Socially responsible innovation in security. Critical reflections

Book review on: Socially Responsible Innovation in Security: Critical Reflections, by Burgess, J. P., Reniers, G., Ponnet, K., Hardyns, W., & Smit, W. (Eds.), London and New York: Routledge, 2018, ISBN 9780815371397

Brain Viscoelasticity Alteration in Chronic-Progressive Multiple Sclerosis

Introduction: Viscoelastic properties indicate structural alterations in biological tissues at multiple scales with high sensitivity. Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE) is a novel technique that directly visualizes and quantitatively measures biomechanical tissue properties in vivo. MRE recently revealed that early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with a global decrease of the cerebral mechanical integrity. This study addresses MRE and MR volumetry in chronic-progressive disease courses of MS

Antimicrobial efficacy of amine fluoride based tooth gels compared to a toothpaste in a phase 2/step 2 in-vitro test model

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to determine the antimicrobial effect of various gel formulations on plaque formation; different tooth gels were compared to a toothpaste containing comparable antimicrobial ingredients with regard to its microbiocidal activity. The study was conducted under the assumption, that a chief requirement for the prevention of plaque formation is the combination of mechanical removal and antimicrobial activity, and not the sole capability of mechanical plaque removal

Production of knowledge revisited - the impact of academic spin-offs on public research performance in Europe (PROKNOW): abbreviated description of the research project funded by the European Commission

"The EU-funded project 'Production of Knowledge Revisited: The Impact of Academic Spin-Offs on Public Research Performance in Europe (PROKNOW)' aims at analysing the interactions between public research institutions and academic spin-offs focussing on the impact of entrepreneurial activities on the academic research system. Based upon approaches in organisational sociology, science policy studies and science studies and analysing the gains and losses of spin-off activities for public research institutions, PROKNOW examines the relevance of public and private forms of knowledge in innovative processes of knowledge production. Academic spin-offs often epitomise innovative forms of knowledge production and are thus an exemplary topic to study innovation processes in the interaction of science, economy and society. PROKNOW proposes a European-wide comparison of research institutions in seven countries, including the three biggest research systems, Germany, France and the UK, and the -often considered to be innovative -systems of the Netherlands, Switzerland and Finland, and the associated candidate country Bulgaria. Institutionally, PROKNOW analyses different forms of public sector research institutions, university and extrauniversity institutions. In terms of economic sectors, the project focuses on life sciences, information sciences and nanotechnology. Thus, PROKNOW can help provide the institutional and organisational conditions for a profitable interaction between public research institutions and academic spin-offs." (author's abstract)"Das Eu-geförderte Projekt 'Production of Knowledge Revisited: The Impact of Academic Spin-Offs on Public Research Performance in Europe (PROKNOW)' analysiert Interaktionen zwischen öffentlichen Forschungseinrichtungen und deren akademischen Ausgründungen ('Spin-offs') und hat dabei die Folgen der unternehmerischen Aktivitäten auf das akademische Forschungssystem im Fokus. Auf der Grundlage von Ansätzen aus der Organisationssoziologie und der neueren Wissenschaftsforschung fragt das Projekt nach Gewinnen und Verlusten von Spin-off-Aktivitäten für öffentliche Forschungseinrichtungen und leistet damit einen Beitrag zur Erforschung zum Verhältnis öffentlicher und privater Wissensformen in innovativen Prozessen der Wissensproduktion. Anhand von akademischen Ausgründungen lassen sich Innovationsprozesse als Interaktion von Wissenschaft, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft in exemplarischer Weise untersuchen. PROKNOW wird einen europaweiten Vergleich der Forschungseinrichtungen in sieben Ländern unternehmen. Ausgewählt wurden die drei größten Forschungssysteme, Deutschland, Frankreich und Großbritannien sowie die vielfach als innovativ eingeschätzten Systeme der Niederlande, der Schweiz und Finnlands und des EU-Beitrittskandidaten Bulgarien, die jeweils für avancierte Ansätze stehen. Dabei wird PROKNOW verschiedene Formen von öffentlichen Forschungseinrichtungen, universitäre und außeruniversitäre Einrichtungen analysieren. Das Projekt wird sich auf die Bereiche Biowissenschaften, Informations- und Nanotechnologien konzentrieren. Damit kann PROKNOW dazu beitragen, die institutionellen und organisatorischen Rahmenbedingungen für eine fruchtbare Interaktion von öffentlichen Forschungseinrichtungen und akademischen Spin-offs zu optimieren." (Autorenreferat

Podoplanin-positive cells are a hallmark of encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis

Background. Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) and simple peritoneal sclerosis are important complications of long-term peritoneal dialysis (PD). Podoplanin is expressed by mesothelial cells and lymphatic vessels, which are involved in inflammatory reactions in the peritoneal cavity. Methods. We studied 69 peritoneal biopsies from patients on PD (n = 16), patients with EPS (n = 18) and control biopsies taken at the time of hernia repair (n = 15) or appendectomy (n = 20). Immunohistochemistry was performed to localize podoplanin. Additionally, markers of endothelial cells, mesothelial cells, myofibroblasts (smooth muscle actin), proliferating cells, and double labelling for smooth muscle actin/podoplanin were used on selected biopsies. Results. Podoplanin was present on the endothelium of lymphatic vessels in the submesothelial fibrous tissue and on mesothelial cells. In patients on PD and in biopsies with appendicitis, the mesothelial cells demonstrated a cuboidal appearance and circumferential podoplanin staining, with gaps between the cells. The number of lymphatic vessels was variable, but prominent at sites of fibrosis. In patients with EPS, a diffuse infiltration of podoplanin-positive cells with a fibroblastic appearance was present in 15 out of 18 biopsies. This pattern was focally present in 3 out of 16 on PD and none in the 35 controls. The podoplanin-positive cells did not express the endothelial marker or the mesothelial marker (calretinin). Conclusions. EPS is characterized by a population of podoplanin and smooth muscle actin double-positive cells. Podoplanin might be a suitable morphological marker supporting the diagnosis and might be involved in the pathogenesis of EP

Peptide derivatives of platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha inhibit cell-associated spread of human cytomegalovirus

Cell-free human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) can be inhibited by a soluble form of the cellular HCMV-receptor PDGFRα, resembling neutralization by antibodies. The cell-associated growth of recent HCMV isolates, however, is resistant against antibodies. We investigated whether PDGFRα-derivatives can inhibit this transmission mode. A protein containing the extracellular PDGFRα-domain and 40-mer peptides derived therefrom were tested regarding the inhibition of the cell-associated HCMV strain Merlin-pAL1502, hits were validated with recent isolates, and the most effective peptide was modified to increase its potency. The modified peptide was further analyzed regarding its mode of action on the virion level. While full-length PDGFRα failed to inhibit HCMV isolates, three peptides significantly reduced virus growth. A 30-mer version of the lead peptide (GD30) proved even more effective against the cell-free virus, and this effect was HCMV-specific and depended on the viral glycoprotein O. In cell-associated spread, GD30 reduced both the number of transferred particles and their penetration. This effect was reversible after peptide removal, which allowed the synchronized analysis of particle transfer, showing that two virions per hour were transferred to neighboring cells and one virion was sufficient for infection. In conclusion, PDGFRα-derived peptides are novel inhibitors of the cell-associated spread of HCMV and facilitate the investigation of this transmission mode

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of new embelin derivatives as CK2 Inhibitors

A new series of furan embelin derivatives was synthesized and characterized as ATPcompetitive CK2 inhibitors. The new compounds were efficiently synthesized using a multicomponent approach from embelin (1), aldehydes and isonitriles through a Knoevenagel condensation/ Michael addition/ heterocyclization. Several compounds with inhibitory activities in the low micromolar or even submicromolar were identified. The most active derivative was compound 4l (2-(tert-butylamino)-3-(furan-3-yl)-5- hydroxy-6-undecylbenzofuran-4,7-dione) with an IC50 value of 0.63 μM. It turned out to be an ATP competitive CK2 inhibitor with a Ki value determined to be 0.48 μM. Docking studies allowed the identification of key ligand-CK2 interactions, which could help to further optimize this family of compounds as CK2 inhibitor

Metabolic Profiling of CSF: Evidence That Early Intervention May Impact on Disease Progression and Outcome in Schizophrenia

BACKGROUND: The identification of schizophrenia biomarkers is a crucial step towards improving current diagnosis, developing new presymptomatic treatments, identifying high-risk individuals and disease subgroups, and assessing the efficacy of preventative interventions at a rate that is not currently possible. METHODS AND FINDINGS: (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in conjunction with computerized pattern recognition analysis were employed to investigate metabolic profiles of a total of 152 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from drug-naïve or minimally treated patients with first-onset paranoid schizophrenia (referred to as “schizophrenia” in the following text) and healthy controls. Partial least square discriminant analysis showed a highly significant separation of patients with first-onset schizophrenia away from healthy controls. Short-term treatment with antipsychotic medication resulted in a normalization of the disease signature in over half the patients, well before overt clinical improvement. No normalization was observed in patients in which treatment had not been initiated at first presentation, providing the first molecular evidence for the importance of early intervention for psychotic disorders. Furthermore, the alterations identified in drug-naïve patients could be validated in a test sample set achieving a sensitivity and specificity of 82% and 85%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest brain-specific alterations in glucoregulatory processes in the CSF of drug-naïve patients with first-onset schizophrenia, implying that these abnormalities are intrinsic to the disease, rather than a side effect of antipsychotic medication. Short-term treatment with atypical antipsychotic medication resulted in a normalization of the CSF disease signature in half the patients well before a clinical improvement would be expected. Furthermore, our results suggest that the initiation of antipsychotic treatment during a first psychotic episode may influence treatment response and/or outcome