Personal Transparency in Perspective: The Impact of Social Networking Sites on the Recruitment Process

The “transparency trend” is hot for the summer of 2011. At least that is what they said in the fashion capitals of Milan, Paris, and London. In the new summer collections, sheer seethrough dresses reveal the beauties of the human body and leave little to the imagination. Architects too are attracted by the intriguing properties of transparent materials to create a new perception of space and boundaries, which challenges some traditional understandings of private living and daily work life. Whereas in the past, it was a Puritan statement to live without curtains at the windows, to show you had nothing to hide, today, the transparent way of life is often used to enable the owner to display their wealth and luxury. Institutions have increasingly followed this transparency trend in fashion and architecture by using glass for their buildings. Transparency is not only a fashion trend, but also a political challenge. Fashion and politics meet in the huge glass buildings of the European Union in Brussels and Strasbourg, which reflect the Union’s strategy to improve its democratic legitimacy; one of the main aims of the Lisbon Treaty (2009). In terms of adaption to this see-through trend, institutions are not only voluntarily moving towards greater transparency, they are being ambushed by those who believe that information is a public good, which should not be guarded by a few. By revealing “suppressed and censored injustices” (WikiLeaks, n.d.), WikiLeaks practices what some call “guerrilla transparency” (The Economist, 2010). When people think of transparency, the recent commotion caused by WikiLeaks’ publication of thousands of documents on nationally and internationally sensitive issues is at the forefront of their minds. This event has triggered a worldwide debate on the balance between state security and citizens’ right to know

Optimizing study design in LPS challenge studies for quantifying drug induced inhibition of TNFα response: Did we miss the prime time?

In this work we evaluate the study design of LPS challenge experiments used for quantification of drug induced inhibition of TNFα response and provide general guidelines of how to improve the study design. Analysis of model simulated data, using a recently published TNFα turnover model, as well as the optimal design tool PopED have been used to find the optimal values of three key study design variables – time delay between drug and LPS administration, LPS dose, and sampling time points – that in turn could make the resulting TNFα response data more informative. Our findings suggest that the current rule of thumb for choosing the time delay should be reconsidered, and that the placement of the measurements after maximal TNFα response are crucial for the quality of the experiment. Furthermore, a literature study summarizing a wide range of published LPS challenge studies is provided, giving a broader perspective of how LPS challenge studies are usually conducted both in a preclinical and clinical setting

Second-generation TNFα turnover model for improved analysis of test compound interventions in LPS challenge studies

This study presents a non-linear mixed effects model describing tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) release after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) provocations in absence or presence of anti-inflammatory test compounds. Inter-occasion variability and the pharmacokinetics of two test compounds have been added to this second-generation model, and the goal is to produce a framework of how to model TNFα response in LPS challenge studies in vivo and demonstrate its general applicability regardless of occasion or type of test compound. Model improvements based on experimental data were successfully implemented and provided a robust model for TNFα response after LPS provocation, as well as reliable estimates of the median pharmacodynamic parameters. The two test compounds, Test Compound A and roflumilast, showed 81.1% and 74.9% partial reduction of TNFα response, respectively, and the potency of Test Compound A was estimated to 0.166 \ub5mol/L. Comparing this study with previously published work reveals that our model leads to biologically reasonable output, handles complex data pooled from different studies, and highlights the importance of accurately distinguishing the stimulatory effect of LPS from the inhibitory effect of the test compound

Weiterentwicklung von Bewertungswerkzeugen zur Charakterisierung der Versorgungssituation von Milchkühen mittels Daten aus der Milchkontrolle

Anhand von 7,4 Mio. Milchkontrollen wurden 15 Milch- und Zweinutzungsrassen verglichen und neue Schemata zur Beurteilung der Versorgung von Milchkühen abgeleitet. Die Validierung erfolgte mit Daten des Testherdenprojekts der RinderAllianz GmbH sowie mit Futter- und Nährstoffaufnahmen und Stoffwechseldaten aus dem deutschlandweiten Verbundprojekt optiKuh. Mit der neuen Dummerstorfer Fütterungsbewertung steht Milcherzeugern ein aussagekräftiges Bewertungswerkzeug zur Verfügung, mit dem eine ausgewogene Ernährung laktierender Kühe und eine ressourcenschonende Versorgung umgesetzt werden können

Continuous noninvasive pulse wave analysis using finger cuff technologies for arterial blood pressure and cardiac output monitoring in perioperative and intensive care medicine:a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Finger cuff technologies allow continuous noninvasive arterial blood pressure (AP) and cardiac output/index (CO/CI) monitoring. Methods: We performed a meta-analysis of studies comparing finger cuff-derived AP and CO/CI measurements with invasive measurements in surgical or critically ill patients. We calculated overall random effects model-derived pooled estimates of the mean of the differences and of the percentage error (PE; CO/CI studies) with 95%-confidence intervals (95%-CI), pooled 95%-limits of agreement (95%-LOA), Cochran's Q and I2 (for heterogeneity). Results: The pooled mean of the differences (95%-CI) was 4.2 (2.8 to 5.62) mm Hg with pooled 95%-LOA of –14.0 to 22.5 mm Hg for mean AP (Q=230.4 [P<0.001], I2=91%). For mean AP, the mean of the differences between finger cuff technologies and the reference method was ≤5±8 mm Hg in 9/27 data sets (33%). The pooled mean of the differences (95%-CI) was –0.13 (–0.43 to 0.18) L min−1 with pooled 95%-LOA of –2.56 to 2.23 L min−1 for CO (Q=66.7 [P<0.001], I2=90%) and 0.07 (0.01 to 0.13) L min−1 m−2 with pooled 95%-LOA of –1.20 to 1.15 L min−1 m−2 for CI (Q=5.8 [P=0.326], I2=0%). The overall random effects model-derived pooled estimate of the PE (95%-CI) was 43 (37 to 49)% (Q=48.6 [P<0.001], I2=63%). In 4/19 data sets (21%) the PE was ≤30%, and in 10/19 data sets (53%) it was ≤45%. Conclusions: Study heterogeneity was high. Several studies showed interchangeability between AP and CO/CI measurements using finger cuff technologies and reference methods. However, the pooled results of this meta-analysis indicate that AP and CO/CI measurements using finger cuff technologies and reference methods are not interchangeable in surgical or critically ill patients. Clinical trial number: PROSPERO registration number: CRD42019119266

Conclusion

 If you search for ´transparency´ on an internet search engine, it will provide more than 87 million hits to choose from. By clicking through the results, a diverse variety of types of transparency can be found, ranging from governmental or state transparency to transparency in the financial sector to transparency in sports. While some hits provide state or corporate policies on transparency, others refer to organizations that push for increased openness of organizations. Transparency is a concept that can be applied to a broad variety of different situations and domains in our social, political and economic world, often making it difficult to grasp clearly defined conditions. Since transparency seemingly illustrates a concept with unparalleled possibilities of application, it was referred to as a ´buzzword´ throughout this volume. The contributions of this volume sought, however, to give more substance to the ‘buzzword’. In which fields of social life do matters of transparency come up? What specific role does it play? Do we understand it in an instrumental or consequential way? Who or what is at the focal point of transparency – individuals, public persons, institutions or professions? The answers to these questions, which seek to define the characteristics and criteria of transparency, and the expectations attached to the concept will differ from case to case. What is needed, therefore, is further refinement of what is actually meant when speaking about transparency. Such refinement is inevitably context-based. This is exactly what this volume aimed to do: it analyzes the concept of transparency within specific cases and attempts to show what implications it can have for individuals, politics, social media, international development aid and the pharmaceutical industry. In this regard, the approaches of our authors followed the rationale that transparency is not to be understood as a value in itself, but as instrumental in achieving specific objectives

Transparency – more than a buzzword?

The concept of transparency can be applied to nearly every domain of human activity. In each of these diverse domains transparency is thought to provide the public with information in order to make reasoned judgements: be it information about who to vote for, who to employ, which medications to take, or which Non Governmental Organization to support. If people are sufficiently informed, the argument goes, they are able to hold political officials accountable, find more competent staff, and even punish mismanagement and corruption. As Bessire (2005) puts it, “transparency is strongly related to information – and information is power” (p. 429). This line of reasoning ignores the fact that the availability of information is not the only aspect of accountability. If the public does not know what is happening behind closed doors, it naturally has no incentive – and indeed no chance – to hold somebody accountable necessary. As well as having access to relevant information, people must have measures at their disposal to punish responsible actors

Engineering novel complement activity into a pulmonary surfactant protein

Complement neutralizes invading pathogens, stimulates inflammatory and adaptive immune responses, and targets non- or altered-self structures for clearance. In the classical and lectin activation pathways, it is initiated when complexes composed of separate recognition and activation subcomponents bind to a pathogen surface. Despite its apparent complexity, recognition-mediated activation has evolved independently in three separate protein families, C1q, mannose-binding lectins (MBLs), and serum ficolins. Although unrelated, all have bouquet-like architectures and associate with complement-specific serine proteases: MBLs and ficolins with MBL-associated serine protease-2 (MASP-2) and C1q with C1r and C1s. To examine the structural requirements for complement activation, we have created a number of novel recombinant rat MBLs in which the position and orientation of the MASP-binding sites have been changed. We have also engineered MASP binding into a pulmonary surfactant protein (SP-A), which has the same domain structure and architecture as MBL but lacks any intrinsic complement activity. The data reveal that complement activity is remarkably tolerant to changes in the size and orientation of the collagenous stalks of MBL, implying considerable rotational and conformational flexibility in unbound MBL. Furthermore, novel complement activity is introduced concurrently with MASP binding in SP-A but is uncontrolled and occurs even in the absence of a carbohydrate target. Thus, the active rather than the zymogen state is default in lectin·MASP complexes and must be inhibited through additional regions in circulating MBLs until triggered by pathogen recognition

Longitudinal SARS-CoV-2 seroepidemiological investigation among healthcare workers at a tertiary care hospital in Germany

Background: SARS-CoV-2 cases in Germany increased in early March 2020. By April 2020, cases among health care workers (HCW) were detected across departments at a tertiary care hospital in Berlin, prompting a longitudinal investigation to assess HCW SARS-CoV-2 serostatus with an improved testing strategy and associated risk factors. Methods: In May/June and December 2020, HCWs voluntarily provided blood for serology and nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal (NP/OP) samples for real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and completed a questionnaire. A four-tiered SARS-CoV-2 serological testing strategy including two different enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and biological neutralization test (NT) was used. ELISA-NT correlation was assessed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Sociodemographic and occupational factors associated with seropositivity were assessed with multivariate logistic regression. Results: In May/June, 18/1477 (1.2%) HCWs were SARS-CoV-2 seropositive, followed by 56/1223 (4.6%) in December. Among those tested in both, all seropositive in May/June remained seropositive by ELISA and positive by NT after 6 months. ELISA ratios correlated well with NT titres in May/June (R = 0.79) but less so in December (R = 0.41). Those seropositive reporting a past SARS-CoV-2 positive PCR result increased from 44.4% in May/June to 85.7% in December. HCWs with higher occupational risk (based on profession and working site), nurses, males, and those self-reporting COVID-19-like symptoms had significantly higher odds of seropositivity. Conclusions: This investigation provides insight into the burden of HCW infection in this local outbreak context and the antibody dynamics over time with an improved robust testing strategy. It also highlights the continued need for effective infection control measures particularly among HCWs with higher occupational risk.Peer Reviewe

The aging motor system as a model for plastic changes of GABA-mediated intracortical inhibition and their behavioral relevance

Since GABAA-mediated intracortical inhibition has been shown to underlie plastic changes throughout the lifespan from development to aging, here, the aging motor system was used as a model to analyze the interdependence of plastic alterations within the inhibitory motorcortical network and level of behavioral performance. Double-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (dpTMS) was used to examine inhibition by means of short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) of the contralateral primary motor cortex in a sample of 64 healthy right-handed human subjects covering a wide range of the adult lifespan (age range 20-88 years, mean 47.6 ± 20.7, 34 female). SICI was evaluated during resting state and in an event-related condition during movement preparation in a visually triggered simple reaction time task. In a subgroup (N = 23), manual motor performance was tested with tasks of graded dexterous demand. Weak resting-state inhibition was associated with an overall lower manual motor performance. Better event-related modulation of inhibition correlated with better performance in more demanding tasks, in which fast alternating activation of cortical representations are necessary. Declining resting-state inhibition was associated with weakened event-related modulation of inhibition. Therefore, reduced resting-state inhibition might lead to a subsequent loss of modulatory capacity, possibly reflecting malfunctioning precision in GABAAergic neurotransmission; the consequence is an inevitable decline in motor function