Limit on sterile neutrino contribution from the Mainz Neutrino Mass Experiment

The recent analysis of the normalization of reactor antineutrino data, the calibration data of solar neutrino experiments using gallium targets, and the results from the neutrino oscillation experiment MiniBooNE suggest the existence of a fourth light neutrino mass state with a mass of O(eV), which contributes to the electron neutrino with a sizable mixing angle. Since we know from measurements of the width of the Z0 resonance that there are only three active neutrinos, a fourth neutrino should be sterile (i.e., interact only via gravity). The corresponding fourth neutrino mass state should be visible as an additional kink in beta-decay spectra. In this work the phase II data of the Mainz Neutrino Mass Experiment have been analyzed searching for a possible contribution of a fourth light neutrino mass state. No signature of such a fourth mass state has been found and limits on the mass and the mixing of this fourth mass states are derived

„Praktizierter Naturschutz – Nützlich und schön“ - Partizipative Entwicklung eines ökologischen Nutzungs-konzeptes unter Naturschutzbedingungen -

The goal of this work was to develop a concept for the ecological and productive agricultural use of the private sites and the surrounding public areas, protected by nature conservation, on the inland island “Schöninsel” in Mecklenburg-Western-Pomerania. The challenge was to harmonize the interests of the property owner as well as concerned public groups, and to adjust the concept to requirements of nature conversation and natural and socioeconomic site factors. In all planning phases, permaculture principles and design methods were used. Practical planning was guided by the following goals: harmonization of aesthetic aspects and usefulness, preservation and enhancement of biodiversity, nature conservation, and raising awareness by environmental education. For the private area, a display vegetable garden combined with the cultivation of fruits and beekeeping is planned. For the public areas we recommend the creation of orchard meadows combined with grazing by the rare and endangered Pomeranian Coarsewool

Drivers of internationalization success:a conjoint choice experiment on German SME managers

Internationalization is a common growth strategy for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, SMEs face several challenges within the internationalization process. As SMEs are characterized by limited resources, managers are constantly involved in a decision-making process concerning the allocation of the SMEs' resources. Therefore, internationalization can be understood as a complex, multidimensional decision process. Based on a set of 2244 internationalization decisions made by German SME managers, the present study examines how eight strategic and structural factors drive the perceived international success of SMEs. When applying conjoint choice analysis, the results suggest that especially equity financing in the internationalization process, an appropriate market selection as well as proactive motives, and a long-term scope can drive SMEs' international success. Moreover, it becomes evident that strategic factors are more relevant for successful internationalization than structural factors

The impact of cold spells on the incidence of infectious gastroenteritis and relapse rates of inflammatory bowel disease: a retrospective controlled observational study

Goals: We aimed to assess the impact of very cold days on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) flares and infectious gastroenteritis (IG). We defined a cold day using the World Meteorological definition of an ice day, which is a day with a maximum temperature below 0°C. Background: Recently, we have shown that heat waves increase the risk for IG and IBD flares. Study: We retrospectively collected data from 738 IBD and 786 IG patients admitted to the University Hospital of Zurich between 2001 and 2005 and from 506 patients with other noninfectious chronic intestinal inflammations as controls. Climate data were received by the Swiss Federal Office for Meteorology and Climatology. Results: There was no evidence for an increased risk of IBD flares (relative risk, RR = 0.99, 95% confidence interval, CI: 0.72-1.33, = 0.94) or IG flares (RR = 1.16, 95% CI: 087-1.52, = 0.30) on very cold days. This negative finding was confirmed in alternative formulations with lagged or cumulative (possibly lagged) effects. Conclusion: In this retrospective controlled observational study, no evidence for an increase in hospital admissions due to flares of IBD and IG during cold days was observed. This may be attributed to not relevantly altered bacterial growth conditions during cold days compared to heat waves

Defining Success in Perioperative Care Pathways for Hip Fracture Patients

PURPOSE: Hip fracture is an increasingly common cause of morbidity and mortality in the aging U.S. population. Multiple studies have shown that patients who undergo surgical repair within 48 hours of the initial injury have better outcomes. The use of a perioperative care pathway (PCP) for hip fracture patients combines prompt surgical repair with dedicated medical services tailored to patients’ specific comorbidities. METHODS: Our level 1 trauma center implemented a PCP in October 2015, requiring only anesthesia (not hospital medicine) clearance prior to surgery. We identified all hip fracture patients who presented to our level 1 hospital for one year prior to, and one year following, implementation of the pathway. We then performed a comprehensive clinical chart review to collect demographic data, past medical history, and perioperative factors. We performed statistical analyses to evaluate whether using the pathway improved patient outcomes. RESULTS: Preliminary analyses were performed on a series of patients pre- (n=96) and post-pathway (n=100). We summarized patient characteristics and reported these according to participation in the pathway. Distributions were evaluated for normality and to evaluate for outliers. Proportions were reported for categorical variables and assessed for differences using the chi-square test, and continuous data were summarized by means and standard deviations and assessed for differences using the t-test. We found that patients in the pathway worked with physical therapy (PT) an average of 16.8 hours earlier (p=0.013). CONCLUSION: The use of PCPs represents an emerging approach to hip fracture management, but a widely generalizable PCP has yet to be definitively described. Our patients’ decrease in time to PT may be attributable to better postoperative optimization by hospitalist medicine. We anticipate that multivariate analyses will reveal additional gains. Ultimately, our experience may yield implications for the safe, cost- and time-effective surgical care of hip fracture patients nationally

Defining Success in Perioperative Care Pathways for Hip Fracture Patients

PURPOSE: Hip fracture is an increasingly common cause of morbidity and mortality in the aging U.S. population. Multiple studies have shown that patients who undergo surgical repair within 48 hours of the initial injury have better outcomes. The use of a perioperative care pathway (PCP) for hip fracture patients combines prompt surgical repair with dedicated medical services tailored to patients’ specific comorbidities. METHODS: Our level 1 trauma center implemented a PCP in October 2015, requiring only anesthesia (not hospital medicine) clearance prior to surgery. We identified all hip fracture patients who presented to our level 1 hospital for one year prior to, and one year following, implementation of the pathway. We then performed a comprehensive clinical chart review to collect demographic data, past medical history, and perioperative factors. We performed statistical analyses to evaluate whether using the pathway improved patient outcomes. RESULTS: Preliminary analyses were performed on a series of patients pre- (n=96) and post-pathway (n=100). We summarized patient characteristics and reported these according to participation in the pathway. Distributions were evaluated for normality and to evaluate for outliers. Proportions were reported for categorical variables and assessed for differences using the chi-square test, and continuous data were summarized by means and standard deviations and assessed for differences using the t-test. We found that patients in the pathway worked with physical therapy (PT) an average of 16.8 hours earlier (p=0.013). CONCLUSION: The use of PCPs represents an emerging approach to hip fracture management, but a widely generalizable PCP has yet to be definitively described. Our patients’ decrease in time to PT may be attributable to better postoperative optimization by hospitalist medicine. We anticipate that multivariate analyses will reveal additional gains. Ultimately, our experience may yield implications for the safe, cost- and time-effective surgical care of hip fracture patients nationally

T-Cell Receptor/CD28-Mediated Activation of Human T Lymphocytes Induces Expression of Functional -Opioid Receptors

ABSTRACT Opiates function as immunomodulators, partly by their effects on T cells. Opioids act via -, ␦-, and -opioid receptors, among which the -type is of particular interest, because morphine-like opioids preferentially bind to it. Here we report that -opioid receptor mRNA was induced after CD3/28-mediated activation of primary human T lymphocytes and Jurkat T cells, neither of which expresses the gene constitutively. Moreover, a reporter gene construct containing 2624 base pairs of the -opioid receptor promoter was transactivated by CD3/28 stimulation. Transcriptional induction of the -opioid receptor gene was mediated by activator protein-1 (AP-1), nuclear factor-B, and nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT). NFAT was found to bind to three sequences of the -opioid receptor promoter, located at nucleotides Ϫ1064, Ϫ785, and Ϫ486. Although the Ϫ486 element is in close proximity to a putative AP-1 site, there was no evidence for a combined AP-1/NFAT site. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the induction of interleukin-2 mRNA and protein in activated T cells was inhibited by morphine in cells, in which -opioid receptors had been induced by CD3/28 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), and that this effect was blocked by the -opioid receptor-specific antagonist D-Phe-Cys-Tyr-D-Trp-Arg-Thr-Pen-Thr-NH 2 . CD3/28 mAb-induced interleukin-2 transcription was also inhibited by the opioids fentanyl and loperamide. This indicates that the induced -opioid receptor mRNA is translated into functional receptor protein. Furthermore, a -opioid receptor-enhanced green fluorescent protein-fusion protein was localized in membranes of Jurkat cells and internalized in response to [D-Ala 2 ,NMe-Phe 4 ,Gly 5 -ol]-enkephalin but not morphine. In conclusion, these data emphasize the role of opioids in the modulation of T lymphocyte signaling

The tomato kinase Pti1 contributes to production of reactive oxygen species in response to two flagellin-derived peptides and promotes resistance to pseudomonas syringae Infection

The Pti1 kinase was identified from a reverse genetic screen as contributing to pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) against Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst). The tomato genome has two Pti1 genes, referred to as Pti1a and Pti1b. A hairpin-Pti1 (hpPti1) construct was developed and was used to generate two independent stable transgenic tomato lines that had reduced transcript abundance of both genes. In response to P. syringae pv. tomato inoculation, these hpPti1 plants developed more severe disease symptoms, supported higher bacterial populations, and had reduced transcript accumulation of PTI-associated genes, as compared with wild-type plants. In response to two flagellin-derived peptides, the hpPti1 plants produced lesser amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) but showed no difference in mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). Synthetic Pti1a and Pti1b genes designed to avoid silencing were transiently expressed in the hpPti1 plants and restored the ability of the plants to produce wild-type levels of ROS. Our results identify a new component of PTI in tomato that, because it affects ROS production but not MAPK signaling, appears to act early in the immune response.Instituto de Fisiología Vegeta

Effect of extracts from selected Kenyan plants on traits of metabolic syndrom in Wistar rats fed a high-fat high fructose diet

Purpose: To examine the potential of extracts from selected herbs used in African traditional medicine in diabetes patients, and to determine their effect on traits of metabolic syndrome in rats fed a high-fat and high-fructose diet.Methods: Ethanol and aqueous extracts were prepared from Mangifera indica (MI), Lonchocarpus eriocalyx (LE), Urtica massaica (UM), Schkuhria pinnata (SP) and Launaea cornuta (LC). Ethanol extracts (1:100 dilution) were examined for inhibition of pancreatic lipase and α-glucosidase activity invitro. Furthermore, aqueous extracts were administered for 74 days to male Wistar rats fed a high-fat and high-fructose diet to assess their effect on traits of metabolic syndrome.Results: Ethanol extracts showed at least 30 % inhibition of pancreatic lipase in vitro but no effect on α- glucosidase activity. Administration of the aqueous extracts caused significant reduction in liver triglycerides (except for LE). Muscle triglycerides and fat were also reduced, with the most pronounced effect elicited by LE. Urinary glucose excretion and plasma triglycerides, but not hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance, were reduced by UM compared to control.Conclusion: This exploratory study indicates that UM may be considered a candidate for the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes. Keywords: Kenyan traditional medicine, High-fat diet, High fructose, Insulin resistance, Triglycerides, Diabetes, Liver steatosi