7th Drug hypersensitivity meeting: part two

No abstract availabl

Is diet partly responsible for differences in COVID-19 death rates between and within countries?

Correction: Volume: 10 Issue: 1 Article Number: 44 DOI: 10.1186/s13601-020-00351-w Published: OCT 26 2020Reported COVID-19 deaths in Germany are relatively low as compared to many European countries. Among the several explanations proposed, an early and large testing of the population was put forward. Most current debates on COVID-19 focus on the differences among countries, but little attention has been given to regional differences and diet. The low-death rate European countries (e.g. Austria, Baltic States, Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, Poland, Slovakia) have used different quarantine and/or confinement times and methods and none have performed as many early tests as Germany. Among other factors that may be significant are the dietary habits. It seems that some foods largely used in these countries may reduce angiotensin-converting enzyme activity or are anti-oxidants. Among the many possible areas of research, it might be important to understand diet and angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) levels in populations with different COVID-19 death rates since dietary interventions may be of great benefit.Peer reviewe

Verifikation nachrichtentechnischer Systeme mit Systemsimulation und HW/SW-Cosimulation

Der Beitrag zeigt die Erfahrungen beim praktischen Entwurf und bei der Verifikation eines Algorithmus zur Echokompensation und beschreibt dessen Abbildung auf eine Zielarchitektur. Neben der Überprüfung der funktionellen Richtigkeit des Algorithmus stehen bei der Verifikation vor allem Untersuchungen zur benötigten Zahlengenauigkeit und zur erreichbaren Grenzfrequenz im Mittelpunkt. Um einen durchgängigen Designflow zu gewährleisten, haben wir uns bereits bei der Systemverifikation für eine VHDL-Umgebung entschieden. Eine Bibliothek nachrichtentechnischer Standardbaugruppen vereinfachte den Einsatz eines VHDL-Simulators zur Systemsimulation. Zur deutlichen Erhöhung der Effizienz der verwendeten kommerziellen Tools wurden Ergänzungstools entwickelt. Dazu zählen vor allem das Interface des OAK-Debuggers zu VHDL-Simulatoren und das Waveformdisplay ADDA zur Darstellung analoger und digitaler Signalverläufe in einer Simulationsumgebung

Coarse-Grained Transmembrane Proteins: Hydrophobic Matching, Aggregation, and Their Effect on Fusion

Molecular transport between organelles is predominantly governed by vesicle fission and fusion. Unlike experimental vesicles, the fused vesicles in molecular dynamics simulations do not become spherical readily, because the lipid and water distribution is inappropriate for the fused state and spontaneous amendment is slow. Here, we study the hypothesis that enhanced transport across the membrane of water, lipids, or both is required to produce spherical vesicles. This is done by adding several kinds of model proteins to fusing vesicles. The results show that equilibration of both water and lipid content is a requirement for spherical vesicles. In addition, the effect of these transmembrane proteins is studied in bilayers and vesicles, including investigations into hydrophobic matching and aggregation. Our simulations show that the level of aggregation does not only depend on hydrophobic mismatch, but also on protein shape. Additionally, one of the proteins promotes fusion by inducing pore formation. Incorporation of these proteins allows even flat membranes to fuse spontaneously. Moreover, we encountered a novel spontaneous vesicle enlargement mechanism we call the engulfing lobe, which may explain how lipids added to a vesicle solution are quickly incorporated into the inner monolayer