632 research outputs found
GeschÀftsmodelle in der Plattformökonomie: Eine Untersuchung im deutschen Bekleidungshandel
Digitale Plattformen entwickeln sich zu dem dominanten GeschĂ€ftsmodell im E-Commerce. Durch ihre speziellen Logiken und Funktionsweisen â die so genannte Plattformökonomie â verĂ€ndern sie ganze Branchen und MĂ€rkte. Die wissenschaftliche Auseinandersetzung mit diesem Forschungsfeld findet vor allem auf mikroökonomischer, transaktionskostenorientierter Ebene statt. Dabei steht hĂ€ufig die institutionelle Rolle der Plattform im Vordergrund. Die konkreten GeschĂ€ftsmodelle in der Plattformökonomie sind hingegen bisher nur unzureichend erforscht. Die vorliegende Arbeit verschreibt sich daher dem Ziel, den Einfluss der Plattformökonomie auf GeschĂ€ftsmodelle im E-Commerce darzustellen. Dies soll am Beispiel des deutschen Bekleidungshandels geschehen. Insbesondere die praktische Relevanz dieses Themas wird in der Untersuchung theoretisch möglicher und praktisch bedeutsamer GeschĂ€ftsmodelle aufgezeigt. DarĂŒber hinaus tragen zahlreiche Interviews mit EntscheidungstrĂ€gern wichtiger Branchenakteure dazu bei, die Wirkung der Plattformökonomie auf die wirtschaftliche RealitĂ€t des deutschen Bekleidungshandels darzustellen. So soll ein Beitrag fĂŒr das wissenschaftliche VerstĂ€ndnis von GeschĂ€ftsmodellen in der Plattformökonomie geleistet werden. Zudem werden konkrete Empfehlungen fĂŒr die Gestaltung des GeschĂ€ftsmodells erarbeitet
Gemfibrozil-Induced Intracellular Triglyceride Increase in SH-SY5Y, HEK and Calu-3 Cells
Gemfibrozil is a drug that has been used for over 40 years to lower triglycerides in blood.
As a ligand for peroxisome proliferative-activated receptor-alpha (PPARα), which is expressed in
many tissues, it induces the transcription of numerous genes for carbohydrate and lipid-metabolism.
However, nothing is known about how intracellular lipid-homeostasis and, in particular, triglycerides
are affected. As triglycerides are stored in lipid-droplets, which are known to be associated with many
diseases, such as Alzheimerâs disease, cancer, fatty liver disease and type-2 diabetes, treatment with
gemfibrozil could adversely affect these diseases. To address the question whether gemfibrozil also
affects intracellular lipid-levels, SH-SY5Y, HEK and Calu-3 cells, representing three different metabolically active organs (brain, lung and kidney), were incubated with gemfibrozil and subsequently
analyzed semi-quantitatively by mass-spectrometry. Importantly, all cells showed a strong increase
in intracellular triglycerides (SH-SY5Y: 170.3%; HEK: 272.1%; Calu-3: 448.1%), suggesting that the
decreased triglyceride-levels might be due to an enhanced cellular uptake. Besides the common
intracellular triglyceride increase, a cell-line specific alteration in acylcarnitines are found, suggesting
that especially in neuronal cell lines gemfibrozil increases the transport of fatty acids to mitochondria
and therefore increases the turnover of fatty acids for the benefit of additional energy supply, which
could be important in diseases, such as Alzheimerâs disease
The Effects of Vitamin D Deficiency on Neurodegenerative Diseases
Approximately 90% of the elderly population in the western countries has at least a mild to moderate vitamin D hypovitaminosis. Besides the well-known function of vitamin D in calcium homeostasis, it has been recently found that several enzymes and receptors involved in its homeostasis are expressed in the nervous system and brain suggesting also an important role in the brain homeostasis. Interestingly, epidemiological and clinical studies found reduced vitamin D level associated with an increased risk of several neurodegenerative disorders. In this chapter, we focus on a potential link between vitamin D and Alzheimerâs disease, Parkinsonâs disease, multiple sclerosis, prion disease, and motor neuron disease. Epidemiological studies were summarized, an overview of the known potential underlying pathomolecular mechanisms are given, and results from clinical studies dealing with vitamin D supplementation were presented. As an outlook, recent literature suggesting an impact of vitamin D on autism spectrum disease, depression, and schizophrenia are briefly discussed. In conclusion, the identification of an abundant vitamin D metabolism in the brain and the tight link between the increasing number of several neurological and mental disorders emphasize the need of further research making a clear recommendation of the intake and supplementation of vitamin D in a growing elderly population
Vitamin D and Its Analogues: From Differences in Molecular Mechanisms to Potential Benefits of Adapted Use in the Treatment of Alzheimerâs Disease
Lifestyle habits and insufficient sunlight exposure lead to a high prevalence of vitamin
D hypovitaminosis, especially in the elderly. Recent studies suggest that in central Europe more
than 50% of people over 60 years are not sufficiently supplied with vitamin D. Since vitamin D
hypovitaminosis is associated with many diseases, such as Alzheimerâs disease (AD), vitamin D
supplementation seems to be particularly useful for this vulnerable age population. Importantly, in
addition to vitamin D, several analogues are known and used for different medical purposes. These
vitamin D analogues differ not only in their pharmacokinetics and binding affinity to the vitamin D
receptor, but also in their potential side effects. Here, we discuss these aspects, especially those of the
commonly used vitamin D analogues alfacalcidol, paricalcitol, doxercalciferol, tacalcitol, calcipotriol,
and eldecalcitol. In addition to their pleiotropic effects on mechanisms relevant to AD, potential
effects of vitamin D analogues on comorbidities common in the context of geriatric diseases are
summarized. AD is defined as a complex neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system and
is commonly represented in the elderly population. It is usually caused by extracellular accumulation
of amyloidogenic plaques, consisting of amyloid (AÎČ) peptides. Furthermore, the formation of
intracellular neurofibrillary tangles involving hyperphosphorylated tau proteins contributes to the
pathology of AD. In conclusion, this review emphasizes the importance of an adequate vitamin D
supply and discusses the specifics of administering various vitamin D analogues compared with
vitamin D in geriatric patients, especially those suffering from AD
The Impact of Vitamin E and Other Fat-Soluble Vitamins on AlzheimerÂŽs Disease
Alzheimerâs disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly population, currently affecting 46 million people worldwide. Histopathologically, the disease is characterized by the occurrence of extracellular amyloid plaques composed of aggregated amyloid-ÎČ (AÎČ) peptides and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles containing the microtubule-associated protein tau. AÎČ peptides are derived from the sequential processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) by enzymes called secretases, which are strongly influenced by the lipid environment. Several vitamins have been reported to be reduced in the plasma/serum of AD-affected individuals indicating they have an impact on AD pathogenesis. In this review we focus on vitamin E and the other lipophilic vitamins A, D, and K, and summarize the current knowledge about their status in AD patients, their impact on cognitive functions and AD risk, as well as their influence on the molecular mechanisms of AD. The vitamins might affect the generation and clearance of AÎČ both by direct effects and indirectly by altering the cellular lipid homeostasis. Additionally, vitamins A, D, E, and K are reported to influence further mechanisms discussed to be involved in AD pathogenesis, e.g., AÎČ-aggregation, AÎČ-induced neurotoxicity, oxidative stress, and inflammatory processes, as summarized in this article
Sweet cherry flesh cells burst in non-random clusters along minor veins
Main conclusion: Sweet cherry flesh cells burst when exposed to water but they do so in clusters indicating heterogeneity with respect to osmotic concentration, which depends on proximity to a minor vein. Abstract: Water plays a key role in cracking in sweet cherry fruit. Magnetic resonance imaging has previously indicated preferential partitioning of water along veins. A more negative osmotic potential along veins seems the likely explanation. Here we establish if cell bursting in mature sweet cherry fruit is also associated with the veins. Cell bursting was identified by a novel light microscope technique involving exposure of a cut fruit surface to water or to sucrose solutions. Upon exposure to water there was no bursting of skin cells but for cells of the flesh (mesocarp) bursting increased with time. When the cut surface was exposed to sucrose solutions of decreasing osmotic concentrations (increasing water potentials) the incidence of cell bursting increased from hypertonic (no bursting), to isotonic, to hypotonic. Cell bursting in the outer mesocarp occurred primarily in the vicinity of minor veins that in the inner mesocarp was primarily between radial veins. The median distance between a minor vein and a bursting cell (mean diameter 0.129Â mm) was about 0.318Â mm that between a radial vein and a bursting cell was about 0.497Â mm. In contrast, the distance between adjacent minor veins averaged 2.57Â mm, that between adjacent radial veins averaged 0.83Â mm. Cell bursting tends to occur in clusters. Mapping of cell bursting indicates (1) that a seemingly uniform population of mesocarp cells actually represents a heterogeneous population with regard to their cell osmotic potentials and (2) cell bursting afflicts clusters of neighbouring cells in the vicinities of minor veins
Sensitivity to Angular and Radial Source Movements as a Function of Acoustic Complexity in Normal and Impaired Hearing
In contrast to static sounds, spatially dynamic sounds have received little attention in psychoacoustic research so far. This holds true especially for acoustically complex (reverberant, multisource) conditions and impaired hearing. The current study therefore investigated the influence of reverberation and the number of concurrent sound sources on source movement detection in young normal-hearing (YNH) and elderly hearing-impaired (EHI) listeners. A listening environment based on natural environmental sounds was simulated using virtual acoustics and rendered over headphones. Both near-far (âradialâ) and left-right (âangularâ) movements of a frontal target source were considered. The acoustic complexity was varied by adding static lateral distractor sound sources as well as reverberation. Acoustic analyses confirmed the expected changes in stimulus features that are thought to underlie radial and angular source movements under anechoic conditions and suggested a special role of monaural spectral changes under reverberant conditions. Analyses of the detection thresholds showed that, with the exception of the single-source scenarios, the EHI group was less sensitive to source movements than the YNH group, despite adequate stimulus audibility. Adding static sound sources clearly impaired the detectability of angular source movements for the EHI (but not the YNH) group. Reverberation, on the other hand, clearly impaired radial source movement detection for the EHI (but not the YNH) listeners. These results illustrate the feasibility of studying factors related to auditory movement perception with the help of the developed test setup
GDPR Compliant Collection of Therapist-Patient-Dialogues
According to the Global Burden of Disease list provided by the World Health
Organization (WHO), mental disorders are among the most debilitating
disorders.To improve the diagnosis and the therapy effectiveness in recent
years, researchers have tried to identify individual biomarkers. Gathering
neurobiological data however, is costly and time-consuming. Another potential
source of information, which is already part of the clinical routine, are
therapist-patient dialogues. While there are some pioneering works
investigating the role of language as predictors for various therapeutic
parameters, for example patient-therapist alliance, there are no large-scale
studies. A major obstacle to conduct these studies is the availability of
sizeable datasets, which are needed to train machine learning models. While
these conversations are part of the daily routine of clinicians, gathering them
is usually hindered by various ethical (purpose of data usage), legal (data
privacy) and technical (data formatting) limitations. Some of these limitations
are particular to the domain of therapy dialogues, like the increased
difficulty in anonymisation, or the transcription of the recordings. In this
paper, we elaborate on the challenges we faced in starting our collection of
therapist-patient dialogues in a psychiatry clinic under the General Data
Privacy Regulation of the European Union with the goal to use the data for
Natural Language Processing (NLP) research. We give an overview of each step in
our procedure and point out the potential pitfalls to motivate further research
in this field
Methylxanthines and Neurodegenerative Diseases: An Update
Methylxanthines (MTX) are purine derived xanthine derivatives. Whereas naturally
occurring methylxanthines like caffeine, theophylline or theobromine are widely consumed in food,
several synthetic but also non-synthetic methylxanthines are used as pharmaceuticals, in particular in
treating airway constrictions. Besides the well-established bronchoprotective effects, methylxanthines
are also known to have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties, mediate changes in lipid
homeostasis and have neuroprotective effects. Known molecular mechanisms include adenosine
receptor antagonism, phosphodiesterase inhibition, effects on the cholinergic system, wnt signaling,
histone deacetylase activation and gene regulation. By affecting several pathways associated with
neurodegenerative diseases via different pleiotropic mechanisms and due to its moderate side
effects, intake of methylxanthines have been suggested to be an interesting approach in dealing with
neurodegeneration. Especially in the past years, the impact of methylxanthines in neurodegenerative
diseases has been extensively studied and several new aspects have been elucidated. In this review
we summarize the findings of methylxanthines linked to AlzheimerÂŽs disease, Parkinsonâs disease
and Multiple Sclerosis since 2017, focusing on epidemiological and clinical studies and addressing
the underlying molecular mechanisms in cell culture experiments and animal studies in order to
assess the neuroprotective potential of methylxanthines in these diseases
Prognostic features for quality of life after radical cystectomy and orthotopic neobladder
Purpose: To analyse prognostic features on quality of life (QoL) following radical cystectomy and urinary diversion via orthotopic neobladder in a single-centre patient cohort. Materials and Methods: Postoperative QoL of 152 patients was assessed retrospectively using the validated QLQ-C30 questionnaire. Potential associations of patient's quality of life including pre-and intraoperative characteristics, surgeon experience, postoperative time course, adjuvant therapies, and functional outcome were defined a priori and evaluated. Mann-Whitney-U-, Kruskal-Wallis-, Spearman correlation and post hoc-testing were used. A multivariate analysis using a multiple logistic regression model was performed. A p value 100 previous cystectomies, p=0.007), and nerve-sparing surgery (p=0.001). Patients who underwent secondary chemotherapy or radiotherapy had significant lower QLQ-C30 scores (p=0.04, p=0.02 respectively). Patients who were asymptomatic had a significantly higher quality of life (p= 100 vs. <100 previous cystectomies, p=0.021), and daytime continence (p=0.032). Conclusion: In the present study, we report health-related QoL outcomes in a contemporary patient cohort and confirm preoperative ECOG status, surgeon experience and daytime incontinence as independent prognostic features for a good postoperative QoL
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