@phdthesis{Ames2015,
  author    = {Ames, Christopher},
  title     = {Molecular Beam Epitaxy of 2D and 3D HgTe, a Topological Insulator},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-151136},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {In the present thesis the MBE growth and sample characterization of HgTe structures is investigated and discussed. Due to the first experimental discovery of the quantum Spin Hall effect (QSHE) in HgTe quantum wells, this material system attains a huge interest in the spintronics society. Because of the long history of growing Hg-based heterostructures here at the Experimentelle Physik III in W{\"u}rzburg, there are very good requirements to analyze this material system more precisely and in new directions. Since in former days only doped HgTe quantum wells were grown, this thesis deals with the MBE growth in the (001) direction of undoped HgTe quantum wells, surface located quantum wells and three dimensional bulk layers. All Hg-based layers were grown on CdTe substrates which generate strain in the layer stack and provide therefore new physical effects. In the same time, the (001) CdTe growth was investigated on n-doped (001) GaAs:Si because the Japanese supplier of CdTe substrates had a supply bottleneck due to the Tohoku earthquake and its aftermath in 2011. After a short introduction of the material system, the experimental techniques were demonstrated and explained explicitly. After that, the experimental part of this thesis is displayed. So, the investigation of the (001) CdTe growth on (001) GaAs:Si is discussed in chapter 4. Firstly, the surface preparation of GaAs:Si by oxide desorption is explored and analyzed. Here, rapid thermal desorption of the GaAs oxide with following cool down in Zn atmosphere provides the best results for the CdTe due to small holes at the surface, while e.g. an atomic flat GaAs buffer deteriorates the CdTe growth quality. The following ZnTe layer supplies the (001) growth direction of the CdTe and exhibits best end results of the CdTe for 30 seconds growth time at a flux ratio of Zn/Te ~ 1/1.2. Without this ZnTe layer, CdTe will grow in the (111) direction. However, the main investigation is here the optimization of the MBE growth of CdTe. The substrate temperature, Cd/Te flux ratio and the growth time has to be adjusted systematically. Therefore, a complex growth process is developed and established. This optimized CdTe growth process results in a RMS roughness of around 2.5 nm and a FWHM value of the HRXRD w-scan of 150 arcsec. Compared to the literature, there is no lower FWHM value traceable for this growth direction. Furthermore, etch pit density measurements show that the surface crystallinity is matchable with the commercial CdTe substrates (around 1x10^4 cm^(-2)). However, this whole process is not completely perfect and offers still room for improvements. The growth of undoped HgTe quantum wells was also a new direction in research in contrast to the previous n-doped grown HgTe quantum wells. Here in chapter 5, the goal of very low carrier densities was achieved and therefore it is now possible to do transport experiments in the n - and p - region by tuning the gate voltage. To achieve this high sample quality, very precise growth of symmetric HgTe QWs and their HRXRD characterization is examined. Here, the quantum well thickness can now determined accurate to under 0.3 nm. Furthermore, the transport analysis of different quantum well thicknesses shows that the carrier density and mobility increase with rising HgTe layer thickness. However, it is found out that the band gap of the HgTe QW closes indirectly at a thickness of 11.6 nm. This is caused by the tensile strained growth on CdTe substrates. Moreover, surface quantum wells are studied. These quantum wells exhibit no or a very thin HgCdTe cap. Though, oxidization and contamination of the surface reduces here the carrier mobility immensely and a HgCdTe layer of around 5 nm provides the pleasing results for transport experiments with superconductors connected to the topological insulator [119]. A completely new achievement is the realization of MBE growth of HgTe quantum wells on CdTe/GaAs:Si substrates. This is attended by the optimization of the CdTe growth on GaAs:Si. It exposes that HgTe quantum wells grown in-situ on optimized CdTe/GaAs:Si show very nice transport data with clear Hall plateaus, SdH oscillations, low carrier densities and carrier mobilities up to 500 000 cm^2/Vs. Furthermore, a new oxide etching process is developed and analyzed which should serve as an alternative to the standard HCl process which generates volcano defects at some time. However, during the testing time the result does not differ in Nomarski, HRXRD, AFM and transport measurements. Here, long-time tests or etching and mounting in nitrogen atmosphere may provide new elaborate results. The main focus of this thesis is on the MBE growth and standard characterization of HgTe bulk layers and is discussed in chapter 6. Due to the tensile strained growth on lattice mismatched CdTe, HgTe bulk opens up a band gap of around 22 meV at the G-point and exhibits therefore its topological surface states. The analysis of surface condition, roughness, crystalline quality, carrier density and mobility via Nomarski, AFM, XPS, HRXRD and transport measurements is therefore included in this work. Layer thickness dependence of carrier density and mobility is identified for bulk layer grown directly on CdTe substrates. So, there is no clear correlation visible between HgTe layer thickness and carrier density or mobility. So, the carrier density is almost constant around 1x10^11 cm^(-2) at 0 V gate voltage. The carrier mobility of these bulk samples however scatters between 5 000 and 60 000 cm^2/Vs almost randomly. Further experiments should be made for a clearer understanding and therefore the avoidance of unusable bad samples.But, other topological insulator materials show much higher carrier densities and lower mobility values. For example, Bi2Se3 exhibits just density values around 1019 cm^(-2) and mobility values clearly below 5000 cm2/Vs. The carrier density however depends much on lithography and surface treatment after growth. Furthermore, the relaxation behavior and critical thickness of HgTe grown on CdTe is determined and is in very good agreement with theoretical prediction (d_c = 155 nm). The embedding of the HgTe bulk layer between HgCdTe layers created a further huge improvement. Similar to the quantum well structures the carrier mobility increases immensely while the carrier density levels at around 1x10^11 cm^(-2) at 0 V gate voltage as well. Additionally, the relaxation behavior and critical thickness of these barrier layers has to be determined. HgCdTe grown on commercial CdTe shows a behavior as predicted except the critical thickness which is slightly higher than expected (d_c = 850 nm). Otherwise, the relaxation of HgCdTe grown on CdTe/GaAs:Si occurs in two parts. The layer is fully strained up to 250 nm. Between 250 nm and 725 nm the HgCdTe film starts to relax randomly up to 10 \%. The relaxation behavior for thicknesses larger than 725 nm occurs than linearly to the inverse layer thickness. A explanation is given due to rough interface conditions and crystalline defects of the CdTe/GaAs:Si compared to the commercial CdTe substrate. HRXRD and AFM data support this statement. Another point is that the HgCdTe barriers protect the active HgTe layer and because of the high carrier mobilities the Hall measurements provide new transport data which have to be interpreted more in detail in the future. In addition, HgTe bulk samples show very interesting transport data by gating the sample from the top and the back. It is now possible to manipulate the carrier densities of the top and bottom surface states almost separately. The back gate consisting of the n-doped GaAs substrate and the thick insulating CdTe buffer can tune the carrier density for Delta(n) ~ 3x10^11 cm^(-2). This is sufficient to tune the Fermi energy from the p-type into the n-type region [138]. In this thesis it is shown that strained HgTe bulk layers exhibit superior transport data by embedding between HgCdTe barrier layers. The n-doped GaAs can here serve as a back gate. Furthermore, MBE growth of high crystalline, undoped HgTe quantum wells shows also new and extended transport output. Finally, it is notable that due to the investigated CdTe growth on GaAs the Hg-based heterostructure MBE growth is partially independent from commercial suppliers.},
  subject      = {Quecksilbertellurid},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Rotem2015,
  author    = {Rotem, Elam},
  title     = {Early Basso Continuo Practice: Implicit Evidence in the Music of Emilio de' Cavalieri},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-145079},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {In this work, Emilio de' Cavalieri's musical sources will serve as a platform in an attempt to overcome the lack of explicit original guidance and guidelines of performance practice of early basso continuo. It will offer a methodology that will allow the unraveling of implicit theory and practice hidden in the music sources themselves. The methodology of this work is based on the fact that Cavalieri's Rappresentatione di Anima e di Corpo (Rome, 1600) is printed using a unique continuo notation, which is detailed, precise, and coherent—more so than any other contemporaneous printed source. Through thorough investigation of this continuo notation, it will be possible to enrich our practical as well as theoretical knowledge of the early basso continuo. A wide range of evidences will emerge, covering a wide spectrum, from general questions of instrumentation up to the very notes that should be played. Using a special notation for illustration, I will demonstrate how Cavalieri's basso continuo figuration, when combined with the known rules of counterpoint, is at times equivalent to written-out realizations. As part of this study, different models of contrapuntal phenomena will be analyzed, mainly in the context of cadences but also in the context of other progressions that deserve to be recognized as formulas. Their theoretical structure will be uncovered as well as their actual application in music and their manner of execution. The prevalence of each phenomenon will be examined in order to distinguish common and recurrent phenomena from rarely-used formulas. In order to do this, and due to problematic historical terminology, it will be necessary to create a set of new terms inspired by Cavalieri's notation. Those terms will not be solely relevant to Cavalieri's music; the models were made flexible so that they may prove useful for future discussions or studies of early continuo in general. Out of the known early basso continuo sources, a "mini-compendium" of practical implications will be extracted in order to exhaust the practical knowledge implicit in them. This endeavor will be concluded with a list of rules and general advice drawn from the sources, but it will also reveal some problematic aspects of these sources. This endeavor will make it possible to compare the "new" implicit practical information deduced in this study with the explicit known continuo sources, and assess to what extant Cavalieri's continuo practices illuminate and complement the known knowledge from previously-studied yet opaque sources of basso continuo. The focus of this dissertation is on Cavalieri's music, but the findings proposed here will be traced so as to illuminate the broader realm of the early Baroque and the 17th century musical style at large. Finally, this new research about Cavalieri's music and continuo, along reevaluating of its place among the common continuo sources, calls for redistribution of source materials on the traditional "shelf" of early basso continuo sources.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{BeitzenHeineke2015,
  author    = {Beitzen-Heineke, Antonia},
  title     = {Invariant Natural Killer T cells possess immune-modulating functions during \(Aspergillus\) \(fumigatus\) infection},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-144966},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Aspergillus fumigatus is the most common cause for invasive fungal infections, a disease associated with high mortality in immune-compromised patients. CD1d-restricted invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cells compose a small subset of T cells known to impact the immune response towards various infectious pathogens. To investigate the role of human iNKT cells during A. fumigatus infection, we studied their activation as determined by CD69 expression and cytokine production in response to distinct fungal morphotypes in the presence of different CD1d⁺ antigen presenting cells using flow cytometry and multiplex ELISA. Among CD1d⁺ subpopulations, CD1d⁺CD1c⁺ mDCs showed the highest potential to activate iNKT cells on a per cell basis. The presence of A. fumigatus decreased this effect of CD1d⁺CD1c⁺ mDCs on iNKT cells and led to reduced secretion of TNF-α, G-CSF and RANTES. Production of other Th1 and Th2 cytokines was not affected by the fungus, suggesting an immune-modulating function for human iNKT cells during A. fumigatus infection.},
  subject      = {Aspergillus fumigatus},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Schwarz2015,
  author    = {Schwarz, Christoph Benjamin},
  title     = {Full vector-field control of femtosecond laser pulses with an improved optical design},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-142948},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The controlled shaping of ultrashort laser pulses is a powerful technology and applied in many laser laboratories today. Most of the used pulse shapers are only able to produce linearly polarized pulses shaped in amplitude and phase. Some devices are also capable of producing limited time-varying polarization profiles, but they are not able to control the amplitude. However, for some state-of-the-art non-linear time-resolved methods, such as polarization-enhanced two-dimensional spectroscopy, the possibility of controlling the amplitude and the polarization simultaneously is desirable. Over the last years, different concepts have been developed to overcome these restrictions and to manipulate the complete vector-field of an ultrashort laser pulse with independent control over all four degrees of freedom - phase, amplitude, orientation, and ellipticity. The aim of this work was to build such a vector-field shaper. While the basic concept used for our setup is based on previous designs reported in the literature, the goal was to develop an optimized optical design that minimizes artifacts, allowing for the generation of predefined polarization pulse sequences with the highest achievable accuracy. In Chapter 3, different approaches reported in the literature for extended and unrestricted vector-field control were examined and compared in detail. Based on this analysis, we decided to follow the approach of modulating the spectral phase and amplitude of two perpendicularly polarized pulses independently from each other in two arms of an interferometer and recombining them to a single laser pulse to gain control over the complete vector field. As described in Chapter 4, the setup consists of three functional groups: i) an optical component to generate and recombine the two polarized beams, ii) a 4f setup, and iii) a refracting telescope to direct the two beams under two different angles of incidence onto the grating of the 4f setup in a common-path geometry. This geometry was chosen to overcome potential phase instabilities of an interferometric vector-field shaper. Manipulating the two perpendicularly polarized pulses simultaneously within one 4f setup and using adjacent pixel groups of the same liquid-crystal spatial light modulator (LC SLM) for the two polarizations has the advantages that only a single dual-layer LC SLM is required and that a robust and compact setup was achieved. The shaping capabilities of the presented design were optimized by finding the best parameters for the setup through numerical calculations to adjust the frequency distributions for a broad spectrum of 740 - 880 nm. Instead of using a Wollaston prism as in previous designs, a thin-film polarizer (TFP) is utilized to generate and recombine the two orthogonally polarized beams. Artifacts such as angular dispersion and phase distortions along the beam profile which arise when a Wollaston prism is used were discussed. Furthermore, it was shown by ray-tracing simulations that in combination with a telescope and the 4f setup, a significant deformation of the beam profile would be present when using a Wollaston prism since a separation of the incoming and outgoing beam in height is needed. The ray-tracing simulations also showed that most optical aberrations of the setup are canceled out when the incoming and outgoing beams propagate in the exact same plane by inverting the beam paths. This was realized by employing a TFP in the so-called crossed-polarizer arrangement which has also the advantage that the polarization-dependent efficiencies of the TFP and the other optics are automatically compensated and that a high extinction ratio in the order of 15000:1 is reached. Chromatic aberrations are, however, not compensated by the crossed-polarizer arrangement. The ray-tracing simulations confirmed that these chromatic aberrations are mainly caused by the telescope and not by the cylindrical lens of the 4f setup. Nevertheless, in the experimentally used wavelength range of 780 - 816 nm, only minor distortions of the beam profile were observed, which were thus considered to be negligible in the presented setup. The software implementation of the pulse shaper was reviewed in Chapter 5 of this thesis. In order to perform various experiments, five different parameterizations, accounting for the extended shaping capabilities of a vector-field shaper, were developed. The Pixel Basis, the Spectral Basis, and the Spectral Taylor Basis can generally be used in combination with an optimization algorithm and are therefore well suited for quantum control experiments. For multidimensional spectroscopy, the Polarized Four-Pulse Basis was established. With this parameterization pulse sequences with up to four subpulses can be created. The polarization state of each subpulse can be specified and the relative intensity, phase, and temporal delay between consecutive subpulses can be controlled. In addition, different software programs were introduced in Chapter 5 which are required to perform the experiments conducted in this work. The experimental results were presented in Chapter 6. The frequency distribution across the LC SLM was measured proving that the optimal frequency distribution was realized experimentally. Furthermore, the excellent performance of the TFP was verified. In general, satellite pulses are emitted from the TFP due to multiple internal reflections. Various measurements demonstrated that these pulses are temporally separated by at least 4.05 ps from the main pulse and that they have vanishing intensity. The phase stability between the two arms of the presented common-path setup σ = 28.3 mrad (λ/222) over 60 minutes. To further improve this stability over very long measurement times, an on-the-fly phase reduction and stabilization (OPRAS) routine utilizing the pulse shaper itself was developed. This routine automatically produces a compressed pulse with a minimized relative phase between the two polarization components. A phase stability of σ = 31.9 mrad (λ/197) over nearly 24 hours was measured by employing OPRAS. Various pulse sequences exceeding the capabilities of conventional pulse shapers were generated and characterized. The experimental results proved that shaped pulses with arbitrary phase, amplitude, and polarization states can be created. In all cases very high agreement between the target parameters and the experimental data was achieved. For the future use of the setup also possible modifications were suggested. These are not strictly required, but all of them could further improve the performance and flexibility of the setup. Firstly, it was illustrated how a "dual-output" of the setup can be realized. With this modification it would be possible to use the main intensity of the shaped pulse for an experiment while using a small fraction to characterize the pulse or to perform OPRAS simultaneously. Secondly, the basic idea of replacing the telescope by focusing mirrors in order to eliminate the chromatic aberrations was presented. Regarding the different parameterizations for vector-field shaping, some modifications increasing the flexibility of the implemented bases and the realization of a von Neumann Basis for the presented setup were proposed. In future experiments, the vector-field shaper will be used in conjunction with a photoemission electron microscope (PEEM). This approach combines the temporal resolution provided by ultrashort laser pulses with the high spatial resolution gained by electron microscopy in order to perform two-dimensional spectroscopy and coherent control on nanostructures with polarization-shaped femtosecond laser pulses. In combination with other chiral-sensitive experimental setups implemented earlier in our group, the vector-field shaper opens up new perspectives for chiral femtochemistry and chiral control. The designed vector-field shaper meets all requirements to generate high-precision polarization-shaped multipulse sequences. These can be used to perform numerous polarization-sensitive experiments. Employing the OPRAS routine, a quasi-infinitely long phase stability is achieved and complex and elaborated long-term measurements can be carried out. The fact that OPRAS demands no additional hardware and that only a single dual-layer LC SLM and inexpensive optics are required allows the building of a vector-field shaper at comparatively low costs. We hope that with the detailed insights into the optical design process as well as into the software implementation given in this thesis, vector-field shaping will become a standard technique just as conventional pulse shaping in the upcoming years.},
  subject      = {Ultrakurzer Lichtimpuls},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Kurrek2015,
  author    = {Kurrek, Matthias M.},
  title     = {Simulation To Establish Benchmark Outcome Measures},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-143882},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Following the early experiences in aviation, medical simulation has rapidly evolved into one of the most novel educational tools of the last three decades. In addition to its use in training individuals or teams in crisis resource management, simulation has been studied as a tool to evaluate technical and non-technical skills of individuals as well as, more recently, entire medical teams. It is usually fairly difficult to obtain clinical reference data from critical events to refute claims that the management of actual events fell below what could reasonably be expected and we demonstrated the use of rank order statistics to calculate quantiles with confidence limits for management times of critical obstetrical events using data from realistic simulation. This approach could be used to describe the distribution of treatment times in order to assist in deciding what performance may constitute an outlier. It can also identify particular challenges of clinical practice and allow the development of educational curricula. While the information derived from simulation has to be interpreted with a high degree of caution for a clinical context, it may represent a further 'added value' or important step in establishing simulation as a training tool and to provide information that could be used in an appropriate clinical context for adverse events. Large amounts of data (such as from a simulation registry) would allow the calculation of acceptable confidence intervals for the required outcome parameters as well as actual tolerance limits.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Awoye2015,
  author    = {Awoye, Oy{\´e}monbad{\´e} Herv{\´e} Rodrigue},
  title     = {Implications of future climate change on agricultural production in tropical West Africa: evidence from the Republic of Benin},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-122887},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Environmental interlinked problems such as human-induced land cover change, water scarcity, loss in soil fertility, and anthropogenic climate change are expected to affect the viability of agriculture and increase food insecurity in many developing countries. Climate change is certainly the most serious of these challenges for the twenty-first century. The poorest regions of the world - tropical West Africa included - are the most vulnerable due to their high dependence on climate and weather sensitive activities such as agriculture, and the widespread poverty that limits the institutional and economic capacities to adapt to the new stresses brought about by climate change. Climate change is already acting negatively on the poor smallholders of tropical West Africa whose livelihoods dependent mainly on rain-fed agriculture that remains the cornerstone of the economy in the region. Adaptation of the agricultural systems to climate change effects is, therefore, crucial to secure the livelihoods of these rural communities. Since information is a key for decision-making, it is important to provide well-founded information on the magnitude of the impacts in order to design appropriate and sustainable adaptation strategies. Considering the case of agricultural production in the Republic of Benin, this study aims at using large-scale climatic predictors to assess the potential impacts of past and future climate change on agricultural productivity at a country scale in West Africa. Climate signals from large-scale circulation were used because state-of-the art regional climate models (RCM) still do not perfectly resolve synoptic and mesoscale convective processes. It was hypothesised that in rain-fed systems with low investments in agricultural inputs, yield variations are widely governed by climatic factors. Starting with pineapple, a perennial fruit crops, the study further considered some annual crops such as cotton in the group of fibre crops, maize, sorghum and rice in the group of cereals, cowpeas and groundnuts belonging to the legume crops, and cassava and yams which are root and tuber crops. Thus the selected crops represented the three known groups of photosynthetic pathways (i.e. CAM, C3, and C4 plants). In the study, use was made of the historical agricultural yield statistics for the Republic of Benin, observed precipitation and mean near-surface air temperature data from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU TS 3.1) and the corresponding variables simulated by the regional climate model (RCM) REMO. REMO RCM was driven at its boundaries by the global climate model ECHAM 5. Simulations with different greenhouse gas concentrations (SRES-A1B and B1 emission scenarios) and transient land cover change scenarios for present-day and future conditions were considered. The CRU data were submitted to empirical orthogonal functions analysis over the north hemispheric part of Africa to obtain large-scale observed climate predictors and associated consistent variability modes. REMO RCM data for the same region were projected on the derived climate patterns to get simulated climate predictors. By means of cross-validated Model Output Statistics (MOS) approach combined with Bayesian model averaging (BMA) techniques, the observed climate predictors and the crop predictand were further on used to derive robust statistical relationships. The robust statistical crop models perform well with high goodness-of-fit coefficients (e.g. for all combined crop models: 0.49 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.99; 0.28 ≤ Brier-Skill-Score ≤ 0.90). Provided that REMO RCM captures the main features of the real African climate system and thus is able to reproduce its inter-annual variability, the time-independent statistical transfer functions were then used to translate future climate change signal from the simulated climate predictors into attainable crop yields/crop yield changes. The results confirm that precipitation and air temperature governed agricultural production in Benin in general, and particularly, pineapple yield variations are mainly influenced by temperature. Furthermore, the projected yield changes under future anthropogenic climate change during the first-half of the 21st century amount up to -12.5\% for both maize and groundnuts, and -11\%, -29\%, -33\% for pineapple, cassava, and cowpeas respectively. Meanwhile yield gain of up to +10\% for sorghum and yams, +24\% for cotton, and +39\% for rice are expected. Over the time period 2001 - 2050, on average the future yield changes range between -3\% and -13\% under REMO SRES-B1 (GHG)+LCC, -2\% and -11\% under REMO SRES-A1B (GHG only),and -3\% and -14\% under REMO SRES-A1B (GHG)+LCC for pineapple, maize, sorghum, groundnuts, cowpeas and cassava. In the meantime for yams, cotton and rice, the average yield gains lie in interval of about +2\% to +7\% under REMO SRES-B1 (GHG)+LCC, +0.1\% and +12\% under REMO SRES-A1B (GHG only), and +3\% and +10\% under REMO SRES-A1B (GHG)+LCC. For sorghum, although the long-term average future yield depicts a reduction there are tendencies towards increasing yields in the future. The results also reveal that the increases in mean air temperature more than the changes in precipitation patterns are responsible for the projected yield changes. As well the results suggest that the reductions in pineapple yields cannot be attributed to the land cover/land use changes across sub-Saharan Africa. The production of groundnuts and in particular yams and cotton will profit from the on-going land use/land cover changes while the other crops will face detrimental effects. Henceforth, policymakers should take effective measures to limit the on-going land degradation processes and all other anthropogenic actions responsible for temperature increase. Biotechnological improvement of the cultivated crop varieties towards development of set of seed varieties adapted to hotter and dry conditions should be included in the breeding pipeline programs. Amongst other solutions, application of appropriate climate-smart agricultural practices and conservation agriculture are also required to offset the negative impacts of climate change in agriculture.},
  subject      = {Benin},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Bellwon2015,
  author    = {Bellwon, Patricia},
  title     = {Kinetic assessment by in vitro approaches - A contribution to reduce animals in toxicity testing},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-122693},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The adoption of directives and regulations by the EU requires the development of alternative testing strategies as opposed to animal testing for risk assessment of xenobiotics. Additionally, high attrition rates of drugs late in the discovery phase demand improvement of current test batteries applied in the preclinical phase within the pharmaceutical area. These issues were taken up by the EU founded 7th Framework Program "Predict-IV"; with the overall goal to improve the predictability of safety of an investigational product, after repeated exposure, by integration of "omics" technologies applied on well established in vitro approaches. Three major target organs for drug-induced toxicity were in focus: liver, kidney and central nervous system. To relate obtained dynamic data with the in vivo situation, kinetics of the test compounds have to be evaluated and extrapolated by physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling. This thesis assessed in vitro kinetics of the selected test compounds (cyclosporine A, adefovir dipivoxil and cisplatinum) regarding their reliability and relevance to respective in vivo pharmacokinetics. Cells were exposed daily or every other day to the test compounds at two concentration levels (toxic and non-toxic) for up to 14 days. Concentrations of the test compounds or their major biotransformation products were determined by LC-MS/MS or ICP-MS in vehicle, media, cells and plastic adsorption samples generated at five different time-points on the first and the last treatment day. Cyclosporine A bioaccumulation was evident in primary rat hepatocytes (PRH) at the high concentration, while efficient biotransformation mediated by CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 was determined in primary human hepatocytes (PHH) and HepaRG cells. The lower biotransformation in PRH is in accordance with observation made in vivo with the rat being a poor model for CYP3A biotransformation. Further, inter-assay variability was noticed in PHH caused by biological variability in CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 activity in human donors. The inter-assay variability observed for PRH and HepaRG cells was a result of differences between vehicles regarding their cyclosporine A content. Cyclosporine A biotransformation was more prominent in HepaRG cells due to stable and high CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 activity. In addition, in vitro clearances were calculated and scaled to in vivo. All scaled in vitro clearances were overestimated (PRH: 10-fold, PHH: 2-fold, HepaRG cells: 2-fold). These results should be proven by physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modeling and additional experiments, in order to verify that these overestimations are constant for each system and subsequently can be diminished by implementation of further scaling factors. Brain cell cultures, primary neuronal culture of mouse cortex cells and primary aggregating rat brain cells, revealed fast achieved steady state levels of cyclosporine A. This indicates a chemical distribution of cyclosporine A between the aqueous and organic phases and only minor involvement of biological processes such as active transport and biotransformation. Hence, cyclosporine A uptake into cells is presumably transport mediated, supported by findings of transporter experiments performed on a parallel artificial membrane and Caco-2 cells. Plastic adsorption of cyclosporine A was significant, but different for each model, and should be considered by physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling. Kinetics of adefovir dipivoxil highlights the limits of in vitro approaches. Active transporters are required for adefovir uptake, but were not functional in RPTECT/TERT1. Therefore, adefovir uptake was limited to passive diffusion of adefovir dipivoxil, which itself degrades time-dependently under culture conditions. Cisplatinum kinetics, studied in RPTEC/TERT1 cells, indicated intracellular enrichment of platinum, while significant bioaccumulation was not noted. This could be due to cisplatinum not reaching steady state levels within 14 days repeated exposure. As shown in vivo, active transport occurred from the basolateral to apical side, but with lower velocity. Hence, obtained data need to be modeled to estimate cellular processes, which can be scaled and compared to in vivo. Repeated daily exposure to two different drug concentrations makes it possible to account for bioaccumulation at toxic concentrations or biotransformation/extrusion at non-toxic concentrations. Potential errors leading to misinterpretation of data were reduced by analyses of the vehicles as the applied drug concentrations do not necessarily correspond to the nominal concentrations. Finally, analyses of separate compartments (medium, cells, plastic) give insights into a compound's distribution, reduce misprediction of cellular processes, e.g. biotransformation, and help to interpret kinetic data. On the other hand, the limits of in vitro approaches have also been pointed out. For correct extrapolation to in vivo, it is essential that the studied in vitro system exhibits the functionality of proteins, which play a key role in the specific drug induced toxicity. Considering the benefits and limitations, it is worth to validate this long-term treatment experimental set-up and expand it on co-culture systems and on organs-on-chips with regard to alternative toxicity testing strategies for repeated dose toxicity studies.},
  subject      = {Zellkultur},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Lurz2015,
  author    = {Lurz, Kristina},
  title     = {Confidence and Prediction under Covariates and Prior Information},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-122748},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The purpose of confidence and prediction intervals is to provide an interval estimation for an unknown distribution parameter or the future value of a phenomenon. In many applications, prior knowledge about the distribution parameter is available, but rarely made use of, unless in a Bayesian framework. This thesis provides exact frequentist confidence intervals of minimal volume exploiting prior information. The scheme is applied to distribution parameters of the binomial and the Poisson distribution. The Bayesian approach to obtain intervals on a distribution parameter in form of credibility intervals is considered, with particular emphasis on the binomial distribution. An application of interval estimation is found in auditing, where two-sided intervals of Stringer type are meant to contain the mean of a zero-inflated population. In the context of time series analysis, covariates are supposed to improve the prediction of future values. Exponential smoothing with covariates as an extension of the popular forecasting method exponential smoothing is considered in this thesis. A double-seasonality version of it is applied to forecast hourly electricity load under the use of meteorological covariates. Different kinds of prediction intervals for exponential smoothing with covariates are formulated.},
  subject      = {Konfidenzintervall},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Rehm2015,
  author    = {Rehm, Stefanie},
  title     = {Spermine-functionalized Perylene Bisimide Dyes: Synthesis and Self-assembly in Water},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-123201},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The main objective of this thesis was the design and synthesis of perylene bisimide dyes with sufficient water-solubility for the construction of self-assembled architectures in aqueous solutions. Beside these tasks another goal of this project was the control over the self-assembly process in terms of aggregate size and helicity, respectively. Within this thesis an appropriate synthesis for spermine-functionalized perylene bisimide dyes was developed and conducted successfully. The characterization of these building blocks and their course of self-assembly were investigated by NMR, UV/Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy as well as by atomic force and transmission electron microscopy. For the better understanding of the experimental results theoretical calculations were performed.},
  subject      = {Perylenderivate},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Campbell2015,
  author    = {Campbell, Marlen Jamie-Lee},
  title     = {Organizational cultures' impact on employees' corruption},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-123251},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  pages     = {197},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Although many researchers refer to organizational culture as the key to explain employees' organizational corruption (= corruption on behalf of the organization), literature lacks systematic empirical evidence. Through a mixed-method approach this research tries to shed some first lights on this issue with the questions: what characteristics describe an organizational culture that promotes employees' corruption? Does a certain type of organizational culture shape a positive attitude towards organizational corruption? Does organizational culture differ in its impact on different types of corruption? Does organizational culture interact with employees' sex to promote employees' corruption? And, is there a main effect of sex on corruption? A qualitative study investigates the characteristics of a corrupt organizational culture in both general and in particular for managers and employees (Study 1). 14 experts of different occupations were asked about underlying assumptions, values, and norms of a corrupt organizational culture coding the frequency and relationship of their answers. The results showed specific underlying assumptions, values, and norms that were shared by the interviewees and provide first insights into their interrelatedness. In addition, the quantitative field survey (Study 2) analyzed if a corrupt organizational culture shapes a positive attitude towards organizational corruption and if both tangible rewards and lax control mechanism mediate this impact. 131 participants answered questionnaires about their perceived competition in their industry, tangible rewards, lax control mechanism, and their attitude towards both gifting and bribery. Results showed that lax control mechanism (and for gifting also tangible rewards) mediated the positive impact of a corrupt organizational culture on organizational corruption. In addition, men and women did not differ in their attitude towards organizational corruption in a corrupt organizational culture. Finally a web-based experiment investigates if organizational culture shapes employees' corruption (Study 3). In addition this approach also covers if the impact of organizational culture on corruption depends on the type of corruption (organizational corruption vs. counterproductive), and if employees' sex influence corruption and if there is an interaction of organizational culture and sex on employees' corruption. 563 participants had to decide whether they engage in corruption. Although a corrupt organizational culture raises both types of corruption, there was neither a notable main effect of sex nor a high impact interaction effect of both on both types of corruption. Thus, aspects of a corrupt organizational culture seem to influence employees' corruption.},
  subject      = {Korruption},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Schraut2015,
  author    = {Schraut, Karla-Gerlinde},
  title     = {Epigenetic programming by prenatal stress in female serotonin transporter deficient mice},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-120270},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Early life stress, including exposure to prenatal stress (PS), has been shown to affect the developing brain and induce severe effects on emotional health in later life, concomitant with an increased risk for psychopathology. However, some individuals are more vulnerable to early-life stress, while others adapt successfully, i.e. they are resilient and do not succumb to adversity. The molecular substrates promoting resilience in some individuals and vulnerability in other individuals are as yet poorly investigated. A polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene (5­HTT/SLC6A4) has been suggested to play a modulatory role in mediating the effects of early-life adversity on psychopathology, thereby rendering carriers of the lower-expressing short (s)-allele more vulnerable to developmental adversity, while long (l)-allele carriers are relatively resilient. The molecular mechanisms underlying this gene x environment interaction (GxE) are not well understood, however, epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation and histone modifications have been discussed to contribute as they are at the interface of environment and the genome. Moreover, developmental epigenetic programming has also been postulated to underlie differential vulnerability/resilience independent of genetic variation. The present work comprises two projects investigating the effects of prenatal maternal restraint stress in 5-HTT deficient mice. In the first study, we examined to which extent previously observed changes in behavior and hippocampal gene expression of female 5-Htt+/- prenatally stressed (PS) offspring were associated with changes in DNA methylation patterns. Additionally, we investigated the expression of genes involved in myelination in hippocampus and amygdala of those animals using RT-qPCR. The genome-wide hippocampal DNA methylation screening was performed using methylated-DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP) on Affymetrix GeneChip® Mouse Promoter 1.0R arrays. In order to correlate individual gene-specific DNA methylation, mRNA expression and behavior, we used hippocampal DNA from the same mice as assessed before. 5-Htt genotype, PS and their interaction differentially affected the DNA methylation signature of numerous genes, a part of which were also differentially expressed. More specifically, we identified a differentially methylated region in the Myelin basic protein (Mbp) gene, which was associated with Mbp expression in a 5-Htt-, PS- and 5-Htt x PS-dependent manner. Subsequent fine-mapping linked the methylation status of two specific CpG sites in this region to Mbp expression and anxiety-related behavior. We furthermore found that not only the expression of Mbp but of large gene set associated with myelination was affected by a 5-Htt x PS interaction in a brain-region specific manner. In conclusion, hippocampal DNA methylation patterns and expression profiles of female PS 5-Htt+/- mice suggest that distinct molecular mechanisms, some of which are associated with changes in gene promoter methylation, and processes associated with myelination contribute to the behavioral effects of the 5-Htt genotype, PS exposure, and their interaction. In the second study, we aimed at investing the molecular substrates underlying resilience to PS. For this purpose, we exposed 5-Htt+/+ dams to the same restraint stress paradigm and investigated the effects of PS on depression- and anxiety-like behavior and corticosterone (CORT) secretion at baseline and after acute restraint stress in female 5-Htt+/+ and 5-Htt+/- offspring. We found that PS affected the offspring's social behavior in a negative manner. When specifically examining those PS animals, we grouped the PS offspring of each genotype into a social, resilient and an unsocial, vulnerable group. While anxiety-like behavior in the EPM was reduced in unsocial, but not social, PS 5-Htt+/+ animals when compared to controls, this pattern could not be found in animals of the other genotype, indicating that social anxiety and state anxiety in the EPM were independent of each other. We then assessed genome-wide hippocampal gene expression profiles using mRNA sequencing in order to identify pathways and gene ontology (GO) terms enriched due to 5-Htt genotype (G), PS exposure (E) and their interaction (GxE) as well as enriched in social, but not unsocial, PS offspring, and vice versa. Numerous genes were affected by 5-Htt genotype, PS and most of all a GxE-interaction. Enrichment analysis using enrichr identified that the genotype affected mitochondrial respiration, while GxE-interaction-affected processes associated primarily with myelination and chromatin remodeling. We furthermore found that 5-Htt+/- mice showed profound expression changes of numerous genes in a genomic region located 10 mio kb upstream of the 5 Htt locus on the same chromosome. When looking at social vs. unsocial mice, we found that a much higher number of genes was regulated in 5 Htt+/- animals than in 5-Htt+/+ animals, reflecting the impact of GxE-interaction. Double the number of genes was regulated in social PS vs. control mice when compared to unsocial PS vs. control in both genotypes, suggesting that the successful adaption to PS might have required more active processes from the social group than the reaction to PS from the unsocial group. This notion is supported by the up-regulation of mitochondrial respiration in social, but not in unsocial, PS 5-Htt+/- mice when compared to controls, as those animals might have been able to raise energy resources the unsocial group was not. Next to this, processes associated with myelination seemed to be down-regulated in social 5-Htt+/- mice, but not in unsocial animals, when compared to controls. Taken together, PS exposure affected sociability and anxiety-like behavior dependent on the 5-Htt genotype in female offspring. Processes associated with myelination and epigenetic mechanisms involved in chromatin remodeling seemed be affected in a GxE-dependent manner in the hippocampus of these offspring. Our transcriptome data furthermore suggest that mitochondrial respiration and, with this, energy metabolism might be altered in 5-Htt+/- offspring when compared to 5-Htt+/+ offspring. Moreover, myelination and mitochondrial respiration might contribute to resilience towards PS exposure in 5-Htt+/- offspring, possibly by affecting brain connectivity and energy capabilities.},
  subject      = {Stress},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Nagel2015,
  author    = {Nagel, Christoph},
  title     = {Novel manganese- and molybdenum-based photoactivatable CO-releasing molecules: synthesis and biological activity},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-120376},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Since its discovery as a small signaling molecule in the human body, researchers have tried to utilize the beneficial cytoprotective properties of carbon monoxide in therapeutic applications. Initial work focused on the controlled direct application of CO gas. However, to circumvent the disadvantages of this method such as requirement for special equipment, hospitalization of the patient and the risk of overdosing, metal-carbonyl complexes were developed as CO-releasing molecules (CORMs) which are able to deliver CO in a tissue-specific manner. However, upon the release of CO from the metal coordination sphere, complex fragments termed inactivated CORMs (iCORMs) with free coordination sites remain which can undergo nonspecific follow-up reactions under physiological conditions. Thus, the first aim of the present thesis was the coordination of tetradentate ligands such as tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine (tpa), bis(2-pyridylmethyl)(2-quinolylmethyl)amine (bpqa), bis(2-quinolylmethyl)(2-pyridylmethyl)amine (bqpa) and tris(2-quinolylmethyl) amine (tmqa) in a tridentate facial manner to a fac-Mn(CO)3 moiety previously established as a photoactivatable CO-releasing molecule (PhotoCORM). The desired coordination of the pedant donor group upon photolytic CO release at 365 nm was demonstrated by UV/Vis-, IR- und 1H NMR experiments and verified by DFT calculations. All complexes of the series showed long-term dark stability in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), but released between two and three equivalents of carbon monoxide with half-lives of around 5-10 minutes upon illumination at 365 nm. Although the photolytic properties of the complexes were quite similar besides the differences in type of hetereoaromatic ligands, the determination of the logP values showed an increase of lipophilicity with the number of quinoline groups, which might enable tissue-specific uptake. A significant cellular manganese uptake as well as the binding of CO released upon photolysis to the cytochrome c oxidases in E. coli cells was demonstrated for [Mn(CO)3(tpa)]+. Furthermore, this complex exhibited photoinduced bactericidal activity when the cells were grown in succinate-containing medium and thus unable to change their metabolism to mixed acid fermentation. In the second part of the project, the hexadentate ligand 1,4,7-tris(2-pyridylmethyl)-1,4,7-triazacyclononane (py3tacn) was coordinated to a facial Mn(CO)3 moiety. The resulting [Mn(CO)3(py3tacn-3N)]+ complex has one pedant donor group per labile carbonyl ligand and thus is a significant improvement over the 1st generation tpa-complexes. The metal-coligand inactivated CORM (iCORM) fragment expected to be generated upon complete photolytic CO release, [Mn(py3tacn-6N)]2+, was synthesized independently and will serve as a well-defined negative control in upcoming biological tests. The corresponding CORM has long-term dark stability in pure dimethylsulfoxide or phosphate-buffered myoglobin solution, with three equivalents of CO released with a half-life of 22 minutes upon illumination at 412 nm. The photolysis was also followed by IR spectroscopy and the intermediates, in line with a stepwise release of carbon monoxide, and occupation of vacated sites by the pedant pyridine group were verified by DFT calculations. Due to possible tissue damage by energy-rich light and the inverse correlation of tissue penetration depth and illumination wavelength, the absorption maxima of PhotoCORMs should ideally be in the phototherapeutic window between 600 and 1200 nm. Thus, in the third part of this work, a series of heterobinuclear Mn(CO)3/Ru(bpy)2 PhotoCORMs was prepared to shift the absorption of these compounds into the red region of the UV/Vis spectrum. For the synthesis of such Mn(I)/Ru(II) complexes, the bridging ligands 2,3-di(2-pyridyl)quinoxaline (dpx) and 3-(pyridin-2-yl)-1,2,4-triazine[5,6-f]-1,10-phenanthroline (pytp) were prepared and the two binding pockets subsequently filled with a Ru(bpy)2 and a fac-Mn(CO)3 moiety. The resulting two heterobinuclear metal complexes [Ru(bpy)2(dpx)MnBr(CO)3]2+ and [Ru(bpy)2(pytp)MnBr(CO)3]2+ as well as [Ru(etx)(tbx)MnBr(CO)3]2+ with etx = ethyl(2,2':6',2''-terpyridine)-4'-carboxylate and tbx = N-((2,2':6',2''-terpyridin)-4'-yl)2,2'-bipyridine-5-carboxamide which was prepared by a metal precursor provided by the group of Prof. Dr. Katja Heinze showed a significant shift of the main absorption bands to higher wavelengths as well as two times higher extinction coefficients than the analogous mononuclear Mn(I) compounds. However, both the Mn(I)/Ru(II) and Mn(I) complexes had a reduced stability in phosphate-buffered myoglobin solution even in the absence of light. The efficiency of the CO-release from [Ru(etx)(tbx)MnBr(CO)3]2+ and [Ru(bpy)2(dpx)MnBr(CO)3]2+ could be controlled by proper choice of the excitation wavelength. A change from 468 to 525 nm or even 660 nm led to a decrease of the number of CO equivalents released from two to one and an elongation of the half-lives. Finally, since nitric oxide also serves as a small messenger molecule in the human body with its signaling pathways interacting with those of CO, a mixed-ligand CO/NO metal complex was sought. [Mo(CO)2(NO)(iPr3tacn)]+ with iPr3tacn = 1,4,7-triisopropyl-1,4,7-triazacyclonane was selected from the literature and its molecular structure determined by single crystal diffraction, demonstrating the presence of an NO+ ligand in the coordination sphere as indicated by a MO-N-O angle close to 180°. Photolysis of [Mo(CO)2(NO)(iPr3tacn)]+ required high-energy UV light, which prevented a quantification of the CO release due to photolytic decomposition of the myoglobin. However, solution IR experiments showed that the complex lost the two carbon monoxide ligands upon illumination at 254 nm while the NO remained tightly bound to the metal. The structures observed of the intermediates were also verified by DFT calculations. In conclusion, in this project, four different classes of novel transition metal-based photoactivatable CO-releasing molecules (PhotoCORMs) were prepared and studied. The first group incorporated one additional free donor group per LMn(CO)3 moiety but varied in the number of coordinated pyridyl and quinolinyl groups which allows the control of the lipophilicity of these compounds. As an extension of this concept, the second series incorporated one free donor group per labile carbonyl ligand which gives rise to well-defined photolysis products that can be independently prepared and assayed. The third class was based on a Ru(II) photosensitizer unit connected to a MnBr(CO)3 PhotoCORM moiety. This shifts the absorption maximum from 500 nm to about 585 nm in [Ru(bpy)2(dpx)MnBr(CO)3]2+. Finally, a first mixed-ligand CO/NO carrier molecule was evaluated for its photolytic behavior. However, while the carbonyl ligands were photolabile at low excitation wavelengths, release of the NO ligand was not observed under the conditions studied. In a next step, detailed studies on the bioactivity of the different classes of PhotoCORMs need to be carried out with partner groups from biochemistry to fully explore their biomedical potential.},
  subject      = {Kohlenmonoxid},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Ilko2015,
  author    = {Ilko, David},
  title     = {The use of charged aerosol detection for the analysis of excipients and active pharmaceutical ingredients},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-118377},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The Corona® charged aerosol detector (CAD) is an aerosol-based detector first de-scribed by Dixon and Peterson in 2002. It is capable of detecting compounds inde-pendent from their physico-chemical properties presumed the analyte is sufficiently non-volatile. Consequently, the CAD is often applied to the analysis of substances that do not possess a suitable UV chromophore. Major drawbacks are however, the detector signal is non-linear and depending on the content of organic solvent in the mobile phase. This thesis tried to explore possible applications of the CAD for pharmaceutical analysis. Therefore, several substances from different compound classes were in-vestigated. Newly developed or existing methods were validated. Thus the perfor-mance of the CAD could be examined. Both assay and impurity determination were evaluated for their compliance with ICH Q2(R1) "Validation of Analytical Proce-dures" and the "Technical Guide for the Elaboration of Monographs". In the course of the establishment of reference substances at the EDQM, a generic screening method for the identification of organic and inorganic pharmaceutical counterions was needed. An HPLC-CAD method developed by Zhang et al. was therefore investigated for its suitability for pharmacopoeial purpose. Method valida-tion was performed. It was found that 23 ions could be separated and detected. Iden-tification was achieved via retention time of an authentic standard of the corre-sponding ions. Alternatively, peak assignment was performed by determination of the exact mass using TOF-MS. Ions could be quantified as impurities or for stoichi-ometric purpose. For the impurity control in topiramate, the performance characterstics of the CAD were compared to that of an ELSD. CAD was superior to ELSD in terms of repeata-bility, sensitivity and linearity. However, impurities could be quantified with satisfac-tory accuracy with both detectors. The application of the ELSD was not feasible due to non-reproducible spike peaks eluting after the principle peak in the chromatogram of the test solution. One of the impurities, topiramate impurity A (diacetonide), gave no or a vastly diminished signal in the ELSD and the CAD, respectively. It is evapo-rated during the detection process due to its relatively high vapor pressure. The re-sponse could be enhanced by a factor of nine via post-column addition of acetoni-trile and a lower nebulizer temperature. As the response of topiramate impurity A was still about thousand-fold lower than the response of all other impurities, its quantification was not feasible. Additionally, the HPLC-CAD was successfully vali-dated as an assay procedure for topiramate. There seems to be a great potential in the application of the CAD to the analysis of excipients as most compounds do not possess a suitable UV chromophore. Here, a simple and rapid HPLC-CAD method for the determination of polidocanol (PD) was developed. The method was successfully validated as a potential assay procedure for the Ph. Eur. as none is described in either of the two PD monographs. The same method was applied to the determination of the PD release from a pharmaceutical polymer matrix. A method for the determination of the fatty acid (FA) composition of polysorbate 80 (PS80) was developed and validated. Using the CAD and mass spectrometry, we were able to identify two new FAs in 16 batches from four manufacturers. All batch-es complied with pharmacopoeial specification. Furthermore, the overall composi-tion of the different PS80 species ("fingerprinting") and the peroxide content were determined. In addition to the chemical characterization, functionality related charac-teristics (FRCs) were determined. Correlations between chemical composition and FRCs were found. The validation data of the above mentioned methods suggests that the CAD repre-sents a viable detection technique for pharmaceutical analysis. The CAD was suffi-ciently sensitive for non-volatile analytes. Impurity control down to concentrations of 0.05 or 0.03\%, as demanded by ICH Q3A (R2), is achievable. However, the response of semi-volatile compounds may be drastically diminished. It could be confirmed that the response of the CAD is linear when the range does not exceed two orders of magnitude. Exceptions may be observed depending on the actual method setup. When the measuring range is sufficiently narrow, quantification can be done using single-point calibration which is common practice in pharmaceutical anlysis. Impuri-ties may also be quantified against a single calibration solution. However, correction factors may be needed and the accuracy is considerably lower compared to an as-say method. If a compound is to be quantified over a large concentration range, log-log transformation of the calibration curve is needed and a decreased accuracy has to be accepted.},
  subject      = {Analyse},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Ciaramella2015,
  author    = {Ciaramella, Gabriele},
  title     = {Exact and non-smooth control of quantum spin systems},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-118386},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {An efficient and accurate computational framework for solving control problems governed by quantum spin systems is presented. Spin systems are extremely important in modern quantum technologies such as nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, quantum imaging and quantum computing. In these applications, two classes of quantum control problems arise: optimal control problems and exact-controllability problems, with a bilinear con- trol structure. These models correspond to the Schr{\"o}dinger-Pauli equation, describing the time evolution of a spinor, and the Liouville-von Neumann master equation, describing the time evolution of a spinor and a density operator. This thesis focuses on quantum control problems governed by these models. An appropriate definition of the optimiza- tion objectives and of the admissible set of control functions allows to construct controls with specific properties. These properties are in general required by the physics and the technologies involved in quantum control applications. A main purpose of this work is to address non-differentiable quantum control problems. For this reason, a computational framework is developed to address optimal-control prob- lems, with possibly L1 -penalization term in the cost-functional, and exact-controllability problems. In both cases the set of admissible control functions is a subset of a Hilbert space. The bilinear control structure of the quantum model, the L1 -penalization term and the control constraints generate high non-linearities that make difficult to solve and analyse the corresponding control problems. The first part of this thesis focuses on the physical description of the spin of particles and of the magnetic resonance phenomenon. Afterwards, the controlled Schr{\"o}dinger- Pauli equation and the Liouville-von Neumann master equation are discussed. These equations, like many other controlled quantum models, can be represented by dynamical systems with a bilinear control structure. In the second part of this thesis, theoretical investigations of optimal control problems, with a possible L1 -penalization term in the objective and control constraints, are consid- ered. In particular, existence of solutions, optimality conditions, and regularity properties of the optimal controls are discussed. In order to solve these optimal control problems, semi-smooth Newton methods are developed and proved to be superlinear convergent. The main difficulty in the implementation of a Newton method for optimal control prob- lems comes from the dimension of the Jacobian operator. In a discrete form, the Jacobian is a very large matrix, and this fact makes its construction infeasible from a practical point of view. For this reason, the focus of this work is on inexact Krylov-Newton methods, that combine the Newton method with Krylov iterative solvers for linear systems, and allows to avoid the construction of the discrete Jacobian. In the third part of this thesis, two methodologies for the exact-controllability of quan- tum spin systems are presented. The first method consists of a continuation technique, while the second method is based on a particular reformulation of the exact-control prob- lem. Both these methodologies address minimum L2 -norm exact-controllability problems. In the fourth part, the thesis focuses on the numerical analysis of quantum con- trol problems. In particular, the modified Crank-Nicolson scheme as an adequate time discretization of the Schr{\"o}dinger equation is discussed, the first-discretize-then-optimize strategy is used to obtain a discrete reduced gradient formula for the differentiable part of the optimization objective, and implementation details and globalization strategies to guarantee an adequate numerical behaviour of semi-smooth Newton methods are treated. In the last part of this work, several numerical experiments are performed to vali- date the theoretical results and demonstrate the ability of the proposed computational framework to solve quantum spin control problems.},
  subject      = {Spinsystem},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Srichan2015,
  author    = {Srichan, Teerapat},
  title     = {Discrete Moments of Zeta-Functions with respect to random and ergodic transformations},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-118395},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {In the thesis discrete moments of the Riemann zeta-function and allied Dirichlet series are studied. In the first part the asymptotic value-distribution of zeta-functions is studied where the samples are taken from a Cauchy random walk on a vertical line inside the critical strip. Building on techniques by Lifshits and Weber analogous results for the Hurwitz zeta-function are derived. Using Atkinson's dissection this is even generalized to Dirichlet L-functions associated with a primitive character. Both results indicate that the expectation value equals one which shows that the values of these zeta-function are small on average. The second part deals with the logarithmic derivative of the Riemann zeta-function on vertical lines and here the samples are with respect to an explicit ergodic transformation. Extending work of Steuding, discrete moments are evaluated and an equivalent formulation for the Riemann Hypothesis in terms of ergodic theory is obtained. In the third and last part of the thesis, the phenomenon of universality with respect to stochastic processes is studied. It is shown that certain random shifts of the zeta-function can approximate non-vanishing analytic target functions as good as we please. This result relies on Voronin's universality theorem.},
  subject      = {Riemannsche Zetafunktion},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Grosz2015,
  author    = {Grosz, Magdalena Urszula},
  title     = {Identification of phagosomal escape relevant factors in Staphylococcus aureus infection},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-121981},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Staphylococcus aureus is a facultative Gram-positive human pathogen which can cause different severe infections. Staphylococci are phagocytosed by professional and non-professional phagocytes; they are strongly cytotoxic against eukaryotic cells and have been proposed to play a role in immune evasion by spreading within migrating phagocytes. This study investigated the post invasive events upon S. aureus infection. Strains which are able to escape the phagosome were identified and the responsible toxins were determined. Thereby innovative insights into host pathogen interaction were obtained. A novel class of small amphipathic peptides with strong surfactant-like properties, the phenol soluble modulins, particularly PSMα as well as the leukocidin LukAB, are involved in phagosomal escape of the clinical S. aureus strains LAC, MW2 and 6850 in non-professional and professional phagocytes. Whereas, PSMβ, δ-toxin, α-toxin, β-toxin or phosphatidyl inositol-dependent phospholipase C did not affect phagosomal escape. By blocking the bacterial DNA-dependent RNA polymerase with rifampicin phagosomal escape is determined to start approximately 2.5 hours post infection. Phagosomal escape further was required for intracellular replication of S. aureus. Strains which are not able to escape cannot replicate in the acidic vacuole, whereas, the host cytoplasm offers a rich milieu for bacterial replication. Additionally, phagosomal escape, with intracellular bacterial replication induces the subsequent host cell death. This could be confirmed by an infection assay including S. aureus knockout mutants in psmα or lukAB which were significantly less cytotoxic, compared with those infected with escape-positive wild type strains. Further, this study showed that phagosomal escape is not only mediated by bacterial toxins. Since, the phagocyte-specific cognate receptors for both escape relevant toxins, FPR2 (PSMα receptor) and CD11b (LukAB receptor) are produced in epithelial and endothelial cells only after infection with S. aureus in a calcium dependent fashion. The knockdown of both receptors using siRNA prevents S. aureus to escape the phagosome. Furthermore, blocking intracellular calcium release with the inositol trisphosphate receptor (IP3R) inhibitor 2-APB prohibits upregulation of fpr2 and cd11b and subsequently phagosomal escape of S. aureus. To conclude, the current study clarifies that phagosomal escape and host cell death are interplay of both, bacterial toxins and host cell factors. Staphylococcus aureus ist ein fakultativ Gram-positives Humanpathogen, dass verschiedene schwerwiegende Infektionen verursachen kann. Staphylokokken werden von professionellen und nicht-professionellen Phagozyten (Fresszellen) zu gleich aufgenommen. Desweitern sind sie stark zytotoxisch f{\"u}r eukaryotische Zellen. Außerdem wird vermutet, dass sie sich mittels migrierender Phagozyten dem angeborenen Immunsystem entziehen k{\"o}nnen. In dieser Studie werden die post-invasiven Ereignisse w{\"a}hrend einer Staphylokokken Infektion untersucht. Im Detail wurden St{\"a}mme identifiziert die aus den Phagosomen entkommen k{\"o}nnen und die daf{\"u}r verantwortlichen Toxine. Im Zuge dessen wurden neue Erkenntnisse der Interaktion zwischen Bakterien und Wirtszellen gewonnen. Eine neue Klasse von kleinen amphiphatischen Peptiden mit starken grenzfl{\"a}chenaktiven Eigenschaften (Surfactant), die sogenannten Phenol soluble modulins (PSMs) im Besonderen PSMα sowie das Leukozidin LukAB, sind am phagosomalen Ausbruch der klinisch relevanten S. aureus St{\"a}mmen LAC, MW2 und 6850 in nicht professionellen und professionellen Phagozyten involviert. Hingegen, sind PSMβ, δ-toxin, α-toxin, β-toxin oder Phosphatidylinositol abh{\"a}ngige Phospholipase C nicht am phagosomalen Ausbruch beteiligt. Durch die Hemmung der bakteriellen DNA-abh{\"a}ngigen RNA Polymerase mit Rifampicin wurde der Zeitpunkt f{\"u}r den Ausbruch auf etwa 2,5 Stunden nach der Infektion eingegrenzt. Der phagosomale Ausbruch ist weiterhin f{\"u}r die intrazellul{\"a}re Replikation von S. aureus notwendig. W{\"a}hrend St{\"a}mme, die nicht ausbrechen k{\"o}nnen in der anges{\"a}uerten Vakuole nicht replizieren k{\"o}nnen, bietet das Zytoplasma ein reichhaltiges Milieu f{\"u}r die Vermehrung. Zudem wird der Pathogen induzierte Zelltod erst nach dem phagosomalen Ausbruch und mit anschließender Vermehrung erm{\"o}glicht. Nachgewiesen wurde dies mittels psmα und lukAB defizienten Mutanten welche signifikant weniger zytotoxisch waren als der Wildtyp Stamm. Diese Studie zeigt dar{\"u}ber hinaus, dass der phagosomale Ausbruch nicht nur durch bakterielle Toxine vermittelt wird. Sondern, dass die Phagozyten-spezifischen Rezeptoren f{\"u}r beide relevanten Toxine, FPR2 (PSMα Rezeptor) und CD11b (LukAB Rezeptor), in Epithel- und Endothelzellen nach Infektion mit S. aureus calciumabh{\"a}ngig produziert werden und f{\"u}r den Ausbruch notwendig sind. Der knockdown beider Rezeptoren mittels siRNA verhindert den Ausbruch. Wird der intrazellul{\"a}re Calciumstrom mittels des Inositoltrisphosphat Rezeptor (IP3R) Inhibitor 2-APB blockiert k{\"o}nnen die Gene fpr2 und cd11b nicht hochreguliert werden und der Ausbruch wird ebenfalls verhindert. Folglich zeigt diese Studie, dass der phagosomale Ausbruch und Pathogen induzierte Zelltod sowohl durch bakterielle Toxine als auch Wirtsfaktoren vermittelt wird.},
  subject      = {Phagosom},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Thienel2015,
  author    = {Thienel, Cornelius},
  title     = {Exploring the transport properties of the three-dimensional topological insulator material HgTe},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-122031},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {In der vorliegenden Dissertation werden die Transporteigenschaften von verspannten HgTe-Volumenkristallen untersucht. Verspanntes HgTe stellt einen dreidimensionalen topologischen Isolator dar und ist zur Erkundung von topologischen Oberfl{\"a}chenzust{\"a}nden von speziellem Interesse, da es mit Hilfe von Molekularstrahlepitaxie in hoher Kristallqualit{\"a}t gewachsen werden kann. Die niedrige Defektdichte f{\"u}hrt zu beachtlichen Ladungstr{\"a}gerbeweglichkeiten, die deutlich {\"u}ber denen anderer topologischer Isolatoren liegen. Verspanntes HgTe hat jedoch eine kleine Energiel{\"u}cke von ca. 20 meV. Deshalb ist es f{\"u}r eine m{\"o}gliche Verwendung des Materials ein wichtiger Aspekt, in welchem Parameterbereich Oberfl{\"a}chentransport stattfindet. Um dieser Frage nachzugehen, werden die HgTe-Proben bei tiefen Temperaturen (T < 100 mK) und unter dem Einfluss hoher Magnetfelder in verschiedenen Orientierungen untersucht. Der Einfluss von Gate-Elektroden ober- und unterhalb der Struktur sowie von Deckschichten, die die Oberfl{\"a}chen sch{\"u}tzen, wird diskutiert. Basierend auf einer Analyse des Quanten-Hall-Effekts wird gezeigt, dass der Transport in diesem Material von topologischen Oberfl{\"a}chenzust{\"a}nden dominiert ist. Die Abh{\"a}ngigkeit der topologischen Oberfl{\"a}chenzust{\"a}nde von der Gate-Spannung wird dargestellt. Durch diese Abh{\"a}ngigkeit ist es zum ersten Mal m{\"o}glich, eine ungerade ganzzahlige Quanten-Hall-Plateau Sequenz nachzuweisen, die von den Oberfl{\"a}chen senkrecht zum Magnetfeld stammt. Des Weiteren wird im Rahmen dieser Arbeit in Proben hoher Oberfl{\"a}chenqualit{\"a}t zum ersten Mal f{\"u}r einen 3D TI der p-Typ QHE der Oberfl{\"a}chenzust{\"a}nde beobachtet. Aus der Gate-Abh{\"a}ngigkeit der Messungen wird geschlossen, dass das Abschirmverhalten in 3D TIs nicht trivial ist. Die Transportdaten werden mit Hilfe von intuitiven theoretischen Modellen auf qualitative Weise analysiert.},
  subject      = {Topologischer Isolator},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Panjwani2015,
  author    = {Panjwani, Priyadarshini},
  title     = {Induction, Imaging, Histo-morphological and Molecular Characterization of Myocarditis in the Rat to Explore Novel Diagnostic Strategies for the Detection of Myocardial Inflammation},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-122469},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Fulminant myocarditis is rare but a potentially life-threatening disease. Acute or mild myocarditis following acute ischemia is generally associated with a profound activation of the host's immune system. On one hand this is mandatory to protect the host's heart by fighting the invading agents (i.e., bacteria, viruses or other microbial agents) and/or to induce healing and repair processes in the damaged myocardium. On other hand, uncontrolled activation of the immune system may result in the generation of auto-reactive (not always beneficial) immune cells. Myocarditis or inflammatory cardiomyopathy is characterized by focal or diffuse infiltrates, myocyte necrosis and/or apoptosis and subsequent fibrotic replacement of the heart muscle. In humans, about 30\% of the myocarditis-patients develop dilated cardiomyopathy. As the clinical picture of myocarditis is multifaceted, it is difficult to diagnose the disease. Therefore, the main goal of the present work was to test and further develop novel non-invasive methods for the detection of myocardial inflammation by employing both contrast enhanced MRI techniques as well as novel nuclear tracers that are suitable for in vivo PET/ SPECT imaging. As a part of this thesis, a pre-clinical animal model was successfully established by immunizing female Lewis rats with whole-porcine cardiac myosin (CM). Induction of Experimental Autoimmune Myocarditis (EAM) is considered successful when anti-myosin antibody titers are increased more than 100-fold over control animals and pericardial effusion develops. In addition, cardiac tissues from EAM-rats versus controls were analyzed for the expression of various pro-inflammatory and fibrosis markers. To further exploit non-invasive MRI techniques for the detection of myocarditis, our EAM-rats were injected either with (1) ultra-small Paramagnetic iron oxide particles (USPIO's; Feraheme®), allowing for in vivo imaging , (2) micron sized paramagnetic iron oxide particles (MPIO) for ex vivo inflammatory cell-tracking by cMRI, or (3) with different radioactive nuclear tracers (67gallium citrate, 68gallium-labeled somatostatin analogue, and 68gallium-labeled cyclic RGD-peptide) which in the present work have been employed for autoradiographic imaging, but in principle are also suitable for in vivo nuclear imaging (PET/SPECT). In order to compare imaging results with histology, consecutive heart sections were stained with hematoxylin \& eosin (HE, for cell infiltrates) and Masson Goldner trichrome (MGT, for fibrosis); in addition, immuno-stainings were performed with anti-CD68 (macrophages), anti-SSRT2A (somatostatin receptor type 2A), anti-CD61 (β3-integrins) and anti-CD31 (platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1). Sera from immunized rats strongly reacted with cardiac myosin. In immunized rats, echocardiography and subsequent MRI revealed huge amounts of pericardial effusion (days 18-21). Analysis of the kinetics of myocardial infiltrates revealed maximal macrophage invasion between days 14 and 28. Disappearance of macrophages resulted in replacement-fibrosis in formerly cell-infiltrated myocardial areas. This finding was confirmed by the time-dependent differential expression of corresponding cytokines in the myocardium. Immunized animals reacted either with an early or a late pattern of post-inflammation fibrosis. Areas with massive cellular infiltrates were easily detectible in autoradiograms showing a high focal uptake of 67gallium-citrate and 68gallium labeled somatostatin analogues (68Ga DOTA-TATE). Myocardium with a loss of cardiomyocytes presented a high uptake of 68gallium labeled cyclic RGD-peptide (68Ga NOTA-RGD). MRI cell tracking experiments with Feraheme® as the contrast-agent were inconclusive; however, strikingly better results were obtained when MPIOs were used as a contrast-agent: histological findings correlated well with in vivo and ex vivo MPIO-enhanced MRI images. Imaging of myocardial inflammatory processes including the kinetics of macrophage invasion after microbial or ischemic damage is still a major challenge in, both animal models and in human patients. By applying a broad panel of biochemical, histological, molecular and imaging methods, we show here that different patterns of reactivity may occur upon induction of myocarditis using one and the same rat strain. In particular, immunized Lewis rats may react either with an early or a late pattern of macrophage invasion and subsequent post-inflammation fibrosis. Imaging results achieved in the acute inflammatory phase of the myocarditis with MPIOs, 67gallium citrate and 68gallium linked to somatostatin will stimulate further development of contrast agents and radioactive-nuclear tracers for the non-invasive detection of acute myocarditis and in the near future perhaps even in human patients.},
  subject      = {Ratte},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Probst2015,
  author    = {Probst, Lilli Teresa},
  title     = {Immune cell function in the Clec16a Knock-down Mouse},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-122513},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Genome wide association studies (GWAS) have identified Clec16a as disease suscepti-bility gene for numerous auto-immune disorders in particular type 1 diabetes. In spite of this strong genetic link, the role of Clec16a for immune regulation continues to be largely unknown. To study the function of Clec16a in an environment susceptible to autoimmune diseases a Clec16a deficient non obese diabetic (NOD) mouse strain was generated by means of lentiviral RNA interference. Clec16a knock down (KD) mice prove to be strongly protected against developing type 1 diabetes, an effect that is mediated by hyporeactive T effector cells. T cell hyporeactivity seems to result from an impairment of proximal TCR signalling and its cause is likely to be external to T cells. Given evidence on the involvement of the Clec16a Drosophila ortholog ema in endo- and autophagosomal processes, alterations in peripheral and/or central antigen presenting cells appeared to be potential reasons for the observed T cell hyporeactivity. While we are not able to identify any changes in quantity and quality of peripheral antigen presenting cells due to Clec16a silencing activation status of thymic epithelial cells in Clec16a KD mice deviates from NOD WT. The findings presented here suggest that thymic T cell development is affected by Clec16a variation. Such a relationship could explain the genetic association between Clec16a variations in humans and susceptibility to immune-mediated diseases, yet further investigations are needed to confirm this notion.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Wolter2015,
  author    = {Wolter, Patrick},
  title     = {Characterization of the mitotic localization and function of the novel DREAM target GAS2L3 and Mitotic kinesins are regulated by the DREAM complex, often up-regulated in cancer cells, and are potential targets for anti-cancer therapy},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-122531},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The recently discovered human DREAM complex (for DP, RB-like, E2F and MuvB complex) is a chromatin-associated pocket protein complex involved in cell cycle- dependent gene expression. DREAM consists of five core subunits and forms a complex either with the pocket protein p130 and the transcription factor E2F4 to repress gene expression or with the transcription factors B-MYB and FOXM1 to promote gene expression. Gas2l3 was recently identified by our group as a novel DREAM target gene. Subsequent characterization in human cell lines revealed that GAS2L3 is a microtubule and F-actin cross-linking protein, expressed in G2/M, plays a role in cytokinesis, and is important for chromosomal stability. The aim of the first part of the study was to analyze how expression of GAS2L3 is regulated by DREAM and to provide a better understanding of the function of GAS2L3 in mitosis and cytokinesis. ChIP assays revealed that the repressive and the activating form of DREAM bind to the GAS2L3 promoter. RNA interference (RNAi) mediated GAS2L3 depletion demonstrated the requirement of GAS2L3 for proper cleavage furrow ingression in cytokinesis. Immunofluorescence-based localization studies showed a localization of GAS2L3 at the mitotic spindle in mitosis and at the midbody in cytokinesis. Additional experiments demonstrated that the GAS2L3 GAR domain, a putative microtubule- binding domain, is responsible for GAS2L3 localization to the constriction zones in cytokinesis suggesting a function for GAS2L3 in the abscission process. DREAM is known to promote G2/M gene expression. DREAM target genes include several mitotic kinesins and mitotic microtubule-associated proteins (mitotic MAPs). However, it is not clear to what extent DREAM regulates mitotic kinesins and MAPs, so far. Furthermore, a comprehensive study of mitotic kinesin expression in cancer cell lines is still missing. Therefore, the second major aim of the thesis was to characterize the regulation of mitotic kinesins and MAPs by DREAM, to investigate the expression of mitotic kinesins in cancer cell line panels and to evaluate them as possible anti-cancer targets. ChIP assays together with RNAi mediated DREAM subunit depletion experiments demonstrated that DREAM is a master regulator of mitotic kinesins. Furthermore, expression analyses in a panel of breast and lung cancer cell lines revealed that mitotic kinesins are up-regulated in the majority of cancer cell lines in contrast to non-transformed controls. Finally, an inducible lentiviral-based shRNA system was developed to effectively deplete mitotic kinesins. Depletion of selected mitotic kinesins resulted in cytokinesis failures and strong anti-proliferative effects in several human cancer cell lines. Thus, this system will provide a robust tool for future investigation of mitotic kinesin function in cancer cells.},
  subject      = {Zellzyklus},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Jaenicke2015,
  author    = {J{\"a}nicke, Laura Annika},
  title     = {Regulation of MYC Activity by the Ubiquitin-Proteasome System},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-123339},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The oncogenic MYC protein is a transcriptional regulator of multiple cellular processes and is aberrantly activated in a wide range of human cancers. MYC is an unstable protein rapidly degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Ubiquitination can both positively and negatively affect MYC function, but its direct contribution to MYC-mediated transactivation remained unresolved. To investigate how ubiquitination regulates MYC activity, a non-ubiquitinatable MYC mutant was characterized, in which all lysines are replaced by arginines (K-less MYC). The absence of ubiquitin-acceptor sites in K-less MYC resulted in a more stable protein, but did not affect cellular localization, chromatin-association or the ability to interact with known MYC interaction partners. Unlike the wild type protein, K-less MYC was unable to promote proliferation in immortalized mammary epithelial cells. RNA- and ChIP-Sequencing analyses revealed that, although K-less MYC was present at MYC-regulated promoters, it was a weaker transcriptional regulator. The use of K-less MYC, a proteasomal inhibitor and reconstitution of individual lysine residues showed that proteasomal turnover of MYC is required for MYC target gene induction. ChIP-Sequencing of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) revealed that MYC ubiquitination is dispensable for RNAPII recruitment and transcriptional initiation but is specifically required to promote transcriptional elongation. Turnover of MYC is required to stimulate histone acetylation at MYC-regulated promoters, which depends on a highly conserved region in MYC (MYC box II), thereby enabling the recruitment of BRD4 and P-TEFb and the release of elongating RNAPII from target promoters. Inhibition of MYC turnover enabled the identification of an intermediate in MYC-mediated transactivation, the association of MYC with the PAF complex, a positive elongation factor, suggesting that MYC acts as an assembly factor transferring elongation factors onto RNAPII. The interaction between MYC and the PAF complex occurs via a second highly conserved region in MYC's amino terminus, MYC box I. Collectively, the data of this work show that turnover of MYC coordinates histone acetylation with recruitment and transfer of elongation factors on RNAPII involving the cooperation of MYC box I and MYC box II.},
  subject      = {Myc},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Herter2015,
  author    = {Herter, Eva Kristine},
  title     = {Characterization of direct Myc target genes in Drosophila melanogaster and Investigating the interaction of Chinmo and Myc},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-122272},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The correct regulation of cell growth and proliferation is essential during normal animal development. Myc proteins function as transcription factors, being involved in the con-trol of many growth- and proliferation-associated genes and deregulation of Myc is one of the main driving factors of human malignancies. The first part of this thesis focuses on the identification of directly regulated Myc target genes in Drosophila melanogaster, by combining ChIPseq and RNAseq approaches. The analysis results in a core set of Myc target genes of less than 300 genes which are mainly involved in ribosome biogenesis. Among these genes we identify a novel class of Myc targets, the non-coding small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs). In vivo studies show that loss of snoRNAs not only impairs growth during normal development, but that overexpression of several snoRNAs can also enhance tumor development in a neu-ronal tumor model. Together the data show that Myc acts as a master regulator of ribo-some biogenesis and that Myc's transforming effects in tumor development are at least partially mediated by the snoRNAs. In the second part of the thesis, the interaction of Myc and the Zf-protein Chinmo is described. Co-immunoprecipitations of the two proteins performed under endogenous and exogenous conditions show that they interact physically and that neither the two Zf-domains nor the BTB/POZ-domain of Chinmo are important for this interaction. Fur-thermore ChIP experiments and Myc dependent luciferase assays show that Chinmo and Myc share common target genes, and that Chinmo is presumably also involved in their regulation. While the exact way of how Myc and Chinmo genetically interact with each other still has to be investigated, we show that their interaction is important in a tumor model. Overexpression of the tumor-suppressors Ras and Chinmo leads to tu-mor formation in Drosophila larvae, which is drastically impaired upon loss of Myc.},
  subject      = {Myc},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Schaeffner2015,
  author    = {Sch{\"a}ffner, Mathias},
  title     = {Multiscale analysis of non-convex discrete systems via \(\Gamma\)-convergence},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-122349},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The subject of this thesis is the rigorous passage from discrete systems to continuum models via variational methods. The first part of this work studies a discrete model describing a one-dimensional chain of atoms with finite range interactions of Lennard-Jones type. We derive an expansion of the ground state energy using \(\Gamma\)-convergence. In particular, we show that a variant of the Cauchy-Born rule holds true for the model under consideration. We exploit this observation to derive boundary layer energies due to asymmetries of the lattice at the boundary or at cracks of the specimen. Hereby we extend several results obtained previously for models involving only nearest and next-to-nearest neighbour interactions by Braides and Cicalese and Scardia, Schl{\"o}merkemper and Zanini. The second part of this thesis is devoted to the analysis of a quasi-continuum (QC) method. To this end, we consider the discrete model studied in the first part of this thesis as the fully atomistic model problem and construct an approximation based on a QC method. We show that in an elastic setting the expansion by \(\Gamma\)-convergence of the fully atomistic energy and its QC approximation coincide. In the case of fracture, we show that this is not true in general. In the case of only nearest and next-to-nearest neighbour interactions, we give sufficient conditions on the QC approximation such that, also in case of fracture, the minimal energies of the fully atomistic energy and its approximation coincide in the limit.},
  subject      = {Gamma-Konvergenz},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Li2015,
  author    = {Li, Han},
  title     = {Fabrication of Carbon Nanotube Thin Films by Evaporation-Induced Self-Assembly},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-123407},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  pages     = {159},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {In summary, we have prepared single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) thin films by the method of evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA). Using the scalable two-plate or lens setups, sorts of different film types or patterns of SWNTs has been successfully fabricated directly from the evaporation of solvents and could be precisely controlled by the concentrations of SWNT in ambient conditions. The special geometry of meniscus as the capillary bridge has not only given rise to a much higher efficiency of fabrication than what previously reported but also allowed us to monitor the pinning and depinning process carefully and further investigate the mechanism underlying the formation of different film morphologies. In contrast with the conventional "stick-slip" model, we have provided the new dynamical pinning and zipping model for the contact line (CL) behavior. By analyzing the motion of CL and varying deposited patterns, the traditionally so-called "stick" state should be treated as a dynamical pinning process due to the interfacial tension contrast between SWNT-covered and bare silicon surface. Besides, the plausible one-step "slip" motion could be dominated by the zipping-like kink propagation. In addition, the experiments with heated substrates at higher temperatures between 30°C and 50 °C have shown that the striped pattern could be fabricated by both much lower SWNT and SDS concentrations than that in room temperature, which is consistent with our model of interfacial tension contrast. In this situation, the deposition rate was increased but the quality of SWNT alignment was undermined because the corresponding moving velocity of SWNT was also too fast for SWNTs to rotate when the evaporative rate was high. The similar results were identified by the SWNT/polymer conjugates dispersed in chloroform under the similar setups and other identical conditions. The typical breathing motion of dynamical pinning and zipping-like propagation for depinning were confirmed by the new suspensions despite that some morphological parameters changed dramatically compared with that from the aqueous solution. For example, the spacing between stripes reached 100 µm ~ 200 µm because the large contact angle contrast between HDMS- and SWNT-covered surface accompanies with the high evaporation rate of chloroform in the pinning and depinning process. Likewise the average CL velocity for fabrication reached around 20 µm/s due to the much higher evaporation rate of chloroform than water. Using alike suspensions, the modified EISA method called dose-controlled floating evaporative self-assembly (DFES) was employed to implement the self-assembly of SWNTs on the water/air interface and then deposit them on solid substrate by directed floating. Although the stripes were fabricated successfully by drops with certain doses and SWNT concentrations, there inevitably existed randomly oriented SWNTs from the water surface that built networks between the stripes containing well-aligned tubes. In order to slow down the evaporation rate and monitor the process detailedly, we used chlorobenzene as the solvent instead of chloroform and find the typical pinning/depinning movement of the CL. A preliminary analysis of the results in terms of chlorobenzene implied that the CL possibly followed the similar pinning/depinning process in consistence with our model with capillary bridge. In the last part of the thesis, the primary research on the optical properties of these stripes of ultrahigh purity semiconducting nanotubes was conducted by fluorescence microscopy and photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectroscopy. The energy transfer of the photogenerated excitons was confirmed between different tube species with controlled band gaps. In short, the experiments performed in this thesis allowed to gain new insights about the fabrication of large-area SWNT thin films by the cost-effective solution-processed method and most importantly to uncover its intrinsic mechanism as well. Combined with the separation and selection technique like density gradient centrifugation or polyfluorene derivatives assisted method, highly monodisperse semiconducting nanotubes could be deposited into organized, controllable and functional arrays. Beyond the ambient conditions, precise control for the evaporation under preset temperature and vapor pressure could possibly extend the technique to the industry level. Assisted by some other mature techniques such as roll-to-roll printing, the cost-effective method could be widely used in the manufacture of various thin film devices. More complex 2D or even 3D structures could be designed and accomplished by the method for the functional or stretchable requirements. Further research on the fundamental exciton transition and diffusion in different networks or structures of SWNTs will be the significant precondition for the real applications. Looking ahead, from the individual carbon nanotube to its thin film, this promising material with outstanding properties had many challenges to overcome before the real-world applications. Thanks to the availability of pure and well-defined materials, the scalable solution-processed approaches for fabrication of thin films should be able to unlock the potential of carbon nanotubes and exploit them in (opto-)electronic devices in the foreseeing future.},
  subject      = {Kohlenstoff-Nanor{\"o}hre},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Walter2015,
  author    = {Walter, Christof},
  title     = {Excitonic States and Optoelectronic Properties of Organic Semiconductors - A Quantum-Chemical Study Focusing on Merocyanines and Perylene-Based Dyes Including the Influence of the Environment},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-123494},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The scope of computational chemistry can be broadened by developing new methods and more efficient algorithms. However, the evaluation of the applicability of the methods for the different fields of chemistry is equally important. In this thesis systems with an unusual and complex electronic structure, such as excitonic states in organic semiconductors, a boron-containing bipolaron and the excited states of pyracene were studied and the applicability of the toolkit of computational chemistry was investigated. Concerning the organic semiconductors the focus was laid on organic solar cells, which are one of the most promising technologies with regard to satisfying the world's need for cheap and environmentally sustainable energy. This is due to the low production and material costs and the possibility of using flexible and transparent devices. However, their efficiency does still not live up to the expectations. Especially the exciton diffusion lengths seem to be significantly too short. In order to arrive at improved modules, a fundamental understanding of the elementary processes occurring in the cell on the molecular and supramolecular level is needed. Computational chemistry can provide insight by separating the different effects and providing models for predictions and prescreenings. In this thesis, the focus was laid on the description of excitonic states in merocyanines and perylene-based dyes taking the influence of the environment into account. At first, the photochemical isomerization between two configurations of 6-nitro BIPS observed experimentally was studied by first benchmarking several functionals against SCS-ADC(2) in the gas phase and subsequently calculating the excited-state potential energy surface. The geometries obtained from a relaxed scan in the ground state as well as from a scan in the excited state were used. The environment was included using different polarizable continuum models. It was shown that the choice of the model and especially the question of the state specificity of the approach is of vital importance. Using the results of the calculations, a two-dimensional potential energy surface could be constructed that could be used to explain the experimental findings. Furthermore, the importance of the excited-state isomerization as a potential deactivation channel in the exciton transport was pointed out. Then the assessment of the suitability of different merocyanines for optoelectronic applications with quantum-chemical methods was discussed. At first, the effect of the environment on the geometry, especially on the bond length alternation pattern, was investigated. It was shown that the environment changes the character of the ground-state wave function of several merocyanines qualitatively, which means that the results of gas-phase calculations are meaningless - at least when a comparison with solution or device data is desired. It was demonstrated that using a polarizable continuum model with an effective epsilon, a qualitative agreement between the calculated geometry and the geometry in the crystal structure can be obtained. Therefore, by comparing the bond length alternation in solution and in the crystal, a rough estimate of the effect of the crystal environment can be made. It was further shown that the connection between the HOMO energy and the open-circuit voltage is not as simple as it is often implied in the literature. It was discussed that it is not clear whether the HOMO of a single molecule or a \$\pi\$-stack containing several monomers should be used and if the environmental charges of the bulk phase or the interface should be included. Investigating the dependence of the HOMO energy on the stack size yielded no definitive trend. Furthermore, it was discussed that the effect due the optimization of the modules (solvent, bulk heterojunction) during the production masks any potential correlation between the HOMO energy and measured open-circuit values. Therefore, a trend can only be expected for unoptimized bilayer cells. It was concluded that ultimately, the importance of the HOMO energy should not be overestimated. The correlation between the exciton reorganization energy and the so-called cyanine limit, which is predicted by a simple two-state model, was also discussed. By referring to the results of VB calculations, it was discussed that the correlation indeed exists and is non-negligible, although the effect is not as strong as one might have expected. In this context, a potential application of a VB/MM approach was covered briefly. The importance of the molecular reorganization energy and the device morphology was also discussed. It was concluded that the optimization of merocyanines for organic optoelectronic devices is inherently a multiparameter problem and one cannot expect to find one particular parameter, which solely controls the efficiency. The perylene-based dyes were studied with a focus on the description of a potential trapping mechanism involving an intermolecular motion in a dimer. The aim was to find methods which can be applied to larger model systems than a dimer and take the effect of the environment into account. As a test coordinate the longitudinal shift of two monomers against each other was used. At first, it was demonstrated how the character of an excited state in a dimer can be defined and how it can be extracted from a standard quantum-chemical calculation. Then several functionals were benchmarked and their applicability or failure was rationalized using the character analysis. Two recipes could be proposed, which were applied to a constraint optimization (only intermolecular degrees of freedom) in the excited states of the PBI dimer and to the description of the potential energy surfaces of ground and excited states along a longitudinal displacement in the perylene tetramer, respectively. It was further demonstrated that the semi-empirical OMx methods fail to give an accurate description of the excited-state potential energy surfaces as well as the ground-state surface along the test coordinate. This failure could be attributed to an underestimation of overlap-dependent terms. Consequently, it could be shown that the methods are applicable to large intermolecular distances, where the overlap is negligible. The results of DFT calculations with differently composed basis sets suggested that adding an additional single p-function for each atom should significantly improve the performance. QM/MM methods are ideally suited to take the effect of the environment on a a dimer model system into account. However, it was shown that standard force fields also give an incorrect description of the interaction between the monomers along the intermolecular coordinate. This failure was attributed to the isotropic atom-atom interaction in the repulsion term of the Lennard-Jones potential. This was corroborated using two simple proof-of-principle anisotropy models. Therefore, a novel force field called OPLS-AA_O was presented that is based on OPLS-AA, but uses an anisotropic model for the repulsion. The model involves the overlap integral between the molecular densities, which are modeled as a sum of atom-centered p-type Gaussian functions. It was shown that using this force field an excellent agreement with the DFT results can be obtained when the correct parameters are used. These parameters, however, are not very generalizable, which was attributed to the simplicity of the model in its current state (using the same exponential parameter for all atoms). As a short excursion, the applicability of an MO-based overlap model was discussed. It was demonstrated that the repulsion term based on the density overlap can be used to correct the failure of the OMx methods for the ground states. This is in accord with the assumption that an underestimation of the overlap terms is responsible for the failure. It was shown that OPLS-AA_O also gives an excellent description of the longitudinal shift in a PBI tetramer. Using the tetramer as a test system and applying the recipe obtained in the TDDFT benchmark for the QM-part and OPLS-AA_O for the MM-part in conjunction with an electrostatic embedding scheme, a QM/MM description of the excited states of the PBI dimer including the effect of the environment could be obtained. In the last chapter the theoretical description of the Bis(borolyl)thiophene dianion and the excited states of pyracene were discussed. The electronic structure of the Bis(borolyl)thiophene dianion - a negative bipolaron - was elucidated using DFT and CASPT2 methods. Furthermore, an estimation of the extent of triplet admixture to the ground state due to spin-orbit coupling was given. In the second project the S1 and S2 states of pyracene were computed using SCS-CC2 and SCS-ADC(2) and an estimation for the balance between aromaticity and ring strain was given. This also involved computing the vibrational frequencies in the excited states. In both studies the results of the computations were able to rationalize and complete experimental results.},
  subject      = {Exziton},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Lewandowska2015,
  author    = {Lewandowska, Natalia Ewelina},
  title     = {A Correlation Study of Radio Giant Pulses and Very High Energy Photons from the Crab Pulsar},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-123533},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Pulsars (in short for Pulsating Stars) are magnetized, fast rotating neutron stars. The basic picture of a pulsar describes it as a neutron star which has a rotation axis that is not aligned with its magnetic field axis. The emission is assumed to be generated near the magnetic poles of the neutron star and emitted along the open magnetic field lines. Consequently, the corresponding beam of photons is emitted along the magnetic field line axis. The non-alignment of both, the rotation and the magnetic field axis, results in the effect that the emission of the pulsar is only seen if its beam points towards the observer. The emission from a pulsar is therefore perceived as being pulsed although its generation is not. This rather simple geometrical model is commonly referred to as Lighthouse Model and has been widely accepted. However, it does not deliver an explanation of the precise mechanisms behind the emission from pulsars (see below for more details). Nowadays more than 2000 pulsars are known. They are observed at various wavelengths. Multiwavelength studies have shown that some pulsars are visible only at certain wavelengths while the emission from others can be observed throughout large parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. An example of the latter case is the Crab pulsar which is also the main object of interest in this thesis. Originating from a supernova explosion observed in 1054 A.D. and discovered in 1968, the Crab pulsar has been the central subject of numerous studies. Its pulsed emission is visible throughout the whole electromagnetic spectrum which makes it a key figure in understanding the possible mechanisms of multiwavelength emission from pulsars. The Crab pulsar is also well known for its radio emission strongly varying on long as well as on short time scales. While long time scale behaviour from a pulsar is usually examined through the use of its average profile (a profile resulting from averaging of a large number of individual pulses resulting from single rotations), short time scale behaviour is examined via its single pulses. The short time scale anomalous behaviour of its radio emission is commonly referred to as Giant Pulses and represents the central topic of this thesis. While current theoretical approaches place the origin of the radio emission from a pulsar like the Crab near its magnetic poles (Polar Cap Model) as already indicated by the Lighthouse model, its emission at higher frequencies, especially its gamma-ray emission, is assumed to originate further away in the geometrical region surrounding a pulsar which is commonly referred to as a pulsar magnetosphere (Outer Gap Model). Consequently, the respective emission regions are usually assumed not to be connected. However, past observational results from the Crab pulsar represent a contradiction to this assumption. Radio giant pulses from the Crab pulsar have been observed to emit large amounts of energy on very short time scales implying small emission regions on the surface of the pulsar. Such energetic events might also leave a trace in the gamma-ray emission of the Crab pulsar. The aim of this thesis is to search for this connection in the form of a correlation study between radio giant pulses and gamma-photons from the Crab pulsar. To make such a study possible, a multiwavelength observational campaign was organized for which radio observations were independently applied for, coordinated and carried out with the Effelsberg radio telescope and the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope and gamma-ray observations with the Major Atmospheric Imaging Cherenkov telescopes. The corresponding radio and gamma-ray data sets were reduced and the correlation analysis thereafter consisted of three different approaches: 1) The search for a clustering in the differences of the times of arrival of radio giant pulses and gamma-photons; 2) The search for a linear correlation between radio giant pulses and gamma-photons using the Pearson correlation approach; 3) A search for an increase of the gamma-ray flux around occurring radio giant pulses. In the last part of the correlation study an increase of the number of gamma-photons centered on a radio giant pulse by about 17\% (in contrast with the number of gamma-photons when no radio giant pulse occurs in the same time window) was discovered. This finding suggests that a new theoretical approach for the emission of young pulsars like the Crab pulsar, is necessary.},
  subject      = {Pulsar},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Krauss2015,
  author    = {Krauß, Manuel Ernst},
  title     = {Non-minimal supersymmetric models: LHC phenomenology and model discrimination},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-123555},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {It is generally agreed upon the fact that the Standard Model of particle physics can only be viewed as an effective theory that needs to be extended as it leaves some essential questions unanswered. The exact realization of the necessary extension is subject to discussion. Supersymmetry is among the most promising approaches to physics beyond the Standard Model as it can simultaneously solve the hierarchy problem and provide an explanation for the dark matter abundance in the universe. Despite further virtues like gauge coupling unification and radiative electroweak symmetry breaking, minimal supersymmetric models cannot be the ultimate answer to the open questions of the Standard Model as they still do not incorporate neutrino masses and are besides heavily constrained by LHC data. This does, however, not derogate the beauty of the concept of supersymmetry. It is therefore time to explore non-minimal supersymmetric models which are able to close these gaps, review their consistency, test them against experimental data and provide prospects for future experiments. The goal of this thesis is to contribute to this process by exploring an extraordinarily well motivated class of models which bases upon a left-right symmetric gauge group. While relaxing the tension with LHC data, those models automatically include the ingredients for neutrino masses. We start with a left-right supersymmetric model at the TeV scale in which scalar \(SU(2)_R\) triplets are responsible for the breaking of left-right symmetry as well as for the generation of neutrino masses. Although a tachyonic doubly-charged scalar is present at tree-level in this kind of models, we show by performing the first complete one-loop evaluation that it gains a real mass at the loop level. The constraints on the predicted additional charged gauge bosons are then evaluated using LHC data, and we find that we can explain small excesses in the data of which the current LHC run will reveal if they are actual new physics signals or just background fluctuations. In a careful evaluation of the loop-corrected scalar potential we then identify parameter regions in which the vacuum with the phenomenologically correct symmetry-breaking properties is stable. Conveniently, those regions favour low left-right symmetry breaking scales which are accessible at the LHC. In a slightly modified version of this model where a \(U(1)_R × U(1)_{B-L}\) gauge symmetry survives down to the TeV scale, we implement a minimal gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking mechanism for which we calculate the boundary conditions in the presence of gauge kinetic mixing. We show how the presence of the extended gauge group raises the tree-level Higgs mass considerably so that the need for heavy supersymmetric spectra is relaxed. Taking the constraints from the Higgs sector into account, we then explore the LHC phenomenology of this model and point out where the expected collider signatures can be distinguished from standard scenarios. In particular if neutrino masses are explained by low-scale seesaw mechanisms as is done throughout this work, there are potentially spectacular signals at low-energy experiments which search for charged lepton flavour violation. The last part of this thesis is dedicated to the detailed exploration of processes like μ → e γ, μ → 3 e or μ-e conversion in nuclei in a supersymmetric framework with an inverse seesaw mechanism. In particular, we disprove claims about a non-decoupling effect in Z-mediated three-body decays and study the prospects for discovering and distinguishing signals at near-future experiments. In this context we identify the possibility to deduce from ratios like BR(\(τ → 3 μ\))/BR(\(τ → μ e^+ e^-\)) whether the contributions from ν - W loops dominate over supersymmetric contributions or vice versa.},
  subject      = {Supersymmetrie},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Gnamlin2015,
  author    = {Gnamlin, Prisca},
  title     = {Use of Tumor Vasculature for Successful Treatment of Carcinomas by Oncolytic Vaccinia Virus},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-119019},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Tumor-induced angiogenesis is of major interest for oncology research. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is the most potent angiogenic factor characterized so far. VEGF blockade was shown to be sufficient for angiogenesis inhibition and subsequent tumor regression in several preclinical tumor models. Bevacizumab was the first treatment targeting specifically tumor-induced angiogenesis through VEGF blockade to be approved by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) for cancer treatment. However, after very promising results in preclinical evaluations, VEGF blockade did not show the expected success in patients. Some tumors became resistant to VEGF blockade. Several factors have been accounted responsible, the over-expression of other angiogenic factors, the noxious influence of VEFG blockade on normal tissues, the selection of hypoxia resistant neoplastic cells, the recruitment of hematopoietic progenitor cells and finally the transient nature of angiogenesis inhibition by VEGF blockade. The development of blocking agents against other angiogenic factors like placental growth factor (PlGF) and Angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) allows the development of an anti-angiogenesis strategy adapted to the profile of the tumor. Oncolytic virotherapy uses the natural propensity of viruses to colonize tumors to treat cancer. The recombinant vaccinia virus GLV-1h68 was shown to infect, colonize and lyse several tumor types. Its descendant GLV-1h108, expressing an anti-VEGF antibody, was proved in previous studies to inhibit efficiently tumor induced angiogenesis. Additional VACVs expressing single chain antibodies (scAb) antibodies against PlGF and Ang-2 alone or in combination with anti VEGF scAb were designed. In this study, VACV-mediated anti-angiogenesis treatments have been evaluated in several preclinical tumor models. The efficiency of PlGF blockade, alone or in combination with VEGF, mediated by VACV has been established and confirmed. PlGF inhibition alone or with VEGF reduced tumor burden 5- and 2-folds more efficiently than the control virus, respectively. Ang-2 blockade efficiency for cancer treatment gave controversial results when tested in different laboratories. Here we demonstrated that unlike VEGF, the success of Ang-2 blockade is not only correlated to the strength of the blockade. A particular balance between Ang-2, VEGF and Ang-1 needs to be induced by the treatment to see a regression of the tumor and an improved survival. We saw that Ang-2 inhibition delayed tumor growth up to 3-folds compared to the control virus. These same viruses induced statistically significant tumor growth delays. This study unveiled the need to establish an angiogenic profile of the tumor to be treated as well as the necessity to better understand the synergic effects of VEGF and Ang-2. In addition angiogenesis inhibition by VACV-mediated PlGF and Ang-2 blockade was able to reduce the number of metastases and migrating tumor cells (even more efficiently than VEGF blockade). VACV colonization of tumor cells, in vitro, was limited by VEGF, when the use of the anti-VEGF VACV GLV-1h108 drastically improved the colonization efficiency up to 2-fold, 72 hours post-infection. These in vitro data were confirmed by in vivo analysis of tumors. Fourteen days post-treatment, the anti-VEGF virus GLV-1h108 was colonizing 78.8\% of the tumors when GLV-1h68 colonization rate was 49.6\%. These data confirmed the synergistic effect of VEGF blockade and VACV replication for tumor regression. Three of the tumor cell lines used to assess VACV-mediated angiogenesis inhibition were found, in certain conditions, to mimic either endothelial cell or pericyte functions, and participate directly to the vascular structure. The expression by these tumor cells of e-selectin, p-selectin, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1, normally expressed on activated endothelial cells, corroborates our findings. These proteins play an important role in immune cell recruitment, and there amount vary in presence of VEGF, PlGF and Ang-2, confirming the involvement of angiogenic factors in the immuno-modulatory abilities of tumors. In this study VACV-mediated angiogenesis blockade proved its potential as a therapeutic agent able to treat different tumor types and prevent resistance observed during bevacizumab treatment by acting on different factors. First, the expression of several antibodies by VACV would prevent another angiogenic factor to take over VEGF and stimulate angiogenesis. Then, the ability of VACV to infect tumor cells would prevent them to form blood vessel-like structures to sustain tumor growth, and the localized delivery of the antibody would decrease the risk of adverse effects. Next, the blockade of angiogenic factors would improve VACV replication and decrease the immune-modulatory effect of tumors. Finally the fact that angiogenesis blockade lasts until total regression of the tumor would prevent the recovery of the tumor-associated vasculature and the relapse of patients.},
  subject      = {Vaccinia-Virus},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Schultz2015,
  author    = {Schultz, Isabel},
  title     = {Therapeutic systems for Insulin-like growth factor-1},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-119114},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {SUMMARY Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) is a polypeptide with a molecular weight of 7.649 kDa and an anabolic potential. Thereby, IGF-I has a promising therapeutic value e.g. in muscle wasting diseases such as sarcopenia. IGF-I is mainly secreted by the liver in response to growth hormone (GH) stimulation and is rather ubiquitously found within all tissues. The effects of IGF-I are mediated by its respective IGF-I transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor triggering the stimulation of protein synthesis, glucose uptake and the regulation of cell growth. The actions of IGF-I are modulated by six IGF binding proteins binding and transporting IGF-I in a binary or ternary complex to tissues and receptors and modulating the binding of IGF-I to its receptor. The nature of the formed complexes impacts IGF-I`s half-life, modulating the half-life between 10 minutes (free IGF-I) to 12 - 15 hours when presented in a ternary complex with IGF binding protein 3 and an acid labile subunit (ALS). Therefore, sustained drug delivery systems of free IGF-I are superficially seen as interesting for the development of controlled release profiles, as the rate of absorption is apparently and easily set slower by simple formulation as compared to the rapid rate of elimination. Thereby, one would conclude, the formulation scientist can rapidly develop systems for which the pharmacokinetics of IGF-I are dominated by the formulation release kinetics. However, the in vivo situation is more complex and as mentioned (vide supra), the half-life may easily be prolonged up to hours providing proper IGF-I complexation takes place upon systemic uptake. These and other aspects are reviewed in Chapter I, within which we introduce IGF-I as a promising therapeutic agent detailing its structure and involved receptors along with the resulting signaling pathways. We summarize the control of IGF-I pharmacokinetics in nature within the context of its complex system of 6 binding proteins to control half-life and tissue distribution. Furthermore, we describe IGF-I variants with modulated properties in vivo and originated from alternative splicing. These insights were translated into sophisticated IGF-I delivery systems for therapeutic use. Aside from safety aspects, the challenges and requirements of an effective IGF-I therapy are discussed. Localized and systemic IGF-I delivery strategies, different routes of administration as well as liquid and solid IGF-I formulations are reviewed. Effective targeting of IGF-I by protein decoration is outlined and consequently this chapter provides an interesting guidance for successful IGF-I-delivery. In Chapter II, we firstly outline the stability of IGF-I in liquid formulations with the intention to deliver the biologic through the lung and the impact of buffer type, sodium chloride concentration and pH value on IGF-I stability is presented. IGF-I integrity was preserved in histidine buffer over 4 months at room temperature, but methionine 59 oxidation (Met(o)) along with reducible dimer and trimer formation was observed in an acidic environment (pH 4.5) and using acetate buffer. Strong aggregation resulted in a complete loss of IGF-I bioactivity, whereas the potency was partly maintained in samples showing a slight aggregation and complete IGF-I oxidation. Atomization by air-jet or vibrating-mesh nebulizers yielded in limited Met(o) formation and no aggregation. The results of IGF-I nebulization experiments regarding aerosol output rate, mass median aerodynamic diameter and fine particle fraction were comparable with 0.9\% sodium chloride reference, approving the applicability of liquid IGF-I formulations for pulmonary delivery. In Chapter III we escalated the development to solid delivery systems designed for alveolar landing upon inhalation and by deploying trehalose and the newly introduced for pulmonary application silk-fibroin as carriers. Microparticles were produced using nano spray drying following analyses including IGF-I integrity, IGF-I release profiles and aerodynamic properties. In vitro transport kinetics of IGF-I across pulmonary Calu-3 epithelia were suggesting similar permeability as compared to IGF-I's cognate protein, insulin that has already been successfully administered pulmonary in clinical settings. These in vivo results were translated to an ex vivo human lung lobe model. This work showed the feasibility of pulmonary IGF-I delivery and the advantageous diversification of excipients for pulmonary formulations using silk-fibroin. Chapter IV focuses on an innovative strategy for safe and controllable IGF-I delivery. In that chapter we escalated the development to novel IGF-I analogues. The intention was to provide a versatile biologic into which galenical properties can be engineered through chemical synthesis, e.g. by site directed coupling of polymers to IGF-I. For this purpose we genetically engineered two IGF-I variants containing an unnatural amino acid at two positions, respectively, thereby integrating alkyne functions into the primary sequence of the protein. These allowed linking IGF-I with other molecules in a site specific manner, i.e. via a copper catalyzed azide-alkyne Huisgen cycloaddition (click reaction). In this chapter we mainly introduce the two IGF-I variants, detail the delivery concept and describe the optimization of the expression conditions of the IGF-I variants. In conclusion, we span from simple liquid formulations for aerolization through solid systems for tailored for maximal alveolar landing to novel engineered IGF-I analogues. Thereby, three strategies for advanced IGF-I delivery were addressed and opportunities and limitations of each were outlined. Evidence was provided that sufficiently stable and easy to manufacture formulations can be developed as typically required for first in man studies. Interestingly, solid systems - typically introduced in later stages of pharmaceutical development - were quite promising. By use of silk-fibroin as a new IGF-I carrier for pulmonary administration, a new application was established for this excipient. The demonstrated success using the ex vivo human lung lobe model provided substantial confidence that pulmonary IGF-I delivery is possible in man. Finally, this work describes the expression of two IGF-I variants containing two unnatural amino acids to implement an innovative strategy for IGF-I delivery. This genetic engineering approach was providing the fundament for novel IGF-I analogues. Ideally, the biologic is structurally modified by covalently linked moieties for the control of pharmacokinetics or for targeted delivery, e.g. into sarcopenic muscles. One future scenario is dicussed in the 'conclusion and outlook' section for which IGF-I is tagged to a protease sensitive linker peptide and this linker peptide in return is coupled to a polyethylenglykole (PEG) polymer (required to prolong the half-life). Some proteases may serve as proxy for sarcopenia such that protease upregulation in compromised muscle tissues drives cleavage of IGF-I from the PEG. Thereby, IGF-I is released at the seat of the disease while systemic side effects are minimized.},
  subject      = {Insulin-like Growth Factor I},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Fischer2015,
  author    = {Fischer, Robin},
  title     = {Generating useful tools for future studies in the center of the circadian clock - defined knockout mutants for PERIOD and TIMELESS},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-119141},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {To unravel the role of single genes underlying certain biological processes, scientists often use amorphic or hypomorphic alleles. In the past, such mutants were often created by chance. Enormous approaches with many animals and massive screening effort for striking phenotypes were necessary to find a needle in the haystack. Therefore at the beginning chemical mutagens or radiation were used to induce mutations in the genome. Later P-element insertions and inaccurate jump-outs enabled the advantage of potential larger deletions or inversions. The mutations were characterized and subsequently kept in smaller populations in the laboratories. Thus additional mutations with unknown background effects could accumulate. The precision of the knockout through homologous recombination and the additional advantage of being able to generate many useful rescue constructs that can be easily reintegrated into the target locus made us trying an ends-out targeting procedure of the two core clock genes period and timeless in Drosophila melanogaster. Instead of the endogenous region, a small fragment of approximately 100 base pairs remains including an attP-site that can be used as integration site for in vitro created rescue constructs. After a successful ends-out targeting procedure, the locus will be restored with e.g. flies expressing the endogenous gene under the native promoter at the original locus coupled to a fluorescence tag or expressing luciferase. We also linked this project to other research interests of our work group, like the epigenetic related ADAR-editing project of the Timeless protein, a promising newly discovered feature of time point specific timeless mRNA modification after transcription with yet unexplored consequences. The editing position within the Timeless protein is likewise interesting and not only noticed for the first time. This will render new insights into the otherwise not-satisfying investigation and quest for functional important sequences of the Timeless protein, which anyway shows less homology to other yet characterized proteins. Last but not least, we bothered with the question of the role of Shaggy on the circadian clock. The impact of an overexpression or downregulation of Shaggy on the pace of the clock is obvious and often described. The influence of Shaggy on Period and Timeless was also shown, but for the latter it is still controversially discussed. Some are talking of a Cryptochrome stabilization effect and rhythmic animals in constant light due to Shaggy overexpression, others show a decrease of Cryptochrome levels under these conditions. Also the constant light rhythmicity of the flies, as it was published, could not be repeated so far. We were able to expose the conditions behind the Cryptochrome stabilization and discuss possibilities for the phenomenon of rhythmicity under constant light due to Shaggy overexpression.},
  subject      = {Biologische Uhr},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Aulbach2015,
  author    = {Aulbach, Stefan},
  title     = {Contributions to Extreme Value Theory in Finite and Infinite Dimensions: With a Focus on Testing for Generalized Pareto Models},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-127162},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Extreme value theory aims at modeling extreme but rare events from a probabilistic point of view. It is well-known that so-called generalized Pareto distributions, which are briefly reviewed in Chapter 1, are the only reasonable probability distributions suited for modeling observations above a high threshold, such as waves exceeding the height of a certain dike, earthquakes having at least a certain intensity, and, after applying a simple transformation, share prices falling below some low threshold. However, there are cases for which a generalized Pareto model might fail. Therefore, Chapter 2 derives certain neighborhoods of a generalized Pareto distribution and provides several statistical tests for these neighborhoods, where the cases of observing finite dimensional data and of observing continuous functions on [0,1] are considered. By using a notation based on so-called D-norms it is shown that these tests consistently link both frameworks, the finite dimensional and the functional one. Since the derivation of the asymptotic distributions of the test statistics requires certain technical restrictions, Chapter 3 analyzes these assumptions in more detail. It provides in particular some examples of distributions that satisfy the null hypothesis and of those that do not. Since continuous copula processes are crucial tools for the functional versions of the proposed tests, it is also discussed whether those copula processes actually exist for a given set of data. Moreover, some practical advice is given how to choose the free parameters incorporated in the test statistics. Finally, a simulation study in Chapter 4 compares the in total three different test statistics with another test found in the literature that has a similar null hypothesis. This thesis ends with a short summary of the results and an outlook to further open questions.},
  subject      = {Extremwertstatistik},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Bruttel2015,
  author    = {Bruttel, Valentin Stefan},
  title     = {Soluble HLA-G binds to dendritic cells which likely suppresses anti-tumour immune responses in regional lymph nodes in ovarian carcinoma},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-127252},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Zusammenfassung Einleitung HLA-G, ein nicht-klassisches HLA bzw. MHC Klasse Ib Molek{\"u}l, kann sowohl als membrangebundenes als auch als l{\"o}sliches Molek{\"u}l verschiedenste Immunzellpopulationen effektiv inhibieren. Unter physiologischen Bedingungen wird HLA-G vor allem in der Plazenta exprimiert, wo es dazu beitr{\"a}gt den semiallogenen Embryo vor einer Abstoßung durch das m{\"u}tterliche Immunsystem zu besch{\"u}tzen. Außerdem wird HLA-G in einer Vielzahl von Tumoren wie zum Beispiel in Ovarialkarzinomen {\"u}berexprimiert. Ziel dieser Arbeit war es besonders die Rolle von l{\"o}slichem HLA-G im Ovarialkarzinom und die Expression von HLA-G in verschiedenen Subtypen des Ovarialkarzinoms genauer zu untersuchen. Ergebnisse Anhand eines Tissue Microarrays wurde best{\"a}tigt dass HLA-G unter physiologischen Bedingungen nur in sehr wenigen Geweben wie Plazenta oder Testes exprimiert wird. Außerdem wurden erstmals auch im Nebennierenmark hohe Expressionslevel detektiert. Im Gegensatz zur physiologischen Expression wurde HLA-G in ser{\"o}sen, muzin{\"o}sen, endometrioiden und Klarzellkarzinomen und somit in Tumoren aller untersuchten Subtypen des Ovarialkarzinoms detektiert. Am h{\"a}ufigsten war HLA-G in hochgradigen ser{\"o}sen Karzinomen {\"u}berexprimiert. Hier konnte gezeigt werden dass auf Genexpressionslevel in Ovarialkarzinomen die Expression des immunsuppressiven HLA-G mit der Expression von klassischen MHC Molek{\"u}len wie HLA-A, -B oder -C hochsignifikant korreliert. Außerdem konnte in Aszitesproben von Patientinnen mit Ovarialkarzinomen hohe Konzentrationen von l{\"o}slichem HLA-G nachgewiesen werden. Auch auf metastasierten Tumorzellen in regionalen Lymphknoten war HLA-G nachweisbar. {\"U}berraschenderweise wurde aber besonders viel HLA-G auf Dendritischen Zellen in Lymphknoten detektiert. Da in Monozyten und Dendritischen Zellen von gesunden Spendern durch IL-4 oder IL-10 im Gegensatz zu Literatur keine Expression von HLA-G induzierbar war, untersuchten wir ob Dendritische Zellen l{\"o}sliches HLA-G binden. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass besonders Dendritische Zellen die in Gegenwart von IL-4, IL-10 und GM-CSF aus Monozyten generiert wurden (DC-10) effektiv l{\"o}sliches HLA-G {\"u}ber ILT Rezeptoren binden. In Abh{\"a}ngigkeit von ihrer Beladung mit HLA-G hemmen auch fixierte DC-10 Zellen noch die Proliferation von zytotoxischen CD8+ T Zellen. Zudem wurden regulatorische T Zellen induziert. Schlussfolgerungen Besonders in den am h{\"a}ufigsten diagnostizierten hochgradigen ser{\"o}sen Ovarialkarzinomen ist HLA-G in den meisten F{\"a}llen {\"u}berexprimiert. Durch die Expression immunsuppressiver MHC Klasse Ib Molek{\"u}le wie HLA-G k{\"o}nnen wahrscheinlich auch Tumore wachsen, die noch klassische MHC Molek{\"u}le exprimieren und aufgrund ihrer Mutationslast eigentlich vom Immunsystem erkannt und eliminiert werden m{\"u}ssten. L{\"o}sliches HLA-G k{\"o}nnte zudem lokal Immunantworten gegen Tumorantigene unterdr{\"u}cken indem es an Dendritische Zellen in regionalen Lymphknoten bindet. Diese Zellen pr{\"a}sentieren nomalerweise zytotoxischen T Zellen Tumorantigene und spielen daher eine entscheidende Rolle in der Entstehung von protektiven Immunantworten. Mit l{\"o}slichem HLA-G beladene Dendritische Zellen hemmen jedoch die Proliferation von CD8+ T Zellen und induzieren regulatorische T Zellen. Dadurch k{\"o}nnten Ovarialkarzinome "aus der Ferne" auch in metastasenfreien Lymphknoten die Entstehung von gegen den Tumor gerichteten Immunantworten unterdr{\"u}cken. Dieser erstmals beschriebene Mechanismus k{\"o}nnte auch in anderen malignen Erkrankungen eine Rolle spielen, da l{\"o}sliches HLA-G in einer Vielzahl von Tumorindikationen nachgewiesen wurde.},
  subject      = {HLA-G},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Widmer2015,
  author    = {Widmer, Toni},
  title     = {Lowering lattice forces in drug substance crystals to improve dissolution and solubility},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-126232},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Lattice forces are based on the attraction between the single moieties of molecules. The strength of lattice forces has an impact on the solid state and related physical properties such as melting point, boiling point, vapor pressure solvation and solubility. For solvation to occur, energy is required to break the lattice forces attracting ions and molecules among themselves. The energy for breaking up the attraction between the molecules is gained from the energy released when ions or molecules of the lattice associate with molecules of the solvent. Solubility is therefore, directly linked to the energy which is required to break the lattice forces and the energy which is liberated by solvation of the molecules or ions. Based on this relation, the lattice forces in two acidic compounds and a neutral compound were subsequently lowered by different approaches with the intention to increase the solubility, supersaturation, and dissolution rate. The conversion to an ionic liquid and the embedding of the compound in a pH-sensitive matrix in an amorphous state were investigated with an acidic compound and its pro-drug. The tetrabutylphosphonium (TBPH) salt showed the most promising properties among the tested counter ions. It alters the properties of the compound from a highly crystalline physicochemical state to an amorphous readily soluble material showing supersaturation in a wider pH range and higher solubility than the sodium and potassium salts. A solid dispersion approach was developed in parallel. Solid dispersions with two different pH-sensitive polymers and different drug load were prepared by lyophilization to determine the miscibility of the compound and the polymer by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). A miscibility of 50\% of the amorphous acid with the pH-sensitive Eudragit L100-55 matrix and a miscibility of 40\% with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose acetate succinate (HPMC-AS) was found. Both approaches, the TBPH salt and the solid dispersion based on the pH-sensitive Eudragit L100-55 were tested in vivo. The TBPH salt was dosed in a buffered solution to prevent precipitation in the acidic stomach pH. This resulted in BAV higher than the crystalline suspension but lower than the solid dispersion. There were no acute toxicology effects seen. Thus, TBPH was considered safe for further studies. The TBPH salts were very hygroscopic, sticky and prone to precipitation as free compound when exposed to low pH when simulating the passage through the stomach. Thus, the principle of the ionic liquid was combined with the principle of an amorphous solid dispersion. This mitigated the risk of precipitation of the TBPH salt during the passage of the stomach. Also delinquency upon open storage was improved by embedding the TBPH salt in a pH-sensitive polymer. Dissolution tests mimicking the pH gradient in the gastro intestinal tract confirmed the protective properties of the pH-sensitive polymer matrices against recrystallization at low stomach pH in vitro. Furthermore, supersaturation at pH ranges relevant in the intestines of preclinical species or humans was observed. The TBPH solid dispersion showed superior supersaturation behavior in vitro compared to the free acid in pH-sensitive matrix. However, equally increased bioavailability (BAV) was observed when the amorphous solid dispersion contained the free acid form or the TBPH salt. Absorption seemed to be so fast that the short in vitro supersaturation observed for the free from in pH-sensitive matrix was already sufficient for complete absorption within 15 - 30 minutes. This is in accordance with the short tmax of around 15 - 30 minutes after oral application of the low lattice force principles. The pharmacokinetic (PK) profile became the main focus of further optimization as the BAV was maximized already. Early maximal plasma concentration (tmax) went along with high maximal plasma concentration (Cmax) for the low lattice force principles. Central nervous system related side effects as consequence of the PK profile with such a high Cmax were likely to happen and therefore, the formulation principles were modified to maintain the doubled BAV and reduce the observed Cmax. Additionally, the compound showed a short half-life requiring a two times daily dose, which is suboptimal for a chronic treatment. The amorphous acid in pH-matrix showed a modified PK profile when dosed in a hydrogel but not in an oleo gel. Surprisingly, administration of the TBPH salt in pH-matrix suspended in oil showed a massive delay of the tmax to 8 hours and a reduction of Cmax by factor 2 - 3 with unchanged good BAV when administered as a suspension in oil without increased viscosity. TBPH salt solution with a high viscosity resulted in the same PK profile as when administered without increased viscosity. The animal model was changed from rat to dog. The dose was limited to 15 mg/dog since they reacted much more sensitively to the drug. BAV at this dose level was 100\% for the crystalline suspension already, thus the focus of this study was not increasing BAV but to achieve prolonged and/or delayed exposure using different formulation principles elaborated in rats before. An immediate release formulation of 3 mg was combined with a delayed/modified release principle containing 12 mg of the compound. An additional study arm was conducted with a remote controlled device programmed to deliver a first dose of 3 mg instantaneously after passing the stomach and a second dose of 12 mg when entering the caecum. The tmax remained short for all formulation principles and it seemed that delayed and modified release lead to BAV reduction. The modified PK profiles could not be translated to an oral dog model which endorsed the hypothesis of an absorption window; however, the in vitro results could be translated to a dog model for colonic absorption. A nanosuspension of the crystalline compound, the TBPH salt in pH-matrix and the TBPH salt of the pro-drug of the compound were administered rectally to determine colonic absorption. The nanosuspension showed exposure around the limit of quantification whereas the TBPH in pH-matrix showed 4\% BAV and the pro-drug as TBPH salt in pH-matrix resulted in 12\% BAV although the pro-drug is factor 3 less soluble. This was in line with the increased permeation of the pro-drug which was observed in the Caco2 experiments. The bioavailability was increased by using the low lattice force principles and validated the hypothesis for the acidic drug and its pro-drug in the colonic dog model. Chemical and physicochemical stability of the investigated solid dispersions was confirmed for at least 18 months at room temperature. Amorphous solid dispersions were investigated to lower lattice forces of a neutral molecule. Solid dispersions are well known from literature; however, they are not frequently used as principles for dosage forms due to limitations in physical stability and complex manufacturing processes. A viable formulation principle was developed for a neutral compound assuming that the stability of a solid dispersion with a drug load below the maximal miscibility will be better than one which exceeds the maximal miscibility. The dispersed and amorphous state of the neutral compound resulted in a higher energy level and chemical potential compared to a crystalline form implying that they are thermodynamically instable and sensitive to recrystallization. This was confirmed by the fast recrystallization of an amorphous solid dispersion made from HPMC with 50\% drug load which recrystallized within a few days. Solid dispersions with different drug loads in different polymers and in polymer mixtures were prepared by lyophilization. The miscibility of the compound and the polymer was determined by DSC as the miscibility is a surrogate for maximal stable drugload of the solid dispersion. HPMC was found to be miscible with 20\% compound confirming the instability of the 50\% HPMC solid dispersion observed earlier. Based on dosing needs, a miscibility/drug load of at least 30\% was mandatory because of the dosing requirements to dose less than 1500 mg of final formulation. This was considered as maximal swallowable volume for later clinical development. Thus, all systems with a miscibility higher or equal to 30\% drug in polymer were evaluated in an in vitro dissolution test and ranked in comparison with amorphous pure compound, crystalline compound and a 20\% drug load solid dispersion made from HPMC. The HPMC based solid dispersion which gave good exposure in previous in vivo experiments did not support the high drugload that was needed. Therefore, similar in vitro behavior of this solid dispersion should result in similar in vivo performance. The polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) based solid dispersions scored with high drug load and medium initial kinetic solubility. The Soluplus based solid dispersion offer lower drug load and slightly lower initial kinetic solubility, but showed an extended supersaturation. The 4 best performing systems were evaluated in rats. They resulted in a short Tmax of 15 minutes and BAV higher than 85\% indicating fast and complete absorption. The reference HPMC based solid dispersion with a drug load of 20\% showed 65\% BAV. This showed that higher drug loads were feasible and did not limit absorption in this animal model. Since the estimated human dose required a higher formulation density than obtained from lyophilization or spray drying, melt extrusion of the solid dispersion was considered to be the most adequate technology. The process temperature needed to be below 200 °C as this value represents the degradation temperature of the polymers. It was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry whether the compound can be mixed with the molten polymer. None of the polymers could dissolve the crystalline compound below the degradation point of the polymer. The temperature had to be increased to 260 °C until the compound was molten together to a monophasic system with polymer. This resulted in degradation of the polymers. Therefore, different plasticizers and small organic molecules with similar functional groups as the compound were investigated on their ability to reduce the melting point of the mixture of polymer and compound. Positive results were obtained with several small molecules. Based on a literature review, nicotinamide had the least concerning pharmaceutical activities and was chosen for further development. Solid dispersions with the same composition as the ones tested in rat were prepared with 9\% nicotinamide as softener. Extrusion without nicotinamide was not possible at 135 °C or at 170 °C whereas the addition of 9\% nicotinamide led to a homogenous extrudate when processed at 135 °C. The solid state of the extrudates was not molecularly dispersed but the compound was in a crystalline state. They could not reach the in vitro performance observed for the lyophilized solid dispersions with Soluplus or PVP derivatives. Nevertheless, the performances in the supersaturation assay were comparable to the HPMC based lyophilized solid dispersion. The Soluplus and PVP based crystalline extrudates were evaluated in a dog PK showing that the crystalline solid dispersion does not enable BAV higher than 90\% within 24 hours after application. In parallel, the hygroscopicity of the meltextrudates was investigated by DVS and the best performing system based on Kollidon VA64 was further optimized regarding the solid state after its extrusion. The minimal process temperature to obtain a fully amorphous solid dispersion was determined by hot stage X-ray powder diffraction analysis (XRPD) and confirmed by lab scale extrusion. Addition of 9\% nicotinamide lowered the process temperature from 220 °C (without nicotinamide) to 200 °C with nicotinamide. The minimal temperature for obtaining crystal free material was independent of the nicotinamide amount as soon as it exceeded 9\%. Lowering the process temperature with nicotinamide reduced the impurity levels from 3.5\% at 220 °C to 1.1\% at 200 °C. The fully amorphous extrudates performed now better in the in vitro supersaturation assay than the lyophilized amorphous HPMC solid dispersion and the crystalline extrudates which were extruded at 135 °C. The process was up-scaled to a pilot scale extruder with alternative screw designs increasing mechanical shear forces and mixing which enabled lower process temperatures. This resulted in a maximal process temperature of 195 °C when nicotinamide was present and 205 °C without nicotinamide. However, shorter process time and reduced process temperatures (compared to the lab scale equipment) resulted in impurity levels smaller than 0.5\% for both compositions and temperatures and made the nicotinamide obsolete. The amorphous extrudates from the pilot scale extruder performed better in vitro than the crystalline extrudates from the lab scale extruder and the lyophilized HPMC solid dispersion. A comparable PK profile of the HPMC solid dispersion and the amorphous melt extruded formulation principle was anticipated from these in vitro results. This was confirmed by the pharmacokinetic profile in dogs after oral administration of the final extruded solid dispersion formulation which was equivalent with the pharmacokinetic profile of the HPMC based solid dispersion formulation. The assumption that using a drug load below the miscibility prevents the solid dispersion from recrystallization was verified at least for a limited time by a stability test at elevated temperatures for 3 months showing no change in solid state. This indicates the opportunities of the low lattice forces approach, but also showed the importance of developing principles first assuring stable solid state, performance in vitro and in vivo, tailor them in a second step based on performance and combine them with technology such as melt extrusion as third step. If these steps are done in the context of clinical needs and quality it can rationalize the development of a solid dispersion and minimalize the formulation related risks regarding biopharmacy and stability.},
  subject      = {Arzneimittel},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Holz2015,
  author    = {Holz, Elisa Mira},
  title     = {Systematic evaluation of non-invasive brain-computer interfaces as assistive devices for persons with severe motor impairment based on a user-centred approach - in controlled settings and independent use},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-126334},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are devices that translate signals from the brain into control commands for applications. Within the last twenty years, BCI applications have been developed for communication, environmental control, entertainment, and substitution of motor functions. Since BCIs provide muscle independent communication and control of the environment by circumventing motor pathways, they are considered as assistive technologies for persons with neurological and neurodegenerative diseases leading to motor paralysis, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy and stroke (K{\"u}bler, Kotchoubey, Kaiser, Wolpaw, \& Birbaumer, 2001). Although most researcher mention persons with severe motor impairment as target group for their BCI systems, most studies include healthy participants and studies including potential BCI end-users are sparse. Thus, there is a substantial lack of studies that investigate whether results obtained in healthy participants can be transferred to patients with neurodegenerative diseases. This clearly shows that BCI research faces a translational gap between intense BCI research and bringing BCI applications to end-users outside the lab (K{\"u}bler, Mattia, Rupp, \& Tangermann, 2013). Translational studies are needed that investigate whether BCIs can be successfully used by severely disabled end-users and whether those end-users would accept BCIs as assistive devices. Another obvious discrepancy exists between a plethora of short-term studies and a sparse number of long-term studies. BCI research thus also faces a reliability gap (K{\"u}bler, Mattia, et al., 2013). Most studies present only one BCI session, however the few studies that include several testing sessions indicate high inter- and intra-individual variance in the end-users' performance due to non-stationarity of signals. Long-term studies, however, are needed to demonstrate whether a BCI can be reliably used as assistive device over a longer period of time in the daily-life of a person. Therefore there is also a great need for reliability studies. The purpose of the present thesis was to address these research gaps and to bring BCIs closer to end-users in need, especially into their daily-lives, following a user-centred design (UCD). The UCD was suggested as theoretical framework for bringing BCIs to end-users by K{\"u}bler and colleagues (K{\"u}bler et al., 2014; Zickler et al., 2011). This approach aims at the close and iterative interaction between BCI developers and end-users with the final goal to develop BCI systems that are accepted as assistive devices by end-users. The UCD focuses on usability, that is, how well a BCI technology matches the purpose and meets the needs and requirements of the targeted end-users and was standardized with the ISO 9241-210. Within the UCD framework, usability of a device can be defined with regard to its effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction. These aspects were operationalized by K{\"u}bler and colleagues to evaluate BCI-controlled applications. As suggested by Vaughan and colleagues, the number of BCI sessions, the total usage duration and the impact of the BCI on the life of the person can be considered as indicators of usefulness of the BCI in long-term daily-life use (Vaughan, Sellers, \& Wolpaw, 2012). These definitions and metrics for usability and usefulness were applied for evaluating BCI applications as assistive devices in controlled settings and independent use. Three different BCI applications were tested and evaluated by in total N=10 end-users: In study 1 a motor-imagery (MI) based BCI for gaming was tested by four end-users with severe motor impairment. In study 2, a hybrid P300 event-related (ERP) based BCI for communication was tested by four severely motor restricted end-users with severe motor impairment. Study 1 and 2 are short-term studies conducted in a controlled-setting. In study 3 a P300-ERP BCI for creative expression was installed for long-term independent use at the homes of two end-users in the locked-in state. Both end-users are artists who had gradually lost the ability to paint after being diagnosed with ALS. Results reveal that BCI controlled devices are accepted as assistive devices. Main obstacles for daily-life use were the not very aesthetic design of the EEG-cap and electrodes (cap is eye-catching and looks medical), low comfort (cables disturb, immobility, electrodes press against head if lying on a head cushion), complicated and time-consuming adjustment, low efficiency and low effectiveness, and not very high reliability (many influencing factors). While effectiveness and efficiency in the MI based BCI were lower compared to applications using the P300-ERP as input channel, the MI controlled gaming application was nevertheless better accepted by the end-users and end-users would rather like to use it compared to the communication applications. Thus, malfunctioning and errors, low speed, and the EEG cap are rather tolerated in gaming applications, compared to communication devices. Since communication is essential for daily-life, it has to be fast and reliable. BCIs for communication, at the current state of the art, are not considered competitive with other assistive devices, if other devices, such as eye-gaze, are still an option. However BCIs might be an option when controlling an application for entertainment in daily-life, if communication is still available. Results demonstrate that BCI is adopted in daily-life if it matches the end-users needs and requirements. Brain Painting serves as best representative, as it matches the artists' need for creative expression. Caveats such as uncomfortable cap, dependence on others for set-up, and experienced low control are tolerated and do not prevent BCI use on a daily basis. Also end-users in real need of means for communication, such as persons in the locked-in state with unreliable eye-movement or no means for independent communication, do accept obstacles of the BCI, as it is the last or only solution to communicate or control devices. Thus, these aspects are "no real obstacles" but rather "challenges" that do not prevent end-users to use the BCI in their daily-lives. For instance, one end-user, who uses a BCI in her daily-life, stated: "I don't care about aesthetic design of EEG cap and electrodes nor amplifier". Thus, the question is not which system is superior to the other, but which system is best for an individual user with specific symptoms, needs, requirements, existing assistive solutions, support by caregivers/family etc.; it is thereby a question of indication. These factors seem to be better "predictors" for adoption of a BCI in daily-life, than common usability criterions such as effectiveness or efficiency. The face valid measures of daily-life demonstrate that BCI-controlled applications can be used in daily-life for more than 3 years, with high satisfaction for the end-users, without experts being present and despite a decrease in the amplitude of the P300 signal. Brain Painting re-enabled both artists to be creatively active in their home environment and thus improved their feelings of happiness, usefulness, self-esteem, well-being, and consequently quality of life and supports social inclusion. This thesis suggests that BCIs are valuable tools for people in the locked-in state.},
  subject      = {Gehirn-Computer-Schnittstelle},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Hauschild2015,
  author    = {Hauschild, Dirk},
  title     = {Electron and soft x-ray spectroscopy of indium sulfide buffer layers and the interfaces in Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2-based thin-film solar cells},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-126766},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {In this thesis, thin-film solar cells on the basis of Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 (CIGSSe) were investigated. Until today, most high efficient CIGSSe-based solar cells use a toxic and wetchemical deposited CdS buffer layer, which doesn't allow a dry inline production. However, a promising and well-performing alternative buffer layer, namely indium sulfide, has been found which doesn't comprise these disadvantages. In order to shed light on these well-performing devices, the surfaces and in particular the interfaces which play a major role for the charge carrier transport are investigated in the framework of this thesis. Both, the chemical and electronic properties of the solar cells' interfaces were characterized. In case of the physical vapor deposition of an InxSy-based buffer layer, the cleaning step of the CdS chemical-bath deposition is not present and thus changes of the absorber surface have to be taken into account. Therefore, adsorbate formation, oxidation, and segregation of absorber elements in dependence of the storing temperature and the humidity are investigated in the first part of this thesis. The efficiencies of CIGSSe-based solar cells with an InxSy buffer layer depend on the nominal indium concentration x and display a maximum for x = 42 \%. In this thesis, InxSy samples with a nominal indium concentration of 40.2\% ≤ x ≤ 43.2\% were investigated by surface-sensitive and surface-near bulk-sensitive techniques, namely with photoemission spectroscopy (PES) and x-ray emission spectroscopy (XES). The surfaces of the films were found to be sulfur-poor and indium-rich in comparison with stoichiometric In2S3. Moreover, a direct determination of the band alignment at the InxSy/CISSe interface in dependence of the nominal indium concentration x was conducted with the help of PES and inverse PES (IPES) and a flat band alignment was found for x = 42 \%. In order to study the impact of a heat treatment as it occurs during subsequent cell process steps, the indium sulfide-buffered absorbers were annealed for 30 minutes under UHV conditions at 200 °C after the initial data set was taken. Besides a reported enhanced solar cell performance, a significant copper diffusion from the absorber into the buffer layer takes place due to the thermal treatment. Accordingly, the impact of the copper diffusion on the hidden InxSy/CISSe interface was discussed and for x = 40.2\% a significant cliff (downwards step in the conduction band) is observed. For increasing x, the alignment in the conduction band turns into a small upwards step (spike) for the region 41\% ≤ x ≤ 43.2\%. This explains the optimal solar cell performance for this indium contents. In a further step, the sodium-doped indium sulfide buffer which leads to significantly higher efficient solar cells was investigated. It was demonstrated by PES/IPES that the enhanced performance can be ascribed to a significant larger surface band gap in comparison with undoped InxSy. The occurring spike in the Na:InxSy/CISSe band alignment gets reduced due to a Se diffusion induced by the thermal treatment. Furthermore, after the thermal treatment the sodium doped indium sulfide layer experiences a copper diffusion which is reduced by more than a factor of two compared to pure InxSy. Next, the interface between the Na:InxSy buffer layer and the i-ZnO (i = intrinsic, non-deliberately doped), as a part of the transparent front contact was analyzed. The i-ZnO/Na:InxSy interface shows significant interdiffusion, leading to the formation of, e.g., ZnS and hence to a reduction of the nominal cliff in the conduction band alignment. In the last part of this thesis, the well-established surface-sensitive reflective electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS) was utilized to study the CIGSSe absorber, the InxSy buffer, and annealed InxSy buffer surfaces. By fitting the characteristic inelastic scattering cross sections λK(E) with Drude-Lindhard oscillators the dielectric function was identified. The determined dielectric functions are in good agreement with values from bulk-sensitive optical measurements on indium sulfide layers. In contrast, for the chalcopyrite-based absorber significant differences appear. In particular, a substantial larger surface band gap of the CIGSSe surface of E^Ex_Gap = (1.4±0.2) eV in comparison with bulk values is determined. This provides for the first time an independent verification of earlier PES/IPES results. Finally, the electrons' inelastic mean free paths l for the three investigated surfaces are compared for different primary energies with theoretical values and the universal curve.},
  subject      = {Photoelektronenspektroskopie},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Puhl2015,
  author    = {Puhl, Sebastian},
  title     = {Methods for protein crystal delivery: Exploring new techniques for encapsulation and controlled release},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-126371},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {More and more newly registered drugs are proteins. Although many of them suffer from instabilities in aqueous media, the most common way of protein drug administration still is the injection of a solution. Numerous protein drugs require frequent administration, but suitable controlled release systems for proteins are rare. Chapter 1 presents current advances in the field of controlled delivery of particulate protein formulations. While the main focus lies on batch crystallized proteins, amorphous particulate proteins are also discussed in this work. The reason is that, on the one hand precipitated protein particles hold some of the advantages of crystalline proteins and on the other hand the physical state of the protein may simply be unknown for many drug delivery systems or semi-crystalline particles have been used. Crystallization and precipitations methods as well as controlled delivery methods with and without encapsulation in a polymeric delivery system are summarized and critically discussed. In chapter 2 a novel way of protein crystal encapsulation by electrospinning is introduced. Electrospinning of proteins has been shown to be challenging via the use of organic solvents, frequently resulting in protein unfolding or aggregation. Encapsulation of protein crystals represents an attractive but largely unexplored alternative to established protein encapsulation techniques because of increased thermodynamic stability and improved solvent resistance of the crystalline state. We herein explore the electrospinning of protein crystal suspensions and establish basic design principles for this novel type of protein delivery system. Poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) is an excellent polymer for electrospinning and matrix-controlled drug delivery combining optimal processability and good biocompatibility. PCL was deployed as a matrix, and lysozyme was used as a crystallizing model protein. By rational combination of lysozyme crystals with a diameter of 0.7 or 2.1 μm and a PCL fiber diameter between 1.6 and 10 μm, release within the first 24 h could be varied between approximately 10 and 100\%. Lysozyme loading of PCL microfibers between 0.5 and 5\% was achieved without affecting processability. While relative release was unaffected by loading percentage, the amount of lysozyme released could be tailored. PCL was blended with poly(ethylene glycol) and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) to further modify the release rate. Under optimized conditions, an almost constant lysozyme release over 11 weeks was achieved. Chapter 3 takes on the findings made in chapter 2 and further modifies the properties of the nonwovens as protein crystal delivery system. Nonwoven scaffolds consisting of poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL), poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and polidocanol (PD), and loaded with lysozyme crystals were prepared by electrospinning. The composition of the matrix was varied and the effect of PD content in binary mixtures, and of PD and PLGA content in ternary mixtures regarding processability, fiber morphology, water sorption, swelling and drug release was studied. Binary PCL/PD blend nonwovens showed a PD-dependent increase in swelling of up to 30\% and of lysozyme burst release of up to 45\% associated with changes of the fiber morphology. Furthermore, addition of free PD to the release medium resulted in a significant increase of lysozyme burst release from pure PCL nonwovens from approximately 2\% to 35\%. Using ternary PCL/PD/PLGA blends, matrix degradation could be significantly improved over PCL/PD blends, resulting in a biphasic release of lysozyme with constant release over 9 weeks, followed by constant release with a reduced rate over additional 4 weeks. Based on these results, protein release from PCL scaffolds is improved by blending with PD due to improved lysozyme desorption from the polymer surface and PD-dependent matrix swelling. Chapter 4 gives deeper insight on lysozyme batch crystallization and shows the influences of the temperature on the precipitation excipients. Yet up to now protein crystallization in a pharmaceutical useful scale displays a challenge with crystal size and purity being important but difficult to control parameters. Some of these influences are being discussed here and a detailed description of crystallization methods and the achieved crystals are demonstrated. Therapeutic use of such protein crystals may require further modification of the protein release rate through encapsulation. Silk fibroin (SF) harvested from the cocoons of Bombyx mori is a well-established protein suitable for encapsulation of small molecules as well as proteins for controlled drug delivery. This novel polymer was deployed for as carrier for the model drug crystals. Lysozyme again was used as a crystallizable protein and the effect of process- as well as formulation parameters of batch crystallization on crystal size were investigated using statistical design of experiments. Lysozyme crystal size depended on temperature and sodium chloride and poly(ethylenglycol) concentration of precipitant solution. Under optimized conditions, lysozyme crystals in a size range of approximately 0.3 to 10 µm were obtained. Furthermore, a solid-in-oil-in-water process for encapsulation of lysozyme crystals into SF was developed. Using this process, coating of protein crystals with another protein was achieved for the first time. Encapsulation resulted in a significant reduction of dissolution rate of lysozyme crystals, leading to prolonged release over up to 24 hours.},
  subject      = {Kontrollierte Wirkstofffreisetzung},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Muenz2015,
  author    = {M{\"u}nz, Thomas Sebastian},
  title     = {Aspects of neuronal plasticity in the mushroom body calyx during adult maturation in the honeybee Apis mellifera},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-111611},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Division of labor represents a major advantage of social insect communities that accounts for their enormous ecological success. In colonies of the honeybee, Apis mellifera, division of labor comprises different tasks of fertile queens and drones (males) and, in general, sterile female workers. Division of labor also occurs among workers in form of an age-related polyethism. This helps them to deal with the great variety of tasks within the colony. After adult eclosion, workers spend around three weeks with various duties inside the hive such as tending the brood or cleaning and building cells. After this period workers switch to outdoor tasks and become foragers collecting nectar, pollen and water. With this behavioral transition, workers face tremendous changes in their sensory environment. In particular, visual sensory stimuli become important, but also the olfactory world changes. Foragers have to perform a completely new behavioral repertoire ranging from long distance navigation based on landmark orientation and polarized-skylight information to learning and memory tasks associated with finding profitable food sources. However, behavioral maturation is not a purely age-related internal program associated with a change, for example, in juvenile hormone titers. External factors such as primer pheromones like the brood pheromone or queen mandibular pheromone can modulate the timing of this transition. In this way colonies are able to flexibly adjust their work force distribution between indoor and outdoor tasks depending on the actual needs of the colony. Besides certain physiological changes, mainly affecting glandular tissue, the transition from indoor to outdoor tasks requires significant adaptations in sensory and higher-order integration centers of the brain. The mushroom bodies integrate olfactory, visual, gustatory and mechanosensory information. Furthermore, they play important roles in learning and memory processes. It is therefore not surprising that the mushroom bodies, in particular their main input region, the calyx, undergo volumetric neuronal plasticity. Similar to behavioral maturation, plastic changes of the mushroom bodies are associated with age, but are also to be affected by modulating factors such as task and experience. In my thesis, I analyzed in detail the neuronal processes underlying volumetric plasticity in the mushroom body. Immunohistochemical labeling of synaptic proteins combined with quantitative 3D confocal imaging revealed that the volume increase of the mushroom body calyx is largely caused by the growth of the Kenyon cell dendritic network. This outgrowth is accompanied by changes in the synaptic architecture of the mushroom body calyx, which is organized in a distinct pattern of synaptic complexes, so called microglomeruli. During the first week of natural adult maturation microglomeruli remain constant in total number. With subsequent behavioral transition from indoor duties to foraging, microglomeruli are pruned while the Kenyon cell dendritic network is still growing. As a result of these processes, the mushroom body calyx neuropil volume enlarges while the total number of microgloumeruli becomes reduced in foragers compared to indoor workers. In the visual subcompartments (calyx collar) this process is induced by visual sensory stimuli as the beginning of pruning correlates with the time window when workers start their first orientation flights. The high level of analysis of cellular and subcellular process underlying structural plasticity of the mushroom body calyx during natural maturation will serve as a framework for future investigations of behavioral plasticity in the honeybee. The transition to foraging is not purely age-dependent, but gets modulated, for example, by the presence of foragers. Ethyl oleate, a primer pheromone that is present only in foragers, was shown to delay the onset of foraging in nurse bees. Using artificial application of additional ethyl oleate in triple cohort colonies, I tested whether it directly affects adult neuronal plasticity in the visual input region of the mushroom body calyx. As the pheromonal treatment failed to induce a clear behavioral phenotype (delayed onset of foraging) it was not possible to show a direct link between the exposure to additional ethyl oleate and neuronal plasticity in mushroom body calyx. However, the general results on synaptic maturation confirmed my data of natural maturation processes in the mushroom body calyx. Given the result that dendritic plasticity is a major contributor to neuronal plasticity in the mushroom body calyx associated with division of labor, the question arose which proteins could be involved in mediating these effects. Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) especially in mammals, but also in insects (Drosophila, Cockroach), was shown to be involved in facilitating learning and memory processes like long-term synaptic potentiation. In addition to presynaptic effects, the protein was also revealed to directly interact with cytoskeleton elements in the postsynapse. It therefore is a likely candidate to mediate structural synaptic plasticity. As part of my thesis, the presence and distribution of CaMKII was analyzed, and the results showed that the protein is highly concentrated in a distinct subpopulation of the mushroom body intrinsic neurons, the noncompact Kenyon cells. The dendritic network of this population arborizes in two calyx subregions: one receiving mainly olfactory input - the lip - and the collar receiving visual input. This distribution pattern did not change with age or task. The high concentration of CaMKII in dendritic spines and its overlap with f-actin indicates that CaMKII could be a key player inducing structural neuronal plasticity associated with learning and memory formation and/or behavioral transitions related to division of labor. Interestingly CaMKII immunoreactivity was absent in the basal ring, another subregion of the mushroom body calyx formed almost exclusively by the inner compact Kenyon cells and known to receive combined visual and olfactory input. This indicates differences of this mushroom body subregion regarding the molecular mechanisms controlling plastic changes in corresponding Kenyon cells. How is timing of behavioral and neuronal plasticity regulated? The primer pheromone ethyl oleate was found in high concentrations on foragers and was shown to influence behavioral maturation by delaying the onset of foraging when artificially applied in elevated concentrations. But how is ethyl oleate transferred and how does it shift the work force distribution between indoor and outdoor tasks? Previous work showed that ethyl oleate concentrations are highest in the honeycrop of foragers and suggested that it is transferred and communicated inside the colony via trophallaxis. The results of this thesis however clearly show, that ethyl oleate was not present inside the honey crop or the regurgitate, but rather in the surrounding tissue of the honey crop. As additionally the second highest concentration of ethyl oleate was measured on the surface of the cuticle of forgers, trophallaxis was ruled out as a mode of transmission. Neurophysiological measurements at the level of the antennae (electroantennogram recordings) and the first olfactory neuropil (calcium imaging of activity in the antennal lobe) revealed that the primer pheromone ethyl oleate is received and processed as an olfactory stimulus. Appetitive olfactory conditioning using the proboscis extension response as a behavioral paradigm showed that ethyl oleate can be associated with a sugar reward. This indicates that workers are able to perceive, learn and memorize the presence of this pheromone. As ethyl oleate had to be presented by a heated stimulation device at close range, it can be concluded that this primer pheromone acts via close range/contact chemoreception through the olfactory system. This is also supported by previous behavioral observations. Taken together, the findings presented in this thesis revealed structural changes in the synaptic architecture of the mushroom body calyx associated with division of labor. For the primer pheromone ethyl oleate, which modulates the transition from nursing to foraging, the results clearly showed that it is received via the olfactory system and presumably acts via this pathway. However, manipulation experiments did not indicate a direct effect of ethyl oleate on synaptic plasticity. At the molecular level, CaMKII is a prime candidate to mediate structural synaptic plasticity in the mushroom body calyx. Future combined structural and functional experiments are needed to finally link the activity of primer pheromones like ethyl oleate to the molecular pathways mediating behavioral and synaptic plasticity associated with division of labor in Apis mellifera. The here identified underlying processes will serve as excellent models for a general understanding of fundamental mechanisms promoting behavioral plasticity.},
  subject      = {Biene},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Campion2015,
  author    = {Campion, Marie-Genevi{\`e}ve},
  title     = {Competition between Originators and Generics: Public Regulation and Incentives to Innovate},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-111701},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The aim of this thesis is to examine the competition patterns that exist between originators and generics by focusing on the articulations between regulation and incentives to innovate. Once the characteristics of regulation in pharmaceutical markets is reviewed in the first chapter and an analysis of some current challenges related to cost-containment measures and innovation issues is performed, then in the second chapter, an empirical study is performed to investigate substitution patterns. Based on the EC´s merger decisions in the pharmaceutical sector from 1989 to 2011, this study stresses the key criteria to define the scope of the relevant product market based on substitution patterns and shows the trend towards a narrower market in time. Chapters three and four aim to analyse in depth two widespread measures, the internal reference pricing system in off-patent markets, and risk-sharing schemes in patent-protected markets. By taking into account informational advantages of originators over generics, the third chapter shows the extent to which the implementation of a reference price for off-patent markets can contribute in promoting innovation. Finally, in the fourth chapter, the modeling of risk-sharing schemes explains how such schemes can help in solving moral hazard and adverse selection issues by continuously giving pharmaceutical companies incentives to innovate and supplying medicinal products of a higher quality.},
  subject      = {Pharmazeutische Industrie},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Steeger2015,
  author    = {Steeger, Markus},
  title     = {Energy and Charge Transfer in Donor-Acceptor Substituted Hexaarylbenzenes},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-112520},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The focus of this work was the investigation of energy transfer between charge transfer states. For this purpose the multidimensional chromophores HAB-S, HAB-A, B1 and B2 were synthesised, each consisting of three electron donor and three electron acceptor redox centres linked symmetrically or asymmetrically by the hexaarylbenzene framework. Triarylamines represent in all these compounds the electron donors, whereas the electron poor centres were triarylboranes in B1 and B2 and PCTM centres in HAB-S and HAB-A, respectively. The hexaarylbenzenes were obtained by cobalt catalysed cyclotrimerisation of the respective tolan precursors. In addition, Star was synthesised, which consists of a central PCTM linked to three triarylamin centres by tolan bridging units in a star-like configuration. The hexaarylbenzene S1a/b substituted with six squaraine chromophores could not be realised. It is assumed that the cyclotrimerisation catalyst Co2(CO)8 does not tolerate the essential hydroxyl groups in the tolan precursor S2a. The alternative reaction pathway to execute the cyclotrimerisation reaction first and introduce the hydroxyl groups thereafter failed as well, because the required hexaarylbenzene substituted by six semisquaric acid moieties could not be synthesised. However, energy transfer interactions could be investigated in the tolan precursor S2a with two squaraine units to obtain information about the electronic coupling provided by the tolan bridge. For all multidimensional compounds model molecules were synthesised with only a single donor-acceptor pair (B3, Star-Model and HAB-Model). This allows a separate consideration of energy and charge transfer processes. It has to be stressed that in all before mentioned multidimensional compounds the "through bond" energy transfer interaction between neighbouring IV-CT states is identical to a transfer of a single electron between two redox centres of the same kind (e.g. TAA -> TAA+). The latter can be analysed by electron transfer theory. This situation is observed when the two IV-CT states transferring energy share one redox centre. All compounds containing PCTM centres were characterised by paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. Thereby, a weak interaction between the three PCTM units in HAB-S and HAB-A was observed. In addition, when oxidising Star-Model, a strongly interacting singlet or triplet state was obtained. In contrast, signals corresponding to a weakly interacting biradical were obtained for HAB-Model+. This indicates a strong electronic coupling between the redox centres provided by the tolan bridge and a weak coupling when linked by the hexaarylbenzene. This trend is supported by UV/Vis/NIR absorption measurements. The analysis of the observed IV-CT absorption bands by electron transfer theory reveals a weak electronic coupling of V = 340 cm-1 in HAB-Model and a distinctly stronger coupling of V = 1190-2900 cm-1 in Star-Model. In the oxidised HAB-S+, Star+ and Star-Model+ a charge transfer reversed from that of the neutral species, that is, from the PCTM radical to the electron poorer cationic TAA centre, was observed by spectroelectrochemistry. The temporal evolution of the excited states was monitored by ultrafast transient absorption measurements. Within the first picosecond stabilisation of the charge transfer state was observed, induced by solvent rotation. Anisotropic transient absorption measurements revealed that within the lifetime of the excited state (tau = 1-4 ps) energy transfer does not occur in the HABs whereas in the star-like system ultrafast and possibly coherent energy redistribution is observed. Taken this information together the identity between energy transfer and electron transfer in the specific systems were made apparent. It has to be remarked that neither energy transfer nor charge transfer theory can account for the very fast energy transfer in Star. The electrochemical and photophysical properties of B1 and B2 were investigated by cyclic voltammetry, absorption and fluorescence measurements and were compared to B3 with only one neighbouring donor-acceptor pair. For the asymmetric B2 CV measurements show three oxidations as well as three reduction peaks whose peak separation is greatly influenced by the conducting salt due to ion-pairing and shielding effects. Consequently, peak separations cannot be interpreted in terms of electronic couplings in the generated mixed valence species. Transient absorption, fluorescence solvatochromism and absorption spectra show that charge transfer states from the amine to the boron centres are generated after optical excitation. The electronic donor-acceptor interaction is weak though as the charge transfer has to occur predominantly through space. The electronic coupling could not be quantified as the CT absorption band is superimposed by pi-pi* transitions localised at the amine and borane centres. However, this trend is in good agreement to the weak coupling measured for HAB-Model. Both transient absorption and fluorescence upconversion measurements indicate an ultrafast stabilisation of the charge transfer state in B1- B3 similar to the corresponding observations in HAB-S and Star. Moreover, the excitation energy of the localised excited charge transfer states can be redistributed between the aryl substituents of these multidimensional chromophores within fluorescence lifetime (ca. 60 ns). This was proved by steady state fluorescence anisotropy measurements, which further indicate a symmetry breaking in the superficially symmetric HAB. Anisotropic fluorescence upconversion measurements confirm this finding and reveal a time constant of tau = 2-3 ps for the energy transfer in B1 and B2. It has to be stressed that, although the geometric structures of B1 and HAB-S are both based on the same framework and furthermore the neighbouring CT states show in both cases similar Coulomb couplings and negligible "through bond" couplings, very fast energy transfer is observed in B1 whereas in HAB-S the energy is not redistributed within the excited state lifetime. To explain this, it has to be kept in mind that the energy transfer and the relaxation of the CT state are competing processes. The latter is influenced moreover by the solvent viscosity. Hence, it is assumed that this discrepancy in energy transfer behaviour is caused by monitoring the excited state in solvents of varying viscosity. Adding fluoride ions causes the boron centres to lose their acceptor ability due to complexation. Consequently, the charge transfer character in the donor-acceptor chromophores vanishes which could be observed in both the absorption and fluorescence spectra. However, the fluoride sensor ability of the boron centre is influenced strongly by the moisture content of the solvent possibly due to hydrogen bonding of water to the fluoride anions. UV/Vis/NIR absorption measurements of S2a show a red-shift by 1800 cm-1 of the characteristic squarain band compared to the model compound S20. From exciton theory a Coulomb coupling of V = 410 cm-1 is calculated which cannot account for this strong spectral shift. Consequently, "through-bond" interactions have to contribute to the strong communication between the two squaraine chromophores in S2a. This is in accordance with the strong charge transfer coupling calculated for the tolan spacer in Star-Model.},
  subject      = {Energietransfer <Mikrophysik>},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Yang2015,
  author    = {Yang, Zhenghong},
  title     = {A systematic study of learned helplessness in Drosophila melanogaster},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-112424},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The learned helplessness phenomenon is a specific animal behavior induced by prior exposure to uncontrollable aversive stimuli. It was first found by Seligman and Maier (1967) in dogs and then has been reported in many other species, e.g. in rats (Vollmayr and Henn, 2001), in goldfishes (Padilla, 1970), in cockroaches (Brown, 1988) and also in fruit flies (Brown, 1996; Bertolucci, 2008). However, the learned helplessness effect in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) has not been studied in detail. Thus, in this doctoral study, we investigated systematically learned helplessness behavior of Drosophila for the first time. Three groups of flies were tested in heatbox. Control group was in the chambers experiencing constant, mild temperature. Second group, master flies were punished in their chambers by being heated if they stopped walking for 0.9s. The heat pulses ended as soon as they resumed walking again. A third group, the yoked fly, was in their chambers at the same time. However, their behavior didn't affect anything: yoked flies were heated whenever master flies did, with same timing and durations. After certain amount of heating events, yoked flies associated their own behavior with the uncontrollability of the environment. They suppressed their innate responses such as reducing their walking time and walking speed; making longer escape latencies and less turning around behavior under heat pulses. Even after the conditioning phase, yoked flies showed lower activity level than master and control flies. Interestingly, we have also observed sex dimorphisms in flies. Male flies expressed learned helplessness not like female flies. Differences between master and yoked flies were smaller in male than in female flies. Another interesting finding was that prolonged or even repetition of training phases didn't enhance learned helplessness effect in flies. Furthermore, we investigated serotonergic and dopaminergic nervous systems in learned helplessness. Using genetic and pharmacological manipulations, we altered the levels of serotonin and dopamine in flies' central nervous system. Female flies with reduced serotonin concentration didn't show helpless behavior, while the learned helplessness effect in male flies seems not to be affected by a reduction of serotonin. Flies with lower dopamine level do not display the learned helplessness effect in the test phase, suggesting that with low dopamine the motivational change in learned helplessness in Drosophila may decline faster than with a normal dopamine level.},
  subject      = {Taufliege},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Stoll2015,
  author    = {Stoll, Georg},
  title     = {Identification of the mRNA-associated TOP3β- TDRD3-FMRP (TTF) -complex and its implication for neurological disorders},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-111440},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The propagation of the genetic information into proteins is mediated by messenger- RNA (mRNA) intermediates. In eukaryotes mRNAs are synthesized by RNA- Polymerase II and subjected to translation after various processing steps. Earlier it was suspected that the regulation of gene expression occurs primarily on the level of transcription. In the meantime it became evident that the contribution of post- transcriptional events is at least equally important. Apart from non-coding RNAs and metabolites, this process is in particular controlled by RNA-binding proteins, which assemble on mRNAs in various combinations to establish the so-called "mRNP- code". In this thesis a so far unknown component of the mRNP-code was identified and characterized. It constitutes a hetero-trimeric complex composed of the Tudor domain-containing protein 3 (TDRD3), the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) and the Topoisomerase III beta (TOP3β) and was termed TTF (TOP3β-TDRD3-FMRP) -complex according to its composition. The presented results also demonstrate that all components of the TTF-complex shuttle between the nucleus and the cytoplasm, but are predominantly located in the latter compartment under steady state conditions. Apart from that, an association of the TTF-complex with fully processed mRNAs, not yet engaged in productive translation, was detected. Hence, the TTF-complex is a component of „early" mRNPs. The defined recruitment of the TTF-complex to these mRNPs is not based on binding to distinct mRNA sequence-elements in cis, but rather on an interaction with the so-called exon junction complex (EJC), which is loaded onto the mRNA during the process of pre-mRNA splicing. In this context TDRD3 functions as an adapter, linking EJC, FMRP and TOP3β on the mRNP. Moreover, preliminary results suggest that epigenetic marks within gene promoter regions predetermine the transfer of the TTF-complex onto its target mRNAs. Besides, the observation that TOP3β is able to catalytically convert RNA-substrates disclosed potential activities of the TTF-complex in mRNA metabolism. In combination with the already known functions of FMRP, this finding primarily suggests that the TTF-complex controls the translation of bound mRNAs. In addition to its role in mRNA metabolism, the TTF-complex is interesting from a human genetics perspective as well. It was demonstrated in collaboration with researchers from Finland and the US that apart from FMRP, which was previously linked to neurocognitive diseases, also TOP3β is associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. Understanding the function of the TTF-complex in mRNA metabolism might hence provide important insight into the etiology of these diseases.},
  subject      = {Messenger-RNS},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Schmitt2015,
  author    = {Schmitt, Alexandra},
  title     = {Role of Peroxiredoxin 6 in human melanoma},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-111465},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Peroxiredoxin 6 (PRDX6) is a bifunctional enzyme comprising a peroxidase and a Ca2+-independent phospholipase (iPLA2) activity. This renders the enzyme capable of detoxifying reactive oxygen species (ROS) and of catalyzing the liberation of arachidonic acid (AA) from cellular membranes. Released AA can be further metabolized to bioactive lipids including eicosanoids, which are involved in inflammation, cell growth, differentiation, invasion and proliferation. Human melanoma cells are often characterized by imbalances in both ROS and lipid levels, which can be generated by oncogenic signaling, altered metabolism or UV irradiation. In previous studies, a comparative proteome analysis of the Xiphophorus fish melanoma model revealed a strong upregulation of Prdx6 in benign and malignant lesions compared to healthy skin. As the Xiphophorus melanoma model displays in many respects molecular characteristics that are similar to human melanoma, I investigated the functional role of PRDX6 in human melanoma cells. The first part of the study deals with the regulation of PRDX6 in melanocytes and human melanoma cells. I could demonstrate that the protein level of PRDX6 was strongly enhanced by the induction of the EGFR orthologue Xmrk from the Xiphophorus fish as well as the human EGFR. The upregulation of PRDX6 was further shown to be mediated in a PI3K-dependent and ROS-independent manner. The main part of the thesis comprises the investigation of the functional role of PRDX6 in human melanoma cells as well as the analysis of the underlying mechanism. I could show that knockdown of PRDX6 enhanced the oxidative stress response and led to decreased proliferation of melanoma cells. This cell growth effect was mainly mediated by the iPLA2 activity of PRDX6. Under conditions of strongly enhanced oxidative stress, the peroxidase activity became also important for cellular proliferation. Furthermore, the anti-proliferative effect in cells with lowered PRDX6 levels was the result of reduced cellular AA content and the decrease in the activation of SRC family proteins. Similarly, supplementation with AA led to regeneration of SRC family kinase activity and to an improvement in the reduced proliferation after knockdown of PRDX6. Since AA can be further processed into the prostaglandin PGE2, which has a pro-tumorigenic function in some cancer types, I further examined whether this eicosanoid is involved in the proliferative function of PRDX6. In contrast to AA, PGE2 was not consistently required for melanoma proliferation. In summary, I could demonstrate that PRDX6 plays a major role in AA-dependent lipid signaling in melanoma cells and thereby regulates proliferation. Interestingly, the proliferation relevant iPLA2 activity can be pharmacologically targeted, and melanoma cell growth was clearly blocked by the inhibitor BEL. Thus, I could identify the phospholipase activity of PRDX6 as a new therapeutically interesting target for melanoma treatment.},
  subject      = {Melanom},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Nguyen2015,
  author    = {Nguyen, Thanh Nam},
  title     = {A model system for carbohydrates interactions on single-crystalline Ru surfaces},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-111485},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {In this thesis, I present a model system for carbohydrate interactions with single-crystalline Ru surfaces. Geometric and electronic properties of copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) on top of graphene on hexagonal Ru(0001), rectangular Ru(10-10) and vicinal Ru(1,1,-2,10) surfaces have been studied. First, the Fermi surfaces and band structures of the three Ru surfaces were investigated by high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. The experimental data and theoretical calculations allow to derive detailed information about the momentum-resolved electronic structure. The results can be used as a reference to understand the chemical and catalytic properties of Ru surfaces. Second, graphene layers were prepared on the three different Ru surfaces. Using low-energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy, it was found that graphene can be grown in well-ordered structures on all three surfaces, hexagonal Ru(0001), rectangular Ru(10-10) and vicinal Ru(1,1,-2,10), although they have different surface symmetries. Evidence for a strong interaction between graphene and Ru surfaces is a 1.3-1.7e V increase in the graphene pi-bands binding energy with respect to free-standing graphene sheets. This energy variation is due to the hybridization between the graphene pi bands and the Ru 4d electrons, while the lattice mismatch does not play an important role in the bonding between graphene and Ru surfaces. Finally, the geometric and electronic structures of CuPc on Ru(10-10), graphene/Ru(10-10), and graphene/Ru(0001) have been studied in detail. CuPc molecules can be grown well-ordered on Ru(10-10) but not on Ru(0001). The growth of CuPc on graphene/Ru(10-10) and Ru(0001) is dominated by the Moire pattern of graphene. CuPc molecules form well-ordered structures with rectangular unit cells on graphene/Ru(10-10) and Ru(0001). The distance of adjacent CuPc molecules is 1.5 and 1.3 nm on graphene/Ru(0001) and 1.54 and 1.37 nm on graphene/Ru(10-10). This indicates that the molecule-substrate interaction dominates over the intermolecular interaction for CuPc molecules on graphene/Ru(10-10) and graphene/Ru(0001).},
  subject      = {Ruthenium},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Mohammadi2015,
  author    = {Mohammadi, Masoumeh},
  title     = {Analysis of discretization schemes for Fokker-Planck equations and related optimality systems},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-111494},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The Fokker-Planck (FP) equation is a fundamental model in thermodynamic kinetic theories and statistical mechanics. In general, the FP equation appears in a number of different fields in natural sciences, for instance in solid-state physics, quantum optics, chemical physics, theoretical biology, and circuit theory. These equations also provide a powerful mean to define robust control strategies for random models. The FP equations are partial differential equations (PDE) describing the time evolution of the probability density function (PDF) of stochastic processes. These equations are of different types depending on the underlying stochastic process. In particular, they are parabolic PDEs for the PDF of Ito processes, and hyperbolic PDEs for piecewise deterministic processes (PDP). A fundamental axiom of probability calculus requires that the integral of the PDF over all the allowable state space must be equal to one, for all time. Therefore, for the purpose of accurate numerical simulation, a discretized FP equation must guarantee conservativeness of the total probability. Furthermore, since the solution of the FP equation represents a probability density, any numerical scheme that approximates the FP equation is required to guarantee the positivity of the solution. In addition, an approximation scheme must be accurate and stable. For these purposes, for parabolic FP equations on bounded domains, we investigate the Chang-Cooper (CC) scheme for space discretization and first- and second-order backward time differencing. We prove that the resulting space-time discretization schemes are accurate, conditionally stable, conservative, and preserve positivity. Further, we discuss a finite difference discretization for the FP system corresponding to a PDP process in a bounded domain. Next, we discuss FP equations in unbounded domains. In this case, finite-difference or finite-element methods cannot be applied. By employing a suitable set of basis functions, spectral methods allow to treat unbounded domains. Since FP solutions decay exponentially at infinity, we consider Hermite functions as basis functions, which are Hermite polynomials multiplied by a Gaussian. To this end, the Hermite spectral discretization is applied to two different FP equations; the parabolic PDE corresponding to Ito processes, and the system of hyperbolic PDEs corresponding to a PDP process. The resulting discretized schemes are analyzed. Stability and spectral accuracy of the Hermite spectral discretization of the FP problems is proved. Furthermore, we investigate the conservativity of the solutions of FP equations discretized with the Hermite spectral scheme. In the last part of this thesis, we discuss optimal control problems governed by FP equations on the characterization of their solution by optimality systems. We then investigate the Hermite spectral discretization of FP optimality systems in unbounded domains. Within the framework of Hermite discretization, we obtain sparse-band systems of ordinary differential equations. We analyze the accuracy of the discretization schemes by showing spectral convergence in approximating the state, the adjoint, and the control variables that appear in the FP optimality systems. To validate our theoretical estimates, we present results of numerical experiments.},
  subject      = {Fokker-Planck-Gleichung},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Wamser2015,
  author    = {Wamser, Florian},
  title     = {Performance Assessment of Resource Management Strategies for Cellular and Wireless Mesh Networks},
  issn      = {1432-8801},
  doi       = {10.25972/OPUS-11151},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-111517},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The rapid growth in the field of communication networks has been truly amazing in the last decades. We are currently experiencing a continuation thereof with an increase in traffic and the emergence of new fields of application. In particular, the latter is interesting since due to advances in the networks and new devices, such as smartphones, tablet PCs, and all kinds of Internet-connected devices, new additional applications arise from different areas. What applies for all these services is that they come from very different directions and belong to different user groups. This results in a very heterogeneous application mix with different requirements and needs on the access networks. The applications within these networks typically use the network technology as a matter of course, and expect that it works in all situations and for all sorts of purposes without any further intervention. Mobile TV, for example, assumes that the cellular networks support the streaming of video data. Likewise, mobile-connected electricity meters rely on the timely transmission of accounting data for electricity billing. From the perspective of the communication networks, this requires not only the technical realization for the individual case, but a broad consideration of all circumstances and all requirements of special devices and applications of the users. Such a comprehensive consideration of all eventualities can only be achieved by a dynamic, customized, and intelligent management of the transmission resources. This management requires to exploit the theoretical capacity as much as possible while also taking system and network architecture as well as user and application demands into account. Hence, for a high level of customer satisfaction, all requirements of the customers and the applications need to be considered, which requires a multi-faceted resource management. The prerequisite for supporting all devices and applications is consequently a holistic resource management at different levels. At the physical level, the technical possibilities provided by different access technologies, e.g., more transmission antennas, modulation and coding of data, possible cooperation between network elements, etc., need to be exploited on the one hand. On the other hand, interference and changing network conditions have to be counteracted at physical level. On the application and user level, the focus should be on the customer demands due to the currently increasing amount of different devices and diverse applications (medical, hobby, entertainment, business, civil protection, etc.). The intention of this thesis is the development, investigation, and evaluation of a holistic resource management with respect to new application use cases and requirements for the networks. Therefore, different communication layers are investigated and corresponding approaches are developed using simulative methods as well as practical emulation in testbeds. The new approaches are designed with respect to different complexity and implementation levels in order to cover the design space of resource management in a systematic way. Since the approaches cannot be evaluated generally for all types of access networks, network-specific use cases and evaluations are finally carried out in addition to the conceptual design and the modeling of the scenario. The first part is concerned with management of resources at physical layer. We study distributed resource allocation approaches under different settings. Due to the ambiguous performance objectives, a high spectrum reuse is conducted in current cellular networks. This results in possible interference between cells that transmit on the same frequencies. The focus is on the identification of approaches that are able to mitigate such interference. Due to the heterogeneity of the applications in the networks, increasingly different application-specific requirements are experienced by the networks. Consequently, the focus is shifted in the second part from optimization of network parameters to consideration and integration of the application and user needs by adjusting network parameters. Therefore, application-aware resource management is introduced to enable efficient and customized access networks. As indicated before, approaches cannot be evaluated generally for all types of access networks. Consequently, the third contribution is the definition and realization of the application-aware paradigm in different access networks. First, we address multi-hop wireless mesh networks. Finally, we focus with the fourth contribution on cellular networks. Application-aware resource management is applied here to the air interface between user device and the base station. Especially in cellular networks, the intensive cost-driven competition among the different operators facilitates the usage of such a resource management to provide cost-efficient and customized networks with respect to the running applications.},
  subject      = {Leistungsbewertung},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Balk2015,
  author    = {Balk, Anja},
  title     = {Ionic liquids of active pharmaceutical ingredients: A novel platform addressing solubility challenges of poorly water soluble drugs},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-121925},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Starting in the late 1990s ionic liquids (ILs) gained momentum both in academia as well as industry. ILs are defined as organic salts with a melting point below 100 °C. Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) may be transferred into ILs by creating salts with a bulky counterion with a soft electron density. ILs have demonstrated the potential to tune important pharmaceutical features such as the solubility and the dissolution rate, particularly addressing the challenge of poor water soluble drugs (PWSD). Due to the tunability of ILs, modification of physico-chemical properties of APIs may be envisioned without any modifications of the chemical structure. In the first chapter the potential as well as the limitation of ILs are discussed. The chapter commences with an overview of preparation and characterization of API-ILs. Moreover, examples for pharmaceutical parameters are presented which may be affected by IL formation, including the dissolution rate, kinetic solubility or hygroscopicity as well as biopharmaceutical performance and toxicology. The impact of IL formation on those pharmaceutically relevant features is highlighted, resulting in a blueprint for a novel formulation concept to overcome PWSD challenges without the need for structural changes of the API. Within the second chapter the IL concept is detailed for one specific API - counterion combination. A poorly water soluble acidic API against migraine attacks was transformed into an IL in an effort to minimize the time to maximum plasma concentration (tmax) and optimize the overall bioavailability. These studies were conducted in parallel to a prodrug of the API for comparison of the IL strategy versus a strategy involving modification of the API's structure. A significantly longer duration of API supersaturation and a 700 fold faster dissolution rate of the IL in comparison to the free acid were obtained and the underlying mechanism was elucidated. The transepithelial absorption was determined using Caco-2 cell layers. For the IL about 3 times more substance was transported in comparison to the prodrug when substances were applied as suspensions, despite the higher permeability of the prodrug, as increased solubility of the IL exceeded this effect. Cytotoxicity of the counterion was assessed in hepatic, renal and macrophage cell lines, respectively, and IC50 values were in the upper µM / lower mM range. The outcome of the study suggested the IL approach instrumental for tuning biopharmaceutical properties, without structural changes of the API as required for preparation of prodrugs. Thus the toolbox for formulation strategies of poorly water soluble drugs could be extended by an efficient concept. The third chapter focuses on the effect of different counterions on the physico-chemical properties of an API-IL, in particular to overcome the challenge of poor water solubility. Therefore, the same poorly water soluble acidic API against migraine attacks mentioned above was combined with 36 counterions resulting in ILs and low lattice enthalpy salts (LLES). Depending on the counterions, different dissolution rates, durations of supersaturation and hygroscopicities were obtained and release profiles could be tailored from immediate to sustained release. Besides, in vitro the cytotoxicity of the counterions was assessed in three cell lines. Using molecular descriptors such as the number of hydrophobic atoms, the graph theoretical diameter and the number of positive charges of the counterion, the dissolution rate, supersaturation and hygroscopicity as well as the cytotoxicity of counterions could be adequately modeled, rendering it possible to predict properties of new LLESs. Within the forth chapter different poorly water soluble APIs were combined with the counterion tetrabutylphosphonium (TBP) studying the impact on the pharmaceutical and physical properties of the APIs. TBP-ILs and low lattice enthalpy salts were prepared of the acidic APIs Diclofenac, Ibuprofen, Ketoprofen, Naproxen, Sulfadiazine, Sulfamethoxazole and Tolbutamide. NMR and IR spectroscopy, DSC, XRPD, DVS and dissolution rate measurements, release profiles and saturation concentration measurements were used to characterize the free acids and TBP salts as compared to the corresponding sodium salts. The TBP salts as compared to the free acids displayed lower melting points and glass transition temperatures and up to 1000 times higher dissolution rates. The increase in the dissolution rate directly correlated with the salts' hygroscopicity, an aspect which is critically discussed in terms of pharmaceutical translation challenges. In summary TBP ILs of solid salts were proved instrumental to approach the challenge of poor water solubility. The outcome profiled tailor-made counterions as a powerful formulation strategy to address poor water solubility, hence bioavailability and ultimately therapeutic potential of challenging APIs. In summary, a plethora of ILs and LLESs were prepared by combination of different acidic APIs and counterions. The IL and LLESs concept was compared to conventional salt and prodrug strategies. By choice of the counterion, biopharmaceutical relevant parameters were deliberately modified and release profiles were tuned ranging from immediate to prolonged release. The impact of distinct structural counterion features controlling the dissolution, supersaturation, hygroscopicity and counterion cytotoxicity were identified, correlations were presented and predictive models were built. ILs and LLESs could be proven to be a powerful concept for the formulation of poorly water soluble acidic APIs.},
  subject      = {Arzneimittel},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Klein2015,
  author    = {Klein, Dennis},
  title     = {The pathogenic role of endogenous antibodies in a mouse model for Charcot-Marie-Tooth 1B neuropathy},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-121941},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) type 1 neuropathies are a genetically heterogeneous group of non-treatable inherited disorders affecting the peripheral nervous system that lead to sensory and motor dysfunction. Secondary low grade inflammation, implicating the innate and adaptive immune system, could previously be identified as a substantial disease modifier in two mouse models for CMT1, CMT1B and 1X, respectively. However, the exact mechanism how the adaptive immune system contributes to disease pathogenesis is not completely understood. Based on observations that the accumulation of endogenous antibodies to myelin components is important for rapid myelin clearance after nerve injury during Wallerian degeneration, a possibly similar mechanism was considered for endogenous antibodies as disease amplifier in mice heterozygously deficient for P0 (P0het), mimicking some typical features of CMT1B. In this study an increased antibody deposition was detected in the affected peripheral nerves of P0het myelin mutant mice. By crossbreeding P0het mutants with mice specifically lacking B-lymphocytes, and therefore antibodies (JHD-/-), a decline of endoneurial macrophages together with a substantially ameliorated demyelination could be demonstrated in 6-month-old mutant mice. Moreover, reconstitution with murine IgGs reverted the neuropathic phenotype, substantiating that endogenous antibodies are potentially pathogenic at this early stage of disease. Unexpectedly, in 12-months-old P0het mutants, JHD deficiency resulted in disease aggravation accompanied by an increased inflammatory reaction and M2-polarized macrophage response. These observations suggest that in a mouse model for CMT1B, the lack of endogenous antibodies has a dichotomous effect: ameliorating early macrophage-mediated demyelination, as opposed to increasing inflammatory reactions leading to disease aggravation at older ages.},
  subject      = {Maus},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Schreyer2015,
  author    = {Schreyer, Manuel},
  title     = {Search for supersymmetry in events containing light leptons, jets and missing transverse momentum in \(\sqrt{s}\) = 8 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-120863},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The results of two analyses searching for supersymmetry (SUSY) in data of the ATLAS experiment are presented in this thesis. The data were recorded in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider in 2012 at a centre of mass energy of \(\sqrt{s}\)=8 TeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb\(^{-1}\). The first search is performed in signatures containing an opposite-sign electron or muon pair, which is compatible with originating from a Z boson decay, in addition to jets and large missing transverse momentum. The analysis targets the production of squarks and gluinos in R-parity conserving (RPC) models with SUSY breaking via General Gauge Mediation (GGM). The main Standard Model (SM) backgrounds are \(t\overline t\), WW, W+t and Z to \(\tau \tau\) processes which are entirely estimated from data using different-flavour events. Besides that, the SM production of Z bosons in association with jets and large fake missing momentum from mismeasurements plays a role and is predicted with the data-driven jet smearing method. Backgrounds from events with fake leptons are estimated with the data-driven matrix method. WZ/ZZ production as well as smaller background contributions are determined from Monte-Carlo simulations. The search observes an excess of data over the SM prediction with a local significance of 3.0 \(\sigma\) in the electron channel, 1.7 \(\sigma\) in the muon channel and 3.0 \(\sigma\) when the two channels are added together. The results are used to constrain the parameters of the GGM model. The second analysis uses the already published results of an ATLAS search for SUSY in events with one isolated electron or muon, jets and missing transverse momentum to reinterpret them in the context of squark and gluino production in SUSY models with R-parity violating (RPV) \(LQ\overline D\)-operators. In contrast to RPC models, the lightest SUSY particle (LSP) is not stable but decays into SM particles. "Standard" analyses often do not consider SUSY models with RPV although they are in principle sensitive to them. The exclusion limits on the squark and gluino mass obtained from the reinterpretation extend up to 1200 GeV. These are the first results by any ATLAS SUSY search which systematically cover a wide range of RPV couplings in the case of prompt LSP decays. However, the analysis is not sensitive to the full parameter space of the \(LQ\overline D\)-model and reveals gaps in the ATLAS SUSY program which have to be closed by dedicated search strategies in the future.},
  subject      = {Supersymmetrie},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Sun2015,
  author    = {Sun, Ping},
  title     = {Alzheimer`s disease and brain insulin resistance: The diabetes inducing drug streptozotocin diminishes adult neurogenesis in the rat hippocampus - an in vivo and in vitro study},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-119252},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease of the brain, which is characterized by a progressive loss of memory and spatial orientation. Only less than 5-10\% of AD sufferers are familial cases due to genetic mutations in the amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene or presenilin (PS) 1 and 2 genes. The cause of sporadic AD (sAD) which covers > 95\% of AD patients is still unknown. Current research found interactions between aging, diabetes and cognitive decline including dementia in general and in AD in particular. Disturbances of brain glucose uptake, glucose tolerance and utilization and impairment of the insulin/insulin receptor (IR) signaling cascade are thought to be key targets for the development of sAD. In the brain of AD patients, neural plasticity is impaired indicated by synaptic and neuronal loss. Adult neurogenesis (AN), the generation of functional neurons in the adult brain, may be able to restore neurological function deficits through the integration of newborn neurons into existing neural networks. The dentate gyrus of the hippocampus is one out of few brain regions where life-long AN exists. However, there is a big controversy in literature regarding the involvement of AN in AD pathology. Most animal studies used transgenic mice based on the Amyloid ß (Aß) hypothesis which primarily act as models for the familial form of AD. Findings from human post mortem AN studies were also inconstistent. In this thesis, we focused on the possible involvement of AN in the pathogenesis of the sporadic form of AD. Streptozotocin intracerebroventricularily (STZ icv) treated rats, which develop an insulin-resistant brain state and learning and memory deficits preceding Aß pathology act as an appropriate animal model for sAD. We used STZ treatment for both parts of my work, for the in vivo and in vitro study. In the first part of my thesis, my coworkers and I investigated STZ icv treatment effects on different stages of AN in an in vivo approach. Even if STZ icv treatment does not seem to considerably influence stem cell proliferation over a short-term (1 month after STZ icv treatment) as well as in a long-term (3 months after STZ icv treatment) period, it results in significantly less immature and newborn mature neurons 3 months after STZ icv treatment. This reduction detected after 3 months was specific for the septal hippocampus, discussed to be important for spatial learning. Subsequently we performed co-localization studies with antibodies detecting BrdU (applied appr. 27 days before sacrifice) and cell-type specific markers such as NeuN, and GFAP, we found that STZ treatment does not affect the differentiation fate of newly generated cells. Phenotype analysis of BrdU-positive cells in the hilus and molecular layer revealed that some of the BrdU-positive cells are newborn oligodendrocytes but not newborn microglia. In the second part of my thesis I worked with cultured neural stem cells (NSCs) isolated from the adult rat hippocampus to reveal STZ effects on the proliferation of of NSCs, and on the survival and differentiation of their progeny. Furthermore, this in vitro approach enabled me to study cellular mechanisms underlying the observed impaired neurogenesis in the hippocampus of STZ-treated rats. In contrast to our findings of the STZ icv in vivo study we revealed that STZ supplied with the cell culture medium inhibits the proliferation of NSCs in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner. Moreover, performing immunofluorescence studies with antibodies detecting cell-type specific markers after triggering NSCs to differentiate, we could show that STZ treatment affects the number of newly generated neurons but not of astrocytes. Analyzing newborn cells starting to differentiate and migrate I was able to demonstrate that STZ has no effect on the migration of newborn cells. Trying to reveal cellular mechanisms underlying the negative influence of STZ on hippocampal AN, we performed qRT-PCR and immunofluorescence staining and thus could show that in NSCs the expression of glucose transporter (GLUT)3 mRNA as well as IR and GLUT3 protein levels are reduced after STZ treatment. Therefore, the inhibition of the proliferation of NSCs may be (at least partially) caused by these two molecules. Interestingly, the effect of STZ on differentiating cells was shown to be different, as IR protein expression was not significantly changed but GLUT3 protein levels were decreased in consequence of STZ treatment. In summary, this project delivered further insights into the interrelation between AN the sporadic form of sAD and thus provides a basis of new therapeutic approaches in sAD treatment through intervening AN. Discrepancies between the results of the two parts of my thesis, the in vivo and in vitro part, were certainly caused to a certain extent by the missing microenvironment in the in vitro approach with cultured NSCs. Future studies e.g. using co-culture systems could at least minimize the effect of a missing natural microenvironment of cultured NSCs, so that the use of an in vitro approach for the investigation of STZ treatment underlying cellular mechanisms can be improved.},
  subject      = {Alzheimerkrankheit},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Fliesser2015,
  author    = {Fließer, Mirjam},
  title     = {Hypoxia and hypoxia-inducible factor 1α modulate the immune response of human dendritic cells against Aspergillus fumigatus},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-121392},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The mold Aspergillus fumigatus causes life-threatening infections in immunocompromised patients. Over the past decade new findings in research have improved our understanding of A. fumigatus-host interactions. One of them was the detection of localized areas of tissue hypoxia in the lungs of mice infected with A. fumigatus. The transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF 1α) is known as the central regulator of cellular responses to hypoxia. Under normoxia, this constitutively expressed protein is degraded by oxygen-dependent mechanisms in most mammalian cell types. Interaction with pathogens can induce HIF 1α stabilization under normoxic conditions in innate immune cells. Bacterial infection models revealed that hypoxic microenvironments and signaling via HIF 1α modulate functions of host immune cells. Moreover, it was recently described that in murine phagocytes, HIF 1α expression is essential to overcome an A. fumigatus infection. However, the influence of hypoxia and the role of HIF 1α signaling for anti-A. fumigatus immunity is still poorly understood, especially regarding dendritic cells (DCs), which are important regulators of anti-fungal immunity. In this study, the functional relevance of hypoxia and HIF 1α signaling in the response of human DCs against A. fumigatus has been investigated. Hypoxia attenuated the pro-inflammatory response of DCs against A. fumigatus during the initial infection as shown by genome-wide microarray expression analyses and cytokine quantification. The up-regulation of maturation-associated molecules on DCs stimulated with A. fumigatus under hypoxia was reduced; however, these DCs possessed an enhanced capacity to stimulate T cells. This study thereby revealed divergent influence of hypoxia on anti-A. fumigatus DC functions that included both, inhibiting and enhancing effects. HIF-1α was stabilized in DCs following stimulation with A. fumigatus under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. This stabilization was partially dependent on Dectin-1, the major receptor for A. fumigatus on human DCs. Using siRNA-based HIF 1α silencing combined with gene expression microarrays, a modulatory effect of HIF-1α on the anti-fungal immune response of human DCs was identified. Specifically, the transcriptomes of HIF-1α silenced DCs indicated that HIF-1α enhanced DC metabolism and cytokine release in response to A. fumigatus under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. This was confirmed by further down-stream analyses that included quantification of glycolytic activity and cytokine profiling of DCs. By that, this study demonstrated functional relevance of HIF 1α expression in DCs responding to A. fumigatus. The data give novel insight into the cellular functions of HIF 1α in human DCs that include regulation of the anti-fungal immune response under normoxia and hypoxia. The comprehensive transcriptome datasets in combination with the down-stream protein analyses from this study will promote further investigations to further characterize the complex interplay between hypoxia, activation of Dectin-1 and HIF-1α signaling in host responses against A. fumigatus.},
  subject      = {Immunologie},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Erlbeck2015,
  author    = {Erlbeck, Helena},
  title     = {The event-related potentials Mismatch Negativity, P300, and N400: Effects of attentional modulation and application in patients with disorders of consciousness},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-121041},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The present work comprises four studies dealing with the investigation of the auditory event-related potentials (ERP) Mismatch Negativity (MMN), P300, and N400 under different attentional instructions, and with their application in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC) to assess residual cognitive functioning. In guided interviews (study 1), practitioners working with DOC patients stated their general interest in and an objective need for the complementation of current diagnostic procedures by reliable and valid ERP-based methods. Subsequently, in study 2, simple oddball and semantic paradigms were applied to 19 behaviorally non-responsive DOC patients revealing the presence of at least one ERP in eight patients investigated. In the third and fourth study, specific attentional effects on ERPs were investigated in healthy participants to define optimal instructions and stimulus parameters. In study 3, MMN and N400 amplitudes were assessed in 18 participants, and in study 4, MMN and P300 amplitudes were assessed in 32 participants. Both studies included an ignore task (attention on simultaneous visual stimuli), a passive task, and a focused task and revealed distinct attentional effects on P300 and N400 with largest amplitudes in the focused task, smaller ones in the passive task and no ERP in the ignore task. An MMN was elicited in all tasks, but still, amplitudes differed as a function of task. In addition, study 4 included oddball paradigms comprising several deviants in different dimensions. Higher amplitudes were found in this multifeature paradigm compared to traditional oddball paradigms and larger amplitudes were elicited by deviants highly different from standards. It is concluded that ERPs represent a promising tool to complement clinical assessment of DOC patients. Application of ERP paradigms should include focused instructions, especially when using semantic material. Furthermore, multifeature paradigms have been proven especially useful eliciting large amplitudes and allowing for the investigation of several dimensions of deviants at the same time.},
  subject      = {Bewusstseinsst{\"o}rung},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Maier2015,
  author    = {Maier, Luis},
  title     = {Induced superconductivity in the topological insulator mercury telluride},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-119405},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The combination of a topological insulator (TI) and a superconductor (S), which together form a TI/S interface, is expected to influence the possible surface states in the TI. It is of special interest, if the theoretical prediction of zero energy Majorana states in this system is verifiable. This thesis presents the experimental realization of such an interface between the TI strained bulk HgTe and the S Nb and studies if the afore mentioned expectations are met. As these types of interfaces were produced for the first time the initial step was to develop a new lithographic process. Optimization of the S deposition technique as well as the application of cleaning processes allowed for reproducible fabrication of structures. In parallel the measurement setup was upgraded to be able to execute the sensitive measurements at low energy. Furthermore several filters have been implemented into the system to reduce high frequency noise and the magnetic field control unit was additionally replaced to achieve the needed resolution in the μT range. Two kinds of basic geometries have been studied: Josephson junctions (JJs) and superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs). A JJ consists of two Nb contacts with a small separation on a HgTe layer. These S/TI/S junctions are one of the most basic structures possible and are studied via transport measurements. The transport through this geometry is strongly influenced by the behavior at the two S/TI interfaces. In voltage dependent differential resistance measurements it was possible to detect multiple Andreev reflections in the JJ, indicating that electrons and holes are able to traverse the HgTe gap between both interfaces multiple times while keeping phase coherence. Additionally using BTK theory it was possible to extract the interface transparency of several junctions. This allowed iterative optimization for the highest transparency via lithographic improvements at these interfaces. The increased transparency and thus the increased coupling of the Nb's superconductivity to the HgTe results in a deeper penetration of the induced superconductivity into the HgTe. Due to this strong coupling it was possible to enter the regime, where a supercurrent is carried through the complete HgTe layer. For the first time the passing of an induced supercurrent through strained bulk HgTe was achieved and thus opened the area for detailed studies. The magnetic dependence of the supercurrent in the JJ was recorded, which is also known as a Fraunhofer pattern. The periodicity of this pattern in magnetic field compared to the JJ geometry allowed to conclude how the junction depends on the phase difference between both superconducting contacts. Theoretical calculations predicted a phase periodicity of 4p instead of 2p, if a TI is used as weak link material between the contacts, due to the presence of Majorana modes. It could clearly be shown that despite the usage of a TI the phase still was 2p periodic. By varying further influencing factors, like number of modes and phase coherence length in the junction, it might still be possible to reach the 4p regime with bound Majorana states in the future. A good candidate for further experiments was found in capped HgTe samples, but here the fabrication process still has to be developed to the same quality as for the uncapped HgTe samples. The second type of geometry studied in this thesis was a DC-SQUID, which consists of two parallel JJs and can also be described as an interference device between two JJs. The DC-SQUID devices were produced in two configurations: The symmetric SQUID, where both JJs were identical, and the asymmetric SQUID, where one JJ was not linear, but instead has a 90° bent. These configurations allow to test, if the predicted uniformity of the superconducting band gap for induced superconductivity in a TI is valid. While the phase of the symmetric SQUID is not influenced by the shape of the band gap, the asymmetric SQUID would be in phase with the symmetric SQUID in case of an uniform band gap and out of phase if p- or d-wave superconductivity is dominating the transport, due to the 90° junction. As both devices are measured one after another, the problem of drift in the coil used to create the magnetic field has to be overcome in order to decide if the oscillations of both types of SQUIDs are in phase. With an oscillation period of 0.5 mT and a drift rate in the range of 5.5 μT/h the measurements on both configurations have to be conducted in a few hours. Only then the total shift is small enough to compare them with each other. For this to be possible a novel measurement system based on a real time micro controller was programmed, which allows a much faster extraction of the critical current of a device. The measurement times were reduced from days to hours, circumventing the drift problems and enabling the wanted comparison. After the final system optimizations it has been shown that the comparison should now be possible. Initial measurements with the old system hinted that both types of SQUIDs are in phase and thus the expected uniform band gap is more likely. With all needed optimizations in place it is now up to the successors of this project to conclusively prove this last point. This thesis has proven that it is possible to induce superconductivity in strained bulk HgTe. It has thus realized the most basic sample geometry proposed by Fu and Kane in 2008 for the appearance of Majorana bound states. Based on this work it is now possible to further explore induced superconductivity in strained bulk HgTe to finally reach a regime, where the Majorana states are both stable and detectable.},
  subject      = {Quecksilbertellurid},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Hafen2015,
  author    = {Hafen, Bettina},
  title     = {Physical contact between mesenchymal stem cells and endothelial precursors induces distinct signatures with relevance to tissue regeneration and engineering},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-119417},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The goal of the project VascuBone is to develop a tool box for bone regeneration, which on one hand fulfills basic requirements (e.g. biocompatibility, properties of the surface, strength of the biomaterials) and on the other hand is freely combinable with what is needed in the respective patient's situation. The tool box will include a variation of biocompatible biomaterials and cell types, FDA-approved growth factors, material modification technologies, simulation and analytical tools like molecular imaging-based in vivo diagnostics, which can be combined for the specific medical need. This tool box will be used to develop translational approaches for regenerative therapies of different types of bone defects. This project receives funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Program (VascuBone 2010). The present study is embedded into this EU project. The intention of this study is to assess the changes of the global gene expression patterns of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) after direct cell-cell contact as well as the influence of conditioned medium gained from MSCs on EPCs and vice versa. EPCs play an important role in postnatal vasculogenesis. An intact blood vessel system is crucial for all tissues, including bone. Latest findings in the field of bone fracture healing and repair by the use of tissue engineering constructs seeded with MSCs raised the idea of combining MSCs and EPCs to enhance vascularization and therefore support survival of the newly built bone tissue. RNA samples from both experimental set ups were hybridized on Affymetrix GeneChips® HG-U133 Plus 2.0 and analyzed by microarray technology. Bioinformatic analysis was applied to the microarray data and verified by RT-PCR. This study gives detailed information on how EPCs and MSCs communicate with each other and therefore gives insights into the signaling pathways of the musculoskeletal system. These insights will be the base for further functional studies on protein level for the purpose of tissue regeneration. A better understanding of the cell communication of MSCs and EPCs and subsequently the targeting of relevant factors opens a variety of new opportunities, especially in the field of tissue engineering. The second part of the present work was to develop an ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) for a target protein from the lists of differentially expressed genes revealed by the microarray analysis. This project was in cooperation with Immundiagnostik AG, Bensheim, Germany. The development of the ELISA aimed to have an in vitro diagnostic tool to monitor e.g. the quality of cell seeded tissue engineering constructs. The target protein chosen from the lists was klotho. Klotho seemed to be a very promising candidate since it is described in the literature as anti-aging protein. Furthermore, studies with klotho knock-out mice showed that these animals suffered from several age-related diseases e.g. osteoporosis and atherosclerosis. As a co-receptor for FGF23, klotho plays an important role in bone metabolism. The present study will be the first one to show that klotho is up-regulated in EPCs after direct cell-cell contact with MSCs. The development of an assay with a high sensitivity on one hand and the capacity to differentiate between secreted and shedded klotho on the other hand will allow further functional studies of this protein and offers a new opportunity in medical diagnostics especially in the field of metabolic bone disease.},
  subject      = {Vorl{\"a}uferzelle},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Wongkaew2015,
  author    = {Wongkaew, Suttida},
  title     = {On the control through leadership of multi-agent systems},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-120914},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The investigation of interacting multi-agent models is a new field of mathematical research with application to the study of behavior in groups of animals or community of people. One interesting feature of multi-agent systems is collective behavior. From the mathematical point of view, one of the challenging issues considering with these dynamical models is development of control mechanisms that are able to influence the time evolution of these systems. In this thesis, we focus on the study of controllability, stabilization and optimal control problems for multi-agent systems considering three models as follows: The first one is the Hegselmann Krause opinion formation (HK) model. The HK dynamics describes how individuals' opinions are changed by the interaction with others taking place in a bounded domain of confidence. The study of this model focuses on determining feedback controls in order to drive the agents' opinions to reach a desired agreement. The second model is the Heider social balance (HB) model. The HB dynamics explains the evolution of relationships in a social network. One purpose of studying this system is the construction of control function in oder to steer the relationship to reach a friendship state. The third model that we discuss is a flocking model describing collective motion observed in biological systems. The flocking model under consideration includes self-propelling, friction, attraction, repulsion, and alignment features. We investigate a control for steering the flocking system to track a desired trajectory. Common to all these systems is our strategy to add a leader agent that interacts with all other members of the system and includes the control mechanism. Our control through leadership approach is developed using classical theoretical control methods and a model predictive control (MPC) scheme. To apply the former method, for each model the stability of the corresponding linearized system near consensus is investigated. Further, local controllability is examined. However, only in the Hegselmann-Krause opinion formation model, the feedback control is determined in order to steer agents' opinions to globally converge to a desired agreement. The MPC approach is an optimal control strategy based on numerical optimization. To apply the MPC scheme, optimal control problems for each model are formulated where the objective functions are different depending on the desired objective of the problem. The first-oder necessary optimality conditions for each problem are presented. Moreover for the numerical treatment, a sequence of open-loop discrete optimality systems is solved by accurate Runge-Kutta schemes, and in the optimization procedure, a nonlinear conjugate gradient solver is implemented. Finally, numerical experiments are performed to investigate the properties of the multi-agent models and demonstrate the ability of the proposed control strategies to drive multi-agent systems to attain a desired consensus and to track a given trajectory.},
  subject      = {Mehragentensystem},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{NavarroBullock2015,
  author    = {Navarro Bullock, Beate},
  title     = {Privacy aware social information retrieval and spam filtering using folksonomies},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-120941},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Social interactions as introduced by Web 2.0 applications during the last decade have changed the way the Internet is used. Today, it is part of our daily lives to maintain contacts through social networks, to comment on the latest developments in microblogging services or to save and share information snippets such as photos or bookmarks online. Social bookmarking systems are part of this development. Users can share links to interesting web pages by publishing bookmarks and providing descriptive keywords for them. The structure which evolves from the collection of annotated bookmarks is called a folksonomy. The sharing of interesting and relevant posts enables new ways of retrieving information from the Web. Users can search or browse the folksonomy looking at resources related to specific tags or users. Ranking methods known from search engines have been adjusted to facilitate retrieval in social bookmarking systems. Hence, social bookmarking systems have become an alternative or addendum to search engines. In order to better understand the commonalities and differences of social bookmarking systems and search engines, this thesis compares several aspects of the two systems' structure, usage behaviour and content. This includes the use of tags and query terms, the composition of the document collections and the rankings of bookmarks and search engine URLs. Searchers (recorded via session ids), their search terms and the clicked on URLs can be extracted from a search engine query logfile. They form similar links as can be found in folksonomies where a user annotates a resource with tags. We use this analogy to build a tripartite hypergraph from query logfiles (a logsonomy), and compare structural and semantic properties of log- and folksonomies. Overall, we have found similar behavioural, structural and semantic characteristics in both systems. Driven by this insight, we investigate, if folksonomy data can be of use in web information retrieval in a similar way to query log data: we construct training data from query logs and a folksonomy to build models for a learning-to-rank algorithm. First experiments show a positive correlation of ranking results generated from the ranking models of both systems. The research is based on various data collections from the social bookmarking systems BibSonomy and Delicious, Microsoft's search engine MSN (now Bing) and Google data. To maintain social bookmarking systems as a good source for information retrieval, providers need to fight spam. This thesis introduces and analyses different features derived from the specific characteristics of social bookmarking systems to be used in spam detection classification algorithms. Best results can be derived from a combination of profile, activity, semantic and location-based features. Based on the experiments, a spam detection framework which identifies and eliminates spam activities for the social bookmarking system BibSonomy has been developed. The storing and publication of user-related bookmarks and profile information raises questions about user data privacy. What kinds of personal information is collected and how do systems handle user-related items? In order to answer these questions, the thesis looks into the handling of data privacy in the social bookmarking system BibSonomy. Legal guidelines about how to deal with the private data collected and processed in social bookmarking systems are also presented. Experiments will show that the consideration of user data privacy in the process of feature design can be a first step towards strengthening data privacy.},
  subject      = {Information Retrieval},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Schneider2015,
  author    = {Schneider, Johannes},
  title     = {Functional diversification of membrane microdomains in Bacillus subtilis},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-127569},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Eukaryotic cells are considered as evolutionary complex organisms because they possess organelles that enable them to regulate the spatio-temporal organization of cellular processes. Spatio-temporal organization of signal transduction cascades occurs in eukaryotic cells via organization of membrane-associated microdomains or lipid rafts. Lipid rafts are nanoscale-sized domains in the plasma membrane that are constituted by a specific set of lipids and proteins and harbor a number of proteins related to signal transduction and trafficking. The integrity of lipid rafts is important for the assembly and functional coordination of a plethora of signaling networks and associated processes. This integrity is partially mediated by a chaperone protein called flotillin. Disruption of lipid raft integrity, for example via depletion or overproduction of flotillin, alters raft-associated signal transduction cascades and causes severe diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease or cardiovascular disease. It was traditionally assumed that a sophisticated compartmentalization of cellular processes like the one exhibited in lipid rafts was exclusive to eukaryotic cells and therefore, lipid rafts have been considered as a hallmark in the evolution of cellular complexity, suggesting that prokaryotic cells were too simple organisms to organize such sophisticated membrane platforms. However, it was recently discovered that bacteria are also able to organize Functional Membrane Microdomains (FMMs) in their cellular membrane that are able to organize and catalyze the functionality of many diverse cellular processes. These FMMs of bacterial membranes contain flotillin-like proteins which play important roles in the organization of FMM-associated cellular processes. In this dissertation I describe the structural and biological significance of the existence of two distinct flotillin proteins, FloA and FloT, in the FMMs of the bacterial model Bacillus subtilis. Localization studies, proteomic data and transcriptomic analyses show that FloA and FloT are individual scaffold proteins that activate different regulatory programs during bacterial growth. Using the tractable bacterial model system, I show that the functionality of important regulatory proteins, like the protease FtsH or the signaling kinases KinC, PhoR and ResE, is linked to the activity of FMMs and that this is a direct consequence of the scaffold activity of the bacterial flotillins. FloA and FloT distribute heterogeneously along the FMMs of B. subtilis thereby generating a heterogeneous population of FMMs that compartmentalize different signal transduction cascades. Interestingly, diversification of FMMs does not occur randomly, but rather in a controlled spatio-temporal program to ensure the activation of given signaling networks at the right place and time during cell growth.},
  subject      = {Heubacillus},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Merget2015,
  author    = {Merget, Benjamin},
  title     = {Computational methods for assessing drug-target residence times in bacterial enoyl-ACP reductases and predicting small-molecule permeability for the \(Mycobacterium\) \(tuberculosis\) cell wall},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-127386},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {\textbf{Molecular Determinants of Drug-Target Residence Times of Bacterial Enoyl-ACP Reductases.} Whereas optimization processes of early drug discovery campaigns are often affinity-driven, the drug-target residence time \$t_R\$ should also be considered due to an often strong correlation with \textit{in vivo} efficacy of compounds. However, rational optimization of \$t_R\$ is not straightforward and generally hampered by the lack of structural information about the transition states of ligand association and dissociation. The enoyl-ACP reductase FabI of the fatty acid synthesis (FAS) type II is an important drug-target in antibiotic research. InhA is the FabI enzyme of \textit{Mycobacterium tuberculosis}, which is known to be inhibited by various compound classes. Slow-onset inhibition of InhA is assumed to be associated with the ordering of the most flexible protein region, the substrate binding loop (SBL). Diphenylethers are one class of InhA inhibitors that can promote such SBL ordering, resulting in long drug-target residence times. Although these inhibitors are energetically and kinetically well characterized, it is still unclear how the structural features of a ligand affect \$t_R\$. Using classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, recurring conformational families of InhA protein-ligand complexes were detected and structural determinants of drug-target residence time of diphenyl\-ethers with different kinetic profiles were described. This information was used to deduce guidelines for efficacy improvement of InhA inhibitors, including 5'-substitution on the diphenylether B-ring. The validity of this suggestion was then analyzed by means of MD simulations. Moreover, Steered MD (SMD) simulations were employed to analyze ligand dissociation of diphenylethers from the FabI enzyme of \textit{Staphylococcus aureus}. This approach resulted in a very accurate and quantitative linear regression model of the experimental \$ln(t_R)\$ of these inhibitors as a function of the calculated maximum free energy change of induced ligand extraction. This model can be used to predict the residence times of new potential inhibitors from crystal structures or valid docking poses. Since correct structural characterization of the intermediate enzyme-inhibitor state (EI) and the final state (EI*) of two-step slow-onset inhibition is crucial for rational residence time optimization, the current view of the EI and EI* states of InhA was revisited by means of crystal structure analysis, MD and SMD simulations. Overall, the analyses affirmed that the EI* state is a conformation resembling the 2X23 crystal structure (with slow-onset inhibitor \textbf{PT70}), whereas a twist of residues Ile202 and Val203 with a further opened helix \$\alpha 6\$ corresponds to the EI state. Furthermore, MD simulations emphasized the influence of close contacts to symmetry mates in the SBL region on SBL stability, underlined by the observation that an MD simulation of \textbf{PT155} chain A with chain B' of a symmetry mate in close proximity of the SBL region showed significantly more stable loops, than a simulation of the tetrameric assembly. Closing Part I, SMD simulations were employed which allow the delimitation of slow-onset InhA inhibitors from rapid reversible ligands. \textbf{Prediction of \textit{Mycobacterium tuberculosis} Cell Wall Permeability.} The cell wall of \textit{M. tuberculosis} hampers antimycobacterial drug design due to its unique composition, providing intrinsic antibiotic resistance against lipophilic and hydrophilic compounds. To assess the druggability space of this pathogen, a large-scale data mining endeavor was conducted, based on multivariate statistical analysis of differences in the physico-chemical composition of a normally distributed drug-like chemical space and a database of antimycobacterial--and thus very likely permeable--compounds. The approach resulted in the logistic regression model MycPermCheck, which is able to predict the permeability probability of small organic molecules based on their physico-chemical properties. Evaluation of MycPermCheck suggests a high predictive power. The model was implemented as a freely accessible online service and as a local stand-alone command-line version. Methodologies and findings from both parts of this thesis were combined to conduct a virtual screening for antimycobacterial substances. MycPermCheck was employed to screen the chemical permeability space of \textit{M. tuberculosis} from the entire ZINC12 drug-like database. After subsequent filtering steps regarding ADMET properties, InhA was chosen as an exemplary target. Docking to InhA led to a principal hit compound, which was further optimized. The quality of the interaction of selected derivatives with InhA was subsequently evaluated using MD and SMD simulations in terms of protein and ligand stability, as well as maximum free energy change of induced ligand egress. The results of the presented computational experiments suggest that compounds with an indole-3-acethydrazide scaffold might constitute a novel class of InhA inhibitors, worthwhile of further investigation.},
  subject      = {Computational chemistry},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Schmidt2015,
  author    = {Schmidt, Thomas Christian},
  title     = {Theoretical Investigations on the Interactions of Small Compounds with their Molecular Environments},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-127860},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Im ersten Teil dieser Arbeit wird eine Kombination theoretischer Methoden f{\"u}r die strukturbasierte Entwicklung neuer Wirkstoffe pr{\"a}sentiert. Ausgehend von der Kristallstruktur eines kovalenten Komplexes einer Modellverbindung mit dem Zielprotein wurde mit Hilfe von quantenmechanischen und QM/MM Rechnungen die genaue Geometrie des vorausgehenden nicht-kovalenten Komplexes betimmt. Letztere ist der bestimmende Faktor f{\"u}r die Reaktivit{\"a}t des Inhibitors gegen{\"u}ber der katalytisch aktiven Aminos{\"a}ure und damit f{\"u}r die Ausbildung einer kovalenten Bindung. Aus diesem Grund wurde diese Geometrie auch f{\"u}r die Optimierung der Substitutionsmusters des Ihnibitors verwendet, um dessen Affinit{\"a}t zum Zielenzyme zu verbessern ohne dass dieser seine F{\"a}higkeit kovalent an das aktive Zentrum zu binden verliert. Die Optimierung des Substitutionsmuster wurde doch Methode des Molekularen Dockings unterst{\"u}tzt, das diese optimal dazu geeignet sind, Bindungsaffinit{\"a}ten vorherzusagen, die durch eine Modifikation der chemischen Struktur entstehen. Eine Auswahl der besten Strukturen wurde anschließend verwendet, um zu {\"u}berpr{\"u}fen, ob die ver{\"a}nderten Molek{\"u}le noch gen{\"u}gen Reaktivit{\"a}t gegen{\"u}ber dem Zielprotein aufweisen. Molek{\"u}ldynamik Simulationen der neuen Verbindungen haben jedoch gezeigt, dass die ver{\"a}nderten Verbindungen nur so and das Protein binden, dass die Bilung eine kovalenten Bindung zum Enzym nicht mehr m{\"o}glich ist. Daher wurden in einem weiteren Schritt die Modellverbindungen weiter modifiziert. Neben {\"A}nderungen im Substitutionsmuster wurde auch die chemische Struktur im Kern ver{\"a}ndert. Die Bindungsaffinit{\"a}ten wurde wieder mittels Docking {\"u}berpr{\"u}ft. F{\"u}r die besten Bindungsposen wurden wieder Simulationen zur Molek{\"u}ldynamik durchgef{\"u}hrt, wobei diesmal die Ausbildung einer kovalenten Bindung zum Enzyme m{\"o}glich erscheint. In einer abschließenden Serie von QM/MM Rechnungen unter Ber{\"u}cksichtigung verschiedener Protonierungszust{\"a}nde des Inhibitors und des Proteins konnten Reaktionspfade und zugeh{\"o}rige Reaktionsenergien bestimmt werden. Die Ergebnisse lassen darauf schließen, dass eines der neu entwickelten Molek{\"u}le sowohl eine stark verbesserte Bindungsaffinit{\"a}t wie auch die M{\"o}glichkeit der kovalenten Bindung an Enzyme aufweist. Der zweite Teil der Arbeit konzentriert sich auf die Umgebungseinfl{\"u}sse auf die Elektronenverteilung eines Inhibitormodells. Als Grundlage dient ein vinylsulfon-basiertes Moek{\"u}l, f{\"u}r das eine experimentell bestimmte Kristallstruktur sowie ein theoretisch berechneter Protein Komplex verf{\"u}gbar sind. Ein Referendatensatz f{\"u}r diese Systeme wurde erstellt, indem der Konformationsraum des Inhibitors nach m{\"o}glichen Minimumsstrukturen abgesucht wurde, welche sp{\"a}ter mit den Geometrien des Molek{\"u}ls im Kristall und im Protein verglichen werden konnten. The Geometrie in der Kristallumgebung konnte direkt aus den experimentellen Daten {\"u}bernommen werden. Rechnungen zum nicht-kovalenten Protein Komplex hingegen haben gezeigt, dass f{\"u}r das Modellsystem mehrere Geometrien des Inhibiors sowie zwei Protonierungszust{\"a}nde f{\"u}r die katalytisch aktiven Aminos{\"a}uren m{\"o}glich sind. F{\"u}r die Analyse wurden daher alle m{\"o}glichen Proteinkomplexe mit der Kristallstruktur verglichen. Ebenso wurden Vergleiche mit der Geometrie des isolierten Molek{\"u}ls im Vakuum sowie der Geometrie in w{\"a}ssriger L{\"o}sung angestellt. F{\"u}r die Geometrie des Molek{\"u}ls an sich ergab sich eine gute {\"U}bereinstimmung f{\"u}r alle Modellsysteme, f{\"u}r die Wechselwirkungen mit der Umgebung jedoch nicht. Die Ausbildung von Dimeren in der Kristallumgebung hat einen stark stablisierenden Effekt und ist einer der Gr{\"u}nde, warum dieser Kristall so gut wie keine Fehlordungen aufweist. In den Proteinkomplexen hingegen ergibt sich eine Abstoßung zwischen dem Inhibitor und einer der katalytisch aktiven Aminos{\"a}uren. Als Ursache f{\"u}r diese Abstoßung konnte die Einf{\"u}hrung der Methylaminfunktion ausgemacht werden. Vermutlicherweise f{\"u}hrt diese strukturelle {\"A}nderung auch dazu, dass der Modellinhibitor nicht in der Lage ist, so wie die Leitstruktur K11777 an das aktive Zentrum des Enzyms zu binden.},
  subject      = {Theoretische Chemie},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Holzmeier2015,
  author    = {Holzmeier, Fabian},
  title     = {Photoionization of Nitrogen-Containing Reactive Molecules with Synchrotron Radiation},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-127763},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The photoionization of several nitrogen-containing reactive intermediates relevant in combustion processes was investigated in the gas phase employing VUV synchrotron radiation. The intermediates were either freshly prepared and stored under cryogenic temperatures during the experiment or generated in situ by vacuum flash pyrolysis of suitable precursor molecules. The iPEPICO (imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence) setups of the VUV beamlines at the Swiss Light Source and Synchrotron SOLEIL were then used to record mass-selected threshold photoelectron (TPE) spectra. TPE spectra reveal the ionization energy and vibrational structure in the cationic states can often be resolved, which enables to distinguish different isomers. Accurate ionization energies for the radicals carbonyl amidogen, pyrrolyl, and 3-picolyl, and for the closed shell molecules isocyanic acid and cyanovinylacetylene were obtained. The analysis of the dissociative photoionization of the pyrolysis precursors enables in some cases to retrieve thermochemical data. Beyond, the absolute photoionization cross section of the cyclic carbene cyclopropenylidene was determined, NEXAFS and normal Auger spectra of isocyanic acid were recorded and analyzed at the O1s, N1s, and C1s edges, and the dissociative photoionization and pyrolysis of 1,4-di-tert-butyl-1,4-azaborinine was studied.},
  subject      = {Dissoziative Photoionisation},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Kastner2015,
  author    = {Kastner, Anna Katharina},
  title     = {Attention mechanisms in contextual anxiety and cued fear and their influence on processing of social cues},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-123747},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Anxiety is an affective state characterized by a sustained, long-lasting defensive response, induced by unpredictable, diffuse threat. In comparison, fear is a phasic response to predictable threat. Fear can be experimentally modeled with the help of cue conditioning. Context conditioning, in which the context serves as the best predictor of a threat due to the absence of any conditioned cues, is seen as an operationalization of sustained anxiety. This thesis used a differential context conditioning paradigm to examine sustained attention processes in a threat context compared to a safety context for the first time. In three studies, the attention mechanisms during the processing of contextual anxiety were examined by measuring heart rate responses and steady-state-visually evoked potentials (ssVEPs). An additional focus was set on the processing of social cues (i.e. faces) and the influence of contextual information on these cues. In a last step, the correlates of sustained anxiety were compared to evoked responses by phasic fear, which was realized in a previously established paradigm combining predictable and unpredictable threat. In the first study, a contextual stimulus was associated with an aversive loud noise, while a second context remained unpaired. This conditioning paradigm created an anxiety context (CTX+) and a safety context (CTX-). After acquisition, a social agent vs. an object was presented as a distractor in both contexts. Heart rate and cortical responses, with ssVEPs by using frequency tagging, to the contexts and the distractors were assessed. Results revealed enhanced ssVEP amplitudes for the CTX+ compared to the CTX- during acquisition and during presentation of distractor stimuli. Additionally, the heart rate was accelerated in the acquisition phase, followed by a heart rate deceleration as a psychophysiological marker of contextual anxiety. Study 2 used the same context conditioning paradigm as Study 1. In contrast to the first study, persons with different emotional facial expressions were presented in the anxiety and safety contexts in order to compare the differential processing of these cues within periods of threat and safety. A similar anxiety response was found in the second study, although only participants who Abstract VIII were aware of the contingency between contexts and aversive event showed a sensory amplification of the threat context, indicated by heart rate response and ssVEP activation. All faces irrespective of their emotional expression received increased attentional resources when presented within the anxiety context, which suggests a general hypervigilance in anxiety contexts. In the third study, the differentiation of predictable and unpredictable threat as an operationalization of fear and anxiety was examined on a cortical and physiological level. In the predictable condition, a social cue was paired with an aversive event, while in the unpredictable condition the aversive event remained unpaired with the respective cue. A fear response to the predictable cue was found, indicated by increased oscillatory response and accelerated heart rate. Both predictable and unpredictable threat yielded increased ssVEP amplitudes evoked by the context stimuli, while the response in the unpredictable context showed longer-lasting ssVEP activation to the threat context. To sum up, all three studies endorsed anxiety as a long-lasting defensive response. Due to the unpredictability of the aversive events, the individuals reacted with hypervigilance in the anxiety context, reflected in a facilitated processing of sensory information and an orienting response. This hypervigilance had an impact on the processing of novel cues, which appeared in the anxiety context. Considering the compared stimuli categories, the stimuli perceived in a state of anxiety received increased attentional resources, irrespective of the emotional arousal conveyed by the facial expression. Both predictable and unpredictable threat elicited sensory amplification of the contexts, while the response in the unpredictable context showed longer-lasting sensory facilitation of the threat context.},
  subject      = {Angst},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Bauer2015,
  author    = {Bauer, Ulrich Josef},
  title     = {Conformal Mappings onto Simply and Multiply Connected Circular Arc Polygon Domains},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-123914},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The goal of this thesis is to investigate conformal mappings onto circular arc polygon domains, i.e. domains that are bounded by polygons consisting of circular arcs instead of line segments. Conformal mappings onto circular arc polygon domains contain parameters in addition to the classical parameters of the Schwarz-Christoffel transformation. To contribute to the parameter problem of conformal mappings from the unit disk onto circular arc polygon domains, we investigate two special cases of these mappings. In the first case we can describe the additional parameters if the bounding circular arc polygon is a polygon with straight sides. In the second case we provide an approximation for the additional parameters if the circular arc polygon domain satisfies some symmetry conditions. These results allow us to draw conclusions on the connection between these additional parameters and the classical parameters of the mapping. For conformal mappings onto multiply connected circular arc polygon domains, we provide an alternative construction of the mapping formula without using the Schottky-Klein prime function. In the process of constructing our main result, mappings for domains of connectivity three or greater, we also provide a formula for conformal mappings onto doubly connected circular arc polygon domains. The comparison of these mapping formulas with already known mappings allows us to provide values for some of the parameters of the mappings onto doubly connected circular arc polygon domains if the image domain is a polygonal domain. The different components of the mapping formula are constructed by using a slightly modified variant of the Poincar{\´e} theta series. This construction includes the design of a function to remove unwanted poles and of different versions of functions that are analytic on the domain of definition of the mapping functions and satisfy some special functional equations. We also provide the necessary concepts to numerically evaluate the conformal mappings onto multiply connected circular arc polygon domains. As the evaluation of such a map requires the solution of a differential equation, we provide a possible configuration of curves inside the preimage domain to solve the equation along them in addition to a description of the procedure for computing either the formula for the doubly connected case or the case of connectivity three or greater. We also describe the procedures for solving the parameter problem for multiply connected circular arc polygon domains.},
  subject      = {Konforme Abbildungen},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Pusch2015,
  author    = {Pusch, Tobias},
  title     = {The transcription factor NFATc1 mediates cytotoxic T cell function in vitro and in vivo},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-123690},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {While numerous experiments on NFAT were already performed with CD4+ T cells showing defective cytokine release and a reduced T helper cell development, no detailed studies existed for CD8+ T cells. From this point, we wanted to examine the impact of NFATc1 and c2 on the physiological functions of CD8+ T cells in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, we used a murine infection model with the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes and mice in which NFATc1 was specifically depleted in the T cell compartment. Our first in vitro studies showed a typical NFATc1 and c2 nuclear translocation and changes on mRNA levels upon T cell activation similarly in CD4+ as well as in CD8+ T cells extracted from wild type mice. NFAT nuclear translocation is important for target gene activation and generation of effector functions. Stimulated T cell populations lacking NFATc1 and/or NFATc2 showed a markedly decreased expression of Th1/Tc1 cytokines, as e.g. IL 2 and IFNγ being important for the clearance of intracellular pathogens. From our in vitro model for the generation of allogenically reactive cytotoxic CD8+ T cells, we revealed a decreased killing and lytic granule-release capacity in Nfatc1 inactivated CD8+ T cells whereas NFATc2-/- cytotoxic T cells did not show an altered cytotoxic response compared to wild type cells. Interestingly, we found lytic granules accumulated and mitochondria not getting translocated to the immunological synapse upon re-stimulation in NFATc1-deficient CD8+ T cells. Together with results showing the CsA insensitivity of the CTL killing/degranulation capacities, we assume that some major cellular processes are affected by NFATc1 which are not directly linked to the TCR-induced signal transduction cascade. We also showed the importance of NFATc1 in T cells during intracellular infections with the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes in an in vivo mouse model. After five days, only few bacteria were detected in wt mice whereas high amounts of Listeria particles were extracted from livers of Nfatc1fl/fl x Cd4 cre mice. Although the reactivity towards the pathogen was similar in both groups, a decreased cytokine expression in NFATc1-/- CD8+ T cells was observed together with an altered memory cell generation. Our results show the importance of NFATc1 in CD8+ T cells and give some clue for a possible connection to other basal cellular functions, as e.g. the formation of an immunological synapse.},
  subject      = {Transkriptionsfaktor},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Fuchs2015,
  author    = {Fuchs, Franziska},
  title     = {Optical spectroscopy on silicon vacancy defects in silicon carbide},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-124071},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {This work sheds light on different aspects of the silicon vacancy in SiC: (1) Defect creation via irradiation is shown both with electrons and neutrons. Optical properties have been determined: the excitation of the vacancy is most efficient at excitation wavelengths between 720nm and 800nm. The PL decay yields a characteristic excited state lifetime of (6.3±0.6)ns. (2) Defect engineering, meaning the controlled creation of vacancies in SiC with varying neutron fluence. The defect density could be engineered over eight orders of magnitude. On the one hand, in the sample with highest emitter density, the huge PL signal could even be enhanced by factor of five via annealing mechanisms. On the other hand, in the low defect density samples, single defects with photostable room temperature NIR emission were doubtlessly proven. Their lifetime of around 7ns confirmed the value of the transient measurement. (3) Also electrical excitation of the defects has been demonstrated in a SiC LED structure. (4) The investigations revealed for the first time that silicon vacancies can even exist SiC nanocrystals down to sizes of about 60 nm. The defects in the nanocrystals show stable PL emission in the NIR and even magnetic resonance in the 600nm fraction. In conclusion, this work ascertains on the one hand basic properties of the silicon vacancy in silicon carbide. On the other hand, proof-of-principle measurements test the potential for various defect-based applications of the vacancy in SiC, and confirm the feasibility of e.g. electrically driven single photon sources or nanosensing applications in the near future.},
  subject      = {Siliciumcarbid},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Hardaker2015,
  author    = {Hardaker, Sina},
  title     = {Development and Outlook for Grocery Retailing Internationalization in China: Competition and Format Expansion within a Geographical Context},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-123076},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  pages     = {287},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Purpose - The purpose of this dissertation is to reveal the status quo of development of the grocery retailers' internationalization process in China as well as to model future trends, opportunities and challenges within a very competitive market. Using several, geographically distant cities as case studies, this paper focuses on the development and outlook of different store formats, along with the development of competition in this respect by explicitly treating China not as a single market. The study thereby analyses historical and geographical diffusion in regard to store formats. The impacts of the main factors of change are discussed. Design/methodology/approach - The dissertation reviews extensively the literature of grocery retail internationalization with special focus on China. In addition, it draws on primary research in the form of a wide range of expert interviews. As China´s 'supermarket revolution' is underway, an understanding of the local and foreign competition and the development of different store formats within different regions of China as well as their prospects, will be crucial to companies expanding into this area. Findings - The study explains how grocery retailers have already entered the Chinese market with different store formats and how competition has and will further develop. In addition, the study reveals challenges and obstacles in regard to future market strategies, especially in regard to store formats and geographical regions. Research limitations/implications - The study reveals the current landscape of the Chinese grocery retailing market and emphasizes important strategic pillars, modelling future implications and challenges for food retailers operating in China. Because China is a vast country this dissertation forms only a small part of the geographical evolution process in regard to store formats and competition. Practical implications - Explores current understanding of the internationalization process in China by considering different format choices. Supplementary, the dissertation proposes an outlook of competition enlargement, prospects of format development and therewith strategic implications within different regions as well as a future research agenda. Originality / value - Contributes to the understanding of the Chinese grocery retailing market. Furthermore, it is among the first to critically explore possible future developments in regard to store formats and competition within a geographical context in China},
  subject      = {Lebensmitteleinzelhandel},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Wegner2015,
  author    = {Wegner, Julia},
  title     = {Restoring tissue-like functionality in circulating CD8 T-cells: mechanistic studies and application in immunomonitoring of cancer patients},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-124177},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are the only source of human lymphoid cells routinely available for immunologic research and for immunomonitoring of T-cell responses to microbial and tumor-associated antigens. However the large majority of human T-cells resides in tissues, especially in lymphatic organs, while only 1 \% of the body's T-cells circulate in the blood stream. Previous work in mice and humans had indicated that CD4 T-cells transiently lose antigen sensitivity when cellular contacts are lost, e.g. by leaving lymphoid organs such as lymph nodes (LNs) and entering the circulation. In this study, these findings were extended to CD8 T-cells. Thus, CD8 T-cell responses of the human tonsil show a significant drop in sensitivity to viral antigens if tissue-exit was simulated by keeping cells in dispersed culture at body temperature for two hours. Conversely, tissue-like functionality in blood-derived CD8 T-cells was restored by applying the simple and robust RESTORE protocol. Indeed, application of the RESTORE protocol, i.e. pre-culturing PBMCs for two days at a high cell density before initiation of antigenic stimulation, demonstrated that CD8 T-cell responses to a broad range of viral and to tumor-associated antigens are greatly underestimated, and sometimes even remain undetected if conventional, unprocessed PBMC cultures are used. The latter finding is particularly striking with regard to the appearance of Wilms tumor 1 (WT1)-specific CD8 T-cell responses in leukemia patients after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. My studies on the mechanism of the RESTORE protocol show that HD preculture of PBMCs does not involve antigen-or cytokine-driven clonal expansion of T-cells. Moreover, the gain in antigen sensitivity cannot be explained by a decreased activity of regulatory T-cells during the preculture step. The increased antigen sensitivity of CD8 T-cells from HD precultures of PBMCs is associated with tonic T-cell receptor signaling as indicated by enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation of the CD3 ζ chains and the tyrosine kinase Lck, thereby preparing T-cells for full responses. The upregulation of genes involved in aerobic glycolysis in "restored" CD8 memory T-cells relative to fresh cells might be an essential requirement for increased T-cell functionality including the regulation of IFN-γ production. Taken together, the RESTORE protocol, which was initially described for the CD4 T-cell response to the antibody TGN1412 permits a more meaningful monitoring of CD8 T-cell responses to viral infections and tumors. Furthermore, when generating T-cell lines for adoptive T-cell therapy, the RESTORE protocol allows the generation of CD8 T-cell lines with an improved representation of clones responding to low antigen concentrations.},
  subject      = {Antigen CD8},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Meyer2015,
  author    = {Meyer, Frank},
  title     = {Soft X-ray Spectroscopic Study of Amino Acid and Salt Solutions},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-124295},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {This thesis focuses on the investigation of the electronic structure of amino acids and salts in aqueous solution using X-ray spectroscopic methods. Both material groups are of fundamental importance with regards to many physiological reactions, especially for the Hofmeister effect which describes the solubility of proteins in salt solutions. Hence, the investigation of the electronic structure of amino acids and the influence of ions on the hydrogen bonding network of liquid water are important milestones to a deeper understanding of the Hofmeister series. Besides investigating the electronic structure of amino acids in aqueous solution, the spectra were used to develop a building block model of the spectral fingerprints of the functional groups and were compared to spectral signatures of suitable reference molecules. In the framework of this thesis, it is shown that the building block approach is a useful tool with allows the interpretation of spectral signatures of considerably more complex molecules In this work, the focus lies on the investigation of the occupied and unoccupied electronic states of molecules in solid state, as well as in aqueous solution. Hereby, different X-ray spectroscopic methods were applied. X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) was used to probe the occupied electronic structure of the solution, while the unoccupied electronic structure was addressed by using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Finally, resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) as a combination of XAS and XES measurements provides the combined information about the unoccupied and occupied molecular levels. The element specific character of the three measurement methods is a feature which allows the investigation of the local electronic structure of a single functional group. With RIXS, also non-equivalent atoms of the same element can be addressed separately. Within this thesis firstly, a library of the XE spectra of all 20 proteinogenic amino acids in zwitterionic form is presented. From this sample-set XES fingerprints of the protonated alpha-amino group NH3+ and the deprotonated carboxylic group COO- were evaluated and used to identify the XES fingerprints of the nitrogen and oxygen containing functional groups of the side chains of the amino acids. The data is discussed based on a building block approach. Furthermore, the XE spectra of the functional groups of lysine and histidine, namely the NH2 group and the C3N2H4 ring structure, are both compared to XE spectra of suitable reference molecules (imidazole, ammonia and methylamine). It is found that the XE and RIXS spectra of the side chains of lysine and histidine show large similarities to the XE spectra of the reference molecules. This agreement in the XE and RIXS spectra allows a qualitative investigation of XE and RIXS spectra of more complex amino acids using the XE and RIXS spectra of suitable reference molecules. The chemical structure of histidine and proline is quite different from the structures of the other proteinogenic amino acids. Due to the unique chemical structure of the side chain which in both cases consists of a heterocyclic ring structure, these two amino acids were investigated in more detail. Zubavichus et al. [1] have shown that amino acids are decomposing while exposed to X-ray radiation of the experiment. The damage is irreversible and molecular fragments can adsorb on the membrane of the experimental setup. This contamination can also create a spectral signature which then overlaps with the signal of the solution and which complicates the interpretation of the data. To record spectra which are free from contributions of adsorbed molecular fragments on the membrane, the adsorption behavior was investigated. In contrast to the solid phase in which the amino acids are present as salts in one electronic conformation, the charge state of the amino acids can be manipulated in aqueous solution by tuning the pH-value. By doing this, all possible charge states are accessible (cation, anion, zwitterion). In this work it is shown that also the spectra of the different charge states can be modeled by the spectra of suitable reference molecules using the building block approach. The spectral changes occurring upon protonation and deprotonation of the functional groups are explored and verified by comparing them to theoretical calculations. The comparison with measurements of pyrrolidine show that the electronic structure which surrounds the nitrogen atom of proline is strongly influenced by the ring structure of the side chain. Furthermore, the proline, pyrrolidine, and histidine molecules are also degrading during the liquid sample measurements. This can be observed by the detection of a new spectral component which increases with the measurement time originating from the window membrane. In all cases, the speed of the agglomeration of molecular fragments at the membrane was observed to be highly sensitive to the pH value of the solution. To understand the Hofmeister series, also the impact of the salt ions have to be investigated. In this study the influence of potassium chloride (KCl) on the hydrogen bond network of water was studied by using non-resonantly excited XES as well as RIXS. A decreased dissociation of hydrogen molecules and changes in the molecular vibrations could be detected. These changes were interpreted with a molecular reorganization of the water molecules and a decreased number of hydrogen bonds.},
  subject      = {Aminos{\"a}uren},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Fimmel2015,
  author    = {Fimmel, Benjamin},
  title     = {Perylene Bisimide Foldamers: Synthesis and In-Depth Studies of the Ground- and Excited States Properties},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-125173},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {In this thesis the syntheses and detailed investigations on two foldable PBI systems were presented. The reversible, solvent-dependet folding/unfolding-behavior was used to study the ground and excited states properties of folda-dimer and folda-trimer by means of different spectroscopic methods as well as theoretical studies. The switching between charge transfer or excimer formation pathways of photoexcited molecules influenced by the spatial arrangement of chromophores within defined dye systems illustrates the impact of conformational preferences on functional properties.},
  subject      = {Perylenbisdicarboximide <Perylen-3,4:9,10-bis(dicarboximide)>},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Grimmig2015,
  author    = {Grimmig, Tanja Maria},
  title     = {Immunity, Inflammation and Cancer: The role of Foxp3, TLR7 and TLR8 in gastrointestinal cancer},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-125248},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Regulatory T cells (Treg) expressing the transcription factor forkhead box protein P3 (Foxp3) have been demonstrated to mediate evasion from anti-tumor immune responses during tumor progression. Moreover, Foxp3 expression by tumor cells themselves may allow them to counteract effector T cell responses, resulting in a survival benefit of the tumor. For gastrointestinal cancers, in particular pancreatic and colorectal cancer (CRC), the clinical relevance of Foxp3 is not clear to date. Therefore the aim of this study was to analyze its impact in CRC and pancreatic cancer. To determine the relevance of Foxp3 for tumor progression and patient survival, gene and protein analysis of human pancreatic and colon cancer cell lines as well as tumor tissues from patients with CRC was performed. The results derived from the patients with CRC were correlated with clinicopathological parameters and patients' overall survival. Cancer cell mediated Foxp3 expression in vitro was demonstrated in human pancreatic cancer cell lines PANC1, PaCa DD 135, PaCa DD 159 and PaCa DD 185 as well as in human colon cancer cell lines SW480 and SW620. Additionally, Foxp3 expressing cancer cells were found in ex vivo tumor tissue samples of patients with CRC. The percentage of Foxp3+ cancer cells increased from stages UICC I/II to UICC III/IV compared to normal tissue. Moreover, high tumor cell mediated Foxp3 expression was associated with poor prognosis compared to patients with low Foxp3 expression. In contrast, low and high Foxp3 level in tumor infiltrating Treg cells demonstrated no significant differences in patients' overall survival. Correlation analysis demonstrated a significant association of Foxp3 cancer cell expression with the expression of immunosuppressive cytokines IL-10 and TGF-β. These findings suggest that Immunosuppressive cytokines such as IL-10 and TGF-β released by rather Foxp3+ cancer cells than Foxp3+ Treg cells may inhibit the activation of naive T cells, hence limiting antitumor immune responses and favoring tumorigenesis and progression. Chronic inflammation has been shown to be an important epigenetic and environmental factor in numerous tumor entities. Recent data suggest that tumorigenesis and tumor progression may be associated with inflammation-triggered activation of Toll-like receptors (TLR). In this study, the specific impact of both TLR7 and TLR8 expression and signaling on tumor cell proliferation and chemoresistance is analyzed in inflammation linked CRC and pancreatic cancer. By gene and protein expression analysis of human pancreatic and colon cancer cell lines TLR7 and TLR8 expression was determined in vitro. Additionally, expression of TLR7/TLR8 in UICC stage I-IV pancreatic cancer, chronic pancreatitis and normal pancreatic tissue was examined. For in vitro/in vivo studies TLR7/TLR8 overexpressing PANC1 cell lines were generated and analyzed for effects of TLR expression and stimulation on tumor cell proliferation and chemoresistance. Cancer cell mediated TLR7 and TLR8 expression in vitro was demonstrated in human colon cancer cell lines SW480, SW620 and HT-29 as well as in primary pancreatic cancer cell lines PaCa DD 135, PaCa DD 159 and PaCa DD 185. Additionally, TLR7 and TLR8 expressing tumor cells were found in ex vivo tissue samples of patients with pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis. Significantly elevated expression levels of TLR7 and TLR8 were found in advanced tumor stages (UICC III) compared to early tumor stages (UICC II) and chronic pancreatitis. No or occasionally low expression was detected in normal pancreatic tissue. In contrast to the tissues from patients with pancreatic cancer or chronic pancreatitis, established pancreatic tumor cell lines express only very low levels of TLR7 and TLR8. Therefore, for in vitro and xenograft studies TLR7 or TLR8 overexpressing PANC1 cells were generated. Proliferation promoting effects of TLR7 and TLR8 expression and stimulation with R848 were detected in vitro. Additionally, increased tumor growth of TLR expressing PANC1 cells was demonstrated in subcutaneously injected Balb/c nude mice. Interestingly, activation of TLR7 or TLR8 induced not only an increase in tumor cell proliferation but also a strong chemoresistance of PANC1 cells against 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). Moreover, treatment with R848 resulted in elevated expression levels of NF-κB, COX-2 and inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-8 and TNF-α, suggesting TLR7/8 signaling to contribute to an inflammatory, anti-apoptotic and proliferation promoting tumor microenvironment. These findings emphasize the particular role of TLR7 and TLR8 in inflammation related cancers and their relevance as potential targets for cancer therapy.  },
  subject      = {Bauchspeicheldr{\"u}senkrebs},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Stumpf2015,
  author    = {Stumpf, Anette D.},
  title     = {Development of fluorescent FRET receptor sensors for investigation of conformational changes in adenosine A1 and A2A receptors},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-125469},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Adenosine receptors that belong to the rhodopsin-like G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are involved in a lot of regulatory processes and are widely distributed throughout the body which makes them an attractive target for drugs. However, pharmacological knowledge of these receptors is still limited. A big advance regarding the structural knowledge of adenosine receptors was the development of the first crystal structure of the adenosine A2A receptor in 2008. The crystal structure revealed the amino acids that form the ligand binding pocket of the receptor and depicted the endpoint of receptor movement in the ligand binding process. Within the scope of this work two members of the adenosine receptor family were investigated, namely the adenosine A1 and the A2A receptor (A1R, A2AR). A1R was generated on base of the previously developed A2AR. Receptors were tagged with fluorophores, with the cyan fluorescent protein (CFP) at the C-terminal end of receptor and the Fluorescein Arsenical Hairpin binder (FlAsH) binding sequence within the third intracellular loop of receptors. Resulting fluorescent receptor sensors A1 Fl3 CFP and A2A Fl3 CFP were investigated with help of Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) measurements within living cells. FRET experiments enable the examination of alteration in the distance of two fluorophores and thus the observation of receptor dynamical movements. For comparison of A1R and A2AR regarding receptor dynamical movement upon ligand binding, fluorescent receptor sensors A1 Fl3 CFP and A2A Fl3 CFP were superfused with various ligands and the outcomes of FRET experiments were compared regarding signal height of FRET ratio evoked by the distinct ligand that is correlated to the conformational change of receptor upon ligand binding. Beside the different direction of FRET ratio upon ligand binding at A1R and A2AR sensor, there were differences observable when signal height and association and dissociation kinetics of the various ligands investigated were compared to each other. Differences between the adenosine receptor subtypes were especially remarkable for the A1R subtype selective agonist CPA and the A2AR subtype selective agonist CGS 21680. Another part of the project was to investigate the influence of single amino acids in the ligand binding process within the fluorescent A1R sensor. Amino acid positions were derived from the crystal structure of the A2AR forming the ligand binding pocket and these amino acids were mutated in the A1R structure. Investigation of the A1R sensor and its mutants regarding confocal analysis showed involvement of some amino acids in receptor localization. When these amino acids were mutated receptors were not expressed in the plasma membrane of cells. Some amino acids investigated were found to be involved in the ligand binding process in general whereas other amino acids were found to have an influence on the binding of distinct structural groups of the ligands investigated. In a further step, A1R and A2AR were N-terminally tagged with SNAP or CLIP which allowed to label receptor sensors with multiple fluorophores. With this technique receptor distribution in cells could be investigated with help of confocal analysis. Furthermore, ligand binding with fluorescent adenosine receptor ligands and their competition with help of a non-fluorescent antagonist was examined at the SNAP tagged A1R and A2AR. Finally the previously developed receptor sensors were combined to the triple labeled receptor sensors SNAP A1 Fl3 CFP and SNAP A2A Fl3 CFP which were functional regarding FRET experiments and plasma membrane expression was confirmed via confocal analysis. In the future, with the help of this technique, interaction between fluorescent ligand and SNAP tagged receptor can be monitored simultaneously with the receptor movement that is indicated by the distance alteration between FlAsH and CFP. This can lead to a better understanding of receptor function and its dynamical movement upon ligand binding which may contribute to the development of new and more specific drugs for the A1R and A2AR in the future.},
  subject      = {Adenosinrezeptor},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Rothe2015,
  author    = {Rothe, Dietrich Gernot},
  title     = {Spin Transport in Topological Insulators and Geometrical Spin Control},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-125628},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {In the field of spintronics, spin manipulation and spin transport are the main principles that need to be implemented. The main focus of this thesis is to analyse semiconductor systems where high fidelity in these principles can be achieved. To this end, we use numerical methods for precise results, supplemented by simpler analytical models for interpretation. The material system of 2D topological insulators, HgTe/CdTe quantum wells, is interesting not only because it provides a topologically distinct phase of matter, physically manifested in its protected transport properties, but also since within this system, ballistic transport of high quality can be realized, with Rashba spin-orbit coupling and electron densities that are tunable by electrical gating. Extending the Bernvevig-Hughes-Zhang model for 2D topological insulators, we derive an effective four-band model including Rashba spin-orbit terms due to an applied potential that breaks the spatial inversion symmetry of the quantum well. Spin transport in this system shows interesting physics because the effects of Rashba spin-orbit terms and the intrinsic Dirac-like spin-orbit terms compete. We show that the resulting spin Hall signal can be dominated by the effect of Rashba spin-orbit coupling. Based on spin splitting due to the latter, we propose a beam splitter setup for all-electrical generation and detection of spin currents. Its working principle is similar to optical birefringence. In this setup, we analyse spin current and spin polarization signals of different spin vector components and show that large in-plane spin polarization of the current can be obtained. Since spin is not a conserved quantity of the model, we first analyse the transport of helicity, a conserved quantity even in presence of Rashba spin-orbit terms. The polarization defined in terms of helicity is related to in-plane polarization of the physical spin. Further, we analyse thermoelectric transport in a setup showing the spin Hall effect. Due to spin-orbit coupling, an applied temperature gradient generates a transverse spin current, i.e. a spin Nernst effect, which is related to the spin Hall effect by a Mott-like relation. In the metallic energy regimes, the signals are qualitatively explained by simple analytic models. In the insulating regime, we observe a spin Nernst signal that originates from the finite-size induced overlap of edge states. In the part on methods, we discuss two complementary methods for construction of effective semiconductor models, the envelope function theory and the method of invariants. Further, we present elements of transport theory, with some emphasis on spin-dependent signals. We show the connections of the adiabatic theorem of quantum mechanics to the semiclassical theory of electronic transport and to the characterization of topological phases. Further, as application of the adiabatic theorem to a control problem, we show that universal control of a single spin in a heavy-hole quantum dot is experimentally realizable without breaking time reversal invariance, but using a quadrupole field which is adiabatically changed as control knob. For experimental realization, we propose a GaAs/GaAlAs quantum well system.},
  subject      = {Elektronischer Transport},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Zuern2015,
  author    = {Z{\"u}rn, Michael},
  title     = {The Dual Nature of Utility - Categorical and Comparative Evaluations in Economic Decisions},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-120141},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Utility is perhaps the most central concept in modern economic theorizing. However, the behaviorist reduction to Revealed Preference not only removed the psychological content of utility but experimental investigations also exposed numerous anomalies in this theory. This program of research focused on the psychological processes by which utility judgments are generated. For this purpose, the standard assumption of a homogeneous concept is substituted by the Utilitarian Duality Hypothesis. In particular, judgments concerning categorical utility (uCat) infer an object's category based on its attributes which may subsequently allow the transfer of evaluative information like feelings or attitudes. In contrast, comparative utility (uCom) depends on the distance to a reference value on a specific dimension of comparison. Importantly, dimensions of comparison are manifold and context dependent. In a series of experiments, we show that the resulting Dual Utility Model is able to explain several known anomalies in a parsimonious fashion. Moreover, we identify central factors determining the relative weight assigned to both utility components. Finally, we discuss the implications of the Utilitarian Duality for both, the experimental practice in economics as well as the consequences for economic theorizing. In sum, we propose that the Dual Utility Model can serve as an integrative framework for both the rational model and its anomalies.},
  subject      = {Nutzen},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Simann2015,
  author    = {Simann, Meike},
  title     = {Aufkl{\"a}rung der Effekte von Fibroblasten-Wachstumsfaktor 1 und 2 auf die Adipogenese und Osteogenese von prim{\"a}ren humanen Knochenmark-Stroma-Zellen},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-119322},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Regulating and reverting the adipo-osteogenic lineage decision of trabecular human bone marrow stromal cells (hBMSCs) represents a promising approach for osteoporosis therapy and prevention. Fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF1) and its subfamily member FGF2 were scored as lead candidates to exercise control over lineage switching processes (conversion) in favor of osteogenesis previously. However, their impact on differentiation events is controversially discussed in literature. Hence, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of these FGFs on the adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation and conversion of primary hBMSCs. Moreover, involved downstream signaling mechanisms should be elucidated and, finally, the results should be evaluated with regard to the possible therapeutic approach. This study clearly revealed that culture in the presence of FGF1 strongly prevented the adipogenic differentiation of hBMSCs as well as the adipogenic conversion of pre-differentiated osteoblastic cells. Lipid droplet formation was completely inhibited by a concentration of 25 ng/µL. Meanwhile, the expression of genetic markers for adipogenic initiation, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma 2 (PPARg2) and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha (C/EBPa), as well as subsequent adipocyte maturation, fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) and lipoprotein lipase (LPL), were significantly downregulated. Yet, the genetic markers of osteogenic commitment and differentiation were not upregulated during adipogenic differentiation and conversion under FGF supplementation, not supporting an event of osteogenic lineage switching. Moreover, when examining the effects on the osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs and the osteogenic conversion of pre-differentiated adipocytic cells, culture in the presence of FGF1 markedly decreased extracellular matrix (ECM) mineralization. Additionally, the gene expression of the osteogenic marker alkaline phosphatase (ALP) was significantly reduced and ALP enzyme activity was decreased. Furthermore, genetic markers of osteogenic commitment, like the master regulator runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) and bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4), as well as markers of osteogenic differentiation and ECM formation, like collagen 1 A1 (COL1A1) and integrin-binding sialoprotein (IBSP), were downregulated. In contrast, genes known to inhibit ECM mineralization, like ANKH inorganic pyrophosphate transport regulator (ANKH) and osteopontin (OPN), were upregulated. ANKH inhibition revealed that its transcriptional elevation was not crucial for the reduced matrix mineralization, perhaps due to decreased expression of ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1 (ENPP1) that likely annulled ANKH upregulation. Like FGF1, also the culture in the presence of FGF2 displayed a marked anti-adipogenic and anti-osteogenic effect. The FGF receptor 1 (FGFR1) was found to be crucial for mediating the described FGF effects in adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation and conversion. Yet, adipogenic conversion displayed a lower involvement of the FGFR1. For adipogenic differentiation and osteogenic differentiation/conversion, downstream signal transduction involved the extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/ERK kinases 1 and 2 (MEK1/2), probably via the phosphorylation of FGFR docking protein FGFR substrate 2a (FRS2a) and its effector Ras/MAPK. The c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), p38-MAPK, and protein kinase C (PKC) were not crucial for the signal transduction, yet were in part responsible for the rate of adipogenic and/or osteogenic differentiation itself, in line with current literature. Taken together, to the best of our knowledge, our study was the first to describe the strong impact of FGF1 and FGF2 on both the adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation and conversion processes of primary hBMSCs in parallel. It clearly revealed that although both FGFs were not able to promote the differentiation and lineage switching towards the osteogenic fate, they strongly prevented adipogenic differentiation and lineage switching, which seem to be elevated during osteoporosis. Our findings indicate that FGF1 and FGF2 entrapped hBMSCs in a pre-committed state. In conclusion, these agents could be applied to potently prevent unwanted adipogenesis in vitro. Moreover, our results might aid in unraveling a pharmacological control point to eliminate the increased adipogenic differentiation and conversion as potential cause of adipose tissue accumulation and decreased osteoblastogenesis in bone marrow during aging and especially in osteoporosis.},
  subject      = {Mesenchymzelle},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Kuhlmann2015,
  author    = {Kuhlmann, Matthias},
  title     = {Sulfur-functional polymers for biomedical applications},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-119832},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Aim of this thesis was to combine the versatility of sulfur-chemistry, regarding redox-sensitivity as well as chemo- and site-specific conjugation, with multifunctionality of poly(glycidol)s as an alternative to poly(ethylene glycol). First the homo- and copolymerizations of EEGE and AGE were performed with respect to molar-mass distribution and reaction kinetics. A detailed study was given, varying the polymerization parameters such as DP, counter ion, solvent and monomer influence. It can be concluded that in general the rates for all polymerizations are higher using K+, in contrast to Cs+, as counter ion for the active alkoxide species. Unfortunately, K+ as counter ion commonly leads to a reduced control over polymer dispersity. In this thesis it was shown that the broad molar-mass distributions might be reduced by adding the monomer in a step-wise manner. In experiments with a syringe pump, for continuously adding the monomer, a significant reduction of the dispersities could be found using K+ as counter ion. In analogy to the oxyanionic polymerization of epoxides, the polymerization of episulfides via a thioanionic mechanism with various DPs was successful with thiols/DBU as initiator. In most experiments bimodality could be observed due to the dimerization, caused by oxidation processes by introduced oxygen during synthesis. Reducing this was successful by modifying the degassing procedure, e.g. repeated degassing cycles after each step, i.e. initiation, monomer addition and quenching. Unfortunately, it was not always possible to completely avoid the dimerization due to oxidation. Thiophenol, butanethiol, mercaptoethanol and dithiothreitol were used as thiol initiators, all being capable to initiate the polymerization. With the prediction and the narrow molar-mass distributions, the living character of the polymerization is therefore indicated. Homo- and copolymers of poly(glycidol) were used to functionalize these polymers with side-chains bearing amines, thiols, carboxylic acids and cysteines. The cysteine side-chains were obtained using a newly synthesized thiol-functional thiazolidine. For this, cysteine was protected using a condensation reaction with acetone yielding a dimethyl-substituted thiazolidine. Protection of the ring-amine was obtained via a mixed-anhydride route using formic acid and acetic anhydride. The carboxylic acid of 2,2-dimethylthiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid was activated with CDI and cysteamine attached. The obtained crystalline mercaptothiazolidine was subjected to thiol-ene click chemistry with allyl-functional poly(glycidol). A systematic comparison of thermal- versus photo-initiation showed a much higher yield and reaction rate for the UV-light mediated thiol-ene synthesis with DMPA as photo-initiator. Hydrolysis of the protected thiazolidine-functionalities was obtained upon heating the samples for 5 d at 70 °C in 0.1 M HCl. Dialysis against acetic acid lead to cysteine-functional poly(glycidol)s, storable as the acetate salt even under non-inert atmosphere. An oxidative TNBSA assay was developed to quantify the cysteine-content without the influence of the thiol-functionality. A cooperation partner coupled C-terminal thioester peptides with the cysteine-functional poly(glycidol)s and showed the good accessibility and reactivity of the cysteines along the backbone. SDS-PAGE, HPLC and MALDI-ToF measurements confirmed the successful coupling.},
  subject      = {Polymer},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Muelek2015,
  author    = {M{\"u}lek, Melanie},
  title     = {Distribution and metabolism of constituents and metabolites of a standardized maritime pine bark extract (Pycnogenol®) in human serum, blood cells and synovial fluid of patients with severe osteoarthritis},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-128085},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Dietary polyphenols have been related to beneficial effects on humans' health. Pycnogenol®, a dietary polyphenol-rich food supplement complies with the monograph "Maritime pine extract" in the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) and has demonstrated effects in different diseases. Several human trials concerning knee osteoarthritis have shown significant improvement of the symptoms like reducing the pain and the stiffness of the joint(s) upon intake of Pycnogenol®. After oral intake of multiple doses of Pycnogenol® previously low concentrations in the nanomolar range of monomeric extract constituents have been found in human plasma as well as a bioactive metabolite, δ-(3,4-dihydroxy-phenyl)-γ-valerolactone (M1), which is formed by the human intestinal flora from the procyanidins' catechin units. It is not clear yet which compound(s) of the complex extract is (are) mainly responsible for the described clinical effects of Pycnogenol®. To gain deeper insights into the in vivo fate of the pine bark extract the distribution of its constitutents and metabolites was closer investigated in the present thesis. Initial in vitro experiments suggested a facilitated cellular uptake of M1 into human erythrocytes, possibly via GLUT-1 transporter. For elucidating further the in vitro and in vivo metabolism of M1 in human blood cells, a metabolomic approach was performed using UPLC-ESI-qTOF-MSE analysis, which revealed a comprehensive and rapid metabolism of M1 to a variety of biotransformation products in human blood cells. Predominant metabolites were found to be conjugates of glutathione (GSH) isomers, namely M1-S-GSH and M1-N-GSH. Further sulfur-containing biotransformation products of M1 were conjugates with oxidized glutathione (M1-GSSG) and cysteine (M1-CYS) and the sulfated derivative of M1 (M1-sulfated). Other in vitro biotransformation products constituted the open-chained ester form of M1 (M1-COOH), hydroxybenzoic acid and the methylated (M1-methylated), acetylated (M1-acetylated), hydroxylated (M1-hydroxylated) and ethylated (M1-ethylated) derivatives of M1. Indeed, six of these in vitro metabolites, respectively M1-COOH, M1-sulfated, hydroxybenzoic acid, M1-S-GSH, M1-methylated and M1-acetylated, were also identified in vivo in blood cells of human volunteers after ingestion of Pycnogenol®. Related reference material was synthesized for reliable confirmation of the metabolites M1-GSH, M1-GSSG, M1-CYS and M1-COOH. In the course of a randomized controlled clinical trial patients suffering from severe osteoarthritis ingested multiple doses of 200 mg/day Pycnogenol® for three weeks before they were scheduled for an elective knee replacement surgery. Various biological specimen, respectively blood cells, synovial fluid and serum samples, were to be analyzed to investigate the distribution and disposition of possibly bioactive constituents and metabolites. Therefore, highly sensitive methods were developed using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)- technology because of the expected low concentrations of the analytes in the related matrices. Initially, for each matrix different sample preparation techniques (protein precipitation, liquid-liquid extraction, solid phase extraction and useful combinations thereof) were compared to achieve maximum detection sensitivity of the analytes that were of highest interest, namely M1, ferulic acid and taxifolin. By comparing 32 various sample clean-up procedures in human serum, the highest recovery of the metabolite M1 was achieved using a liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate and tert-butyl methyl ether at a serum pH-value of 3.2. A similar extraction method was also chosen for analyte detection in human synovial fluid after comparing 31 different sample preparation techniques. Whole blood or blood cells are difficult to handle because of their high viscosity and strong coloration. The QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe) approach which was originally developed for the food safety and thus for the determination of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables yielded the highest total recovery rate of M1 in human blood cells when assessing 18 different sample clean-up techniques. By applying the QuEChERS method for the first time for the simultaneous and highly sensitive quantification of selected polyphenols in human blood cells it was demonstrated that this fast and inexpensive technique can be applied in clinical fields for cleaning-up highly complex and thus challenging biological matrices. All developed methods for the different biological specimen were optimized to achieve maximum sensitivity of the target analytes. The determined lower limits of quantification (LLOQs) were sufficient for the quantification of the study samples. The LLOQs ranged from 113 pg/mL for taxifolin to 48 ng/mL for caffeic acid in blood cells and from 80 pg/mL for taxifolin to 3 ng/mL for caffeic acid in synovial fluid. In human serum the LLOQs even ranged down to 35 pg/mL for taxifolin and up to 8 ng/mL for caffeic acid. All analytical methods were subjected to a full validation according to current EMA and FDA guidelines and fulfilled those criteria, showing excellent performance and reliability of the developed and optimized methods. Serum, blood cells and synovial fluid samples of the osteoarthritis patients were all processed with an enzymatic incubation with ß-glucuronidase/sulfatase to hydrolyse conjugates (phase-II-metabolism) prior the actual sample preparation. Additionally, serum samples of the osteoarthritis patients were prepared without enzymatic hydrolysis to determine the individual degree of conjugation with sulfate and glucuronic acid of the analytes. All determined concentrations in the patients' samples were in the lower ng/mL range. Notably, highest total concentrations of the polyphenols were not detected in serum, in which the degree of analyte conjugation with sulfate and glucuronic acid ranged from 54.29 ± 26.77\% for catechin to 98.34 ± 4.40\% for M1. The flavonoids catechin and taxifolin mainly partitioned into blood cells, whereas the metabolite M1, ferulic and caffeic acid primarily resided in the synovial fluid. The concentration of M1 in the blood cells was low, however, this could be explained by the previously observed extensive and rapid intracellular metabolism in vitro. This was now supported by the in vivo evidence in samples of patients who received Pycnogenol® in which the open-chained ester form of M1 (M1-COOH) as well as the glutathione conjugate of M1 (M1-GSH) were identified, indicating that M1 does not accumulate in its original form in vivo. Possibly, a variety of bioactive metabolites exist which might play an important role for the clinical effects of Pycnogenol®. Although the study participants were requested to avoid polyphenol-rich food and beverages within the last two days before the blood samplings this was obviously difficult for most of the patients. Hence, no statistically significantly difference was observed in the mean polyphenol concentrations in serum, blood cells and synovial fluid between the intervention and the control group. Nevertheless, it was possible to identify marker compounds for Pycnogenol® intake under real life conditions with occasional or regular consumption of polyphenol-rich foods and beverages. Thereby, ferulic acid was found in serum samples exclusively after intake of Pycnogenol®, confirming that ferulic acid is a suitable marker of consumption of French maritime pine bark extract. Taxifolin was present in serum and synovial fluid exclusively in the intervention group indicating a role as further marker of Pycnogenol® intake. Taxifolin, ferulic acid and caffeic acid were detected in both serum and synovial fluid only in the intervention group. Moreover, the metabolite M1, taxifolin and ferulic acid were only detected simultaneously in all matrices (serum, blood cells and synovial fluid) after ingestion of Pycnogenol®. Thus, deeper insights into the distribution of bioactive constituents and metabolites of Pycnogenol® into serum, blood cells and synovial fluid after oral administration to patients with severe osteoarthritis were gained. The present study provides the first evidence that polyphenols indeed distribute into the synovial fluid of patients with osteoarthritis where they might contribute to clinical effects.},
  subject      = {Pycnogenol},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Hain2015,
  author    = {Hain, Johannes},
  title     = {Valuation Algorithms for Structural Models of Financial Networks},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-128108},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The thesis focuses on the valuation of firms in a system context where cross-holdings of the firms in liabilities and equities are allowed and, therefore, systemic risk can be modeled on a structural level. A main property of such models is that for the determination of the firm values a pricing equilibrium has to be found. While there exists a small but growing amount of research on the existence and the uniqueness of such price equilibria, the literature is still somewhat inconsistent. An example for this fact is that different authors define the underlying financial system on differing ways. Moreover, only few articles pay intense attention on procedures to find the pricing equilibria. In the existing publications, the provided algorithms mainly reflect the individual authors' particular approach to the problem. Additionally, all existing methods do have the drawback of potentially infinite runtime. For these reasons, the objects of this thesis are as follows. First, a definition of a financial system is introduced in its most general form in Chapter 2. It is shown that under a fairly mild regularity condition the financial system has a unique existing payment equilibrium. In Chapter 3, some extensions and differing definitions of financial systems that exist in literature are presented and it is shown how these models can be embedded into the general model from the proceeding chapter. Second, an overview of existing valuation algorithms to find the equilibrium is given in Chapter 4, where the existing methods are generalized and their corresponding mathematical properties are highlighted. Third, a complete new class of valuation algorithms is developed in Chapter 4 that includes the additional information whether a firm is in default or solvent under a current payment vector. This results in procedures that are able find the solution of the system in a finite number of iteration steps. In Chapter 5, the developed concepts of Chapter 4 are applied to more general financial systems where more than one seniority level of debt is present. Chapter 6 develops optimal starting vectors for non-finite algorithms and Chapter 7 compares the existing and the new developed algorithms concerning their efficiency in an extensive simulation study covering a wide range of possible settings for financial systems.},
  subject      = {Risikomanagement},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Masis2015,
  author    = {Mas{\´i}s, Jethro},
  title     = {The Primacy of Phenomenology Over Cognitivism. Towards a Critique of the Computational Theory of Mind},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-136404},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {This investigation deals with the history of the reception of phenomenological philosophy in cognitive science and how this reception has altered and continues to shape the traditional view of cognition inspired by the computer metaphor of mind. The claim will be espoused that cognitive science is not devoid of a philosophical perspective and cognitivism will be characterized precisely as the philosophy behind much work in cognitive science. In conclusion, the irreducibility of philosophical questioning to cognitive science will be defended and reasons will be given as to why it matters to mount such defense.},
  subject      = {Subjektive Theorie},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Hoecherl2015,
  author    = {H{\"o}cherl, Nicole},
  title     = {Nesting behaviour of the paper wasp Polistes dominula - with special focus on thermoregulatory mechanisms},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-132681},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Wasps of the genus Polistes comprise over 200 species and are nearly cosmopolitan. They show a lack of physiological caste differentiation and are therefore considered as primitively eusocial. Furthermore, paper wasps are placed between the solitary living Eumenidae and the highly social organized Vespinae. Hence, they are often called a "key genus" for understanding the evolution of sociality. Particularly, Polistes dominula, with its small easy manageable nests and its frequent occurrence and wide distribution range is often the subject of studies. In Europe, the invasion of this species into northern regions is on the rise. Since little was known about the nesting behaviour of P. dominula in Central Europe, the basic principles about nesting were investigated in W{\"u}rzburg, Germany (latitude 49°) by conducting a comprehensive field-study spanning three consecutive years. Furthermore, the thermoregulation of individual wasps in their natural habitat had not yet been investigated in detail. Therefore, their ability to respond to external hazards with elevated thorax temperatures was tested. In addition, different types of nest thermoregulation were investigated using modern methods such as infrared thermography and temperature data logger. In the present work, the investigation of basic nesting principles revealed that foundress groups (1-4 foundresses) and nests are smaller and that the nesting season is shorter in the W{\"u}rzburg area than in other regions. The mean size of newly founded nests was 83 cells and the average nesting season was around 4.6 months. The queens neither preferred single (54\%) nor multiple founding (46\%) in this study. The major benefit of multiple founding is an increased rate of survival. During the three years of observation, only 47\% of single-foundress colonies survived, whereas 100\% of colonies that were built by more than two queens, survived. However, an influence of the number of foundresses on the productivity of colonies in terms of number of cells and pupae per nest has not shown up. However, the length of the nesting season as well as the nest sizes varied strongly depending on the climatic conditions of the preceding winter during the three consecutive years. In order to investigate the thermoregulatory mechanisms of individual adult P. dominula wasps, I presented artificial threats by applying smoke or carbon dioxide simulating fire and predator attacks, respectively, and monitored the thorax temperature of wasps on the nest using infrared thermography. The results clearly revealed that P. dominula workers recognized smoke and CO2 and reacted almost instantaneously and simultaneously with an increase of their thorax temperature. The maximal thorax temperature was reached about 65 s after the application of both stressors, but subsequently the wasps showed a different behaviour pattern. They responded to a longer application of smoke with moving to the exit and fled, whereas in case of CO2 the wasps started flying and circling the nest without trying to escape. No rise of the thorax temperature was detectable after an air blast was applied or in wasps resting on the nest. Additionally, the thorax temperatures of queens were investigated during dominance battles. I found that the thorax temperature of the dominant queens rose up to 5°C compared to that of subordinate queens that attacked the former. The study of active mechanisms for nest thermoregulation revealed no brood incubation or clustering behaviour of P. dominula. Furthermore, I found out that wing fanning for cooling the nest was almost undetectable (4 documented cases). However, I could convincingly record that water evaporation is most effective for nest cooling. By the direct comparison of active (with brood and adults) and non-active (without brood and adults) nests, the start of cooling by water evaporation was detected above maximum outside temperatures of 25°C or at nest temperatures above 35°C. The powerful role of water in nest cooling was manifested by an average decrease of temperature of a single cell of about 8°C and a mean duration of 7 min until the cell reached again its initial temperature. The investigation of passive thermoregulatory mechanisms revealed that the nest site choice as well as nest orientation appears to be essential for P. dominula wasps. Furthermore, I was able to show that the architecture of the nests plays an important role. Based on the presented results, it can be assumed that the vertical orientation of cells helps maintaining the warmth of nests during the night, whereas the pedicel assists in cooling the nest during the day.},
  subject      = {Franz{\"o}sische Feldwespe},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Rest2015,
  author    = {Rest, Christina},
  title     = {Self-assembly of amphiphilic oligo(phenylene ethynylene)-based (bi)pyridine ligands and their Pt(II) and Pd(II) complexes},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-133248},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The presented work in the field of supramolecular chemistry describes the synthesis and detailed investigation of (bi)pyridine-based oligo(phenylene ethynylene) (OPE) amphiphiles, decorated with terminal glycol chains. The metal-ligating property of these molecules could be exploited to coordinate to Pd(II) and Pt(II) metal ions, respectively, resulting in the creation of novel metallosupramolecular π-amphiphiles of square-planar geometry. The focus of the presented studies is on the self-assembly behaviour of the OPE ligands and their corresponding metal complexes in polar and aqueous environment. In this way, the underlying aggregation mechanism (isodesmic or cooperative) is revealed and the influence of various factors on the self-assembly process in supramolecular systems is elucidated. In this regard, the effect of the molecular design of the ligand, the coordination to a metal centre as well as the surrounding medium, the pH value and temperature is investigated.},
  subject      = {Supramolekulare Chemie},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{MontalbandelBarrio2015,
  author    = {Montalb{\´a}n del Barrio, Itsaso},
  title     = {Immunosuppressive role of adenosine produced by ectonucleotidases CD39 and CD73 in ovarian cancer, tumor associated macrophages and the host immune system},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-133268},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Eierstockkrebs ist der Tumor mit der schlechtesten Heilungsprognose unter allen gyn{\"a}kologischen Malignomen. Allein in Deutschland verursacht er {\"u}ber 6000 Tote pro Jahr. Patienten mit Ovarialkarzinom zeigen erst in einem sehr fortgeschrittenen Stadium charakteristische Symptome. Die einzig m{\"o}glichen Behandlungsmethoden sind dann die operative Tumorentfernung und die Verabreichung von platinbasierter Chemotherapien sowie von Anthrazyklinen. Da die aktuelle 5-Jahres-{\"U}berlebensrate lediglich 20-40\% betr{\"a}gt, besteht ein dringender Bedarf an neuen therapeutischen Optionen. Seit herausgefunden wurde, dass immunologische Parameter das {\"U}berleben der Patienten beeinflussen, ist Immuntherapie zu einer der vielversprechendsten Behandlungsarten des Eierstockkrebs geworden. Das Ziel unserer Forschung ist die {\"U}berwindung der Immunevasion des Tumors durch ein Verhindern der immun-unterdr{\"u}ckenden Mechanismen des Tumors. Im Speziellen befasst sich diese Arbeit mit dem Einfluss von Adenosin, das durch die Ectonukleotidasen CD39 und CD73 in der Mikroumgebung des Tumors gebildet wird. Die CD39- und CD73-Expression der Zellen f{\"u}hrt zu Immunosuppression da diese Ectonukleotidasen immun-stimulierendes, extrazellul{\"a}res ATP in immunsuppressives Adenosin umwandeln. Dies wurde zuerst als Effektormechanismus f{\"u}r regulatorische T-Zellen beschrieben, kann aber auch im Tumormikromilieu von Bedeutung sein. Mit dem Wissen, dass Tumorzellen von Eierstockkrebs-Patientinnen große Mengen der ATP-unterdr{\"u}ckenden Ectonukleotidasen CD39 und CD73 bilden, analysierten wir die adenosinvermittelte Unterdr{\"u}ckendung von Immunantwortenin der Mikroumgebung der Tumorzellen. Im Vergleich zu regulatorischen T Zellen konnten wir bei Eierstockkrebs-Zelllinien und bei aus Aszites gewonnenen Krebszellen eine 30- bis 60-fache Adenosinproduktion messen. Um diesen mutmaßlichen Immunevasions-Mechanismus zu best{\"a}tigen, untersuchten wir seine Auswirkungen auf mehrere Immunzellenpopulationen. CSFE-basierte Experimente zeigten zum Beispiel eine Hemmung der CD4+ T-Zell-Proliferation durch Adenosin, welches von Eierstockkrebs-Zellen produziert wurde. In diesem Zusammenhang haben wir auch eine in-vitro Methode entwickelt, mit der wir die Beeinflussung von Makrophagen durch Eierstockkrebszellen analysieren und modulieren konnten. Neben seiner suppressiven Wirkung {\"u}bt Adenosin auch chemotaktische Effekte auf menschliche Monozyten aus und lockt wahrscheinlich myeloide Vorl{\"a}uferzellen zum Tumorgewebe. Anschließend differenzieren sich menschliche Monozyten in einer von Eierstockkrebszellen geformten Mikroumgebung zu M2 Makrophagen oder tumor-assoziierten Makrophagen (TAMs), die ihrerseits erhebliche Mengen der Adenosin-produzierenden Ectonukleotidasen CD39 und CD73 bilden. W{\"a}hrend wir die Regulierung der Ectonukleotidasen-Expression untersuchten, entdeckten wir auch, dass klinisch genutzte Techniken zur Behandlung von Eierstockkrebs (zum Beispiel die Anwendung von Doxorubicin oder Bestrahlung) in vitro das CD73- und CD39-Level von Eierstockkrebs- und Immunzellen beeinflussen. In dieser Studie zeigen wir, wie dieser behandlungsbedingte Wechsel des ATP/Adenosine-Verh{\"a}ltnisses die Effektorfunktion verschiedener Immunzellen moduliert. Dar{\"u}ber hinaus untersuchen wir den potentiellen Vorteil von klinisch verf{\"u}gbaren, niedermolekularen Inhibitoren f{\"u}r CD39 und CD73, die die Immunsuppression in der Mikroumgebung des Tumors partiell aufheben k{\"o}nnten, und die vor allem in Kombination mit g{\"a}ngigen Behandlungsschemata von großem Interesse sein k{\"o}nnten.},
  subject      = {Eierstockkrebs},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Reinthaler2015,
  author    = {Reinthaler, Rolf Walter},
  title     = {Charge and Spin Transport in Topological Insulator Heterojunctions},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-135611},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Over the last decade, the field of topological insulators has become one of the most vivid areas in solid state physics. This novel class of materials is characterized by an insulating bulk gap, which, in two-dimensional, time-reversal symmetric systems, is closed by helical edge states. The latter make topological insulators promising candidates for applications in high fidelity spintronics and topological quantum computing. This thesis contributes to bringing these fascinating concepts to life by analyzing transport through heterostructures formed by two-dimensional topological insulators in contact with metals or superconductors. To this end, analytical and numerical calculations are employed. Especially, a generalized wave matching approach is used to describe the edge and bulk states in finite size tunneling junctions on the same footing. The numerical study of non-superconducting systems focuses on two-terminal metal/topological insulator/metal junctions. Unexpectedly, the conductance signals originating from the bulk and the edge contributions are not additive. While for a long junction, the transport is determined purely by edge states, for a short junction, the conductance signal is built from both bulk and edge states in a ratio, which depends on the width of the sample. Further, short junctions show a non-monotonic conductance as a function of the sample length, which distinguishes the topologically non-trivial regime from the trivial one. Surprisingly, the non-monotonic conductance of the topological insulator can be traced to the formation of an effectively propagating solution, which is robust against scalar disorder. The analysis of the competition of edge and bulk contributions in nanostructures is extended to transport through topological insulator/superconductor/topological insulator tunneling junctions. If the dimensions of the superconductor are small enough, its evanescent bulk modes can couple edge states at opposite sample borders, generating significant and tunable crossed Andreev reflection. In experiments, the latter process is normally disguised by simultaneous electron transmission. However, the helical edge states enforce a spatial separation of both competing processes for each Kramers' partner, allowing to propose an all-electrical measurement of crossed Andreev reflection. Further, an analytical study of the hybrid system of helical edge states and conventional superconductors in finite magnetic fields leads to the novel superconducting quantum spin Hall effect. It is characterized by edge states. Both the helicity and the protection against scalar disorder of these edge states are unaffected by an in-plane magnetic field. At the same time its superconducting gap and its magnetotransport signals can be tuned in weak magnetic fields, because the combination of helical edge states and superconductivity results in a giant g-factor. This is manifested in a non-monotonic excess current and peak splitting of the dI/dV characteristics as a function of the magnetic field. In consequence, the superconducting quantum spin Hall effect is an effective generator and detector for spin currents. The research presented here deepens the understanding of the competition of bulk and edge transport in heterostructures based on topological insulators. Moreover it proposes feasible experiments to all-electrically measure crossed Andreev reflection and to test the spin polarization of helical edge states.},
  subject      = {Topologischer Isolator},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{ArjonaEsteban2015,
  author    = {Arjona Esteban, Alhama},
  title     = {Merocyanine Dyes as Organic Semiconductors for Vacuum-processed Solar Cell and Transistor Devices},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-129096},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The present thesis comprises the synthesis of new functional merocyanine dyes, the study of their electro-optical properties as well as solid state packing and their application as p-type semiconductor materials in transistor and solar cell devices. The absorption properties of the obtained compounds could be modified by variation of the donor unit, the introduction of electron-withdrawing substituents in the acceptor unit or elongation of the polymethine chain. For a particular dye, the absorption band could be shifted by more than 160 nm by increasing the solvent polarity due to a conformational switch between a merocyanine-like and a cyanine-like structure. Single crystal analyses revealed that the studied dyes tend to pack either in an antiparallel fashion forming dimers with no overall dipole moment or in a staircase-like pattern where the dipole moments point to the same direction and are only balanced by another staircase oriented in the opposite direction (stair dimer). With respect to application as semiconductor materials, the latter packing arrangement resulted most favorable for charge carrier mobility. We concluded that this packing motif is preserved in the solar cell devices, where the selenium-containing dye afforded the highest performance of this series for an optimized planar-mixed heterojunction solar cell (6.2 \%).},
  subject      = {Merocyanine},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Glaser2015,
  author    = {Glaser, Jan},
  title     = {Antileishmanial compounds from Nature - Elucidation of the active principles of an extract from Valeriana wallichii rhizomes},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-129140},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {This study is dealing with the bioactivity-guided fractionation of a chloroform extract from pulverized rhizomes of Valeriana wallichii with focus on isolation and structure elucidation of the antileishmanial active principles.},
  subject      = {Leishmaniose},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Kaethner2015,
  author    = {K{\"a}thner, Ivo R. J.},
  title     = {Auditory and visual brain-computer interfaces as communication aids for persons with severe paralysis},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-135477},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) could provide a muscle-independent communication channel to persons with severe paralysis by translating brain activity into device commands. As a means of communication, in particular BCIs based on event-related potentials (ERPs) as control signal have been researched. Most of these BCIs rely on visual stimulation and have been investigated with healthy participants in controlled laboratory environments. In proof-of-principle studies targeted end users gained control over BCI systems; however, these systems are not yet established as an assistive technology for persons who would most benefit from them. The main aim of this thesis is to advance the usability of ERP-BCIs for target users. To this end, five studies with BCIs have been conducted that enabled users to communicate by focusing their attention on external stimuli. Two studies were conducted in order to demonstrate the advantages and to further improve the practical application of visual BCIs. In the first study, mental workload was experimentally manipulated during prolonged BCI operation. The study showed the robustness of the visual ERP-BCI since users maintained a satisfactory level of control despite constant distraction in the form of background noise. Moreover, neurophysiological markers that could potentially serve as indicators of high mental workload or fatigue were revealed. This is a first step towards future applications in which the BCI could adapt to the mental state of the user (e.g. pauses if high mental workload is detected to prevent false selections). In the second study, a head-mounted display (HMD), which assures that stimuli are presented in the field of view of the user, was evaluated. High accuracies and information transfer rates, similar to a conventional display, were achieved by healthy participants during a spelling task. Furthermore, a person in the locked-in state (LIS) gained control over the BCI using the HMD. The HMD might be particularly suited for initial communication attempts with persons in the LIS in situations, where mounting a conventional monitor is difficult or not feasible. Visual ERP-BCIs could prove valuable for persons with residual control over eye muscles and sufficient vision. However, since a substantial number of target users have limited control over eye movements and/or visual impairments, BCIs based on non-visual modalities are required. Therefore, a main aspect of this thesis was to improve an auditory paradigm that should enable motor impaired users to spell by focusing attention on different tones. The two conducted studies revealed that healthy participants were able to achieve high spelling performance with the BCI already in the first session and stress the importance of the choice of the stimulus material. The employed natural tones resulted in an increase in performance compared to a previous study that used artificial tones as stimuli. Furthermore, three out of five users with a varying degree of motor impairments could gain control over the system within the five conducted sessions. Their performance increased significantly from the first to the fifth session - an effect not previously observed for visual ERP-BCIs. Hence, training is particularly important when testing auditory multiclass BCIs with potential users. A prerequisite for user satisfaction is that the BCI technology matches user requirements. In this context, it is important to compare BCIs with already established assistive technology. Thus, the fifth study of this dissertation evaluated gaze dependent methods (EOG, eye tracking) as possible control signals for assistive technology and a binary auditory BCI with a person in the locked-in state. The study participant gained control over all tested systems and rated the ease of use of the BCI as the highest among the tested alternatives, but also rated it as the most tiring due to the high amount of attention that was needed for a simple selection. Further efforts are necessary to simplify operation of the BCI. The involvement of end users in all steps of the design and development process of BCIs will increase the likelihood that they can eventually be used as assistive technology in daily life. The work presented in this thesis is a substantial contribution towards the goal of re-enabling communication to users who cannot rely on motor activity to convey their thoughts.},
  subject      = {Gehirn-Computer Schnittstelle},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Greer2015,
  author    = {Greer, Katja},
  title     = {Essays in Industrial Organization: Vertical Agreements in a Dynamic View},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-136939},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {This dissertation deals with the contract choice of upstream suppliers as well as the consequences on competition and efficiency in a dynamic setting with inter-temporal externalities. The introduction explains the motivation of the analysis and the comparison of different contract types, as for example standard contracts like simple two-part tariffs and additional specifications as contracts referencing the quantity of the contract-offering firm or the relative purchase level. The features of specific market structures should be considered in the analysis of specific vertical agreements and their policy implications. In particular, the role of dynamic changes regarding demand and cost parameters may have an influence on the results observed. In the first model, a dominant upstream supplier and a non-strategic rival sell their products to a single downstream firm. The rival supplier faces learning effects which decrease the rival's costs with respect to its previous sales. Therefore, learning effects represent a dynamic competitive threat to the dominant supplier. In this setup, the dominant supplier can react on inter-temporal externalities by specifying its contract to the downstream firm. The model shows that by offering market-share discounts, instead of simple two-part tariffs or quantity discounts, the dominant supplier maximizes long-run profits, and restricts the efficiency gains of its rival. If demand is linear, the market-share discount lowers consumer surplus and welfare. The second model analyzes the strategic use of bilateral contracts in a sequential bargaining game. A dominant upstream supplier and its rival sequentially negotiate with a single downstream firm. The contract choice of the dominant supplier as well as the rival supplier's reaction are investigated. In a single-period sequential contracting game, menus of simple two-part tariffs achieve the industry profit maximizing outcome. In a dynamic setting where the suppliers sequentially negotiate in each period, the dominant supplier uses additional contractual terms that condition on the rival's quantity. Due to the first-mover advantage of the first supplier, the rival supplier is restricted in its contract choice. The consequences of the dominant supplier's contract choice depend on bargaining power. In particular, market-share contracts can be efficiency enhancing and welfare-improving whenever the second supplier has a relatively high bargaining position vis-`a-vis the downstream firm. For a relatively low bargaining position of the rival supplier, the result is similar to the one determined in the first model. We show that results depend on the considered negotiating structure. The third model studies the contract choice of two upstream competitors that simultaneously deal with a common buyer. In a complete information setting where both suppliers get to know whether further negotiations fail or succeed, a singleperiod model solves for the industry-profit maximizing outcome as long as contractual terms define at least a wholesale price and a fixed fee. In contrast, this collusive outcome cannot be achieved in a two-period model with inter-temporal externalities. We characterize the possible market scenarios, their outcomes and consequences on competition and efficiency. Our results demonstrate that in case a rival supplier is restricted in its contract choice, the contract specification of a dominant supplier can partially exclude the competitor. Whenever equally efficient suppliers can both strategically choose contract specifications, the rivals defend their market shares by adapting appropriate contractual conditions. The final chapter provides an overview of the main findings and presents some concluding remarks.},
  subject      = {Unternehmenskooperation},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Herz2015,
  author    = {Herz, Michaela},
  title     = {Molecular characterization of the serotonin and cAMP-signalling pathways in Echinococcus},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-139249},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Alveolar and cystic echinococcosis, caused by Echinococcus multilocularis and Echinococcus granulosus respectively, are severe zoonotic diseases with limited treatment options. The sole curative treatment is the surgical removal of the complete parasite material. Due to late diagnosis, chemotherapeutic treatment often is the only treatment option. Treatment is based on benzimidazoles, which merely act parasitostatic and often display strong side effects. Therefore, new therapeutic drugs are urgently needed. Evolutionarily conserved signalling pathways are known to be involved in hostparasite cross-communication, parasite development and survival. Moreover, they represent potential targets for chemotherapeutic drugs. In this context the roles of the serotonin- and cAMP-signalling pathways in Echinococcus were studied. Genes encoding serotonin receptors, a serotonin transporter and enzymes involved in serotonin biosynthesis could be identified in the E. multilocularis and E. granulosus genomes indicating that these parasites are capable of synthesizing and perceiving serotonin signals. Also the influence of exogenous serotonin on parasite development was studied. Serotonin significantly increased metacestode vesicle formation from primary cells and re-differentiation of protoscoleces. Inhibition of serotonin transport with citalopram significantly reduced metacestode vesicle formation from primary cells and caused death of protoscoleces and metacestodes. Furthermore, it could be shown that serotonin increased phosphorylation of protein kinase A substrates. Taken together, these results show that serotonin and serotonin transport are essential for Echinococcus development and survival. Consequently, components of the serotonin pathway represent potential drug targets. In this work the cAMP-signalling pathway was researched with focus on G-protein coupled receptors and adenylate cyclases. 76 G-protein coupled receptors, including members of all major families were identified in the E. multilocularis genome. Four genes homologous to adenylate cyclase IX were identified in the E. multilocularis genome and three in the E. granulosus genome. While glucagon caused no significant effects, the adenylate cyclase activator forskolin and the adenylate cyclase inhibitor 2', 5' didesoxyadenosine influenced metacestode vesicle formation from primary cells, re-differentiation of protoscoleces and survival of metacestodes. It was further shown that forskolin increases phosphorylation of protein kinase A substrates, indicating that forskolin activates the cAMP-pathway also in cestodes. These results indicate that the cAMP signalling pathway plays an important role in Echinococcus development and survival. To complement this work, the influence of different media and additives on E. granulosus protoscoleces was investigated. Anaerobic conditions and the presence of FBS prolonged protoscolex survival while different media influenced protoscolex activation and development. Taken together, this work provided important insights into developmental processes in Echinococcus and potential drug targets for echinococcosis chemotherapy.},
  subject      = {Serotonin},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Real2015,
  author    = {Real, Ruben},
  title     = {Living with severe motor impairments - from consciousness to quality of life},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-138562},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The impact of acquired severe motor impairments is pervasive and may lead to a complete loss of communication and voluntary motor control, rendering the patient behaviourally unresponsive. In routine clinical care it may thus be unclear, whether some of these patients are even conscious. Given that finding a cure is unlikely, care focuses on providing the best possible quality of life (QoL), and knowing its predictors might contribute to that aim. Patients who still can communicate often report a high QoL, and several predictors have been identified. However, many instruments used to assess QoL require at least residual verbal and motor abilities. Thus, a method to assess QoL independent of these requirements is desirable. In addition, many instruments assume QoL to be temporarily stable, and little information is available on predictors of instantaneous QoL, i.e. QoL as it fluctuates from moment to moment throughout the day.},
  subject      = {Myatrophische Lateralsklerose},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Muehlbauer2015,
  author    = {M{\"u}hlbauer, Mathias Josef},
  title     = {Nanolithography on Mercury Telluride},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-137152},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Topological insulators belong to a new quantum state of matter that is currently one of the most recognized research fields in condensed matter physics. Strained bulk HgTe and HgTe/HgCdTe quantum well structures are currently one of few topological insulator material systems suitable to be studied in transport experiments. In addition HgTe quantum wells provide excellent requirements for the conduction of spintronic experiments. A fundamental requirement for most experiments, however, is to reliably pattern these heterostructures into advanced nano-devices. Nano-lithography on this material system proves to be challenging because of inherent temperature limitations, its high reactivity with various metals and due to its properties as a topological insulator. The current work gives an insight into why many established semiconductor lithography processes cannot be easily transferred to HgTe while providing alternative solutions. The presented developments include novel ohmic contacts, the prevention of metal sidewalls and redeposition fences in combination with low temperature (80 °C) lithography and an adapted hardmask lithography process utilizing a sacrificial layer. In addition we demonstrate high resolution low energy (2.5 kV) electron beam lithography and present an alternative airbridge gating technique. The feasibility of nano-structures on HgTe quantum wells is exemplarily verified in two separate transport experiments. We are first to realize physically etched quantum point contacts in HgTe/HgCdTe high mobility 2DEGs and to prove their controllability via external top-gate electrodes. So far quantum point contacts have not been reported in TI materials. However, these constrictions are part of many proposals to probe the nature of the helical quantum spin Hall edge channels and are suggested as injector and detector devices for spin polarized currents. To confirm their functionality we performed four-terminal measurements of the point contact conductance as a function of external gate voltage. Our measurements clearly exhibit quantized conductance steps in 2e2/h, which is a fundamental characteristic of quantum point contacts. Furthermore we conducted measurements on the formation and control of collimated electron beams, a key feature to realize an all electrical spin-optic device. In a second study several of the newly developed lithography techniques were implemented to produce arrays of nano-wires on inverted and non-inverted HgTe quantum well samples. These devices were used in order to probe and compare the weak antilocalization (WAL) in these structures as a function of magnetic field and temperature. Our measurements reveal that the WAL is almost an order of magnitude larger in inverted samples. This observation is attributed to the Dirac-like dispersion of the energy bands in HgTe quantum wells. The described lithography has already been successfully implemented and adapted in several published studies. All processes have been optimized to guarantee a minimum effect on the heterostructure's properties and the sample surface, which is especially important for probing the topological surface states of strained HgTe bulk layers. Our developments therefore serve as a base for continuous progress to further establish HgTe as a topological insulator and give access to new experiments.},
  subject      = {Topologischer Isolator},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Richard2015,
  author    = {Richard, Annika},
  title     = {Systematic Review of Measles, Mumps and Rubella Vaccination Programs in Selected European Countries and the Influence of Migration Movements},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-138033},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Masern, Mumps und R{\"o}teln sind virale Infektionskrankheiten, die schwere und verheerenden Komplikationen bei den erkrankten Personen verursachen k{\"o}nnen. Die weltweite Krankheitslast dieser Infektionskrankheiten ist hoch und k{\"o}nnte durch erfolgreiche Impfstrategien merkenswert reduziert werden. Die WHO hat daher das Ziel der globalen Eliminierung von Masern und R{\"o}teln sowie der Kontrolle der oft simultan geimpften Mumps Erkrankung gesetzt. Im Jahr 2010 einigten sich die WHO-Mitgliedstaaten der europ{\"a}ischen Region, gezielte Strategien zu verfolgen, um Masern und R{\"o}teln bis Ende des Jahres 2015 in Europa zu eliminieren. Analysen bez{\"u}glich des aktuellen Fortschrittes werden daher zunehmend relevanter. Als Teil dieser systematischen Literaturrecherche wurden die Immunisierungsstrategien, Impfraten und Krankheitsinzidenzen von elf europ{\"a}ischen L{\"a}ndern untersucht und ihre Fortschritte im Hinblick auf die Krankheitseliminierung bewertet. Eine erfolgreiche Pr{\"a}vention der endemischen {\"U}bertragung von Masern, Mumps oder R{\"o}teln Viren konnte in mehreren L{\"a}ndern erreicht werden, darunter Schweden, Kroatien, Griechenland und Spanien. Den L{\"a}ndern {\"O}sterreich, Frankreich, Deutschland, Italien, Polen, T{\"u}rkei und dem Vereinigten K{\"o}nigreich von Großbritannien und Nordirland ist es trotz verbesserter Immunisierungsraten bisher nicht gelungen, die Eliminierungsziele zu erreichen. In der T{\"u}rkei, Italien und Polen, kam es in den letzten Jahren zu starken Anstiegen der Fallzahlen, welche die Masern, Mumps und R{\"o}teln Kontrolle in Europa deutlich erschweren und das zeitnahe Erreichen der Eliminationsziele gef{\"a}hrden. Unzureichend immunisierte Bev{\"o}lkerungsgruppen, die zu einer Aufrechterhaltung der Infektionserkrankungen im europ{\"a}ischen Raum beitragen k{\"o}nnen, wurden identifiziert. Dazu z{\"a}hlen S{\"a}uglinge und Kleinkinder, Jugendliche und junge Erwachsene, M{\"a}nner, k{\"u}rzlich eingewanderte Personen und Fl{\"u}chtlinge, sowie reisende ethnischer Minderheiten. Die Gr{\"u}nde f{\"u}r das erh{\"o}hte Risiko einer Masern, Mumps oder R{\"o}teln Infektion unter diesen Personengruppen sind vielf{\"a}ltig und ein Ergebnis von verschiedenen historischen und aktuellen Impfstrategien, kulturellen, politischen und religi{\"o}sen Unterschieden, sowie pers{\"o}nlichem Glauben und Ansichten. Das Reisen und die Migration von infizierten Personen nach und zwischen den verschiedenen europ{\"a}ischen L{\"a}ndern spielt auch eine wesentliche Rolle bei der kontinuierlichen {\"U}bertragung der Erkrankungen in Europa. Nur durch eine ausreichend hohe Immunit{\"a}t der Bev{\"o}lkerung kann das Auftreten von gr{\"o}ßeren Ausbr{\"u}chen trotz der Einfuhr viraler Erreger verhindert werden. Bestrebungen sollte daher die Immunisierung aller impff{\"a}higen Personen umfassen, sowie die Erweiterung spezifischer Impfstrategien f{\"u}r unzureichend immunisierte Bev{\"o}lkerungsgruppen, die nur schwer durch Routineimpfungen zu erreichen sind. Europ{\"a}ische L{\"a}nder, in denen die WHO Eliminierungsziele bisher nicht erreicht wurden, k{\"o}nnten m{\"o}glicherweise von alternativen Impfstrategien profitieren. Ein einheitlicher, europaweiter MMR-Impfplan basierend auf den erfolgreichen Immunisierungsverfahren der L{\"a}nder, die Masern, Mumps und R{\"o}teln erfolgreich bek{\"a}mpft haben, stellt ein wirksames Instrument zur Verbesserung der allgemeinen Bev{\"o}lkerungsimmunit{\"a}t und Kontrolle der drei Infektionskrankheiten dar. Ein Entwurf solch eines Impfplanes wurde im Rahmen dieser Dissertation erstellt und enth{\"a}lt Strategien f{\"u}r das Erreichen ungesch{\"u}tzter Bev{\"o}lkerungsgruppen, unabh{\"a}ngig von Alter, Geschlecht oder Migrationshintergrund. Die Umsetzung einheitlicher Impfempfehlungen bringt mehrere Herausforderungen mit sich. Die vielen Vorteile im Hinblick auf die verbesserte Immunisierung, {\"U}berwachung und Bek{\"a}mpfung der Erkrankungen lassen die Aufw{\"a}nde jedoch als berechtigt erscheinen. Die endemische Eliminierung von Masern, Mumps und R{\"o}teln Viren innerhalb der europ{\"a}ischen Region ist durchaus erzielbar. Die aktuelle epidemiologische Situation deutet jedoch darauf hin, dass das Ziel nicht bis zum Ende des Jahres 2015 erreicht wird, sondern weitere Bestrebungen auf internationaler Ebene notwendig sind, um eine wirksame Krankheitsbek{\"a}mpfung in der n{\"a}heren Zukunft zu erreichen. Durch nationale und internationale Verbesserungen der Immunisierungsstrategien und gezielten Impfkampagnen sowie Erkrankungs-Meldesystemen und laborchemischen Erregerbest{\"a}tigungen kann eine weitgef{\"a}cherte Bev{\"o}lkerungsimmunit{\"a}t erzielt und Krankheitseliminierung unter ad{\"a}quatem Monitoring des Fortschritts im gesamten europ{\"a}ischen Raum erreicht werden.},
  subject      = {Masern},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Bachschmidt2015,
  author    = {Bachschmidt, Theresa},
  title     = {Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Proximity to Metal Implants at 3 Tesla},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-135690},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Magnetic resonance imaging is derogated by the presence of metal implants and image quality is impaired. Artifacts are categorized according to their sources, the differences in susceptibility between metal and tissue and the modulation of the magnetic radiofrequency (RF) transmit field. Generally, these artifacts are intensified at higher field strength. The purpose of this work is to analyze the efficiency of current methods used for metal artifact reduction at 3T and to investigate improvements. The impact of high-bandwidth RF pulses on susceptibility-induced artifacts is tested. In addition, the benefit of a two-channel transmit system with respect to shading close to total hip replacements and other elongated metal structures in parallel to the magnetic field is analyzed. Local transmit/receive coils feature a higher peak B1 amplitude than conventional body coils and thus enable high-bandwidth RF pulses. Susceptibility-induced through-plane distortion relates reciprocally to the RF bandwidth, which is evaluated in vitro for a total knee arthroplasty. Clinically relevant sequences (TSE and SEMAC) with conventional and high RF pulse bandwidths and different contrasts are tested on eight patients with different types of knee implants. Distortion is rated by two radiologists. An additional analysis assesses the capability of a local spine transmit coil. Furthermore, B1 effects close to elongated metal structures are described by an analytical model comprising a water cylinder and a metal rod, which is verified numerically and experimentally. The dependence of the optimal polarization of the transmit B1 field, creating minimum shading, on the position of the metal is analyzed. In addition, the optimal polarization is determined for two patients; its benefit compared to circular polarization is assessed. Phantom experiments confirm the relation of the RF bandwidth and the through-plane distortion, which can be reduced by up to 79\% by exploitation of a commercial local transmit/receive knee coil at 3T. On average, artifacts are rated "hardly visible" for patients with joint arthroplasties, when high-bandwidth RF pulses and SEMAC are used, and for patients with titanium fixtures, when high-bandwidth RF pulses are used in combination with TSE. The benefits of the local spine transmit coil are less compared to the knee coil, but enable a bandwidth 3.9 times as high as the body coil. The modulation of B1 due to metal is approximated well by the model presented and the position of the metal has strong influence on this effect. The optimal polarization can mitigate shading substantially. In conclusion, through-plane distortion and related artifacts can be reduced significantly by the application of high-bandwidth RF pulses by local transmit coils at 3T. Parallel transmission offers an option to substantially reduce shading close to long metal structures aligned with the magnetic field. Effective techniques dedicated for metal implant imaging at 3T are introduced in this work.},
  subject      = {Kernspintomografie},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Posske2015,
  author    = {Posske, Thore Hagen},
  title     = {Dressed Topological Insulators: Rashba Impurity, Kondo Effect, Magnetic Impurities, Proximity-Induced Superconductivity, Hybrid Systems},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-131249},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Topological insulators are electronic phases that insulate in the bulk and accommodate a peculiar, metallic edge liquid with a spin-dependent dispersion. They are regarded to be of considerable future use in spintronics and for quantum computation. Besides determining the intrinsic properties of this rather novel electronic phase, considering its combination with well-known physical systems can generate genuinely new physics. In this thesis, we report on such combinations including topological insulators. Specifically, we analyze an attached Rashba impurity, a Kondo dot in the two channel setup, magnetic impurities on the surface of a strong three-dimensional topological insulator, the proximity coupling of the latter system to a superconductor, and hybrid systems consisting of a topological insulator and a semimetal. Let us summarize our primary results. Firstly, we determine an analytical formula for the Kondo cloud and describe its possible detection in current correlations far away from the Kondo region. We thereby rely on and extend the method of refermionizable points. Furthermore, we find a class of gapless topological superconductors and semimetals, which accommodate edge states that behave similarly to the ones of globally gapped topological phases. Unexpectedly, we also find edge states that change their chirality when affected by sufficiently strong disorder. We regard the presented research helpful in future classifications and applications of systems containing topological insulators, of which we propose some examples.},
  subject      = {Topologischer Isolator},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Knorr2015,
  author    = {Knorr, Johannes Walter},
  title     = {Femtosecond spectroscopy of photolysis reactions in the liquid phase},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-131362},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Within the framework of this thesis, photolysis reactions in the liquid phase were investigated by means of ultrafast optical spectroscopy. Apart from molecular studies dealing with the highly spin-dependent reactivity of diphenylcarbene (DPC) in binary solvent mixtures and ligand dissociation reactions of so-called CO-releasing molecules (CORMs), special emphasis was put on the implementation and characterization of methods improving and extending the signal detection in conventional pump-probe transient absorption setups. The assumption of DPC being an archetypal triplet-ground-state arylcarbene was recently questioned by matrix-isolation studies at low temperatures. DPC embedded in argon matrices revealed a hitherto unknown reactivity when the carbene environment was modified by small amounts of methanol dopant molecules. To complement these findings with liquid-phase experiments at room temperature, femtosecond pump-probe transient absorption spectroscopy with probing in the visible and ultraviolet regime was employed to unravel primary reaction processes of DPC in solvent mixtures. Supported by quantum chemical simulations conducted by our collaborators, it was shown that a competition between the reaction pathways occurs that not only depends on the solvent molecule near-by but also on its interaction with other solvent molecules. In-depth analysis of the solvation dynamics and the amount of nascent intermediates corroborates the importance of a hydrogen-bonded complex with a protic solvent molecule, in striking analogy to complexes found at cryogenic temperatures. Probing the transient absorption of molecules in the mid-infrared spectral range benefits from the high chemical specificity of molecules' vibrational signatures. The technique of chirped-pulse upconversion (CPU) constitutes a promising alternative to standard direct multichannel MCT detection when accessing this spectral detection window. Hence, one chapter of this thesis is dedicated to a direct comparison between both detection methods. By conducting an exemplary pump-probe transient absorption experiment, it became evident, that the additional nonlinear interaction step is responsible for increased noise levels when using CPU. However, a correction procedure capable of removing these additional noise contributions—stemming from the fundamental laser radiation used for upconversion—was successfully tested. Perhaps most importantly for various spectroscopic applications, CPU scored with a significantly extended detection bandwidth owing to the high pixel numbers of modern CCD cameras. Transition-metal complexes capable of releasing small molecular messengers upon photoactivation are promising sources of gasotransmitters such as carbon monoxide (CO) or nitric oxide (NO) in biological applications. However, only little is known about the characteristic time scales of ligand dissociation in this class of molecules. For this purpose, two complexes were investigated with femtosecond time resolution: [Mn(CO)3(tpm)]Cl with tpm=tris(2-pyrazolyl)methane, a manganese tricarbonyl complex which has proven to be selective and cytotoxic to cancer cells, and [Mo(CO)2(NO)(iPr3tacn)]PF6 with iPr3tacn=1,4,7-triisopropyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane, a molybdenum complex containing both carbonyl and nitrosyl ligands. By conducting pump-probe transient absorption measurements in different spectral probing windows supported by quantum chemical calculations and linear absorption spectroscopy, it was shown that both complexes are able to release one CO ligand within the first few picoseconds after UV excitation. The results complement existing studies which focused on the molecules' ligand-releasing properties upon long-term exposure. The additional information gained on an ultrafast time scale provides a comprehensive understanding of individual reaction steps connected with ligand release in this class of molecules. Hence, the studies might create new incentives to develop modified molecules for specific applications.},
  subject      = {Ultrakurzzeitspektroskopie},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Junker2015,
  author    = {Junker, Markus},
  title     = {Development and characterization of monoclonal antibodies to GDF-15 for potential use in cancer therapy},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-132424},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Background GDF-15 is a divergent member of the TGF-superfamily, which was first described as macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 (MIC-1), revealing an immune modulatory function. GDF-15 is a soluble protein which is, under physiological conditions, highly expressed in the placenta and found in elevated levels in blood sera of pregnant women. Apart from the placenta, GDF-15 is expressed in healthy tissue, albeit to a lower extent and overexpressed in many solid tumors. A variety of different functions are attributed to GDF-15 in healthy as well as diseased humans. On the one hand, GDF-15 is required for successful pregnancy and low GDF-15 serum levels during pregnancy correlate with fetal abortion. On the other hand, overexpression of GDF-15, which can be observed in several malignancies is correlated with a poor prognosis. Furthermore, tumor derived GDF-15 leads to cancer associated anorexia-cachexia syndrome in mice. The aim of my PhD thesis was to further investigate the role of GDF-15 as an immune modulatory factor in cancer, in particular, by inhibiting the target molecule in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, the main focus was placed on the generation and characterization of monoclonal GDF-15 specific blocking antibodies, which were tested in vitro and in vivo, which represents a substantial part of my work. Results Here, GDF-15 was shown to be highly expressed in human gynecological cancer and brain tumors. We could then demonstrate that GDF-15 modulates effector immune cells in vitro. GDF-15 mediated a slight downregulation of the activating NKG2D receptor on NK and CD8+ T cells, which is crucial for proper anti-tumoral immune responses. Furthermore, we could demonstrate that GDF-15 reduces the adhesion of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells on endothelial cells in vitro. A negatively affected trans-endothelial migration of leukocytes into inflamed tissue could explain the low T cell infiltration in GDF-15 expressing tumors, which were observed in vivo, where mice bearing (shRNA mediated) GDF-15 deficient glioma cells revealed enhanced immune cell infiltrates in the tumor microenvironment, compared with the GDF-15 expressing control group. Those animals further exhibited a decreased tumor growth and prolonged survival. GDF-15 is a soluble protein, secreted by more than 50 \% of solid tumors and associated with grade of malignancy. Therefore a neutralizing monoclonal antibody to GDF-15 was assumed to be an auspicious therapeutically anti-cancer tool. Such an antibody was thus generated in GDF-15 knock out mice against human GFD-15. Amongst many clones, the GDF-15 antibody clone B1-23 was found to be applicable in Western Blot as well as in ELISA techniques, detecting a three-dimensional epitope of the mature GDF-15 dimer with high affinity and specificity. To enable the humanization for a later administration in humans, the variable regions of antibody B1-23 were identified by a special PCR method using degenerate primers and cloned into a sequencing vector. The sequence obtained thereby enabled the generation of chimeric and humanized B1-23 variants. After further comprehensive characterization, the original mouse antibody B1-23 as well as the chimeric antibody (ChimB1-23) and the humanized B1-23 antibody (H1L5) were applied in a melanoma xenograft study in vivo. None of the antibodies could significantly inhibit tumor growth. .However of utmost importance, body weight loss mediated by tumor derived GDF-15 could be significantly prevented upon administration of all three GDF-15 specific antibodies, which confirmed the antagonizing functionality of the immunoglobulin. Conclusion GDF-15 is a promising cancer target, involved in tumor progression and cancer related cachexia. A monoclonal GDF-15 antibody was generated, which served on one hand as a tool for molecular biological applications (Western Blot, ELISA, etc.) and on the other hand was applied as an antagonizing antibody in vitro and in vivo. Even though tumor growth inhibition by GDF-15 depletion in T cell deficient athymic mice failed using B1-23, the same antibody and derivates thereof (chimeric and humanized) impressively prevented tumor associated cachexia in UACC-257 melanoma bearing nude mice. The missing anti-tumor effect in our own melanoma model in nude mice can only partially be explained by the missing secondary immunity, in particular cytotoxic T cells, in the athymic animals, since in a similar melanoma model, performed by an external company, a tumor reduction in immunocompromised animals was observed, when B1-23 was administered. These findings support the idea that T cells are substantial for an effective tumor immunity and are in line with the results of the syngeneic, T cell comprising, mouse glioma model, where silencing of tumor expressed GDF-15 led to an enhanced intratumoral T cell infiltration and a prolonged survival. Taken together our data allow for the conclusion that tumor associated cachexia can be combatted with the GDF-15 antibody B1-23. Further, B1-23 might elicit direct anti-tumor effects in immune competent models, which contain T cells, rather than in an athymic, T cell deficient nude mouse model.},
  subject      = {Growth-differentiation Factor 15},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Fender2015,
  author    = {Fender, Hendrik Eike},
  title     = {NFATc1 as a Therapeutic Target in Burkitt's Lymphoma},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-133098},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) is a very aggressive, germinal center-derived B cell lymphoma. It mostly occurs in children from equatorial Africa who carry both the Epstein-Barr virus and the pathogens for malaria. Aside from this endemic form, there are also sporadic and immunosuppressive forms of BL. The most important characteristics are both the "starry sky" macrophages - from a histological point of view - and the translocation of MYC to one of the immunoglobulin enhancers at the molecular level. In addition to MYC overexpression several mutations, e.g. in p53 or cyclin D3, or constitutive active PI3-kinase signaling contribute to lymphoma genesis. Furthermore, NFAT factors seem also to play a crucial role. In human BL cell lines and murine Myc-driven tumors, the pro survival factor NFATc1 is highly expressed and present in the nuclei. To interfere with the NFAT pathway in lymphoma formation, I tested the "classical" way by inhibition of calcineurin (CN) with CsA, FK506 or VIVIT. Surprisingly, CN inhibition was not sufficient to induce a complete cytoplasmic translocation of NFATc1. Furthermore, CN inhibitors affected cellular survival and proliferation only at atypical high concentrations. Investigation of other pathways, like the PI3-kinase or JAK3, excluded the possibility that they promote NFATc1 activity. Finally, I treated NFATc1 over-expressing BL and pancreatic cancer cell lines with gallium nitrate that turned out to be a very potent inhibitor of cell survival. Gallium nitrate suppressed NFATc1 and MYC transcription though protein stability was not affected. Regarding the regulation of NFATc1 by MYC-overexpression, the data obtained in my work suggested that (1) NFATc1 mRNA level is down-regulated in murine cells, (2) NFATc1 protein level is up-regulated in both human and murine cells, and (3) MYC supports NFATc1's nuclear residence. Finally, I discovered Myc-driven tumor cells as potential "starry sky" macrophages. Under certain conditions, mainly concerning calcium signaling, they change their outward appearance, surface marker expression, and gain the ability for phagocytosis. For the future, the discovery that gallium acts through NFATc1 in BL and probably numerous other cancer types opens up new strategies for therapeutic interventions.},
  subject      = {Burkitt},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Guhn2015,
  author    = {Guhn, Anne},
  title     = {Modulating the Fear Network: Preclinical Studies on Prefrontal Cortex Stimulation},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-133403},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Pavlovian fear conditioning describes a form of associative learning in which a previously neutral stimulus elicits a conditioned fear response after it has been temporally paired with an aversive consequence. Once acquired, the fear response can be extinguished by repeatedly presenting the former neutral stimulus in the absence of the aversive consequence. Although most patients suffering from anxiety disorders cannot recall a specific conditioned association between a formerly neutral stimulus and the feeling of anxiety, the produced behavioral symptoms, such as avoidance or safety behavior to prevent the anticipated aversive consequence are commonly exhibited in all anxiety disorders. Moreover, there is considerable similarity between the neural structures involved in fear and extinction in the rodent and in the human. Translational research thus contributes to the understanding of neural circuitries involved in the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders, and further provides hypotheses for improvements in treatment strategies aiming at inhibiting the fear response. Since the failure to appropriately inhibit or extinguish a fear response is a key feature of pathological anxiety, the present preclinical research focuses on the interplay between the amygdala and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) during fear learning with particular regard to the prefrontal recruitment during fear extinction and its recall. By firstly demonstrating an increased mPFC activity over the time course of extinction learning with functional near-infrared spectroscopy, the main study of this dissertation focused on repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) as brain stimulation technique suitable to enhance extinction learning. Since hypofrontality is assumed to underlie the maintenance of pathological anxiety, rTMS application revealed an increased mPFC activity, which resulted in a decreased fear response on the behavioral level both during extinction learning as well as during the recall of extinction 24 hours later and in the absence of another stimulation. The following attempt to improve the generalization of extinction with rTMS from an extinguished stimulus to a second stimulus which was reinforced but not extinguished was at least partially evidenced. By revealing an increased prefrontal activity to the non-extinguished stimulus, the active and the placebo rTMS condition, however, did not differ on behavioral parameters. These preclinical findings were discussed in the light of genetic and environmental risk factors with special regard to the combination of a risk variant of the neuropeptide S receptor 1 gene polymorphism (NPSR1 rs324981) and anxiety sensitivity. While the protective homozygous AA genotype group showed no correlation with anxiety sensitivity, the NPSR1 T genotype group exhibited an inverse correlation with anxiety sensitivity in the presence of emotionally negative stimuli. In light of other findings assuming a role of the NPSR1 T allele in panic disorder, the revealed hypofrontality was discussed to define a risk group of patients who might particularly benefit from an augmentation of exposure therapy with rTMS. Taken together, the presented studies support the central role of the prefrontal cortex in fear extinction and suggest the usefulness of rTMS as an augmentation strategy to exposure therapy in order to decrease therapy relapse rates. The combination of rTMS and extinction has been herein evidenced to modulate fear processes in a preclinical approach thereby establishing important implications for the design of future clinical studies.},
  subject      = {Angstst{\"o}rung},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Praetorius2015,
  author    = {Praetorius, Christian Michael},
  title     = {Ce M4,5 XAS and XMCD as Local Probes for Kondo and Heavy Fermion Materials - A Study of CePt5/Pt(111) Surface Intermetallics -},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-132504},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The aim of the present thesis is to explore the potential of X-ray magnetic circular dichroism(XMCD) experiments on gaining new insights into Kondo and heavy fermion materials. XMCD, which is derived from X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), allows probing magnetic polarization specific to the different elements in a material and to their atomic orbitals. In particular, at the Ce M4,5 edges the method is sensitive to the localized 4f level, which provides the magnetic impurity moment responsible for Kondo physics in Ce compounds. Hence, Ce M4,5 XMCD is ideally suited to investigate local magnetism in the presence of interaction of impurity and conduction electrons in such materials. As a model material, CePt5/Pt(111) surface intermetallics were chosen for the present study. This thin-film material can be prepared by well-defined procedures involving molecular beam epitaxy. Crystalline Ordered samples are obtained by exploiting the single-crystallinity of the Pt(111) substrate. The surface character of thin films ideally matches the probing depth of soft X-ray spectroscopy in the total electron yield mode. The XMCD and XAS experiments, taking into account dependence on temperature, angle of incidence, sample thickness and external magnetic field, revealed the presence of four relevant energy scales that influence the magnetic response: 1. The 4f level in CePt5/Pt(111) is subject to significant crystal field (CF) splitting, which leads to reorganization of the six j = 5/2 sublevels. The hexagonal symmetry of the crystal structure conserves mj as a good quantum number. The proposed CF scheme, which is derived from measurements of the paramagnetic susceptibility by XMCD as well as linear dichroism in XAS, consists of nearly degenerate |1/2> and |3/2> doublets with the |5/2> doublet excited by E5/2 = 15 ... 25 meV. 2. Single impurity Kondo interaction significantly couples the magnetic moments of the impurity and conduction electrons. A signature thereof is the f0 -> f1 contribution to Ce M4,5 XAS, the strength of which can be tuned by control of the sample thickness. This finding is in line with the observation of reduced effective 4f moments as detected by XMCD. 3. Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interaction induces ferromagnetic correlations on the impurity lattice, which induces a positive Curie-Weiss temperature in the temperature-dependent inverse susceptibility. 4. Indications for the transition to a coherent heavy fermion state are found in the inverse susceptibility at T ~ 20 K; the ferromagnetic ground state is not observed. The fielddependence of the magnetic moment in the coherent state can be interpreted in terms of a metamagnetic transition. This allows studying basic characteristics of the renormalized band structure of a heavy fermion system by XMCD. The disentanglement of these different contributions to the 4f magnetism not only required extensive Ce M4,5 XAS and XMCD data, but also a thorough structural characterization of the material, a fundamental study of the Ce M4,5 line shape in relation to the degree of 4f hybridization and the development of a model for the paramagnetic susceptibility. The unit cell dimensions and sample morphology of CePt5/Pt(111) intermetallics were studied by low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). These experiments showed that well-defined intermetallic films form on top of the substrate. This lead to introduction of the film thickness t, measured in unit cells (u.c.), as a key feature to characterize the samples. Systematic LEED measurements in the thickness range t ~ 1 ... 15 u.c. allowed identification of six different phases, which could be interpreted as resulting from the same crystal structure with different rotational alignments and lattice constants. An accurate determination of the surface lattice constant at t ~ 3 u.c. could be achieved by interpretation of additional superstructure spots as arising from a well-defined combination of substrate and film lattices. The thicknessdependence of the lateral lattice constant could be explained in terms of lattice relaxation. Confirmation of the CePt5 stoichiometry and structure was performed by use of thicknessdependent XAS and a representative LEED-IV study. The results of this study indicate that the intermetallic films exhibit hexagonal CaCu5 structure over the entire range of thicknesses that were studied. The terminating layer consists purely of Pt with one additional Pt atom per unit cell compared to the bulk structure. The line shape of Ce M4,5 spectra was analyzed with the help of full multiplet calculations. Experimentally, characteristic variations of the line shape were observed with increasing f0 -> f1 contribution. The calculations show that these variations are not due to an admixture of j = 7/2 character to the ground state, as often stated in the literature. As alternatives, this observation can be explained by either considering an additional contribution to the spectrum or by assumption of an asymmetric lifetime profile. The model that was developed for the inverse paramagnetic susceptibility contains the hexagonal crystal field, magnetic coupling of the impurity moments in a mean field scheme and Kondo screening. The latter is included phenomenologically by screening factors for the effective moment. Assumption of doublet-specific screening factors, which means that the degree of Kondo interaction depends on the mj character of the 4f sublevels, allows satisfactory reproduction of the experimental data.},
  subject      = {Magnetischer R{\"o}ntgenzirkulardichroismus},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Wiese2015,
  author    = {Wiese, Katrin Evelyn},
  title     = {Sensing supraphysiological levels of MYC : mechanisms of MIZ1-dependent MYC-induced Apoptosis in Mammary Epithelial Cells},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-132532},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Deregulated MYC expression contributes to cellular transformation as well as progression and maintenance of human tumours. Interestingly, in the absence of additional genetic alterations, potentially oncogenic levels of MYC sensitise cells to a variety of apoptotic stimuli. Hence, MYC-induced apoptosis has long been recognised as a major barrier against cancer development. However, it is largely unknown how cells discriminate physiological from supraphysiological levels of MYC in order to execute an appropriate biological response. The experiments described in this thesis demonstrate that induction of apoptosis in mammary epithelial cells depends on the repressive actions of MYC/MIZ1 complexes. Analysis of gene expression profiles and ChIP-sequencing experiments reveals that high levels of MYC are required to invade low-affinity binding sites and repress target genes of the serum response factor SRF. These genes are involved in cytoskeletal dynamics as well as cell adhesion processes and are likely needed to transmit survival signals to the AKT kinase. Restoration of SRF activity rescues MIZ1- dependent gene repression and increases AKT phosphorylation and downstream function. Collectively, these results indicate that association with MIZ1 leads to an expansion of MYC's transcriptional response that allows sensing of oncogenic levels, which points towards a tumour-suppressive role for the MYC/MIZ1 complex in epithelial cells.},
  subject      = {Myc},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Weber2015,
  author    = {Weber, Christian},
  title     = {Electrochemical Energy Storage: Carbon Xerogel-Manganese Oxide Composites as Supercapacitor Electrode Materials},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-130748},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Electrochemical double layer capacitors (EDLC), most commonly referred to as "supercapacitors", have gained increasing scientific and commercial interest in recent years. Purely electrostatic charge storage processes allow charge- and discharge cycles in the second-time scale, exhibiting a theoretical capacitance in the order of 100 F per gram of electrode material, thereby providing efficient recuperation devices for electromechanical processes, for example. Introducing electrochemically active materials such as manganese oxides into the supercapacitor electrode, allows to combine the double-layer storage with a battery-like storage process, leading to capacitance that can be up to two orders of magnitude larger than those in EDLC. In the present work, an electroless deposition approach of manganese oxide on a carbon scaffold is adapted and further investigated. The carbon material is derived from an organic xerogel, which in turn is prepared via a sol-gel process, allowing tailoring of the structural properties of the carbon, making it an ideal model system to study the relation between morphology and electrochemical performance in the carbon-manganese oxide hybrid electrode. In the first part of this thesis, a variation of manganese oxide deposition time at a low concentration of precursor solution is analyzed. Mass uptakes reach up to 58 wt.\%, leading to an increase of volumetric capacitance by a factor 5, however reducing the dynamic performance of the electrode. The structural characterization gives hints on the deposition location of the active material either in the intra-particular pores of the carbon backbone or on the enveloping surface area of the particles forming the backbone. In order to comprehensively answer the question of the location of the active material within the hybrid electrode, the particle size of the carbon backbone and therefore the enveloping surface area of the carbon particles was varied. For samples with high mass uptakes, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images show a layer thickness of 27 nm of active material around the carbon particles. In order to quantitatively investigate this layer morphology, even for low mass uptakes where no layer is visible in SEM images, a model interpreting data from anomalous small angle X-ray scattering (ASAXS) measurements was developed. The results confirm the presence of a layer around the carbon particles, exhibiting a layer thickness ranging from 3 to 26 nm. From an electrochemical point of view, carbon backbones with a large enveloping surface area will lead to high mass uptakes in the electroless deposition process and therefore lead to high capacitance of the electrode. However, for future application, electrodeposition approaches should be investigated in detail, since no deposits will form on the interface between carbon backbone and current collector, leading to a better dynamic performance of the hybrid electrode. Furthermore, the ASAXS-method should be promoted and applied on other material systems, since this technique allows to draw important conclusions and allows to deduce integral and quantitative information towards a rational design of high performance electrodes.},
  subject      = {Superkondensator},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Sollfrank2015,
  author    = {Sollfrank, Teresa},
  title     = {Feedback efficiency and training effects during alpha band modulation over the sensorimotor cortex},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-131769},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Neural oscillations can be measured by electroencephalography (EEG) and these oscillations can be characterized by their frequency, amplitude and phase. The mechanistic properties of neural oscillations and their synchronization are able to explain various aspects of many cognitive functions such as motor control, memory, attention, information transfer across brain regions, segmentation of the sensory input and perception (Arnal and Giraud, 2012). The alpha band frequency is the dominant oscillation in the human brain. This oscillatory activity is found in the scalp EEG at frequencies around 8-13 Hz in all healthy adults (Makeig et al., 2002) and considerable interest has been generated in exploring EEG alpha oscillations with regard to their role in cognitive (Klimesch et al., 1993; Hanselmayr et al., 2005), sensorimotor (Birbaumer, 2006; Sauseng et al., 2009) and physiological (Lehmann, 1971; Niedermeyer, 1997; Kiyatkin, 2010) aspects of human life. The ability to voluntarily regulate the alpha amplitude can be learned with neurofeedback training and offers the possibility to control a brain-computer interface (BCI), a muscle independent interaction channel. BCI research is predominantly focused on the signal processing, the classification and the algorithms necessary to translate brain signals into control commands than on the person interacting with the technical system. The end-user must be properly trained to be able to successfully use the BCI and factors such as task instructions, training, and especially feedback can therefore play an important role in learning to control a BCI (Neumann and K{\"u}bler, 2003; Pfurtscheller et al., 2006, 2007; Allison and Neuper, 2010; Friedrich et al., 2012; Kaufmann et al., 2013; Lotte et al., 2013). The main purpose of this thesis was to investigate how end-users can efficiently be trained to perform alpha band modulation recorded over their sensorimotor cortex. The herein presented work comprises three studies with healthy participants and participants with schizophrenia focusing on the effects of feedback and training time on cortical activation patterns and performance. In the first study, the application of a realistic visual feedback to support end-users in developing a concrete feeling of kinesthetic motor imagery was tested in 2D and 3D visualization modality during a single training session. Participants were able to elicit the typical event-related desynchronisation responses over sensorimotor cortex in both conditions but the most significant decrease in the alpha band power was obtained following the three-dimensional realistic visualization. The second study strengthen the hypothesis that an enriched visual feedback with information about the quality of the input signal supports an easier approach for motor imagery based BCI control and can help to enhance performance. Significantly better performance levels were measurable during five online training sessions in the groups with enriched feedback as compared to a conventional simple visual feedback group, without significant differences in performance between the unimodal (visual) and multimodal (auditory-visual) feedback modality. Furthermore, the last study, in which people with schizophrenia participated in multiple sessions with simple feedback, demonstrated that these patients can learn to voluntarily regulate their alpha band. Compared to the healthy group they required longer training times and could not achieve performance levels as high as the control group. Nonetheless, alpha neurofeedback training lead to a constant increase of the alpha resting power across all 20 training session. To date only little is known about the effects of feedback and training time on BCI performance and cortical activation patterns. The presented work contributes to the evidence that healthy individuals can benefit from enriched feedback: A realistic presentation can support participants in getting a concrete feeling of motor imagery and enriched feedback, which instructs participants about the quality of their input signal can give support while learning to control the BCI. This thesis demonstrates that people with schizophrenia can learn to gain control of their alpha oscillations recorded over the sensorimotor cortex when participating in sufficient training sessions. In conclusion, this thesis improved current motor imagery BCI feedback protocols and enhanced our understanding of the interplay between feedback and BCI performance.},
  subject      = {Neurofeedback},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Becker2015,
  author    = {Becker, Johannes},
  title     = {Development and implementation of new simulation possibilities in the CAST program package},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-132032},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The aim of the present work is the development and implementation of new simulation possibilities for the CAST program package. Development included, among other things, the partial parallelization of the already existing force fields, extension of the treatment of electrostatic interactions and implementation of molecular dynamics and free energy algorithms. The most time consuming part of force field calculations is the evaluation of the nonbonded interactions. The calculation of these interactions has been parallelized and it could be shown to yield a significant speed up for multi-core calculations compared to the serial execution on only one CPU. For both, simple energy/gradient as well as molecular dynamics simulations the computational time could be significantly reduced. To further increase the performance of calculations employing a cutoff radius, a linkedcell algorithm was implemented which is able to build up the non-bonded interaction list up to 7 times faster than the original algorithm. To provide access to dynamic properties based on the natural time evolution of a system, a molecular dynamics code has been implemented. The MD implementation features two integration schemes for the equations of motion which are able to generate stable trajectories. The basic MD algorithm as described in Section 1.2 leads to the sampling in the microcanonical (NVE) ensemble. The practical use of NVE simulations is limited though because it does not correspond to any experimentally realistic situation. More realistic simulation conditions are found in the isothermal (NVT) and isothermalisobaric (NPT) ensembles. To generate those ensembles, temperature and pressure control has been implemented. The temperature can be controlled in two ways: by direct velocity scaling and by a Nose-Hoover thermostat which produces a real canonical ensemble. The pressure coupling is realized by implementation of a Berendsen barostat. The pressure coupling can be used for isotropic or anisotropic box dimensions with the restriction that the angles of the box need to be 90� . A crucial simulation parameter in MD simulations is the length of the timestep. The timestep is usually in the rang of 1fs. Increasing the timestep beyond 1fs can lead to unstable trajectories since the fastest motion in the system, usually the H-X stretch vibration can not be sampled anymore. A way to allow for bigger timesteps is the use of a constraint algorithm which constrains the H-X bonds to the equilibrium distance. For this the RATTLE algorithm has been implemented in the CAST program. The velocity Verlet algorithm in combination with the RATTLE algorithm has been shown to yield stable trajectories for an arbitrary length of simulation time. In a first application the MD implementation is used in conjunction with the MOPAC interface for the investigation of PBI sidechains and their rigidity. The theoretical investigations show a nice agreement with experimentally obtained results. Based on the MD techniques two algorithms for the determination of free energy differences have been implemented. The umbrella sampling algorithm can be used to determine the free energy change along a reaction coordinate based on distances or dihedral angles. The implementation was tested on the stretching of a deca-L-alanine and the rotation barrier of butane in vacuum. The results are in nearly perfect agreement with literature values. For the FEP implementation calculations were performed for a zero-sum transformation of ethane in explicit solvent, the charging of a sodium ion in explicit solvent and the transformations of a tripeptide in explicit solvent. All results are in agreement with benchmark calculations of the NAMD program as well as literature values. The FEP formalism was then applied to determine the relative binding free energies between two inhibitors in an inhibitor-protein complex. Next to force fields, ab-initio methods can be used for simulations and global optimizations. Since the performance of such methods is usually significantly poorer than force field applications, the use for global optimizations is limited. Nevertheless significant progress has been made by porting these codes to GPUs. In order to make use of these developments a MPI interface has been implemented into CAST for communication with the DFT code TeraChem. The CAST/TeraChem combination has been tested on the \$H_2 O_{10}\$ cluster as well as the polypeptide met-Enkephalin. The pure ab-initio calculations showed a superior behavior compared to the standard procedure where the force field results are usually refined using quantum chemical methods.},
  subject      = {Molekulardynamik},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Bieker2015,
  author    = {Bieker, Steffen},
  title     = {Time and Spatially Resolved Photoluminescence Spectroscopy of Hot Excitons in Gallium Arsenide},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-134419},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The present thesis investigates the impact of hot exciton effects on the low-temperature time and spatially resolved photoluminescence (PL) response of free excitons in high-purity gallium arsenide (GaAs). The work at hand extends available studies of hot carrier effects, which in bulk GaAs have up to now focused on hot electron populations. In crucial distinction from previous work, we extensively study the free exciton second LO-phonon replica. The benefit of this approach is twofold. First, the two LO phonon-assisted radiative recombination allows to circumvent the inherent interpretation ambiguities of the previously investigated free exciton zero-phonon line. Second, the recombination line shape of the second LO-phonon replica provides direct experimental access to the exciton temperature, thereby enabling the quantitative assessment of hot exciton effects. In the first part of the thesis, we address the influence of transient cooling on the time evolution of an initially hot photocarrier ensemble. To this end, we investigate time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) signals detected on the free exciton second LO-phonon replica. Settling a long-standing question, we show by comparison with TRPL transients of the free exciton zero-phonon line that the slow free exciton photoluminescence rise following pulsed optical excitation is dominated by the slow buildup of a free exciton population and not by the relaxation of large K-vector excitons to the Brillouin zone center. To establish a quantitative picture of the delayed photoluminescence onset, we determine the cooling dynamics of the initially hot photocarrier cloud from a time-resolved line shape analysis of the second LO-phonon replica. We demonstrate that the Saha equation, which fundamentally describes the thermodynamic population balance between free excitons and the uncorrelated electron-hole plasma, directly translates the experimentally derived cooling curves into the time-dependent conversion of unbound electron-hole pairs into free excitons. In the second part of the thesis, we establish the impact of hot exciton effects on low-temperature spatially resolved photoluminescence (SRPL) studies. Such experiments are widely used to investigate charge carrier and free exciton diffusion in semiconductors and semiconductor nanostructures. By SRPL spectroscopy of the second LO-phonon replica, we show that above-band gap focused laser excitation inevitably causes local heating in the carrier system, which crucially affects the diffusive expansion of a locally excited exciton packet. Undistorted free exciton diffusion profiles, which are correctly described by the commonly used formulation of the photocarrier diffusion equation, are only observed in the absence of spatial temperature gradients. At low sample temperatures, the reliable determination of free exciton diffusion coefficients from both continuous-wave and time-resolved SRPL spectroscopy requires strictly resonant optical excitation. Using resonant laser excitation, we observe the dimensional crossover of free exciton diffusion in etched wire structures of a thin, effectively two-dimensional GaAs epilayer. When the lateral wire width falls below the diffusion length, the sample geometry becomes effectively one-dimensional. The exciton diffusion profile along the wire stripe is then consistently reproduced by the steady-state solution to the one-dimensional diffusion equation. Finally, we demonstrate the formation of macroscopic free and bound exciton photoluminescence rings in bulk GaAs around a focused laser excitation spot. Both ring formation effects are due to pump-induced local heating in the exciton system. For a quantitative assessment of the mechanism underlying the free exciton ring formation, we directly determine the exciton temperature gradient from a spatially resolved line shape analysis of the free exciton second LO-phonon replica. We demonstrate that a pump-induced hot spot locally modifies the thermodynamic population balance between free excitons and unbound electron-hole pairs described by the Saha equation, which naturally explains the emergence of macroscopic free exciton ring structures. In summary, we demonstrate that quantitative consideration of hot exciton effects provides a coherent picture both of the time-domain free exciton luminescence kinetics and of the distinct spatially resolved photoluminescence patterns developing under the influence of spatial photocarrier diffusion.},
  subject      = {Exziton},
  language  = {en}
}