Exploring the Motives of Citizen Reporting Engagement: Self-Concern and Other-Orientation

In smart city contexts, voluntary citizen reporting can be a particularly valuable source of information for local authorities. A key question in this regard is what motivates citizens to contribute their data. Drawing on motivation research in social psychology, the paper examines the question of whether self-concern or other-orientation is a stronger driver of citizen reporting engagement. To test their hypotheses, the authors rely on a sample of users from the mobile application “Zurich as good as new” in Switzerland, which enables citizens to report damages in and other issues with the city’s infrastructure. Data was collected from two different sources: motivation was assessed in an online user survey (n = 650), whereas citizen reporting engagement was measured by the number of reports per user from real platform-use data. The analysis was carried out using negative binomial regression. The findings suggest that both self-concern and other-orientation are significant drivers of citizen reporting engagement, although the effect of self-concern appears to be stronger in comparison. As such, this study contributes to a better understanding of what motivates citizens to participate in citizen reporting platforms, which are a cornerstone application in many smart cities

Digital Preservation through Digital Sustainability: Paper - iPRES 2016 - Swiss National Library, Bern

The concept of digital sustainability introduces a holistic approach on how to maximize the benefits of digital resources for our society. The nine basic conditions for digital sustainability also provide a contribution to potential solutions to the challenges of digital preservation. Elaborateness, transparent structures, semantic data, distributed location, an open licensing regime, shared tacit knowledge, participatory culture, good governance, and diversified funding support the long-term availability of digital knowledge. Therefore, in this conceptual paper, we explain the links between digital sustainability and digital preservation in order to increase the impact of both. We conclude by presenting the political agenda of the Swiss parliamentary group for digital sustainability

Temporal phenotyping of circulating microparticles after trauma: a prospective cohort study

Background: After severe polytrauma the dynamic process of coagulation may deteriorate towards a trauma-induced coagulopathy (TIC) promoting a dramatic increase in morbidity and mortality. Recent evidence suggests that microparticles (MPs) play a pivotal role at the interface between cellular and plasmatic coagulation systems. However, the impact of MPs on functional coagulation has not been clarified yet in the setting of traumatic injuries. We assessed the temporal patterns of circulating MP concentrations including their cellular origin in the context of clinical presentation and global coagulation assays. Methods: Blood samples from 22 consecutive polytrauma patients (ISS >= 16) from 2015 were collected at hospital admission, after 24 and 72 h and compared to those from healthy individuals and minor injured patients with isolated extremity fractures. Flow cytometry (BD Accuri C6; Heidelberg/Germany) was used to determine MP concentrations and cellular origin using cell-specific markers (platelet derived (PDMP): CD42b(+), CD61(+), CD62p(+); endothelial cell derived (EDMP): CD144(+), CD62e(+), CD144(+)/62e(+)). Results were correlated with clinical data and results from viscoelastic testing (ROTEM). Results: Twenty two polytrauma patients (17 males, age(median) 60 yrs) with a median ISS 26.5 (IQR 14.5) were assessed. PDMP and EDMP concentrations increased significantly in polytrauma patients as compared to healthy individuals and minor injured patients. MP concentrations correlated with injury severity (CD144(+): rho(sp) = 0.79, p < 0.001; CD42b(+): rho(sp) = 0.61, p < 0.001). EDMP displayed a negative correlation with aPTT (CD144/62e+, rho(sp) = -0.55, p < 0.05), INR (CD144/62e(+), rho(sp) = -0.61, p < 0.05) and ROTEM-INTEM CT (CD144/62e(+), rho(sp) = -0.68, p < 0.05) reflecting increased dynamics of clot formation and an overall procoagulative effect. Additionally, EDMP showed a negative association with FIBTEM values (10 min amplitude, maximum clot firmness) indicating a fibrinolytic potential. Discussion: In a small cohort, analysing most severly injured patients, the association of increased MP levels and altered coagulation parameters could be demonstrated. However, these findings are based on correlation analysis, which do not enable causel evidence. Therefore, further in-vitro studies are needed analysing the underlying pathomechanisms. Conclusion: In conclusion, this study could demonstrate that PDMP and EDMP levels increase significantly following polytrauma correlating with injury severity. Although severe coagulopathy was not observed, EDMP levels were associated with improved coagulation parameters suggesting their essential role for regulating blood coagulation after trauma

Comparison of hemostatic dressings for superficial wounds using a new spectrophotometric coagulation assay

Background: Due to demographical changes the number of elderly patients depending on oral anticoagulation is expected to rise. Prolonged bleeding times in case of traumatic injuries represent the drawback of these medications, not only in major trauma, but also in superficial wounds. Therefore, dressings capable of accelerating coagulation onset and shortening bleeding times are desirable for these patients. Methods: The hemostatic potential and physical properties of different types of superficial wound dressings (standard wound pad, two alginates, chitosan, collagen (Lyostypt (R)), oxidized cellulose, and QuikClot (R)) were assessed in vitro. For this purpose the clotting times of blood under the influence of the named hemostatics from healthy volunteers were compared with Marcumar (R) or ASS (R) treated patients. For that, a newly developed coagulation assay based on spectrophotometric extinction measurements of thrombin activity was used. Results: The fastest coagulation onset was observed for oxidized cellulos (empty set 2.47 min), Lantor alginate-L (empty set 2.50 min) and QuikClot (R) (empty set 3.01 min). Chitosan (empty set 5.32 min) and the collagen Lyostypt (R) (empty set 7.59 min) induced clotting comparatively late. Regarding physical parameters, QuikClot (R) showed the lowest absorption capacity and speed while chitosan and both alginates achieved the highest. While oxidized cellulose displayed the best clotting times, unfortunately it also revealed low absorption capacity. Conclusions: All tested specimens seem to induce clotting independently from the administered type of oral anticoagulant, providing the possibility to neglect the disadvantage in clotting times arising from anticoagulation on a local basis. QuikClot (R), oxidized cellulose and unexpectedly alginate-L were superior to chitosan and Lyostypt (R). Due to its additional well-known positive effect on wound healing alginate-L should be considered for further investigations

Small animal bone healing models: Standards, tips, and pitfalls results of a consensus meeting

Small animal fracture models have gained increasing interest in fracture healing studies. To achieve standardized and defined study conditions, various variables must be carefully controlled when designing fracture healing experiments in mice or rats. The strain, age and sex of the animals may influence the process of fracture healing. Furthermore, the choice of the fracture fixation technique depends on the questions addressed, whereby intra- and extramedullary implants as well as open and closed surgical approaches may be considered. During the last few years, a variety of different, highly sophisticated implants for fracture fixation in small animals have been developed. Rigid fixation with locking plates or external fixators results in predominantly intramembranous healing in both mice and rats. Locking plates, external fixators, intramedullary screws, the locking nail and the pin-clip device allow different degrees of stability resulting in various amounts of endochondral and intramembranous healing. The use of common pins that do not provide rotational and axial stability during fracture stabilization should be discouraged in the future. Analyses should include at least biomechanical and histological evaluations, even if the focus of the study is directed towards the elucidation of molecular mechanisms of fracture healing using the largely available spectrum of antibodies and gene-targeted animals to study molecular mechanisms of fracture healing. This review discusses distinct requirements for the experimental setups as well as the advantages and pitfalls of the different fixation techniques in rats and mice