210 research outputs found
Personenname und Recht: Personennamen und Recht in Deutschland Namen und Recht in Europa / Names and the Law in Europe, Akten der Tagung in Regensburg, 16. und 17. April 2015 / Conference Papers, Regensburg, 16 and 17 April 2015
Until the 18th century the name of a natural person was not a legal issue in Germany. The determination of a person’s name – first and family name – was rather a matter of custom. According to Roman tradition which German law adopted generally it was allowed to change the name without any involvement of the State – no person was legally bound to his or her previous name. The article describes the development to a legal regulation of personal names by the State and describes the rules currently in force in Germany. It is shown that the first name of a child is determined by the (relatively) free choice of the parents, while the child himself is bound to the given name normally through all his life. A change of name is allowed only on the basis of an administrative decision of an authority which requires the person to show an important reason for the change of his or her name. The family name is also set by law. Traditionally, the name of the husband was transferred to the wife. This approach violated the principle of equal rights of men and women guaranteed by the German constitution of the 20th century. The article reports on legal reforms which introduced step-by-step a rather surprising freedom of choice for married couples in the determining their marital name
RNA-Mediated Gene Silencing Signals Are Not Graft Transmissible from the Rootstock to the Scion in Greenhouse-Grown Apple Plants Malus sp.
RNA silencing describes the sequence specific degradation of RNA targets. Silencing is a non-cell autonomous event that is graft transmissible in different plant species. The present study is the first report on systemic acquired dsRNA-mediated gene silencing of transgenic and endogenous gene sequences in a woody plant like apple. Transgenic apple plants overexpressing a hairpin gene construct of the gusA reporter gene were produced. These plants were used as rootstocks and grafted with scions of the gusA overexpressing transgenic apple clone T355. After grafting, we observed a reduction of the gusA gene expression in T355 scions in vitro, but not in T355 scions grown in the greenhouse. Similar results were obtained after silencing of the endogenous Mdans gene in apple that is responsible for anthocyanin biosynthesis. Subsequently, we performed grafting experiments with Mdans silenced rootstocks and red leaf scions of TNR31-35 in order to evaluate graft transmitted silencing of the endogenous Mdans. The results obtained suggested a graft transmission of silencing signals in in vitro shoots. In contrast, no graft transmission of dsRNA-mediated gene silencing signals was detectable in greenhouse-grown plants and in plants grown in an insect protection tent
Clinical decision-making on spinal cord injury-associated pneumonia: a nationwide survey in Germany
Study design: Survey study.
Objectives: Spinal cord injury (SCI)-associated pneumonia (SCI-AP) is associated with poor functional recovery and a major cause of death after SCI. Better tackling SCI-AP requires a common understanding on how SCI-AP is defined. This survey examines clinical algorithms relevant for diagnosis and treatment of SCI-AP.
Setting: All departments for SCI-care in Germany.
Methods: The clinical decision-making on SCI-AP and the utility of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) criteria for diagnosis of ‘clinically defined pneumonia’ were assessed by means of a standardized questionnaire including eight case vignettes of suspected SCI-AP. The diagnostic decisions based on the case information were analysed using classification and regression trees (CART).
Results: The majority of responding departments were aware of the CDC-criteria (88%). In the clinical vignettes, 38–81% of the departments diagnosed SCI-AP in accordance with the CDC-criteria and 7–41% diagnosed SCI-AP in deviation from the CDC-criteria. The diagnostic agreement was not associated with the availability of standard operating procedures for SCI-AP management in the departments. CART analysis identified radiological findings, fever, and worsened gas exchange as most important for the decision on SCI-AP. Frequently requested supplementary diagnostics were microbiological analyses, C-reactive protein, and procalcitonin. For empirical antibiotic therapy, the departments used (acyl-)aminopenicillins/β-lactamase inhibitors, cephalosporins, or combinations of (acyl-)aminopenicillins/β-lactamase inhibitors with fluoroquinolones or carbapenems.
Conclusions: This survey reveals a diagnostic ambiguity regarding SCI-AP despite the awareness of CDC-criteria and established SOPs. Heterogeneous clinical practice is encouraging the development of disease-specific guidelines for diagnosis and management of SCI-AP
Development of a GEM-TPC prototype
The use of GEM foils for the amplification stage of a TPC instead of a con-
ventional MWPC allows one to bypass the necessity of gating, as the backdrift
is suppressed thanks to the asymmetric field configuration. This way, a novel
continuously running TPC, which represents one option for the PANDA central
tracker, can be realized. A medium sized prototype with a diameter of 300 mm
and a length of 600 mm will be tested inside the FOPI spectrometer at GSI using
a carbon or lithium beam at intermediate energies (E = 1-3AGeV). This detector
test under realistic experimental conditions should allow us to verify the
spatial resolution for single tracks and the reconstruction capability for
displaced vertexes. A series of physics measurement implying pion beams is
scheduled with the FOPI spectrometer together with the GEM-TPC as well.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Proceedings for 11th ICATTP conference in como
(italy
Catching Element Formation In The Act
Gamma-ray astronomy explores the most energetic photons in nature to address
some of the most pressing puzzles in contemporary astrophysics. It encompasses
a wide range of objects and phenomena: stars, supernovae, novae, neutron stars,
stellar-mass black holes, nucleosynthesis, the interstellar medium, cosmic rays
and relativistic-particle acceleration, and the evolution of galaxies. MeV
gamma-rays provide a unique probe of nuclear processes in astronomy, directly
measuring radioactive decay, nuclear de-excitation, and positron annihilation.
The substantial information carried by gamma-ray photons allows us to see
deeper into these objects, the bulk of the power is often emitted at gamma-ray
energies, and radioactivity provides a natural physical clock that adds unique
information. New science will be driven by time-domain population studies at
gamma-ray energies. This science is enabled by next-generation gamma-ray
instruments with one to two orders of magnitude better sensitivity, larger sky
coverage, and faster cadence than all previous gamma-ray instruments. This
transformative capability permits: (a) the accurate identification of the
gamma-ray emitting objects and correlations with observations taken at other
wavelengths and with other messengers; (b) construction of new gamma-ray maps
of the Milky Way and other nearby galaxies where extended regions are
distinguished from point sources; and (c) considerable serendipitous science of
scarce events -- nearby neutron star mergers, for example. Advances in
technology push the performance of new gamma-ray instruments to address a wide
set of astrophysical questions.Comment: 14 pages including 3 figure
Dihydropyrimidine Dehydrogenase Testing prior to Treatment with 5-Fluorouracil, Capecitabine, and Tegafur: A Consensus Paper
Background: 5-Fluorouracil (FU) is one of the most commonly used cytostatic drugs in the systemic treatment of
cancer. Treatment with FU may cause severe or life-threatening side effects and the treatment-related mortality rate is 0.2–1.0%. Summary: Among other risk factors associated
with increased toxicity, a genetic deficiency in dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD), an enzyme responsible for
the metabolism of FU, is well known. This is due to variants
in the DPD gene (DPYD). Up to 9% of European patients carry a DPD gene variant that decreases enzyme activity, and
DPD is completely lacking in approximately 0.5% of patients.
Here we describe the clinical and genetic background and
summarize recommendations for the genetic testing and
tailoring of treatment with 5-FU derivatives. The statement
was developed as a consensus statement organized by the
German Society for Hematology and Medical Oncology in
cooperation with 13 medical associations from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Key Messages: (i) Patients should be
tested for the 4 most common genetic DPYD variants before
treatment with drugs containing FU. (ii) Testing forms the
basis for a differentiated, risk-adapted algorithm with recommendations for treatment with FU-containing drugs. (iii)
Testing may optionally be supplemented by therapeutic
drug monitorin
Apheresis therapies for NMOSD attacks A retrospective study of 207 therapeutic interventions
Objective To analyze whether 1 of the 2 apheresis techniques, therapeutic plasma exchange (PE) or immunoadsorption (IA), is superior in treating neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) attacks and to identify predictive factors for complete remission (CR). Methods This retrospective cohort study was based on the registry of the German Neuromyelitis Optica Study Group, a nationwide network established in 2008. It recruited patients with neuromyelitis optica diagnosed according to the 2006 Wingerchuk criteria or with aquaporin-4 (AQP4-ab)-antibody-seropositive NMOSD treated at 6 regional hospitals and 16 tertiary referral centers until March 2013. Besides descriptive data analysis of patient and attack characteristics, generalized estimation equation (GEE) analyses were applied to compare the effectiveness of the 2 apheresis techniques. A GEE model was generated to assess predictors of outcome. Results Two hundred and seven attacks in 105 patients (87% AQP4-ab-antibody seropositive) were treated with at least 1 apheresis therapy. Neither PE nor IA was proven superior in the therapy of NMOSD attacks. CR was only achieved with early apheresis therapy. Strong predictors for CR were the use of apheresis therapy as first-line therapy (OR 12.27, 95% CI: 1.04-144.91, p = 0.047), time from onset of attack to start of therapy in days (OR 0.94, 95% CI: 0.89-0.99, p = 0.014), the presence of AQP4-abantibodies (OR 33.34, 95% CI: 1.76-631.17, p = 0.019), and monofocal attack manifestation (OR 4.71, 95% CI: 1.03-21.62, p = 0.046). Conclusion: s Our findings suggest early use of an apheresis therapy in NMOSD attacks, particularly in AQP4-ab-seropositive patients. No superiority was shown for one of the 2 apheresis techniques
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