Epidemiological studies suggest an association between exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and adverse allergic and respiratory symptoms. However, whether VOCs exhibit a causal role as ...adjuvants in asthma development remains unclear.
To investigate the effect of VOC exposure on the development of allergic airway inflammation Balb/c mice were exposed to VOCs emitted by new polyvinylchloride (PVC) flooring, sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA) and characterized in acute and chronic murine asthma models. Furthermore, prevalent evaporated VOCs were analyzed and mice were exposed to selected single VOCs.
Exposure of mice to PVC flooring increased eosinophilic lung inflammation and OVA-specific IgE serum levels compared to un-exposed control mice. The increased inflammation was associated with elevated levels of Th2-cytokines. Long-term exposure to PVC flooring exacerbated chronic airway inflammation. VOCs with the highest concentrations emitted by new PVC flooring were N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol diisobutyrate (TXIB). Exposure to NMP or TXIB also increased the allergic immune response in OVA-sensitized mice. In vitro or in vivo exposure to NMP or TXIB reduced IL-12 production in maturing dendritic cells (DCs) and enhanced airway inflammation after adoptive DC transfer into Balb/c mice. At higher concentrations both VOCs induced oxidative stress demonstrated by increased isoprostane and glutathione-S-transferase-pi1 protein levels in the lung of non-sensitized mice. Treatment of PVC flooring-exposed mice with N-acetylcysteine prevented the VOC-induced increase of airway inflammation.
Our results demonstrate that exposure to VOCs may increase the allergic immune response by interfering with DC function and by inducing oxidative stress and has therefore to be considerate as risk factor for the development of allergic diseases.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Urbane Gemeinschaftsgärten sind aus der Stadt nicht mehr wegzudenken. Aus vereinzelten Pionierprojekten entstand im Laufe der vergangenen zwei Jahrzehnte ein Netzwerk von rund 1000 Initiativen. Als ...erdverbundene Orte haben sie das Potenzial, Stadt wie Gesellschaft grundlegend zu verändern. Doch was ist das Besondere an urbanen Gärten und warum sind sie unverzichtbar? Gemeinsam mit Autor*innen aus Wissenschaft, Forschung und Aktivismus beleuchten wir die unterschiedlichen Dimensionen der neuen urbanen Gartenbewegung - und loten ihre Rolle bei der Mitgestaltung einer menschen- und naturgerechten Stadt der Zukunft aus.
Die kollektive Unterbringung von Asylsuchenden ist ein wichtiger Bestandteil der flüchtlingspolitischen Verwaltungspraxis in Deutschland. Bei aller Varianz der Art solcher Sammelunterkünfte sind ...damit stets auch prinzipielle Herausforderungen verbunden. Denn mit einem zentralen Raum zum Umgang mit Flucht und Ankunft werden zugleich Gefahren und Konflikte örtlich konzentriert. Parallel zur Entwicklung von Konzepten zur Bewältigung dieser Herausforderungen untersuchen die Beiträger*innen des Bandes die Lebensrealitäten in diesen Einrichtungen.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to the implementation of severe restrictions on public life in Germany and a reduction in the number of non-COVID patients presenting for care. The aim of this study was to ...measure the impact on the number of therapeutic interventional oncology procedures in relation to diagnostic imaging studies at a high-volume radiology department.
The numbers of therapeutic interventional oncology procedures and diagnostic CT/MRI examinations for the years 2010 to 2021 were extracted using the hospital information system. Monthly data from January 2010 to December 2019 were used to build forecasting models for the timeframe from January 2020 to December 2021. Real procedure numbers were compared with predicted numbers to calculate residual differences, which were considered statistically significant if the real number was outside the 95 % confidence interval (p < 0.05).
During the first German lockdown (March/April 2020), the number of outpatient CT/MRI examinations decreased significantly, with a less pronounced decrease of overall CT/MRI numbers. The second German lockdown (January-May 2021) led to lower than predicted outpatient CT numbers, whereas outpatient MRI numbers in part even exceeded predicted numbers and overall CT/MRI numbers stayed within confidence limits. The lockdowns had a more pronounced negative effect on the number of oncological MRI examinations compared to CT examinations. The number of therapeutic interventional oncology procedures showed no significant decrease during both lockdowns.
Lockdown measures had minor impact on the number of therapeutic interventional oncology procedures, possibly due to a shift from more resource-intensive therapies like surgery towards interventional oncology. The overall numbers of diagnostic imaging decreased during the first lockdown, while the second lockdown had less negative impact. The number of oncological MRI examinations was affected most severely. To avoid adverse outcomes, specific protocols for patient management during future pandemic outbreaks should be implemented and continuously adapted.
· COVID-19 lockdowns had minor effect on therapeutic interventional oncology procedures.. · Numbers of diagnostic outpatient imaging procedures dropped markedly, especially during the first lockdown.. · The number of oncological MRI examinations showed a significant decrease during both lockdowns..
· Nebelung H, Radosa CG, Schön F et al. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on therapeutic interventional oncology procedures and diagnostic CT/MRI examinations at a German university hospital. Fortschr Röntgenstr 2023; 195: 707 - 712.
Human podocytes (hPC) are essential for maintaining normal kidney function and dysfunction or loss of hPC play a pivotal role in the manifestation and progression of chronic kidney diseases including ...diabetic nephropathy. Previously, α-Lipoic acid (α-LA), a licensed drug for treatment of diabetic neuropathy, was shown to exhibit protective effects on diabetic nephropathy in vivo. However, the effect of α-LA on hPC under non-diabetic conditions is unknown. Therefore, we analyzed the impact of α-LA on cell viability and expression of nephrin and zinc finger protein 580 (ZNF580) in normal hPC in vitro.
Protein analyses were done via Western blot techniques. Cell viability was determined using a functional assay. hPC viability was dynamically modulated via α-LA stimulation in a concentration-dependent manner. This was associated with reduced nephrin and ZNF580 expression and increased nephrin phosphorylation in normal hPC. Moreover, α-LA reduced nephrin and ZNF580 protein expression via 'kappa-light-chain-enhancer' of activated B-cells (NF-κB) inhibition. These data demonstrate that low α-LA had no negative influence on hPC viability, whereas, high α-LA concentrations induced cytotoxic effects on normal hPC and reduced nephrin and ZNF580 expression via NF-κB inhibition. These data provide first novel information about potential cytotoxic effects of α-LA on hPC under non-diabetic conditions.
Background: Logbooks are widely used to set learning outcomes and to structure and standardize teaching in clinical settings. Experience shows that logbooks are not always optimally employed in ...clinical training. In this article, we have summarized our own experiences as well as results of studies into twelve tips on how to successfully implement logbooks into clinical settings.
Methods: We conducted both a workshop concerning the importance of logbook training to exchange experiences in teaching practice, organization, didactic knowledge and a literature research to compare our own experiences and add additional aspects.
Results: Tips include the process of developing the logbook itself, the change-management process, conditions of training and the integration of logbooks into the curriculum.
Conclusions: Logbooks can be a valuable tool for training in clinical settings, especially when multiple sites are involved, when you take our tips into consideration.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
For eight acrylates, three methacrylates, and three propiolates as three subclasses of α,β-unsaturated esters, short-term and long-term bacterial toxicity with Vibrio fischeri was determined in terms ...of EC50 (effective concentration 50%) values for the 30-min bioluminescence and 24-h growth inhibition. To this end, experimental exposure concentrations were corrected for volatilization through a thermodynamic model based on Henry’s law constant of the compounds. Moreover, toxicity enhancements T e as the ratio of narcosis-predicted over actual EC50 were determined and discussed in terms of underlying mechanisms of reaction of the electrophiles with endogenous nucleophiles such as glutathione (GSH) and proteins. Overall, log EC50 M ranges from −2.28 to −3.70 (30 min) and from −2.80 to −5.28 (24 h), respectively, indicating a significantly larger sensitivity of the growth inhibition bioassay for the reactive toxicity of these Michael acceptors. The latter is also reflected in the observed toxicity enhancements, where log T e > 1 was obtained for only 5 of 14 30-min EC50 values but for 11 of 13 24-h EC50 values. Moreover, the average long-term to short-term difference in log T e is 1 unit for the acrylates and 0.7 units for both methacrylates and propiolates. Methacrylates exert narcosis-level toxicity except for the methyl derivative in the long-term assay. The log EC50 (24 h) of a subset of 10 mostly excess-toxic acrylates and a propiolate correlates with their logarithmic rate constants of reaction with GSH, log k GSH, significantly more than with log K ow (r 2 0.76 vs 0.47), yielding a respective regression rms of 0.34 log units. For allyl and propargyl acrylate as well as propargyl methacrylate, the observed excess toxicity is likely caused by initial enzymatic hydrolysis and subsequent oxidation of the α,β-unsaturated alcohols to the respective carbonyls. The latter shows that in the context of nonanimal testing schemes such as for REACH, the metabolic capacity of in vitro screens requires attention.
Die Frage, inwieweit der Kontingenz bzw. dem Zufall in Transformationen des Wissens eine bedeutsame Rolle zukommt, ist eine für die Funktionsweise von Transformationsprozessen neue und weiterführende ...Fragestellung. In ihrem Kern geht es darum, ob Transformationen bewusste, subjektorientierte Entscheidungen und Aktionen darstellen oder aber auch, und in welchem Maße, vom Zufall gesteuert sind.
Dialectical-Behavioral Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder (DBT) developed by M. Linehan is specifically designed for the outpatient treatment of chronically suicidal patients with borderline ...personality disorder. Research on DBT therapy, its course and its results has focused to date on treatments in an outpatient setting.
Hypothesizing that the course of therapy could be accelerated and improved by an inpatient setting at the beginning of outpatient DBT, we developed a treatment program of inpatient therapy for this patient group according to the guidelines of DBT. It consists of a three-month inpatient treatment prior to long-term outpatient therapy. In this pilot study 24 female patients were compared at admission to the hospital, and at one month after discharge with respect to psychopathology and frequency of self-injuries. Significant improvements in ratings of depression, dissociation, anxiety and global stress were found. A highly significant decrease in the number of parasuicidal acts was also reported. Analysis of the average effect sizes shows a strong effect which prompts the development of a randomized controlled design.
Contingentia Böhme, Hartmut; Röcke, Werner; Stephan, Ulrike C. A
2015, 2015-11-13, Letnik:
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eBook
Die Antike und ihre Rezeption wurden bisher weitgehend in den Grenzen von Fachdisziplinen erforscht. In der Reihe Transformationen der Antike steht dagegen die interdisziplinäre Kontextualisierung ...der produktiven Transformationen antiker Wissenschaften und Künste im Vordergrund. Dargestellt wird der langwellige, von der Spätantike bis zur Moderne reichende Prozess der Herausbildung des Wissenschaftssystems der Kunstgattungen und der kulturellen Selbstkonstruktion der europäischen Gesellschaften. Die Reihe geht hervor aus dem Sonderforschungsbereich ,,Transformationen der Antike" und dem ,,August Boeckh-Antikezentrum" an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Ihre Projekte untersuchen Transformationsprozesse insbesondere auf drei Ebenen: die konstitutiven Funktionen der Antike bei der Ausbildung der europäischen Wissenschaftsgesellschaft und ihrer Disziplinen; die Rolle der Antike bei der Entstehung mittelalterlicher, neuzeitlicher und moderner kultureller Identitäten; sowie die künstlerischen, literarischen, übersetzerischen und medialen Formen von Rezeption und Transformation.
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