Refine
Has Fulltext
- yes (214)
Year of publication
- 2024 (214) (remove)
Document Type
- Doctoral Thesis (171)
- Book article / Book chapter (19)
- Journal article (9)
- Book (4)
- Working Paper (4)
- Conference Proceeding (2)
- Master Thesis (2)
- Preprint (2)
- Study Thesis (term paper) (1)
Language
- German (122)
- English (91)
- Multiple languages (1)
Keywords
- Tissue Engineering (8)
- Maschinelles Lernen (5)
- Entzündung (4)
- Herzinsuffizienz (4)
- Immuntherapie (4)
- Konflikt (4)
- 3D-Druck (3)
- Depression (3)
- Europäische Union (3)
- Gesellschaften ohne Zentralgewalt (3)
Institute
- Graduate School of Life Sciences (50)
- Institut für Altertumswissenschaften (21)
- Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik I (10)
- Theodor-Boveri-Institut für Biowissenschaften (9)
- Neurologische Klinik und Poliklinik (8)
- Medizinische Fakultät (7)
- Klinik und Poliklinik für Anästhesiologie (ab 2004) (6)
- Deutsches Zentrum für Herzinsuffizienz (DZHI) (5)
- Institut für Anorganische Chemie (5)
- Institut für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie (5)
- Institut für Pharmazie und Lebensmittelchemie (5)
- Institut für Psychologie (5)
- Lehrstuhl für Tissue Engineering und Regenerative Medizin (5)
- Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik II (5)
- Institut für Funktionsmaterialien und Biofabrikation (4)
- Institut für Geschichte der Medizin (4)
- Institut für Informatik (4)
- Institut für Klinische Neurobiologie (4)
- Institut für Organische Chemie (4)
- Institut für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie (4)
- Physikalisches Institut (4)
- Frauenklinik und Poliklinik (3)
- Institut für Geographie und Geologie (3)
- Institut für Internationales Recht, Europarecht und Europäisches Privatrecht (3)
- Institut für diagnostische und interventionelle Radiologie (Institut für Röntgendiagnostik) (3)
- Julius-von-Sachs-Institut für Biowissenschaften (3)
- Kinderklinik und Poliklinik (3)
- Klinik und Poliklinik für Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie, Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie (3)
- Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie, Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie (3)
- Klinik und Polikliniken für Zahn-, Mund- und Kieferkrankheiten (3)
- Poliklinik für Kieferorthopädie (3)
- Poliklinik für Zahnärztliche Prothetik (3)
- Rudolf-Virchow-Zentrum (3)
- Abteilung für Funktionswerkstoffe der Medizin und der Zahnheilkunde (2)
- Fakultät für Biologie (2)
- Institut für Anatomie und Zellbiologie (2)
- Institut für Humangenetik (2)
- Institut für Klinische Biochemie und Pathobiochemie (2)
- Institut für Pharmakologie und Toxikologie (2)
- Institut für Politikwissenschaft und Soziologie (2)
- Institut für diagnostische und interventionelle Neuroradiologie (ehem. Abteilung für Neuroradiologie) (2)
- Juristische Fakultät (2)
- Klinik und Poliklinik für Dermatologie, Venerologie und Allergologie (2)
- Klinik und Poliklinik für Hals-, Nasen- und Ohrenkrankheiten, plastische und ästhetische Operationen (2)
- Klinik und Poliklinik für Nuklearmedizin (2)
- Klinik und Poliklinik für Strahlentherapie (2)
- Klinik und Poliklinik für Unfall-, Hand-, Plastische und Wiederherstellungschirurgie (Chirurgische Klinik II) (2)
- Physiologisches Institut (2)
- Poliklinik für Zahnerhaltung und Parodontologie (2)
- Volkswirtschaftliches Institut (2)
- Abteilung für Molekulare Innere Medizin (in der Medizinischen Klinik und Poliklinik II) (1)
- Augenklinik und Poliklinik (1)
- Betriebswirtschaftliches Institut (1)
- Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology (1)
- Fakultät für Chemie und Pharmazie (1)
- Fakultät für Physik und Astronomie (1)
- Graduate School of the Humanities (1)
- Institut Mensch - Computer - Medien (1)
- Institut für Bürgerliches Recht und Zivilprozessrecht (1)
- Institut für Experimentelle Biomedizin (1)
- Institut für Klinische Epidemiologie und Biometrie (1)
- Institut für Kulturwissenschaften Ost- und Südasiens (1)
- Institut für Kunstgeschichte (1)
- Institut für Mathematik (1)
- Institut für Medizinische Lehre und Ausbildungsforschung (1)
- Institut für Pädagogik (1)
- Institut für Sonderpädagogik (1)
- Institut für Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik (1)
- Institut für Virologie und Immunbiologie (1)
- Institut für deutsche Philologie (1)
- Institut für klassische Philologie (1)
- Klinik und Poliklinik für Allgemein-, Viszeral-, Gefäß- und Kinderchirurgie (Chirurgische Klinik I) (1)
- Klinik und Poliklinik für Mund-, Kiefer- und Plastische Gesichtschirurgie (1)
- Lehrstuhl für Orthopädie (1)
- Missionsärztliche Klinik (1)
- Neurochirurgische Klinik und Poliklinik (1)
- Urologische Klinik und Poliklinik (1)
Sonstige beteiligte Institutionen
- Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Mainz (1)
- Boston Children's Hospital (1)
- Broad Institute, USA (1)
- Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Wuerzburg (CHFC) (1)
- Department Pharmazie - Zentrum für Pharmaforschung, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (1)
- Department of Mathematical Analysis, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague (1)
- Department of Molecular Biology, University Medical Centre Göttingen, Göttingen 37073, Germany (1)
- Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Istanbul (1)
- Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum Heidelberg (1)
- Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Deutsches Fernerkundungsdatenzengrum (DFD) (1)
EU-Project number / Contract (GA) number
- 759139 (2)
The current study presents a new a group of Demotic ostraca in the belongings of the Cairo Museum. A large part of this group stem from Medinet Habu in the western bank of modern Luxor in Upper Egypt and was discovered in the beginning of the thirties of the last century by the Chicago Oriental Institute (recently renamed as Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures ‘ISAC’). A small portion of the collection under consideration come from other Upper Egyptian provenances including Gebelein, Edfu, Kom Ombo, and possibly elsewhere in Thebes. The main goal of the present dissertation is to decipher, translate, and provide a philological, paleographical, and cultural analysis of the group of texts in question. The results of this study are spread over two main parts, the first of which is dedicated to the main and largest part of the collection, i.e. ostraca from Medinet Habu, while the second is concerned with ostraca from other places. The first part comprises of five sections beginning with receipts of money and in-kind payments including some receipts for the payments of the different capitation charges in the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods, a few for land-related payments, as well as others related to different Ptolemaic monopolies or trades such as a receipt for the price of oil, one for the linen tax, in addition to a unique receipt for the rarely attested fish tax. The second section includes accounts and lists of different kinds be it monetary, in-kind, agriculture, or any other type of lists or accounts that record different everyday transactions. The following section presents a relatively different type of lists, namely lists of personal names. The fourth section incorporates a variety of texts of different concerns, e.g. texts of religious nature, letters, temples oaths, or other private documents. Unidentified texts occupy the fifth and final section of the first part. The second part of the study, which comprises texts that originate from different Upper Egyptian localities, includes three sections, i.e. receipts, accounts, and lists of names.
Eine Dysbalance zwischen regulatorischen und proinflammatorischen T-Helferzellen kann zu Autoimmunerkrankungen führen. In dieser methodischen Arbeit wurde die Polarisierbarkeit von peripheren T-Lymphozyten durch verschiedene Zytokin-Stimuli untersucht. Hauptziel war es, CD4+CD25-CD127- Lymphozyten durch Stimulation mit einem IL-2 und TGFβ-beinhaltenden Zytokin-Cocktail (Treg-Cocktail) zu iTregs zu polarisieren und deren Suppressionsfunktion auf autologe Effektor-Leukozyten zu untersuchen.
Es erfolgte eine Phänotypisierung der PBMCs gesunder Probanden, insbesondere im Hinblick auf die Verteilung der T-Lymphozyten-Subpopulationen, deren Zytokinproduktion und FoxP3-Expression. Zudem wurden aus den PBMCs der Probanden Tregs (CD4+CD25+CD127low/-) sowie CD4+CD25-CD127- Zellen isoliert und deren Funktionsfähigkeit durch die Untersuchung ihrer Suppressionsfunktion auf autologe Effektor-Lymphozyten analysiert. Die Zellen wurden mittels verschiedener Zytokin-Cocktails in Richtung Treg sowie in Richtung Th17-Zellen polarisiert; anschließend wurde die Funktionsfähigkeit der polarisierten Zellen in Suppression-Assays gemessen.
Wir konnten zeigen, dass die CD4+CD25+CD127low/- Zellen Tregs mit der Fähigkeit zur Suppression der Proliferation autologer Effektor-Lymphozyten waren. Bei den CD4+CD25-CD127-Zellen handelte es sich um T-Lymphozyten ohne Suppressionsfunktion. Nach Stimulation der CD4+CD25-CD127-Zellen mit dem Treg-Cocktail zeigten die Zellen eine mit den Tregs vergleichbare Suppressionsfunktion.
Mit dieser Studie haben wir eine aktuelle methodische Quelle für die Untersuchung von Phänotyp und Funktion regulatorischer T-Zellen sowie für die Stimulation peripherer T-Lymphozyten hin zu Tregs geschaffen, die als Basis für Folgeversuche dienen soll, in denen Zellen von Patienten mit Autoimmunkrankheiten untersucht werden sollen. Da sich die Inflammation bei Autoimmunerkrankungen insbesondere in den betroffenen Geweben abspielt, wäre eine Studie anzustreben, in der aus dem Blut isolierte T-Lymphozyten den Zellen aus den entzündeten Geweben gegenübergestellt werden. Ergänzend sollte eine Phänotypisierung der Tregs und der CD4+CD25-CD127- Zellen nach der Zytokin-Stimulation erfolgen.
Zusammenfassend konnte die Plastizität peripherer T-Lymphozyten in Richtung Treg gezeigt werden. Besonders hervorzuheben ist die bislang wenig untersuchte Zellpopulation der CD4+CD25-CD127- Zellen, die eine vielversprechende Zellpopulation für die in vitro Induktion von Tregs darstellt.
Gold nanoparticles of diameter ca. 60 nm have been synthesized based on Turkevich and Frens protocols. We have demonstrated that the carboxyl-modified gold nanoparticles can be coupled covalently with antibodies (Ab) of interest using the EDC/NHS coupling procedure. Binding studies with Ab-grafted AuNPs and GpL fusion proteins proved that conjugation of AuNPs with antibodies enables immobilization of antibodies with preservation of a significant antigen binding capacity. More importantly, our findings showed that the conjugation of types of anti-TNF receptors antibodies such as anti-Fn14 antibodies (PDL192 and 5B6) (Aido et al., 2021), anti-CD40, anti-4-1BB and anti-TNFR2 with gold nanoparticles confers them with potent agonism. Thus, our results suggest that AuNPs can be utilized as a platform to immobilize anti-TNFR antibodies which, on the one hand, helps to enhance their agonistic activity in comparison to “free” inactive antibodies by mimicking the effect of cell-anchored antibodies or membrane-bound TNF ligands and, on the other hand, allows to develop new generations of drug delivery systems. These constructs are characterized with their biocompatibility and their tunable synthesis process.
In a further work part, we combined the benefits of the established system of Ab-AuNPs with materials used widely in the modern biofabrication approaches such as the photo-crosslinked hydrogels, methacrylate-modified gelatin (GelMA), combined with embedded variants of human cell lines. The acquired results demonstrated clearly that the attaching of proteins like antibodies to gold nanoparticles might reduce their release rate from the crosslinked hydrogels upon the very low diffusion of gold nanoparticles from the solid constructs to the surrounding medium yielding long-term local functioning proteins-attached particles. Moreover, our finding suggests that hydrogel-embedded AuNP-immobilized antibodies, e.g. anti-TNFα-AuNPs or anti-IL1-AuNPs enable local inhibitory functions,
To sum up, our results demonstrate that AuNPs can act as a platform to attach anti-TNFR antibodies to enhance their agonistic activity by resembling the output of cell-anchoring or membrane bounding. Gold nanoparticles are considered, thus, as promising tool to develop the next generation of drug delivery systems, which may contribute to cancer therapy. On top of that, the embedding of anti-inflammatory-AuNPs in the biofabricated hydrogel presents new innovative strategy of the treatment of autoinflammatory diseases.
Arrhythmogene Kardiomyopathie (ACM) ist eine genetische Herzerkrankung, die durch Herzinsuffizienz, ventrikuläre Arrhythmien und plötzlichen Herztod gekennzeichnet ist. Mutationen in desmosomalen Proteinen der Zelladhäsion, wie Plakophilin 2 (PKP2) und Plakoglobin (PG), sind die häufigste Ursache der familiären ACM. Wie gestörte Zelladhäsion zum ACM-Phänotyp führt, ist jedoch nur teilweise geklärt. Potentielle Mechanismen sind eine gestörte Kalzium-(Ca2+)-Homöostase, mitochondrialer oxidativer Stress und metabolische Störungen. Ziel dieser Studie ist es, die mitochondriale Energetik und die Ca2+ -Homöostase in kardio-restriktiven PKP2-Knockout-Mäusen (KO) im Alter von 4, 8 und 12 Wochen sowie in PG-Knockout- Mäusen im Alter von 6 Wochen zu untersuchen. Vier Wochen alte PKP2-KO-Mäuse zeigten frühe Anzeichen von ACM, während alle anderen Altersgruppen typische Kennzeichen von ACM rekapitulierten. Kontraktilität, die damit verbundenen Ca2+ - Transienten, der Redoxstatus und das mitochondriale Membranpotenzial (ΔΨm) isolierter Kardiomyozyten wurden mit einem IonOptix-System bei elektrischer und β- adrenerger Stimulation untersucht. Alle desmosomalen KO-Kardiomyozyten zeigten eine verringerte diastolische Sarkomerlänge, was auf eine diastolische Dysfunktion hinwies. In allen PKP2 KO Kardiomyozyten lag außerdem ein erhöhter intrazellulärer Ca2+ -Spiegel vor, während in den PG KO-Kardiomyozyten das intrazellulärer Ca2+ unverändert war. PKP2 KO- und PG KO-Kardiomyozyten wiesen keine Ca2+ - Sensibilisierung der Myofilamente auf. Zur weiteren Bewertung der mitochondrialen Funktion wurde eine hochauflösende Respirometrie in isolierten Herzmitochondrien bei gleichzeitiger Überwachung von ΔΨm in PKP2 KO und PG KO Mäusen durchgeführt, welche in allen Versuchs- und Kontrollgruppen vergleichbar war. Im Verlauf der Versuche blieb der Redoxstatus stabil und es konnte kein Exzess reaktiver Sauerstoffspezies (ROS) festgestellt werden. Daraus konnte gefolgert werden, dass weder PKP2 KO noch PG KO-Mäuse eine beeinträchtigte mitochondriale Atmung aufwiesen. Diese Studie zeigt, dass isolierte PKP2 KO- oder PG KO-Kardiomyozyten EC-Kopplungsdefekte ohne mitochondriale Dysfunktion aufwiesen. Eine mitochondriale Dysfunktion konnte als treibender Faktor für die Progression des ACM- Phänotyps in den vorgestellten Mausmodellen ausgeschlossen werden. Weitere Studien sind erforderlich, um die mitochondriale Funktion im Zusammenhang mit ACM zu entschlüsseln.
Introduction.
Mobile health (mHealth) integrates mobile devices into healthcare, enabling remote monitoring, data collection, and personalized interventions. Machine Learning (ML), a subfield of Artificial Intelligence (AI), can use mHealth data to confirm or extend domain knowledge by finding associations within the data, i.e., with the goal of improving healthcare decisions. In this work, two data collection techniques were used for mHealth data fed into ML systems: Mobile Crowdsensing (MCS), which is a collaborative data gathering approach, and Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMA), which capture real-time individual experiences within the individual’s common environments using questionnaires and sensors. We collected EMA and MCS data on tinnitus and COVID-19. About 15 % of the world’s population suffers from tinnitus.
Materials & Methods.
This thesis investigates the challenges of ML systems when using MCS and EMA data. It asks: How can ML confirm or broad domain knowledge? Domain knowledge refers to expertise and understanding in a specific field, gained through experience and education. Are ML systems always superior to simple heuristics and if yes, how can one reach explainable AI (XAI) in the presence of mHealth data? An XAI method enables a human to understand why a model makes certain predictions. Finally, which guidelines can be beneficial for the use of ML within the mHealth domain? In tinnitus research, ML discerns gender, temperature, and season-related variations among patients. In the realm of COVID-19, we collaboratively designed a COVID-19 check app for public education, incorporating EMA data to offer informative feedback on COVID-19-related matters. This thesis uses seven EMA datasets with more than 250,000 assessments. Our analyses revealed a set of challenges: App user over-representation, time gaps, identity ambiguity, and operating system specific rounding errors, among others. Our systematic review of 450 medical studies assessed prior utilization of XAI methods.
Results.
ML models predict gender and tinnitus perception, validating gender-linked tinnitus disparities. Using season and temperature to predict tinnitus shows the association of these variables with tinnitus. Multiple assessments of one app user can constitute a group. Neglecting these groups in data sets leads to model overfitting. In select instances, heuristics outperform ML models, highlighting the need for domain expert consultation to unveil hidden groups or find simple heuristics.
Conclusion.
This thesis suggests guidelines for mHealth related data analyses and improves estimates for ML performance. Close communication with medical domain experts to identify latent user subsets and incremental benefits of ML is essential.
Within this thesis, three main approaches for the assessment and investigation of altered hemodynamics like wall shear stress, oscillatory shear index and the arterial pulse wave velocity in atherosclerosis development and progression were conducted:
1. The establishment of a fast method for the simultaneous assessment of 3D WSS and PWV in the complete murine aortic arch via high-resolution 4D-flow MRI
2. The utilization of serial in vivo measurements in atherosclerotic mouse models using high-resolution 4D-flow MRI, which were divided into studies describing altered hemodynamics in late and early atherosclerosis
3. The development of tissue-engineered artery models for the controllable application and variation of hemodynamic and biologic parameters, divided in native artery models and biofabricated artery models, aiming for the investigation of the relationship between atherogenesis and hemodynamics
Chapter 2 describes the establishment of a method for the simultaneous measurement of 3D WSS and PWV in the murine aortic arch at, using ultra high-field MRI at 17.6T [16], based on the previously published method for fast, self-navigated wall shear stress measurements in the murine aortic arch using radial 4D-phase contrast MRI at 17.6 T [4]. This work is based on the collective work of Dr. Patrick Winter, who developed the method and the author of this thesis, Kristina Andelovic, who performed the experiments and statistical analyses. As the method described in this chapter is basis for the following in vivo studies and undividable into the sub-parts of the contributors without losing important information, this chapter was not split into the single parts to provide fundamental information about the measurement and analysis methods and therefore better understandability for the following studies. The main challenge in this chapter was to overcome the issue of the need for a high spatial resolution to determine the velocity gradients at the vascular wall for the WSS quantification and a high temporal resolution for the assessment of the PWV without prolonging the acquisition time due to the need for two separate measurements. Moreover, for a full coverage of the hemodynamics in the murine aortic arch, a 3D measurement is needed, which was achieved by utilization of retrospective navigation and radial trajectories, enabling a highly flexible reconstruction framework to either reconstruct images at lower spatial resolution and higher frame rates for the acquisition of the PWV or higher spatial resolution and lower frame rates for the acquisition of the 3D WSS in a reasonable measurement time of only 35 minutes. This enabled the in vivo assessment of all relevant hemodynamic parameters related to atherosclerosis development and progression in one experimental session. This method was validated in healthy wild type and atherosclerotic Apoe-/- mice, indicating no differences in robustness between pathological and healthy mice.
The heterogeneous distribution of plaque development and arterial stiffening in atherosclerosis [10, 12], however, points out the importance of local PWV measurements. Therefore, future studies should focus on the 3D acquisition of the local PWV in the murine aortic arch based on the presented method, in order to enable spatially resolved correlations of local arterial stiffness with other hemodynamic parameters and plaque composition.
In Chapter 3, the previously established methods were used for the investigation of changing aortic hemodynamics during ageing and atherosclerosis in healthy wild type and atherosclerotic Apoe-/- mice using the previously established methods [4, 16] based on high-resolution 4D-flow MRI. In this work, serial measurements of healthy and atherosclerotic mice were conducted to track all changes in hemodynamics in the complete aortic arch over time. Moreover, spatially resolved 2D projection maps of WSS and OSI of the complete aortic arch were generated. This important feature allowed for the pixel-wise statistical analysis of inter- and intragroup hemodynamic changes over time and most importantly – at a glance. The study revealed converse differences of local hemodynamic profiles in healthy WT and atherosclerotic Apoe−/− mice, with decreasing longWSS and increasing OSI, while showing constant PWV in healthy mice and increasing longWSS and decreasing OSI, while showing increased PWV in diseased mice. Moreover, spatially resolved correlations between WSS, PWV, plaque and vessel wall characteristics were enabled, giving detailed insights into coherences between hemodynamics and plaque composition. Here, the circWSS was identified as a potential marker of plaque size and composition in advanced atherosclerosis. Moreover, correlations with PWV values identified the maximum radStrain could serve as a potential marker for vascular elasticity. This study demonstrated the feasibility and utility of high-resolution 4D flow MRI to spatially resolve, visualize and analyze statistical differences in all relevant hemodynamic parameters over time and between healthy and diseased mice, which could significantly improve our understanding of plaque progression towards vulnerability. In future studies the relation of vascular elasticity and radial strain should be further investigated and validated with local PWV measurements and CFD.
Moreover, the 2D histological datasets were not reflecting the 3D properties and regional characteristics of the atherosclerotic plaques. Therefore, future studies will include 3D plaque volume and composition analysis like morphological measurements with MRI or light-sheet microscopy to further improve the analysis of the relationship between hemodynamics and atherosclerosis.
Chapter 4 aimed at the description and investigation of hemodynamics in early stages of atherosclerosis. Moreover, this study included measurements of hemodynamics at baseline levels in healthy WT and atherosclerotic mouse models. Due to the lack of hemodynamic-related studies in Ldlr-/- mice, which are the most used mouse models in atherosclerosis research together with the Apoe-/- mouse model, this model was included in this study to describe changing hemodynamics in the aortic arch at baseline levels and during early atherosclerosis development and progression for the first time. In this study, distinct differences in aortic geometries of these mouse models at baseline levels were described for the first time, which result in significantly different flow- and WSS profiles in the Ldlr-/- mouse model. Further basal characterization of different parameters revealed only characteristic differences in lipid profiles, proving that the geometry is highly influencing the local WSS in these models. Most interestingly, calculation of the atherogenic index of plasma revealed a significantly higher risk in Ldlr-/- mice with ongoing atherosclerosis development, but significantly greater plaque areas in the aortic arch of Apoe-/- mice. Due to the given basal WSS and OSI profile in these two mouse models – two parameters highly influencing plaque development and progression – there is evidence that the regional plaque development differs between these mouse models during very early atherogenesis.
Therefore, future studies should focus on the spatiotemporal evaluation of plaque development and composition in the three defined aortic regions using morphological measurements with MRI or 3D histological analyses like LSFM. Moreover, this study offers an excellent basis for future studies incorporating CFD simulations, analyzing the different measured parameter combinations (e.g., aortic geometry of the Ldlr-/- mouse with the lipid profile of the Apoe-/- mouse), simulating the resulting plaque development and composition. This could help to understand the complex interplay between altered hemodynamics, serum lipids and atherosclerosis and significantly improve our basic understanding of key factors initiating atherosclerosis development.
Chapter 5 describes the establishment of a tissue-engineered artery model, which is based on native, decellularized porcine carotid artery scaffolds, cultured in a MRI-suitable bioreactor-system [23] for the investigation of hemodynamic-related atherosclerosis development in a controllable manner, using the previously established methods for WSS and PWV assessment [4, 16]. This in vitro artery model aimed for the reduction of animal experiments, while simultaneously offering a simplified, but completely controllable physical and biological environment. For this, a very fast and gentle decellularization protocol was established in a first step, which resulted in porcine carotid artery scaffolds showing complete acellularity while maintaining the extracellular matrix composition, overall ultrastructure and mechanical strength of native arteries. Moreover, a good cellular adhesion and proliferation was achieved, which was evaluated with isolated human blood outgrowth endothelial cells. Most importantly, an MRI-suitable artery chamber was designed for the simultaneous cultivation and assessment of high-resolution 4D hemodynamics in the described artery models. Using high-resolution 4D-flow MRI, the bioreactor system was proven to be suitable to quantify the volume flow, the two components of the WSS and the radStrain as well as the PWV in artery models, with obtained values being comparable to values found in literature for in vivo measurements. Moreover, the identification of first atherosclerotic processes like intimal thickening is achievable by three-dimensional assessment of the vessel wall morphology in the in vitro models. However, one limitation is the lack of a medial smooth muscle cell layer due to the dense ECM. Here, the utilization of the laser-cutting technology for the generation of holes and / or pits on a microscale, eventually enabling seeding of the media with SMCs showed promising results in a first try and should be further investigated in future studies. Therefore, the proposed artery model possesses all relevant components for the extension to an atherosclerosis model which may pave the way towards a significant improvement of our understanding of the key mechanisms in atherogenesis.
Chapter 6 describes the development of an easy-to-prepare, low cost and fully customizable artery model based on biomaterials. Here, thermoresponsive sacrificial scaffolds, processed with the technique of MEW were used for the creation of variable, biomimetic shapes to mimic the geometric properties of the aortic arch, consisting of both, bifurcations and curvatures. After embedding the sacrificial scaffold into a gelatin-hydrogel containing SMCs, it was crosslinked with bacterial transglutaminase before dissolution and flushing of the sacrificial scaffold. The hereby generated channel was subsequently seeded with ECs, resulting in an easy-to-prepare, fast and low-cost artery model. In contrast to the native artery model, this model is therefore more variable in size and shape and offers the possibility to include smooth muscle cells from the beginning. Moreover, a custom-built and highly adaptable perfusion chamber was designed specifically for the scaffold structure, which enabled a one-step creation and simultaneously offering the possibility for dynamic cultivation of the artery models, making it an excellent basis for the development of in vitro disease test systems for e.g., flow-related atherosclerosis research. Due to time constraints, the extension to an atherosclerosis model could not be achieved within the scope of this thesis. Therefore, future studies will focus on the development and validation of an in vitro atherosclerosis model based on the proposed bi- and three-layered artery models.
In conclusion, this thesis paved the way for a fast acquisition and detailed analyses of changing hemodynamics during atherosclerosis development and progression, including spatially resolved analyses of all relevant hemodynamic parameters over time and in between different groups. Moreover, to reduce animal experiments, while gaining control over various parameters influencing atherosclerosis development, promising artery models were established, which have the potential to serve as a new platform for basic atherosclerosis research.
In einer ethnologisch-vergleichenden Perspektive zeigt Christoph Antweiler auf, dass auch in nichtindustriellen Gesellschaften Gewaltlosigkeit aktiv hergestellt werden muss, welche Ressourcen und kulturellen Kompetenzen dazu erforderlich sind und welche Rolle dritte Personen oder Instanzen dabei spielen können. Mechanismen gewaltfreier Konfliktregelung beschreibt er anhand des Fallbeispiels der Semai in Malaysia.
Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit der Beschreibung des Status quo der Versorgungsrealität von BARMER Patient*innen, welche nach operativem inguinalen- oder femoralen Hernienverschluss an Schmerzen litten und geht in weiterer Folge dessen Hinweisen auf CPIP nach. Es fand die Sekundärdatenanlyse von Routinedaten der BARMER Krankenkasse Anwendung. Die Stichprobe umfasste 11221 Patient*innen, von denen 77.7% unter keinen Leistenschmerzen im prä- oder postoperativen Zusammenhang mit dem Eingriff litten, bezeichnet als Gruppe „Pain 0“. 4.2% litten sowohl innerhalb von 365 Tagen vor- als auch nach dem Krankenhausaufenthalt an Schmerzen, was als chronisch zu bezeichnen war und unter Gruppe „Pain 2“ geführt wurde. 8.5% der Patient*innen litten nur innerhalb von 365 Tagen nach Entlassung an Schmerzen, was nur im erweiterten Sinne auf CPIP hinwies, da der Ausschluss der ersten 90 Tage postoperativ nicht in der Definition der Gruppe enthalten war. Diese Patient*innen gehörten der Gruppe „Pain 1“ an. Die Gruppe „Pain 3“ umfasste diejenigen 9.6% der Patient*innen, welche innerhalb von 365 Tagen präoperativ an Schmerzen litten. Obwohl keine postoperativen Leistenschmerzen für diese Patient*innen codiert worden sind, stellte sich eine bessere Versorgung als die der Gruppe „Pain 0“ dar.
Patient*innen der Gruppe „Pain 2“ mit der längsten Schmerzerfahrung wurden signifikant besser versorgt. Diese Gruppe, welche an chronischen, postoperativen, inguinalen Schmerzen litt, zeichnete sich durch eine signifikant jüngere Patient*innenklientel aus. Der Anteil an Frauen war signifikant höher. Begleitende psychiatrische Komorbiditäten traten signifikant häufiger auf. Die Versorgung dieser Patient*innengruppe war signifikant besser, allerdings vor allem hinsichtlich der psychologischen und psychiatrischen Betreuung nicht ausreichend gut. Die Mehrzahl der Analysen war hochsignifikant, deren Effektstärke fiel klein aus.
The variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) of African trypanosomes plays an essential role in protecting the parasites from host immune factors. These trypanosomes undergo antigenic variation resulting in the expression of a single VSG isoform out of a repertoire of around 2000 genes. The molecular mechanism central to the expression and regulation of the VSG is however not fully understood.
Gene expression in trypanosomes is unusual due to the absence of typical RNA polymerase II promoters and the polycistronic transcription of genes. The regulation of gene expression is therefore mainly post-transcriptional. Regulatory sequences, mostly present in the 3´ UTRs, often serve as key elements in the modulation of the levels of individual mRNAs. In T. brucei VSG genes, a 100 % conserved 16mer motif within the 3´ UTR has been shown to modulate the stability of VSG transcripts and hence their expression. As a stability-associated sequence element, the absence of nucleotide substitutions in the motif is however unusual. It was therefore hypothesised that the motif is involved in other essential roles/processes besides stability of the VSG transcripts.
In this study, it was demonstrated that the 100 % conservation of the 16mer motif is not essential for cell viability or for the maintenance of functional VSG protein levels. It was further shown that the intact motif in the active VSG 3´ UTR is neither required to promote VSG silencing during switching nor is it needed during differentiation from bloodstream forms to procyclic forms. Crosstalk between the VSG and procyclin genes during differentiation to the insect vector stage is also unaffected in cells with a mutated 16mer motif. Ectopic overexpression of a second VSG however requires the intact motif to trigger silencing and exchange of the active VSG, suggesting a role for the motif in transcriptional VSG switching. The 16mer motif therefore plays a dual role in VSG in situ switching and stability of VSG transcripts. The additional role of the 16mer in the essential process of antigenic variation appears to be the driving force for the 100 % conservation of this RNA motif.
A screen aimed at identifying candidate RNA-binding proteins interacting with the 16mer motif, led to the identification of a DExD/H box protein, Hel66. Although the protein did not appear to have a direct link to the 16mer regulation of VSG expression, the DExD/H family of proteins are important players in the process of ribosome biogenesis. This process is relatively understudied in trypanosomes and so this candidate was singled out for detailed characterisation, given that the 16mer story had reached a natural end point. Ribosome biogenesis is a major cellular process in eukaryotes involving ribosomal RNA, ribosomal proteins and several non-ribosomal trans-acting protein factors. The DExD/H box proteins are the most important trans-acting protein factors involved in the biosynthesis of ribosomes. Several DExD/H box proteins have been directly implicated in this process in yeast. In trypanosomes, very few of this family of proteins have been characterised and therefore little is known about the specific roles they play in RNA metabolism. Here, it was shown that Hel66 is involved in rRNA processing during ribosome biogenesis. Hel66 localises to the nucleolus and depleting the protein led to a severe growth defect. Loss of the protein also resulted in a reduced rate of global translation and accumulation of rRNA processing intermediates of both the small and large ribosomal subunits. Hel66 is therefore an essential nucleolar DExD/H protein involved in rRNA processing during ribosome biogenesis. As very few protein factors involved in the processing of rRNAs have been described in trypanosomes, this finding represents an important platform for future investigation of this topic.