ELECTRONIC REQUIREMENTS NEGOTIATION – A LITERATURE SURVEY ON THE STATE-OF-THE-ART (23)

In the software development process, requirements negotiation is an essential part in which stakeholders jointly have to come to an agreement. Such a negotiation process is often conducted using information systems, which makes it an electronic requirements negotiation process. The aim of the current paper is to present the state-of-the-art in electronic requirements negotiations. We elicit the state-of-the-art by analysing relevant literature, extracting areas of current research, and describing the status quo of each area. The identified areas of research are foundations of electronic requirements negotiation, electronic requirements negotiation methodology, automation of electronic requirements negotiation, computer- mediated communication, and social communication

Nine months to progression using fourth-line liposomally encapsulated paclitaxel against hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third most common cause of cancer deaths. Difficulties to diagnose HCC at early stages remain the major obstacle to curative (surgical) therapy. Therapy in advanced stages has to be considered palliative. In this situation, a considerable amount of attention should be paid to innovative treatment strategies, e. g. including antiangiogenetic drugs. Results: We report on the successful treatment of a patient suffering from progressive HCC with a novel drug (EndoTAG (R)-1, formerly named LipoPac (R)) currently investigated in phase II studies. This drug consists of liposomally encapsulated paclitaxel. Its liposomal formulation favors the drug's adherence to the tumor neovasculature, in effect starving the tumor. Conclusions: EndoTAG (R)-1 stopped tumor progression for 9 months in our patient. This, along with successes observed testing this drug against other indications, makes it a suitable candidate for future clinical trials. Copyright (C) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel

Signal characteristics of focal bone marrow lesions in patients with multiple myeloma using whole body T1w-TSE, T2w-STIR and diffusion-weighted imaging with background suppression

Objective: This study analyses the diagnostic potential of Diffusion-Weighted Imaging with Background Suppression (DWIBS) in the detection of focal bone marrow lesions from multiple myeloma. The signal and contrast properties of DWIBS are evaluated in correlation with the serum concentration of M-component (MC) and compared with established T1- and T2-weighted sequences. Methods: Data from 103 consecutive studies in 81 patients are analysed retrospectively. Signal intensities and apparent Diffusion Coefficients (ADC) of 79 focal lesions in the lumbar spine or pelvis of 38 patients are determined and contrast-to-noise-ratio (CNR) is calculated. Data from patients with low (20g/dL) MC are evaluated separately. Results: Signal intensities of focal myeloma lesions on T2w-STIR vary significantly depending on the MC, which leads to a loss in CNR in patients with high MC. No signal variation is observed for T1w-TSE and DWIBS. The CNR values provided by DWIBS in patients with high MC are slightly higher than those of T2w-STIR. ADC values in patients with low MC are significantly higher than in patients with high MC. Conclusion: Whole-body DWIBS has the potential to improve the conspicuity of focal myeloma lesions and provides additional biological information by ADC quantificatio

Ornipressin in the treatment of functional renal failure in decompensated liver cirrhosis

In 11 patients with decompensated cirrhosis and deteriorating renal function, the effect of the vasoconstrictor substance 8-ornithin vasopressin (ornipressin; POR 8; Sandoz, Basel, Switzerland) on renal function, hemodynamic parameters, and humoral mediators was studied. Ornipressin was infused at a dose of 6 IU/h over a period of 4 hours. During ornipressin infusion an improvement of renal function was achieved as indicated by significant increases in inulin clearance (+65%), paraaminohippuric acid clearance (+49%), urine volume (+45%), sodium excretion (+259%), and fractional elimination of sodium (+130%). The hyperdynamic circulation was reversed to a nearly normal circulatory state. The increase in systemic vascular resistance (+60%) coincided with a decrease of a previously elevated renal vascular resistance (-27%) and increase in renal blood flow (+44%). The renal fraction of the cardiac output increased from 2.3% to 4.7% (P less than 0.05). A decline of the elevated plasma levels of noradrenaline (2.08-1.13 ng/mL; P less than 0.01) and renin activity (27.6-14.2 ng.mL-1.h-1; P less than 0.01) was achieved. The plasma concentration of the atrial natriuretic factor increased in most of the patients, but slightly decreased in 3 patients. The decrease of renal vascular resistance and the increase of renal blood flow and of the renal fraction of cardiac output play a key role in the beneficial effect of ornipressin on renal failure. These changes develop by an increase in mean arterial pressure, the reduction of the sympathetic activity, and probably of an extenuation of the splanchnic vasodilation. A significant contribution of atrial natriuretic factor is less likely. The present findings implicate that treatment with ornipressin represents an alternative approach to the management of functional renal failure in advanced liver cirrhosis

A rare differential diagnosis to occupational neck pain: bilateral stylohyoid syndrome

Chronic neck pain is widely prevalent and a common source of disability in the working-age population. Etiology of chronic neck pain includes neck sprain, mechanical or muscular neck pain, myofascial pain syndrome, postural neck pain as well as pain due to degenerative changes. We report the case of a 42 year old secretary, complaining about a longer history of neck pain and limited movement of the cervical spine. Surprisingly, the adequate radiologic examination revealed a bilateral ossification of the stylohyoid ligament complex. Her symptoms remained intractable from conservative treatment consisting of anti-inflammatory medication as well as physical therapy. Hence the patient was admitted to surgical resection of the ossified stylohyoid ligament complex. Afterwards she was free of any complaints and went back to work. Therefore, ossification of the stylohyoid ligament complex causing severe neck pain and movement disorder should be regarded as a rare differential diagnosis of occupational related neck pain

Corona-Pandemie betrifft Unternehmen unterschiedlich : tagesaktuelle Webseiten-Analyse zur Reaktion von Unternehmen auf die Corona-Pandemie in Deutschland

In dieser ZEW-Kurzanalyse analysieren die Autoren/-innen die Webseiten von circa 1,1 Millionen deutschen Unternehmen zwei Mal wöchentlich auf die Nennung des Wortes „Corona“ und entsprechender Synonyme. Anschließend werden die identifizierten Textstellen mittels KI-Textanalysemodellen ausgewertet, um den Kontext der Nennung zu erfassen. Dieses Vorgehen erlaubt es, die Auswirkungen der Corona-Pandemie auf Unternehmen in Deutschland zeitnah und umfassend abzuschätzen. Seit dem ersten Abzug vom 19.03.2020 konnten wir so eine Erhöhung der betroffenen Unternehmen um circa einen Prozentpunkt pro Woche beobachten (von 10% auf 14% am 15.04.2020). Wir stellen außerdem deutliche sektorale und alters- sowie größenbezogene Unterschiede fest. Ältere und insbesondere größere Unternehmen berichten deutlich häufiger über die Pandemie. Welchen Einfluss hier die gegebenenfalls größeren Digitalkapazitäten (z.B. dezidierte Medienabteilung) und eine folglich aktuellere Webseite bei größeren Unternehmen haben, wird noch untersucht. Regional beobachten wir sowohl eine ungleiche Verteilung der aktuellen Fallzahlen (betroffene Unternehmen) auf Kreisebene, als auch ein ungleiches Wachstum. Hierbei ist ein West-Ost-Gefälle mit höheren Fallzahlen im Westen Deutschlands und ein stärkeres Wachstum der Fallzahlen im Süd-Westen der Bundesrepublik zu beobachten. Auch weisen Stadtkreise insgesamt höhere Werte auf als Landkreise. Welchen Einfluss die regionale Zusammensetzung der Unternehmenspopulation auf dieses räumliche Muster hat ist Gegenstand aktueller Analysen. Außerdem deuten unsere Versuche mit fortschrittlichen, KI-basierten Textanalysemodellen (istari.ai webAI Engine) darauf hin, dass Unternehmen auf ihren Webseiten über ihre spezifischen Reaktionen auf die Corona-Pandemie berichten. So können wir aufzeigen, dass die gefundenen „Corona“-Referenzen in verschiedene Themenfelder eingeteilt werden können, deren Relevanz nach Branchen und Regionen variieren. Corona-Referenzen mit „Problem“-Kontext (Betriebs- und Ladengeschäftsschließungen, Absagen von Veranstaltungen, Kurzarbeit etc.), „Adaption“-Kontext (Anpassung Geschäftszeiten, neue Hygienevorschriften, Homeoffice etc.) und „Kein Problem“-Kontext (keine Beeinträchtigungen durch die Pandemie) treten regional gehäuft auf

Regionale Verteilung der Bakterien-Abundanz und Aktivität in der Unterelbe und Unterweser: Ein Vergleich zwischen beiden Ästuaren (=Regional distribution of bacterial abundance and activity in the Lower Elbe and Weser Rivers A comparison between both estuaries)

Die Mündungsgebiete von Elbe und Weser bilden die beiden größten deutschen Ästuare. Sie weisen eine Reihe von hydrologischen, geologischen und klimatischen Gemeinsamkeiten auf. Ziel der Arbeit war es zu untersuchen, ob und wieweit diese Gemeinsamkeiten auch in planktologisch/mikrobiologischer Hinsicht gelten. Hierzu wurden bei niedrigem Oberwasserabfluss im Juni 2005 Oberflächenproben in 10 km Abständen in beiden Ästuaren von ihrem limnischen Bereich bis in die Deutsche Bucht genommen. Untersucht wurden die abiotischen Parameter Temperatur, Salzgehalt, Gesamt- und Feintrübung < 2 μm sowie die biologischen Parameter Chlorophyll a und Phäopigmente, Bakterienzahl und bakterielle Biomasseproduktion. Die biologischen Variablen hatten ihr Maximum stets in der limnischen Zone. Hier beliefen sich die Werte in der Elbe auf 10,3 μg l-1 Chlorophyll a (Chl a), 9,5 x 109 l-1 Bakterien (BZ) und eine bakterielle Biomasseproduktion (BBP) von 4,3 μg C l-1 h-1. In der Weser lagen sie bei 22,5 μg l-1 (Chl a), 7,8 x 109 l-1 (BZ) und 4,1 μg C l-1 h-1 (BBP). Ein Minimum wurde im Bereich der oberen Brackwassergrenze mit 5,2 μg l-1 (Chl a), 5,4 x 109 l-1 (BZ) und 1,0 μg C l-1 h-1 (BBP) in der Elbe und mit 3,8 μg l-1 (Chl a), 7,4 x 109 l-1 (BZ) und 1,4 μg C l-1 h-1 (BBP) in der Weser gefunden. An der seewärtigen Grenze der Ästuarregionen trat ein erneutes Maximum auf. Damit stimmten beide Ästuare sowohl in der regionalen Verteilung als auch in der Größe der Parameter weitgehend überein

An integrated data framework for policy guidance in times of dynamic economic shocks

Usually, offcial and survey-based statistics guide policy makers in their choice of response instruments to economic crises. However, in an early phase, after a sudden and unforeseen shock has caused incalculable and fast-changing dynamics, data from traditional statistics are only available with non-negligible time delays. This leaves policy makers uncertain about how to most effectively manage their economic countermeasures to support businesses, especially when they need to respond quickly, as in the COVID-19 pandemic. Given this information deficit, we propose a framework that guides policy makers throughout all stages of an unforeseen economic shock by providing timely and reliable data as a basis to make informed decisions. We do so by combining early stage "ad hoc" web analyses, "follow-up" business surveys, and "retrospective" analyses of firm outcomes. A particular focus of our framework is on assessing the early effects of the pandemic, using highly dynamic and largescale data from corporate websites. Most notably, we show that textual references to the coronavirus pandemic published on a large sample of company websites and state-of-the-art text analysis methods allow to capture the heterogeneity of the crisis' effects at a very early stage and entail a leading indication on later movements in firm credit ratings

Comprehensive Laboratory Diagnostic Workup for Patients with Suspected Intraocular Lymphoma including Flow Cytometry, Molecular Genetics and Cytopathology.

BACKGROUND Intraocular lymphoma (IOL) presents a real challenge in daily diagnostics. Cyto- and/or histopathology of vitreous body represent the diagnostic cornerstones. Yet, false negative results remain common. Therefore, we analyzed the diagnostic significance of flow cytometry (FC) within the workup algorithm of IOL and compared its sensitivity with the results obtained from routine cytopathology and molecular genetics; Methods: Seven patients undergoing vitrectomy due to suspected IOL were investigated by FC and parallel cytopathology and, if available, digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) for MYD88 L265P; Results: Four out of seven patients were finally diagnosed with IOL. Among the IOL patients, cytopathology confirmed the presence of lymphoma cells in only two cases. In contrast, FC was positive for IOL in all four cases, and FC additionally confirmed the lack of IOL in the remaining patients. In IOL patients diagnosed by FC and with available ddPCR, the diagnosis of IOL was confirmed by the presence of the MYD88 L265P mutation in all three patients; Conclusions: The combination with FC was superior to cytopathology alone in the diagnostic work-up of IOL, and it showed an excellent correlation with ddPCR results. A comprehensive diagnostic panel consisting of cytopathology, FC and molecular genetics should be considered for the work-up of suspected IOL

MHC Class I+/II− Dendritic Cells Induce Hapten-Specific Immune Responses In Vitro and In Vivo

Activation requirements and biologic properties of hapten-specific, major histocompatibility complex class I-restricted CD8+ T lymphocytes are not fully understood. To address this issue, a novel CD45+/major histocompatibility complex class I+(H-2k)/II−/CD80+ dendritic cell line, termed 80/1, which is capable of stimulating naïve, allogeneic CD8+ but not CD4+ T cells in vitro, was derivatized with trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid and co-cultured for 4 d with syngeneic, naïve CD8+ T cells. Results obtained showed that trinitrophenyl-derivatized, but not underivatized 80/1 dendritic cells, can induce vigorous proliferation of CD8+ T cells. T-cell blasts generated in this fashion were able to lyse syngeneic, trinitrophenyl-derivatized targets but failed to lyse underivatized or trinitrophenyl-derivatized syngeneic, major histocompatibility complex class I− mutant cells or allogeneic targets. The ability of 80/1 dendritic cells to prime naïve, syngeneic T cells in vivo was tested in a contact hypersensitivity model. C3H/HeN mice were injected subcutaneously with identical numbers of (i) trinitro-phenyl-derivatized 80/1 dendritic cells; (ii) trinitro-phenyl-derivatized 80/1 dendritic cells fragmented by freeze-thawing cycles; (iii) trinitrophenyl-derivatized fibrosarcoma L929; and (iv) trinitrophenyl-derivatized lymphoma R1.1 cells. Whereas live trinitrophenyl-derivatized 80/1 dendritic cells were able to sensitize for contact hypersensitivity, killed hapten-derivatized 80/1 dendritic cells or control cells failed to do so. Thus, we conclude that 80/1 dedritic cells, when compared with major histocompatibility complex class I+ non-dendritic cells, can effectively prime naive, syngeneic CD8+ T cells for hapten-specific responses, probably due to their better costimulatory and migratory properties