Politisk lederskab af store byudviklingsprojekter

Det er i dag en udbredt opfattelse, at byer deltager som selvstændige aktører i den internationale konkurrence. Siden 1990’erne har en række byer gennemført politiske projekter for at styrke deres regionale, nationale og internationale konkurrenceposition. Store byudviklingsprojekter er blevet et ofte benyttet element i dette arbejde. Denne PhD-afhandling handler om politisk lederskab af to store kommunale, byudviklingsprojekter i Aarhus og Malmø. Afhandlingen analyserer sammenhængen mellem byregimer, politisk lederskab og gennemførelsen af politiske beslutningsprocesser. Byregimer defineres i denne afhandling som en varig konstellation af (halv)autonome aktører, som understøtter og implementerer en fælles politisk dagsorden for byen. Afhandlingen udvikler en matrix, som viser typer og tilstande af byregimer. Afhandlingen viser, at der fandtes to forskellige typer af byregimer i de to byer. Byregimerne forandredes over tid, men typen af regime forblev den samme igennem hele den undersøgte periode i hver by. Afhandlingen viser endvidere, at borgmestrenes styringsevne i de konkrete politiske beslutningsprocesser afhang af disse byregimer, og at tilstanden af byregimerne havde indflydelse på forløbet af de politiske beslutningsprocesser. Derfor kunne de to byudviklingsprojekter, som analyseres i denne afhandling, ikke udvikles på den samme måde i de to byer. Afhandlingens ene teoretiske bidrag er at vise, at borgmestres udøvelse af politisk lederskab påvirkes af den måde, hvorpå aktørernes indbyrdes relationer organiseres, dvs. af byregimet. Dette forhold har hidtil været underbelyst i den europæiske litteratur om lokalt politisk lederskab. Afhandlingens andet teoretiske bidrag er at vise, hvordan det amerikanske urban regime begreb kan lægges til grund for en analyse af forandring af regimer, og hvordan dette kan kobles til en analyse af udøvelsen af lokalt politisk lederskab. Afhandlingen rekonstruerer den politiske beslutningsproces i de to byudviklingsprojekter gennem den historiske metode. Beskrivelsen af de politiske beslutningsprocesser er skabt på baggrund af aktørernes egne udsagn. Afhandlingen påstår ikke, at disse to historier er objektivt sande, men blot at det er den måde, hvorpå de politiske aktører i de to byer selv opfatter processerne. Afhandlingen er ikke en evaluering af de to kommuners arbejde med byudviklingsprojekter; bl.a. er kvaliteten af de to projekter ikke vurderet. Afhandlingen er heller ikke en vurdering af forskellige borgmestres succes i deres embede. Afhandlingen er skrevet som en erhvervs-PhD-afhandling, der er finansieret af Realdania By. Ansvaret for fortolkningerne og konklusionerne i denne afhandling er alene mit

A combined computational-experimental approach to define the structural origin of antibody recognition of sialyl-Tn, a tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen.

Anti-carbohydrate monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) hold great promise as cancer therapeutics and diagnostics. However, their specificity can be mixed, and detailed characterization is problematic, because antibody-glycan complexes are challenging to crystallize. Here, we developed a generalizable approach employing high-throughput techniques for characterizing the structure and specificity of such mAbs, and applied it to the mAb TKH2 developed against the tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen sialyl-Tn (STn). The mAb specificity was defined by apparent KD values determined by quantitative glycan microarray screening. Key residues in the antibody combining site were identified by site-directed mutagenesis, and the glycan-antigen contact surface was defined using saturation transfer difference NMR (STD-NMR). These features were then employed as metrics for selecting the optimal 3D-model of the antibody-glycan complex, out of thousands plausible options generated by automated docking and molecular dynamics simulation. STn-specificity was further validated by computationally screening of the selected antibody 3D-model against the human sialyl-Tn-glycome. This computational-experimental approach would allow rational design of potent antibodies targeting carbohydrates

The usefulness of case reports in managing emerging infectious disease

Emerging infectious diseases are an important problem in medicine. Case reports usually document episodes in the early emerging phase or in a small outbreak. Although the case report is considered weak evidence in medical literature, it is usually the first report when there is a new emerging infectious disease. There is no doubt that case reports can provide useful information for further case series, reviews and studies. This editorial focuses on the usefulness of the case report on emerging infectious disease to the medical society. Publication in this area is highly welcomed by the journal and can serve as a future point of reference

Development of a Rapid Immunodiagnostic Test for Haemophilus ducreyi

Haemophilus ducreyi is the etiologic agent of chancroid, a sexually transmitted disease that increases the rate of transmission of human immunodeficiency virus. Chancroid ulcerations are difficult to distinguish from those produced by syphilis and herpes. Diagnosis based solely on clinical grounds is inaccurate, and culture is insensitive. Highly sensitive PCR has largely superseded culture as the preferred method of laboratory diagnosis; however, neither culture nor PCR is feasible where chancroid is endemic. We developed a rapid (15-min) diagnostic test based on monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to the hemoglobin receptor of H. ducreyi, HgbA. This outer membrane protein is conserved in all strains of H. ducreyi tested and is required for the establishment of experimental human infection. MAbs to HgbA were generated and tested for cross-reactivity against a panel of geographically diverse strains. Three MAbs were found to be unique and noncompetitive and bound to all strains of H. ducreyi tested. Using an immunochromatography format, we evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of the test using geographically diverse strains of H. ducreyi, other Haemophilus strains, and other bacteria known to superinfect genital ulcers. All H. ducreyi strains were positive, and all other bacteria were negative, resulting in a specificity of 100%. The minimum number of CFU of H. ducreyi detected was 2 × 106 CFU, and the minimum amount of purified HgbA protein detected was 8.5 ng. Although this level of sensitivity may not be sufficient to detect H. ducreyi in all clinical specimens, further work to increase the sensitivity could potentially make this a valuable bedside tool in areas where chancroid is endemic