Microstructural alterations of cerebellar peduncles in multiple sclerosis: a diffusion tensor imaging study.

Background And Purpose: Ataxia, tremors, dysarthria, and sometimes impaired cognition are the signs of cerebellum involvement in multiple sclerosis (MS). These symptoms affect up to 80% of patients and are usually hard to treat. To find the underlying involvement of the cerebellum in MS, we assessed the microstructural alterations with DTI in the cerebellar peduncles of the affected subjects.

Assessing the detection of floating plastic litter with advanced remote sensing technologies in a hydrodynamic test facility.

Remote sensing technologies have the potential to support monitoring of floating plastic litter in aquatic environments. An experimental campaign was carried out in a large-scale hydrodynamic test facility to explore the detectability of floating plastics in ocean waves, comparing and contrasting different microwave and optical remote sensing technologies. The extensive experiments revealed that detection of plastics was feasible with microwave measurement techniques using X and Ku-bands with VV polarization at a plastic threshold concentration of 1 item/m or 1-10 g/m.

[Guideline-recommended standardized instruments in multiple sclerosis : A comparative content analysis based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)].

Background: Guidelines serve as practice-based decision support and recommend the use of standardized instruments to measure functional capacity in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the extent to which a person's functioning is captured by these instruments is unclear.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to link the content of the MS disease guideline with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in order to capture the distribution of the content on the functional domains and contextual factors and to uncover existing gaps.

Pain intensity and comorbid depressive symptoms in the general population: An analysis of the German Health Update Study (GEDA 2019/2020-EHIS).

Background: Pain and depressive symptoms often co-occur, but the influence of pain intensity remains unclear. This study analyses the association between pain intensity and depressive symptoms in the general adult German population.

Methods: Data was obtained from the cross-sectional German Health Update Study (GEDA 2019/2020-EHIS).

[Physician-led healthcare structures for patients in out-of-hospital intensive care nursing: a cross-sectional survey by the German Society for Out-of-Hospital Ventilation].

Background: Patients in out-of-hospital intensive care are usually provided with a tracheal cannula and often additionally receive mechanical ventilation. Less frequently, they receive non-invasive ventilation. Their potential to be weaned from the ventilator and to have their tracheostomy tubes removed must be evaluated twice per year from January 1, 2025 on.

Modelling nonlinear moderation effects with local structural equation modelling (LSEM): A non-technical introduction.

Understanding the differential strength of effects in the presence of a third variable, known as a moderation effect, is a common research goal in many psychological and behavioural science fields. If structural equation modelling is applied to test effects of interest, the investigation of differential strength of effects will typically ask how parameters of a latent variable model are influenced by categorical or continuous moderators, such as age, socio-economic status, personality traits, etc. Traditional approaches to continuous moderators in SEMs predominantly address linear moderation effects, risking the oversight of nonlinear effects.

Variable habitat use supports fine-scale population differentiation of a freshwater piscivore (northern pike, Esox lucius) along salinity gradients in brackish lagoons.

In mobile animals, selection pressures resulting from spatio-temporally varying ecological factors often drive adaptations in migration behavior and associated physiological phenotypes. These adaptations may manifest in ecologically and genetically distinct ecotypes within populations. We studied a meta-population of northern pike (Esox lucius) in brackish environments and examined intrapopulation divergence along environmental gradients.

Barriers and facilitators to the use of clinical practice guidelines in osteoarthritis care: a qualitative study among German physiotherapists.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to explore barriers and facilitators to the use of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) in osteoarthritis (OA) care among German physiotherapists.

Design: Qualitative semistructured interviews were conducted with German physiotherapists. An interview topic guide based on the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) was developed to explore perceived barriers and facilitators to the use of CPGs in OA care.

Monitored and Cared for at Home? Privacy Concerns When Using Smart Home Health Technologies to Care for Older Persons.

Background: States and families are facing growing challenges provide adequate care for older persons. Smart home health technologies (SHHTs) in the forms of sensor or robotic devices have been discussed as technical solutions for caregiving. Ethical and social concerns are raised with the use of such technologies for caregiving purposes, a particularly prominent one being privacy.

An investigation on main effects and interactions of relative age effects and playing position in female elite football in Germany.

Athlete age-grouping and age-banding has been shown to impact sport participation and athlete development. The current study examined the impact of within-year (WYEs) and between-year effects (BYEs), and their interactions with playing position, on female participation in elite German football. The sample of 1,378 German first-league players revealed expected participation inequities within-year with relatively older players being over-represented and younger players being under-represented.

Mercury concentrations in blood and back feathers are repeatable, heritable and correlated in a long-lived seabird.

Mercury pollution is increasing both in the environment and in various organisms, especially top-predators. If variation in individual mercury concentrations is underpinned by genetic among-individual differences in traits related to mercury uptake, storage or excretion, and results in variation in fitness, populations may have the potential to evolve in response to this development. Few studies, however, have been able to collect sufficient information to investigate the genetic basis of pollution levels.

Using mobile EEG to study auditory work strain during simulated surgical procedures.

Surgical personnel face various stressors in the workplace, including environmental sounds. Mobile electroencephalography (EEG) offers a promising approach for objectively measuring how individuals perceive sounds. Because surgical performance does not necessarily decrease with higher levels of distraction, EEG could help guide noise reduction strategies that are independent of performance measures.

[Access to and use of Data for better Healthcare: A Plea for a cooperative data and Research Infrastructure of Statutory and Private Health Insurers and the Network University Medicine (NUM)].

With the Network of University Medicine (NUM) and the Medical Informatics Initiative (MII), the BMBF is funding two pioneering, structure-building research measures that are now being merged. The data integration centers (DIZ) of the MII are to be consolidated in the NUM. The aim is to establish a standardized research infrastructure within which the existing data from the clinical routine care of the 36 German university hospitals, from clinical cohorts and clinical-epidemiological studies can be used for various research questions upon request and via coordinated processes.

Case Report: gene mutation resulting in central conducting lymphatic anomaly facilitates group A sepsis.

Background: Central conducting lymphatic anomaly (CCLA) is a heterogeneous disorder characterized by structural anomalies in the main collecting lymphatic vasculature. These anomalies result in chronic chylous leaks, causing issues such as congenital hydrothorax and potentially impairing the normal immune response. Recently, mutations in the MyoD family inhibitor domain-containing () gene have been identified as a cause of CCLA.

What is the relationship between risk attitudes and ambient temperature? Evidence from a large population-based cohort study.

Rising temperatures affect human behavior and risk-taking in several domains. However, it is not yet well understood just how ambient temperature shapes risk attitudes. Using data from the large population-based KORA-Fit study (Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg) of older people (N=2454), we identify a statistically significant, but very small, positive association between short-term ambient temperature changes and individuals' general willingness to take risks.

Upscaling biodiversity monitoring: Metabarcoding estimates 31,846 insect species from Malaise traps across Germany.

Mitigating ongoing losses of insects and their key functions (e.g. pollination) requires tracking large-scale and long-term community changes.

[Survey on the use of nasal tamponades in sinunasal surgery].

Objective: Currently, there is an intensive discussion about enhancing and expanding outpatient rhinosurgical procedures. Many questions about how to stratify into out- and inpatient procedures are still not sufficiently clarified. Particularly, the use of nasal packing materials is not adequately discussed.

Implementing telemedicine with 5G technologies in a nursing home for reducing emergency admissions- study protocol of a mixed-methods study.

Background: By transmitting various types of data, telemedical care enables the provision of care where physicians and patients are physically separated. In nursing homes, telemedicine has the potential to reduce hospital admissions in nonemergency situations. In this study, telemedicine devices were implemented with the new 5G mobile communications standard in selected wards of a large nursing home in Northwest Germany.

Depth-specific distribution of bacterial MAGs in permafrost active layer in Ny Ålesund, Svalbard (79°N).

Arctic soil microbial communities may shift with increasing temperatures and water availability from climate change. We examined temperature and volumetric liquid water content (VWC) in the upper 80 cm of permafrost-affected soil over 2 years (2018-2019) at the Bayelva monitoring station, Ny Ålesund, Svalbard. We show VWC increases with depth, whereas in situ temperature is more stable vertically, ranging from -5°C to 5 °C seasonally.