The Eurasian Modern Pollen Database (EMPD), version 2

The Eurasian (née European) Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) was established in 2013 to provide a public database of high-quality modern pollen surface samples to help support studies of past climate, land cover, and land use using fossil pollen. The EMPD is part of, and complementary to, the European Pollen Database (EPD) which contains data on fossil pollen found in Late Quaternary sedimentary archives throughout the Eurasian region. The EPD is in turn part of the rapidly growing Neotoma database, which is now the primary home for global palaeoecological data. This paper describes version 2 of the EMPD in which the number of samples held in the database has been increased by 60 % from 4826 to 8134. Much of the improvement in data coverage has come from northern Asia, and the database has consequently been renamed the Eurasian Modern Pollen Database to reflect this geographical enlargement. The EMPD can be viewed online using a dedicated map-based viewer at https://empd2.github.io and downloaded in a variety of file formats at https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.909130 (Chevalier et al., 2019)Swiss National Science Foundation | Ref. 200021_16959

The Eurasian Modern Pollen Database (EMPD), version 2

The Eurasian (nee European) Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) was established in 2013 to provide a public database of high-quality modern pollen surface samples to help support studies of past climate, land cover, and land use using fossil pollen. The EMPD is part of, and complementary to, the European Pollen Database (EPD) which contains data on fossil pollen found in Late Quaternary sedimentary archives throughout the Eurasian region. The EPD is in turn part of the rapidly growing Neotoma database, which is now the primary home for global palaeoecological data. This paper describes version 2 of the EMPD in which the number of samples held in the database has been increased by 60% from 4826 to 8134. Much of the improvement in data coverage has come from northern Asia, and the database has consequently been renamed the Eurasian Modern Pollen Database to reflect this geographical enlargement. The EMPD can be viewed online using a dedicated map-based viewer at https://empd2.github.io and downloaded in a variety of file formats at https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.909130 (Chevalier et al., 2019).Peer reviewe

Theoretische und empirische Perspektiven auf Inklusion. Ein Systematisierungsversuch aus Sicht der Sprachdidaktik

In diesem Forschungsbericht wird aus Sicht der Sprachdidaktik die Frage gestellt, welche theoretischen und empirischen Schlussfolgerungen sich aus den aktuellen Entwicklungen zur Umsetzung der Inklusion für den Deutschunterricht ergeben. Aus der Forderung nach Bildungsgerechtigkeit ergeben sich zahlreiche praktische Herausforderungen sowie empirische und theoretische Fragestellungen für die Didaktik des Deutschunterrichts. Zunächst wird geklärt, was unter Sonderpädagogischem Förderbedarf zu verstehen ist. Danach wird ein offenes Begriffsverständnis von Inklusion vorgestellt. Es folgt eine Übersicht über Forschungen zu inklusivem Deutschunterricht und eine darauf basierende Ausweisung von Forschungsdesiderata. (DIPF/Verlag

Adressatenorientierung und Kohärenzherstellung im Text. Zum Zusammenhang kognitiver und sprachlicher realisierter Teilkompetenzen von Schreibkompetenz

Der Beitrag berichtet die Ergebnisse einer empirischen Studie zum Zusammenhang von kognitiven, sprachlichen und sprachnahen Teilkomponenten der Schreibkompetenz, die als grundsätzlich unabhängig voneinander und auch nicht gebunden an eine bestimmte Textsorte konzipiert sind, so dass sie prinzipiell transferierbar sind. Untersucht werden die Zusammenhänge am Beispiel der beiden Teilfähigkeiten, einen Text adressatenorientiert und kohärent zu verfassen. Das erfordert zum einen die kognitive Fähigkeit zur Perspektivenübernahme, d. h. die Fähigkeit, sich in die Perspektive einer anderen Person zu versetzen, und zum anderen die Fähigkeit, einen Sachverhalt unter logischen, chronologischen oder funktionalen Aspekten aufzufassen und zu strukturieren. Für die empirische Studie wurden von 277 Schüler/innen aus fünften und neunten Klassen die beschriebenen Teilfähigkeiten mit umfangreichen Tests erhoben und korreliert. Dabei zeigte sich, dass die kognitiven Teilfähigkeiten der Perspektivenübernahme und Kohärenzherstellung positiv mit der Schreibkompetenz korrelieren. Didaktisch eröffnet das die Möglichkeit, die Schreibkompetenz auch mit schreibfernen Aufgaben zu schulen. (DIPF/Orig.

Cardiac biomarkers for the detection of cardiotoxicity in childhood cancer—a meta‐analysis

Abstract Aims Childhood cancer therapy is associated with a significant risk of therapy‐related cardiotoxicity. This meta‐analysis aims to evaluate cardiac biomarkers for the detection of cancer therapy‐related left ventricular (LV) dysfunction in childhood cancer patients. Methods and results PubMed, Cochrane Library, Wiley Library, and Web of Science were screened for studies investigating brain natriuretic peptide (BNP)/N‐terminal proBNP (NT‐proBNP) or cardiac troponin in childhood cancer patients. The odds ratios (OR) for elevation of cardiac biomarkers and association with LV dysfunction were calculated using a random‐effects model. Data from 27 studies with 1651 subjects were included. BNP/NT‐proBNP levels were higher post‐treatment compared with controls or pre‐treatment values [standardized mean difference = 1.0; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.6–1.4; n = 320; P < 0.001]. LV dysfunction was present in 11.76% of included patients, and risk for LV dysfunction was increased in patients with elevated BNP/NT‐proBNP (OR = 7.1; 95% CI = 2.0–25.5; n = 350; P = 0.003). The sensitivity of BNP/NT‐proBNP for the detection of LV dysfunction was 33.3%, and the specificity was 91.5%. Sensitivity increased when selecting for studies that assessed patients < 5 years after anthracycline exposure and for studies including high cumulative anthracycline doses. Anthracycline chemotherapy was associated with an increased frequency of elevated troponin (OR = 3.7; 95% CI = 2.1–6.5; n = 348; P < 0.001). The available evidence on the association between elevated troponin and LV dysfunction was insufficient for an adequate analysis. In five included studies, the frequency of LV dysfunction was not increased in patients with elevated troponin (OR = 2.5; 95% CI = 0.5–13.2; n = 179; P = 0.53). Conclusions BNP/NT‐proBNP is associated with cardiotoxicity in paediatric cancer patients receiving anthracycline therapy, but owing to low sensitivity, BNP/NT‐proBNP has to be evaluated in the context of further parameters including clinical assessment and echocardiography. Future studies are needed to determine whether troponin serves as a marker for cardiotoxicity in children. Standardized recommendations for the application of cardiac biomarkers in children undergoing cardiotoxic cancer therapy may benefit management and clinical outcome

ECG Scoring for the Evaluation of Therapy-Naïve Cancer Patients to Predict Cardiotoxicity

Objective: To evaluate a new electrocardiographic (ECG) score reflecting domains of electrical and structural alterations in therapy-naïve cancer patients to assess their risk of cardiotoxicity. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 134 therapy-naïve consecutive cancer patients in our two university hospitals concerning four ECG score parameters: Contiguous Q-waves, markers of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, QRS duration and JTc prolongation. Cardiotoxicity was assessed after a short-term follow-up (up to 12 months). Results: Of all the patients (n = 25), 19% reached 0 points, 50% (n = 67) reached 1 point, 25% (n = 33) reached 2 points, 5% (n = 7) reached 3 points and 0.7% reached 4 or 5 points (n = 1 respectively). The incidence of cardiotoxicity (n = 28 [21%]) increased with the ECG score, with 0 points at 0%, 1 point 7.5%, 2 points 55%, 3 points 71% and ≥3 points 50%. In the ROC (Receiver operating curves) analysis, the best cut-off for predicting cardiotoxicity was an ECG score of ≥2 points (sensitivity 82%, specificity 82%, AUC 0.84, 95% CI 0.77–0.92, p &lt; 0.0001) which was then defined as a high-risk score. High-risk patients did not differ concerning their age, LV ejection fraction, classical cardiovascular risk factors or cardiac biomarkers compared to those with a low-risk ECG score. Conclusion: ECG scoring prior to the start of anti-cancer therapies may help to identify therapy-naïve cancer patients at a higher risk for the development of cardiotoxicity

Selective ABO immunoadsorption in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with major ABO incompatibility

Objective ABO mismatch between donor and recipient occurs in 40% of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantations (HCT). Different strategies have been described to reduce isohemagglutinins (IHA) before HCT. We describe the effect of selective ABO immunoadsorption (ABO IA) on erythrocyte transfusion rate and the development of post-transplant pure red cell aplasia (ptPRCA). Methods 63 patients with major ABO incompatibility were retrospectively analyzed. Nine patients with major ABO incompatibility and high-IHA titer were treated by ABO IA before HCT. We analyzed the need for transfusion and the occurrence of ptPRCA. We compared the outcome with patients treated by other methods to reduce IHA. Results In all nine patients treated by ABO IA, IHA decreased in a median four times. PtPRCA occurred in one patient. The median number of transfusions was 8 (range: 0-36) between d0 and d100. In 25 patients with high-IHA titer without treatment or treated by other methods to reduce IHA, the need for transfusions was comparable. No difference in the incidence of ptPRCA was observed. Conclusions Selective ABO IA is a feasible, safe, and effective method to reduce IHA before HCT in major ABO incompatibility. No effect on transfusion rate or ptPRCA compared to other strategies could be observed