Aktualisierung zur "Retrospektiven Phaseneinteilung der COVID-19-Pandemie in Deutschland"

Mit der Fortschreibung der zeitlichen Einteilung des COVID-19-Geschehens wurden der Beginn und das Ende der Phase 4 (3. COVID-19-Welle) definiert. Für einen umfassenderen Blick wurden weitere Parameter in die Betrachtung einbezogen, um eine veränderte Krankheitsschwere unter Berücksichtigung der zunehmenden Grundimmunität in der Bevölkerung bewerten zu können. Bis zur KW 31/2021 haben mehrere Parameter bereits Schwellenwerte überschritten. Die genaue Festlegung des Endes der Phase 5 (Sommerplateau 2021) und des Beginns der nächsten Phase erfolgt retrospektiv in der nächsten Aktualisierung.Peer Reviewe

Zweite Aktualisierung der „Retrospektiven Phaseneinteilung der COVID-19- Pandemie in Deutschland“

Für einen strukturierten Vergleich der COVID-19-Pandemiewellen und des Gesamtgeschehens in Deutschland wurde die COVID-19-Pandemie im Epidemiologischen Bulletin 15/2021 anhand verschiedener Parameter retrospektiv in epidemiologische Phasen eingeteilt (aktualisiert in Ausgabe 37/2021). In der zweiten Aktualisierung mit Daten bis zum 02.03.2022 wurde der Pandemieverlauf unter zusätzlicher Einbeziehung von Daten aus der syndromischen Surveillance akuter Atemwegserkrankungen und der Genomsequenzierung um weitere Phasen ergänzt. Das Ende des Sommerplateaus 2021 wird definiert sowie Phase 6 (vierte Welle, VOC Delta) zeitlich festgelegt. Phase 7 (fünfte Welle, VOC Omikron) startete mit KW 52/2021, eine Aussage zum Ende dieser Phase kann aktuell noch nicht getroffen werden.Peer Reviewe

Generationen lernen gemeinsam: Theorie und Praxis intergenerationeller Bildung

Alters- und generationsübergreifende Begegnungs- und Lernprozesse werden angesichts des demographischen Wandels ein immer wichtiger werdendes Praxisfeld der Erwachsenenbildung. Der Band ermöglicht einen profunden Einblick in die Theorie und Praxis des gemeinsamen Lernens in der Erwachsenenbildung. Neben der Darstellung verschiedener konzeptioneller Ansätze werden zahlreiche Praxisbeispiele aus der Bildungsarbeit sowie der Weiterbildung beschrieben

Conclusion and Final Remarks

Transparency can only be effective when the receptors are able to process and digest the provided information. Therefore the question arises how one can find the balance between extensive, detailed, and inclusive ways for citizens to be actively informed, and invited to participate on the one hand, and avoiding an overload of information while opting for a more targeted approach on the other. Key to increasing transparency and participation is the surpassing of the transparency illusion. This could be achieved by having particular regard for the practical hurdles initiatives may face, and the consequences they will have for the population’s knowledge, participation and trust. This challenge does not only affect political but also legal transparency. The difficulty lies in providing understandable information without threatening its quality. Following the proposed model at the legal level could constitute a first step in tackling subsequent hurdles in reaching transparency at the administrative and political level. The authors of this volume, therefore, advocate the integration of plain language in legal instruments and political communication (chapters four and five)

Introduction

The term ‘transparency’ seems to be omnipresent in today’s debate on governments’ organization and practice of the relation with its citizens. There are several definitions available provided by various sources. For instance, the Encyclopaedia of Democratic Thought states that transparency “denotes government according to fixed and published rules, on the basis of information and procedures that are accessible to the public, and […] within clearly demarcated fields of activity” (in Hood & Heald, 2006, p. 4). However, the availability of different strains of definition gives a blurry impression of the concept of transparency. This book focuses on the difficulties revolving around the realization of transparency. Each chapter approaches implementation techniques from diverse angles and various practical contexts. In this, the volume adds to the current debate by identifying key challenges with regard to the design of transparency related policies. It is important to note that due to the theoretical complexity of transparency, the concept in itself contains key challenges which shall be briefly illustrated. Although ultimately transparency is considered to improve efficiency, the process of building transparency can take significant time and resources. Very often, the more effective forms of transparency can require more work to implement, creating the need for a balance. Types of transparency which increase public participation in decision-making can create particular efficiency losses, due to the necessity of long consultation processes and compromise

From Floppy Disks to 5-Star LOD: FAIR Research Infrastructure for NFDI4Culture

NFDI4Culture is establishing an infrastructure for research data on material and immaterial cultural heritage in the context of the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) in compliance with the FAIR principles. The NFDI4Culture Knowledge Graph is developed and integrated with the Culture Information Portal to aggregate diverse and isolated data from the culture research landscape and thereby increase the discoverability, interoperability and reusability of cultural heritage data. This paper presents the research data management strategy in the long-term project NFDI4Culture, which combines a CMS and a Knowledge Graph-based infrastructure to enable an intuitive and meaningful interaction with research resources in the cultural heritage domain

From Floppy Disks to 5-Star LOD: FAIR Research Infrastructure for NFDI4Culture

NFDI4Culture is establishing an infrastructure for research data on material and immaterial cultural heritage in the context of the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) in compliance with the FAIR principles. The NFDI4Culture Knowledge Graph is developed and integrated with the Culture Information Portal to aggregate diverse and isolated data from the culture research landscape and thereby increase the discoverability, interoperability and reusability of cultural heritage data. This paper presents the research data management strategy in the long-term project NFDI4Culture, which combines a CMS and a Knowledge Graph-based infrastructure to enable an intuitive and meaningful interaction with research resources in the cultural heritage domain

Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Replication by a Small Interfering RNA Targeting the Leader Sequence

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected almost 200 million people worldwide and led to approximately 4 million deaths as of August 2021. Despite successful vaccine development, treatment options are limited. A promising strategy to specifically target viral infections is to suppress viral replication through RNA interference (RNAi). Hence, we designed eight small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targeting the highly conserved 5′-untranslated region (5′-UTR) of SARS-CoV-2. The most promising candidate identified in initial reporter assays, termed siCoV6, targets the leader sequence of the virus, which is present in the genomic as well as in all subgenomic RNAs. In assays with infectious SARS-CoV-2, it reduced replication by two orders of magnitude and prevented the development of a cytopathic effect. Moreover, it retained its activity against the SARS-CoV-2 alpha variant and has perfect homology against all sequences of the delta variant that were analyzed by bioinformatic means. Interestingly, the siRNA was even highly active in virus replication assays with the SARS-CoV-1 family member. This work thus identified a very potent siRNA with a broad activity against various SARS-CoV viruses that represents a promising candidate for the development of new treatment options

Communities, Harvesting, and CGIF: Building the Research Data Graph at NFDI4Culture

NFDI4Culture provides the Culture Knowledge Graph to facilitate FAIRness in its communities. It provides a lightweight infrastructure that interconnects research data from diverse domains such as architectural studies, art history, musicology, performing arts, and media studies. To allow further exploration of resources across individual knowledge silos, the graph is designed to be compatible with other research areas as well. It requires data providers to implement the Culture Graph Interchange Format, a subset of schema.org classes and properties, either as embedded metadata, an API, or a SPARQL endpoint that can be harvested, or as an RDF data dump. Connections between resources are established via controlled vocabularies, and ingested data is made available via the Culture Information Portal\u27s SPARQL endpoint. After introducing the infrastructural need, the paper reviews comparable solutions, describes the graph, discusses technical choices, and outlines our engagement within and beyond NFDI4Culture

Retrospektive Phaseneinteilung der COVID-19-Pandemie in Deutschland bis Februar 2021

Seit Anfang März 2020 wurde in Deutschland eine deutliche Zunahme der COVID-19-Fälle beobachtet, mit einem Höhepunkt von etwa 35.000 Fällen in der Meldewoche 14/2020. Im folgenden Sommer wurden zunächst deutlich rückläufige Fallzahlen beobachtet. Diese waren insbesondere auf Ausbrüche in Gemeinschaftsunterkünften, fleischverarbeitenden Betrieben und auf Einreisende zurückzuführen. Im Spätsommer stieg die Anzahl übermittelter Fälle erneut an und mündete in einem starten exponentiellen Anstieg zum Herbst 2020. Um Änderungen im Gesamtgeschehen erkennen und interpretieren zu können, ist es erforderlich den Verlauf basierend auf den verfügbaren Daten in klar definierte Phasen einzuteilen. Dazu sind objektive Kriterien notwendig, die unterschiedliche Zeiträume möglichst klar voneinander trennen. Die Phaseneinteilung anhand epidemiologischer Parameter soll eine Grundlage für zukünftige Auswertungen und Darstellungen schaffen und Vergleiche (z. B. zur Transmission, individuellen klinischen Schwere und zur Belastung des Gesundheitswesen) innerhalb der verschiedenen Phasen ermöglichen