Refine
Year of publication
- 2018 (152) (remove)
Document Type
- Article (104)
- Doctoral Thesis (47)
- Report (1)
Language
- English (152) (remove)
Has Fulltext
- yes (152)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (152)
Keywords
- - (87)
- climate change (4)
- dendrochronology (3)
- innate immunity (3)
- platelets (3)
- <i>Burkholderia pseudomallei</i> (2)
- Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (2)
- Bürgerkrieg (2)
- CASP model (2)
- China (2)
- Clinical guideline (2)
- Cystitis (2)
- Depression (2)
- Flavivirus (2)
- Fournier’s gangrene (2)
- GWAS (2)
- Germany (2)
- Hyperbaric oxygenation (2)
- Klimawandel (2)
- Morphologic changes (2)
- Necrotizing fasciitis (2)
- Necrotomy (2)
- Obesity (2)
- Plasmaphysik (2)
- Pyelonephritis (2)
- Sepsis (2)
- Sepsis score (2)
- Simulation (2)
- Small animal MRI (2)
- Soft tissue infection (2)
- Staphylococcus aureus (2)
- Streptococcus pneumoniae (2)
- Systematic review (2)
- Therapy (2)
- Urinary tract infection (2)
- Vitamin D (2)
- antibiotics (2)
- antimicrobial peptides (2)
- ascariasis (2)
- bias (2)
- biofilm (2)
- causal inference (2)
- dendroecology (2)
- environment (2)
- helminth (2)
- intestinal nematode (2)
- lectin (2)
- melioidosis (2)
- mendelian randomization (2)
- metabolomics (2)
- microbiota (2)
- phenotypic plasticity (2)
- proteomics (2)
- public awareness (2)
- statistical methods (2)
- tree-ring width (2)
- 1,2,3-benzotriazoles (1)
- 1,2,4-triazoles (1)
- 2,4-diamino-1,3,5-triazines (1)
- 2-imino-2<i>H</i>-chromen-3-yl-1,3,5-triazines (1)
- 2-imino-coumarins (1)
- 2<i>H</i>-chromen-3-yl-1,3,5-triazines (1)
- 2D PAGE (1)
- <i>Clostridiodes difficile</i> (1)
- <i>Hermite</i>-polynomials (1)
- <i>Kolmogorov</i>-backward-equation (1)
- <i>N</i>-acylhydrazones (1)
- <i>N</i>-sulfonylhydrazones (1)
- <i>S. aureus</i> (1)
- ACT-209905 (1)
- AFLP, microsatellite SSR, ITS, DNA isolation (1)
- ATP-binding cassette transporters (1)
- Adaptation (1)
- Africa (1)
- African swine fever virus (1)
- Afrikanische Schweinepest Virus (1)
- Alaska (1)
- Alfvén Waves (1)
- Animal behavior (1)
- Annual rings (1)
- Antioxidans (1)
- Anxiety sensitivity (1)
- Arbovirus (1)
- Asymmetric synthesis (1)
- Austria (1)
- B cell class switch (1)
- B1 B cells (1)
- Bathymodiolus (1)
- Bathymodiolus symbiosis (1)
- Baumgrenze (1)
- Bayley scales (1)
- Benign breast tumours (1)
- Beringung (1)
- Biochemie (1)
- Biomathematik , Bioinformatik (1)
- Blue Intensity (1)
- Bodentemperatur (1)
- Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (1)
- Buche (1)
- CA–Markov (1)
- CD40L (1)
- CFTR Cl (1)
- Cerebral Palsy Kinder (1)
- Cerebral cavernous malformations (1)
- Chemo-enzymatic synthesis (1)
- Chiral amines (1)
- Civil conflicts (1)
- Clade Annotation (1)
- Climate Change (1)
- Cochrane–Orcutt procedure (1)
- Collisions (1)
- Comparative Gene Finding (1)
- Comparative Genomics (1)
- CyberKnife robotic radiosurgery (1)
- Cybermobbing (1)
- Cytochrome P-450 (1)
- DHEAS (1)
- DISQOVER (1)
- DLX proteins (1)
- DNA-microarray (1)
- Deep-sea hydrothermal vents (1)
- Democracy (1)
- Demokratie (1)
- Dendrochronologie (1)
- Diagnosis (1)
- Dispersal (1)
- Doxorubicin (1)
- Dual Decomposition (1)
- EEG (1)
- EMSA (1)
- Ecosystem Dynamics (1)
- Elektrochemischer Sensor (1)
- Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (1)
- Environmental conditions (1)
- Epidemiology (1)
- Evolution (1)
- Evolutionsbiologie , Tierökologie , Sexuelle Selektion , Sexualverhalten (1)
- Fast Particles (1)
- Feldversuch (1)
- Fettsucht (1)
- Flight ability (1)
- Flug (1)
- Foreign aid (1)
- Fourier analysis (1)
- Friedensvertrag (1)
- GAPDH, ALDH (1)
- GHG emissions (1)
- GPU computing (1)
- Gastrointestinal oncology (1)
- Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (1)
- Gastrointestinal symptoms (1)
- Gastrointestinal tract (1)
- Gene Structure Prediction (1)
- Genetic counselling (1)
- Genetic diversity (1)
- Genome Annotation (1)
- Genotyping (1)
- Glazitektonik (1)
- Global South regional policy (1)
- Global change (1)
- Glutaredoxin (1)
- Glutaredoxine (1)
- Glutathion (1)
- Glutathione (1)
- Glycoprotein B (1)
- Graphen (1)
- Greifvögel (1)
- Gyro-kinetic Theory (1)
- HACA (1)
- HCMV (1)
- HCO (1)
- HEV (1)
- HIT (1)
- Hangzhou International Airport (1)
- Heat-flux (1)
- Hepatitis-E-Virus , Polymerase-Kettenreaktion , Microarray , West-Nil-Virus , Flaviviren , RNS-Viren , Genotypisierung (1)
- Herpesviren (1)
- Heterostrukturen (1)
- Himalayan Silver Fir (<i>Abies spectabilis</i>), Nepal Himalaya (1)
- Hirninfarkt (1)
- Hyperventilation (1)
- IDD in pregnant women (1)
- IL-10 (1)
- Ili River delta (1)
- Imaging features (1)
- Impfstoff (1)
- Individual phenotype (1)
- Integrins (1)
- Interoception (1)
- Interozeption (1)
- Intrastate conflicts (1)
- Intraventricular hemorrhage (1)
- Iodine (1)
- Iodine deficiency disorders (1)
- Ionthruster (1)
- Isopropylamine (1)
- JSNZ (1)
- Jahresring (1)
- Juniperus communis (1)
- Kinetic simulation (1)
- Komplexes Plasma (1)
- Konfliktregelung (1)
- Korrespondenzprinzip (1)
- LAVH (1)
- LPS (1)
- LUCC (1)
- Lagrangian Relaxation (1)
- Lake Balkhash (1)
- Landformanalyse (1)
- Landsat (1)
- Lemnaceae (1)
- LiDAR (1)
- Local adaptation (1)
- Lord's Resistance Army (1)
- Low temperature plasma (1)
- Lycaena tityrus (1)
- Lymphozyt (1)
- MTIP planning (1)
- Machtteilungsregierungen (1)
- Magnetismus (1)
- Master-Gleichung (1)
- Mathematik (1)
- Mediation (1)
- Medienbildung (1)
- Mediennutzungsethik (1)
- Membranfusion (1)
- Metastasis (1)
- Middle East (1)
- Mikrobiologie (1)
- Minimally invasive diagnostics (1)
- Mitochondrium (1)
- Mixed methods (1)
- Molecular biology (1)
- Molecular genetics (1)
- Molekularbiologie (1)
- Molekularbiologie, Genotypisierung, Genetische Diversität (1)
- Molybdenum (1)
- Molybdopterin (1)
- Monitoring IDD (1)
- Monte Carlo (1)
- Movement (1)
- NF-Y (1)
- Neurodevelopmental outcome (1)
- Neuroimmunologie (1)
- Nichtlineare Dynamik (1)
- OCT1 (1)
- Optomechanik (1)
- Oral health, Cerebral palsy, Children, Prevention (1)
- Orale Gesundheit (1)
- Osmoregulation (1)
- Outcomes research (1)
- Overview (1)
- Oxidativer Stress (1)
- Oxidoreduktase (1)
- P300 (1)
- PCLake (1)
- PD-L1 (1)
- PEI,PDADMA,PSS,surface forces,atomic force microscopy, colloidal probe (1)
- PF4 (1)
- Parkinson's disease (1)
- Partial migration (1)
- Pediatric (1)
- Permissive hypercapnia (1)
- Picea glauca (1)
- Plasma (1)
- Plasma , Plasmaphysik , Tokamak , Stellarator , Magnetohydrodynamik , Kinetische Theorie , Simulation , Alfvén-Welle , Energiereiches Teilchen (1)
- Plasma Physics (1)
- Plastizität (1)
- Political Economy (1)
- Politische Ökonomie (1)
- Polyphenole (1)
- Potamopyrgus antipodarum (1)
- Power-Sharing (1)
- Prevalence (1)
- Prevention (1)
- Profilbilanzierung (1)
- Protein engineering (1)
- Proteine (1)
- Proteomanalyse (1)
- Pt(II) complexes (1)
- Pterin (1)
- Quantenoptik (1)
- Quantenpunkt (1)
- RT-qPCR (1)
- Rabies (1)
- Rabies virus (1)
- Radikalfänger (1)
- Range shift (1)
- Reaktive Sauerstoffspezies (1)
- Recurrence (1)
- Relativistische Quantenmechanik (1)
- Rotbuche (1)
- S. aureus (1)
- SNP (1)
- STED microscopy (1)
- Salztoleranz (1)
- Schamethik (1)
- Schlaganfall induzierte Immunschwäche (1)
- Schmetterling (1)
- Schnecke (1)
- Schweinekrankheit (1)
- Sexting (1)
- Shrubs (1)
- Sinlge port (1)
- Sozialität (1)
- Sphingosine-1-Phosphate (1)
- Spinnen (1)
- Spintronik (1)
- Starch (1)
- Stark gekoppelte Systeme (1)
- Stellarator (1)
- Stickland reactions (1)
- Streutheorie (1)
- Stärke (1)
- T cell maturation (1)
- Teilzug (1)
- Theodoxus fluviatilis (1)
- Thiole (1)
- Thioredoxine (1)
- Third-party intervention (1)
- Thrombospondin (1)
- Tierphysiologie (1)
- Tierseuche (1)
- Tokamak (1)
- Tollwut (1)
- Tollwutvirus (1)
- Transaminases (1)
- Two component systems (1)
- Uganda (1)
- Uncoupling (1)
- VEEV (1)
- Vascular malformation (1)
- Vegetation Ecology (1)
- Verbreitung (1)
- Vietnam (1)
- Virologie (1)
- Virus (1)
- Virus evolution (1)
- Vogelzug (1)
- WNV (1)
- Waldgrenze (1)
- Waldökologie (1)
- Waldökosystem (1)
- Weichselvereisung (1)
- Weißfichte (1)
- Winter (1)
- Yeast (1)
- Zitterbewegung (1)
- Zoonose (1)
- [Fe-S] Cluster (1)
- absolute (1)
- adaptation (1)
- adaptive immunity (1)
- age (1)
- agroecosystems (1)
- airport cases (1)
- alanine scanning (1)
- alcohol risk drinking (1)
- alexithymia (1)
- amino acids (1)
- anaerobic metabolism (1)
- animal (1)
- anti-GD<sub>2</sub> immunotherapy (1)
- anticoagulants (1)
- anticonvulsants (1)
- antiseptic stewardship (1)
- aquaporins (1)
- aquatic plants (1)
- arable wild plants (1)
- arid river basins (1)
- arm (1)
- arm ability training (1)
- asymmetric synthesis (1)
- asymptotic expansion (1)
- atomic force microscopy (1)
- attention (1)
- autoimmunity (1)
- autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (1)
- averaging (1)
- bacterial meningitis (1)
- beech (1)
- big-fish-little-pond-effect (1)
- bile acids (1)
- binding force (1)
- binding land-use plan (1)
- biocide (1)
- biodiversity offsets (1)
- biomanipulation (1)
- blood–brain barrier (1)
- boreal forest (1)
- brain stimulation (1)
- brownfields (1)
- cancer therapy (1)
- carbon–carbon lyase (1)
- carboplatin (1)
- catalytic activity (1)
- ch14.18/CHO (1)
- chaperones (1)
- chromoplexy (1)
- chromosomal translocations (1)
- chromosome conformation capture (1)
- chronic pancreatitis (1)
- chronotypes (1)
- cisplatin (1)
- climate elasticity (1)
- climate regime (1)
- climate sensitivity (1)
- climate signal age effects (1)
- climate variability (1)
- climate warming (1)
- climate-growth relationships (1)
- climate–growth relationships (1)
- cloud removal (1)
- cognition (1)
- cognitive control (1)
- colonization (1)
- combination assay (1)
- comorbidity (1)
- complement dependent cytotoxicity (1)
- composite ridges (1)
- computational fluid dynamics (1)
- concussion (1)
- corridor development strategies (1)
- coumarins (1)
- counterfactual analysis (1)
- criterial (1)
- cross-reactivity (1)
- cross-resistance (1)
- cross-tolerance (1)
- crystallized intelligence (1)
- cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (1)
- cyberbullying (1)
- damage-associated molecular patterns (1)
- deep sequencing (1)
- dehydroepiandrosterone (1)
- dendritic cells (1)
- diffusion tensor imaging (1)
- diffusion tractography (1)
- diffusion weighted imaging (1)
- digital elevation models (1)
- dual task (1)
- duckweed (1)
- ductal closure (1)
- ductal epithelium (1)
- early competencies (1)
- echocardiography (1)
- ecology (1)
- ecosystem dynamics (1)
- education (1)
- embodied cognition (1)
- embodiment (1)
- empathy (1)
- entry (1)
- environmental offsets (1)
- epidemiology (1)
- epilepsy (1)
- epileptic encephalopathies (1)
- epithelial fluid secretion (1)
- ethics of media use (1)
- ethics of shame (1)
- eutrophication (1)
- experimental pancreatitis (1)
- experimental plant ecology (1)
- expression (1)
- fagus sylvatica (1)
- fatty acids (1)
- fetal and adult neurogenesis (1)
- fisheries (1)
- flow tank (1)
- fluid intelligence (1)
- forest ecology (1)
- forest understory vegetation (1)
- free amino acids (1)
- fusion loops (1)
- gH/gL complex (1)
- genetic adaptation (1)
- genomics (1)
- genotyping (1)
- geometric morphometrics (1)
- gestural-verbal association (1)
- glacier skiing (1)
- glacitectonics (1)
- glioblastoma multiforme (1)
- global production networks (1)
- glutaredoxins (1)
- gradient-design field experiment (1)
- granuloma (1)
- greenfields (1)
- gross tumor volume optimization (1)
- habituation (1)
- health risk behaviors (1)
- healthcare (1)
- heat-shock proteins (1)
- heparin- and antibody-induced thrombocytopenia (1)
- heparins (1)
- herpesvirus (1)
- high-ability tracked students (1)
- high-frequency heart rate variability (1)
- homoarginine (1)
- host-symbiont (1)
- humanized mice (1)
- hybrid molecules (1)
- hydrazones (1)
- hydrological regimes (1)
- ibuprofen (1)
- image reconstruction (1)
- imagery (1)
- immune evasion (1)
- immunogenicity (1)
- impact mitigation regulation (1)
- implied volatility surface (1)
- in vitro anticancer activity (1)
- in vitro antitumor activity (1)
- inactivity (1)
- incidence (1)
- individual academic self-concept (SESSKO) (1)
- individual based (1)
- indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (1)
- indomethacin (1)
- infants (1)
- infection (1)
- inflammation (1)
- infrastructure (1)
- inner urban development (1)
- insurance claims (1)
- interactions (1)
- invasive (1)
- iodine deficiency disorders (1)
- iron surrogates (1)
- isoprenoid degradation (1)
- jep Gene (1)
- katalytische Aktivität (1)
- knowledge-is-power (1)
- kynurenine pathway (1)
- lake restoration. nutrient load reduction (1)
- land conversion (1)
- land use change (1)
- landcover reconstruction (1)
- language disorders (1)
- language processing (1)
- levetiracetam (1)
- light-sheet imaging (1)
- linear discriminant analyses (1)
- lipoprotein (1)
- lipoprotein profiling (1)
- locus coeruleus (1)
- long-term infusion (1)
- longitudinal (1)
- luciferase reporter gene assay (1)
- lung metastases (1)
- lymphocyte trafficking (1)
- mTHPC (1)
- mass spectrometry (1)
- mast cell (1)
- matrix metalloproteinase (1)
- maximum latewood density (1)
- mechanism (1)
- media education (1)
- medical assistants (1)
- membrane fusion (1)
- mental representations (1)
- mental rotation (1)
- mental transformations (1)
- metabolic interactions (1)
- metabolism (1)
- methyltryptophan (1)
- micro-site (1)
- mineral soil (1)
- mixed model (1)
- mode comparison (1)
- monoterpene (1)
- mortality (1)
- mouse model (1)
- mucosal immunity (1)
- mucus (1)
- multiphoton imaging (1)
- multitasking (1)
- myeloid-derived suppressor cells (1)
- myxomycetes (1)
- near-hand space (1)
- neuroactive steroids (1)
- neuroblastoma (1)
- neuropsychiatric diseases (1)
- night shift work (1)
- no-net-loss (1)
- non-small cell lung cancer (1)
- norepinephrine (1)
- oil palm plantation (1)
- optical imaging analyses (1)
- osmoregulation (1)
- osmotolerance (1)
- overfishing (1)
- overweight (1)
- oxaliplatin (1)
- oxidoreductase (1)
- pain (1)
- palynology (1)
- pancreas (1)
- patent ductus arteriosus (1)
- pediatric thrombosis (1)
- peptidases (1)
- peptide sharing (1)
- peripersonal space (1)
- peritoneal B cells (1)
- photodynamic therapy (1)
- physiological responses (1)
- phytosterols (1)
- pig (1)
- plant traits (1)
- plasticity (1)
- poaching (1)
- podocyte nephropathy (1)
- pollen accumulation rates (1)
- pollen productivity estimates (1)
- poly(hydroxyalkanoates) (1)
- polycrystalline gold (1)
- population-based (1)
- post-translational modifications (1)
- pregnenolone sulfate (1)
- preterm infant (1)
- prevalence (1)
- principal component analyses (1)
- production-integrated compensation (1)
- promoter (1)
- protection (1)
- protein (1)
- protein synthesis (1)
- proteins (1)
- psychological refractory period (PRP) (1)
- pyramidal tract integrity (1)
- quinolines (1)
- radical polishing (1)
- radiometric interpolation (1)
- reactivation (1)
- recruitment curve steepness (1)
- redox regulation (1)
- regime shift (1)
- rehabilitation (1)
- ring-opening reactions (1)
- rubber plantation (1)
- rule changes (1)
- salinity (1)
- salivary alpha-amylase (1)
- secondary plantmetabolites (1)
- seizure (1)
- self assembled monolayer (1)
- serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBFSEM) (1)
- serious adverse reaction (1)
- sex (1)
- sexting (1)
- smoking (1)
- snail (1)
- snow cover manipulation (1)
- social (1)
- social cognition (1)
- social interaction (1)
- soil organic carbon stock (1)
- solute carriers (1)
- spatial analysis (1)
- spatial cognition (1)
- spectral matching (1)
- sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) (1)
- starvation (1)
- statistical analysis (1)
- stereotactic body radiation therapy (1)
- stream ecology (1)
- stroke (1)
- structure (1)
- structured illumination microscopy (1)
- subacute stroke (1)
- summer skiing (1)
- superresolution microscopy (1)
- surface forces (1)
- symbiosis (1)
- synergism (1)
- synthesis (1)
- tVNS (1)
- temporal dynamics (1)
- temporal fitting (1)
- terahertz emission spectroscopy (1)
- terahertz transmission spectroscopy (1)
- thrombosis (1)
- tiling, self-similarity, fractal, aperiodic, iterated function system (1)
- toxin formation (1)
- training (1)
- transfusion (1)
- tree growth–climate correlation (1)
- tree size (1)
- tree-growth patterns (1)
- treeline (1)
- treeline ecotone (1)
- tropical forest conversion (1)
- tuberculosis (1)
- ultrafast spincaloritronics (1)
- ultrafast spintronics (1)
- upper limb motor function (1)
- urine normalization (1)
- vagus nerve (1)
- vegetation history (1)
- venous thromboembolism (1)
- vent (1)
- viral diagnosis (1)
- viral infections (1)
- virulence (1)
- vocational education and training (1)
- volatility (1)
- voxel-based morphometry (1)
- white spruce (1)
- winter ecology (1)
- women’s’ health (1)
- wood anatomy (1)
- β-amino acid (1)
- β-phenylalanine ethyl ester (1)
- ω-transaminase (1)
Institute
- Institut für Botanik und Landschaftsökologie & Botanischer Garten (15)
- Institut für Physik (10)
- Kliniken und Polikliniken für Innere Medizin (8)
- Abteilung für Mikrobiologie und Molekularbiologie (7)
- Institut für Biochemie (7)
- Institut für Community Medicine (7)
- Institut für Pharmazie (7)
- Institut für Diagnostische Radiologie (6)
- Institut für Psychologie (6)
- Klinik und Poliklinik für Neurologie (6)
Publisher
- Frontiers Media S.A. (37)
- MDPI (37)
- S. Karger AG (16)
- De Gruyter (5)
- BioMed Central (BMC) (4)
- Akadémiai Kiadó (1)
- Hindawi (1)
- IOP Publishing (1)
- Nature Publishing Group (1)
- SAGE Publications (1)
What shapes the prospect for democracy in the aftermath of civil conflicts? Some authors claim a successful transition from violence to elections mainly depends on the ability of political institutions, such as power-sharing arrangements, to mitigate the security dilemma among former battlefield adversaries. Drawing on a broader literature, others point to potential effects of foreign aid on democratic development.
This predominant focus on elections and the security dilemma, however, limits our understanding in a number of ways. We do not know how the choice of post-conflict elites to hold elections is strategically intertwined with their willingness to reform other state institutions. We also have only begun to understand how post-conflict power-sharing governments function as revenue source for elites. Knowing how this economic function drives or obstructs post-conflict democratic development is particularly helpful if we shift our attention to a major source of income for post-conflict elites: foreign aid, and the democratic conditions donors attach to it.
Addressing these gaps, I argue that both the economic utility from office as well as political conditionalities give rise to a rent-seeking/democracy dilemma for post-conflict elites: they can either hold elections and face uncertainty over their access to power, but secure economic rents from aid. Or they refuse to democratize, secure their hold on power, but risk losing revenues when donors withdraw aid. In this situation, their optimal strategy is to agree to democratic reforms in the area on which donors place most value, elections. But to maximize their chances of electoral victory and continued access to rents from office, elites simultaneously restrain an independent rule of law and narrowly distribute private goods to their supporters.
This rent-seeking/democracy dilemma is particularly prevalent in one of the most popular forms of post-conflict institutions: power-sharing governments. Including rebel groups in post-conflict cabinets increases the number of constituencies that need to be sustained from the government budget. In addition, the interim nature of transitional power-sharing cabinets leads elites to steeply discount the future and increase rent-seeking in the short term. My main hypothesis is therefore that large aid flows to extensive power-sharing governments should be associated with improved elections, but limits in the rule of law and more provision of private instead of public goods.
To test this prediction quantitatively, I combine data on aid flows and rebel participation in post-conflict cabinets between 1990 and 2010 with indicators for democratic development, election quality, rule of law, and public goods provision. Results from a wide range of regression models provide empirical support for my argument. Individually, extensive power-sharing governments and large aid flows do not seem to have strong effects. Models that introduce an interaction term between aid and power-sharing, however, yield strong evidence of a rent-seeking/democracy dilemma: Power-sharing and foreign aid jointly predict a positive, but small change in democracy scores as well as cleaner elections. At the same time, they are jointly associated with a limited rule of law and stronger distribution of private goods. For each indicator, I document evidence for mechanisms and changes in the effect over time.
The theory and empirical results presented in this dissertation have a number of implications for future research. They highlight the importance of moving away from a singular focus on post-conflict elections and looking also at other institutional dimensions of post-conflict politics. My political economy model of power-sharing also demonstrates the utility of explicitly including economic functions of post-conflict institutions into power-sharing and broader peacebuilding research. And I introduce novel evidence into research and practice of aid delivery; this helps not only to clarify academic debates under which conditions aid can be effective, but also informs practitioners who help conflict-affected countries in their transition from war to democracy.
Action comprehension that is related to language or gestural integration has been shown to engage the motor system in the brain, thus providing preliminary evidence for the gestural-verbal embodiment concept. Based on the involvement of the sensorimotor cortex (M1) in language processing, we aimed to further explore its role in the cognitive embodiment necessary for gestural-verbal integration. As such, we applied anodal (excitatory) and sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the left M1 (with reference electrode over the contralateral supraorbital region) during a gestural-verbal integration task where subjects had to make a decision about the semantic congruency of the gesture (prime) and the word (target). We used a cross-over within-subject design in young subjects. Attentional load and simple reaction time (RT) tasks served as control conditions, applied during stimulation (order of three tasks was counterbalanced). Our results showed that anodal (atDCS) compared to sham tDCS (stDCS) reduced RTs in the gestural-verbal integration task, specifically for incongruent pairs of gestures and verbal expressions, with no effect on control task performance. Our findings provide evidence for the involvement of the sensorimotor system in gestural-verbal integration performance. Further, our results suggest that functional modulation induced by sensorimotor tDCS may be specific to gestural-verbal integration. Future studies should now evaluate the modulatory effect of tDCS on semantic congruency by using tDCS over additional brain regions and include assessments of neural connectivity.
Do We Need to Rethink the Epidemiology and Healthcare Utilization of Parkinson's Disease in Germany?
(2018)
Epidemiological aspects of Parkinson's disease (PD), co-occurring diseases and medical healthcare utilization of PD patients are still largely elusive. Based on claims data of 3.7 million statutory insurance members in Germany in 2015 the prevalence and incidence of PD was determined. PD cases had at least one main hospital discharge diagnosis of PD, or one physician diagnosis confirmed by a subsequent or independent diagnosis or by PD medication in 2015. Prevalence of (co-)occurring diseases, mortality, and healthcare measures in PD cases and matched controls were compared. In 2015, 21,714 prevalent PD cases (standardized prevalence: 511.4/100,000 persons) and 3,541 incident PD cases (standardized incidence: 84.1/100,000 persons) were identified. Prevalence of several (co-)occurring diseases/complications, e.g., dementia (PD/controls: 39/13%), depression (45/22%), bladder dysfunction (46/22%), and diabetes (35/31%), as well as mortality (10.7/5.8%) differed between PD cases and controls. The annual healthcare utilization was increased in PD cases compared to controls, e.g., regarding mean ± SD physician contacts (15.2 ± 7.6/12.2 ± 7.3), hospitalizations (1.3 ± 1.8/0.7 ± 1.4), drug prescriptions (overall: 37.7 ± 24.2/21.7 ± 19.6; anti-PD medication: 7.4 ± 7.4/0.1 ± 0.7), assistive/therapeutic devices (47/30%), and therapeutic remedies (57/16%). The standardized prevalence and incidence of PD in Germany as well as mortality in PD may be substantially higher than reported previously. While frequently diagnosed with co-occurring diseases/complications, such as dementia, depression, bladder dysfunction and diabetes, the degree of healthcare utilization shows large variability between PD patients. These findings encourage a rethinking of the epidemiology and healthcare utilization in PD, at least in Germany. Longitudinal studies of insurance claims data should further investigate the individual and epidemiological progression and healthcare demands in PD.
Submerged macrophytes play a key role in north temperate shallow lakes by stabilizing clear-water conditions. Eutrophication has resulted in macrophyte loss and shifts to turbid conditions in many lakes. Considerable efforts have been devoted to shallow lake restoration in many countries, but long-term success depends on a stable recovery of submerged macrophytes. However, recovery patterns vary widely and remain to be fully understood. We hypothesize that reduced external nutrient loading leads to an intermediate recovery state with clear spring and turbid summer conditions similar to the pattern described for eutrophication. In contrast, lake internal restoration measures can result in transient clear-water conditions both in spring and summer and reversals to turbid conditions. Furthermore, we hypothesize that these contrasting restoration measures result in different macrophyte species composition, with added implications for seasonal dynamics due to differences in plant traits. To test these hypotheses, we analyzed data on water quality and submerged macrophytes from 49 north temperate shallow lakes that were in a turbid state and subjected to restoration measures. To study the dynamics of macrophytes during nutrient load reduction, we adapted the ecosystem model PCLake. Our survey and model simulations revealed the existence of an intermediate recovery state upon reduced external nutrient loading, characterized by spring clear-water phases and turbid summers, whereas internal lake restoration measures often resulted in clear-water conditions in spring and summer with returns to turbid conditions after some years. External and internal lake restoration measures resulted in different macrophyte communities. The intermediate recovery state following reduced nutrient loading is characterized by a few macrophyte species (mainly pondweeds) that can resist wave action allowing survival in shallow areas, germinate early in spring, have energy-rich vegetative propagules facilitating rapid initial growth and that can complete their life cycle by early summer. Later in the growing season these plants are, according to our simulations, outcompeted by periphyton, leading to late-summer phytoplankton blooms. Internal lake restoration measures often coincide with a rapid but transient colonization by hornworts, waterweeds or charophytes. Stable clear-water conditions and a diverse macrophyte flora only occurred decades after external nutrient load reduction or when measures were combined.
The social context plays a decisive role in the formation of the academic self-concept (ASC) and has been widely studied as the big-fish-little-pond-effect (BFLPE). This effect describes that comparable talented students in high-achieving school settings have a lower ASC compared to equally talented students attending low-achieving settings. Past research has focused on students’ domain-specific ASC, while little is known about the relation of achievement-related classroom compositions and the various facets of ASC. Additionally, BFLPE-research has been critiqued to build its theoretical frame on social comparison theory, without providing sufficient empirical support. To address this gap, we analyzed how the single student’s social, criterial, absolute, and individual ASC relate to class-level achievement of 8th graders. Applying Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling (MLSEM) we found that all facets of ASC were significantly related to average-class achievement, while student’s social ASC revealed the strongest associated. The results reveal explicitly that average-class achievement is strongly related to social comparison processes.
The obligate anaerobe, spore forming bacterium Clostridioides difficile (formerly Clostridium difficile) causes nosocomial and community acquired diarrhea often associated with antibiotic therapy. Major virulence factors of the bacterium are the two large clostridial toxins TcdA and TcdB. The production of both toxins was found strongly connected to the metabolism and the nutritional status of the growth environment. Here, we systematically investigated the changes of the gene regulatory, proteomic and metabolic networks of C. difficile 630Δerm underlying the adaptation to the non-growing state in the stationary phase. Integrated data from time-resolved transcriptome, proteome and metabolome investigations performed under defined growth conditions uncovered multiple adaptation strategies. Overall changes in the cellular processes included the downregulation of ribosome production, lipid metabolism, cold shock proteins, spermine biosynthesis, and glycolysis and in the later stages of riboflavin and coenzyme A (CoA) biosynthesis. In contrast, different chaperones, several fermentation pathways, and cysteine, serine, and pantothenate biosynthesis were found upregulated. Focusing on the Stickland amino acid fermentation and the central carbon metabolism, we discovered the ability of C. difficile to replenish its favored amino acid cysteine by a pathway starting from the glycolytic 3-phosphoglycerate via L-serine as intermediate. Following the growth course, the reductive equivalent pathways used were sequentially shifted from proline via leucine/phenylalanine to the central carbon metabolism first to butanoate fermentation and then further to lactate fermentation. The toxin production was found correlated mainly to fluxes of the central carbon metabolism. Toxin formation in the supernatant was detected when the flux changed from butanoate to lactate synthesis in the late stationary phase. The holistic view derived from the combination of transcriptome, proteome and metabolome data allowed us to uncover the major metabolic strategies that are used by the clostridial cells to maintain its cellular homeostasis and ensure survival under starvation conditions.
Analysis of partial migration strategies of Central European raptors based on ring re-encounter data
(2018)
The phenomenon of partial migration in birds in
which some individuals of a population are migratory while others stay in the breeding area is of increasing scientific interest. The strategies of partial migratory raptors from Central Europe are, however, unclear for most species. We analysed ring re-encounter data of Common Kestrels Falco tinnunculus, Eurasian Sparrowhawks Accipter nisus and Common Buzzards Buteo buteo ringed in Germany in terms of distances and directions between ringing and re-encounter sites. We investigated possible differences between sexes and age classes, as well as effects of ringing region, seasonal weather (in the form of North Atlantic Oscillation indices) and long-term temporal changes (including climate change) on migratory strategies by means of generalized linear models. We found that migration is mostly conducted by juveniles, although migratory adults were also found. In general, males tend to migrate less than females and juveniles less than adults.
Kestrels showed differences between age classes and sexes and they responded to weather in summer and autumn. The migration activities of Kestrels decreased over years. Sparrowhawks from different regions showed no differences in migration activity and no responses to long-term temporal changes. They did not respond to seasonal weather either. Buzzards showed strong responses to winter weather (‘winter escapes’) predominantly in highland regions, and a reduction of migratory intensity probably due to global warming.
The explanatory power of ringing data, however, is limited by low re-encounter rates and temporal and spatial heterogeneity in re-encounter probability. Spatial heterogeneity mainly depends on the distribution of observers as well as on their willingness to report a re-encountered ring to the corresponding ringing scheme. We analyzed a data set of ringing and re-encounter data of Kestrels, Buzzards and Sparrowhawks provided by the EURING Data Bank. We calculated monthly re-encounter rates across Europe and, for different time periods, we predicted re-encounters for individuals of these species ringed in Germany, on the assumption that re-encounter probabilities are evenly distributed at the highest value observed within the respective home ranges. Subsequently, we tested for correlation between re-encounter rates and human population density. The number of predicted re-encounters exceed the observed by 50-300 %. We found differences between monthly re-encounter rates and between different prediction periods. Distances (between ringing and re-encounter sites) differ significantly between observations and predicted re-encounters, with higher distances in predictions. Correlation between re-encounter rates and human population density is significant, but correlation coefficients are low (ρ = 0.291-0.511). Correcting for observer heterogeneity can help to analyze ring re-encounter data e.g. in terms of dispersal and migration. However, a comprehensive data collection and a digitalization of possible prior data records by the respective ringing schemes may allow advances in this method even further.
The fear of somatic sensations is highly relevant in the etiology and maintenance of various disorders. Nevertheless, little is known about this fear of body symptoms and many questions are yet unanswered. Especially physiological studies on interoceptive threat are rare. Therefore, the present thesis investigated defensive mobilization, autonomic arousal, and brain activation during the anticipation of, exposure to, and recovery from unpleasant body sensations. Symptoms were provoked using a standardized hyperventilation procedure in a sample of high (and as controls: low) anxiety sensitive individuals - a population high at risk for developing a panic disorder and high in fear of internal body symptoms.
In study one, anxious apprehension was investigated during anticipation of interoceptive threat (somatic sensations evoked by hyperventilation) and exteroceptive threat (electric shock). Symptom reports, autonomic arousal, and defensive mobilization assessed by the startle eyeblink response were analyzed. Extending the knowledge on anticipation of interoceptive threat, study two investigated the neural networks activated during anxious apprehension of unpleasant body sensations. Symptom reports and startle response data were collected during a learning session after which participants high and low in fear of somatic symptoms attended a fMRI session anticipating threat (hyperventilation – learned to provoke unpleasant symptoms) or safety (normal breathing). Study three examined the actual exposure to internal body symptoms, investigating symptoms reports, autonomic arousal, and the startle eyeblink response during guided breathing (hyperventilation and, as a non-provocative comparison condition, normoventilation) and during recovery. And finally, study four addressed changes in the defensive mobilization during repeated interoceptive exposure via a hyperventilation procedure. High and low anxiety sensitive persons went through two guided hyperventilation and normoventilation procedures that were spaced one week apart while symptom reports, breathing parameters, and startle response magnitudes were measured.
In study one it was demonstrated that the anticipation of exteroceptive threat led to a defensive and autonomic mobilization in high and low anxiety sensitive individuals, while during interoceptive threat only high anxiety sensitive participants were characterized by a potentiated startle response and autonomic activation. Imaging data of study two revealed that 1) during anticipation of hyperventilation all participants were characterized by an increased activation of a fear network consisting of anterior insula/ orbitofrontal cortex and rostral parts of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex/ dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, 2) high fear individuals showed higher anxious apprehension than low fear controls during the entire context (safe and threat conditions), indexed by an overall stronger activation of the described network, and 3) while low fear controls learned that (undisclosed to all participants) in the fMRI scanner the threat cue was not followed by an unpleasant hyperventilation task, high fear participants continued to show stronger fear network activation to this cue. In study three it was demonstrated, that the hyperventilation procedure led to a marked increase in somatic symptoms and to autonomic arousal. While high and low anxiety sensitive groups did not differ during hyperventilation, in the early recovery only high anxiety sensitive individuals showed defensive mobilization, indicated by potentiated startle response magnitudes, and increased autonomic arousal after hyperventilation as compared to after normoventilation. Substantiating these findings, in study four all participants reported more symptoms during hyperventilation than during normoventilation, in both sessions. Nevertheless, only high anxiety sensitive participants displayed a potentiation of startle response magnitudes after the first hyper- vs. normoventilation. One week later, when the exercise was repeated this potentiation was no longer present and thus both groups no longer differed in their defensive mobilization. Even more, the number of reported baseline symptoms decreased from session one to session two in the high-AS group. While high anxiety sensitive persons reported increased baseline anxiety symptoms in session one, groups did not anymore differ in session two.
These data indicate that the standardized hyperventilation procedure is a valid paradigm to induce somatic symptoms. Moreover, it induces anxious apprehension especially in persons highly fearful of internal body symptoms. The repetition of interoceptive exposure, however, reduces associated fear in highly fearful individuals. Thus, this paradigm might provide an innovative method to study anxious apprehension and also treatment effects in patients with panic disorder. The present findings are integrated and discussed in the light of the current literature.
Two decades of research indicate that visual processing is typically enhanced for items that are in the space near the hands (near-hand space). Enhanced attention and cognitive control have been thought to be responsible for the observed effects, amongst others. As accumulating experimental evidence and recent theories of dual-tasking suggest an involvement of cognitive control and attentional processes during dual tasking, dual-task performance may be modulated in the near-hand space. Therefore, we performed a series of three experiments that aimed to test if the near-hand space affects the shift between task-component processing in two visual-manual tasks. We applied a Psychological Refractory Period Paradigm (PRP) with varying stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) and manipulated stimulus-hand proximity by placing hands either on the side of a computer screen (near-hand condition) or on the lap (far-hand condition). In Experiment 1, Task 1 was a number categorization task (odd vs. even) and Task 2 was a letter categorization task (vowel vs. consonant). Stimulus presentation was spatially segregated with Stimulus 1 presented on the right side of the screen, appearing first and then Stimulus 2, presented on the left side of the screen, appearing second. In Experiment 2, we replaced Task 2 with a color categorization task (orange vs. blue). In Experiment 3, Stimulus 1 and Stimulus 2 were centrally presented as a single bivalent stimulus. The classic PRP effect was shown in all three experiments, with Task 2 performance declining at short SOA while Task 1 performance being relatively unaffected by task-overlap. In none of the three experiments did stimulus-hand proximity affect the size of the PRP effect. Our results indicate that the switching operation between two tasks in the PRP paradigm is neither optimized nor disturbed by being processed in near-hand space.
Bacteria are exposed to oxidative stress as an unavoidable consequence of their aerobic lifestyle. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated in the stepwise one-electron reduction of molecular oxygen during the respiration. Pathogens encounter ROS during the oxidative burst of macrophages as part of the host immune defense. Besides ROS, bacteria also have to cope with reactive chlorine, electrophilic and nitrogen species (RCS, RES, RNS). To cope with these reactive species, bacteria have evolved different defense and repair mechanisms. To maintain the reduced state of the cytoplasm, they utilize low molecular weight (LMW) thiols. LMW thiols are small thiol-containing compounds that can undergo post-translational thiolmodifications with protein thiols, termed as S-thiolations. S-thiolations function as major redox regulatory and thiol-protection mechanism under oxidative stress conditions. In eukaryotes and Gram-negative bacteria, the tripeptide glutathione (GSH) functions as major LMW thiol, which is present in millimolar concentrations. The Actinomycetes, such as Mycobacterium and Corynebacterium species do not produce GSH and utilize instead mycothiol (MSH) as their alternative LMW thiol. In Firmicutes, including Bacillus and Staphylococcus species, bacillithiol (BSH) functions as the major LMW thiol. LMW thiols protect protein thiols against the irreversible overoxidation of cystein residues to sulfinic and sulfonic acids. In addition, LMW thiols contribute to the virulence and survival of pathogens, function in metal homeostasis and serve as enzyme cofactors for detoxification of xenobiotics and antibiotics. In this doctoral thesis, we aimed to investigate the roles of MSH and BSH in redox regulation of main metabolic enzymes under oxidative stress in the pathogens Corynebacterium diphtheriae and Staphylococcus aureus. Previous redox proteomics studies identified the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase GapDH and the aldehyde dehydrogenase AldA as S-thiolated in S. aureus and C. diphtheriae. Thus, we aimed to study the redox regulation of the metabolic enzyme GapDH in C. diphtheriae in response to NaOCl and H2O2 stress by S-mycothiolation, which is described in chapter 1. Moreover, we studied the involvement of the mycoredoxin-1 (Mrx1) and thioredoxin (Trx) pathways in reactivation of S-mycothiolated GapDH in vitro. Using shotgun proteomics, 26 S-mycothiolated proteins were identified under NaOCl stress in C. diphtheriae. These are involved in energy metabolism (Ndh, GlpD) and in the biosynthesis of amino acids (ThrA, LeuB), purines (PurA) and cell wall metabolites (GlmS). The glycolytic GapDH was identified as conserved target for S-thiolation across Gram-positive bacteria. GapDH was the most abundant protein, contributing with 0.75 % to the total cystein proteome. Moreover, GapDH is a conserved target for redox regulation and S-glutathionylation in response to oxidative stress in several prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. Treatment of GapDH with NaOCl and H2O2 in the absence of MSH resulted in irreversible enzyme inactivation due to overoxidation. Pretreatment of GapDH with MSH prior to H2O2 or NaOCl exposure resulted in reversible inactivation due to S-mycothiolation of the active site Cys153. Since S-mycothiolation is faster compared to overoxidation, S-mycothiolation efficiently protects the GapDH active site against overoxidation. The activity of S-mycothiolated GapDH could be restored by both, the Mrx1 and Trx pathway in vitro. Interestingly, the recovery of Smycothiolated GapDH by Mrx1 was faster compared to its reduction by the Trx pathway. In previous studies, the reactivation of S-mycothiolated Mpx and MrsA by the mycoredoxin pathway occurred also faster compared to the Trx pathway, which is consistent with our results. We were further interested to analyze the redox regulation of the glyceraldehyde-3phosphate dehydrogenase Gap of S. aureus under NaOCl and H2O2 stress, which is described in chapter 2. Using the quantitative redox proteomic approach OxICAT, 58 NaOCl-sensitive cystein residues with >10% thiol oxidation under NaOCl stress were identified. Gap and AldA showed the highest oxidation increase of 29% under NaOCl stress at their active site cystein residues. Using shotgun proteomics, five S-bacillithiolated proteins were identified, including Gap, AldA, GuaB, RpmJ and PpaC. Gap contributed with 4 % as most abundant cystein protein to the total cystein proteome. Our activity assays demonstrated that Gap of S. aureus is highly sensitive to overoxidation by H2O2 and NaOCl in vitro in the absence of BSH. The active site Cys151 of Gap was oxidized to the BSH mixed disulfide under H2O2 and NaOCl stress in the presence of BSH in vitro, which resulted in the reversible Gap inactivation. Moreover, inactivation of Gap by NaOCl and H2O2 due to S-bacillithiolation was faster compared to overoxidation, indicating that S-bacillithiolation protects the Gap active site against overoxidation in vitro. We further showed that the bacilliredoxin Brx catalyzes the reduction of S-bacillithiolated Gap in vitro. Molecular docking of BSH into the Gap active site revealed that S-bacillithiolation does not require major structural changes. Apart from Gap, the aldehyde dehydrogenase AldA was identified as S-bacillithiolated at its active site Cys279 under NaOCl stress in S. aureus previously. Thus, the expression, function, redox regulation and structural changes of AldA were analysed under NaOCl and aldehyde stress in S. aureus as summarized in chapter 3. AldA was S-bacillithiolated in the presence of H2O2 and BSH as demonstrated in BSH-specific Western blots in vitro. The expression of aldA was previously shown to be regulated by the alternative sigma factor SigmaB in S. aureus. Transcription of aldA was strongly increased in a SigmaB-independent manner under formaldehyde, NaOCl and diamide stress in S. aureus. Using an aldA deletion mutant, we demonstrated that aldA is required for growth and survival under NaOCl stress in S. aureus. The purified AldA enzyme was shown to catalyze the oxidation of various aldehyde substrates, including formaldehyde, methylglyoxal, glycolaldehyde and acetaldehyde in vitro. In addition, the function of the conserved Cys279 for AldA activity was investigated in vivo and in vitro. The purified AldAC279S mutant was shown to be inactive for aldehyde oxidation in vitro. Moreover, the aldAC279S mutant was very sensitive under NaOCl stress in vivo, and this phenotype could be reversed using the aldA complemented strain. These experiments demonstrate the function of Cys279 for AldA activity both in vitro and in vivo. AldA activity assays showed that AldA is sensitive to overoxidation and irreversible inactivation by H2O2 alone in vitro. In the presence of BSH, AldA is protected against overoxidation by reversible Sbacillithiolation in vitro. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations revealed that BSH occupies two different positions in the Cys279 active site, which depend on the NAD+ cofactor. In the apoenzyme, BSH forms the disulfide with Cys279 in the “resting” state position, while Cys279 is S-bacillithiolated in the “attacking” state position in the holoenzyme in the presence of the NAD+ cofactor.
Most animals live solitarily, but for some species the benefits of group living outweigh the costs and social communities have evolved. Truly social societies are characterized by cooperation in tasks like foraging, predator defense and brood care. In the most extreme cases, non-reproducing individuals act as helpers and provision offspring of reproducing individuals at the cost of their own reproductive success. This alloparental care is attributed to kin selection that provides the helpers with inclusive fitness benefits. However, how reproductive role is determined and in which ways virgin helpers in a group benefit the community is not always well understood.
Spiders are known to be generalist hunters, which in many cases do not shy away from cannibalism. Thus, most spiders live solitarily. However, in a few species a permanently social lifestyle has evolved in which individuals live together throughout their life, providing an intriguing case of social evolution. These spider communities are characterized by lack of premating dispersal leading to extreme inbreeding, by reproductive skew, in which only a proportion of females reproduce and by cooperative breeding of the reproducing females. It has been assumed that the large proportion of virgin females act as helpers not only in foraging and web maintenance but also during brood care. In the social spider Stegodyphus dumicola brood care involves the intensive task of regurgitation feeding, at which mothers regurgitate their own liquefied body tissue. At the end of brood care, the offspring sucks the mothers dry during matriphagy, leading to the death of brood caring females and a semelparous lifestyle. In the closely related solitarily breeding Stegodyphus lineatus virgin females do not provide brood care. The ability of virgin females in S. dumicola to care for offspring would thus depict an adaptation to sociality and cooperative breeding. I therefore aimed to clarify the role and significance of virgin females in colonies of social spiders and furthermore investigated a possible mechanism of how reproductive role within a colony is determined.
I investigated whether there is differential task participation in a non-reproductive task and the task of brood care among reproducing mothers and virgin females (helpers) in Stegodyphus dumicola. The study provides explicit evidence that brood care – including egg sac care, regurgitation feeding and matriphagy – is performed by mothers as well as by virgin helpers. Virgin females in a colony can thus rightfully be termed allomothers. However, the task participation differed between the reproductive states. While mothers engaged more often in brood care, virgin females were more active in foraging. However, the active provisioning of offspring by the virgin females decreases the motherly workload as is suggested by the extended brood care period in comparison to solitary breeders. The observations on virgin allomaternal care are supported by histological studies on the midgut tissue of brood caring females, which revealed that mothers and virgin helpers undergo comparable morphological changes in preparation of regurgitation feeding. The changes in virgin females correlate to ovarian development that might depict an internal maturation process which sets virgin females in the right state to provide care. The morphological changes in mothers and virgin helpers of S. dumicola are less comprehensive than in the solitarily breeding S. lineatus mothers. This indicates that cooperatively caring females are able to save on their resources, provision offspring for longer and thus are probably able to increase survival of the brood by an extended care period. A surprising consequence of cooperative brood care is the ability of mothers to produce a second viable egg sac, even when the first brood is successful. Mothers of the cooperative breeding S. dumicola can thus depart from the strictly semelparous lifestyle and instead invest part of their resources in a second clutch. This finding identified a new way of how cooperative breeding enhances breeding success of reproducers and thus inclusive fitness for helpers as well, thus adding to the benefits of allomaternal care.
Virgin females did not store significantly lower amounts of lipids in their midgut tissue than mothers, raising the question of how much reproductive role of females is determined by competition for resources during growth, as often assumed. Another possible determinant of female reproductive skew is the characteristic male scarcity in spider colonies, with only about 12 percent of spiders being male. Males are assumed to mature early within a few days and die early, thus leaving late maturing females unmated due to lack of mating partners. However, my studies provided evidence that male maturation is more skewed than expected and males might survive several months. Subadult females did not accelerate molting when an adult male was present, which could further indicate, that male presence is not a limiting factor on reproduction in males. Furthermore, males are able copulate with up to 16 females and did not show e preference for large females during mating trials. Males are thus able to fertilize all females, provided all females mature in time. I therefore suggest, that male scarcity is not major determinant of reproductive skew in females, especially in small and middle-sized colonies in which female maturation might only be moderately skewed.
My studies were able to demonstrate the meaning of the large proportion of unmated females in a colony of the social spider S. dumicola. Virgin helpers support mothers during brood care and thus do not only enhance the brood care period but facilitate mothers to produce multiple clutches. Virgin females are able to care as they undergo similar morphological changes as mothers’ do. This seems to be facilitated by an internal maturation process, indicated by ovarian development and oviposition by virgin females, both of which has never been observed in virgins of the subsocial species. How reproductive role is determined remains unclear, but I was able to exclude male scarcity as a major factor influencing reproductive skew.
Biocidal Agents Used for Disinfection Can Enhance Antibiotic Resistance in Gram-Negative Species
(2018)
Iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) result from insufficient iodine intake, and may lead to many adverse effects on growth, development and thyroid diseases in humans.
Pakistan is a country with history of iodine deficiency.
Before reunification both parts of Germany were iodine deficient. In the Eastern part, however, due to mandatory iodine prophylaxis adaptation in 1983, the iodine status of the population improved from moderate to mild iodine deficiency. After the reunification of Germany in 1989 “voluntary principle” was adopted leading again to a decrease in iodine intake. Germany and Pakistan present different socioeconomics, cultural values and adaptations to the IDD eradication but have resemblance in history of iodine deficiency. In the recent years Germany has improved in IDD eradication more than Pakistan. The purpose of this research was to study the regional influence on iodine nutritional status of pregnant women in Pakistan and to monitor the effectiveness of the iodine fortification programme in the North-East German population.
Pregnant women data was obtained from randomly selected (public and private) prenatal clinics in five districts of the KPK province of Pakistan. Women visited there for their routine checkup between March and September 2012. Data were obtained from almost 250 pregnant women from each district reaching to a total of 1260 in all five districts.
The SHIP project consists of two population-based cohorts, for which only individuals with German citizenship and main residency in the study area were recruited. In the first SHIP cohort; SHIP-0, individuals aged 20-79 years were selected from population registries by a two-stage cluster sampling method. The net sample (without migrated or deceased persons) comprised 6265 eligible subjects, of which 4308 (response 68.8%) participated between 1997 and 2001. A separate stratified random sample of 8826 adults aged 20-79 years was drawn for SHIP-Trend, of which 4420 subjects participated between 2008 and 2012 (response 50.1%) in SHIP-Trend-0.
All the pregnant women were asked to complete a short interview questionnaire containing the information related to sources and reasons for intake and non-intake of iodized salt. The questionnaire also comprised questions related to knowledge of iodized salt nutrition. Information on the number of previous pregnancies and/or abortions (fetal loss due to various reasons, not including voluntary termination of pregnancy) was also obtained. The gestational age of the pregnant women was determined from the first day of the last regular menstrual period with gestational ages of ≤14.9, 28.9, and ≥29 weeks comprising the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy, respectively. For goiter assessment in pregnant women the WHO/UNICEF/IGN recommended palpation method was used. UIC was measured using a modification of the Sandell-Kolthoff reaction with spectrophotometric detection. Evaluation of group iodine status was based on median UIC categories defined by the WHO/IGN. These are: recommended – median 150-249 μg/L; mild iodine deficiency – median <150 μg/L.
For the analysis of monitoring trends of thyroid diseases in SHIP, diagnosed thyroid disorders were assessed by computer-assisted personal interviews. Medication data were obtained online using the IDOM program (online drug-database leaded medication assessment) and classified according to the Anatomical-Therapeutic-Chemical (ATC) classification system.In SHIP population goiter assessment was based on thyroid volume determined with ultrasonography. Goiter was defined as a thyroid volume exceeding 18 mL in women and 25 mL in men. Urinary iodine concentrations were measured from spot urine samples by a photometric procedure. Urinary creatinine concentrations were determined with the Jaffé method. Evaluation of group iodine status was based on median UIC categories defined by the WHO/IGN. The iodine/creatinine ratio was calculated by dividing urinary iodine by urinary creatinine concentrations. Serum TSH, fT3, fT4 levels in SHIP study were measured by an immunochemiluminescent procedure. A method comparison between the two TSH laboratory methods showed only negligible differences. High and low serum TSH levels were based on the reference range established from data for SHIP-0 (0.25 mIU/L - 2.12 mIU/L) and SHIP-TREND-0 (0.49 mIU/L - 3.29 mIU/L) respectively (21,22). Anti-TPO Abs were measured by an enzyme immunoassay in the whole SHIP study. The anti-TPO Abs status was defined as follows: normal < 60 IU/ml in men and < 100 IU/ml in women; increased > 60 IU/ml in men and > 100 IU/ml in women; positive: > 200 IU/ml in both sexes.
Thyroid ultrasonography was performed in SHIP-0 using an ultrasound VST-Gateway with a 5 MHz linear array transducer. In SHIP-Trend-0 ultrasonography was performed with a portable device using a 13-MHz linear array transducer. In both studies intra- and inter-observer reliabilities were assessed before the start of the study and semi-annually during the study. For thyroid volume all inter-observer and inter-device variabilities showed mean differences (±2 SD)of < 5% (<25%). Thyroid volume was calculated as length x width x depth x 0.479 (ml) for each lobe (26). The normal thyroid echo pattern was classified as homogeneous. A homogeneous echo pattern with reduced echogenicity was defined as hypoechogenic. Nodular changes exceeding 10 mm in diameter were defined as thyroid nodules.
Multivariable logistic regression analysis adjusting for age was used to regress the outcome measures (knowledge about IDD, iodized salt intake, UIC <150mIU/L and goiter prevalence) on regional influences (as exposure) in each specific district. These results are presented as odd ratios and their 95% confidence interval.
For the analysis in SHIP, all analyses were standardized by base-weights to account for different sampling probabilities. In SHIP-Trend-0, additionally, inverse probability weights for study participation were calculated, which were multiplied with the base-weights. Differences in median levels between SHIP-0 and SHIP-Trend-0 were tested by median regression models; prevalence differences between SHIP-0 and SHIP-Trend-0 were tested by Poisson regression models.
The majority of pregnant women (88.0%) had no knowledge about IDD. A very high (79%) percentage of pregnant women were not taking iodized salt, out of which 36.6% reported that iodized salt would negatively affect reproduction and for 17.0%, it was too expensive. Iodized salt intake in pregnant women was high in the big cities (Peshawar, Nowshehra) and in the urban areas (27.0%)
In 41.3% of the pregnant women, we observed a UIC of >150mIU/L. The median UIC level for the pregnant women was 131µg/L. The total goiter prevalence in pregnant women was 25.5%. The prevalence of UIC <150mIU/L in pregnant women did not differ between rural and urban areas. The results based on logistic regression analysis shows that the prevalence on knowledge about IDD, iodized salt intake, UIC <150mIU/L, and goiter did not differ in pregnant women between urban and rural areas. In district Lakki Marwat except, the pregnant women from urban residence had higher odds of having knowledge on IDD and iodized salt intake than their rural counterparts.
The prevalence of diagnosed thyroid disorders increased from 7.6% [CI 6.9-8.5] in SHIP-0 to 18.9% [CI 17.6-20.1] in SHIP-Trend-0. Likewise, the prevalence of thyroid medication intake increased from 6.2% [CI 5.5-7.0] to 11.1% [CI 10.1-12.2]. The median urinary iodine excretion levels decreased significantly, which was more pronounced in females than in males. The median iodine-to-creatinine ratio declined in all sex- and age-groups with stronger decrease in females than in males. The prevalence of median urinary iodine excretion levels <100µg/L increased between SHIP-0 and SHIP-Trend-0. Median serum TSH levels increased significantly between SHIP-0 and SHIP-Trend-0, resulting in a right shift of the serum TSH level distribution. The prevalence of high serum TSH levels remained almost stable between SHIP-0 and SHIP-Trend-0. Likewise, the prevalence of low TSH remained almost stable between SHIP-0 and SHIP-Trend-0. The prevalence of increased anti-TPO Abs and positive anti-TPO Abs decreased from SHIP-0 to SHIP-Trend-0 in the whole study population. The prevalence of hypoechogenic thyroid pattern decreased from SHIP-0 to SHIP-Trend-0. The median thyroid volume remained similar between SHIP-0 and SHIP-Trend-0 in the whole study population. Goiter prevalence decreased significantly; more pronounced in males than in females, while the prevalence of thyroid nodules increased between SHIP-0 and SHIP-Trend-0.
In pregnant women in Pakistan due to insufficient awareness campaigns and low literacy ratio in rural areas urinary iodine excretion levels indicate a stable iodine supply, which is still not sufficient. Our results show that rural/urban disparity is affecting the IDD prevention program in rural districts, but not in general. The SHIP data indicate that the improved iodine supply over the past two decades in Germany is paralleled by a reduction in prevalence of IDDs, while no increase was observed in markers of autoimmune thyroid disorders arguing for an optimal iodine supply of the general adult population in Northeast Germany. The increase in prevalence of diagnosed thyroid disorders and the intake of thyroid medication might be because of inappropriate therapeutical decisions which should be made with caution, based on regional TSH reference ranges, its prognostic value, and compliance with treatment.
Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) regulates the migration of follicular B cells
(B2 cells) and directs the positioning of Marginal zone B cells (MZ B cells) within the spleen. The
function of S1P signalling in the third B cell lineage, B1 B cells, mainly present in the pleural and
peritoneal cavity, has not yet been determined. Methods: S1P receptor expression was analysed
in peritoneal B cells by real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The chemotactic response to
S1P was studied in vitro. The role of S1P signalling was further explored in a s1p4
−/− mouse
strain. Results: Peritoneal B cells expressed considerable amounts of the S1P receptors 1 and 4
(S1P1 and S1P4, respectively). S1P1 showed differential expression between the distinct peritoneal B
cell lineages. While B2 cells showed no chemotactic response to S1P, B1 B cells showed a migration
response to S1P. s1p4
−/− mice displayed significant alterations in the composition of peritoneal
B cell populations, as well as a significant reduction of mucosal immunoglobulin A (IgA) in the
gut. Discussion: S1P signalling influences peritoneal B1 B cell migration. S1P4 deficiency alters the
composition of peritoneal B cell populations and reduces secretory IgA levels. These findings suggest
that S1P signalling may be a target to modulate B cell function in inflammatory intestinal pathologies.
Objectives: We aimed to update the 2010 evidence- and consensus-based national clinical guideline on the diagnosis and management of uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) in adult patients. Materials and Methods: An interdisciplinary group consisting of 17 representatives of 12 medical societies and a patient representative was formed. Systematic literature searches were conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library to identify literature published in 2010–2015. Results: We provide 75 recommendations and 68 statements in the updated evidence- and consensus-based national clinical guideline. The diagnostics part covers practical recommendations on cystitis and pyelonephritis for each defined patient group. Clinical examinations, as well as laboratory testing and microbiological pathogen assessment, are addressed. Conclusion: In accordance with the global antibiotic stewardship initiative and considering new insights in scientific research, we updated our German clinical UTI guideline to promote a responsible antibiotic use and to give clear hands-on recommendations for the diagnosis and management of UTIs in adults in Germany for healthcare providers and patients.