Seemacht Brasilien? Maritime Ambitionen einer aufstrebenden Macht im Südatlantik

"Brasilien verfolgt ein ambitioniertes maritimes Rüstungsprogramm, das bis 2030 umgesetzt werden soll und den Umfang der Flotte nahezu verdoppeln würde. Mit nuklear angetriebenen Ubooten, Flugzeugträgern sowie dem Ausbau der amphibischen Fähigkeiten wird außerdem ein wesentlicher qualitativer Zuwachs angestrebt. Ein neuer Großstützpunkt im Norden des Landes und ausgesprochen gute Beziehungen zu vielen westafrikanischen Staaten geben Brasilien in der von ihm definierten südatlantischen Interessensphäre eine solide strategische Basis für eine mögliche Verstärkung seiner maritimen Präsenz. Die allgemeine Abschreckung sowie der Schutz der Ölvorkommen im Festlandsockel Brasiliens, die für die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung des Landes eminent wichtig sind, werden offiziell als Hauptmotive für das Vorhaben genannt. Dabei ist Brasiliens Außenpolitik in den letzten Jahren stark prestigeorientiert, was seinen Ausdruck auch im Streben nach einem ständigen Sitz im VN-Sicherheitsrat sowie nach signifikant größerer internationaler Anerkennung und Relevanz findet. Sollte das Programm vollständig umgesetzt werden, würde Brasilien in naher Zukunft über ein neues außenpolitisches Instrument verfügen. Wie zukünftige brasilianische Regierungen dieses Instrument nutzen werden, ist schwer zu prognostizieren. Dem nennenswerten Zuwachs maritimer Macht in einem für den Handelsverkehr wichtigen Seegebiet sollte in jedem Fall mehr Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet werden als bisher. Eine frühzeitige Kooperation im wichtigen Feld der maritimen Sicherheit böte eine tragfähige Basis für eine langfristige Zusammenarbeit mit einem maritim deutlich erstarkten Brasilien. Dabei könnten bereits vorhandene Initiativen als Anknüpfungspunkte genutzt werden." (Autorenreferat

The effect of information management system on the production quality

Acylhydrazones of 2,3-dihydroxybenzaldehyde are easily accessible and afford heterodinuclear helicates; the self-assembly is specific when the resulting coordination compounds are neutral in charge.Chemistry, MultidisciplinarySCI(E)30ARTICLE101195-119

Repatriations and 28-day mortality of ill and injured travellers: 12 years of experience in a Swiss emergency department

QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY Many persons are travelling all over the world; the elderly with pre-existing diseases also travel to places with less developed health systems. Reportedly, fewer than 0.5% of all travellers need repatriation. We aimed to analyse and examine people who are injured or ill while abroad, where they travelled to and by what means they were repatriated. METHODS Retrospective cross-sectional study with adult patients repatriated to a single level 1 trauma centre in Switzerland (2000-2011). RESULTS A total of 372 patients were repatriated, with an increasing trend per year. Of these, 67% were male; the median age was 56 years. Forty-nine percent sustained an injury, and 13% had surgical and 38% medical pathologies. Patients with medical conditions were older than those with injuries or surgical emergencies (p <0.001). Seventy-three percent were repatriated from Europe. For repatriation from Africa trauma was slightly more frequent (53%, n = 17) than illnesses, whereas for most other countries illnesses and trauma were equally distributed. Injured patients had a median Injury Severity Score of 8. The majority of illnesses involved the nervous system (38%), mainly stroke. Forty-five percent were repatriated by Swiss Air Ambulance, 26% by ground ambulance, 18% by scheduled flights with or without medical assistance and two patients injured near the Swiss boarder by helicopter. The 28-day mortality was 4%. CONCLUSIONS The numbers of travellers repatriated increased from 2000 to 2011. About half were due to illnesses and half due to injuries. The largest group were elderly Swiss nationals repatriated from European countries. As mortality is relatively high, special consideration to this group of patients is warranted

The Hyphal-Associated Adhesin and Invasin Als3 of Candida albicans Mediates Iron Acquisition from Host Ferritin

Iron sequestration by host iron-binding proteins is an important mechanism of resistance to microbial infections. Inside oral epithelial cells, iron is stored within ferritin, and is therefore not usually accessible to pathogenic microbes. We observed that the ferritin concentration within oral epithelial cells was directly related to their susceptibility to damage by the human pathogenic fungus, Candida albicans. Thus, we hypothesized that host ferritin is used as an iron source by this organism. We found that C. albicans was able to grow on agar at physiological pH with ferritin as the sole source of iron, while the baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae could not. A screen of C. albicans mutants lacking components of each of the three known iron acquisition systems revealed that only the reductive pathway is involved in iron utilization from ferritin by this fungus. Additionally, C. albicans hyphae, but not yeast cells, bound ferritin, and this binding was crucial for iron acquisition from ferritin. Transcriptional profiling of wild-type and hyphal-defective C. albicans strains suggested that the C. albicans invasin-like protein Als3 is required for ferritin binding. Hyphae of an Δals3 null mutant had a strongly reduced ability to bind ferritin and these mutant cells grew poorly on agar plates with ferritin as the sole source of iron. Heterologous expression of Als3, but not Als1 or Als5, two closely related members of the Als protein family, allowed S. cerevisiae to bind ferritin. Immunocytochemical localization of ferritin in epithelial cells infected with C. albicans showed ferritin surrounding invading hyphae of the wild-type, but not the Δals3 mutant strain. This mutant was also unable to damage epithelial cells in vitro. Therefore, C. albicans can exploit iron from ferritin via morphology dependent binding through Als3, suggesting that this single protein has multiple virulence attributes

Nanoscale Magnetic Imaging using Circularly Polarized High-Harmonic Radiation

This work demonstrates nanoscale magnetic imaging using bright circularly polarized high-harmonic radiation. We utilize the magneto-optical contrast of worm-like magnetic domains in a Co/Pd multilayer structure, obtaining quantitative amplitude and phase maps by lensless imaging. A diffraction-limited spatial resolution of 49 nm is achieved with iterative phase reconstruction enhanced by a holographic mask. Harnessing the unique coherence of high harmonics, this approach will facilitate quantitative, element-specific and spatially-resolved studies of ultrafast magnetization dynamics, advancing both fundamental and applied aspects of nanoscale magnetism.Comment: Ofer Kfir and Sergey Zayko contributed equally to this work. Presented in CLEO 2017 (Oral) doi.org/10.1364/CLEO_QELS.2017.FW1H.

Rollen, Views und Schnittstellen - Implikationen zur stakeholderzentrierten Entwicklung Sozio-Cyber-Physischer Systeme

Der Einsatz cyber-physischer Systeme im Industrie 4.0-Kontext verändert die industrielle Wertschöpfung nachhaltig. Die Fertigung „smarter“ Produkte nach kundenindividuellen Wünschen in „Batch Size One“, die zunehmende Hybridität von Produkten und Dienstleistungen sowie die Verfügbarkeit immenser Datenmengen aus der Produktion und dem Produktlebenszyklus, erhöhen die Prozesskomplexität fortlaufend. Dies gilt auch für nachgelagerte, wertschöpfungsunterstützende Services, wie die Instandhaltung. Der vorliegende Beitrag beschreibt die im Rahmen des Förderprojekts „Ressourcen-Cockpit für Sozio-Cyber-Physische Systeme“ (S-CPS), das ein Instandhaltungssystem basierend auf einem cyber-physischen System entwickelt, durchgeführten Tätigkeiten zur Ausarbeitung von Rollen, Views und Schnittstellen für dieses System. Dazu werden zunächst cyber-physische Systeme sowie Theorien und Methoden zur stakeholderzentrierten Systementwicklung vorgestellt. Darauf folgend werden das methodische Vorgehen und dessen Ergebnisse in Form eines Rollenmodells und System-Mock-ups präsentiert. Abschließend werden die generalisierten Erkenntnisse aus dem Projekt beschrieben sowie ein Ausblick für anschließende Forschung gegeben

Serial interactome capture of the human cell nucleus

Novel RNA-guided cellular functions are paralleled by an increasing number of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). Here we present ‘serial RNA interactome capture’ (serIC), a multiple purification procedure of ultraviolet-crosslinked poly(A)–RNA–protein complexes that enables global RBP detection with high specificity. We apply serIC to the nuclei of proliferating K562 cells to obtain the first human nuclear RNA interactome. The domain composition of the 382 identified nuclear RBPs markedly differs from previous IC experiments, including few factors without known RNA-binding domains that are in good agreement with computationally predicted RNA binding. serIC extends the number of DNA–RNA-binding proteins (DRBPs), and reveals a network of RBPs involved in p53 signalling and double-strand break repair. serIC is an effective tool to couple global RBP capture with additional selection or labelling steps for specific detection of highly purified RBPs

Proposal of a New Rating Concept for Digital Health Applications in Orthopedics and Traumatology

BACKGROUND Health-related mobile applications (apps) are rapidly increasing in number. There is an urgent need for assessment tools and algorithms that allow the usability and content criteria of these applications to be objectively assessed. The aim of this work was to establish and validate a concept for orthopedic societies to rate health apps to set a quality standard for their safe use. METHODS An objective rating concept was created, consisting of nine quality criteria. A self-declaration sheet for app manufacturers was designed. Manufacturers completed the self-declaration, and the app was examined by independent internal reviewers. The pilot validation and analysis were performed on two independent health applications. An algorithm for orthopedic societies was created based on the experiences in this study flow. RESULTS "Sprunggelenks-App" was approved by the reviewers with 45 (98%) fulfilled criteria and one (2%) unfulfilled criterion. "Therapie-App" was approved, with 28 (61%) met criteria, 6 (13%) unfulfilled criteria and 12 (26%) criteria that could not be assessed. The self-declaration completed by the app manufacturer is recommended, followed by a legal and technical rating performed by an external institution. When rated positive, the societies' internal review using independent raters can be performed. In case of a positive rating, a visual certification can be granted to the manufacturer for a certain time frame. CONCLUSION An objective rating algorithm is proposed for the assessment of digital health applications. This can help societies to improve the quality assessment, quality assurance and patient safety of those apps. The proposed concept must be further validated for inter-rater consistency and reliability