Der E-Verbund an der Humboldt-Universität

Der Aufbau des E-Verbundes als Netzwerk der E-Learning-Aktivitäten an der Humboldt- Universität ist einer der Schwerpunkte des im Juni 2005 gestarteten Projektes E-Kompetenz im Kontext (e-KoKon). Die Idee dahinter ist einfach: Wenn es gelingt, nicht nur im fachlichen Kontext der Institute Netzwerke von Aktiven aufzubauen, sondern auch einrichtungsübergreifend einen themenbezogenen Austausch zu initiieren, kann die Integration von digitalen Technologien in der Lehre nachhaltig gesichert werden. Die Realisierung ist nicht so einfach. Der Beitrag beschreibt die aktuelle Entwicklung an der Humboldt-Universität und zeigt weiterführende Perspektiven auf

Sebum lipids influence macrophage polarization and activation

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Amantadine treatment is associated with improved consciousness in patients with non-traumatic brain injury

ObjectiveThis study determined the effect of amantadine treatment on consciousness in patients with non-traumatic brain injury.MethodsWe pooled individual patient data of five single-centre observational studies to determine the effect of amantadine treatment among patients with ischaemic stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage, subarachnoid haemorrhage, community-acquired bacterial meningitis and status epilepticus, admitted between January 2012 and December 2015 and ventilated ≥7 days. Patient selection and multivariable regression modelling were used to adjust for differences in intergroup comparison and for parameters associated with consciousness. Improvement of consciousness 5 days after treatment initiation was defined as primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) at day 5 and GCS at day 10, rate of ICU delirium, epileptic seizures and all-cause mortality at 90 days.ResultsOverall, 84 of 294 (28.6%) eligible patients received amantadine. Amantadine treatment was associated with improvement of consciousness at day 5 (amantadine: 86.9% vs control: 54.0%; absolute difference: 32.9 (20.0–44.2); adjusted OR (aOR): 5.71 (2.50–13.05), p<0.001). Secondary outcomes showed differences in GCS 5 days (9 (8–11) vs 6 (3–9), p<0.001) and GCS 10 days (10(8–11) vs 9(6–11),p=0.003) after treatment initiation. There were no significant differences regarding all-cause mortality (aOR: 0.89 (0.44–1.82), p=0.758) and ICU delirium (aOR: 1.39 (0.58–3.31), p=0.462). Rate of epileptic seizures after initiation of amantadine treatment was numerically higher in the amantadine group (amantadine: 10.7% vs control: 3.0%; absolute difference: 7.7 (0.3–16.4); aOR: 3.68 (0.86–15.71), p=0.079).ConclusionsAmantadine treatment is associated with improved consciousness among patients with different types of non-traumatic brain injury in this observational cohort analysis. Epileptic seizures should be considered as potential side effects and randomised controlled trials are needed to confirm these findings

A multi-center study of their physicochemical characteristics, cell culture and in vivo experiments

PVP-capped silver nanoparticles with a diameter of the metallic core of 70 nm, a hydrodynamic diameter of 120 nm and a zeta potential of −20 mV were prepared and investigated with regard to their biological activity. This review summarizes the physicochemical properties (dissolution, protein adsorption, dispersability) of these nanoparticles and the cellular consequences of the exposure of a broad range of biological test systems to this defined type of silver nanoparticles. Silver nanoparticles dissolve in water in the presence of oxygen. In addition, in biological media (i.e., in the presence of proteins) the surface of silver nanoparticles is rapidly coated by a protein corona that influences their physicochemical and biological properties including cellular uptake. Silver nanoparticles are taken up by cell-type specific endocytosis pathways as demonstrated for hMSC, primary T-cells, primary monocytes, and astrocytes. A visualization of particles inside cells is possible by X-ray microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and combined FIB/SEM analysis. By staining organelles, their localization inside the cell can be additionally determined. While primary brain astrocytes are shown to be fairly tolerant toward silver nanoparticles, silver nanoparticles induce the formation of DNA double-strand-breaks (DSB) and lead to chromosomal aberrations and sister-chromatid exchanges in Chinese hamster fibroblast cell lines (CHO9, K1, V79B). An exposure of rats to silver nanoparticles in vivo induced a moderate pulmonary toxicity, however, only at rather high concentrations. The same was found in precision-cut lung slices of rats in which silver nanoparticles remained mainly at the tissue surface. In a human 3D triple-cell culture model consisting of three cell types (alveolar epithelial cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells), adverse effects were also only found at high silver concentrations. The silver ions that are released from silver nanoparticles may be harmful to skin with disrupted barrier (e.g., wounds) and induce oxidative stress in skin cells (HaCaT). In conclusion, the data obtained on the effects of this well-defined type of silver nanoparticles on various biological systems clearly demonstrate that cell-type specific properties as well as experimental conditions determine the biocompatibility of and the cellular responses to an exposure with silver nanoparticles

E-Teams an der Humboldt-Universität

Der Artikel gibt einen Einblick in die sehr verschiedenen Überlegungen und Ansätze der Institute der Humboldt-Universität, die Nutzung digitaler Medien in der Lehre zu unterstützen und zu verankern. Mit den sogenannten E-Teams wurden institutsweite Netzwerke von Ansprechpartnern aufgebaut. Diese E-Teams sind eine Besonderheit in der Strategie der Humboldt-Universität zur Verankerung von E-Learning und Multimedia in der Lehre. Hier arbeiten »Aktive« und »Funktionäre« gemeinsam an Lösungen, die für das Fach passen und nutzbar sind. Aufbauend auf zentraler Infrastruktur können so flexibel an den fachlichen Kontext angepasste Unterstützungsangebote aufgebaut werden. Zehn der E-Teams stellen exemplarisch ihre Arbeitsweise und Angebote vor

PVP-coated, negatively charged silver nanoparticles: A multi-center study of their physicochemical characteristics, cell culture and in vivo experiments

PVP-capped silver nanoparticles with a diameter of the metallic core of 70 nm, a hydrodynamic diameter of 120 nm and a zeta potential of −20 mV were prepared and investigated with regard to their biological activity. This review summarizes the physicochemical properties (dissolution, protein adsorption, dispersability) of these nanoparticles and the cellular consequences of the exposure of a broad range of biological test systems to this defined type of silver nanoparticles. Silver nanoparticles dissolve in water in the presence of oxygen. In addition, in biological media (i.e., in the presence of proteins) the surface of silver nanoparticles is rapidly coated by a protein corona that influences their physicochemical and biological properties including cellular uptake. Silver nanoparticles are taken up by cell-type specific endocytosis pathways as demonstrated for hMSC, primary T-cells, primary monocytes, and astrocytes. A visualization of particles inside cells is possible by X-ray microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and combined FIB/SEM analysis. By staining organelles, their localization inside the cell can be additionally determined. While primary brain astrocytes are shown to be fairly tolerant toward silver nanoparticles, silver nanoparticles induce the formation of DNA double-strand-breaks (DSB) and lead to chromosomal aberrations and sister-chromatid exchanges in Chinese hamster fibroblast cell lines (CHO9, K1, V79B). An exposure of rats to silver nanoparticles in vivo induced a moderate pulmonary toxicity, however, only at rather high concentrations. The same was found in precision-cut lung slices of rats in which silver nanoparticles remained mainly at the tissue surface. In a human 3D triple-cell culture model consisting of three cell types (alveolar epithelial cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells), adverse effects were also only found at high silver concentrations. The silver ions that are released from silver nanoparticles may be harmful to skin with disrupted barrier (e.g., wounds) and induce oxidative stress in skin cells (HaCaT). In conclusion, the data obtained on the effects of this well-defined type of silver nanoparticles on various biological systems clearly demonstrate that cell-type specific properties as well as experimental conditions determine the biocompatibility of and the cellular responses to an exposure with silver nanoparticles