Es braucht nicht viel, um zu starten!

Für Studierende, Alumni und Wissenschaftler/innen ist die unternehmerische Selbstständigkeit durchaus eine Karriereoption. Doch sobald sie mit dem Gedanken spielen, stehen sie vor vielfältigen Herausforderungen. Um sie auf dem Weg in eine Existenzgründung zu begleiten, wurde eine Kultur der Selbstständigkeit als Bildungsziel in der Hochschulstrategie verankert und damit verbunden eine Anlaufstelle zur Gründungsunterstützung gebildet. Doch wie bei einer "echten" Existenzgründung stehen der Initiative nur geringe Mittel zur Verfügung. Durch die hohe Motivation aller Beteiligten, ein vielfältiges Netzwerk und große Gestaltungsspielräume war es dennoch möglich, erfolgreich zu starten. 19.06.2015 | Stefanie Bold, Sabine Flören & Frederike Königs (Mönchengladbach

Agiles Arbeiten im strategischen Handlungsfeld Lehrentwicklung an der Hochschule Niederrhein

„Agilität“ ist ein für Unternehmen bekannter, in Hochschulen neuer Ansatz der kollaborativen Zusammenarbeit bei der zeitkritischen Entwicklung von Projekten. Der Werkstattbericht reflektiert das Zusammenfinden verschiedener lateral agierender Arbeitsbereiche zu einem „Team Lehrentwicklung“ und die Integration der jeweiligen Perspektiven für die Gestaltung des strategischen Hochschulentwicklungsplans in einem agilen Sprint. Die für diesen Zweck angewandten agilen Methoden beförderten nachhaltig die Zusammenarbeit der Akteur*innen und die Qualität der entwickelten Gestaltungsprinzipien im disruptiven Szenario des digitalen Semesters, das durch die Covid-19-Pandemie ausgelöst wurde

Risk factors for neurocognitive impairment and the relation with structural brain abnormality in children and young adults with severe chronic kidney disease

Background: Severe chronic kidney disease (CKD) in children and young adults has shown to be associated with abnormal brain development, which may contribute to neurocognitive impairments. We aimed to investigate risk factors for neurocognitive impairment and investigate the relation with structural brain abnormalities in young severe CKD patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study includes 28 patients with severe CKD (eGFR < 30), aged 8–30 years (median 18.5 years), on different treatment modalities (pre-dialysis [n = 8], dialysis [n = 8], transplanted [n = 12]). We assessed neurocognitive functioning using a comprehensive test battery and brain structure by magnetic resonance imaging metrics of brain volume and white matter integrity (fractional anisotropy [FA] and mean diffusivity [MD] measured with diffusion tensor imaging). Multivariate regression and mediation analyses were performed between clinical CKD parameters, brain structure, and neurocognitive outcome. Results: A combination of risk factors (e.g., longer time since kidney transplantation, longer dialysis duration and late CKD onset) was significantly associated with lower intelligence and/or worse processing speed and working memory. Lower FA in a cluster of white matter tracts was associated with lower intelligence and mediated the relation between clinical risk factors and lower intelligence. Conclusions: Young severe CKD patients with a prolonged duration of kidney replacement therapy, either dialysis or transplantation are at particular risk for impairments in intelligence, processing speed, and working memory. Disrupted white matter integrity may importantly contribute to these neurocognitive impairments. Prospective, longitudinal studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms involved in CKD and treatment that affect white matter integrity and neurocognitive outcome in young patients. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Structural brain abnormalities in children and young adults with severe chronic kidney disease

Background: The pathophysiology of neurological dysfunction in severe chronic kidney disease (CKD) in children and young adults is largely unknown. We aimed to investigate brain volumes and white matter integrity in this population and explore brain structure under different treatment modalities. Methods: This cross-sectional study includes 24 patients with severe CKD (eGFR < 30) aged 8–30 years (median = 18.5, range = 9.1–30.5) on different therapy modalities (pre-dialysis, n = 7; dialysis, n = 7; transplanted, n = 10) and 21 healthy controls matched for age, sex, and parental educational level. Neuroimaging targeted brain volume using volumetric analysis on T1 scans and white matter integrity with tract-based spatial statistics and voxel-wise regression on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data. Results: CKD patients had lower white matter integrity in a widespread cluster of primarily distal white matter tracts compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, CKD patients had smaller volume of the nucleus accumbens relative to healthy controls, while no evidence was found for abnormal volumes of gray and white matter or other subcortical structures. Longer time since successful transplantation was related to lower white matter integrity. Exploratory analyses comparing treatment subgroups suggest lower white matter integrity and smaller volume of the nucleus accumbens in dialysis and transplanted patients relative to healthy controls. Conclusions: Young CKD patients seem at risk for widespread disruption of white matter integrity and to some extent smaller subcortical volume (i.e., nucleus accumbens). Especially patients on dialysis therapy and patients who received a kidney transplant may be at risk for disruption of white matter integrity and smaller volume of the nucleus accumbens. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]