Migration als politisches, ökonomisches und kulturelles Phänomen am Beispiel ausgewählter pazifischer Inselstaaten

Wanderungsbewegungen von Menschen gibt es schon seit Anbeginn der Zeit, es stellt somit kein neues, unbekanntes Phänomen dar. Jedoch sind die Gründe und Ursachen für Migration in Folge politischer Entscheidungen, ökonomischer Entwicklungen und sozialer Veränderungen einem permanenten Wandel unterworfen. Um dieses komplexe Thema eingehender betrachten zu können, wird in dieser Diplomarbeit der Schwerpunkt auf Migration im Südpazifik gelegt. Da die pazifischen Inselstaaten durch ihre Vielfalt sehr anschaulich die unterschiedlichen Aspekte von Migration zeigen. Dabei wird der Frage nachgegangen unter welchen Bedingungen Migration im Südpazifik stattfindet, welche konkrete Auslöser und Gründe es für eine solche gibt und welche Konsequenzen sie nach sich zieht. Analyseeinheiten stellen dabei einerseits die beispielhaft ausgewählten Herkunftsländer Fiji, Samoa und Tonga und andererseits die Zielländer Australien und Neuseeland dar. Als theoretischen Zugang dienen Forschungsansätze der Politikwissenschaft, der Ökonomie, der Soziologie und der Ethnologie sowie die klassischen und neueren Migrationstheorien. Ziel ist es, die verschiedenen Vorgänge dieses komplexen Themenbereichs verständlicher zu machen, Perspektiven der Migrationsprozesse und wie mit deren Auswirkungen politisch umgegangen wird, aufzuzeigen

¡Únicamente lo que podemos hacer es organizarnos!

Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Frage nach der Bedeutung von Autonomie und ‘Comunalidad’ im Kontext von MICHIZÁ, einer Kleinbauern- und bäuerinnenorganisation in Oaxaca, Mexiko, die biologischen und fairen Kaffee produziert. Zu diesem Zweck wurden die ökonomischen, politischen und sozialen Strategien, die MICHIZÁ verfolgt, untersucht. Während eines sechsmonatigen Feldforschungsaufenthalts wurden teilnehmende Beobachtungen und qualitative Interviews mit Mitgliedern und Vorständen von MICHIZÁ durchgeführt. In der Arbeit wurden die interne Organisation der Genossenschaft MICHIZÁ und das Verhältnis zu unterschiedlichen staatlichen Institutionen und Akteuren des Bio- und Fairtrade-Sektors analysiert. Außerdem wurden die (Über-)Lebensstrategien indigener Kleinbauern und –bäuerinnen in der nördlichen Sierra von Oaxaca untersucht.This research deals with the question of the importance of autonomy and ‘Comunalidad’ in the context of MICHIZÁ, a peasant organization of organic and fair-trade coffee farmers in Oaxaca, Mexico. For that purpose, the economic, political and social strategies that pursues MICHIZÁ in this environment were studied. During six months of fieldwork, participant observation and qualitative interviews with MICHIZÁ members and directors were conducted. In this thesis the internal organization of the cooperative MICHIZÁ and the relationship with various governmental institutions and actors of the organic and fair trade sector were analyzed. In addition, the livelihood strategies of indigenous farmers in the northern Sierra of Oaxaca were studied

Fifth European Dirofilaria and Angiostrongylus Days (FiEDAD) 2016

Peer reviewe

Effectiveness and safety of opicapone in Parkinson’s disease patients with motor fluctuations: the OPTIPARK open-label study

Background The efficacy and safety of opicapone, a once-daily catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitor, have been established in two large randomized, placebo-controlled, multinational pivotal trials. Still, clinical evidence from routine practice is needed to complement the data from the pivotal trials. Methods OPTIPARK (NCT02847442) was a prospective, open-label, single-arm trial conducted in Germany and the UK under clinical practice conditions. Patients with Parkinson’s disease and motor fluctuations were treated with opicapone 50 mg for 3 (Germany) or 6 (UK) months in addition to their current levodopa and other antiparkinsonian treatments. The primary endpoint was the Clinician’s Global Impression of Change (CGI-C) after 3 months. Secondary assessments included Patient Global Impressions of Change (PGI-C), the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-8), and the Non-Motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS). Safety assessments included evaluation of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) and serious adverse events (SAEs). Results Of the 506 patients enrolled, 495 (97.8%) took at least one dose of opicapone. Of these, 393 (79.4%) patients completed 3 months of treatment. Overall, 71.3 and 76.9% of patients experienced any improvement on CGI-C and PGI-C after 3 months, respectively (full analysis set). At 6 months, for UK subgroup only (n = 95), 85.3% of patients were judged by investigators as improved since commencing treatment. UPDRS scores at 3 months showed statistically significant improvements in activities of daily living during OFF (mean ± SD change from baseline: − 3.0 ± 4.6, p < 0.0001) and motor scores during ON (− 4.6 ± 8.1, p < 0.0001). The mean ± SD improvements of − 3.4 ± 12.8 points for PDQ-8 and -6.8 ± 19.7 points for NMSS were statistically significant versus baseline (both p < 0.0001). Most of TEAEs (94.8% of events) were of mild or moderate intensity. TEAEs considered to be at least possibly related to opicapone were reported for 45.1% of patients, with dyskinesia (11.5%) and dry mouth (6.5%) being the most frequently reported. Serious TEAEs considered at least possibly related to opicapone were reported for 1.4% of patients. Conclusions Opicapone 50 mg was effective and generally well-tolerated in PD patients with motor fluctuations treated in clinical practice. Trial registration Registered in July 2016 at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02847442)

Anti-enterovirus activity and structure-activity relationship of a series of 2,6-dihalophenyl-substituted 1H,3H-thiazolo[3,4-a]benzimidazoles

Despite the fact that enteroviruses are implicated in a variety of human diseases, there is no approved therapy for the treatment of enteroviral infections. Here, a series of 2,6-dihalophenyl-substituted 1H,3H-thiazolo[3,4-a]benzimidazoles with anti-enterovirus activity is reported. The compounds elicit potent activity against coxsackievirus A9, echovirus 9 and 11 and all six strains of coxsackievirus B. A structure-activity relationship analysis revealed that the presence of substituents at position 6 of the tricyclic system positively influences the antiviral activity, whereas substitutions at position 7 are less favorable. In particular a 6-trifluoromethyl substitution leads to a substantial improvement of the antiviral activity as compared to the unsubstituted structure. Furthermore, an additional introduction of a 2-Cl, 6-F substitution on the phenyl at C-1 results in a further increase of the antiviral activity. Hence, 1-(2-chloro-6-fluorophenyl)-6-trifluoromethyl-1H,3H-thiazolo[3,4-a]benzimidazole results in a dose-dependent inhibition of viral replication with a 50% effective concentration (EC50) of 0.41 microg/ml without any detectable cytotoxicity at the highest concentration (100 microg/ml) tested.status: publishe

Factors influencing agreement of breast cancer luminal molecular subtype by Ki67 labeling index between core needle biopsy and surgical resection specimens

Reliable determination of Ki67 labeling index (Ki67-LI) on core needle biopsy (CNB) is essential for determining breast cancer molecular subtype for therapy planning. However, studies on agreement between molecular subtype and Ki67-LI between CNB and surgical resection (SR) specimens are conflicting. The present study analyzed the influence of clinicopathological and sampling-associated factors on agreement. Molecular subtype was determined visually by Ki67-LI in 484 pairs of CNB and SR specimens of invasive estrogen receptor (ER)–positive, human epidermal growth factor (HER2)–negative breast cancer. Luminal B disease was defined by Ki67-LI > 20% in SR. Correlation of molecular subtype agreement with age, menopausal status, CNB method, Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System imaging category, time between biopsies, type of surgery, and pathological tumor parameters was analyzed. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed using the Kaplan–Meier method. CNB had a sensitivity of 77.95% and a specificity of 80.97% for identifying luminal B tumors in CNB, compared with the final molecular subtype determination after surgery. The correlation of Ki67-LI between CNB and SR was moderate (ROC-AUC 0.8333). Specificity and sensitivity for CNB to correctly define molecular subtype of tumors according to SR were significantly associated with tumor grade, immunohistochemical progesterone receptor (PR) and p53 expression (p < 0.05). Agreement of molecular subtype did not significantly impact RFS and OS (p = 0.22 for both). The identified factors likely mirror intratumoral heterogeneity that might compromise obtaining a representative CNB. Our results challenge the robustness of a single CNB-driven measurement of Ki67-LI to identify luminal B breast cancer of low (G1) or intermediate (G2) grade

Comparison of nine different commercially available molecular assays for detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA

To face the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for fast and reliable diagnostic assays for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 is immense. We describe our laboratory experiences evaluating nine commercially available real-time RT-PCR assays. We found that assays differed considerably in performance and validation before routine use is mandatory