University Of Basel Research Articles

A variant copy of Konrad Gessner’s “Bibliotheca Universalis”

Until recently, no variant copy or cancellation of Konrad Gessner’s “Bibliotheca Universalis” was known. The author examined five copies in Japan and four copies at the Zurich Central Library (Copies A, B, C and D), as well as one at Basel University Library, and discovered that variant copies do exist. Copy A was Gessner’s own copy, to which he added numerous notes, especially on fol. 454v. As a result of comparison with Copy B (Konrad Pellikan’s copy), it appears that Gessner corrected the text of lines 4–30 on this folio, shortened it to 11 lines, and added 18 new lines. The printer, Froschauer, recomposed four formes from fol. 453r to 454v, reprinted them and cancelled the former printed sheet of fol. 453r–454v. Copies B and D (Konrad Klauser’s copy), the Basel copy, and the five copies in Japan are considered to be the ideal copies and Copies A and C (Jacques Dubois’s copy) are regarded as variant copies. One part of the printing process of the “Bibliotheca Universalis” became clear with this discovery.

An Examination of Communication Skills Curricula across Two European Medical Universities

The advancement of communication skills and bedside manner training for medical students is crucial to modern medical curricula. In this study, we compared the curricula of two central European universities, the Medical University of Vienna and the Medical University of Basel. A systematic search of literature was performed identifying nine publications. These sources were used to identify major differences between the curricula. One setting integrates clinical specialty content from seven different specialties into communication training in theory and simulated-based training. The other provides specialized training for psychiatric patients only, strengthening reflective capacity. The first mentioned site implements more frequent Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs). The increased frequencies support cumulative learning strategies in content delivery. Further, it allows for repetition of core content which increases students' knowledge and improves their skills'. Elucidating these and other differences and similarities may facilitate targeted improvement of the current communication skills training framework.

A success story.

Christel Möller and Christian Schönenberger highlight the benefits of studying a bachelor's degree in nanoscience at the University of Basel.

Comparison of Canadian and Swiss Surgical Training Curricula: Moving on Toward Competency-Based Surgical Education

Quality of surgical training in the era of resident duty-hour restrictions (RDHR) is part of an ongoing debate. Most training elements are provided during surgical service. As exposure to surgical procedures is important but time-consuming, RDHR may affect quality of surgical training. Providing structured training elements may help to compensate for this shortcoming. This binational anonymous questionnaire-based study evaluates frequency, time, and structure of surgical training programs at 2 typical academic teaching hospitals with different RDHR. Departments of Surgery of University of Basel (Basel, Switzerland) and the Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario, Canada). Surgical consultants and residents of the Queen's University Hospital (Kingston, Ontario, Canada) and the University Hospital Basel (Basel, Switzerland) were eligible for this study. Questionnaire response rate was 37% (105/284). Queen's residents work 80 hours per week, receiving 7 hours of formal training (8.8% of workweek). Basel residents work 60 hours per week, including 1 hour of formal training (1.7% of working time). Queen's faculty and residents rated their program as "structured" or "rather structured" in contrast to Basel faculty and residents who rated their programs as "neutral" in structure or "unstructured." Respondents identified specific structured training elements more frequently at Queen's than in Basel. Two-thirds of residents responded that they seek out additional surgical experiences through voluntary extra work. Basel participants articulated a stronger need for improvement of current surgical training. Although Basel residents and consultants in both institutions fear negative influence of RDHR on the training program, this was not the case in Queen's residents. Providing more structured surgical training elements may be advantageous in providing optimal-quality surgical education in an era of work-hour restrictions.

Emergence of a Latent Indian Cassava Mosaic Virus from Cassava Which Recovered from Infection by a Non-Persistent Sri Lankan Cassava Mosaic Virus.

The major threat for cassava cultivation on the Indian subcontinent is cassava mosaic disease (CMD) caused by cassava mosaic geminiviruses which are bipartite begomoviruses with DNA A and DNA B components. Indian cassava mosaic virus (ICMV) and Sri Lankan cassava mosaic virus (SLCMV) cause CMD in India. Two isolates of SLCMV infected the cassava cultivar Sengutchi in the fields near Malappuram and Thiruvananthapuram cities of Kerala State, India. The Malappuram isolate was persistent when maintained in the Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India) greenhouse, whereas the Thiruvananthapuram isolate did not persist. The recovered cassava plants with the non-persistent SLCMV, which were maintained vegetative in quarantine in the University of Basel (Basel, Switzerland) greenhouse, displayed re-emergence of CMD after a six-month period. Interestingly, these plants did not carry SLCMV but carried ICMV. It is interpreted that the field-collected, SLCMV-infected cassava plants were co-infected with low levels of ICMV. The loss of SLCMV in recovered cassava plants, under greenhouse conditions, then facilitated the re-emergence of ICMV. The partial dimer clones of the persistent and non-persistent isolates of SLCMV and the re-emerged isolate of ICMV were infective in Nicotiana benthamiana upon agroinoculation. Studies on pseudo-recombination between SLCMV and ICMV in N. benthamiana provided evidence for trans-replication of ICMV DNA B by SLCMV DNA A.

Organometallic reaction runs in living cells

Organometallic catalysts are useful in lab research, and some are used industrially. They generally don’t work well in living cells. But researchers have now assembled an artificial enzyme with an organometallic active site in bacteria and coaxed it to catalyze an industrially relevant reaction that has never occurred before in live cells. They also used directed evolution, a lab mimic of natural evolution, to optimize and customize the catalyst in vivo. The work could lead to the use of living cells as molecular factories to produce high-value chemical products they would not normally make. Thomas Ward of the University of Basel, Sven Panke of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, and coworkers carried out the study (Nature 2016, DOI: 10.1038/nature19114). The team’s aim was to create a synthetic metalloenzyme that could catalyze olefin metathesis—a Nobel Prize-honored reaction that rearranges carbon-carbon double bonds—in living cells. To accomplish this, the researchers

Reaction: Synthesis in Drug Discovery, the Short and Long of It

Juerg Hunziker earned a PhD from ETH Zurich, followed by a postdoctoral stay at Caltech and a junior group-leader position (University of Bern), before joining Novartis, where he is currently responsible for natural-product chemistry in Global Discovery Chemistry. Guido Koch graduated from the University of Basel and completed his academic education with a postdoc at Caltech. He joined Novartis in Process R&D and had the opportunity to work on a number of natural-product development projects. In 2001, he moved to the Novartis Institutes of Biomedical Research, where he currently serves as director of Synthesis and Technologies. Neil Press received his BSc and PhD from Imperial College, London, and completed postdoctoral research on the total synthesis of calicheamicinone (University of Texas). For 21 years, he has been a medicinal chemist with Novartis, where he has led teams in multiple projects resulting in clinical candidates. He currently leads the Chemical Genetics team.

„Selbstbericht“ Ulrich Stutz

Abstract „Selfdescription“ Ulrich Stutz. Ulrich Stutz closed his „selfdiscription“ in May 1934 and handed it to the library of the University of Basel with the remark „strictly confidential during the lifetime of the author“. It has been quoted very rarely and is published here for the first time. Ulrich Stutz is not only the founder of the history of canon law, but he was also for a long time its spiritus rector. The „selfdiscription“ is preceded by brief remarks on the life and work of this great scholar.

DMCCB Basel Symposium 2016 Macrocycles in Drug- and Agrochemical Discovery Symposium of the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology (DMCCB) of the Swiss Chemical Society (SCS), Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, May 24th, 2016.

DMCCB Basel Symposium 2016 Macrocycles in Drug- and Agrochemical Discovery Symposium of the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology (DMCCB) of the Swiss Chemical Society (SCS), Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, May 24th, 2016.

Comparing DTL microfiber and Neuroline skin electrode in the Mini Ganzfeld ERG.

BackgroundIn infant ERG recordings skin electrodes frequently result in a better compliance. In order to assess the quality of such recordings, we compared the recording characteristics of DTL microfiber and Neuroline surface electrodes using a modified ISCEV protocol in the Mini Ganzfeld ERG.MethodsA prospective cohort study on healthy adult subjects was conducted at the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Basel, Switzerland. Thirty healthy volunteers were tested. The microfiber electrode (DTL Plus Electrode) was placed across the cornea, above the lower eyelid. The Neuroline skin electrode was placed on the surface of the lower lid on the opposite eye. The eye on which each electrode type was placed was randomised.Amplitudes of the rod, standard combined, standard flash cone, light-adapted 3.0 Hz flicker and red cone responses were analysed, as well as their respective implicit times.ResultsBoth electrode recordings showed the same waveform characteristics. Responses with the Neuroline electrode were significantly weaker than those from the DTL electrode. Amplitudes of the rod, standard combined, standard flash cone, light-adapted 3.0 Hz flicker and red cone responses were up to four times larger when recorded with the DTL electrode (p < 0.005, ANOVA). Implicit times of the red cone ERGs were slightly faster for the Neuroline skin electrode recordings (p ≤ 0.039).ConclusionsComparison of full-field ERG recordings with microfiber DTL and Neuroline skin electrodes showed that DTL electrodes produce larger ERGs. Hence, we provide evidence that both electrode types allow successful full-field ERG recording, although separate normative data for both electrodes are necessary.

Inter-lead correlation analysis for automated detection of cable reversals in 12/16-lead ECG

Background and objectiveA crucial factor for proper electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation is the correct electrode placement in standard 12-lead ECG and extended 16-lead ECG for accurate diagnosis of acute myocardial infarctions. In the context of optimal patient care, we present and evaluate a new method for automated detection of reversals in peripheral and precordial (standard, right and posterior) leads, based on simple rules with inter-lead correlation dependencies. MethodsThe algorithm for analysis of cable reversals relies on scoring of inter-lead correlations estimated over 4s snapshots with time-coherent data from multiple ECG leads. Peripheral cable reversals are detected by assessment of nine correlation coefficients, comparing V6 to limb leads: (I, II, III, –I, –II, –III, –aVR, –aVL, –aVF). Precordial lead reversals are detected by analysis of the ECG pattern cross-correlation progression within lead sets (V1–V6), (V4R, V3R, V3, V4), and (V4, V5, V6, V8, V9). Disturbed progression identifies the swapped leads. ResultsA test-set, including 2239 ECGs from three independent sources—public 12-lead (PTB, CSE) and proprietary 16-lead (Basel University Hospital) databases—is used for algorithm validation, reporting specificity (Sp) and sensitivity (Se) as true negative and true positive detection of simulated lead swaps. Reversals of limb leads are detected with Se = 95.5–96.9% and 100% when right leg is involved in the reversal. Among all 15 possible pairwise reversals in standard precordial leads, adjacent lead reversals are detected with Se = 93.8% (V5–V6), 95.6% (V2–V3), 95.9% (V3–V4), 97.1% (V1–V2), and 97.8% (V4–V5), increasing to 97.8–99.8% for reversals of anatomically more distant electrodes. The pairwise reversals in the four extra precordial leads are detected with Se = 74.7% (right-sided V4R–V3R), 91.4% (posterior V8–V9), 93.7% (V4R–V9), and 97.7% (V4R–V8, V3R–V9, V3R–V8). Higher true negative rate is achieved with Sp > 99% (standard 12-lead ECG), 81.9% (V4R–V3R), 91.4% (V8–V9), and 100% (V4R–V9, V4R–V8, V3R–V9, V3R–V8), which is reasonable considering the low prevalence of lead swaps in clinical environment. ConclusionsInter-lead correlation analysis is able to provide robust detection of cable reversals in standard 12-lead ECG, effectively extended to 16-lead ECG applications that have not previously been addressed.

Teaching Bioethics to a Large Number of Biology and Pharma Students: Lessons Learned

To be made aware of bioethical issues related to their disciplines, undergraduate students in biology and pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Basel are required to enroll in the bioethics course called “Introduction to Bioethics”. This article describes the chances and challenges faced when teaching a large number of undergraduate biology and pharmaceutical sciences students. Attention is drawn to the relevance and specific ethical issues that biology and pharmaceutical sciences students may be confronted with and to how these could be integrated into ethics curricula. Results from a survey addressing the knowledge and opinion of students taking the course in spring semester 2012, 2013, and 2014 are presented and discussed. Finally, we describe the lessons learned and how we have improved the course based on students’ feedback throughout the following years.

Historical development of drug testing in Swiss equestrian sports

The goal of this study was to describe the development of equine drug testing in horses in Switzerland. This was achieved through evaluation of a film made by the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Basel entitled 'Doping von Rennpferden' [Doping of Race Horses], toxicological detection, 1962', the analysis of doping test results of the Swiss Equestrian Federation and by interviewing individuals of various professions who were involved in equine drug testing at the time. The study compares early and modern methods of drug testing and highlights the changes in the attitude of equestrian athletes, horse owners and the general public toward doping in equestrian sports. The high sensitivity of modern analytical methods allows the detection of drugs at levels considerably below therapeutic concentrations. This has resulted in a shift from zero tolerance for Controlled Medication Substances to the establishment of sub-therapeutic threshold concentrations. The lists of performance-enhancing drugs used in doping are updated continually. It became clear from this work that in the early 1960s, Switzerland played a leadership role in anti-doping in equestrian sports, and that the efforts to keep the sport free of performance-enhancing drugs remain exemplary.

The Impact of Immigration on Swiss Wages: A Fixed Effects Two Stage Least Squares Analysis

Immigration has always been an important economic issue for Switzerland and thus a hotly debated topic in Swiss politics. Over the last forty years, the total share of foreigners (relative to permanent Swiss residents) has risen steadily from 9.3% in 1960 to 19.3% in 2000. With the forthcoming ratification of the Second Bilateral Treaties between the European Union (EU) and Switzerland, immigration and its impact on the Swiss economy, in particular on the Swiss labor market, will become even more important since immigration restrictions between member countries of the EU and Switzerland will, to a large extent, be eliminated. Currently the Swiss parliament is also working on a new naturalization law and is attempting a partial revision of the asylum act. Therefore, it is not surprising that unions and politicians are becoming more concerned about the effects of immigration on the wages of Swiss nationals. Surprisingly, there has not been much research undertaken regarding the consequences to the Swiss labor market even though there exists a vast international literature on the effects of immigration on domestic labor markets. ∗Thanks to Kurt Schmidheiny (Tufts University), George Sheldon (University of Basel), Tobias Wenzel (University of Mannheim), Philippe Deschamps and Henner Kleinewefers (University of Fribourg) for support and valuable comments. John Theal (University of Lausanne) and Shauna Selvarajah (University of Fribourg) proofread the paper. All remaining errors are (unfortunately) the sole responsibility of the author.

Finding a maximal element of a non-negative convex set through its characteristic cone: an application to finding a strictly complementary solution

In order to express a polyhedron as the Minkowski sum of a polytope and a polyhedral cone, Motzkin (Beitrage zur Theorie der linearen Ungleichungen. Dissertation, University of Basel, 1936) devised a homogenization technique that translates the polyhedron to a polyhedral cone in one higher dimension. Refining his technique, we present a conical representation of a set in the Euclidean space. Then, we use this representation to reach four main results: First, we establish a convex programming based framework for determining a maximal element—an element with the maximum number of positive components—of a non-negative convex set—a convex set in the non-negative Euclidean orthant. Second, we develop a linear programming problem for finding a relative interior point of a polyhedron. Third, we propose two procedures for identifying a strictly complementary solution in linear programming. Finally, we generalize Motzkin’s (Beitrage zur Theorie der linearen Ungleichungen. Dissertation, University of Basel, 1936) representation theorem for a class of closed convex sets in the Euclidean space.

Franciscus Sylvius on Clinical Teaching, Iatrochemistry and Brain Anatomy.

Born in Hanau, Germany, in 1614, Franciscus (Dele Boë) Sylvius received his medical doctor diploma from Basel University in 1637 and became Professor of Practical Medicine at Leiden University in 1658. One of the founders of medical biochemistry, Sylvius was also an outstanding anatomopathologist, with contributions ranging from the first description of the pulmonary tubercles to that of the lateral fissure of the brain. Thanks to Sylvius, a gifted teacher and one of the greatest physicians of his time, Leiden became a major European medical training center. He died in 1772 after having served as Rector Magnificus at Leiden University.

Editorial introductions

Editorial introductions

Documentation, Human Rights and Transitional Justice

The role of testimony and documentation is crucial to human rights work in transitional contexts. Such evidence is vital in societies seeking to deal with a past of human rights violations as well as for ongoing human rights campaigns. The documentation of past human rights violations can help with the prosecution of perpetrators, identification of victims for reparations programmes, and the planning of memorials. It can also contribute to the embedding of a new human rights culture through the active dissemination of personal testimonies which can sensitize the public to past violations, assist in rewriting of school textbooks and other educational materials, and lead to recommendations for new forms of human rights practice. These are practical measures of dealing with the past which are all underpinned by accurate knowledge of violations and the contexts which made them possible. But at a deeper level, information, testimonies and archives can shape narratives of the past and the future, and they can arguably help to define a new social contract between citizens and the state following gross human rights violations, and give voice to ongoing tensions and disagreements about what, in fact, constitutes the past. That being said, the identification, protection, preservation and management of archives and the collection of testimonies related to human rights violations, as well as their dissemination and utility within transitional justice mechanisms, has often been overlooked. Both partners of the editorial team, Incore (International Conflict Research Institute, based at Ulster University) and swisspeace (an associate research institute of the University of Basel), have been working on addressing this gap by bringing together academics, practitioners and policymakers. At swisspeace the ‘Archives and Dealing with the Past’ project is a joint initiative of the Human Security Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the Swiss Federal Archives and swisspeace (see http://archivesproject.swisspeace. ch). In addition to research, publications and training, the project operates as a platform bringing together diverse actors working on archives in the context of dealing with the past processes and to this end organizes a regular conference. In 2012 the focus was ‘The Importance of Archives in Dealing with the Past’, in 2013 ‘Archives of Transitional Justice Mechanisms’, and in 2015 ‘Securing Archives at Risk’. (The report of the 2015 conference

Erratum to: How Welfare-State Regimes Shape Subjective Well-Being Across Europe

Unfortunately, in the original publication of the article, the line starting with ‘‘While we first.... between status and SWB’’ in the abstract and the second affiliation were published incorrectly. The correct sentence and the corrected second affiliation are given below. While we first look at how status drives SWB levels in different welfare-state regimes as classified by Esping-Andersen (1990, 1999), our focus is mainly on cross-level interactions between welfare-state regime type and the relationship between status and SWB. Social Research and Methodology Group, University of Basel, Petersgraben 11, 4051 Basel, Switzerland.

On the way to the campus of tomorrow

Purpose – This paper summarises the outcomes of the exploratory project of the Department of Educational Technologies at the University of Basel published in Lernumgebungen an der Hochschule. Auf dem Weg zum Campus von morgen [Learning environments at university. On the way to the campus of tomorrow.] (Škerlak et al., 2014) in a review paper and supplement these in a particular consideration of the role of university libraries. This project examined what “the campus of tomorrow” might look like and which steps will take us there. Design/methodology/approach – Together with users of university premises and designers of learning environments, this project looked at “the campus of today” and drafted collective propositions “for the campus of tomorrow” within the scope of five workshops and subsequent studies, interviews and dicsussion. Findings – In the process, it became clear in which fields of tension between different needs and requirements the university is moving with respect to designing its space and services. Knowing the poles of these fields of tension, making deliberate decisions and finding a campus-wide balance together with future users, appears to be fundamental to new building, service and campus concepts. During this development of spaces and concepts, it is particularly worthwhile to consider individual institutions, such as the library, more within the context of the campus as a whole and to intensify the cooperation of different stakeholders of the university for this purpose. Originality/value – During this development of spaces and concepts, it is particularly worthwhile to consider individual institutions, such as the library, more within the context of the campus as a whole and to intensify the cooperation of different stakeholders of the university for this purpose. This holistic approach and the suggestion of specific fields of tension within which the university has to develop its learning spaces offers new perspectives on campus and library development.