Course Innovation: A Graduate Course on Digital Tools for Qualitative Research

There are few ways for novice qualitative researchers to systematically learn about new tools. We describe a graduate qualitative research course developed at the University of Tennessee designed to highlight the affordances and constraints of new tools and how they can support the qualitative research process. Graduate students and the instructor will discuss the design, development, and experience with the course, and share recommendations for those interested in designing similar courses

Die Phytolithe aus dem Hortfund Domsen, Burgenlandkreis

Im Tagebauvorfeld Profen im südlichen Sachsen-Anhalt wurde 2013 bei archäologischen Ausgrabungen ein Gefäß dokumentiert, das frühbronzezeitliche Metallgegenstände enthielt. In den Sedimentresten aus dem Gefäß wurden Reste von Halmen und Spelzen sowie große Mengen an dicht gelagerten Phytolithen dokumentiert, bei denen es sich um Reste von Getreide handeln könnte. Es wird angenommen, daß die Gegenstände im Gefäß mit Stroh umwickelt oder gepolstert waren

Der wahre Schatz des Fürsten vom Hügelgrab Bornhöck - Eigenschaften einer 3800 Jahre alten Schwarzerde in Sachsen-Anhalt

Böden unter Grabhügel sind häufig über Jahrtausende hinweg von äußeren Umwelteinflüssen weitgehend unberührt geblieben. Dies bietet für die Archäologie - aber auch für die Bodenwissenschaften - die seltene Gelegenheit, Umwelt- und Lebensbedingungen zur jeweiligen Epoche in Teilen zu rekonstruieren und/oder Vergleiche zu rezenten Böden durchzuführen. Ein herausragendes Beispiel ist der Bornhöck bei Raßnitz südöstlich von Halle (Sachsen-Anhalt). Das 1800 v. Chr. errichtete Fürstengrab ist einer der größten frühbronzezeitlichen Grabhügel Mitteleuropas mit einem Durchmesser von ca. 65 m und einer Höhe von mind. 15 m. Während archäologischer Arbeiten im Jahr 2015 wurde unter der etwa 90 cm mächtigen Hügelschüttung des Bornhöcks eine 60 cm mächtige begrabene Schwarzerde entdeckt, welche die frühbronzezeitliche Landoberfläche kennzeichnet. Ziel der Studie war, einen Einblick in die nur wenig bekannten naturräumlichen Gegebenheiten der Frühbronzezeit Sachsen-Anhalts zu erhalten und Bodenveränderungen über den Zeitraum von mehreren tausend Jahren zu dokumentieren. Daher wurden die begrabene Schwarzerde, der umliegende rezente Boden (Parabraunerde-Tschernosem) und eine rezente Schwarzerde nordwestlich von Halle nach KA5 bodenkundlich angesprochen sowie Standard-Bodenuntersuchungen (KAK, pH, Carbonat, Königswasseraufschluss, Gesamt-C und -N) durchgeführt. Zudem wurden Black Carbon, Aminozucker, DNA-Extraktion und n-Alkan Analysen vorgenommen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die begrabene Schwarzerde eine offensichtlich weitaus höhere Fruchtbarkeit aufweist als die beiden rezenten Böden. Beispielsweise ist die Kationenaustauschkapazität in den rezenten Oberböden um bis zu 50 % geringer als die der begrabenen Schwarzerde. Die Black Carbon Konzentration ist in den rezenten Böden sogar bis zu 70 % geringer als in der bronzezeitlichen Schwarzerde. Inwieweit sich die mikrobielle Zusammensetzung und Diversität der begrabenen Schwarzerde zu den rezenten Böden unterscheidet, wird gegenwärtig ausgewertet. Außerdem finden aktuell Auswertungen zu den n-Alkanen statt, um Hinweise auf die Vegetationsbedeckung (Gräser und Kräuter, Strauch- oder Baumvegetation) der frühbronzezeitlichen Schwarzerde zu erhalten

Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Attentional Control in the Aging Brain

A growing body of literature provides evidence for the prophylactic influence of cardiorespiratory fitness on cognitive decline in older adults. This study examined the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and recruitment of the neural circuits involved in an attentional control task in a group of healthy older adults. Employing a version of the Stroop task, we examined whether higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness were associated with an increase in activation in cortical regions responsible for imposing attentional control along with an up-regulation of activity in sensory brain regions that process task-relevant representations. Higher fitness levels were associated with better behavioral performance and an increase in the recruitment of prefrontal and parietal cortices in the most challenging condition, thus providing evidence that cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with an increase in the recruitment of the anterior processing regions. There was a top-down modulation of extrastriate visual areas that process both task-relevant and task-irrelevant attributes relative to the baseline. However, fitness was not associated with differential activation in the posterior processing regions, suggesting that fitness enhances attentional function by primarily influencing the neural circuitry of anterior cortical regions. This study provides novel evidence of a differential association of fitness with anterior and posterior brain regions, shedding further light onto the neural changes accompanying cardiorespiratory fitness

Is macroporosity controlled by complexed clay and soil organic carbon?

Multi-scale evidence of rapid, climate-induced soil structural changes occurring at yearly to decadal timescales is mounting. As a result, it has become increasingly important to identify the properties and mechanisms controlling the development and maintenance of soil structure and associated macroporosity. This is especially relevant since macroporosity has disproportionate effects on saturated hydraulic conductivity ( ) which strongly influences water storage and flux, thus, affecting the water cycle. In this study, we use decision trees and piecewise linear regression to assess the influence of soil and climate properties on effective porosity (EP; a proxy of macroporosity) in both surface and subsurface horizons under varying land-use and management practices. Data from 1,491 pedons (3,679 horizons) spanning five ecoregions representing bioclimate (e.g., potential vegetation) across the conterminous US demonstrate that, at a continental scale, EP in surface (A) and subsurface (B) horizons is strongly dependent on the complexed fraction of the total mass of soil organic carbon (SOC) and clay; a combined fraction that we refer to as complexed organic carbon and clay (COCC). EP showed a slight positive response to COCC in A horizons but increased steeply with increasing COCC in B horizons. This is because the smaller values of COCC in B horizons reflect a larger pool of clay that has a greater potential to accommodate and complex additions of SOC promoting stronger organo-mineral bonds and the concomitant development and maintenance of soil structure in these horizons. In contrast, larger values of COCC in A horizons reflect conditions where all or most of the clay fraction is effectively complexed with SOC resulting in a larger pool of non-complexed soil organic matter with varying contrasting effects on macroporosity that ultimately mute the response of EP to increases in COCC. In surface horizons, indirect factors such as mean annual precipitation and land use were important predictors of EP, whereas COCC was more influential in controlling EP within the subsoil. The EP-COCC relationship also holds within ecoregions but its effect is mitigated by soil and climate interactions suggesting that the effect of climate on this relationship is indirect and complex. Plowed surface horizons and horizons underlying plowed layers showed greater homogenization (due to disturbance effects reducing heterogeneity in the soil) as well as a reduction in the magnitude and rate of change of EP as a function of COCC compared to undisturbed horizons. Our findings suggest that the complexed fraction of clay and SOC is important for controlling macroporosity and at ecoregion scales and that the EP-COCC relationship may be an important framework for understanding and predicting future land use- and climate-induced changes in soil hydraulic properties.publishedVersio

Antiinflammatory Therapy with Canakinumab for Atherosclerotic Disease

Background: Experimental and clinical data suggest that reducing inflammation without affecting lipid levels may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherothrombosis has remained unproved. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of canakinumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1β, involving 10,061 patients with previous myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level of 2 mg or more per liter. The trial compared three doses of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg, administered subcutaneously every 3 months) with placebo. The primary efficacy end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or cardiovascular death. RESULTS: At 48 months, the median reduction from baseline in the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level was 26 percentage points greater in the group that received the 50-mg dose of canakinumab, 37 percentage points greater in the 150-mg group, and 41 percentage points greater in the 300-mg group than in the placebo group. Canakinumab did not reduce lipid levels from baseline. At a median follow-up of 3.7 years, the incidence rate for the primary end point was 4.50 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group, 4.11 events per 100 person-years in the 50-mg group, 3.86 events per 100 person-years in the 150-mg group, and 3.90 events per 100 person-years in the 300-mg group. The hazard ratios as compared with placebo were as follows: in the 50-mg group, 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.07; P = 0.30); in the 150-mg group, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = 0.021); and in the 300-mg group, 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.99; P = 0.031). The 150-mg dose, but not the other doses, met the prespecified multiplicity-adjusted threshold for statistical significance for the primary end point and the secondary end point that additionally included hospitalization for unstable angina that led to urgent revascularization (hazard ratio vs. placebo, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.95; P = 0.005). Canakinumab was associated with a higher incidence of fatal infection than was placebo. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for all canakinumab doses vs. placebo, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.06; P = 0.31). Conclusions: Antiinflammatory therapy targeting the interleukin-1β innate immunity pathway with canakinumab at a dose of 150 mg every 3 months led to a significantly lower rate of recurrent cardiovascular events than placebo, independent of lipid-level lowering. (Funded by Novartis; CANTOS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01327846.

BLOOM: A 176B-Parameter Open-Access Multilingual Language Model

Large language models (LLMs) have been shown to be able to perform new tasks based on a few demonstrations or natural language instructions. While these capabilities have led to widespread adoption, most LLMs are developed by resource-rich organizations and are frequently kept from the public. As a step towards democratizing this powerful technology, we present BLOOM, a 176B-parameter open-access language model designed and built thanks to a collaboration of hundreds of researchers. BLOOM is a decoder-only Transformer language model that was trained on the ROOTS corpus, a dataset comprising hundreds of sources in 46 natural and 13 programming languages (59 in total). We find that BLOOM achieves competitive performance on a wide variety of benchmarks, with stronger results after undergoing multitask prompted finetuning. To facilitate future research and applications using LLMs, we publicly release our models and code under the Responsible AI License

Göttinger Bodenkundliche Berichte 102

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