918 research outputs found
Biomarkers in two different animal models of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) under treatment with a cGMP enhancing substance
Ancient Yersinia pestis genomes provide no evidence for the origins or spread of the Justinianic Plague.
Alles Heritage?
Die Erweiterung des Denkmalbegriffs hat zu einer Expansion des Erinnerns, SchĂŒtzens, Bewahrens und Tradierens auf alle Bereiche des Lebens gefĂŒhrt. Heute werden nicht nur Scheunen, Tankstellen und GroĂwohnsiedlungen als Teil des historischen Erbes unter Denkmalschutz gestellt, sondern auch kulturelle Praktiken und BrĂ€uche zum âimmateriellenâ Weltkulturerbe erklĂ€rt. Die Folge dieser als âDenkmal-Inflationâ kritisierten Entwicklung ist eine verschĂ€rfte Konkurrenz um Aufmerksamkeit und finanzielle Zuwendungen. Letzteres spiegelt sich nicht zuletzt in einer zunehmenden, maĂgeblich von der Tourismusindustrie geförderten publikumswirksamen Inszenierung des Erbes.
Im Zeitalter der âHeritage Industryâ (Robert Hewison, 1987) bilden KulturgĂŒter aber nicht nur einen wichtigen Standortfaktor, sondern wird das âErbeâ selbst zunehmend mittels internationaler Charten, Deklarationen, Plaketten und Social Media-Kampagnen konstruiert. Dies geschieht vorwiegend innerhalb eines anglophonen Diskurses, der aber an die deutschsprachigen begriffs- und ideengeschichtlich geprĂ€gten Diskussionen strenggenommen nicht anschlussfĂ€hig ist. Dort lĂ€sst sich ein â in einem Ă€hnlichen Sinne umfassend zu nennender â Erbe-Begriff zwar bereits fĂŒr die Heimatschutzbewegung konstatieren, eine fachlich ausdifferenzierte Denkmalpflege, wie wir sie heute
kennen, tut sich jedoch schwer, ein solches universelles Konzept zu integrieren. WĂ€hrend die âHeritagisierungâ durch internationale Organisationen zu einer Verschiebung des Fokus von Baudenkmalen hin zur allgemeinen Bewahrung von Kulturerbe fĂŒhrt (das immaterielle eingeschlossen, siehe etwa die Burra Charter), bleibt der Denkmal- und Erbe-Diskurs in den deutschsprachigen LĂ€ndern bislang klar auf Baudenkmale und stĂ€dtebauliche Ensembles konzentriert. Letzteres zeigt sich auch im Vorfeld des European Cultural Heritage Year 2018, das in Deutschland im Gegensatz zu anderen europĂ€ischen LĂ€ndern maĂgeblich von Denkmalschutzorganisationen getragen wird.
Die Wende hin zum Heritage lĂ€sst sich gleichermaĂen bei neuen Forschungsfeldern und Ausbildungswegen der Denkmalpflege beobachten. So werden heute âHeritage Tourismâ und âDark Heritageâ als spezifische Formen der âDenkmalnutzungâ untersucht und bilden â in ErgĂ€nzung zu den klassischen Disziplinen Kunstgeschichte, Architektur und Planung â âHeritage Managementâ und âHeritage Studiesâ grundstĂ€ndige StudiengĂ€nge. Letzteres gilt inzwischen auch fĂŒr die deutschsprachigen LĂ€nder. Der Weg fĂŒhrt damit weg von der spezialisierten Kennerschaft zum Allrounder mit neuen Schwerpunkten auf Marketing, Verwaltung und Vermittlung. Mit Blick auf sozio-kulturelle Entwicklungen erweist sich, dass der Heritage-Begriff vor allem im ökonomischen und politischen Diskurs weitgehend affirmativ gebraucht wird. Heritage geht demnach mit einem gewissen moralischen wie missionarischen Impetus einher, verbunden mit einer (Kultur-)Politik der âIdentitĂ€tsstiftungâ. In Zeiten, in denen âIdentitĂ€tâ wieder als politisches Schlagwort im gesellschaftlichen Diskurs fungiert, scheint es um so wichtiger, die wissenschaftliche BeschĂ€ftigung mit Heritage, die zugrunde liegenden begrifflichen Konzepte und prĂ€skriptiven Programme, kritisch zu reflektieren
Reliability of IMU-Derived Static Balance Parameters in Neurological Diseases
Static balance is a commonly used health measure in clinical practice. Usually, static balance parameters are assessed via force plates or, more recently, with inertial measurement units (IMUs). Multiple parameters have been developed over the years to compare patient groups and understand changes over time. However, the day-to-day variability of these parameters using IMUs has not yet been tested in a neurogeriatric cohort. The aim of the study was to examine day-to-day variability of static balance parameters of five experimental conditions in a cohort of neurogeriatric patients using data extracted from a lower back-worn IMU. A group of 41 neurogeriatric participants (age: 78 ± 5 years) underwent static balance assessment on two occasions 12-24 h apart. Participants performed a side-by-side stance, a semi-tandem stance, a tandem stance on hard ground with eyes open, and a semi-tandem assessment on a soft surface with eyes open and closed for 30 s each. The intra-class correlation coefficient (two-way random, average of the k raters' measurements, ICC2, k) and minimal detectable change at a 95% confidence level (MDC95%) were calculated for the sway area, velocity, acceleration, jerk, and frequency. Velocity, acceleration, and jerk were calculated in both anterior-posterior (AP) and medio-lateral (ML) directions. Nine to 41 participants could successfully perform the respective balance tasks. Considering all conditions, acceleration-related parameters in the AP and ML directions gave the highest ICC results. The MDC95% values for all parameters ranged from 39% to 220%, with frequency being the most consistent with values of 39-57%, followed by acceleration in the ML (43-55%) and AP direction (54-77%). The present results show moderate to poor ICC and MDC values for IMU-based static balance assessment in neurogeriatric patients. This suggests a limited reliability of these tasks and parameters, which should induce a careful selection of potential clinically relevant parameters
Cbp3âCbp6 interacts with the yeast mitochondrial ribosomal tunnel exit and promotes cytochrome b synthesis and assembly
A complex specifically required for the biogenesis of the respiratory chain component cytochrome b binds to the tunnel exit of yeast mitochondrial ribosomes to coordinate protein synthesis and assembly
Alpha-actinin-binding antibodies in relation to systemic lupus erythematosus and lupus nephritis
This study investigated the overall clinical impact of anti-α-actinin antibodies in patients with pre-selected autoimmune diseases and in a random group of anti-nuclear antibody (ANA)-positive individuals. The relation of anti-α-actinin antibodies with lupus nephritis and anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibodies represented a particular focus for the study. Using a cross-sectional design, the presence of antibodies to α-actinin was studied in selected groups, classified according to the relevant American College of Rheumatology classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (n = 99), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (n = 68), Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) (n = 85), and fibromyalgia (FM) (n = 29), and in a random group of ANA-positive individuals (n = 142). Renal disease was defined as (increased) proteinuria with haematuria or presence of cellular casts. Sera from SLE, RA, and SjÞgren's syndrome (SS) patients had significantly higher levels of anti-α-actinin antibodies than the other patient groups. Using the geometric mean (± 2 standard deviations) in FM patients as the upper cutoff, 20% of SLE patients, 12% of RA patients, 4% of SS patients, and none of the WG patients were positive for anti-α-actinin antibodies. Within the SLE cohort, anti-α-actinin antibody levels were higher in patients with renal flares (p = 0.02) and correlated independently with anti-dsDNA antibody levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (p < 0.007) but not with other disease features. In the random ANA group, 14 individuals had anti-α-actinin antibodies. Of these, 36% had SLE, while 64% suffered from other, mostly autoimmune, disorders. Antibodies binding to α-actinin were detected in 20% of SLE patients but were not specific for SLE. They correlate with anti-dsDNA antibody levels, implying in vitro cross-reactivity of anti-dsDNA antibodies, which may explain the observed association with renal disease in SLE
Reduced Serum Levels of Bone Formation Marker P1NP in Psoriasis
Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the skin and joints. More recent data
emphasize an association with dysregulated glucose and fatty acid metabolism, obesity,
elevated blood pressure and cardiac disease, summarized as metabolic syndrome.
TNF-a and IL-17, central players in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, are known to
impair bone formation. Therefore, the relation between psoriasis and bone metabolism
parameters was investigated. Two serum markers of either bone formationâN-terminal
propeptide of type I procollagen (P1NP) or bone resorptionâC-terminal telopeptide
of type I collagen (CTX-I)âwere analyzed in a cohort of patients with psoriasis
vulgaris. In patients with psoriasis, P1NP serum levels were reduced compared to
gender-, age-, and body mass index-matched healthy controls. CTX-I levels were
indistinguishable between patients with psoriasis and controls. Consistently, induction
of psoriasis-like skin inflammation in mice decreases bone volume and activity of
osteoblasts. Moreover, efficient anti-psoriatic treatment improved psoriasis severity, but
did not reverse decreased P1NP level suggesting that independent of efficient skin
treatment psoriasis did affect bone metabolism and might favor the development of
osteoporosis. Taken together, evidence is provided that bone metabolism might be
affected by psoriatic inflammation, which may have consequences for future patient
counseling and disease monitoring
CO(1-0) in z âł 4 Quasar Host Galaxies: No Evidence for Extended Molecular Gas Reservoirs
We present ^(12)CO(J = 1 â 0) observations of the high-redshift quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) BR 1202-0725 (z = 4.69), PSS J2322+1944 (z = 4.12), and APM 08279+5255 (z = 3.91) using the NRAO Green Bank Telescope (GBT) and the MPIfR Effelsberg 100 m telescope. We detect, for the first time, the CO ground-level transition in BR 1202-0725. For PSS J2322+1944 and APM 08279+5255, our observations result in line fluxes that are consistent with previous NRAO Very Large Array (VLA) observations, but they reveal the full line profiles. We report a typical lensing-corrected velocity-integrated intrinsic ^(12)CO(J = 1 â 0) line luminosity of L'_(CO) = 5 Ă 10^(10) K km s^(-1) pc^2 and a typical total H_2 mass of M(H_2) = 4 Ă 10^(10) M_â for the sources in our sample. The CO/FIR luminosity ratios of these high-z sources follow the same trend as seen for low-z galaxies, leading to a combined solution of log L_(FIR) = (1.39 ± 0.05) log L_(CO) - 1.76. It has previously been suggested that the molecular gas reservoirs in some quasar host galaxies may exhibit luminous, extended ^(12)CO(J = 1 â 0) components that are not observed in the higher J CO transitions. Using the line profiles and the total intensities of our observations and large velocity gradient (LVG) models based on previous results for higher J CO transitions, we derive that emission from all CO transitions is described well by a single gas component in which all molecular gas is concentrated in a compact nuclear region. Thus, our observations and models show no indication of a luminous extended, low surface brightness molecular gas component in any of the high-redshift QSOs in our sample. If such extended components exist, their contribution to the overall luminosity is limited to at most 30%
Recommended from our members
Systemic sclerosis is associated with specific alterations in gastrointestinal microbiota in two independent cohorts.
ObjectiveTo compare faecal microbial composition in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) from 2 independent cohorts with controls and to determine whether certain genera are associated with SSc-gastrointestinal tract (GIT) symptoms.DesignAdult patients with SSc from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Oslo University Hospital (OUH) and healthy controls participated in this study (1:1:1). All participants provided stool specimens for 16S rRNA sequencing. Linear discriminant analysis effect size demonstrated genera with differential expression in SSc. Differential expression analysis for sequence count data identified specific genera associated with GIT symptoms as assessed by the GIT 2.0 questionnaire.ResultsThe UCLA-SSc and OUH-SSc cohorts were similar in age (52.1 and 60.5â
years, respectively), disease duration (median (IQR): 6.6 (2.5-16.4) and 7.0 (1.0-19.2) years, respectively), gender distribution (88% and 71%, respectively), and GIT symptoms (mean (SD) total GIT 2.0 scores of 0.7 (0.6) and 0.6 (0.5), respectively). Principal coordinate analysis illustrated significant microbial community differences between SSc and controls (UCLA: p=0.001; OUH: p=0.002). Patients with SSc had significantly lower levels of commensal genera deemed to protect against inflammation, such as Bacteroides (UCLA and OUH), Faecalibacterium (UCLA), Clostridium (OUH); and significantly higher levels of pathobiont genera, such as Fusobacterium (UCLA), compared with controls. Increased abundance of Clostridium was associated with less severe GIT symptoms in both cohorts.ConclusionsThe present analysis detected specific aberrations in the lower GIT microbiota of patients with SSc from 2 geographically and ethnically distinct cohorts. These findings suggest that GIT dysbiosis may be a pathological feature of the SSc disease state
Recommended from our members
Green change: renewable energies, policy mix and innovation
A far-reaching transformation to green, CO2âfree solutions is needed to achieve the ambitious climate policy target of limiting the global temperature rise to not more than 2°C. With this in mind, the GRETCHEN project explored the impacts of the policy mix on innovation in renewable power generation technologies in Germany at three levels: the micro level, focusing on the perspective of individual companies, the meso level, examining industry structures and the innovation system, and the macro level, modelling macroeconomic effects and CO2 emissions.
The impact of the policy mix was analysed at these three levels for the following aspects: political targets to expand power generation from renewable energy sources, technology push, demand pull and systemic instruments as well as their interaction within the instrument mix, and the consistency and credibility of the policy mix and the coherence of political processes.
The policy mix needed for a green transformation of the energy system can be considered holistically and valuated with regard to its innovation impact based on the policy mix concept developed in the GRETCHEN project. The corresponding findings are synthesized in this report on the results of the GRETCHEN project concerning the influence of the policy mix on technological and structural change in renewable power generation technologies in Germany
- âŠ