Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire

In der europäischen Baukultur stehen Schlösser, Burgen und Country Houses für politische und soziale Macht. Die Gestaltung sowie Funktion dieser Bauten und deren Umgestaltung lassen Schlüsse über die jeweiligen Bauherren und Architekten zu, so dass spezifische und allgemeine Ansprüche der Gesellschaft für die jeweiligen Zeitschichten verdeutlicht werden. Heute ist das Sichern des Fortbestehens dieser meist denkmalgeschützten Bauten in Zeiten von staatlichen Mittelkürzungen und des Klimawandels schwierig. Für diese Ausgangssituation ist ein autarkes Denkmal, das sein Bestehen aus sich selbst heraus sichert, ohne seiner Substanz zu schaden, der wertvollste Lösungsansatz. Ein solches Beispiel wird in der Dissertation in seiner Gesamtheit analysiert. Anhand der Auswertung verschiedener Quellen wird betrachtet, in welchen Schritten die Eigenständigkeit von Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire, entstand. Die Basis für die Analyse beschreibt der Denkmalwert des Country House, der sich aus einer baugeschichtlichen Untersuchung und architekturhistorischen Einordnung ergibt. Den historischen Wert erhält das von Historic England als Grade I eingestufte Baudenkmal aus den mannigfaltigen Zeugnissen der Familien Cocks, Somers und Somers-Cocks, die diesen Bau über mehrere Jahrhunderte prägen. Darüber hinaus stellt Eastnor Castle ein frühes Werk des Architekten Robert Smirke dar, der im Verlauf seiner Karriere viele architektonisch einflussreiche Bauten entwirft. Ferner besitzt Eastnor Castle einen künstlerischen Wert, da es als kompletter Neubau der Regency Ära durchgängig im Norman Style entworfen und aus Bauten wie Lowther Castle, Cumbria, und Warwick Castle, Warwickshire, entwickelt wird. Ähnliche Country Houses als reine Ausprägung dieser Baustilrichtung existieren nur wenige wie beispielsweise Penrhyn Castle, Gwynedd. Eastnor Castle besitzt ferner Raum- und Mobiliargestaltungen im Norman Style sowie das sehr gut erhaltene Interieur des Gothic Drawing Room, welches A.W.N. Pugin am Ende seiner Architekturkarriere entwirft. Diese Raumgestaltung ist eines seiner am besten erhaltenen Interieurs, das gestalterisch für die internationale Architekturbewegung des Puginism steht. Darüber hinaus besitzt Eastnor Castle eine technikgeschichtliche Bedeutung, da Robert Smirke einerseits neue Baumaterialen wie Eisenträger verwendet und es andererseits in einem neuen Bauablauf errichtet. Außerdem prägen Eastnor Castle und sein Vorgängerbau Castle Ditch die Region der Malvern Hills nachhaltig. In einem zweiten Schritt untersucht die Arbeit die heutige Nutzung des Denkmals und wertet sie aus. Eine wichtige Rolle hierbei spielt das bestehende Funktionsdreieck aus Wohnhaus, Denkmal und Event-Stätte. Das Ausbalancieren dieses Dreiecks hat oberste Priorität und bildet die Grundlage für das autarke Fortbestehen des Denkmals. Einzelne Erkenntnisse dieser Untersuchung können schließlich als Resultate der Arbeit verallgemeinert und übertragen werden.Castles and country houses represent political and social power in European building culture. Their design, function and transformation enable conclusions about the owners as well as their architects, leading to conclusions about specific and general expectations of society during a time period. Today the continued existence of these mostly listed buildings in times of funding cuts and climate change is difficult. For this initial situation a self-supporting monument, which secures its survival on its own, is the most valuable solution approach. Such an example is analysed as a whole in the dissertation. The evaluation of different sources shows, how the independence of Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire, developed. The basis of this analysis are the different monumental values of the country house, which arise out of the study of the building’s history and its architectural classification. The grade I listed monument gains its historical value from diverse testimonials of the Cocks, Somers and Somers-Cocks families, who have shaped the building during several centuries. Further Eastnor Castle is an early work of the architect Robert Smirke, who designed several architectonically influential buildings during his career. In addition, the country house has an artistical value, since it was designed as a new building during the regency era in a consistent Norman style and was developed from Lowther Castle, Cumbria, as well as Warwick Castle, Warwickshire. Only a few country houses exist as pure display of this building style as for example Penrhyn Castle, Gwynedd. Additionally, Eastnor Castle has interior decorations and furniture in the Norman style along with the very well retained interior of the gothic drawing room, which was designed by A.W.N. Pugin near the end of his career. This room is one of his best obtained interiors, which represents the international architectural movement of puginism. Further Eastnor Castle has a value of technological history, since Smirke firstly used materials like iron girders and secondly builds the country house in a new construction procedure. Next to these values Eastnor Castle and its predecessor Castle Ditch influence the region of the Malvern Hills in a sustainable manner by visual axes and pathways. In a second step the dissertation continues to analyse the country houses utilization. An important aspect is described by a triangle created by its functions of residence, monument and venue. The equilibration of this triangle has first priority and provides the basis for the self-supporting and substance sustaining existence of the monument. Lastly individual aspects of this study are generalized and conveyed to other historic monuments

NF-κB, iNOS, IL-6, and collagen 1 and 5 expression in healthy and keratoconus corneal fibroblasts after 0.1% riboflavin UV-A illumination

Purpose To analyze the effect of riboflavin UV-A illumination on mRNA and protein expression of healthy (HCFs) and keratoconus human corneal fibroblasts (KC-HCFs), concerning the inflammatory markers NF-κB, iNOS, IL-6, and collagen 1 and 5 (Col 1/Col 5). Methods Keratocytes were isolated from healthy (n = 3) and keratoconus (KC) corneas (n = 3) and were cultivated in basal medium with 5% fetal calf serum, which resulted in their transformation into human corneal fibroblasts (HCFs/KC-HCFs). Cells underwent 0.1% riboflavin UV-A illumination for 250 s (CXL). NF-κB, iNOS, IL-6, Col 1, and Col 5 expression was investigated by qPCR and Western blot analysis. IL-6 concentration of the cell culture supernatant and cell lysate was determined by ELISA. Results In untreated KC-HCFs, NF-κB (p = 0.0002), iNOS (p = 0.0019), Col 1 (p = 0.0286), and Col 5 (p = 0.0054) mRNA expression was higher and IL-6 expression was lower (p = 0.0057), than in healthy controls. In HCFs, CXL led to an increased NF-κB (p = 0.0286) and IL-6 (p = 0.0057) mRNA expression. The IL-6 concentration in the cell culture supernatant was increased in HCFs (p = 0.0485) and KC-HCFs (p = 0.0485) after CXL. CXL increased intracellular IL-6 concentration only in KC-HCFs (p = 0.0357). In the HCF group (p = 0.0286), an increased Col 1 mRNA expression after CXL could be observed. Conclusion Our study confirmed altered gene expression in untreated KC-HCFs compared to untreated HCFs. Riboflavin UV-A illumination affected gene expression only in HCFs. Increased IL-6 concentration in the cell culture supernatant and cell lysate indicate a secondary inflammatory response of HCFs and KC-HCFs to riboflavin UV-A illumination

Myelodysplastic syndromes: Aspects of current medical care and economic considerations in Germany

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a heterogeneous group of diseases mainly affecting older people. The use of an increasing number of therapeutic options depends on a systematic risk stratification of the patients. A high percentage of MDS patients need blood transfusions as supportive care, which influence quality of life and cause a great part of the costs generated by MDS therapy. In this article which is based on a workshop about the burden of MDS held in October 2006 in Munich, MDS is discussed with regard to different aspects: current therapies, transfusion medicine, geriatrics, quality of life, and health economic aspects

Nutzung digitaler Tools in Lehrveranstaltungen

Ob Präsenzlehre, digitale Lehre oder Hybridlehre: Heutzutage stehen Lehrenden eine Vielzahl digitaler Tools für den Einsatz in Lehrveranstaltungen zur Verfügung. Viele davon eignen sich für alle drei genannten Lehrformate. Dieses Angebot zu überblicken, um ein geeignetes Tool zu finden und einzusetzen, ist für einzelne Lehrende jedoch nur schwer möglich. Aus diesem Grund hat ein interdisziplinäres Projektteam insgesamt 130 solcher Tools aus vier Kategorien zusammengetragen und begutachtet. Zusammen mit Handlungsempfehlungen für den Einsatz in der Lehre stehen die Ergebnisse dieses Prozesses nun als kompakter Leitfaden für Lehrende zur Verfügung. Basierend auf einer ersten Version des Leitfadens, der sich ausschließlich Audience Response Systemen widmete, berücksichtigt diese aktualisierte und erweiterte Version nun auch Collaboration Tools, Mindmapping Tools und Design Tools. Die Lektüre des Leitfadens soll Lehrenden unabhängig vom Fach den Einstieg in die Nutzung solcher Tools erleichtern. Der Leitfaden ist im Rahmen eines Projekts des 8. und 9. Jahrgangs des Multiplikatoren-Programms entstanden. Dieses Programm ist als Teil des LMU Center for Leadership and People Management durch Lehre@LMU im Rahmen des "Qualitätspakts Lehre" vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung gefördert worden. Das Projektteam leiteten Dr. Tanja Niedernhuber (Lehrstuhl für Deutsches, Europäisches und Internationales Strafrecht und Strafprozessrecht, Wirtschaftsstrafrecht und das Recht der Digitalisierung an der Juristischen Fakultät), Prof. Dr. Armin Engländer (Lehrstuhl für Strafrecht, Strafprozessrecht, Rechtsphilosophie und Rechtssoziologie an der Juristischen Fakultät), Dr. Benedikt Berger und Prof. Dr. Thomas Hess (beide Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik und Neue Medien an der Fakultät für Betriebswirtschaft)

Health and zoonotic infections of snow leopards Panthera unica in the South Gobi desert of Mongolia

Background: Snow leopards, Panthera uncia, are a threatened apex predator, scattered across the mountains of Central and South Asia. Disease threats to wild snow leopards have not been investigated.Methods and Results: Between 2008 and 2015, twenty snow leopards in the South Gobi desert of Mongolia were captured and immobilised for health screening and radio-collaring. Blood samples and external parasites were collected for pathogen analyses using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), microscopic agglutination test (MAT), and next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques. The animals showed no clinical signs of disease, however, serum antibodies to significant zoonotic pathogens were detected. These pathogens included, Coxiella burnetii, (25% prevalence), Leptospira spp., (20%), and Toxoplasma gondii (20%). Ticks collected from snow leopards contained potentially zoonotic bacteria from the genera Bacillus, Bacteroides, Campylobacter, Coxiella, Rickettsia, Staphylococcus and Streptococcus.Conclusions: The zoonotic pathogens identified in this study, in the short-term did not appear to cause illness in the snow leopards, but have caused illness in other wild felids. Therefore, surveillance for pathogens should be implemented to monitor for potential longer- term disease impacts on this snow leopard population

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia in patients with mental disorders and comorbid insomnia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Almost 70% of patients with mental disorders report sleep difficulties and 30% fulfill the criteria for insomnia disorder. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the first-line treatment for insomnia according to current treatment guidelines. Despite this circumstance, insomnia is frequently treated only pharmacologically especially in patients with mental disorders. The aim of the present meta-analysis was to quantify the effects of CBT-I in patients with mental disorders and comorbid insomnia on two outcome parameters: the severity of insomnia and mental health. The databases PubMed, CINHAL (Ebsco) und PsycINFO (Ovid) were searched for randomized controlled trials on adult patients with comorbid insomnia and any mental disorder comparing CBT-I to placebo, waitlist or treatment as usual using self-rating questionnaires as outcomes for either insomnia or mental health or both. The search resulted in 1994 records after duplicate removal of which 22 fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included for the meta-analysis. The comorbidities were depression (eight studies, 491 patients), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD, four studies, 216 patients), alcohol dependency (three studies, 79 patients), bipolar disorder (one study, 58 patients), psychosis (one study, 50 patients) and mixed comorbidities within one study (five studies, 189 patients). The effect sizes for the reduction of insomnia severity post treatment were 0.5 (confidence interval, CI, 0.3-0.8) for patients with depression, 1.5 (CI 1.0-1.9) for patients with PTSD, 1.4 (CI 0.9-1.9) for patients with alcohol dependency, 1.2 (CI 0.8-1.7) for patients with psychosis/bipolar disorder, and 0.8 (CI 0.1-1.6) for patients with mixed comorbidities. Effect sizes for the reduction of insomnia severity were moderate to large at follow-up. Regarding the effects on comorbid symptom severity, effect sizes directly after treatment were 0.5 (CI 0.1-0.8) for depression, 1.3 (CI 0.6-1.9) for PTSD, 0.9 (CI 0.3-1.4) for alcohol dependency in only one study, 0.3 (CI -0.1 - 0.7, insignificant) for psychosis/bipolar, and 0.8 (CI 0.1-1.5) for mixed comorbidities. There were no significant effects on comorbid symptoms at follow-up. Together, these significant, stable medium to large effects indicate that CBT-I is an effective treatment for patients with insomnia and a comorbid mental disorder, especially depression, PTSD and alcohol dependency. CBT-I is also an effective add-on treatment with the aim of improving mental health in patients with depression, PTSD, and symptom severity in outpatients with mixed diagnoses. Thus, in patients with mental disorders and comorbid insomnia, given the many side effects of medication, CBT-I should be considered as a first-line treatment

Type of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine and immunomodulatory treatment influence humoral immunogenicity in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases

Patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRD) are at increased risk for worse COVID-19 outcomes. Identifying whether mRNA vaccines differ in immunogenicity and examining the effects of immunomodulatory treatments may support COVID-19 vaccination strategies. We aimed to conduct a long-term, model-based comparison of the humoral immunogenicity following BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 vaccination in a cohort of IRD patients. Patients from the Swiss IRD cohort (SCQM), who assented to mRNA COVID-19 vaccination were recruited between 3/2021-9/2021. Blood samples at baseline, 4, 12, and 24 weeks post second vaccine dose were tested for anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike IgG (anti-S1). We examined differences in antibody levels depending on the vaccine and treatment at baseline while adjusting for age, disease, and past SARS-CoV-2 infection. 565 IRD patients provided eligible samples. Among monotherapies, rituximab, abatacept, JAKi, and TNFi had the highest odds of reduced anti-S1 responses compared to no medication. Patients on specific combination therapies showed significantly lower antibody responses than those on monotherapy. Irrespective of the disease, treatment, and past SARS-CoV-2 infection, the odds of higher antibody levels at 4, 12, and 24 weeks post second vaccine dose were, respectively, 3.4, 3.8, and 3.8 times higher with mRNA-1273 versus BNT162b2 (p < 0.0001). With every year of age, the odds ratio of higher peak humoral immunogenicity following mRNA-1273 versus BNT162b2 increased by 5% (p < 0.001), indicating a particular benefit for elderly patients. Our results suggest that in IRD patients, two-dose vaccination with mRNA-1273 versus BNT162b2 results in higher anti-S1 levels, even more so in elderly patients

Type of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine and immunomodulatory treatment influence humoral immunogenicity in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases.

Patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRD) are at increased risk for worse COVID-19 outcomes. Identifying whether mRNA vaccines differ in immunogenicity and examining the effects of immunomodulatory treatments may support COVID-19 vaccination strategies. We aimed to conduct a long-term, model-based comparison of the humoral immunogenicity following BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 vaccination in a cohort of IRD patients. Patients from the Swiss IRD cohort (SCQM), who assented to mRNA COVID-19 vaccination were recruited between 3/2021-9/2021. Blood samples at baseline, 4, 12, and 24 weeks post second vaccine dose were tested for anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike IgG (anti-S1). We examined differences in antibody levels depending on the vaccine and treatment at baseline while adjusting for age, disease, and past SARS-CoV-2 infection. 565 IRD patients provided eligible samples. Among monotherapies, rituximab, abatacept, JAKi, and TNFi had the highest odds of reduced anti-S1 responses compared to no medication. Patients on specific combination therapies showed significantly lower antibody responses than those on monotherapy. Irrespective of the disease, treatment, and past SARS-CoV-2 infection, the odds of higher antibody levels at 4, 12, and 24 weeks post second vaccine dose were, respectively, 3.4, 3.8, and 3.8 times higher with mRNA-1273 versus BNT162b2 (p < 0.0001). With every year of age, the odds ratio of higher peak humoral immunogenicity following mRNA-1273 versus BNT162b2 increased by 5% (p < 0.001), indicating a particular benefit for elderly patients. Our results suggest that in IRD patients, two-dose vaccination with mRNA-1273 versus BNT162b2 results in higher anti-S1 levels, even more so in elderly patients

OER Certification of Individuals and Organisations in Higher Education: Implementations Worldwide

The initiative “Open Education Austria Advanced” develops infrastructures for open educational resources (OER) in higher education. One part is the development of certification procedures to point out OER competencies of teachers in higher education and OER activities at Austrian universities. We present the results of our research on existing OER certification procedures from the German and English-speaking world. We started by searching in the OER World Map and there listed OER policies of universities worldwide and then tried to find examples for existing OER certification for people and organisations. There are several examples for certifications of persons such as in MOOCs on OER, university training on OER or the Creative Commons certification itself. We found only a few references of (partly) OER certificates for organisations. The publication then describes ambitions towards openness of the OER movement regarding possible certification procedures, namely open development, open content, open assessment and open certificates