The protection of personal and medical data - a call for confidentiality

Personal data and privacy are increasingly being threatened by a boom in technological development - the replacement of conventional networks of communication with the perfected combination of computer and telecommunications. The subsequent high degree of transparency has the potential to damage the individual's right to 'informational self-determination'. The most common ways of unlawfully entering a computer data system, the reasons why an individual's information is treated as confidential and the ethical issues involved, international and local statutory instruments that protect such personal information, and ways to stop the outflow of personal information are discussed

Metal Investments: Distrust Killer or Inflation Hedging?

This study investigates long run metals properties using the extended version of Mccown and Zimmerman (2006) multifactor CAPM-model. By adding extra explanatory variables we improve the explanation power of the existing model in terms of R-squared. Taking German invertors\u27 perspective and using prices of gold, silver and platinum over the period 1985-2010, our findings show that metals are true zero market beta assets. We further show that the determinants of metal prices are dependent on market conditions reflected by different betas for stable and crisis periods. The inclusion of a new variable, economic sentiment index in the models shows explanation power for gold. Its significant negative effect reveals gold position as a safe haven in times of distrust. Our results show that gold is the only metal co-integrated with the consumer price index (CPI) of Germany, thus the only metal providing inflation hedging to the German investor in the long run. Our results are consistent with the theories that metals provide long term hedge against unemployment

Herd Behaviour and Trading Among Dutch Pension Funds

In this paper we provide evidence that repudiates the popular belief that Dutch pension funds are long-term passive institutional traders; rather like active traders they trade about eight and half percent of their portfolio on monthly basis. Using a unique data sample, our results affirm significant feedback trading strategies, both momentum and contrarian, and robust herding behaviour in investments of Dutch PFs. Our findings contradict with some previous evidence and advance the suggestions that both the institutional lagged demand for a stock and performance triggers contrarian investments in Dutch PFs; and their trading behaviour substantially varies across asset classes. Furthermore, the recent financial turmoil has a positive impact on both turnover and herding while it negatively affects the feedback trading

Cyclische episoden van verwardheid en bewegingsstoornissen: denk aan hypoglykemieën en insulinoom

Insulinomen zijn zeldzame neuroendocriene tumoren van de pancreas die zich presenteren met neuroglycopene en autonome symptomen geïnduceerd door hypoglykemische episoden. Het ontstaan is vaak sluipend en door aspecifieke symptomen als bewegingsstoornissen en passagère gedragsveranderingen wordt het ziektebeeld wellicht niet tijdig herkend. We beschrijven twee ziektegeschiedenissen met cyclisch optredende gedragsveranderingen en bewegingsstoornissen ten gevolge van al langer bestaande, niet eerder herkende insulinomen. De behandelopties worden besproken waarbij de meest gangbare therapie (chirurgie) niet de eerste keus hoeft te zijn bij oudere patiënten met co-morbiditeit. Met medicamenteuze therapie kunnen patiënten gedurende een langere periode klachtenvrij blijven zonder significante complicaties

Distribution of TT virus (TTV), TTV-like minivirus, and related viruses in humans and nonhuman primates

AbstractTT virus (TTV) and TTV-like minivirus (TLMV) are small DNA viruses with single-stranded, closed circular, antisense genomes infecting man. Despite their extreme sequence heterogeneity (>50%), a highly conserved region in the untranslated region (UTR) allows both viruses to be amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). TTV/TLMV infection was detected in 88 of 100 human plasma samples; amplified sequences were differentiated into TTV and TLMV by analysis of melting profiles, showing that both viruses were similarly prevalent. PCR with UTR primers also detected frequent infection with TTV/TLMV-related viruses in a wide range of apes (chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, gibbons) and African monkey species (mangabeys, drills, mandrills). These findings support the hypothesis for the co-evolution of TTV-like viruses with their hosts over the period of primate speciation, potentially analogous to the evolution of primate herpesviruses

Circulating C3 is Necessary and Sufficient for Induction of Autoantibody-Mediated Arthritis in a Mouse Model

Objective. For the inflammation characteristic of rheumatoid arthritis, the relative contribution of mediators produced locally in the synovium versus those circulating systemically is unknown. Complement factor C3 is made in rheumatoid synovium and has been proposed to be a crucial driver of inflammation. The aim of this study was to test, in a mouse model of rheumatoid arthritis, whether C3 synthesized within the synovium is important in promoting inflammation. Methods. Radiation bone marrow chimeras between normal and C3−/− mice were constructed in order to generate animals that expressed or lacked expression of C3 only in hematopoietic cells. Parabiotic mice were made by surgically linking C3−/− mice to irradiated wild-type mice to obtain animals having C3 only in the circulation. Arthritis was induced by injection of serum from arthritic K/BxN mice.Results In bone marrow chimeras, synthesis of C3 by radioresistant cells was necessary and sufficient to confer susceptibility to serum-transferred arthritis. Parabionts having C3 only in the circulation remained sensitive to arthritis induction, and the cartilage of these arthritic mice contained deposits of C3. Conclusion. In a mouse model in which the alternative pathway of complement activation is critical to the induction of arthritis by autoantibodies, circulating C3 was necessary and sufficient for arthritis induction.Stem Cell and Regenerative Biolog

Noninvasive immuno-PET imaging of CD8 + T cell behavior in influenza A virus-infected mice

Immuno-positron emission tomography (immuno-PET) is a noninvasive imaging method that enables tracking of immune cells in living animals. We used a nanobody that recognizes mouse CD8α and labeled it wit

Development of a dynamic myocardial perfusion phantom model for tracer kinetic measurements

BACKGROUND: Absolute myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is beneficial in the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease. However, validation and standardization of perfusion estimates across centers is needed to ensure safe and adequate integration into the clinical workflow. Physical myocardial perfusion models can contribute to this clinical need as these can provide ground-truth validation of perfusion estimates in a simplified, though controlled setup. This work presents the design and realization of such a myocardial perfusion phantom and highlights initial performance testing of the overall phantom setup using dynamic single photon emission computed tomography. RESULTS: Due to anatomical and (patho-)physiological representation in the 3D printed myocardial perfusion phantom, we were able to acquire 22 dynamic MPI datasets in which 99mTc-labelled tracer kinetics was measured and analyzed using clinical MPI software. After phantom setup optimization, time activity curve analysis was executed for measurements with normal myocardial perfusion settings (1.5 mL/g/min) and with settings containing a regional or global perfusion deficit (0.8 mL/g/min). In these measurements, a specific amount of activated carbon was used to adsorb radiotracer in the simulated myocardial tissue. Such mimicking of myocardial tracer uptake and retention over time satisfactorily matched patient tracer kinetics. For normal perfusion levels, the absolute mean error between computed myocardial blood flow and ground-truth flow settings ranged between 0.1 and 0.4 mL/g/min. CONCLUSION: The presented myocardial perfusion phantom is a first step toward ground-truth validation of multimodal, absolute MPI applications in the clinical setting. Its dedicated and 3D printed design enables tracer kinetic measurement, including time activity curve and potentially compartmental myocardial blood flow analysis