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WUEMoCA is an operational scientific webmapping tool for the regional monitoring of land and water use efficiency in the irrigated croplands of the transboundary Aral Sea Basin that is shared by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. Satellite data on land use, crop pro-duction and water consumption is integrated with hydrological and economic information to provide of a set indicators. The tool is useful for large-scale decisions on water distribution or land use, and may be seen as demonstrator for numerous applications in practice, that require independent area-wide spatial information.
In mammals, anucleate platelets circulate in the blood flow and are primarily responsible for maintaining functional hemostasis. Platelets are generated in the bone marrow (BM) by megakaryocytes (MKs), which mainly reside directly next to the BM sinusoids to release proplatelets into the blood. MKs originate from hematopoietic stem cells and are thought to migrate from the endosteal to the vascular niche during their maturation, a process, which is, despite being intensively investigated, still not fully understood.
Long-term intravital two photon microscopy (2PM) of MKs and vasculature in murine bone marrow was performed and mean squared displacement analysis of cell migration was performed. The MKs exhibited no migration, but wobbling-like movement on time scales of 3 h. Directed cell migration always results in non-random spatial distribution. Thus, a computational modelling algorithm simulating random MK distribution using real 3D light-sheet fluorescence microscopy data sets was developed. Direct comparison of real and simulated random MK distributions showed, that MKs exhibit a strong bias to vessel-contact. However, this bias is not caused by cell migration, as non-vessel-associated MKs were randomly distributed in the intervascular space. Furthermore, simulation studies revealed that MKs strongly impair migration of other cells in the bone marrow by acting as large-sized obstacles. MKs are thought to migrate from the regions close to the endosteum towards the vasculature during their maturation process. MK distribution as a function of their localization relative to the endosteal regions of the bones was investigated by light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM). The results show no bone-region dependent distribution of MKs. Taken together, the newly established methods and obtained results refute the model of MK migration during their maturation.
Ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury is a frequent complication of cerebral ischemic stroke, where brain tissue damage occurs despite successful recanalization. Platelets, endothelial cells and immune cells have been demonstrated to affect the progression of I/R injury in experimental mouse models 24 h after recanalization. However, the underlying Pathomechanisms, especially in the first hours after recanalization, are poorly understood.
Here, LSFM, 2PM and complemental advanced image analysis workflows were established for investigation of platelets, the vasculature and neutrophils in ischemic brains. Quantitative analysis of thrombus formation in the ipsilateral and contralateral hemispheres at different time points revealed that platelet aggregate formation is minimal during the first 8 h after recanalization and occurs in both hemispheres. Considering that maximal tissue damage already is present at this time point, it can be concluded that infarct progression and neurological damage do not result from platelet aggregated formation. Furthermore, LSFM allowed to confirm neutrophil infiltration into the infarcted hemisphere and, here, the levels of endothelial cell marker PECAM1 were strongly reduced. However, further investigations must be carried out to clearly identify the role of neutrophils and the endothelial cells in I/R injury.
Introduction: During inflammation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as Hydrogen peroxide accumulate at the inflammation site and by oxidizing lipids, they produce metabolites such as 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) and oxidized phospholipids (OxPLs). Transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) and vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) are ligand gated ion channels that are expressed on nociceptors and their activation elicits pain. Hydrogen peroxide and 4-HNE are endogenous ligands for TRPA1 and their role in inflammatory pain conditions has been shown. OxPLs play a major pro-inflammatory role in many pathologies including atherosclerosis and multiple sclerosis. E06/T15 is a mouse IgM mAb that specifically binds oxidized phosphatidylcholine. D-4F is an apolipoprotein A-I mimetic peptide with a very high affinity for OxPLs and possess anti-inflammatory properties. E06 mAb and D-4F peptide protect against OxPLs-induced damage in atherosclerosis in vivo.
Methods: To investigate the role of ROS and their metabolites in inflammatory pain, I utilized a combination of diverse and complex behavioral pain measurements and binding assays. I examined E06 mAb and D-4F as local treatment options for hypersensitivity evoked by endogenous and exogenous activators of TRPA1 and TRPV1 as well as in inflammatory and OxPL-induced pain models in vivo. 4-HNE, hydrogen peroxide as ROS source and mustard oil (AITC) were used to activate TRPA1, while capsaicin was used to activate TRPV1.
Results: Intraplantar injection of oxidized 1-palmitoyl-2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (OxPAPC) into rats’ hind paw elicited thermal and mechanical hypersensitivity. Genetic and pharmacological evidence in vivo confirmed the role of TRPA1 in OxPLs-induced hypersensitivity. OxPLs formation increased in complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA)-induced inflamed rats’ paw. E06 mAb and D-4F prevented OxPAPC–induced mechanical and thermal hypersensitivity (hyperalgesia) as well as CFA-induced mechanical hypersensitivity. Also, all irritants induced thermal and mechanical hypersensitivity as well as affective-emotional responses and spontaneous nocifensive behaviors. E06 mAb blocked prolonged mechanical hypersensitivity by all but hydrogen peroxide. In parallel, D-4F prevented mechanical hypersensitivity induced by all irritants as well as thermal hypersensitivity induced by capsaicin and 4-HNE. In addition, competitive binding assays showed that all TRPA1/V1 agonists induced prolonged formation of OxPLs in the paw tissue explaining the anti-nociceptive properties of E06 mAb and D-4F. Finally, the potential of gait analysis as a readout for non-provoked pain behavioral measurements were examined.
Conclusion and implications: OxPLs were characterized as novel targets in inflammatory pain. Treatment with the monoclonal antibody E06 or apolipoprotein A-I mimetic peptide D-4F are suggested as potential inflammatory pain medications. OxPLs’ role in neuropathic pain is yet to be investigated.
Structure-fluorescence activation relationships of a large Stokes shift fluorogenic RNA aptamer
(2019)
The Chili RNA aptamer is a 52 nt long fluorogen-activating RNA aptamer (FLAP) that confers fluorescence to structurally diverse derivatives of fluorescent protein chromophores. A key feature of Chili is the formation of highly stable complexes with different ligands, which exhibit bright, highly Stokes-shifted fluorescence emission. In this work, we have analyzed the interactions between the Chili RNA and a family of conditionally fluorescent ligands using a variety of spectroscopic, calorimetric and biochemical techniques to reveal key structure - fluorescence activation relationships (SFARs). The ligands under investigation form two categories with emission maxima of ~540 nm or ~590 nm, respectively, and bind with affinities in the nanomolar to low-micromolar range. Isothermal titration calorimetry was used to elucidate the enthalpic and entropic contributions to binding affinity for a cationic ligand that is unique to the Chili aptamer. In addition to fluorescence activation, ligand binding was also observed by NMR spectroscopy, revealing characteristic signals for the formation of a G-quadruplex only upon ligand binding. These data shed light on the molecular features required and responsible for the large Stokes shift and the strong fluorescence enhancement of red and green emitting RNA-chromophore complexes.
Nowadays, the management of infectious diseases is especially threatened by the rapid emergence of drug resistance. It has been suggested that the medicine quality assurance combined with good medication adherence may help to reduce this impendence. Moreover, the search for new antimicrobial agents from medicinal plants is strongly encouraged for the exploration of alternatives to existing therapies. In this context, the present work focused on both the quality evaluation of commercialized antimalarial medicines from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and on the phytochemical investigations of a Congolese Ancistrocladus species.
Due to their complex chemical structure transition metal oxides display many fascinating properties which conventional semiconductors lack.
For this reason transition metal oxides hold a lot of promise for novel electronic functionalities.
Just as in conventional semiconductor heterostructures, the interfaces between different materials play a key role in oxide electronics.
The textbook example is the (001) interface between the band insulators LaAlO\(_3\) and SrTiO\(_3\) at which a two-dimensional electron system (2DES) forms.
In order to utilize such a 2DES in prospective electronic devices, it is vital that the electronic properties of the interface can be controlled and manipulated at will.
Employing photoelectron spectroscopy as well as electronic transport measurements, this thesis examines how such interface engineering can be realized in the case of the LaAlO\(_3\)/SrTiO\(_3\) heterostructure:
By photoemission we manage to unambiguously distinguish the different mechanisms by which SrTiO\(_3\) can be doped with electrons.
An electronic reconstruction is identified as the driving mechanism to render stoichiometric LaAlO\(_3\)/SrTiO\(_3\) interfaces metallic.
The doping of the LaAlO\(_3\)/SrTiO\(_3\) heterointerface can furthermore be finely adjusted by changing the oxygen vacancy \(V_{\mathrm{O}}\) concentration in the heterostructure.
Combining intense x-ray irradiation with oxygen dosing, we even achieve control over the \(V_{\mathrm{O}}\) concentration and, consequently, the doping in the photoemission experiment itself.
Exploiting this method, we investigate how the band diagram of SrTiO\(_3\)-based heterostructures changes as a function of the \(V_{\mathrm{O}}\) concentration and temperature by hard x-ray photoemission spectroscopy.
With the band bending in the SrTiO\(_3\) substrate changing as a function of the \(V_{\mathrm{O}}\) concentration, the interfacial band alignment is found to vary as well.
The relative permittivity of the SrTiO\(_3\) substrate and, in particular, its dependence on temperature and electric field is identified as one of the essential parameters determining the electronic interface properties.
That is also why the sample temperature affects the charge carrier distribution.
The mobile charge carriers are shown to shift toward the SrTiO\(_3\) bulk when the sample temperature is lowered.
This effect is, however, only pronounced if the total charge carrier concentration is small.
At high charge carrier concentrations the charge carriers are always confined to the interface, independent of the sample temperature.
The dependence of the electronic interface properties on the \(V_{\mathrm{O}}\) concentration is also investigated by a complementary method, viz. by electronic transport measurements.
These experiments confirm that the mobile charge carrier concentration increases concomitantly to the \(V_{\mathrm{O}}\) concentration.
The mobility of the charge carriers changes as well depending on the \(V_{\mathrm{O}}\) concentration.
Comparing spectroscopy and transport results, we are able to draw conclusions about the processes limiting the mobility in electronic transport.
We furthermore build a memristor device from our LaAlO\(_3\)/SrTiO\(_3\) heterostructures and demonstrate how interface engineering is used in practice in such novel electronic applications.
This thesis furthermore investigates how the electronic structure of the 2DES is affected by the interface topology:
We show that, akin to the (001) LaAlO\(_3\)/SrTiO\(_3\) heterointerface, an electronic reconstruction also renders the (111) interface between LaAlO\(_3\) and SrTiO\(_3\) metallic.
The change in interface topology becomes evident in the Fermi surface of the buried 2DES which is probed by soft x-ray photoemission.
Based on the asymmetry in the Fermi surface, we estimate the extension of the conductive layer in the (111)-oriented LaAlO\(_3\)/SrTiO\(_3\) heterostructure.
The spectral function measured furthermore identifies the charge carriers at the interface as large polarons.
General and efficient tools for site-specific fluorescent or bioorthogonal labeling of RNA are in high demand. Here, we report direct in vitro selection, characterization, and application of versatile trans-acting 2'-5' adenylyl transferase ribozymes for covalent and site-specific RNA labeling. The design of our partially structured RNA pool allowed for in vitro evolution of ribozymes that modify a predetermined nucleotide in cis (i.e. intramolecular reaction), and were then easily engineered for applications in trans (i.e. in an intermolecular setup). The resulting ribozymes are readily designed for specific target sites in small and large RNAs and accept a wide variety of N6-modified ATP analogues as small molecule substrates. The most efficient new ribozyme (FH14) shows excellent specificity towards its target sequence also in the context of total cellular RNA.
In the „Position Paper of the Division of Clinical Pharmacy of the German Pharmaceutical Society (DPhG)” clinical pharmacy is defined as the science and practice of the rational use of drugs1, which includes the individualization of drug therapy. Clinical pharmacists therefore need a profound knowledge of the pharmacokinetic properties of relevant drugs, and clinical factors that are influencing these properties.
Against the background of individualizing drug therapy, pharmacokinetic and clinical factors are studied in this thesis.
In order to obtain an overview of the existing data on the pharmacokinetics of imipenem / cilastatin and meropenem in critically ill patients, a literature review for each of these carbapenem antibiotics was performed. These reviews included studies in critically ill patients as well as studies in healthy volunteers. While the reported results of studies in healthy volunteers had a small variability, studies in critically ill patients show significant differences in the resulting pharmacokinetics. These differences were not only between, but also within these studies, resulting in a high variability of the pharmacokinetic parameters of the carbapenems in critically ill patients. Furthermore, the results of studies in critically ill patients indicate that clinical factors and in particular renal function have different effects on the pharmacokinetics of imipenem and cilastatin.
A therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) program for antibiotics was initiated in an intensive care unit. The calculation of the pharmacokinetics of imipenem / cilastatin and meropenem was carried out with a population pharmacokinetic approach (POP-PK) and in addition with a non-compartmental approach (NCA).
The POP-PK analysis showed that the pharmacokinetics of imipenem and cilastatin could be described adequately with a 1-compartment model. The resulting mean total body clearance (CL) of imipenem and cilastatin was 11.6 L/h (4.24 to 27.5) and 6.14 L/h (0.520 to 26.6 L/h). The nonrenal clearance was estimated to be 5.30 L / h (24.9% CV) for imipenem and 0.138 L / h (33.3% CV) for cilastatin.
The results of the NCA were in good agreement with the results of the POP-PK approach, as the NCA resulted in an imipenem clearance of 15.5 ± 7.3 L / hr and cilastatin clearance of 10.1 ± 9.9 L / h. The individual clearances resulting from the different pharmacokinetic approaches were in good correlation showing correlation coefficients (r) of 0.882 (p <0.001) and 0.908 (p <0.001) for imipenem and cilastatin.
In summary, this study identified and quantified significant differences between the individual clearance mechanisms of imipenem and cilastatin. This is particularly true for patients with impaired renal function and sepsis. As imipenem / cilastatin is only available in a fixed dose combination, those patients might be treated inadequately with this combination. The great variability in the pharmacokinetics of imipenem and cilastatin in septic patients underscores the importance of a TDM program of both substances.
For meropenem, a PK/PD model was developed that predicts the concentration gradients of meropenem, serum creatinine, C-reactive protein and procalcitonin simultaneously. A non-linear relationship between the clearance of creatinine and meropenem was identified and the resulting equation for the calculation of the total body clearance of meropenem (for a 70 kg patient) was: 0.480 L/h + 9.86 L/h. (CLCR/6L/h)0.593, with 0.480 L/h representing the nonrenal clearance of meropenem.
The resulting mean meropenem clearance of the NCA was 11.9 ± 8.7 L/h. The individual clearances resulting from the different pharmacokinetic approaches were poorly correlated showing a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.502 (p <0.001).
In summary, this study showed a non-linear relationship of meropenem clearance and creatinine clearance. The model shows that the renal function may change rapidly and to a significant extent in patients with sepsis and septic shock, which in turn, underscores that creatinine concentrations are not in steady state in these patients. Conversely, dose adjustment based on creatinine values might lead to inappropriate therapy. This underlines the importance of a TDM program for meropenem in critically ill patients.
The two most important considerations when choosing an antibiotic for the prophylaxis of postoperative bone infections are its activity against the whole spectrum of bacteria, which might be involved in bone infections, and its ability to penetrate bone tissue and thus to achieve concentrations above the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the corresponding pathogens.
In order to gain information on this data, a study was conducted which investigated the pharmacokinetics of ampicillin / sulbactam in plasma, cortical and cancellous bone. Pharmacokinetic parameters in plasma were determined using NCA. The bone penetration represents the ratio of the concentration in the bone tissue to plasma concentration at the time of bone removal. The resulting half-life of ampicillin and sulbactam in plasma was 1.60 0.37 h and 1.70 0.42 h. The elimination of both substances was in a good correlation with creatinine clearance and resulted in correlation coefficients (r) of 0.729 (p = 0.003) for ampicillin and 0.699 (p = 0.005) for sulbactam. The mean clearance and the mean volume of distribution of ampicillin and sulbactam were 10.7 3.9 and 10.3 3.3 L/h, and 23.9 7.9 and 24.3 6.8 L. The mean concentrations of ampicillin in the cortical and cancellous bone were 6.60 4.22 and 10.15 7.40 µg/g, resulting in bone penetration ratios of 9.1 5.7 and 16.2 16.9 %. For sulbactam the corresponding concentrations were 3.91 2.52 and 5.73 4.20 µg/g, resulting in bone penetration ratios of 10.6 6.3 and 17.5 16.1 %.
In summary, this study shows that the bone penetration of both substances is on average rather unsatisfactory and has a high variability, which can lead to inadequate bone concentrations for the prophylaxis of bone infections. One factor that could be identified for the penetration of both substances into cancellous bone was the period between the application of the drug and the removal of the bone. Therefore, a time interval between the administration of the antibiotic and the incision should be considered.
Immunosuppression is a risk factor for the development of various malignancies, including hematologic diseases. While the relationship between the use of immunosuppressive therapy with methotrexate and the development of an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) associated lymphoproliferative disease (LPD) has been well established, this connection is less evident for immunosuppressive therapy with azathioprine.
The patient presented by us was immunosuppressed with azathioprine for autoimmune hepatitis. The development of an EBV-associated Hodgkin-like lymphoma under this immunosuppressive therapy and especially the regression of the lymphoma after cessation of azathioprine confirms the relationship between this immunosuppressant, EBV-infection and the development of Hodgkin-like lymphoma. Therefore, albeit in rare cases, azathioprine-related lymphomas may respond to mere cessation of immunosuppressive therapy without need for chemotherapy.
Apart from viral infections, drugs are a major cause of acute liver failure. Due to the lack of specific symptoms or tests, it is difficult to diagnose a drug-induced liver injury. We report a case of a young patient in whom different antibiotics, the analgesic and antipyretic acetaminophen or a combination of these drugs may have led to DILI resulting in life-threatening ALF. Based on this case report, we describe a procedure to exclude non-drug related causes and discuss the hepatotoxic potential of the involved drugs in this case.
Background and Purpose: Internal carotid artery stenosis ≥70% is a leading cause of ischemic cerebrovascular events. However, a considerable percentage of stroke survivors with symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis have <70% stenosis with a vulnerable plaque. Whether the length of internal carotid artery stenosis is associated with high risk of ischemic cerebrovascular events or with white matter lesions is poorly investigated. Our main aim was to investigate the relation between the length of internal carotid artery stenosis and the development of ischemic cerebrovascular events as well as ipsi-, contralateral as well as mean white matter lesion load.
Methods: In a retrospective cross-sectional study, 168 patients with 208 internal carotid artery stenosis were identified. The degree and length of internal carotid artery stenosis as well as plaque morphology (hypoechoic, mixed or echogenic) were assessed on ultrasound scans. The white matter lesions were assessed in 4 areas separately, (periventricular and deep white matter lesions on each hemisphere), using the Fazekas scale. The mean white matter lesions load was calculated as the mean of these four values.
Results: A statistically significant inverse correlation between the ultrasound-measured length and degree of internal carotid artery stenosis was detected for symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis ≥70% (Spearman correlation coefficient ρ = –0.57, p < 0.001, n = 51) but neither for symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis <70% (ρ = 0.15, p = 0.45, n = 27) nor for asymptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis (ρ = 0.07, p = 0.64, n = 54). The median (IQR) length for symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis <70% and ≥70% was 17 (15–20) and 15 (12–19) mm (p = 0.06), respectively, while that for symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis <90% and symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis 90% was 18 (15–21) and 13 (10–16) mm, respectively (p < 0.001). Among patients with internal carotid artery stenosis <70%, a cut-off length of ≥16 mm was found for symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis rather than asymptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis with a sensitivity and specificity of 74.1% and 51.1%, respectively. Irrespective of the stenotic degree, plaques of the symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis compared to asymptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis were significantly more often echolucent (43.2 vs. 24.6%, p = 0.02). The length but not the degree of internal carotid artery stenosis showed a very slight trend toward association with ipsilateral white matter lesions and with mean white matter lesions load.
Conclusion: We found a statistically insignificant tendency for the ultrasound-measured length of symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis <70% to be longer than that of symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis ≥70%. Moreover, the ultrasound-measured length of symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis <90% was significantly longer than that of symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis 90%. Among patients with symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis ≥70%, the degree and length of stenosis were inversely correlated. Furthermore, we have shown that a slight correlation exists between the length of stenosis and the presence of ipsilateral white matter lesions which might be due to microembolisation originating from the carotid plaque. Larger studies are needed before a clinical implication can be drawn from these results.
An experimental setup for probing ultrafast dynamics at the diffraction limit was developed, characterized and demonstrated in the scope of the thesis, aiming for optical investigations while simultaneously approaching the physical limits on the length and timescale.
An overview of this experimental setup was given in Chapter 2, as well as the considerations that led to the selection of the individual components. Broadband laser pulses with a length of 9.3 fs, close to the transform limit of 7.6 fs, were focused in a NA = 1.4 immersion oil objective, to the diffraction limit of below 300 nm (FWHM).
The spatial focus shape was characterized with off-resonance gold nanorod scatterers scanned through the focal volume. For further insights into the functionality and limitations of the pulse shaper, its calibration procedure was reviewed. The deviations between designed and experimental pulse shapes were attributed to pulse-shaper artifacts, including voltage-dependent inter-layer as well as intra-layer LCD-pixel crosstalk, Fabry-Pérot-type reflections in the LCD layers, and space-time coupling. A pixel-dependent correction was experimentally carried out, which can be seen as an extension of the initial calibration to all possible voltage combinations of the two LCD layers.
The capabilities of the experimental setup were demonstrated in two types of experiments, targeting the nonlinearity of gold (Chapter 3) as well as two-dimensional spectroscopy at micro-structured surfaces (Chapter 4).
Investigating thin films, an upper bound for the absolute value for the imaginary part of the nonlinear refractive index of gold could be set to |n′′ 2 (Au)| < 0.6·10−16 m2/W, together with |n′ 2 (Au)| < 1.2·10−16 m2/W as an upper bound for the absolute value of the real part. Finite-difference time-domain simulations on y-shaped gold nanostructures indicated that a phase change of ∆Φ ≥ 0.07 rad between two plasmonic modes would induce a sufficient change in the spatial contrast of emission to the far-field to be visible in the experiment. As the latter could not be observed, this value of ∆Φ was determined as the upper bound for the experimentally induced phase change. An upper bound of 52 GW/cm2 was found for the damage threshold.
In Chapter 4, a novel method for nonlinear spectroscopy on surfaces was presented. Termed coherent two-dimensional fluorescence micro-spectroscopy, it is capable of exploring ultrafast dynamics in nanostructures and molecular systems at the diffraction limit. Two-dimensional spectra of spatially isolated hotspots in structured thin films of fluorinated zinc phthalocyanine (F16ZnPc) dye were taken with a 27-step phase-cycling scheme. Observed artifacts in the 2D maps were identified as a consequence from deviations between the desired and the experimental pulse shapes. The optimization procedures described in Chapter 2 successfully suppressed the deviations to a level where the separation from the nonlinear sample response was feasible.
The experimental setup and methods developed and presented in the scope of this thesis demonstrate its flexibility and capability to study microscopic systems on surfaces. The systems exemplarily shown are consisting of metal-organic dyes and metallic nanostructures, represent samples currently under research in the growing fields of organic semiconductors and plasmonics.