Self-Driven Sustainable Oil Separation from Water Surfaces by Biomimetic Adsorbing and Transporting Materials

Oil films on water are an increasingly major contamination problem worldwide. In 2020, we published a novel adsorption and transportation technology for oil–water separation based on biological role models like the floating fern Salvinia. This application provides an unexpected ability for the fast and efficient removal of oil films, particularly in ecologically important freshwater biota. A single small Bionic Oil Adsorber (BOA) with 1 m$^2$ functional textile can collect up to 4 L of oil per hour, which equals about 100 m$^2$ of oil film from a water surface into a collecting vessel. This is a safe, fast, and sustainable solution for the ubiquitous contaminations of, e.g., fuel oil in freshwater environments. Here, we present updated, new experimental data, and a review of the literature published since

Genetic risk and a primary role for cell-mediated immune mechanisms in multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis is a common disease of the central nervous system in which the interplay between inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes typically results in intermittent neurological disturbance followed by progressive accumulation of disability. Epidemiological studies have shown that genetic factors are primarily responsible for the substantially increased frequency of the disease seen in the relatives of affected individuals, and systematic attempts to identify linkage in multiplex families have confirmed that variation within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) exerts the greatest individual effect on risk. Modestly powered genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have enabled more than 20 additional risk loci to be identified and have shown that multiple variants exerting modest individual effects have a key role in disease susceptibility. Most of the genetic architecture underlying susceptibility to the disease remains to be defined and is anticipated to require the analysis of sample sizes that are beyond the numbers currently available to individual research groups. In a collaborative GWAS involving 9,772 cases of European descent collected by 23 research groups working in 15 different countries, we have replicated almost all of the previously suggested associations and identified at least a further 29 novel susceptibility loci. Within the MHC we have refined the identity of the HLA-DRB1 risk alleles and confirmed that variation in the HLA-A gene underlies the independent protective effect attributable to the class I region. Immunologically relevant genes are significantly overrepresented among those mapping close to the identified loci and particularly implicate T-helper-cell differentiation in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis

Förderung anwendbaren bildungswissenschaftlichen Wissens bei Lehramtsstudierenden: Effekte eines fehlerbasierten Seminarkonzepts und instruktionaler Hilfen während des Testens auf Qualitäten anwendbaren Wissens

The project „Theorizing in Practice“ uses typical theory application errors to foster applicable educational knowledge for the theory-based explanation of complex school situations. Earlier studies showed positive effects of error-based learning environments. However, a seminar concept expanding the learning environment by adding theoretical reflections of biographical learning and teaching experiences yielded only minor additional learning effects. The results were ascribed to insufficient sensitivity of the existing analyses towards qualitative changes in the learners‘ knowledge base. Hence, the present study examines to what extent enhanced analysis methods can assess qualities of knowledge based on a taxonomy by de Jong and Ferguson-Hessler (1996). The seminar concept (integrated/regular) and access to instructional support during testing (with/without) were varied experimentally. The participants‘ explanations in two test scenarios were analyzed with regard to structure, automation level and elaboration level of educational knowledge. As expected, structure and automation in the post test explanations in the integrated seminar were superior to those in the regular seminar. The structure level was similar to the pre-test, but performance (time-on-test) improved. Elaboration level of knowledge was superior in the integrated seminar. Access to instructional support during testing also improved structure and elaboration level, however, there was no significant interaction. (DIPF/Orig.)Das Projekt „Theoretisieren für die Praxis“ fördert anwendbares bildungswissenschaftliches Wissen zur Erklärung komplexer schulischer Situationen mittels typischer Theorieanwendungsfehler. Frühere Studien zeigten positive Effekte fehlerbasierter Trainings. Ein diese Trainings erweiterndes Seminarkonzept zur theoretischen Reflexion biografischer Lehr-Lernerlebnisse erbrachte jedoch nur geringe Zusatzeffekte. Dies wurde mit der unzureichenden Sensibilität der verwendeten Analysemethoden in Bezug auf qualitative Veränderungen in der Wissensbasis der Lernenden begründet. Daher untersucht die vorliegende Studie, inwiefern verbesserte Analysemethoden Qualitäten von Wissen basierend auf einer Taxonomie von de Jong and Ferguson-Hessler (1996) erfassen können. Das Seminarkonzept (integriert (IS)/regulär (RS)) und die Verfügbarkeit instruktionaler Hilfen während der Testphase (mit/ohne) wurden experimentell variiert. Die Erklärungen der Teilnehmer in zwei Testszenarien wurden bezüglich ihres Strukturierungs- und Automationsgrades sowie der Verarbeitungstiefe bildungswissenschaftlichen Wissens ausgewertet. Wie erwartet waren diese in den Nachtest-Erklärungen im IS höher als im RS. Der Strukturierungsgrad war vergleichbar zum Vortest, jedoch verbesserte sich die Performanz (Bearbeitungszeit). Die Verarbeitungstiefe des Wissens war im IS höher. Die Verfügbarkeit instruktionaler Hilfen verbesserte Strukturierungsgrad und Verarbeitungstiefe, eine signifikante Interaktion blieb jedoch aus. (DIPF/Orig.