Social Innovations in the extended Lake Constance area – an overview of the current activities

In recent years the importance of social innovation for societies is rising. Therefore, the European Union realized, that political goals can be successfully achieved through social innovations.1 The concept is offering solutions for social challenges broadly based and in a variety of different fields Thus, the focus of this paper will be to identify social innovation activities in the Lake Constance area and the problems which are being solved through those activities. It will therefore provide a quantitative analysis of the identified projects including the main idea of the activity as well as information about the innovators. The key outcomes of this paper are, that social innovators are mainly focusing on current political challenges such as the refugee crisis. Problems which the society is already facing for a longer period of time, are less focused. It could further be identified, that the majority of social innovators are students or graduates. Also, most of the activities have their origin in bigger cities such as Stuttgart, Karlsruhe or Heidelberg

Zukunftsbild Hochschullehre 2025

Das Diskussionspapier zur Hochschullehre 2025 zeichnet sich methodisch durch seine partizipative Entstehung aus: In einem der HFDcon 2022 zeitlich vorgelagerten Prozess trafen sich 21 angemeldete Teilnehmer:innen aus dem deutschen Hoch- schulumfeld, um den Wandel der Hochschullehre für das Jahr 2025 zu skizzieren und Thesen für eine neue Denkkultur zu formu- lieren. In mehreren virtuellen Sitzungen wurden zunächst die Ziele des Papiers definiert, Themen geclustert und erste Forderungen ent- wickelt. Innerhalb der folgenden vier Wochen wurde dann – teils in Kleingruppen – kontrovers diskutiert, formuliert und überarbeitet, bis das Papier am 30. Juni 2022 in seiner ersten Fassung auf der Konferenz HFDcon 2022 vorgestellt wurde

Therapeutic Validity and Effectiveness of Preoperative Exercise on Functional Recovery after Joint Replacement: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Our aim was to develop a rating scale to assess the therapeutic validity of therapeutic exercise programmes. By use of this rating scale we investigated the therapeutic validity of therapeutic exercise in patients awaiting primary total joint replacement (TJR). Finally, we studied the association between therapeutic validity of preoperative therapeutic exercise and its effectiveness in terms of postoperative functional recovery. Methods: (Quasi) randomised clinical trials on preoperative therapeutic exercise in adults awaiting TJR on postoperative recovery of functioning within three months after surgery were identified through database and reference screening. Two reviewers extracted data and assessed the risk of bias and therapeutic validity. Therapeutic validity of the interventions was assessed with a nine-itemed, expert-based rating scale (scores range from 0 to 9; score ≥6 reflecting therapeutic validity), developed in a four-round Delphi study. Effects were pooled using a random-effects model and meta-regression was used to study the influence of therapeutic validity. Results: Of the 7,492 articles retrieved, 12 studies (737 patients) were included. None of the included studies demonstrated therapeutic validity and two demonstrated low risk of bias. Therapeutic exercise was not associated with 1) observed functional recovery during the hospital stay (Standardised Mean Difference [SMD]: −1.19; 95%-confidence interval [CI], −2.46 to 0.08); 2) observed recovery within three months of surgery (SMD: −0.15; 95%-CI, −0.42 to 0.12); and 3) self-reported recovery within three months of surgery (SMD −0.07; 95%-CI, −0.35 to 0.21) compared with control participants. Meta-regression showed no statistically significant relationship between therapeutic validity and pooled-effects. Conclusion: Preoperative therapeutic exercise for TJR did not demonstrate beneficial effects on postoperative functional recovery. However, poor therapeutic validity of the therapeutic exercise programmes may have hampered potentially beneficial effects, since none of the studies met the predetermined quality criteria. Future review studies on therapeutic exercise should address therapeutic validity. (aut.ref.

Plant-symbiotic fungi as chemical engineers: multi-genome analysis of the Clavicipitaceae reveals dynamics of alkaloid Loci

The fungal family Clavicipitaceae includes plant symbionts and parasites that produce several psychoactive and bioprotective alkaloids. The family includes grass symbionts in the epichloae clade (Epichloë and Neotyphodium species), which are extraordinarily diverse both in their host interactions and in their alkaloid profiles. Epichloae produce alkaloids of four distinct classes, all of which deter insects, and some—including the infamous ergot alkaloids—have potent effects on mammals. The exceptional chemotypic diversity of the epichloae may relate to their broad range of host interactions, whereby some are pathogenic and contagious, others are mutualistic and vertically transmitted (seed-borne), and still others vary in pathogenic or mutualistic behavior. We profiled the alkaloids and sequenced the genomes of 10 epichloae, three ergot fungi (Claviceps species), a morning-glory symbiont (Periglandula ipomoeae), and a bamboo pathogen (Aciculosporium take), and compared the gene clusters for four classes of alkaloids. Results indicated a strong tendency for alkaloid loci to have conserved cores that specify the skeleton structures and peripheral genes that determine chemical variations that are known to affect their pharmacological specificities. Generally, gene locations in cluster peripheries positioned them near to transposon-derived, AT-rich repeat blocks, which were probably involved in gene losses, duplications, and neofunctionalizations. The alkaloid loci in the epichloae had unusual structures riddled with large, complex, and dynamic repeat blocks. This feature was not reflective of overall differences in repeat contents in the genomes, nor was it characteristic of most other specialized metabolism loci. The organization and dynamics of alkaloid loci and abundant repeat blocks in the epichloae suggested that these fungi are under selection for alkaloid diversification. We suggest that such selection is related to the variable life histories of the epichloae, their protective roles as symbionts, and their associations with the highly speciose and ecologically diverse cool-season grasses

Sphaeropsis sapinea and fungal endophyte diversity in twigs of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) in Germany

Gefördert im Rahmen des Projekts DEA

Cloud Top Thermodynamic Phase from Synergistic Lidar-Radar Cloud Products from Polar Orbiting Satellites: Implications for Observations from Geostationary Satellites

The cloud thermodynamic phase is a crucial parameter to understand the Earth’s radiation budget, the hydrological cycle, and atmospheric thermodynamic processes. Spaceborne active remote sensing such as the synergistic radar-lidar DARDAR product is considered the most reliable method to determine cloud phase; however, it lacks large-scale observations and high repetition rates. These can be provided by passive instruments such as SEVIRI aboard the geostationary Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite, but passive remote sensing of the thermodynamic phase is challenging and confined to cloud top. Thus, it is necessary to understand to what extent passive sensors with the characteristics of SEVIRI are expected to provide a relevant contribution to cloud phase investigation. To reach this goal, we collect five years of DARDAR data to model the cloud top phase (CTP) for MSG/SEVIRI and create a SEVIRI-like CTP through an elaborate aggregation procedure. Thereby, we distinguish between ice (IC), mixed-phase (MP), supercooled (SC), and warm liquid (LQ). Overall, 65% of the resulting SEVIRI pixels are cloudy, consisting of 49% IC, 14% MP, 13% SC, and 24% LQ cloud tops. The spatial resolution has a significant effect on the occurrence of CTP, especially for MP cloud tops, which occur significantly more often at the lower SEVIRI resolution than at the higher DARDAR resolution (9%). We find that SC occurs most frequently at high southern latitudes, while MP is found mainly in both high southern and high northern latitudes. LQ dominates in the subsidence zones over the ocean, while IC occurrence dominates everywhere else. MP and SC show little seasonal variability apart from high latitudes, especially in the south. IC and LQ are affected by the shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. The peak of occurrence of SC is at −3 ∘C, followed by that for MP at −13 ∘C. Between 0 and −27 ∘C, the occurrence of SC and MP dominates IC, while below −27 ∘C, IC is the most frequent CTP. Finally, the occurrence of cloud top height (CTH) peaks lower over the ocean than over land, with MP, SC, and IC being undistinguishable in the tropics but with separated CTH peaks in the rest of the MSG disk. Finally, we test the ability of a state-of-the-art AI-based ice cloud detection algorithm for SEVIRI named CiPS (Cirrus Properties for SEVIRI) to detect cloud ice. We confirm previous evaluations with an ice detection probability of 77.1% and find a false alarm rate of 11.6%, of which 68% are due to misclassified cloud phases. CiPS is not sensitive to ice crystals in MP clouds and therefore not suitable for the detection of MP clouds but only for fully glaciated (i.e., IC) clouds. Our study demonstrates the need for the development of dedicated cloud phase distinction algorithms for all cloud phases (IC, LQ, MP, SC) from geostationary satellites

The effect of an integrated palliative care intervention on quality of life and acute healthcare use in patients with COPD:Results of the COMPASSION cluster randomized controlled trial

Background: COPD causes high morbidity and mortality, emphasizing the need for palliative care. Aim: To assess the effectiveness of palliative care in patients with COPD. Design: Cluster randomized controlled trial (COMPASSION study; Netherlands Trial Register (NTR): NL7644, 07-04-2019). Healthcare providers within the intervention group were trained to implement palliative care components into routine COPD care. Patients completed questionnaires at baseline, after 3 and 6 months; medical records were assessed after 12 months. The primary outcome was quality of life (FACIT-Pal). Secondary outcomes were anxiety, depression, spiritual well-being, satisfaction with care, acute healthcare use, documentation of life-sustaining treatment preferences and place of death. Generalized linear mixed modelling was used for analyses. Setting: Eight hospital regions in the Netherlands. Participants: Patients hospitalized for an acute exacerbation of COPD and positive ProPal-COPD score. Results: Of 222 patients included, 106 responded to the questionnaire at 6 months. Thirty-six of 98 intervention patients (36.7%) received the intervention. Intention-to-treat-analysis showed no effect on the primary outcome (adjusted difference: 1.09; 95% confidence interval: −5.44 to 7.60). In the intervention group, fewer intensive care admissions for COPD took place (adjusted odds ratio: 0.21; 95% confidence interval: 0.03–0.81) and strong indications were found for fewer hospitalizations (adjusted incidence rate ratio: 0.69; 95% confidence interval: 0.46–1.03). Conclusions: We found no evidence that palliative care improves quality of life in patients with COPD. However, it can potentially reduce acute healthcare use. The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic led to suboptimal implementation and insufficient power, and may have affected some of our findings.</p

The Diplodia Tip Blight Pathogen Sphaeropsis sapinea Is the Most Common Fungus in Scots Pines’ Mycobiome, Irrespective of Health Status—A Case Study from Germany

The opportunistic pathogen Sphaeropsis sapinea (≡Diplodia sapinea) is one of the most severe pathogens in Scots pine, causing the disease Diplodia tip blight on coniferous tree species. Disease symptoms become visible when trees are weakened by stress. Sphaeropsis sapinea has an endophytic mode in its lifecycle, making it difficult to detect before disease outbreaks. This study aims to record how S. sapinea accumulates in trees of different health status and, simultaneously, monitor seasonal and age-related fluctuations in the mycobiome. We compared the mycobiome of healthy and diseased Scots pines. Twigs were sampled in June and September 2018, and filamentous fungi were isolated. The mycobiome was analyzed by high-throughput sequencing (HTS) of the ITS2 region. A PERMANOVA analysis confirmed that the mycobiome community composition significantly differed between growth years (p &lt; 0.001) and sampling time (p &lt; 0.001) but not between healthy and diseased trees. Sphaeropsis sapinea was the most common endophyte isolated and the second most common in the HTS data. The fungus was highly abundant in symptomless (healthy) trees, presenting in its endophytic mode. Our results highlight the ability of S. sapinea to accumulate unnoticed as an endophyte in healthy trees before the disease breaks out, representing a sudden threat to Scots pines in the future, especially with increasing drought conditions experienced by pines

External Validation and User Experiences of the ProPal-COPD Tool to Identify the Palliative Phase in COPD

Background: Difficulty predicting prognosis is a major barrier to timely palliative care provision for patients with COPD. The ProPal-COPD tool, combining six clinical indicators and the Surprise Question (SQ), aims to predict 1-year mortality as a proxy for palliative care needs. It appeared to be a promising tool for healthcare providers to identify patients with COPD who could benefit from palliative care. Objective: To externally validate the ProPal-COPD tool and to assess user experiences. Methods: Patients admitted with an acute exacerbation COPD were recruited across 10 hospitals. Demographics, clinical characteristics and survival status were collected. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of the tool using two cut-off values were calculated. Also, predictive properties of the SQ were calculated. In monitoring meetings and interviews, healthcare providers shared their experiences with the tool. Transcripts were deductively coded using six user experience domains: Acceptability, Satisfaction, Credibility, Usability, User-reported adherence and Perceived impact. Results: A total of 523 patients with COPD were included between May 2019 and August 2020, of whom 100 (19.1%) died within 12 months. The ProPal-COPD tool had an AUC of 0.68 and a low sensitivity (55%) and moderate specificity (74%) for predicting 1-year all-cause mortality. Using a lower cut-off value, sensitivity was higher (74%), but specificity lower (46%). Sensitivity and specificity of the SQ were 56% and 73%, respectively (AUC 0.65). However, healthcare providers generally appreciated using the tool because it increased awareness of the palliative phase and provided a shared understanding of prognosis, although they considered its outcome not always correct. Conclusion: The accuracy of the ProPal-COPD tool to predict 1-year mortality is limited, although screening patients with its indicators increases healthcare providers' awareness of palliative care needs and encourages them to timely initiate appropriate care