Die politischen und sozial-psychologischen Ursachen zur Überwindung der Tötungshemmung bei Tätern eines Genozids

Diese Arbeit analysiert die Intentionen von Tätern der Genozide in der Türkei, in Deutschland, Kambodscha, Ruanda und Bosnien – Herzegowina. Bisherige Publikationen versuchten deren Motivation aus massenpolitischen Strukturen, individuellen psychischen Störungen oder historischen Kontinuitäten zu betrachten. Der hier verwendete Forschungsansatz ist der politischen Psychologie zuzuordnen und verbindet diese ineinander greifenden Elemente. Psychopathologische Untersuchungen haben ergeben, dass politische, gesellschaftliche und ökonomische Konfliktfelder psychische Störungen der Individuen hervorrufen können, die bis zu einer malignen narzisstischen Persönlichkeitsstörung reichen. Zum anderen wird die Massenpolitik der politischen Eliten beschrieben, die Massenveranstaltungen und Medien zur Distribution ihrer Ideen benutzen. Kulturelle Vorbedingungen, wie der deutsche Nationalismus im 19.Jahrhundert, die belgische Kolonialherrschaft in Ruanda oder der Zerfall des osmanischen Reiches, bedingen schwere Kränkungen der kollektiven Identität. Individuen werden in instabilen Situationen veranlasst, autoritäre Strukturen zu idealisieren. Die politischen Entwicklungen verändern die Gesellschaft in ihren Moral- und Wertvorstellungen so weitreichend, dass Skrupel über die Tat verblassen. Radikale Ideologien führen so zu Massenmorden, die durch Intervention in die gesellschaftlichen Strukturen verhindert werden könnten

Multicentre Performance Evaluation of the Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Immunoassay as an Aid in Determining Previous Exposure to SARS-CoV-2

Introduction We performed a multicentre evaluation of the Elecsys® Anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoassay (Roche Diagnostics), an assay utilising a recombinant protein representing the nucleocapsid (N) antigen, for the in vitro qualitative detection of antibodies to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Methods Specificity was evaluated using serum/plasma samples from blood donors and routine diagnostic specimens collected before September 2019 (i.e., presumed negative for SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies); sensitivity was evaluated using samples from patients with polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Point estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Method comparison was performed versus commercially available assays. Results Overall specificity for the Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoassay (n = 9575) was 99.85% (95% CI 99.75–99.92): blood donors (n = 6714; 99.82%), routine diagnostic specimens (n = 2861; 99.93%), pregnant women (n = 2256; 99.91%), paediatric samples (n = 205; 100.00%). The Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoassay demonstrated significantly higher specificity versus LIAISON SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 IgG (99.71% vs. 98.48%), EUROIMMUN Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG (100.00% vs. 94.87%), ADVIA Centaur SARS-CoV-2 Total (100.00% vs. 87.32%) and iFlash SARS-CoV-2 IgM (100.00% vs. 99.58%) assays, and comparable specificity to ARCHITECT SARS-CoV-2 IgG (99.75% vs. 99.65%) and iFlash SARS-CoV-2 IgG (100.00% vs. 100.00%) assays. Overall sensitivity for Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoassay samples drawn at least 14 days post-PCR confirmation (n = 219) was 93.61% (95% CI 89.51–96.46). No statistically significant differences in sensitivity were observed between the Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoassay versus EUROIMMUN Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG (90.32% vs. 95.16%) and ARCHITECT SARS-CoV-2 IgG (84.81% vs. 87.34%) assays. The Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoassay showed significantly lower sensitivity versus ADVIA Centaur SARS-CoV-2 Total (85.19% vs. 95.06%) and iFlash SARS-CoV-2 IgG (86.25% vs. 93.75%) assays, but significantly higher sensitivity versus the iFlash SARS-CoV-2 IgM assay (86.25% vs. 33.75%). Conclusion The Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoassay demonstrated very high specificity and high sensitivity in samples collected at least 14 days post-PCR confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 infection, supporting its use to aid in determination of previous exposure to SARS-CoV-2

Characterization of missing values in untargeted MS-based metabolomics data and evaluation of missing data handling strategies.

BACKGROUND: Untargeted mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics data often contain missing values that reduce statistical power and can introduce bias in biomedical studies. However, a systematic assessment of the various sources of missing values and strategies to handle these data has received little attention. Missing data can occur systematically, e.g. from run day-dependent effects due to limits of detection (LOD); or it can be random as, for instance, a consequence of sample preparation. METHODS: We investigated patterns of missing data in an MS-based metabolomics experiment of serum samples from the German KORA F4 cohort (n = 1750). We then evaluated 31 imputation methods in a simulation framework and biologically validated the results by applying all imputation approaches to real metabolomics data. We examined the ability of each method to reconstruct biochemical pathways from data-driven correlation networks, and the ability of the method to increase statistical power while preserving the strength of established metabolic quantitative trait loci. RESULTS: Run day-dependent LOD-based missing data accounts for most missing values in the metabolomics dataset. Although multiple imputation by chained equations performed well in many scenarios, it is computationally and statistically challenging. K-nearest neighbors (KNN) imputation on observations with variable pre-selection showed robust performance across all evaluation schemes and is computationally more tractable. CONCLUSION: Missing data in untargeted MS-based metabolomics data occur for various reasons. Based on our results, we recommend that KNN-based imputation is performed on observations with variable pre-selection since it showed robust results in all evaluation schemes.This work was supported by grants from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), by BMBF Grant No. 01ZX1313C (project e:Athero-MED) and Grant No. 03IS2061B (project Gani_Med). Moreover, the research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme [FP7-Health-F5-2012] under grant agreement No. 305280 (MIMOmics) and from the European Research Council (starting grant “LatentCauses”). KS is supported by Biomedical Research Program funds at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, a program funded by the Qatar Foundation. The KORA Augsburg studies were financed by the Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany and supported by grants from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Analyses in the EPIC-Norfolk study were supported by funding from the Medical Research Council (MC_PC_13048 and MC_UU_12015/1)

Evaluierung von Dürreindizes im Marchfeld und im Eferdinger Becken - im Zeitraum von 1971 bis 2012 - anhand von Ernteanomalien

Dürreereignisse können in vielfältiger Weise auftreten. Man differenziert deswegen zwischen meteorologischen, hydrologischen, landwirtschaftlichen und sozio-ökonomischen Dürreereignissen. Dürreereignisse sind von vielfältigen Faktoren abhängig, wie bodenphysikalischen Parametern, klimatologischen, geologischen Gegebenheiten oder der infrastrukturellen Situation. Um diese verschiedenen Einflüsse zu simplifizieren und quantifizieren, wurden Dürreindizes entwickelt. Anhand zweier Indizes – der nur auf Niederschlag basierende SPI, sowie der anhand der klimatischen Wasserbilanz berechnete SPEI – werden Ernteanomalien verschiedener Feldfrüchte im Marchfeld und im Eferdinger Becken im Zeitraum von 1971 - 2012 untersucht. Außerdem werden unterschiedliche Berechnungsmethoden für die Evapotranspiration – das Thornthwaite und das Hargreaves Modell – und deren Einfluss auf den SPEI getestet. Trends und Übereinstimmungen der beiden Dürreindizes in den beiden Untersuchungsgebieten werden mittels des Mann-Kendall-Tests, des Chi-Quadrat-Tests, sowie des ROC getestet. Die Ernteerträge werden mittels einer Polynomfunktion modelliert und deren Abweichungen berechnet. Der SPI lässt einen negativen Trend im Marchfeld erkennen, währenddessen der SPEI einen positiven Trend in beiden Untersuchungsgebieten zeigt. Außerdem reagiert der SPEI sensitiv auf die unterschiedliche Berechnung der Evapotranspiration. Differenzen von über 200mm im Jahr konnten festgestellt werden. Der 3-monatige SPI und SPEI eignen sich am besten für die Modellierung der Ernteanomalien, wobei nur eine Varianz von bis zu 0,5 erklärt werden kann. Werden die Dürreindizes und die Ernteanomalien binär codiert, erhält man einen AUC-Wert von 0,85 für die Sommergerste im Marchfeld.Drought periods can occur in manifold ways. Hence, there are four different categories of droughts: meteorological, hydrological, agricultural and socio-economic droughts. Drought events are dependent on multiple factors, such as soil-physical parameters, climatological and geological circumstances or the infrastructural situation. In order to quantify and simplify these influences, drought indices were invented. Two indices are used to model crop yield anomalies in the Marchfeld and the Eferdinger Basin from 1971 to 2012: the SPI, which is based on precipitation only, and the SPEI, which is calculated by the climatic water balance. Additionally, different methods for calculating the evapotranspiration are taken into account – the Thornthwaite and the Hargreaves Model. The aim is to test the sensitivity of the SPEI to the different models. The trends and conformities between the two drought indices and the study fields are analysed by means of the Mann-Kendall-Trend-Test, the Chi-Square-Test and the ROC. The crop yields will be modelled with a 2nd or 3rd degree polynomial function and their deviations will be calculated. Whereas the SPI shows a negative trend in the Marchfeld, the SPEI shows a positive trend in both research areas. Furthermore, the SPEI is sensitive to the different evapotranspiration models. There are annual differences of up to 200mm. The three-month SPI and SPEI are most suitable to model the crop yield anomalies, as they are describing the variances up to 50%. In case the drought indices and crop yield anomalies are binary coded, an AUC value of 0.85 is measured for the spring barly in the Marchfeld

Thermal conditions during heat waves of a mid-European metropolis under consideration of climate change, urban development scenarios and resilience measures for the mid-21st century

In this study we produce two urban development scenarios estimating potential urban sprawl and optimized development concerning building construction, and we simulate their influence on air temperature, surface temperatures and human thermal comfort. We select two heat waves representative for present and future conditions of the mid 21st century and simulations are run with the Town Energy Balance Model (TEB) coupled online and offline to the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF). Global and regional climate change under the RCP8.5 scenario causes an increase of daily maximum air temperature in Vienna by 7 K. The daily minimum air temperature will increase by 2–4 K. Changes caused by urban growth or densification mainly affect air temperature and human thermal comfort locally where new urbanisation takes place and does not occur significantly in the central districts. A combination of near zero-energy standards and increasing albedo of building materials on the city scale accomplishes a maximum reduction of urban canyon temperature achieved by changes in urban parameters of 0.9 K for the minima and 0.2 K for the maxima. Local scale changes of different adaptation measures show that insulation of buildings alone increases the maximum wall surface temperatures by more than 10 K or the maximum mean radiant temperature (MRT) in the canyon by 5 K. Therefore, measures to reduce MRT within the urban canyons like tree shade are needed to complement the proposed measures. This study concludes that the rising air temperatures expected by climate change puts an unprecedented heat burden on Viennese inhabitants, which cannot easily be reduced by measures concerning buildings within the city itself. Additionally, measures such as planting trees to provide shade, regional water sensitive planning and global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in order to reduce temperature extremes are required