Reflexive Städte: Magneten des Wissens im Kontext globaler Digitalisierung

Antworten zur Zukunft großer Stadtregionen im 21. Jahrhundert verlangen vertiefte Querschnittsbetrachtungen. Die dispersen Entwicklungslinien räumlicher Veränderungen wurden vielfach beschrieben und sind weitgehend bekannt, ihre bestimmenden Faktoren, die diese Dynamiken des Wandels antreiben oder blockieren sowie die Konsequenzen in ökologischer, wirtschaftlicher und sozialer Hinsicht werden in den Stadt- und Regionalforschung jedoch noch nicht hinreichend verstanden. Verkürzt gesagt: Einerseits verlieren die Städte Westeuropas nicht nur lohnintensive Industrien, sondern zunehmend auch den Handel sowie standardisierbare Dienstleistungen mit dramatischen Folgen für die Städte. Andererseits übernehmen sie im Kontext globaler Verflechtungen, des Klimawandels und zunehmender Digitalisierung auch neue Funktionen als Magneten komplexen Wissens, kreativer Innovationen, der Macht und der Repräsentation. Städte sind (wieder) bevorzugte Orte des Wohnens; künftig profilieren sie sich verstärkt aber auch (wieder) als Zentren des Informationsaustausches, des Planens und des Entscheidens, seien es der Unternehmen, nationaler oder regionaler Regierungen, von Verbänden und Behörden, der Medien oder kultureller Institutionen. Das scheint nicht neu, mit der Digitalisierung ändert sich aber die Dynamik und die Geschwindigkeit des Wandels. Die Digitalisierung erlaubt zum einen weltweite Vernetzungen im Sinne schnellerer Datentransmission. Gegenläufig zur Enträumlichung kodifizierbarer Daten- und Informationsflüsse bleiben Städte zum anderen bedeutende Orte der Zusammenführung von Daten aus unterschiedlichsten Quellen sowie und der Interpretation fragmentierter Rohelemente des Wissens. Datenund Informationen bedürfen der Analyse und der Interpretation, um angesichts global unsicherer Rahmenbedingungen Chancen und Risiken zu bewerten, ohne die weitsichtige Entscheidungen nicht möglich sind. Dazu ist personengebundenes Wissen unverzichtbar. In den größten Städten gelingt das reflexive Abwägennoch immer am schnellsten, weil sich hier die besten Köpfe und Teams konzentrieren, denen es vorbehalten bleibt, internes Wissen zu generieren, externes, fehlendes Wissen zu absorbieren und beides mit örtlich vorhandenem Wissen zu kombinieren, um verantwortbare Entscheidungen zu generieren. Künstliche Intelligenz kann zwar helfen, komplexe Megadaten zu sichten und aufzubereiten und Lösungen vorzuschlagen, reflexive Kompetenzen kann sie jedoch (noch) nicht ersetzen

Local and Global Information in Obstacle Detection on Railway Tracks

Reliable obstacle detection on railways could help prevent collisions that result in injuries and potentially damage or derail the train. Unfortunately, generic object detectors do not have enough classes to account for all possible scenarios, and datasets featuring objects on railways are challenging to obtain. We propose utilizing a shallow network to learn railway segmentation from normal railway images. The limited receptive field of the network prevents overconfident predictions and allows the network to focus on the locally very distinct and repetitive patterns of the railway environment. Additionally, we explore the controlled inclusion of global information by learning to hallucinate obstacle-free images. We evaluate our method on a custom dataset featuring railway images with artificially augmented obstacles. Our proposed method outperforms other learning-based baseline methods

A beta-herpesvirus with fluorescent capsids to study transport in living cells.

Fluorescent tagging of viral particles by genetic means enables the study of virus dynamics in living cells. However, the study of beta-herpesvirus entry and morphogenesis by this method is currently limited. This is due to the lack of replication competent, capsid-tagged fluorescent viruses. Here, we report on viable recombinant MCMVs carrying ectopic insertions of the small capsid protein (SCP) fused to fluorescent proteins (FPs). The FPs were inserted into an internal position which allowed the production of viable, fluorescently labeled cytomegaloviruses, which replicated with wild type kinetics in cell culture. Fluorescent particles were readily detectable by several methods. Moreover, in a spread assay, labeled capsids accumulated around the nucleus of the newly infected cells without any detectable viral gene expression suggesting normal entry and particle trafficking. These recombinants were used to record particle dynamics by live-cell microscopy during MCMV egress with high spatial as well as temporal resolution. From the resulting tracks we obtained not only mean track velocities but also their mean square displacements and diffusion coefficients. With this key information, we were able to describe particle behavior at high detail and discriminate between particle tracks exhibiting directed movement and tracks in which particles exhibited free or anomalous diffusion

Pre-Interventional Kynurenine Predicts Medium-Term Outcome after Contrast Media Exposure Due to Coronary Angiography

Background/Aims: Contrast induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) remains a serious complication of contrast media enhanced procedures like coronary angiography. There is still a lack of established biomarkers that help to identify patients at high risk for short and long-term complications. The aim of the current study was to evaluate plasma kynurenine as a predictive biomarker for CI-AKI and long-term complications, measured by the combined endpoint "major adverse kidney events" (MAKE) up to 120 days after CM application. Methods: In this prospective cohort study 245 patients undergoing coronary angiography were analyzed. Blood samples were obtained at baseline, 24h and 48h after contrast media (CM) application to diagnose CI-AKI. Patients were followed for 120 days for adverse clinical events including death, the need for dialysis, and a doubling of plasma creatinine. Occurrence of any of these events was summarized in the combined endpoint MAKE. Results: Preinterventional plasma kynurenine was not associated with CI-AKI. Patients who later developed MAKE displayed significantly increased preinterventional plasma kynurenine levels (p<0.0001). ROC analysis revealed that preinterventional kynurenine is highly predictive for MAKE (AUC=0.838; p<0.0001). The optimal cutoff was found at ≥3.5 µmol/L Using this cutoff, the Kaplan-Meier estimator demonstrated that concentrations of plasma kynurenine ≥3.5 µmol/L were significantly associated with a higher prevalence of MAKE until follow up (p<0.0001). This association remained significant in multivariate Cox regression models adjusted for relevant factors of long-term renal outcome. Conclusion: Preinterventional plasma kynurenine might serve as a highly predictive biomarker for MAKE up to 120 days after coronary angiography

Urinary Vitamin D Binding Protein and KIM-1 Are Potent New Biomarkers of Major Adverse Renal Events in Patients Undergoing Coronary Angiography

Background Vitamin-D-binding protein (VDBP) is a low molecular weight protein that is filtered through the glomerulus as a 25-(OH) vitamin D 3/VDBP complex. In the normal kidney VDBP is reabsorbed and catabolized by proximal tubule epithelial cells reducing the urinary excretion to trace amounts. Acute tubular injury is expected to result in urinary VDBP loss. The purpose of our study was to explore the potential role of urinary VDBP as a biomarker of an acute renal damage. Method We included 314 patients with diabetes mellitus or mild renal impairment undergoing coronary angiography and collected blood and urine before and 24 hours after the CM application. Patients were followed for 90 days for the composite endpoint major adverse renal events (MARE: need for dialysis, doubling of serum creatinine after 90 days, unplanned emergency rehospitalization or death). Results Increased urine VDBP concentration 24 hours after contrast media exposure was predictive for dialysis need (no dialysis: 113.06 ± 299.61ng/ml, n = 303; need for dialysis: 613.07 ± 700.45 ng/ml, n = 11, Mean ± SD, p<0.001), death (no death during follow-up: 121.41 ± 324.45 ng/ml, n = 306; death during follow-up: 522.01 ± 521.86 ng/ml, n = 8; Mean ± SD, p<0.003) and MARE (no MARE: 112.08 ± 302.00ng/ml, n = 298; MARE: 506.16 ± 624.61 ng/ml, n = 16, Mean ± SD, p<0.001) during the follow-up of 90 days after contrast media exposure. Correction of urine VDBP concentrations for creatinine excretion confirmed its predictive value and was consistent with increased levels of urinary Kidney Injury Molecule-1 (KIM-1) and baseline plasma creatinine in patients with above mentioned complications. The impact of urinary VDBP and KIM-1 on MARE was independent of known CIN risk factors such as anemia, preexisting renal failure, preexisting heart failure, and diabetes. Conclusions Urinary VDBP is a promising novel biomarker of major contrast induced nephropathy-associated events 90 days after contrast media exposure