were pointing towards the intended direction. While Medi-Taping showed slightly better improvement rates, there were no significant differences for the primary endpoints between groups at the end of treatment (VAS: mean difference in change 0.38, 95-CI [− 0.45; 1.21] p = 0.10; ODQ 2.35 [− 0.77; 5.48] p = 0.14; CPGS − 0.19 [− 0.46; 0.08] p = 0.64) and at follow-up. Health-related quality of life was significantly higher (p = .004) in patients receiving Medi-Taping compared to controls. Conclusions Medi-Taping, a purported way of correcting pelvic obliquity and chronic tension resulting from it, is a treatment modality similar in effectiveness to complex physiotherapy and patient education. Trial registration This trial was registered retrospectively on July 24th, 2019 as Number DRKS00017051 in the German Register of Clinical Trials (Deutsches Register Klinischer Studien). URL of trial registry record: https://www.drks.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00017051 .

A revised checklist of the Ichneumonidae of Germany is presented. The list represents an update of an earlier checklist, published in 2001. The present list includes several records of species that are new for the German fauna and species that were discoverd since the last checklist was published. Representatives of species new to Germany are mostly deposited in the Zoologische Staatssammlung München, Germany.The checklist presents 3,644 species of Ichneumonidae from Germany, with 48 species recorded for first time. The number of Ichneumonidae species recorded from Germany increased by 379 species compared to the previous checklist that was published 20 years ago.

Abstract Meibomian glands (MG) are large sebaceous glands located below the tarsal conjunctiva and the abnormalities of these glands cause Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) which is responsible for evaporative dry eye disease (DED). Accurate MG segmentation is a key prerequisite for automated imaging based MGD related DED diagnosis. However, Automatic MG segmentation in infrared meibography is a challenging task due to image artifacts. A deep learning-based MG segmentation has been proposed which directly learns MG features from the training image dataset without any image pre-processing. The model is trained and evaluated using 728 anonymized clinical meibography images. Additionally, automatic MG morphometric parameters, gland number, length, width, and tortuosity assessment were proposed. The average precision, recall, and F1 score were achieved 83%, 81%, and 84% respectively on the testing dataset with AUC value of 0.96 based on ROC curve and dice coefficient of 84%. Single image segmentation and morphometric parameter evaluation took on average 1.33 s. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a validated deep learning-based approach is applied in MG segmentation and evaluation for both upper and lower eyelids.

The genus Dirphys Howard 1914 syn. n. is synonymized with Encarsia Förster, and treated as a species-group of Encarsia, referred to henceforth as the Encarsia mexicana species-group. The monophyly of Encarsia is discussed in relation to Dirphys. The new synonymy is based on phylogenetic analyses of the nuclear ribosomal 28S-D2 gene region (43 taxa, 510 bp). The Encarsia mexicana species-group is recovered as strongly monophyletic within Encarsia. All species of the Encarsia mexicana species-group are revised. The group includes six previously described species, and fourteen newly described species. All species are described (or redescribed) and illustrated. Detailed distributional data, and, where available, plant associate and host records are provided for all species. Encarsia myartsevae Kresslein and Polaszek nom. nov. is here proposed as a replacement name for Encarsia mexicana Myartseva, now preoccupied by Encarsia mexicana (Howard). A dichotomous identification key, supplemented by an online multiple-entry key, is provided for all species.

Abstract Open-label placebos (OLPs) are placebos without deception in the sense that patients know that they are receiving a placebo. The objective of our study is to systematically review and analyze the effect of OLPs in comparison to no treatment in clinical trials. A systematic literature search was carried out in February 2020. Randomized controlled trials of any medical condition or mental disorder comparing OLPs to no treatment were included. Data extraction and risk of bias rating were independently assessed. 1246 records were screened and thirteen studies were included into the systematic review. Eleven trials were eligible for meta-analysis. These trials assessed effects of OLPs on back pain, cancer-related fatigue, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, allergic rhinitis, major depression, irritable bowel syndrome and menopausal hot flushes. Risk of bias was moderate among all studies. We found a significant overall effect (standardized mean difference = 0.72, 95% Cl 0.39–1.05, p

This paper explores the visual, acoustic and olfactory impairments to landscape aesthetic quality in a river landscape case study, using hard- and soft-GIS approaches. The research objectives are (1) to develop a model that localizes the spatial distribution of areas likely perceived as unpleasant and assesses the intensity of visual, acoustic and olfactory impairments in those areas by using a hard-GIS method, and (2) to test the statistical validity of the model based on results gained from a soft GIS method. The case study area is the Lahn river landscape, Germany. Results show a substantial share of the study area affected by modelled impairments, especially areas close to urban environments and along rivers. The area affected by impairments is highest for visual (91%), followed by acoustic (84%) and olfactory factors (54%). However, impairment intensities are greatest for acoustics (30% of study area) and visual (18%). Soft-GIS data tests revealed statistical defensibility of modeled impaired areas. The results highlight the importance of disaggregate analyses of impairments and can provide information on suitable locations for interventions to minimize impairments. Combining hard-GIS with soft-GIS methods may contribute to the credibility, relevance and legitimacy of scientific findings for planning processes and decision-making.

The Europan species of the genus Tetrastichus (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Eulophidae, Tetrastichinae) are revised with 93 species, including 50 species described as new. The revision was conducted using an integrative taxonomic approach, based on DNA barcoding in combination with morphological characters. The Tetrastichinae are a biologically diverse and species-rich group of parasitoid wasps with numerous complexes of morphologically often very similar species that attack a wide range of hosts in over 100 insect families in 10 different orders. The genus Tetrastichus is, with almost 500 described species, the third largest genus of Tetrastichinae. Although biological information is lacking for most species, current data indicate that Tetrastichus species are gregarious koinobiont endoparasitoids developing on juvenile stages of mainly holometabolous insects. Because of their host specificity several species of Tetrastichus are used as biological control agents. The European species of Tetrastichus Haliday (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) are revised using a combination of externo-morphological and DNA barcoding data. This is the first integrative approach for any of the large genera of the Tetrastichinae. 93 species are included, of which 50 are described as new: T. agonus sp. n., T. antonjanssoni sp. n., T. argei sp. n., T. argutus sp. n., T. asilis sp. n., T. ballotus sp. n., T. bledius sp. n., T. broncus sp. n., T. calcarius sp. n., T. calmius sp. n., T. clisius sp. n., T. cosidis sp. n., T. cumulus sp. n., T. cyprus sp. n., T. delvarei sp. n., T. doczkali sp. n., T. elanus sp. n., T. elodius sp. n., T. ennis sp. n., T. enodis sp. n., T. erinus sp. n., T. evexus sp. n., T. fadus sp. n., T. fenrisi sp. n., T. flaccius sp. n., T. gredius sp. n., T. iasi sp. n., T. illydris sp. n., T. incanus sp. n., T. inscitus sp. n., T. intruitus sp. n., T. johnnoyesi sp. n., T. lacustrinus sp. n., T. ladrus sp. n., T. lanius sp. n., T. lazius sp. n., T. lixalius sp. n., T. lycus sp. n., T. marcusgrahami sp. n., T. minius sp. n., T. mixtus sp. n., T. nataliedaleskeyae sp. n., T. nymphae sp. n., T. pixius sp. n., T. scardiae sp. n., T. splendens sp. n., T. sti sp. n., T. suecus sp. n., T. tacitus sp. n., T. tartus sp. n. Two keys for the identification of species are presented, one for females and one for males. Based on DNA barcode sequences for 70 of the species, a maximum likelihood tree to assess phylogenetic relationships within the genus is presented. These 70 species are also characterized by a combination of CO1 and morphological data. The remaining 23 species without a DNA barcode are characterized by morphological data. Using a combination of data from the morphology and CO1, or morphological data only, the species are separated into three species groups (clito-, hylotomarum-, murcia-groups) with 41 unplaced species outside these groups. Hosts are known for 27 of the species, and they are gregarious, koinobiont endoparasitoids on a wide range of immature stages of holometabolous insects, and appear to be very host specific. The first host record for Lepidoptera (Tineidae) in Europe is included.

Abstract Many studies have shown the efficacy of phage therapy in reducing gastrointestinal pathogens. However, it is unclear whether phages can successfully colonize the gut when administered in an adequate amount for a long time. About 1 × 108 PFU/mL of purified lytic phage PA13076 or temperate phage BP96115 were fed daily to mice via drinking water over 31 days, to elucidate the distribution of phages in the gastrointestinal tract. At day 16 and 31, six different segments of the gastrointestinal tract with their contents, including stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum, colon, and fresh feces, were aseptically collected. The phage titers were determined using the double-layered plate method with S. Enteritidis ATCC 13076 or S. Pullorum SPu-109 used as host cells. The results indicated that a small portion of administered phages survived exposure to gastric acid and entered the intestinal tract. The prevalence of phages in the gastrointestinal tract was lower than 1% of the primary phage count. Highest phage titers were detected in the cecum with 104 ~ 105 PFU/g, and most of the phages were eliminated from the body via feces with 106 PFU/g. On day 16 and day 31, the same level of phage titers in different segments of the gastrointestinal tract indicated that the colonization of phages had reached saturation at day 16. These results demonstrate transient phage carriage and low-level colonization of orally administrated lytic and temperate gut phages in mice. Graphical abstract

In individual psychotherapy verbal communication and movement synchronization are closely interrelated. The microanalysis of timing, rhythm and gestalt of movement has established dynamic movement coordination as a systemic property of the dyadic interaction. Movement synchronization supports and enhances the unfolding of linguistic meaning. In order to substantiate the importance of the concept of synchrony for adult psychotherapy we review evidence from developmental psychology and discuss approaches to measure synchrony with particular reference to the naturalistic setting of dyadic psychotherapy. As the concept of synchrony is still ambiguous, and the respective interactional phenomena are ephemeral and fluid, in the current paper we suggest a set of five criteria for the description of synchronization in general terms and eight additional criteria which specifically enable the description of phenomena of movement synchronization. The five general dimensions are: (1) context, (2) modality, (3) resources, (4) entrainment, and (5) time-lag. The eight categories for the description of movement synchrony are: (1) spatial direction, (2) amplitude, (3) sinuosity, (4) duration, (5) event structure, (6) phase, (7) frequency, and (8) content. To understand the process of participatory sense-making and the emergence of meaning in psychotherapy, synchrony research has to cope with the multimodality of the embodied interaction. This requires an integrated perspective of movement and language. A system for the classification of synchrony phenomena may contribute to the linking of variations and patterns of movement with language and linguistic utterances.

Smicromyrme burgeri Schmid-Egger, 2021, a junior homonym of S. (Eremotilla) burgeri Lelej, 2020, is replaced with Smicromyrme (Smicromyrme) frankburgeri Schmid-Egger, nom. nov.