Academic air travel at UZH's Department of Geography: Assessing the willingness and reduction potential of voluntary reduction measures

Academics consider air travel crucial for a successful career and fly frequently to attend conferences, participate in collaborative meetings, teach classes, and conduct fieldwork. However, this air travel behavior causes significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, often accounting for the largest share of a university's emission total. In order to reduce its environmental impact, the Department of Geography at the University of Zurich (GIUZ) seeks to reduce emissions from air travel by 53% by 2030 compared to the baseline average between 2017 and 2019. This Master’s Thesis aims to describe air travel behavior and examine opinions on academic air travel reduction at GIUZ. Furthermore, it seeks to evaluate voluntary air travel reduction measures based on the willingness to be implemented by GIUZ scientific staff and their emission reduction potential. To achieve these goals, air travel data collected at GIUZ between 2017 and 2022 was analyzed, and an online survey addressed to the scientific staff at GIUZ was conducted. The results show that scientific staff at GIUZ fly mainly to North America and Western Europe. Most air travel GHG emissions are caused by travel for conferences and fieldwork. Considering academic positions, professors and invited guests generate the most emissions from air travel, while PhD students and employees with PhD fly much less. The results of the online survey indicate that GIUZ academics consider air travel to be relevant for a successful career. Nevertheless, they also strongly approve of the air travel reduction project. Moreover, the findings show that GIUZ academics are willing to implement voluntary reduction measures and that these have substantial emission reduction potential. While all measures show a positive willingness, there is a negative relationship between reduction potential and willingness. Academics are willing to implement measures with low reduction potential. On the contrary, they are less willing to implement measures with high reduction potential. The findings of this thesis denote a widespread awareness among GIUZ academics of the environmental impact of academic air travel, as well as a willingness to take action to reduce it. Further research in the coming years is needed to examine whether the willingness to implement voluntary reduction measures will actually translate into behavioral change. The results indicate that innovative infrastructures and approaches need to be further developed to effectively reduce long-haul journeys, which are responsible for most emissions

An intronic alteration of the fibroblast growth factor 10 gene causing ALSG-(aplasia of lacrimal and salivary glands) syndrome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A combined aplasia, hypoplasia or atresia of lacrimal points and salivary glands is rarely diagnosed. Those patients suffer from epiphora, xerostomia and severe dental caries. This phenotype represents the autosomal-dominant aplasia of lacrimal and salivary glands syndrome (ALSG). Recently, aberrations of the <it>Fibroblast Growth Factor 10 </it>(<it>FGF10</it>) gene have been identified to be causative for this disorder.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We performed a sequence analysis of the <it>FGF10 </it>gene of a patient with ALSG-syndrome and his also affected brother as well as 193 controls. The FGF10 transcript was analyzed using RNA extracted from primary fibroblasts of the patient's mucosa.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We detected a novel heterozygous sequence variation in intron 2 (c.430-1, G > A) causing the ALSG syndrome. The alteration derogates the regular splice acceptor site and leads to the use of a new splice acceptor site 127 bp upstream of exon 3. The aberration was detected in the genomic DNA derived from two affected brothers, but not in 193 control individuals. Furthermore, no diseased member of the family displayed additional abnormalities that are indicative for the clinically overlapping lacrimo-auriculo-dento-digital syndrome (LADD).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This family-based approach revealed an intronic variation of the <it>FGF10 </it>gene causing ALSG-syndrome. Our results expand the mutational and clinical spectrum of the ALSG syndrome.</p

Characterization of social cognition impairment in multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) has been associated with deficits in social cognition. However, little is known about which domains of social cognition are predominantly affected and what other factors are associated with it. The aim was (i) to characterize social cognition deficit in a group of MS outpatients and (ii) to relate impairment in social cognition to overall cognitive status, depression and fatigue.Methods: Thirty-five MS patients (mean disease duration 12.9 years, median Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) 3 and 34 healthy controls (HCs) were examined using the German version of the Geneva Social Cognition Scale to measure different domains of social cognition. Standard neuropsychological testing was applied to all patients and to 20 HCs. Patient-reported outcomes included questionnaires for fatigue, depression, anxiety and executive-behavioural disturbances.Results: The mean social cognition raw score was lower in the MS patients compared to the HCs (86.5 ± 8.7 vs. 91.2 ± 5.9, P = 0.005; d = 0.6) and did not correlate with EDSS or disease duration. The difference was driven by facial affect recognition and the understanding of complex social situations (14% and 23% of patients respectively under the cut-off). The impairment in these two tasks did not correlate with general cognitive performance or depression but with fatigue.Conclusions: The impairment in our group was restricted to high order and affective social cognition tasks and independent of general cognitive performance, EDSS, disease duration and depression. Fatigue correlated with social cognition performance, which might be due to common underlying neuronal networks

Spatiotemporal dissemination of ESBL-producing Enterobacterales in municipal sewer systems: a prospective, longitudinal study in the city of Basel, Switzerland

BACKGROUND: The contribution of community and hospital sources to the transmission of extended-spectrum β-lactamase producing Enterobacterales (ESBL-PE) remains elusive. AIM: To investigate the extent of community dissemination and the contribution of hospitals to the spread of ESBL-PE by exploring their spatiotemporal distribution in municipal wastewater of the central European city of Basel. METHODS: Wastewater samples were collected monthly for two consecutive years throughout Basel, Switzerland, including 21 sites across 10 postcode areas of the city collecting either community wastewater (urban sites, n = 17) or community and hospital wastewater (mixed sites, n = 4). Presumptive ESBL-PE were recovered by selective culture methods. Standard methodologies were applied for species identification, ESBL-confirmation, and quantification. RESULTS: Ninety-five percent (477/504) of samples were positive for ESBL-PE. Among these isolates, Escherichia coli (85%, 1,140/1,334) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (11%, 153/1,334) were most common. They were recovered throughout the sampling period from all postcodes, with E. coli consistently predominating. The proportion of K. pneumoniae isolates was higher in wastewater samples from mixed sites as compared to samples from urban sites, while the proportion of E. coli was higher in samples from urban sites (p = 0.003). Higher numbers of colony forming units (CFUs) were recovered from mixed as compared to urban sites (median 3.2 × 10$^{2}$ vs. 1.6 × 10$^{2}$ CFU/mL). E. coli-counts showed moderate correlation with population size (rho = 0.44), while this correlation was weak for other ESBL-PE (rho = 0.21). CONCLUSION: ESBL-PE are widely spread in municipal wastewater supporting that community sources are important reservoirs entertaining the spread of ESBL-PE. Hospital-influenced abundance of ESBL-PE appears to be species dependent

Epithelial Cells Derived from Human Embryonic Stem Cells Display P16INK4A Senescence, Hypermotility, and Differentiation Properties Shared by Many P63+ Somatic Cell Types

Human embryonic stem (hES) cells can generate cells expressing p63, K14, and involucrin, which have been proposed to be keratinocytes. Although these hES-derived, keratinocyte-like (hESderK) cells form epithelioid colonies when cultured in a fibroblast feeder system optimal for normal tissue-derived keratinocytes, they have a very short replicative lifespan unless engineered to express HPV16 E6E7. We report here that hESderK cells undergo senescence associated with p16INK4A expression, unrelated to telomere status. Transduction to express bmi1, a repressor of the p16INK4A/p14ARF locus, conferred upon hESderK cells and keratinocytes a substantially extended lifespan. When exposed to transforming growth factor beta or to an incompletely processed form of Laminin-332, three lifespan-extended or immortalized hESderK lines that we studied became directionally hypermotile, a wound healing and invasion response previously characterized in keratinocytes. In organotypic culture, hESderK cells stratified and expressed involucrin and K10, as do epidermal keratinocytes in vivo. However, their growth requirements were less stringent than keratinocytes. We then extended the comparison to endoderm-derived, p63+/K14+ urothelial and tracheobronchial epithelial cells. Primary and immortalized lines of these cell types had growth requirements and hypermotility responses similar to keratinocytes and bmi1 expression facilitated their immortalization by engineering to express the catalytic subunit of telomerase (TERT). In organotypic culture, they stratified and exhibited squamous metaplasia, expressing involucrin and K10. Thus, hESderK cells proved to be distinct from all three normal p63+ cell types tested. These results indicate that hESderK cells cannot be identified conclusively as keratinocytes or even as ectodermal cells, but may represent an incomplete form of, or deviation from, normal p63+ lineage development

Corneal Limbal Microenvironment Can Induce Transdifferentiation of Hair Follicle Stem Cells into Corneal Epithelial-like Cells

The aim of this study was to investigate the transdifferentiation potential of murine vibrissa hair follicle (HF) stem cells into corneal epithelial-like cells through modulation by corneal- or limbus-specific microenvironmental factors. Adult epithelial stem cells were isolated from the HF bulge region by mechanical dissection or fluorescence-activated cell sorting using antibodies to α6 integrin, enriched by clonal expansion, and subcultivated on various extracellular matrices (type IV collagen, laminin-1, laminin-5, fibronectin) and in different conditioned media derived from central and peripheral corneal fibroblasts, limbal stromal fibroblasts, and 3T3 fibroblasts. Cellular phenotype and differentiation were evaluated by light and electron microscopy, real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, immunocytochemistry, and Western blotting, using antibodies against putative stem cell markers (K15, α6 integrin) and differentiation markers characteristic for corneal epithelium (K12, Pax6) or epidermis (K10). Using laminin-5, a major component of the corneo-limbal basement membrane zone, and conditioned medium from limbal stromal fibroblasts, clonally enriched HF stem and progenitor cells adhered rapidly and formed regularly arranged stratified cell sheets. Conditioned medium derived from limbal fibroblasts markedly upregulated expression of cornea-specific K12 and Pax6 on the mRNA and protein level, whereas expression of the epidermal keratinocyte marker K10 was strongly downregulated. These findings suggest that adult HF epithelial stem cells are capable of differentiating into corneal epithelial-like cells in vitro when exposed to a limbus-specific microenvironment. Therefore, the HF may be an easily accessible alternative therapeutic source of autologous adult stem cells for replacement of the corneal epithelium and restoration of visual function in patients with ocular surface disorders

Quality of MALDI-TOF Mass Spectra in Routine Diagnostics: Results from an International External Quality Assessment including 36 Laboratories from 12 countries using 47 challenging bacterial strains.

OBJECTIVE MALDI-TOF MS is a widely used method for bacterial species identification. Incomplete databases and mass spectral quality (MSQ) still represent major challenges. Important proxies for MSQ are: number of detected marker masses, reproducibility, and measurement precision. We aimed to assess MSQs across diagnostic laboratories and the potential of simple workflow adaptations to improve it. METHODS For baseline MSQ assessment, 47 diverse bacterial strains which are challenging to identify by MALDI-TOF MS, were routinely measured in 36 laboratories from 12 countries, and well defined MSQ features were used. After an intervention consisting of detailed reported feedback and instructions on how to acquire MALDI-TOF mass spectra, measurements were repeated and MSQs were compared. RESULTS At baseline, we observed heterogeneous MSQ between the devices, considering the median number of marker masses detected (range = [5, 25]), reproducibility between technical replicates (range = [55%, 86%]), and measurement error (range = [147 parts per million (ppm), 588ppm]). As a general trend, the spectral quality was improved after the intervention for devices which yielded low MSQs in the baseline assessment: for 4/5 devices with a high measurement error, the measurement precision was improved (p-values<0.001, paired Wilcoxon test); for 6/10 devices, which detected a low number of marker masses, the number of detected marker masses increased (p-values<0.001, paired Wilcoxon test). CONCLUSION We have identified simple workflow adaptations, which, to some extent, improve MSQ of poorly performing devices and should be considered by laboratories yielding a low MSQ. Improving MALDI-TOF MSQ in routine diagnostics is essential for increasing the resolution of bacterial identification by MALDI-TOF MS, which is dependent on the reproducible detection of marker masses. The heterogeneity identified in this EQA requires further study

Extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacterales in diverse foodstuffs: a prospective, longitudinal study in the city of Basel, Switzerland

BackgroundThe involvement of non-human-to-human transmission of extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacterales (ESBL-PE) remains elusive. Foodstuffs may serve as reservoirs for ESBL-PE and contribute to their spread.AimWe aimed to systematically investigate the presence and spatiotemporal distribution of ESBL-PE in diverse unprocessed foodstuffs of different origin purchased in a central European city.MethodsChicken and green (herbs, salad, sprouts, vegetables) samples were collected monthly for two consecutive years, from June 2017 to June 2019, from large supermarket chains and small local food retailers, representing all ten postcode areas of the City of Basel (Switzerland), and the kitchen of the University Hospital Basel (Basel, Switzerland). After enrichment, presumptive ESBL-PE were isolated by selective culture methods and identified by Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. ESBL production was confirmed by phenotypic testing.ResultsAmong 947 food samples, 14.8% were positive for ESBL-PE isolate/s belonging to eight different ESBL-producing bacterial species. Escherichia coli and Serratia fonticola were predominant across samples (9 and 2%, respectively). Higher ESBL-PE prevalence was observed in chicken (25.9%) than in green (3.8%) samples (p &lt; 0.001). Among greens, ESBL-PE were most frequently isolated from sprouts (15.2%). High ESBL-PE species diversity was observed among chicken samples, with E. coli as predominant (17.6%). ESBL-producing Enterobacter cloacae was detected among different greens. Yet, ESBL-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae was predominant in sprouts (12.1%). In total, 20.5% of samples from organic farming and 14.2% of samples from conventionally raised animals harbored an ESBL-producing isolate. Detection of ESBL-PE across samples differed between organic and non-organic when stratified by food source (p &lt; 0.001), particularly among greens (12.5% organic, 2.4% conventional). High proportion of organic chicken samples was positive for ESBL-E. coli (33.3%), while the detection of several species characterized the conventional chicken samples. No significant differences in ESBL-PE frequences were detected between national (13.4%) and international samples (8.0%) (p = 0.122). Instead, differences were observed between regions of food production and countries (p &lt; 0.001). No significant differences were found when comparing the proportion of ESBL-PE positive samples across districts, shop sizes and the hospital kitchen. The percentage of ESBL-PE positive samples did not differ monthly across the two-year sampling period (p = 0.107).ConclusionOur findings indicate moderate dissemination of ESBL-PE in foodstuffs, especially between chicken products and sprouts. Chicken meat represents a source for several ESBL-producing Enterobacterales, especially E. coli, while greens are more prone to carry ESBL-K. pneumoniae and E. cloacae. We disclose the importance of food type, food production system and production origin when assessing the risk of contamination with different ESBL-PE species