Think tank state of the sector 2022

This report provides an annual snapshot of the state of the think tank sector across the globe. Drawing on data from the Open Think Tank Directory and a think tank survey conducted by On Think Tanks, this year's report offers insights to questions such as: Are political funding contexts for think tanks improving or worsening? What big challenges are they facing? What are the most pressing policy issues they're working on? What's the average think tank size, age and turnover? And how do all these answers vary across regions?Add your organisation to the Open Think Tank Directory to support sector transparency and be counted in next year's report

Informe de Expediente Civil No. 12059-2011-0-JR-CI-33 sobre Nulidad de acto jurídico. Informe de Expediente Administrativo 000262-2018/CEB sobre: Eliminación de barreras burocráticas

El presente caso versa sobre una demanda de nulidad de Escritura Pública de prescripción adquisitiva de dominio. La posesión del predio usucapido fue obtenida por la Municipalidad Metropolitana de Lima en el marco de un proceso expropiatorio que la Municipalidad afirma que nunca concluyó. En este proceso se pueden analizar conceptos como la posesión pacífica, la interrupción, el comportarse como propietario y la posibilidad de que el Estado adquiera vía prescripción adquisitiva. Asimismo, permite analizar causales de nulidad como la finalidad ilícita y la vulneración al orden público.En este proceso el denunciante cuestiona la legalidad y la razonabilidad de una restricción horaria impuesta por una Municipalidad para operar, entre otras cosas, discotecas. El INDECOPI descartó la ilegalidad de la medida al haber sido tomando cumpliendo el procedimiento de ley y dentro de las competencias. En primera instancia, se declaró la irrazonabilidad de la medida. En segunda instancia, se consideró que no se habían presentado indicios de que la medida no era carente de razonabilidad. Este expediente permite analizar el requisito de la presentación de indicios en los procedimientos de eliminación de barreras burocráticas. Asimismo, permite analizar el cumplimiento de los requisitos para el dictado de medidas cautelares

Enteroviruses in Respiratory Samples from Paediatric Patients of a Tertiary Care Hospital in Germany

Enteroviruses are associated with various diseases accompanied by rare but severe complications. In recent years, outbreaks of enterovirus D68 and enterovirus A71 associated with severe respiratory infections and neurological complications have been reported worldwide. Since information on molecular epidemiology in respiratory samples is still limited, the genetic diversity of enteroviruses was retrospectively analysed over a 4-year period (2013–2016) in respiratory samples from paediatric patients. Partial viral major capsid protein gene (VP1) sequences were determined for genotyping. Enteroviruses were detected in 255 (6.1%) of 4187 specimens. Phylogenetic analyses of 233 (91.4%) strains revealed 25 different genotypes distributed to Enterovirus A (39.1%), Enterovirus B (34.3%), and Enterovirus D (26.6%). The most frequently detected genotypes were enterovirus D68 (26.6%), coxsackievirus A6 (15.9%), and enterovirus A71 (7.3%). Enterovirus D68 detections were associated with lower respiratory tract infections and increased oxygen demand. Meningitis/encephalitis and other neurological symptoms were related to enterovirus A71, while coxsackievirus A6 was associated with upper respiratory diseases. Prematurity turned out as a potential risk factor for increased oxygen demand during enterovirus infections. The detailed analysis of epidemiological and clinical data contributes to the non-polio enterovirus surveillance in Europe and showed high and rapidly changing genetic diversity of circulating enteroviruses, including different enterovirus D68 variants

What is the burden of osteomyelitis in Germany? An analysis of inpatient data from 2008 through 2018

Background The epidemiology of osteomyelitis in Germany is unknown, which makes it difficult to estimate future demands. Therefore, we aimed to analyse how the numbers of cases have developed over the last decade as a function of osteomyelitis subtype, age group, gender, and anatomical localization. Methods Osteomyelitis rates were quantified based on annual ICD-10 diagnosis codes from German medical institutions between 2008 through 2018, provided by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis). Results Overall osteomyelitis prevalence increased by 10.44% from 15.5 to 16.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants between 2008 through 2018. Out of 11,340 cases in 2018, 47.6% were diagnosed as chronic, 33.2% as acute and 19.2% as unspecified osteomyelitis. Men were often affected than women with 63.4% of all cases compared to 36.6%. The largest proportion of patients comprised the age group 60–69 years (22.1%), followed by 70–79 years (21.7%). A trend towards more osteomyelitis diagnoses in older patients was observed. Lower extremities were most frequently infected with 73.8% of all cases in 2018 (+ 10.8% change). Conclusions Osteomyelitis remains a serious problem for orthopedic and trauma surgery. Prevention methods and interdisciplinary approaches are strongly required

Comment on Lunz et al. Impact and Modification of the New PJI-TNM Classification for Periprosthetic Joint Infections. J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12, 1262

We read with great interest the article by Lunz et al. [1], in which the authors dealt with the new Periprosthetic Joint Infection (PJI)-TNM classification that was recently published by our group (Table 1) [2–4]. PJI represents one of the most feared complications in the orthopedic field, resulting in impaired quality of life, repeated and prolonged hospital stays, and significant morbidity and mortality in affected patients. Still, there is no commonly used classification system that could facilitate the comparison of treatment strategies and patient outcomes [5,6]. Therefore, we are delighted with the authors’ conclusions that “clinicians and researchers should be familiar with the new PJI-TNM classification and start implementing it into their routine practice” [1]. The work of Lunz et al. [1] retrospectively assessed 80 consecutive PJI patients treated with a two-stage exchange and was the first to correlate the PJI-TNM classification to surgical parameters and some clinical outcome parameters, such as need for revision surgery after stage one surgery, the duration of the interim period, and mortality. In addition, Lunz et al. [1] believed that the initial PJI-TNM publication from our group could be improved through certain modifications to the TNM backbone, resulting in a “pTNM” version. An additional “p-status” (type of prosthesis) was proposed to distinguish between standard implants (p0), revision implants (p1), and megaprostheses (p2). Further suggestions were to add an “x” in front of the “p-status” to indicate a loosened implant and to limit the criteria parameters for p, T, N, and M to only 0 = least serious, 1 = moderate, and 2 = most serious by eliminating the letters for the subclassifications of the 0, 1, and 2 categories of our initially proposed classification. They also proposed the replacement of the CCI for the assessment of patients’ comorbidities with the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Physical Status Classification System [7]

Influence of Surface Tension and Evaporation on Melt Dynamics of Aluminum Alloys for Laser Powder Bed Fusion

One of the most important factors during Laser Powder Bed Fusion is a robust and stable process to generate reproducibly dense and crack-free components with the same homogenous and fine-grained microstructure. Among other factors, surface tension influences the robustness of this process. Three aluminum alloys were investigated by means of 3D laser printing with respect to their ability to form lightweight and high-performance structures. The alloys include two Al-Cr based alloys (Zicromal®: Al-Cr-Zr-Mn, Scancromal®: Al-Cr-Sc-Zr) and an Al-Mg based alloy (Scalmalloy®: Al-Mg-Sc-Mn-Zr). The surface tensions of their liquid melts were measured by means of the oscillating droplet method in electromagnetic levitation. Scalmalloy® exhibited a surface tension that was by 3-8% smaller than the other two alloys, over a temperature range of 500 K above their liquidus temperature; the evaporation analysis showed that Scancromal® exhibits significantly less evaporation compared to the other two alloys by an order of magnitude. During the Laser Powder Bed Fusion process, Scalmalloy® presented the most unstable melt dynamics, and Scancromal® appeared to be more robust and stable with less weld spatters and negligible dust deposition, as evidence from the high-speed video observations. The results support the idea that surface tension and evaporation are potentially crucial factors influencing the melt dynamics and also demonstrate the capability of additive manufacturing that produces customized aluminum alloys for aerospace applications

The Use of Augmented Reality to Strengthen Competence in Data Analysis and Problem Solving in Engineering Students at the Universidad del Valle de México

The objective of this research was to analyze the improvement in the data analysis and problem-solving competence of students of industrial and systems engineering (IIS) and mechatronics engineering (IMEC) through the use of this technology and its impact on the results of the undergraduate general examination (EGEL). A training course was held for teachers and students for the design of learning objects (LO), and a questionnaire on the use of AR and the improvement in learning was administered. AR is a technology that has begun to be introduced in different contexts and at different educational levels. The results obtained through the Wilcoxon test and the multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) showed that there were improvements in academic performance with the use of AR and an interest in this tool being used during the academic training process.Laureate EducationRevisión por pare

PNAS plus: plasmodium falciparum responds to amino acid starvation by entering into a hibernatory state

The human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is auxotrophic for most amino acids. Its amino acid needs are met largely through the degradation of host erythrocyte hemoglobin; however the parasite must acquire isoleucine exogenously, because this amino acid is not present in adult human hemoglobin. We report that when isoleucine is withdrawn from the culture medium of intraerythrocytic P. falciparum, the parasite slows its metabolism and progresses through its developmental cycle at a reduced rate. Isoleucine-starved parasites remain viable for 72 h and resume rapid growth upon resupplementation. Protein degradation during starvation is important for maintenance of this hibernatory state. Microarray analysis of starved parasites revealed a 60% decrease in the rate of progression through the normal transcriptional program but no other apparent stress response. Plasmodium parasites do not possess a TOR nutrient-sensing pathway and have only a rudimentary amino acid starvation-sensing eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (eIF2α) stress response. Isoleucine deprivation results in GCN2-mediated phosphorylation of eIF2α, but kinase-knockout clones still are able to hibernate and recover, indicating that this pathway does not directly promote survival during isoleucine starvation. We conclude that P. falciparum, in the absence of canonical eukaryotic nutrient stress-response pathways, can cope with an inconsistent bloodstream amino acid supply by hibernating and waiting for more nutrient to be provided

What Is the Most Effective Empirical Antibiotic Treatment for Early, Delayed, and Late Fracture-Related Infections?

Antibiotic treatment strategies for fracture-related infections (FRI) are often extrapolated from periprosthetic joint infections (PJI), although, in contrast to PJI, detailed analysis of pathogens and their antibiotic resistance is missing. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate antibiotic susceptibility profiles to identify effective empiric antibiotic treatment for early-, delayed-, and late-onset FRI. Patients treated for FRI from 2013 to 2020 were grouped into early (10 weeks) onset of infection. Antibiotic susceptibility profiles were examined with respect to broadly used antibiotics and antibiotic combinations. In total, 117 patients (early n = 19, delayed n = 60, late n = 38) were enrolled. In early-onset FRI, 100.0% efficacy would be achieved by meropenem + vancomycin, gentamicin + vancomycin, co-amoxiclav + glycopeptide, ciprofloxacin + glycopeptide and piperacillin/tazobactam + glycopeptide. For patients with delayed FRI, the highest susceptibility was revealed for meropenem + vancomycin, gentamicin + vancomycin and ciprofloxacin + glycopeptide (96.7%). Meropenem + vancomycin was the most effective empiric antimicrobial in patients with late-onset of infection with 92.1% coverage. No subgroup differences in antibiotic sensitivity profiles were observed except for the combination ciprofloxacin + glycopeptide, which was significantly superior in early FRI (F = 3.304, p = 0.04). Across all subgroups meropenem + vancomycin was the most effective empiric treatment in 95.7% of patients with confirmed susceptibility. Meropenem + vancomycin, gentamicin + vancomycin, co-amoxiclav + glycopeptide are the best therapeutic options for FRI, regardless of the onset of infection. To avoid multidrug resistance, established antibiotic combinations such as co-amoxiclav with a glycopeptide seem to be reasonable as a systemic antibiotic therapy, while vancomycin + gentamicin could be implemented in local antibiotic therapy to reduce adverse events during treatment