Understanding Third Mission Activities as Services to Cooperatively Design the Non-Academic Environment

The UNESCO World Action Program on ESD assumes that universities bear social responsibility by generating and transferring knowledge and innovations (BMBF 2022) to their non-academic environment. Those activities are often referred to as Third Mission Activities (TMA) besides the two initial university missions research and education. In this paper it is investigated whether considering TMA as “services offered by universities” is an adequate option for the analysis and management of those activities. In problem-centered interviews conducted between 2019 and 2020, 127 university members at three German universities presented detailed information about various TMA, which was examined in a qualitative content analysis. In this investigation, properties of classic and complex service types were compared to the characteristics of the TMA by deductive category formation. Inductive category formation additionally enabled a more detailed analysis of knowledge-intensive and cooperative service sub-types. As a result, it can be shown that classic, complex, knowledge-intensive and cooperative service types exhibit strong parallels with TMA

Contextualize Me -- The Case for Context in Reinforcement Learning

While Reinforcement Learning ( RL) has made great strides towards solving increasingly complicated problems, many algorithms are still brittle to even slight environmental changes. Contextual Reinforcement Learning (cRL) provides a framework to model such changes in a principled manner, thereby enabling flexible, precise and interpretable task specification and generation. Our goal is to show how the framework of cRL contributes to improving zero-shot generalization in RL through meaningful benchmarks and structured reasoning about generalization tasks. We confirm the insight that optimal behavior in cRL requires context information, as in other related areas of partial observability. To empirically validate this in the cRL framework, we provide various context-extended versions of common RL environments. They are part of the first benchmark library, CARL, designed for generalization based on cRL extensions of popular benchmarks, which we propose as a testbed to further study general agents. We show that in the contextual setting, even simple RL environments become challenging - and that naive solutions are not enough to generalize across complex context spaces.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2110.0210

Exploring the principles of self-healing polymers based on halogen bond interactions

In this study, novel self-healing polymers based on halogen bonds as reversible supramolecular crosslinking moieties are presented. The reversible crosslinking is facilitated by a polymer-bound bidentate halogen bond donor entity in combination with small molecule acceptor suberic acid. The binding strength of the crosslinking can be tuned via deprotonation of the diacid crosslinker. The material characteristics are investigated with several methods such as NMR and Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry as well as rheology. The tactile profile measurements have been utilized to monitor the scratch healing ability of the polymer networks revealing excellent healing efficiencies up to 99% within 2 h at a temperature of 100°C. Thus, the self-healing ability of halogen bond polymers could be quantified for the first time

Particle-particle particle-mesh method for dipolar interactions:on error estimates and efficiency of schemes with analytical differentiation and mesh interlacing

The interlaced and non-interlaced versions of the dipolar particle-particle particle-mesh (P3M) method implemented using the analytic differentiation scheme (AD-P3M) are presented together with their respective error estimates for the calculation of the forces, torques, and energies. Expressions for the optimized lattice Green functions, and for the Madelung self-forces, self-torques and self-energies are given. The applicability of the theoretical error estimates are thoroughly tested and confirmed in several numerical examples. Our results show that the accuracy of the calculations can be improved substantially when the approximate (mesh computed) Madelung self-interactions are subtracted. Furthermore, we show that the interlaced dipolar AD-P3M method delivers a significantly higher accuracy (which corresponds approximately to using a twice finer mesh) than the conventional method, allowing thereby to reduce the mesh size with respect to the non-interlaced version for a given accuracy. In addition, we present similar expressions for the dipolar ik-differentiation interlaced scheme, and we perform a comparison with the AD interlaced scheme. Rough tests for the relative speed of the dipolar P3M method using ik-differentiation and the interlaced/non-interlaced AD schemes show that when FFT computing time is the bottleneck, usually when working at high precisions, the interlaced AD-scheme can be several times faster than the other two schemes. For calculations with a low accuracy requirement, the interlaced version can perform worse than the ik and the non-interlaced AD schemes.All authors are grateful to the DAAD organization for providing financial support. C.H. thanks the DFG for support through the SimTech center of excellence, the ScaFaCoS collaboration, and the SFB 716, and acknowledges helpful discussions with A. Arnold and M. Pippig.Peer reviewe

Long-Term Cell Tracking Following Local Injection of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells in the Equine Model of Induced Tendon Disease

Tendon disease has been treated with multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) in the equine large-animal model with promising success. The aim of this study was to gain more insight into the fate and biodistribution of MSCs after local application into tendon lesions by long-term cell tracking in this large-animal model. Superficial digital flexor tendon lesions were induced in all limbs in six horses and injected with 10106 Molday ION Rhodamine B-labeled MSCs suspended in serum or serum alone. Follow-up was performed using low-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), flow cytometry, and histology. Cell tracking based on the hypointense artifacts induced by the superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) labeling agent in MRI as well as based on Rhodamine B fluorescence was feasible. However, Prussian blue staining for assessment of histology was not entirely specific for SPIO. Labeled cells could be traced at their injection site by MRI as well as histology for the whole follow-up period of 24 weeks. Although the numbers of labeled cells within the injected tendon lesions decreased over time, part of the applied cells appeared to remain viable and integrated within the injured tissue. Furthermore, small numbers of labeled cells were identified in peripheral blood within the first 24 h after cell injection and could also be found until week 24 within the contralateral control tendon lesions that had been injected with serum. The present findings unveil details on MSC biodistribution and persistence after their local application, which are of clinical relevance with regard to MSC safety and mechanisms of action

Influence of different treatment conditions on the filtration performance of conventional electret melt blown non-woven and novel nano FFP2 masks

To allow an efficient protection against viruses like the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2), it is important to avoid their spreading by using filtering face pieces (FFP), which are categorized by different standards according to their filtration efficiency. In this study, we subjected six brands of FFP2 standard masks to three different conditions and subsequently analysed them for their filtration performance to evaluate potentials for reusability. The conditions comprised changes of temperature and air humidity, an exposure to isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and an autoclave sterilization. While four of six masks consisted of electrostatically treated melt blown non-wovens, two masks were fabricated using a nanofibrous multilayer system. Due to the absence of prior electrostatic treatment, the nano-masks did not show a significant change in filtration efficiency when discharged by IPA, unlike the melt blown nonwoven masks showing a significant decrease of filtration efficiency down to around 50% at a particle size of 0.3 μm. However, most melt blown masks maintained a sufficient filtration efficiency after all other treatments with even better results than the nanofibrous masks. This was particularly the case for the capacity to filter smallest particles/droplets with a size of around 0.1 μm, which is below the range of typical filtering standards and important for the retention of virally contaminated nano-aerosols or unattached viruses. After temperature/humidity variation and autoclave sterilization, melt blown masks were able to retain a filtration efficiency up to over 90% at 0.1 μm contrary to nano-masks showing a decrease down to around 70%. Based on their better filtration performance, lower price and potential reusability, we conclude that electret melt blown masks are the preferable type of FFP2 masks.</jats:p

β2-Syntrophin Is a Cdk5 Substrate That Restrains the Motility of Insulin Secretory Granules

The molecular basis for the interaction of insulin granules with the cortical cytoskeleton of pancreatic β-cells remains unknown. We have proposed that binding of the granule protein ICA512 to the PDZ domain of β2-syntrophin anchors granules to actin filaments and that the phosphorylation/dephosphorylation of β2-syntrophin regulates this association. Here we tested this hypothesis by analyzing INS-1 cells expressing GFP-β2-syntrophin through the combined use of biochemical approaches, imaging studies by confocal and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy as well as electron microscopy. Our results support the notion that β2-syntrophin restrains the mobility of cortical granules in insulinoma INS-1 cells, thereby reducing insulin secretion and increasing insulin stores in resting cells, while increasing insulin release upon stimulation. Using mass spectrometry, in vitro phosphorylation assays and β2-syntrophin phosphomutants we found that phosphorylation of β2-syntrophin on S75 near the PDZ domain decreases its binding to ICA512 and correlates with increased granule motility, while phosphorylation of S90 has opposite effects. We further show that Cdk5, which regulates insulin secretion, phosphorylates S75. These findings provide mechanistic insight into how stimulation displaces insulin granules from cortical actin, thus promoting their motility and exocytosis

The long term vaccine-induced anti-SARS-CoV-2 immune response is impaired in quantity and quality under TNFα blockade

The humoral immune response to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination in patients with chronic inflammatory disease (CID) declines more rapidly with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) inhibition. Furthermore, the efficacy of current vaccines against Omicron variants of concern (VOC) including BA.2 is limited. Alterations within immune cell populations, changes in IgG affinity, and the ability to neutralize a pre-VOC strain and the BA.2 virus were investigated in these at-risk patients. Serum levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG, IgG avidity, and neutralizing antibodies (NA) were determined in anti-TNF-α patients (n = 10) and controls (n = 24 healthy individuals; n = 12 patients under other disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, oDMARD) before and after the second and third vaccination by ELISA, immunoblot and live virus neutralization assay. SARS-CoV-2-specific B- and T cell subsets were analysed by multicolor flow cytometry. Six months after the second vaccination, anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG levels, IgG avidity and anti-pre-VOC NA titres were significantly reduced in anti-TNF-α recipients compared to controls (healthy individuals: avidity: p ≤ 0.0001; NA: p = 0.0347; oDMARDs: avidity: p = 0.0012; NA: p = 0.0293). The number of plasma cells was increased in anti-TNF-α patients (Healthy individuals: p = 0.0344; oDMARDs: p = 0.0254), while the absolute number of SARS-CoV-2-specific plasma cells 7 days after 2nd vaccination were comparable. Even after a third vaccination, these patients had lower anti-BA.2 NA titres compared to both other groups. We show a reduced SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing capacity in patients under TNF-α blockade. While these effects were observable after the first two vaccinations and with older VOC, the differences in responses to BA.2 were enhanced

CsxFA1 xPb I1 yBry 3 Perovskite Compositions the Appearance of Wrinkled Morphology and its Impact on Solar Cell Performance

We report on the formation of wrinkle patterned surface morphologies in cesium formamidinium based CsxFA1 amp; 8722;xPb I1 amp; 8722;yBry 3 perovskite compositions with x 0 amp; 8722;0.3 and y 0 amp; 8722;0.3 under various spin coating conditions. By varying the Cs and Br contents, the perovskite precursor solution concentration and the spin coating procedure, the occurrence and characteristics of the wrinkle shaped morphology can be tailored systematically. Cs0.17FA0.83Pb I0.83Br0.17 3 perovskite layers were analyzed regarding their surface roughness, microscopic structure, local and overall composition, and optoelectronic properties. Application of these films in p amp; 8722;i amp; 8722;n perovskite solar cells PSCs with indium doped tin oxide NiOx perovskite C60 bathocu proine Cu architecture resulted in up to 15.3 and 17.0 power conversion efficiency for the flat and wrinkled morphology, respectively. Interestingly, we find slightly red shifted photoluminescence PL peaks for wrinkled areas and we are able to directly correlate surface topography with PL peak mapping. This is attributed to differences in the local grain size, whereas there is no indication for compositional demixing in the films. We show that the perovskite composition, crystallization kinetics, and layer thickness strongly influence the formation of wrinkles which is proposed to be related to the release of compressive strain during perovskite crystallization. Our work helps us to better understand film formation and to further improve the efficiency of PSCs with widely used mixed perovskite composition