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Administrative data are used to generate estimates of sepsis epidemiology and can serve as source for quality indicators. Aim was to compare estimates on sepsis incidence and mortality based on different ICD-code abstraction strategies and to assess their validity for sepsis case identification based on a patient sample not pre-selected for presence of sepsis codes. We used the national DRG-statistics for assessment of population-level sepsis incidence and mortality. Cases were identified by three previously published International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD) coding strategies for sepsis based on primary and secondary discharge diagnoses (clinical sepsis codes (R-codes), explicit coding (all sepsis codes) and implicit coding (combined infection and organ dysfunction codes)). For the validation study, a stratified sample of 1120 adult patients admitted to a German academic medical center between 2007-2013 was selected. Administrative diagnoses were compared to a gold standard of clinical sepsis diagnoses based on manual chart review. In the validation study, 151/937 patients had sepsis. Explicit coding strategies performed better regarding sensitivity compared to R-codes, but had lower PPV. The implicit approach was the most sensitive for severe sepsis; however, it yielded a considerable number of false positives. R-codes and explicit strategies underestimate sepsis incidence by up to 3.5-fold. Between 2007-2013, national sepsis incidence ranged between 231-1006/100,000 person-years depending on the coding strategy. In the sample of a large tertiary care hospital, ICD-coding strategies for sepsis differ in their accuracy. Estimates using R-codes are likely to underestimate the true sepsis incidence, whereas implicit coding overestimates sepsis cases. Further multi-center evaluation is needed to gain better understanding on the validity of sepsis coding in Germany.

Macroscopic biopores, like earthworm burrows or channels which remain after a root decayed, act as preferential flow paths for water, gas, and heat transport processes, and viewing at agricultural production, as preferential elongation paths for plant roots. These processes result in intense alterations of the soil volume and its composition that surrounds the pores. The effects of these processes were analyzed at small-scale and physico-chemical soil parameters, i.e. relative oxygen diffusion coefficient (Ds/DO), oxygen partial pressure pO2, Eh and pH of biopore walls, were measured. The analyses were carried out on undisturbed soil samples with different colonization history, excavated from a haplic Luvisol derived from loess. Soil resistance to penetration was determined simultaneously with Ds/DO and pO2 using a coupled, self-developed approach, and four matric potentials (namely, ᴪ_m = -1 kPa; -3 kPa; -6 kPa or -30 kPa) were considered. We hypothesized that physico-chemical soil parameters in biopore walls were altered due to differing influences on the soil aggregation. Aggregation was visualized with scanning electron microscopy, classified and used to explain differences in - soil properties. Plant roots and earthworms altered aggregation next to biopore surfaces in a contrasted way, either by enhancing aggregates diversity or homogenizing it. Roots led to the formation of subpolyeders while earthworms formed subplates. Pore functions of microaggregates were comparable to those of larger scale, and subpolyeders showed much more favorable soil properties in terms of soil aeration (Ds/Do, pO2). Replicates of all parameters scattered intensely and showed deviations up to several orders of magnitude in case of Ds/DO underlining the large variability of soil properties in biopore walls.

Since January 2020, the COVID-19 crisis has affected everyday life around the world, and rigorous government lockdown restrictions have been implemented to prevent the further spread of the pandemic. The consequences of the corona crisis and the associated lockdown policies for public health, social life, and the economy are vast. In view of the rapidly changing situation during this crisis, policymakers require timely data and research results that allow for informed decisions. Addressing the requirement for adequate databases to assess people's  life and work situations during the pandemic, the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) developed the High-frequency Online Personal Panel (HOPP). The HOPP study started in May 2020 and is based on a random sample of individuals drawn from the administrative data of the Federal Employment Agency in Germany, containing information on all labour market participants except civil servants and self-employed. The main goal of the HOPP study is to assess the short-term as well as long-term changes in people's social life and working situation in Germany due to the corona pandemic. To assess individual dynamics the HOPP collected data on a monthly (wave  one to four) and bi-monthly (wave five to seven) basis. Furthermore, respondents were divided into four groups. The different groups of a new wave were invited to the survey at weekly intervals (wave two to four) or bi-weekly intervals (wave five to seven). This gives us the advantage of being able to provide weekly data while each participant only had to participate on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. In this article, we delineate the HOPP study in terms of its main goals and features, topics, and survey design. Furthermore, we provide a summary of results derived from HOPP and the future prospects of the study.

The conversion of coniferous forest to deciduous forest is accompanied by changes in the vertical distribution of fine roots and soil organic carbon (SOC) content. It is unclear how these changes affect soil CO 2 efflux and vertical soil CO 2 production, considering changing climate. Here, we present the results of a 6-year study on CO 2 efflux, covering relatively warm-dry and cool-wet years. A combination of the flux-gradient method and closed chamber measurements was used to study the CO 2 efflux and the vertical distribution of soil CO 2 production in a beech ( Fagus sylvatica L.) and a pine ( Pinus sylvestris L.) forest in northeast Germany. We observed, on average, similar CO 2 efflux with 517 (±126) and 559 (±78) g C m –2 a –1 for the beech site and the pine site, respectively. CO 2 efflux at the beech site exceeded that at the pine site during the wet year 2017, whereas in dry years, the opposite was the case. Water availability as indicated by precipitation was the primary determining long-term factor of CO 2 efflux, whereas seasonal variation was mainly affected by soil temperature, and—in the case of beech—additionally by soil water content. CO 2 efflux decreased more dramatically (-43%) at the beech site than at the pine site (-22%) during the warm-dry year 2018 compared to the cool-wet year 2017. We assumed that drought reduces heterotrophic respiration (R h ) at both sites, but additionally decreases autotrophic respiration (R a ) at the beech stand. Soil CO 2 production at the beech site ranged over a greater soil depth than at the pine site, attributed to different fine root distribution. The organic layer and the A horizon contributed 47 and 68% of total CO 2 efflux at the beech site and the pine site, respectively. The seasonal patterns of different CO 2 efflux between both sites were assumed to relate to different phases of tree physiological activity of deciduous compared to evergreen tree species.

Flow properties of soils are helpful to describe the soils’ response on mechanical loading, which occurs naturally (e.g. caused by growing roots or drilling earthworms) or anthropenically (e.g, in the course of management practices like tillage) In order to determine the effect of bacterial or plant exudation induced changes of soil strength and soil’s flow behaviour soil samples of the Bt horizons of a haplic Luvisol were saturated with pure water or with aqueous solutions of biological model substance. We chose xanthan gum as a bacterial exudate which represents the chemical alteration of soil microorganism, while polygalacturonic acid has been used as a root’s mucilage analogue. Surface tension and viscosity of these aqueous solutions were determined, and soil samples’ flow properties were obtained with the help of rheometry. By applying amplitude sweep tests to the soil samples soil stability related parameters were determined (loss (G’’) and storage (G’) moduli, representing the plasticity or elasticity of soils, respectively) or calculated (namely, the loss factor (ratio of G’’’ and G’), Integral Z (a strain-stress dependent sum-parameter) and the linear viscoelastic range (where no changes in soil structure occur)). We hypothesized that (I) flow properties of used model substances differ from those of pure water and, (II) biological model substances influence the water content at defined matric potential caused by e.g. altered surface tension, thus influencing parameters that were related to soil stability. Furthermore, (III) the impact of biological model substance depends on the shear rate that is applied to achieve the soil’s deformation because some biological model substances show non-Newtonian flow. So far and to our knowledge this is the first rheological work on soils that evaluates the effect of differing shear rates on elastic and plastic deformation statistically. We found the impacts of biological model substances on soils’ flow properties to be not only dependent of origin (plan or bacterial), concentration and matric potential, but also on deformation intensities. Due to chemical particularities of PGA a deformation induced soil stabilisation was observed. Leading to the conclusion that deformation processes e.g. in the rhizosphere are much more complex than previously thought.

Previous research is inconclusive regarding the effects of paper and web surveys on response burdens. We conducted an establishment survey with random assignment to paper and web modes to examine this issue. We compare how the actual and perceived response burdens differ when respondents complete a survey in the paper mode, in the web mode and when they are allowed to choose between the two modes. Our results show that in the web mode, respondents have a lower estimated time to complete the questionnaire, while we do not find differences between paper and the web on the perceived response time and perceived burden. Even though the response burden in the web mode is lower, our study finds no evidence of an increased response burden when moving an establishment survey from paper to the web.

Rivers are the “tip of the iceberg”, with the underlying groundwater being the unseen freshwater majority. Microbial community composition and the dynamics of shallow groundwater ecosystems are thus crucial, due to their potential impact on ecosystem processes and functioning. In early summer and late autumn, samples of river water from 14 stations and groundwater from 45 wells were analyzed along a 300 km transect of the Mur River valley, from the Austrian alps to the flats at the Slovenian border. The active and total prokaryotic communities were characterized using high-throughput gene amplicon sequencing. Key physico-chemical parameters and stress indicators were recorded. The dataset was used to challenge ecological concepts and assembly processes in shallow aquifers. The groundwater microbiome is analyzed regarding its composition, change with land use, and difference to the river. Community composition and species turnover differed significantly. At high altitudes, dispersal limitation was the main driver of groundwater community assembly, whereas in the lowland, homogeneous selection explained the larger share. Land use was a key determinant of the groundwater microbiome composition. The alpine region was more diverse and richer in prokaryotic taxa, with some early diverging archaeal lineages being highly abundant. This dataset shows a longitudinal change in prokaryotic communities that is dependent on regional differences affected by geomorphology and land use.

(1) Background: Austria’s use of fully mechanized harvesting systems has been continuously increasing. Technical developments, such as traction aid winches, have made it possible to drive on increasingly steep terrain. However, this has led to challenges and potential hazards for the operators, resulting in higher stand damage rates and risks of workplace accidents. Since these systems and working environments involve a highly complex interplay of various parameters, the purpose of this protocol is to propose a new set of methodologies that can be used to obtain a holistic interpretation of the psychophysiological interrelationship between the working conditions and stress of harvester and forwarder drivers. (2) Methods: We developed a research protocol to analyse the (a) environmental and (b) machine-related parameters; (c) psychological and psychophysiological responses of the operators; and (d) technical outcome parameters. Within this longitudinal exploratory field study, experienced drivers were monitored for over an hour at the beginning and the end of their workday while operating in varying steep terrains with and without a traction aid winch. The analysis is based on macroscopic (collected using cameras), microscopic (eye-tracking glasses and AI-driven emotion recognition), quantitative (standardized questionnaires), and qualitative (interviews) data. This multimodal research protocol aims to improve the health and safety of forest workers, increase their productivity, and reduce damage to remaining trees.

One of the most frequent complications after laparoscopic antireflux surgery is intrathoracic migration of the wrap (“slipped” Nissen fundoplication). The most common reasons for this are inadequate closure of the crura or disruption of the crural closure. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate surgical outcomes in patients who underwent laparoscopic antireflux surgery with simple nonabsorbable polypropylene sutures for hiatal closure in comparison to patients who underwent routine mesh-hiatoplasty. Between 1993 and 1998, a group of 361 patients underwent primary laparoscopic Nissen or Toupet fundoplication with the use of simple nonabsorbable polypropylene sutures for hiatal closure. Since December 1998, in all patients (n = 170) who underwent laparoscopic antireflux surgery, a 1 × 3 cm polypropylene mesh was placed on the crura behind the esophagus to reinforce them. Functional outcome, symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease, and postoperative complications such as recurrent hiatal hernia with or without intrathoracic migration of the wrap have been used for assessment of outcomes. In the initial series of 361 patients, postoperative herniation of the wrap occurred in 22 patients (6.1%). Of these 22 patients, 17 of them (4.7%) had to undergo laparoscopic redo surgery. The remaining five patients were free of symptoms. In comparison to these results, in a second group of 170 patients there was only one (0.6%) who had postoperative herniation of the wrap into the chest. There have been no significant differences in objective data such as DeMeester scores or lower esophageal sphincter pressure between the two groups. Postoperative dysphagia was increased during the early period after surgery in patients undergoing mesh-hiatoplasty but resolved without any further treatment within the first year after laparoscopic antireflux surgery. We concluded that routine hiatoplasty with the use of a polypropylene mesh is effective in preventing postoperative herniation of the wrap and leads to a significantly better surgical outcome than closure of the hiatal crura with simple sutures, without any additional long-term side effects. ( J Gastrointest Surg 2002;6:347–353.)

In this work, single-phase (liquid water) and two-phase (liquid water and gaseous oxygen) 3D-CFD flow analysis of the anode of a high pressure PEM electrolysis cell was conducted. 3D-CFD simulation models of the anode side porous transport layer of a PEM electrolyzer cell were created for the flow analysis. For the geometrical modelling of the PTL, two approaches were used: (a) modelling the exact geometry and (b) modelling a simplified geometry using a porosity model. Before conducting two-phase simulations, the model was validated using a single-phase approach. The Eulerian multiphase and the volume-of-fluid approaches were used for the two-phase modelling and the results were compared. Furthermore, a small section of the PTL was isolated to focus on the gas bubble flow and behaviour in more detail. The results showed plausible tendencies regarding pressure drop, velocity distribution and gas volume fraction distribution. The simplified geometry using the porous model could adequately replicate the results of the exact geometry model with a significant reduction in simulation time. The developed simulation model can be used for further investigations and gives insight into two-phase flow phenomena in the PTL. Additionally, the information obtained from simulation can aid the design and evaluation of new PTL structures.