Automatic Identification of Faked and Fraudulent Interviews in Surveys by Two Different Methods

This paper presents two new tools for the identification of faking interviewers in surveys. One method is based on Benford's Law, and the other exploits the empirical observation that fakers most often produce answers with less variability than could be expected from the whole survey. We focus on fabricated data, which were taken out of the survey before the data were disseminated in the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). For two samples, the resulting rankings of the interviewers with respect to their cheating behavior are given. For both methods all of the evident fakers are identified.

Determinants of Physical Activity and Screen Time Trajectories in 7th to 9th Grade Adolescents-A Longitudinal Study

Physical activity (PA) in youth tends to decline with increasing age, while sedentary behaviour including screen time (ST) increases. There are adolescents, however, whose PA and ST do not follow this pattern. The aim of this study is (i) to examine trajectories in PA and ST from grade 7-9 among students in Berlin, and (ii) to investigate the relationship of these trajectories with individual factors and school type. For the present analyses, changes in students' PA and ST across three time points from 7th to 9th grade were assessed via self-report questionnaires. Positive and negative trajectories were defined for both PA (positive: increasing or consistently high, negative: decreasing or consistently low) and ST (vice versa). Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify possible predictors of PA and ST trajectories. In total, 2122 students were included (50.2% girls, mean age 12.5 (standard deviation 0.7) years). Compared to grade 7, less students of grade 9 fulfilled PA and ST recommendations (PA: 9.4% vs. 13.2%; ST: 19.4% vs. 25.0%). The positive PA trajectory included 44% of all students (63% boys), while the positive ST trajectory included 21% of all students (30% boys). Being a boy was significantly associated with a positive PA trajectory, while being a girl, having a high socioeconomic status, and attending a high school, were significantly associated with a positive ST trajectory. Different PA and ST trajectories among adolescents should be taken into account when implementing prevention programs for this target group

Second Life: neuer Markt oder vergänglicher Hype?

"Second Life ist eine von der kalifornischen IT-Firma Linden Lab im Jahr 2003 entwickelte virtuelle Welt, die einige namhafte Unternehmen als Plattform zur Imagesteigerung und als neuen Zugang zu ihren Kunden entdeckt haben. Der vorliegende Artikel nimmt eine kritische Analyse der dort entstehenden Ökonomie vor. Dazu werden die Ziele untersucht, die die Unternehmen mit einer Präsenz in Second Life verfolgen und bestehende Geschäftsmodelle vorgestellt. Hiernach werden die Bekanntheit, das Nutzungsverhalten und die Wirkung von Marketing-Maßnahmen auf die User betrachtet. Die daraus gewonnen Erkenntnisse dienen als Grundlage für die empirische Studie zu dem im Jahr 2007 vom Medienkonzern Springer herausgebrachten E-Paper AvaStar. Die grundsätzliche Fragestellung lautete: Kann der AvaStar zu einem erfolgreichen Online-Erlösmodell werden? Hierzu wurden Hypothesen zur Informations- und Orientierungssuche, zum Ausstrahlungseffekt der realen Dachmarke auf das virtuelle Produkt, zur Zahlungsbereitschaft sowie zur medialen Erscheinungsform untersucht. Insgesamt kommt der Artikel zu dem Ergebnis, dass Second Life einen hohen Bekanntheitsgrad hat, die Erfolgsaussichten jedoch auf Grund der niedrigen Zahl der tatsächlich aktiven Nutzer als gering einzuschätzen sind."[Autorenreferat]"Second Life is a virtual internet platform founded by the Californian IT-Company Linden Lab in 2003. It has recently been discovered by esteemed companies who establish branch offices on this platform to enhance their reputation and find new ways to future customers. The following article analyses this growing virtual economy. The companies’ objectives and the corresponding business models are being examined and introduced. Thereafter, the awareness, the usage patterns and the impact of marketing activities are explored. The insights serve as the basis for an empirical research, focusing on the overall question if the AvaStar, an epaper launched by Axel Springer in 2007, has the potential to become a successful online business model. For this means, the following hypotheses are considered: how do people seek information and orientation in Second Life, what are the effects of the Avastar on the umbrella brand, how much are the users willing to pay for the e-paper and what options are there about its form of appearance. It can be concluded that even though Second Life is widely known, the prospects of success have to be considered overrated due to the small number of active users.[author´s abstract

Upscaling Tracer-Aided Ecohydrological Modeling to Larger Catchments : Implications for Process Representation and Heterogeneity in Landscape Organization

Funding Information: This work was supported by the Modular Observation Solutions for Earth Systems—MOSES project and the Terrestrial Environmental Observatories—TERENO project. Funding was also received for Doerthe Tetzlaff through the Einstein Research Unit “Climate and Water under Change” from the Einstein Foundation Berlin and Berlin University Alliance. Contributions by Chris Soulsby were supported by the Leverhulme Trust through the ISO‐LAND project (RPG 2018 375). The authors thank Michael Rode and Ralf Merz for permitting the use of the water stable isotope data and for constructive discussions related to the data analysis. The authors would like to thank Marco Maneta and Aaron Smith for their support and discussion on the modeling. The authors thank the Editor Peter Troch, the Associate Editor and three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. The authors also thank the German Weather Service, the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources and the State Agency for Flood Protection and Water Management Saxony‐Anhalt for the model setup data. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. Publisher Copyright: © 2023. The Authors.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

study design and methodology

Background The hazardous health effects of smoking are established, but there remains a need to evaluate existing smoking prevention strategies and to increase their effectiveness in adolescents. Strategies focusing on parental attitudes and rule setting have been identified as a potentially effective approach. The present manuscript describes objectives, study design and methodology of the BEST Prevention study. Methods/design BEST Prevention is a three-armed cluster randomized-controlled trial among 7th grade (11–16 years) students in Berlin, Germany. Schools were enrolled between 2010 and 2011 and allocated using a centralized randomization list into 1) a student smoking prevention intervention (visit to an established interactive circuit), 2) the same intervention plus a parent intervention, and 3) a control group (visit to an established exercise and nutrition interactive circuit). Students were assessed at baseline, 12 and 24 months via self-report, as well as via carbon monoxide and cotinine in saliva at the 24 month follow-up. Statistical analyses uses multi-level regression models with cluster effects (school and class within school) based on the intention to treat population. Here we report descriptive baseline characteristics of recruited schools, and schools classes. Two schools from the control group dropped out after allocation. Hence, 47 secondary schools from all 12 districts of the city, including 161 school classes and 3023 students are participating in the study. Of those, 2801 students completed the baseline assessment. Discussion The present manuscript provides details on the study design and methodology of a large school-based smoking prevention trial in a metropolitan area in Germany. Findings from this study will yield important insight into the long-term effectiveness of specific smoking prevention strategies, also in disadvantaged population groups

Berlin evaluates school tobacco prevention - BEST prevention: study design and methodology

BACKGROUND: The hazardous health effects of smoking are established, but there remains a need to evaluate existing smoking prevention strategies and to increase their effectiveness in adolescents. Strategies focusing on parental attitudes and rule setting have been identified as a potentially effective approach. The present manuscript describes objectives, study design and methodology of the BEST Prevention study. METHODS/DESIGN: BEST Prevention is a three-armed cluster randomized-controlled trial among 7(th) grade (11–16 years) students in Berlin, Germany. Schools were enrolled between 2010 and 2011 and allocated using a centralized randomization list into 1) a student smoking prevention intervention (visit to an established interactive circuit), 2) the same intervention plus a parent intervention, and 3) a control group (visit to an established exercise and nutrition interactive circuit). Students were assessed at baseline, 12 and 24 months via self-report, as well as via carbon monoxide and cotinine in saliva at the 24 month follow-up. Statistical analyses uses multi-level regression models with cluster effects (school and class within school) based on the intention to treat population. Here we report descriptive baseline characteristics of recruited schools, and schools classes. Two schools from the control group dropped out after allocation. Hence, 47 secondary schools from all 12 districts of the city, including 161 school classes and 3023 students are participating in the study. Of those, 2801 students completed the baseline assessment. DISCUSSION: The present manuscript provides details on the study design and methodology of a large school-based smoking prevention trial in a metropolitan area in Germany. Findings from this study will yield important insight into the long-term effectiveness of specific smoking prevention strategies, also in disadvantaged population groups. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01306552 (January 2011)

Shear wave elastography and shear wave dispersion imaging in primary biliary cholangitis—a pilot study

Background: Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is a chronic liver disease that can lead to liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. Two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE) is a modern technique for fibrosis assessment. However, data regarding its performance in PBC is sparse. We aimed to characterize severity of liver disease in PBC patients using non-invasive 2D-SWE and the new methods of attenuation imaging (ATI) and shear wave dispersion imaging (SWD). Methods: Twenty two PBC patients were examined with 2D-SWE, SWD and ATI, alongside established non-invasive fibrosis and steatosis assessment methods as well as liver function tests. Results: Median 2D-SWE values were 1.48 m/S (range, 1.14-2.13 m/S) and 6.7 kPa (range, 3.8-14.7 kPa), respectively. Median SWD, ATI, transient elastography (TE) and controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) values were 13.9 m/S/ kHz (range, 11.6-21 m/S/kHz), 0.57 dB/cm/MHz (range, 0.5-0.68 dB/cm/MHz), 7 kPa (range, 3.7-14.6 kPa), and 208 dB/m (range, 107-276 dB/m), respectively. 2D-SWE displayed a significant correlation with spleen length, platelet count, non-invasive fibrosis scores (FIB-4, APRI) and with TE. SWD correlated with alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels, which is a prognostic marker in PBC. Conclusions: Our findings add further evidence that 2D-SWE is a reliable method for fibrosis assessment in PBC. Even though the cohort size was small, the correlation of SWD with the prognostic marker ALP suggests a potentially valuable role of this new non-invasive method in evaluating liver disease activity in PBC

Cyberbullying und Empathie: affektive, kognitive und medienbasierte Empathie im Kontext von Cyberbullying im Kindes- und Jugendalter

"Bei medial vermittelter Kommunikation sinkt sowohl die Hemmschwelle für aggressive Verhaltensweisen wie Cyberbullying als auch die Wahrscheinlichkeit empathischer Reaktionen. Im Fokus der vorliegenden Studie mit 979 Schülerinnen und Schülern der 4.-8. Klassen (M=12.01, SD=1.68 Jahre, 55% weiblich) stand die Frage, ob Cyberbullies geringere Ausprägungen für affektive, kognitive und medienbasierte Empathie aufweisen als Unbeteiligte. Empathie wurde im Selbst- und Peerbericht erhoben. Hypothesenkonform zeigte sich, dass Cyberbullies weniger empathisch sind als Unbeteiligte. Allerdings waren die Ergebnisse für selbst- und peerberichtete Empathie nicht deckungsgleich. Bei kleinen, aber signifikanten Effekten scheint die Förderung von Empathie für die Prävention von Cyberbullying viel versprechend." (Autorenreferat)"In computer-mediated communication, the probability for empathic reactions decreases, while at the same time aggressive behavior like cyberbullying becomes more likely. The current study, with 979 students from grades 4-8 (M=12.01, SD=1.68 years, 55% female), analyzed whether cyberbullies show lower values for affective, cognitive and media based empathy than non-involved students. Empathy was measured through self- and peer-report. In line with the hypothesis, cyberbullies were found to be less empathic than non-involved students. Nevertheless, results for self- and peer-report were not completely congruent. The small but significant effects indicate that empathy trainings might have a potential for the prevention of cyberbullying." (author's abstract

Beleuchtungskörper in der Legehennenhaltung: Einfluss des Lichtspektrums von Beleuchtungskörpern in der Legehennenhaltung

Hühner sehen im Vergleich zum Menschen zusätzlich im UV-Bereich. Fehlt dieser im Licht künstlicher Leuchtmittel, beeinträchtigt das die Tiere beim Ausüben ihrer natürlichen Verhaltensweisen und entspricht somit nicht den Anforderungen an eine tiergerechte Beleuchtung. In den Untersuchungen wurde geprüft, ob Leuchtstoffröhren mit einem erhöhten UV-Anteil im Vergleich zu herkömmlicher Stallbeleuchtung einen Effekt auf Leistungsparameter, Tierverluste und das Verhalten von Legehennen haben. In den Ställen mit UV-emittierenden Lampen wurden ein höherer Futter- und Wasserverbrauch, ein geringerer Anteil B-Ware und verlegter Eier sowie leicht erhöhte Tierverluste festgestellt. Keine Unterschiede bestanden in der Legeleistung und im Verhalten

The DSF Quorum Sensing System Controls the Positive Influence of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia on Plants

none7siopenAlavi P.; Muller H.; Cardinale M.; Zachow C.; Sanchez M.B.; Martinez J.L.; Berg G.Alavi, P.; Muller, H.; Cardinale, M.; Zachow, C.; Sanchez, M. B.; Martinez, J. L.; Berg, G