Ansiedlungsversuche der Kleinen Teichrose Nuphar pumila (Timm) DC. im Kanton Zürich : Standortbedingungen erfolgreicher und erfolgloser Gewässer im Vergleich mit natürlichem Vorkommen

The endangered least water-lily or small yellow pond-lily Nuphar pumila (Timm) DC. occurs in Switzerland only in four waters, namely in Kämmoosweiher (ZH), Gräppelensee (SG), Lac Lussy (FR) and Lac des Joncs (FR). The Ice Age relict grows in weakly acidic, slightly eutrophicated and cool waters, which have a low water hardness. The widespread species Nuphar lutea (L.) Sm. and N. pumila form the fertile hybrid Nuphar x intermedia (Ledeb.). In the Canton of Zurich there are 35 waters where it is attempted to establish permanent populations of N. pumila. The populations in these settlement waters develop with varying degrees of success. This work compares site conditions between successful and unsuccessful waters and the four natural stocks. In the unsuccessful waters warmer temperatures, higher pH values and higher water hardness and lower nutrient concentration were expected. It can be assumed that non-competitive N. pumila is associated with only a few other plants. Furthermore, negative influences on the coverage of N. pumila were anticipated. Chemical-physical water properties, pH, conductivity, temperature, oxygen content, oxygen saturation and turbidity were measured in all settlement waters and in the lakes with autochthonous populations. In fourteen prioritized waters additional vegetation surveys, water analyses of the parameters calcium, magnesium, water hardness, nitrate and phosphate and sampling of the diatoms took place.Das Vorkommen der Kleinen Teichrose Nuphar pumila (Timm) DC beschränkt sich in der Schweiz auf vier Gewässer, Kämmoosweiher (ZH), Gräppelensee (SG), Lac Lussy (FR) und Lac des Joncs (FR). Sie ist als stark gefährdete Art eingestuft. Das Glazialrelikt wächst in schwach sauren, leicht eutrophierten und kühlen Gewässern mit einer geringen Wasserhärte. Zwischen der weitverbreiteten Art Nuphar lutea (L.) Sm. und N. pumila entsteht der fertile Hybrid Nuphar x intermedia (Ledeb.). Im Kanton Zürich gibt es 35 Gewässer mit Ansiedlungsversuchen in denen sich die Populationen mit unterschiedlichem Erfolg entwickeln. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden Standortbedingungen zwischen erfolgreichen und erfolglosen Ansiedlungsgewässern sowie den natürlichen Beständen verglichen. In den erfolglosen Ansiedlungsgewässern wurden wärmere Temperaturen, höhere pH-Werte und Wasserhärte und weniger Nährstoffe erwartet als in den anderen Gruppen. Es wurde davon ausgegangen, dass sich die konkurrenzschwache N. pumila mit wenig an deren Pflanzen vergesellschaftet. Auch ein negativer Einfluss der Calcium-und Magnesiumkonzentrationen auf den Deckungsgrad von N. pumila wurde vermutet. Die chemisch-physikalischen Wassereigenschaften, pH-Wert, Leitfähigkeit, Temperatur, Sauerstoffgehalt, Sauerstoffsättigung und die Trübung, wurden in allen Gewässern gemessen. In vierzehn priorisierten Gewässern fanden Vegetationsaufnahmen, Berechnungen der Zeigerwerte, Wasseranalysen von Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Wasserhärte (dH), Nitrat (NO3-N) und Phosphat (PO4-P) und Beprobungen der Kieselalgen statt

Explaining heatwaves with machine learning

Heatwaves are known to arise from the interplay between large-scale climate variability, synoptic weather patterns and regional to local scale surface processes. While recent research has made important progress for each individual contributing factor, ways to properly incorporate multiple or all of them in a unified analysis are still lacking. In this study, we consider a wide range of possible predictor variables from the ERA5 reanalysis, and ask, how much information on heatwave occurrence in Europe can be learned from each of them. To simplify the problem, we first adapt the recently developed logistic principal component analysis to the task of compressing large binary heatwave fields to a small number of interpretable principal components. The relationships between heatwaves and various climate variables can then be learned by a neural network. Starting from the simple notion that the importance of a variable is given by its impact on the performance of our statistical model, we arrive naturally at the definition of Shapley values. Classic results of game theory show that this is the only fair way of distributing the overall success of a model among its inputs. With this approach, we find a non-linear model that explains 70% of reduced heatwave variability, 27% of which are due to upper level geopotential while top level soil moisture contributes 15% of the overall score. In addition, Shapley interaction values enable us to quantify overlapping information and positive synergies between all pairs of predictors

Vegetation and soil microbial diversity along alpine elevation and snow gradients

Along elevation gradients, effects of changing environmental conditions can be observed and predicted, with plants being commonly used as bioindicators. The relationship between plant alpha diversity and elevation depends on the sampling design and shows unimodal or decreasing patterns, whereas there are inconsistent or even contradictory findings for soil microbes (bacteria, fungi, protists). I examined plant and microbial diversity indices (species richness, Shannon index, Shannon evenness index) along alpine elevation and snow gradients in Switzerland, using the snow gradient to represent seasonal variation and soil moisture. To determine the effect of both gradients on diversity indices and test their relationship, I conducted linear mixed-effect models (LME) and correlation tests. In structural equation models (SEM), I examined the (in-) direct effect of elevation and snow gradient, pH, and plant species richness on microbial diversity. All diversity indices of plants and microbes showed a unimodal relationship along the elevation gradient, while species richness of fungi was influenced by the interaction of both gradients and showed increasing and decreasing linear patterns along the snow gradient. The species richness of protists showed no relationship with elevation but was highest in plots under snow cover. I could not detect an effect of plant species richness on microbial diversity indices in the SEM. Both gradients, as well as pH, had shown a direct influence, whereby their effects differed between microbial groups and indices. Even though plant species richness did not significantly affect microbial diversity in my analyses, at least a link between plant and bacterial diversity is to be expected, because they follow the same unimodal curve and are positively correlated. Thus, further research is needed, for example based on functional groups, to explore these relationships

Skewed morph ratios lead to lower genetic diversity of the heterostylous Primula veris in fragmented grasslands

Populations of heterostylous plant species are ideally composed of equal frequencies of two (distylous) or three (tristylous) morphologically different floral morphs. Intra-morph incompatibility helps to avoid inbreeding and to maintain genetic diversity, supporting plant fitness and long-term viability. Habitat fragmentation can lead to skewed morph ratios and thereby reduce the abundance of compatible mates. This, in turn, can result in a loss of genetic diversity. We tested whether the genetic diversity of heterostylous plants is affected by morph ratio bias using populations of the distylous grassland plant Primula veris in recently fragmented grasslands. We recorded morph frequencies and population sizes in 30 study populations of P. veris on two Estonian islands characterised by different degrees of habitat fragmentation. Examining variation of thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and heterostyly-specific genetic markers, we quantified overall and morph-specific genetic diversity and differentiation in these populations. Morph frequencies deviated more in smaller populations. Skewed morph ratios had a negative effect on the genetic diversity of P. veris in more fragmented grasslands. In the populations of better-connected grassland systems, genetic differentiation among S-morphs was higher than among L-morphs. Our study shows that deviations from morph balance are stronger in small populations and have a negative impact on the genetic diversity of the distylous plant P. veris. Together with the direct negative effects of habitat loss and decreased population size on the genetic diversity of plants, morph ratio bias may intensify the process of genetic erosion, thus exacerbating the local extinction of heterostylous species

Differences in gait parameters when crossing real versus projected everyday life obstacles in healthy children and adolescents

Practicing complex everyday life walking activities is challenging in paediatric neurorehabilitation, although it would prepare patients more comprehensively for the requirements of daily life. Floor projections allow simulation and training of such situations in therapy. Twenty healthy youths aged 6-18 years stepped over a tree trunk and balanced over kerbstones in a real and projected condition. Spatiotemporal and kinematic parameters of the two conditions were compared by equivalence analysis, using the medians of the differences between the two conditions with their bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals. Velocity, step and stride length, step width, and single support time were generally equivalent between the two conditions. Knee and hip joint angles and toe clearance decreased substantially during the execution phase of the projected tree trunk condition. The largest differences were found at the end of the execution phase in both tasks for the ankle joints. As spatiotemporal parameters were equivalent between the conditions, floor projections seem suitable to train precise foot placement. However, differences in knee and hip joint kinematics and toe clearance revealed that floor projections are not applicable for obstacles with a vertical extension. Therefore, exercises aiming at knee and hip flexion improvement should favourably be trained with real objects

Release from natural enemies mitigates inbreeding depression in native and invasive Silene latifolia populations

Schrieber K, Wolf S, Wypior C, et al. Release from natural enemies mitigates inbreeding depression in native and invasive Silene latifolia populations. Ecology and Evolution. 2019;9(6):3564-3576.Inbreeding and enemy infestation are common in plants and can synergistically reduce their performance. This inbreeding xenvironment (I x E) interaction may be of particular importance for the success of plant invasions if introduced populations experience a release from attack by natural enemies relative to their native conspecifics. Here, we investigate whether inbreeding affects plant infestation damage, whether inbreeding depression in growth and reproduction is mitigated by enemy release, and whether this effect is more pronounced in invasive than native plant populations. We used the invader Silene latifolia and its natural enemies as a study system. We performed two generations of experimental out- and inbreeding within eight native (European) and eight invasive (North American) populations under controlled conditions using field-collected seeds. Subsequently, we exposed the offspring to an enemy exclusion and inclusion treatment in a common garden in the species' native range to assess the interactive effects of population origin (range), breeding treatment, and enemy treatment on infestation damage, growth, and reproduction. Inbreeding increased flower and leaf infestation damage in plants from both ranges, but had opposing effects on fruit damage in native versus invasive plants. Inbreeding significantly reduced plant fitness; whereby, inbreeding depression in fruit number was higher in enemy inclusions than exclusions. This effect was equally pronounced in populations from both distribution ranges. Moreover, the magnitude of inbreeding depression in fruit number was lower in invasive than native populations. These results support that inbreeding has the potential to reduce plant defenses in S. latifolia, which magnifies inbreeding depression in the presence of enemies. However, future studies are necessary to further explore whether enemy release in the invaded habitat has actually decreased inbreeding depression and thus facilitated the persistence of inbred founder populations and invasion success

Sex-specific extracerebral complications in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage

Background: Extracerebral complications in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) often occur during their stay at the neurocritical care unit (NCCU). Their influence on outcomes is poorly studied. The identification of sex-specific extracerebral complications in patients with aSAH and their impact on outcomes might aid more personalized monitoring and therapy strategies, aiming to improve outcomes.MethodsConsecutive patients with aSAH admitted to the NCCU over a 6-year period were evaluated for the occurrence of extracerebral complications (according to prespecified criteria). Outcomes were assessed with the Glasgow Outcome Scale Extended (GOSE) at 3 months and dichotomized as favorable (GOSE 5–8) and unfavorable (GOSE 1–4). Sex-specific extracerebral complications and their impact on outcomes were investigated. Based on the results of the univariate analysis, a multivariate analysis with unfavorable outcomes or the occurrence of certain complications as dependent variables was performed.ResultsOverall, 343 patients were included. Most of them were women (63.6%), and they were older than men. Demographics, presence of comorbidities, radiological findings, severity of bleeding, and aneurysm-securing strategies were compared among the sexes. More women than men suffered from cardiac complications (p = 0.013) and infection (p = 0.048). Patients with unfavorable outcomes were more likely to suffer from cardiac (p < 0.001), respiratory (p < 0.001), hepatic/gastrointestinal (p = 0.023), and hematological (p = 0.021) complications. In the multivariable analysis, known factors including age, female sex, increasing number of comorbidities, increasing World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS), and Fisher grading were expectedly associated with unfavorable outcomes. When adding complications to these models, these factors remained significant. However, when considering the complications, only pulmonary and cardiac complications remained independently associated with unfavorable outcomes.ConclusionExtracerebral complications after aSAH are frequent. Cardiac and pulmonary complications are independent predictors of unfavorable outcomes. Sex-specific extracerebral complications in patients with aSAH exist. Women suffered more frequently from cardiac and infectious complications potentially explaining the worse outcomes

Entwicklung eines Standards zur Kombination relevanter Medikamente bei Studienprotokollen von soliden Tumoren

Hintergrund: Die Verabreichung von Zytostatika ist in der Therapie gegen Krebs essenziell. In Studienprotokollen (Therapieoptimierungsstudien) werden Zytostatika kombiniert, um den Krebs mit verschiedene Wirkmechanismen anzugreifen [1]. Einige Zytostatika brauchen eine Vor- oder Begleitmedikation, andere spezielle Überwachung. Bei der Applikation über das Infusionssystem ist man bei verschiedenen Studienprotokollen gezwungen, multiple Zytostatika und deren Begleitmedikamente sowie Elektrolyte miteinander zu kombinieren. Hierbei muss man auf die Kompatibilität der verschiedenen Medikamente achten, um die Wirkweise nicht zu beeinträchtigen. Die Zytostatika Apotheke des Universitätsklinikums Heidelberg hat eine Kompatibilitätsliste für die onkologischen Stationen des Universitätsklinikums Heidelberg zusammengestellt. Hier werden alle Zytostatika, dazugehörige Medikamente und Elektrolyte, tabellarisch dargestellt. Kompatibilitäten werden in „N“ für „nicht kompatibel“, „K“ für „kompatibel“ und „Y“ für „Y-Stück kompatibel“ eingeteilt. Die Liste erfasst nicht zu jeder relevanten Kombination Kompatibilitätsdaten. Einige Studienprotokolle geben Kombinationen von Medikamenten vor, zu denen noch keine Kompatibilitätsdaten auf der Kompatibilitätsliste vorhanden sind. Ziel dieses Projektes ist es, einen Standard zur Kombination von Medikamenten aus den Studienprotokollen der häufigsten soliden Tumore zu entwickeln (Neuroblastom, Ewingsarkom, Osteosarkom und Rhabdomyosarkom). Methoden: Zur Planung und Durchführung des Projektes wird der PDCA-Zyklus verwendet. Dieser gliedert sich in die Phasen: „Plan“, „Do“, „Check“ und „Act“. Ergebnisse: In Kooperation mit der Zytostatika Apotheke und der Kinderonkologie, wird dieses Projekt gestartet. Es werden alle relevanten Zytostatika Blöcke mit fehlenden Kompatibilitätsdaten der soliden Tumore eingeschlossen. Anschließend wird in drei pharmazeutischen Datenbanken (Stabilis, Medicines complete und Upt to date) eine Literaturrecherche zu fehlenden Kompatibilitätsdaten durchgeführt. Ergebnisse werden von pharmazeutischer und ärztlicher Profession begutachtet. Im Standard ist eine graphische Darstellung des Zytostatika Blockes, die neu erstellte Kompatibilitätsliste und eine Handlungsempfehlung für die Praxis enthalten. Diskussion: Trotz der Verbreitung und Nutzen der Studienprotokolle zur Applikation der Chemotherapie, gibt es nicht für alle Medikamente Kompatibilitätsdaten. Bei der Verabreichung von Medikamenten ohne Kompatibilitätsauskunft können Wechselwirkungen sowie Interaktionen der Wirkstoffe entstehen. Diese können die Wirkung der Medikamente einschränken [2]. Die Problematik der Durchführung der Studienprotokolle mit unvollständigen Kompatibilitätsangaben wurde bisher dem medizinischen Personal der Kliniken überlassen. Dieses Projekt ist daher übergreifend für Kliniken relevant. Quellen: [1] Deutsche Krebsgesellschaft. Klinische Studien in der Krebstherapie – Informationen für Patienten; 2017. [Internet] [zuletzt aufgerufen am 21.01.2020]. Verfügbar unter: URL: https://www.krebsgesellschaft.de/onko-internetportal/basis-informationen-krebs/basis-informationen-krebs-allgemeine-informationen/klinische-studien.html [2] Heiner Berthold: Klinikleitfaden Arzneimitteltherapie. 2. Auflage. Urban und Fischer, München/Jena 2003, S 106 f

Monitor and sensors 2.0 for exposure assessment to airborne pollutants

In recent years, the issue of exposure assessment to airborne pollutants has become increasingly popular, both in the occupational and environmental fields. The increasingly stringent national and international air quality standards and exposure limit values both for indoor environments and occupational exposure limit values have been developed with the aim of protecting the health of the general population and workers. On the other hand, this requires a considerable and continuous development of the technologies used to monitor the concentrations of the pollutants to ensure the reliability of the exposure assessment studies. In this regard, one of the most interesting aspects is certainly the development of “new generation” instrumentation for monitoring airborne pollutants (“Next Generation Monitors and Sensors” – NGMS). The main purpose of this work is to analyze the state of the art regarding the afore-mentioned instrumentation, to be able to investigate any practical applications within exposure assessment studies. In this regard, a systematic review of the scientific literature was carried out using three different databases (Scopus, PubMed and Web of Knowledge) and the results were analyzed in terms of the objectives set out above. What emerged is the fact that the use of NGMSs is increasingly growing within the scientific community for exposure assessment studies applied to the occupational and environmental context. The investigated studies have emphasized that NGMSs cannot be considered, in terms of the reliability of the results, to be equal to the reference measurement tools and techniques (i.e., those defined in recognized methods used for regulatory purposes), but they can certainly be integrated into the internal exposure assessment studies to improve their spatial-temporal resolution. These tools have the potential to be easily adapted to different types of studies, are characterized by a small size, which allows them to be worn comfortably without affecting the normal activities of workers or citizens, and by a relatively low cost. Despite this, there is certainly a gap with respect to the reference instrumentation, regarding the measurement performance and quality of the data provided; the objective to be set, however, is not to replace the traditional instrumentation with NGMSs but to integrate and combine the two typologies of instruments to benefit from the strengths of both, therefore, the desirable future developments in this sense has been discussed in this work

Smart-working VS office work: how does personal exposure to different air pollutants change?

The COVID-19 pandemic is raging all over the world, with possible structural effects on the work: the smart-working (WFH -Working From Home) role is therefore emphasized by the fact that it could become a traditional way of working in many work sectors. Several scientific papers have recently analyzed the WFH phenomenon under different aspects, but scientific studies have not yet been conducted considering the differences between WFH and WFO (Working From Office), in terms of evaluation of personal exposure assessment to selected airborne pollutants. This study, therefore, aims to evaluate, using portable monitors, the differences in terms of personal exposure to selected airborne pollutants, during different working conditions (WFO vs WFH), over long periods of time (from days to weeks), extending the results to even longer periods (years), to adhere to the approach proposed by the concept of the exposome. The preliminary results of this study refer to three separate phases of the work (i) re-analyses of literature data via Monte Carlo simulation, and assessment of personal exposure to different air pollutants during different working conditions, during (ii) “long term” campaign and (iii) a “short term” monitoring campaign. During the two different measurement campaigns, portable instrumentation was used, because of the ability of these kinds of instruments to obtain data characterized by a high spatial and temperature resolution. The re-elaborations of the data obtained from the literature show how, under different conditions, the exposure concentrations to different PM fractions are statistically lower in WFH working conditions, compared to WFO conditions. These results are in contrast with the preliminary results obtained from exploratory monitoring (both for the “long term” and for the “short term” campaigns). The results obtained from these exploratory monitoring show that the WFH condition has a greater impact on the daily exposure of the monitored subjects, compared to the WFO condition