EU-Fördergelder: "Subventions-Hopping" oder sinnvolle Investitionsförderung - brauchen wir mehr Transparenz?

Der Fall Nokia hat in der Öffentlichkeit Empörung hervorgerufen und die Frage des Für und Wider von Subventionen für private Unternehmen aufgeworfen. Sind Investitionsförderungen durch Subventionen sinnvolle Standortpolitik, oder werden nur Mitnahmeeffekte erzielt? Christa Thoben, Ministerin für Wirtschaft, Mittelstand und Energie des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, weist auf ein grundsätzliches Dilemma hin: Insgesamt ließe sich die erhoffte Wirkung einer langfristigen Standortbindung damit nicht erreichen, und oft würden nur Mitnahmeeffekte bei den Unternehmen ausgelöst. Hartmut Schauerte, Parlamentarischer Staatssekretär beim Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie, verweist auf die Zahlungen, die Deutschland aus den EU-Strukturfonds erhält: "In der laufenden Förderperiode 2007-2013 werden rund 26,3 Mrd. € aus den EU-Strukturfonds nach Deutschland fließen." Auch habe die Europäische Kommission versichert, dass im Fall Nokia keinerlei EU-Strukturfondsmittel geflossen seien. Denn ein "Subventionswettlauf", in dem eine Region die andere mit noch besseren Förderkonditionen zu überbieten versuche, sei nicht im Sinne der EU-Kohäsionspolitik. Markus Pieper, Mitglied des Europäischen Parlaments, unterstreicht die Notwendigkeit von Transparenz. Leider lasse sich auf Grundlage eines recht allgemeinen Berichtswesens der Mitgliedstaaten die Zweckbindung von Subventionen nur schwer überprüfen. Christoph M. Schmidt, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI), Essen, betont, dass es andere, weniger kostenintensive, anspruchsvollere Wege gebe, um für ansiedlungswillige Unternehmen attraktiv zu sein, als direkte Förderung. So gebe es z.B. aus Sicht der Unternehmen das Bedürfnis, einen konkreten und rasch zu erreichenden Ansprechpartner in den zuständigen Ministerien zu besitzen. Viel versprechend seien auch Investitionen in die Entwicklung einer qualitativ hochwertigen Bildungs- und Forschungsinfrastruktur.Investitionspolitik, Subvention, Standortpolitik, Wettbewerb, EU-Strukturfonds, EU-Regionalfonds, Europäische Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion, Deutschland

Toxicity of Methylated Bismuth Compounds Produced by Intestinal Microorganisms to Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, a Member of the Physiological Intestinal Microbiota

Methanoarchaea have an outstanding capability to methylate numerous metal(loid)s therefore producing toxic and highly mobile derivatives. Here, we report that the production of methylated bismuth species by the methanoarchaeum Methanobrevibacter smithii, a common member of the human intestine, impairs the growth of members of the beneficial intestinal microbiota at low concentrations. The bacterium Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, which is of great importance for the welfare of the host due to its versatile digestive abilities and its protective function for the intestine, is highly sensitive against methylated, but not against inorganic, bismuth species. The level of methylated bismuth species produced by the methanoarchaeum M. smithii in a coculture experiment causes a reduction of the maximum cell density of B. thetaiotaomicron. This observation suggests that the production of methylated organometal(loid) species in the human intestine, caused by the activity of methanoarchaea, may affect the health of the host. The impact of the species to reduce the number of the physiological intestinal microbiota brings an additional focus on the potentially harmful role of methanoarchaea in the intestine of a higher organism

Highdicom: A Python library for standardized encoding of image annotations and machine learning model outputs in pathology and radiology

Machine learning is revolutionizing image-based diagnostics in pathology and radiology. ML models have shown promising results in research settings, but their lack of interoperability has been a major barrier for clinical integration and evaluation. The DICOM a standard specifies Information Object Definitions and Services for the representation and communication of digital images and related information, including image-derived annotations and analysis results. However, the complexity of the standard represents an obstacle for its adoption in the ML community and creates a need for software libraries and tools that simplify working with data sets in DICOM format. Here we present the highdicom library, which provides a high-level application programming interface for the Python programming language that abstracts low-level details of the standard and enables encoding and decoding of image-derived information in DICOM format in a few lines of Python code. The highdicom library ties into the extensive Python ecosystem for image processing and machine learning. Simultaneously, by simplifying creation and parsing of DICOM-compliant files, highdicom achieves interoperability with the medical imaging systems that hold the data used to train and run ML models, and ultimately communicate and store model outputs for clinical use. We demonstrate through experiments with slide microscopy and computed tomography imaging, that, by bridging these two ecosystems, highdicom enables developers to train and evaluate state-of-the-art ML models in pathology and radiology while remaining compliant with the DICOM standard and interoperable with clinical systems at all stages. To promote standardization of ML research and streamline the ML model development and deployment process, we made the library available free and open-source

The NCI Imaging Data Commons as a platform for reproducible research in computational pathology

Background and Objectives: Reproducibility is a major challenge in developing machine learning (ML)-based solutions in computational pathology (CompPath). The NCI Imaging Data Commons (IDC) provides >120 cancer image collections according to the FAIR principles and is designed to be used with cloud ML services. Here, we explore its potential to facilitate reproducibility in CompPath research. Methods: Using the IDC, we implemented two experiments in which a representative ML-based method for classifying lung tumor tissue was trained and/or evaluated on different datasets. To assess reproducibility, the experiments were run multiple times with separate but identically configured instances of common ML services. Results: The AUC values of different runs of the same experiment were generally consistent. However, we observed small variations in AUC values of up to 0.045, indicating a practical limit to reproducibility. Conclusions: We conclude that the IDC facilitates approaching the reproducibility limit of CompPath research (i) by enabling researchers to reuse exactly the same datasets and (ii) by integrating with cloud ML services so that experiments can be run in identically configured computing environments.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures; improved manuscript, new experiments with P100 GP

Process data of allogeneic ex vivo-expanded ABCB5+ mesenchymal stromal cells for human use: Off-the-shelf GMP-manufactured donor-independent ATMP

© 2020, The Author(s). Background: Human dermal mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) expressing the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) efflux transporter ABCB5 represent an easily accessible MSC population that, based on preclinical and first-in-human data, holds significant promise to treat a broad spectrum of conditions associated not only with skin-related but also systemic inflammatory and/or degenerative processes. Methods: We have developed a validated Good Manufacturing Practice-compliant expansion and manufacturing process by which ABCB5+ MSCs derived from surgical discard skin tissues are processed to an advanced-therapy medicinal product (ATMP) for clinical use. Enrichment for ABCB5+ MSCs is achieved in a three-step process involving plastic adherence selection, expansion in a highly efficient MSC-selecting medium, and immunomagnetic isolation of the ABCB5+ cells from the mixed culture. Results: Product Quality Review data covering 324 cell expansions, 728 ABCB5+ MSC isolations, 66 ABCB5+ MSC batches, and 85 final drug products reveal high process robustness and reproducible, reliable quality of the manufactured cell therapy product. Conclusion: We have successfully established an expansion and manufacturing process that enables the generation of homogenous ABCB5+ MSC populations of proven biological activity manufactured as a standardized, donor-independent, highly pure, and highly functional off-the-shelf available ATMP, which is currently tested in multiple clinical trials

Working With Environmental Noise and Noise-Cancelation: A Workload Assessment With EEG and Subjective Measures

As working and learning environments become open and flexible, people are also potentially surrounded by ambient noise, which causes an increase in mental workload. The present study uses electroencephalogram (EEG) and subjective measures to investigate if noise-canceling technologies can fade out external distractions and free up mental resources. Therefore, participants had to solve spoken arithmetic tasks that were read out via headphones in three sound environments: a quiet environment (no noise), a noisy environment (noise), and a noisy environment but with active noise-canceling headphones (noise-canceling). Our results of brain activity partially confirm an assumed lower mental load in no noise and noise-canceling compared to noise test condition. The mean P300 activation at Cz resulted in a significant differentiation between the no noise and the other two test conditions. Subjective data indicate an improved situation for the participants when using the noise-canceling technology compared to “normal” headphones but shows no significant discrimination. The present results provide a foundation for further investigations into the relationship between noise-canceling technology and mental workload. Additionally, we give recommendations for an adaptation of the test design for future studies

Bitter taste signaling in tracheal epithelial brush cells elicits innate immune responses to bacterial infection

Constant exposure of the airways to inhaled pathogens requires efficient early immune responses protecting against infections. How bacteria on the epithelial surface are detected and first-line protective mechanisms are initiated are not well understood. We have recently shown that tracheal brush cells (BCs) express functional taste receptors. Here we report that bitter taste signaling in murine BCs induces neurogenic inflammation. We demonstrate that BC signaling stimulates adjacent sensory nerve endings in the trachea to release the neuropeptides CGRP and substance P that mediate plasma extravasation, neutrophil recruitment, and diapedesis. Moreover, we show that bitter tasting quorum-sensing molecules from Pseudomonas aeruginosa activate tracheal BCs. BC signaling depends on the key taste transduction gene Trpm5, triggers secretion of immune mediators, among them the most abundant member of the complement system, and is needed to combat P. aeruginosa infections. Our data provide functional insight into firstline defense mechanisms against bacterial infections of the lung

The management of desmoid tumours: A joint global consensus-based guideline approach for adult and paediatric patients

Abstract Desmoid tumor (DT; other synonymously used terms: Desmoid-type fibromatosis, aggressive fibromatosis) is a rare and locally aggressive monoclonal, fibroblastic proliferation characterised by a variable and often unpredictable clinical course. Previously surgery was the standard primary treatment modality; however, in recent years a paradigm shift towards a more conservative management has been introduced and an effort to harmonise the strategy amongst clinicians has been made. We present herein an evidence-based, joint global consensus guideline approach to the management of this disease focussing on: molecular genetics, indications for an active treatment, and available systemic therapeutic options. This paper follows a one-day consensus meeting held in Milan, Italy, in June 2018 under the auspices of the European Reference Network for rare solid adult cancers, EURACAN, the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Soft Tissue and Bone Sarcoma Group (STBSG) as well as Sarcoma Patients EuroNet (SPAEN) and The Desmoid tumour Research Foundation (DTRF). The meeting brought together over 50 adult and pediatric sarcoma experts from different disciplines, patients and patient advocates from Europe, North America and Japan