Michael Gordon, Jerome Teitel, Ted Rosenberg
et al.
Throughout history, Jewish people have long been recognized for their achievements in the world of medical science. For example, prior to the Holocaust, many outstanding physicians in Germany were Jewish. However, even in the 1930s, refugee European Jewish doctors faced significant barriers when they tried to escape and practice elsewhere because of long-standing prejudices and anti-Jewish quotas in medical schools and hospitals around the world. Eventually quotas fell, and the period after World War II once again saw a tremendous growth in numbers of Jews excelling in medicine internationally. Since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, there has been a resurgence of antisemitism worldwide. It is especially noticeable in the world of healthcare. This article evaluates and highlights examples of antisemitism in four countries by authors from each of these jurisdictions.
Nils Altner, Laura Kemmling, Zaida Rentería-Solís
et al.
<i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> is a protozoan parasite in cats that can be a cause of zoonotic concern due to sheding infectious and highly resistant oocysts. Clinical toxoplasmosis is rare in cats and can occur with mild to severe clinical signs or even fatal outcomes. <i>T. gondii</i> immunoglobulin M (IgM) or IgG is an indicator of ongoing or prior infection. Information about <i>T. gondii</i> occurrence in the domestic cat population, primary clinical concerns about affected cats, and potential risk factors is scarce in Germany. This retrospective study explored data from 174 feline patients (≥12 weeks old) presented to a tertiary veterinary care facility in central Germany between 2012 and 2023. <i>T. gondii</i> serological status, determined as part of the cats’ routine diagnostic evaluation, was assessed in relation to patient characteristics, environmental factors, medical history data, and clinical diagnosis. Neurological (57%), locomotor (25%), and ocular signs (11%) were common, and older age was associated with the presence of IgG (<i>p</i> = 0.008). Sex had no significant effects on <i>T. gondii</i> antibody positivity (<i>p</i> = 0.865). More outdoor cats than indoor-only cats were <i>T. gondii</i> IgG-positive (<i>p</i> = 0.021), and IgG-seropositive animals received a canned/wet diet more often than a dry kibble diet (<i>p</i> < 0.0001). Clinical representations aligned with previous studies, and age, choice of food, and outdoor living (<i>p</i> = 0.021) were significant predisposing factors.
Jèssica Gómez-Garrido, Fergal Martin, Leanne Haggerty
et al.
High-quality reference genomes are critical resources for understanding biodiversity and supporting conservation efforts. We present the chromosome-level assembly of the Spanish moon moth, Actias isabellae (Graells, 1849), a nocturnal lepidopteran protected under the EU Habitats Directive. The assembly spans 0.56 Gb across 31 pseudomolecules, including the Z chromosome, with a contig N50 of 18.9 Mb and a scaffold N50 of 20.4 Mb. The mitochondrial genome was also assembled into a 15,247 bp circular sequence. Annotation identified 11,805 protein-coding genes and 2,238 non-coding genes, with a BUSCO completeness of over 94%. Notably, no W chromosome was detected, suggesting a ZZ/Z0 sex determination system. This reference genome provides an essential foundation for studying sex chromosome evolution in Lepidoptera and enables advanced population genomics monitoring of this protected species. More broadly, it contributes to ongoing efforts within the European Reference Genome Atlas and the Earth BioGenome Project to harness genomics for biodiversity conservation.
Andrei Ionut Cucu, Catalin M. Buzduga, Navena Widulin
et al.
<b>Background:</b> In the 19th century, pulmonary tuberculosis was the leading cause of death in Europe, responsible for up to one-quarter of all mortality. Before Robert Koch’s discovery of the tubercle bacillus in 1882 and the advent of effective therapies, treatment relied on rest, high-caloric diets, and sanatoria. <b>Objectives:</b> This study aims to reconstruct the medical biography of Dr. Șerban Eminovici (1841–1874), Romanian physician and elder brother of poet Mihai Eminescu, and to contextualize his life and death within the broader history of tuberculosis and pre-antibiotic medical practice. <b>Methods:</b> We conducted a historical case study using archival sources, including university registers from Erlangen, Munich, and Vienna, hospital admission records from the Charité Hospital in Berlin, and contemporaneous correspondence. Secondary literature on the history of tuberculosis and the Eminovici family was also reviewed. <b>Results</b>: Eminovici pursued medical studies across Central Europe, obtaining his doctorate in Vienna and later practicing medicine in Berlin, where he was a member of the Berliner Medizinische Gesellschaft. Despite early signs of respiratory illness, treated at spa resorts such as Gleichenberg, his condition progressed to advanced pulmonary tuberculosis with neuropsychiatric complications. Hospital records confirm his admission to the Charité on 10 October 1874, and his death from “Lungenschwindsucht” (pulmonary tuberculosis) on 29 November 1874, at age 33. His trajectory illustrates both the transnational mobility of Romanian intellectual elites and the therapeutic limitations of pre-antibiotic medicine. <b>Conclusions:</b> The case of Dr. Șerban Eminovici highlights the devastating impact of tuberculosis on 19th-century intellectuals, the reliance on lifestyle-based therapies before the discovery of the tubercle bacillus, and the importance of Central European medical networks in shaping Romanian professional identities. Beyond its biographical significance, this case underscores the persistent social and cultural burden of tuberculosis in Eastern Europe.
Anna Sophia Gottschlich, Jana Ernst, Till Milde
et al.
Abstract Purpose Invasive fungal diseases (IFDs) are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in pediatric patients with hematologic malignancies including acute leukemia. Our study aimed to compare the efficacy of liposomal amphotericin B (L-AMB), posaconazole or micafungin as primary antifungal prophylaxis (PAP) in pediatric patients with acute leukemia. Methods This retrospective observational study enrolled 95 pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n = 70) or acute myeloid leukemia (n = 25), undergoing chemotherapy, including those undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at the Department of Pediatrics, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany. PAP regimens included L-AMB (1 mg/kg/day or 3 mg/kg twice weekly, intravenously), posaconazole (100–300 mg/day, according to blood concentration, orally or intravenously) and micafungin (1 mg/kg/day or 3 mg/kg twice weekly, intravenously). Thirty-four patients (35.8%) received L-AMB, 37 patients (38.9%) received posaconazole, and 24 patients (25.3%) received micafungin. Patients with a history of IFD or concurrent or changing PAP were excluded. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of breakthrough IFD, while secondary endpoint included IFD-free survival. Statistical analyses were performed using Kaplan–Meier survival analysis, Gray’s test and Cox regression to evaluate IFD-free survival. Results The overall incidence of IFD was 14.7% (14 of 95 patients). IFD developed in 10 of 33 patients (29.4%) receiving L-AMB, in 4 of 38 (10.8%) patients receiving posaconazole and in none of the patients receiving micafungin. IFD-free survival was 70.6% in the L-AMB group, 89.2% in the posaconazole group and 100% in the micafungin group (p = 0.005, log-rank test). Significant differences were also observed in the cumulative incidences of breakthrough IFDs (p = 0.006) assessed by Gray’s test. In multivariate Cox analysis, dichotomized prophylaxis regimes (posaconazole or micafungin vs. L-AMB) were independently associated with a reduced risk of IFD (HR = 0.244; 95% CI 0.076–0.777; p = 0.017). Age ≥ 10 years predicted inferior IFD-free survival (HR = 3.665; 95% CI 1.224–10.980; p = 0.020). Conclusion We found a significant difference in efficacy between the three antifungal prophylaxis regimens. In our study, micafungin achieved the lowest IFD breakthrough rate. However, multicenter clinical studies would be needed to confirm the results.
Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens
For the greater part of entrepreneurial history, entrepreneurship’s primary target was commercial, i.e., money generation for the entrepreneur and his or her stakeholders. However, starting in the 1980s, hybrid forms of entrepreneurship fusing the creation of non-financial value with entrepreneurial means have gained traction. Currently, several conceptually different forms, e.g., social, environmental, and community entrepreneurship, exist. Research yields various differences comparing commercial and hybrid entrepreneurship, particularly in the stereotypical perceptions of different entrepreneurs. Notwithstanding notable insights, entrepreneurial stereotype research suffers from three major shortcomings. First, stereotype differences are primarily examined by comparing commercial to hybrid entrepreneurs, neglecting stereotype differences <i>inside</i> hybrid entrepreneurship. Second, the scope of stereotypes investigated (e.g., warmth and competence) remains vague and lacks entrepreneurial specificity. Third, the robustness of entrepreneurial stereotypes under different institutional circumstances, e.g., in economy and culture, is unclear. The current study addresses these three shortcomings. Analyzing two samples from Kenya and Germany (<i>N<sub>total</sub></i> = 286) with repeated-measures analyses of co-variance, we find notable stereotype differences (i) inside hybrid entrepreneurs; (ii) regarding warmth, competence, <i>and</i> entrepreneurship-specific success indicators; and (iii) under different institutional circumstances. Despite acknowledgeable limitations, our work extends previous stereotype research by highlighting the necessity for a more fine-grained, specific, and inter-country perspective on entrepreneurial stereotypes.
Political institutions and public administration (General)
This research explores the use of History to enhance education in the field of ICT For Sustainability ICT4S in response to a challenge from the ICT4S 2023 conference. No previous studies were found in ICT4S but the literature on History and Education for Sustainable Development is reviewed. An ICT4S lecturer collaborated with History lecturers to add an historic parallel to each weeks teaching on a Sustainable Business and Computing unit for final year undergraduate BSc Business Computing students. A list of the topics and rationale is provided. Student perceptions were surveyed before and after the teaching and semi-structured interviews carried out. A majority of students saw relevance to their degree and career. There was an increase in the proportion of students with interest in History. The paper explores the lessons learned from the interdisciplinary collaboration, including topic choice, format and perceived value. The project has enhanced the way we approach our subjects as computing and history educators. We believe this is the first empirical, survey-based study of the use of history to enhance ICT4S education. The team will extend the research to a larger unit covering a wider range of computing degrees.
Julio Urizarna-Carasa, Daniel Ruprecht, Alexandra von Kameke
et al.
The movement of small but finite spherical particles in a fluid can be described by the Maxey-Riley equation (MRE) if they are too large to be considered passive tracers. The MRE contains an integral "history term" modeling wake effects, which causes the force acting on a particle at some given time to depend on its full past trajectory. The history term causes complications in the numerical solution of the MRE and is therefore often neglected, despite both numerical and experimental evidence that its effects are generally not negligible. By numerically computing trajectories with and without the history term of a large number of particles in different flow fields, we investigate its impact on the large-scale Lagrangian dynamics of simulated particles. We show that for moderate to large Stokes numbers, ignoring the history term leads to significant differences in clustering patterns. Furthermore, we compute finite-time Lyapunov exponents and show that, even for small particles, the differences in the resulting scalar field from ignoring the BHT can be significant, in particular if the underlying flow is turbulent.
Inverse problems for a diffusion equation containing a generalized fractional derivative are studied. The equation holds in a time interval $(0,T)$ and it is assumed that a state $u$ (solution of diffusion equation) and a source $f$ are known for $t\in (t_0,T)$ where $t_0$ is some number in $(0,T)$. Provided that $f$ satisfies certain restrictions, it is proved that product of a kernel of the derivative with an elliptic operator as well as the history of $f$ for $t\in (0,t_0)$ are uniquely recovered. In case of less restrictions on $f$ the uniqueness of the kernel and the history of $f$ is shown. Moreover, in a case when a functional of $u$ for $t\in (t_0,T)$ is given the uniqueness of the kernel is proved under unknown history of $f$.
This work reviews the long-term evolution of the atmosphere of Venus, and modulation of its composition by interior/exterior cycling. The formation and evolution of Venus’s atmosphere, leading to contemporary surface conditions, remain hotly debated topics, and involve questions that tie into many disciplines. We explore these various inter-related mechanisms which shaped the evolution of the atmosphere, starting with the volatile sources and sinks. Going from the deep interior to the top of the atmosphere, we describe volcanic outgassing, surface-atmosphere interactions, and atmosphere escape. Furthermore, we address more complex aspects of the history of Venus, including the role of Late Accretion impacts, how magnetic field generation is tied into long-term evolution, and the implications of geochemical and geodynamical feedback cycles for atmospheric evolution. We highlight plausible end-member evolutionary pathways that Venus could have followed, from accretion to its present-day state, based on modeling and observations. In a first scenario, the planet was desiccated by atmospheric escape during the magma ocean phase. In a second scenario, Venus could have harbored surface liquid water for long periods of time, until its temperate climate was destabilized and it entered a runaway greenhouse phase. In a third scenario, Venus’s inefficient outgassing could have kept water inside the planet, where hydrogen was trapped in the core and the mantle was oxidized. We discuss existing evidence and future observations/missions required to refine our understanding of the planet’s history and of the complex feedback cycles between the interior, surface, and atmosphere that have been operating in the past, present or future of Venus.
In this paper, I explore the iconographical relationship between the letters and the support on fol. 157r of the Morgan Gospels, written and illuminated in Westphalia, Germany during the mid-tenth century. On the basis of its formal properties and the iconographic meaning it takes, I will give particular attention to the materiality of the Latin text and its cultural and symbolic significance. The folio under study develops a form of ‘agency’. With this perspective, I hope not only to contribute to the important line of argument Joshua O’Driscoll develops in his iconic article, but also to explore the meaning of Latin as an iconological statement and hence to contribute with new methodological developments in the field of art history.
Greek language and literature. Latin language and literature
André Elias Rodrigues Soares, Nikolaus Boroffka, Oskar Schröder
et al.
Central Asia has been an important region connecting the different parts of Eurasia throughout history and prehistory, with large states developing in this region during the Iron Age. Archaeogenomics is a powerful addition to the zooarchaeological toolkit for understanding the relation of these societies to animals. Here, we present the genetic identification of a goitered gazelle specimen (Gazella subgutturosa) at the site Gazimulla-Tepa, in modern-day Uzbekistan, supporting hunting of the species in the region during the Iron Age. The sample was directly radiocarbon dated to 2724–2439 calBP. A phylogenetic analysis of the mitochondrial genome places the individual into the modern variation of G. subgutturosa. Our data do represent both the first ancient DNA and the first nuclear DNA sequences of this species. The lack of genomic resources available for this gazelle and related species prevented us from performing a more in-depth analysis of the nuclear sequences generated. Therefore, we are making our sequence data available to the research community to facilitate other research of this nowadays threatened species which has been subject to human hunting for several millennia across its entire range on the Asian continent.
Is Europe a continent marked by wars? This has been the perception of the ‘old continent’ for more
than 1000 years. In any case, it is the desire for peace that has led thinkers from different periods to propose a
political unification of countries. Erasmus did so in 1517 (Plea for Peace), Emmanuel Kant in 1795 (Essay on
Perpetual Peace) and Victor Hugo in 1849 (Speech to the International Peace Congress in Paris). During the
20th century, the idea of a federal union gained ground. However, it was the Second World War (1939-1945)
which, once over, triggered the creation of international structures such as the UN, the Council of Europe and,
of course, the European Communities. Considered the birth certificate of the European Union, its declaration
(inspired by Jean Monnet) paved the way for the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), created in 1951
by six countries: France, West Germany (FRG), Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. On May 9th
1950, Robert Schuman, the French Foreign Minister, proposed the pooling of French and German coal and steel
to “make war not only inconceivable but materially impossible”. Considered the birth certificate of the European
Union, his declaration (inspired by Jean Monnet) paved the way for the European Coal and Steel Community
(ECSC), created in 1951 by six countries: France, West Germany (FRG), Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and
Luxembourg. In this regard, we can discuss an instrument that is so popular and well known, but which, in turn,
has become a temptation to get rich quick for both natural and legal persons, the European Structural and
Investment Funds (ESIF). Originally, the ERDF was essentially economic. It has gradually evolved towards the
promotion of social rights and democracy, towards social inclusion in the broadest sense. The present study
seeks to analyse the history of these funds, the methods of fraud and the institutions responsible for preventing
or, where appropriate, investigating the fraudsters.
Michael Gref, Nike Matthiesen, Christoph Schmidt
et al.
Automatic speech recognition systems have accomplished remarkable improvements in transcription accuracy in recent years. On some domains, models now achieve near-human performance. However, transcription performance on oral history has not yet reached human accuracy. In the present work, we investigate how large this gap between human and machine transcription still is. For this purpose, we analyze and compare transcriptions of three humans on a new oral history data set. We estimate a human word error rate of 8.7% for recent German oral history interviews with clean acoustic conditions. For comparison with recent machine transcription accuracy, we present experiments on the adaptation of an acoustic model achieving near-human performance on broadcast speech. We investigate the influence of different adaptation data on robustness and generalization for clean and noisy oral history interviews. We optimize our acoustic models by 5 to 8% relative for this task and achieve 23.9% WER on noisy and 15.6% word error rate on clean oral history interviews.
Muki Haklay, Dilek Fraisl, Bastian Greshake Tzovaras
et al.
Citizen science has expanded rapidly over the past decades. Yet, defining citizen science and its boundaries remained a challenge, and this is reflected in the literature—for example in the proliferation of typologies and definitions. There is a need for identifying areas of agreement and disagreement within the citizen science practitioners community on what should be considered as citizen science activity. This paper describes the development and results of a survey that examined this issue, through the use of vignettes—short case descriptions that describe an activity, while asking the respondents to rate the activity on a scale from ‘not citizen science’ (0%) to ‘citizen science’ (100%). The survey included 50 vignettes, of which five were developed as clear cases of not-citizen science activities, five as widely accepted citizen science activities and the others addressing 10 factors and 61 sub-factors that can lead to controversy about an activity. The survey has attracted 333 respondents, who provided over 5100 ratings. The analysis demonstrates the plurality of understanding of what citizen science is and calls for an open understanding of what activities are included in the field.
No-go theorems have played an important role in the development and assessment of scientific theories. They have stopped whole research programs and have given rise to strong ontological commitments. Given the importance they obviously have had in physics and philosophy of physics and the huge amount of literature on the consequences of specific no-go theorems, there has been relatively little attention to the more abstract assessment of no-go theorems as a tool in theory development. We will here provide this abstract assessment of no-go theorems and conclude that the methodological implications one may draw from no-go theorems are in disagreement with the implications that have often been drawn from them in the history of science.
With a growing Muslim population, many European countries need to integrate Muslims into their societies. One aspect that can hinder successful integration are substantial differences in human values. This is because such values are consequential for attitudes as well as behavior. We compare basic human values between Muslim immigrants and non-Muslim natives in four European countries with distinct immigration histories and integration politics: Belgium, France, Germany, and Sweden. For most insightful comparisons, we contrast values of Muslim immigrants with those of Christian natives as well as those of non-religious natives. We employ data of more than 50,000 individuals based on the first eight waves of the European Social Survey. Our findings reveal significant differences in value priorities between Muslims, Christians and non-religious individuals in all four countries. Amongst other things, Muslim immigrants score particularly high in conservation values (security and tradition/conformity). At the same time, they also score higher in self-transcendence values (benevolence as well as universalism). While many of these findings are in line with theory and previous research, the higher score in universalism is unexpected. A potential explanation is the combination of religious traditionalism and discrimination experiences. In other words, religious traditions are associated with more conservative views, but being subject to marginalization can still result in an appreciation of equal opportunities. We find only limited support for differences in hedonism. Religiosity correlates with values of tradition/conformity for Muslim immigrants as well as for Christian natives. Thus, accounting for religiosity renders differences in these values between Muslims and other groups statistically insignificant. While most of these findings hold in all countries, differences are most pronounced in Sweden and lower in the other three countries, which is also true after accounting for differences in socio-economic status and religiosity between the three groups. This suggests that a combination of a country's history of diversity and national integration policies either encourages the convergence of values or leads to a solidification of value differences between groups. We discuss these political and social implications of our findings.
Visual Dialog involves "understanding" the dialog history (what has been discussed previously) and the current question (what is asked), in addition to grounding information in the image, to generate the correct response. In this paper, we show that co-attention models which explicitly encode dialog history outperform models that don't, achieving state-of-the-art performance (72 % NDCG on val set). However, we also expose shortcomings of the crowd-sourcing dataset collection procedure by showing that history is indeed only required for a small amount of the data and that the current evaluation metric encourages generic replies. To that end, we propose a challenging subset (VisDialConv) of the VisDial val set and provide a benchmark of 63% NDCG.