Hasil untuk "History of Germany"

Otto Richter, Janin Lepke, Johannes Herrmann et al.

IntroductionHerbicides are an important technology in the Integrated Weed Management (IWM) tool box aiming to control weeds in modern agriculture. Prediction tools to evaluate the risk of resistance evolution will greatly help to choose the best IWM strategy adapted to the local field situation. These comprise classical simulation models, mechanistic models (MMs), combining population dynamics and genetics, and recently artificial intelligence (AI) methods such as random forest. In this paper, both approaches are compared.Materials and methodsArtificial data were generated by an MM and used as training dataset for a random forest classifier. Field history information was taken from two previous studies. The data include the field histories and resistance status of Alopecurus myosuroides of 98 fields from the Hohenlohe area in Germany and 131 from the Champagne area in France.Results and discussionWith accuracies of approximately 80%, the results obtained by the random forest method applied to model-generated data and real field data, respectively, are well comparable. This concerns the ranking of prediction variables and the prediction of the resistance status of a real field and a “model field”. Predictions with model outcomes as training sets and, vice versa, predictions of a “model field” with real data as training sets and predictions by splitting of field data could be made with nearly the same accuracies.ConclusionComplementarity is shown between both approaches with the advantages of AI such as random forest to avoid approximations inherent to complex MMs.

Katharina Wabnitz, Bridget Pratt, Cristian Timmermann et al.

Climate change, ecological degradation and global inequalities are symptoms of an eco-social polycrisis that threatens global health and health equity. This polycrisis is deeply rooted in Western value systems. These can be described as anthropocentric and individualistic and support the prevailing neoliberal economic model. Bioethics is now called to respond to the urgent health-related ethical challenges of the polycrisis and has recently begun to engage with Planetary Health and One Health in this regard. Both have mainly emerged in the Western scientific community and understand human health to be inextricably linked to the state of environmental and structural societal determinants. We argue that bioethics should indeed embrace holistic or integrated understandings of health but also carefully revisit the foundational Western value systems at the root of the polycrisis. If Planetary Health and One Health stay grounded in Western value systems, an extensive conceptual engagement might be problematic for bioethics. Instead of turning to Western concepts of health, bioethics should engage deeply with Indigenous and non-Western ways of knowing and critically reflect on its own role in inadvertently maintaining the status quo.

O. Krause, O. Krause

<p>The British geographer Halford J. Mackinder developed two different concepts of a dystopian new global order. The first, developed in 1904 and known as the pivot area concept, was adopted by German geopolitician Karl Haushofer in the 1920s. The second, developed in 1919, was named the heartland theory and was adopted in Great Britain and the USA. Haushofer reversed the dystopian vision of the pivot area concept into a utopian concept for German world power. Due to Haushofer's adaptation, interest in Mackinder's theories rose in the USA in the 1940s. Within the process of adaptation in the USA, both concepts were intertwined, resulting in the perception of the two as a monolithic bloc. Through this multi-layered process of intercontinental reception and adaptation in Germany and the USA, the term “heartland” became a generic spatial denomination detached from the geographical region it originally prescribed, integrable with various geopolitical concepts as the centre of an imagined world order. The reduction of complexity of the theory through the translation of text into maps led to its popularization among the US public during the 1940s and 1950s. Mackinder himself laid out the flexibility of the theory's interpretive possibilities by reflexively revising the theory and adapting it to the history of events over the course of the first half of the 20th century itself. In consequence, the generic spatial denomination “heartland” and the associated adopted theory served as a geopolitical argument for the strategic narrative legitimizing US foreign policy in World War II and during the Cold War.</p>

Ewa Szlachcic, Maciej J. Dańko, Marcin Czarnoleski

The intrinsic sources of mortality relate to the ability to meet the metabolic demands of tissue maintenance and repair, ultimately shaping ageing patterns. Anti-ageing mechanisms compete for resources with other functions, including those involved in maintaining functional plasma membranes. Consequently, organisms with smaller cells and more plasma membranes should devote more resources to membrane maintenance, leading to accelerated intrinsic mortality and ageing. To investigate this unexplored trade-off, we reared Drosophila melanogaster larvae on food with or without rapamycin (a TOR pathway inhibitor) to produce small- and large-celled adult flies, respectively, and measured their mortality rates. Males showed higher mortality than females. As expected, small-celled flies (rapamycin) showed higher mortality than their large-celled counterparts (control), but only in early adulthood. Contrary to predictions, the median lifespan was similar between the groups. Rapamycin administered to adults prolongs life; thus, the known direct physiological effects of rapamycin cannot explain our results. Instead, we invoke indirect effects of rapamycin, manifested as reduced cell size, as a driver of increased early mortality. We conclude that cell size differences between organisms and the associated burdens of plasma membrane maintenance costs may be important but overlooked factors influencing mortality patterns in nature.

M. Christopher Dean, Jan Garrevoet, Stijn J. M. Van Malderen et al.

Zinc is incorporated into enamel, dentine and cementum during tooth growth. This work aimed to distinguish between the processes underlying Zn incorporation and Zn distribution. These include different mineralisation processes, the physiological events around birth, Zn ingestion with diet, exposure to the oral environment during life and diagenetic changes to fossil teeth <i>post-mortem</i>. Synchrotron X-ray Fluorescence (SXRF) was used to map zinc distribution across longitudinal polished ground sections of both deciduous and permanent modern human, great ape and fossil hominoid teeth. Higher resolution fluorescence intensity maps were used to image Zn in surface enamel, secondary dentine and cementum, and at the neonatal line (NNL) and enamel–dentine–junction (EDJ) in deciduous teeth. Secondary dentine was consistently Zn-rich, but the highest concentrations of Zn (range 197–1743 ppm) were found in cuspal, mid-lateral and cervical surface enamel and were similar in unerupted teeth never exposed to the oral environment. Zinc was identified at the NNL and EDJ in both modern and fossil deciduous teeth. In fossil specimens, diagenetic changes were identified in various trace element distributions but only demineralisation appeared to markedly alter Zn distribution. Zinc appears to be tenacious and stable in fossil tooth tissues, especially in enamel, over millions of years.

Anna Tropnikova

This study offers a post-humanist framework for the analysis of Władisław Starewicz’s entomological animations from Imperial Russia, arguing that these unique artefacts of film history provide a non-anthropocentric alternative to so-called post-Disney practices. It demonstrates that Starewicz’s work with nonhuman protagonists in Prekrasnaia Liukanida / The Beautiful Leukanida (1912, Russian Empire) and Mest’ kinematograficheskogo operatora / The Cameraman’s Revenge (1912, Russian Empire) generates an idiosyncratic approach to animated movement that the director retains throughout his oeuvre, arguing that even Starewicz’s most anthropomorphic films, such as Fétiche Mascotte / The Mascot (1933, France) and Reinicke Fuchs / The Tale of the Fox (1937, Germany) mimic the entomology-driven animation style that the director developed in his early films. This trajectory from animating insect bodies to dolls has previously been treated teleologically by some scholars, with The Tale of The Fox cited as the apotheosis of Starewicz’s career and the oft-neglected insect films presumed to be inchoate predecessors to his later dolls. However, this article takes a different position, arguing that Starewicz’s innovations in later films were only possible thanks to the tremendous popularity and developments of his earlier entomological endeavours. This approach considers Starewicz’s use of the nonhuman to be foundational for his filmography, suggesting that all Starewicz's stop-motion films remain entomological. When his films are approached through Jussi Parikka’s challenge to consider natural media as a tool for rethinking human media, opportunities for action vis-a-vis animation and novel considerations in issues of scale, content, and style are revealed.

Suzanne Murray, Vivek Subbiah, Steven I. Sherman et al.

Abstract Background The discovery of driver oncogenes for thyroid carcinomas and the identification of genomically targeted therapies to inhibit those oncogenes have altered the treatment algorithm in thyroid cancer (TC), while germline testing for RET mutations has become indicated for patients with a family history of RET gene mutations or hereditary medullary TC (MTC). In the context of an increasing number of selective RET inhibitors approved for use, this paper aims to describe challenges and barriers affecting providers’ ability to deliver optimal care for patients with RET-altered TC across the patient healthcare journey. Methods A mixed-method educational and behavioral needs assessment was conducted in Germany (GER), Japan (JPN), the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US) prior to RET-selective inhibitor approval. Participants included medical oncologists (MO), endocrinologists (EN) and clinical pathologists (CP) caring for patients affected with TC. Data collection tools were implemented in three languages (English, German, Japanese). Qualitative data were coded and thematically analyzed in NVivo. Quantitative data were analyzed via frequency and crosstabulations in SPSS. The findings presented here were part of a broader study that also investigated lung cancer challenges and included pulmonologists. Results A total of 44 interviews and 378 surveys were completed. Suboptimal knowledge and skills were self-identified among providers, affecting (1) assessment of genetic risk factors (56%, 159/285 of MOs and ENs), (2) selection of appropriate genetic biomarkers (59%, 53/90 of CPs), (3) treatment plan initiation (65%, 173/275 of MOs and ENs), (4) management of side effects associated with multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors (78%, 116/149 of MOs and ENs), and (5) transfer of patients into palliative care services (58%, 160/274 of MOs and ENs). Interviews underscored the presence of systemic barriers affecting the use of RET molecular tests and selective inhibitors, in addition to suboptimal knowledge and skills necessary to manage the safety and efficacy of targeted therapies. Conclusion This study describes concrete educational needs for providers involved in the care of patients with RET-altered thyroid carcinomas. Findings can be used to inform the design of evidence-based education and performance improvement interventions in the field and support integration into practice of newly approved RET-selective inhibitors.

Sterenn Le Maguer

This article aims to show the role of archaeological research and heritage enhancement in the political, social and economic development of the Sultanate of Oman. Although archaeological research in the Sultanate of Oman began well before the accession to the throne of Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said, it became a real political and social issue during his reign. Archaeological excavations were first entrusted to Western researchers (mostly from institutions located in the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy or Germany), thus contributing to the country's emergence on the international scene. The Sultanate now has its own archaeological service and trains Omani archaeologists. This archaeological research will not only shed light on the Prehistory and history of this territory, it will also define a heritage that will mark the identity of the Sultanate of Oman. The Omani heritage is highlighted by the inscription of five sites on the Unesco World Heritage List between 1987 and 2018. This heritage, unique in the Gulf region, is a response to the choice of high-end tourism development in order to diversify the country's economy. The Sultanate of Oman is thus building the image of an open and culturally rich country to which UNESCO, an internationally recognised institution, provides a choice guarantee. At the same time, university courses in the fields of culture and heritage are offered to encourage young Omanis to work in the tourism sector. The development of this sector has also contributed to the modernisation of the country and its infrastructure in order to link the most important sites to the capital, Muscat, thus opening up previously isolated regions.

Haris Mrkaljevic

Considéré comme le « Lourdes allemand », le village sarrois de Marpingen a fait l’actualité allemande en 1876, dans un contexte encore marqué par la guerre franco-prussienne. Cet article étudie la circulation des miracles entre la France et l’Allemagne à travers une démarche comparative et l’étude de documents d’époque (essais, témoignages, presse). Après avoir présenté les événements de Marpingen, nous analysons les modalités de réception de Lourdes en Allemagne et dans ce village de la Sarre, mais aussi les causes possibles de l’identification des visionnaires avec Bernadette Soubirous. Une analyse de la réception médiatique de Marpingen sert enfin à s’interroger sur les spécificités des territoires situés près de la frontière franco-allemande héritée de la guerre de 1870.

Dwi Laraswati, Max Krott, Emma Soraya et al.

The traditional conceptions and claims of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have profiled NGOs as civil society representatives and as benevolent philanthropic actors of development in the Global South. However, recent phenomena indicate NGOs often acting in opposition to their benevolent claims. This study attempts to move away from the normative concepts of NGOs and develop an analytical framework fitted with the current empirics in environmental governance. Using theories of organized interest groups in a democratic political system, we analyze the extent of NGOs fulfilling their roles as organized interest groups (OIGs), where they should take roles representing the interests of particular groups within societies and exerting political influence on governments on the basis of these common interests. We use empirics from Indonesian forest and environment-related governance, and our framework is called “Representation–Influence Framework,” which assists in establishing more systematic coherent typologies of OIGs. Analyzed from the perspective that NGOs claim to serve as representatives of specific groups within societies, we establish three overarching categories of OIGs, that is, 1) en route to fulfilling the claim, 2) breaking the claim, and 3) opposing the claim. We further detail our framework into a subset of nine OIG typologies. In this way, we provide pathways to begin deconstructing the common simplifications and misunderstandings about NGOs. For empirics, we identified 38 OIGs in the cases of social forestry and timber legality policies and populated them according to the typologies. We found that most of them are en route to fulfilling the claim of representing the groups’ interests, although their political influence on the government is, in most cases, limited.

Nader Amiri

“Narrative” and “narration” appear to be inseparable parts of the human psychosocial life, to the extent that it can even be mentioned that human being seems to be indefinable and inconceivable without this component and its twin component, namely “time”. The present manuscript is an attempt to understand how the mechanism of narration works, with regard to the concept of collective memory and specifically the silent historical objects in the elderly. Such an effort may help to “understand” such a mechanism and, to its maximum extent possible, open the door to the subject matter. Of course, this launching can be opened directly or indirectly, and as a dilatory goal, to the subsequent studies of or empathetic therapeutic proceedings for the elderly, in the field of reminiscence therapy. The nature of this manuscript demands theoretical allusions and the conceptual composition of those allusions, and therefore an essential part of its body will be based on such a basis. To concretely configure the story of this manuscript, the narrative world of the 82- to 84-year-olds from Kermanshah, Iran have been selected as the experimental domain of study. The central object of their childhood collective memory was set on the settlement of some Polish migrants in Kermanshah during the presence of the allied, that is, when they were between seven and eight years old. Having conducted a semi-structured interview with them, there was compiled the way of imprinting the elements of that central object in their “world of perception” and the parade of the overt and covert elements of that central object in their narrative system. Besides, based on theoretical concepts, an attempt has been made to provide a concrete discussion. References Atkinson, R. L. (2018). The contex of psychology (translated by M. T. Braheni). Tehran: Roshd. [Persian] Bals, K. (2001). Generational mentality, a psychoanalytic view of generational differences. Argenon Journal, 19, 1-30. 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(Original language release date, 1993) [Persian] Freud, Z. (2003). Mourning and mourning (translated by Morad. Farhadpour). Argenon Journal, No. 21 (Psychoanalysis 1), 83-101. [Persian] Gusman, p. (2010). Nostalgia for light. [Movie]. [Persian] Hobshaum, A. (2001). The Age of the Ends (translated by H. Mortazavi). Tehran: Agah. Hobshaum, A. (2018). The Age of Revolution (translated by A. A. Mahdian and A. Salehi). Tehran: Akhtaran. Hinchman, L. P., & Hinchman, S. (Eds.). (1997). Memory, identity, community: The idea of narrative in the human sciences. Suny Press. Hinchman, L. P., & Hinchman, S. (Eds.). (1997). Memory, identity, community: The idea of narrative in the human sciences. Suny Press. Natzmer, C. (2002). Remembering and forgetting: Creative expression and reconciliation in post-Pinochet Chile. Social memory and history. Anthropological perspectives, 161-179. Najmabadi, A. (1995). The story of the girls of Quchan. Tehran: Roshangaran. [Persian] Majd, M. GH. (2016). Victory Bridge, Famine Land, Iran in World War II. (Translated by Ali. Fathi Ashtiani). Tehran: Institute of Political Studies and Research. [Persian] Martin, V. (2003). Narrative theories. (Translated by Mohammad. Shahba). Tehran: Hermes. (Original language release date, 1986). [Persian] Mokhtari Esfahani, R. (2011). Documents from the occupation of Iran in World War II. Tehran: Presidential Research and Documentation Center. [Persian] Moradi, M., & Sahebkar, M. (2018). East Iran in World War II: The Passage of Polish Immigrants. Historical research of Iran and Islam, 23, 127-152. [Persian] Molly, K. (2007). Fundamentals of Psychoanalysis, Freud, Lacan. Tehran: Ney. [Persian] Najmabadi, A. (1995). The story of the girls of Quchan. Tehran: Roshangaran. Olick, J., & Robbins, J. (1988). Social memory Studies, from Collective memory to the Historical Sociology of Mnemonic Practices. Annual Review of sociology, 24, 105-140. Piaget, J. (2003). Symbol formation in children (translated by Z. Tawfiq). Tehran: Ney. [Persian] Ricoeur, p. (2016). Ideology, ethics, politics. (Translated by Majid. Akhgar). Tehran: Cheshmeh. Ricoeur, p. (1995). History, memory, forgetfulness. Conversation, 3(8), 47-60. [Persian] Saleh, GH. M. (2005).First Constitutional Assembly. Maziar Publications, Tehran. [Persian] Santner, A. L. (2017). Wandering objects, mourning, memories and movies in post-war Germany. (Translated by Fatah. Mohammadi). Zanjan: Third Millennium. [Persian] Shirmohammadi, M. (2017). Polish House. Tehran: Cheshmeh. [Persian]. Sinai, Kh. (1362). Lost elegy. [Movie]. [Persian] Sternfeld, L. (2018). “Poland Is Not Lost While We Still Live”: The Making of Polish Iran, 1941–45. Jewish Social Studies, 23(3), 101-127. W.W.W.Adam Mickiewicz Institute W.W.W.gov.pl.iran-en 2005

Werner Eck

Für den FIEC-Kongress in London 2019 wurde im Rahmen einer Diskussion über die Geschichte der Roman Society der Autor aufgefordert, über das Thema Development of Roman Studies in Britain from an Overseas Perspective zu spre­chen. Die Thematik wurde an der Verwendung der prosopographischen Metho­den seit der Publikation der Prosopographia Imperii Romani erörtert, wie sie sich overseas und in Großbritannien entwickelt haben. Dabei wurden die verschiedenen Methoden der Auswertung solcher Daten in Deutschland und Frankreich mit denen in England verglichen und deren wichtiger kritischer Beitrag seit den späten 30er Jahren bis zur Veröffentlichung der Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire hervorgehoben. At the FIEC 2019 Congress in London, as part of a panel discussion about the history of the Roman Society, the author was asked to speak on ‘The Develop­ment of Roman Studies in Britain from an Overseas Perspective’. In this paper, which stems from that presentation, the topic is discussed through a focus on the development of prosopographical methods since the publication of the Prosopographia Imperii Romani, both overseas and in Great Britain. The differ­ent methods of evaluating such data in Germany and France are com­pared with those in England, and the important critical contribution of British histori­ography from the late 1930s until the publication of the Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire is given special attention.

Ivar R. Hannikainen, Edouard Machery, David Rose et al.

Philosophers have long debated whether, if determinism is true, we should hold people morally responsible for their actions since in a deterministic universe, people are arguably not the ultimate source of their actions nor could they have done otherwise if initial conditions and the laws of nature are held fixed. To reveal how non-philosophers ordinarily reason about the conditions for free will, we conducted a cross-cultural and cross-linguistic survey (N = 5,268) spanning twenty countries and sixteen languages. Overall, participants tended to ascribe moral responsibility whether the perpetrator lacked sourcehood or alternate possibilities. However, for American, European, and Middle Eastern participants, being the ultimate source of one’s actions promoted perceptions of free will and control as well as ascriptions of blame and punishment. By contrast, being the source of one’s actions was not particularly salient to Asian participants. Finally, across cultures, participants exhibiting greater cognitive reflection were more likely to view free will as incompatible with causal determinism. We discuss these findings in light of documented cultural differences in the tendency toward dispositional versus situational attributions.

C. Vos, A. Jaconi, A. Jacobs et al.

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels can be mitigated by sequestering carbon in the soil. Sequestration can be facilitated by agricultural management, but its influence is not the same on all soil carbon pools, as labile pools with a high turnover may be accumulated much faster but are also more vulnerable to losses. The aims of this study were to (1) assess how soil organic carbon (SOC) is distributed among SOC fractions on a national scale in Germany, (2) identify factors influencing this distribution and (3) identify regions with high vulnerability to SOC losses. The SOC content and proportion of two different SOC fractions were estimated for more than 2500 mineral topsoils (&lt; 87 g kg⁻¹ SOC) covering Germany, using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy. Drivers of the spatial variability in SOC fractions were determined using the machine learning algorithm cforest. The SOC content and proportions of fractions were predicted with good accuracy (SOC content: <i>R</i>²  =  0.87–0.90; SOC proportions: <i>R</i>²  =  0.83; ratio of performance to deviation (RPD): 2.4–3.2). The main explanatory variables for the distribution of SOC among the fractions were soil texture, bulk soil C ∕ N ratio, total SOC content and pH. For some regions, the drivers were linked to the land-use history of the sites. <br><br> Arable topsoils in central and southern Germany were found to contain the highest proportions and contents of stable SOC fractions, and therefore have the lowest vulnerability to SOC losses. North-western Germany contains an area of sandy soils with unusually high SOC contents and high proportions of light SOC fractions, which are commonly regarded as representing a labile carbon pool. This is true for the former peat soils in this area, which have already lost and are at high risk of losing high proportions of their SOC stocks. Those <q>black sands</q> can, however, also contain high amounts of stable SOC due to former heathland vegetation and need to be treated and discussed separately from non-black sand agricultural soils. Overall, it was estimated that, in large areas all over Germany, over 30 % of SOC is stored in easily mineralisable forms. Thus, SOC-conserving management of arable soils in these regions is of great importance.

Ömer Gülen

Düşünce tarihiyle ilgili çalışmalarda, akademik metinlerin rasyonelleştirdiği tarihsel yaklaşımların dışına çıktığımızda, karşılaşacağımız en açık durumlar- dan biri, şairlerin (edebiyatçıların) önceden keşfettiği yerlere, sonradan akademinin girmeyi başardığı gerçeği olacaktır.

Dominique Lévy-Jahanbakht

Following the defeat of Germany in World War 1 and the rise to power of Rezah Shah 1st, a new impetus was given to Iranian and European exchanges. Many scientists undertook the travel to Iran to develop scientific exchanges between Europe and the Middle East to improve their geographic or biologic knowledge. We will study the travel writings of Austrian and German geographers and biologists who went on scientific expeditions between 1925 and 1939 to define the European scientists’ position regarding Iran. Referring to post-colonial theories, we will try to understand to what extent the attractiveness of new findings may have influenced the image of Persia among these scientists, and we will question the opportunity to actually foster academic exchange between Iran and Europe at that time of history. To do so, we will focus the scientific goals of these researchers, the academic knowledge the latter believed to pass on to Iranians so as to explain the function travel writings had for European scientists. We will rely on the travel writings of Austrian physician Alfons Gabriel (1894-1976) and his wife, who left thrice for Iran between 1929 and 1937, as well as those of his counterpart, the Austrian geographer Gustav Stratil-Sauer (1894‑1975) and his wife Lotte Stratil-Sauer (1904-1975), and the German ornithologist Gerd Heinrich (1896-1984).

Andrzej Franaszek

The year 1967 saw an unprecedented event in Paris: Polish poets, both from Poland and from the diaspora, came together with translators from France, Germany and the USA. The congress was organized by the émigré critic and essayist Konstanty Jeleński. Among the participants was Zbigniew Herbert, who had settled near Paris. This was a key moment in postwar Polish literary history as well as in Herbert’s life, as he was going through the nervous breakdown that would weigh over him for the rest of his life. This article, a contribution to the poet’s biography, portrays these moments as well as Herbert’s friendship with Aleksander Wat.

Stranzinger, Johanna, Kozak, Agnessa, Schilgen, Benjamin et al.

Background: Close contact with asymptomatic children younger than three years is a risk factor for a primary cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. In pregnant women, such primary infection increases the risk of CMV-induced feto- or embryopathy. Daycare providers have therefore implemented working restrictions for pregnant daycare workers (DCWs) in accordance with legislation and guidelines for maternity protection. However, little is known about the infection risk for DCWs. We therefore compared the prevalence of CMV antibodies of pregnant DCWs to that of female blood donors (BDs).Method: In a secondary data analysis, the prevalence of anti-CMV IgG among pregnant DCWs (N=509) in daycare centers (DCCs) was compared to the prevalence of female first-time BDs (N=14,358) from the greater region of Hamburg, Germany. Data collection took place between 2010 and 2013. The influence of other risk factors such as age, pregnancies and place of residence was evaluated using logistic regression models. Results: The prevalence of CMV antibodies in pregnant DCWs was higher than in female BDs (54.6 vs 41.5%; OR 1.6; 95%CI 1.3–1.9). The subgroup of BDs who had given birth to at least one child and who lived in the city of Hamburg (N=2,591) had a prevalence of CMV antibodies similar to the prevalence in pregnant DCWs (53.9 vs 54.6%; OR 0.9; 95%CI 0.8–1.2). Age, pregnancy history and living in the center of Hamburg were risk factors for CMV infections.Conclusion: The comparison of pregnant DCWs to the best-matching subgroup of female first-time BDs with past pregnancies and living in the city of Hamburg does not indicate an elevated risk of CMV infection among DCWs. However, as two secondary data sets from convenience samples were used, a more detailed investigation of the risk factors other than place of residence, age and maternity was not possible. Therefore, the CMV infection risk in DCWs should be further studied by taking into consideration the potential preventive effect of hygiene measures.

Julien Beaufils, Solenne Carof, Anne Seitz et al.