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Developing Ecosystem-aware Tools
Full text linkTool developers frequently leverage data from software ecosystems to improve their tools. Unfortunately, every developer has to build his own infrastructure to analyse the software ecosystem. This means identifying the scope of the ecosystem, obtaining the source code, extracting, storing and updating the data and so on. We argue that many of these tasks can be automated, freeing the developer to focus only on how to extract the needed ecosystem data and how to present it to the developer. To support our claim, we developed a framework for developing ecosystem-aware tools, tools that leverage data from the software ecosystem. This framework automates all routine steps of the process and leaves the developer to specify what data to extract from the ecosystem, and how to use it. To illustrate how this framework can be used for development of real-world ecosystem-aware tools we created four such tools using this framework. These tools are implementations of innovative approaches that improve the developer experience and were chosen to be diverse so as to illustrate the flexibility and features of the framework which is meant to support the needs of a broad range ecosystem-aware tools. The tools are individually evaluated and shown to be an improvement on the standard techniques, further supporting the notion that incorporating ecosystem data into the development process can be beneficial
Dauerhaftes Sistieren einer schweren Symptomatik von „Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome“/ Chronisch abakterieller Prostatitis nach Injektion von Procain (Neuraltherapie) an den Plexus vesicoprostaticus. Fallbericht und Literaturreview mit Beschreibung möglicher Wirkmechanismen
Full text linkHintergrund
Die Betreuung von Patienten mit Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CPPS) mit den konventionellen Methoden ist in den meisten Fällen frustran. Gleichzeitig zeigte die klinische Erfahrung vielversprechende Erfolge bei von CPPS Betroffenen mit spezifischen Procain-Injektionen. Ein Ziel meiner Dissertation war es, die vielen einzelnen pathophysiologischen Faktoren des CPPS auszuarbeiten und neue Erkenntnisse miteinzubeziehen. Die auskristallisierten Zusammenhänge ergaben zum Teil neue, bisher wenig oder gar nicht beachtete mögliche Mechanismen der Entstehung und Aufrechterhaltung des CPPS.
Überdies befasste ich mich ausführlich mit den aktuellen Erkenntnissen über die Wirkmechanismen von Procain sowie – insbesondere bezogen auf den vorliegenden Fall – von Procaininjektionen an den Plexus vesicoprostaticus beim CPPS. Dabei entstanden auch neue Erklärungsmöglichkeiten für die Wirksamkeit von Procaininjektionen.
Die vorliegende Dissertation soll die möglichen Zusammenhänge zwischen der Pathophysiologie des CPPS und den Wirkmechanismen der Procaininjektion an den Plexus vesicoprostaticus aufzeigen und als Grundlage für entsprechende therapeutische Überlegungen dienen. Sie liefert wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse, auf Basis derer die Wahl von Procaininjektionen an den Plexus vesicoprostaticus als Behandlungsoption für das CPPS sinnvoll erscheint.
Methodik
Mittels einer ausgiebigen Literaturrecherche mit Hilfe der Datenbank von PubMed.gov und weiterführenden Publikationen sammelte ich die neusten Erkenntnisse für die vorliegende Dissertation. Ein Grossteil meiner Arbeit bestand darin, die Publikationen auf ihre Qualität zu überprüfen, widerlegte Resultate auszusortieren und aus den bestätigten Erkenntnissen ein Ganzes zu bilden und die entsprechenden Zusammenhänge darzulegen. Schlussendlich versuchte ich, diese Ergebnisse im klinischen Kontext zu interpretieren.
Resultate
Aus unseren Erkenntnissen resulitert eine zum Teil „neue“ Pathophysiologie des CPPS, die zahlreiche Circuli vitiosi (positive Rückkopplungen, „Teufelskreise“) bildet, welche zur Aufrechthaltung der krankhaften Erscheinungen führen. Gleichzeitig bieten diese Rückkopplungen viele direkte wie auch indirekte Angriffspunkte für die Wirkungen von Procaininjektionen an den Plexus vesicoprostaticus.
Eine wichtige Rolle spielt dabei die Unterbrechung verschiedenster Rückkopplungen und Reduktion der Entzündung durch die:
- Blockade der sympathischen Reflexaktivierung,
- Regulation der proinflammatorischen Durchblutungsverhältnisse,
- Reduktion der neurogenen Entzündung,
- antiinflammatorische Modulation des Immunsystems,
- Hemmung des sympathischen Aussprossens,
- Aktivierung schmerzinhibitorischer Systeme,
- präsynaptische Inhibition entsprechend der Gate Control Theory nach Melzack Ronald und Wall Patrick D. 1965
- Verhinderung der Schmerzengrammierung
und weitere Mechanismen, die in den Kapiteln 4 und 5 beschrieben sind.
Schlussfolgerungen
Die Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass mit entsprechenden neuraltherapeutischen Interventionen wichtige Circuli vitiosi durchbrochen werden können, was wesentlich für die nachhaltige Besserung der Beschwerden oder gar Heilung der Patienten mit CPPS ist. Dies lässt einen grossen potenziellen Nutzen entsprechender Procaininjektionen beim CPPS erwarten und impliziert die Propagation klinischer Studien, bei denen Procaininjektionen mit Umflutung des Plexus vesicoprostaticus bei CPPS frühzeitig adjuvant oder als primäre Therapie eingesetzt werden
From rest to task
Full text linkA primary goal of neuroscience research on psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia is to enhance the current understanding of underlying biological mechanisms in order to develop novel interventions.
Human brain functions are maintained through activity of large-scale brain networks. Accordingly, deficient perceptual and cognitive processing can be caused by failures of functional integration within networks, as reflected by the disconnection hypothesis of schizophrenia. Various neuroimaging techniques can be applied to study functional brain networks, each having different strengths. Frequently used complementary methods are the electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which were shown to have a common basis. Given the feasibility of combined EEG and fMRI measurement, EEG signatures of functional networks have been described, providing complimentary information about the functional state of networks. Both at rest and during task completion, many independent EEG and fMRI studies confirmed deficient network connectivity in schizophrenia. However, a rather diffuse picture with hyper- and hypo- activations within and between specific networks was reported. Furthermore, the theory of state dependent information processing argues that spontaneous and prestimulus brain activity interacts with upcoming task-related processes. Consequently, observed network deficits that vary according to task conditions could be caused by differences in resting or prestimulus state in schizophrenia.
Based on that background, the present thesis aimed to increase the understanding of aberrant functional networks in schizophrenia by using simultaneous EEG-fMRI under different conditions. One study investigated integrative mechanisms of networks during eyes-open (EO) resting state using a common-phase synchronization measure in an EEG-informed fMRI analysis (study 3). The other two studies (studies 1&2) used an fMRI-informed EEG analysis: The second study was an extension of the first, which was performed in healthy subjects only. Hence, the same methodologies and analyses were applied in both studies, but in the second study schizophrenia patients were compared to healthy controls. The associations between four temporally coherent networks (TCNs) – the default mode network (DMN), the dorsal attention network (dAN), left and right working memory networks (WMNs) – and power of three EEG frequency bands (theta, alpha, and beta band) during a verbal working memory (WM) task were investigated.
Both resting state and task-related studies performed in schizophrenia patients (studies 2&3) revealed altered activation strength, functional states and interaction of TCNs, especially of the DMN. During rest (study 3), the DMN was differently integrated through common-phase synchronization in the delta (0.5 – 3.5Hz) and beta (13 – 30Hz) band. At prestimulus states of a verbal WM task, however, study 2 did not reveal differences in the activation level of the DMN between groups. Furthermore, from pre-to-post stimulus, the association of the DMN with frontal-midline (FM) theta (3 – 7Hz) band was altered, and a reduced suppression of the DMN during WM retention was detected. Schizophrenia patients also demonstrated abnormal interactions between networks: the DMN and dAN showed a reduced anti-correlation and the WMNs demonstrated an absent lateralization effect (study 2).
The view that schizophrenia patients display TCN deficiencies is supported by the results of the present thesis. Especially the DMN and its interaction to the task-positive dAN showed specific alterations at different mental states and their interaction (during rest and from pre-to-post stimulus). Those alterations might at least partly explain observed symptomatology as attentional orientation deficits in patients. To conclude, functional networks as the DMN might represent promising targets for novel treatment options such as neurofeedback or transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
Varieties of capital cities
Full text linkThis Ph.D.-dissertation studies the locational policies agendas of four secondary capital cities, namely Bern, Ottawa, The Hague and Washington, DC. Secondary capital cities are defined as capitals that are not the primary economic city of their nation states. Economic globalization challenges the primacy of capital cities and it pressure secondary capital cities to enter a globalized and increasingly knowledge-intense interurban competition. Cities aim to enhance their economic competitiveness by identifying, developing, and exploiting the place-specific assets that are considered to be most competitive through the formulation of locational policies.
This dissertation brings two core types of locational policies agendas to light. The first is geared towards the physical development of the city and the attraction of public funds. It can empirically be found in Ottawa and The Hague. The second locational policies agenda is geared towards maximizing tax revenues, and it is predominant in Bern and Washington, DC. The emergence of these two different locational policies agendas can be explained by four factors, namely, local tax autonomy, the development stage of the RIS, capital city specific constraints, and vertical institutional fragmentation in combination with the degree of local tax autonomy. The degree of local tax autonomy is the best predictor of locational policies as it sets up the structures under which cities can raise funds. Thus, institutions seem to matter when explaining the variance of urban policies. The findings show that cities face similar pressures due to economic globalization. However, their policy responses to cope with these pressures do not converge. Instead, they are diverse because they are mediated by place-based institutional constraints and opportunities.
Cities can exert agency when they formulate innovation policies to alter economic institutional constraints. Secondary capital cities have some locational policy options at hand to assert their position in the globalized interurban competition. Furthermore, politics is a factor in its own right. Urban governance arrangements in secondary capital cities seem to be distinct from those in other types of cities. Secondary capital cities are government cities that lack an industrial tradition. In such a context, local governments take a leading role in urban governance arrangements and developers are the only important business actors that engage in the formulation of locational policies.
Secondary capital cities cannot escape their destinies as government cities, but they can formulate a variety of locational policies in order to supplement their capital city function with an economically promising profile. This two-dimensional positioning strategy – as a capital city and as a business city – can be achieved by a careful and strategic crafting of innovation policies that try to activate knowledge circulation within their knowledge-intensive economies
Das Gebot der Wirksamkeit im Alpenschutz: Evaluation in der Verlagerungspolitik
Full text linkDie Schweiz ist ein Transitland. Im Anschluss an die Eröffnung des Gotthardstrassentunnels
anfangs der 1980er Jahre nahm die Belastung durch den alpenquerenden
Strassengüterverkehr stark zu. Dies führte im Jahr 1994 zur Annahme der
Alpenschutz-Initiative: Das Alpengebiet soll vor den negativen Auswirkungen des
Transitverkehrs geschützt und der Güterverkehr soll von der Strasse auf die Schiene
verlagert werden. So will es Artikel 84 der Schweizer Bundesverfassung. Als Verlagerungsziel
ist gesetzlich verankert, dass dereinst nicht mehr als 650'000 schwere
Güterverkehrsfahrzeuge pro Jahr die Alpen auf der Strasse queren dürfen.
Die Bundesversammlung ist gestützt auf Artikel 170 der Bundesverfassung verpflichtet,
staatliches Handeln auf seine Wirksamkeit zu überprüfen bzw. überprüfen
zu lassen. Diese Aufgabe erfüllt das Parlament weder im Allgemeinen, noch im Bereich
des Alpenschutzes zufriedenstellend. Bundesgesetze mit unmittelbaren Auswirkungen
auf den Alpenschutz wurden bisher nicht immer gebührend evaluiert.
Rechtliche Möglichkeiten, um eine erhöhte Wirksamkeit zu fordern und durchzusetzen,
bestehen allerdings keine.
Der Alpenschutz hat seine gesetzlichen Ziele bisher verpasst, auch wenn beachtliche
Erfolge der Verlagerungspolitik zu verzeichnen sind. Das Versagen ist auf gesetzgeberische
Inkonsequenz und nicht auf eine mangelhafte Umsetzung der realisierbaren
Massnahmen zurückzuführen. Die Politik folgt unterschiedlichen und bisweilen
gegenläufigen Interessen. Wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse über die Wirkung
eigenen Handelns können dabei manchmal sogar stören. Der Alpenschutz und
seine Ziele werden in jüngster Zeit vermehrt relativiert, was sich beispielsweise bei
der Vorlage des Baus einer zweiten Strassentunnelröhre am Gotthard zeigt, die sich
bei genauer Betrachtung als verfassungwidrig erweist. Der Alpenschutz stellt aber
nach wie vor ein geltendes Ziel der Schweizer Bundesverfassung dar
Management of dental anxiety: a cross-sectional survey in private dental practices in western Switzerland (Romandie)
Full text linkAims: The main aim of the present study was to gain a better understanding of the management of dental anxiety reported by dental practitioners in western Switzerland. Further aims included the assessment of their current strategies to treat dental anxiety and their need for further education.
Materials and Methods: In 2013, an 18-item electronic questionnaire was created and sent to 726 dental practitioners identified from the of the Swiss Dental Association (SSO) database. A printed version of the questionnaire was sent by postal mail to a total of 28 dental practitioners where e-mail addresses were missing. Recipients were invited to reply by e-mail or postal mail, respectively. Up to three follow-up e-mails were sent.
Results: A total of 143 dental practitioners responded to the survey. Following validation, 140 (18.6%) questionnaires were included in the analysis. About four out of five practitioners (79.4%) involved with dental emergency service in their past had at least one occurrence with dental phobic patients. The majority of the respondents stated that both dental anxiety and dental phobia increases stress in the dental practice with frequencies of 90.0% and 88.5%, respectively. Among the 119 respondents using anxiety reduction methods (85.0%), overall 51 (42.9%) reported to use pharmacological methods while the majority (89.9%; n=107) used psychological methods.
Female dentists compared with their male colleagues were using psychological anxiety reduction methods three times more frequently than male dentists reaching borderline statistical significance (OR=3.0, p=0.0591). Out of 140 respondents, only 28 (20.1%) have received education and training in dental anxiety reduction methods. The majority of these (66.4%; n=83) stated that their education and training was inadequate and 55.8% (n=77) requested further education and training in these methods.
Conclusions: Even though both female and male dentists reported to have experienced patients with dental phobia and increased stress levels when treating these patients, female dentists were more frequently using dental psychological anxiety reduction methods. In agreement with the requests from the respondents to this survey it can be concluded that more education and training of dental anxiety reduction methods are needed.Objectif : Le but principal de cette étude est d’améliorer la connaissance de la gestion de la peur des soins dentaires pratiquée par les médecins-dentistes romands. A cela s’ajoute l’évaluation de leurs méthodes habituelles de réduction anxieuse et leur besoin, dans ce domaine, en formations supplémentaires.
Méthode : En 2013 un questionnaire informatisé de 18 questions a été distribué aux 726 praticiens identifiés par la base de donnée de la SSO (société des dentistes suisses). Une version imprimée du questionnaire a dû être envoyée par courrier postal à 28 praticiens neuchâtelois dont les adresses électroniques manquaient. Les réceptionnaires ont été invités à répondre par e-mail ou courrier postal classique, respectivement. Ces envois ont été répétés à moins de trois reprises.
Résultats : Un total de 143 praticiens dentistes a répondu à cette enquête. 140(18.6%) questionnaires ont été validés et sélectionnés pour analyse. Environ 4/5 des généralistes incorporés dans le service de garde ont vécu, au moins une fois, à cette occasion, la prise en charge d’un patient phobique dentaire. La majorité des répondants ont constaté que l’anxiété dentaire, aussi bien que la phobie dentaire augmentait le stress au cabinet selon les fréquences respectives de 90% et 88.5 %. Parmi les 119 répondants utilisant une méthode de réduction de l’anxiété dentaire (85%), un total de 51 (42,9%) précisait utiliser des méthodes pharmacologiques, pendant qu’une majorité de 107 (89.9%) préférait les méthodes psychologiques. Les dentistes de sexe féminin ont pratiqué trois fois plus fréquemment les méthodes psychologiques (de réduction de l’anxiété) que leurs collègues masculins frôlant ainsi la frontière statistique de signification (OR=3.0, p=0.0591).
Sur 140 répondants, seuls 28 (20.1%) ont été formés et entraînés aux méthodes de réduction de l’anxiété dentaire. Une majorité d’entre eux (66.4% ; n=83) ont déclaré leur formation inadéquate et 55.8% ; n=77) demandait des formations supplémentaires dans ce domaine.
Conclusion : Bien que hommes et femmes dentistes rapportaient avoir expérimenté avec des patients phobiques dentaires, un accroissement de stress lors du traitement dentaire, les femmes dentistes utilisaient plus fréquemment que les hommes, les méthodes psychologiques de réduction anxieuse. Selon la demande des répondants de cette étude on peut conclure à la nécessité d’une meilleure formation dans le domaine des méthodes de réduction de l’anxiété dentaire
Perception, Interpretation and Managing of Climate Change and Related Natural Hazards in Tajikistan
Full text linkRisks from climate change and natural hazards are heavily menacing the people of Tajik communities in almost every corner of the country. The view on and the perception of these risks and the interpretation of subsequent disasters is strongly influenced by the Muslim culture on the one side and by the difficult economic conditions of individuals, households, communities and the society as a whole on the other side. This research aims to contribute to the understanding of Central Asian people's perception and interpretation of nature and their views and approaches to today's environmental changes and risks.
Tajikistan is highly disaster-prone; climate-induced hazards like floods, droughts, mud flows, cold waves or snow avalanches constitute a major threat to people’s live, livelihood and (sustainable) development. Whereas scientific technical knowledge about climate change and resulting natural hazards and environmental degradation exists to a certain extent, the knowledge about local people’s perceptions and interpretation of nature and its hazardous development is scarce. This gap has been addressed by fieldwork using ethnographic methods in selected villages in Southern Khatlon and Kuhistoni Badakhshon. A total of 230 interviews and focus group discussions were conducted between 2010 and 2013 in these two geographically and culturally different areas. The interpretation of the results explains differences of the scientific technical and local citizens' views and highlights to what extent the perception and resulting actions are influenced by factors like educational background, religious affiliation and depth of religiosity or gender. A review of today’s literature of the Muslim academic community about the topic was carried out in addition to the fieldwork.
The studies in Southern Khatlon and Kuhistoni Badakshon revealed a clear distinction between a rational, technical view and a cultural and religious interpretation of nature, climate change and related natural hazards and subsequent disasters. Whereas villagers have a bias towards the spiritual side, clerical people or schoolchildren are also using scientific-technical explanations for the occurrence of risks and disasters. This coincides with the views of the Islamic science community: Muslim scientists use in parallel a scientific-technical framework as well as a strong spiritual one. In contrary, the cultural and religious realm in the discussion of the topic is completely missing in the official Tajikistan (national and local authorities) as well as in Tajik media. Here the scientific-technical (and Western) view prevails.
The studies further revealed that risks from climate change, related natural hazards and environmental degradation are only one type of risks in a context of high economic threats and political uncertainty: health risks, economic shortfalls (including aspects of poverty and food insecurity), political stability or educational deficiencies are much higher on peoples' agenda than the environment. Almost everybody acknowledges environmental problems but considers these of lower importance than the other risks. However, households and communities in the Pamir value their environment much less a threat than those in Southern Khatlon, although disasters from natural hazards seem to be much more obvious in the Pamir. Many individuals show fatalistic attitudes towards hazards, risks and and subsequent disasters; nevertheless, there are also practical as well as spiritual risk management strategies people apply. Obviously, the higher the level of poverty the less people see the necessity to be concerned about the environment. They would opt for risk reduction and environmental protection only when they have a direct (economic) benefit from these activities
Experimental Characterization and Quantification of Cement-Bentonite Interaction using Core Infiltration Techniques Coupled with X-ray Tomography
Full text linkDeep geological storage of radioactive waste foresees cementitious materials as reinforcement of tunnels and as backfill. Bentonite is proposed to enclose spent fuel canisters and as drift seals. Sand/bentonite (s/b) is foreseen as backfill material of access galleries or as drift seals. The emplacement of cementitious material next to clay material generates an enormous chemical gradient in pore-water composition that drives diffusive solute transport. Laboratory studies and reactive transport modeling predicted significant mineral alteration at and near interfaces, mainly resulting in a decrease of porosity in bentonite.
The goal of this thesis was to characterize and quantify the cement/bentonite interactions both spatially and temporally in laboratory experiments. A newly developed mobile X-ray transparent core infiltration device was used to perform X-ray computed tomography (CT) scans without interruption of running experiments. CT scans allowed tracking the evolution of the reaction plume and changes in core volume/diameter/density during the experiments.
In total 4 core infiltration experiments were carried out for this study with the compacted and saturated cores consisting of MX-80 bentonite and sand/MX-80 bentonite mixture (s/b; 65/35%). Two different high-pH cementitious pore-fluids were infiltrated: a young (early) ordinary Portland cement pore-fluid (APWOPC; K+–Na+–OH-; pH 13.4; ionic strength 0.28 mol/kg) and a young ‘low-pH’ ESDRED shotcrete pore-fluid (APWESDRED; Ca2+–Na+–K+–formate; pH 11.4; ionic strength 0.11 mol/kg). The experiments lasted between 1 and 2 years.
In both bentonite experiments, the hydraulic conductivity was strongly reduced after switching to high-pH fluids, changing eventually from an advective to a diffusion-dominated transport regime. The reduction was mainly induced by mineral precipitation and possibly partly also by high ionic strength pore-fluids. Both bentonite cores showed a volume reduction and a resulting transient flow in which pore-water was squeezed out during high-pH infiltration. The outflow chemistry was characterized by a high ionic strength, while chloride in the initial pore water got replaced as main anionic charge carrier by sulfate, originating from gypsum dissolution. The chemistry of the high-pH fluids got strongly buffered by the bentonite, consuming hydroxide and in case of APWESDRED also formate. Hydroxide got consumed by mineral reactions (saponite and possibly talc and brucite precipitation), while formate being affected by bacterial degradation. Post-mortem analysis showed reaction zones near the inlet of the bentonite core, characterized by calcium and magnesium enrichment, consisting predominately of calcite and saponite, respectively. Silica got enriched in the outflow, indicating dissolution of silicate-minerals, identified as preferentially cristobalite.
In s/b, infiltration of APWOPC reduced the hydraulic conductivity strongly, while APWESDRED infiltration had no effect. The reduction was mainly induced by mineral precipitation and probably partly also by high ionic strength pore-fluids. Not clear is why the observed mineral precipitates in the APWESDRED experiment had no effect on the fluid flow. Both s/b cores showed a volume expansion along with decreasing ionic strengths of the outflow, due to mineral reactions or in case of APWESDRED infiltration also mediated by microbiological activity, consuming hydroxide and formate, respectively. The chemistry of the high-pH fluids got strongly buffered by the s/b. In the case of APWESDRED infiltration, formate reached the outflow only for a short time, followed by enrichment in acetate, indicating most likely biological activity. This was in agreement to post-mortem analysis of the core, observing black spots on the inflow surface, while the sample had a rotten-egg smell indicative of some sulfate reduction. Post-mortem analysis showed further in both cores a Ca-enrichment in the first 10 mm of the core due to calcite precipitation. Mg-enrichment was only observed in the APWOPC experiment, originating from newly formed saponite. Silica got enriched in the outflow of both experiments, indicating dissolution of silicate-minerals, identified in the OPC experiment as cristobalite.
The experiments attested an effective buffering capacity for bentonite and s/b, a progressing coupled hydraulic-chemical sealing process and also the preservation of the physical integrity of the interface region in this setup with a total pressure boundary condition on the core sample. No complete pore-clogging was observed but the hydraulic conductivity got rather strongly reduced in 3 experiments, explained by clogging of the intergranular porosity (macroporosity). Such a drop in hydraulic conductivity may impact the saturation time of the buffer in a nuclear waste repository, although the processes and geometry will be more complex in repository situation
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