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Across disciplines, researchers increasingly recognize that open science and reproducible research practices may accelerate scientific progress by allowing others to reuse research outputs and by promoting rigorous research that is more likely to yield trustworthy results. While initiatives, training programs, and funder policies encourage researchers to adopt reproducible research and open science practices, these practices are uncommon in many fields. Researchers need training to integrate these practices into their daily work. We organized a virtual brainstorming event, in collaboration with the German Reproducibility Network, to discuss strategies for making reproducible research and open science training the norm at research institutions. Here, we outline eleven strategies, concentrated in three areas: (1) offering training, (2) adapting research assessment criteria and program requirements, and (3) building communities. We provide a brief overview of each strategy, offer tips for implementation, and provide links to resources. Our goal is to encourage members of the research community to think creatively about the many ways they can contribute and collaborate to build communities, and make reproducible research and open science training the norm. Researchers may act in their roles as scientists, supervisors, mentors, instructors, and members of curriculum, hiring or evaluation committees. Institutional leadership and research administration and support staff can accelerate progress by implementing change across their institutions.

Dieser Beitrag ist als Positionspapier für ein Diskussionsforum bei der Psychologischen Rundschau under review.

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund und Zielsetzung Eine frühe Versorgung von Patient:innen, die Schmerzen und Risikofaktoren einer Chronifizierung aufweisen, ist sinnvoll; diese Patient:innen können von einer frühen interdisziplinären multimodalen Schmerztherapie (IMST) profitieren. Angesichts der unzureichenden Versorgung wurden im Rahmen von PAIN2020 zwei ambulante Therapiemodule für die Sekundärprävention einer Schmerzchronifizierung entwickelt werden: die edukative bzw. begleitende IMST (E‑IMST/B‑IMST). Material und Methoden Der Entwicklungsprozess der beiden IMST wird vorgestellt. Es wurden zwei Zielgruppen von Patient:innen definiert, für die in Abhängigkeit von Chronifizierung, Beeinträchtigung und Komplexität der Störung eine Sitzung (E‑IMST) bzw. 10 Interventionstermine (B‑IMST) vorgesehen waren. Die Konzeption erfolgte in 5 Schritten: Erarbeitung der Zielstellungen; Erarbeitung der Hauptinhalte; Workshop zur inhaltlichen und konzeptionellen Ausgestaltung (Inhalte, Vermittlung, Übungen); Erstellung eines Ablaufplans; Aufbereitung der Ergebnisse (Manual, Präsentationen, Arbeitsblätter, Handbuch). Zunächst wurde die B‑IMST entwickelt, woraus Inhalte für die E‑IMST extrahiert wurden. Daneben sollte ein Konzept zur Überprüfung der Umsetzbarkeit und ein Wirkmodell für eine Pilotierung entwickelt werden. Ergebnisse Zielstellungen für beide IMST-Formen sind die Verbesserung des Verständnisses von Schmerz und mitbedingenden Faktoren, die Erhöhung des Kontroll- und Selbstwirksamkeitserlebens und die Erhöhung der Eigenverantwortung hinsichtlich schmerzreduzierender Strategien. Unterschiede zwischen den beiden Therapiemodulen ergeben sich aus den Bedarfen und Rahmenbedingungen. Für beide IMST-Module wurden ärztliche, physio- und psychotherapeutische Inhalte und Abläufe ausgestaltet. Die B‑IMST setzt sich aus 5 Modulen mit je 2 Terminen als Gruppenintervention zusammen (biopsychosoziales Modell; Aktivierungsplanung; Bedürfnisregulation; Schlaf und Medikamente; Alltagstransfer). Die 3‑stündige E‑IMST-Gruppenintervention vermittelt in erster Linie Wissen über Schmerz und das biopsychosoziale Schmerzmodell. Es kommen theoretische und praktische Interventionen bzw. erfahrungs- und erlebnisorientierte Methoden zur Anwendung. Schlussfolgerung Es existieren nun zwei interdisziplinär ausgerichtete Manuale für die sekundärpräventive Behandlung von Patient:innen mit wiederkehrenden Schmerzen und Risikoprofil für eine Chronifizierung. Diese Ansätze müssen nun hinsichtlich Machbarkeit und Wirksamkeit überprüft werden.

A major problem for optical systems is the polarization splitting occurring at any interface in the event of oblique light. Low-index nanostructured silica layers were produced by overcoating an initial organic structure with silica and subsequent removal of the organic constituents. The nanostructured layers can be tailored to achieve defined low effective refractive indices down to 1.05. They can also be stacked together with homogeneous layers to produce broadband antireflective coatings with very low polarization splitting. Especially thin interlayers that separate the low-index structured layers turned out to be useful to optimize the polarization properties.

The use of journal impact factors and other metric indicators of research productivity, such as the h-index, has been heavily criticized for being invalid for the assessment of individual researchers and for fueling a detrimental “publish or perish” culture. Multiple initiatives call for developing alternatives to existing metrics that better reflect quality (instead of quantity) in research assessment. This report, written by a task force established by the German Psychological Society, proposes how responsible research assessment could be done in the field of psychology. We present four principles of responsible research assessment in hiring and promotion and suggest a two-phase assessment procedure that combines the objectivity and efficiency of indicators with a qualitative, discursive assessment of shortlisted candidates. The main aspects of our proposal are (a) to broaden the range of relevant research contributions to include published data sets and research software, along with research papers, and (b) to place greater emphasis on quality and rigor in research evaluation.

Traditional metric indicators of scientific productivity (e.g., journal impact factor; h-index) have been heavily criticized for being invalid and fueling a culture that focuses on the quantity, rather than the quality, of a person’s scientific output. There is now a wide-spread demand for specified alternatives to current academic evaluation practices. In a previous report, we laid out four basic principles of a more responsible research assessment in academic hiring and promotion processes (Schönbrodt et al., 2022). The present paper offers a specific proposal for how these principles may be implemented in practice: We argue in favor of broadening the range of relevant research contributions and thus propose concrete quality criteria (including ready-to-use online templates) for published research articles, data sets and research software. These criteria are supposed to be used primarily in the first phase of the assessment process. Their function is to help establish a minimum threshold of methodological rigor that candidates need to pass in order to be further considered for hiring and promotion. In contrast, the second phase of the assessment process will focus more on the actual content of candidates’ research output and necessarily use more narrative means of assessment. We hope that this proposal will help get our colleagues in the field engaged in a discussion over ways of replacing current invalid evaluation criteria with ones that relate more closely to scientific quality.

Although cognitive control and emotional control have been proposed to rely on similar processes, their specific relationship is not well understood. Given that reappraisal to down-regulate negative emotions requires inhibiting or limiting the expression of a prepotent appraisal of a situation in favor of selecting an alternative appraisal, inhibitory control seems to be a particularly relevant process. However, inconsistent findings on the relationship between inhibitory control and reappraisal ability have been reported, likely because of the application of single task measures in relatively small samples. Therefore, this study examined the relationship between both control processes using a powerful within-subject design in a large sample (N = 190) and by applying a battery of six commonly used inhibitory control tasks. Emotion regulation was measured comprehensively by self-reported habitual use of reappraisal and suppression strategies, by valence and arousal ratings during a reappraisal task and by concurrent physiological measures such as corrugator electromyography (EMG), skin conductance response (SCR), and heart period (HP). Frequentist and Bayesian analyses indicated that inhibitory control was not associated with emotion regulation in our sample of young healthy adults. Furthermore, by implementing a full two-by-two design including a “regulate neutral” condition, the present study provides evidence that domain-general regulation effects need to be separated from domain-specific regulation effects. Finally, compared to HP and SCR, corrugator EMG emerged as a suitable peripheral physiological indicator of regulatory success that was indicative of the regulation of negative emotion.

Evidence suggests that cognitive control and emotional control share partly the same cognitive processes. For example, downregulation of negative emotions requires inhibiting or limiting the expression of a prepotent appraisal of a situation in favor of selecting an alternative appraisal. Although inhibitory control seems to be a particularly relevant process in emotion regulation (ER), previous studies reported inconsistent findings on their relationship, likely because of the application of single task measures in relatively small samples. Therefore, this study implemented a battery of six commonly used inhibitory control tasks in a large sample of young healthy adults (

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Rettungsdienstmitarbeiter*innen (RDM) sind wiederholt mit traumatischen Einsatzerlebnissen und chronischem arbeitsbedingtem Stress konfrontiert. Um dieser Belastung standzuhalten, ist die Bewältigung von emotionalem Stress entscheidend. Allerdings ist kaum bekannt, welche Strategien RDM zur Regulation unangenehmer Emotionen einsetzen und wie sich diese Strategien auf das Wohlbefinden und die Gesundheit der RDM auswirken. Ziel der Arbeit Wir untersuchten, inwieweit RDM die Emotionsregulationsstrategien Neubewerten, Akzeptanz, Problemlösen, Grübeln (Rumination), Unterdrücken und Vermeiden anwenden und welche Zusammenhänge diese Strategien mit dem Stresserleben, der Arbeitszufriedenheit und der Belastungssymptomatik der RDM zeigen. Material und Methoden In einer Querschnittserhebung schätzten 102 RDM zweier südwestdeutscher Rettungswachen anhand standardisierter Fragebogen ihren Emotionsregulationsstil, ihr berufliches Stresserleben, ihre Arbeitszufriedenheit und ihre depressiven, posttraumatischen und körperlichen Belastungssymptome ein. Ergebnisse Korrelationsanalysen ergaben, dass die Neigung zu häufigem Grübeln, Vermeiden und Unterdrücken mit höherem Stresserleben, stärkeren Belastungssymptomen und geringerer Arbeitszufriedenheit einhergeht. Die Akzeptanz unangenehmer Gefühle war mit geringeren Belastungssymptomen assoziiert, während Neubewerten und Problemlösen keine Korrelation mit dem Stresserleben, der Zufriedenheit und der Belastungssymptomatik der RDM zeigten. Diskussion Unsere Ergebnisse bestätigen die dysfunktionale Rolle von Grübeln, Vermeiden und Unterdrücken für das Wohlbefinden und die Gesundheit in Risikoberufen. Die kontextspezifische Wirksamkeit von Emotionsregulationsstrategien sollte bei der Planung zielgruppenspezifischer Präventionsmaßnahmen stärker berücksichtigt werden.

ZusammenfassungDie Versorgung von Patienten mit Schmerzen und Chronifizierungsrisiko ist nach wie vor gekennzeichnet durch Über‑, Fehl- und Unterversorgung. Das Projekt PAIN2020 (Innovationsfonds 01NVF17049) hat zum Ziel, durch die Einführung eines frühzeitigen, auf Schmerz spezialisierten interdisziplinären diagnostischen Ansatzes die ambulante Versorgung von Patienten im Hinblick auf Schmerzen und das Funktionsniveau zu verbessern. Im Rahmen einer randomisierten kontrollierten Studie werden bundesweit in 31 Einrichtungen der Regelversorgung (schmerzspezialisiertes Angebot) Patienten mit Risikofaktoren bei bestehenden Schmerzen einer frühen Schmerzdiagnostik zugeführt. Die Interventionsbedingung besteht dabei in einem interdisziplinären multimodalen Assessment mit den beteiligten Disziplinen Schmerzmedizin, Physiotherapie und Psychologie. Die Kontrollbedingung umfasst einen einmaligen Termin bei einem Schmerztherapeuten der Qualitätssicherungsvereinbarung Schmerzmedizin bzw. mit Zusatzbezeichnung spezielle Schmerztherapie. Patienten und Vorbehandler erhalten entsprechend der Befunde detaillierte Empfehlungen für eine weitere bedarfsgerechte Behandlung. Es sind 2 Evaluationsansätze geplant. Für den ersten beträgt die zu erreichende Nettofallzahl 3840 Patienten, deren klinische Daten (Deutscher Schmerzfragebogen, zusätzliche Skalen) längsschnittlich erhoben (Einschluss, 3 und 6 Monate nach Diagnostik) und auf Grundlage eines Mehr-Ebenen-Modells ausgewertet werden. Im Rahmen eines 2. Ansatzes werden diese klinischen Daten einerseits um Sekundärdaten der BARMER ergänzt sowie die Patienten des ersten Evaluationsansatzes mit BARMER-Versicherten gematcht, die an dem Projekt nicht teilgenommen haben. Die Auswertung übernimmt ein externes Evaluationsinstitut. Das Projekt startete im April 2018.

We respond to the comments (https://doi.org/10.5964/ps.9227) on our “Ten Steps” paper (https://doi.org/10.5964/ps.6029), focusing on the most prominent themes: (1) What motivates scientists?, (2) Consensus-building (Is our field ready? May there be adverse side-effects? How shall we do it?), (3) How may institutional change be facilitated?, (4) Diversity (of participants, stimuli, methodology, measures, and among researchers), (5) The reliability of our proposed scoring system, and (6) The real-world relevance of personality research. We stand by our call for more concerted consensus-building and offer a few clarifications in this regard. We also issue four specific calls to action to our colleagues in the field: (a) specify legitimate paths to greater consensus, (b) explicate what constitutes good “qualitative” research, (c) help establish a widely used, public domain item database, and (d) determine what the most important contemporary goals of personality research are.

In February 2020, the Personality and Diagnostics Chapter (DPPD) of the German Psychological Society (DGPs) tasked this group of authors with outlining what should be considered “good personality science”, as a positive vision of how to improve the credibility of research in the field. We argue in favor of working toward greater consensus about (1) shared, important research goals, (2) standardized use of terminology, (3) standardized measurement practices, (4) standardized ways of pre-processing and analyzing data, and (5) shared views of the current state of theory and knowledge. All of these should help streamline the field considerably. We also argue in favor of (6) theory formalization, (7) pre-registration requirements for any confirmatory claims, (8) valuing replication attempts more (e.g., by reserving a quota of journal space for them), (9) planning for informative (e.g., well-powered) studies, and (10) making data, code, and materials open to the public by default. The current, quantity-based incentive structures in academia clearly stand in the way of implementing many of these practices, resulting in a research literature with sometimes questionable utility and/or integrity. As a solution, we propose a quality-based reward scheme that explicitly weights published research by its good science merits. Adoption of such a reward scheme may incur a significant decline in overall publication numbers, hopefully resulting in (a) an improved signal-to-noise ratio in the literature, and (b) more efficient allocation of resources (e.g., time) by researchers, who would be enabled to read more of what is being published, and to review each other’s work more carefully. Scientists need to be increasingly rewarded for doing good work, not just lots of work.

Patient*innen vor einer Chronifizierung der Schmerzen bewahren: Hier führt das Projekt PAIN2.0 weiter, was als vom Innovationsfonds gefördertes Projekt PAIN2020 begonnen hatte. Erprobt wird nun eine innovative Versorgungsform, bei der vor allem interdisziplinäre und multimodale Inhalte im Vordergrund stehen: die ambulante interdisziplinäre multimodale Schmerztherapie (A-IMST) in der Gruppe.

Nach dreijähriger Projekt- und Aufbauphase hat das Kompetenzzentrum Forschungsdaten seinen Regelbetrieb aufgenommen. Im Vortrag stellt das neue Team sich sowie die Angebote des Kompetenzzentrums vor und gibt einen Einblick in die Arbeit rund um das Forschungsdatenmanagement., Kolloquium Wissensinfrastruktur, Wintersemester 2021/22

Low-index nanostructured silica layers can be produced by overcoating an initial organic structure with silica and subsequent removal of the organic constituents. The silica layers can be tailored to achieve defined effective refractive indices and thicknesses. Polarization-neutral antireflective coatings for light incidence angles up to 70° were designed by combining two nanostructured layers with a few homogeneous oxide and fluoride layers.

Intelligence and Need for Cognition (NFC) have repeatedly been shown to be directly related to better academic performance, but no study so far has investigated their combined predictive validity or possible interactive effects in their relation to academic success. We examined their predictive value and a possible moderating role of NFC in the relationship between intelligence and school performance. 290 students completed the NFC scale, worked on the Intelligence Structure Test 2000 R (reasoning module), and reported their Grade Point Average (GPA) of the university entrance diploma (Abitur). To control for broader personality traits, the Big Five Factors were assessed as well. Analyses revealed that intelligence and NFC each significantly predicted higher GPA. Furthermore, NFC moderated the relation between intelligence and GPA: at higher NFC scores, the relation of reasoning ability on GPA was diminished, pointing to a compensating effect of NFC. Bayesian analyses comparing the likelihood of a moderation versus an additive model in the complete sample supported the moderation hypotheses, while in a sample without outliers, both models were equivocally likely. The results highlight the relevance of considering NFC in the prediction of school success and point to the necessity of further clarifying its moderating role.

Anti-reflective (AR) coatings are indispensable for an excellent imaging of optical systems. Common AR coating systems consist of layer stacks of alternating low and high refractive index materials with the residual reflection depending mainly on the low refractive index (LRI) of the last layer relative to air. However, conventional LRI materials are limited to SiO2 (n = 1,46 at 532 nm) and MgF2 (n = 1,38 at 532 nm), where MgF2 is not environmentally stable. Nanostructures with an adjustable effective LRI in the range of 1.07 to 1.25 are an attractive alternative to these materials. Integrated as the last layer in the stack system, these structures significantly improve the optical performance compared to a conventional interference coating system, as a broadband AR coating can be realized, which is less sensitive to high angles of light incidence. Nanostructures can be produced using various methods - e.g. wet chemical or lithographic. However, these methods are expensive and time-consuming, as often more than one manufacturing step is necessary. At the Fraunhofer Institute IOF in Jena, self-assembling AR nanostructures have already been successfully fabricated for several years using a conventional plasma-ion-assisted-deposition (PIAD) technology. Thereby organic material is deposited on the substrate via thermal evaporation and subsequently self-assembling nanostructures are formed by an ion plasma source. Melamine and Uracil are already being used successfully as organic material. The advantage of this method is the generation of nanostructures in one process which is cost- and time-effective. In this talk, we want to introduce Xanthine, another organic material that is also highly promising for the generation of nanostructures exhibiting an LRI. We will demonstrate the formation of these nanostructures during plasma etching and investigate their optical performance for the use as an AR coating.

Emotion regulation (ER) can be implemented by different strategies which differ in their capacity to alter emotional responding. What all strategies have in common is that cognitive control must be exercised in order to implement them. The aim of the present preregistered study was to investigate whether the two ER strategies expressive suppression and distancing require different amounts of cognitive effort and whether effort is associated with personality traits. Effort was assessed subjectively via ratings and objectively via pupillometry and heart period. In two studies, N = 110 and N = 52 healthy adults conducted an ER paradigm. Participants used suppression and distancing during inspection of positive and negative pictures. They also had the choice to reapply either of the strategies at the end of the paradigm. Although distancing was more effective in downregulation of subjective arousal (Study 1: p < .001, ηp² = .20; Study 2: p < .001, ηp² = .207), about two thirds reapplied suppression, because it was perceived as less effortful. Effort was rated significantly lower for suppression compared to distancing (Study 1: p = .042, ηp² = .04; Study 2: p = .002, ηp² = .13). However, differences in effort were not reflected in pupillary data or heart period. Broad and narrow personality traits were neither associated with the preferred strategy, nor with subjective or physiological effort measures. Findings suggest that people tend to use the ER strategy that is perceived as less effortful, even though it might not be the most effective strategy.

High-transparent polymers exhibiting a refractive index beyond 1.6 enhance the available range of optical plastics. The aim of this study is to evaluate optical polyesters (OKP-1 and OKP-4) and special new polycarbonates (PCs) (EP-6000 and EP-8000) in comparison with the widely used poly-bisphenol-A-based PC. The work is focused on optical properties as well as other properties that are important for the deposition of optical coatings. Plasma ion-assisted deposition is used for the deposition of an abrasion resistant antireflective coating (AR-hard).

The current healthcare provision in Germany is established, in particular, for the diagnostics and treatment of chronic pain conditions; however, the current aim is to initiate the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches oriented towards the biopsychosocial pain model in the early stages of pain, i.e. before the onset of chronification, for patients with pain and a risk of chronification in order to actively avoid chronification processes. In this context, multiple risk factors play an important role for the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches as well as for the interdisciplinary multimodal pain therapy developed for this purpose. The Global Year of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) 2020 addressed the prevention of (chronic) pain, a welcome opportunity to provide a short review of the evidence for and clinical experiences with timely diagnostic and therapeutic options and to summarize the current framework conditions and scientific recommendations for Germany. At the end of this article the implications for future research are summarized, particularly for the treatment of patients with pain and risk of chronification.Bestehende Versorgungsangebote in Deutschland sind vor allem für die Diagnostik und Therapie chronischer Schmerzen etabliert. Aktuell wird jedoch versucht, am biopsychosozialen Schmerzmodell ausgerichtete diagnostische und therapeutische Ansätze frühzeitiger, also noch vor Beginn der Chronifizierung, für Patienten mit Schmerzen und Chronifizierungsrisiko einzurichten, um Chronifizierungsverläufe aktiv zu vermeiden. Dabei spielen multiple Risikofaktoren für diagnostische und therapeutische Ansätze sowie für die dazu entwickelte interdisziplinäre multimodale Schmerztherapie eine große Rolle. Das Global Year der International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) adressierte 2020 die Prävention (chronischer) Schmerzen – ein willkommener Anlass, einen kurzen Überblick über Evidenz für und klinische Erfahrungen mit frühzeitigen diagnostischen und therapeutischen Angeboten zu geben sowie die derzeitigen Rahmenbedingungen und wissenschaftlichen Empfehlungen für Deutschland zusammenzustellen. Am Ende des Beitrags werden Implikationen für weitere Forschungen zusammengefasst, insbesondere für die Versorgung von Patienten mit Schmerz und Chronifizierungsrisiko.

Recent translational studies identified a common endocannabinoid polymorphism, FAAH C385A, in the gene for the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH). This polymorphism alters endocannabinoid anandamide levels, which are known to be involved in the fronto-amygdala circuitry implicated in mood regulation and anxiety-like behaviors. While it has been shown that the variant that selectively enhances fronto-amygdala connectivity at rest is associated with decreased anxiety-like behaviors, no study so far has investigated whether this finding of FAAH-related differential plasticity extends to task-related differential functional expression and regulation during negative emotional processing. Using an imaging genetics approach, this study aimed to replicate and extend prior findings by examining functional activity and task-related connectivity in fronto-amygdala regions during emotion reactivity and emotional down-regulation of negative affect. Therefore, 48 healthy young adults underwent a functional MRI resting state measurement, completed an emotion regulation paradigm and provided self-reports on anxiety and use of emotion regulation strategies. In line with previous studies, preliminary evidence suggests that A-allele carriers demonstrate stronger fronto-amygdala connectivity during rest. In addition, exploratory whole-brain analyses indicate differential functional activity of A-allele carriers during emotion reactivity and emotion regulation. There were no associations with anxiety-related self-reports and use of emotional regulation strategies. Further research using larger samples and polygenic approaches is indicated to clarify the precise role and its underlying mechanisms in emotion processing.

Emotion regulation is an indispensable part of mental health and adaptive behavior. Research into emotion regulation processes has largely focused on the concurrent effects of volitional emotion regulation. However, there is scarce evidence considering post-regulatory effects with regard to neural mechanisms and emotional experiences. Therefore, we compared concurrent effects of cognitive emotion regulation with effects at different (immediate, short- and long-term) time intervals. In an fMRI study with N=46 (N=30 at re-exposure) young healthy adults, we compared neuronal responses to negative and neutral pictures while participants had to distance themselves from or to actively permit emotions in response to these pictures. We investigated the temporal dynamics of activation changes related to regulation in cognitive control brain networks as well as in the amygdala during stimulation (concurrent effects, timepoint 1) and post-stimulation (immediate, timepoint 2), as well as during re-exposure with the same pictures after short (10 minutes, timepoint 3) and long (1 week, timepoint 4) time intervals. At timepoint 1, negative pictures (versus neutral pictures) elicited a strong response in regions of affective processing, including the amygdala. Distancing (as compared to permit) led to a decrease of this response, and to an increase of activation in the right middle frontal and inferior parietal cortex. We observed an interaction effect of time (stimulation vs. post-stimulation) and regulation (distance vs. permit), indicating a partial reversal of regulation effects during the post-stimulation phase (timepoint 2). Similarly, after 10 minutes (timepoint 3) and after 1 week (timepoint 4), activation in the amygdala was higher during pictures that participants were previously instructed to distance from as compared to permit. These results show that the temporal dynamics are highly variable both within experimental trials and across brain regions. This can even take the form of paradoxical aftereffects at immediate and persistent effects at prolonged time scales.

Combining thin film design with structural design enables contamination-resistant coatings with high optical quality to be realized. Balancing self-cleaning and light scattering relevant structural components is of particular importance.

Surface contaminations can critically affect the performance of optical surfaces, in particular with respect to light scattering, optical losses, and laser stability. Thus, avoiding contaminations and reducing contamination-induced effects is of particular interest in the manufacturing of optical systems. By combining a specific thin film design with a tailored structural design, contamination-resistant coatings with a high optical quality can be realized. Most important is the balance of self-cleaningand light scattering-relevant surface roughness components.

Post‐translational modifications by ubiquitin‐related SUMO modifiers regulate cellular signaling networks and protein homeostasis. While SUMO1 is mainly conjugated to proteins as a monomer, SUMO2/3 can form polymeric chains. Poly‐SUMOylation is best understood in the SUMO‐targeted ubiquitin ligase (StUbL) pathway, where chains prime proteins for subsequent ubiquitylation by StUbLs. SUMO chains typically form in response to genotoxic or proteotoxic stress and are preferentially linked via lysine 11 of SUMO2/3. Here, we report that K11 of SUMO2/3 undergoes reversible acetylation with SIRT1 being the K11 deacetylase. In a purified in vitro system, acetylation of SUMO2/3 impairs chain formation and restricts chain length. In a cellular context, however, K11 acetyl‐mimicking SUMO2 does not affect the StUbL pathway, indicating that in cells non‐canonical chains are more prevalent. MS‐based SUMO proteomics indeed identified non‐canonical chain types under basal and stress conditions. Importantly, mimicking K11 acetylation alters chain architecture by favoring K5‐ and K35‐linked chains, while inhibiting K7 and K21 linkages. These data provide insight into SUMO chain signaling and point to a role of K11 acetylation as a modulator of SUMO2/3 chains.

Posttranslational modifications by small ubiquitin-like modifiers (SUMOs) regulate many cellular processes, including genome integrity, gene expression, and ribosome biogenesis. The E2-conjugating enzyme Ubc9 catalyzes the conjugation of SUMOs to ϵ-amino groups of lysine residues in target proteins. Attachment of SUMO moieties to internal lysines in Ubc9 itself can further lead to the formation of polymeric SUMO chains. Mono- and poly-SUMOylations of target proteins provide docking sites for distinct adapter and effector proteins important for regulating discrete SUMO-regulated pathways. However, molecular tools to dissect pathways depending on either mono- or poly-SUMOylation are largely missing. Using a protein-engineering approach, we generated high-affinity SUMO2 variants by phage display that bind the back side binding site of Ubc9 and function as SUMO-based Ubc9 inhibitors (SUBINs). Importantly, we found that distinct SUBINs primarily inhibit poly-SUMO chain formation, whereas mono-SUMOylation was not impaired. Proof-of-principle experiments demonstrated that in a cellular context, SUBINs largely prevent heat shock-triggered poly-SUMOylation. Moreover, SUBINs abrogated arsenic-induced degradation of promyelocytic leukemia protein. We propose that the availability of the new chain-selective SUMO inhibitors reported here will enable a thorough investigation of poly-SUMO-mediated cellular processes, such as DNA damage responses and cell cycle progression.

In this issue of Molecular Cell, Guo et al. (2014) report that misfolded or aggregated nuclear proteins, such as pathogenic polyQ proteins, are cleared by a SUMO-dependent quality control pathway, which involves the E3 SUMO ligase PML and the SUMO-targeted ubiquitin ligase RNF4.

Several studies reported training-induced improvements in executive function tasks and also observed transfer to untrained tasks. However, the results are mixed and there is a large interindividual variability within and across studies. Given that training-related performance changes would require modification, growth or differentiation at the cellular and synaptic level in the brain, research on critical moderators of brain plasticity potentially explaining such changes is needed. In the present study, a pre-post-follow-up design (N = 122) and a 3-weeks training of two response inhibition tasks (Go/NoGo and Stop-Signal) was employed and genetic variation (Val66Met) in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) promoting differentiation and activity-dependent synaptic plasticity was examined. Because Serotonin (5-HT) signaling and the interplay of BDNF and 5-HT are known to critically mediate brain plasticity, genetic variation in the 5-HTT gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) was also addressed. The overall results show that the kind of training (i.e., adaptive vs. non-adaptive) did not evoke genotype-dependent differences. However, in the Go/NoGo task, better inhibition performance (lower commission errors) were observed for BDNF Val/Val genotype carriers compared to Met-allele ones supporting similar findings from other cognitive tasks. Additionally, a gene-gene interaction suggests a more impulsive response pattern (faster responses accompanied by higher commission error rates) in homozygous l-allele carriers relative to those with the s-allele of 5-HTTLPR. This, however, is true only in the presence of the Met-allele of BDNF, while the Val/Val genotype seems to compensate for such non-adaptive responding. Intriguingly, similar results were obtained for the Stop-Signal task. Here, differences emerged at post-testing, while no differences were observed at T1. In sum, although no genotype-dependent differences between the relevant training groups emerged suggesting no changes in the trained inhibition function, the observed genotype-dependent performance changes from pre- to post measurement may reflect rapid learning or memory effects linked to BDNF and 5-HTTLPR. In line with ample evidence on BDNF and BDNF-5-HT system interactions to induce (rapid) plasticity especially in hippocampal regions and in response to environmental demands, the findings may reflect genotype-dependent differences in the acquisition and consolidation of task-relevant information, thereby facilitating a more adaptive responding to task-specific requirements.

Smart surfaces are a source of innovation in the 21st Century. Potential applications can be found in a wide range of fields where improved optical, mechanical or biological properties can enhance the functions of products. In the last years, a method called Direct Laser Interference Patterning (DLIP) has demonstrated to be capable of fabricating a wide range of periodic surface patterns even with resolution at the nanometer and sub-micrometer scales. This article describes recent advances of the DLIP method to process 2D and 3D parts. Firstly, the possibility to fabricate periodic arrays on metallic substrates with sub-micrometer resolution is shown. After that, different concepts to process three dimensional parts are shown, including the use of Cartesian translational stages as well as an industrial robot arm. Finally, some application examples are described.

The fast and reliable neuronal and behavioral responses to negative affective stimuli have been suggested to be at least partly based on the processing of simple geometric configurations within complex visual stimuli. In this context, one line of experimental and neuroimaging evidence suggests that simple V-shaped stimuli result in patterns of neuronal activation and behavioral responses akin to pictures of negative facial expressions. The present study investigated the effects of circles as well as upward and downward pointing triangles in healthy young adults on three peripheral physiological markers – skin conductance response (SCR), facial EMG, and startle reflex – in order to further narrow the gap between neuroimaging findings and behavioral data regarding the impact of geometric shapes. We found significant effects of geometric forms on the startle reflex (p ≤ 0.001, η 2 = 0.080) and the SCR (p = 0.029, η 2 = 0.078), but not on facial EMG. Furthermore, subjective valence and arousal ratings of geometric stimuli differed significantly, with downward pointing triangles being perceived as less pleasant and more arousing. In sum, our findings provide further evidence that simple geometric shapes convey emotional meaning. Particularly, the observed changes in SCR and startle response underscore the notion that geometric shapes lead to preparatory changes in physiological activation patterns, which are essential for facilitation of appropriate behavioral responses. However, the smaller effect sizes compared to more realistic affective pictures also highlight the organisms' ability to differentiate between real impending danger and abstract cues in order to avoid unnecessary excessive responses.