TY - JOUR A1 - Massih, Bita A1 - Veh, Alexander A1 - Schenke, Maren A1 - Mungwa, Simon A1 - Seeger, Bettina A1 - Selvaraj, Bhuvaneish T. A1 - Chandran, Siddharthan A1 - Reinhardt, Peter A1 - Sterneckert, Jared A1 - Hermann, Andreas A1 - Sendtner, Michael A1 - Lüningschrör, Patrick T1 - A 3D cell culture system for bioengineering human neuromuscular junctions to model ALS JF - Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology N2 - The signals that coordinate and control movement in vertebrates are transmitted from motoneurons (MNs) to their target muscle cells at neuromuscular junctions (NMJs). Human NMJs display unique structural and physiological features, which make them vulnerable to pathological processes. NMJs are an early target in the pathology of motoneuron diseases (MND). Synaptic dysfunction and synapse elimination precede MN loss suggesting that the NMJ is the starting point of the pathophysiological cascade leading to MN death. Therefore, the study of human MNs in health and disease requires cell culture systems that enable the connection to their target muscle cells for NMJ formation. Here, we present a human neuromuscular co-culture system consisting of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived MNs and 3D skeletal muscle tissue derived from myoblasts. We used self-microfabricated silicone dishes combined with Velcro hooks to support the formation of 3D muscle tissue in a defined extracellular matrix, which enhances NMJ function and maturity. Using a combination of immunohistochemistry, calcium imaging, and pharmacological stimulations, we characterized and confirmed the function of the 3D muscle tissue and the 3D neuromuscular co-cultures. Finally, we applied this system as an in vitro model to study the pathophysiology of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and found a decrease in neuromuscular coupling and muscle contraction in co-cultures with MNs harboring ALS-linked SOD1 mutation. In summary, the human 3D neuromuscular cell culture system presented here recapitulates aspects of human physiology in a controlled in vitro setting and is suitable for modeling of MND. KW - NMJ–neuromuscular junction KW - motoneuron (MN) KW - skeletal muscle KW - iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cells) KW - 3D cell culture Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-304161 SN - 2296-634X VL - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Böck, Julia A1 - Maurus, Katja A1 - Gerhard-Hartmann, Elena A1 - Brändlein, Stephanie A1 - Kurz, Katrin S. A1 - Ott, German A1 - Anagnostopoulos, Ioannis A1 - Rosenwald, Andreas A1 - Zamò, Alberto T1 - Targeted panel sequencing in the routine diagnosis of mature T- and NK-cell lymphomas BT - report of 128 cases from two German reference centers JF - Frontiers in Oncology N2 - Diagnosing any of the more than 30 types of T-cell lymphomas is considered a challenging task for many pathologists and currently requires morphological expertise as well as the integration of clinical data, immunophenotype, flow cytometry and clonality analyses. Even considering all available information, some margin of doubt might remain using the current diagnostic procedures. In recent times, the genetic landscape of most T-cell lymphomas has been elucidated, showing a number of diagnostically relevant mutations. In addition, recent data indicate that some of these genetic alterations might bear prognostic and predictive value. Extensive genetic analyses, such as whole exome or large panel sequencing are still expensive and time consuming, therefore limiting their application in routine diagnostic. We therefore devoted our effort to develop a lean approach for genetic analysis of T-cell lymphomas, focusing on maximum efficiency rather than exhaustively covering all possible targets. Here we report the results generated with our small amplicon-based panel that could be used routinely on paraffin-embedded and even decalcified samples, on a single sample basis in parallel with other NGS-panels used in our routine diagnostic lab, in a relatively short time and with limited costs. We tested 128 available samples from two German reference centers as part of our routine work up (among which 116 T-cell lymphomas), which is the largest routine diagnostic series reported to date. Our results showed that this assay had a very high rate of technical success (97%) and could detect mutations in the majority (79%) of tested T-cell lymphoma samples. KW - T-cell lymphoma KW - panel-sequencing KW - NGS KW - diagnostics KW - mutation KW - FFPE Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-326478 SN - 2234-943X VL - 13 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ding, Hao A1 - Seusing, Nelly A1 - Nasseroleslami, Bahman A1 - Anwar, Abdul Rauf A1 - Strauss, Sebastian A1 - Lotze, Martin A1 - Grothe, Matthias A1 - Groppa, Sergiu A1 - Muthuraman, Muthuraman T1 - The role of ipsilateral motor network in upper limb movement JF - Frontiers in Physiology N2 - The execution of voluntary movements is primarily governed by the cerebral hemisphere contralateral to the moving limb. Previous research indicates that the ipsilateral motor network, comprising the primary motor cortex (M1), supplementary motor area (SMA), and premotor cortex (PM), plays a crucial role in the planning and execution of limb movements. However, the precise functions of this network and its interplay in different task contexts have yet to be fully understood. Twenty healthy right-handed participants (10 females, mean age 26.1 ± 4.6 years) underwent functional MRI scans while performing biceps brachii representations such as bilateral, unilateral flexion, and bilateral flexion-extension. Ipsilateral motor evoked potentials (iMEPs) were obtained from the identical set of participants in a prior study using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) targeting M1 while employing the same motor tasks. The voxel time series was extracted based on the region of interest (M1, SMA, ventral PM and dorsal PM). Directed functinal connectivity was derived from the extracted time series using time-resolved partial directed coherence. We found increased connectivity from left-PMv to both sides M1, as well as right-PMv to both sides SMA, in unilateral flexion compared to bilateral flexion. Connectivity from left M1 to left-PMv, and left-SMA to right-PMd, also increased in both unilateral flexion and bilateral flexion-extension compared to bilateral flexion. However, connectivity between PMv and right-M1 to left-PMd decreased during bilateral flexion-extension compared to unilateral flexion. Additionally, during bilateral flexion-extension, the connectivity from right-M1 to right-SMA had a negative relationship with the area ratio of iMEP in the dominant side. Our results provide corroborating evidence for prior research suggesting that the ipsilateral motor network is implicated in the voluntary movements and underscores its involvement in cognitive processes such as movement planning and coordination. Moreover, ipsilateral connectivity from M1 to SMA on the dominant side can modulate the degree of ipsilateral M1 activation during bilateral antagonistic contraction. KW - ipsilateral motor network KW - upper limb KW - ipsilateral motor evoked potential KW - voluntary movement KW - bilateral motor network Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-321805 SN - 1664-042X VL - 14 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Leonhardt, Jonas A1 - Winkler, Marcela A1 - Kollikowski, Anne A1 - Schiffmann, Lisa A1 - Quenzer, Anne A1 - Einsele, Hermann A1 - Löffler, Claudia T1 - Mind–body-medicine in oncology—from patient needs to tailored programs and interventions BT - a cross-sectional study JF - Frontiers in Psychology N2 - Introduction: National and international guidelines recommend early integration of evidence-based multimodal interventions and programs, especially with a focus on relaxation techniques and other Mind–Body-based methods to maintain the quality of life of oncology patients, improve treatment tolerability, and promote healthy lifestyle behaviors. Consequently, we aim to understand what drives patients and how they navigate integrative medicine to best advise them. This study aimed to detect possible topics of particular interest to patients and identify the patient groups that could benefit most from further programs. Furthermore, we aimed to investigate if patients are open-minded toward integrative oncology concepts and learn about their motivational level to maintain or change behavior. Methods: Between August 2019 and October 2020 we surveyed patients undergoing oncological therapy in a university oncological outpatient center using a custom-developed questionnaire based on established Mind–Body Medicine concepts. Results: We included 294 patients with various cancers. More than half reported problems sleeping through (61%) and 42% felt stressed frequently, invariably rating this as detrimental to their health. Moreover, a slight majority (52%) felt physically limited due to their disease and only 30% performed defined exercise programs. Women were significantly more likely to feel stressed and reported with alarming frequency that they often feel “everything was up to them.” The 40–65-year-olds reported significantly less restful sleep, more stress and were more dissatisfied with their situation. However, this group already used natural remedies most frequently and was most often motivated to use relaxation techniques in the next 6 months. The lower the perceived individual energy level (EL), the less frequently patients did sport, the more frequently they felt their disease impaired their activity, mostly feeling stressed and tense. We also found significant associations between negative emotions/thoughts and the variables “sleep,” “use of relaxation techniques,” “personal stress perception,” and “successful lifestyle modification.” Conclusion: Mind–Body programs that focus on patient’s individual resources, with tools to explore impairing patterns of self-perception and cognitive biases, can be a valuable resource for oncology patients and should therefore be part of an integrative medical treatment concept. KW - lifestyle habits KW - symptom burden KW - individual mind state KW - motivational level KW - stress Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-321970 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 14 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hutmacher, Fabian T1 - Taking methodological pluralism seriously BT - considerations based on the work of Norbert Groeben JF - Frontiers in Psychology N2 - No abstract available. KW - methodological pluralism KW - quantitative methods KW - qualitative methods KW - replication crisis KW - Norbert Groeben Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-328221 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 14 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lenhard, Alexandra A1 - Minten, Marie-Pierre A1 - Lenhard, Wolfgang T1 - When biology takes over: TV formats like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette confirm evolutionary theories of partner selection JF - Frontiers in Psychology N2 - Introduction: In this study, we investigated the impact of age on mate selection preferences in males and females, and explored how the formation and duration of committed relationships depend on the sex of the person making the selection. Methods: To this end, we utilized data from the television dating shows The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. In these programs, either a single man (“bachelor”) or a woman (“bachelorette”) has the opportunity to select a potential long-term partner from a pool of candidates. Our analysis encompassed a total of n = 169 seasons from 23 different countries, beginning with the first airing in 2002. Results: We found that the likelihood of the final couple continuing their relationship beyond the broadcast was higher in The Bachelorette than in The Bachelor, although the duration of these relationships was not significantly influenced by the type of show. On average, women were younger, both when selecting their partner and when being chosen. However, men exhibited a greater preference for larger age differences than women. Furthermore, the age of the chosen male partners significantly increased with the age of the “bachelorettes,” whereas “bachelors” consistently favored women around 25.5 years old, regardless of their own age. Discussion: We discuss these findings within the context of parental investment theory and sexual strategies theory. KW - mating strategies KW - parental investment theory KW - sex differences KW - relationship duration KW - Cox proportional regression analysis Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-325717 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 14 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Simon, Johanna A1 - Parisi, Sandra A1 - Wabnitz, Katharina A1 - Simmenroth, Anne A1 - Schwienhorst-Stich, Eva-Maria T1 - Ten characteristics of high-quality planetary health education BT - results from a qualitative study with educators, students as educators and study deans at medical schools in Germany JF - Frontiers in Public Health N2 - Aim: The climate and ecological crises are considered fundamental threats to human health. Healthcare workers in general and doctors in particular can contribute as change agents in mitigation and adaptation. Planetary health education (PHE) aims to harness this potential. This study explores perspectives among stakeholders involved in PHE at German medical schools on the characteristics of high-quality PHE and compares them to existing PHE frameworks. Methods: In 2021, we conducted a qualitative interview study with stakeholders from German medical schools involved in PHE. Three different groups were eligible: faculty members, medical students actively involved in PHE, and study deans of medical schools. Recruitment was performed through national PHE networks and snowball sampling. Thematic qualitative text analysis according to Kuckartz was used for the analysis. Results were systematically compared to three existing PHE frameworks. Results: A total of 20 participants (13 female) from 15 different medical schools were interviewed. Participants covered a wide range of professional backgrounds and experience in PHE education. The analysis revealed ten key themes: (1) Complexity and systems thinking, (2) inter- and transdisciplinarity, (3) ethical dimension, (4) responsibility of health professionals, (5) transformative competencies including practical skills, (6) space for reflection and resilience building, (7) special role of students, (8) need for curricular integration, (9) innovative and proven didactic methods, and (10) education as a driver of innovation. Six of our themes showed substantial overlap with existing PHE frameworks. Two of our themes were only mentioned in one of the frameworks, and two others were not explicitly mentioned. Few important elements of the frameworks did not emerge from our data. Conclusions: In the light of increased attention regarding the connections of the climate and ecological crises and health, our results can be useful for anyone working toward the integration of planetary health into medical schools' and any health professions' curricula and should be considered when designing and implementing new educational activities. KW - climate change KW - climate resilience KW - planetary health KW - planetary health education KW - medical education KW - transformative education KW - education for sustainable healthcare KW - eco health Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-313856 SN - 2296-2565 VL - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Müller, Christina A1 - Domokos, Bruno A1 - Amersbach, Tanja A1 - Hausmayer, Eva-Maria A1 - Roßmann, Christin A1 - Wallmann-Sperlich, Birgit A1 - Bucksch, Jens T1 - Development and reliability testing of an audit toolbox for the assessment of the physical activity friendliness of urban and rural environments in Germany JF - Frontiers in Public Health N2 - Background: According to socio-ecological theories, physical activity behaviors are linked to the physical and social neighborhood environment. Reliable and contextually adapted instruments are needed to assess environmental characteristics related to physical activity. This work aims to develop an audit toolbox adapted to the German context, to urban and rural settings, for different population groups, and different types of physical activity; and to evaluate its inter-rater reliability. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature search to collect existing audit tools and to identify the latest evidence of environmental factors influencing physical activity in general, as well as in German populations. The results guided the construction of a category system for the toolbox. Items were assigned to the categories based on their relevance to physical activity and to the German context as well as their comprehensibility. We piloted the toolbox in different urban and rural areas (100 street segments, 15 parks, and 21 playgrounds) and calculated inter-rater reliability by Cohen's Kappa. Results: The audit toolbox comprises a basic streetscape audit with seven categories (land use and destinations, traffic safety, pedestrian infrastructure, cycling infrastructure, attractiveness, social environment, and subjective assessment), as well as supplementary tools for children and adolescents, seniors and people with impaired mobility, parks and public open spaces, playgrounds, and rural areas. 76 % of all included items had moderate, substantial, or almost perfect inter-rater reliability (κ > 0.4). Conclusions: The audit toolbox is an innovative and reliable instrument for the assessment of the physical activity friendliness of urban and rural environments in Germany. KW - built environment KW - physical activity KW - reliability KW - rural KW - urban KW - walkability Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-326116 SN - 2296-2565 VL - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schrader, Hanna A1 - Ruck, Jessica A1 - Borgulya, Gábor A1 - Parisi, Sandra A1 - Ehlers-Mondorf, Jana A1 - Kaduszkiewicz, Hanna A1 - Joos, Stefanie A1 - Grau, Anna A1 - Linde, Klaus A1 - Gágyor, Ildikó T1 - Stress experiences of healthcare assistants in family practice at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic BT - a mixed methods study JF - Frontiers in Public Health N2 - Background: At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, healthcare assistants in general practices were confronted with numerous new challenges. The aim of the study was to investigate the stress factors of healthcare assistants in March/April 2020 as well as in the further course of the pandemic in 2020. Methods: From August to December 2020, 6,300 randomly selected healthcare assistants in four German states were invited to participate in the study. We performed a mixed methods design using semi-structured telephone interviews and a cross-sectional survey with quantitative and open questions. The feeling of psychological burden was assessed on a 6-point likert-scale. We defined stress factors and categorized them in patient, non-patient and organizational stress factors. The results of the three data sets were compared within a triangulation protocol. Results: One thousand two hundred seventy-four surveys were analyzed and 28 interviews with 34 healthcare assistants were conducted. Of the participants, 29.5% reported experiences of a very high or high feeling of psychological burden in March/April 2020. Worries about the patients’ health and an uncertainty around the new disease were among the patient-related stress factors. Non-patient-related stress factors were problems with the compatibility of work and family, and the fear of infecting relatives with COVID-19. Organizational efforts and dissatisfaction with governmental pandemic management were reported as organizational stress factors. Support from the employer and team cohesion were considered as important resources. Discussion: It is necessary to reduce stress among healthcare assistants by improving their working conditions and to strengthen their resilience to ensure primary healthcare delivery in future health crises. KW - healthcare assistants KW - COVID-19 pandemic KW - psychological burden KW - stress factors KW - primary care Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-327427 SN - 2296-2565 VL - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rack, Christian A1 - Fernando, Tamara A1 - Yalcin, Murat A1 - Hotho, Andreas A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich T1 - Who is Alyx? A new behavioral biometric dataset for user identification in XR JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - Introduction: This paper addresses the need for reliable user identification in Extended Reality (XR), focusing on the scarcity of public datasets in this area. Methods: We present a new dataset collected from 71 users who played the game “Half-Life: Alyx” on an HTC Vive Pro for 45 min across two separate sessions. The dataset includes motion and eye-tracking data, along with physiological data from a subset of 31 users. Benchmark performance is established using two state-of-the-art deep learning architectures, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and Gated Recurrent Units (GRU). Results: The best model achieved a mean accuracy of 95% for user identification within 2 min when trained on the first session and tested on the second. Discussion: The dataset is freely available and serves as a resource for future research in XR user identification, thereby addressing a significant gap in the field. Its release aims to facilitate advancements in user identification methods and promote reproducibility in XR research. KW - dataset KW - behaviometric KW - deep learning KW - physiological dataset KW - user identification Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-353979 SN - 2673-4192 VL - 4 ER -