Complexity, transparency and time pressure: practical insights into science communication in times of crisis

A global crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic that started in early 2020 poses significant challenges for how research is conducted and communicated. We present four case studies from the perspective of an interdisciplinary research institution that switched to “corona-mode” during the first two months of the crisis, focussing all its capacities on COVID-19-related issues, communicating to the public directly and via media, as well as actively advising the national government. The case studies highlight the challenges posed by the increased time pressure, high demand for transparency, and communication of complexity and uncertainty. The article gives insights into how these challenges were addressed in our research institution and how science communication in general can be managed during a crisis

Systematic population-wide ecological analysis of regional variability in disease prevalence

The prevalence of diseases often varies substantially from region to region. Besides basic demographic properties, the factors that drive the variability of each prevalence are to a large extent unknown. Here we show how regional prevalence variations in 115 different diseases relate to demographic, socio-economic, environmental factors and migratory background, as well as access to different types of health services such as primary, specialized and hospital healthcare. We have collected regional data for these risk factors at different levels of resolution; from large regions of care (Versorgungsregion) down to a 250 by 250 m square grid. Using multivariate regression analysis, we quantify the explanatory power of each independent variable in relation to the regional variation of the disease prevalence. We find that for certain diseases, such as acute heart conditions, diseases of the inner ear, mental and behavioral disorders due to substance abuse, up to 80% of the variance can be explained with these risk factors. For other diagnostic blocks, such as blood related diseases, injuries and poisoning however, the explanatory power is close to zero. We find that the time needed to travel from the inhabited center to the relevant hospital ward often contributes significantly to the disease risk, in particular for diabetes mellitus. Our results show that variations in disease burden across different regions can for many diseases be related to variations in demographic and socio-economic factors. Furthermore, our results highlight the relative importance of access to health care facilities in the treatment of chronic diseases like diabetes

Noise analysis of image sensor arrays for large-area biomedical imaging

Large-area digital imaging made possible by amorphous silicon thin-film transistor (a-Si TFT) technology, coupled with a-Si photosensors, provides an excellent readout platform to form an integrated medical image capture system. Major development challenges evolve around the optimization of pixel architecture for detector fill factor and manufacturability, all the while suppressing that noise stems from pixel array and external electronics. This work discusses the behavior and modeling of system noise that arises from imaging array operations. An active pixel sensor (APS) design with on-pixel amplification was studied. Our evaluation demonstrates that a 17 × 17 inch array with 150 ×150 μm pixels can achieve system noise as low as 1000 electrons through proper design and optimization. © 2008 Materials Research Society

High fill factor a-Si:H sensor arrays with reduced pixel crosstalk

In this paper, we report on low noise, high fill factor amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) image sensor structures for indirect radiography. Two types of the sensor arrays comprising n-i-p photodiodes and m-i-s photosensors have been fabricated. The device prototypes contain 100 x 100 pixels, with a pixel pitch of 139 μm. The active-matrix addressing is provided by low off-current TFTs. The sensors are vertically integrated onto the TFT-backplane, by implementing a 3-μm-thick low-k interlayer dielectric. This dielectric layer serves to reduce the data line capacitance and to planarize underlying topography. The detector was designed for reduced data-line resistance and parasitic coupling. Details of the device design and fabrication, along with sensor performance characteristics, are presented and discussed. © 2008 Materials Research Society