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Die am Wochenende beschlossene Verfassungsänderung gibt Chinas Präsident Xi Jinping die Möglichkeit auf Lebenszeit im Amt zu bleiben. Das wird als Zeichen des wachsenden Autoritarismus und Xis zunehmender Macht gewertet. Doch ein genauerer Blick lässt zweifeln: Die Entscheidung ist eher Ausdruck von Zukunftssorgen und Selbstzweifeln der Regierenden in Peking.
Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich damit, wie die spezifische Durchführung eines besonderen psychologischen Laborexperiments in eine allgemeine, kausale Form übersetzt wird. Anstatt dazu formale Kriterien der Validität heranzuziehen, wird ein experimenteller Forschungsprozess ethnographisch begleitet.
Forschungsgegenstand ist ein Verhaltensexperiment aus der allgemeinen Psychologie zur Trainierbarkeit des Arbeitsgedächtnisses. Im Rahmen der Ethnographie werden teilnehmende Beobachtungen, Interviews und Dokumentensammlung kombiniert eingesetzt. Die Auswertung der Materialien erfolgt mithilfe der Situationsanalyse nach Clarke (2012), einer qualitativen Auswertungsmethode im Anschluss an die Grounded Theory.
In dieser Arbeit wird das Verhalten der Versuchsperson ins Zentrum gerückt, das die Messung in Gang setzt und hält und die Entstehung von zahlenförmigen Daten ermöglicht. Dazu wird in Orientierung an neueren Science & Technology Studies eine begriffliche Systematisierung der Experimentalpraxis aus dem empirischen Material herausgearbeitet, mit dem die Konstruktion und Transformation des Verhaltens der Versuchsperson im Verlauf des Datenerhebungs- Auswertungs- und Interpretationsprozesses beschrieben werden kann.
Die Ergebnisse der Ethnographie legen nahe, dass dieses Verhalten der Versuchsperson - korrespondierend zum kausal verfassten Endprodukt des Experiments - von der komplexen Erhebungssituation abhängig und paradoxerweise gleichzeitig unabhängig ist. Damit wird in Anlehnung an Latour (2002) zwischen konstruktivistischen und objektivistischen Positionen vermittelt. Zudem weisen die erforschten Praktiken die epistemische Stellung der Versuchsperson aus. Diese wird im Anschluss an die Terminologie von Rheinberger (2001/ 2006) als Mischform von epistemischem Ding (Neues) und technischem Ding (Bekanntes) bestimmt.
Due to immigration influxes, Germany’s ethnic diversity is on steady rise. Although citizens of immigrant origin make up a high percentage of the population in all Western European countries, they are descriptively underrepresented in most legislative bodies. As widely acknowledged, political parties form the key channels through which societal developments are fed into parliament. By selecting parliamentary candidates, they constitute the most crucial nexus of the population to be represented and legislative bodies. Despite the pivotal role of the intra-party candidate selection in shaping who runs for election, the question of how candidates of immigrant background fare in the candidate selection and whether the criteria political parties use for selecting candidates of immigrant background are the same as for native-born candidates remained a blind spot of the research on minority representation. Therefore, the dissertation scrutinizes the thresholds candidates of immigrant background need to overcome to run for legislative office. It thus tackles the questions of how political parties go about selecting candidates of immigrant background in comparison to native-born candidates and which contextual factors drive their choice of selection behavior. For this purpose, the dissertation develops three ideal-typical selection strategies political parties can adopt towards candidates of immigrant background, which are referred to as neutrality, opening or closure, and empirically tests which selection strategy is in use. To explore parties’ selection behavior towards candidates of immigrant background, the dissertation combines the advantages of quantitative analysis by employing candidate surveys at the state and national level, with advantages of qualitative analysis by conducting interviews with candidates of immigrant background. As the analysis reveals, neutrality is the predominant selection strategy that political parties use towards candidates of immigrant background, the reason being that neutral selection practices involve the fewest intra-party conflicts.
Determining the age of juvenile blow flies is one of the key tasks of forensic entomology when providing evidence for the minimum post mortem interval. While the age determination of blow fly larvae is well established using morphological parameters, the current study focuses on molecular methods for estimating the age of blow flies during the metamorphosis in the pupal stage, which lasts about half the total juvenile development. It has already been demonstrated in several studies that the intraspecific variance in expression of so far used genes in blow flies is often too high to assign a certain expression level to a distinct age, leading to an inaccurate prediction. To overcome this problem, we previously identified new markers, which show a very sharp age dependent expression course during pupal development of the forensically-important blow fly Calliphora vicina Robineau–Desvoidy 1830 (Diptera: Calliphoridae) by analyzing massive parallel sequencing (MPS) generated transcriptome data. We initially designed and validated two quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays for each of 15 defined pupal ages representing a daily progress during the total pupal development if grown at 17 °C. We also investigated whether the performance of these assays is affected by the ambient temperature, when rearing pupae of C. vicina at three different constant temperatures—namely 17 °C, 20 °C and 25 °C. A temperature dependency of the performance could not be observed, except for one marker. Hence, for each of the defined development landmarks, we can present gene expression profiles of one to two markers defining the mentioned progress in development.
We used electron cryo-tomography and subtomogram averaging to investigate the structure of complex I and its supramolecular assemblies in the inner mitochondrial membrane of mammals, fungi, and plants. Tomographic volumes containing complex I were averaged at ∼4 nm resolution. Principal component analysis indicated that ∼60% of complex I formed a supercomplex with dimeric complex III, while ∼40% were not associated with other respiratory chain complexes. The mutual arrangement of complex I and III2 was essentially conserved in all supercomplexes investigated. In addition, up to two copies of monomeric complex IV were associated with the complex I1III2 assembly in bovine heart and the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica, but their positions varied. No complex IV was detected in the respiratory supercomplex of the plant Asparagus officinalis. Instead, an ∼4.5-nm globular protein density was observed on the matrix side of the complex I membrane arm, which we assign to γ-carbonic anhydrase. Our results demonstrate that respiratory chain supercomplexes in situ have a conserved core of complex I and III2, but otherwise their stoichiometry and structure varies. The conserved features of supercomplex assemblies indicate an important role in respiratory electron transfer.
The major obstacle in the clinical use of the antitumor drug cisplatin is inherent and acquired resistance. Typically, cisplatin resistance is not restricted to a single mechanism demanding for a systems pharmacology approach to understand a whole cell’s reaction to the drug. In this study, the cellular transcriptome of untreated and cisplatin-treated A549 non-small cell lung cancer cells and their cisplatin-resistant sub-line A549rCDDP2000 was screened with a whole genome array for relevant gene candidates. By combining statistical methods with available gene annotations and without a previously defined hypothesis HRas, MAPK14 (p38), CCL2, DOK1 and PTK2B were identified as genes possibly relevant for cisplatin resistance. These and related genes were further validated on transcriptome (qRT-PCR) and proteome (Western blot) level to select candidates contributing to resistance. HRas, p38, CCL2, DOK1, PTK2B and JNK3 were integrated into a model of resistance-associated signalling alterations describing differential gene and protein expression between cisplatin-sensitive and -resistant cells in reaction to cisplatin exposure.
Natural Killer T cells (NKT cells) are emerging as critical regulators of pro- and anti-tumor immunity, both at baseline and in therapeutic settings. While type I NKT cells can promote anti-tumor immunity, their activity in the tumor microenvironment may be limited by negative regulators such as inhibitory immune checkpoints. We observed dominant expression of B- and T-lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA) on type I NKT cells in polyoma middle T oncogene-driven (PyMT) murine autochthonous mammary tumors. Other immune checkpoint receptors, such as programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) were equally distributed among T cell populations. Interference with BTLA using neutralizing antibodies limited tumor growth and pulmonary metastasis in the PyMT model in a therapeutic setting, correlating with an increase in type I NKT cells and expression of cytotoxic marker genes. While therapeutic application of an anti-PD-1 antibody increased the number of CD8+ cytotoxic T cells and elevated IL-12 expression, tumor control was not established. Expression of ZBTB16, the lineage-determining transcription factor of type I NKT cells, was correlated with a favorable patient prognosis in the METABRIC dataset, and BTLA levels were instrumental to further distinguish prognosis in patents with high ZBTB16 expression. Taken together, these data support a role of BTLA on type I NKT cells in limiting anti-tumor immunity.
kurz und kn@pp news : Nr. 42
(2018)
Even if the importance of micro data transparency is a well-established fact, European institutions are still lacking behind the US when it comes to the provision of financial market data to academics. In this Policy Letter we discuss five different types of micro data that are crucial for monitoring (systemic) risk in the financial system, identifying and understanding inter-linkages in financial markets and thus have important implications for policymakers and regulatory authorities. We come to the conclusion that for all five areas of micro data, outlined in this Policy Letter (bank balance sheet data, asset portfolio data, market transaction data, market high frequency data and central bank data), the benefits of increased transparency greatly offset potential downsides. Hence, European policymakers would do well to follow the US example and close the sizeable gap in micro data transparency. For most cases, relevant data is already collected (at least on national level), but just not made available to academics for partly incomprehensible reasons. Overcoming these obstacles could foster financial stability in Europe and assure level playing fields with US regulators and policymakers.
Does economic policy uncertainty affect household stockholding? To answer this question we create a novel measure of household exposure to economic policy uncertainty news by combining survey information on the hours a household spends in reading newspapers and the frequency of such news in the popular press during a household’s pre-interview period. After controlling for household fixed effects, month-year fixed effects and time-varying cognitive skills, we find that households with a higher exposure to economic policy uncertainty news are less likely to invest in stocks held directly or through mutual funds. This effect is independent from the market volatility index and household (first-moment) expectations about the stock market index.
Objectives: Within a randomized controlled trial contrasting the outcome of manualized cognitive-behavioral (CBT) and short term psychodynamic therapy (PDT) compared to a waiting list condition (the SOPHO-Net trial), we set out to test whether self-reported attachment characteristics change during the treatments and if these changes differ between treatments.
Research design and methods: 495 patients from the SOPHO-Net trial (54.5% female, mean age 35.2 years) who were randomized to either CBT, PDT or waiting list (WL) completed the partner-related revised Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire (ECR-R) before and after treatment and at 6 and 12 months follow-up. The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) was administered at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and at 6-month and 1-year follow-up. ECR-R scores were first compared to a representative healthy sample (n = 2508) in order to demonstrate that the clinical sample differed significantly from the non-clinical sample with respect to attachment anxiety and avoidance.
Results: LSAS scores correlated significantly with both ECR-R subscales. Post-therapy, patients treated with CBT revealed significant changes in attachment anxiety and avoidance whereas patients treated with PDT showed no significant changes. Changes between post-treatment and the two follow-ups were significant in both conditions, with minimal (insignificant) differences between treatments at the 12- month follow-up.
Conclusions: The current study supports recent reviews of mostly naturalistic studies indicating changes in attachment as a result of psychotherapy. Although there were differences between conditions at the end of treatment, these largely disappeared during the follow-up period which is line with the other results of the SOPHO-NET trial.
Trial registration: Controlled-trials.com ISRCTN53517394
The spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi is the causative agent of Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne disease in the US and Europe. No potent human vaccine is currently available. The innate immune complement system is vital to host defense against pathogens, as complement activation on the surface of spirochetes results in bacterial killing. Complement system is inhibited by the complement regulator factor H (FH). To escape killing, B. burgdorferi produces an outer surface protein CspZ that binds FH to inhibit complement activation on the cell surface. Immunization with CspZ alone does not protect mice from infection, which we speculate is because FH-binding cloaks potentially protective epitopes. We modified CspZ by conjugating to virus-like particles (VLP-CspZ) and eliminating FH binding (modified VLP-CspZ) to increase immunogenicity. We observed greater bactericidal antibody titers in mice vaccinated with modified VLP-CspZ: A serum dilution of 1:395 (modified VLP-CspZ) vs 1:143 (VLP-CspZ) yielded 50% borreliacidal activity. Immunizing mice with modified VLP-CspZ cleared spirochete infection, as did passive transfer of elicited antibodies. This work developed a novel Lyme disease vaccine candidate by conjugating CspZ to VLP and eliminating FH-binding ability. Such a strategy of conjugating an antigen to a VLP and eliminating binding to the target ligand can serve as a general model for developing vaccines against other bacterial infectious agents.
Acetaminophen [paracetamol, N-acetyl-p-aminophenol (APAP)]-induced acute liver injury (ALI) not only remains a persistent clinical challenge but likewise stands out as well-characterized paradigmatic model of drug-induced liver damage. APAP intoxication associates with robust hepatic necroinflammation the role of which remains elusive with pathogenic but also pro-regenerative/-resolving functions being ascribed to leukocyte activation. Here, we shine a light on and put forward a unique role of the interleukin (IL)-1 family member IL-18 in experimental APAP-induced ALI. Indeed, amelioration of disease as previously observed in IL-18-deficient mice was further substantiated herein by application of the IL-18 opponent IL-18-binding protein (IL-18BPd:Fc) to wild-type mice. Data altogether emphasize crucial pathological action of this cytokine in APAP toxicity. Adding recombinant IL-22 to IL-18BPd:Fc further enhanced protection from liver injury. In contrast to IL-18, the role of prototypic pro-inflammatory IL-1 and tumor necrosis factor-α is controversially discussed with lack of effects or even protective action being repeatedly reported. A prominent detrimental function for IL-18 in APAP-induced ALI as proposed herein should relate to its pivotal role for hepatic expression of interferon-γ and Fas ligand, both of which aggravate APAP toxicity. As IL-18 serum levels increase in patients after APAP overdosing, targeting IL-18 may evolve as novel therapeutic option in those hard-to-treat patients where standard therapy with N-acetylcysteine is unsuccessful. Being a paradigmatic experimental model of ALI, current knowledge on ill-fated properties of IL-18 in APAP intoxication likewise emphasizes the potential of this cytokine to serve as therapeutic target in other entities of inflammatory liver diseases.
A cGMP signaling cascade composed of C-type natriuretic peptide, the guanylyl cyclase receptor Npr2 and cGMP-dependent protein kinase I (cGKI) controls the bifurcation of sensory axons upon entering the spinal cord during embryonic development. However, the impact of axon bifurcation on sensory processing in adulthood remains poorly understood. To investigate the functional consequences of impaired axon bifurcation during adult stages we generated conditional mouse mutants of Npr2 and cGKI (Npr2fl/fl;Wnt1Cre and cGKIKO/fl;Wnt1Cre) that lack sensory axon bifurcation in the absence of additional phenotypes observed in the global knockout mice. Cholera toxin labeling in digits of the hind paw demonstrated an altered shape of sensory neuron termination fields in the spinal cord of conditional Npr2 mouse mutants. Behavioral testing of both sexes indicated that noxious heat sensation and nociception induced by chemical irritants are impaired in the mutants, whereas responses to cold sensation, mechanical stimulation, and motor coordination are not affected. Recordings from C-fiber nociceptors in the hind limb skin showed that Npr2 function was not required to maintain normal heat sensitivity of peripheral nociceptors. Thus, the altered behavioral responses to noxious heat found in Npr2fl/fl;Wnt1Cre mice is not due to an impaired C-fiber function. Overall, these data point to a critical role of axonal bifurcation for the processing of pain induced by heat or chemical stimuli.
Juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (JNCL) is caused by mutations in the CLN3 gene. Most JNCL patients exhibit a 1.02 kb genomic deletion removing exons 7 and 8 of this gene, which results in a truncated CLN3 protein carrying an aberrant C-terminus. A genetically accurate mouse model (Cln3Δex7/8 mice) for this deletion has been generated. Using cerebellar precursor cell lines generated from wildtype and Cln3Δex7/8 mice, we have here analyzed the consequences of the CLN3 deletion on levels of cellular gangliosides, particularly GM3, GM2, GM1a and GD1a. The levels of GM1a and GD1a were found to be significantly reduced by both biochemical and cytochemical methods. However, quantitative high-performance liquid chromatography analysis revealed a highly significant increase in GM3, suggesting a metabolic blockade in the conversion of GM3 to more complex gangliosides. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed a significant reduction in the transcripts of the interconverting enzymes, especially of β-1,4-N-acetyl-galactosaminyl transferase 1 (GM2 synthase), which is the enzyme converting GM3 to GM2. Thus, our data suggest that the complex a-series gangliosides are reduced in Cln3Δex7/8 mouse cerebellar precursor cells due to impaired transcription of the genes responsible for their synthesis.
Hypoxia-induced long non-coding RNA Malat1 is dispensable for renal ischemia/reperfusion-injury
(2018)
Renal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is a major cause of acute kidney injury (AKI). Non-coding RNAs are crucially involved in its pathophysiology. We identified hypoxia-induced long non-coding RNA Malat1 (Metastasis Associated Lung Adenocarcinoma Transcript 1) to be upregulated in renal I/R injury. We here elucidated the functional role of Malat1 in vitro and its potential contribution to kidney injury in vivo. Malat1 was upregulated in kidney biopsies and plasma of patients with AKI, in murine hypoxic kidney tissue as well as in cultured and ex vivo sorted hypoxic endothelial cells and tubular epithelial cells. Malat1 was transcriptionally activated by hypoxia-inducible factor 1-α. In vitro, Malat1 inhibition reduced proliferation and the number of endothelial cells in the S-phase of the cell cycle. In vivo, Malat1 knockout and wildtype mice showed similar degrees of outer medullary tubular epithelial injury, proliferation, capillary rarefaction, inflammation and fibrosis, survival and kidney function. Small-RNA sequencing and whole genome expression analysis revealed only minor changes between ischemic Malat1 knockout and wildtype mice. Contrary to previous studies, which suggested a prominent role of Malat1 in the induction of disease, we did not confirm an in vivo role of Malat1 concerning renal I/R-injury.
Objectives: Investigate the effectiveness of a complex intervention aimed at improving the appropriateness of medication in older patients with multimorbidity in general practice.
Design: Pragmatic, cluster randomised controlled trial with general practice as unit of randomisation.
Setting: 72 general practices in Hesse, Germany.
Participants: 505 randomly sampled, cognitively intact patients (≥60 years, ≥3 chronic conditions under pharmacological treatment, ≥5 long-term drug prescriptions with systemic effects); 465 patients and 71 practices completed the study.
Interventions: Intervention group (IG): The healthcare assistant conducted a checklist-based interview with patients on medication-related problems and reconciled their medications. Assisted by a computerised decision support system, the general practitioner optimised medication, discussed it with patients and adjusted it accordingly. The control group (CG) continued with usual care.
Outcome measures: The primary outcome was a modified Medication Appropriateness Index (MAI, excluding item 10 on cost-effectiveness), assessed in blinded medication reviews and calculated as the difference between baseline and after 6 months; secondary outcomes after 6 and 9 months’ follow-up: quality of life, functioning, medication adherence, and so on.
Results: At baseline, a high proportion of patients had appropriate to mildly inappropriate prescriptions (MAI 0–5 points: n=350 patients). Randomisation revealed balanced groups (IG: 36 practices/252 patients; CG: 36/253). Intervention had no significant effect on primary outcome: mean MAI sum scores decreased by 0.3 points in IG and 0.8 points in CG, resulting in a non-significant adjusted mean difference of 0.7 (95% CI −0.2 to 1.6) points in favour of CG. Secondary outcomes showed non-significant changes (quality of life slightly improved in IG but continued to decline in CG) or remained stable (functioning, medication adherence).
Conclusions: The intervention had no significant effects. Many patients already received appropriate prescriptions and enjoyed good quality of life and functional status. We can therefore conclude that in our study, there was not enough scope for improvement.
Trial registration number: ISRCTN99526053. NCT01171339; Results.
We explore a combinatorial framework which efficiently quantifies the asymmetries between minima and maxima in local fluctuations of time series. We first showcase its performance by applying it to a battery of synthetic cases. We find rigorous results on some canonical dynamical models (stochastic processes with and without correlations, chaotic processes) complemented by extensive numerical simulations for a range of processes which indicate that the methodology correctly distinguishes different complex dynamics and outperforms state of the art metrics in several cases. Subsequently, we apply this methodology to real-world problems emerging across several disciplines including cases in neurobiology, finance and climate science. We conclude that differences between the statistics of local maxima and local minima in time series are highly informative of the complex underlying dynamics and a graph-theoretic extraction procedure allows to use these features for statistical learning purposes.
The long-chain fatty acid receptor FFAR1 is highly expressed in pancreatic β-cells. Synthetic FFAR1 agonists can be used as antidiabetic drugs to promote glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS). However, the physiological role of FFAR1 in β-cells remains poorly understood. Here we show that 20-HETE activates FFAR1 and promotes GSIS via FFAR1 with higher potency and efficacy than dietary fatty acids such as palmitic, linoleic, and α-linolenic acid. Murine and human β-cells produce 20-HETE, and the ω-hydroxylase-mediated formation and release of 20-HETE is strongly stimulated by glucose. Pharmacological inhibition of 20-HETE formation and blockade of FFAR1 in islets inhibits GSIS. In islets from type-2 diabetic humans and mice, glucose-stimulated 20-HETE formation and 20-HETE-dependent stimulation of GSIS are strongly reduced. We show that 20-HETE is an FFAR1 agonist, which functions as an autocrine positive feed-forward regulator of GSIS, and that a reduced glucose-induced 20-HETE formation contributes to inefficient GSIS in type-2 diabetes.
Der Beitrag bietet eine Übersicht zu den Zusammenhängen zwischen Immaterialgüterrechten (IP [intellectual property]-Rechte), Privatautonomie und Innovation. Demnach beruht das IP-Recht auf der Annahme, dass erst die Kombination aus fungiblen Ausschließlichkeitsrechten und Privatautonomie – also die juristische Form der Marktwirtschaft – einen innovationsförderlichen Effekt verspricht. Dementsprechend kombiniert das geltende Recht ein hohes materielles IP-Schutzniveau mit einer weitreichenden Anerkennung der Privatautonomie der Berechtigten. Dieser Regulierungsansatz hat den Vorteil, dass sehr anpassungsfähige Rahmenbedingungen für Innovationen geschaffen werden. Wer für seine Innovation eine umfassende Exklusivität benötigt, kann unter Geltung der beiden genannten Prinzipien ebenso operieren wie Akteure, die auf IP-Schutz teilweise oder ganz verzichten möchten, weil ihnen dies unter den gegebenen Wettbewerbsbedingungen vorzugswürdig erscheint. Und doch erläutert der Beitrag, dass die naheliegende Folgerung zu kurz greift, der Gesetzgeber könne sich darauf beschränken, möglichst umfassende und zugleich fungible IP-Rechte zu kodifizieren, da der Markt stets für eine effiziente und auch sonst sozial wünschenswerte Ressourcenallokation sorge. Denn die mit ausschließlichen IP-Rechten verbundenen Transaktionskosten stehen diesem Ziel nicht selten im Wege. Damit zeigt sich, dass keine noch so elaborierte Vertragsrechtstheorie die Frage nach dem Sinn des logisch vorrangigen Eigentums erübrigt.
Das Immaterialgüterrecht bildet eine der ältesten und inzwischen umfangreichsten Materien des Einheitsprivatrechts. Fast alle Staaten der Erde sind Mitglieder der World Intellectual Property Organization und bekennen sich als solche zur Förderung des „geistigen Eigentums“. Allerdings ist der Rechtsschutz nach dem seinerseits universell anerkannten Territorialitätsprinzip auf das Territorium des jeweiligen Gesetzgebers beschränkt. Zu dieser geografischen Fragmentierung treten fremdenrechtliche Beschränkungen des Zugangs zum lokalen Rechtsschutz hinzu. Der Beitrag erläutert, welche Akteure die Spannung zwischen globaler Kommunikation und fragmentiertem Immaterialgüterrechtsschutz auf welche Weisen regulativ bearbeiten. Dabei wird unterschieden zwischen der Rechtsangleichung bei fortdauernder Fragmentierung, der Schaffung supranational einheitlicher Verfahren, Immaterialgüterrechte und Gerichte sowie informellen Kooperationen zwischen Privaten und Patentämtern. Die Leitfrage der Bestandsaufnahme lautet, ob all diese Phänomene im Sinne von Kropholler und David als funktionales Einheitsrecht begriffen werden können, ob es sich also um Rechtssätze handelt, bei denen die Einheitlichkeit ihrer Geltung im Interesse des unverfälschten internationalen Handels zu einem besonderen Rechtszweck erhoben wurde, oder ob man lediglich objektiv-formal eine rechtlich bindende Einheitlichkeit konstatieren kann, die primär ein anderes Ziel verfolgt, nämlich: die weltweite Stärkung des Immaterialgüterrechtsschutzes. Den Abschluss bildet eine kritische Stellungnahme zur verbreiteten Annahme, die weit fortgeschrittene Vereinheitlichung des Immaterialgüterrechts sei ein großartiger Erfolg.
Target-specific treatment modalities are currently not available for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), and acquired chemotherapy resistance is a primary obstacle for the treatment of these tumors. Here we employed derivatives of BT-549 and MDA-MB-468 TNBC cell lines that were adapted to grow in the presence of either 5-Fluorouracil, Doxorubicin or Docetaxel in an aim to identify molecular pathways involved in the adaptation to drug-induced cell killing. All six drug-adapted BT-549 and MDA-MB-468 cell lines displayed cross resistance to chemotherapy and decreased apoptosis sensitivity. Expression of the anti-apoptotic co-chaperone BAG3 was notably enhanced in two thirds (4/6) of the six resistant lines simultaneously with higher expression of HSP70 in comparison to parental controls. Doxorubicin-resistant BT-549 (BT-549rDOX20) and 5-Fluorouracil-resistant MDA-MB-468 (MDA-MB-468r5-FU2000) cells were chosen for further analysis with the autophagy inhibitor Bafilomycin A1 and lentiviral depletion of ATG5, indicating that enhanced cytoprotective autophagy partially contributes to increased drug resistance and cell survival. Stable lentiviral BAG3 depletion was associated with a robust down-regulation of Mcl-1, Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, restoration of drug-induced apoptosis and reduced cell adhesion in these cells, and these death-sensitizing effects could be mimicked with the BAG3/Hsp70 interaction inhibitor YM-1 and by KRIBB11, a selective transcriptional inhibitor of HSF-1. Furthermore, BAG3 depletion was able to revert the EMT-like transcriptional changes observed in BT-549rDOX20 and MDA-MB-468r5-FU2000 cells. In summary, genetic and pharmacological interference with BAG3 is capable to resensitize TNBC cells to treatment, underscoring its relevance for cell death resistance and as a target to overcome therapy resistance of breast cancer.
Germany Inc. was an idiosyncratic form of industrial organization that put financial institutions at the center. This paper argues that the consumption of private benefits in related party transactions by these key agents can be understood as a compensation for their coordinating and monitoring function in Germany Inc. As a consequence, legal tools apt to curb tunneling remained weak in Germany from the perspective of outside shareholders. While banks were in a position to use their firm-level knowledge and influence to limit rent-seeking by other related parties, their own behavior was not subject to meaningful controls. With the dismantling of Germany Inc. banks seized their monitoring function and left an unprecedented void with regard to related party transactions. Hence, a “traditionalist” stance which opposes law reform for related party transactions in Germany negatively affects capital market development, growth opportunities and ultimately social welfare.
We characterize the optimal linear tax on capital in an Overlapping Generations model with two period lived households facing uninsurable idiosyncratic labor income risk. The Ramsey government internalizes the general equilibrium feedback of private precautionary saving. For logarithmic utility our full analytical solution of the Ramsey problem shows that the optimal aggregate saving rate is independent of income risk. The optimal time-invariant tax on capital is increasing in income risk. Its sign depends on the extent of risk and on the Pareto weight of future generations. If the Ramsey tax rate that maximizes steady state utility is positive, then implementing this tax rate permanently generates a Pareto-improving transition even if the initial equilibrium is dynamically efficient. We generalize our results to Epstein-Zin-Weil utility and show that the optimal steady state saving rate is increasing in income risk if and only if the intertemporal elasticity of substitution is smaller than 1.
This paper investigates the roles psychological biases play in empirically estimated deviations between subjective survival beliefs (SSBs) and objective survival probabilities (OSPs). We model deviations between SSBs and OSPs through age-dependent inverse S-shaped probability weighting functions (PWFs), as documented in experimental prospect theory. Our estimates suggest that the implied measures for cognitive weakness, likelihood insensitivity, and those for motivational biases, relative pessimism, increase with age. We document that direct measures of cognitive weakness and motivational attitudes share these trends. Our regression analyses confirm that these factors play strong quantitative roles in the formation of subjective survival beliefs. In particular, cognitive weakness is an increasingly important contributor to the overestimation of survival chances in old age.
This paper is the national report for Germany prepared for the to the 20th General Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law 2018 and gives an overview of the regulation of crowdfunding in Germany and the typical design of crowdfunding campaigns under this legal framework. After a brief survey of market data, it delineates the classification of crowdfunding transactions in German contract law and their treatment under the applicable conflict of laws regime. It then turns to the relevant rules in prudential banking regulation and capital market law. It highlights disclosure requirements that flow from both contractual obligations of the initiators of campaigns vis-à-vis contributors and securities regulation (prospectus regime). After sketching the most important duties of the parties involved in crowdfunding, the report also looks at the key features of the respective transactions’ tax treatment.
This paper revisits the macroeconomic effects of the large-scale asset purchase programmes launched by the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England from 2008. Using a Bayesian VAR, we investigate the macroeconomic impact of shocks to asset purchase announcements and assess changes in their effectiveness based on subsample analysis. The results suggest that the early asset purchase programmes had significant positive macroeconomic effects, while those of the subsequent ones were weaker and in part not significantly different from zero. The reduced effectiveness seems to reflect in part better anticipation of asset purchase programmes over time, since we find significant positive macroeconomic effects when we consider shocks to survey expectations of the Federal Reserve’s last asset purchase programme. Finally, in all estimations we find a significant and persistent positive impact of asset purchase shocks on stock prices.
Objective: The influence of the jaw position on postural control, body posture, walking and running pattern has been reported in the literature. All these movements have in common that a relatively small, but well controlled muscle activation is required. The induced effects on motor output through changed jaw positions have been small. Therefore, it has been questioned if it could still be observed in maximal muscle activation.
Method: Twenty-three healthy, mid age recreational runners (mean age = 34.0 ± 10.3 years) participated in this study. Three different jump tests (squat jump, counter movement jump, and drop jumps from four different heights) and three maximal strength tests (trunk flexion and extension, leg press of the right and left leg) were conducted. Four different dental occlusion conditions and an additional familiarization condition were tested. Subjects performed the tests on different days for which the four occlusion conditions were randomly changed.
Results: No familiarization effect was found. Occlusion conditions with a relaxation position and with a myocentric condylar position showed significantly higher values for several tests compared to the neutral condition and the maximal occlusion position. Significance was found in the squat jump, countermovement jump, the drop jump from 32cm and 40cm, trunk extension, leg press force and rate of force development. The effect due to the splint conditions is an improvement between 3% and 12% (min and max). No influence of the jaw position on symmetry or balance between extension and flexion muscle was found.
Conclusion: An influence of occlusion splints on rate of force development (RFD) and maximal strength tests could be confirmed. A small, but consistent increase in the performance parameters could be measured. The influence of the occlusion condition is most likely small compared to other influences as for example training status, age, gender and circadian rhythm.
A new Mexican species of Ochraethes Chevrolat, 1860 (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Cerambycinae, Clytini) is described: Ochraethes skillmani Wappes, Santos-Silva and Botero. Plocaederus mirim Martins and Monné, 2002 (Cerambycini) is redescribed and its female is figured for the first time. New geographical records in Plocaederus Dejean, 1835 are also provided.
A taxonomic revision of Panamanian species of the genus Dasymutilla Ashmead (Hymenoptera, Mutillidae) is presented and a key for the six species is given, all recognized from both sexes. Dasymutilla colorado Cambra, Williams and Quintero sp. nov., from central and eastern Panama, is described and illustrated. Sex associations permitted us to make the following five synonymies: D. sleipniri Manley and Pitts, 2007 (male) under D. phya (Cameron, 1895) (female); D. deyrollesi Mickel, 1937 (male) and Sphaerophthama [sic.] temaxensis Cameron, 1895 under Dasymutilla araneoides (Smith, 1862) (female); D. ionothorax Manley and Pitts, 2007 (male) under Dasymutilla spilota Manley and Pitts, 2007 (female); and D. guanacaste Manley and Pitts, 2007 (male) under D. paradoxa (Gerstaecker, 1874) (female). Seasonal flight activity for Dasymutilla from six years of continuous malaise trappings in Barro Colorado Island is presented.
A full understanding of the origin, formation and degradation of volatile compounds that contribute to wine aroma is required before wine style can be effectively managed. Fractionation of grapes represents a convenient and robust method to simplify the grape matrix to enhance our understanding of the grape contribution to volatile compound production during yeast fermentation. In this study, acetone extracts of both Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon grape berries were fractionated and model wines produced by spiking aliquots of these grape fractions into model grape juice must and fermented. Non-targeted SPME-GCMS analyses of the wines showed that several medium chain fatty acid ethyl esters were more abundant in wines made by fermenting model musts spiked with certain fractions. Further fractionation of the non-polar fractions and fermentation of model must after addition of these fractions led to the identification of a mixture of polyunsaturated triacylglycerides that, when added to fermenting model must, increase the concentration of medium chain fatty acid ethyl esters in wines. Dosage-response fermentation studies with commercially-available trilinolein revealed that the concentration of medium chain fatty acid ethyl esters can be increased by the addition of this triacylglyceride to model musts. This work suggests that grape triacylglycerides can enhance the production of fermentation-derived ethyl esters and show that this fractionation method is effective in segregating precursors or factors involved in altering the concentration of fermentation volatiles.
Drugs may cause liver injury in a few susceptible individuals, but the molecular events that lead to this idiosyncratic, largely dose-independent and non-predictable drug-induced liver injury (DILI) are mostly unknown, since animal models to explore the pathogenetic mechanisms of human idiosyncratic DILI are not yet reliable.
Brachiopod shells are the most widely used geological archive for the reconstruction of the temperature and the oxygen isotope composition of Phanerozoic seawater. However, it is not conclusive whether brachiopods precipitate their shells in thermodynamic equilibrium. In this study, we investigated the potential impact of kinetic controls on the isotope composition of modern brachiopods by measuring the oxygen and clumped isotope compositions of their shells. Our results show that clumped and oxygen isotope compositions depart from thermodynamic equilibrium due to growth rate-induced kinetic effects. These departures are in line with incomplete hydration and hydroxylation of dissolved CO2. These findings imply that the determination of taxon-specific growth rates alongside clumped and bulk oxygen isotope analyses is essential to ensure accurate estimates of past ocean temperatures and seawater oxygen isotope compositions from brachiopods.
In dieser Arbeit soll identifiziert werden, welcher der zahlreichen Vertreter einer Arzneistoffklasse sich letztlich auf dem Markt durchsetzen kann und ob bestimmte pharmakokinetische, pharmakodynamische, klinische oder praktische Substanzeigenschaften retrospektiv für den Markterfolg einer Substanz verantwortlich gemacht werden können. Zudem stellt sich die Frage, ob und in wie fern Analogpräparate einen Nutzen in der Arzneimitteltherapie mit sich bringen, obwohl ihnen zum Zeitpunkt ihrer Markteinführung nur ein geringer Innovationsgrad zugebilligt wurde. Um derartige Rückschlüsse ziehen zu können wurden exemplarisch folgende fünf Arzneistoffklassen untersucht, die sich durch eine Vielzahl an Vertretern auszeichnen: Arsphenamine, Sulfonamide, Benzodiazepine, Glucocorticoide sowie Betablocker. Der Untersuchungszeitraum bemisst sich folglich vom Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts, als industriell gefertigte, chemisch definierte hochpotente Wirkstoffe die Therapie zu bestimmen begannen, bis etwa zum letzten Drittel des 20. Jahrhunderts als Preise und Kostenerstattungsfragen zusätzlich zu Substanzeigenschaften für den Markterfolg mitbestimmend wurden.
Exploring biophysical properties of virus-encoded components and their requirement for virus replication is an exciting new area of interdisciplinary virological research. To date, spatial resolution has only rarely been analyzed in computational/biophysical descriptions of virus replication dynamics. However, it is widely acknowledged that intracellular spatial dependence is a crucial component of virus life cycles. The hepatitis C virus-encoded NS5A protein is an endoplasmatic reticulum (ER)-anchored viral protein and an essential component of the virus replication machinery. Therefore, we simulate NS5A dynamics on realistic reconstructed, curved ER surfaces by means of surface partial differential equations (sPDE) upon unstructured grids. We match the in silico NS5A diffusion constant such that the NS5A sPDE simulation data reproduce experimental NS5A fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) time series data. This parameter estimation yields the NS5A diffusion constant. Such parameters are needed for spatial models of HCV dynamics, which we are developing in parallel but remain qualitative at this stage. Thus, our present study likely provides the first quantitative biophysical description of the movement of a viral component. Our spatio-temporal resolved ansatz paves new ways for understanding intricate spatial-defined processes central to specfic aspects of virus life cycles.
The behavioral sciences, including most of psychology, seek to explain and predict behavior with the help of theories and models that involve concepts (e.g., attitudes) that are subsequently translated into measures. Currently, some subdisciplines such as social psychology focus almost exclusively on measures that demand reflection or even introspection when administered to persons. We argue that such a focus hinders progress in explaining behavior. One major reason is that such an exclusive focus on reflections results in common method bias, which then produces spurious relations, or in other words, low discriminant validity. Without the valid measurement of theoretical concepts, theoretical assumptions cannot be tested, and hence, theory development will be hampered. We argue that the use of a greater variety of methods would reduce these problems and would in turn foster theory building. Using a representative sample of N = 472 participants (age: M = 51.0, SD = 17.7; 54% female), we compared the validity of a classical introspective attitude measure (i.e., the New Ecological Paradigm) with that of an alternative attitude measure (i.e., the General Ecological Behavior scale). The latter measure, which was based on self-reported behavior, showed substantially better validity that we argue could aid theory development.
Tumor progression largely depends on the presence of alternatively polarized (M2) tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), whereas the classical M1-polarized macrophages can promote anti-tumorigenic immune responses. Thus, selective inhibition of M2-TAMs is a desirable anti-cancer approach in highly resistant tumor entities such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or breast cancer. We here examined whether a peptide that selectively binds to and is internalized by in vitro-differentiated murine M2 macrophages as compared to M1 macrophages, termed M2pep, could be used to selectively target TAMs in HCC and breast carcinoma. We confirmed selectivity of M2pep for in vitro M2 polarized macrophages. Upon incubation of suspended mixed 4T1 tumor cells with M2pep, high amounts of the TAMs were found to be associated with M2pep, whereas in mixed tumor cell suspensions from two HCC mouse models, M2pep showed only low-degree binding to TAMs. M2pep also showed low-degree targeting of liver macrophages. This indicates that the TAMs in different tumor entities show different targeting of M2pep and that M2pep is a very promising approach to develop selective M2-TAM-targeting in tumor entities containing M2-TAMs with significant amounts of the so far elusive M2pep receptor(s).
Knowledge about the biogeographic affinities of the world’s tropical forests helps to better understand regional differences in forest structure, diversity, composition, and dynamics. Such understanding will enable anticipation of region-specific responses to global environmental change. Modern phylogenies, in combination with broad coverage of species inventory data, now allow for global biogeographic analyses that take species evolutionary distance into account. Here we present a classification of the world’s tropical forests based on their phylogenetic similarity. We identify five principal floristic regions and their floristic relationships: (i) Indo-Pacific, (ii) Subtropical, (iii) African, (iv) American, and (v) Dry forests. Our results do not support the traditional neo- versus paleotropical forest division but instead separate the combined American and African forests from their Indo-Pacific counterparts. We also find indications for the existence of a global dry forest region, with representatives in America, Africa, Madagascar, and India. Additionally, a northern-hemisphere Subtropical forest region was identified with representatives in Asia and America, providing support for a link between Asian and American northern-hemisphere forests.
Background: Current approved drugs for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) only attenuate symptoms, but do not cure the disease. The pirinixic acid derivate MH84 has been characterized as a dual gamma-secretase/proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) modulator in vitro. Pharmacokinetic studies in mice showed that MH84 is bioavailable after oral administration and reaches the brain. We recently demonstrated that MH84 improved mitochondrial dysfunction in a cellular model of AD. In the present study, we extended the pharmacological characterization of MH84 to 3-month-old Thy-1 AβPPSL mice (harboring the Swedish and London mutation in human amyloid precursor protein (APP)) which are characterized by enhanced AβPP processing and cerebral mitochondrial dysfunction, representing a mouse model of early AD.
Methods: Three-month-old Thy-1 AβPPSL mice received 12 mg/kg b.w. MH84 by oral gavage once a day for 21 days. Mitochondrial respiration was analyzed in isolated brain mitochondria, and mitochondrial membrane potential and ATP levels were determined in dissociated brain cells. Citrate synthase (CS) activity was determined in brain tissues and MitoTracker Green fluorescence was measured in HEK293-AβPPwt and HEK293-AβPPsw cells. Soluble Aβ1–40 and Aβ1–42 levels were determined using ELISA. Western blot analysis and qRT-PCR were used to measure protein and mRNA levels, respectively.
Results: MH84 reduced cerebral levels of the β-secretase-related C99 peptide and of Aβ40 levels. Mitochondrial dysfunction was ameliorated by restoring complex IV (cytochrome-c oxidase) respiration, mitochondrial membrane potential, and levels of ATP. Induction of PPARγ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) mRNA and protein expression was identified as a possible mode of action that leads to increased mitochondrial mass as indicated by enhanced CS activity, OXPHOS levels, and MitoTracker Green fluorescence.
Conclusions: MH84 modulates β-secretase processing of APP and improves mitochondrial dysfunction by a PGC-1α-dependent mechanism. Thus, MH84 seems to be a new promising therapeutic agent with approved in-vivo activity for the treatment of AD.
Damage control resuscitation may lead to postoperative intra-abdominal hypertension or abdominal compartment syndrome. These conditions may result in a vicious, self-perpetuating cycle leading to severe physiologic derangements and multiorgan failure unless interrupted by abdominal (surgical or other) decompression. Further, in some clinical situations, the abdomen cannot be closed due to the visceral edema, the inability to control the compelling source of infection or the necessity to re-explore (as a “planned second-look” laparotomy) or complete previously initiated damage control procedures or in cases of abdominal wall disruption. The open abdomen in trauma and non-trauma patients has been proposed to be effective in preventing or treating deranged physiology in patients with severe injuries or critical illness when no other perceived options exist. Its use, however, remains controversial as it is resource consuming and represents a non-anatomic situation with the potential for severe adverse effects. Its use, therefore, should only be considered in patients who would most benefit from it. Abdominal fascia-to-fascia closure should be done as soon as the patient can physiologically tolerate it. All precautions to minimize complications should be implemented.
The contribution of upper body movements to dynamic balance regulation during challenged locomotion
(2018)
Recent studies suggest that in addition to movements between ankle and hip joints, movements of the upper body, in particular of the arms, also significantly contribute to postural control. In line with these suggestions, we analyzed regulatory movements of upper and lower body joints supporting dynamic balance regulation during challenged locomotion. The participants walked over three beams of varying width and under three different verbally conveyed restrictions of arm posture, to control the potential influence of arm movements on the performance: The participants walked with their arms stretched out perpendicularly in the frontal plane, spontaneously, i.e., without restrictions to the arm movements, and with their hands on their thighs. After applying an inverse-dynamics analysis to the measured joint kinematics, we investigated the contribution of upper and lower body joints to balance regulation in terms of torque amplitude and variation. On the condition with the hands on the thighs, the contribution of the upper body remains significantly lower than the contribution of the lower body irrespective of beam widths. For spontaneous arm movements and for outstretched arms we find that the upper body (including the arms) contributes to the balancing to a similar extent as the lower body. Moreover, when the task becomes more difficult, i.e., for narrower beam widths, the contribution of the upper body increases, while the contribution of the lower body remains nearly constant. These findings lend further support to the hypothetical existence of an "upper body strategy" complementing the ankle and hip strategies especially during challenging dynamic balance tasks.
The new edition of the 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) classification system for tumors of the hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues was published in September 2017. Under the category of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), the revised document includes seven subcategories: chronic myeloid leukemia, chronic neutrophilic leukemia, polycythemia vera (PV), primary myelofibrosis (PMF), essential thrombocythemia (ET), chronic eosinophilic leukemia-not otherwise specified and MPN, unclassifiable (MPN-U); of note, mastocytosis is no longer classified under the MPN category. In the current review, we focus on the diagnostic criteria for JAK2/CALR/MPL mutation-related MPNs: PV, ET, and PMF. In this regard, the 2016 changes were aimed at facilitating the distinction between masked PV and JAK2-mutated ET and between prefibrotic/early and overtly fibrotic PMF. In the current communication, we (i) provide practically useful resource tables and graphs on the new diagnostic criteria including outcome, (ii) elaborate on the rationale for the 2016 changes, (iii) discuss the complementary role of mutation screening, (iv) address ongoing controversies and propose solutions, (v) attend to the challenges of applying WHO criteria in routine clinical practice, and (vi) outline future directions from the perspectives of the clinical pathologist.
Background: Rare diseases are, by definition, very serious and chronic diseases with a high negative impact on quality of life. Approximately 350 million people worldwide live with rare diseases. The resulting high disease burden triggers health information search, but helpful, high-quality, and up-to-date information is often hard to find. Therefore, the improvement of health information provision has been integrated in many national plans for rare diseases, discussing the telephone as one access option. In this context, this study examines the need for a telephone service offering information for people affected by rare diseases, their relatives, and physicians.
Methods: In total, 107 individuals participated in a qualitative interview study conducted in Germany. Sixty-eight individuals suffering from a rare disease or related to somebody with rare diseases and 39 health care professionals took part. Individual interviews were conducted using a standardized semi-structured questionnaire. Interviews were analysed using the qualitative content analysis, triangulating patients, relatives, and health care professionals. The fulfilment of qualitative data processing standards has been controlled for.
Results: Out of 68 patients and relatives and 39 physicians, 52 and 18, respectively, advocated for the establishment of a rare diseases telephone service. Interviewees expected a helpline to include expert staffing, personal contact, good availability, low technical barriers, medical and psychosocial topics of counselling, guidance in reducing information chaos, and referrals. Health care professionals highlighted the importance of medical topics of counselling—in particular, differential diagnostics—and referrals.
Conclusions: Therefore, the need for a national rare diseases helpline was confirmed in this study. Due to limited financial resources, existing offers should be adapted in a stepwise procedure in accordance with the identified attributes.
Background: The Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) represents the key enzyme in catecholamine degradation. Recent studies suggest that the COMT rs4680 polymorphism is associated with the response to endogenous and exogenous catecholamines. There are, however, conflicting data regarding the COMT Met/Met phenotype being associated with an increased risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) after cardiac surgery. The aim of the current study is to prospectively investigate the impact of the COMT rs4680 polymorphism on the incidence of AKI in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.
Methods: In this prospective single center cohort study consecutive patients hospitalized for elective cardiac surgery including cardiopulmonary-bypass (CPB) were screened for participation. Demographic clinical data, blood, urine and tissue samples were collected at predefined time points throughout the clinical stay. AKI was defined according to recent recommendations of the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcome (KDIGO) group. Genetic analysis was performed after patient enrolment was completed.
Results: Between April and December 2014, 150 patients were recruited. The COMT genotypes were distributed as follows: Val/Met 48.7%, Met/Met 29.3%, Val/Val 21.3%. No significant differences were found for demography, comorbidities, or operative strategy according to the underlying COMT genotype. AKI occurred in 35 patients (23.5%) of the total cohort, and no differences were evident between the COMT genotypes (20.5% Met/Met, 24.7% Val/Met, 25.0% Val/Val, p = 0.66). There were also no differences in the post-operative period, including ICU or in-hospital stay.
Conclusions: We did not find statistically significant variations in the risk for postoperative AKI, length of ICU or in-hospital stay according to the underlying COMT genotype.