The Nonprofit Quarterly Study on Nonprofit and Philanthropic Infrastructure

Examines trends in the nonprofit sector's support network and financing system and their capacity to address the impact of the financial crisis on small and midsize nonprofits, share organizational survival strategies, and connect them to resources

Successful treatment of periprosthetic joint infection caused by Granulicatella para-adiacens with prosthesis retention: a case report.

Granulicatella and Abiotrophia spp. are difficult to detect due to their complex nutritional requirements. Infections with these organisms are associated with high treatment failure rates. We report the first implant-associated infection caused by Granulicatella para-adiacens, which was cured with anti-microbial treatment consisting of anti-biofilm-active rifampin and debridement, exchange of mobile parts and retention of the prosthesis. Patient with a history of left hip arthroplasty presented with acute onset of fever, pain and limited range of motion of the left hip. Arthrocentesis of the affected joint yielded purulent fluid and exchange of mobile parts of the prosthesis, but retention of fixed components was performed. Granulicatella para-adiacens grew from preoperative and intraoperative cultures, including sonication fluid of the removed implant. The transesophageal echocardiography showed a vegetation on the mitral valve; the orthopantogram demonstrated a periapical dental abscess. The patient was treated with intravenous penicillin G and gentamicin for 4 weeks, followed by levofloxacin and rifampin for additional 2 months. At discharge and at follow-up 1, 2 and 5 years later, the patient was noted to have a functional, pain-free, and radiologically stable hip prosthesis and the serum C-reactive protein was normal. Although considered a difficult-to-treat organism, we report a successful treatment of the Granulicatella hip prosthesis infection with prosthesis retention and a prolonged antibiofilm therapy including rifampin. The periapical dental abscess is considered the primary focus of hematogenously infected hip prosthesis, underlining the importance treatment of periodontitis prior to arthroplasty and of proper oral hygiene for prevention of hematogenous infection after arthroplasty

PlanT: Explainable Planning Transformers via Object-Level Representations

Planning an optimal route in a complex environment requires efficientreasoning about the surrounding scene. While human drivers prioritize importantobjects and ignore details not relevant to the decision, learning-basedplanners typically extract features from dense, high-dimensional gridrepresentations containing all vehicle and road context information. In thispaper, we propose PlanT, a novel approach for planning in the context ofself-driving that uses a standard transformer architecture. PlanT is based onimitation learning with a compact object-level input representation. On theLongest6 benchmark for CARLA, PlanT outperforms all prior methods (matching thedriving score of the expert) while being 5.3x faster than equivalentpixel-based planning baselines during inference. Combining PlanT with anoff-the-shelf perception module provides a sensor-based driving system that ismore than 10 points better in terms of driving score than the existing state ofthe art. Furthermore, we propose an evaluation protocol to quantify the abilityof planners to identify relevant objects, providing insights regarding theirdecision-making. Our results indicate that PlanT can focus on the most relevantobject in the scene, even when this object is geometrically distant.<br

Allergy for a Lifetime?

ABSTRACTAs the key molecule of type-I-hypersensitivity, IgE provides specificity for the allergen and links it to the allergic effector functions. Antibodies are secreted by plasma cells and their precursors, the plasma blasts. The fate of plasma cells is a subject of controversy, with respect to their lifetime and persistence in the absence of allergen. In general, plasma cells were for a long time considered as short-lived end products of B-cell differentiation, and many of them are short-lived, although already for more than 20 years evidence has been provided that IgE-secreting plasma cells can persist over months. Today long-lived, "memory" plasma cells are considered to represent a distinct cellular entity of immunological memory, with considerable therapeutic relevance. Long-lived plasma cells resist current therapeutic and experimental approaches such as immunosuppression, e.g. cyclophosphamide, steroids, X-ray irradiation, anti-CD20 antibodies and anti-inflammatory drugs, while the chronic generation of short-lived plasma cells is sensitive to conventional immunosuppression. The seasonal variation in pollen-specific IgE can be suppressed by immunotherapy, indicating that component of the IgE response, which is stimulated with pollen allergen is susceptible to suppression. Targeting of the remaining long-lived, allergen-specific plasma cells, providing the stable IgE-titers, represents a therapeutic challenge.Here we discuss recent evidence suggesting, why current protocols for the treatment of IgE-mediated allergies fail: Memory plasma cells generated by inhalation of the allergen become long-lived and are maintained preferentially in the bone marrow. They do not proliferate, and are refractory to conventional therapies. Current concepts target plasma cells for depletion, e.g. the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib, BAFF and APRIL antagonists and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Safety, tolerability, and impact on allergic inflammation of autologous E.coli autovaccine in the treatment of house dust mite asthma - a prospective open clinical trial

Background: Asthma is increasing worldwide and results from a complex immunological interaction between genetic susceptibility and environmental factors. Autovaccination with E. coli induces a strong TH-1 immune response, thus offering an option for the treatment of allergic diseases. Methods: Prospective open trial on safety, tolerability, and impact on allergic inflammation of an autologous E.coli autovaccine in intermittent or mild persistent house dust mite asthma. Determination of exhaled nitric monoxide (eNO) before and after bronchial mite challenge initially and after nine months of autovaccination. Results: Median eNO increase after autovaccination was significantly smaller (from 27.3 to 33.8 ppb; p=0.334) compared to initial values (from 32.6 to 42.2 ppb; p=0.046) (p=0.034). In nine subjects and a total of 306 injections, we observed 101 episodes of local erythema (33.3%; median of maximal diameter 2.5 cm), 95 episodes of local swelling (31.1%; median of maximal diameter 3 cm), and 27 episodes of local pain (8.8%). Four subjects reported itching at the injection site with a total of 30 episodes (9.8%). We observed no serious adverse events. All organ functions (inclusive electrocardiogramm) and laboratory testing of the blood (clinical chemistry, hematology) and the urine (screening test, B-microglobuline) were within normal limits. Vital signs undulated within the physiological variability. Conclusion: The administration of autologous autovacine for the treatment of house dust mite asthma resulted in a reduction of the eNO increase upon bronchial mite challenge. In nine subjects and 306 injections, only a few mild local reactions and no systemic severe adverse events were observed. EudraCT Nr. 2005-005534-12 ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT0067720

Nonprofit-public collaborations: understanding governance dynamics

As many of the challenges facing society are too complex to be addressed by single organizations working alone, nonprofit organizations are increasingly working in collaboration with public authorities. The governance of nonprofit–public collaborations is important for their effectiveness, yet it remains poorly understood. Drawing on case study research, this article examines and develops an extant conceptual model developed by Takahashi and Smutny that seeks to explain the formation and demise of nonprofit collaborations in terms of “collaborative windows” and the inability to adapt initial governance structures. The research finds that while initial governance structures are an important constraint on development, they can be adapted and changed. It also suggests that the development of collaborations is not only influenced by changes in the collaborative window but also by how key actors in the collaboration respond to important internal tensions