Immunomodulatory asthma therapy in the equine animal model: A dose‐response study and evaluation of a long‐term effect

Introduction Equine asthma represents a naturally occurring animal model for human allergic neutrophilic asthma. Inhalative nanoparticle‐bound cytosine‐phosphate‐guanosine (CpG‐GNP) immunotherapy, independent of specific allergens, has already shown promising clinical and immunological results in previous studies and offers the possibility to treat the underlying cause of the disease. This study analyses the relationship between dose and response, and evaluates a possible long‐term effect. Methods In the prospective, randomised, double‐blind clinical field study, 29 horses suffering from equine asthma received 10 inhalation treatments with either 187.5 µg CpG‐GNP (CpG single dose [CpGsd]; n = 11), 375 µg CpG‐GNP double dose (CpG double dose [CpGdd]; n = 9) (q48h for 20 days) or 1600 µg beclomethasone (n = 9) (q24h for 10 days). Each horse was examined three times: before the treatment (I), immediately after the 10 inhalations (II), and 8 weeks after the final inhalation (III). The three groups were compared according to clinical and laboratory parameters. The study examined the sustainability of the long‐term effect of the treatment after 8 weeks, as well as the tolerability of the formula as a double dose. Results The CpGsd resulted in a significant improvement in 82% of the parameters, the CpGdd in 72%. In the long‐term evaluation, the CpGsd showed a significant improvement in 100% of the parameters in comparison to the initial values, the CpGdd in 67%. On the immunological level, the bronchoalveolar lavage revealed a significant reduction of IL‐4, IL‐8, and interferon‐γ. Conclusion Both CpG groups displayed significant improvements in clinical and laboratory parameters, especially regarding the long‐term effect of CpGsd. Doubling the CpG dose did not result in any improvement in comparison to the original single dose. On the immunological level, an anti‐inflammatory, as well as an immunomodulatory effect, apart from a Th2‐dominated immune response, could be observed. This immunomodulatory inhalation treatment could indicate a new possibility for human allergic asthma therapy

Transitkunst. Studien zur Literatur 1890-2010

Die Chiffre „Transit“ vereinigt mit Aspekten wie Mobilität, Flüchtigkeit und Vorläufigkeit zentrale Begriffe des Zeiterlebens zwischen 1890 und 2010. Vor dem Hintergrund mehrerer Krisen und Katastrophen sowie tiefgreifender Umwandlungsprozesse erscheint das Leben als Durchgangsstadium, in dem sich nur noch ein temporäres, fragmentarisches Netz von Orientierungspunkten entwerfen lässt. Das Transitäre durchdringt nahezu alle Facetten des Individuums und seiner Lebensbereiche: vom Wahrnehmen der Inkohärenz in der Folge gesellschaftlicher Umwälzungen, über den Verlust ‚sicherer‘ Orte bis zum Erfahren der eigenen Identität als provisorisch. Die Reaktion auf solche Übergangszustände ist oft eine Intensivierung der Suchbewegungen nach Sicherheit, Nähe und Glück, die jedoch selbst zunehmend transitive Zwischenstellungen markieren. Die Literatur zeichnet sich unter dieser Perspektive durch die Adaptation transittypischer Themen und Inhalte aus, desgleichen durch die autoreflexive Übertragung von Konzepten wie Momenthaftigkeit, Unvollständigkeit und Flexibilität in das eigene narrative Programm. Die Beiträge des Bandes nähern sich verschiedenen Formen eines solchen inhaltlichen und/oder formalen ‚Dazwischen‘ an. Die Idee des Transits erweist sich dabei für diese vielfältigen literatur- und kulturwissenschaftlichen Untersuchungen als ebenso funktionale wie inspirierende Klammer, der es gelingt, im bewussten Einlassen auf das im Durchgang Begriffene die heterogenen Facetten des 20. Jahrhunderts zu verbinden: zu einer Art Zeitbild und Ästhetik des Transits

Usability and Workload of Access Technology for People With Severe Motor Impairment: A Comparison of Brain-Computer Interfacing and Eye Tracking.

Background. Eye trackers are widely used among people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and their benefits to quality of life have been previously shown. On the contrary, Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are still quite a novel technology, which also serves as an access technology for people with severe motor impairment. Objective. To compare a visual P300-based BCI and an eye tracker in terms of information transfer rate (ITR), usability, and cognitive workload in users with motor impairments. Methods. Each participant performed 3 spelling tasks, over 4 total sessions, using an Internet browser, which was controlled by a spelling interface that was suitable for use with either the BCI or the eye tracker. At the end of each session, participants evaluated usability and cognitive workload of the system. Results. ITR and System Usability Scale (SUS) score were higher for the eye tracker (Wilcoxon signed-rank test: ITR T = 9, P = .016; SUS T = 12.50, P = .035). Cognitive workload was higher for the BCI (T = 4; P = .003). Conclusions. Although BCIs could be potentially useful for people with severe physical disabilities, we showed that the usability of BCIs based on the visual P300 remains inferior to eye tracking. We suggest that future research on visual BCIs should use eye tracking-based control as a comparison to evaluate performance or focus on nonvisual paradigms for persons who have lost gaze control

Video1_Does distance matter? Embodiment and perception of personalized avatars in relation to the self-observation distance in virtual reality.MP4

Virtual reality applications employing avatar embodiment typically use virtual mirrors to allow users to perceive their digital selves not only from a first-person but also from a holistic third-person perspective. However, due to distance-related biases such as the distance compression effect or a reduced relative rendering resolution, the self-observation distance (SOD) between the user and the virtual mirror might influence how users perceive their embodied avatar. Our article systematically investigates the effects of a short (1 m), middle (2.5 m), and far (4 m) SOD between users and mirror on the perception of their personalized and self-embodied avatars. The avatars were photorealistic reconstructed using state-of-the-art photogrammetric methods. Thirty participants repeatedly faced their real-time animated self-embodied avatars in each of the three SOD conditions, where they were repeatedly altered in their body weight, and participants rated the 1) sense of embodiment, 2) body weight perception, and 3) affective appraisal towards their avatar. We found that the different SODs are unlikely to influence any of our measures except for the perceived body weight estimation difficulty. Here, the participants perceived the difficulty significantly higher for the farthest SOD. We further found that the participants’ self-esteem significantly impacted their ability to modify their avatar’s body weight to their current body weight and that it positively correlated with the perceived attractiveness of the avatar. Additionally, the participants’ concerns about their body shape affected how eerie they perceived their avatars. The participants’ self-esteem and concerns about their body shape influenced the perceived body weight estimation difficulty. We conclude that the virtual mirror in embodiment scenarios can be freely placed and varied at a distance of one to four meters from the user without expecting major effects on the perception of the avatar.</p