TY - JOUR A1 - Sommerlandt, Frank M. J. A1 - Spaethe, Johannes A1 - Rössler, Wolfgang A1 - Dyer, Adrian G. T1 - Does Fine Color Discrimination Learning in Free-Flying Honeybees Change Mushroom-Body Calyx Neuroarchitecture? JF - PLoS One N2 - Honeybees learn color information of rewarding flowers and recall these memories in future decisions. For fine color discrimination, bees require differential conditioning with a concurrent presentation of target and distractor stimuli to form a long-term memory. Here we investigated whether the long-term storage of color information shapes the neural network of microglomeruli in the mushroom body calyces and if this depends on the type of conditioning. Free-flying honeybees were individually trained to a pair of perceptually similar colors in either absolute conditioning towards one of the colors or in differential conditioning with both colors. Subsequently, bees of either conditioning groups were tested in non-rewarded discrimination tests with the two colors. Only bees trained with differential conditioning preferred the previously learned color, whereas bees of the absolute conditioning group, and a stimuli-naïve group, chose randomly among color stimuli. All bees were then kept individually for three days in the dark to allow for complete long-term memory formation. Whole-mount immunostaining was subsequently used to quantify variation of microglomeruli number and density in the mushroom-body lip and collar. We found no significant differences among groups in neuropil volumes and total microglomeruli numbers, but learning performance was negatively correlated with microglomeruli density in the absolute conditioning group. Based on these findings we aim to promote future research approaches combining behaviorally relevant color learning tests in honeybees under free-flight conditions with neuroimaging analysis; we also discuss possible limitations of this approach.q KW - bees KW - behavioral conditioning KW - learning KW - color vision KW - vision KW - calyx KW - cognition KW - honey bees Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147932 VL - 11 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kleih, Sonja C. A1 - Gottschalt, Lea A1 - Teichlein, Eva A1 - Weilbach, Franz X. T1 - Toward a P300 Based Brain-Computer Interface for Aphasia Rehabilitation after Stroke: Presentation of Theoretical Considerations and a Pilot Feasibility Study JF - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience N2 - People with post-stroke motor aphasia know what they would like to say but cannot express it through motor pathways due to disruption of cortical circuits. We present a theoretical background for our hypothesized connection between attention and aphasia rehabilitation and suggest why in this context, Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) use might be beneficial for patients diagnosed with aphasia. Not only could BCI technology provide a communication tool, it might support neuronal plasticity by activating language circuits and thereby boost aphasia recovery. However, stroke may lead to heterogeneous symptoms that might hinder BCI use, which is why the feasibility of this approach needs to be investigated first. In this pilot study, we included five participants diagnosed with post-stroke aphasia. Four participants were initially unable to use the visual P300 speller paradigm. By adjusting the paradigm to their needs, participants could successfully learn to use the speller for communication with accuracies up to 100%. We describe necessary adjustments to the paradigm and present future steps to investigate further this approach. KW - brain-computer interface (BCI) KW - aphasia KW - stroke rehabilitation KW - P300 speller KW - user-centered design KW - Broca KW - training Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147929 VL - 10 IS - 547 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zipfel, Julian A1 - Eyrich, Matthias A1 - Schlegel, Paul-Gerhardt A1 - Wiegering, Verena T1 - Disturbed B cell and DC-Homeostasis in Pediatric cGVHD Patients-Cocultivation Experiments and Review of the Literature JF - Clinics in Oncology N2 - B cells and DCs are suspected to play an important role in the pathogenesis of cGvHD, which is a serious complication of HSCT with high morbidity. It is characterized by immune responses of donor immune cells against recipient-derived antigens. athogenesis is not yet fully understood, however reconstitution of B cells after HSCT has similarities to physiologic ontogeny. Immunophenotyping and co-cultivation-experiments of B cells and DCs from pediatric patients with cGvHD as well as healthy donors were conducted. Significant differences between patients and healthy donors were observed with increased memory, transitional, CD69+ and CD86+ phenotype and lower levels of naïve B cells due to apoptosis. Co-cultivation revealed this to be primarily B cell-dependent without major effects of and with DCs. There was a decreased CD11c- phenotype in patients and less apoptosis of DCs. Our data suggest a disturbed homeostasis in B cells with increased memory phenotype in patients, whereas DCs could not influence these differences, therefore DCs are not imposing as promising targets. B cell-dependent approaches should be further investigated. KW - B cell Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147914 VL - 1 IS - 1097 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Seren, Ümit A1 - Grimm, Dominik A1 - Fitz, Joffrey A1 - Weigel, Detlef A1 - Nordborg, Magnus A1 - Borgwardt, Karsten A1 - Korte, Arthur T1 - AraPheno: a public database for Arabidopsis thaliana phenotypes JF - Nucleic Acids Research N2 - Natural genetic variation makes it possible to discover evolutionary changes that have been maintained in a population because they are advantageous. To understand genotype–phenotype relationships and to investigate trait architecture, the existence of both high-resolution genotypic and phenotypic data is necessary. Arabidopsis thaliana is a prime model for these purposes. This herb naturally occurs across much of the Eurasian continent and North America. Thus, it is exposed to a wide range of environmental factors and has been subject to natural selection under distinct conditions. Full genome sequencing data for more than 1000 different natural inbred lines are available, and this has encouraged the distributed generation of many types of phenotypic data. To leverage these data for meta analyses, AraPheno (https://arapheno.1001genomes.org) provide a central repository of population-scale phenotypes for A. thaliana inbred lines. AraPheno includes various features to easily access, download and visualize the phenotypic data. This will facilitate a comparative analysis of the many different types of phenotypic data, which is the base to further enhance our understanding of the genotype–phenotype map. KW - phenotype KW - arabidopsis KW - genotype Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147909 VL - 45 IS - D1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bening, C. A1 - Hamouda, K. A1 - Leyh, R. T1 - Sex differences in volume overload in skinned fibers JF - BMC Cardiovascular Disorders N2 - Background The impact of sex on cardiac morphology and function in chronic volume overload has been described in detail. However, the relation between sex and contractile properties at the actin-myosin level has not been well defined. Therefore, we evaluated the influence of sex on the contractile capacities of patients with chronic volume overload. Methods In 36 patients (18 males, 65 ± 9 years; 18 females, 65 ± 13 years) scheduled for elective mitral valve surgery due to severe mitral regurgitation (MR) with preserved left ventricular function, right auricle samples were obtained prior to extracorporal circulation. The fibers were prepared and skinned and exposed to a gradual increase in the calcium concentration (from pCa of 6.5–4.0) for calcium-induced force-developing measurements. Calcium sensitivity was also measured and recorded. Results The pCa-force relationship of the fibers obtained from males and females was significantly different, with the force values of the female fibers greater than those of male fibers at maximum calcium concentrations (pCa of 4.0: 3.6 ± 0.3 mN versus 3.2 ± 0.4 mN, p 0.02) and pCa of 4.5 2.6 ± 0.6 versus 2.0 ± 0.5, p 0.002). In contrast, the force values of female fibers were lower at mean calcium concentrations compared to those of male fibers (at 5.5 and pCa of 6.0: 1.0 ± 0.3 mN versus 1.2 ± 0.5 mN, p 0.04; 0.61 ± 0.05 versus 0.88 ± 0.09, p 0.04). Calcium sensitivity was observed at pCa of 5.0 in females and pCa of 4.5 in males. Conclusion This study demonstrated that female fibers from patients exposed to chronic volume overload developed higher force values at a given calcium concentration compared to fibers from male patients. We assume that female patients might tap the full force potential, which is required when exposed to the highest calcium concentrations in our experimental cycle. The calcium sensitivity among genders was significantly different, with the results suggesting that males have higher calcium sensitivity and might compensate for lower force values at maximal calcium concentrations by a higher affinity for calcium. Hence, female patients with MR seem to work more “energy efficient”. KW - calcium sensitivity KW - pCa KW - force relationship KW - skinned fibers Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147896 VL - 16 IS - 197 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Krajinovic, K. A1 - Reimer, S. A1 - Kudlich, T. A1 - Germer, C. T. A1 - Wiegering, A. T1 - “Rendezvous technique” for intraluminal vacuum therapy of anastomotic leakage of the jejunum JF - Surgical Case Reports N2 - Background Anastomotic leakage (AL) is one of the most common and serious complications following visceral surgery. In recent years, endoluminal vacuum therapy has dramatically changed therapeutic options for AL, but its use has been limited to areas easily accessible by endoscope. Case presentation We describe the first use of endoluminal vacuum therapy in the small intestine employing a combined surgical and endoscopic “rendezvous technique” in which the surgeon assists the endoscopic placement of an endoluminal vacuum therapy sponge in the jejunum by means of a pullback string. This technique led to a completely closed AL after 27 days and 7 changes of the endosponge. Conclusion The combined surgical and endoscopic rendezvous technique can be useful in cases of otherwise difficult endosponge placement. KW - endosponge KW - anastomotic leakage Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147883 VL - 2 IS - 114 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ullmann, Tobias A1 - Schmitt, Andreas A1 - Jagdhuber, Thomas T1 - Two Component Decomposition of Dual Polarimetric HH/VV SAR Data: Case Study for the Tundra Environment of the Mackenzie Delta Region, Canada JF - Remote Sensing N2 - This study investigates a two component decomposition technique for HH/VV-polarized PolSAR (Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar) data. The approach is a straight forward adaption of the Yamaguchi decomposition and decomposes the data into two scattering contributions: surface and double bounce under the assumption of a negligible vegetation scattering component in Tundra environments. The dependencies between the features of this two and the classical three component Yamaguchi decomposition were investigated for Radarsat-2 (quad) and TerraSAR-X (HH/VV) data for the Mackenzie Delta Region, Canada. In situ data on land cover were used to derive the scattering characteristics and to analyze the correlation among the PolSAR features. The double bounce and surface scattering features of the two and three component scattering model (derived from pseudo-HH/VV- and quad-polarized data) showed similar scattering characteristics and positively correlated-R2 values of 0.60 (double bounce) and 0.88 (surface scattering) were observed. The presence of volume scattering led to differences between the features and these were minimized for land cover classes of low vegetation height that showed little volume scattering contribution. In terms of separability, the quad-polarized Radarsat-2 data offered the best separation of the examined tundra land cover types and will be best suited for the classification. This is anticipated as it represents the largest feature space of all tested ones. However; the classes “wetland” and “bare ground” showed clear positions in the feature spaces of the C- and X-Band HH/VV-polarized data and an accurate classification of these land cover types is promising. Among the possible dual-polarization modes of Radarsat-2 the HH/VV was found to be the favorable mode for the characterization of the aforementioned tundra land cover classes due to the coherent acquisition and the preserved co-pol. phase. Contrary, HH/HV-polarized and VV/VH-polarized data were found to be best suited for the characterization of mixed and shrub dominated tundra. KW - Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) KW - Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PolSAR) KW - polarimetric decomposition KW - Radarsat-2 KW - arctic KW - Canada KW - tundra KW - TerraSAR-X KW - dual polarimetry Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147879 VL - 8 IS - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ullmann, Tobias A1 - Büdel, Christian A1 - Baumhauer, Roland A1 - Padashi, Majid T1 - Sentinel-1 SAR Data Revealing Fluvial Morphodynamics in Damghan (Iran): Amplitude and Coherence Change Detection JF - International Journal of Earth Science and Geophysics N2 - The Sentinel-1 Satellite (S-1) of ESA's Copernicus Mission delivers freely available C-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data that are suited for interferometric applications (InSAR). The high geometric resolution of less than fifteen meter and the large coverage offered by the Interferometric Wide Swath mode (IW) point to new perspectives on the comprehension and understanding of surface changes, the quantification and monitoring of dynamic processes, especially in arid regions. The contribution shows the application of S-1 intensities and InSAR coherences in time series analysis for the delineation of changes related to fluvial morphodynamics in Damghan, Iran. The investigations were carried out for the period from April to October 2015 and exhibit the potential of the S-1 data for the identification of surface disturbances, mass movements and fluvial channel activity in the surroundings of the Damghan Playa. The Amplitude Change Detection highlighted extensive material movement and accumulation - up to sizes of more than 4,000 m in width - in the east of the Playa via changes in intensity. Further, the Coherence Change Detection technique was capable to indicate small-scale channel activity of the drainage system that was neither recognizable in the S-1 intensity nor the multispectral Landsat-8 data. The run off caused a decorrelation of the SAR signals and a drop in coherence. Seen from a morphodynamic point of view, the results indicated a highly dynamic system and complex tempo-spatial patterns were observed that will be subject of future analysis. Additionally, the study revealed the necessity to collect independent reference data on fluvial activity in order to train and adjust the change detector. KW - SAR KW - InSAR KW - coherence KW - Iran KW - Sentinel-1 KW - radar KW - geomorphology KW - change detection Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147863 VL - 2 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fetsch, Corinna A1 - Gaitzsch, Jens A1 - Messager, Lea A1 - Battaglia, Giuseppe A1 - Luxenhofer, Roberts T1 - Self-Assembly of Amphiphilic Block Copolypeptoids – Micelles, Worms and Polymersomes JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Polypeptoids are an old but recently rediscovered polymer class with interesting synthetic, physico-chemical and biological characteristics. Here, we introduce new aromatic monomers, N-benzyl glycine N-carboxyanhydride and N-phenethyl glycine N-carboxyanhydride and their block copolymers with the hydrophilic polysarcosine. We compare their self-assembly in water and aqueous buffer with the self-assembly of amphiphilic block copolypeptoids with aliphatic side chains. The aggregates in water were investigated by dynamic light scattering and electron microscopy. We found a variety of morphologies, which were influenced by the polymer structure as well as by the preparation method. Overall, we found polymersomes, worm-like micelles and oligo-lamellar morphologies as well as some less defined aggregates of interconnected worms and vesicles. Such, this contribution may serve as a starting point for a more detailed investigation of the self-assembly behavior of the rich class of polypeptoids and for a better understanding between the differences in the aggregation behavior of non-uniform polypeptoids and uniform peptoids. KW - bioinspired materials KW - polymer characterization KW - polymer synthesis KW - polymers KW - self-assembly Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147855 VL - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Adolfi, Mateus C. A1 - Herpin, Amaury A1 - Regensburger, Martina A1 - Sacquegno, Jacopo A1 - Waxman, Joshua S. A1 - Schartl, Manfred T1 - Retinoic acid and meiosis induction in adult versus embryonic gonads of medaka JF - Scientific Reports N2 - In vertebrates, one of the first recognizable sex differences in embryos is the onset of meiosis, known to be regulated by retinoic acid (RA) in mammals. We investigated in medaka a possible meiotic function of RA during the embryonic sex determination (SD) period and in mature gonads. We found RA mediated transcriptional activation in germ cells of both sexes much earlier than the SD stage, however, no such activity during the critical stages of SD. In adults, expression of the RA metabolizing enzymes indicates sexually dimorphic RA levels. In testis, RA acts directly in Sertoli, Leydig and pre-meiotic germ cells. In ovaries, RA transcriptional activity is highest in meiotic oocytes. Our results show that RA plays an important role in meiosis induction and gametogenesis in adult medaka but contrary to common expectations, not for initiating the first meiosis in female germ cells at the SD stage. KW - developmental biology KW - molecular biology Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147843 VL - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ip, Chi Wang A1 - Isaias, Ioannis U. A1 - Kusche-Tekin, Burak B. A1 - Klein, Dennis A1 - Groh, Janos A1 - O´Leary, Aet A1 - Knorr, Susanne A1 - Higuchi, Takahiro A1 - Koprich, James B. A1 - Brotchie, Jonathan M. A1 - Toyka, Klaus V. A1 - Reif, Andreas A1 - Volkmann, Jens T1 - Tor1a+/- mice develop dystonia-like movements via a striatal dopaminergic dysregulation triggered by peripheral nerve injury JF - Acta Neuropathologica Communications N2 - Isolated generalized dystonia is a central motor network disorder characterized by twisted movements or postures. The most frequent genetic cause is a GAG deletion in the Tor1a (DYT1) gene encoding torsinA with a reduced penetrance of 30-40 % suggesting additional genetic or environmental modifiers. Development of dystonia-like movements after a standardized peripheral nerve crush lesion in wild type (wt) and Tor1a+/- mice, that express 50 % torsinA only, was assessed by scoring of hindlimb movements during tail suspension, by rotarod testing and by computer-assisted gait analysis. Western blot analysis was performed for dopamine transporter (DAT), D1 and D2 receptors from striatal and quantitative RT-PCR analysis for DAT from midbrain dissections. Autoradiography was used to assess the functional DAT binding in striatum. Striatal dopamine and its metabolites were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. After nerve crush injury, we found abnormal posturing in the lesioned hindlimb of both mutant and wt mice indicating the profound influence of the nerve lesion (15x vs. 12x relative to control) resembling human peripheral pseudodystonia. In mutant mice the phenotypic abnormalities were increased by about 40 % (p < 0.05). This was accompanied by complex alterations of striatal dopamine homeostasis. Pharmacological blockade of dopamine synthesis reduced severity of dystonia-like movements, whereas treatment with L-Dopa aggravated these but only in mutant mice suggesting a DYT1 related central component relevant to the development of abnormal involuntary movements. Our findings suggest that upon peripheral nerve injury reduced torsinA concentration and environmental stressors may act in concert in causing the central motor network dysfunction of DYT1 dystonia. KW - Dystonia KW - DYT1 KW - dopamine KW - peripheral injury KW - second hit Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147839 VL - 4 IS - 108 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gaviraghi, Beatrice A1 - Schindele, Andreas A1 - Annunziato, Mario A1 - Borzì, Alfio T1 - On Optimal Sparse-Control Problems Governed by Jump-Diffusion Processes JF - Applied Mathematics N2 - A framework for the optimal sparse-control of the probability density function of a jump-diffusion process is presented. This framework is based on the partial integro-differential Fokker-Planck (FP) equation that governs the time evolution of the probability density function of this process. In the stochastic process and, correspondingly, in the FP model the control function enters as a time-dependent coefficient. The objectives of the control are to minimize a discrete-in-time, resp. continuous-in-time, tracking functionals and its L2- and L1-costs, where the latter is considered to promote control sparsity. An efficient proximal scheme for solving these optimal control problems is considered. Results of numerical experiments are presented to validate the theoretical results and the computational effectiveness of the proposed control framework. KW - jump-diffusion processes KW - partial integro-differential Fokker-Planck Equation KW - optimal control theory KW - nonsmooth optimization KW - proximal methods Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147819 VL - 7 IS - 16 SP - 1978 EP - 2004 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Anisimov, A. N. A1 - Simin, D. A1 - Soltamov, V. A. A1 - Lebedev, S. P. A1 - Baranov, P. G. A1 - Astakhov, G. V. A1 - Dyakonov, V. T1 - Optical thermometry based on level anticrossing in silicon carbide JF - Scientific Reports N2 - We report a giant thermal shift of 2.1 MHz/K related to the excited-state zero-field splitting in the silicon vacancy centers in 4H silicon carbide. It is obtained from the indirect observation of the optically detected magnetic resonance in the excited state using the ground state as an ancilla. Alternatively, relative variations of the zero-field splitting for small temperature differences can be detected without application of radiofrequency fields, by simply monitoring the photoluminescence intensity in the vicinity of the level anticrossing. This effect results in an all-optical thermometry technique with temperature sensitivity of 100 mK/Hz\(^{1/2}\) for a detection volume of approximately 10\(^{−6}\) mm\(^3\). In contrast, the zero-field splitting in the ground state does not reveal detectable temperature shift. Using these properties, an integrated magnetic field and temperature sensor can be implemented on the same center. KW - electronic and spintronic devices KW - electronic properties and materials Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147809 VL - 6 IS - 33301 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bluemel, Christina A1 - Linke, Fraenze A1 - Herrmann, Ken A1 - Simunovic, Iva A1 - Eiber, Matthias A1 - Kestler, Christian A1 - Buck, Andreas K. A1 - Schirbel, Andreas A1 - Bley, Thorsten A. A1 - Wester, Hans-Juergen A1 - Vergho, Daniel A1 - Becker, Axel T1 - Impact of \(^{68}\)Ga-PSMA PET/CT on salvage radiotherapy planning in patients with prostate cancer and persisting PSA values or biochemical relapse after prostatectomy JF - EJNMMI Research N2 - Background Salvage radiotherapy (SRT) is clinically established in prostate cancer (PC) patients with PSA persistence or biochemical relapse (BCR) after prior radical surgery. PET/CT imaging prior to SRT may be performed to localize disease recurrence. The recently introduced \(^{68}\)Ga-PSMA outperforms other PET tracers for detection of recurrence and is therefore expected also to impact radiation planning. Forty-five patients with PSA persistence (16 pts) or BCR (29 pts) after prior prostatectomy, scheduled to undergo SRT of the prostate bed, underwent \(^{68}\)Ga-PSMA PET/CT. The median PSA level was 0.67 ng/ml. The impact of \(^{68}\)Ga-PSMA PET/CT on the treatment decision was assessed. Patients with oligometastatic (≤5 lesions) PC underwent radiotherapy (RT), with the extent of the RT area and dose escalation being based on PET positivity. Results Suspicious lesions were detected in 24/45 (53.3 %) patients. In 62.5 % of patients, lesions were only detected by 68Ga-PSMA PET. Treatment was changed in 19/45 (42.2 %) patients, e.g., extending SRT to metastases (9/19), administering dose escalation in patients with morphological local recurrence (6/19), or replacing SRT by systemic therapy (2/19). 38/45 (84.4 %) followed the treatment recommendation, with data on clinical follow-up being available in 21 patients treated with SRT. All but one showed biochemical response (mean PSA decline 78 ± 19 %) within a mean follow-up of 8.12 ± 5.23 months. Conclusions \(^{68}\)Ga-PSMA PET/CT impacts treatment planning in more than 40 % of patients scheduled to undergo SRT. Future prospective studies are needed to confirm this significant therapeutic impact on patients prior to SRT. KW - prostate cancer KW - salvage radiotherapy KW - PSMA KW - PET/CT KW - recurrence Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147798 VL - 6 IS - 78 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gilbert, Fabian A1 - Böhm, Dirk A1 - Eden, Lars A1 - Schmalzl, Jonas A1 - Meffert, Rainer H. A1 - Köstler, Herbert A1 - Weng, Andreas M. A1 - Ziegler, Dirk T1 - Comparing the MRI-based Goutallier Classification to an experimental quantitative MR spectroscopic fat measurement of the supraspinatus muscle JF - BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders N2 - Background The Goutallier Classification is a semi quantitative classification system to determine the amount of fatty degeneration in rotator cuff muscles. Although initially proposed for axial computer tomography scans it is currently applied to magnet-resonance-imaging-scans. The role for its clinical use is controversial, as the reliability of the classification has been shown to be inconsistent. The purpose of this study was to compare the semi quantitative MRI-based Goutallier Classification applied by 5 different raters to experimental MR spectroscopic quantitative fat measurement in order to determine the correlation between this classification system and the true extent of fatty degeneration shown by spectroscopy. Methods MRI-scans of 42 patients with rotator cuff tears were examined by 5 shoulder surgeons and were graduated according to the MRI-based Goutallier Classification proposed by Fuchs et al. Additionally the fat/water ratio was measured with MR spectroscopy using the experimental SPLASH technique. The semi quantitative grading according to the Goutallier Classification was statistically correlated with the quantitative measured fat/water ratio using Spearman’s rank correlation. Results Statistical analysis of the data revealed only fair correlation of the Goutallier Classification system and the quantitative fat/water ratio with R = 0.35 (p < 0.05). By dichotomizing the scale the correlation was 0.72. The interobserver and intraobserver reliabilities were substantial with R = 0.62 and R = 0.74 (p < 0.01). Conclusion The correlation between the semi quantitative MRI based Goutallier Classification system and MR spectroscopic fat measurement is weak. As an adequate estimation of fatty degeneration based on standard MRI may not be possible, quantitative methods need to be considered in order to increase diagnostic safety and thus provide patients with ideal care in regard to the amount of fatty degeneration. Spectroscopic MR measurement may increase the accuracy of the Goutallier classification and thus improve the prediction of clinical results after rotator cuff repair. However, these techniques are currently only available in an experimental setting. KW - rotator cuff KW - MRI KW - spectroscopy KW - goutallier KW - classification KW - shoulder surgery Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147788 VL - 17 IS - 355 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Busch, Albert A1 - Hoffjan, Sabine A1 - Bergmann, Frauke A1 - Hartung, Birgit A1 - Jung, Helena A1 - Hanel, Daniela A1 - Tzschach, Andeas A1 - Kadar, Janos A1 - von Kodolitsch, Yskert A1 - Germer, Christoph-Thomas A1 - Trobisch, Heiner A1 - Strasser, Erwin A1 - Wildenauer, René T1 - Vascular type Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is associated with platelet dysfunction and low vitamin D serum concentration JF - Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases N2 - Background The vascular type represents a very rare, yet the clinically most fatal entity of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS). Patients are often admitted due to arterial bleedings and the friable tissue and the altered coagulation contribute to the challenge in treatment strategies. Until now there is little information about clotting characteristics that might influence hemostasis decisively and eventually worsen emergency situations. Results 22 vascular type EDS patients were studied for hemoglobin, platelet volume and count, Quick and activated partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen, factor XIII, von Willebrand disease, vitamin D and platelet aggregation by modern standard laboratory methods. Results show a high prevalence of over 50 % for platelet aggregation disorders in vascular type EDS patients, especially for collagen and epinephrine induced tests, whereas the plasmatic cascade did not show any alterations. Additionally, more than half of the tested subjects showed low vitamin D serum levels, which might additionally affect vascular wall integrity. Conclusion The presented data underline the importance of detailed laboratory screening methods in vascular type EDS patients in order to allow for targeted application of platelet-interacting substances that might be of decisive benefit in the emergency setting. KW - vascular type KW - vitamin D KW - Ehlers-Danlos syndrome KW - EDS KW - platelet dysfunction Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147757 VL - 11 IS - 111 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lichthardt, Sven A1 - Kerscher, Alexander A1 - Dietz, Ulrich A. A1 - Jurowich, Christian A1 - Kunzmann, Volker A1 - von Rahden, Burkhard H. A. A1 - Germer, Christoph-Thomas A1 - Wiegering, Armin T1 - Original article: role of adjuvant chemotherapy in a perioperative chemotherapy regimen for gastric cancer JF - BMC Cancer N2 - Background Multimodal treatment strategies – perioperative chemotherapy (CTx) and radical surgery – are currently accepted as treatment standard for locally advanced gastric cancer. However, the role of adjuvant postoperative CTx (postCTx) in addition to neoadjuvant preoperative CTx (preCTx) in this setting remains controversial. Methods Between 4/2006 and 12/2013, 116 patients with locally advanced gastric cancer were treated with preCTx. 72 patients (62 %), in whom complete tumor resection (R0, subtotal/total gastrectomy with D2-lymphadenectomy) was achieved, were divided into two groups, one of which receiving adjuvant therapy (n = 52) and one without (n = 20). These groups were analyzed with regard to survival and exclusion criteria for adjuvant therapy. Results Postoperative complications, as well as their severity grade, did not correlate with fewer postCTx cycles administered (p = n.s.). Long-term survival was shorter in patients receiving postCTx in comparison to patients without postCTx, but did not show statistical significance. In per protocol analysis by excluding two patients with perioperative death, a shorter 3-year survival rate was observed in patients receiving postCTx compared to patients without postCTx (3-year survival: 71.2 % postCTx group vs. 90.0 % non-postCTx group; p = 0.038). Conclusion These results appear contradicting to the anticipated outcome. While speculative, they question the value of post-CTx. Prospectively randomized studies are needed to elucidate the role of postCTx. KW - gastric cancer KW - chemotherapy KW - neoadjuvant KW - multimodal KW - complication KW - adjuvant KW - risk factor KW - survival Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147743 VL - 16 IS - 650 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Huestegge, Lynn A1 - Böckler, Anne T1 - Out of the corner of the driver's eye: Peripheral processing of hazards in static traffic scenes JF - Journal of Vision N2 - Effective gaze control in traffic, based on peripheral visual information, is important to avoid hazards. Whereas previous hazard perception research mainly focused on skill-component development (e.g., orientation and hazard processing), little is known about the role and dynamics of peripheral vision in hazard perception. We analyzed eye movement data from a study in which participants scanned static traffic scenes including medium-level versus dangerous hazards and focused on characteristics of fixations prior to entering the hazard region. We found that initial saccade amplitudes into the hazard region were substantially longer for dangerous (vs. medium-level) hazards, irrespective of participants' driving expertise. An analysis of the temporal dynamics of this hazard-level dependent saccade targeting distance effect revealed that peripheral hazard-level processing occurred around 200–400 ms during the course of the fixation prior to entering the hazard region. An additional psychophysical hazard detection experiment, in which hazard eccentricity was manipulated, revealed better detection for dangerous (vs. medium-level) hazards in both central and peripheral vision. Furthermore, we observed a significant perceptual decline from center to periphery for medium (but not for highly) dangerous hazards. Overall, the results suggest that hazard processing is remarkably effective in peripheral vision and utilized to guide the eyes toward potential hazards. KW - traffic KW - hazard perception KW - visual orientation KW - eye movements KW - peripheral vision Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147726 VL - 16 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Conrad, Christopher A1 - Schönbrodt-Stitt, Sarah A1 - Löw, Fabian A1 - Sorokin, Denis A1 - Paeth, Heiko T1 - Cropping Intensity in the Aral Sea Basin and Its Dependency from the Runoff Formation 2000–2012 JF - Remote Sensing N2 - This study is aimed at a better understanding of how upstream runoff formation affected the cropping intensity (CI: number of harvests) in the Aral Sea Basin (ASB) between 2000 and 2012. MODIS 250 m NDVI time series and knowledge-based pixel masking that included settlement layers and topography features enabled to map the irrigated cropland extent (iCE). Random forest models supported the classification of cropland vegetation phenology (CVP: winter/summer crops, double cropping, etc.). CI and the percentage of fallow cropland (PF) were derived from CVP. Spearman’s rho was selected for assessing the statistical relation of CI and PF to runoff formation in the Amu Darya and Syr Darya catchments per hydrological year. Validation in 12 reference sites using multi-annual Landsat-7 ETM+ images revealed an average overall accuracy of 0.85 for the iCE maps. MODIS maps overestimated that based on Landsat by an average factor of ~1.15 (MODIS iCE/Landsat iCE). Exceptional overestimations occurred in case of inaccurate settlement layers. The CVP and CI maps achieved overall accuracies of 0.91 and 0.96, respectively. The Amu Darya catchment disclosed significant positive (negative) relations between upstream runoff with CI (PF) and a high pressure on the river water resources in 2000–2012. Along the Syr Darya, reduced dependencies could be observed, which is potentially linked to the high number of water constructions in that catchment. Intensified double cropping after drought years occurred in Uzbekistan. However, a 10 km × 10 km grid of Spearman’s rho (CI and PF vs. upstream runoff) emphasized locations at different CI levels that are directly affected by runoff fluctuations in both river systems. The resulting maps may thus be supportive on the way to achieve long-term sustainability of crop production and to simultaneously protect the severely threatened environment in the ASB. The gained knowledge can be further used for investigating climatic impacts of irrigation in the region. KW - irrigated cropland extent KW - cropland vegetation phenology KW - land and water management KW - modis KW - landsat central asia Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147701 VL - 8 IS - 630 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rovituso, Damiano M. A1 - Scheffler, Laura A1 - Wunsch, Marie A1 - Kleinschnitz, Christoph A1 - Dörck, Sebastian A1 - Ulzheimer, Jochen A1 - Bayas, Antonios A1 - Steinman, Lawrence A1 - Ergün, Süleyman A1 - Kuerten, Stefanie T1 - CEACAM1 mediates B cell aggregation in central nervous system autoimmunity JF - Scientific Reports N2 - B cell aggregates in the central nervous system (CNS) have been associated with rapid disease progression in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Here we demonstrate a key role of carcinoembryogenic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule1 (CEACAM1) in B cell aggregate formation in MS patients and a B cell-dependent mouse model of MS. CEACAM1 expression was increased on peripheral blood B cells and CEACAM1\(^+\) B cells were present in brain infiltrates of MS patients. Administration of the anti-CEACAM1 antibody T84.1 was efficient in blocking aggregation of B cells derived from MS patients. Along these lines, application of the monoclonal anti-CEACAM1 antibody mCC1 was able to inhibit CNS B cell aggregate formation and significantly attenuated established MS-like disease in mice in the absence of any adverse effects. CEACAM1 was co-expressed with the regulator molecule T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain −3 (TIM-3) on B cells, a novel molecule that has recently been described to induce anergy in T cells. Interestingly, elevated coexpression on B cells coincided with an autoreactive T helper cell phenotype in MS patients. Overall, these data identify CEACAM1 as a clinically highly interesting target in MS pathogenesis and open new therapeutic avenues for the treatment of the disease. KW - autoimmunity KW - multiple sclerosis KW - neuroimmunology Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147690 VL - 6 ER -