Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation Research Articles

Cost-effectiveness of population-based screening for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in China: a simulation modeling study

China has the highest disease burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the world; however, the diagnosis rate remains low. Screening for COPD in the population may improve early diagnosis and long-term health outcomes for patients with COPD. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of population-based COPD screening policies in China. We developed a microsimulation model that simulated incidence, natural history, and clinical management of COPD over a lifetime horizon among the general population aged 35-80 years in China. We evaluated population-based screening policies with different screening methods (one-step with COPD Screening Questionnaire or two-step with additional portable spirometer test) and frequencies (one-time or every 1-10 years). We calculated the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of the screening policies compared with the status quo (without screening) and identified the most cost-effective screening policy. Scenario and sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the impact of key parameters and the robustness of model results. Compared with the status quo, all population-based COPD screening policies were cost-effective with estimated ICERs ranging between $8034 and $13,209 per quality-adjusted-life-year (QALY), all under the willingness-to-pay value of $38,441/QALY (three times China's gross domestic product per capita). A total of 0.39%-8.10% of COPD-related deaths and 0.58%-2.70% of COPD exacerbations were projected to be averted by COPD screening. Among all screening policies, annual two-step screening was the most cost-effective. Improving the linkage from screening to diagnosis and treatment could further increase population health benefits and the cost-effectiveness of COPD screening. Population-based screening for COPD could be cost-effective in China. Offering public programs for COPD screening similar to existing preventive health services for other chronic diseases could be a promising strategy to improve population health outcomes and mitigate the disease burden of COPD in China. Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, National Natural Science Foundation of China, CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Science, Chinese Academy of Engineering project, and Horizon Europe.

Philosophy and Logic in a Time of War

Abstract This interview was given by Yaroslav Shramko (b. 1963), professor of the Department of Philosophy and rector of the Kryvyi Rih State Pedagogical University (Ukraine). His main research interests lie in the fields of logic and analytical philosophy. He has carried out several projects on modern non-classical logic: 1996–1998, within the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellowship at Humboldt University in Berlin (Germany); 1999–2000, within the Fulbright Program at Indiana University in Bloomington (USA); and 2003–2004, as a Wilhelm Bessel Awardee at Dresden University of Technology (Germany), among others. He has been a frequent invited speaker at international conferences and congresses. He is a member of the editorial boards of several international logic journals, such as Logic and Logical Philosophy (Torun, Poland), Bulletin of the Section of Logic (Łódź, Poland), European Journal of Mathematics (Springer), and Studia Logica (Springer). Prof Shramko is the author of “Truth and falsehood: An inquiry into generalized logical values” (Springer, 2011, joint work with Heinrich Wansing) and a number of articles on logic and analytic philosophy in peer-reviewed international journals.

Market Liquidity and Competition Among Designated Market Makers

Do competition and incentives offered to designated market makers (DMMs) improve market liquidity? We employ data from NYSE Euronext Paris to show that exogenous changes in contract design lead to significant decreases in quoted and effective spreads. In particular, market liquidity increases the most for stocks with the largest increase in competition among DMMs. Our analysis shows that competition among DMMs is an important aspect of contract design, along with elements such as rebates and requirements. This paper was accepted by Kay Giesecke, finance. Funding: M. G. Subrahmanyam thanks the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for generous financial support via the Anneliese Maier Award. L. Pelizzon thanks the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE for financially sponsoring this research and Italian Ministry for University and Research [MIUR–2017RSMPZZ]. This work was also supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [Grant 329107530]. Supplemental Material: The Internet Appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.01801 .

Sexual victimisation, peer victimisation, and mental health outcomes among adolescents in Burkina Faso: a prospective cohort study

Sexual victimisation and peer victimisation are pervasive and increase risk for mental illness. Longitudinal studies that compare their unique and cumulative effects are scarce and have been done predominantly in high-income countries. The aims of this study were to examine the prevalence, prospective associations, and gender differences in sexual and peer victimisation and mental health in a low-income, African setting. In this prospective cohort study, data were obtained from the 2017 ARISE Adolescent Health Study, a population-representative, two-wave, prospective study of adolescents (aged 12-20 years) from Burkina Faso. A random sample of adolescents was drawn from ten villages, selected to capture the five main ethnic groups, and from one of the seven sectors of Nouna town, Burkina Faso, at two timepoints: Nov 12 to Dec 27, 2017, and Nov 15 to Dec 20, 2018. Standardised interviews were conducted in French or a local language by trained researchers. We measured victimisation exposure as sexual victimisation, peer victimisation, and polyvictimisation, using lifetime frequency of exposure, and we measured mental health symptoms and disorders using the Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale, the Primary Care Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder screen IV and 5, and a question on lifetime self-harm and number of incidents in the past year. We calculated prevalence of victimisation and mental health symptoms and disorders at the two timepoints, and we used lifetime victimisation at the first timepoint to predict mental health at the second timepoint using logistic and negative binomial regressions. Gender differences were examined using interaction terms. Of 2544 eligible adolescents, 1644 participated at time 1 and 1291 participated at time 2. The final sample with data at both timepoints included 1160 adolescents aged 12-20 years (mean 15·1, SE 0·2), of whom 469 (40·4%) were girls and 691 (59·6%) were boys. The majority ethnic group was Dafin (626 [39·1%]), followed by Bwaba (327 [20·5%]), Mossi (289 [16·0%]), Samo (206 [13·0%]), Peulh (166 [9·7%]), and other (30 [1·6%]). After survey weight adjustment, sexual victimisation (weighted percentages, time 1, 256 [13·8%] of 1620; time 2, 93 [7·2%] of 1264) and peer victimisation (weighted percentages, time 1, 453 [29·9%] of 1620; time 2, 272 [21·9%] of 1264) were common, whereas polyvictimisation was more rare (weighted percentages, time 1, 116 [6·6%] of 1620; time 2, 76 [5·7%] of 1264). Longitudinally, sexual victimisation was associated with probable clinical disorder (adjusted odds ratio 2·59, 95% CI 1·15-5·84), depressive symptoms (adjusted incidence rate ratio [aIRR] 1·39, 95% CI 1·12-1·72), and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (aIRR 2·34, 1·31-4·16). Peer victimisation was associated with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (aIRR 1·89, 1·13-3·17) and polyvictimisation was associated with depressive symptoms (aIRR 1·34, 1·01-1·77). Girls reported more sexual victimisation (weighted percentages, 130 [17·3%] of 681 vs 126 [11·4%] of 939), boys reported more peer victimisation (weighted percentages, 290 [33·1%] of 939 vs 163 [25·2%] of 681), and there was a significant interaction between lifetime victimisation and gender for probable clinical disorder (F [degrees of freedom 7, sample 376] 2·16; p=0·030). Sexual and peer victimisation were common in the study setting and increased risk for mental health problems. Adolescent girls who have been sexually victimised are especially at risk of mental health problems. Interventions targeting sexual and peer violence in low-income settings are needed. Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, Fondation Botnar, and Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

Diagnostic testing for hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolaemia in low-income and middle-income countries: a cross-sectional study of data for 994 185 individuals from 57 nationally representative surveys

Testing for the risk factors of cardiovascular disease, which include hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolaemia, is important for timely and effective risk management. Yet few studies have quantified and analysed testing of cardiovascular risk factors in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) with respect to sociodemographic inequalities. We aimed to address this knowledge gap. In this cross-sectional analysis, we pooled individual-level data for non-pregnant adults aged 18 years or older from nationally representative surveys done between Jan 1, 2010, and Dec 31, 2019 in LMICs that included a question about whether respondents had ever had their blood pressure, glucose, or cholesterol measured. We analysed diagnostic testing performance by quantifying the overall proportion of people who had ever been tested for these cardiovascular risk factors and the proportion of individuals who met the diagnostic testing criteria in the WHO package of essential noncommunicable disease interventions for primary care (PEN) guidelines (ie, a BMI >30 kg/m2 or a BMI >25 kg/m2 among people aged 40 years or older). We disaggregated and compared diagnostic testing performance by sex, wealth quintile, and education using two-sided t tests and multivariable logistic regression models. Our sample included data for 994 185 people from 57 surveys. 19·1% (95% CI 18·5-19·8) of the 943 259 people in the hypertension sample met the WHO PEN criteria for diagnostic testing, of whom 78·6% (77·8-79·2) were tested. 23·8% (23·4-24·3) of the 225 707 people in the diabetes sample met the WHO PEN criteria for diagnostic testing, of whom 44·9% (43·7-46·2) were tested. Finally, 27·4% (26·3-28·6) of the 250 573 people in the hypercholesterolaemia sample met the WHO PEN criteria for diagnostic testing, of whom 39·7% (37·1-2·4) were tested. Women were more likely than men to be tested for hypertension and diabetes, and people in higher wealth quintiles compared with those in the lowest wealth quintile were more likely to be tested for all three risk factors, as were people with at least secondary education compared with those with less than primary education. Our study shows opportunities for health systems in LMICs to improve the targeting of diagnostic testing for cardiovascular risk factors and adherence to diagnostic testing guidelines. Risk-factor-based testing recommendations rather than sociodemographic characteristics should determine which individuals are tested. Harvard McLennan Family Fund, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the US National Institutes of Health.

Predicting the dengue cluster outbreak dynamics in Yogyakarta, Indonesia: a modelling study.

Human mobility and climate conditions are recognised key drivers of dengue transmission, but their combined and individual role in the local spatiotemporal clustering of dengue cases is not well understood. This study investigated the effects of human mobility and weather conditions on dengue risk in an urban area in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. We established a Bayesian spatiotemporal model for neighbourhood outbreak prediction and evaluated the performances of two different approaches for constructing an adjacency matrix: one based on geographical proximity and the other based on human mobility patterns. We used population, weather conditions, and past dengue cases as predictors using a flexible distributed lag approach. The human mobility data were estimated based on proxies from social media. Unseen data from February 2017 to January 2020 were used to estimate the one-month ahead prediction accuracy of the model. When human mobility proxies were included in the spatial covariance structure, the model fit improved in terms of the log score (from 1.748 to 1.561) and the mean absolute error (from 0.676 to 0.522) based on the validation data. Additionally, showed only few observations outside the credible interval of predictions (1.48%) and weather conditions were not found to contribute additionally to the clustering of cases at this scale. The study shows that it is possible to make highly accurate predictions of the within-city cluster dynamics of dengue using mobility proxies from social media combined with disease surveillance data. These insights are important for proactive and timely outbreak management of dengue. Swedish Research Council Formas, Umeå Centre for Global Health Research, Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research, Swedish research council VINNOVA and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany).

New Frontiers in Gas Phase Chemistry and Catalysis. Celebrating the 80th Birthday of Helmut Schwarz

AbstractHelmut Schwarz is a great scientist and a statesman who has made important fundamental contributions to chemistry as a science, and to the globalization of chemistry when he served as the Vice President of the German Research Foundation and subsequently as the President of the Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) Foundation.

The global economic burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for 204 countries and territories in 2020–50: a health-augmented macroeconomic modelling study

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death worldwide and imposes a substantial economic burden. Gaining a thorough understanding of the economic implications of COPD is an important prerequisite for sound, evidence-based policy making. We aimed to estimate the macroeconomic burden of COPD for each country and establish its distribution across world regions. In this health-augmented macroeconomic modelling study we estimated the macroeconomic burden of COPD for 204 countries and territories over the period 2020-50. The model accounted for (1) the effect of COPD mortality and morbidity on labour supply, (2) age and sex specific differences in education and work experience among those affected by COPD, and (3) the impact of COPD treatment costs on physical capital accumulation. We obtained data from various public sources including the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019, the World Bank database, and the literature. The macroeconomic burden of COPD was assessed by comparing gross domestic product (GDP) between a scenario projecting disease prevalence based on current estimates and a counterfactual scenario with zero COPD prevalence from 2020 to 2050. Our findings suggest that COPD will cost the world economy INT$4·326 trillion (uncertainty interval 3·327-5·516; at constant 2017 prices) in 2020-50. This economic effect is equivalent to a yearly tax of 0·111% (0·085-0·141) on global GDP. China and the USA face the largest economic burdens from COPD, accounting for INT$1·363 trillion (uncertainty interval 1·034-1·801) and INT$1·037 trillion (0·868-1·175), respectively. The macroeconomic burden of COPD is large and unequally distributed across countries, world regions, and income levels. Our study stresses the urgent need to invest in global efforts to curb the health and economic burdens of COPD. Investments in effective interventions against COPD do not represent a burden but could instead provide substantial economic returns in the foreseeable future. Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, National Natural Science Foundation of China, CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Science, Chinese Academy of Engineering project, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College project, and Horizon Europe. For the Chinese and German translations of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.

41-OR: The Health Effects of a Behavior Change Program for Prediabetes—Quasi-Experimental Evidence from 2.1 Million Primary Care Patients in England

Introduction: There is an urgent need to implement population-based measures that prevent diabetes, enhance its detection, and avert its progression to complications. However, there remains widespread doubt among clinicians that lifestyle counseling provided in routine care can improve health. This study aims to investigate whether the largest behavior change program for pre-diabetes globally (the English Diabetes Prevention Programme) leads to improvements in key cardiovascular risk factors. Methods: We exploited the threshold in HbA1c used to decide on program eligibility by applying a regression discontinuity design, one of the most credible quasi-experimental strategies for causal inference, to electronic health data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, covering nearly one fifth of all GP practices in England. Using local linear regression, we compared patients lying closely on either side of the threshold for program entry (HbA1c of 42 mmol/mol [6.0%]). The primary outcome was change in HbA1c. Secondary outcomes were body mass index (BMI), weight, blood pressure, and serum lipids. Results: 2 106 469 adult patients met inclusion criteria in 2017-2018 with follow-up ending June 2020. Program referral led to significant improvement in HbA1c (-0.82 mmol/mol, 95%CI -1.42, -0.21), BMI (-1.34, 95%CI -1.86, -0.81), weight (-2.94 kg, 95%CI -4.33, -1.56), and triglycerides (-0.32 mmol/l, 95%CI -0.53, -0.10). There was suggestive evidence that program referral improved HDL (0.04 mmol/l, 95%CI 0, 0.08). Blood pressure and LDL did not significantly improve. Sensitivity analyses showed that improvements in HbA1c were not attributable to being prescribed medication. Conclusion: By leveraging a threshold rule induced by public health guidelines, this analysis provides causal, rather than associational, evidence that lifestyle counseling implemented in a national health system can achieve important health improvements. Disclosure J.M.Lemp: None. C.Bommer: None. M.Xie: None. J.Davies: None. A.Jani: Advisory Panel; Allergan. S.Vollmer: None. T.Barnighausen: None. P.Geldsetzer: None. Funding Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator Award (to P.G.); Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (to T.B.); Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts Baden-Wuerttemberg; German Research Foundation (INST 35/1314-1 FUGG); State of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany

The effect of extreme temperature and precipitation on cause-specific deaths in rural Burkina Faso: a longitudinal study

Extreme weather is becoming more common due to climate change and threatens human health through climate-sensitive diseases, with very uneven effects around the globe. Low-income, rural populations in the Sahel region of west Africa are projected to be severely affected by climate change. Climate-sensitive disease burdens have been linked to weather conditions in areas of the Sahel, although comprehensive, disease-specific empirical evidence on these relationships is scarce. In this study, we aim to provide an analysis of the associations between weather conditions and cause-specific deaths over a 16-year period in Nouna, Burkina Faso. In this longitudinal study, we used de-identified, daily cause-of-death data from the Health and Demographic Surveillance System led by the Centre de Recherche en Santé de Nouna (CRSN) in the National Institute of Public Health of Burkina Faso, to assess temporal associations between daily and weekly weather conditions (maximum temperature and total precipitation) and deaths attributed to specific climate-sensitive diseases. We implemented distributed-lag zero-inflated Poisson models for 13 disease-age groups at daily and weekly time lags. We included all deaths from climate-sensitive diseases in the CRSN demographic surveillance area from Jan 1, 2000 to Dec 31, 2015 in the analysis. We report the exposure-response relationships at percentiles representative of the exposure distributions of temperature and precipitation in the study area. Of 8256 total deaths in the CRSN demographic surveillance area over the observation period, 6185 (74·9%) were caused by climate-sensitive diseases. Deaths from communicable diseases were most common. Heightened risk of death from all climate-sensitive communicable diseases, and malaria (both across all ages and in children younger than 5 years), was associated with 14-day lagged daily maximum temperatures at or above 41·1°C, the 90th percentile of daily maximum temperatures, compared with 36·4°C, the median (all communicable diseases: 41·9°C relative risk [RR] 1·38 [95% CI 1·08-1·77], 42·8°C 1·57 [1·13-2·18]; malaria all ages: 41·1°C 1·47 [1·05-2·05], 41·9°C 1·78 [1·21-2·61], 42·8°C 2·35 [1·37-4·03]; malaria younger than 5 years: 41·9°C 1·67 [1·02-2·73]). Heightened risk of death from communicable diseases was also associated with 14-day lagged total daily precipitation at or below 0·1 cm, the 49th percentile of total daily precipitation, compared with 1·4 cm, the median (all communicable diseases: 0·0 cm 1·04 [1·02-1·07], 0·1 cm 1·01 [1·006-1·02]; malaria all ages: 0·0 cm 1·04 [1·01-1·08], 0·1 cm 1·02 [1·00-1·03]; malaria younger than 5 years: 0·0 cm 1·05 [1·01-1·10], 0·1 cm 1·02 [1·00-1·04]). The only significant association with a non-communicable disease outcome was a heightened risk of death from climate-sensitive cardiovascular diseases in individuals aged 65 years and older associated with 7-day lagged daily maximum temperatures at or above 41·9°C (41·9°C 2·25 [1·06-4·81], 42·8°C 3·68 [1·46-9·25]). Over 8 cumulative weeks, we found that the risk of death from communicable diseases was heightened at all ages from temperatures at or above 41·1°C (41·1°C 1·23 [1·05-1·43], 41·9°C 1·30 [1·08-1·56], 42·8°C 1·35 [1·09-1·66]) and risk of death from malaria was heightened by precipitation at or above 45·3 cm (all ages: 45·3 cm 1·68 [1·31-2·14], 61·6 cm 1·72 [1·27-2·31], 87·7 cm 1·72 [1·16-2·55]; children younger than 5 years: 45·3 cm 1·81 [1·36-2·41], 61·6 cm 1·82 [1·29-2·56], 87·7 cm 1·93 [1·24-3·00]). Our results indicate a high burden of death related to extreme weather in the Sahel region of west Africa. This burden is likely to increase with climate change. Climate preparedness programmes-such as extreme weather alerts, passive cooling architecture, and rainwater drainage-should be tested and implemented to prevent deaths from climate-sensitive diseases in vulnerable communities in Burkina Faso and the wider Sahel region. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Approximation Algorithms and Linear Programming Relaxations for Scheduling Problems Related to Min-Sum Set Cover

We consider single-machine scheduling problems that are natural generalizations or variations of the min-sum set-cover problem. For these scheduling problems, we give new approximation algorithms. Some of these algorithms rely on time-indexed linear programming relaxations. We show how a variant of alpha-point scheduling leads to the best known approximation ratios, including a guarantee of four for an interesting special case of the so-called generalized min-sum set-cover problem. We also make explicit the connection between the greedy algorithm for min-sum set cover and the concept of Sidney decomposition for precedence-constrained single-machine scheduling and show how this leads to a 4-approximation algorithm for single-machine scheduling with so-called bipartite OR-precedence constraints. Funding: This work has been supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation with funds from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Editorial introductions.

Editorial introductions.

Changing socioeconomic and geographic gradients in cardiovascular disease risk factors among Indians aged 15-49 years - evidence from nationally representative household surveys.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). CVDs and their metabolic risk factors have historically been concentrated among urban residents with higher socioeconomic status (SES) in LMICs such as India. However, as India develops, it is unclear whether these socioeconomic and geographic gradients will persist or change. Understanding these social dynamics in CVD risk is essential for mitigating the rising burden of CVDs and to reach those with the greatest needs. Using nationally representative data with biomarker measurements from the fourth (2015-16) and fifth (2019-21) Indian National Family and Health Surveys, we investigated trends in the prevalence of four CVD risk factors: smoking (self-reported), unhealthy weight (BMI ≥25 ), diabetes (random plasma glucose concentration ≥200mg/dL or self-reported diabetes), and hypertension (one of: average systolic blood pressure ≥140mmHg, average diastolic blood pressure ≥90mmHg, self-reported past diagnosis, or self-reported current antihypertensive medication use) among adults aged 15-49 years. We first described changes at the national level and then trends stratified by place of residence (urban versus rural), geographic region (northern, northeastern, central, eastern, western, southern), regional level of development (Empowered Action Group member state or not), and two measures of socioeconomic status: level of education (no education, primary incomplete, primary complete, secondary incomplete, secondary complete, higher) and wealth (quintiles). Unhealthy weight increased among all social and geographic groups but both the absolute and the relative changes were substantially higher among people with low SES (as measured by education or wealth) and in rural areas. For diabetes and hypertension, the prevalence increased for those from disadvantaged groups while staying constant or even decreasing among the wealthier and more educated. In contrast, smoking consumption declined for all social and geographic groups. In 2015-16, CVD risk factors were higher among more advantaged subpopulations in India. However, between 2015-16 and 2019-21, the prevalence of these risk factors grew more rapidly for less wealthy and less educated subpopulations and those living in rural areas. These trends have resulted in CVD risk becoming far more widespread throughout the population; CVD can no longer be characterized as a wealthy urban phenomenon. This work was supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (grant received by NS); the Stanford Diabetes Research Center [grant received by PG] and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub [grant received by PG].

Non-Governmental Institutions as Actors of German ‘Soft Power’ in Ukraine (1992-2022)

The purpose of the research paper is to characterize the activity of German non-governmental institutions (organizations) in Ukraine during 1992-2022 through the prism of the concept of ‘soft power’ by J. Nye, as well as to clarify the forms, aims, priorities, and results of their activity.
 The scientific novelty is in the concept of ‘soft power’ application in the study of the activities of German non-governmental organizations in Ukraine at the time of independence.
 The methodology of the research, which is essentially interdisciplinary, is based on the combination of the political science concept of J. Nye and the historical approach. The ‘soft power’ of Germany is analyzed as a combination of four components: resources (values, language, culture, etc.), actors (subjects of influence who use the attractiveness of the resources to involve target groups of the population), tools (means of influence including public diplomacy and its varieties), results (positive image, implementation of political and cultural values, etc.).
 Conclusions. Since the beginning of its independence, Ukraine has become the object of significant interest both on the part of the government agencies of the Federal Republic of Germany and its numerous non-governmental institutions that have been active in our country since 1992.
 German non-governmental organizations can be conditionally divided into two groups: 1) political, which primarily include party foundations; 2) cultural, educational, and scientific, among which the Goethe-Institut, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the German Wave (Deutsche Welle) and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation should be singled out.
 When implementing the ‘soft power’ policy, these institutions rest on such resources as democracy and a developed civil society’s values, the German language and culture, and the federal system of education and science. The activities of German non-governmental organizations in Ukraine generally correspond to their general goals.
 Among the main results of these institutions’ activities can be named the formation of a positive image of Germany in Ukraine, as well as the spread of European political values among target groups of the Ukrainian population (mainly young people). The result of the latter has become the formation of civil society in Ukraine and increasing European integration, which has been also facilitated by the activities of other democratic countries’ institutions. However, confirmation of the last statement requires separate research. It also seems promising to study the relationship between Germany’s ‘soft power’ (or another Western country) and the emigration of the Ukrainian population during the period of independence.

Sjoerd Harder: a true ambassador of main group chemistry

Sjoerd Harder (pronounced: sh oo r d, not Sjörd, as most of the German colleagues tend to say and write …!) was born on March 17, 1963, in Grootegast, The Netherlands. Growing up in a village in West Friesland, close to Groningen and the North Sea, probably explains why Sjoerd developed a very strong connection to nature and a passion for sailing, hiking, travelling, seafood but especially good food in general, beer (lekker biertje …), wine and whiskey or distilled drinks in general. In 1981, Sjoerd moved to the centre of the Netherlands to study Chemistry and Physics at the University of Utrecht. He completed his Master's degree in Chemistry with a thesis in organometallic chemistry (Dr. Jaap Boersma) and a thesis in crystallography (Prof. Dr. Jan Kroon and Dr. Jan Kanters) in 1986 with cum laude, which refers to the top 5 % of the candidates in the Dutch academic system. A key moment in his life, which certainly influenced his later highly successful career, was when joining the group of Prof. Dr. Lambert Brandsma, a wizard of organic chemistry – especially using alkali metal organics. Sjoerd defended his thesis entitled “A study on the structure and reactivity of aryllithium compounds with an α- or β-heteroatom” again with cum laude and in 1991 he moved to the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany as a postdoctoral fellow with a scholarship from the Alexander von Humboldt foundation. In the group of Prof. Dr. Paul von Ragué Schleyer, Sjoerd was introduced to ab initio calculations. In 1992, with a NATO-Fellowship of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) in his pocket, he subsequently moved to the University of California at Berkeley (USA) for a second postdoc with Prof. Dr. Andrew Streitwieser, working on heterobimetallic superbases. In 1993, Sjoerd decided to move back to Germany to join the group of Prof. Dr. Hans-Herbert Brintzinger at the University of Konstanz. This postdoctoral period was supported by a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt foundation and two fellowships from the European Union (Human Capital & Mobility and Marie Curie). While still in Konstanz, Sjoerd began his habilitation in inorganic and organometallic chemistry, which he successfully completed in 1998. Sjoerd stayed in Konstanz as a lecturer, where he also met his wonderful wife from Ireland, and enjoyed several intermezzi as a guest lecturer at the University of Cape Town (South Africa) before he became C3 Professor of Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry at the University of Duisburg-Essen in 2004. After five years in Essen, Sjoerd wanted to move on. He declined a W3 position for Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Konstanz and, instead, accepted in 2010 the chair of Molecular Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. However, after only two years, Sjoerd decided to move again back to Germany and accepted a chair position in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, where he has been since 2012. Sjoerd has a passion for main group chemistry. He is particularly well known for his inspiring work on Group 1 and Group 2 chemistry. His seminal papers on “The Simplest Metallocene Sandwich: The Lithocene Anion“ (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 1994, 22, 1744) and on “Rational Design of a Well-Defined Soluble Calcium Hydride Complex” (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 2006, 45, 3474) and, related to that, “Early Main-Group Metal Catalysts for the Hydrogenation of Alkenes with H2” (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 9434) were truly exceptional and ground breaking. In recent years, his work has been extended to the activation of aromatic systems and strong C−H bonds by main group metal cocktails, the synthesis and reactivity of low-valent main group metal complexes and sustainable catalytic processes with main group metals. Sjoerd's exceptional scientific productivity is reflected in numerous quality publications, books and conference contributions. For his pioneering work in the field of s-block metal chemistry, in particular alkaline earth metal catalysis, Sjoerd received in 2017 the Schlenk Lecture Award of the University of Tübingen and BASF. This was followed by the Main Group Chemistry Award of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2020. Sjoerd is also known for being an exceptional teacher (especially when it comes to doing experiments …), an enthusiastic lecturer, a very good advisor and a supportive mentor. Apart from being a seasoned researcher, Sjoerd is a warm, humorous and reliable colleague. It was a joy to work with him and we have fond memories of the friday night “Feierabend” beers and the many personal encounters. Thank you for your long-lasting friendship and congratulations on your 60th birthday. We wish you all the best and look forward to many more years of fascinating chemistry emerging from your laboratories. Stephan Schulz Christian Müller The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Barriers to global pharmacometrics: educational challenges and opportunities across the globe.

Barriers to global pharmacometrics: educational challenges and opportunities across the globe.

A Geometric Model of Opinion Polarization

We introduce a simple geometric model of opinion polarization. It is a model of political persuasion as well as marketing and advertising, utilizing social values. It focuses on the interplay between different topics and persuasion efforts. We demonstrate that societal opinion polarization often arises as an unintended by-product of influencers attempting to promote a product or idea. We discuss a number of mechanisms for the emergence of polarization involving one or more influencers, sending messages strategically, heuristically, or randomly. We also examine some computational aspects of choosing the most effective means of influencing agents and the effects of those strategic considerations on polarization. Funding: J. Hązła was partially supported by the National Science Foundation [Grant DMS-1737944] and later, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation [African Institute for Mathematical Sciences Rwanda research chair funding] as well as the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) [grant in cooperation with Goethe University in Frankfurt]. Y. Jin was partially supported by the Department of Defense [Grant ARO MURI W911NF1910217]. E. Mossel was partially supported by the Simons Investigator in Mathematics [Award 622132], the National Science Foundation [Awards DMS-1737944 and CCF-1918421] and the Department of Defense [Grant ARO MURI W911NF1910217] and Vannevar Bush [Faculty Fellowship ONR-N00014-20-1-2826]. G. Ramnarayan was partially supported by the National Science Foundation [Grant DMS-1737944] and the Department of Defense [Grant ARO MURI W911NF1910217].

Approaching Transcultural Communication and the Global South: A Conversation With Prof. Herman Wasserman

Abstract Herman Wasserman is a Professor of Journalism at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He has published widely on media, ethics and democracy in Africa and has consulted for organizations such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the Centre for International Media Assistance and given keynote addresses and invited lectures at universities worldwide. He has been a visiting scholar at Indiana University, Tsinghua University, the University of Houston and the Ludwig–Maximilian University. His awards include the Georg Foster Prize from the German Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, a Fulbright Fellowship, amongst others. He is often quoted in international media and serves on the editorial boards of more than fifteen international scholarly journals. He is Editor-in-Chief of the African Journalism Studies and the Annals of the International Communication Association. He is a Fellow of the International Communication Association and an elected member of the Academy of Science of South Africa. In this interview, Wasserman talks about international inequality in communication and media studies, the importance of decolonizing communication studies, and the need to include more vantage points from the Global South in communication scholarship and knowledge production in general. Wasserman also discusses about the importance of revisiting indigenous philosophy while alerting us against romanticizing or essentializing these philosophies. He further talks about his recent works on media ethics, disinformation, and how they connect to the wider debate on topics such as information disorder in the Global South.

From carbon superbases to superacids

Florian Mulks studied chemistry at Heidelberg University, where he obtained his doctorate with Stephen Hashmi in 2014. He spent his postdoctoral time in a variety of chemical disciplines with Shirin Faraji (University of Groningen), Eva Hevia (University of Strathclyde and University of Bern), Mu-Hyun Baik (Institute for Basic Science and Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology), and Guy Bertrand (University of California, San Diego). In early 2022, he founded a research group funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and Fonds der Chemischen Industrie at RWTH Aachen University to investigate molecular carbon chemistry and steric measurements.

Editorial: Electrochemistry in Latin America

Editorial: Electrochemistry in Latin America