271 research outputs found
Market engineering. A structured design process for electronic markets
No full textIn this book, the author provides a complete process for electronic markets design together with the required en-gineering methods. As such the book is unique applying tech-niques from engineering design to modern Information Systems and Economics. Mr. Neumann succeeds in presenting a generic but coherent approach that is an indispensable aid in designing markets
Are Non-state Actors Better Innovators? The Ambiguous Role of Non-state Actors in the Transition Process: The Case of Benin and Madagascar
No full textThe focusing on new rules and institutional innovations by the international donor community corresponds to current academic analyses on “weak” or “failing states” in Africa and elsewhere. However, the concentration on externally induced institutional innovations and on the formal sector of the society tackles only half of the problem. Frequently it even undermines indigenous development capacities. Innovators in the informal sector and the agency of the civil society, embedded in the local socio-cultural setting, but closely linked to transnational social spaces, do often outperform the state's development efforts and international aid. African culture is not inherently good or bad, but under certain conditions its propensity to change and to influence perceptions of power and values can induce important improvements in well-being. Even seemingly static cultural factors as custom, tradition or ethnicity, often said to be barriers to economic growth in Africa, have been invented or adapted to changing requirements of societies. Rather than blaming the failure of development efforts in Africa over the past decades on cultural barriers or traditional minded actors, we should investigate the propensity of African societies to create indigenous innovations, notably within the realm of the informal sector.Transition; development; informal sector; indigenous innovation; culture; glocalisation; Africa; Bénin; Madagascar;
Theoretical and Computational Basis for CATNETS - Annual Report Year 3
No full textIn this document the developments in defining the computational and theoretical framework for economical resource allocation are described. Accordingly the formal specification of the market mechanisms, bidding strategies of the involved agents and the integration of the market mechanisms into the simulator were refined. --Grid Computing
Repositioning Architecture in the Digital: Proceedings of the 7th annual conference of the Jaap Bakema Study Centre
No full textPublication at the occasion of the 7th annual conference of the Jaap Bakema Study Centre with contributions by Georg Vrachliotis, Armin Linke, Marina Otero Verzier, Ludo Groen, Martin Kuijpers, Dirk van den Heuvel and Soscha Monteiro de Jesus.Space & Typ
Theoretical and Computational Basis for CATNETS - Annual Report Year 2
No full textIn this work the self-organising potential of the CATNETS allocation mechanism is described to provide a more comprehensive view on the research done in this project. The formal description of either the centralised and decentralised approach is presented. Furthermore the agents' bidding model is described and a comprehensive overview on how the catallactic mechanism is incorporated into the middleware and simulator environments is given. --Decentralized Market Mechanisms,Centralized Market Mechanisms,Catallaxy,Market Engineering,Simulator Integration,Prototype Integration
Treatment of Relapsed/Refractory Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma with the Bispecific T-Cell Engager (BiTE) Antibody Construct Blinatumomab:Primary Analysis Results from an Open-Label, Phase 2 Study
No full textTreatment of Relapsed/Refractory Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma with the Bispecific T-Cell Engager (BiTE) Antibody Construct Blinatumomab:Primary Analysis Results from an Open-Label, Phase 2 Study
No full textPhase 2 study of the bispecific T-cell engager (BiTE) antibody blinatumomab in relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
No full textFew patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) achieve prolonged disease-free survival. Blinatumomab, a bispecific T-cell engaging antibody construct, transiently links CD3-positive T cells to CD19-positive B cells. This phase 2 study evaluated stepwise (9-28-112 mu g/d with weekly dose increases; n = 23) or flat (112 mu g/d; n 5 2) dosing of blinatumomab by continuous infusion, with dexamethasone prophylaxis, in patients with relapsed/refractory DLBCL. Patients received a median of 3 prior lines of therapy. Median time since last regimen was 1.5 months. Seventeen patients ended treatment in cycle 1 (induction), 7 in cycle 2 (consolidation), and 1 in retreatment. Among 21 evaluable patients, the overall response rate after 1 blinatumomab cycle was 43%, including complete responses (CRs) in 19%. Three patients had late CR in follow-up without other treatment. The most common adverse events with stepwise dosing were tremor (48%), pyrexia (44%), fatigue (26%), and edema (26%). Grade 3 neurologic events with stepwise dosing were encephalopathy and aphasia (each 9%) and tremor, speech disorder, dizziness, somnolence, and disorientation (each 4%). Of 5 (22%) patients who discontinued stepwise dosing because of adverse events, 4 (17%) had neurologic events. Most neurologic events resolved. The flat-dose cohort was stopped because of grade 3 neurologic events in both patients. Blinatumomabmonotherapy appears effective in patients with relapsed/refractory DLBCL, a heavily pretreated patient population with a high unmetmedical need. Further studies need to define the optimal approach to achieve the target dose without early dropout. The study was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01741792.Amgen Inc
Musikstädte as real and imaginary soundscapes: urban musical images as literary motifs in twentieth-century German modernism
No full textPhDThis study examines German literary images of musical life as part of the wider sound identity of the modern German city at the turn of the twentieth century. Focussing on a forty-year period from 1890 to 1930, synonymous with the emergence of the modern German metropolis as an aesthetic object, the project assesses, compares and contrasts how musical life in the Musikstädte was perceived and portrayed by writers in an increasingly noisy urban environment. How does urban musical life influence and condition city writings? What are the differences and similarities between the writings on various musical cities? Can an urban textual sound identity be derived from these differences and similarities? The approach employed to answer these questions is a new, cross-disciplinary one to urban sound in literature, moving beyond reading the key sounds of the urban soundscape using urban musicology, sensorial anthropology and cultural poetics towards a literary contextualisation of the urban aural experience.
The literary motifs of the symphony, the gramophone and urban noise are put under the spotlight through the analysis of a wide range of modernist works by authors who have a special relationship with music. At the centre of this analysis are the Kaffeehausliteratur authors Hermann Bahr, Alfred Polgar and Peter Altenberg, the then Munich-based author Thomas Mann and the lesser known René Schickele. The analysis of these particular works is framed in the music-geographical context of the Musikstadt and literary underpinnings of this topos, ranging from Ingeborg Bachmann to Hans Mayer and, once again, Thomas Mann. In analysing these texts, the methodological approach devised by Strohm, who identifies the blending of a range of urban sounds as a definition of urban space and identity, is applied. His ideas combine historical literary
analysis, musical history and urban sociology. They are rarely used in the analysis of the auditory environment.Arts and Humanities Research Council
Westfield TrustWestfield Trust Studentship
Arts and Humanities Reseach Council (AHRC
Serum levels of S100B and homocysteine in alcohol-addicted inpatients as variables of the acute alcohol withdrawal syndrome
No full textElevations of serum homocysteine levels are a consistent finding in alcohol addiction. Serum S100B levels are altered in different neuropsychiatric disorders but not well investigated in alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Because of the close connection of S100B to ACTH and glutamate secretion, that both are involved in neurodegeneration and symptoms of alcoholism, the relationship of S100B and homocysteine to acute withdrawal variables has been examined.
22 male and 9 female inpatients (mean age 46.9±8.7 years) with an ICD-10 diagnosis of alcohol addiction and without relevant affective comorbidity were examined on admission and after 24, 48, and 120 hours during withdrawal. S100B and homocysteine levels in serum were collected and the initial serum ethanol-levels. The severity of withdrawal symptoms (AWS-scale), applied withdrawal medication and duration of addiction were recorded.
Serum S100B and homocysteine levels declined significantly (p<.05) during the study period. Both levels declined simultaneously with withdrawal syndrome severity. Females showed a trend to a more intense decline in serum S100B levels compared to males at day 5 (p=.06). Homocysteine levels displayed a negative relationship to applied amount of clomethiazole (p<.05) and correlated with age of onset of addiction. No withdrawal seizures were recorded during the trial.
As it is known for homocysteine, S100B revealed to decline rapidly over withdrawal treatment in alcoholism. This effect is more pronounced in female patients. S100B could be of relevance in the neurobiology of alcohol withdrawal syndromes. It may be indirectly related to the stress level or glutamatergic activity during alcohol withdrawal.2014-01-2
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