Enabling people with diverse abilities to Participate in the Design of Digital Mapping Tools for Inclusive Community Planning in Germany

People with so-called intellectual disabilities are underrepresented in Citizen Science projects. The topic of urban health offers an extensive field of application for Citizen Science projects and digital methods have the potential to involve many, and diverse people. The DiMDiCi (Digital Mapping with Disabled Citizens) project integrates these three areas. The project investigates how the needs of people with so-called intellectual disabilities for movement and participation in (semi-)public space can be captured with the help of digital methods and integrated into municipal planning processes. Photovoice and digital maptables are used as barrier-sensitive digital methods and applications are further developed. Our goal is to develop methods with which more and other people can participate in society in general and in urban development and research in particular. DiMDiCi is a pilot project in the European COESO project and is being worked on jointly by the University of Applied Sciences in Bochum, the University of Twente, the Wittekindshof as an institution for people with disabilities and the city of Herne.</p

Challenges and advances in the heterologous expression of cellulolytic enzymes: a review

Second generation biofuel development is increasingly reliant on the recombinant expression of cellulases. Designing or identifying successful expression systems is thus of preeminent importance to industrial progress in the field. Recombinant production of cellulases has been performed using a wide range of expression systems in bacteria, yeasts and plants. In a number of these systems, particularly when using bacteria and plants, significant challenges have been experienced in expressing full-length proteins or proteins at high yield. Further difficulties have been encountered in designing recombinant systems for surface-display of cellulases and for use in consolidated bioprocessing in bacteria and yeast. For establishing cellulase expression in plants, various strategies are utilized to overcome problems, such as the auto-hydrolysis of developing plant cell walls. In this review, we investigate the major challenges, as well as the major advances made to date in the recombinant expression of cellulases across the commonly used bacterial, plant and yeast systems. We review some of the critical aspects to be considered for industrial-scale cellulase production

Approaches for the treatment of perforated peptic ulcers : a network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials - study protocol

Introduction: Perforated peptic ulcers are a life-threatening complication associated with high morbidity and mortality. Several treatment approaches are available. The aim of this network meta-analysis (NMA) is to compare surgical and alternative approaches for the treatment of perforated peptic ulcers regarding mortality and other patient-relevant outcomes. Methods and analysis: A systematic literature search of PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, Embase, CINAHL, ClinicalTrials.gov trial registry and ICTRP will be conducted with predefined search terms. To address the question of the most effective treatment approach, an NMA will be performed for each of the outcomes mentioned above. A closed network of interventions is expected. The standardised mean difference with its 95% CI will be used as the effect measure for the continuous outcomes, and the ORs with 95% CI will be calculated for the binary outcomes. Ethics and dissemination: In accordance with the nature of the data used in this meta-analysis, which involves aggregate information from previously published studies ethical approval is deemed unnecessary. Results will be disseminated directly to decision-makers (eg, surgeons, gastroenterologists) through publication in peer-reviewed journals and presentation at conferences

Children of Mentally III Parents at Risk Evaluation (COMPARE): Design and Methods of a Randomized Controlled Multicenter Study—Part I

Objectives: Mental disorders are frequent, associated with disability-adjusted life years, societal, and economic costs. Children of parents with a mental illness (COPMI) are at an increased risk to develop disorders themselves. The transgenerational transmission of mental disorders has been conceptualized in a model that takes parental and family factors, the social environment (i.e., school, work, and social support), parent-child-interaction and possible child outcomes into account. The goal of the “Children of Mentally Ill Parents At Risk Evaluation” (COMPARE) study will thus be twofold: (1) to establish the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a high-quality randomized controlled trial (RCT) with the aim of interrupting the intergenerational transmission of mental disorders in COPMI, (2) to test the components of the trans-generational transmission model of mental disorders. Methods: To implement a randomized controlled trial (RCT: comparison of parental cognitive behavioral therapy/CBT with CBT + Positive Parenting Program) that is flanked by four add-on projects that apply behavioral, psychophysiological, and neuro-imaging methods to examine potential moderators and mediators of risk transmission (projects COMPARE-emotion/-interaction/-work/-school). COMPARE-emotion targets emotion processing and regulation and its impact on the transgenerational disorder transmission; COMPARE-interaction focuses especially on the impact of maternal comorbid diagnoses of depression and anxiety disorders and will concentrate on different pathways of the impact of maternal disorders on socio-emotional and cognitive infant development, such as parent-infant interaction and the infant's stress regulation skills. COMPARE-work analyzes the transmission of strains a person experiences in one area of life to another (i.e., from family to work; spill-over), and how stress and strain are transmitted between individuals (i.e., from parent to child; cross-over). COMPARE-school focuses on the psychosocial adjustment, school performance, and subjective well-being in COPMI compared to an adequate control group of healthy children. Results: This study protocol reports on the interdisciplinary approach of COMPARE testing the model of the transgenerational transmission of mental disorders. Conclusion: The combination of applied basic with clinical research will facilitate the examination of specific risk transmission mechanisms, promotion, dissemination and implementation of results into a highly important but largely neglected field. Clinical Trial Registration: DRKS-ID: DRKS00013516 (German Clinical Trials Register, https://www.drks.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00013516)

Transcription factors in the pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension—Current knowledge and therapeutic potential

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a disease characterized by elevated pulmonary vascular resistance and pulmonary artery pressure. Mortality remains high in severe cases despite significant advances in management and pharmacotherapy. Since currently approved PAH therapies are unable to significantly reverse pathological vessel remodeling, novel disease-modifying, targeted therapeutics are needed. Pathogenetically, PAH is characterized by vessel wall cell dysfunction with consecutive remodeling of the pulmonary vasculature and the right heart. Transcription factors (TFs) regulate the process of transcribing DNA into RNA and, in the pulmonary circulation, control the response of pulmonary vascular cells to macro- and microenvironmental stimuli. Often, TFs form complex protein interaction networks with other TFs or co-factors to allow for fine-tuning of gene expression. Therefore, identification of the underlying molecular mechanisms of TF (dys-)function is essential to develop tailored modulation strategies in PAH. This current review provides a compendium-style overview of TFs and TF complexes associated with PAH pathogenesis and highlights their potential as targets for vasculoregenerative or reverse remodeling therapies

Assimilating spaceborne lidar dust extinction can improve dust forecasts

Atmospheric mineral dust has a rich tri-dimensional spatial and temporal structure that is poorly constrained in forecasts and analyses when only column-integrated aerosol optical depth (AOD) is assimilated. At present, this is the case of most operational global aerosol assimilation products. Aerosol vertical distributions obtained from spaceborne lidars can be assimilated in aerosol models, but questions about the extent of their benefit upon analyses and forecasts along with their consistency with AOD assimilation remain unresolved. Our study thoroughly explores the added value of assimilating spaceborne vertical dust profiles, with and without the joint assimilation of dust optical depth (DOD). We also discuss the consistency in the assimilation of both sources of information and analyse the role of the smaller footprint of the spaceborne lidar profiles in the results. To that end, we have performed data assimilation experiments using dedicated dust observations for a period of 2 months over northern Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. We assimilate DOD derived from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on board Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (SUOMI-NPP) Deep Blue and for the first time Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarisation (CALIOP)-based LIdar climatology of Vertical Aerosol Structure for space-based lidar simulation studies (LIVAS) pure-dust extinction coefficient profiles on an aerosol model. The evaluation is performed against independent ground-based DOD derived from AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) Sun photometers and ground-based lidar dust extinction profiles from the Cyprus Clouds Aerosol and Rain Experiment (CyCARE) and PREparatory: does dust TriboElectrification affect our ClimaTe (Pre-TECT) field campaigns. Jointly assimilating LIVAS and Deep Blue data reduces the root mean square error (RMSE) in the DOD by 39 % and in the dust extinction coefficient by 65 % compared to a control simulation that excludes assimilation. We show that the assimilation of dust extinction coefficient profiles provides a strong added value to the analyses and forecasts. When only Deep Blue data are assimilated, the RMSE in the DOD is reduced further, by 42 %. However, when only LIVAS data are assimilated, the RMSE in the dust extinction coefficient decreases by 72 %, the largest improvement across experiments. We also show that the assimilation of dust extinction profiles yields better skill scores than the assimilation of DOD under an equivalent sensor footprint. Our results demonstrate the strong potential of future lidar space missions to improve desert dust forecasts, particularly if they foresee a depolarization lidar channel to allow discrimination of desert dust from other aerosol types.This work received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Marie Skłodowska-Curie (grant no. 754433)), the European Research Council (FRAGMENT (grant no. 773051)), and the AXA Research Fund. We were also supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MICINN), as part of the BROWNING project RTI2018-099894-B-I00 and NUTRIENT project CGL2017-88911-R, along with PRACE and RES for awarding access to Marenostrum4 based in Spain at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center through the eFRAGMENT2 and AECT2020-1-0007 projects. Martina Klose received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Marie Skłodowska-Curie (grant no. 789630)). Martina Klose was also supported by the Helmholtz Association’s Initiative and Networking Fund (grant no. VH-NG-1533). Vassilis Amiridis and Eleni Marinou were supported by ERC Consolidator Grant 2016 D-TECT: “Does dust TriboElectrification affect our ClimaTe?” (grant no. 725698). Eleni Marinou was supported by a DLR VO-R young investigator group and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (grant no. 57370121). Emmanouil Proestakis was supported by the project PANhellenic infrastructure for Atmospheric Composition and climatE change (grant no. MIS5021516), which is implemented under the Action Reinforcement of the Research and Innovation Infrastructure, funded by the Operational Programme “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation” (grant no. NSRF2014–2020) and co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund). This research was supported by the German–Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF, grant no. I1262-401.10/2014), the European Union’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, Horizon 2020 (ACTRIS-2, grant no. 654109), and the former European Commission Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007–2013 (ACTRIS (grant no. 262254) and BACCHUS (grant no. 603445)).Peer ReviewedObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al ClimaObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al Clima::13.3 - Millorar l’educació, la conscienciació i la capacitat humana i institucional en relació amb la mitigació del canvi climàtic, l’adaptació a aquest, la reducció dels efectes i l’alerta primerencaPostprint (published version

Assimilating spaceborne lidar dust extinction can improve dust forecasts

Atmospheric mineral dust has a rich tri-dimensional spatial and temporal structure that is poorly constrained in forecasts and analyses when only column-integrated aerosol optical depth (AOD) is assimilated. At present, this is the case of most operational global aerosol assimilation products. Aerosol vertical distributions obtained from spaceborne lidars can be assimilated in aerosol models, but questions about the extent of their benefit upon analyses and forecasts along with their consistency with AOD assimilation remain unresolved. Our study thoroughly explores the added value of assimilating spaceborne vertical dust profiles, with and without the joint assimilation of dust optical depth (DOD). We also discuss the consistency in the assimilation of both sources of information and analyse the role of the smaller footprint of the spaceborne lidar profiles in the results. To that end, we have performed data assimilation experiments using dedicated dust observations for a period of 2 months over northern Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. We assimilate DOD derived from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on board Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (SUOMI-NPP) Deep Blue and for the first time Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarisation (CALIOP)-based LIdar climatology of Vertical Aerosol Structure for space-based lidar simulation studies (LIVAS) pure-dust extinction coefficient profiles on an aerosol model. The evaluation is performed against independent ground-based DOD derived from AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) Sun photometers and ground-based lidar dust extinction profiles from the Cyprus Clouds Aerosol and Rain Experiment (CyCARE) and PREparatory: does dust TriboElectrification affect our ClimaTe (Pre-TECT) field campaigns. Jointly assimilating LIVAS and Deep Blue data reduces the root mean square error (RMSE) in the DOD by 39 % and in the dust extinction coefficient by 65 % compared to a control simulation that excludes assimilation. We show that the assimilation of dust extinction coefficient profiles provides a strong added value to the analyses and forecasts. When only Deep Blue data are assimilated, the RMSE in the DOD is reduced further, by 42 %. However, when only LIVAS data are assimilated, the RMSE in the dust extinction coefficient decreases by 72 %, the largest improvement across experiments. We also show that the assimilation of dust extinction profiles yields better skill scores than the assimilation of DOD under an equivalent sensor footprint. Our results demonstrate the strong potential of future lidar space missions to improve desert dust forecasts, particularly if they foresee a depolarization lidar channel to allow discrimination of desert dust from other aerosol types.This work received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Marie Skłodowska-Curie (grant no. 754433)), the European Research Council (FRAGMENT (grant no. 773051)), and the AXA Research Fund. We were also supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MICINN), as part of the BROWNING project RTI2018-099894-B-I00 and NUTRIENT project CGL2017-88911-R, along with PRACE and RES for awarding access to Marenostrum4 based in Spain at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center through the eFRAGMENT2 and AECT2020-1-0007 projects. Martina Klose received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Marie Skłodowska-Curie (grant no. 789630)). Martina Klose was also supported by the Helmholtz Association’s Initiative and Networking Fund (grant no. VH-NG-1533). Vassilis Amiridis and Eleni Marinou were supported by ERC Consolidator Grant 2016 D-TECT: “Does dust TriboElectrification affect our ClimaTe?” (grant no. 725698). Eleni Marinou was supported by a DLR VO-R young investigator group and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (grant no. 57370121). Emmanouil Proestakis was supported by the project PANhellenic infrastructure for Atmospheric Composition and climatE change (grant no. MIS5021516), which is implemented under the Action Reinforcement of the Research and Innovation Infrastructure, funded by the Operational Programme “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation” (grant no. NSRF2014–2020) and co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund). This research was supported by the German–Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF, grant no. I1262-401.10/2014), the European Union’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, Horizon 2020 (ACTRIS-2, grant no. 654109), and the former European Commission Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007–2013 (ACTRIS (grant no. 262254) and BACCHUS (grant no. 603445)).Peer ReviewedObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al ClimaObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al Clima::13.3 - Millorar l’educació, la conscienciació i la capacitat humana i institucional en relació amb la mitigació del canvi climàtic, l’adaptació a aquest, la reducció dels efectes i l’alerta primerencaPostprint (published version