Protein kinase Cζ: not-so-innocent bystander or unusual suspect in kidney transplant rejection?

Antibodies against non-HLA targets are increasingly recognized in the context of transplant rejection. However, their specific role remains largely elusive, as evidence exists supporting both their occurrence as an epiphenomenon and their actual pathogenicity in the rejection process. Sutherland et al. describe protein kinase Cζ as a novel, non-HLA antigenic target in the setting of graft rejection

Energy cooperative – model and perspective

S obzirom na ambiciozni cilj EU-a da do 2009. god. do 20% poveća udio obnovljivih izvora energije u ukupnoj potrošnji energije, trend decentralizacije proizvodnje energije mora dobiti na važnosti. U tom kontekstu, energetske zadruge u Njemačkoj postaju vrlo uspješan instrument građanske participacije u Njemačkoj. S više od 800 energetskih zadruga i više od 1,5 milijarde eura ulaganja u sektoru obnovljive izvore energije, energetskoj revoluciji (Energiewende) izravno je doprinjelo oko 200.000 građana. Svake godine osniva se oko oko 150 novih energetskih zadruge. U radu su prikazane energetske zadruge u Njemačkoj sa svojim najvažnijim prednostima i ograničenjima. Zbog reforme energetskih propisa, tradicionalne metode sudjelovanja građana u energetskim projektima suočavaju se s novim izazovima, čime se pokazuje da je njihov daljnji razvoj od ključne važnosti.In view of the EU’s ambitious goal to increase the share of renewable energy resources in the final energy con-sumption up to 20% by 2020, the trend to decentralize energy production has gain on importance. In this context, the concept of energy cooperatives became a very successful tool for citizens participation in Germany. With more than 800 energy cooperatives and over 1.5 billions Euro of investment in the renewable energy sec-tor, approximately 200.000 citizens have directly contributed to the Energiewende. Every year about 150 new energy cooperatives are being established. The paper presents the energy cooperatives in Germany with their most relevant advantages and limitations. Due to the reform of the energy law, traditional methods of citizens participation in energy projects will face new challenges, thus their further development is of key importance

Renewable Energy CSOPs in Germany

Dieser Beitrag stellt den sog. Consumer Stock Ownership Plan (CSOP= Verbraucher- Kapitalbeteiligungs-Plan) als Instrument zur Finanzierung dezentraler Energieproduktion unter Beteiligung von Bürgern als Konsumenten vor. Da der CSOP für regulierte Märkte mit garantierten Preisen geregeltem Marktzugang und langfristigen Beziehungen zwischen Produzent und Verbraucher entwickelt wurde, ist der Energiesektor prädestiniert. Inbesondere ist der CSOP für Anlagen für erneuerbare Energien z. B. für Biogas-, Solar- und Winfkraftanlagen geeignet. Europäische Staaten haben ein ehrgeiziges Ziel gesetzt, 20%-Anteil von Energie aus erneuerbaren Quellen bis zum Jahr 2020 zu erreichen. Deutschland als Europas grüne Energie Marktführer könnte ein Pionier in CSOP Umsetzung werden. Kleine Gemeinden in Europa sollten von der Erhöhung des Anteils der erneuerbaren Energien profitieren.The Energy-CSOP facilitates broad equity participation of citizens without assets or savings in a regulated public energy utility. As the CSOP is designed for regulated markets with guaranteed prices, regulated market access and long-term relationships between producer and consumer, the energy market is predestined. A CSOP trust can be set up for a renewable energy plant (e.g., a biogas reactor, a solar panel, a windmill or a geothermic drill). European states have set an ambitious target to reach 20% share of energy from renewable sources by 2020. Germany as Europe’s green energy leader could become a pioneer in CSOP implementation. Small communities in Europe would benefit from the increased share of renewable energy resources

PHYSIOLOGICAL MONITORING OF FLUID SHIFTS DURING ORTHOSTATIC TILT

BACKGROUND While the etiology of the Spaceflight Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS) is currently unknown, headward fluid shifts due to the removal of all gravitational vectors in space is hypothesized to be a major contributing factor. A countermeasure (CM) that can successfully redistribute body fluids similar to the upright position on Earth may thus be important for the prevention of SANS. Our SPACE-CENT Study (Studying the Physiological and Anatomical Effects of Centrifugation and Head-Down Tilt) seeks to investigate the cerebral, ocular and vestibular effects of 60-day exposure to strict 6o head-down tilt bed rest as a spaceflight analog with and without daily centrifugation. METHODS This study is part of the ongoing AGBRESA study at the DLR :envihab facility. As one component of our SPACE-CENT project, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) derived total hemoglobin concentrations ([HbT]) from 4 body locations (head, chest, thigh, and calf) was measured before, during and after the international-standard orthostatic tilt test: tilt from supine to +80o, maintain for 15 min, then increase lower-body negative pressure (LBNP) by +10 mmHg every 3 minutes until subjects exhibit pre-syncope signs via a simultaneous drop in blood pressure and heart rate. RESULTS As of October 2019, the entire protocol has been completed on n=12 subjects (4 females), 5 days before bed rest onset and on R+0 following 60 days of -6o HDT bed rest. Significant shifts in [HbT]—proportional to blood volume—were observed from the head towards the feet during tilt to +80o in all subjects (Figure 1). All subjects had tests terminated sooner on R+0 (462±346 sec) than on BDC-5 (1105±464 sec), although the inter-subject variability was large (range=125-1751 sec). Interestingly, a subset of subjects (n=3) exhibited an initial increase in cerebral [HbT] at the onset of +80o, whereas the remainder showed no change or a decrease in cerebral [HbT] following tilt onset, which was predictive of longer orthostatic trials (t=2.46, p=0.022). All subjects exhibited an accelerating decrease in cerebral [HbT] that preceded test termination by 59±54 sec. CONCLUSIONS This represents preliminary findings from the first campaign of the study (12 of a planned 24 subjects). As such, final conclusions are not yet possible. However, the consistency of findings across subjects suggests that NIRS-based measures of fluid shifts along the body axis—and particularly out of the head—can predict the onset of pre-syncope by up to nearly a minute. Such data could be combined with the simultaneously acquired European Space Agency measurements of blood pressure to improve predictions of orthostatic tolerance

Urban green is more than the absence of city: Structural and functional neural basis of urbanicity and green space in the neighbourhood of older adults

The relationship between urbanization, the brain, and human mental health is subject to intensive debate in the current scientific literature. Particularly, since mood and anxiety disorders as well as schizophrenia are known to be more frequent in urban compared to rural regions. Here, we investigated the association between cerebral signatures, mental health and land use indicators (Urban Fabric and Urban Green) within a 1 km radius around the home address of 207 well-characterized older adults. We observed a negative association between Urban Fabric coverage and a positive association between Urban Green coverage and grey matter volume in perigenual/subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (p/sACC). Although p/sACC has repeatedly been associated with depressive symptoms, neither brain structure nor land use categories were related to measures of mental health. However, resting-state measure in p/sACC showed a negative association with Urban Fabric in our healthy sample, reminiscent of previous reports on major depression where p/sACC is often found to be reduced in activation. Interestingly, hierarchical regression analyses showed that Urban Green accounted for additional variance in brain structure beyond Urban Fabric. We take this finding as an exploratory result that hints at potentially salutogenic elements of green spaces (e.g. terpenes, nature sounds) that go beyond the absence of the detrimental elements of urban contexts (e.g. traffic noise, air pollution), which may inform the future search of environmental factors affecting mental health and disease

Location, location, location: the role of objective neighborhood characteristics for perceptions of control

Introduction: Control beliefs can protect against age-related declines in functioning. It is unclear whether neighborhood characteristics shape how much control people perceive over their life. This article studies associations of neighborhood characteristics with control beliefs of residents of a diverse metropolitan area (Berlin, Germany). Methods: We combine self-report data about perceptions of control obtained from participants in the Berlin Aging Study II (N = 507, 60-87 years, 51% women) with multisource geo-referenced indicators of neighborhood characteristics using linear regression models. Results: Findings indicate that objective neighborhood characteristics (i.e., unemployment rate) are indeed tied to perceptions of control, in particular, how much control participants feel others have over their lives. Including neighborhood characteristics in part doubled the amount of explained variance compared with a reference model covarying for demographic characteristics only (from R2 = 0.017 to R2 = 0.030 for internal control beliefs; R2 = 0.056 to R2 = 0.102 for external control beliefs in chance; R2 = 0.006 to R2 = 0.030 for external control beliefs in powerful others). Discussion/Conclusion: Findings highlight the importance of access to neighborhood resources for control beliefs across old age and can inform interventions to build up neighborhood characteristics which might be especially helpful in residential areas with high unemployment

A Clinically Prognostic Scoring System for Patients Receiving Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy: Results from the EuroSIDA Study

The risk of clinical progression for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected persons receiving treatment with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is poorly defined. From an inception cohort of 8457 HIV-infected persons, 2027 patients who started HAART during prospective follow-up were examined. Results were validated in another 2 groups of patients (n=1946 and n=1442). In total, 200 patients (9.9%) experienced clinical progression during 5177 person-years (incidence, 3.9/100 years). The most recently measured CD4 cell count, virus load, and hemoglobin level all were independently related to the risk of clinical progression, as was a diagnosis of severe AIDS before the start of HAART. On the basis of these findings, a scoring system was derived (range, 0-17). A single unit increase in the score was associated with a 38% increased risk of clinical progression (relative hazard, 1.38; 95% confidence interval, 1.33-1.43; P<.0001). The scoring system was validated with remarkably good agreement in the 2 other cohorts. This system can be used in patient and resource managemen