TY - JOUR A1 - Meintrup, David A1 - Borgmann, Stefan A1 - Seidl, Karlheinz A1 - Stecher, Melanie A1 - Jakob, Carolin E. M. A1 - Pilgram, Lisa A1 - Spinner, Christoph D. A1 - Rieg, Siegbert A1 - Isberner, Nora A1 - Hower, Martin A1 - Vehreschild, Maria A1 - Göpel, Siri A1 - Hanses, Frank A1 - Nowak-Machen, Martina T1 - Specific Risk Factors for Fatal Outcome in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients BT - Results from a European Multicenter Study JF - Journal of Clinical Medicine N2 - (1) Background: The aim of our study was to identify specific risk factors for fatal outcome in critically ill COVID-19 patients. (2) Methods: Our data set consisted of 840 patients enclosed in the LEOSS registry. Using lasso regression for variable selection, a multifactorial logistic regression model was fitted to the response variable survival. Specific risk factors and their odds ratios were derived. A nomogram was developed as a graphical representation of the model. (3) Results: 14 variables were identified as independent factors contributing to the risk of death for critically ill COVID-19 patients: age (OR 1.08, CI 1.06–1.10), cardiovascular disease (OR 1.64, CI 1.06–2.55), pulmonary disease (OR 1.87, CI 1.16–3.03), baseline Statin treatment (0.54, CI 0.33–0.87), oxygen saturation (unit = 1%, OR 0.94, CI 0.92–0.96), leukocytes (unit 1000/μL, OR 1.04, CI 1.01–1.07), lymphocytes (unit 100/μL, OR 0.96, CI 0.94–0.99), platelets (unit 100,000/μL, OR 0.70, CI 0.62–0.80), procalcitonin (unit ng/mL, OR 1.11, CI 1.05–1.18), kidney failure (OR 1.68, CI 1.05–2.70), congestive heart failure (OR 2.62, CI 1.11–6.21), severe liver failure (OR 4.93, CI 1.94–12.52), and a quick SOFA score of 3 (OR 1.78, CI 1.14–2.78). The nomogram graphically displays the importance of these 14 factors for mortality. (4) Conclusions: There are risk factors that are specific to the subpopulation of critically ill COVID-19 patients. UR - https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10173855 KW - COVID-19 KW - SARS-CoV-2 KW - risk factors KW - critically ill patients KW - comorbidities KW - lasso regression KW - nomogram Y1 - 2021 UR - https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10173855 UR - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:573-10999 SN - 2077-0383 VL - 10 IS - 17 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Meintrup, David A1 - Nowak-Machen, Martina A1 - Borgmann, Stefan T1 - Nine months of COVID-19 pandemic in Europe BT - a comparative time series analysis of cases and fatalities in 35 countries JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health N2 - (1) Background: to describe the dynamic of the pandemic across 35 European countries over a period of 9 months. (2) Methods: a three-phase time series model was fitted for 35 European countries, predicting deaths based on SARS-CoV-2 incidences. Hierarchical clustering resulted in three clusters of countries. A multiple regression model was developed predicting thresholds for COVID-19 incidences, coupled to death numbers. (3) Results: The model showed strongly connected deaths and incidences during the waves in spring and fall. The corrected case-fatality rates ranged from 2% to 20.7% in the first wave, and from 0.5% to 4.2% in the second wave. If the incidences stay below a threshold, predicted by the regression model (R2=85.0%), COVID-19 related deaths and incidences were not necessarily coupled. The clusters represented different regions in Europe, and the corrected case-fatality rates in each cluster flipped from high to low or vice versa. Severely and less severely affected countries flipped between the first and second wave. (4) Conclusions: COVID-19 incidences and related deaths were uncoupled during the summer but coupled during two waves. Once a country-specific threshold of infections is reached, death numbers will start to rise, allowing health care systems and countries to prepare. UR - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126680 KW - COVID-19 KW - SARS-CoV-2 KW - corrected case fatality rate KW - time series analysis KW - multiple regression KW - flip effect KW - death threshold Y1 - 2021 UR - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126680 UR - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:573-11001 SN - 1660-4601 VL - 18 IS - 12 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Borgmann, Stefan A1 - Rieß, Beate A1 - Meintrup, David A1 - Klare, Ingo A1 - Werner, Guido T1 - Long-Lasting Decrease of the Acquisition of Enterococcus faecium and Gram-Negative Bacteria Producing Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL) by Transient Application of Probiotics JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) N2 - Previously it was shown that application of probiotics stopped the acquisition of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) by patients in an early rehabilitation ward. Once the application of probiotics ended, we examined whether acquisition of VRE reoccurred. Furthermore, we examined whether probiotics altered prevalence of vancomycin-susceptible E. faecium (VSE) and Gram-negative bacteria, which produce extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL). Although probiotic application ceased in April 2018, VRE-colonized patients rarely presented on that ward until 2019. Probiotic treatment also resulted in a decreased number of patients with VSE and ESBL. While decreased incidence of VRE occurred immediately, decreased VSE and ESBL numbers occurred months later. A probiotic-mediated decrease of VSE and ESBL incidence cannot be explained when assuming bacterial transmission exclusively as a linear cause and effect event. The decrease is better understood by considering bacterial transmissions to be stochastic events, which depend on various driving forces similar to an electric current. We hypothesize that VRE, VSE and ESBL uptake by patients and by staff members mutually reinforced each other, leading staff members to form a bacterial reservoir, similar to a condenser that stores electrical energy. Probiotic treatment then inhibited regeneration of that store, resulting in a breakdown of the driving force. UR - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176100 KW - colonic bacteria KW - Enterococcus faecium KW - vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium KW - vancomycin-susceptible E. faecium KW - Staphylococcus aureus KW - beta-lactamase KW - probiotics KW - health care co-workers KW - electric current KW - transistor KW - condenser KW - electrical current hypothesis of bacterial transmission Y1 - 2020 UR - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176100 UR - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:573-9425 SN - 1660-4601 VL - 17 IS - 17 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Borgmann, Stefan A1 - Meintrup, David A1 - Reimer, Kerstin A1 - Schels, Helmut A1 - Nowak-Machen, Martina T1 - Incidence and Death Rates from COVID-19 Are Not Always Coupled: An Analysis of Temporal Data on Local, Federal, and National Levels JF - Healthcare N2 - SARS-CoV-2 has caused a deadly pandemic worldwide, placing a burden on local health care systems and economies. Infection rates with SARS-CoV-2 and the related mortality of COVID-19 are not equal among countries or even neighboring regions. Based on data from official German health authorities since the beginning of the pandemic, we developed a case-fatality prediction model that correctly predicts COVID-19-related death rates based on local geographical developments of infection rates in Germany, Bavaria, and a local community district city within Upper Bavaria. Our data point towards the proposal that local individual infection thresholds, when reached, could lead to increasing mortality. Restrictive measures to minimize the spread of the virus could be applied locally based on the risk of reaching the individual threshold. Being able to predict the necessity for increasing hospitalization of COVID-19 patients could help local health care authorities to prepare for increasing patient numbers. UR - https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9030338 KW - time series analysis KW - COVID-19 incidence KW - case-fatality rate KW - herd immunity KW - Upper Bavaria Y1 - 2021 UR - https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9030338 UR - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:573-11023 SN - 2227-9032 VL - 9 IS - 3 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schönhofer, Gerhard A1 - Komonen, Pauli A1 - Schwarz, Jan Oliver A1 - Bechthold, Laura T1 - Futures of Everyday Life: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Future Personas in Scenarios JF - Futures & Foresight Science N2 - Scenario reports, holding a long‐standing tradition in foresight and futures studies, act as an essential document for organizations to prepare for possible, plausible, and alternative futures. Focusing on descriptions and representations of everyday life, we examined 29 future persona narratives from six publications—covering a wide field from public to private sector—through qualitative content analysis. Our guiding question is: How can anthropological perspectives such as cultural relativism or postcolonial discourses contribute to an in‐depth, qualitative interpretation depictions of future everyday life? Acknowledging anthropology's colonial origins and its growing commitment to the interests of indigenous and other marginalized groups, we offer alternative readings of prominent scenario reports. Our findings suggest that scenario reports, in addition to anticipating possible futures, construct certain futures based on a systematic analysis of empirical data but also speculative interpretation. The results of these interpretative acts often appear elitist, stereotypical, and technocratic, often replicating dominant societal narratives rather than fostering substantive shifts in how the future is imagined. We therefore call for a more polyphonic representation of futures in scenario writing and foresight work that can produce more discontinuous and transformative images of the future. We understand polyphonic representations as coined by various independent, predominant as well as subaltern perspectives on the same issue at stake while being offered the same amount of space. Therefore, as we will indicate in our analysis, most of the reports referred to are rather monophonic and do not offer discuptive perspectives on the future of everyday life. As an avenue of methodological development, we propose a more nuanced and comprehensive perception of culture and social structures in scenario narrative writing. In addition, ethnographic methods could increase our understanding of how futures are collaboratively constructed and produced by different actors and their respective backgrounds and knowledge in scenario processes. UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/ffo2.70030 Y1 - 2026 UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/ffo2.70030 UR - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:573-66024 SN - 2573-5152 VL - 8 IS - 1 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schwerd, Simon A1 - Schulte, Axel T1 - Triggering Cockpit Alerts Using an Eye-Tracking-Based Measure of Monitoring Performance JF - Aviation Psychology and Applied Human Factors N2 - This study explored the potential for enhancing pilot performance via an alerting system that adapts according to an eye-tracking-based measure of monitoring. The novel measure combines gaze analysis with system state assessment to estimate the pilot’s understanding of the current system state. On this basis, an alerting system was developed to direct pilot attention to unnoticed system state changes, thereby improving system state monitoring. In a flight simulator study involving 10 participants in a generic jet cockpit, we compared the adaptive alerting system with a no-assistance condition. Although alerting improved the participants’ performance in two tracking tasks, it adversely impacted performance in a third task. Nonetheless, alerting resulted in a decrease in both variance and mean detection time of critical changes. Participants’ subjective ratings were generally positive, yet they criticized the lack of transparency of the alerting mechanism. Alerts triggered based on eye-tracking and system state show potential for improving operator task performance. Nonetheless, for the system to reach its full performance potential, it is critical that the operator understand the principles underlying the alert triggers. False positives and alert design were identified as key areas for improvement to maintain user trust and task flow. UR - https://doi.org/10.1027/2192-0923/a000263 Y1 - 2024 UR - https://doi.org/10.1027/2192-0923/a000263 UR - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:573-65916 SN - 2192-0931 VL - 14 IS - 1 SP - 22 EP - 37 PB - Hogrefe CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Maksimovski, Daniel A1 - Festag, Andreas A1 - Facchi, Christian T1 - Adaptive Message Generation Rules for V2X Maneuver Coordination Service JF - IEEE Access N2 - Maneuver coordination enables connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) to collaboratively plan, negotiate, and execute driving maneuvers, aiming to enhance safety, traffic flow, and energy efficiency. As part of the Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication system, it operates as a dedicated service that relies on detailed, bidirectional interactions between vehicles, unlike traditional broadcast-based V2X services. While maneuver coordination is the focus of ongoing research and standardization, the rules that govern when and how vehicles generate Maneuver Coordination Messages (MCMs) within the Maneuver Coordination Service (MCS) are still not fully defined. These rules are essential for ensuring timely and reliable coordination. This paper proposes three adaptive MCM generation strategies based on the operation mode of the MCS, maneuver priority, and current channel load. The first approach defines MCM rules for intent sharing, maneuver negotiation, and execution phases, factoring in maneuver importance. The second adjusts the frequency of intent MCMs when a negotiation message is received from another vehicle. The third adapts frequency based on real-time channel load during intent sharing. For comparison, two baseline strategies are also evaluated. The proposed rules are tested for highway merging and lane change use cases in traffic scenarios with increasing vehicle density and high channel loads. A comprehensive evaluation is conducted using metrics related to the network, message generation frequency, congestion control, and maneuver coordination. The results demonstrate significantly enhanced channel efficiency and communication reliability across all metrics. For example, under the final approach, maneuver negotiation time is reduced by a factor of five in congested V2X environments. UR - https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2026.3652364 Y1 - 2026 UR - https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2026.3652364 UR - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:573-66051 SN - 2169-3536 VL - 14 SP - 6417 EP - 6437 PB - IEEE CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reuthlinger, Eva A1 - Sinha, Tanja T1 - Impact Investing from an European Perspective – Do Good and Earn Money? JF - Copernican Journal of Finance & Accounting N2 - Impact Investing provides a promising way to fund sustainable development while balancing financial, social, and environmental goals. This study compares the performance of Impact, Conventional, and ESG Portfolios in the European stock market over more than 10 years, using Markowitz Optimization and Naive Diversification. The findings show that Impact Portfolios yield the highest returns, without sacrificing financial performance when integrating sustainability criteria that go beyond the classical ESG investing. UR - http://dx.doi. org/10.12775/CJFA.2025.005 Y1 - 2025 UR - http://dx.doi. org/10.12775/CJFA.2025.005 UR - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:573-65823 SN - 2300-3065 VL - 14 IS - 1 SP - 87 EP - 109 PB - Nicolaus Copernicus University CY - Toruń ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zieher, Simon A1 - Olcay, Ertug A1 - Kefferpütz, Klaus A1 - Salamat, Babak A1 - Olzem, Sebastian-Sven A1 - Elsbacher, Gerhard A1 - Meeß, Henri T1 - Drones for automated parcel delivery: Use case identification and derivation of technical requirements JF - Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives N2 - Drone-based parcel delivery is a rapidly growing domain posing many technological and operational challenges. Drone technologies have been under increasing levels of investigation and development over the past years. Since the realization of drone-based delivery can only be economically feasible at large scales, it requires processes that address the outstanding challenges holistically. However, the majority of research focuses on individual aspects such as environmental perception, route planning, operational design, and business models without addressing the challenges in the overall system. This paper conducts a quantitative analysis of the requirements for identified use cases that are considered relevant for the upcoming future. We provide a comprehensive technology overview and derive requirements and specifications for the targeted use cases that are not fulfilled by the current state-of-the-art. The use cases are not only related to last-mile delivery but also long-distance (hub-to-hub) logistics as well as courier and express delivery. UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2024.101253 Y1 - 2024 UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2024.101253 UR - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:573-53303 SN - 2590-1982 VL - 2024 IS - 28 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Salamat, Babak A1 - Elsbacher, Gerhard A1 - Tonello, Andrea M. A1 - Belzner, Lenz T1 - Model-Free Distributed Reinforcement Learning State Estimation of a Dynamical System Using Integral Value Functions JF - IEEE Open Journal of Control Systems UR - https://doi.org/10.1109/OJCSYS.2023.3250089 Y1 - 2023 UR - https://doi.org/10.1109/OJCSYS.2023.3250089 UR - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:573-43492 SN - 2694-085X VL - 2 SP - 70 EP - 78 PB - IEEE CY - Piscataway ER -