@article{BiegstraatenArngrimssonBarbeyetal.2015, author = {Biegstraaten, Marieke and Arngr{\´i}msson, Reynir and Barbey, Frederic and Boks, Lut and Cecchi, Franco and Deegan, Patrick B and Feldt-Rasmussen, Ulla and Geberhiwot, Tarekegn and Germain, Dominique P and Hendriksz, Chris and Hughes, Derralynn A and Kantola, Ilkka and Karabul, Nesrin and Lavery, Christine and Linthorst, Gabor E and Mehta, Atul and van de Mheen, Erica and Oliveira, Jo{\~a}o P and Parini, Rossella and Ramaswami, Uma and Rudnicki, Michael and Serra, Andreas and Sommer, Claudia and Sunder-Plassmann, Gere and Svarstad, Einar and Sweeb, Annelies and Terryn, Wim and Tylki-Szymanska, Anna and T{\o}ndel, Camilla and Vujkovac, Bojan and Weidemann, Frank and Wijburg, Frits A and Woolfson, Peter and Hollak, Carla EM}, title = {Recommendations for initiation and cessation of enzyme replacement therapy in patients with Fabry disease: the European Fabry Working Group consensus document}, series = {Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases}, volume = {10}, journal = {Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases}, number = {36}, doi = {10.1186/s13023-015-0253-6}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-175374}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Introduction: Fabry disease (FD) is a lysosomal storage disorder resulting in progressive nervous system, kidney and heart disease. Enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) may halt or attenuate disease progression. Since administration is burdensome and expensive, appropriate use is mandatory. We aimed to define European consensus recommendations for the initiation and cessation of ERT in patients with FD. Methods: A Delphi procedure was conducted with an online survey (n = 28) and a meeting (n = 15). Patient organization representatives were present at the meeting to give their views. Recommendations were accepted with ≥75\% agreement and no disagreement. Results: For classically affected males, consensus was achieved that ERT is recommended as soon as there are early clinical signs of kidney, heart or brain involvement, but may be considered in patients of ≥16 years in the absence of clinical signs or symptoms of organ involvement. Classically affected females and males with non-classical FD should be treated as soon as there are early clinical signs of kidney, heart or brain involvement, while treatment may be considered in females with non-classical FD with early clinical signs that are considered to be due to FD. Consensus was achieved that treatment should not be withheld from patients with severe renal insufficiency (GFR < 45 ml/min/1.73 m\(^{2}\)) and from those on dialysis or with cognitive decline, but carefully considered on an individual basis. Stopping ERT may be considered in patients with end stage FD or other co-morbidities, leading to a life expectancy of <1 year. In those with cognitive decline of any cause, or lack of response for 1 year when the sole indication for ERT is neuropathic pain, stopping ERT may be considered. Also, in patients with end stage renal disease, without an option for renal transplantation, in combination with advanced heart failure (NYHA class IV), cessation of ERT should be considered. ERT in patients who are non-compliant or fail to attend regularly at visits should be stopped. Conclusion: The recommendations can be used as a benchmark for initiation and cessation of ERT, although final decisions should be made on an individual basis. Future collaborative efforts are needed for optimization of these recommendations.}, language = {en} } @article{BergSchellingHailuetal.2015, author = {Berg, Stefan and Schelling, Esther and Hailu, Elena and Firdessa, Rebuma and Gumi, Balako and Erenso, Girume and Gadisa, Endalamaw and Mengistu, Araya and Habtamu, Meseret and Hussein, Jemal and Kiros, Teklu and Bekele, Shiferaw and Mekonnen, Wondale and Derese, Yohannes and Zinsstag, Jakob and Ameni, Gobena and Gagneux, Sebastien and Robertson, Brian D and Tschopp, Rea and Hewinson, Glyn and Yamuah, Lawrence and Gordon, Stephen V and Aseffa, Abraham}, title = {Investigation of the high rates of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in Ethiopia reveals no single driving factor and minimal evidence for zoonotic transmission of Mycobacterium bovis infection}, series = {BMC Infectious Diseases}, volume = {15}, journal = {BMC Infectious Diseases}, number = {112}, doi = {10.1186/s12879-015-0846-7}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-143935}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Background: Ethiopia, a high tuberculosis (TB) burden country, reports one of the highest incidence rates of extra-pulmonary TB dominated by cervical lymphadenitis (TBLN). Infection with Mycobacterium bovis has previously been excluded as the main reason for the high rate of extra-pulmonary TB in Ethiopia. Methods: Here we examined demographic and clinical characteristics of 953 pulmonary (PTB) and 1198 TBLN patients visiting 11 health facilities in distinct geographic areas of Ethiopia. Clinical characteristics were also correlated with genotypes of the causative agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Results: No major patient or bacterial strain factor could be identified as being responsible for the high rate of TBLN, and there was no association with HIV infection. However, analysis of the demographic data of involved patients showed that having regular and direct contact with live animals was more associated with TBLN than with PTB, although no M. bovis was isolated from patients with TBLN. Among PTB patients, those infected with Lineage 4 reported "contact with other TB patient" more often than patients infected with Lineage 3 did (OR = 1.6, CI 95\% 1.0-2.7; p = 0.064). High fever, in contrast to low and moderate fever, was significantly associated with Lineage 4 (OR = 2.3; p = 0.024). On the other hand, TBLN cases infected with Lineage 4 tended to get milder symptoms overall for the constitutional symptoms than those infected with Lineage 3. Conclusions: The study suggests a complex role for multiple interacting factors in the epidemiology of extra-pulmonary TB in Ethiopia, including factors that can only be derived from population-based studies, which may prove to be significant for TB control in Ethiopia.}, language = {en} } @article{BerenikeHerrmannvanDalenOskamSchoech2015, author = {Berenike Herrmann, J. and van Dalen-Oskam, Karina and Sch{\"o}ch, Christof}, title = {Revisiting Style, a Key Concept in Literary Studies}, series = {Journal of Literary Theory}, volume = {9}, journal = {Journal of Literary Theory}, number = {1}, issn = {1862-8990}, doi = {10.1515/jlt-2015-0003}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-194349}, pages = {25-52}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Language and literary studies have studied style for centuries, and even since the advent of ›stylistics‹ as a discipline at the beginning of the twentieth century, definitions of ›style‹ have varied heavily across time, space and fields. Today, with increasingly large collections of literary texts being made available in digital form, computational approaches to literary style are proliferating. New methods from disciplines such as corpus linguistics and computer science are being adopted and adapted in interrelated fields such as computational stylistics and corpus stylistics, and are facilitating new approaches to literary style. The relation between definitions of style in established linguistic or literary stylistics, and definitions of style in computational or corpus stylistics has not, however, been systematically assessed. This contribution aims to respond to the need to redefine style in the light of this new situation and to establish a clearer perception of both the overlap and the boundaries between ›mainstream‹ and ›computational‹ and/or ›empirical‹ literary stylistics. While stylistic studies of non-literary texts are currently flourishing, our contribution deliberately centers on those approaches relevant to ›literary stylistics‹. It concludes by proposing an operational definition of style that we hope can act as a common ground for diverse approaches to literary style, fostering transdisciplinary research. The focus of this contribution is on literary style in linguistics and literary studies (rather than in art history, musicology or fashion), on textual aspects of style (rather than production- or reception-oriented theories of style), and on a descriptive perspective (rather than a prescriptive or didactic one). Even within these limits, however, it appears necessary to build on a broad understanding of the various perspectives on style that have been adopted at different times and in different traditions. For this reason, the contribution first traces the development of the notion of style in three different traditions, those of German, Dutch and French language and literary studies. Despite the numerous links between each other, and between each of them to the British and American traditions, these three traditions each have their proper dynamics, especially with regard to the convergence and/or confrontation between mainstream and computational stylistics. For reasons of space and coherence, the contribution is limited to theoretical developments occurring since 1945. The contribution begins by briefly outlining the range of definitions of style that can be encountered across traditions today: style as revealing a higher-order aesthetic value, as the holistic ›gestalt‹ of single texts, as an expression of the individuality of an author, as an artifact presupposing choice among alternatives, as a deviation from a norm or reference, or as any formal property of a text. The contribution then traces the development of definitions of style in each of the three traditions mentioned, with the aim of giving a concise account of how, in each tradition, definitions of style have evolved over time, with special regard to the way such definitions relate to empirical, quantitative or otherwise computational approaches to style in literary texts. It will become apparent how, in each of the three traditions, foundational texts continue to influence current discussions on literary style, but also how stylistics has continuously reacted to broader developments in cultural and literary theory, and how empirical, quantitative or computational approaches have long ­existed, usually in parallel to or at the margins of mainstream stylistics. The review will also reflect the lines of discussion around style as a property of literary texts - or of any textual entity in general. The perspective on three stylistic traditions is accompanied by a more systematic perspective. The rationale is to work towards a common ground for literary scholars and linguists when talking about (literary) style, across traditions of stylistics, with respect for established definitions of style, but also in light of the digital paradigm. Here, we first show to what extent, at similar or different moments in time, the three traditions have developed comparable positions on style, and which definitions out of the range of possible definitions have been proposed or promoted by which authors in each of the three traditions. On the basis of this synthesis, we then conclude by proposing an operational definition of style that is an attempt to provide a common ground for both mainstream and computational literary stylistics. This definition is discussed in some detail in order to explain not only what is meant by each term in the definition, but also how it relates to computational analyses of style - and how this definition aims to avoid some of the pitfalls that can be perceived in earlier definitions of style. Our definition, we hope, will be put to use by a new generation of computational, quantitative, and empirical studies of style in literary texts.}, language = {en} } @article{BenzJonesYounasetal.2015, author = {Benz, Roland and Jones, Michael D. and Younas, Farhan and Maier, Elke and Modi, Niraj and Mentele, Reinhard and Lottspeich, Friedrich and Kleinekath{\"o}fer, Ulrich and Smit, John}, title = {OmpW of Caulobacter crescentus functions as an outer membrane channel for cations}, series = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {10}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, number = {11}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0143557}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-145114}, pages = {e0143557}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Caulobacter crescentus is an oligotrophic bacterium that lives in dilute organic environments such as soil and freshwater. This bacterium represents an interesting model for cellular differentiation and regulation because daughter cells after division have different forms: one is motile while the other is non-motile and can adhere to surfaces. Interestingly, the known genome of C. crescentus does not contain genes predicted to code for outer membrane porins of the OmpF/C general diffusion type present in enteric bacteria or those coding for specific porins selective for classes of substrates. Instead, genes coding for 67 TonB-dependent outer membrane receptors have been identified, suggesting that active transport of specific nutrients may be the norm. Here, we report that high channel-forming activity was observed with crude outer membrane extracts of C. crescentus in lipid bilayer experiments, indicating that the outer membrane of C. crescentus contained an ion-permeable channel with a single-channel conductance of about 120 pS in 1M KCl. The channel-forming protein with an apparent molecular mass of about 20 kDa was purified to homogeneity. Partial protein sequencing of the protein indicated it was a member of the OmpW family of outer membrane proteins from Gram-negative bacteria. This channel was not observed in reconstitution experiments with crude outer membrane extracts of an OmpW deficient C. crescentus mutant. Biophysical analysis of the C. crescentus OmpW suggested that it has features that are special for general diffusion porins of Gram-negative outer membranes because it was not a wide aqueous channel. Furthermore, OmpW of C. crescentus seems to be different to known OmpW porins and has a preference for ions, in particular cations. A putative model for OmpW of C. crescentus was built on the basis of the known 3D-structures of OmpW of Escherichia coli and OprG of Pseudomonas aeruginosa using homology modeling. A comparison of the two known structures with the model of OmpW of C. crescentus suggested that it has a more hydrophilic interior and possibly a larger diameter.}, language = {en} } @article{BenoitGoebeler2015, author = {Benoit, Sandrine and Goebeler, Matthias}, title = {Mepacrine in recalcitrant cutaneous lupus erythematosus: old-fashioned or still useful?}, series = {Acta Dermato-Venereologica}, volume = {95}, journal = {Acta Dermato-Venereologica}, doi = {10.2340/00015555-2031}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-149181}, pages = {596-599}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Treatment of recalcitrant cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) is challenging. In situations where conventional treatment approaches fail mepacrine - an antimalarial/antiinfiammatory drug that has fallen into oblivion in the last decades might still be a promising option. We retrospectively analysed medical records of 10 patients with refractory CLE that were treated with mepacrine (100-200 mg/day) as mono- or combination therapy for various time intervals between 2001 and 2013 at the University Hospital Wurzburg. Mepacrine was generally well tolerated. Side effects were mild and usually resolved after reduction or cessation. Over 50\% of the patients experienced amelioration of their symptoms despite a previously recalcitrant clinical course. Altogether, our data demonstrate that mepacrine still remains a useful and effective therapeutic option for otherwise treatment-resistant CLE.}, 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{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} } @article{BeissSpiegelBoesetal.2015, author = {Beiss, Veronique and Spiegel, Holger and Boes, Alexander and Scheuermayer, Matthias and Reimann, Andreas and Schillberg, Stefan and Fischer, Rainer}, title = {Plant expression and characterization of the transmission-blocking vaccine candidate PfGAP50}, series = {BMC Biotechnology}, volume = {15}, journal = {BMC Biotechnology}, number = {108}, doi = {10.1186/s12896-015-0225-x}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-137327}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Background: Despite the limited success after decades of intensive research and development efforts, vaccination still represents the most promising strategy to significantly reduce the disease burden in malaria endemic regions. Besides the ultimate goal of inducing sterile protection in vaccinated individuals, the prevention of transmission by so-called transmission blocking vaccines (TBVs) is being regarded as an important feature of an efficient malaria eradication strategy. Recently, Plasmodium falciparum GAP50 (PfGAP50), a 44.6 kDa transmembrane protein that forms an essential part of the invasion machinery (glideosome) multi-protein complex, has been proposed as novel potential transmission-blocking candidate. Plant-based expression systems combine the advantages of eukaryotic expression with a up-scaling potential and a good product safety profile suitable for vaccine production. In this study we investigated the feasibility to use the transient plant expression to produce PfGAP50 suitable for the induction of parasite specific inhibitory antibodies. Results: We performed the transient expression of recombinant PfGAP50 in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves using endoplasmatic reticulum (ER) and plastid targeting. After IMAC-purification the protein yield and integrity was investigated by SDS-PAGE and Western Blot. Rabbit immune IgG derived by the immunization with the plastidtargeted variant of PfGAP50 was analyzed by immune fluorescence assay (IFA) and zygote inhibition assay (ZIA). PfGAP50 could be produced in both subcellular compartments at different yields IMAC (Immobilized Metal Affinity Chromatography) purification from extract yielded up to 4.1 mu g/g recombinant protein per fresh leaf material for ER-retarded and 16.2 mu g/g recombinant protein per fresh leave material for plasmid targeted PfGAP50, respectively. IgG from rabbit sera generated by immunization with the recombinant protein specifically recognized different parasite stages in immunofluorescence assay. Furthermore up to 55 \% inhibition in an in vitro zygote inhibition assay could be achieved using PfGAP50-specific rabbit immune IgG. Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrate that the plant-produced PfGAP50 is functional regarding the presentation of inhibitory epitopes and could be considered as component of a transmission-blocking malaria vaccine formulation.}, language = {en} } @article{BeckerRauSchmittetal.2015, author = {Becker, Philip P. and Rau, Monika and Schmitt, Johannes and Malsch, Carolin and Hammer, Christian and Bantel, Heike and M{\"u}llhaupt, Beat and Geier, Andreas}, title = {Performance of serum microRNAs -122, -192 and -21 as biomarkers in patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis}, series = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {10}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, number = {11}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0142661}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-145147}, pages = {e0142661}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Objectives Liver biopsies are the current gold standard in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) diagnosis. Their invasive nature, however, still carries an increased risk for patients' health. The development of non-invasive diagnostic tools to differentiate between bland steatosis (NAFL) and NASH remains crucial. The aim of this study is the evaluation of investigated circulating microRNAs in combination with new targets in order to optimize the discrimination of NASH patients by non-invasive serum biomarkers. Methods Serum profiles of four microRNAs were evaluated in two cohorts consisting of 137 NAFLD patients and 61 healthy controls. In a binary logistic regression model microRNAs of relevance were detected. Correlation of microRNA appearance with known biomarkers like ALT and CK18-Asp396 was evaluated. A simplified scoring model was developed, combining the levels of microRNA in circulation and CK18-Asp396 fragments. Receiver operating characteristics were used to evaluate the potential of discriminating NASH. Results The new finding of our study is the different profile of circulating miR-21 in NASH patients (p<0.0001). Also, it validates recently published results of miR-122 and miR-192 to be differentially regulated in NAFL and NASH. Combined microRNA expression profiles with CK18-Asp396 fragment level scoring model had a higher potential of NASH prediction compared to other risk biomarkers (AUROC = 0.83, 95\% CI = 0.754-0.908; p<0.001). Evaluation of score model for NAFL (Score = 0) and NASH (Score = 4) had shown high rates of sensitivity (91\%) and specificity (83\%). Conclusions Our study defines candidates for a combined model of miRNAs and CK18-Asp396 levels relevant as a promising expansion for diagnosis and in turn treatment of NASH.}, 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} } @article{BeckEhmannAndlaueretal.2015, author = {Beck, Katherina and Ehmann, Nadine and Andlauer, Till F. M. and Ljaschenko, Dmitrij and Strecker, Katrin and Fischer, Matthias and Kittel, Robert J. and Raabe, Thomas}, title = {Loss of the Coffin-Lowry syndrome-associated gene RSK2 alters ERK activity, synaptic function and axonal transport in Drosophila motoneurons}, series = {Disease Models \& Mechanisms}, volume = {8}, journal = {Disease Models \& Mechanisms}, doi = {10.1242/dmm.021246}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-145185}, pages = {1389-1400}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Plastic changes in synaptic properties are considered as fundamental for adaptive behaviors. Extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-mediated signaling has been implicated in regulation of synaptic plasticity. Ribosomal S6 kinase 2 (RSK2) acts as a regulator and downstream effector of ERK. In the brain, RSK2 is predominantly expressed in regions required for learning and memory. Loss-of-function mutations in human RSK2 cause Coffin-Lowry syndrome, which is characterized by severe mental retardation and low IQ scores in affected males. Knockout of RSK2 in mice or the RSK ortholog in Drosophila results in a variety of learning and memory defects. However, overall brain structure in these animals is not affected, leaving open the question of the pathophysiological consequences. Using the fly neuromuscular system as a model for excitatory glutamatergic synapses, we show that removal of RSK function causes distinct defects in motoneurons and at the neuromuscular junction. Based on histochemical and electrophysiological analyses, we conclude that RSK is required for normal synaptic morphology and function. Furthermore, loss of RSK function interferes with ERK signaling at different levels. Elevated ERK activity was evident in the somata of motoneurons, whereas decreased ERK activity was observed in axons and the presynapse. In addition, we uncovered a novel function of RSK in anterograde axonal transport. Our results emphasize the importance of fine-tuning ERK activity in neuronal processes underlying higher brain functions. In this context, RSK acts as a modulator of ERK signaling.}, language = {en} } @article{BeckTitzeHuebneretal.2015, author = {Beck, Hanna and Titze, Stephanie I. and H{\"u}bner, Silvia and Busch, Martin and Schlieper, Georg and Schultheiss, Ulla T. and Wanner, Christoph and Kronenberg, Florian and Krane, Vera and Eckardt, Kai-Uwe and K{\"o}ttgen, Anna}, title = {Heart Failure in a Cohort of Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease: The GCKD Study}, series = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {10}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, number = {4}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0122552}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-143315}, pages = {e0122552}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Background and Aims Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a risk factor for development and progression of heart failure (HF). CKD and HF share common risk factors, but few data exist on the prevalence, signs and symptoms as well as correlates of HF in populations with CKD of moderate severity. We therefore aimed to examine the prevalence and correlates of HF in the German Chronic Kidney Disease (GCKD) study, a large observational prospective study. Methods and Results We analyzed data from 5,015 GCKD patients aged 18-74 years with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of <60 ml/min/1.73m\(^{2}\) or with an eGFR >= 60 and overt proteinuria (>500 mg/d). We evaluated a definition of HF based on the Gothenburg score, a clinical HF score used in epidemiological studies (Gothenburg HF), and self-reported HF. Factors associated with HF were identified using multivariable adjusted logistic regression. The prevalence of Gothenburg HF was 43\% (ranging from 24\% in those with eGFR >90 to 59\% in those with eGFR<30 ml/min/1.73m2). The corresponding estimate for self-reported HF was 18\% (range 5\%-24\%). Lower eGFR was significantly and independently associated with the Gothenburg definition of HF (p-trend <0.001). Additional significantly associated correlates included older age, female gender, higher BMI, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, valvular heart disease, anemia, sleep apnea, and lower educational status. Conclusions The burden of self-reported and Gothenburg HF among patients with CKD is high. The proportion of patients who meet the criteria for Gothenburg HF in a European cohort of patients with moderate CKD is more than twice as high as the prevalence of self-reported HF. However, because of the shared signs, symptoms and medications of HF and CKD, the Gothenburg score cannot be used to reliably define HF in CKD patients. Our results emphasize the need for early screening for HF in patients with CKD.}, language = {en} } @article{BaurSchedelbeckPulzeretal.2015, author = {Baur, Johannes and Schedelbeck, Ulla and Pulzer, Alina and Bluemel, Christina and Wild, Vanessa and Fassnacht, Martin and Steger, U.}, title = {A case report of a solitary pancreatic metastasis of an adrenocortical carcinoma}, series = {BMC Surgery}, volume = {15}, journal = {BMC Surgery}, number = {93}, doi = {10.1186/s12893-015-0076-3}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-126130}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Background Solitary metastases to the pancreas are rare. Therefore the value of resection in curative intention remains unclear. In the literature there are several promising reports about resection of solitary metastasis to the pancreas mainly of renal origin. Case presentation Here we report for the first time on the surgical therapy of a 1.5 cm solitary pancreatic metastasis of an adrenocortical carcinoma. The metastasis occurred almost 6 years after resection of the primary tumor. A partial pancreatoduodenectomy was performed and postoperatively adjuvant mitotane treatment was initiated. During the follow-up of 3 years after surgery no evidence of tumor recurrence occurred. Conclusion Resection of pancreatic tumors should be considered, even if the mass is suspicious for metastatic disease including recurrence of adrenocortical cancer.}, 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} } @article{BauerGoebelerWeissbrichetal.2015, author = {Bauer, Boris and Goebeler, Matthias and Weissbrich, Benedikt and Kerstan, Andreas}, title = {Kerinokeratosis papulosa of childhood}, series = {Dermatology}, volume = {231}, journal = {Dermatology}, number = {1}, issn = {1018-8665}, doi = {10.1159/000381539}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-198997}, pages = {1 -- 4}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Background: Kerinokeratosis papulosa (KP) is considered an extremely rare genodermatosis presenting usually as waxy papules on the trunk in childhood. Objective: To describe and analyze the clinical, histological and potential etiopathological aspects of KP. Methods: The dermatoscopic features of a new case of KP of childhood are investigated. The presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA in lesional skin was studied by polymerase chain reaction. Furthermore, all cases of KP of childhood reported so far were reviewed. Results: As a diagnostic tool, we describe for the first time a dermatoscopic feature, namely a cribriform pattern of KP, in an 11-year-old boy. In addition, we detected HPV (type 57) in his KP lesions. Conclusions: Dermatoscopic examination might be a useful tool to distinguish KP from other skin lesions, e.g. common warts. The detection of HPV type 57 might hint to an etiological role of HPV for KP.}, language = {en} } @article{BassetCizekCuenoudetal.2015, author = {Basset, Yves and Cizek, Lukas and Cu{\´e}noud, Philippe and Didham, Raphael K. and Novotny, Vojtech and {\O}degaard, Frode and Roslin, Tomas and Tishechkin, Alexey K. and Schmidl, J{\"u}rgen and Winchester, Neville N. and Roubik, David W. and Aberlenc, Henri-Pierre and Bail, Johannes and Barrios, Hector and Bridle, Jonathan R. and Casta{\~n}o-Meneses, Gabriela and Corbara, Bruno and Curletti, Gianfranco and da Rocha, Wesley Duarte and De Bakker, Domir and Delabie, Jacques H. C. and Dejean, Alain and Fagan, Laura L. and Floren, Andreas and Kitching, Roger L. and Medianero, Enrique and de Oliveira, Evandro Gama and Orivel, Jerome and Pollet, Marc and Rapp, Mathieu and Ribeiro, Servio P. and Roisin, Yves and Schmidt, Jesper B. and S{\o}rensen, Line and Lewinsohn, Thomas M. and Leponce, Maurice}, title = {Arthropod Distribution in a Tropical Rainforest: Tackling a Four Dimensional Puzzle}, series = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {10}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, number = {12}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0144110}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-136393}, pages = {e0144110}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Quantifying the spatio-temporal distribution of arthropods in tropical rainforests represents a first step towards scrutinizing the global distribution of biodiversity on Earth. To date most studies have focused on narrow taxonomic groups or lack a design that allows partitioning of the components of diversity. Here, we consider an exceptionally large dataset (113,952 individuals representing 5,858 species), obtained from the San Lorenzo forest in Panama, where the phylogenetic breadth of arthropod taxa was surveyed using 14 protocols targeting the soil, litter, understory, lower and upper canopy habitats, replicated across seasons in 2003 and 2004. This dataset is used to explore the relative influence of horizontal, vertical and seasonal drivers of arthropod distribution in this forest. We considered arthropod abundance, observed and estimated species richness, additive decomposition of species richness, multiplicative partitioning of species diversity, variation in species composition, species turnover and guild structure as components of diversity. At the scale of our study (2km of distance, 40m in height and 400 days), the effects related to the vertical and seasonal dimensions were most important. Most adult arthropods were collected from the soil/litter or the upper canopy and species richness was highest in the canopy. We compared the distribution of arthropods and trees within our study system. Effects related to the seasonal dimension were stronger for arthropods than for trees. We conclude that: (1) models of beta diversity developed for tropical trees are unlikely to be applicable to tropical arthropods; (2) it is imperative that estimates of global biodiversity derived from mass collecting of arthropods in tropical rainforests embrace the strong vertical and seasonal partitioning observed here; and (3) given the high species turnover observed between seasons, global climate change may have severe consequences for rainforest arthropods.}, language = {en} } @article{BarteitHoepffnerHuwendieketal.2015, author = {Barteit, Sandra and Hoepffner, Philip and Huwendiek, S{\"o}ren and Karamagi, Angela and Munthali, Charles and Theurer, Antje and Neuhann, Florian}, title = {Self-directed e-learning at a tertiary hospital in Malawi - a qualitative evaluation and lessons learnt}, series = {GMS Journal for Medical Education}, volume = {32}, journal = {GMS Journal for Medical Education}, number = {1}, doi = {10.3205/zma000949}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-150208}, pages = {Doc7}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Background: Malawi faces a severe lack of health workers. Despite initiatives to address this problem, a critical shortage of health care staff remains. This lack challenges the education and training of junior medical staff, especially medical interns in their final and crucial training year before they independently work as medical doctors. Project description: We have introduced an e-learning platform in the medical department of the Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Malawi. With the support of computer-assisted instruction, we aimed to improve the quality of medical training and education, as well as access to current medical materials, in particular for interns. Method: From March to April 2012, we conducted a qualitative evaluation to assess relevance and appropriateness of the e-learning platform. Data was collected via face-to-face interviews, a guided group discussion and a checklist based observation log. Evaluation data was recorded and coded using content analysis, interviewees were chosen via purposive sampling. Results: E-learning proved to be technically feasible in this setting. Users considered the e-learning platform to be relevant and appropriate. Concerns were raised about sustainability, accessibility and technical infrastructure, as well as limited involvement and responsibilities of Malawian partners. Interest in e-learning was high, yet, awareness of and knowledge about the e-learning platform among potential users was low. Evaluation results indicated that further adaptions to local needs are necessary to increase usage and accessibility. Conclusions: Interview results and our project experiences showed that, in the given setting, e-learning requires commitment from local stakeholders, adequate technical infrastructure, identification and assignation of responsibilities, as well as specific adaption to local needs.}, language = {en} } @article{BarejSchmitzPenneretal.2015, author = {Barej, Michael F. and Schmitz, Andreas and Penner, Johannes and Doumbia, Joseph and Sandberger-Loua, Laura and Hirschfeld, Mareike and Brede, Christian and Emmrich, Mike and Kouam{\´e}, N'Goran Germain and Hillers, Annika and Gonwouo, Nono L. and Nopper, Joachim and Adeba, Patrick Jo{\"e}l and Bangoura, Mohamed A. and Gage, Ceri and Anderson, Gail and R{\"o}del, Mark-Oliver}, title = {Life in the spray zone - overlooked diversity in West African torrent-frogs (Anura, Odontobatrachidae, Odontobatrachus)}, series = {Zoosystematics and Evolution}, volume = {91}, journal = {Zoosystematics and Evolution}, number = {2}, doi = {10.3897/zse.91.5127}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-144254}, pages = {115-149}, year = {2015}, abstract = {West African torrent-frogs of the genus Odontobatrachus currently belong to a single species: Odontobatrachus natator (Boulenger, 1905). Recently, molecular results and biogeographic separation led to the recognition of five Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) thus identifying a species-complex. Based on these insights, morphological analyses on more than 150 adult specimens, covering the entire distribution of the family and all OTUs, were carried out. Despite strong morphological congruence, combinations of morphological characters made the differentiation of OTUs successful and allowed the recognition of five distinct species: Odontobatrachus natator, and four species new to science: Odontobatrachus arndti sp. n., O. fouta sp. n., O. smithi sp. n. and O. ziama sp. n. All species occur in parapatry: Odontobatrachus natator is known from western Guinea to eastern Liberia, O. ziama sp. n. from eastern Guinea, O. smithi sp. n. and O. fouta sp. n. from western Guinea, O. arndti sp. n. from the border triangle Guinea-Liberia-Cote d'Ivoire. In addition, for the first time the advertisement call of a West African torrent-frog (O. arndti sp. n.) is described.}, 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{Bakhtiari2015, author = {Bakhtiari, Giti}, title = {The Role of Fluency in Oral Approach and Avoidance}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-118666}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Names of, for instance, children or companies are often chosen very carefully. They should sound and feel good. Therefore, many companies try to choose artificially created names that can easily be pronounced in various languages. A wide range of psychological research has demonstrated that easy processing (high processing fluency) is intrinsically experienced as positive. Due to this positive feeling, easy processing can have profound influences on preferences for names. Topolinski, Maschmann, Pecher, and Winkielman (2014) have introduced a different mechanism that influences the perception of words. Across several experiments they found that words featuring consonantal inward wanderings (inward words) were preferred over words featuring consonantal outward wanderings (outward words). They argued that this was due to the fact that approach and avoidance motivations are activated by articulating inward and outward words, because the pronunciation resembles approach and avoidance behaviors of swallowing and spitting, respectively. They suggested this close link as an underlying mechanism for the so-called in-out effect, but did not test this assumption directly. In the current work, I tested an alternative fluency account of the in-out effect. Specifically, I hypothesized that processing fluency might play a critical role instead of motivational states of approach and avoidance being necessarily activated. In Chapter 1, I introduce the general topic of my dissertation, followed by a detailed introduction of the research area of approach and avoidance motivations in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3, I narrow the topic down to orally induced approach and avoidance motivations, which is the main topic of my dissertation. In Chapter 4, I introduce the research area of ecological influences on psychological processes. This chapter builds the base for the idea that human language might serve as a source of processing fluency in the in-out effect. In the following Chapter 5, I elaborate the research area of processing fluency, for which I examined whether it plays a role in the in-out effect. After an overview of my empirical work in Chapter 6, the empirical part starts with Study 1a and Study 1b (Chapter 7) that aimed to show that two languages (Eng. \& Ger.) in which the in-out effect has originally been found might feature a source of higher processing fluency for inward over outward words. The results showed that higher frequencies of inward dynamics compared to outward dynamics were found in both languages. This can lead to higher pronunciation fluency for inward compared to outward words which might in turn lay the ground for higher preferences found for inward over outward words. In Chapter 8, the assumption that inward compared to outward dynamics might be more efficient to process was tested directly in experiments that examined objective as well as subjective processing fluency of artificially constructed non-words featuring pure inward or outward dynamics. Studies 2a-4b found an objective as well as subjective processing advantage for inward over outward words. In Chapter 9, the causal role of objective and subjective pronunciation fluency in the in-out effect was examined. In Study 5 mediational analyses on item-level and across studies were conducted using objective and subjective fluency as possible mediating variables. In Study 6 mediation analyses were conducted with data on subject- and trial-level from a within-subject design. Overall, the data of the item-based, subject-based and trial-based mediation analyses provide rather mixed results. Therefore, an experimental manipulation of fluency was implemented in the last two studies. In Chapter 10, Study 7 and Study 8 demonstrate that manipulating fluency experimentally does indeed modulate the attitudinal impact of consonantal articulation direction. Articulation ease was induced by letting participants train inward or outward kinematics before the actual evaluation phase. Additionally, the simulation training was intensified in Study 8 in order to examine whether a stronger modulation of the in-out effect could be found. Training outward words led to an attenuation and, after more extensive training, even to a reversal of the in-out effect, whereas training inward words led to an enhancement of the in-out effect. This hints at my overall hypothesis that the explicit preferences of inward and outward words are, at least partially, driven by processing fluency. Almost all studies of my dissertation, except for one analysis of the item-based mediation study, speak in favor of the hypothesis that inward words compared to outward words are objectively and subjectively easier to articulate. This possibly contributes partially to a higher preference of inward over outward words. The results are discussed in Chapter 11 with respect to processing fluency and to the role of language as an ecological factor. Finally, future research ideas are elaborated.}, subject = {Sozialpsychologie}, language = {en} }