Polizei und Suizid

'In der aktuellen Diskussion möglicher neuer Formen des gesellschaftlichen Umgangs mit dem Phänomen der Selbsttötung spielt die Forderung, daß der Tod von eigener Hand von den Institutionen der Sozialkontrolle weniger repressiv als bisher behandelt werden dürfte, eine entscheidende Rolle. Dieser Aufsatz versucht, dieses Problem am Beispiel des Eingreifens der Polizeibehörden, insbesondere der Kriminalpolizei, zu thematisieren. Hierbei ist ein wichtiger Punkt die Speicherung personenbezogener Daten Suizidgefährdeter, die in Computersystemen, obgleich noch nicht überall vollautomatisiert, vorgenommen wird. Was hinsichtlich der polizeilichen Eingriffs-, Überwachungs- und Registrierungsaktivitäten das Konzept des Datenschutzes als Bürgerschutz im Falle eines Suizidversuches tatsächlich bedeutet, wird ausführlich dargestellt. Das Hauptproblem: Ist die polizeiförmige Intervention - wie behauptet wird - tatsächlich fähig, dem Betroffenen Hilfe und Schutz zu verschaffen, und ist es wirklich gerechtfertigt, suizidgefährdete Personen zwecks Gefahrenabwehr unter Überwachung und Kontrolle zu stellen? Gegenstand der Recherchen waren hauptsächlich die Verhältnisse im Lande Bremen.' (Autorenreferat

Investigational medicinal products, related costs and hospital pharmacy services for investigator-initiated trials: A mixed-methods study.

BACKGROUND Conducting high quality investigator-initiated trials (IITs) is challenging and costly. The costs of investigational medicinal products (IMPs) in IITs and the role of hospital pharmacies in the planning of IITs are unclear. We conducted a mixed-methods study to compare planned and actual costs of IMPs in Swiss IITs, to examine potential reasons for differences, and to gather stakeholder views about hospital services for IITs. METHODS We included all IITs with IMP services from the Basel hospital pharmacy invoiced between January 2014 and June 2020 (n = 24). We documented trial and IMP characteristics including planned and actual IMP costs. Our working definition for a substantial cost difference was that the actual IMP costs were more than 10% higher than the planned IMP costs in a trial. We conducted semi-structured interviews with investigators, clinical trials unit and hospital pharmacy staff, and qualitatively analyzed transcribed interviews. RESULTS For 13 IITs we observed no differences between planned and actual costs of IMPs (median, 11'000 US$; interquartile range [IQR], 8'882-16'302 US$), but for 11 IITs we found cost increases from a median of 11'000 US$(IQR, 8'922-36'166 US$) to a median over 28'000 US$(IQR, 13'004-49'777 US$). All multicenter trials and 10 of 11 IITs with patients experienced substantial cost differences. From the interviews we identified four main themes: 1) Patient recruitment and organizational problems were identified as main reasons for cost differences, 2) higher actual IMP costs were bearable for most investigators, 3) IMP services for IITs were not a priority for the hospital pharmacy, and 4) closer collaboration between clinical trial unit and hospital pharmacy staff, and sufficient staff for IITs at the hospital pharmacy could improve IMP services. CONCLUSIONS Multicenter IITs enrolling patients are particularly at risk for higher IMP costs than planned. These trials are more difficult to plan and logistically challenging, which leads to delays and expiring IMP shelf-lives. IMP services of hospital pharmacies are important for IITs in Switzerland, but need to be further developed

A conformational change in the helicase core is necessary but not sufficient for RNA unwinding by the DEAD box helicase YxiN

Cooperative binding of ATP and RNA to DEAD-box helicases induces the closed conformation of their helicase core, with extensive interactions across the domain interface. The bound RNA is bent, and its distortion may constitute the first step towards RNA unwinding. To dissect the role of the conformational change in the helicase core for RNA unwinding, we characterized the RNA-stimulated ATPase activity, RNA unwinding and the propensity to form the closed conformer for mutants of the DEAD box helicase YxiN. The ATPase-deficient K52Q mutant forms a closed conformer upon binding of ATP and RNA, but is deficient in RNA unwinding. A mutation in motif III slows down the catalytic cycle, but neither affects the propensity for the closed conformer nor its global conformation. Hence, the closure of the cleft in the helicase core is necessary but not sufficient for RNA unwinding. In contrast, the G303A mutation in motif V prevents a complete closure of the inter-domain cleft, affecting ATP binding and hydrolysis and is detrimental to unwinding. Possibly, the K52Q and motif III mutants still introduce a kink into the backbone of bound RNA, whereas G303A fails to kink the RNA substrate

Tribological system for cold sheet metal forming based on volatile lubricants and laser structured surfaces

AbschlussberichtA novel tribological system has been developed, in which volatile lubricants (carbon dioxide - CO2 or nitrogen- N2) are used as a substitute for mineral oil-based lubricants in deep drawing processes. This process enables the introduction of an intermediate medium under high pressure through flow-optimized, laser-drilled micro holes into the contact surfaces. This eliminates the need for subsequent, cost-intensive cleaning processes, as the volatile lubricants evaporate without leaving any residue during expansion to ambient pressure. The design of initial micro hole geometries was based on simulations of the flow behaviour of the lubricants passing through, which in turn were validated using pressure reactor tests. In addition, the wetting behaviour of CO2 on relevant surfaces (tool surface and sheet material surface) was investigated experimentally using the captive-bubble-method. Thus, the optimal design of the micro holes (diameter, hole geometry and number of micro holes) could be determined using flat strip drawing tests. The optimal micro hole geometry determined in this way is suited for the use of both CO2 and N2 as volatile lubricant. Furthermore, extensive investigations for the production of the required micro hole geometry by laser drilling were carried out. The fundamentals for drilling micro holes in steel with high aspect ratios could be developed using an ultrashort pulsed research laser with very high pulse energy. Further experiments were conducted using an ultrashort pulsed prototype laser of the kW-class specially developed to increase productivity when drilling a multitude of micro holes with higher average laser power. The novel tribological system has been characterised by means of strip drawing tests and stretch bending tests. For both, CO2 (liquid) and N2 (gaseous), relatively low friction values could be achieved compared to conventional lubricants. It could be shown that deep drawing with both CO2 and N2 as dry lubricants is possible. Here, usage of the volatile lubricants not only allows the replacement of mineral oil based lubricants, but even improves the tribological system with regard to frictional forces in sheet metal forming. The feasibility of the new tribological system has been proven by performing deep drawing tests of rectangular cups. These tests showed a significantly enlarged process window of the forming process, which emphasise the tremendous potential of this new tribological system.12816