bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessing the current and future Arctic Ocean observing system with observing system simulating experiments
Authors: Lyu Guokun , Koehl Armin , Serra Nuno , Stammer Detlef
Published: April 2021

Arctic Ocean Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) were performed with a pan‐Arctic coupled ocean–sea ice data assimilation system to assess the impacts of assimilating available observations on the Arctic ocean–sea ice state. To this end, the adjoint method with a 3‐year assimilation window was used to assimilate synthetic observations sampled from a 4 km model simulation at the spatio‐temporal distribution of the existing observing system. After data assimilation, the sea ice state, including sea ice concentration (SIC), sea ice thickness (SIT), and sea ice volume (SIV), were significantly improved, benefiting from the high spatio‐temporal coverage of SIC observations and the wintertime SIT observations. In contrast, the ocean state is not very well constrained with the existing hydrographic observing system. An additional 1° × 1° ocean profiling array with a 10‐day sampling frequency was seen to substantially improve the estimated ocean temperature and freshwater content. Data from additional moorings deployed in the Fram Strait and continental slope of the Laptev Sea could also improve the pathway of Atlantic inflow to the Arctic Ocean and the temperature of the Atlantic inflow but degrade the mean volume transport through the Fram Strait. Moreover, estimated exchanges between the Arctic Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean through the Fram Strait, Davis Strait and the St. Anna Trough were found to benefit from the high‐density profiling array.
On the adhesion of diamond‐like carbon coatings deposited by low‐pressure plasma on 316L stainless steel
Authors: Morand Gabriel , Chevallier Pascale , Bonilla‐Gameros Linda , Turgeon Stéphane , Cloutier Maxime , Da Silva Pires Mathieu , Sarkissian Andranik , Tatoulian Michael , Houssiau Laurent , Mantovani Diego
Published: April 2021

Diamond‐like carbon (DLC) thin films constitute proven protective coatings due to their outstanding mechanical and tribological properties, combined with a relative chemical inertness and long‐term stability. These make them particularly attractive to protect metallic medical implants from corrosion and erosion. However, lack of adhesion between DLC and metallic surfaces is a recurrent problem due to poor interactions with the native oxide layer. An effective strategy to overcome these adhesion issues consists in building interfacial layers. In this context, in this work, the use of a plasma treatment to generate shallow metallic carbide layers was investigated, to promote DLC adhesion directly on the surface of 316L stainless steel (SS). The metallic carbides presence stabilizes and promotes DLC thin film deposition. The highest adhesion was obtained on samples carburized by methane during 20 min with a bias of −700 V. Furthermore, this led to interface amorphization. In conclusion, this study shows that plasma can provide new insights for overcoming the lack of adhesion of DLC thin films on SS metallic surfaces.
Is group testing ready for prime‐time in disease identification?
Authors: Haber Gregory , Malinovsky Yaakov , Albert Paul S.
Published: April 2021

Large‐scale disease screening is a complicated process in which high costs must be balanced against pressing public health needs. When the goal is screening for infectious disease, one approach is group testing in which samples are initially tested in pools and individual samples are retested only if the initial pooled test was positive. Intuitively, if the prevalence of infection is small, this could result in a large reduction of the total number of tests required. Despite this, the use of group testing in medical studies has been limited, largely due to skepticism about the impact of pooling on the accuracy of a given assay. While there is a large body of research addressing the issue of testing errors in group testing studies, it is customary to assume that the misclassification parameters are known from an external population and/or that the values do not change with the group size. Both of these assumptions are highly questionable for many medical practitioners considering group testing in their study design. In this article, we explore how the failure of these assumptions might impact the efficacy of a group testing design and, consequently, whether group testing is currently feasible for medical screening. Specifically, we look at how incorrect assumptions about the sensitivity function at the design stage can lead to poor estimation of a procedure's overall sensitivity and expected number of tests. Furthermore, if a validation study is used to estimate the pooled misclassification parameters of a given assay, we show that the sample sizes required are so large as to be prohibitive in all but the largest screening programs.
Assessment of heterogeneous treatment effect estimation accuracy via matching
Authors: Gao Zijun , Hastie Trevor , Tibshirani Robert
Published: April 2021

We study the assessment of the accuracy of heterogeneous treatment effect (HTE) estimation, where the HTE is not directly observable so standard computation of prediction errors is not applicable. To tackle the difficulty, we propose an assessment approach by constructing pseudo‐observations of the HTE based on matching. Our contributions are three‐fold: first, we introduce a novel matching distance derived from proximity scores in random forests; second, we formulate the matching problem as an average minimum‐cost flow problem and provide an efficient algorithm; third, we propose a match‐then‐split principle for the assessment with cross‐validation. We demonstrate the efficacy of the assessment approach using simulations and a real dataset.
Well‐being and sleep in stressful times of the COVID‐19 pandemic: Relations to worrying and different coping strategies
Authors: Saalwirth Christina , Leipold Bernhard
Published: April 2021

The present study examined the relationships between emotional well‐being (positive and negative affect), sleep‐related variables (sleep quality, sleep duration, and change in sleep quality and duration compared to weeks before lockdown), and worrying about coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) challenges during the beginning of the outbreak in Europe. In addition, four different coping strategies were investigated. The study was conducted in Germany with data from 665 participants (53.8% female; 18–73 years), who completed an online questionnaire in April 2020. The results revealed that COVID‐19 worry was associated with impaired well‐being and sleep. Meaning‐ and problem‐focused coping were the most frequently used coping strategies, and showed positive associations with well‐being and sleep. Social and avoidance coping were associated with decreased well‐being and worse sleep outcomes. Three coping strategies showed moderating effects. People who worried more showed higher levels of positive affect when they used problem‐focused coping compared to those who did not. Similarly, highly worried participants showed lower levels of negative affect when they reported using meaning‐focused coping more often. In contrast, social coping increased the risk of high negative affect levels in worried participants. In conclusion, problem‐focused and meaning‐focused coping strategies seemed to be most effective in coping with COVID‐19 challenges.
Point‐Defect Engineering: Leveraging Imperfections in Graphitic Carbon Nitride (g‐C3N4) Photocatalysts toward Artificial Photosynthesis
Authors: Yu Xinnan , Ng Sue‐Faye , Putri Lutfi Kurnianditia , Tan Lling‐Lling , Mohamed Abdul Rahman , Ong Wee‐Jun
Published: April 2021

Graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C3N4) is a kind of ideal metal‐free photocatalysts for artificial photosynthesis. At present, pristine g‐C3N4 suffers from small specific surface area, poor light absorption at longer wavelengths, low charge migration rate, and a high recombination rate of photogenerated electron–hole pairs, which significantly limit its performance. Among a myriad of modification strategies, point‐defect engineering, namely tunable vacancies and dopant introduction, is capable of harnessing the superb structural, textural, optical, and electronic properties of g‐C3N4 to acquire an ameliorated photocatalytic activity. In view of the burgeoning development in this pacey field, a timely review on the state‐of‐the‐art advancement of point‐defect engineering of g‐C3N4 is of vital significance to advance the solar energy conversion. Particularly, insights into the intriguing roles of point defects, the synthesis, characterizations, and the systematic control of point defects, as well as the versatile application of defective g‐C3N4‐based nanomaterials toward photocatalytic water splitting, carbon dioxide reduction and nitrogen fixation will be presented in detail. Lastly, this review will conclude with a balanced perspective on the technical and scientific hindrances and future prospects. Overall, it is envisioned that this review will open a new frontier to uncover novel functionalities of defective g‐C3N4‐based nanostructures in energy catalysis.
Long noncoding RNA‐dependent methylation of nonhistone proteins
Authors: Jantrapirom Salinee , Koonrungsesomboon Nut , Yoshida Hideki , M. Candeias Marco , Pruksakorn Dumnoensun , Lo Piccolo Luca
Published: April 2021

In the last decade, an intriguing new paradigm of regulation has emerged in which some transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides and no coding potential, long noncoding RNA (lncRNAs), exhibit the capability to control posttranslational modifications of nonhistone proteins in both invertebrates and vertebrates. The extent of such a regulation is still largely unknown. We performed a systematic review to identify and evaluate the potential impact of lncRNA‐dependent methylation of nonhistone proteins. Collectively, these lncRNAs primarily act as scaffolds upon which methyltransferases (MTases) and targets are brought in proximity. In this manner, the N‐MTase activity of EZH2, protein arginine‐MTase 1/4/5, and SMYD2 is exploited to modulate the stability or the compartmentalization of several nonhistone proteins with roles in cell signaling, gene expression, and RNA processing. Moreover, these lncRNAs can indirectly affect the methylation of nonhistone proteins by transcriptional or posttranscriptional regulation of MTases. Strikingly, the lncRNAs/MTases/nonhistone proteins networking seem to be relevant to carcinogenesis and neurological disorders.

This article is categorized under:

Regulatory RNAs/RNAi/Riboswitches > Regulatory RNAs
The Decisions of Wannabe Dog Keepers in the Netherlands
Authors: Ophorst Susan , Bovenkerk Bernice
Published: April 2021

Dogs have for long been humans’ best friend, but the human–dog relationship can be problematic. A mismatch between dogs and their keepers can lead to welfare problems for both; for example: breeding for a specific look can result in health and welfare problems and importing dogs from other countries can lead to zoonoses. In our view, many of these problems could be avoided if wannabe dog keepers reflected better before deciding to obtain a specific dog. Attempting to influence this decision, however, assumes that we know what the right choice is. In this chapter, we discuss three cases: pups with pedigrees, pups without pedigrees, and adult dogs from (foreign) shelters. We show that, in each case, certain moral assumptions are made whose legitimacy can be problematised. We conclude that the decision about what dog to obtain is not a straightforward one and that it is often difficult to establish what is actually the right choice. However, we also pinpoint certain improvements that can be made to the current system and make a number of suggestions that make the right choice the easier choice. As Anthropocene conditions may lead to the domestication of an increasing number of wild species in the future, this analysis may support reflection on the ethical implications of domestication.
Comment: Encountering Urban Animals: Towards the Zoöpolis
Authors: Van Patter Lauren E.
Published: April 2021

We are living in the age of the urban, with the majority of the planet’s human population now inhabiting cities. Urbanisation creates novel challenges for many animals who are either driven out of these ‘human-dominated landscapes’ or forced to adapt to drastically different conditions to survive.
Taking Animal Perspectives into Account in Animal Ethics
Authors: Meijer Eva , Bovenkerk Bernice
Published: April 2021

Recent years have seen an explosion of interest in nonhuman animal agency in different fields. In biology and ethology, new studies about animal languages, cultures, cognition and emotion are published weekly. In the broad field of animal studies, the symbolic and ontological human-animal distinction is challenged and other animals are presented as actors. These studies challenge existing approaches to animal ethics. Animals are no longer creatures to simply think about: they have their own perspectives on life, and humans can in some instances communicate with them about that. Animal ethics long determined individual moral rights and duties on the basis of nonhuman animal capacities, but this often measures them to human standards and does not take into account that nonhuman animals are a heterogeneous group in terms of capabilities as well as social relations to humans. The questions of whether animals have agency, and how we should morally evaluate their agency, are especially urgent because we live in an age in which humans dominate the lives of large numbers of other animals. The Anthropocene has shaped the knowledge and technology for humans to realize that animals have more agency than has been assumed, but ironically it is also an epoch where animal agency is increasingly curtailed. This leads to new conflicts and problems of justice. How should animal ethics deal with the new knowledge and challenges generated in the Anthropocene? In this chapter we defend a relational approach to animal ethics, viewing other animals as subjects capable of co-shaping relations.
Comment: Evolution 2.0—Rewriting the Biosphere
Authors: van den Belt Henk
Published: April 2021

The chapters in this section deal with rather diverse topics like gene drives and de-extinction, the resurrection of the heath hen, cultured meat and the (dis)enhancement of domesticated anmals, but they all explicitly or implicitly engage with ecomodernism. I have chosen the various ways in which the authors confront ecomodernist views as the red thread of my commentary.
Development of an Advanced Solar Tracking Energy System
Authors: Davies Samuel , Sivanathan Sivagunalan , Constant Ewen , Thanapalan Kary
Published: April 2021

This paper describes the design of an advanced solar tracking system development that can be deployed for a range of applications. The work focused on the design and implementation of an advanced solar tracking system that follow the trajectory of the sun’s path to maximise the power capacity generated by the solar panel. The design concept focussed on reliability, cost effectiveness, and scalability. System performance is of course a key issue and is at the heart of influencing the hardware, software and mechanical design. The result ensured a better system performance achieved. Stability issues were also addressed, in relation to optimisation and reliability. The paper details the physical tracker device developed as a prototype, as well as the proposed advanced control system for optimising the tracking.
Integration of Building Information Modelling and Augmented Reality for Building Energy Systems Visualisation
Authors: Dudhee Vishak , Vukovic Vladimir
Published: April 2021

Buildings consist of numerous energy systems, including heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and lighting systems. Typically, such systems are not fully visible in operational building environments, as some elements remain built into the walls, or hidden behind false ceilings. Fully visualising energy systems in buildings has the potential to improve understanding of the systems’ performance and enhance maintenance processes. For such purposes, this paper describes the process of integrating Building Information Modelling (BIM) models with Augmented Reality (AR) and identifies the current limitations associated with the visualisation of building energy systems in AR using BIM. Testing of the concept included creating and superimposing a BIM model of a room in its actual physical environment and performing a walk-in analysis. The experimentation concluded that the concept could result in effective visualisation of energy systems with further development on the establishment of near real-time information.
Enhancing Methane Production from Spring-Harvested Sargassum muticum
Authors: Maneein Supattra , Milledge John J. , Nielsen Birthe V.
Published: April 2021

Sargassum muticum is a brown seaweed which is invasive to Europe and currently treated as waste. The use of S. muticum for biofuel production by anaerobic digestion (AD) is limited by low methane (CH4) yields. This study compares the biochemical methane potential (BMP) of S. muticum treated in three different approaches: aqueous methanol (70% MeOH) treated, washed, and untreated. Aqueous MeOH treatment of spring-harvested S. muticum was found to increase CH4 production potential by almost 50% relative to the untreated biomass. The MeOH treatment possibly extracts AD inhibitors which could be high-value compounds for use in the pharmaceutical industry, showing potential for the development of a biorefinery approach; ultimately exploiting this invasive seaweed species.
Distributed Activation Energy Model for Thermal Decomposition of Polypropylene Waste
Authors: Kartik S. , Balsora Hemant K. , Sharma Abhishek , Chakinala Anand G. , Asthana Abhishek , Goel Mukesh , Joshi Jyeshtharaj B.
Published: April 2021

Thermal decomposition kinetics of Polypropylene (PP) waste is extremely important with respect to valorisation of waste plastics and production of utilizable components viz. chemicals, fuel oil & gas. The present research study focuses on pyrolysis kinetics of PP waste, which is present as a fraction of municipal plastic waste through distributed activation energy model (DAEM). The decomposition kinetics for PP follows a Gaussian distribution, where the normal distribution curves were centred corresponding to activation energy of 224 kJ/mol. The standard deviation of the distribution for the PP sample was found to be 22 kJ/mol indicating its wider distribution of decomposition range. The data validation has been carried out by comparing the rate parameter and extent of conversion values calculated through DAEM model with the Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) experiments carried out for PP at various heating rates of 5, 10, 20 and 40 °C/min.
Innovative Strategy for Addressing the Challenges of Monitoring Off-Shore Wind Turbines for Condition-Based Maintenance
Authors: Al-Habaibeh Amin , Boateng Ampea , Lee Hyunjoo
Published: April 2021

Off-shore wind energy technology is considered to be one of the most important renewable energy source in the 21st century towards reducing carbon emission and providing the electricity needed to power our cities. However, due to being installed away from the shore, ensuring availability and performing maintenance procedures could be an expensive and time consuming task. Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) could play an important role in enhancing the payback period on investment and avoiding unexpected failures that could reduce the available capacity and increase maintenance costs. Due to being at distance from the shore, it is difficult to transfer high frequency data in real time and because of this data transferring issue, only low frequency-average SCADA data (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) is available for condition monitoring. Another problem when monitoring wind energy is the massive variation in weather conditions (e.g. wind speed and direction), which could produce a wide range of operational alerts and warnings. This paper presents a novel case study of integrated event-based wind turbine alerts with time-based sensory data from the SCADA system to perform a condition monitoring strategy to categorise health conditions. The initial results presented in this paper, using vibration levels of the drive train, indicate that the suggested monitoring strategy could be implemented to develop an effective condition monitoring system.
Impact of Replacing Conventional Cars with Electric Vehicles on UK Electricity Grid and Carbon Emissions
Authors: Milev George , Al-Habaibeh Amin , Shin Daniel
Published: April 2021

This paper estimated the effect of electric vehicle transition on UK road and how it impacts on electricity supply and the reduction of carbon emissions. It used a scenario in which all cars that utilise internal combustion engines will be replaced by EVs in the UK. The methodology is based on speculating the future number of EVs in Great Britain, which helped in estimating the amount of additional electricity usage that would be required for the scenario. The results revealed that approximately 81 TWh of additional electricity must be produced annually to compensate for such expansion of EV. With that increase in electricity generation, the levels of carbon emissions from the electrical grid will rise slightly, by about 8.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. Given that combustion vehicles contribute to about 42% of the carbon emissions from the transport sector in the UK, it is concluded that the total amount of CO2 in the country will decrease by approximately 12% of all cars with internal combustion engines are replaced by electric vehicles.
First Step Towards a System Dynamic Sustainability Assessment Model for Urban Energy Transition
Authors: Gudlaugsson Bjarnhedinn , Dawood Huda , Pillai Gobind , Short Michael
Published: April 2021

This paper presents a conceptual model that describes the correlation between an urban energy system and sustainability. The model captures the complexity of the urban energy transition, and the task of achieving sustainable development needs to embrace all aspects of sustainability. This paper portrays the aspects of sustainability as four-dimensional—Environment, Economic, Society, and Technology. The relationship between these four dimensions and the urban energy system is presented in a simplified and aggregated-qualitative based causal-loop diagram. The causal-loop diagram illustrates the causal and interconnective relationships between the four dimensions and their different variables. The causal-loop diagram describes the complex dynamic relationships within a simple urban energy system. The paper also provides a brief description of balancing and reinforcing loops, with the causal-loop diagram present. The conceptual model along with the causal-loop diagrams visually illustrate the dynamic relationship between the four dimensions as well as highlights the complexity and challenging problems that decision-makers are facing today when it comes energy planning and energy system development.
A Brief Review on Nano Phase Change Material-Based Polymer Encapsulation for Thermal Energy Storage Systems
Authors: Hayat Muhammad Aamer , Chen Yong
Published: April 2021

In recent years, considerable attention has been given to phase change materials (PCMs) that is suggested as a possible medium for thermal energy storage. PCM encapsulation technology is an efficient method of enhancing thermal conductivity and solving problems of corrosion and leakage during a charging process. Moreover, nanoencapsulation of phase change materials with polymer has several benefits as a thermal energy storage media, such as small-scale, high heat transfer efficiency and large specific surface area. However, the lower thermal conductivity (TC) of PCMs hinders the thermal efficiency of the polymer based nano-capsules. This review covers the effect of polymer encapsulation on PCMs while concentrating on providing solutions related to improving the thermal efficiency of system.
Reformulating Ceramic Body Composition to Improve Energy Efficiency in Brick Manufacture
Authors: Wie-Addo G. , Jones A. H. , Palmer S. , Starinieri V. , Renshaw J. , Bingham P. A.
Published: April 2021

The influence of inorganic minerals (colemanite and nepheline syenite) as additives for sustainable clay brick manufacture has been examined. Each additive was added at 4 wt% to 96 wt% brick clay and samples were fired to 950 °C and 1040 °C and then compared with samples of 100% brick clay. Multiple analytical techniques (X-ray fluorescence, dilatometry, boiling water absorption, volumetric shrinkage, and mercury porosimetry) were used for analysis. Dilatometry shows that the additives influenced the temperature at which shrinkage began and the extent of that shrinkage. The use of colemanite reduced the temperature at which the shrinkage began by 120 °C and nepheline syenite reduced it by 20 °C. A linear shrinkage in dilatometry of 1% (from the maximum expanded length) was achieved at 1000 °C for 100% clay, 875 °C for colemanite additions and 970 °C for nepheline syenite additions. However, for samples fired at 1040 °C for 2 h colemanite containing samples had significantly lower volumetric shrinkage and higher water absorption than 100% clay and nepheline syenite samples, suggesting the presence of higher amounts of open porosity caused by the decomposition of the colemanite on heating. Samples containing nepheline syenite had a lower volumetric shrinkage but also a marginally lower water absorption than the 100% clay. The further optimisation of these or similar additives could potentially provide energy saving opportunities and reductions in CO2 emissions for brick manufacturers.
Damage Characterisation in Composite Laminates Using Vibro-Acoustic Technique
Authors: Andersen Kristian Gjerrestad , Jombo Gbanaibolou , Ismail Sikiru Oluwarotimi , Chen Yong Kang , Dhakal Hom Nath , Zhang Yu
Published: April 2021

The need to characterise in-service damage in composite structures is increasingly becoming important as composites find higher utilisation in wind turbines, aerospace, automotive, marine, among others. This paper investigates the feasibility of simplifying the conventional acousto-ultrasonic technique set-up for quick and economic one-sided in-service inspection of composite structures. Acousto-ultrasonic technique refers to the approach of using ultrasonic transducer for local excitation while sensing the material response with an acoustic emission sensor. However, this involves transducers with several auxiliaries. The approach proposed herewith, referred to as vibro-acoustic testing, involves a low level of vibration impact excitation and acoustic emission sensing for damage characterisation. To test the robustness of this approach, first, a quasi-static test was carried out to impute low-velocity impact damage on three groups of test samples with different ply stacking sequences. Next, the vibro-acoustic testing was performed on all test samples with the acoustic emission response for the samples acquired. Using the acoustic emission test sample response for all groups, the stress wave factor was determined using the peak voltage stress wave factor method. The stress wave factor results showed an inverse correlation between the level of impact damage and stress wave factor across all the test sample groups. This corresponds with what has been reported in literature for acousto-ultrasonic technique; thus demonstrating the robustness of the proposed vibro-acoustic set-up. Structural health monitoring, impact damage, acousto-ultrasonic testing, non-destructive testing.
The Happy Migrant? Emigration and its Impact on Subjective Well-Being
Authors: Guedes Auditor Jean , Erlinghagen Marcel
Published: April 2021

The chapter asks about possible causal effects of migration on subjective well-being (SWB) measured by self-reported overall life satisfaction. By combining the emigration sample of the German Emigration and Remigration Panel Study (GERPS) with a quasi-counterfactual sample of internationally non-mobile Germans provided by the Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) the difference-in-difference analyses show that emigration is actually accompanied by an increase in SWB. Based on propensity score matching procedures and compared to non-mobile German stayers, German first-time emigrants show a significant increase in SWB shortly after arrival in their host country. For most emigrants, migration pays off not only economically via increasing incomes but also with regard to an increase in life satisfaction. However, the underlying analysis has certain limitations and we therefore discuss the significance of the presented evidence and consequences and challenges for future research.
Structures of German Emigration and Remigration: Historical Developments and Demographic Patterns
Authors: Ette Andreas , Erlinghagen Marcel
Published: April 2021

Germany today is one of the world’s most important countries of immigration but at the same time a country of emigration. During the last three decades, more than 3.3 million German citizens have left the country whereas 2.5 million have returned. Overall, 3.8 million Germans live outside Germany in another country of the OECD. The chapter analyses basic structures of German emigration and remigration. Germany’s development as a country of emigration includes major historical predecessors but also a more recent, slowly increasing level of international mobility of the German population. The geographical pattern of departure from Germany describes emigration as a heterogeneous phenomenon related to urban regions with higher shares of well-qualified people, but also close spatial links, at least with the neighbouring countries in the south and the west. In the long term, Europe has stabilised as the major destination region whereas the Americas, overall, have lost their attraction compared to earlier periods of emigration. Demographically, international mobility is a phenomenon of the younger population in particular and closely related to other transitions within the life course including changes in relationship status. The motives of migration illustrate the close link between economic, but also partnership and family-related reasons to help us understand Germany’s recent experiences with international mobility.
Settlement or Return? The Intended Permanence of Emigration from Germany Across the Life Course
Authors: Ette Andreas , Sauer Lenore , Fauser Margit
Published: April 2021

Economic approaches and socio-cultural integration are still the most prominent frameworks applied to explain return migration and permanent settlement. In contrast to the bulk of literature focusing on established migrations from poorer to richer regions, the contribution analyses the permanence of emigration from economically highly developed countries. Based on a life-course approach, it highlights the interrelations between life-course domains shaping the intentions of German emigrants to settle permanently abroad, planning to return, and those who are still undecided. The analyses are based on the German Emigration and Remigration Panel Study (GERPS) surveying recently emigrated German citizens. The results show that almost half of those emigrants intend to return home after living for only a few years abroad, whereas every fifth reports permanent settlement intentions in the destination country. Multinomial logistic regressions demonstrate that the status within individual domains of the life course–particularly economic status, family arrangement, as well as existing social interactions–together with previous migration experiences shape the intended length of the current migration project.
Social Origins of German Emigrants: Maintaining Social Status Through International Mobility?
Authors: Witte Nils , Pollak Reinhard , Ette Andreas
Published: April 2021

The prospect of upward social mobility is a central motive for international migration. Curiously, the nexus of spatial and social mobility attracted attention only relatively late and existing research on intergenerational social mobility usually concentrates on the constellation within the nation state. This chapter expands on this literature by investigating the intergenerational social mobility of international German migrants from the perspective of the country of origin. First, we focus on the social origin of internationally mobile and non-mobile persons using data from the German Emigration and Remigration Panel Study (GERPS) and the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). How do the two groups differ in their social background? What kinds of capitals do international migrants inherit from their parents? In a second step, this chapter explores the differences in social fluidity between migrants and non-migrants. Does international mobility increase social fluidity? Our findings suggest that German emigrants are positively selected in terms of their social origin. Their parents are more likely to have academic degrees and to belong to the upper service classes compared with non-migrants. Although social fluidity is not significantly higher among emigrants compared with non-migrants, their risk of downward social mobility is significantly reduced.
Exemplarische Anwendung
Authors: Schäfer Philipp
Published: April 2021

Das in Kapitel 4 beschriebene methodische Vorgehen ist in diesem Kapitel auf drei exemplarische Metalle – Kupfer, Tantal und Kobalt – angewandt. Die dabei generierten Ergebnisse liefern Antworten zu den Forschungsfragen (1), (2) und (3). Die drei Beispielmetalle sind in den Abschnitten  5.2– 5.4 abgehandelt. Jeder dieser Abschnitte erläutert zu Beginn die Bedeutung des jeweiligen Metalls und gibt eine kurze Beschreibung über die Ermittlung dessen sekundärer Quellen. Danach ist eine kurze Beschreibung der wichtigsten Recyclingverfahren und der darauf aufbauenden Recyclingmodelle gegeben. Die Auswertungen der Recyclingmodelle sind nach dem Status Quo sowie nach Parametervariationen vorgenommen und diskutiert. Ebenso die sind die Massenbilanzen und die Ergebnisse der energetischen Optimierung der KEA beschrieben. Auf eine detaillierte Erläuterung der Ermittlung der Datengrundlage der Modelle und Massenbilanzen ist in diesem Kapitel verzichtet. Diese kann dem Appendix II des elektronischen Zusatzmaterials entnommen werden.
Zusammenfassung und Diskussion der Ergebnisse
Authors: Steiner Erich
Published: April 2021

Im vorliegenden Kapitel werden die wichtigsten Befunde der Untersuchung herausgestrichen und kommentiert.
Radiotherapy in nodal oligorecurrent prostate cancer
Authors: Pinkawa Michael , Aebersold Daniel M. , Böhmer Dirk , Flentje Michael , Ghadjar Pirus , Schmidt-Hegemann Nina-Sophie , Höcht Stefan , Hölscher Tobias , Müller Arndt-Christian , Niehoff Peter , Sedlmayer Felix , Wolf Frank , Zamboglou Constantinos , Zips Daniel , Wiegel Thomas
Published: April 2021

Objective

The current article encompasses a literature review and recommendations for radiotherapy in nodal oligorecurrent prostate cancer.

Materials and methods

A literature review focused on studies comparing metastasis-directed stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) vs. external elective nodal radiotherapy (ENRT) and studies analyzing recurrence patterns after local nodal treatment was performed. The DEGRO Prostate Cancer Expert Panel discussed the results and developed treatment recommendations.

Results

Metastasis-directed radiotherapy results in high local control (often > 90% within a follow-up of 1–2 years) and can be used to improve progression-free survival or defer androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) according to prospective randomized phase II data. Distant progression after involved-node SABR only occurs within a few months in the majority of patients. ENRT improves metastases-free survival rates with increased toxicity in comparison to SABR according to retrospective comparative studies. The majority of nodal recurrences after initial local treatment of pelvic nodal metastasis are detected within the true pelvis and common iliac vessels.

Conclusion

ENRT with or without a boost should be preferred to SABR in pelvic nodal recurrences. In oligometastatic prostate cancer with distant (extrapelvic) nodal recurrences, SABR alone can be performed in selected cases. Application of additional systemic treatments should be based on current guidelines, with ADT as first-line treatment for hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. Only in carefully selected patients can radiotherapy be initially used without additional ADT outside of the current standard recommendations. Results of (randomized) prospective studies are needed for definitive recommendations.
Identification and characterisation of tertiary lymphoid organs in human type 1 diabetes
Authors: Korpos Éva , Kadri Nadir , Loismann Sophie , Findeisen Clais R. , Arfuso Frank , Burke George W. , Richardson Sarah J. , Morgan Noel G. , Bogdani Marika , Pugliese Alberto , Sorokin Lydia
Published: April 2021

Aims/hypothesis

We and others previously reported the presence of tertiary lymphoid organs (TLOs) in the pancreas of NOD mice, where they play a role in the development of type 1 diabetes. Our aims here are to investigate whether TLOs are present in the pancreas of individuals with type 1 diabetes and to characterise their distinctive features, in comparison with TLOs present in NOD mouse pancreases, in order to interpret their functional significance.

Methods

Using immunofluorescence confocal microscopy, we examined the extracellular matrix (ECM) and cellular constituents of pancreatic TLOs from individuals with ongoing islet autoimmunity in three distinct clinical settings of type 1 diabetes: at risk of diabetes; at/after diagnosis; and in the transplanted pancreas with recurrent diabetes. Comparisons were made with TLOs from 14-week-old NOD mice, which contain islets exhibiting mild to heavy leucocyte infiltration. We determined the frequency of the TLOs in human type 1diabetes with insulitis and investigated the presence of TLOs in relation to age of onset, disease duration and disease severity.

Results

TLOs were identified in preclinical and clinical settings of human type 1 diabetes. The main characteristics of these TLOs, including the cellular and ECM composition of reticular fibres (RFs), the presence of high endothelial venules and immune cell subtypes detected, were similar to those observed for TLOs from NOD mouse pancreases. Among 21 donors with clinical type 1 diabetes who exhibited insulitis, 12 had TLOs and had developed disease at younger age compared with those lacking TLOs. Compartmentalised TLOs with distinct T cell and B cell zones were detected in donors with short disease duration. Overall, TLOs were mainly associated with insulin-containing islets and their frequency decreased with increasing severity of beta cell loss. Parallel studies in NOD mice further revealed some differences in so far as regulatory T cells were essentially absent from human pancreatic TLOs and CCL21 was not associated with RFs.

Conclusions/interpretation

We demonstrate a novel feature of pancreas pathology in type 1 diabetes. TLOs represent a potential site of autoreactive effector T cell generation in islet autoimmunity and our data from mouse and human tissues suggest that they disappear once the destructive process has run its course. Thus, TLOs may be important for type 1 diabetes progression.

Graphical abstract
Risk of suicide attempt and suicide in young adult refugees compared to their Swedish-born peers: a register-based cohort study
Authors: Geirsdottir Gerdur , Mittendorfer-Rutz Ellenor , Amin Ridwanul
Published: April 2021

Purpose

Refugees, especially minors, who often have experienced traumatic events, are a vulnerable group regarding poor mental health. Little is known, however, of their risk of suicidal behaviour as young adults. We aimed to investigate the risk of suicidal behaviour for young adult refugees who migrated as minors. The moderating role of education and history of mental disorders in this association was also investigated.

Methods

In this register linkage study, all 19–30-year-old Swedish-born (n = 1,149,855) and refugees (n = 51,098) residing in Sweden on December 31st, 2009 were included. The follow-up period covered 2010–2016. Cox models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The multivariate models were adjusted for socio-demographic, labour market marginalisation and health-related factors.

Results

Compared to Swedish-born, the risk of suicide attempt was lower for all refugees (HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.70–0.87), and accompanied refugee minors (HR 0.77, 95% CI 0.69–0.87), but estimates did not differ for unaccompanied refugee minors (HR 0.83, 95% CI 0.62–1.10). Low education and previous mental disorders increased the risk of suicide attempt in both refugees and Swedish-born, with lower excess risks in refugees. Findings for suicide were similar to those of suicide attempt.

Conclusion

Young adult refugees have a lower risk of suicidal behaviour than their Swedish-born peers, even if they have low educational level or have mental disorders. Young refugees who entered Sweden unaccompanied do not seem to be equally protected and need specific attention.
A 2D video-analysis scoring system of 90° change of direction technique identifies football players with high knee abduction moment
Authors: Della Villa Francesco , Di Paolo Stefano , Santagati Dario , Della Croce Edoardo , Lopomo Nicola Francesco , Grassi Alberto , Zaffagnini Stefano
Published: April 2021

Purpose

Abnormal joint biomechanics and poor neuromuscular control are modifiable risk factors for Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury. Although 3D motion capture is the gold standard for the biomechanical evaluation of high-speed multidirectional movements, 2D video analysis is a growing-interest alternative because of its higher cost-effectiveness and interpretability. The aim of the present study was to explore the possible association between a 2D evaluation of a 90° change of direction (COD) and the KAM measured with gold standard 3D motion analysis.

Methods

Thirty-four competitive football (soccer) players (age 22.8 ± 4.1, 18 male and 16 females) were enrolled. Each athlete performed a series of pre-planned 90° COD at the maximum speed possible in a laboratory equipped with artificial turf. 3D motion analysis was recorded using 10 stereophotogrammetric cameras, a force platform, and three high-speed cameras. The 2D evaluation was performed through a scoring system based on the video analysis of frontal and sagittal plane joint kinematics. Five scoring criteria were adopted: limb stability (LS), pelvis stability (PS), trunk stability (TS), shock absorption (SA), and movement strategy (MS). For each criterion, a sub-score of 0/2 (non-adequate), 1/2 (partially adequate), or 2/2 (adequate) was attributed to the movement, based on objective measurements. The intra-rater and inter-rater reliability were calculated for each criterion and the total score. The Knee Abduction Moment (KAM) was extracted from the 3D motion analysis and grouped according to the results of the 2D evaluation.

Results

Excellent intra-rater reliability (ICC > 0.88) and good-to-excellent inter-rater reliability (ICC 0.68–0.92) were found. Significantly higher KAM was found for athletes obtaining a 0/2 score compared to those obtaining a 2/2 score in all the sub-criteria and the total score (20–47% higher, p < 0.05). The total score and the LS score showed the best discriminative power between the three groups.

Conclusion

The 2D video-analysis scoring system here described was a simple and effective tool to discriminate athletes with high and low KAM in the assessment of a 90° COD and could be a potential method to identify athletes at high risk of non-contact ACL injury.

Level of evidence

IV.
Perampanel, a potent AMPA receptor antagonist, protects against tetramethylenedisulfotetramine-induced seizures and lethality in mice: comparison with diazepam
Authors: Zolkowska Dorota , Dhir Ashish , Rogawski Michael A.
Published: April 2021

Tetramethylenedisulfotetramine (TETS), a noncompetitive GABAA receptor antagonist, is a potent, highly lethal convulsant that is considered to be a chemical threat agent. Here, we assessed the ability of the AMPA receptor antagonist perampanel to protect against TETS-induced seizures and lethality in mice when administered before or after treatment with the toxicant. For comparison, we conducted parallel testing with diazepam, which is a first-line treatment for chemically induced seizures in humans. Pre-treatment of mice with either perampanel (1–4 mg/kg, i.p.) or diazepam (1–5 mg/kg, i.p.) conferred protection in a dose-dependent fashion against tonic seizures and lethality following a dose of TETS (0.2 mg/kg, i.p.) that rapidly induces seizures and death. The ED50 values for protection against mortality were 1.6 mg/kg for perampanel and 2.1 mg/kg for diazepam. Clonic seizures were unaffected by perampanel and only prevented in a minority of animals by high-dose diazepam. Neither treatment prevented myoclonic body twitches. Perampanel and diazepam also conferred protection against tonic seizures and lethality when administered 15 min following a 0.14 mg/kg, i.p., dose of TETS and 5 min following a 0.2 mg/kg, i.p., dose of TETS. Both posttreatments were highly potent at reducing tonic seizures and lethality in animals exposed to the lower dose of TETS whereas greater doses of both treatments were required in animals exposed to the larger dose of TETS. Neither treatment was as effective suppressing clonic seizures. In an experiment where 0.4 mg/kg TETS was administered by oral gavage and the treatment drugs were administered 5 min later, perampanel only partially protected against lethality whereas diazepam produced nearly complete protection. We conclude that perampanel and diazepam protect against TETS-induced tonic seizures and lethality but have less impact on clonic seizures. Both drugs could have utility in the treatment of TETS intoxication but neither eliminates all seizure activity.