Earth observation education for Zero Hunger: A Massive Open Online Course towards achieving SDG #2 using EO

Persisting hunger and malnourishment continue to be a problem of global concern, which recent climate change, as well as environmental and socio-economic crises and their impacts along the food chain further exacerbate. Earth observation (EO) holds the capacity to deliver large temporal and spatial coverage information that allow for better decision-making in food production and distribution. Furthermore, the rapidly increasing amount of freely available data and tools potentially enable an expanding user community to bring this information into practice. However, more people need access to EO education to realize this potential. EO Connect (funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research) addresses this demand by developing a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) towards the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2: Zero Hunger. Since a conventional course can barely reflect the comprehensiveness of SDG #2 regarding both content and the people involved in achieving the goal, the Zero Hunger MOOC leverages modern learning approaches in a non-linear, adaptive learning environment to cater to a large audience and diverse target groups, and to their different scopes and levels of desired learning outcomes. The use of micro-content, drip-feeding and feedback-guided course development shall ensure maximum effectiveness. To accomplish this ambitious endeavour, the Zero Hunger MOOC is developed with a community of stakeholders from the realms of EO, education, information technology, and food security. It builds on contents from this community which are adapted, streamlined and assembled to course modules, as well as on the expertise from the over 20 contributing universities, space agencies, national institutions and international organizations. While the Zero Hunger MOOC contributes to bridging the gap between the available EO technology and its application to increase food security, it likewise promotes stronger stakeholder connection in EO education

Auf dem Wege zu einer integrierten Versorgung: Neue sozialrechtliche Rahmenbedingungen unter Berücksichtigung der Erfahrungen aus den USA und am Beispiel Berlins

Die vollzogene Gesundheitsreform eröffnet im Rahmen des Sozialgesetzbuches neue Möglichkeiten für Managed Care Lösungen. Bislang basierte das System auf Kollektivverträgen während Managed Care selektives Kontrahieren von Versicherungen mit Leistungsanbietern vorsieht. Im Ergebnis soll der Wettbewerb zwischen den Krankenversicherungen verstärkt werden. Die Einführung von zusätzlichen Wettbewerbselementen soll eine kostengünstigere und dennoch qualitativ hochwertige Versorgung sicherstellen. In den USA ist ein Grossteil der Bevölkerung in unterschiedlichen Formen von Managed Care Organisationen versichert, deshalb soll eine kritische Analyse der amerikanischen Erfahrungen beispielhaft in die Arbeit einfließen. Kosteneinsparungen konnten dort nur mit Hilfe eines durchgängigen Managed Care Systems erreicht werden. Im Rahmen der Arbeit soll untersucht werden, inwiefern eine Managed Care Organisation in Berlin implementiert werden könnte. Als Region soll dabei der innere S-Bahnring der Stadt Berlin dienen. Dort gibt es genügend Leistungserbringer, die zu einem Netzwerk verbunden werden könnten. Als Rechtsrahmen wird eine GmbH-Lösung empfohlen. -- The latest health care reform in German provides a new codification of the social law and framework that creates the base for a managed care. Up to now social security was characterised by collective agreements whereas managed care consists of a number of selective agreements between insurance companies and providers of medical services. As a result competition between the providers should be increased. The introduction of additional market elements should improve the co-ordination of the single providers. This is for the purpose to offer a high-grade health service at lower costs. In the United States a greater part of the population is enrolled in a Managed Care Organisation (MCO) and that is why it served as an example to be critically reviewed. A reduction of costs can only be realised when the Managed Care idea dominates all sectors of public health service and a consistent system can be founded. The present work examines the possibilities to implement a MCO in Berlin. The inner circle of the Berlin urban railway (S-Bahn) is an ideal location for the MCO. Favourable are a relatively low age of local population and a high level of education. Both criteria are correlated with a low demand of health services. Moreover in the mentioned area already exists a certain number of hospitals and medical service points that could be united to a network. The legal form of a GmbH (Ltd.) fits best for this purpose.

Eukaryotic RNases H1 act processively by interactions through the duplex RNA-binding domain

Ribonucleases H have mostly been implicated in eliminating short RNA primers used for initiation of lagging strand DNA synthesis. Escherichia coli RNase HI cleaves these RNA–DNA hybrids in a distributive manner. We report here that eukaryotic RNases H1 have evolved to be processive enzymes by attaching a duplex RNA-binding domain to the RNase H region. Highly conserved amino acids of the duplex RNA-binding domain are required for processivity and nucleic acid binding, which leads to dimerization of the protein. The need for a processive enzyme underscores the importance in eukaryotic cells of processing long hybrids, most of which remain to be identified. However, long RNA–DNA hybrids formed during immunoglobulin class-switch recombination are potential targets for RNase H1 in the nucleus. In mitochondria, where RNase H1 is essential for DNA formation during embryogenesis, long hybrids may be involved in DNA replication

Waterborne phenolic, triazine-based porous polymer particles for the removal of toxic metal ions

Highly functional and also highly porous materials are presenting great advantages for applications in energy storage, catalysis and separation processes, which is why a continuous development of new materials can be seen. To create a material combining the promising potential interactions of triazine groups with the electrostatic or hydrogen bonding interactions of phenolic groups, a completely new polymeric resin was synthesized. From an eco-friendly dispersion polymerization in water, a copolymer network was obtained, which includes nine hydroxyl groups and one s-triazine ring per repetition unit. The polymer forms highly porous particles with specific surface areas up to 531 ​m2/g and a negative streaming potential over a great pH range. The adsorption isotherms of Ni2+, Cd2+, and Pb2+ were studied in more detail achieving very good adsorption capacities (16 mg Ni2+/g, 24 mg Cd2+/g, and 90 mg Pb2+/g). Demonstrating excellent properties for adsorption applications. The adsorbent exhibited selectivity for the adsorption of Pb2+ over more commonly occurring but non-toxic metal ions such as Fe2+, Ca2+, Mg2+, and K+. Furthermore, reusability of the material was demonstrated by facile, quantitative desorption of adsorbed Pb2+ with a small amount of diluted HCl, circumventing organic chelators. Subsequently, adsorption was carried out without decrease in adsorption performance

CD47 restricts antiviral function of alveolar macrophages during influenza virus infection

CD47 is an ubiquitously expressed surface molecule with significant impact on immune responses. However, its role for antiviral immunity is not fully understood. Here, we revealed that the expression of CD47 on immune cells seemed to disturb the antiviral immune response as CD47-deficient mice (CD47−/−) showed an augmented clearance of influenza A virus (IAV). Specifically, we have shown that enhanced viral clearance is mediated by alveolar macrophages (aMФ). Although aMФ displayed upregulation of CD47 expression during IAV infection in wildtype mice, depletion of aMФ in CD47−/− mice during IAV infection reversed the augmented viral clearance. We have also demonstrated that CD47 restricts hemoglobin (HB) expression in aMФ after IAV and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, with HB showing antiviral properties by enhancing the IFN-β response. Our study showed a negative role for CD47 during antiviral immune responses in the lung by confining HB expression in aMФ

Insights from Multimodal Preclinical Imaging in Immunocompetent Nude Mice

Hydrogels based on gelatin have evolved as promising multifunctional biomaterials. Gelatin is crosslinked with lysine diisocyanate ethyl ester (LDI) and the molar ratio of gelatin and LDI in the starting material mixture determines elastic properties of the resulting hydrogel. In order to investigate the clinical potential of these biopolymers, hydrogels with different ratios of gelatin and diisocyanate (3-fold (G10_LNCO3) and 8-fold (G10_LNCO8) molar excess of isocyanate groups) were subcutaneously implanted in mice (uni- or bilateral implantation). Degradation and biomaterial-tissue- interaction were investigated in vivo (MRI, optical imaging, PET) and ex vivo (autoradiography, histology, serum analysis). Multimodal imaging revealed that the number of covalent net points correlates well with degradation time, which allows for targeted modification of hydrogels based on properties of the tissue to be replaced. Importantly, the degradation time was also dependent on the number of implants per animal. Despite local mechanisms of tissue remodeling no adverse tissue responses could be observed neither locally nor systemically. Finally, this preclinical investigation in immunocompetent mice clearly demonstrated a complete restoration of the original healthy tissue

Developing a Neuroimaging Biomarker for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Multi-Center Data Sharing and the Road to a “Global Cohort”

Neuroimaging in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) has steadily evolved from an academic exercise to a powerful clinical tool for detecting and following pathological change. Nevertheless, significant challenges need to be addressed for the translation of neuroimaging as a robust outcome-metric and biomarker in quality-of-care assessments and pharmaceutical trials. Studies have been limited by small sample sizes, poor replication, incomplete patient characterization, and substantial differences in data collection and processing. This has been further exacerbated by the substantial heterogeneity associated with ALS. Multi-center transnational collaborations are needed to address these methodological limitations and achieve representation of rare phenotypes. This review will use the example of the Neuroimaging Society in ALS (NiSALS) to discuss the set-up of a multi-center data sharing ecosystem and the flow of information between various stakeholders. NiSALS' founding objective was to establish best practices for the acquisition and processing of MRI data and establish a structure that allows continuous data sharing and therefore augments the ability to fully describe patients. The practical challenges associated with such a system, including quality control, legal, ethical, and logistical constraints, will be discussed, as will be recommendations for future collaborative endeavors. We posit that “global cohorts” of well-characterized sub-populations within the disease spectrum are needed to fully understand the complex interplay between neuroimaging and other clinical metrics used to study ALS