Die Johanniter

Effective groundwater exploration is fundamental to the identification and assessment of subsurface water resources, particularly in challenging geological conditions. In such cases, conventional drilling-based approaches are costly and provide only limited one-dimensional information for characterizing the three-dimensional subsurface. Hydrogeophysical techniques offer efficient, non-invasive means of imaging the subsurface and can significantly reduce the need for extensive drilling campaigns. Among these, Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) is one of the most widely used geophysical methods for investigating groundwater systems. However, conventional smoothness-constrained ERT inversion often fails to resolve sharp stratigraphic boundaries or represent internal heterogeneity, limiting its effectiveness in complex geological settings. Structural and geostatistical constraints have each been proposed as enhancements, but when applied separately, they often struggle to simultaneously achieve structural accuracy and inversion stability.We introduce a novel inversion strategy that integrates seismic-derived structural horizons with unit-specific geostatistical constraints within the open-source PyGIMLi framework. This approach balances structural alignment and internal heterogeneity by enforcing sharp boundaries and applying region-specific spatial continuity models.This hybrid strategy is evaluated at two glacially influenced groundwater study sites in northern Germany, where complex Quaternary deposits include interbedded sands, tills, and clays. Results demonstrate enhanced delineation of aquifers and aquitards, improved agreement with borehole resistivity logs, and a reduction in inversion artifacts such as over-smoothing or artificial layering. Compared to conventional and single-constraint inversions, the integrated method more effectively resolves thin confining units, anthropogenic disturbances, and laterally variable aquifer geometries with enhanced structural clarity.This framework offers a transferable solution for hydrogeophysical characterization in heterogeneous environments, particularly where seismic or borehole data are available to guide inversion.

Abstract Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) surpasses conventional concrete in performance. However, ensuring consistent mechanical properties during production, even with identical recipes, remains challenging. Using experimental data, this study investigates how material quality, environmental conditions, measurement errors in material dosing, and mixing and curing conditions influence the mechanical properties of UHPC. This broad scope of influencing factors and production conditions increases data dimensionality and, coupled with the high cost of UHPC experiments, results in a sparse dataset. Traditional evolutionary algorithms, though effective in feature selection, struggle with high-dimensional small-sized datasets. To address this, a search-space-constraining method for the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) is introduced, incorporating domain-specific knowledge into population initialization to reduce dimensionality and thus enhance prediction accuracy and solution stability. Comparative evaluations using various machine learning algorithms on the UHPC dataset demonstrate that population initialization to constrain the search space of NSGA-II outperforms the standard NSGA-II. Finally, the significance of each examined factor in the UHPC manufacturing process for the properties of the final product is discussed.

For selected patients with refractory out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (eCPR) has emerged as a life-saving option, requiring comprehensive organization and collaboration between emergency medical services (EMS) and eCPR-receiving centers. Although various eCPR criteria have been proposed for refractory OHCA, the decision to initiate eCPR remains highly challenging. We present the case of a female patient with mild cognitive impairment who survived 110 minutes of resuscitation for pulmonary embolism, with a neurologically favorable outcome, achieved through coordinated teamwork between pre-hospital and in-hospital care.

Launched on 20 October 2018 from the European spaceport Kourou in French Guyana and after finishing most of its about eight year-long cruise-phase, BepiColombo has successfully performed nine flybys (at Earth, twice at Venus and six at Mercury). On arrival in orbit around Mercury in late 2026 it will perform measurements to increase our knowledge on the fundamental questions about Mercury’s evolution, composition, interior, magnetosphere, and exosphere with its state of the art and very comprehensive payload. BepiColombo consists of two orbiters, the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (Mio) and is a joint project between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).Since the two spacecraft are in a stacked configuration during the cruise only some of the instruments are able to perform scientific observations. The BepiColombo Camera instrument suite, SIMBIO-SYS, on MPO is blocked and cannot be operated during cruise. However, a set of monitoring cameras (Mcam) located on the BepiColombo Transfer-Module (MTM) could be used to image the flyby targets. These images although of low quality and only black and white could be successfully used for outreach activities.A summary of these activities and some conclusions for future missions will be given.

Mit der Verbreitung von Mobiltelefonen hat auch das Versenden von «Dick Pics» zugenommen. Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht, wie das Versenden unerwünschter Fotos männlicher Genitalien strafrechtlich zu werten ist. In Frage kommen Exhibitionismus (Art. 194 StGB), Pornografie (Art. 197 StGB) und sexuelle Belästigung (Art. 198 StGB). Dabei wird sich zeigen, dass keiner dieser Tatbestände wirklich passt. Auch nach der Revision des Sexualstrafrechts ist das Problem nicht abschliessend gelöst.
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 L'envoi de «Dick Pics» a sensiblement augmentéavec la popularisation des téléphones portables. Notre article examine comment l'envoi de photos non désirées d'organes génitaux masculins doitêtre considérédu point de vue du droit pénal. L'exhibitionnisme (art. 194 CP), la pornographie (art. 197 CP) et le harcèlement sexuel (art. 198 CP) entrent en ligne de compte. Il sera toutefois constatéqu'aucune de ces infractions n'est vraiment adaptée. Même après la révision du droit pénal en matiè re sexuelle, le problème n'est pas définitivement résolu.

Abstract BackgroundEarly‐life bilingualism (i.e., second language acquisition before the age of 30) has been shown to confer benefits in separate cognitive domains later in life, possibly contributing to the concept of cognitive reserve. However, the effects of early‐life bilingualism on cognitive performance and gray matter volume (GMV) in the elderly have been studied scarcely. In an ongoing cohort, we examined the influence of early‐life bilingualism on cognitive performance (e.g., phonemic fluency as tested by the Regensburg word fluency test (RWT), among others) as well as age‐related brain gray matter volume in older adults.MethodWe analysed 3‐Tesla T1‐weighted Multi‐Echo MPRAGE and cognitive data from 25 healthy adults (72.8±7.69 years, 10 female) in our new cohort established within the CRC1436 (https://sfb1436.de/). Assessment of bilingualism was conducted using the Lifetime of Experiences Questionnaire (LEQ). MRI data were preprocessed and analysed using FSL‐VBM. We performed a whole‐brain analysis looking for an interaction between age and bilingualism on GMV values, postulating that early bilingualism might contribute to a preservation of gray matter along the age trajectory. We extracted GMV values from significant regions of interest (ROIs) and looked for correlations with cognitive performance. Due to the small cohort and the preliminary nature of these analyses, we chose an exploratory threshold of p<0.001 (uncorrected) for the whole brain analysis. ROIs were defined by a threshold of p<0.1 cluster‐corrected (z>3.1).ResultParticipants with early‐life bilingualism (n = 7) had significantly more years of education (p<0.05) and performed better in the RWT (p<0.05) than monolinguals (n = 18). The age‐bilingualism interaction term across the whole brain (adjusted for education) identified the head of left caudate nucleus as being protected from age‐related GMV loss by early‐life bilingualism (Fig. 1). The age‐GMV‐relationship for both groups is shown in Fig. 2. We observed no significant relationship between GMV in the left caudate and performance in any cognitive tests.ConclusionThese preliminary results hint at a role of early‐life bilingualism in modulating GMV in older adults. How these relate to better cognitive performance remains to be elucidated. Moreover, considering brain areas not typically studied in cognitive aging, such as the basal ganglia, seems worthwhile.

PurposePhysically demanding activities at the nursing bed are a key factor in the overwork of nursing staff and play a major role in the development of musculoskeletal disorders. The heavy back strain plays a significant part in this. Technical aids such as robotic assistance systems have the potential to minimize this overload during nursing activities. In the present work, we have investigated the relief potential of a supporting robotic assistance system developed in the AdaMeKoR project. An exploratory study design was developed to assess the relief potential of the robotic system for nurses during the care action of repositioning from the supine position to the sitting position at the edge of a nursing bed under kinaesthetic principles.MethodsThe study was conducted in March 2022 with a total of 21 nursing professionals participating. Safety precautions at this stage of the robot’s development made it necessary to use a 40 kg patient simulator instead of having a human act as the patient. Each participant performed the repositioning three times in the conventional manner and three times with the robotic-assistance. The conventional and the robotic-assisted task execution was compared using different perspectives of analysis. From a sensory perspective, ground reaction forces and electromyography data were collected and analyzed. A kinaesthetic perspective was added using 3D-video data which was analyzed by professional kinaesthetics trainers. A third perspective was added by collecting the subjective workload experiences of the participants.ResultsWhile participants’ self-assessment based on a NASA-TLX questionnaire suggests more of a physical and psychological strain from using the robot, electromyography shows a 24.41% reduction in muscle activity for left back extensors and 7.99% for right back extensors. The kinaesthetic visual inspection of the study participants also allows conclusions to be made that the robot assistance system has a relieving effect when performing the nursing task.ConclusionsThe conducted study suggests that overall the robotic-assistance has the potential of relieving nurses of partial physical exertion during mobilization. However, the different focuses of analysis show varying results in regard to external, i.e. sensor data and expert analysis, compared to internal, i.e. the nurses, perspectives. Going forward, these results have to be further expanded to get more robust analyses and insights on the interdependencies of subjective factors contributing to the experience of workload. In view of the fact that robotics for nursing is still a relatively new field and there are various lessons to be learned regarding the conceptualization of studies and corresponding evaluations, our approach of combining perspectives of analysis allows for a more differentiated view of the subject at hand.

Funding AcknowledgementsType of funding sources: None.BackgroundBoth, the prevalence of obesity and incidence of cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED)-related complications are increasing worldwide. Transvenous laser lead extraction is a way to meet the rising complexity of cases, but knowledge about the impact of body-mass-index (BMI) on this procedure is limited.Methods and ResultsAll patients in the GALLERY (GermAn Laser Lead Extraction RegistrY) database were stratified by BMI in accordance to the World Health Organization (WHO) definition. Patient characteristics, as well as procedural outcomes were analyzed. Within the group of obese patients (BMI ≥30kg/m2), predictors for adverse outcomes (procedural failure, complications, all-cause mortality) were assessed.A total of 2524 patients were divided into 5 groups (Underweight: BMI <18.5 kg/m2, Regular weight: BMI 18.5-24.5 kg/m2; Overweight: BMI 25.0-29.9 kg/m2, Obese 1: 30.0-34.9 kg/m2, Obese 2: BMI >35.0 kg/m2). Most patients (46.6%) were overweight (BMI 25.0-29.9kg/m2). The prevalence of metabolic comorbidities, such as arterial hypertension (84.2%; p<0.001), chronic kidney disease (36.8%; p=0.020) and diabetes mellitus (51.1%; p<0.001) were highest amongst patients in group Obese 2. In this patient group (Obese 2), systemic infection was the leading extraction indication (39.8%; p<0.001). There were no differences in minor (p=0.839) or major (p=0.426) complications, procedure-related- (p=0.533) and all-cause mortality (p=0.333) between groups. Rates for clinical procedural success (p=0.504) were indifferent between groups. Procedural time (p=0.450) and postoperative period of hospitalization (p=0.09) were not significantly different between groups. Multivariate analyses of groups Obese 1+2 revealed lead age ≥10 years as predictor or procedural failure (OR: 2.99; 95% CI: 1.06-8.45; p=0.038). Lead age ≥10 years (OR: 3.25; 95% CI: 1,31-8.10; p=0.011) and the presence of abandoned leads (OR: 3.08; 95% CI: 1.03-9.22; p=0.044) were identified as predictors of procedural complications, whereas a patient age ≥75 years seemed to be protective against complications (OR: 0.27; 95% CI: 0.08-0.93; p=0.039). Chronic kidney disease (OR: 3.20; 95% CI: 1.32-7.80; p=0.010) and periprocedural complications (OR: 5.33; 95% CI: 1.55-18.32; p=0.008) were identified as predictors of all-cause mortality. After adjustment, systemic infection (OR: 17.68; 95% CI: 4.03-77.49; p<0.001) remained the sole predictor for all-cause mortality.ConclusionLaser lead extraction (LLE) in obese patients did not show higher rates of complications. Procedural time as well as duration of hospitalization was not prolonged. With considerate planning and in experienced centers, LLE is a safe and efficacious option for this patient collective. Systemic infection is the main driver of mortality in obese patients with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2.