Evaluation der nationalen Strategie zur Bekämpfung der Tuberkulose 2012-2017

A b s t r a c t Die nationale Strategie zur Bekämpfung der Tuberkulose wurde 2012 vom Bundesamt für Gesundheit (BAG) lanciert. Die Evaluation hat gezeigt, dass sich die Strategie weitgehend an bewährten Strukturen, Prozessen und Massnahmen zur Bekämpfung der Tuberkulose orientiert. Sie hat entsprechend weder grosse Veränderungen in der Umsetzung noch bei den Risikogruppen sowie Fachleuten im Kontakt mit dieser Zielgruppe ausgelöst. Die Strategie hat vor allem einen ideellen Mehrwert. Die Strategie entspricht einem Bedürfnis nach Legitimierung, Harmonisierung und Aufgabenklärung. Die Strategie ist in sich stimmig. Gemäss mehreren Befragten aus der Westschweiz hat die Strategie zu einer effizienteren TB-Bekämpfung in ihrem Kanton beigetragen. Der grösste Optimierungsbedarf betrifft das Asylwesen. Die Evaluation formuliert vier Empfehlungen: 1. Überführung der wichtigsten Strategieelemente in ein anwendungsfreundlicheres Dokument, 2. Nutzung wichtiger Erkenntnisse der Evaluation für die Entwicklung neuer Strategien, 3. Die überkantonale Zusammenarbeit in der TB-Bekämpfung stärken, 4. Optimierung der TB-Bekämpfung im Asylwesen, 5. Stärkung des Zugangs von Risikogruppen in Zusammenarbeit mit anderen Sektionen

Sixty Years of Fractal Projections

Sixty years ago, John Marstrand published a paper which, among other things, relates the Hausdorff dimension of a plane set to the dimensions of its orthogonal projections onto lines. For many years, the paper attracted very little attention. However, over the past 30 years, Marstrand's projection theorems have become the prototype for many results in fractal geometry with numerous variants and applications and they continue to motivate leading research.Comment: Submitted to proceedings of Fractals and Stochastics

CD98hc facilitates B cell proliferation and adaptive humoral immunity.

The proliferation of antigen-specific lymphocytes and resulting clonal expansion are essential for adaptive immunity. We report here that B cell-specific deletion of the heavy chain of CD98 (CD98hc) resulted in lower antibody responses due to total suppression of B cell proliferation and subsequent plasma cell formation. Deletion of CD98hc did not impair early B cell activation but did inhibit later activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase Erk1/2 and downregulation of the cell cycle inhibitor p27. Reconstitution of CD98hc-deficient B cells with CD98hc mutants showed that the integrin-binding domain of CD98hc was required for B cell proliferation but that the amino acid-transport function of CD98hc was dispensable for this. Thus, CD98hc supports integrin-dependent rapid proliferation of B cells. We propose that the advantage of adaptive immunity favored the appearance of CD98hc in vertebrates

Biomechanical spinal growth modulation and progressive adolescent scoliosis – a test of the 'vicious cycle' pathogenetic hypothesis: Summary of an electronic focus group debate of the IBSE

There is no generally accepted scientific theory for the causes of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). As part of its mission to widen understanding of scoliosis etiology, the International Federated Body on Scoliosis Etiology (IBSE) introduced the electronic focus group (EFG) as a means of increasing debate on knowledge of important topics. This has been designated as an on-line Delphi discussion. The text for this debate was written by Dr Ian A Stokes. It evaluates the hypothesis that in progressive scoliosis vertebral body wedging during adolescent growth results from asymmetric muscular loading in a "vicious cycle" (vicious cycle hypothesis of pathogenesis) by affecting vertebral body growth plates (endplate physes). A frontal plane mathematical simulation tested whether the calculated loading asymmetry created by muscles in a scoliotic spine could explain the observed rate of scoliosis increase by measuring the vertebral growth modulation by altered compression. The model deals only with vertebral (not disc) wedging. It assumes that a pre-existing scoliosis curve initiates the mechanically-modulated alteration of vertebral body growth that in turn causes worsening of the scoliosis, while everything else is anatomically and physiologically 'normal' The results provide quantitative data consistent with the vicious cycle hypothesis. Dr Stokes' biomechanical research engenders controversy. A new speculative concept is proposed of vertebral symphyseal dysplasia with implications for Dr Stokes' research and the etiology of AIS. What is not controversial is the need to test this hypothesis using additional factors in his current model and in three-dimensional quantitative models that incorporate intervertebral discs and simulate thoracic as well as lumbar scoliosis. The growth modulation process in the vertebral body can be viewed as one type of the biologic phenomenon of mechanotransduction. In certain connective tissues this involves the effects of mechanical strain on chondrocytic metabolism a possible target for novel therapeutic intervention