Determinants of Mental Health Inequalities Among People With Selected Citizenships in Germany.

Objectives: Mental health is essential for overall health and is influenced by different social determinants. The aim of this paper was to examine which determinants are associated with mental health inequalities among people with selected citizenships in Germany.

Methods: Data were derived from the multilingual interview survey "German Health Update: Fokus (GEDA Fokus)" among adults with Croatian, Italian, Polish, Syrian, or Turkish citizenship (11/2021-05/2022).

Equivalent threshold sound pressure levels (ETSPLs) for Oscilla H210A circumaural audiometric headphones.

Objective: To determine ETSPLs for the Oscilla H210A circumaural audiometric headphones.

Design: ETSPL measurements were performed for 11 audiometric frequencies with the ISO 8253-1 (2010) bracketing procedure.

Study Sample: The study was based on 25 otologically normal test subjects.

[Health of people with selected citizenships in Germany: prevalence of non-communicable diseases and associated social as well as migration-related factors].

Background: Health chances and risks of people with a history of migration vary according to a wide range of factors. This paper aims to describe the health of people with selected citizenships on the basis of four non-communicable diseases (chronic disease or long-term health problem in general, coronary heart disease, diabetes mellitus, depression) and to identify associated social and migration-related factors.

Methods: Analyses are based on data from the multilingual and multimodal interview survey "German Health Update: Fokus" (GEDA Fokus), which was conducted among 18- to 79-year-olds with Croatian, Italian, Polish, Syrian, or Turkish citizenship living in Germany (November 2021 to May 2022).

Influence of response-time limits on automated hearing threshold determination.

Objective: In automated hearing threshold determination procedures, prespecified response- time limits can be applied to evaluate whether a stimulus was truly heard by checking whether the test subject reacts to the onset and the offset of the stimuli within given time intervals. The influence of different response-time limits on the threshold of normal-hearing test subjects was investigated.

Design: Two-stage hearing threshold level measurements applying the ISO 8253-1 (2010) bracketing procedure were performed.

[People with a history of migration in the COVID-19 pandemic : Associations between life satisfaction and indirect socioeconomic effects of the pandemic].

Introduction: It is not only the risks of SARS-CoV‑2 infection and severe to fatal courses of the disease that are socially unequally distributed, but also job and income losses as a result of the containment measures. People with a history of migration are at increased risk of being affected by such indirect socio-economic effects of the pandemic as well. The aim of this article is to investigate the associations between indirect socio-economic effects of the pandemic and life satisfaction among people with selected citizenships.

Health of people with selected citizenships: results of the study GEDA Fokus.

Background: The health situation of people with a history of migration is influenced by a variety of factors. This article provides an overview of the health of people with selected citizenships using various indicators.

Methods: The analyses are based on the survey 'German Health Update: Fokus (GEDA Fokus)', which was conducted from November 2021 to May 2022 among people with Croatian, Italian, Polish, Syrian and Turkish citizenship.

Recommendations for collecting and analysing migration-related determinants in public health research.

Background: According to the definition of the German Federal Statistical Office, about every fourth person living in Germany has a so-called migration background (MB), i.e., the person or at least one of their parents was born without German citizenship.

COVID-19 vaccination status among people with selected citizenships: results of the study GEDA Fokus.

Background: the COVID-19 vaccination offers protection against severe disease progression. Data show that people with a history of migration are less likely to be vaccinated against COVID-19 than people without a history of migration, but are at increased risk of infection.

Methods: Data were used from the GEDA Fokus interview survey (November 2021 - May 2022), which included people living in Germany with Croatian, Italian, Polish, Syrian or Turkish citizenship (n=5,495).

German Health Update Fokus (GEDA Fokus) among Residents with Croatian, Italian, Polish, Syrian, or Turkish Citizenship in Germany: Protocol for a Multilingual Mixed-Mode Interview Survey.

Background: Germany has a long history of migration. In 2020, more than 1 person in every 4 people had a statistically defined, so-called migration background in Germany, meaning that the person or at least one of their parents was born with a citizenship other than German citizenship. People with a history of migration are not represented proportionately to the population within public health monitoring at the Robert Koch Institute, thus impeding differentiated analyses of migration and health.

Air-conducted ultrasound below the hearing threshold elicits functional changes in the cognitive control network.

Air-conducted ultrasound (> 17.8 kHz; US) is produced by an increasing number of technical devices in our daily environment. While several studies indicate that exposure to US in public spaces can lead to subjective symptoms such as 'annoyance' or 'difficulties in concentration', the effects of US on brain activity are poorly understood.

Intercomparison of nanodosimetric distributions in nitrogen simulated with Geant4 and PTra track structure codes.

To facilitate the use of Geant4-DNA for radiation transport simulations in micro- and nanodosimeters, which are physically operated with tissue-equivalent gases such as nitrogen (and propane), this work aims to extend the cross section data available in Geant4-DNA to include those of nitrogen for electron energies ranging from 1 MeV down to the ionisation threshold. To achieve this, interaction cross section data for nitrogen that have been used with the in-house PTB PTra track structure code have been implemented in the current state-of-the-art Geant4-DNA simulation toolkit. An intercomparison has been performed between the two codes to validate this implementation.

Dependence of binaural gain for infrasound on interaural phase difference.

Increasing complaints about infrasound have generated interest in understanding its perception, including binaural effects. This study investigated the level difference between monaural and binaural presentation required for detection and equal loudness (binaural gain) for pure tones with frequencies of 8, 32, and 400 Hz and an 8 Hz sinusoidally amplitude-modulated tone with diotic 400 Hz carrier. Monaural stimuli were compared to binaural stimuli with interaural phase differences (IPDs) of 0°, 90°, and 180° in two experiments: absolute threshold measurements and loudness matching at 40 phons.

Free-field correction values for RadioEar DD65v2 circumaural audiometric headphones.

Objective: Free-field correction values were measured for RadioEar DD65v2 audiometric headphones.

Design: Free-field correction values, that is, the difference - between the free-field sensitivity level and the ear simulator sensitivity level , were determined by loudness level comparisons between the headphone and a plane progressive wave in a free sound field.

Study Sample: The study was based on 17 otologically normal test subjects.

Equivalent threshold sound pressure levels (ETSPLs) for RadioEar DD65v2 circumaural audiometric headphones.

Equivalent threshold sound pressure levels (ETSPLs) were determined for RadioEar DD65v2 audiometric headphones. The pure-tone hearing threshold levels were measured for 11 audiometric frequencies between 0.125 and 8 kHz, according to the conditions specified in ISO 389-9.

The concept of acculturation in epidemiological research among migrant populations: A systematic review.

•Acculturation is a widely used concept in epidemiological research.•There are various ways to measure acculturation using proxies or scales; often an acculturation score is calculated.•Studies often show inconsistencies in operationalization and measurement of the concept of acculturation.

Equivalent hearing threshold levels for the RadioEar IP30 insert earphone and short-term stimuli: comparison of peak-equivalent and RMS-based measures.

To determine equivalent threshold sound pressure levels (ETSPL) for the RadioEar IP30 insert earphone for standardised short-term stimuli: IEC 60645-3 reference clicks and tonebursts in the frequency range from 250 Hz to 6 kHz, using the standardised peak-equivalent ETSPL procedure (peETSPL) and a new proposal based on the unweighted equivalent continuous sound pressure level of the periodically repeated short-term stimuli (ETSPL). Determination of peETSPL and ETSPL hearing threshold levels with otologically normal test subjects under the conditions given in ISO 389-9 using the standardised occluded-ear simulator according to IEC 60318-4. The study was based on tests with 25 subjects.

[Improving access to migrant populations for epidemiological research-guided interviews with German experts].

Background: In Germany, reliable information on the health of people with migration background (PMB) is scarce. Therefore, the Robert Koch Institute initiated the project "Improving health monitoring in migrant populations (IMIRA)" to improve the inclusion of PMB into the federal health monitoring.

Objective: The objective of this article is to identify challenges and strategies in accessing migrant populations with epidemiological research.

Concepts for migration-sensitive health monitoring.

According to microcensus data, nearly one quarter of the German population has a migration background. This means that either themselves or at least one parent was born without German citizenship. Based on the currently available data and due to the underrepresentation of specific population groups, representative findings on the health of the total population residing in Germany are only possible to a limited degree.

ASSESSING THE CONTRIBUTION OF CROSS-SECTIONS TO THE UNCERTAINTY OF MONTE CARLO CALCULATIONS IN MICRO- AND NANODOSIMETRY.

Within EURADOS Working Group 6 'Computational Dosimetry', the micro and nanodosimetry task group 6.2 has recently conducted a Monte Carlo (MC) exercise open to participants around the world. The aim of this exercise is to quantify the contribution to the uncertainty of micro and nanodosimetric simulation results arising from the use of different electron-impact cross-sections, and hence physical models, employed by different MC codes (GEANT4-DNA, PENELOPE, MCNP6, FLUKA, NASIC and PHITS).

AN ALGORITHM TO DETERMINE THE NANODOSIMETRIC IMPACT OF GOLD NANOPARTICLES ON CELL MODELS.

High-Z nanomaterials, e.g. gold nanoparticles (GNPs), are being investigated worldwide for potential application in radiation imaging and therapy.

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE TARGET SIZE IN A WALL-LESS NANODOSIMETER.

In nanodosimetry, the ionization component of charged particle track structure is characterized by measuring the frequency distribution of ionizations in target volumes that simulate nanometric sites in liquid water. For the Ion Counter nanodosimeter at PTB, the sensitive volume is defined by the electrical field and the extraction aperture. In this paper, a procedure is presented to define a cylindrical effective measurement target based on the second moments of the detection efficiency map.

Measurement of track structure parameters of low and medium energy helium and carbon ions in nanometric volumes.

Ionization cluster size distributions produced in the sensitive volume of an ion-counting wall-less nanodosimeter by monoenergetic carbon ions with energies between 45 MeV and 150 MeV were measured at the TANDEM-ALPI ion accelerator facility complex of the LNL-INFN in Legnaro. Those produced by monoenergetic helium ions with energies between 2 MeV and 20 MeV were measured at the accelerator facilities of PTB and with a Am alpha particle source. CH was used as the target gas.

VCP/p97 cooperates with YOD1, UBXD1 and PLAA to drive clearance of ruptured lysosomes by autophagy.

Rupture of endosomes and lysosomes is a major cellular stress condition leading to cell death and degeneration. Here, we identified an essential role for the ubiquitin-directed AAA-ATPase, p97, in the clearance of damaged lysosomes by autophagy. Upon damage, p97 translocates to lysosomes and there cooperates with a distinct set of cofactors including UBXD1, PLAA, and the deubiquitinating enzyme YOD1, which we term ELDR components for Endo-Lysosomal Damage Response.

Double differential cross sections for proton induced electron emission from molecular analogues of DNA constituents for energies in the Bragg peak region.

For track structure simulations in the Bragg peak region, measured electron emission cross sections of DNA constituents are required as input for developing parameterized model functions representing the scattering probabilities. In the present work, double differential cross sections were measured for the electron emission from vapor-phase pyrimidine, tetrahydrofuran, and trimethyl phosphate that are structural analogues to the base, the sugar, and the phosphate residue of the DNA, respectively. The range of proton energies was from 75 keV to 135 keV, the angles ranged from 15° to 135°, and the electron energies were measured from 10 eV to 200 eV.

Future development of biologically relevant dosimetry.

Proton and ion beams are radiotherapy modalities of increasing importance and interest. Because of the different biological dose response of these radiations as compared with high-energy photon beams, the current approach of treatment prescription is based on the product of the absorbed dose to water and a biological weighting factor, but this is found to be insufficient for providing a generic method to quantify the biological outcome of radiation. It is therefore suggested to define new dosimetric quantities that allow a transparent separation of the physical processes from the biological ones.