The Nachtlichter app: a citizen science tool for documenting outdoor light sources in public space

The relationship between satellite based measurements of city radiance at night and the numbers and types of physical lights installed on the ground is not well understood. Here we present the "Nachtlichter app", which was developed to enable citizen scientists to classify and count light sources along street segments over large spatial scales. The project and app were co-designed: citizen scientists played key roles in the app development, testing, and recruitment, as well as in analysis of the data. In addition to describing the app itself and the data format, we provide a general overview of the project, including training materials, data cleaning, and the result of some basic data consistency checks

Wir zählen Lichter, weil die Nacht zählt. Transdisziplinäre Zusammenarbeit im Nachtlicht-BüHNE Projekt

Das Bürgerwissenschaftsprojekt Nachtlichter ist Teil des Nachtlicht-BüHNE Projekts (2019 - 2022), finanziert von der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren (HGF). Im Projekt haben wir einen bisher einzigartigen und weiterhin wachsenden Datensatz erstellt. Hierzu entwickelten wir im Rahmen einer fast zweijährigen, transdisziplinären Teamleistung zunächst eine mobile Web Applikation, die Nachtlichter App. Zum Einsatz kam die App vom 31. Aug. bis 14. Nov. 2021. Über zweihundert Mitforschende zählten und dokumentierten fast eine Viertelmillion künstliche Lichtquellen auf öffentlichen Straßen und Plätzen. Nachtlichter-Kampagnen liefen vorwiegend in deutschen Städten. Dieser Projektbericht dokumentiert den bürgerwissenschaftlichen Forschungsprozess basierend auf sozialwissenschaftlichen Datenerhebungsmethoden wie Interviews, teilnehmenden Beobachtungen und einer Nachbefragung der Nachtlichter-Beteiligten, an der 97 Personen freiwillig teilnahmen. Ausgehend von unseren gemeinsamen Erfahrungen, teilen wir mit diesem Bericht unser praktisch erprobtes Verständnis von Bürgerwissenschaft als gemeinsamen Prozess auf Augenhöhe und unsere Begeisterung. Wir schließen mit drei Vorschlägen für nachhaltige partizipative Forschung

Glyoxalase 1-knockdown in human aortic endothelial cells – effect on the proteome and endothelial function estimates

Methylglyoxal (MG), an arginine-directed glycating agent, is implicated in diabetic late complications. MG is detoxified by glyoxalase 1 (GLO1) of the cytosolic glyoxalase system. The aim was to investigate the effects of MG accumulation by GLO1-knockdown under hyperglycaemic conditions in human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) hypothesizing that the accumulation of MG accounts for the deleterious effects on vascular function. SiRNA-mediated knockdown of GLO1 was performed and MG concentrations were determined. The impact of MG on the cell proteome and targets of MG glycation was analysed, and confirmed by Western blotting. Markers of endothelial function and apoptosis were assessed. Collagen content was assayed in cell culture supernatant. GLO1-knockdown increased MG concentration in cells and culture medium. This was associated with a differential abundance of cytoskeleton stabilisation proteins, intermediate filaments and proteins involved in posttranslational modification of collagen. An increase in fibrillar collagens 1 and 5 was detected. The extracellular concentration of endothelin-1 was increased following GLO1-knockdown, whereas the phosphorylation and amount of eNOS was not influenced by GLO1-knockdown. The expression of ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and of MCP-1 was elevated and apoptosis was increased. MG accumulation by GLO1-knockdown provoked collagen expression, endothelial inflammation and dysfunction and apoptosis which might contribute to vascular damage

Targeting extracellular and juxtamembrane FGFR2 mutations in chemotherapy-refractory cholangiocarcinoma

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) has emerged as a promising candidate for precision medicine, especially in the case of activating FGFR2 gene fusions. In addition to fusions, a considerable fraction of iCCA patients reveals FGFR2 mutations, which might lead to uncontrolled activation of the FGFR2 pathway but are mostly of unknown functional significance. A current challenge for molecular tumor boards (MTB) is to predict the functional consequences of such FGFR2 alterations to guide potential treatment decisions. We report two iCCA patients with extracellular and juxtamembrane FGFR2 mutations. After in silico investigation of the alterations and identification of activated FGFR2 downstream targets in tumor specimens by immunohistochemistry and transcriptome analysis, the MTB recommended treatment with an FGFR-inhibiting tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Both patients developed a rapidly detectable and prolonged partial response to treatment. These two cases suggest an approach to characterize further detected FGFR2 mutations in iCCA to enable patients´ selection for a successful application of the FGFR -inhibiting drugs