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Das Aachener Theater im Dritten Reich
No full textEssay about the history of the municipal theatre in the German city of Aachen during the Third Reic
Prostitution as profession: histories of ‘work-shy’ labour in a welfare state, West Germany between 1949 and 1974
Get PDFIn West German law, selling sex was held to be legal but ‘immoral’, a definition that prevented its recognition or protection as a profession. Despite this categorisation, however, women (and men) sold sex in streets, bars and backrooms across the country. They developed routines and relationships to manage their trade, while being excluded from many welfare state provisions and targeted by local police, health or welfare departments. Rising prosperity and the loosening of social norms in West Germany between 1949 and 1974 provide the backdrop to an exploration of how older notions of prostitution as ‘work-shy’ were confronted with the changing circumstances of urban commercial sex in this period. The article examines how politicians, police and welfare workers interpreted the continued existence of commercial sex in the context of rising security. It also highlights the disparate working practices of women who sold sex across the period
Highly selective-notch band ultrawide band antenna: A review
Get PDFUltra-wideband (UWB) technology offers a unique alternative for communicating over short distances due to its high capacity and low power consumption during transmission and reception. However, designing an antenna with appropriate characteristics for these systems is a significant problem since it must avoid interfering with current limited bandwidth technologies (e.g., Wi-Fi, lower 5G, and satellite downlink band) in the UWB range. In this review article, we have made a comprehensive literature review of quasi-perfect-notch band UWB antennas that have been reported with different techniques used. The ever-growing demand for antennas in wireless communications has challenged researchers to design antennas with innovations for highly efficient communications between end users. Adding external filters has the disadvantage of large volume and high cost. To overcome these problems the researchers have proposed different band-notch techniques to mitigate the interferences in this densely populated wireless network era. The primary objective of this review article is to offer comprehensive insights into various highly selective notch-band UWB antennas, presenting a clearer overview of the techniques used to mitigate interference from narrowband signals that overlap with the UWB spectrum. The methods used—which include applying EBG structures, incorporating SRRs, slot etching, and using stubs—are covered in detail in different sections
Developing and implementing whole systems approaches to reduce inequalities in childhood obesity: a mixed methods study in Dundee, Scotland
Get PDFBackground:
UK local authorities are developing and implementing Whole Systems Approaches to childhood obesity to tackle persistent and complex health inequalities. However, there is a lack of research on the practical application of these approaches. This paper reports on findings of a study into the initial implementation of this approach in Dundee, Scotland.
Study design/methods:
We applied a mixed methods research design: 1) semi-structured interviews (n = 9) with partnership members; 2) training members as peer researchers to interview their wider networks; n = 17); 3) an online survey among wider stakeholders (n = 27); and 4) two action learning sets with decision makers. Interview data was analysed using thematic framework analysis and survey data was analysed using descriptive statistics.
Results:
Dundee stakeholders stated that they had good knowledge of childhood obesity prevention efforts, but their engagement with working groups around identified priority themes was still limited, due to a lack of awareness about existing structures and knowledge about sustainable, impactful strategies, which were not always well-aligned between key organisations.
Conclusions:
Our findings extend current literature on facilitators for Whole Systems Approaches in public health by highlighting that understanding of strategies and wider structures are crucial to build capacity and maintain engagement to address inequalities. We identified an ongoing need for targeted communication and diverse involvement opportunities for different stakeholder groups
Achieving net zero-emission production through hydrogen: evidence from Scottish whisky industry
Get PDFClimate change poses a significant threat to economic development and necessitates immediate action to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. This study investigates the feasibility of hydrogen systems as a comprehensive solution for decarbonizing the distillery industry, a sector often deemed “hard-to-treat” from service perspective. Through a qualitative case study of a whiskey distillery in Scotland, insights from senior management at both the distillery and the hydrogen system provider reveal the potential of hydrogen to not only serve as an energy source but also to address broader sustainability challenges within the food and agriculture sector. While advantages are evident, the study also identifies challenges related to infrastructure, cost, and the need for shifts in government policy, user attitudes, and investor perspectives. This research serves as a precursor to broader sectoral studies aimed at developing pathways toward net-zero emissions, emphasizing the importance of collaboration among stakeholders to unlock the full potential of hydrogen as a transformative solution for achieving a sustainable future
Uncovering the viral aetiology of undiagnosed acute febrile illness in Uganda using metagenomic sequencing
Get PDFViruses associated with acute febrile illness in Africa cause a spectrum of clinical disease from mild to life-threatening. Routine diagnostic methods are insufficient to identify all viral pathogens in this region. In this study, 1281 febrile Ugandan patients were prospectively recruited as part of the CDC-UVRI Acute Febrile Illness Study and pre-screened for common pathogens. 210/1281 undiagnosed samples, and 20 additional samples from viral outbreaks were subjected to metagenomic sequencing. Viral pathogens were identified in 44/230 (19%), including respiratory, hepatitis, blood-borne, gastrointestinal and vector-borne viruses. Importantly, one case of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever and two cases each of Rift Valley fever, dengue and yellow fever were detected in 7/230 (3%) of cases. Le Dantec virus, last reported in 1969, was also identified in one patient. The presence of high-consequence and (re-)emerging viruses of public health concern highlights the need for enhanced population-based diagnostic surveillance in the African region
Enhanced cytotoxicity against cholangiocarcinoma by fifth-generation chimeric antigen receptor T cells targeting integrin αvβ6 and secreting anti-PD-L1 scFv
Get PDFCholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a fatal bile duct cancer with high resistance and recurrence rates, with only one fifth of patients eligible for surgical treatment. The disease resists standard chemotherapy and often relapses. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy has shown promise for hematological malignancies but faces challenges in solid tumors due to resistance mechanisms like PD-L1 expression, which tumors use to evade the immune system. To address this challenge, we developed fifth-generation CAR T cells targeting integrin αvβ6 that also secrete anti-PD-L1 single-chain variable fragment (scFv) to target both tumor cells and the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway. We examined integrin αvβ6 and PD-L1 expression in CCA cell lines and engineered T cells to express either fourth-generation CAR T cells targeting integrin αvβ6 (A20 CAR4 T cells) or fifth-generation CAR T cells with anti-PD-L1 scFv secretion (A20 CAR5 T cells). In vitro, A20 CAR5 T cells exhibited less exhaustion and superior long-term functionality compared to A20 CAR4 T cells. In 3D spheroid models of CCA, A20 CAR5 T cells demonstrated enhanced antitumor activity and better infiltration into the spheroid core. These findings suggest that A20 CAR5 T cells have significant potential and warrant further in vivo studies and clinical trials
Variations in Relevance Judgments and the Shelf Life of Test Collections
Get PDFThe fundamental property of Cranfield-style evaluations, that system rankings are stable even when assessors disagree on individual relevance decisions, was validated on traditional test collections. However, the paradigm shift towards neural retrieval models affected the characteristics of modern test collections, e.g., documents are short, judged with four grades of relevance, and information needs have no descriptions or narratives. Under these changes, it is unclear whether assessor disagreement remains negligible for system comparisons. We investigate this aspect under the additional condition that the few modern test collections are heavily re-used. Given more possible query interpretations due to less formalized information needs, an ''expiration date'' for test collections might be needed if top-effectiveness requires overfitting to a single interpretation of relevance. We run a reproducibility study and re-annotate the relevance judgments of the 2019~TREC Deep Learning track. We can reproduce prior work in the neural retrieval setting, showing that assessor disagreement does not affect system rankings. However, we observe that some models substantially degrade with our new relevance judgments, and some have already reached the effectiveness of humans as rankers, providing evidence that test collections can expire
Dry surface biofilm formation by Candida auris facilitates persistence and tolerance to sodium hypochlorite
Get PDFCandida auris is an enigmatic fungal pathogen, recently elevated as a critical priority group pathogen by the World Health Organisation, linked with its ability to cause outbreaks within nosocomial care units, facilitated through environmental persistence. We investigated the susceptibility of phenotypically distinct C. auris isolates to sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), and evaluated the role of biofilms in surviving disinfection using a dry‐surface biofilm (DSB) model and transcriptomic profiling. Planktonic cells were tested for susceptibility to NaOCl, with biofilm formation using the 12‐day DSB model, assessed using viable counts, biomass assays and microscopy. Disinfection efficacy was assessed using clinical protocols of 500–1,000 ppm for 1–5 min. RNA sequencing was performed on untreated DSBs in comparison to planktonic cells. Isolates were found to be susceptible planktonically, but grew NaOCl‐tolerant biofilms, with only 2–4 log10 reductions in viable cells observed at highest concentrations. Transcriptomics identified DSB upregulation of ABC transporters and iron acquisition pathways relative to planktonic cells. Our findings optimized a DSB protocol in which C. auris can mediate tolerance to NaOCl disinfection, suggesting a lifestyle through which this problematic yeast can environmentally persist. Mechanistically, it has been shown for the first time that upregulation of small‐molecule and iron transport pathways are potential facilitators of environmental survival
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