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Background/Aims Surgical procedures in ophthalmology underlie variations over different time periods and are strongly dependent on the technical process and the invention of innovative surgical techniques. Especially, in glaucoma surgery a lot of surgical devices and techniques have been introduced during the last years. Until now, the use of these newer techniques has not been shown on a robust data basis. We herein present the numbers of different types of glaucoma surgeries performed at German hospitals between 2006 and 2018. Methods and Design The quality reports of hospitals in Germany from 2006 to 2018 were analyzed concerning all procedural codes for glaucoma surgery and intervention. Especially, the change in usage of “classical” and “modern” surgical techniques (MIGS: “minimally invasive glaucoma surgery”) or devices was compared. Results The number of glaucoma procedures performed increased by 75% from 27,811 in 2006 to 48,794 in 2018. Absolute numbers of trabeculectomies, goniotomies, ab externo trabeculotomies and to a certain level cyclodestructive procedures decreased during the examined years while use of MIGS has increased in absolute and relative numbers since 2012. From 2015 a strong increase in the usage of XEN implants could be seen. Drainage implants (such as Baerveldt/Ahmed) showed stable absolute numbers over the time period covered. Absolute numbers of laser trabeculoplasty peaked in 2014 and decreased afterwards. Iridotomies and iridectomies increased by 120%/248% over the whole period. Conclusion Our data show a trend towards the modern surgical options and especially MIGS during the recent years. Classical procedures showed a decrease in total numbers emphasized from 2013. These numbers confirm the assumption that modern glaucoma surgery is becoming more and more popular and established in German hospitals.

Summary Isolation of long-term hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) is possible by utilizing flow cytometry with multiple cell surface markers. However, those cell surface phenotypes do not represent functional HSCs after in vitro culture. Here we show that cultured HSCs express mast cell-related genes including Cd244. After in vitro culture, phenotypic HSCs were divided into CD244- and CD244+ subpopulations, and only CD244- cells that have low mast cell gene expression and maintain HSC-related genes sustain reconstitution potential. The result was same when HSCs were cultured in an efficient expansion medium containing polyvinyl alcohol. Chemically induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress signal increased the CD244+ subpopulation, whereas ER stress suppression using a molecular chaperone, TUDCA, decreased CD244+ population, which was correlated to improved reconstitution output. These data suggest CD244 is a potent marker to exclude non-functional HSCs after in vitro culture thereby useful to elucidate mechanism of functional decline of HSCs during ex vivo treatment., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • Murine HSCs up-regulate mast cell-related genes including Cd244 during in vitro culture • Long-term HSCs after in vitro culture are enriched in CD244−CD48−KSL population • Induction of unfolded protein response is involved in the increase of CD244+HSC, Biological sciences; Immunology; Cell biology; Stem cells research

Hintergrund Ab Frühjahr 2020 kam es zur weltweiten Verbreitung von SARS-CoV‑2 mit der heute als erste Welle der Pandemie bezeichneten Phase ab März 2020. Diese resultierte an vielen Kliniken in Umstrukturierungen und Ressourcenverschiebungen. Ziel unserer Arbeit war die Erfassung der Auswirkungen der Pandemie auf die universitäre Hals-Nasen-Ohren(HNO)-Heilkunde für die Forschung, Lehre und Weiterbildung. Material und Methoden Die Direktorinnen und Direktoren der 39 Universitäts-HNO-Kliniken in Deutschland wurden mithilfe einer strukturierten Online-Befragung zu den Auswirkungen der Pandemie im Zeitraum von März bis April 2020 auf die Forschung, Lehre und die Weiterbildung befragt. Ergebnisse Alle 39 Direktorinnen und Direktoren beteiligten sich an der Umfrage. Hiervon gaben 74,4 % (29/39) an, dass es zu einer Verschlechterung ihrer Forschungstätigkeit infolge der Pandemie gekommen sei. Von 61,5 % (24/39) wurde berichtet, dass pandemiebezogene Forschungsaspekte aufgegriffen wurden. Von allen Kliniken wurde eine Einschränkung der Präsenzlehre berichtet und 97,5 % (38/39) führten neue digitale Lehrformate ein. Im Beobachtungszeitraum sahen 74,4 % der Klinikdirektoren die Weiterbildung der Assistenten nicht gefährdet. Schlussfolgerung Die Ergebnisse geben einen Einblick in die heterogenen Auswirkungen der Pandemie. Die kurzfristige Bearbeitung pandemiebezogener Forschungsthemen und die Einführung innovativer digitaler Konzepte für die studentische Lehre belegt eindrücklich das große innovative Potenzial und die schnelle Reaktionsfähigkeit der HNO-Universitätskliniken, um auch während der Pandemie ihre Aufgaben in der Forschung, Lehre und Weiterbildung bestmöglich zu erfüllen. Background From spring 2020, SARS-CoV‑2 began to spread worldwide, with what is now known as the first wave of the pandemic, starting in March 2020. This resulted in restructuring and shift of resources at many hospitals. The aim of our work was to detect the effects of the pandemic on the german Oto-Rhino-Laryngology (ORL) university hospitals in terms of research, student teaching and further specialist training. Material and methods The chairmen of the 39 ORL university hospitals in Germany were asked about the effects of the pandemic on research, student teaching and ORL specialist training (residency) in the period from March to April 2020 using a structured online survey. Results All 39 chairmen took part in the survey. Of these, 74.4% (29/39) stated that their research activities had deteriorated as a result of the pandemic. In 61.5% (24/39) pandemic-related research issues were addressed. All hospitals reported a restriction for in-house teaching and 97.5% (38/39) introduced new digital teaching methods. During the observation period, 74.4% of the chairmen did not see ORL specialist training (residency)at risk. Conclusion Our results provide an insight into the heterogeneous effects of the pandemic. The fast processing of pandemic-related research topics and the introduction of innovative digital concepts for student teaching impressively demonstrates the great innovative potential and the ability of the ORL university hospitals to react quickly in order to maintain their tasks in research, student teaching and ORL specialist training in the best possible way even during the pandemic.

B lymphocyte development is dependent on the interplay between the chromatin landscape and lineage-specific transcription factors. It has been suggested that B lineage commitment is associated with major changes in the nuclear chromatin environment, proposing a critical role for lineage-specific transcription factors in the formation of the epigenetic landscape. In this report, we have used chromosome conformation capture in combination with assay for transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing analysis to enable highly efficient annotation of both proximal and distal transcriptional control elements to genes activated in B lineage specification in mice. A large majority of these genes were annotated to at least one regulatory element with an accessible chromatin configuration in multipotent progenitors. Furthermore, the majority of binding sites for the key regulators of B lineage specification, EBF1 and PAX5, occurred in already accessible regions. EBF1 did, however, cause a dynamic change in assay for transposase-accessible chromatin accessibility and was critical for an increase in distal promoter–enhancer interactions. Our data unravel an extensive epigenetic priming at regulatory elements annotated to lineage-restricted genes and provide insight into the interplay between the epigenetic landscape and transcription factors in cell specification.

In Sect. 5.1 we considered binary regression models, that is, regression situations where the response is observed in two categories. In many applications, from social science to medicine, response variables often have more than two categories. For example, consumers may choose between different brands of a product or they may express their opinion about some product in ordered categories ranging from “very satisfied” to “not satisfied at all.” Similarly, voters choose between several parties or they assess the quality of candidates in ordered categories. In medicine, we may, for example, not only distinguish between “infection” and “no infection” but also between several types of infection, as in Example 6.1 below.

Linear models are well suited for regression analyses when the response variable is continuous and at least approximately normal. In some cases, an appropriate transformation is needed to ensure approximate normality of the response. In addition, the expectation of the response is assumed to be a linear combination of covariates. Again, these covariates may be transformed before being included in the linear predictor.

This chapter discusses several extensions of the classical linear model. We first describe in Sect. 4.1 the general linear model and its applications. This model allows for correlated errors and heteroscedastic variances of the errors. Section 4.2 discusses several techniques to regularize the least squares estimator. Such a regularization may be useful in cases where the design matrix is highly collinear or even rank deficient. Moreover, regularization techniques allow for built-in variable selection. Section 4.4 describes Bayesian linear models as an alternative to the frequentist linear model framework. In modern statistics, Bayesian approaches have become increasingly more important and widely used.

A history of insufficient nutritional intake is reflected by low anthropometric measures and can lead to growth failures, limited mental development, poor health outcomes and a higher risk of dying. Children below five years are among those most vulnerable and, while improvements in the share of children affected by insufficient nutritional intake has been observed, both sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have a disproportionately high share of growth failures and large disparities at national and sub-national levels. In this study, we use a Bayesian distributional regression approach to develop models for the standard anthropometric measures, stunting and wasting. This approach allows us to model both the mean and the standard deviation of the underlying response distribution. Accordingly, the whole distribution of the anthropometric measures can be evaluated. This is of particular importance, considering the fact that (severe) growth failures of children are defined having a z-score below −2 (−3), emphasising the need to extend the analysis beyond the conditional mean. In addition, we merge individual data taken from the Demographic and Health Surveys with remote sensed data for a large sample of 38 countries located in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia for the period 1990–2016, in order to combine individual and household specific characteristics with geophysical and environmental characteristics, and to allow for a comparison over time. Our results show besides gender differences across space, and strong non-linear effects of included socio-economic characteristics, in particular for maternal education and the wealth of the household that, surprisingly, in the presence of socio-economic characteristics, remote sensed data does not contribute to variations in growth failures, and including a pure spatial effect excluding remote sensed data leads to even better results. Further, while all regions showed improvements towards the target of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), our analysis identifies hotspots of growth failures at sub-national levels within India, Nigeria, Niger, and Madagascar, emphasising the need to accelerate progress to reach the target set by the SDGs. ISSN:1570-677X ISSN:1873-6130

The following two chapters will focus on the theory and application of linear regression models, which play a major role in statistics. We already studied some examples in Sect. 2.2. In addition to the direct application of linear regression models, they are also the basis of a variety of more complex regression methods.

Highlights • PD with mild behavioral impairment revealed deficits in cognitive flexibility. • Brain activities during a set-shifting task linked with MBI in PD was evaluated. • PD-MBI revealed reduced activity in the prefrontal and posterior parietal cortices. • The prefrontal activity was associated with cognitive impairment in PD-MBI. • High MBI-C score was associated with reduced deactivation in the hippocampus., Mild behavioral impairment (MBI) is a neurobehavioral syndrome characterized by later life emergence of sustained neuropsychiatric symptoms, as an at-risk state for incident cognitive decline and dementia. Prior studies have reported that neuropsychiatric symptoms are associated with cognitive abilities in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, and we have recently found a strong correlation between MBI and cognitive performance. However, the underlying neural activity patterns of cognitive performance linked to MBI in PD are unknown. Fifty-nine non-demented PD patients and 26 healthy controls were scanned using fMRI during performance of a modified version of the Wisconsin card sorting task. MBI was evaluated using the MBI-checklist, and PD patients were divided into two groups, PD-MBI and PD-noMBI. Compared to the PD-noMBI group and healthy controls, the PD-MBI group revealed less activation in the prefrontal and posterior parietal cortices, and reduced deactivation in the medial temporal region. These results suggest that in PD, MBI reflects deficits in the frontoparietal control network and the hippocampal memory system.

Part de conferència de: XXIV International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Congress (ISPRS 2020). Nice (Virtual) (Francia) Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XLIII-B5-2020, 15–22, 2020 https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIII-B5-2020-15-2020 With new Earth Observation (EO) and Geoinformation (GI) data sources increasingly becoming available, evermore new skills for data collection, processing, analysis and application are required. They are needed not only from scientists, but also from practitioners working in businesses, public and private EO*GI and related sectors. Aligning the continuously evolving skill sets demanded by the market and existing academic and vocational training programmes is not an easy task. Training programmes should be grounded in real needs of the sector and its labour market. To do this, it is necessary to identify the knowledge and skills needed, and map their interconnectivity in specific frameworks, which can later be used for the definition of new curricula or job-oriented learning paths. This paper presents a framework for the EO*GI sector, based on a Body of Knowledge (BoK), by creating a complete set of concepts with a semantic structure underneath that supports academia and industry. Creating and updating the BoK is supported by an editing tool, the Living Textbook and by experts in the EO*GI domain, who contributes to the BoK’s enrichment.

Background The dual syndrome hypothesis of cognitive impairment in PD suggests that two cognitive profiles exist with distinct pathological mechanisms and a differential risk for further cognitive decline. How these profiles relate to network dysfunction has never been explicitly characterized. Objective First, to assess intranetwork functional connectivity while considering global connectivity, and second, to relate network connectivity with measures of the dysexecutive and posterior cortical profiles. Methods Eighty-two subjects with idiopathic PD and 37 age-matched controls underwent resting-state functional MRI and comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. Intranetwork and global connectivity was compared between groups. Measures of the dysexecutive and posterior cortical profiles were related to network connectivity while considering demographic and disease-related covariates. Results PD subjects show decreased connectivity within several cortical networks. However, only the sensorimotor network displayed a loss of connectivity independent of the observed decreased global connectivity. The dysexecutive factor was independently related to increased motor severity, less education, and decreased connectivity in the sensorimotor network. The posterior cortical factor was related to increased age, less education, decreased connectivity in the central executive network, as well as increased connectivity in the temporal network. Conclusions Our results provide evidence supporting a network-specific process of degeneration in the sensorimotor network which contributes to the dysexecutive cognitive profile. In contrast, connectivity of the temporal and central executive network is related to the posterior cortical profile, representing a distinct network signature of this syndrome. © 2019 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Distributional structured additive regression provides a flexible framework for modelling each parameter of a potentially complex response distribution in dependence of covariates. Structured additive predictors allow for an additive decomposition of covariate effects with non-linear effects and time trends, unit- or cluster-specific heterogeneity, spatial heterogeneity and complex interactions between covariates of different type. Within this framework, we present a simultaneous estimation approach for multiplicative random effects that allow for cluster-specific heterogeneity with respect to the scaling of a covariate′s effect. More specifically, a possibly non-linear function f( z) of a covariate z may be scaled by a multiplicative and possibly spatially correlated cluster-specific random effect (1+αc). Inference is fully Bayesian and is based on highly efficient Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms. We investigate the statistical properties of our approach within extensive simulation experiments for different response distributions. Furthermore, we apply the methodology to German real estate data where we identify significant district-specific scaling factors. According to the deviance information criterion, the models incorporating these factors perform significantly better than standard models without (spatially correlated) random scaling factors.

Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) have difficulties processing action words, which could be related to early cognitive decline. The action fluency test can be used to quickly and easily assess the processing of action words in PD. The goal of this study was to characterize how the action fluency test relates to personal characteristics, disease factors, cognition, and neural activity in PD. Forty-eight participants with PD (34 male, 14 female) and 35 control participants (16 male, 19 female) completed functional neuroimaging using a set-shifting task and a neuropsychological assessment including the action fluency test. PD participants with a score one standard deviation below the norm or lower on the action fluency test were identified. All PD participants with poor performance (PD-P, n = 15) were male. They were compared to male PD participants with scores within the normal range (PD-N, n = 19) and male healthy controls (HC, n = 16). PD-P were older, had lower global cognition scores, lower executive functions scores, and decreased activity in fronto-temporal regions compared with PD-N. There was no difference between the two PD groups in terms of the duration of the disease, dose of dopaminergic medication, and severity of motor symptoms. PD-N were younger than HC, but there was no other significant difference between these groups. The action fluency test identified a subgroup of PD patients with distinct sex, age, global cognition, executive functions, and brain activity characteristics. Implications for the evaluation of cognition are discussed.

Background: SPECT (single-photon emission-computed tomography) is used for the detection of hypoperfusion in cognitive impairment and dementia but is not widely available and related to radiation dose exposure. We compared the performance of DSC (dynamic susceptibility contrast) perfusion using semi- and fully adaptive deconvolution models to HMPAO-SPECT (99mTc-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime-SPECT). Material and Methods: Twenty-seven patients with dementia of different subtypes including frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) received a multimodal diagnostic work-up including DSC perfusion at a clinical 3T high-field scanner and HMPAO-SPECT. Nineteen healthy control individuals received DSC perfusion. For calculation of the hemodynamic parameter maps, oscillation-index standard truncated singular value decomposition (oSVD, semi-adaptive) as well as Bayesian parameter estimation (BAY, fully adaptive) were performed. Results: Patients showed decreased cortical perfusion in the left frontal lobe compared to controls (relative cerebral blood volume corrected, rBVc: 0.37 vs. 0.27, p = 0.048, adjusted for age and sex). Performance of rBVc (corrected for T1 effects) was highest compared to SPECT for detection of frontal hypoperfusion (sensitivity 83%, specificity 80% for oSVD and BAY, area under curve (AUC) = 0.833 respectively, p < 0.05) in FTD and MCI. For nonleakage-corrected rBV and for rBF (relative cerebral blood flow), sensitivity of frontal hypoperfusion was above 80% for oSVD and for BAY (rBV: sensitivity 83%, specificity 75%, AUC = 0.908 for oSVD and 0.917 for BAY, p < 0.05 respectively; rBF: sensitivity 83%, specificity 65%, AUC = 0.825, p < 0.05 for oSVD). Conclusion: Advanced deconvolution DSC can reliably detect pathological perfusion alterations in FTD and MCI. Hence, this widely accessible technique has the potential to improve the diagnosis of dementia and MCI as part of an interdisciplinary multimodal imaging work-up. Advances in knowledge: Advanced DSC perfusion has a high potential in the work-up of suspected dementia and correlates with SPECT brain perfusion results in dementia and MCI.

Background: SPECT (single-photon emission-computed tomography) is used for the detection of hypoperfusion in cognitive impairment and dementia but is not widely available and related to radiation dose exposure. We compared the performance of DSC (dynamic susceptibility contrast) perfusion using semi- and fully adaptive deconvolution models to HMPAO-SPECT (99mTc-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime-SPECT). Material and Methods: Twenty-seven patients with dementia of different subtypes including frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) received a multimodal diagnostic work-up including DSC perfusion at a clinical 3T high-field scanner and HMPAO-SPECT. Nineteen healthy control individuals received DSC perfusion. For calculation of the hemodynamic parameter maps, oscillation-index standard truncated singular value decomposition (oSVD, semi-adaptive) as well as Bayesian parameter estimation (BAY, fully adaptive) were performed. Results: Patients showed decreased cortical perfusion in the left frontal lobe compared to controls (relative cerebral blood volume corrected, rBVc: 0.37 vs 0.27, p = 0.048, adjusted for age and sex). Performance of rBVc (corrected for T1 effects) was highest compared to SPECT for detection of frontal hypoperfusion (sensitivity 83%, specificity 80% for oSVD and BAY, area under curve (AUC) = 0.833 respectively, p < 0.05) in FTD and MCI. For nonleakage-corrected rBV and for rBF (relative cerebral blood flow), sensitivity of frontal hypoperfusion was above 80% for oSVD and for BAY (rBV: sensitivity 83%, specificity 75%, AUC = 0.908 for oSVD and 0.917 for BAY, p < 0.05 respectively; rBF: sensitivity 83%, specificity 65%, AUC = 0.825, p < 0.05 for oSVD). Conclusion: Advanced deconvolution DSC can reliably detect pathological perfusion alterations in FTD and MCI. Hence, this widely accessible technique has the potential to improve the diagnosis of dementia and MCI as part of an interdisciplinary multimodal imaging work-up. Advances in knowledge: Advanced DSC perfusion has a high potential in the work-up of suspected dementia and correlates with SPECT brain perfusion results in dementia and MCI.

A body of knowledge (BoK) is an inventory of knowledge or concepts of a domain that serves as a reference vocabulary for various purposes, such as the development of curricula, the preparation of job descriptions, and the description of occupational profiles. To fulfill its purpose, a BoK needs to be up‐to‐date and ideally widely accepted by academia as well as the private and public sectors. This article presents the initiative taken in the Earth observation and geographic information (EO*GI) domain to provide a current, comprehensive education‐ and business‐oriented EO*GI BoK called EO4GEO BoK. In particular, an approach to strengthen the business‐oriented perspective in the EO4GEO BoK is presented. This approach is based on the analysis of professional tasks and the mapping of these tasks to concepts and skills contained in the BoK. A critical reflection of the proposed approach that is based on the experiences gained during a workshop complements this article.

Semiparametric regression models offer considerable flexibility concerning the specification of additive regression predictors including effects as diverse as nonlinear effects of continuous covariates, spatial effects, random effects, or varying coefficients. Recently, such flexible model predictors have been combined with the possibility to go beyond pure mean-based analyses by specifying regression predictors on potentially all parameters of the response distribution in a distributional regression framework. In this paper, we discuss a generic concept for defining interaction effects in such semiparametric distributional regression models based on tensor products of main effects. These interactions can be assigned anisotropic penalties, i.e. different amounts of smoothness will be associated with the interacting covariates. We investigate identifiability and the decomposition of interactions into main effects and pure interaction effects (similar as in a smoothing spline analysis of variance) to facilitate a modular model building process. The decomposition is based on orthogonality in function spaces which allows for considerable flexibility in setting up the effect decomposition. Inference is based on Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations with iteratively weighted least squares proposals under constraints to ensure identifiability and effect decomposition. One important aspect is therefore to maintain sparse matrix structures of the tensor product also in identifiable, decomposed model formulations. The performance of modular regression is verified in a simulation on decomposed interaction surfaces of two continuous covariates and two applications on the construction of spatio-temporal interactions for the analysis of precipitation on the one hand and functional random effects for analysing house prices on the other hand.

This essay argues that persons not only have nonconceptual bodily self-awareness and nonconceptual mental anonymous self-awareness but also, at least if they produce the expression ‘I’, nonconceptual mental egological self-awareness. It contains information of ‘I’ being produced by oneself. It is argued that this can be seen if we examine the constitution of referential self-consciousness, i.e. the consciousness of being the referent of ‘I’ oneself. The main argument is: A. It is not possible to explain the constitution of referential self-consciousness if it is not assumed that persons have nonconceptual mental egological self-awareness. B. It is possible to explain the constitution of referential self-consciousness if it is assumed that persons have nonconceptual mental egological self-awareness. C. Thus it is reasonable to assume that persons have nonconceptual mental egological self-awareness. The justification of the thesis that persons have nonconceptual mental egological self-awareness is presented while discussing Tomis Kapitan’s analysis of conceptual egological self-consciousness. Conceptual egological self-consciousness contains infor­mation of being a subject oneself. It is argued that it is not possible to explain the constitution of referential self-consciousness with the help of Kapitan’s interpretation of conceptual self-consciousness. However, it is possible to ex­plain the constitution of referential self-consciousness within the framework of Kapitan’s account if it is assumed that persons have nonconceptual mental egological self-awareness.

Habitat quality – referring to the structure of a habitat – is crucial for the habitat functions and biodiversity-related ecosystem services. Its effective assessment and monitoring is important to meet not only scientific interest, but also practical conservation regulations. We herein present the approach of using a composite indicator of riparian forest quality, both quantitatively (habitat quality index HQI [0|1]) and categorically (quality types QT 1…4 ), integrating a set of spatio-structural indicators derived from earth observation data. We apply the geon concept to aggregate multiple sets of statistically profound and conceptually meaningful indicators to the well-established patch concept. The main difference is that instead of using a priori units (e.g. existing patch delineations), new patches (geons) are derived that directly represent the phenomenon of habitat quality. Patch boundaries correspond to the gradients imposed by the multivariate behavior of the underlying indicators. The approach provides a truly spatially explicit assessment, while at the same time retaining the potential for decomposability on the level of individual indicators. The example of a riparian forest is chosen, as riparian zones are complex ecosystems with a high biodiversity that are highly threatened. In our case, riparian forest habitat quality was assessed using four indicators: (I) tree species composition, (II) horizontal forest structure, (III) vertical forest structure, and (IV) water regime. The distribution of habitat quality ( HQI) highlights hot- and cold-spots, where conservation measures may be needed. Cluster analysis reveals four types of patches that are characterized by a specific behavior of the aggregated indicators ( QT 1 = fair composition, QT 2 = (old growth) forest plantations, QT 3 = characteristic tree species, QT 4 = forest gaps). This categorization enables the prevailing or lacking aspects of quality to be determined based on the decomposability of the index. In addition, the resulting patches were evaluated using landscape metrics. The findings achieved on a statistically significant level show that patches with high HQI scores are better connected and form large patches with a characteristic tree species composition. In contrast, areas with low HQI values are characterized by a non-favorable tree species composition and the existence of clear-cut areas or access roads. A comparison with an assessment using a traditional composite indicator approach reveals the sensitivity of the different sets of indicators and assessment methods. The presented habitat quality index can be considered as suitable for the assessment and monitoring of riparian forest quality, supporting spatially explicit conservation measures and the evaluation of applied measures.

The Congo rainforest, known for its high biodiversity and valuable resources, is the second largest area of rainforest in the world. Two thirds of the forest cover of the basin is located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Despite the importance, deforestation continues recognizing a connection between forests, logging and conflict. Increasing demand for resources, population growth and environmental stresses including climate change, will likely compound these problems. At the same time, conflicts cause serious environmental impacts, which need to be addressed to protect health and livelihoods. The risk that armed groups become involved in timber and mineral trades, that revenues be misappropriated and that forest-dependent communities are being pushed off their land also presents considerable threats to the peacebuilding process. The present study investigates the applicability of a multi-scale approach combining pixel- and object-based images analysis methods for the assessment of different logging activities in the context of conflict in the DRC. Optical high and very high resolution satellite imagery from 2000 to 2014 are analyzed within three different districts characterizing specific logging activities. As a major result one can clearly distinguish these activities and link them to the specific situation in the respective region. In the case of Ituri district logging is directly related to the conflict situation and increasing population pressure. While the slash-and-burn activities in Tshopo seems to be stable and show only minor decrease of primary forest, industrial-scale logging in the Mongala district has degraded a significant amount of primary forest into secondary forest or bare soil.

Stefan Lang (Hrsg.): Wie wäscht man ein Kettenhemd? Schüler stellen Fragen zur Stauferzeit – Historiker antworten. (Veröffentlichungen des Kreisarchivs Göppingen, Band 17). Kreisarchiv Göppingen 2014. 224 Seiten mit zahlreichen meist farbigen Abbildungen. Pappband € 14,–. ISBN 978-3-87437-566-5

While we still lack a community-agreed definition of ‘big Earth data’, there is clear evidence that the data’s unprecedented volume, variety and velocity, as well as veracity, require changes to traditional ways of storing and analysing Earth observation (EO) data and sharing their value with the public. Alongside the challenges, opportunities also arise when continental or global-scale analyses become readily feasible, or when time series / time lapse analyses provide unprecedented insights. This contribution presents a broad overview of current trends, limitations and opportunities for an increased use of larger volumes of EO data, while having in mind that the main objective is to use big Earth data to foster the fifth ‘V’, namely value. The data become valuable if they can be transformed into information which matches specific contexts. The overview on big Earth data is complemented by specific implementations and use cases.

The issue of data quality (DQ) is of growing importance in Remote Sensing (RS), due to the widespread use of digital services (incl. apps) that exploit remote sensing data. In this position paper a body of experts from the ISPRS Intercommission working group III/IVb “DQ” identifies, categorises and reasons about issues that are considered as crucial for a RS research and application agenda. This ISPRS initiative ensures to build on earlier work by other organisations such as IEEE, CEOS or GEO, in particular on the meritorious work of the Quality Assurance Framework for Earth Observation (QA4EO) which was established and endorsed by the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) but aims to broaden the view by including experts from computer science and particularly database science. The main activities and outcomes include: providing a taxonomy of DQ dimensions in the RS domain, achieving a global approach to DQ for heterogeneous-format RS data sets, investigate DQ dimensions in use, conceive a methodology for managing cost effective solutions on DQ in RS initiatives, and to address future challenges on RS DQ dimensions arising in the new era of the big Earth data.

Mountain environments are particularly vulnerable to ongoing climatic and environmental changes. Specifically, alpine grasslands are seriously threatened by shallow erosion which has been increasingly detected during the last decades on alpine meadows and pastures. It has been suggested that a high plant species diversity of alpine grassland communities may increase the erosion resistance of soils, mainly through positive effects on root length, number of root tips and foliage abundance. Moreover, high plant biodiversity has shown to stabilize water channels by giving slope instability. Against this background, we used Earth Observation to map grassland communities and to understand the link between species diversity and the presence of shallow erosion spots in an alpine region.Our study site is within the valley of Funes in South Tyrol, Italy where shallow erosion spots have multiplied in the last years and decades. The study site is over 2300 m above sea level and covers an area of approximately 5 ha. We mapped the grassland vegetation in this area with using different technologies: The main data source was a hyperspectral image with overall 28 spectral bands (506 nm to 896 nm) and a 5 cm spatial accuracy acquired from a UAV flight campaign in 04.09.2019. Our reference data set comprised detailed ground measurements within 50x50 centimeter plots. Overall, we acquired field spectroradiometer measurements covering the spectral range from 339 nm to 2500 nm (1024 spectral bands), ground-based hyperspectral measurements and sampled the different grassland communities within the plots. Based on the data integration of two different scaled field measurements and the UAV mapping we were able to detect the main grassland community occurrences and hotspots in species-level with high accuracy.

Background: Prevention of hematoma enlargement in oral anticoagulation-associated intracerebral hemorrhage (OAC-ICH) focuses on blood pressure (BP) reduction and OAC reversal. We investigated whether treatment efficiency and clinical outcomes differ between OAC-ICH patients admitted outside versus during regular working hours. Methods: Based on pooled data of multicenter cohort studies, we grouped OAC-ICH patients (vitamin K antagonist [VKA], non-vitamin K oral anticoagulant [NOAC]) according to on- vs. off-hour admission. Primary outcome was the functional outcome using the modified Rankin scale (mRS) dichotomized into favorable (mRS 0–3) and unfavorable (mRS 4–6) and mortality at 3 months. Secondary outcome measures included the occurrence of hematoma enlargement, the proportions of patients with systolic BP Results: The study population consisted of 76/126 NOAC-ICH patients and 1,005/1,470 VKA patients presenting during off-hours. Functional outcome and mortality rates were not significantly different among PSM patients with VKA-ICH and NOAC-ICH during on- vs. off-hours (mRS 4–6 VKA-ICH: on-hour: 239/357 [66.9%] vs. 253/363 [69.7%] off-hour; p = 0.43; NOAC-ICH: on-hour 26/42 [61.9%] vs. off-hour: 37/57 [64.9%]; p = 0.76; mRS 6 VKA-ICH: on-hour: 127/357 [35.6%] vs. off-hour: 148/363 [40.8%]; p = 0.15; ­NOAC-ICH: on-hour 17/42 [40.5%] vs. off-hour: 16/57 [28.1%]; p = 0.20). There were no differences detectable regarding the secondary outcome measures (i.e., hematoma enlargement, the proportion of patients who achieved systolic BP levels Conclusion: Our study implies that BP reduction and anticoagulation reversal management are well established and associated with similar rates of hematoma enlargement and clinical outcomes in on- vs. off-hour admitted OAC-ICH patients.

Background and purpose Flow-diverter stents are well-established for the treatment of cerebral aneurysms. Flow Redirection Endoluminal Device differs from other flow-diverter stents by its dual-layer design and has proved equality to other devices in numerous short-term surveys. However, follow-up data covering substantially more than one year are still limited for this device. We present our long-term experience with Flow Redirection Endoluminal Device. Materials and methods Seventy-eight patients harboring distal internal carotid artery (91%) or vertebrobasilar (9%) cerebral aneurysms treated with Flow Redirection Endoluminal Device with or without adjunctive coiling met the inclusion criteria. All cases were evaluated for aneurysm occlusion (according to Modified Raymond Roy Classification, MRRC), for flow-diverter stents patency and configuration and for procedure- and device-related morbidity and mortality. Results Mean follow-up interval was 36.9 ± 9.5 months (42 months: n = 24). Total and subtotal aneurysm occlusion after six months was assessed in 92.0% (MRRC1 = 77.3%, MRRC2 = 14.7%, MRRC3a =2.7%, MRRC3b = 4.1%) and increased to 95.9% (MRRC1 = 90.5%, MRRC2 = 5.4%, MRRC3a = 2.7%). There was one case of aneurysm growth requiring early re-treatment. Procedure-related morbidity was observed in three cases (3.8%; one transient hemiparesis, one suspected foreign-body reaction, and one micro-wire perforation). There was no procedure- or device-related mortality. In-stent stenosis due to intimal hyperplasia was observed in two cases and fish-mouthing in three cases. Conclusions Our long-term data covering two to five years after flow diversion confirm that Flow Redirection Endoluminal Device is a safe and effective device for the treatment of cerebral aneurysms with progressive high aneurysm occlusion rates; recurrence rates were very low. Overall device-related morbidity was low and was not observed later than six months after intervention.