Die normative Binnenstruktur sozialer Milieus und ihre differenzierungstheoretische Erschließung

Der Begriff des sozialen Milieus hat vor allem in seiner Reformulierung durch die Forschungen von Vester et al. (2001) (aber auch: Schulze 1992) einen Wandel erfahren: Er bezeichnet eine Form der Vergemeinschaftung, deren Kohäsion durch lokale und regionale Ausprägungen eines Lebensstils bzw. einer Mentalität und eine relativ starke Interaktionsnähe stabilisiert wird. Vester et al. stützen theoretisch die Analyse sozialer Milieus vor allem auf eine bestimmte Lesart des Habitusbegriffs, die es zu erlauben scheint, Milieus als Gruppen mit ähnlichem Habitus“ (Vester 2001: 24) zu konzipieren. Der Habitus als Gesamtheit „umfassende(r) Klassifikations- Bewertungs- und Handlungsschemata“ (Vester 2001: 169), die eine gemeinsame Haltung, einen gemeinsamen Lebensstil, eine gemeinsame Mentalität erzeugen, führe einerseits nicht nur zur sozialen Kohäsion innerhalb einer sozialen Gruppe, sondern auch zu Ausprägungen sozialer Kohäsion zwischen Personen, deren Beziehungen bzw. Vergemeinschaftungen nicht auf Interaktionsnähe und praktischer Kenntnis beruhen und andererseits zu Differenzierungsformen sozialer Gruppen, die auf der „Distinktionspraxis“ (Vester 2001: 228) der Akteure beruhen. Das Milieukonzept reagiert damit auf eine Verengung des Phänomens der Kohäsion sozialer Gruppen auf die klassifizierbare Differenzierung von Ständen, Schichten, Klassen und sozialer Lagen – mithin auf die Abbildbarkeit der Unterschiede von Lebensstilen auf sozialstrukturelle Bedingungen

Primary extrahepatic alveolar echinococcosis of the lumbar spine and the psoas muscle

Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) of human being caused by Echinococcus multilocularis is a rare but important zoonosis especially in tempered zones of middle Europe and Northern America with endemic character in many countries. Due to the long incubation period, various clinical manifestations, critical prognosis, and outcome AE presents a serious and severe disease. The primary focus of infection is usually the liver. Although secondary affection of visceral organs is possible extrahepatic AE is highly uncommon. Moreover, the involvement of bone and muscle presents with an even lower incidence. In the literature numerous cases on hepatic AE have been reported. However, extrahepatic AE involving bones and/or muscles was described very rarely. We report a case of an 80-year-old man with primary extrahepatic alveolar Echinococcosis of the lumbar spine and the psoas muscle. The etiology, diagnosis, differential diagnoses, treatment options and outcome of this rare disease are discussed in context with the current literature

A large scale hearing loss screen reveals an extensive unexplored genetic landscape for auditory dysfunction

The developmental and physiological complexity of the auditory system is likely reflected in the underlying set of genes involved in auditory function. In humans, over 150 non-syndromic loci have been identified, and there are more than 400 human genetic syndromes with a hearing loss component. Over 100 non-syndromic hearing loss genes have been identified in mouse and human, but we remain ignorant of the full extent of the genetic landscape involved in auditory dysfunction. As part of the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium, we undertook a hearing loss screen in a cohort of 3006 mouse knockout strains. In total, we identify 67 candidate hearing loss genes. We detect known hearing loss genes, but the vast majority, 52, of the candidate genes were novel. Our analysis reveals a large and unexplored genetic landscape involved with auditory function

Novel protein biomarkers for pneumonia and acute exacerbations in COPD: a pilot study

IntroductionCommunity-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) result in high morbidity, mortality, and socio-economic burden. The usage of easily accessible biomarkers informing on disease entity, severity, prognosis, and pathophysiological endotypes is limited in clinical practice. Here, we have analyzed selected plasma markers for their value in differential diagnosis and severity grading in a clinical cohort.MethodsA pilot cohort of hospitalized patients suffering from CAP (n = 27), AECOPD (n = 10), and healthy subjects (n = 22) were characterized clinically. Clinical scores (PSI, CURB, CRB65, GOLD I-IV, and GOLD ABCD) were obtained, and interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-2-receptor (IL-2R), lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP), resistin, thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), lactotransferrin (LTF), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), neutrophil-elastase-2 (ELA2), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), soluble Fas (sFas), as well as TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) were measured in plasma.ResultsIn CAP patients and healthy volunteers, we found significantly different levels of ELA2, HGF, IL-2R, IL-6, IL-8, LBP, resistin, LTF, and TRAIL. The panel of LBP, sFas, and TRAIL could discriminate between uncomplicated and severe CAP. AECOPD patients showed significantly different levels of LTF and TRAIL compared to healthy subjects. Ensemble feature selection revealed that CAP and AECOPD can be discriminated by IL-6, resistin, together with IL-2R. These factors even allow the differentiation between COPD patients suffering from an exacerbation or pneumonia.DiscussionTaken together, we identified immune mediators in patient plasma that provide information on differential diagnosis and disease severity and can therefore serve as biomarkers. Further studies are required for validation in bigger cohorts

The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age  6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score  652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701

Symmetric vs. Asymmetric Punishment Regimes for Bribery

In major legal orders such as UK, the U.S., Germany, and France, bribers and recipients face equally severe criminal sanctions. In contrast, countries like China, Russia, and Japan treat the briber more mildly. Given these differences between symmetric and asymmetric punishment regimes for bribery, one may wonder which punishment strategy is more effective in curbing corruption. For this purpose, we designed and ran a lab experiment in Bonn (Germany) and Shanghai (China) with exactly the same design. The results show that, in both countries, with symmetric punishment recipients are less likely to grant the socially undesirable favor, while bribers are more likely to report to the authorities with asymmetric punishment. In addition, when punishment was asymmetric, corrupt offers were significantly more likely in Shanghai, but not in Bonn. Our results suggest a tradeoff between deterrence and law enforcement. In a forward-looking perspective, lawmakers must decide which aim carries more weight

Can mHealth Technology Help Mitigate the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic?

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A dialog between authors and teachers

The goal of this panel is to examine the following questions with the audience: + What do you as adopters want from us as authors? + Is there a need to rethink the length of modern textbooks? + Is there a consensus among adopters? We are a panel of textbook authors from three corners of the universe (actually three continents): South Africa, the United States of America, Sweden, and England. We each have questions for you, our adopters (customers) from all points of the globe