Proximal Soil Sensing – A Contribution for Species Habitat Distribution Modelling of Earthworms in Agricultural Soils?

Earthworms are important for maintaining soil ecosystem functioning and serve as indicators of soil fertility. However, detection of earthworms is time-consuming, which hinders the assessment of earthworm abundances with high sampling density over entire fields. Recent developments of mobile terrestrial sensor platforms for proximal soil sensing (PSS) provided new tools for collecting dense spatial information of soils using various sensing principles. Yet, the potential of PSS for assessing earthworm habitats is largely unexplored. This study investigates whether PSS data contribute to the spatial prediction of earthworm abundances in species distribution models of agricultural soils

High-resolution computed tomography reconstructions of invertebrate burrow systems

The architecture of biogenic structures can be highly influential in determining species contributions to major soil and sediment processes, but detailed 3-D characterisations are rare and descriptors of form and complexity are lacking. Here we provide replicate high-resolution micro-focus computed tomography (μ-CT) data for the complete burrow systems of three co-occurring, but functionally contrasting, sediment-dwelling inter-tidal invertebrates assembled alone, and in combination, in representative model aquaria. These data (≤2,000 raw image slices aquarium−1, isotropic voxel resolution, 81 μm) provide reference models that can be used for the development of novel structural analysis routines that will be of value within the fields of ecology, pedology, geomorphology, palaeobiology, ichnology and mechanical engineering. We also envisage opportunity for those investigating transport networks, vascular systems, plant rooting systems, neuron connectivity patterns, or those developing image analysis or statistics related to pattern or shape recognition. The dataset will allow investigators to develop or test novel methodology and ideas without the need to generate a complete three-dimensional computation of exemplar architecture

Assessment of Soil Structure and Root Patterns by Means of Micro-X-ray Computed Tomography in Temperate Grassland Sites

Grassland sites are important ecosystems delivering essential ecosystem services such as carbon storage and filtering of water. Adequate management necessitates a better understanding of soil ecological processes in grassland ecosystems. Of special interest is the relationship between soil structure and root development. In a project within the Biodiversity Exploratory Initiative (http://www.biodiversity-exploratories.de), undisturbed soil cores from 31 grassland plots from Swabian Alb Biodiversity exploratory in Germany were investigated by means of X-ray micro computed tomography. This allows the simultaneous determination of soil physical and root parameters in one sample. VG StudioMax® version 2.1 was used to apply a combination of histogram analysis and spatial transformation to distinguish between solids, root system, and pore space. The results of this study reveal close relationships between the soil physical state and root development in grassland soil. Roots have been identified as important contributors to the prevention of soil compaction. Whereas soil compaction is a major threat to soil functions and ecosystem services, which should be mitigated with enhanced awareness of root growth, e.g. with the right choice of varieties, implementation of legumes, adapted management

Assessment of soil structure and root patterns by means of Micro-X-ray computed tomography in temperate grassland sites

Grassland sites are important ecosystems delivering essential ecosystem services such as carbon storage and filtering of water. Adequate management necessitates a better understanding of soil ecological processes in grassland ecosystems. Of special interest is the relationship between soil structure and root development. In a project within the Biodiversity Exploratory Initiative (http://www.biodiversity-exploratories.de), undisturbed soil cores from 31 grassland plots from Swabian Alb Biodiversity exploratory in Germany were investigated by means of X-ray micro computed tomography. This allows the simultaneous determination of soil physical and root parameters in one sample. VG StudioMax® version 2.1 was used to apply a combination of histogram analysis and spatial transformation to distinguish between solids, root system, and pore space. The results of this study reveal close relationships between the soil physical state and root development in grassland soil. Roots have been identified as important contributors to the prevention of soil compaction. Whereas soil compaction is a major threat to soil functions and ecosystem services, which should be mitigated with enhanced awareness of root growth, e.g. with the right choice of varieties, implementation of legumes, adapted managment

Grassland management intensity determines root development, soil structure, and their interrelationship: Results of a regional study of Leptosols in the Swabian Alps

Background: Soil structure is a key indicator of the functioning of soil processes in grasslands, which is influenced by site conditions and management. Methods: In this study, we investigated soil structure and its relationship with root growth in 31 Leptosols under different grassland management intensities using X‐ray microcomputed tomography. A close relationship between land use intensity, soil structure, and root growth was observed. Results: Our results show that land use type affects root development and soil structure. Pastures had more developed roots and more structured soils than meadows and mown pastures. However, all pastures were unfertilized, while meadows and mown pastures had both fertilized and unfertilized plots. Although no significant differences were found in the unfertilized plots, sample size was limited. In particular, fertilization negatively affected root growth and soil structure, resulting in significant differences between fertilized and unfertilized grasslands. Mowing frequency also had an effect on soil physics, but to a much lesser extent than fertilization. Conclusions: Increased land use intensity, characterized by increased fertilization and more frequent mowing, reduces root growth and adversely affects soil structure. Therefore, X‐ray microcomputed tomography is a suitable method to investigate the relationship between soil structure and roots in the soil

Social Media Mining in Drug Development Decision Making: Prioritizing Multiple Sclerosis Patients’ Unmet Medical Needs

Pharmaceutical companies increasingly must consider patients’ needs in drug development. Since patients’ needs are often difficult to measure, especially in rare diseases, information in drug development decision-making is limited. In the proposed study, we employ the opportunity algorithm to identify and prioritize unmet medical needs of multiple sclerosis patients shared in social media posts. Using topic modeling and sentiment analysis features of the opportunity algorithm are generated. The result implies that sensory problems, pain, mental health problems, fatigue and sleep disturbances represent the highest unmet medical needs of the samples population. The present study suggests a promising potential of this method to provide relevant insights into rare disease populations to promote patient-centered drug development

Technical Readiness and Stereotypes in Hospital Nursing - A Question of Gender and Age?

(1) Background: The nursing profession is associated with various stereotypes. These social images or prejudices against specific groups can inhibit the personal growth of individuals, e.g., sociodemographic characteristics influence the social image of nurses. Based on the forward-looking topic digitization, we examined and discussed the influences of sociodemographic characteristics and motives of hospital nurses on technical readiness to gain insights into the digitization process in hospital nursing. (2) Methods: As part of an online survey on technical readiness among German hospital nurses, we particularly examined sociodemographic influences on technical readiness and the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and professional motives. Furthermore, we included a qualitative analysis of optional comment fields. (3) Results: The analysis included 295 responses. Age and gender had a significant influence on technical readiness. Furthermore, the importance of motives differed between gender and age. The analysis of the comments produced three categories specifying our results: beneficial experiences, obstructive experiences and further conditions. (4) Conclusions: In general, the nurses showed high technical readiness. In order to gain high motivation for digitization and promote personal growth, special targeting and cooperation between gender and age groups can be beneficial. However, there are more sites at system level, such as funding, cooperation and consistence

CSR Communication on Twitter - A Scoping Review on Social Media Mining and Analytic Methods

Adopting corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming increasingly mandatory as international legislation puts pressure on companies to implement and report on appropriate CSR measures. As of 2024, a significant number of companies will need to report on CSR topics for the first time. To identify relevant topics that resonate best in the industry or even with one's own stakeholder groups and should therefore be picked up, addressed and reported on preferentially, social media mining (SMM) can be an efficient ap-proach for companies. By reviewing applied SMM and analytic methods of Twitter data, we identified four methodological approaches that use algorithms to identify relevant CSR topics for companies to engage with. This scoping review thus provides a systematized overview of SMM pipelines for use, being equally relevant for academics and practitioners aiming at computational analysis of Twitter content regarding CSR activities and communication

Analysis of financial and technical feasibilty of a clinicians generated data platform of fybromyalgia syndrome patients

This master thesis analyzes the technical and economical feasibility for a medical database, based on clinically generated data of patients with the fibromyalgia syndrome. The main idea is to collect patient data on a regular basis during standard visiting hours at their doctor. Therefore it is essential to provide a data collection platform that can be simply used by the patient and doctor. The collected information (no personal data) shall be shared between researchers to enhance collaborative studies, make studies with rare diseases possible as well as to reduce the cost and effort to gather a big enough cohort group for the study. There are already several medical databases in place that collect and share patient information for research. Yet, despite the significant socioeconomic impact of fibromyalgia, no large database about this disease exists. An introduction to the fibromyalgia syndrome and its impact on society are given. Furthermore medical database technologies and medical database projects for other diseases are described. The presented technologies are further analyzed for their usefulness of creating a database to collect information about fibromyalgia syndrome patients and to use it to enhance its research. Additionally the legal requirements for maintaining such a platform as well as the potential cost are examined. Two possible business models to provide such a platform with funding are presented. Last but not least a possible use case for the collection of patient data via a survey created with REDCap and the integration process into i2b2 has been created and possible suggestions for improvements in the future have been made to bring the platform to a release ready state