Guest Editorial: Special issue Rescuing Legacy data for Future Science

Research and discovery in the natural sciences, particularly for documenting changes in our planet, is empowered by gathering, mining, and reusing observational data. However much of the data required, particularly data from the pre-digital era, are no longer accessible to science. The data are hidden away in investigators’ desks on printed paper records, or are no longer readable as they are on deteriorating or outdated media, and are not documented in a way that makes them re-usable. Special initiatives are required to rescue them and preserve such data so that they can contribute to the scientific debates of today and those of the future. Data rescue efforts are key to making data resources accessible that are at risk of being lost forever when researchers retire or die, or when data formats or storage media are obsolete and unreadable

Reducing Resolution Dependency of Dust Emission Modeling Using Albedo-Based Wind Friction

Numerical simulations of dust emission processes are essential for dust cycle modeling and dust-atmosphere interactions. Models have coarse spatial resolutions which, without tackling sub-grid scale heterogeneity, bias finely resolved dust emission. Soil surface wind friction velocity (us*) drives dust emission non-linearly with increasing model resolution, due mainly to thresholds of sediment entrainment. Albedo is area-integrated, scales linearly with resolution, is related to us* and hence represents its sub-grid scale heterogeneity. Calibrated albedo-based global dust emission estimates decreased by only 2 Tg y−1 (10.5%) upscaled from 0.5 to 111 km, largely independent of resolution. Without adjusting wind fields, this scaling uncertainty is within recent estimates of global dust emission model uncertainty (±14.9 Tg y−1). This intrinsic scaling capability of the albedo-based approach offers considerable potential to reduce resolution dependency of dust cycle modeling and improve the representation of local dust emission in Earth system models and operational air quality forecasting

Effects of Theophylline on Anesthetized Malignant Hyperthermia-Susceptible Pigs

Background. Theophylline was shown to induce contracture development in porcine malignant hyperthermia (MH) susceptible (MHS) skeletal muscles in vitro. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the in vivo effects of theophylline in MHS and MH normal (MHN) swine. Methods. MH-trigger-free general anesthesia was performed in MHS and MHN swine. Theophylline was administered intravenously in cumulative doses up to 93.5 mg·kg−1. The clinical occurrence of MH was defined by changes of central-venous pCO2, central-venous pH, and body core temperature. Results. Theophylline induced comparable clinical alterations in the anesthetized MHS and MHN swine, especially in regard to hemodynamic data. No pig developed hypermetabolism and/or MH according to defined criteria. All animals died with tachycardia followed by ventricular fibrillation. Conclusions. The cumulative theophylline doses used in this study were much higher than doses used therapeutically in humans, as demonstrated by measured blood concentrations. Theophylline is thus not a trigger of MH in genetically determined swine

How Participatory Health Informatics Catalyzes One Digital Health

Objective: To identify links between Participatory Health Informatics (PHI) and the One Digital Health framework (ODH) and to show how PHI could be used as a catalyst or contributor to ODH. Methods: We have analyzed the addressed topics within the ODH framework in previous IMIA Yearbook contributions from our working group during the last 10 years. We have matched main themes with the ODH's framework three perspectives (individual health and wellbeing, population and society, and ecosystem). Results: PHI catalysts ODH individual health and wellbeing perspective by providing a more comprehensive view on human health, attitudes, and relations between human health and animal health. Integration of specific behavior change techniques or gamification strategies in digital solutions are effective to change behaviors which address the P5 paradigm. PHI supports the population and society perspective through the engagement of the various stakeholders in healthcare. At the same time, PHI might increase a risk for health inequities due to technologies inaccessible to all equally and challenges associated with this. PHI is a catalyst for the ecosystem perspective by contributing data into the digital health data ecosystem allowing for analysis of interrelations between the various data which in turn might provide links among all components of the healthcare ecosystem. Conclusion: Our results suggest that PHI can and will involve topics relating to ODH. As the ODH concept crystalizes and becomes increasingly influential, its themes will permeate and become embedded in PHI even more. We look forward to these developments and co-evolution of the two frameworks.publishedVersio

The role of raffinose in the cold acclimation response of Arabidopsis thaliana

AbstractIn many plants raffinose family oligosaccharides are accumulated during cold acclimation. The contribution of raffinose accumulation to freezing tolerance is not clear. Here, we investigated whether synthesis of raffinose is an essential component for acquiring frost tolerance. We created transgenic lines of Arabidopsis thaliana accessions Columbia-0 and Cape Verde Islands constitutively overexpressing a galactinol synthase (GS) gene from cucumber. GS overexpressing lines contained up to 20 times as much raffinose as the respective wild-type under non-acclimated conditions and up to 2.3 times more after 14 days of cold acclimation at 4 °C. Furthermore, we used a mutant carrying a knockout of the endogenous raffinose synthase (RS) gene. Raffinose was completely absent in this mutant. However, neither the freezing tolerance of non-acclimated leaves, nor their ability to cold acclimate were influenced in the RS mutant or in the GS overexpressing lines. We conclude that raffinose is not essential for basic freezing tolerance or for cold acclimation of A. thaliana

Technically advanced and SF6-free 145 kV blue GIS

SF6, the most commonly used arc extinguishing and insulating gas in gas-insulated switchgears (GIS), is a greenhouse gas with high global warming potential, requiring careful handling throughout its life cycle. In order to reduce the GIS-related global warming impact, innovative solutions using alternative gases have been developed by different manufacturers, especially the blue GIS from Siemens – available for 145 kV / 40 kA / 3150 A – with clean air insulation and vacuum switching technology shows many technical advantages

A re-stabilisation of boundaries. A discourse-analytical perspective on inclusive school development in lower secondary education

Der Forderung, an Regelschulen auch Schüler*innen mit sonderpädagogischem Förderbedarf aufzunehmen, wurde in Deutschland seit der Ratifizierung der UN-Konvention für die Rechte von Menschen mit Behinderungen mit verschiedenen Schulgesetzesänderungen - darunter die Einführung eines unterschiedlich weitreichenden Elternwahlrechts - sowie mit Umstrukturierungen des Regel- und Förderschulsystems begegnet. Die Richtung der Entwicklung im Sekundarschulbereich und damit die Frage, welche Schüler*innen wo zukünftig unterrichtet werden, ist derzeit allerdings noch offen. Anhand einer diskursanalytischen Auswertung von Interviews mit schulischen Akteur*innen und Eltern von Kindern mit sonderpädagogischem Förderbedarf fragt der Beitrag, wie welche inklusive Schule in der Sekundarstufe und damit auch welcher Beschulungsort für wen für möglich gehalten und wie diskursiv legitimiert wird. Im Ergebnis werden fünf diskursive Figuren unterschieden, durch die Tendenzen einer Re-Stabilisierung (bekannter) Grenzziehungen zwischen Regel- und Förderschule zu erkennen sind. (DIPF/Orig.)Since the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Germany has responded to the demand for regular schools to also accept pupils with special educational needs by amending various school laws - including the introduction of a parental right of varying scope to choose their children\u27s school - and by restructuring the regular and special school system. However, the direction of developments in the secondary school sector and thus the question of which pupils will be taught where in the future is still open. On the basis of a discourse analysis of interviews with school actors and parents of children with special educational needs, the contribution asks how which inclusive school at secondary level and thus also which place of schooling is considered possible for whom, and how it is discursively legitimised. As a result, a distinction is made between five discursive figures, which ultimately reveal tendencies towards a readjustment of (known) boundaries between regular and special schools. (DIPF/Orig.

Blogging Histories of Knowledge in Washington, DC

The authors reflect on their experiences as the founding editors of the History of Knowledge blog. Situating the project in its specific institutional, geographical, and historiographical contexts, they highlight its role in scholarly communication and research alongside journals and books in a research domain that is still young, especially when viewed from an international perspective. At the same time, the authors discuss the blog’s role as a tool for classifying and structuring a corpus of work as it grows over time and as new themes and connections emerge from the contributions of its many authors