Robert Koch Institute

Biopolymer Silica Hybrids as Superior Nanocarriers for Anticancer Drug Delivery

Abstract Liposomal carriers are widely used for anticancer drug delivery due to their biocompatible nature in the biological milieu. Liposome-based drugs often face premature leakage, uncontrolled release, and insufficient control over long-term drug availability. Here, we presen...

Insights into the survival impact of delayed immunochemotherapy in newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: results from a nationwide registry study

BACKGROUND: The prognostic impact of the diagnosis-to-treatment interval (DTI) in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) remains controversial. We investigated the association between DTI and three-year all-cause mortality in a nationwide cohort. METHODS: We conducted a retrospect...

Network-based characterization of latent co-testing patterns in antimicrobial susceptibility testing

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance depends on antimicrobial susceptibility testing, yet antibiotic panels vary by pathogen cohort, specimen, year, ward, and care setting. We term these empirically reconstructed testing architectures shadow antibiograms: structures that s...

A longitudinal study on how trust shapes psychological reactance to the German measles vaccine mandate

Abstract Background Vaccine mandates can increase uptake, yet their psychological effects remain underexplored. Psychological reactance theory suggests that mandates may prompt resistance and reduce acceptance of voluntary vaccination. We examined changes in reactance and attitud...

Machine learning-based rescoring with MS²Rescore boosts peptide identification and taxonomic specificity in metaproteomics

Abstract Background Metaproteomics, the study of the collective proteome within microbial ecosystems, has gained increasing interest over the past decade. However, peptide identification rates in metaproteomics remain low compared to single-species proteomics. A key challenge is...

Associations of leisure time and occupational physical activity with tobacco smoking and dual use of e-cigarettes among adults – a representative cross-sectional survey in Germany

Abstract Background Physical inactivity and tobacco smoking are risk factors for chronic diseases, and the combination of both further increase health risks. While leisure time physical activity (LTPA) improves cardiovascular health and is associated with lower smoking prevalence...

Large-scale benchmarking of prokaryotic annotation tools across thousands of species

Abstract Background Genome annotation is an important step in deriving functional meaning from prokaryotic sequencing data, yet systematic evaluations guiding tool selection are lacking. We present the first large-scale investigation of four prominent open-source annotation tools...

National immunisation recommendations: why country-specific evidence and context matter

National Immunisation Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs) are independent expert groups issuing recommendations on the introduction and use of licensed vaccines in national programmes. They consider both context-free evidence — safety, efficacy, effectiveness — and country-specifi...

Prediction of Treatment Benefit With Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression

Importance Treatment benefit prediction models may help identify which patients will benefit most from internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) for depression; it is unclear whether such models can support useful treatment allocation across programs. Objective To develo...

The interplay of influencing factors in physical activity promotion for older men: insights through the capability approach

Abstract Background The capability approach has gained increasing attention in the context of health and physical activity promotion due to its focus on individuals’ freedoms to achieve desired outcomes. Its empirical application remains limited, particularly among older men, a g...

Can parent–child interactions help reduce socioeconomic differences in language development? Results of a German birth cohort study

Abstract Aim Children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families often have lower developmental outcomes than their socioeconomically more advantaged peers. In early childhood, language development (LD) in particular is a key competence for further socialization. There is a ne...

Limitations of interaction techniques in modern radial chart implementations

Abstract Radial visualization has gained prominence as a versatile approach to exploring complex, multivariate data in information visualization research and practice. However, the interactive potential of radial visualizations remains under-synthesized across existing high-level...

Uncovering the scale and link of two SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks in nursing homes by combining integrated genomic surveillance, contact tracing, and point-of-care testing

Abstract Aim The local public health authority (LPHA) in Duesseldorf received notification of two SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks in nursing home A and nursing home B in October 2021 and embarked on an outbreak investitation to identify the source of the outbreak and epidemiological links b...