Trophic redundancy in benthic fish food webs increases with scarcity of prey items, in the Southern Baltic Sea

Bottom trawling is one of the main pressures on benthic ecosystems, directly impacting the targeted species and physically disturbing the seabed and the benthic invertebrate communities, in turn indirectly impacting benthivorous fish and the entire benthic food web structure and functioning. To predict the cascading effect of bottom trawling on benthic and demersal fish communities, it is crucial to understand the trophic interactions between benthic and demersal fish and benthic invertebrates. Here, we assessed the diet of benthic and demersal fish and the structure and functioning of the benthic food web in two areas in the German Baltic Sea, the Fehmarnbelt and the Odra Bank. The Fehmarnbelt benthic invertebrate community is characterized by a high number of species and biomass, contrary to the one on the Odra Bank which is species poor with high individual abundance but low biomass. We used mixing models based on stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen combined with stomach content analyses to estimate the fish diet at both sites, and we used community-wide trophic indices, derived from stable isotopes to compare the structure and functioning of the fish benthic food webs. We show that fish in the Fehmarnbelt can chose preferential prey items, resulting in higher trophic diversity, contrary to fish on the Odra Bank, which feed on all available prey species, resulting in higher trophic redundancy. We found that the generalist behavior of fish on the Odra Bank is likely the result of scarcity in prey items, the benthic invertebrate community being species poor with high abundance of small individuals. We demonstrate that the differences in structure and functioning of the benthic fish food web between the two sites was mainly driven by differences in the characteristics of the benthic prey communities

Direct limits of infinite-dimensional Lie groups compared to direct limits in related categories

Let G be a Lie group which is the union of an ascending sequence of Lie groups G_n (all of which may be infinite-dimensional). We study the question when G is the direct limit of the G_n's in the category of Lie groups, topological groups, smooth manifolds, resp., topological spaces. Full answers are obtained for G the group Diff_c(M) of compactly supported smooth diffeomorphisms of a sigma-compact smooth manifold M, and for test function groups C^infty_c(M,H) of compactly supported smooth maps with values in a finite-dimensional Lie group H. We also discuss the cases where G is a direct limit of unit groups of Banach algebras, a Lie group of germs of Lie group-valued analytic maps, or a weak direct product of Lie groups.Comment: extended preprint version, 66 page

Multi-disciplinary team directed analysis of whole genome sequencing reveals pathogenic non-coding variants in molecularly undiagnosed inherited retinal dystrophies

PURPOSE: To identify, using genome sequencing (GS), likely pathogenic non-coding variants in inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD) genes Methods: Patients with IRD were recruited to the study and underwent comprehensive ophthalmological evaluation and GS. The results of GS were investigated through virtual gene panel analysis and plausible pathogenic variants and clinical phenotype evaluated by multi-disciplinary team (MDT) discussion. For unsolved patients in whom a specific gene was suspected to harbour a missed pathogenic variant, targeted re-analysis of non-coding regions was performed on GS data. Candidate variants were functionally tested including by mRNA analysis, minigene and luciferase reporter assays. RESULTS: Previously unreported, likely pathogenic, non-coding variants, in 7 genes (PRPF31, NDP, IFT140, CRB1, USH2A, BBS10, and GUCY2D), were identified in 11 patients. These were shown to lead to mis-splicing (PRPF31, IFT140, CRB1, USH2A) or altered transcription levels (BBS10, GUCY2D). CONCLUSION: MDT-led, phenotype driven, non-coding variant re-analysis of GS is effective in identifying missing causative alleles

Anleihenratings - Stand-alone vs. All-in

Verschiedene Krisen in der Vergangenheit zeigten, wie schwer es Investoren und Anlegern ist, die Risiken der Investments richtig zu bewerten. Zur Unterstützung der Anleger und Verbesserung der Risikoeinschätzung haben sich Ratingagenturen entwickelt. Nicht zuletzt durch die Finanzkrise ab 2007 zeigte sich, dass potenzielle Hilfe von externer Seite ein bedeutender Faktor für ein Rating ist. Wichtige Fragen, die sich stellen, sind: Wie wird von den Ratingagenturen eine mögliche externe Hilfeleistung berücksichtigt und wie wirkt sich diese auf die Gesamtbeurteilung aus? In dieser Arbeit wird auf die drei führenden Ratingagenturen eingegangen, da diese untereinander einen Großteil des Marktes aufteilen. Analysiert wurden Staats-, Banken- und Unternehmensanleihen. Die zentralen Fragestellungen sind, welchen Unterschied es zwischen dem Stand-alone- und dem All-in-Rating bei Staats-, Banken- und Unternehmensanleihen gibt, welche Einflussfaktoren laut Ratingagenturen eine entscheidende Rolle spielen und welche in der Praxis tatsächlich nachgewiesen werden konnten . Beim Stand-alone-Rating handelt es sich um eine Bewertung der intrinsischen Stärken eines Unternehmens oder eines Staates. Beim All-in-Rating werden potenzielle externe Einflüsse oder Hilfeleistungen berücksichtigt. Zu Beginn werden die Grundlagen von Anleihen und Anleiheninvestments dargestellt. Anschließend erfolgt eine Darstellung verschiedener Haftungsformen, welche in Österreich gängig sind, da diese für eine mögliche externe Unterstützung von Bedeutung sind. Dem anschließend folgt eine Darstellung des Ratingsverlaufs von Staats-, Banken- und Unternehmensanleihen. Dabei wird auf die Ratingmethodik der Agenturen sowie auf die Einflussfaktoren eingegangen. Zu allen Anleihenarten werden aktuelle Studien aufbereitet. Im Anschluss daran erfolgt eine Darstellung von Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede der Ratingmethodiken sowie eine abschließende Zusammenfassung.Various financial crises in the past have shown how difficult it is for investors to correctly assess the risks of their investments. Rating agencies developed to support investors and improve risk assessment. With the financial crisis commencing in 2007, it became clear that potential help from external parties is an important factor for a rating. Important questions that arise are: How are rating agencies taking possible external help into account and how does this affect the overall assessment? This paper looks at the three leading rating agencies, as they share a large part of the market among themselves. Government, bank and corporate bonds are being analysed. The central question concerns the difference between stand-alone and all-in rating for governments, banks and corporate bonds. Moreover, which influencing factors play a decisive role according to rating agencies and which of these have actually been proven in practice. A stand-alone rating is an evaluation of the intrinsic strengths of a company, a bank or a state. The all-in rating takes potential external influences or assistance into account. At the beginning of this thesis, the fundamentals of bonds and bond investments are presented. In addition, the various rating scales are presented. Subsequently, different forms of liability, which are common in Austria, are discussed, as they form a significant factor in potential external support. This is followed by a presentation of the rating development of governments, banks and corporate bonds. The rating methodology of the agencies and the influencing factors they acknowledge form another part of this paper. Current studies are discussed for all bond types, to show which influencing factors are used in practice. The final part of this thesis is formed by a thorough comparison of rating methodologies and a concluding summary of the discussed topic.Michael Kriegl, Bakk.Zusammenfassungen in Deutsch und EnglischAbweichender Titel laut Übersetzung des Verfassers/der VerfasserinKarl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Masterarbeit, 2018(VLID)346279

¿Qué importancia tienen las redes sociales en tiempos de crisis ambiental?

En todo el mundo, los fenómenos meteorológicos extremos, como las tormentas, las sequías y las inundaciones, son cada vez más fuertes y frecuentes. En su lucha por superar los impactos de estos desastres, los usuarios de los recursos naturales (pescadores, agricultores) dependen de los conocimientos y del apoyo que les llega tanto desde dentro como fuera de sus comunidades. Para responder a la pregunta "¿cómo afrontar las crisis?", hay que saber «a quién acudir en caso de catástrofe». Aportamos información sobre dos ejemplos de investigaciones en curso que estudian el rol de las redes sociales de pescadores y agricultores a la hora de afrontar y recuperarse de catástrofes medioambientales que provocaron cambios drásticos en sus respectivas comunidades en Perú y Bangladesh. Nuestras conclusiones indican que el número y la diversidad de las conexiones son cruciales para afrontar las crisis, y sugieren la necesidad de seguir investigando sobre las formas en que las redes sociales configuran las respuestas individuales y comunitarias a los impactos ambientales

How Important are Social Networks in Times of Environmental Crises?

Around the globe, extreme weather events like storms, droughts and floods get stronger and hit more often. In their struggle to overcome the impacts of such disasters, natural resource users (fishers, farmers) depend on knowledge and support coming from both within and outside their communities. To answer the question 'how to cope with crises?', we therefore have to find out 'whom to turn to when disasters hit'. We provide insights into two examples of ongoing research that investigate the role of fishers and farmers’ social networks when dealing with and recovering from environmental disasters that brought drastic change to their respective communities in Peru and Bangladesh. Our findings indicate that the number and diversity of connections is crucial for coping with crises, and suggest the need for further research on the ways social networks are shaping individual and community responses to environmental impacts

Wie wichtig sind soziale Netzwerke in Zeiten von Umweltkrisen?

Weltweit werden extreme Wetterereignisse wie Stürme, Dürren und Überschwemmungen immer stärker und treten häufiger auf. Bei der Bewältigung der Auswirkungen solcher Katastrophen sind die Nutzerinnen und Nutzer natürlicher Ressourcen (Fischer*innen, Landwirte und Landwirtinnen) auf Wissen und Unterstützung sowohl von innerhalb und als auch außerhalb ihrer Gemeinschaften angewiesen. Um die Frage zu beantworten, wie man Umweltkatastrophen am Besten übersteht, müssen wir daher herausfinden, welche Verbindungen im Krisenfall besonders hilfreich sind. Wir geben Einblicke in zwei Beispiele laufender Forschungsarbeiten, welche die Rolle sozialer Netzwerke bei der Bewältigung von Naturkatastrophen in Peru und Bangladesch untersuchen. Unsere Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die Anzahl und die Vielfalt der Verbindungen für die Krisenbewältigung entscheidend sind. Dies macht deutlich, dass die Art und Weise, wie soziale Netzwerke die individuellen und gemeinschaftlichen Reaktionen auf Umweltauswirkungen beeinflussen, weiter erforscht werden muss

Implementation of an antimicrobial stewardship program for urinary tract infections in long-term care facilities: a cluster-controlled intervention study

Abstract Background Widespread inappropriate use of antimicrobial substances drives resistance development worldwide. In long-term care facilities (LTCF), antibiotics are among the most frequently prescribed medications. More than one third of antimicrobial agents prescribed in LTCFs are for urinary tract infections (UTI). We aimed to increase the number of appropriate antimicrobial treatments for UTIs in LTCFs using a multi-faceted antimicrobial stewardship intervention. Methods We performed a non-randomized cluster-controlled intervention study. Four LTCFs of the Geriatric Health Centers Graz were the intervention group, four LTCFs served as control group. The main components of the intervention were: voluntary continuing medical education for primary care physicians, distribution of a written guideline, implementation of the project homepage to distribute guidelines and videos and onsite training for nursing staff. Local nursing staff recorded data on UTI episodes in an online case report platform. Two blinded reviewers assessed whether treatments were adequate. Results 326 UTI episodes were recorded, 161 in the intervention group and 165 in the control group. During the intervention period, risk ratio for inadequate indication for treatment was 0.41 (95% CI 0.19–0.90), p = 0.025. In theintervention group, the proportion of adequate antibiotic choices increased from 42.1% in the pre-intervention period, to 45.9% during the intervention and to 51% in the post-intervention period (absolute increase of 8.9%). In the control group, the proportion was 36.4%, 33.3% and 33.3%, respectively. The numerical difference between intervention group and control group in the post-intervention period was 17.7% (difference did not reach statistical significance). There were no significant differences between the control group and intervention group in the safety outcomes (proportion of clinical failure, number of hospital admissions due to UTI and adverse events due to antimicrobial treatment). Conclusions An antimicrobial stewardship program consisting of practice guidelines, local and web-based education for nursing staff and general practitioners resulted in a significant increase in adequate treatments (in terms of decision to treat the UTI) during the intervention period. However, this difference was not maintained in the post-intervention phase. Continued efforts to improve the quality of prescriptions further are necessary. Trial registration The trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04798365

Flexible 23-channel coil array for high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging at 3 Tesla.

PURPOSE:The purpose of this work is the design, implementation and evaluation of a mechanically flexible receive-only coil array for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3 T that can be applied to various target organs and provides high parallel imaging performance. METHODS:A 23-channel array was designed based on a rigid-flex printed circuit board (PCB). The flexible multi-layer part contains the copper traces forming the coil elements. The rigid part of the PCB houses the solder joints and lumped elements. The coil housing consists of rigid caps mounted above the rigid parts. Adhesive PTFE sheets cover all flexible parts. The developed array was tested on the bench as well as in phantom and in vivo MRI experiments employing parallel imaging acceleration factors up to six. RESULTS:Efficient mutual decoupling between receive elements and detuning between receive array and body coil was achieved. An increased signal-to-noise ratio in comparison to commercial reference coils is demonstrated, especially in regions close to the developed array and for high parallel imaging acceleration factors. Exemplary in vivo images of head, ankle, knee, shoulder and hand are presented. CONCLUSION:Based on high sensitivity close to the array and low g-factors, this flexible coil is well suited for studies of occipital and temporal cortex, as well as musculoskeletal targets like knee, ankle, elbow and wrist