Refine
Year of publication
Document Type
- Article (394)
- Conference Proceeding (223)
- Part of a Book (46)
- Book (31)
- Moving Images (26)
- Working Paper (18)
- Other (10)
- Doctoral Thesis (2)
- Master's Thesis (2)
- Bachelor Thesis (1)
Language
- English (756) (remove)
Keywords
- Sustainability (6)
- physiotherapy (6)
- Nutritional footprint (5)
- Danube (4)
- Electroporation (4)
- Lemnaceae (4)
- PEF (4)
- Public Health (4)
- Sustainable nutrition (4)
- Ultrasound (4)
Institute
- Fakultät WiSo (368)
- Fakultät AuL (270)
- Fakultät IuI (58)
- Institut für Management und Technik (30)
- Institut für Duale Studiengänge (23)
- Institut für Kommunikationsmanagement (4)
- Fakultät MKT (2)
- Institut für Musik (1)
- Präsidium Hochschule Osnabrück (1)
Currently, the modelling of drying processes of plant tissues pre-treated by pulsed electric field (PEF) is following experimentally identified curves or separate heat and mass transfer and diffusion models with different levels of accuracy. This research had two major objectives: mathematical modeling and control of drying process of different vegetables pretreated by PEF during convective drying. The mathematical modeling was based on Luikov's heat and mass transfer model along with properties of different vegetables. Computer modelling was done using the difference method for predicting moisture and the temperature potentials of untreated and PEF-treated vegetables. The formulation and the solution procedures were applied to simulate the simultaneous heat and mass transfer in selected vegetables subjected to the convective drying. Suggested model had a good correlation with experimental results. Moreover, cell disintegration index can be used as a controllable parameter in heat and mass transfer models to predict drying behavior of potato, onion, and carrot tissues. Obtained drying models can be used as a mathematical tool to predict drying behavior for various types of agricultural products pre-treated by pulsed electric field.
The well-documented social gradient in health in the developed world will not just disappear on its own. Tackling health inequalities by introducing a universal coverage healthcare system recently became an important notion in the U.S. Using cross-sectional data from Germany which has maintained its compulsory egalitarian healthcare system for more than 50 years now, we apply logistic and negative binomial regression to uncover utilisation behaviour patterns under universal coverage. We find that lower education and unemployment raise the risks for all diseases under consideration. Unemployment increases the chance of contacting a physician, while income and education do not apparently affect the healthcare utilisation behaviour. Those diseases concentrated among unemployed and less educated, however, are associated with intensified healthcare utilisation. We conclude that universal coverage may make access to health care easier for those facing the worst health; the unemployed and lower educated.
Jede Ernährung hat Auswirkungen auf den Gesundheitszustand des Einzelnen, auf die Umwelt und auf soziale Belange. Eine wachsende Zahl von Mahlzeiten wird in der Außer-Haus-Verpflegung eingenommen, in der eine systematische Nachhaltigkeitsbewertung nicht zur gängigen Praxis gehört. Um diese Lücke zu schließen, wurde im Rahmen des NAHGAST-Projekts ein Instrument entwickelt. Nach mehr als einem Jahr des Einsatzes des NAHGAST-Online-Tools soll nun überprüft werden, welche positiven Umwelteinflüsse durch den Einsatz des Instruments realisiert werden können. Aus diesem Grund befasst sich dieser Artikel mit der Frage, ob ein Online-Tool Akteure aus dem Bereich des Außer-Haus-Verzehrs in die Lage versetzen kann, ihre Mahlzeiten im Hinblick auf Aspekte einer nachhaltigen Ernährung zu überarbeiten. Darüber hinaus wird die Frage beantwortet, wie sich konkrete Rezeptüberarbeitungen der beliebtesten Mittagsgerichte auf den materiellen Fußabdruck sowie auf den Carbon Footprint auswirken.
Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass ein Online-Tool individuelle Nachhaltigkeitspfade für Akteure im und ermöglicht eine eigenständige Rezeptüberarbeitung für bereits bestehende Gerichte. Mahlzeiten. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass bereits geringfügige Änderungen in den Rezepten zu Einsparungen von bis zu einem Drittel führen können beim CO2-Fußabdruck sowie beim Materialfußabdruck führen können. Bezogen auf den Außer-Haus-Verzehr Außer-Haus-Verzehr ergibt sich daraus das Potenzial für erhebliche Multiplikationseffekte, die den Weg für die Verbreitung von nachhaltiger Ernährung ebnen.
In this paper we want to review and discuss research on the effects of occupational health management activities and services on different outcomes like employee health and well-being or absenteeism and other economic outcomes. In part I we outline goals and functions of occupational health management (OHM), then characterize typical occupational health promotion interventions and describe principles for implementing and organizing OHM. Part II focuses on different OHM activities and services such as creating healthy and safe workplace, reducing work-family conflicts, providing counselling via employee assistance programs and implementing health circles or stress management interventions. We will also discuss intervention design and sample studies as well as meta-analytic data relating to the effectiveness of these interventions. Finally, part III is about the economic impact of OHM. Findings from a management evaluation approach for OHM will be discussed. Then we will concentrate especially on data linking health promotion interventions to absenteeism and financial outcomes expressed as cost savings or cost-benefit ratios. The concluding part summarizes key findings of this paper.
The conservation of freshwater ecosystems has lagged behind that of marine and terrestrial ecosystems and often requires the integration of large-scale approaches and transboundary considerations. This study aims to set the foundations of a spatial conservation strategy by identifying the most important catchments for the conservation of freshwater biodiversity in Europe.
Using data on 1296 species of fish, mollusc, odonate and aquatic plant, and the key biodiversity area criteria (species Red List status, range restriction and uniqueness of species assemblages), we identified a network of Critical Catchments for the conservation of freshwater biodiversity. Applying spatial prioritisation, we show how the prioritised network differs from the ideal case of protecting all Critical Catchments and how it changes when protected areas are included, and we also identify gaps between the prioritised network and existing protected areas.
Critical Catchments (n = 8423) covered 45% of the area of Europe, with 766 qualifying (‘trigger’) species located primarily in southern Europe. The prioritised network, limited to 17% of the area of Europe, comprised 3492 catchments mostly in southern and eastern Europe and species targets were met for at least 96% of the trigger species.
We found the majority of Critical Catchments to be inadequately covered by protected areas. However, our prioritised network presents a possible solution to augment protected areas to meet policy targets while also achieving good species coverage.
Policy implications. While Critical Catchments cover almost half of Europe, priority catchments are mostly in southern and eastern Europe where the current level of protection is not sufficient. This study presents a foundation for a Europe-wide systematic conservation plan to ensure the persistence of freshwater biodiversity. Our study provides a powerful new tool for optimising investment on the conservation of freshwater biodiversity and for meeting targets set forth in international biodiversity policies, conventions and strategies.
HRM processes are increasingly AI-driven, and HRM supports the general digital transformation of companies’ viable competitiveness. This paper points out possible positive and negative effects on HRM, workplaces, and workersorganizations along the HR processes and its potential for competitive advantage in regard to managerial decisions on AI implementation regarding augmentation and automation of work.
A systematic literature review that includes 62 international journals across different disciplines and contains top-tier academic and German practitioner journals was conducted. The literature analysis applies the resource-based view (RBV) as a lens through which to explore AI-driven HRM as a potential source of organizational capabilities.
The analysis shows four ambiguities for AI-driven HRM that might support sustainable company development or might prevent AI application: job design, transparency, performance and data ambiguity. A limited scholarly discussion with very few empirical studies can be stated. To date, research has mainly focused on HRM in general, recruiting, and HR analytics in particular.
The four ambiguities’ context-specific potential for capability building in firms is indicated, and research avenues are developed.
This paper critically explores AI-driven HRM and structures context-specific potential for capability building along four ambiguities that must be addressed by HRM to strategically contribute to an organization’s competitive advantage.
In open-field vegetable production, high quantities of soil mineral nitrogen (Nmin) and N-rich crop residues often remain in the field at harvest. After the harvest of crops in autumn, this N can lead to considerable nitrate (NO3−) losses during the subsequent winter leaching period. In four field trials, different tillage depths (3–4, 10, 30 cm) and dates (early autumn, late autumn, early spring) were investigated to reduce N losses after growing spinach in the autumn. In a further treatment, the nitrification inhibitor 3,4-Dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) was directly applied to the crop residues. Potential N losses were calculated by a balance sheet approach based on Nmin concentration (0–90 cm), measured N mineralization and N uptake by catch crops. By postponing the tillage date from early to late autumn or spring, resprouting spinach stubbles acted as a catch crop, reducing N losses by up to 61 kg ha−1. However, if the spinach biomass collapsed, the N losses increased by up to 33 kg ha−1 even without tillage. The application of DMPP as well as the tillage depth were less effective. Overall, postponing tillage to spring seems to be the most promising approach for reducing N losses during the off-season.
BACKGROUND: The Craniofacial Pain and Disability Inventory (CF-PDI) is a cross-culturally adapted instrument designed from a biopsychosocial perspective to measure pain, disability, and function in orofacial head and neck pain with shown psychometric properties; however, the German cross-cultural adaption is lacking.
OBJECTIVES: To carry out a transcultural translation of CF-PDI into German and assess its psychometric properties in patients with painful temporomandibular disorders (TMD) with respect to construct and clinical validity, internal consistency and reproducibility.
STUDY DESIGN: Multicenter, prospective, cross-sectional design.
SETTING: Patients (n = 398) were recruited from dental and physical therapy clinics in middle and south Germany.
METHODS: Structural validity was assessed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). We investigated know-group validity by means of the scale’s potential to discriminate between affected and unaffected subjects. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to estimate convergent validity. We tested test-retest reliability by the intraclass correlation coefficient and the Internal consistency by Cronbach’s alpha, or each dimension separately, and the total score. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to estimate convergent validity.
RESULTS: Two hundred forty-six heterogeneous chronic craniofacial pain patients and 152 patients without complaints were recruited from the middle and south of Germany. The German version CF-PDI-G presents 21 items, 4 factors, and adequate psychometric properties. The test-retest reliability and internal consistency of the CF-PDI-G were both excellent for the entire instrument and also for all sub-scales (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] > 0.90) except for the comorbidities and interference with work which was acceptable (ICC = 0.69). Standard error of the measurement (SEM) and minimal detectable change values are sufficiently low. Assessment of clinical validity shows good potential of discrimination and classification into categories “no,” “mild,” “moderate,” and “severe.” The multiple linear regression model showed a strong association between neck disability index, Visual Analog Scale, and anamnestic questionnaire (supporting the scale’s convergent validity).
LIMITATIONS: Our sample has a higher prevalence of women and the sample was not recruited consecutively, which may lead to a biased estimation of psychometric properties.
CONCLUSIONS: The CF-PDI-G represents valid and reliable instrument to assess pain and disability in patients with orofacial pain and headache suitable for research and clinical practice.
Convergence processes are based on the activity of distinct industry sectors showing cross-industry collaborations. The aim of this paper is to analyze cross-industry collaborations between the food and pharmaceutical sectors in the convergence area of functional foods. Selected companies from food (Nestlé/Danone) and pharmaceutical (Martek/Bayer HealthCare) sectors are analyzed using the determinants of motivation and industrial scope. The analysis shows that food companies are more active in cross-industry collaborations than pharmaceutical companies. The latter are more active at the front-end of the value chain focusing on research and development, and delivering their ingredients to food companies that due to their higher expertise in consumer marketing launch the products. While the first cross-industry collaborations were based on an exploration motivation, those that follow focus on exploitation. Acquisitions and licensing agreements are dominant in inside-out and outside-in processes, whereas strategic alliances and joint ventures are based on a coupled process between the food and pharmaceutical sectors.
The aim of this paper is to advance the research on innovation at the pharma-nutrition interface by analysing the three steps of science, technology and market convergence in the area of probiotics using a life cycle perspective. Results from a bibliometric analysis drawing upon 8245 scientific publications, 2082 patents and 1357 news reports focussing on product launch announcements from 1990 up to 2009 indicate that the proposed curve shapes of the life cycles in the theory based framework can be transferred to the case of probiotics. There is a time shift considering the life cycles showing the same activities of the industrial sectors at different moments of time. The food sector dominates the field of probiotics by driving science, technology and market convergence showing earlier activities in scientific publications, patents as well as product launches, while presenting a higher clockspeed between the different life cycle phases. While the food sector dominates product launches for food products containing probiotics, the pharmaceutical sector dominates the product launches of the supplement market. In addition, a clear trend towards industry convergence can be identified by the growing number of cross-industry activities.
Every culture has its paradise vision: desirable and external conditions which, inside the concerned culture, are infrequently observed or difficult to realize and are linked to one another. This cross-cultural study compares well-being inChina,Bulgaria,FranceandGermany. The cultural patterns of the culture are differently, but well-being is easier to achieve if people adapt to their cultural patterns. The adjustment (positive subjective culture) is formed by culture-specific content and needs different in regards to different cultures.
Iron deficiency is a global issue and can lead to a variety of clinical pictures. The biofor-tification of vegetables with iron could complement the existing portfolio of iron-rich products, thus improving iron supply in the long term. In order to determine whether the iron-biofortified vegetables could meet this demand and would address appropriate target groups, a quantitative online survey was conducted in Germany. Based on 1000 consumer responses, a cluster analysis was performed. The results showed a four-cluster solution. The first cluster was holistically engaged, the second was fitness-affine but health unconcerned, the third cluster consists frugal eaters with a focus on medical prevention, and the fourth cluster are hedonists. No cluster focused its consumption on iron-enriched products, but instead all developed an individual mix of the three product groups.
For Delay-Tolerant Networks (DTNs) many routing algorithms have been suggested. However, their performance depends heavily on the applied scenario. Especially heterogeneous scenarios featuring known and unknown node movements as well as different kinds of data lead to either poor delivery ratios or exhausted network resources.
To overcome these problems this paper introduces Data-Driven Routing for DTNs. Data is categorized according to its requirements into priority queues. Each queue applies an appropriate DTN routing algorithm that fits the data requirements best. Simulation results show that Data-Driven Routing allows high delivery ratios for time-critical data while saving network resources during the transfer of less time-critical data at the same time.
Purpose
This study operationalizes risks in stakeholder dialog (SD). It conceptualizes SD as co-produced organizational discourse and examines the capacities of organizers' and stakeholders' practices to create a shared understanding of an organization’s risks to their mutual benefit. The meetings and online forum of a German public service media (PSM) organization were used as a case study.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors applied corpus-driven linguistic discourse analysis (topic modeling) to analyze citizens' (n = 2,452) forum posts (n = 14,744). Conversation analysis was used to examine video-recorded online meetings.
Findings
Organizers suspended actors' reciprocity in meetings. In the forums, topics emerged autonomously. Citizens' articulation of their identities was more diverse than the categories the organizer provided, and organizers did not respond to the autonomous emergence of contextualizations of citizens' perceptions of PSM performance in relation to their identities. The results suggest that risks arise from interactionally achieved occasions that prevent reasoned agreement and from actors' practices, which constituted autonomous discursive formations of topics and identities in the forums.
Originality/value
This study disentangles actors' practices, mutuality orientation and risk enactment during SD. It advances the methodological knowledge of strategic communication research on SD, utilizing social constructivist research methods to examine the contingencies of organization-stakeholder interaction in SD.
Objectives: The aims of this study were to define the Faces Pain Scale-Revised (FPS-R) and Color Analog Scale (CAS) scores associated with no pain, mild pain, moderate pain, and severe pain in children with acute pain, and to identify differences based on age, sex, and ethnicity.
Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study in 2 pediatric emergency departments of children aged 4 to 17 years with painful and nonpainful conditions. We assessed their pain intensity using the FPS-R, CAS, and qualitative measures. Pain score cut points that best differentiated adjacent categories of pain were identified using a receiver operating characteristic-based method. Cut points were compared within subgroups based on age, sex, and ethnicity.
Results: We enrolled 620 patients, of whom 314 had painful conditions. The mean age was 9.2 years; 315 (50.8%) were in the younger age group (aged 4-7 years); 291 (46.8%) were female; and 341 (55%) were Hispanic. The scores best representing categories of pain for the FPS-R were as follows: no pain, 0 and 2; mild pain, 4; moderate pain, 6; and severe pain, 8 and 10. For the CAS, these were 0 to 1, 1.25 to 2.75, 3 to 5.75, and 6 to 10, respectively. Children with no pain frequently reported nonzero pain scores. There was considerable overlap of scores associated with mild and moderate pain. There were no clinically meaningful differences of scores representing each category of pain based on age, ethnicity, and race.
Conclusions: We defined pain scores for the FPS-R and CAS associated with categories of pain intensity in children with acute pain that are generalizable across subgroups based on patient characteristics. There were minor but potentially important differences in pain scores used to delineate categories of pain intensity compared to prior convention.
The Osnabrueck University of Applied Sciences has initiated a project to investigate whether and how dual study programs or even elements of it can be integrated into South African university study programs. The present part of the investigation presents the expert assessments of the demands and requirements for dual study programs and, based on a company survey, the existing level of information.
The significance of dual study programs in South Africa is still low, only a few company specific approaches exist, mostly in internationally operating companies. Nevertheless, closer cooperation and more company orientated learning is required. The willingness to participate in dual study programs was confirmed from all surveyed companies. Dual courses seems to be particularly suitable for technical disciplines, but are also suitable for some business courses.
The demographic shift in the age structure has the effects that many ageing employees work in organisations. Migration can slow down the ageing of population but could not stop it. More and more people with immigration background work in organisations. Therefore, the question is, whether diversity sensitive attitudes count for all diversity aspects. The central aim of the study is to deal with the problem fields of multicultural teamwork. Thereby, the focus is on the collaboration of employees with and without immigration background. The interviews with employees with and without an immigra-tion background of various company branches were conducted. The results show that employees with an immigration background have more contact and feel comfortable with persons from different cultures than employees without an immigration back-ground. The qualitative analysis indicates that there is a high need of competence devel-opment, especially intercultural and social competences in organisations. The results of the study reveal that personality traits and characteristics of employees play a role to what extent they accept diversity and are willing to work with persons from another culture. Age is not important regarding intercultural competence development.
Suicide is a major cause of death in adulthood and specifically in patients suffering from mental illnesses. The Depressive Symptom Inventory Suicidality Subscale (DSI-SS) is widely used to detect and prevent suicidal ideation. The aim of the present study was to determine optimal cut points for the DSI-SS in different populations.
We analysed the data of one population-based sample (n = 532), one outpatient sample (n = 180) and one inpatient sample (n = 244). Internal consistency, convergent validity and optimal cut points according to receiver operating characteristics were calculated.
In all samples, we found excellent item-total correlations and internal consistencies for the DSI-SS. Zero-order correlations between the DSI-SS and theoretically related constructs showed positive correlation coefficients, ranging from 0.50 to 0.67. The DSI-SS differentiated well between patients with and without suicide attempts in the population-based sample, but less so in the inpatient sample and only marginally in the outpatient sample. A bootstrapping analysis showed some variability in the cut points that emerged as optimal, but there was no overlap between the different samples.
The specific cut points that we identified may be used to improve the diagnostic utility of the DSI-SS and the chance to detect suicidal ideation.
Currently, only non-imaging chlorophyll fluorescence measurements are used to identify the Lower Oxygen Limit (LOL) in Dynamic Controlled Atmosphere - Chlorophyll Fluorescence (DCA-CF) storage. The disadvantage of non-imaging fluorescence is that no statement can be made about the spatial heterogeneity of the sample. In contrast, chlorophyll fluorescence imaging can detect spatial heterogeneity of photosynthetic activity and has been established in research for some decades because the information benefit is higher. In this study, the chlorophyll fluorescence (Fo, Fm, Fv, Fv/Fm) of apples (Malus x domestica, BORKH.) was measured with a fluorescence imaging system in situ during storage. Intact apples of ‘Braeburn’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ were stored under low-oxygen stress conditions (< 1 kPa). The metabolic shift from aerobic to fermentative metabolism was made visible with the chlorophyll fluorescence imaging and was spatially localized on the sample. Furthermore, a method was developed to identify the LOL based on the chlorophyll fluorescence imaging combined with the histogram division method. This method considers the heterogeneity of the fluorescence and bundles the measured Fo data as histograms. Our results showed that the fluorescence imaging combined with the histogram division method can be a powerful tool for identifying the LOL.
Detection and resolution of conflicting change operations in version management of process models
(2013)
Version management of process models requires that different versions of process models are integrated by applying change operations. Conflict detection between individually applied change operations and conflict resolution support are integral parts of version management. For conflict detection it is utterly important to compute a precise set of conflicts, since the minimization of the number of detected conflicts also reduces the overhead for merging different process model versions. As not every syntactic conflict leads to a conflict when taking into account model semantics, a computation of conflicts solely on the syntax leads to an unnecessary high number of conflicts. Moreover, even the set of precisely computed conflicts can be extensive and their resolution means a significant workload for a user. As a consequence, adequate support is required that guides a user through the resolution process and suggests possible resolution strategies for individual conflicts. In this paper, we introduce the notion of syntactic and semantic conflicts for change operations of process models. We provide a method how to efficiently compute conflicts precisely, using a term formalization of process models and consider the subsequent resolution of the detected conflicts based on different strategies. Using this approach, we can significantly reduce the number of overall conflicts and reduce the amount of work for the user when resolving conflicts.
The establishment of successful clinical information logistics (CIL) within the care processes is one of the main objectives of strategic health IT management in hospitals. While technical realisations in terms of useful, usable and interoperable IT solutions are essential precursors of CIL, there is limited empirical research on what socio-organisational factors underlie an innovation-friendly culture and how they can affect successful information provision. We applied factor analysis on survey data from 403 clinical directors from Germany, Austria and Switzerland and used the dimensions identified to explain the level of CIL with ordered logistic regression analysis. The intensity of collaboration and exchange with the IT department as well as the degree of executive IT leadership showed to be strongly associated with better CIL while personal views and attitudes of clinical directors were not. Analysing country differences revealed the degree of the exchange with the IT department to be significantly lower in German hospitals. This points at a potential strategic lever for German hospital executives to focus on.
Oleamide is used as a lubricant in the manufacturing and application of polypropylene (PP) medical devices. Samples of PP were prepared with 0, 1500, and 15 000 ppm oleamide content as lubricant. The samples were either left non-sterile, sterilized with ethylene oxide (ETO), γ-radiation (γ) or autoclaved (A) and stored for up to 4 weeks. To determine the oleamide bulk-to-surface distribution depending on sterilization method and storage time an extraction method and a washing technique were applied. The oleamide content was determined by gas chromatography (GC-FID) and compared with the coefficient of friction (COF). The COF dependent on the measured lubricant content at the surface. The content of lubricant on the surface depends on the type of sterilization: ETO increased the lubricant content to some extent, γ-sterilization and autoclaving reduced it. After storage, no migration of the lubricant to the surface could be detected.
Objectives: This paper addresses recent steps for reforming the eligibility criteria of the German long-term care insurance that have been initiated to overcome shortcomings in the current system.
Methods: Based on findings of a survey of international long-term care systems, assessment tools and the relevant literature on care needs a new tool for determining eligibility in the German long-term care insurance was developed.
Results: The new tool for determining long-term care eligibility broadens the understanding of what ‚dependency on nursing care' implies for the person affected. The assessment results in a degree of dependency from personal help provided by formal or informal caregivers. This degree of dependency can be used for determining eligibility for and the amount of long-term care benefits.
Discussion: The broader understanding of "dependency on nursing care' and the new tool are important steps to adapt the German long-term care insurance to the challenges of the demographic and societal changes in the future
Background: Availability and usage of individual IT applications have been studied intensively in the past years. Recently, IT support of clinical processes is attaining increasing attention. The underlying construct that describes the IT support of clinical workflows is clinical information logistics. This construct needs to be better understood, operationalised and measured.
Objectives: It is therefore the aim of this study to propose and develop a workflow composite score (WCS) for measuring clinical information logistics and to examine its quality based on reliability and validity analyses.
Methods: We largely followed the procedural model of MacKenzie and colleagues (2011) for defining and conceptualising the construct domain, for developing the measurement instrument, assessing the content validity, pretesting the instrument, specifying the model, capturing the data and computing the WCS and testing the reliability and validity.
Results: Clinical information logistics was decomposed into the descriptors data and information, function, integration and distribution, which embraced the framework validated by an analysis of the international literature. This framework was refined selecting representative clinical processes. We chose ward rounds, pre- and post-surgery processes and discharge as sample processes that served as concrete instances for the measurements. They are sufficiently complex, represent core clinical processes and involve different professions, departments and settings. The score was computed on the basis of data from 183 hospitals of different size, ownership, location and teaching status. Testing the reliability and validity yielded encouraging results: the reliability was high with r(split-half) = 0.89, the WCS discriminated between groups; the WCS correlated significantly and moderately with two EHR models and the WCS received good evaluation results by a sample of chief information officers (n = 67). These findings suggest the further utilisation of the WCS.
Conclusion: As the WCS does not assume ideal workflows as a gold standard but measures IT support of clinical workflows according to validated descriptors a high portability of the WCS to other hospitals in other countries is very likely. The WCS will contribute to a better understanding of the construct clinical information logistics.
Background: Continuous improvements of IT-performance in healthcare organisations require actionable performance indicators, regularly conducted, independent measurements and meaningful and scalable reference groups. Existing IT-benchmarking initiatives have focussed on the development of reliable and valid indicators, but less on the questions about how to implement an environment for conducting easily repeatable and scalable IT-benchmarks.
Objectives: This study aims at developing and trialling a procedure that meets the afore-mentioned requirements.
Methods: We chose a well established, regularly conducted (inter-) national IT-survey of healthcare organisations (IT-Report Healthcare) as the environment and offered the participants of the 2011 survey (CIOs of hospitals) to enter a benchmark. The 61 structural and functional performance indicators covered among others the implementation status and integration of IT-systems and functions, global user satisfaction and the resources of the IT-department. Healthcare organisations were grouped by size and ownership. The benchmark results were made available electronically and feedback on the use of these results was requested after several months.
Results: Fifty-ninehospitals participated in the benchmarking. Reference groups consisted of up to 141 members depending on the number of beds (size) and the ownership (public vs. private). A total of 122 charts showing single indicator frequency views were sent to each participant. The evaluation showed that 94.1% of the CIOs who participated in the evaluation considered this benchmarking beneficial and reported that they would enter again. Based on the feedback of the participants we developed two additional views that provide a more consolidated picture.
Conclusion: The results demonstrate that establishing an independent, easily repeatable and scalable IT-benchmarking procedure is possible and was deemed desirable. Based on these encouraging results a new benchmarking round which includes process indicators is currently conducted.
Developing organizations
(2021)
This chapter reviews organizational development (OD) as networked man-agerial practices and investigates the role these practices play in contemporary strategic management and in management communication. Our analytical overview of studies finds that the literature lacks empirical evidence on the linguistic properties of OD’s practices as these properties have not been researched in OD but in settings where change is solely approached as a planned process. To fill this gap, we propose a research framework to inquire into OD’s verbal, paraverbal, and nonverbal practices. After a tour d’horizon of OD’s and change management’s ontological and epistemological paradigms, we outline the implications of the practice perspective of OD for strategic management, then narrow our focus to empirical studies’ prominent out-comes on discursive practices in change processes, and conclude with a framework for future research
Every modern institution involved in higher education needs a Learning Management System (LMS) to handle learning and teaching processes. It is necessary to offer e.g. electronic lecture materials to the students for download via the internet. In some educational contexts, it is also necessary to offer internet tutorials to be able to give the students more personal support and accompany them through the whole lecture period. Many organisations have introduced commercial LMS and gained the experience that monolithic solutions do not fulfil the dynamic requirements of complex educational institutions and are very cost-intensive. Therefore, many universities face the decision to stick to their commercial LMS or to switch to a potentially more cost-effective and flexible solution, for instance by adopting available Open Source LMS. Since we have made profound experience in developing and operating an Open Source LMS, this contribution enlightens the main characteristics of this alternative. This paper describes a use case dealing with a full product lifecycle (development, deployment, use and evaluation) of an Open Source LMS at the University of Muenster (Germany). It identifies relevant instruments and aspects of system design which software architects in practical application domains should pay attention to.
Background: Clinical information logistics is the backbone of care workflows inside and outside of hospitals. Due to the great potential of health IT to support clinical processes its contribution needs to be regularly monitored and governed. IT benchmarks are a well-known instrument to optimise the availability and use of IT by guiding the decision making process. The aim of this study was to translate IT benchmarking results that were grounded on a hierarchical workflow scoring system into an appropriate visualisation concept.
Methods: To this end, a three-dimensional multi-level model was developed, which allowed the decomposition of the highly aggregated workflow composite score into score views for the individual clinical workflows concerned and for the descriptors of these workflows. Furthermore this multi-level model helped to break down the score views into single and multiple indicator views.
Results: The results could be visualised per hospital in comparison to the results of organisations of similar size and ownership (peer reference groups) and in comparison to different types of innovation adopters. The multi-level model was implemented in a benchmark of 199 hospitals and evaluated by the chief information officers. The evaluation resulted in high ratings for the comprehensibility of the different types of views of the scores and indicators.
Conclusions: The implementation of the multi-level model in a large benchmark of hospitals proved to be feasible and useful in terms of the overall structure and the different indicator views. There seems to be a preference for less complex and familiar views.
A systematic study was performed to understand the effects of the devulcanizing agent dibenzamido diphenyl disulfide (DBD) on the vulcanization and devulcanization process of a sulfur-cured ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM) rubber. The influence of DBD on vulcanization was investigated by mixing DBD with virgin rubber and curative system. The devulcanization of rubber waste was achieved with varying amounts of DBD ranging from 0.4 to 13.8 wt% and temperatures from 150 to 200°C. The quality of vulcanizates and devulcanizates was evaluated by rheometer tests, temperature scanning stress relaxation measurements, and analysis of mechanical properties. During vulcanization, DBD acts as an accelerator in the presence of sulfur. When accelerators are added, the scorch time increases, and the cure rate decreases. Thus, DBD acts as a retarder. In the presence of activators, DBD leads to a significant reduction of crosslink density. This results in composites with high elongation at break and poor compression set values. The efficiency of the devulcanization of rubber waste depends strongly on DBD concentration and temperature. The monosulfidic crosslinks are cleaved by low concentrations of DBD, while polysulfidic crosslinks require higher concentrations. These results show that DBD is effective as a devulcanizing agent and degrades the network below 200°C.
Introduction
Tests to evaluate the integrity of the alar ligaments are important clinical tools for manual therapists, but there is limited research regarding their validity.
Method
A single blinded examiner assessed alar ligament integrity using the lateral shear test (LST), rotation stress test (RST) and side-bending stress test (SBST) on a sample of convenience comprising 7 subjects with MRI confirmed alar ligament lesions and 11 healthy people. Alar ligament lesions were identified using both supine and high-field strength upright MRI.
Results
The RST had a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 69.2%. The SBST and the LST both showed a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 76.9%. In cases where all three tests were positive, the specificity increased to 84.6%.
Discussion
Tests of manual examination of alar ligament integrity have some diagnostic utility; however, these findings require further corroboration in a larger sample.
25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25-OHD3) formed via hepatic hydroxylation from vitamin D, cholecalciferol, represents the precursor of the biologically active vitamin D hormone, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. Due to a higher absorption rate and the omission of one hydroxylation, dietary supplementation of 25-OHD3 instead of vitamin D3 is considered to be more efficient as plasma concentrations of 25-OHD3 are increased more pronounced. The present review summarises studies investigating potential beneficial effects on mineral homeostasis, bone metabolism, health status and performance in sows, piglets and fattening pigs. Results are inconsistent. While most studies could not demonstrate any or only a slight impact of partial or total replacement of vitamin D3 by 25-OHD3, some experiments indicated that 25-OHD3 might alter physiological processes when animals are challenged, for example, by a restricted mineral supply.
Extending assessments of climate change-induced range shifts via correlative species distribution models by including species traits is crucial for conservation planning. However, comprehensive assessments of future distribution scenarios incorporating responses of biotic factors are poorly investigated. Therefore, the aim of our study was to extend the understanding about the combined usage of species traits data and species distribution models for different life stages and distribution scenarios. We combine global model predictions for the 2050s and thermal performances of Salmo trutta and Salmo salar under consideration of different life stages (adults, juveniles, eggs), timeframes (monthly, seasonally, yearly), and dispersal scenarios (no dispersal, free dispersal, restricted dispersal). We demonstrate that thermal performances of different life stages will either increase or decrease for certain time periods. Model predictions and thermal performances imply range declines and poleward shifts. Dispersal to suitable habitats will be an important factor mitigating warming effects; however, dams may block paths to areas linked to high performances. Our results emphasize enhanced inclusion of critical periods for species and proper dispersal solutions in conservation planning.
Differentiating nociceptive and neuropathic components of clinical pain presentations matters!
(2016)
Aims:
To assess the diagnostic utility of a novel abbreviated monofilament test in comparison with the tuning fork test to detect diabetic peripheral neuropathy in children.
Methods:
A total of 88 children with Type 1 diabetes mellitus were screened for diabetic peripheral neuropathy using the monofilament test and the tuning fork. Nerve conduction studies were performed according to the ‘gold standard’ for neuropathy. We assessed the diagnostic utility and inter-rater agreement of the two screening methods.
Results:
A total of 43 (49%) children (aged 6–18 years) had at least one abnormal nerve conduction study result. Diagnostic utility and inter-rater agreement were very low for both screening methods. The monofilament test yielded a sensitivity of 18% and a specificity of 80%. The tuning fork yielded a sensitivity of 0% and a specificity of 98%.
Conclusion:
The present study found that an abbreviated monofilament test has low diagnostic utility for the detection of early diabetic peripheral neuropathy because of its low reliability. The problem of reliability needs to be more thoroughly addressed in order to improve the screening procedures in diabetes management in childhood and adolescence.
Background:
While aiming for the same goal of building a national eHealth Infrastructure, Germany and the United States pursued different strategic approaches – particularly regarding the role of promoting the adoption and usage of hospital Electronic Health Records (EHR).
Objective:
To measure and model the diffusion dynamics of EHRs in German hospital care and to contrast the results with the developments in the US.
Materials and methods:
All acute care hospitals that were members of the German statutory health system were surveyed during the period 2007–2017 for EHR adoption. Bass models were computed based on the German data and the corresponding data of the American Hospital Association (AHA) from non-federal hospitals in order to model and explain the diffusion of innovation.
Results:
While the diffusion dynamics observed in the US resembled the typical s-shaped curve with high imitation effects (q = 0.583) but with a relatively low innovation effect (p = 0.025), EHR diffusion in Germany stagnated with adoption rates of approx. 50% (imitation effect q = -0.544) despite a higher innovation effect (p = 0.303).
Discussion:
These findings correlate with different governmental strategies in the US and Germany of financially supporting EHR adoption. Imitation only seems to work if there are financial incentives, e.g. those of the HITECH Act in the US. They are lacking in Germany, where the government left health IT adoption strategies solely to the free market and the consensus among all of the stakeholders.
Conclusion:
Bass diffusion models proved to be useful for distinguishing the diffusion dynamics in German and US non-federal hospitals. When applying the Bass model, the imitation parameter needs a broader interpretation beyond the network effects, including driving forces such as incentives and regulations, as was demonstrated by this study.
Radiology has a reputation for having a high affinity to innovation – particularly with regard to information technologies. Designed for supporting the peculiarities of radiological diagnostic workflows, Radiology Information Systems (RIS) and Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) developed into widely used information systems in hospitals and form the basis for advancing the field towards automated image diagnostics. RIS and PACS can thus serve as meaningful indicators of how quickly IT innovations diffuse in secondary care settings – an issue that requires increased attention in research and health policy in the light of increasingly fast innovation cycles. We therefore conducted a retrospective longitudinal observational study to research the diffusion dynamics of RIS and PACS in German hospitals between 2005 and 2017. Based upon data points collected within the “IT Report Healthcare” and building on Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory, we applied a novel methodological technique by fitting Bayesian Bass Diffusion Models on past adoption rates. The Bass models showed acceptable goodness of fit to the data and the results indicated similar growth rates of RIS and PACS implementations and suggest that market saturation is almost reached. Adoption rates of PACS showed a slightly higher coefficient of imitation (q = 0.25) compared to RIS (q = 0.11). However, the diffusion process expands over approximately two decades for both systems which points at the need for further research into how innovation diffusion can be accelerated effectively. Furthermore, the Bayesian approach to Bass modelling showed to have several advantages over the classical frequentists approaches and should encourage adoption and diffusion research to adapt similar techniques.
DIGI4Teach - Handbook
(2023)
One of the important outputs of our DIGI4Teach consortium is this Handbook, which consists of two parts. Part A contains an analysis of the most important descriptive research results conducted within the DIGI4Teach Erasmus+ project regarding the use of digital technology in teaching economic disciplines in partner countries. Part B contains twelve case studies from different areas of economics and business (accounting, finance, marketing, tourism and trade) that were prepared using various digital tools and they can be freely used in classes or other forms of education.
Symposion: Working for the greater good in services: risks and innovation impacts on employees’ wellbeing
Oral presentation: Kumbruck: Digitalization in Health and Old People’s Care and the Impacts on the Interaction Work
Purpose: Digitalization like roboter to lift or feed care receiver or like electronic patient documentation, e.g. on smartphones, changes interaction and communication between care givers and care receivers. From our research projects (Projektgruppe verfassungsverträgliche Technikgestaltung: Mobile information and communication tools in the hospital; Das Ethos fürsorglicher Praxis in der Pflege) shows impacts.
Design/Methodology/Approach/Intervention: Qualitative studies (simulation studies; narrative Interviews, observations,) with more than 60 experimentees in different health care institutions.
Results: The interaction is mediated by electronic tools. The nurses are confident by the electronic assistance and workload reduction; but they are afraid of more distance in the relationship to the patients, more mixing of private and working time activities or more observation by their superiors. The most critical aspect is seen in the patient documentation.
Limitations: These studies are explorative ones. Especially the simulation study is an experimental design.
Research/Practical Implications: There is need for more and quantitative studies. The results give a lot of indications that the organizational and political frameworks of health care are important moderators of the impacts of the digitalization in health care.
Originality/Value: The studies have an important perspective on the change in the relationship between health care givers and receivers by digitalization – a topic, which concerns everybody.
The BBI is a first step toward putting biodiversity conservation into practice in the OHC context. The results are consistent with studies related to nutrition However, the results also show that there is room for improvement and that there are further areas to be addressed. It is also clear that commercial kitchens currently have only limited room for maneuver. If OHC is to become more biodiversity-friendly, greater transparency is needed in terms of origin labels and species/variety identifiers, and a wide range of options will also be required in terms of procurement. That being the case, it is essential to focus on the entire value chain. Furthermore, in addition to the initial recommendations, much more knowledge is required about the impacts of farming methods and heritage varieties and species, as well as about the use of fish, other marine animals and game meat. In principle, however, the BBI can already be implemented in commercial kitchens by identifying recipe optimizations that kitchens can feasibly implement, that align with their budgets, and that maintain acceptance among patrons. In addition, this approach has the potential to be integrated into the assessment framework of the NAHGAST calculator, making it readily accessible and free for OHC facilities to use. In the OHC context in particular, this could be leveraged to drive sustainable change in the food system.
The increasing diversity of cultural backgrounds offers potential for a more elaborated information processing, yet has been shown to be challenging for individuals, due to intergroup hostility, prejudices, and difficulties of intercultural communication. Current research thus focusses on the interaction of employees with different cultural heritages, as well as on their intergroup attitudes and competences. Thereby, leaders have been shown to shape the way diversity is considered in their teams in a top-down process. However, their perception of diversity as well as related challenges and chances are poorly investigated. The current paper thus aims to contribute to the understanding of leader’s perspective on and role in diversity-management by building on a comparative qualitative study with sixteen employees and twenty-two leaders. Research questions are how employees and leaders perceive cultural diversity from their specific point of view, which experiences are likely to contribute to their opinion on and perception of diversity and in how far do employees and leaders differ in these aspects. The results show that employees are aware of the topic of diversity in general but have poor competences in dealing with diversity in their daily working life. This seems to be associated with lack of experience with intercultural interaction and a lack of support from the respective organizations/leaders. Leaders are rarely aware of this lack of support. The results indicate that leaders’ experiences with cultural and age diversity, their identification with the company and previous diversity measures in the context of the companies’ policy towards diversity seem to be relevant for the formation of leaders’ attitudes. As a consequence, most participants focus on the question whether they do or do not want diversity within their teams and companies, while they actually fail to perceive the diversity that is already there.
Do multipliers have to be more sensitized for the issue diversity? Do they have to develop specific competences? Which do they already have? These questions were analysed by a qualitative investigation. Ca. 70 interviews with managers of the large DAX companies and employees were conducted. The results show a field of tension between self-perception and perception of others and the assessment of the relevance of diversity attitudes and measures, competences and their actual implementation. The results indicate the need of promotion of competences, especially regarding the intercultural competence. We position ourselves in a functionalist perspective, in line with the work on paradigms of Burell and Morgan (2017) and Deetz (1996) in social sciences and Cross-Cultural Management. We present these results from a functionalist perspective in order to ensure the greatest possible "objectivity".
The central aim of the investigation at hand is to deal with the problem areas of Human Resource Management, which arise by demographic changes and migration. The paper focuses on mutual relationships. Managers and human resource managers are considered as multipliers. Older employees, migrants and women are important potential. Therefore, following research questions have been investigated: Which competences are necessary to promote to recognise the potential of migrants correctly and to promote them? Do the multipliers have to be more sensitized for the issue diversity? Do they have to develop specific competences to make the system more permeable and to make the entry and promotion of migrants possible? Which competences should be promoted to increase the sensitivity for diversity? The questions were examined by a qualitative investigation to develop hypotheses for a quantitative study. Overall, 30 interviews with managers, human resource managers and diversity representatives of the large DAX companies were conducted. Furthermore, 17 employees with immigration background and 15 employees without an immigration background were interviewed. The data was transcribed and analysed by the qualitative content analysis according to Mayring (2010). Comparative analyses were made with single items with Likert Scales. The investigation of managers and employees is a highly diversified issue. Therefore, the main focus of the project lays on the problem areas, conflicts and competences of human resources managers in demographic-sensitive personnel management. In comparison, employees with and without an immigration background were asked. The results show an interesting field of tension between self-perception and perception of others and the assessment of the relevance of diversity attitudes and measures, competences and their implementation. Furthermore, a contrary perception regarding strains and stresses of person with and without immigration background is determined, which is developed in the consequences of migrations stress and experiences of discrimination. The results indicate the need of promotion of competences, especially regarding intercultural competence. A critical analysis of the results will be presented.
Due to new research results in the past few years, interest in the fascia of the human body has increased. Dysfunctions of the fascia are indicated by various symptoms, amongst others, musculoskeletal pain. As a result stronger focus has been put on researching therapeutic approaches in this area. The main aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Foam Roll exercises on the mobility of the thoracolumbar fascia (TLF). Study has been conducted in a randomized and controlled trial which sampled 38 healthy athletic active men and women.
The subjects were randomly assigned to a Foam Roll Group (FMG), a Placebo Group (PG) and a Control Group (CG). Depending on the assigned group the volunteers were either instructed to do exercises with the Foam Roll, received a pseudo treatment with the Foam Roll or received no treatment.
A total of three measurements were carried out. The most important field of research was the mobility of the TLF, which was determined using a sonographic assessment. In addition the lumbar flexion and the mechanosensivity of relevant muscles were determined.
After the intervention, the FMG showed an average increase of 1.7915 mm for the mobility of the TLF (p < 0.001/d = 0.756). In contrast, only an average improvement of 0.1681 mm (p = 0.397) was shown in the PG, while the CG showed a slight improvement of 0.0139 mm (p = 0.861). However, no significant changes were observed with regard to the lumbar flexion and mechanosensivity of the treated muscles.
Thus, evidence is that the use of Foam Roll exercises significantly improves the mobility of the thoracolumbar fascia in a healthy young population.
Purpose
In a knowledge-based society, one of the main driving forces of prosperity at city and regional levels is the ability to attract students and recently qualified graduates. The purpose of this paper is to identify the urban factors that contribute to “attractiveness” from a student perspective and to subsequently analyse the influence of these factors on students’ location choices. In the corresponding case study, the criteria identified were used to evaluate student satisfaction with the German city of Osnabrück.
Design/methodology/approach
A multi-level empirical research concept was used to analyse the relevant criteria. Focus group discussions served as the basis to design and conduct a survey of almost 2,300 students in the university city of Osnabrück at the end of 2016. A follow-up study in November 2017 at two universities in Berlin provided data for comparison.
Findings
Accessible – safe – clean and with affordable housing: these terms sum up the core expectations that students have of an attractive city. In contrast to the findings of Richard Florida regarding the creative class, cultural opportunities, exciting nightlife and a multicultural population were not important factors among the survey participants.
Research limitations/implications
As the study was conducted in two cities only, the findings cannot be generalised. It should be replicated in at least five other cities to validate and compare the research findings presented here. Furthermore, this study focused on the factors influencing the attractiveness of the city as a whole. However, the attractiveness of a specific neighbourhood may be of greater relevance to the decision-making process. As housing plays a major role, students’ particular needs with regard to accommodation should also be examined at greater depth.
Practical implications
Insights generated by the empirical study provide relevant information that may assist city stakeholders in taking effective measures regarding place management to attract and retain students.
Originality/value
To date, little research has been undertaken to empirically examine the specific factors that German students look for when deciding where to study and live. The goal of this paper is to present new empirical insights concerning the quality-of-life factors that influence students’ decision-making processes.
Objectives: To measure and assess the economic impact of adherence to a single quality indicator (QI) regarding weaning from invasive ventilation.
Design: Retrospective observational single-centre study, based on electronic medical and administrative records.
Setting: Intensive care unit (ICU) of a German university hospital, reference centre for acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Participants: Records of 3063 consecutive mechanically ventilated patients admitted to the ICU between 2012 and 2017 were extracted, of whom 583 were eligible adults for further analysis. Patients’ weaning protocols were evaluated for daily adherence to quality standards until ICU discharge. Patients with <65% compliance were assigned to the low adherence group (LAG), patients with ≥65% to the high adherence group (HAG).
Primary and secondary outcome measures: Economic healthcare costs, clinical outcomes and patients’ characteristics.
Results: The LAG consisted of 378 patients with a median negative economic results of −€3969, HAG of 205 (−€1030), respectively (p<0.001). Median duration of ventilation was 476 (248; 769) hours in the LAG and 389 (247; 608) hours in the HAG (p<0.001). Length of stay (LOS) in the LAG on ICU was 21 (12; 35) days and 16 (11; 25) days in the HAG (p<0.001). LOS in the hospital was 36 (22; 61) days in the LAG, and within the HAG, respectively, 26 (18; 48) days (p=0.001).
Conclusions: High adherence to this single QI is associated with better clinical outcome and improved economic returns. Therefore, the results support the adherence to QI. However, the examined QI does not influence economic outcome as the decisive factor.
Objective
Gross mandibular position and masticatory muscle activity have been shown to influence cervical muscles electromyographic activity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of three different mandible positions including conscious occlusion, tongue tip against the anterior hard palate (Palate tongue position) and natural resting position (Rest), on sagittal plane cervical spine range of motion (ROM) as well as the flexion-rotation test (FRT) in asymptomatic subjects.
Materials and methods
An experienced single blinded examiner evaluated ROM using an Iphone in 22 subjects (7 females; mean age of 29.91years, SD 5.44).
Results
Intra-rater reliability for range recorded was good for the FRT with ICC (intraclass correlation) 0.95 (95% CI: 0.88–0.98) and good for sagittal plane cervical ROM with ICC 0.90 (95% CI: 0.77–0.96). A repeated measures ANOVA determined that mean ROM recorded during the FRT differed significantly between assessment points (F(1.99, 41.83) = 19.88, P < 0.001). Bonferroni Post hoc tests revealed that both conscious Occlusion and Palate tongue position elicited a significant large reduction in ROM recorded during the FRT from baseline (p < 0.01). Despite this, one activation strategy did not influence ROM more than the other. An additional repeated measures ANOVA determined that mean sagittal cervical ROM did not significantly vary between assessment points (F(2, 42) = 8.18, P = 0.08).
Conclusion
This current study provided further evidence for the influence of the temporomandibular region on upper cervical ROM. Results suggest that clinicians should focus on the natural mandible rest position when evaluating upper cervical mobility.
The energy transition involves various challenges. One key aspect is the decentralization of power generation, which requires new actors. In order to integrate these into the system in the best possible way, there are various approaches e.g. in cooperation in citizens' initiatives or cooperatives (Dorniok, 2016).
Cooperation in general can enable the implementation of certain business models or can increase profitability by the exploitation of economies of scale (Skovsgaard & Jacobsen, 2017; Theurl, 2010). Synergy effects result from the utilization of know-how, different technologies or resources of the partners involved to complement the own competencies and services (Eggers & Engelbrecht, 2005; Sander, 2009). Cooperation exists in various industries and enable the participating companies to compensate their size-related resource deficits (Glaister & Buckley, 1996; Todeva & Knoke, 2005). This creates the opportunity to develop innovations, open up new markets, exploit newly created economies of scale and share costs and risks (Franco & Haase, 2015). In agriculture, cooperation in the form of cooperatives have been of essential importance for a long time, especially with the aim of exploiting synergy effects (Bareille et al., 2017). In the field of renewable energy development, cooperation in form of citizen cooperatives make a significant contribution to the participation of citizens in political, social and financial aspects of the energy transition (Huybrechts & Mertens, 2014). Energy cooperatives are frequently discussed as a potential actor in the energy transition and are increasingly being established to advance the common interests of stakeholders. For example, the joint operation of decentralized power generation plants can involve new actors in the energy transition through regional cooperation (Walk, 2014).
Existing biogas plants in Germany need new business models after the 20-year Renewable Energy Sources Act feed-in tariff expires. For continued operation, a business model innovation is needed, which can be realized based on the different technical utilization pathways. Cooperation can have a significant impact on the profitability of the different business models, especially by exploiting synergy effects (Karlsson et al., 2019). In addition, cooperation can help to ensure that existing plants continue to operate at all.
Currently, the most widespread use of biogas in Germany is in the coupled generation of electricity and heat. Additionally, there is the possibility of upgrading biogas to biomethane or biogenic hydrogen path (Mertins & Wawer, 2022).
Different options for cooperative business models that exist in the biogas utilization pathways are presented. The focus is on explaining the advantages of a joint approach compared to single-farm business models and identifying the relevant actors. Subsequently, drivers and barriers for the different cooperative business models are identified and classified based on 20 semi-structured interviews with plant operators in the administrative district of Osnabrück. The aim is to identify drivers and barriers for cooperative post-EEG operation. As a result, political instruments are to be found that make it possible to involve relevant actors and thus stimulate the best possible continued operation from the point of view of the energy system. The results are structured according to the PESTEL analysis. This assigns drivers and barriers to the categories political, economic, sociocultural, technological, ecological and legal (Kaufmann, 2021). The analysis of the interviews is supplemented and validated by a literature review.
Drivers and barriers for cooperative business models are manifold and can vary mainly depending on the plant and the operator.
Drivers
• Political
o Promotion of renewable energies: reduce dependence on fossil (Russian) fuels
• Economic
o Expectation of synergies (information sharing, shared risk, economies of scale)
o Planning security (fixed supply or purchase contracts)
o Access to new markets (not accessible by single-farm business models)
o Cost savings by sharing infrastructure, technology
o Positive return expectation
• Sociocultural
o Motivating, innovative environment
o Lowers barriers to participation in new markets
o Target-oriented partnerships
o Better use of capacities and strengths
o Strengthening regional value creation
• Technological
o Economies of scale (efficiency)
o Available, mature technology
o Storable, transportable gas
o Well-developed infrastructure
• Ecological
o Increase in plant efficiency
o Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
o Promotion of the circular economy by utilization of organic waste and agricultural residues
o Improving soil quality (fermentation residues as fertilizer)
Barriers
• Political
o Competition to other renewable energies
• Economic
o Uncertainty about future development of energy markets
o Disagreements between the cooperation partners
o Lack of flexibility due to longer-term contractual obligations
o Allocation of profits
• Sociocultural
o Cooperation with current competitor
o Cultural differences and lack of trust
o Acceptance by the general public (e.g. overproduction of maize)
• Technological
o Different technology that is difficult to combine
o Data protection
• Ecological
o Competition for agricultural land
o Use of monocultures
o Emissions from plant
o Pollution from transport
• Legal
o Legal requirements and regulations
o Unfavorable regulatory environment, e.g. long permitting process
One finding is that uncertainty is a major barrier for plant operators. This includes uncertainty about regulatory frameworks and political requirements, as well as about the general development of the energy markets. In addition, social factors such as lack of reliability and disagreement about revenue sharing are a potential barrier. A key driver for the implementation of cooperative business models is the expectation of synergy effects. In addition, operators are driven by a positive expectation of returns and the responsibility for securing the energy supply in times of crisis.
The drivers identified can now be used to develop strategies to advance cooperative business models. In particular, synergy effects should be exploited so that operators can benefit from cooperation. The advantages can also be highlighted and communicated to increase acceptance among the general public. Another important step is to reduce the barriers discussed above. In order to reduce social barriers in particular, it may be advisable to include an external partner in the cooperation, such as a municipal utility that operates an upgrading plant and concludes purchase agreements with the individual partners. In addition, it would be politically expedient to provide the operators with a clear framework for the future in order to reduce uncertainties. As a further aspect, knowledge transfer on new technologies and markets should take place.
A patient presenting with local pain and limitation of movement in the temporomandibular region following surgery of the left temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is described. Manual techniques like distraction of the TMJ combined with motor control exercises to restore TMJ function were not sufficient to relieve the patient's symptoms and her orofacial functions. However, during manual assessment and treatment of cranial nervous tissue, in this case the auriculotemporal nerve and its interface, pain was relieved and orofacial functions improved.
When speaking about eBusiness as applied to the healthcare market two questions arise immediately. Firstly, what is eBusiness? Secondly, why is eBusiness in healthcare different from eBusiness in other sectors?
Within the arena of eBusiness in healthcare, the focus is on purchasing and selling online as the most advanced application. In this book, the Authors consider both the perspective of the healthcare providers and that of the suppliers, showing the interdependencies between the two and developing concepts for a new synergistic cooperation.
eBusiness in Healthcare raises awareness of and interest in electronically mediated business processes in healthcare to a large audience including healthcare informaticians, medical business managers, clinicians, pharmacists and scientists. By taking an international approach to the topic the authors demonstrate the many similarities of eBusiness problems and their solutions among different countries which permits analysis of the differences that are often defined by the national healthcare systems and their rules. Case studies from healthcare institutions and from suppliers in the US, the UK and Germany will illustrate the achievements, barriers and future plans, thus enabling newcomers to learn from previous experience.
Clinicians will gain significant insight by this book which demonstrates the interconnection between patient care processes and management issues at the level of medical supplies. The book also makes a plea for a multidisciplinary effort, to enable the right product to be procured for the right patient. As a rather new discipline, eBusiness in healthcare needs further scientific backing. Against this background, this book will not only provide answers but will also raise questions for future research. Managing change and innovation and establishing the critical mass for eBusiness in healthcare is a major undertaking. The aim of this book is to support this process.
Ecological restoration of an urban demolition site through introduction of native forb species
(2020)
Urban brownfields can provide habitats for endangered native plant species but may also support invasive non native species. The aim of our study was to develop and test different measures for the ecological restoration of an urban brownfield. We aimed to enhance native plant species richness by seeding two native forb seed mix tures containing 25 (HD-mixture) and 13 species (LD-mixture), respectively, without affecting spontaneously colonizing plant species of nature conservation value. Additionally, we tested the effects of species introduction and mowing on the establishment of invasive non-native plant species, woody species development, and per ennial grass dominance.
With establishment rates of 84% (HD) and 92% (LD) in the first study year and about 60% for both seed mixtures in the fourth year, species introduction was successful and led to rapid re-vegetation of the formerly bare brownfield. Although seeding did not result in increased species richness using either seed mixture, the dominance of perennial grasses was significantly reduced by the establishment of forb species from the HD mixture. Overall, we observed the spontaneous establishment of ten plant species of conservation value; seeding affected these species only temporarily, in the second year. Seeding (with either seed mixture) and mowing both resulted in reduced cover of woody species and a lower frequency of the invasive non-native Robinia pseudoa cacia.
Our study demonstrated the high nature conservation value of dry and nutrient-poor urban brownfields for spontaneously occurring threatened plant species. Further studies have to evaluate if the reduced cover of grasses and woody species through introduction of site-specific native forb species might increase these sites’ aesthetic value and broader acceptance of brownfields by urban residents.
Injection of slurry or digestate below maize seeds is a relatively new technique developed to improve nitrogen use efficiency. However, this practice has the major drawback of increasing nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. The application of a nitrification inhibitor (NI) is an effective method to reduce these emissions. To evaluate the effect of the NI 3,4‐dimethypyrazole phosphate (DMPP) on N2O emissions and the stabilization of ammonium, a two‐factorial soil‐column experiment was conducted. PVC pipes (20 cm diameter and 30 cm length) were used as incubation vessels for the soil‐columns. The trial consisted of four treatments in a randomized block design with four replications: slurry injection, slurry injection + DMPP, digestate injection, and digestate injection + DMPP. During the 47‐day incubation period, N2O fluxes were measured twice a week and cumulated by linear interpolation of the gas‐fluxes of consecutive measurement dates. After completion of the gas flux measurement, concentration of ammonium and nitrate within the soil‐columns was determined. DMPP delayed the conversion of ammonium within the manure injection zone significantly. This effect was considerably more pronounced in treatment digestate + NI than in treatment slurry + NI. Regarding the cumulated N2O emissions, no difference between slurry and digestate treatments was determined. DMPP reduced the release of N2O significantly. Transferring the results into practice, the use of DMPP is a promising way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and nitrate leaching, following the injection of slurry or digestate.
The aim of the study was to examine different pH parameters, such as variations throughout the day, depending on differing concentrate feed proportions. Moreover, special attention was payed to individual variation in microbial efficiencies (microbial crude protein/fermented organic matter) and their relation to ruminal pH, nutrient flows and digestibilities. For this, cows were grouped according to microbial efficiency (more, n = 5, vs. less efficient cows, n = 4). After calving, thirteen ruminally cannulated pluriparous cows, including nine duodenally cannulated animals, were divided into groups offered rations with a lower (35% on dry matter basis, n = 7) or a higher (60% on dry matter basis, n = 6) concentrate feed proportion. Ruminal pH parameters were assessed continuously by using intraruminal probes. Nutrient flows, nutrient digestibility and microbial efficiency were determined for duodenally cannulated cows. For most ruminal pH parameters it seemed that individual variability was higher than the treatment effect. However, a positive relationship between actual concentrate intake and diurnal pH fluctuations was found. Besides, the effect of individually different microbial efficiencies was assessed. Again, there were no group differences for pH parameters. However, nutrient flows were significantly higher in more efficient cows, whereas digestibilities were lower in in more efficient cows.
Establishment of calcareous grassland on ex-arable fields by introducing target species is one of the most frequently used methods to restore the species assemblages of this highly endangered habitat type. The present study evaluates the long-term success of calcareous grassland restoration on former arable land in the vicinity of one of the oldest nature reserves in Bavaria, the “Garchinger Heide”. The restoration experiment combined different measures like topsoil removal, transfer of freshly cut seed-containing hay and additional sowing to the following variants in a 21-year experiment: (1) No topsoil removal, no hay transfer (control), (2) no topsoil removal with immediate hay transfer, (3) topsoil removal with immediate hay transfer and (4) topsoil removal with hay transfer 10 years after the start of restoration. Eleven Red List species which had not been transferred successfully were additionally sown after 9 to 19 years. Due to a limited availability of seeds, sowing of these species was mainly restricted to areas with topsoil removal, where better establishment was expected due to low vegetation cover. Five rare species with abundant seed production were also sown to plots without topsoil removal and hay transfer. The nature reserve served both as the donor area of the target species and as the reference to evaluate restoration success. Regarding aboveground biomass and total vegetation cover, greatest similarity to the donor site was observed on plots without topsoil removal. In contrast, the highest numbers of target species occurred on plots with topsoil removal, hay transfer and additional sowing. Similarity in species composition between restoration sites and the reference area increased over time, but species composition of restored sites did not fully reflect the reference after 21 years. One reason for the remaining dissimilarity was probably that topsoil removal favored stress tolerant species which were less common on the mature and more fine-grained soils of the nature reserve. Plots without topsoil removal still differed from the reference by their high vegetation cover and a significantly higher proportion of mesophytic grassland species. The study also showed that 19 Red List species were successfully established on the former arable fields, eight of them presumably by sowing. Nevertheless, various other rare species have not been observed yet. Results on functional traits characterizing environmental adaptation and reproduction also underlined the differences between restoration plots and the reference site. Our study presents a ʽdynamic restoration approachʼ where managers evaluated the original factorial treatments after a decade and modified them by additional treatments where development was sub-optimal. Such additional treatments may have confounded the experimental design, but from a management perspective proved to be a promising option to establish species rich grassland of high conservation value with a reasonable expenditure of time.
15 δ N signals in plant and soil material integrate over a number of biogeochemical processes
related to nitrogen (N) and therefore provide information on net effects of multiple
processes on N dynamics. In general little is known in many grassland restoration projects
on soil–plant N dynamics in relation to the restoration treatments. In particular, 15 δ N signals
may be a useful tool to assess whether abiotic restoration treatments have produced the
desired result. In this study we used the range of abiotic and biotic conditions provided
by a restoration experiment to assess to whether the restoration treatments and/or plant
functional identity and legume neighborhood affected plant 15 δ N signals. The restoration
treatments consisted of hay transfer and topsoil removal, thus representing increasing
restoration effort, from no restoration measures, through biotic manipulation to major
abiotic manipulation. We measured 15 δ N and %N in six different plant species (two nonlegumes and four legumes) across the restoration treatments. We found that restoration
treatments were clearly reflected in 15 δ N of the non-legume species, with very depleted
15 δ N associated with low soil N, and our results suggest this may be linked to uptake of
ammonium (rather than nitrate). The two non-legume species differed considerably in their
15 δ N signals, which may be related to the two species forming different kinds of mycorrhizal
symbioses. Plant 15 δ N signals could clearly separate legumes from non-legumes, but our
results did not allow for an assessment of legume neighborhood effects on non-legume
15 δ N signals. We discuss our results in the light of what the 15 δ N signals may be telling
us about plant–soil N dynamics and their potential value as an indicator for N dynamics in
restoration.
The present study aims to compare the effects of maternal and offspring treatment with 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25-OHD3) and vitamin D3 on vitamin D status, mineral homoeostasis, bone metabolism and locomotion in the offspring. Either vitamin D3 (50 μg/kg diet) or 25-OHD3 (50 μg/kg diet) was supplemented to the gestation and lactation diets of 49 multiparous sows and/or to the diets of their growing offspring. Treatment of the sows did not affect plasma concentrations of 25-OHD3 of the offspring. Pigs fed 25-OHD3 had higher plasma concentrations of 25-OHD3 than pigs that received vitamin D3 during rearing and fattening. However, neither plasma concentrations of calcium, phosphate and bone markers during the observation period nor bone ash and bone mineral density at slaughter were clearly affected by the treatment. Maternal and offspring treatment with 25-OHD3 instead of vitamin D3 resulted in a slight reduction in the prevalence of leg swelling. In addition, more pigs walked with even steps and normal stride length. Further studies are needed to test whether the slight effects observed in the present experiment are reproducible and of relevance for animal health and welfare. In that case, the underlying mechanisms should be revealed in order to take advantage of potentially beneficial influences especially under certain feeding regimes.
Farmland bird populations are in a deep crisis across Europe. Agri-environment schemes (AES) were implemented by the European Union to stop and reverse the general decline of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. In Germany, flower strips are one of the most common AES. Establishing high-quality perennial wildflower strips (WFS) with species-rich native forb mixtures from regional seed propagation is a recent approach, for which the effectiveness for birds has not yet been sufficiently studied. We surveyed breeding birds and vegetation on 40 arable fields with WFS (20 with single and 20 with aggregated WFS) and 20 arable fields lacking WFS as controls across Saxony-Anhalt (Germany). Additionally, vegetation composition, WFS quantity and landscape structure (e.g. distance to nearest woody element) were considered in our analyses. All WFS were established with species-rich native seed mixtures (30 forbs) in agricultural practice as AES. Arable fields with WFS had a higher species richness and territory density of birds than controls, confirming the effectiveness of this AES. A forb-rich vegetation was the main driver promoting birds. Flower strip quantity at the landscape level had positive effects only on bird densities, but also single WFS achieved benefits. A short distance from WFS to woody elements increased total bird species richness. However, the density of farmland birds, which are target species of these AES, were negatively affected by the proximity and proportion of woody elements in the vicinity. The effect of the proportion of non-intensively used open habitats and overall habitat richness was unexpectedly low in the otherwise intensively farmed landscape. Species-rich perennial WFS significantly promoted breeding birds. Successful establishment of WFS, resulting in high-quality habitats, a high flower strip quantity as well as implementation in open landscapes were shown to maximise the effectiveness for restoring declining and AES target farmland birds.
Introduction
Observations show that foam rolling improves joint movements. Likewise, it can be stated that a vibration stimulation of the tissue leads to improved joint mobility.
Method
This study investigates whether the combination of foam rolling and vibrations (31 Hz) can influence the sliding of the thoracolumbar fascia more effectively than normal foam rolling. 45 subjects participated in the study and were divided into a foam roll with additional vibration group (FRV), a foam roll group (FR) and a control group (CG). The intervention groups rolled out the gluteal muscles, the lateral trunk and the upper and lower back. Mobility measures were taken pre and post the respective intervention. Subsequent cross correlation software analysis quantified the sliding of the fascia and calculated its shear strain mobility (SSM).
Results
The sliding of the thoracolumbar fascia improved significantly within the FRV by 2.83 mm (SD ± 1.08/p < .001), in the FR by 0.96 mm (SD ± 0.43/p < .001) and in the CG decreased the sliding by 0.1401 mm (SD ± 0.28/p = .076). The fascia/fascia SSM increased in the FRV by 22.61% (SD ± 15.64/p < .001), in the FR by 11.41% (SD ± 20.38/p = .056) and in the CG decreased the SSM by 0.9473% (SD ± 11.35/p < .751). The lumbar movement increased in both intervention groups, but showed no significant result.
Conclusion
The use of a foam roll with additional vibration and standard intervention have increased thoracolumbar fascia sliding and lumbar movements. The improved shear strain mobility can be attributed to the multi-activity of mechanoreceptors, such as Pacini- and Ruffini-Bodies.
In recent years, the issue of land consumption or land use has become increasingly important in many areas of our society. Logistics processes in particular take up a lot of space and have a significant impact on the environment. The question is how this use of land can be optimised. Based on a systematic literature review and interviews with experts in the period between May 2021 and July 2021, this paper presents indicators that constitute or influence space-efficient logistics in the context of cooperation. The results show that in addition to the established cooperation characteristics, there are other indicators that are directly related to land use. In the logistics sector, there is strong competitive pressure and, as a result, little trust between companies. It has been shown that with the help of a neutral moderator, the gap between trusting, land-efficient cooperation and one’s own entrepreneurial interests can be narrowed, and cooperation can be profitable for all participants. In addition, digitisation actually does not seem to be sufficient to meet the information needs of a cooperation. The exchange of information not only serves to automate processes, but also makes cooperation more transparent. It shows that legal and municipal requirements need to be developed. It also becomes clear that the indicators have a mutual influence on each other and cannot be considered in isolation when it comes to the actual implementation of a cooperation. By increasing the efficiency of cooperative processes and value creation, it offers the opportunity to make land use more sustainable.
Objectives: This study aimed at the construction of what the core of eHealth policy making is, offering new perspectives about high priority procedures along the policy making process
Methods: Following Grounded Theory methodology, 59 qualitative telephone interviews with a broad variety of stakeholders from Austria, Switzerland and Germany were conducted
Results: The findings hinted at five priorities of eHealth policy making: strategy, consensus-building, decision-making, implementation and evaluation that emerged from the stakeholders’ perception of the eHealth policy. Hereby strategy, consensus-building and implementation gained the highest attention
Conclusions: These findings suggest three high priorities in eHealth policy: 1) developing and pursuing a consistent eHealth strategy, 2) investing time and resources into consensus-building to clear up difficulties early on in the process, 3) governing implementation towards serving patient care through systems fit for practice.
Public Interest Summary: Digitalisation is playing an increasingly crucial role in providing high quality health care. However, different countries have pursued different political paths. In this study, we wanted to know how the stakeholders perceived the political process in their country to identify strengths and weaknesses. We, therefore, conducted interviews about digital health policy with experts from Austria, Switzerland and Germany covering the full spectrum of stakeholders. The findings suggest three political musts: 1) a convincing and coherent strategy followed throughout the entire process, 2) consensus- building among the stakeholders, 3) using “fit for practice” as the yardstick to measure political success.
The University of Eastern Finland was the responsible partner of IO1: European eHealth Education: Policy and Practice Review. The aim of this intellectual output was to customize and validate the already existing international health informatics recom-mendations. Based on that the aim was also to describe the priorities of core compe-tencies and learning outcomes particularly in the fields addressed by this project. The methods used were a scoping review and focus group interviews. The aim of the scoping review was to explore how education in health informatics (HI) has been taught by evaluating the existing international frameworks and reported ed-ucations in HI. The scoping review was conducted based on the instructions of Joanna Briggs Institute to find English language publications published between 2016 and 2020. All publications found in the bibliographical database MEDLINE via PubMed, Scopus and Web of Sciences were included. The results indicated that education in HI is essential to everyone, and everyone needs skills and knowledge in both technical and non-technical skills in HI. Education in HI should be introduced already in the first year of the education and with time increase the knowledge to a more advanced level. The teaching methods can vary between lectures in class to a more hybrid method. The aim of the online focus group interview was to investigate the needs of HI compe-tencies in health care. To achieve the answers, two main questions were used as a base of the interview. The first question focused on how knowledge and competencies in health informatics could contribute to improving health care. The second question focused on which HI competencies are seen as important to learn and how to achieve them. Online focus group interviews were conducted in each of the three countries. The interviews were done the own languages (German, Portuguese, and Finnish) and later summarized and translated to English. The focus group interviews concluded that there are challenges and possibilities in health informatics. It also highlighted the com-petencies seen as important to have in daily working life. For example, skills in appli-cations in patient care, knowledge in IT-background and IT related management are considered important.
Problem-based learning (PBL) has become established as a successful didactic approach far beyond the field of medicine. Although there is no single concept of PBL, there is agreement on its objectives and implementation. Of central importance is the case that supports autonomous and reflective learning. Even before COVID-19, digital methods were used in traditional PBL. These served to support, for example, the provision of learning materials. As a result of university closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, technical solutions were made available at an unprecedented speed, which made it possible to implement the different requirements of traditional PBL in a digital PBL (DPBL). The present study results based on two scoping reviews demonstrated that PBL can be implemented digitally and that different digital methods, both asynchronous and synchronous, are available for the different steps. They show that DPBL not only leads to comparable student performance, but can also develop further competences, e.g. digital communication. With the findings, a concept for the implementation of DPBL as well as recommendations for the further development of DPBL are available.
Interoperability, Data Protection and Security and Data Analytics are of high relevance for the future of eHealth and interprofessional care. Three online courses were therefore designed and delivered for these topics, all of which followed the same structure. A variety of materials were developed and different tools for knowledge transfer, communication and collaboration were used.
IO6 is a report of the evaluation of the online courses and Summer School. The project plan of eHealth4all@EU guides the evaluation. The aim of the evaluation is to present the strengths and developing parts of the project. The main evaluation themes are eHealth, inter-professional education, and problem-based learning. For the funder’s perspective, evaluation focusing themes of digital support, lifelong learning, an active citizen, and the future. Evaluation of the project assign around all these themes and will find out students’ and teachers’ feelings of satisfaction, efficiency, and quality of the learning experience.
This report summarizes and discusses the development, main achievements and overall progress of The Interprofessional European eHealth Programme in Higher Education (eHealth4all@EU) project. The project evolved through a strong partnership between members of the consortium, grounding its activities on previous initiatives like TIGER and taking them one step further while looking into the digital health competencies required by graduate students working in health and care and providing teaching approaches and other initiatives to extend further a set of core competencies: Health Information Systems Interoperability, Data Security and Privacy and Data Analytics. Although the project activities underwent during the pandemic period, a condition that forced reorganization and adaptation of the workplan, the main initiatives like the identification of significant areas of interest for digital health competencies and related relevant teaching methods that foster active learning paved the way for the construction of learning content structured around a syllabus aimed at distance learning and faceto- face learning moments developed with the intent for reuse and fostering the development of these set of competences in future Health Professionals. To this purpose, we are convinced that grounding steps have been taken with these eHealth4All@EU activities and initiatives.
In September 2022, the interprofessional European Summer School on the topic “Information in Healthcare – From Data to Knowledge” was held at the University of Porto. This Summer School included the topics Interoperability, Data Protection and Security and Data Analytics and consisted of an online preparation phase and an attendance phase in Porto. The didactic concept involved problem-based learning using a case study. A variety of course materials were developed and used to achieve the learning objectives. There are plans to continue the Summer School concept at participating institutions in the future, starting with a Spring School 2023 in Osnabrück.
Rationale:
Biomechanical analyses are capable of capturing and evaluating human motions. In addition to the major biomechanical fields of kinetics and kinematics, electromyography (EMG) provides a reliable way to analyse neuromuscular activities, e.g. inter- and intramuscular coordination, fatigue behavior or timing. Based on these parameters it is possible to conclude to clinically relevant parameters such as motor control, muscular coordination or compensation strategies with different loads. In addition to this, EMG can be used in treatment itself, e.g. biofeedback-training with an EMG is an effective and evidenced based tool to improve neuromuscular control.
Purpose:
To show the importance of EMG in musicians´ health and to demonstrate additional therapy and diagnostic options.
Educational Objectives:
At the end of the workshop, the participants will be able to…
1. understand and describe the basic principles of EMG
2. understand and describe the importance of EMG in the context of musicians´ health, physical therapy and the clinical reasoning process
3. use EMG on musicians in the performance process
Content of Presentation:
This workshop briefly introduces the theoretical principles of EMG and the clinical applications in the context of musicians´ health. It explains why EMG provides an additional value in the clinical reasoning process and supports the therapist, but decision making in the clinical reasoning process should never be based on EMG solely.
In the further course of the workshop the use of EMG in diagnostics and therapy (biofeedback) with musicians is practically demonstrated and discussed with the participants.
Approach of Presentation:
1. Short presentation: introduction and understanding of EMG (educational objective 1)
2. Short case presentation of a musician to introduce EMG in the field of musicians´ health and the clinical reasoning process (educational objective 2)
3. Interactive practical demonstration (diagnosis and biofeedback-training) as the central part of the workshop. Questions and comments will be discussed directly throughout the group (educational objective 3)
Clinical Significance:
EMG based functional neuromuscular diagnostics and biofeedback-training provides both the therapist as well as the musician with additional value in their clinical work.
Rationale:
Biomechanical analyses are capable of capturing and evaluating human motions. In addition to the major biomechanical fields of kinetics and kinematics, electromyography (EMG) provides a reliable way to analyse neuromuscular activities, e.g. inter- and intramuscular coordination, fatigue behavior or timing. Based on these parameters it is possible to conclude to clinically relevant parameters such as motor control, muscular coordination or compensation strategies with different loads. In addition to this, EMG can be used in treatment itself, e.g. biofeedback-training with an EMG is an effective and evidenced based tool to improve neuromuscular control.
Purpose:
To show the importance of EMG in musicians´ health and to demonstrate additional therapy and diagnostic options.
Educational Objectives:
At the end of the workshop, the participants will be able to…
1. understand and describe the basic principles of EMG
2. understand and describe the importance of EMG in the context of musicians´ health, physical therapy and the clinical reasoning process
3. use EMG on musicians in the performance process
Content of Presentation:
This workshop briefly introduces the theoretical principles of EMG and the clinical applications in the context of musicians´ health. It explains why EMG provides an additional value in the clinical reasoning process and supports the therapist, but decision making in the clinical reasoning process should never be based on EMG solely.
In the further course of the workshop the use of EMG in diagnostics and therapy (biofeedback) with musicians is practically demonstrated and discussed with the participants.
Approach of Presentation:
1. Short presentation: introduction and understanding of EMG (educational objective 1)
2. Short case presentation of a musician to introduce EMG in the field of musicians´ health and the clinical reasoning process (educational objective 2)
3. Interactive practical demonstration (diagnosis and biofeedback-training) as the central part of the workshop. Questions and comments will be discussed directly throughout the group (educational objective 3)
Clinical Significance:
EMG based functional neuromuscular diagnostics and biofeedback-training provides both the therapist as well as the musician with additional value in their clinical work.
We investigated whether design experts or laypersons evaluate webpages differently. Twenty participants, 10 experts and 10 laypersons, judged the aesthetic value of a webpage in an EEG-experiment. Screenshots of 150 webpages, judged as aesthetic or as unaesthetic by another 136 participants, served as stimulus material. Behaviorally, experts and laypersons evaluated unaesthetic webpages similarly, but they differed in their evaluation of aesthetic ones: experts evaluated aesthetic webpages as unaesthetic more often than laypersons did. The ERP-data show main effects of level of expertise and of aesthetic value only. There was no interaction of expertise and aesthetics. In a time-window of 110–130 ms after stimulus onset, aesthetic webpages elicited a more negative EEG-amplitude than unaesthetic webpages. In the same time window, experts had more negative EEG-amplitudes than laypersons. This patterning of results continued until a time window of 600–800 ms in which group and aesthetic differences diminished. An interaction of perceiver characteristics and object properties that several interactionist theories postulate was absent in the EEG-data. Experts seem to process the stimuli in a more thorough manner than laypersons. The early activation differences between aesthetic and unaesthetic webpages is in contrast with some theories of aesthetic processing and has not been reported before.
When the ECLAS Conference took place in 1972 western societies were undergoing profound change: They transformed from industrial to postindustrial societies – the so-called service societies. 50 years later, the knowledge society is emerging: Knowledge is considered the key resource of this era. Digitalization and widespread dissemination of ICT allow information to be obtained anywhere anytime. This has severe implications for individual lifestyles and everyday practices. Different aspects of living, learning and working are no longer bound to physical limitations but can be enhanced by or even transferred to the virtual space. So being on the move today means travelling in hybrid spaces. We call this the space and practice “en route”.
At the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück we explore the following questions:
What does “en route” mean and look like in landscapes of higher education?
How is it perceived individually?
(How) can landscape architecture shape it?
Our transdisciplinary research project EN ROUTE aims to meet current challenges at universities (e.g. digitalisation, sustainable development) with a comprehensive understanding of space and practices “en route”. In a transdisciplinary process, researchers from various disciplines – landscape architecture, geography, urban planning, business administrations and marketing, energy technology and computer science – develop concepts and strategies for sustainable and digital mobility in the higher education sector. New “EN ROUTE” types provide insights into the individual production and utilization of spaces “en route”.
The campuses of the University of Applied Science Osnabrück as well as the virtual and physical space network of its members serve as research example. Initial findings will be presented at the conference. While the ECLAS conference in 1972 focused on physical scales, landscape architecture has to reflect them critically and ask: What could be an innovative understanding of spaces “en route”?
The development of augmented reality glasses is still ongoing and faces barriers in diffusion and concerns about their impact on users, organizations and society. The study aims to find sufficient solutions for this struggling digital innovation and to provide guidance for the implementation of augmented reality glasses in design-oriented projects. During a 3-year consortium research, acceptance and privacy have been identified as major phenomena that influence the adoption of augmented reality glasses in the logistics domain. To forge ahead digital innovation research, the focus of the presented research lies on the diffusion of this technology with design knowledge for the development of augmented reality glasses-based systems. Evidence and artifacts contribute to the still limited knowledge of system design based on augmented reality glasses from a domain-specific instantiation and an implementation framework.
Today's development of client-side web applications is based on one of the JavaScript-frameworks, such as Angular or React. The excessive dependencies that arise in the ecosystem from the Node-Package-Manager increase the security risk and the dependency of your own web application on third-party packages. Moreover, the frameworkless approach proposes a renaissance of classic web development, because it strives to avoid external dependencies as far as possible and to fall back on the standards. Whether the implementation achieves maintainability and security of frameworks is questionable. Therefore, it makes sense to research which core concepts of the frameworks meet the requirements for maintainability and security and how these are implemented. The novelty is that the concepts to be explored are moved to a standard in order to ensure the developer efficiency, security, performance and maintainability in the long term. This allows existing approaches to focus on other essential features.
Companies and R&D institutions increasingly collaborate not only in isolated projects but also in knowledge-based networks. In those networks, participants combine expertise and applied problems to generate both ‘problem-solving knowledge’ and specialized knowledge: during the process of common problem-solving each partner acquires some of the specialized knowledge of the other partners as well as the newly generated problem-solving knowledge. This article examines the basic principles involved and provides a simple mathematical description of the step-by-step accumulation of knowledge through the solving of applied problems in a knowledge-based network. The rate of increase of the total amount of available knowledge in the network is derived and implications for the orientation of R&D institutes and companies are set out.
Enhancing the nutritional value of pears through agronomic biofortification with iodine (Abstract)
(2024)
Entrapment neuropathies such as carpal tunnel syndrome, radiculopathies, or radicular pain are the most common peripheral neuropathies and also the most common cause for neuropathic pain. Despite their high prevalence, they often remain challenging to diagnose and manage in a clinical setting. Summarising the evidence from both preclinical and clinical studies, this review provides an update on the aetiology and pathophysiology of entrapment neuropathies. Potential mechanisms are put in perspective with clinical findings. The contemporary assessment is discussed and diagnostic pitfalls highlighted. The evidence for the noninvasive and surgical management of common entrapment neuropathies is summarised and future areas of research are identified.
Entrapment neuropathies are a heterogenous condition reflecting distinct underlying pathomechanisms. A contemporary assessment aimed at identifying potential mechanisms may help target management for these patients.
Entrapment neuropathies are the most prevalent type of peripheral neuropathy and often a challenge to diagnose and treat. To a large extent, our current knowledge is based on empirical concepts and early (often biomechanical) studies. This Viewpoint will challenge some of the current beliefs with recent advances in both basic and clinical neurosciences.
Background
In mucosal barrier interfaces, flexible responses of gene expression to long-term environmental changes allow adaptation and fine-tuning for the balance of host defense and uncontrolled not-resolving inflammation. Epigenetic modifications of the chromatin confer plasticity to the genetic information and give insight into how tissues use the genetic information to adapt to environmental factors. The oral mucosa is particularly exposed to environmental stressors such as a variable microbiota. Likewise, persistent oral inflammation is the most important intrinsic risk factor for the oral inflammatory disease periodontitis and has strong potential to alter DNA-methylation patterns. The aim of the current study was to identify epigenetic changes of the oral masticatory mucosa in response to long-term inflammation that resulted in periodontitis.
Methods and results
Genome-wide CpG methylation of both inflamed and clinically uninflamed solid gingival tissue biopsies of 60 periodontitis cases was analyzed using the Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip. We validated and performed cell-type deconvolution for infiltrated immune cells using the EpiDish algorithm. Effect sizes of DMPs in gingival epithelial and fibroblast cells were estimated and adjusted for confounding factors using our recently developed “intercept-method”. In the current EWAS, we identified various genes that showed significantly different methylation between periodontitis-inflamed and uninflamed oral mucosa in periodontitis patients. The strongest differences were observed for genes with roles in wound healing (ROBO2, PTP4A3), cell adhesion (LPXN) and innate immune response (CCL26, DNAJC1, BPI). Enrichment analyses implied a role of epigenetic changes for vesicle trafficking gene sets.
Conclusions
Our results imply specific adaptations of the oral mucosa to a persistent inflammatory environment that involve wound repair, barrier integrity, and innate immune defense.
Background
In DNA methylation analyses like epigenome-wide association studies, effects in differentially methylated CpG sites are assessed. Two kinds of outcomes can be used for statistical analysis: Beta-values and M-values. M-values follow a normal distribution and help to detect differentially methylated CpG sites. As biological effect measures, differences of M-values are more or less meaningless. Beta-values are of more interest since they can be interpreted directly as differences in percentage of DNA methylation at a given CpG site, but they have poor statistical properties. Different frameworks are proposed for reporting estimands in DNA methylation analysis, relying on Beta-values, M-values, or both.
Results
We present and discuss four possible approaches of achieving estimands in DNA methylation analysis. In addition, we present the usage of M-values or Beta-values in the context of bioinformatical pipelines, which often demand a predefined outcome. We show the dependencies between the differences in M-values to differences in Beta-values in two data simulations: a analysis with and without confounder effect. Without present confounder effects, M-values can be used for the statistical analysis and Beta-values statistics for the reporting. If confounder effects exist, we demonstrate the deviations and correct the effects by the intercept method. Finally, we demonstrate the theoretical problem on two large human genome-wide DNA methylation datasets to verify the results.
Conclusions
The usage of M-values in the analysis of DNA methylation data will produce effect estimates, which cannot be biologically interpreted. The parallel usage of Beta-value statistics ignores possible confounder effects and can therefore not be recommended. Hence, if the differences in Beta-values are the focus of the study, the intercept method is recommendable. Hyper- or hypomethylated CpG sites must then be carefully evaluated. If an exploratory analysis of possible CpG sites is the aim of the study, M-values can be used for inference.
Europe's freshwater biodiversity under climate change: distribution shifts and conservation needs
(2014)
Aim
To assess the future climatic suitability of European catchments for freshwater species and the future utility of the current network of protected areas.
Location
Europe.
Methods
Using recently updated catchment-scale species data and climate projections from multiple climate models, we assessed the climate change threat by the 2050s for 1648 European freshwater plants, fishes, molluscs, odonates, amphibians, crayfish and turtles for two dispersal scenarios and identified hotspots of change at three spatial scales: major river basins, countries and freshwater ecoregions. We considered both common species and the often overlooked rare species. To set our findings within the context of current and future conservation networks, we evaluated the coverage of freshwater biodiversity by Europe's protected area network.
Results
Six per cent of common and 77% of rare species are predicted to lose more than 90% of their current range. Eight fish species and nine mollusc species are predicted to experience 100% range loss under climate change. As the most species-rich group, molluscs are particularly vulnerable due to the high proportion of rare species and their relatively limited ability to disperse. Furthermore, around 50% of molluscs and fish species will have no protected area coverage given their projected distributions.
Main conclusions
We identified the species most at threat due to projected changes in both catchment suitability and representation within the European protected area network. Our findings suggest an urgent need for freshwater management plans to facilitate adaptation to climate change.
Although national eHealth strategies have existed now for more than a decade in many countries, they have been implemented with varying success. In Germany, the eHealth strategy so far has resulted in a roll out of electronic health cards for all citizens in the statutory health insurance, but in no clinically meaningful IT-applications. The aim of this study was to test the technical and organisation feasibility, usability, and utility of an eDischarge application embedded into a laboratory Health Telematics Infrastructure (TI). The tests embraced the exchange of eDischarge summaries based on the multiprofessional HL7 eNursing Summary standard between a municipal hospital and a nursing home. All in all, 36 transmissions of electronic discharge documents took place. They demonstrated the technical-organisation feasibility and resulted in moderate usability ratings. A comparison between eDischarge and paper-based summaries hinted at higher ratings of utility and information completeness for eDischarges. Despite problems with handling the electronic health card, the proof-of-concept for the first clinically meaningful IT-application in the German Health TI could be regarded as successful.
1. Flower strips are a fundamental part of agri-environment schemes (AESs) introduced by the European Union to counteract the loss of biodiversity and related ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. Although vegetation composition of the strips is essential for most fauna groups, comprehensive studies analysing vegetation development and influencing factors are rare.
2. From 2017 to 2019, we investigated the vegetation composition of 40 perennial wildflower strips (WFSs) implemented in 2015 or 2016, and 20 cereal fields without WFS across Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. We analysed environmental factors on plot (cover of grasses, shading, soil fertility) and four landscape-scale levels (habitat diversity, proportion of WFS and open habitats). The provision of nectar and pollen resources was estimated by the newly developed Pollinator Feeding Index (PFI). All strips had been implemented by farmers as AES with species- rich seed mixtures comprising 30 native forbs.
3. In all study years, forb species richness, cover and related nectar and pollen supply were much higher on WFSs than on controls, confirming the effectiveness of this AES. Although sown native forbs contributed the most to the high PFI values, spontaneously established forbs expanded the total range of species considerably, especially in winter and spring. While sown forb communities remained similar over time, spontaneous forbs showed a higher species turnover. Altogether, shading and grass cover had the greatest negative effect on the performance of the sown forbs. Landscape variables had only minor effects and were inconsistent in their importance across scale levels and years.
4. Synthesis and applications. Successfully established perennial wildflower strips (WFSs) sown with species-rich native seed mixtures provided a forb-rich and diverse vegetation throughout the AES funding period of 5 years. By supplying feeding resources for pollinators under various landscape situations, WFSs have significant potential to promote farmland biodiversity and related ecosyste services. We recommend the mandatory use of species-rich wildflower mixtures for perennial flower strips and to avoid their creation in heavily shaded field edges. Advisory services for farmers are necessary to prevent failures in WFS implementation and management and to improve their ecological effectiveness.
The PosiThera project focuses on the management of chronic wounds, which is multi-professional and multi-disciplinary. For this context, a software prototype was developed in the project, which is intended to support medical and nursing staff with the assistance of artificial intelligence. In accordance with the user-centred design, national workshops were held at the beginning of the project with the involvement of domain experts in wound care in order to identify requirements and use cases of IT systems in wound care, with a focus on AI. In this study, the focus was on involving nursing and nursing science staff in testing the software prototype to gain insights into its functionality and usability. The overarching goal of the iterative testing and adaptation process is to further develop the prototype in a way that is close to care.