Transboundary Cooperation and Sustainable Development in the Rhine Basin

The Rhine connects millions of people from the Alps to the North Sea. With a length of 1233 km, its catchment includes nine states, an area of about 200,000 km2, 60 million inhabitants as well as important cities and fascinating landscapes. Consequently, the Rhine is culturally, historically and economically one of the most important rivers in Europe. The International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) was founded in 1950 with the first common goal in history to reduce water pollution. The whole process got a new impetus with the chemical catastrophe at the Sandoz plant (near Basel) in 1986, which saw aquatic ecosystems being seriously damaged. This disaster led to a better integration of the issue of ecology into the tasks of the ICPR. Depollution and rehabilitation programmes with actions and measures were established. In the 1990s, severe flood events forced the ICPR to add flood prevention to its sustainability goals enabling a better protection of citizens. This chapter presents the common work of the countries aimed at protecting the Rhine basin and the most important environmental outcomes of this special and long-lasting partnership

Sensorik im Gesundheitswesen: Chancen und Herausforderungen (Teil 1)

Wie können digitale Technologien in der Gesundheitsversorgung und Prävention eingesetzt werden? Kann Technologie das Pflegepersonal entlasten? Und was braucht es, damit die Technologie von Patient*innen und Personal angenommen wird? Forschende der BFH Gesundheit untersuchen diese Fragen in einem Innosuisse-Projekt. In einer mehrteiligen Artikelserie geben sie einen Einblick in die Aspekte von Datennutzung und Prozessdesign bis Akzeptanz

The rearing environment persistently modulates mouse phenotypes from the molecular to the behavioural level.

The phenotype of an organism results from its genotype and the influence of the environment throughout development. Even when using animals of the same genotype, independent studies may test animals of different phenotypes, resulting in poor replicability due to genotype-by-environment interactions. Thus, genetically defined strains of mice may respond differently to experimental treatments depending on their rearing environment. However, the extent of such phenotypic plasticity and its implications for the replicability of research findings have remained unknown. Here, we examined the extent to which common environmental differences between animal facilities modulate the phenotype of genetically homogeneous (inbred) mice. We conducted a comprehensive multicentre study, whereby inbred C57BL/6J mice from a single breeding cohort were allocated to and reared in 5 different animal facilities throughout early life and adolescence, before being transported to a single test laboratory. We found persistent effects of the rearing facility on the composition and heterogeneity of the gut microbial community. These effects were paralleled by persistent differences in body weight and in the behavioural phenotype of the mice. Furthermore, we show that environmental variation among animal facilities is strong enough to influence epigenetic patterns in neurons at the level of chromatin organisation. We detected changes in chromatin organisation in the regulatory regions of genes involved in nucleosome assembly, neuronal differentiation, synaptic plasticity, and regulation of behaviour. Our findings demonstrate that common environmental differences between animal facilities may produce facility-specific phenotypes, from the molecular to the behavioural level. Furthermore, they highlight an important limitation of inferences from single-laboratory studies and thus argue that study designs should take environmental background into account to increase the robustness and replicability of findings

Interlaboratory study on rheological properties of cement pastes and reference substances: comparability of measurements performed with different rheometers and measurement geometries

This paper presents the results of an interlaboratory study of the rheological properties of cement paste and ultrasound gel as reference substance. The goal was to quantify the comparability and reproducibility of measurements of the Bingham parameters yield stress and plastic viscosity when measured on one specific paste composition and one particular ultrasound gel in different laboratories using different rheometers and measurement geometries. The procedures for both in preparing the cement paste and carrying out the rheological measurements on cement paste and ultrasound gel were carefully defined for all of the study’s participants. Different conversion schemes for comparing the results obtained with the different measurement setups are presented here and critically discussed. The procedure proposed in this paper ensured a reasonable comparability of the results with a coefficient of variation for the yield stress of 27% and for the plastic viscosity of 24%, despite the individual measurement series’ having been performed in different labs with different rheometers and measurement geometries

CARMA1- and MyD88-dependent activation of Jun/ATF-type AP-1 complexes is a hallmark of ABC diffuse large B-cell lymphomas.

A hallmark of the diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) of the activated B-cell (ABC) type, a molecular subtype characterized by adverse outcome, is constitutive activation of the transcription factor nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), which controls expression of genes promoting cellular survival and proliferation. Much less, however, is known about the role of the transcription factor activator protein-1 (AP-1) in ABC DLBCL. Here, we show that AP-1, like NF-κB, was controlled by constitutive activation of the B-cell receptor signaling component caspase recruitment domain-containing membrane-associated guanylate kinase 1 (CARMA1) and/or the Toll-like receptor signaling component myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 (MyD88) in ABC DLBCL cell lines. In contrast to germinal center (GC) B-cell (GCB) DLBCL, ABC DLBCL cell lines expressed high levels of the AP-1 family members c-Jun, JunB, and JunD, which formed heterodimeric complexes with the AP-1 family members activating transcription factor (ATF) 2, ATF3, and ATF7. Inhibition of these complexes by a dominant-negative approach led to impaired growth of a majority of ABC DLBCL cell lines. Individual silencing of c-Jun, ATF2, or ATF3 decreased cellular survival and revealed c-Jun/ATF2-dependent control of ATF3 expression. As a consequence, ATF3 expression was much higher in ABC vs GCB DLBCL cell lines. Samples derived from DLBCL patients showed a clear trend toward high and nuclear ATF3 expression in nodal DLBCL of the non-GC or ABC subtype. These findings identify the activation of AP-1 complexes of the Jun/ATF-type as an important element controlling the growth of ABC DLBCL

Optimierung der Gerätefertigung und Sicherung der Qualität in der Serie

Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit schafft einen Überblick über das Thema Prozessmanagement und Qualitätssicherung in der Abteilung der Produktion der Firma Camfil APC in Tuttlingen. Durch eine erhöhte Rückmeldung an Reklamationen seitens eines bedeutenden OEM-Kunden, ist die Notwendigkeit zur Verbesserung vorhandener Prozesse gegeben. Vor diesem Kontext soll die Frage beantwortet werden, welche Maßnahmen zur Verbesserungen von bestehenden Prozessen ergriffen werden können, um qualitativ hochwertige Prozessergebnisse zu garantieren und zu sichern. Dabei werden Prozessmanagementmethoden wie das, von dem Unternehmen verwendete, Lean Management und weiterführende Methoden des Qualitätsmanagements bei der Analyse der Fertigungsvorgänge in der Serienfertigung und Standplatzmontage für den OEM-Kunden eingesetzt. Durch die im Rahmen der Observation aufgedeckten Potentiale werden spezifische Verbesserungsansätze für die Fertigungsebene generiert

Was erhöht oder mindert das Risiko für einen Geburtsstillstand?

Ein Geburtsstillstand ist ein Hauptfaktor in der Medikalisierung der Geburtshilfe und die häufigste Ursache für einen Kaiserschnitt. Im Rahmen einer Bachelorthesis wurden Risikofaktoren sowie präventive Massnahmen in Zusammenhang mit dem Geburtsstillstand untersucht. Diese sollten bereits in der Schwangerschaft beginnen, um die werdende Mutter optimal auf die bevorstehende Geburt vorzubereiten

Hospital@home: der aktuelle Forschungsstand

Das Versorgungsmodell Hospital@home, d. h. die Pflege und Betreuung medizinisch versorgter Personen in ihren eigenen vier Wänden, ist zwar keine neue Erfindung, aber in der Schweizer Gesundheitsversorgung noch kaum anzutreffen. Ein Überblick zum aktuellen Forschungsstand zeigt mögliche Potenziale und Stolpersteine dieses Konzepts für die Schweiz auf

CT angiography of the aorta: prospective evaluation of individualized low-volume contrast media protocols

Purpose To prospectively develop individualized low-volume contrast media (CM) protocols adapted to tube voltage in patients undergoing computed tomographic (CT) angiography of the aorta. Materials and Methods The study was approved by the institutional review board and local ethics committee. All patients provided written informed consent. CT angiography was performed by using automated attenuation-based tube voltage selection (ATVS) (range, 70-150 kVp; 10-kVp increments). Iodine attenuation curves from an ex vivo experiment in a phantom were used to design CM protocols for CT angiography of the thoracoabdominal aorta in 129 consecutive patients (hereafter, cohort A). Further modified CM protocols based on results in cohort A were designed with the aim of homogeneous vascular attenuation of 300-350 HU across tube voltages and were applied to another 61 consecutive patients (cohort B). Three independent blinded radiologists assessed subjective image quality, and one reader determined objective image quality. The Kruskal-Wallis test was performed to test for differences in subjective image quality, and linear regression was performed to test for differences in objective image quality between the automatically selected tube voltages. Results Experiments revealed tube voltage-dependent iodine attenuation curves, which were used to determine the CM protocols in cohort A; these ranged from 68 mL at 110 kVp to 45 mL at 80 kVp. In both cohorts, ATVS selected 80 kVp in 62 patients, 90 kVp in 84, 100 kVp in 33, and 110 kVp in 11. In cohort A, image quality that was satisfactory or better was attained in 126 (98%) of 129 patients who had no significant differences in subjective image quality between tube voltages (P = .106) but who did have significant differences in attenuation and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) (P < .001 for both). In cohort B, the further-modified CM protocol (from 33 mL at 80 kVp to 68 mL at 110 kVp) yielded image quality that was satisfactory or better in all 61 (100%) patients, without significant differences in subjective image quality (P = .178), and without significant differences between tube voltage and attenuation (P = .108), noise (P = .250), or CNR (P = .698). Conclusion Individualized low-volume CM protocols based on automatically selected tube voltages are feasible and yield diagnostic image quality for CT angiography of the aorta. (©) RSNA, 2016 Online supplemental material is available for this article