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Sonstige beteiligte Institutionen
- DFG Forschungsgruppe 2757 / Lokale Selbstregelungen im Kontext schwacher Staatlichkeit in Antike und Moderne (LoSAM) (2)
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- Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain (1)
Protein inclusions containing the RNA-binding protein TDP-43 are a pathological hallmark of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other neurodegenerative disorders. The loss of TDP-43 function that is associated with these inclusions affects post-transcriptional processing of RNAs in multiple ways including pre-mRNA splicing, nucleocytoplasmic transport, modulation of mRNA stability and translation. In contrast, less is known about the role of TDP-43 in axonal RNA metabolism in motoneurons. Here we show that depletion of Tdp-43 in primary motoneurons affects axon growth. This defect is accompanied by subcellular transcriptome alterations in the axonal and somatodendritic compartment. The axonal localization of transcripts encoding components of the cytoskeleton, the translational machinery and transcripts involved in mitochondrial energy metabolism were particularly affected by loss of Tdp-43. Accordingly, we observed reduced protein synthesis and disturbed mitochondrial functions in axons of Tdp-43-depleted motoneurons. Treatment with nicotinamide rescued the axon growth defect associated with loss of Tdp-43. These results show that Tdp-43 depletion in motoneurons affects several pathways integral to axon health indicating that loss of TDP-43 function could thus make a major contribution to axonal pathomechanisms in ALS.
Starke Licht-Materie-Wechselwirkung in Halbleiter-Mikroresonatoren führt zur Ausbildung von Eigenmoden mit gemischtem Licht-Materie-Charakter, die als Polaritonen bezeichnet werden. Die besonderen Eigenschaften dieser bosonischen Quasiteilchen können zur Realisierung neuartiger Bauteile genutzt werden, wie etwa des Polariton-Lasers, der auf stimulierter Streuung beruht anstatt auf stimulierter Emission, durch die Photon-Lasing ausgelöst wird. Durch den direkten Zugang zu Polariton-Zuständen in spektroskopischen Experimenten, sowie durch die Möglichkeit mit vielfältigen Mitteln nahezu beliebige Potentiallandschaften definieren zu können, eröffnen sich zahlreiche weitere Anwendungsgebiete, etwa in der Quantensimulation bzw. -emulation.
Mittels externer elektrischer und magnetischer Felder können Erkenntnisse über Polaritonen gewonnen werden, die in rein optischen Experimenten nicht zugänglich sind. Durch die Felder, die nicht mit rein photonischen Moden wechselwirken, kann auf den Materie-Anteil der Hybridmoden zugegriffen werden. Weiterhin können die Felder zur in-situ Manipulation der Polariton-Energie genutzt werden, was für die Erzeugung dynamischer Potentiale relevant werden könnte. Der Fokus dieser Arbeit liegt daher auf der Betrachtung verschiedener Phänomene der Licht-Materie-Wechselwirkung unter dem Einfluss äußerer Felder. Dazu wurden auf das jeweilige Experiment abgestimmte Strukturen und Bauteile hergestellt und in magneto-optischen oder elektro-optischen Messungen untersucht.
Um elektrische Felder entlang der Wachstumsrichtung anlegen zu können, d.h. in vertikaler Geometrie, wurden dotierte Resonatoren verwendet, die mit elektrischen Kontakten auf der Probenoberfläche und -rückseite versehen wurden. In diesen Bauteilen wurde die Energieverschiebung im elektrischen Feld untersucht, der sogenannte Stark-Effekt. Dieser im linearen Regime bereits mehrfach demonstrierte Effekt wurde systematisch auf den nichtlinearen Bereich des Polariton-Lasings erweitert. Dabei wurde besonderes Augenmerk auf die Probengeometrie und deren Einfluss auf die beobachteten Energieverschiebungen gelegt. Die Untersuchungen von Proben mit planarer, semi-planarer und Mikrotürmchen-Geometrie zeigen, dass ein lateraler Einschluss der Ladungsträger, wie er im Mikrotürmchen erzielt wird, zu einer Umkehrung der Energieverschiebung führt. Während in dieser Geometrie mit zunehmender Feldstärke eine Blauverschiebung des unteren Polaritons gemessen wird, die durch Abschirmungseffekte erklärt werden kann, wird in planarer und semi-planarer Geometrie die erwartete Rotverschiebung beobachtet. In beiden Fällen können, je nach Verstimmung, Energieverschiebungen im Bereich von einigen hundert µeV gemessen werden. Die gemessenen Energieverschiebungen zeigen gute Übereinstimmung mit den Werten, die nach einem Modell gekoppelter Oszillatoren berechnet wurden. Weiterhin werden vergleichbare Energieverschiebungen unter- und oberhalb der Schwelle zum Polariton-Lasing beobachtet, sodass der Polariton-Stark-Effekt als eindeutiges Merkmal erachtet werden kann, anhand dessen optisch angeregte Polariton- und Photon-Laser eindeutig unterschieden werden können.
Wird das elektrische Feld nicht entlang der Wachstumsrichtung angelegt, sondern senkrecht dazu in der Ebene der Quantenfilme, dann kommt es schon bei geringen Feldstärken zur Feldionisation von Elektron-Loch-Paaren. Um diese Feldgeometrie zu realisieren, wurde ein Verfahren entwickelt, bei dem Kontakte direkt auf die durch einen Ätzvorgang teilweise freigelegten Quantenfilme eines undotierten Mikroresonators aufgebracht werden. Durch das Anlegen einer Spannung zwischen den lateralen Kontakten kann die Polariton-Emission unterdrückt werden, wobei sich die Feldabhängigkeit der Polariton-Besetzung durch ein Modell gekoppelter Ratengleichungen reproduzieren lässt. Die neuartige Kontaktierung erlaubt es weiterhin den Photostrom in den Quantenfilmen zu untersuchen, der proportional zur Dichte freier Ladungsträger ist. Dadurch lässt sich zeigen, dass die zwei Schwellen mit nichtlinearem Anstieg der Emission, die in derartigen Proben häufig beobachtet werden, auf grundsätzlich verschiedene Verstärkungsmechanismen zurückgehen. An der zweiten Schwelle wird ein Abknicken des leistungsabhängigen Photostroms beobachtet, da dort freie Ladungsträger als Reservoir des Photon-Lasings dienen, deren Dichte an der Schwelle teilweise abgeklemmt wird. Die erste Schwelle hingegen, die dem Polariton-Lasing zugeordnet wird, hat keinen Einfluss auf den linear mit der Anregungsleistung ansteigenden Photostrom, da dort gebundene Elektron-Loch-Paare als Reservoir dienen. Mittels angepasster Ratengleichungsmodelle für Polariton- und Photon-Laser lässt sich der ermittelte Verlauf der Ladungsträgerdichte über den gesamten Leistungsbereich qualitativ reproduzieren.
Abschließend wird durch ein magnetisches Feld der Einfluss der Licht-Materie-Wechselwirkung auf die Elektron-Loch-Bindung im Regime der sehr starken Kopplung beleuchtet. Durch die Messung der diamagnetischen Verschiebung wird der mittlere Elektron-Loch-Abstand von unterem und oberem Polariton für zwei Resonatoren mit unterschiedlich starker Licht-Materie-Wechselwirkung bestimmt. Bei geringer Kopplungsstärke werden die Hybridmoden in guter Näherung als Linearkombinationen der ungekoppelten Licht- und Materie-Moden beschrieben. Für den Resonator mit großer Kopplungsstärke wird eine starke Asymmetrie zwischen unterem und oberem Polariton beobachtet. Die diamagnetische Verschiebung des oberen Polaritons steigt mit zunehmender Verstimmung auf bis etwa 2,1 meV an, was fast eine Größenordnung über der Verschiebung des unteren Polaritons (0,27 meV) bei derselben Verstimmung liegt und die Verschiebung des ungekoppelten Quantenfilms um mehr als den Faktor 2 übersteigt. Das bedeutet, dass das untere Polariton durch eine Wellenfunktion beschrieben wird, dessen Materie-Anteil einen verringerten mittleren Elektron-Loch-Abstand aufweist. Im oberen Polariton ist dieser mittlere Radius deutlich größer als der eines Elektron-Loch-Paars im ungekoppelten Quantenfilm, was sich durch eine von Photonen vermittelte Wechselwirkung mit angeregten und Kontinuumszuständen des Quantenfilms erklären lässt.
Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) ligand PET/CT enables the localization of tumor lesions in patients with recurrent prostate cancer, but it is unclear whether androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) influences diagnostic accuracy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of ADT on the detection rate of \(^{68}\)Ga-PSMA ligand PET/CT. Thus, 399 patients with initial radical prostatectomy and 68Ga-PSMA ligand PET/CT during PSA relapse were retrospectively evaluated. Propensity score matching was used to create two balanced groups of 62 subjects who either did or did not receive ADT within six months before imaging. All \(^{68}\)Ga-PSMA ligand PET/CT were evaluated visually and with semiquantitative measures. The detection rate of tumor recurrence was significantly higher in the group with ADT (88.7% vs. 72.6%, p = 0.02) and improved with increasing PSA-levels in both groups. In subjects with pathological PET/CT and ADT, whole-body total lesion PSMA (p < 0.01) and PSMA-derived tumor volume (p < 0.01) were significantly higher than in those without ADT. More PSMA-positive lesions and higher PSMA-derived volumetric parameters in patients with ADT suggest that a better detection rate is related to a (biologically) more advanced disease stage. Due to high detection rates in patients with PSA-levels < 2 ng/mL, the withdrawal of ADT before PSMA ligand PET/CT cannot be recommended.
Differential diagnosis of parkinsonism: a head-to-head comparison of FDG PET and MIBG scintigraphy
(2020)
[\(^{18}\)F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET and [\(^{123}\)I]metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scintigraphy may contribute to the differential diagnosis of neurodegenerative parkinsonism. To identify the superior method, we retrospectively evaluated 54 patients with suspected neurodegenerative parkinsonism, who were referred for FDG PET and MIBG scintigraphy. Two investigators visually assessed FDG PET scans using an ordinal 6-step score for disease-specific patterns of Lewy body diseases (LBD) or atypical parkinsonism (APS) and assigned the latter to the subgroups multiple system atrophy (MSA), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), or corticobasal syndrome. Regions-of-interest analysis on anterior planar MIBG images served to calculate the heart-to-mediastinum ratio. Movement disorder specialists blinded to imaging results established clinical follow-up diagnosis by means of guideline-derived case vignettes. Clinical follow-up (1.7 +/- 2.3 years) revealed the following diagnoses: n = 19 LBD (n = 17 Parkinson's disease [PD], n = 1 PD dementia, and n = 1 dementia with Lewy bodies), n = 31 APS (n = 28 MSA, n = 3 PSP), n = 3 non-neurodegenerative parkinsonism; n = 1 patient could not be diagnosed and was excluded. Receiver operating characteristic analyses for discriminating LBD vs. non-LBD revealed a larger area under the curve for FDG PET than for MIBG scintigraphy at statistical trend level for consensus rating (0.82 vs. 0.69, p = 0.06; significant for investigator #1: 0.83 vs. 0.69, p = 0.04). The analysis of PD vs. MSA showed a similar difference (0.82 vs. 0.69, p = 0.11; rater #1: 0.83 vs. 0.69, p = 0.07). Albeit the notable differences in diagnostic performance did not attain statistical significance, the authors consider this finding clinically relevant and suggest that FDG PET, which also allows for subgrouping of APS, should be preferred.
Diplatinum A‐frame complexes with a bridging (di)boron unit in the apex position were synthesized in a single step by the double oxidative addition of dihalo(di)borane precursors at a bis(diphosphine)‐bridged Pt\(^{0}\)\(_{2}\) complex. While structurally analogous to well‐known μ‐borylene complexes, in which delocalized dative three‐center‐two‐electron M‐B‐M bonding prevails, theoretical investigations into the nature of Pt−B bonding in these A‐frame complexes show them to be rare dimetalla(di)boranes displaying two electron‐sharing Pt−B σ‐bonds. This is experimentally reflected in the low kinetic stability of these compounds, which are prone to loss of the (di)boron bridgehead unit.
Die objektive Überprüfung von tragbaren Hörsystemen bei Kleinkindern und unkooperativen Patienten ist aktuell nicht verfügbar. ASSR- und BERA-Messungen im Freifeld können Grundlage für einen Lösungsansatz sein. Es wurden in dieser Dissertationsarbeit BERA- und ASSR-Messungen im Freifeld an 20 normalhörenden Probanden durchgeführt. Die Normalhörigkeit wurde im Vorfeld durch ein Tonaudiogramm sichergestellt. Die Ergebnisse wurden mit Normwerten und den Ergebnissen aus Standardverfahren verglichen, um eine Gleichwertigkeit der verschiedenen Methoden (Einsteckhörer gegenüber Freifeld) zu überprüfen. Mit Hilfe von Voruntersuchungen wurde ein reproduzierbares Mess-Setup im Freifeld erstellt. Es wurde die räumliche Anordnung, die Voreinstellung der Messeinheit (Eclipse-System, Firma Interacoustics, Dänemark) und der Messablauf festgelegt. Zur Validierung des Mess-Setups wurden Untersuchungen im Freifeld zur Pegeleinstellung, zum Latenzverhalten der Welle V und zu den akustischen Stimuli Klick und CE-Chirp® durchgeführt. Es wurden BERA- und ASSR-Messreihen im festgelegten Mess-Setup erstellt. Vorangehend wurde bei 60 dB nHL eine Klick-BERA im Freifeld durchgeführt. Anschließend erfolgten BERA-Messungen mit NB CE-Chirps® bei 40 dB nHL und 60 dB nHL je bei den Frequenzen 500 Hz, 1 kHz, 2 kHz, 4 kHz und wurden mit Standardwerten der Eclipse für E-A-RTONE™ Einsteckhörer (Firma Etymotic Research, USA) verglichen. Als Vergleichswert wurde die Latenz der Welle V betrachtet. Hierbei ergaben sich keine signifikanten Unterschiede zwischen den beiden Gruppen. ASSR-Messungen wurden bei den Frequenzen 500 Hz, 1 kHz, 2 kHz, 4 kHz von 20 dB nHL absteigend bis zur Hörschwelle im Freifeld durchgeführt. Die ermittelten Hörschwellen wurden mit den Hörschwellen der subjektiven Tonaudiogramme verglichen. Hierbei zeigten sich keine signifikanten Unterschiede. Die Hörschwellen aus den ASSR-Messungen im Freifeld waren bei hohen Frequenzen tendenziell besser. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass unter den festgelegten Messbedingungen kein signifikanter Unterschied zwischen ASSR- und BERA-Messungen im Freifeld gegenüber Einsteckhörer besteht. Dies kann Grundlage für weitere Untersuchungen zur objektiven Hörgerät-Überprüfung sein.
Sensory input as well as cognitive factors can drive the modulation of blinking. Our aim was to dissociate sensory driven bottom-up from cognitive top-down influences on blinking behavior and compare these influences between the auditory and the visual domain.
Using an oddball paradigm, we found a significant pre-stimulus decrease in blink probability for visual input compared to auditory input. Sensory input further led to an early post-stimulus blink increase in both modalities if a task demanded attention to the input. Only visual input caused a pronounced early increase without a task. In case of a target or the omission of a stimulus (as compared to standard input), an additional late increase in blink rate was found in the auditory and visual domain. This suggests that blink modulation must be based on the interpretation of the input, but does not need any sensory input at all to occur.
Our results show a complex modulation of blinking based on top-down factors such as prediction and attention in addition to sensory-based influences. The magnitude of the modulation is mainly influenced by general attentional demands, while the latency of this modulation allows to dissociate general from specific top-down influences that are independent of the sensory domain.
Sales forecasts are an essential determinant of operational planning in entrepreneurial organizations. However, in China, as in other emerging markets, monthly sales forecasts are particularly challenging for multinational automotive enterprises and suppliers. A chief reason for this is that conventional approaches to sales forecasting often fail to capture the underlying market dynamics. To that end, this dissertation investigates the application of Artificial Neural Networks with an implemented backpropagation algorithm as a more “unconventional” sales forecasting method. A key element of statistical modelling is the selection of superior leading indicators. These indicators were collected as part of the researcher’s expert interviews with multinational enterprises and state associations in China. The economic plausibility of all specified indicators is critically explored in qualitative-quantitative pre-selection procedures. The overall objective of the present study was to improve the accuracy of monthly sales forecasts in the Chinese automotive market. This objective was achieved by showing that the forecasting error could be lowered to a new benchmark of less than 10% in an out-of-sample forecasting application.
In dieser Arbeit wurde geprüft, ob ein leitlinienkonformes psychokardiologisches Behandlungskonzept einer herkömmlichen kardiologischen Behandlung bei psychisch belasteten kardiologischen Rehabilitanden in der Reduktion von Angst, Depression und Panik (primäre Zielkriterien) und einer Verbesserung der gesundheitsbezogenen Lebensqualität (sekundäre Zielparameter) überlegen ist. In der Nebenfragstellung wurden Unterschiede in der Wirksamkeit der Intervention in Abhängigkeit vom Geschlecht explorativ geprüft.
Die Fragestellungen wurden mit einem quasiexperimentellen Studiendesign mit sequentiell aufeinanderfolgenden Kohorten untersucht. Die Zielparameter wurden zu Rehabeginn, -ende und 6 Monate nach Entlassung mit validierten Fragebögen (PHQ-9, PHQ-Panik, GAD-7 und MacNew Heart Disease-Fragebogen) erfasst.
Die Hauptanalyse ergab einen kleinen signifikanten Intergruppeneffekt für den Zielparameter Depressivität zugunsten der Kontrollgruppe zu Rehaende und in der Katamnese keine signifikanten Unterschiede im Behandlungserfolg beider Studienbedingungen mehr.
Die Moderatoranalyse ergab kleine Interaktionseffekte zwischen Intervention und Geschlecht für Angst und die gesundheitsbezogene Lebensqualität zu beiden Folgemess-zeitpunkten. Deskriptiv zeigte sich der Trend, dass Frauen von der Interventionsbedingung schlechter, Männer hingegen besser profitierten.
Für die mangelnde Überlegenheit des Interventionsprogrammes kommen vielfältige Aspekte in Frage, die methodisch das sequentiell aufeinanderfolgenden Behandlungsdesign betreffen sowie interventionsbezogen die Ausschöpfung der Therapieressourcen, den Zeitpunkt des Behandlungsbeginns, die Behandlungsdauer, die Berücksichtigung spezifischer Patientenbedürfnisse und auch die Möglichkeit einer ungünstigen Wirkung von Psychotherapie. Ferner war die statistische Power und damit die Aussagekraft der Studie einschränkt. Als Fazit unterliegen noch vielfältige Einflussgrößen gezieltem Forschungsbedarf.
In den Jahren von 2006 bis 2016 sind am Universitätsklinikum Würzburg insgesamt 26 Patienten mit der Diagnose einer Autoimmunen Enzephalitis behandelt worden. Diese Arbeit zeigt ihre Krankheitsverläufe, Outcome, die gefundenen Antikörper und die Therapien der jeweiligen Patienten. Im zweiten Schritt wurden die Daten mit den in der Literatur bereits beschrieben Fällen verglichen, um Gemeinsamkeiten, aber auch Unterschiede aufzeigen zu können.
Fluorinated compounds are an important motif, particularly in pharmaceuticals, as one-third of the top performing drugs have fluorine in their structures. Fluorinated biaryls also have numerous applications in areas such as material science, agriculture, crystal engineering, supramolecular chemistry, etc. Thus, the development of new synthetic routes to fluorinated chemical compounds is an important area of current research. One promising method is the borylation of suitable precursors to generate fluorinated aryl boronates as versatile building blocks for organic synthesis.
Chapter 1
In this chapter, the latest developments in the synthesis, stability issues, and applications of fluorinated aryl boronates in organic synthesis are reviewed. The catalytic synthesis of fluorinated aryl boronates using different methods, such as C–H, C–F, and C–X (X = Cl, Br, I, OTf) borylations are discussed. Further studies covering instability issues of the fluorinated boronate derivatives, which are accelerated by ortho-fluorine, have been reported, and the applications of these substrates, therefore, need special treatment.
Numerous groups have reported methods to employ highly fluorinated aryl boronates that anticipate the protodeboronation issue; thus, polyfluorinated aryl boronates, especially those containing ortho-fluorine substituents, can be converted into chloride, bromide, iodide, phenol, carboxylic acid, nitro, cyano, methyl esters, and aldehyde analogues. These substrates can be applied in many cross-coupling reactions, such as the Suzuki-Miyaura reaction with aryl halides, the Chan-Evans-Lam C–N reaction with aryl amines or nitrosoarenes, C–C(O) reactions with N-(aryl-carbonyloxy)phthalamides or thiol esters (Liebskind-Srogl cross-coupling), and oxidative coupling reactions with terminal alkynes. Furthermore, the difficult reductive elimination from the highly stable complex [PdL2(2,6-C6F2+nH3-n)2] was the next challenge to be targeted in the homocoupling of 2,6-di-fluoro aryl pinacol boronates, and it has been solved by conducting the reaction in arene solvents that reduce the energy barrier in this step as long as no coordinating solvent or ancillary ligand is employed.
Chapter 2
In this chapter, phenanthroline-ligated copper complexes proved to be efficient catalysts for the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling of highly fluorinated aryl boronate esters (ArF–Bpin) with aryl iodides or bromides. This newly developed method is an attractive alternative to the traditional methods as copper is an Earth-abundant metal, less toxic, and cheaper compared to the traditional methods which commonly required palladium catalysts, and silver oxide that is also often required in stoichiometric amounts. A combination of 10 mol% copper iodide and 10 mol% phenanthroline, with CsF as a base, in DMF, at 130 ˚C, for 18 hours is efficient to cross-couple fluorinated aryl pinacol boronates with aryl iodides to generate cross-coupled products in good to excellent yields. This method is also viable for polyfluorophenyl borate salts such as pentafluorophenyl-BF3K. Notably, employing aryl bromides instead of aryl iodides for the coupling with fluorinated aryl–Bpin compounds is also possible; however, increased amounts of CuI/phenanthroline catalyst is necessary, in a mixture of DMF and toluene (1:1).
A diverse range of π···π stacking interactions is observed in the cross-coupling products partly perfluorinated biaryl crystals. They range from arene–perfluoroarene interactions (2-(perfluorophenyl)naphthalene and 2,3,4-trifluorobiphenyl) to arene–arene (9-perfluorophenyl)anthracene) and perfluoroarene–perfluoroarene (2,3,4,5,6-pentafluoro-2’methylbiphenyl) interactions.
Chapter 3
In this chapter, the efficient Pd-catalyzed homocoupling reaction of aryl pinacol pinacol boronates (ArF–Bpin) that contain two ortho-fluorines is presented. The reaction must be conducted in a “noncoordinating” solvent such as toluene, benzene, or m-xylene and, notably, stronger coordinating solvents or ancillary ligands have to be avoided. Thus, the Pd center becomes more electron deficient and the reductive elimination becomes more favorable. The Pd-catalyzed homocoupling reaction of di-ortho-fluorinated aryl boronate derivatives is difficult in strongly coordinating solvents or in the presence of strong ancillary ligands, as the reaction stops at the [PdL2(2,6-C6F2+nH3-n)2] stage after the transmetalations without the reductive elimination taking place. It is known that the rate of reductive elimination of Ar–Ar from [ML2(Ar)(Ar)] complexes containing group-10 metals decreases in the order Arrich–Arpoor > Arrich–Arrich > Arpoor–Arpoor. Furthermore, reductive elimination of the most electron-poor diaryls, such as C6F5–C6F5, from [PdL2(C6F5)2] complexes is difficult and has been a challenge for 50 years, due to their high stability as the Pd–Caryl bond is strong. Thus, the Pd-catalyzed homocoupling of perfluoro phenyl boronates is found to be rather difficult.
Further investigation showed that stoichiometric reactions of C6F5Bpin, 2,4,6-trifluorophenyl–Bpin, or 2,6-difluorophenyl–Bpin with palladium acetate in MeCN stops at the double transmetalation step, as demonstrated by the isolation of cis-[Pd(MeCN)2(C6F5)2], cis-[Pd(MeCN)2(2,4,6-C6F3H2)2], and cis-[Pd(MeCN)2(2,6-C6F2H3)2] in quantitative yields. Thus, it can be concluded that the reductive elimination from diaryl-palladium complexes containing two ortho-fluorines in both aryl rings, is difficult even in a weakly coordinating solvent such as MeCN. Therefore, even less coordinating solvents are needed to make the Pd center more electron deficient. Reactions using “noncoordinating” arene solvents such as toluene, benzene, or m-xylene were conducted and found to be effective for the catalytic homocoupling of 2,6-C6F2+nH3-nBpin. The scope of the reactions was expanded. Using toluene as the solvent, the palladium-catalyzed homocoupling of ArF–Bpin derivatives containing one, two or no ortho-fluorines gave the coupled products in excellent yields without any difficulties.
DFT calculations at the B3LYP-D3/def2-TZVP/6-311+g(2d,p)/IEFPCM // B3LYP-D3/SDD/6-31g**/IEFPCM level of theory predicted an exergonic process and lower barrier (< 21 kcal/mol) for the reductive elimination of Pd(C6F5)2 complexes bearing arene ligands, compared to stronger coordinating solvents (acetonitrile, THF, SMe2, and PMe3), which have high barriers ( > 33.7 kcal/mol). Reductive elimination from [Pd(ηn-Ar)(C6F5)2] complexes have low barriers due to: (i) ring slippage of the arene ligand as a hapticity change from η6 in the reactant to ηn (n ≤ 3) in the transition state and the product, which led to less σ-repulsion; and (ii) more favorable π-back-bonding from Pd(ArF)2 to the arene fragment in the transition state.
Chapter 4
In this chapter, the efficient Pd-catalyzed C–Cl borylation of aryl chlorides containing two ortho-fluorines is presented. The reactions are conducted under base-free conditions to prevent the decomposition of the di-ortho-fluorinated aryl boronates, which are unstable in the presence of base. A combination of Pd(dba)2 (dba = dibenzylideneacetone) with SPhos (2-dicyclohexylphosphino-2′,6′-dimethoxybiphenyl) as a ligand is efficient to catalyze the C–Cl borylation of aryl chlorides containing two ortho-fluorine substituents without base, and the products were isolated in excellent yields. The substrate scope can be expanded to aryl chloride containing one or no ortho-fluorines and the borylated products were isolated in good to very good yield. This method provides a nice alternative to traditional methodologies using lithium or Grignard reagents.
COVID‐19, caused by the coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2, has become pandemic. A further level of complexity opens up as soon as we look at diseases whose pathogenesis and therapy involve different immunological signaling pathways, which are potentially affected by COVID‐19. Medical treatments must often be reassessed and questioned in connection with this infection.
This article summarizes the current knowledge of COVID‐19 in the light of major dermatological and allergological diseases. It identifies medical areas lacking sufficient data and draws conclusions for the management of our patients during the pandemic. We focus on common chronic inflammatory skin diseases with complex immunological pathogenesis: psoriasis, eczema including atopic dermatitis, type I allergies, autoimmune blistering and inflammatory connective tissue diseases, vasculitis, and skin cancers. Since several other inflammatory skin diseases display related or comparable immunological reactions, clustering of the various inflammatory dermatoses into different disease patterns may help with therapeutic decisions. Thus, following these patterns of skin inflammation, our review may supply treatment recommendations and thoughtful considerations for disease management even beyond the most frequent diseases discussed here.
Ischemia/reperfusion injury is a major cause of acute kidney injury (AKI). AKI is characterized by a sudden decrease in kidney function, systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, and dysregulation of the sodium, potassium, and water channels. While AKI leads to uremic encephalopathy, epidemiological studies have shown that AKI is associated with a subsequent risk for developing stroke and dementia. To get more insights into kidney–brain crosstalk, we have created an in vitro co-culture model based on human kidney cells of the proximal tubule (HK-2) and brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMEC). The HK-2 cell line was grown to confluence on 6-well plates and exposed to oxygen/glucose deprivation (OGD) for 4 h. Control HK-2 cells were grown under normal conditions. The BMEC cell line cerebED was grown to confluence on transwells with 0.4 μm pores. The transwell filters seeded and grown to confluence with cereEND were inserted into the plates with HK-2 cells with or without OGD treatment. In addition, cerebEND were left untreated or treated with uremic toxins, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and indoxyl sulfate (IS). The protein and mRNA expression of selected BBB-typical influx transporters, efflux transporters, cellular receptors, and tight junction proteins was measured in BMECs. To validate this in vitro model of kidney–brain interaction, we isolated brain capillaries from mice exposed to bilateral renal ischemia (30 min)/reperfusion injury (24 h) and measured mRNA and protein expression as described above. Both in vitro and in vivo systems showed similar changes in the expression of drug transporters, cellular receptors, and tight junction proteins. Efflux pumps, in particular Abcb1b, Abcc1, and Abcg2, have shown increased expression in our model. Thus, our in vitro co-culture system can be used to study the cellular mechanism of kidney and brain crosstalk in renal ischemia/reperfusion injury.
Neurogene Entzündung ist charakterisiert durch Vasodilatation, Plasmaextravasation und Leukozytenmigration.
Im Zuge dieser Dissertationsarbeit konnte ein in vivo Versuchsmodell zur Quantifizierung neurogener Entzündungsreaktionen in den Atemwegen etabliert werden. Der bakterielle Bitterstoff Cycloheximid ist in der Lage, eine Erhöhung der Plasmaextravasation und Migration neutrophiler Granulozyten zu bewirken. Somit kann Cycloheximid nicht nur protektive Schutzreflexe auslösen, sondern führt auch lokal zu einer neurogenen Entzündungsreaktion. Das carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule-1 (CEACAM1) ist an der Regulierung der endothelialen Barrierefunktion beteiligt. Die Versuche zeigen bei CC1-/--Mäusen eine Verminderung der basalen Permeabilität in trachealen postkapillären Venolen. Nach Stimulation mit Cycloheximid zeigen CC1-/--Mäuse im Vergleich mit WT-Mäusen eine verminderte Plasmaextravasation in bronchialen postkapillären Venolen. Auch die Permeabilität des Endothels für neutrophile Granulozyten scheint durch CEACAM1-Defizienz in trachealen und bronchialen Venolen herabgesetzt zu werden. Die Anwesenheit des CEACAM1-Moleküls verursacht offenbar eine verminderte Stabilität der endothelialen Barriere in postkapillären Venolen der Atemwege. Diese Ergebnisse zeigen eine gegenteilige Funktion von CEACAM1 in postkapillären Venolen der Atemwege im Vergleich mit großen, herznahen Blutgefäßen. Des Weiteren scheint sich die Rolle von CEACAM1 in der Entstehung von akuten und chronischen Entzündungsreaktionen zu unterscheiden. Das in dieser Arbeit etablierte Versuchsmodell stellt eine Möglichkeit dar, neurogene Entzündungsreaktionen als Reaktion auf verschiedene gustatorische Stimulanzien zu testen und zu quantifizieren.
The serine/threonine protein kinase AKT1 is a downstream target of the chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4), and both proteins play a central role in the modulation of diverse cellular processes, including proliferation and cell survival. While in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) the CXCR4 is downregulated, thereby promoting the mobilization of progenitor cells into blood, the receptor is highly expressed in breast cancer cells, favoring the migratory capacity of these cells. Recently, the LIM and SH3 domain protein 1 (LASP1) has been described as a novel CXCR4 binding partner and as a promoter of the PI3K/AKT pathway. In this study, we uncovered a direct binding of LASP1, phosphorylated at S146, to both CXCR4 and AKT1, as shown by immunoprecipitation assays, pull-down experiments, and immunohistochemistry data. In contrast, phosphorylation of LASP1 at Y171 abrogated these interactions, suggesting that both LASP1 phospho-forms interact. Finally, findings demonstrating different phosphorylation patterns of LASP1 in breast cancer and chronic myeloid leukemia may have implications for CXCR4 function and tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment.
Es wurden mögliche frühzeitige Immunoseneszenzparameter bei Kindern mit Autismus und ADHS im Vergleich zu gesunden Kontrollen mittels real-time quantitativer PCR ermittelt. Zusätzlich wurden T-Zell-spezifische Transkriptionsfaktoren mittels real-time quantitativer PCR gemessen. Es zeigte sich bei Autismus, im Vergleich zu gesunden Kontrollen, eine signifikant erniedrigte Anzahl von TRECs und eine signifikant erhöhte Expression des Th2-Zell-Transkriptionsfaktors GATA3. Schlußendlich scheint es eine schnellere Alterung des Thymus bei Kindern mit Autismus zu geben. Weitere Untersuchungen zur genaueren Differenzierung sind notwendig.
The human body is laden with trillions of microorganisms that belong to all three domains of life. Some species of this microbiota subsist as harmless commensals in healthy adults, but under certain circumstances, they can cause mucosal disease or even systemic, life-threatening infections. While the bacterial members of our microbiota are heavily studied today, much less attention is afforded to eukaryotic species that colonize different mucocutaneous surfaces of the human body. This dissertation focuses on identifying regulatory circuits that enable a prominent member of these eukaryotes, C. albicans, to, on the one hand, live on a specific mammalian mucosal surface as a harmless commensal and, on the other hand, proliferate as a pathogen. Since the ultimate source of many fatal Candida infections is the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of the infected individual, this organism is particularly suited to distinguishing traits essential for the gut colonization of commensal fungi and their ability to cause disease. Sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins that regulate transcription are important to most biological processes; I thus used these proteins as starting points to gain insights into 1) how a specific transcription regulator promotes virulence in C. albicans; 2) which traits C. albicans requires to inhabit the GI tract of a specific, well-defined mouse model as a harmless commensal; and 3) how three previously undescribed transcriptional regulators contribute to the commensal colonization of the digestive tract of this mouse model. Altogether, this work advances the knowledge concerning the biology of commensal fungi in the mammalian gut and genetic determinants of fungal commensalism, as well as pathogenicity.
ADMM-Type Methods for Optimization and Generalized Nash Equilibrium Problems in Hilbert Spaces
(2020)
This thesis is concerned with a certain class of algorithms for the solution of constrained optimization problems and generalized Nash equilibrium problems in Hilbert spaces. This class of algorithms is inspired by the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) and eliminates the constraints using an augmented Lagrangian approach. The alternating direction method consists of splitting the augmented Lagrangian subproblem into smaller and more easily manageable parts.
Before the algorithms are discussed, a substantial amount of background material, including the theory of Banach and Hilbert spaces, fixed-point iterations as well as convex and monotone set-valued analysis, is presented. Thereafter, certain optimization problems and generalized Nash equilibrium problems are reformulated and analyzed using variational inequalities and set-valued mappings. The analysis of the algorithms developed in the course of this thesis is rooted in these reformulations as variational inequalities and set-valued mappings.
The first algorithms discussed and analyzed are one weakly and one strongly convergent ADMM-type algorithm for convex, linearly constrained optimization. By equipping the associated Hilbert space with the correct weighted scalar product, the analysis of these two methods is accomplished using the proximal point method and the Halpern method.
The rest of the thesis is concerned with the development and analysis of ADMM-type algorithms for generalized Nash equilibrium problems that jointly share a linear equality constraint. The first class of these algorithms is completely parallelizable and uses a forward-backward idea for the analysis, whereas the second class of algorithms can be interpreted as a direct extension of the classical ADMM-method to generalized Nash equilibrium problems.
At the end of this thesis, the numerical behavior of the discussed algorithms is demonstrated on a collection of examples.
Genome-wide association studies revealed CLEC16A as a candidate gene for Type 1 Diabetes and multiple other autoimmune disorders. The function of CLEC16A remains unknown. However, previous work showed that the CLEC16A ortholog ema and the murine Clec16a were both implicated in autophagy, a process partially required for MHC class II loading and antigen presentation. Furthermore, studies could show that autophagy was required in thymic epithelial cells for antigen presentation during T cell selection, suggesting a possible role of CLEC16A in T cell selection in the thymus. Additionally, it was postulated that CLEC16A may function as an expression quantitative trait locus for its neighboring genes and that Clec16a KD was involved in pancreatic islet function and impaired insulin secretion and glucose homeostasis. Prior to this work, Schuster et al. had created a Clec16a KD NOD mouse, which was protected from spontaneous autoimmune diabetes.
For this work it was hypothesized that CLEC16A variation serves as a Type 1 Diabetes risk gene by affecting autophagy in thymic epithelial cells, which modulates antigen presentation and shapes the T cell repertoire. To expand and complement previous findings by Schuster et al., this thesis aimed to investigate how CLEC16A modifies the function of thymic epithelial cells. For this purpose, CLEC16A KD was induced in human cells via RNA interference and autophagy was studied through immunoblotting. Additionally, inflammation of pancreatic tissue in Clec16a KD NOD mice was scored using H.E. stained pancreatic sections. Thymic transplantation experiments were conducted to test whether the effects of Clec16a KD were T cell intrinsic. Also, intraperitoneal glucose tolerance tests were performed to study glucose homeostasis in Clec16a KD NOD animals. Finally, using qPCR, gene expression levels of neighboring genes such as Dexi and Socs1 were measured to study Clec16a as an expression quantitative trait locus.
In combination with the findings of Schuster et al., this thesis demonstrates that Clec16a KD reduces the severity of insulitis and protects from onset of spontaneous diabetes in the NOD mouse. Disease protection is conveyed by impaired autophagy in TEC, which leads to altered T cell selection and hyporeactive CD4+ T cells. The effects of Clec16a KD in the NOD mouse are thymus intrinsic. Glucose homeostasis remains unchanged in the Clec16a KD NOD mouse and plays no role in disease protection. Clec16a and Dexi presented similar expression levels, but further studies are required to investigate a clear link between these two genes. Finally, impaired autophagy could be replicated in human CLEC16A KD cells, which demonstrates a conserved function of CLEC16A and suggests a possible link between CLEC16A variation and risk of autoimmune disease in human.
Availability of water and desiccation of important water reservoirs is a vital challenge in semi-arid to arid climates with growing economy and population. Low quantities of precipitation and high evaporation rates leave the water supply vulnerable to human activity and climatic variations. Endorheic basins of Northern Iran were hydrologically landlocked within geological timescales and thus bear evidence of past variations of water resources in generations of water related landforms, like abandoned lake level shorelines, alluvial fans and stream terraces. Understanding the development of these landforms reveals crucial information about past water reservoirs and landscape history.
This study offers a comprehensive approach on understanding the geomorphological development of the landscape throughout Late Pleistocene and Holocene times. It integrates remote sensing and geographic information system analysis, with geomorphological and stratigraphical mapping fieldwork and detailed sedimentological investigations.
The work shows the importance of analytical geomorphological mapping for delineating stratigraphic units of the Iranian Quaternary. Thus, several phases of drying and lake level retreat were identified in parallel geoarchives and could be dated to a time span from today to Late Pleistocene. The findings link the fate of the citizens of the ancient city of "Tepe Hissar" to their access to water and to the power of geomorphological processes, which started changing their environment.
Experiments in animal models have shown that running increases neuronal activity in early visual areas in light as well as in darkness. This suggests that visual processing is influenced by locomotion independent of visual input. Combining mobile electroencephalography, motion- and eye-tracking, we investigated the influence of overground free walking on cortical alpha activity (~10 Hz) and eye movements in healthy humans. Alpha activity has been considered a valuable marker of inhibition of sensory processing and shown to negatively correlate with neuronal firing rates. We found that walking led to a decrease in alpha activity over occipital cortex compared to standing. This decrease was present during walking in darkness as well as during light. Importantly, eye movements could not explain the change in alpha activity. Nevertheless, we found that walking and eye related movements were linked. While the blink rate increased with increasing walking speed independent of light or darkness, saccade rate was only significantly linked to walking speed in the light. Pupil size, on the other hand, was larger during darkness than during light, but only showed a modulation by walking in darkness. Analyzing the effect of walking with respect to the stride cycle, we further found that blinks and saccades preferentially occurred during the double support phase of walking. Alpha power, as shown previously, was lower during the swing phase than during the double support phase. We however could exclude the possibility that the alpha modulation was introduced by a walking movement induced change in electrode impedance. Overall, our work indicates that the human visual system is influenced by the current locomotion state of the body. This influence affects eye movement pattern as well as neuronal activity in sensory areas and might form part of an implicit strategy to optimally extract sensory information during locomotion.
Action binding refers to the observation that the perceived time of an action (e.g., a keypress) is shifted towards the distal sensory feedback (usually a sound) triggered by that action. Surprisingly, the role of somatosensory feedback for this phe-nomenon has been largely ignored. We fill this gap by showing that the somatosensory feedback, indexed by keypress peak force, is functional in judging keypress time. Specifically, the strength of somatosensory feedback is positively correlated with reported keypress time when the keypress is not associated with an auditory feedback and negatively correlated when the keypress triggers an auditory feedback. The result is consistent with the view that the reported keypress time is shaped by sensory information from different modalities. Moreover, individual differences in action binding can be explained by a sensory information weighting between somatosensory and auditory feedback. At the group level, increasing the strength of somatosensory feedback can decrease action binding to a level not being detected statistically. Therefore, a multisensory information integration account (between somatosensory and auditory inputs) explains action binding at both a group level and an individual level.
Durch die Anlage einer perkutanen transhepatischen Cholangiodrainage (PTCD), im Rahmen benigner und maligner biliärer Obstruktionen, wird eine Kommunikation zwischen Hautoberfläche, Peritoneum und dem biliären System geschaffen. Insbesondere nach Entfernung der PTCD besteht das Risiko einer Galleleckage, einer Blutung, einer biliokutanen Fistel oder einer lokalen Peritonitis, mit durchaus schwerwiegenden Konsequenzen. Die Embolisation dieses Stichkanals nach Entfernung der Drainage mittels Gelatineschwamm (Gelfoam) stellt eine einfache und effektive Lösung dar diese Komplikationen zu reduzieren und zu verhindern. Ziel dieser Studie war es, die Effektivität der Stichkanalembolisation mittels Gelatineschwamm nach PTCD retrospektiv zu evaluieren.
The size of the synaptic subcomponents falls below the limits of visible light microscopy. Despite new developments in advanced microscopy techniques, the resolution of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) remains unsurpassed. The requirements of tissue preservation are very high, and human post mortem material often does not offer adequate quality. However, new reprogramming techniques that generate human neurons in vitro provide samples that can easily fulfill these requirements. The objective of this study was to identify the culture technique with the best ultrastructural preservation in combination with the best embedding and contrasting technique for visualizing neuronal elements. Two induced neural stem cell lines derived from healthy control subjects underwent differentiation either adherent on glass coverslips, embedded in a droplet of highly concentrated Matrigel, or as a compact neurosphere. Afterward, they were fixed using a combination of glutaraldehyde (GA) and paraformaldehyde (PFA) followed by three approaches (standard stain, Ruthenium red stain, high contrast en-bloc stain) using different combinations of membrane enhancing and contrasting steps before ultrathin sectioning and imaging by TEM. The compact free-floating neurospheres exhibited the best ultrastructural preservation. High-contrast en-bloc stain offered particularly sharp staining of membrane structures and the highest quality visualization of neuronal structures. In conclusion, compact neurospheres growing under free-floating conditions in combination with a high contrast en-bloc staining protocol, offer the optimal preservation and contrast with a particular focus on visualizing membrane structures as required for analyzing synaptic structures.
Es wurde anhand von 500 OPGs aus der kieferorthopädischen Abteilung des Universitätsklinikums Würzburg eine dentale Altersbestimmung mit Hilfe des London Atlas of Dental Development, der Methode nach Demirjian sowie ihrer Modifikation nach Willems durchgeführt. Ziel war es herauszufinden, ob zuverlässig vom dentalen auf das chronologische Alter geschlossen werden kann.
Die Methode nach Willems (M= -0,33J, SD=1,06J) ist der Methode nach Demirjian (M=-0,08J SD= 1,27J) und dem London Atlas (M=0,34J SD=1,09J) überlegen und kann auf die deutsche Population angewendet werden.
A new and easy polymerase chain reaction (PCR) multiplex strategy, for the identification of the most common fungal species involved in invasive fungal infections (IFI) was developed in this work. Two panels with species-specific markers were designed, the Candida Panel for the identification of Candida species, and the Filamentous Fungi Panel for the identification of Aspergillus species and Rhizopusarrhizus. The method allowed the correct identification of all targeted pathogens using extracted DNA or by colony PCR, showed no cross-reactivity with nontargeted species and allowed identification of different species in mixed infections. Sensitivity reached 10 to 1 pg of DNA and was suitable for clinical samples from sterile sites, with a sensitivity of 89% and specificity of 100%. Overall, the study showed that the new method is suitable for the identification of the ten most important fungal species involved in IFI, not only from positive blood cultures but also from clinical samples from sterile sites. The method provides a unique characteristic, of seeing the peak in the specific region of the panel with the correct fluorescence dye, that aids the ruling out of unspecific amplifications. Furthermore, the panels can be further customized, selecting markers for different species and/or resistance genes.
Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC) abound on the surface of arthropods. In spite of their simple structure (molecules of carbon and hydrogen atoms), they provide pivotal functions in insects: their hydrophobic properties confer the insects a means to regulate water balance and avoid desiccation, whereas their diversity has enhanced their use as signals and cues in a wide range of communication and recognition processes. Although the study of CHC in insects over the past two decades has provided great insight into the wide range of functions they play, there is still a gap in understanding how they diversify and evolve. In this thesis, I have used members of the family Chrysididae to explore patterns of diversification of CHC. Most of the species of cuckoo wasps in this study are specialized parasitoids or kleptoparasites of mainly solitary hymenopteran hosts. Other hosts of the family include butterflies or stick insects. Cuckoo wasps are a particular interesting model to study the evolution of cuticular hydrocarbons because of their chemical adaptations that allow them to remain unrecognized by their hosts. Chemical insignificance (the reduction of the total amount of CHC on the cuticle) and chemical mimicry (the de novo production of CHC profiles resembling those of their female host) have been described in some representatives of the family and unpublished evidence suggests chemical deception is widespread in Chrysididae (Chapter 2). Nonetheless, to trace the evolution of any trait of interest, a reliable phylogenetic reconstruction of the family is required. Therefore, the first study of this thesis constitutes the largest and to-date most reliable phylogenetic reconstruction of the family Chrysididae, which includes representatives of 186 species of cuckoo wasps. While the results of this phylogenetic reconstruction are consistent with previous ideas on the relationships of subfamilies and tribes, it shows the existence of several non-monophyletic genera (Chapter 3). CHC are involved in intraspecific recognition, often acting as contact sex pheromones. Nevertheless, it is not yet understood to what extent CHC profiles differ between the two sexes and whether some compound classes are more prevalent in one or the other sex. So far, no comparison of CHC profiles of males and females has been done for more than a dozen of related species. In Chapter 4, I describe and compare CHC profiles of females and males of 58 species of cuckoo wasps in order to evaluate whether and to what extent CHC profiles of these species differ between the sexes. I demonstrated that CHC profiles of cuckoo wasps are frequently (more than 90% of the species analyzed) and strongly dimorphic (both sexes of a given species tend to produce very different CHC compounds). Methyl-branched compounds tend to be more prevalent in males (especially dimethyl-branched compounds) and unsaturated compounds prevail in females. Moreover, a sex-specific pattern in the distribution of the double bond position of alkenes was evident: internal double bond positions (> 11) occur predominantly in males, whereas alkenes with the doublé bond at position 9 were more abundant and frequent in females (Chapter4). In Chapter5, I investigated how CHC profiles of cuckoo wasps differ across species. Are CHC profiles of cuckoo wasps species-specific, enabling their use as cues for species recognition? How do CHC profiles resemble phylogenetic relatedness? In Chapter 5, I try to answer these questions by comparing CHC profiles of 59 species of cuckoo wasps. CHC profiles of cuckoo wasps are shown to be species (and sex-) specific. I show that CHC profiles are useful as a complementary tool to help delimiting taxonomically difficult sibling species. Moreover, the evaluation of CHC profiles of five commonly occurring species within a genus, showed little or no geographical variation. However, CHC profiles of closely related species may differ strongly among each other, not being useful to track the evolutionary history of species (Chapter 5). Sexual selection is generally credited for generating striking sexual dimorphism by causing changes in male traits. Most often, sexual selection has a stronger effect on males, who compete for access to and may be selected by females, thus male traits may rapidly evolve. Nevertheless, in cuckoo wasps, it appears that it is the female sex the one evolving faster changes, with females of very closely related species showing extremely divergent profiles. One plausible reason for this disparity is that natural selection acting on female’s CHC profiles may be stronger than sexual selection on males (Chapter 6). Since females of cuckoo wasps are most probably engaged in an evolutionary arms race with their female hosts, CHC profiles of female cuckoo wasps are likely rapidly evolving, thus explaining part of the strong observed sexual dimorphism of CHC (Chapter 6). In fact, Chapter 7 shows evidence of a possible ongoing evolutionary arms race between five cuckoo wasps of the genus Hedychrum and their hosts. Hedychrum species parasitize either Coleoptera-hunting or Hymenoptera-hunting digger wasps. Since the coleopteran prey of the former digger wasps is naturally better protected against fungus infestation, these wasps do not embalm their prey with alkene-enriched secretions as do the Hymenoptera-hunting digger wasps. Thus, Coleoptera-hunting digger wasps can apparently diversify their profiles to escape chemical mimicry. Interestingly, only female cuckoo wasps of these hosts have started producing the same compound classes and even the same CHC compounds as those of their hosts. Male cuckoo wasps, however retain an alkene-enriched CHC profile that reflects the molecular phylogeny of the genus (Chapter 7). Whereas, a larger number of parasite-host comparisons may be needed to further conclude that an arms race between cuckoo wasps and their hosts is capable of generating sexual dimorphism of cuckoo wasps, this thesis constitutes the first effort towards this, providing a starting point for further studies. Finally, I provide some methodological tools that may help in speeding up the sometimes cumbersome process of analyzing and identifying CHC profiles. One of the most time-demanding steps in the processing of CHC data is the alignment of CHC chromatograms. This process is often done manually, because alignment programs are mostly designed for metabolomics or are just recently being developed. I analyzed CHC profiles using a combined approach with two freely available programs. I used AMDIS (Automated Mass Spectral Deconvolution and Identification System, http://chemdata.nist.gov/mass-spc/amdis/) to deconvolute and automatically identify all CHC of interest present in a chromatogram. I then developed a series of R scripts to correct for potential, unavoidable errors while processing CHC chromatograms with AMDIS. Chapter 8 explains this procedure. In the next chapter, I developed a program that helps in the identification of one commonly occurring class of hydrocarbons. The limited number of linear alkanes (only one per carbon atom) and their characteristic diagnostic ion allows a rapid and unambigous identification of these substances. In opposition, unsaturated and methyl-branched compounds are more difficult to identify, as a result of the much larger diversity of existing compounds. To identify unsaturated compounds a derivatization is necessary to determine the position of the double bond. Methyl-branched alkanes, however can be identified from the original chromatogram if their diagnostic ions are known. Nonetheless, polymethyl-branched alkanes (e.g., compounds with two or more methyl groups along the chain) are often difficult to identify, because they may appear in mixes (e.g., 3,7 diMeC27 and 3,9 diMeC27), and tables containing the diagnostic ions are not easily available. Therefore, I developed a program that creates a table with all possiblemethyl-branched compounds containing up to 4 methyl groups, and that provides their diagnostic ions and a calculated retention index. This may allow a much faster identification of the methyl-branched compound a researcher is dealing with, without having to lose time in the tedious calculations by hand. The program is able to correctly identify, or at least, greatly reduce the number of possible options for the identification of an unknown methyl-branched compound. Thus, using this tool, most methyl-branched compounds can be readily identified (Chapter 9). This thesis ends with a general discussion (Chapter 10). Overall, this work provides a comprehensive overview of the diversity of cuticular hydrocarbons of cuckoo wasps. The analyses presented here shed light on the emergence and evolution of interspecific diversity and intraspecific sexual dimorphism of CHC profiles. In addition, two technical methods have been developed that could greatly facilitate the CHC analysis of insects.
Traps baited with attractive lures are increasingly used at entry-points and surrounding natural areas to intercept exotic wood-boring beetles accidentally introduced via international trade. Several trapping variables can affect the efficacy of this activity, including trap color. In this study, we tested whether species richness and abundance of jewel beetles (Buprestidae), bark and ambrosia beetles (Scolytinae), and their common predators (i.e., checkered beetles, Cleridae) can be modified using trap colors different to those currently used for surveillance of jewel beetles and bark and ambrosia beetles (i.e., green or black). We show that green and black traps are generally efficient, but also that many flower-visiting or dark-metallic colored jewel beetles and certain bark beetles are more attracted by other colors. In addition, we show that checkered beetles have color preferences similar to those of their Scolytinae preys, which limits using trap color to minimize their inadvertent removal. Overall, this study confirmed that understanding the color perception mechanisms in wood-boring beetles can lead to important improvements in trapping techniques and thereby increase the efficacy of surveillance programs.
Objective
This study aimed to compare a state‐of‐the‐art bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) device with two‐point Dixon magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the quantification of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) as a health‐related risk factor.
Methods
A total of 63 male participants were measured using a 3‐T MRI scanner and a segmental, multifrequency BIA device. MRI generated fat fraction (FF) maps, in which VAT volume, total abdominal adipose tissue volume, and FF of visceral and total abdominal compartments were quantified. BIA estimated body fat mass and VAT area.
Results
Coefficients of determination between abdominal (r\(^{2}\) = 0.75) and visceral compartments (r\(^{2}\) = 0.78) were similar for both groups, but slopes differed by a factor of two. The ratio of visceral to total abdominal FF was increased in older men compared with younger men. This difference was not detected with BIA. MRI and BIA measurements of the total abdominal volume correlated moderately (r\(^{2}\) = 0.31‐0.56), and visceral measurements correlated poorly (r\(^{2}\) = 0.13‐0.44).
Conclusions
Visceral BIA measurements agreed better with MRI measurements of the total abdomen than of the visceral compartment, indicating that BIA visceral fat area assessment cannot differentiate adipose tissue between visceral and abdominal compartments in young and older participants.
Purpose
To characterize the effects of netarsudil on the aqueous humor outflow tract distal to the trabecular meshwork (TM). Wehypothesized that netarsudil increases outflow facility in eyes with and without circumferential ab interno trabeculectomy (AIT)that removes the TM.
Methods
Sixty-four porcine anterior segment cultures were randomly assigned to groups with (n= 32) and without circumferential AIT (n= 32). Cultures were exposed to 0.1, 1, and 10μM netarsudil (N= 8 eyes per concentration). For each concentration,IOP and vessel diameters were compared with their respective pretreatment baselines. Outflow tract vessel diameters wereassessed by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT) and rendered in 4D (XYZ time series).
Results
Netarsudil at 1μM reduced IOP both in eyes with TM (−0.60 ± 0.24 mmHg,p= 0.01) and in eyes without TM (−1.79 ±0.42 mmHg,p< 0.01). At this concentration, vessels of the distal outflow tract dilated by 72%. However, at 0.1μMnetarsudilelevated IOP in eyes with TM (1.59 ± 0.36 mmHg,p< 0.001) as well as in eyes without TM (0.23 ± 0.32 mmHg,p<0.001). Vessels of the distal outflow tract constricted by 31%. Similarly, netarsudil at a concentration of 10μM elevated IOP both in eyeswith TM (1.91 ± 0.193,p< 0.001) and in eyes without TM (3.65 ± 0.86 mmHg,p< 0.001). At this concentration, outflow tractvessels constricted by 27%.
Conclusion
In the porcine anterior segment culture, the dose-dependent IOP changes caused by netarsudil matched the diameterchanges of distal outflow tract vessels. Hyper- and hypotensive properties of netarsudil persisted after TM removal
The norepinephrine transporter (NET) is a major target for the evaluation of the cardiac sympathetic nerve system in patients with heart failure and Parkinson's disease. It is also used in the therapeutic applications against certain types of neuroendocrine tumors, as exemplified by the clinically used \(^{123/131}\)I-MIBG as theranostic single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) agent. With the development of more advanced positron emission tomography (PET) technology, more radiotracers targeting NET have been reported, with superior temporal and spatial resolutions, along with the possibility of functional and kinetic analysis. More recently, fluorine-18-labelled NET tracers have drawn increasing attentions from researchers, due to their longer radiological half-life relative to carbon-11 (110 min vs. 20 min), reduced dependence on on-site cyclotrons, and flexibility in the design of novel tracer structures. In the heart, certain NET tracers provide integral diagnostic information on sympathetic innervation and the nerve status. In the central nervous system, such radiotracers can reveal NET distribution and density in pathological conditions. Most radiotracers targeting cardiac NET-function for the cardiac application consistent of derivatives of either norepinephrine or MIBG with its benzylguanidine core structure, e.g. \(^{11}\)C-HED and \(^{18}\)F-LMI1195. In contrast, all NET tracers used in central nervous system applications are derived from clinically used antidepressants. Lastly, possible applications of NET as selective tracers over organic cation transporters (OCTs) in the kidneys and other organs controlled by sympathetic nervous system will also be discussed.
Impact of the Chemokine Receptors CXCR4 and CXCR7 on Clinical Outcome in Adrenocortical Carcinoma
(2020)
Chemokine receptors have a negative impact on tumor progression in several human cancers and have therefore been of interest for molecular imaging and targeted therapy. However, their clinical and prognostic significance in adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the chemokine receptor profile in ACC and to analyse its association with clinicopathological characteristics and clinical outcome. A chemokine receptor profile was initially evaluated by quantitative PCR in 4 normal adrenals, 18 ACC samples and human ACC cell line NCI-H295. High expression of CXCR4 and CXCR7 in both healthy and malignant adrenal tissue and ACC cells was confirmed. In the next step, we analyzed the expression and cellular localization of CXCR4 and CXCR7 in ACC by immunohistochemistry in 187 and 84 samples, respectively. These results were correlated with clinicopathological parameters and survival outcome. We detected strong membrane expression of CXCR4 and CXCR7 in 50% of ACC samples. Strong cytoplasmic CXCR4 staining was more frequent among samples derived from metastases compared to primaries (p=0.01) and local recurrences (p=0.04). CXCR4 membrane staining positively correlated with proliferation index Ki67 (r=0.17, p=0.028). CXCR7 membrane staining negatively correlated with Ki67 (r=−0.254, p=0.03) but positively with tumor size (r=0.3, p=0.02). No differences in progression-free or overall survival were observed between patients with strong and weak staining intensities for CXCR4 or CXCR7. Taken together, high expression of CXCR4 and CXCR7 in both local tumors and metastases suggests that some ACC patients might benefit from CXCR4/CXCR7-targeted therapy.
μ‐Opioid receptors (μ‐ORs) play a critical role in the modulation of pain and mediate the effects of the most powerful analgesic drugs. Despite extensive efforts, it remains insufficiently understood how μ‐ORs produce specific effects in living cells. We developed new fluorescent ligands based on the μ‐OR antagonist E‐p‐nitrocinnamoylamino‐dihydrocodeinone (CACO), that display high affinity, long residence time and pronounced selectivity. Using these ligands, we achieved single‐molecule imaging of μ‐ORs on the surface of living cells at physiological expression levels. Our results reveal a high heterogeneity in the diffusion of μ‐ORs, with a relevant immobile fraction. Using a pair of fluorescent ligands of different color, we provide evidence that μ‐ORs interact with each other to form short‐lived homodimers on the plasma membrane. This approach provides a new strategy to investigate μ‐OR pharmacology at single‐molecule level.
Specialization of plant-pollinator interactions increases with temperature at Mt. Kilimanjaro
(2020)
Aim: Species differ in their degree of specialization when interacting with other species, with significant consequences for the function and robustness of ecosystems. In order to better estimate such consequences, we need to improve our understanding of the spatial patterns and drivers of specialization in interaction networks.
Methods: Here, we used the extensive environmental gradient of Mt. Kilimanjaro (Tanzania, East Africa) to study patterns and drivers of specialization, and robustness of plant–pollinator interactions against simulated species extinction with standardized sampling methods. We studied specialization, network robustness and other network indices of 67 quantitative plant–pollinator networks consisting of 268 observational hours and 4,380 plant–pollinator interactions along a 3.4 km elevational gradient. Using path analysis, we tested whether resource availability, pollinator richness, visitation rates, temperature, and/or area explain average specialization in pollinator communities. We further linked pollinator specialization to different pollinator taxa, and species traits, that is, proboscis length, body size, and species elevational ranges.
Results: We found that specialization decreased with increasing elevation at different levels of biological organization. Among all variables, mean annual temperature was the best predictor of average specialization in pollinator communities. Specialization differed between pollinator taxa, but was not related to pollinator traits. Network robustness against simulated species extinctions of both plants and pollinators was lowest in the most specialized interaction networks, that is, in the lowlands.
Conclusions: Our study uncovers patterns in plant–pollinator specialization along elevational gradients. Mean annual temperature was closely linked to pollinator specialization. Energetic constraints, caused by short activity timeframes in cold highlands, may force ectothermic species to broaden their dietary spectrum. Alternatively or in addition, accelerated evolutionary rates might facilitate the establishment of specialization under warm climates. Despite the mechanisms behind the patterns have yet to be fully resolved, our data suggest that temperature shifts in the course of climate change may destabilize pollination networks by affecting network architecture.
Die spinale Muskelatrophie ist nach der zystischen Fibrose die zweithäufigste Erkrankung mit autosomal-rezessivem Erbgang und Todesfolge bei Kindern. Der Mangel an intaktem SMN-Protein führt zu einer retrograden Degeneration der Motoneurone. Je nach prozentualem Mangel des SMN-Proteins ergeben sich unterschiedliche Verlaufsformen. Im Falle der schwersten Form liegt die Lebenserwartung unter zwei Jahren für Neugeborene. Die genaue Ursache der spinalen Muskelatrophie ist nicht abschließend geklärt. Klar ist jedoch, dass eine Differenzierungsdefekt an der muskulären Endplatte der Motoneurone vorliegt. In Zusammenschau der hier generierten Ergebnisse und zahlreicher Vorarbeiten zeigt sich, dass eine gestörte Kalziumhomöostase mitverantwortlich für diese Differenzierungsstörung ist. Dies ist am ehesten durch gestörte lokale Kalziumtransienten und eine veränderte Mikrostruktur der Endplatte, im Sinne des Fehlens der für die Differenzierung essentiellen Kalziumkanal-Cluster, zu erklären. Auch wenn die Wiederherstellung der Kalziumhomöostase keinen Einfluss auf die Menge an vorhandenem SMN-Protein hat, zeigt der Einsatz des Kalziumkanalagonisten R-Roscovitine eine restitutio des Phänotyps kultivierter Motoneurone in vitro, sowie auch eine signifikante Lebensverlängerung von murinen Tieren mit einer der SMA I äquivalenten Verlaufsform in vivo. Auch wenn es sich im Falle des Einsatzes von Kalziumkanalagonisten nicht um eine kausale Therapie, wie zum Beispiel im Falle gentechnologischer Ansätze, handelt, stellen sie trotzdem eine vielversprechende Ergänzung des Portfolios an therapeutischen Optionen dar. Die Stärke liegt hierbei in dem sofortigen Wirkeintritt nach Applikation mit antizipiert rascher Symptomverbesserung.
Auswertung der Schraubenposition nach navigierter, O-Arm-kontrollierter spinaler Instrumentierung
(2020)
In dieser Studie wurden retrospektiv zwischen Juni 2010 und Juni 2015 die Schrauben bezüglich ihrer Lage und Länge nach navigierter, O-Arm kontrollierter dorsaler Stabilisierung der Wirbelsäule untersucht. In diesem Zeitraum wurden in der Neurochirurgie des Universitätsklinikums Würzburg 2666 Schrauben bei 433 Patienten in 413 Operationen platziert, wobei 2618 Schrauben in dieser Studie ausgewertet werden konnten. Gründe für eine operative Stabilisierung der Wirbelsäule waren im Gesamtkollektiv mit 58,43% am häufigsten degenerative Veränderungen gefolgt von Traumata mit 21,94%, Tumorerkrankungen mit 11,78% und entzündlichen Veränderungen mit 7,85%. Im Bereich der HWS waren die häufigsten Operationsindikationen traumatische Verletzungen mit 46,06%, auf Höhe der BWS Tumordiagnosen mit 46,77% und im Bereich der LWS degenerative Veränderungen mit 76,82%.
Die Schrauben wurden auf Höhe der BWS und LWS bezüglich ihrer Lage nach der etablierten Einteilung von Zdichavsky et al. klassifiziert. Die Grundlage dieser Klassifikation ist die Relation der Pedikelschraube zum Pedikel und die Relation der Pedikelschraube zum Wirbelkörper, wobei eine korrekte 1a-Lage vorliegt, wenn mindestens die Hälfte des Pedikelschraubendurchmessers innerhalb des Pedikels und mindestens die Hälfte des Pedikelschraubendurchmessers innerhalb des Wirbelkörpers liegt.
Im Bereich der BWS lagen bereits nach dem ersten intraoperativen Scan 89,72% der Schrauben in einer 1a-Lage, nach intraoperativer Revision von 41 Schrauben sogar 93,03% der Schrauben. Auf Höhe der LWS lagen nach dem 1. intraoperativen Scan 94,88% in einer 1a-Lage, nach intraoperativer Revision von 37 Schrauben konnte der Anteil an 1a-Lagen auf 96,14% erhöht werden.
In Anlehnung an die Klassifikation von Zdichavsky et al. entstand eine neue Klassifikation für die HWS mit der Überlegung, dass die Stabilität und die Gefahr für neurologische und vaskuläre Komplikationen durch die Lage der Schrauben im Knochen definiert werden kann. Auch hier liegt eine korrekte 1a-Lage vor, wenn mindestens die Hälfte des Schraubendurchmessers innerhalb des Pedikels bzw. der Massa lateralis verläuft.
Nach dem ersten intraoperativen Scan lagen bereits 93,93% der Schrauben in einer 1a-Lage, nach intraoperativer Revision von 32 Schrauben lagen sogar 96,20% der Schrauben in einer 1a-Lage.
Die Bewertung der Schraublänge erfolgte relativ zur Länge des Schraubeneintrittspunkts und der Vorderkante des Wirbelkörpers, wobei alle Schraubenlängen zwischen 85% und 100% als „gut“ eingestuft wurden. Im Bereich der HWS hatten demnach zu Operationsende 65,62% der Schrauben eine gute Lange, in der BWS 69,72% und in der LWS 71,92%.
Aufgrund einer primären Fehllage mussten lediglich 2 Schrauben (0,08% aller Schrauben) bei einem Patienten in einer Folgeoperation revidiert werden, wobei diese Fehllage retrospektiv auch in der initialen intraoperativen Bildgebung hätte erkannt werden können.
Weitere Parameter wie Operationsdauer und Operationsart, Anzahl an intraoperativer Bildgebung sowie Anzahl der verschraubten Wirbelsegmente oder intraoperative Komplikationen wurden untersucht.
In der klinischen Verlaufskontrolle zeigte sich außerdem eine signifikante Verbesserung der Schmerzen, nämlich in jeder Kategorie (Bein-, Arm-, Rücken-, Nackenschmerzen) gaben mindestens 75% der nachkontrollierten Patienten eine Komplettremission oder relevante Verbesserung der Symptome an. Auch in der neurologischen Verlaufskontrolle zeigte sich bei 68,86% der Patienten in der Nachkontrolle eine Komplettremission bzw. signifikante Verbesserung der neurologischen Beschwerden. In der postoperativen radiologischen Abschlussuntersuchung zeigten sich lediglich bei 3,07% der Schrauben Auffälligkeiten in Form von Schraubenlockerung (2,40%), Schraubendislokation (0,49%) oder Schraubenbrüchen (0,19%).
In-vitro Untersuchung der Verbundfestigkeit von Kompositreparaturen runder Prüfkörper im Zugversuch. Filtek Surpreme und Tetric EvoCeram wurden gestrahlt und/oder mit 37% Orthophosphorsäure geätzt und mit Scotchbond Universal oder Optibond FL gebonded.
Strahlverfahren erhöhten die Verbundfestigkeit, die zusätzliche Ätzung von abgestrahlten Oberflächen beeinflusste die Verbundfestigkeit nicht.
In the last decade there has been tremendous effort in offering better therapeutic management strategies to patients with hematologic malignancies. These efforts have ranged from biological to clinical approaches and resulted in the rapid development of new approaches. The main “problem” that comes with the high influx of newly approved drugs, which not only influences hematologists that frequently work with these drugs but also affects other healthcare professionals that work with hematologists in patient management, including intensive care unit (ICU) physicians, is they have to keep up within their specialty and, in addition, with the side-effects that can occur when encountering hematology-specific therapies. Nonetheless, there are few people that have an in-depth understanding of a specialty outside theirs. Thus, this manuscript offers an overview of the most common side-effects caused by therapies used in hematology nowadays, or that are currently being investigated in clinical trials, with the purpose to serve as an aid to other specialties. Nevertheless, because of the high amount of information on this subject, each chapter will offer an overview of the side-effects of a drug class with each reference of the section being intended as further reading.
Acromyrmex fracticornis grass-cutting ants construct conspicuous chimney-shaped nest turrets made of intermeshed grass fragments. We asked whether turrets are constructed by merely piling up nearby materials around the entrance, or whether ants incorporate different materials as the turret develops. By removing the original nest turrets and following their rebuilding process over three consecutive days, age-dependent changes in wall morphology and inner lining fabrics were characterized. Micromorphological descriptions based on thin sections of turret walls revealed the building behaviors involved. Ants started by collecting nearby twigs and dry grass fragments that are piled up around the nest entrance. Several large fragments held the structure like beams. As a net-like structure grew, soil pellets were placed in between the intermeshed plant fragments from the turret base to the top, reinforcing the structure. Concomitantly, the turret inner wall was lined with soil pellets, starting from the base. Therefore, the consolidation of the turret occurred both over time and from its base upwards. It is argued that nest turrets do not simply arise by the arbitrary deposition of nearby materials, and that workers selectively incorporate large materials at the beginning, and respond to the developing structure by reinforcing the intermeshed plant fragments over time.
Background
The most threatening metastases in breast cancer are brain metastases, which correlate with a very poor overall survival, but also a limited quality of life. A key event for the metastatic progression of breast cancer into the brain is the migration of cancer cells across the blood-brain barrier (BBB).
Methods
We adapted and validated the CD34\(^+\) cells-derived human in vitro BBB model (brain-like endothelial cells, BLECs) to analyse the effects of patient serum on BBB properties. We collected serum samples from healthy donors, breast cancer patients with primary cancer, and breast cancer patients with, bone, visceral or cerebral metastases. We analysed cytokine levels in these sera utilizing immunoassays and correlated them with clinical data. We used paracellular permeability measurements, immunofluorescence staining, Western blot and mRNA analysis to examine the effects of patient sera on the properties of BBB in vitro.
Results
The BLECs cultured together with brain pericytes in transwells developed a tight monolayer with a correct localization of claudin-5 at the tight junctions (TJ). Several BBB marker proteins such as the TJ proteins claudin-5 and occludin, the glucose transporter GLUT-1 or the efflux pumps PG-P and BCRP were upregulated in these cultures. This was accompanied by a reduced paracellular permeability for fluorescein (400 Da). We then used this model for the treatment with the patient sera. Only the sera of breast cancer patients with cerebral metastases had significantly increased levels of the cytokines fractalkine (CX3CL1) and BCA-1 (CXCL13). The increased levels of fractalkine were associated with the estrogen/progesterone receptor status of the tumour. The treatment of BLECs with these sera selectively increased the expression of CXCL13 and TJ protein occludin. In addition, the permeability of fluorescein was increased after serum treatment.
Conclusion
We demonstrate that the CD34\(^+\) cell-derived human in vitro BBB model can be used as a tool to study the molecular mechanisms underlying cerebrovascular pathologies. We showed that serum from patients with cerebral metastases may affect the integrity of the BBB in vitro, associated with elevated concentrations of specific cytokines such as CX3CL1 and CXCL13.
Der Abschluss des Konkordats von 1929 zwischen dem Freistaat Preußen und dem Heiligen Stuhl ist ein Meisterstück der Diplomatiegeschichte. Die Verhandlungen erstreckten sich annähernd über den gesamten Zeitraum der Weimarer Republik. Am Ende stand der erste Vertrag, den die römische Kurie mit einem mehrheitlich protestantischen Staat schließen sollte. Federführend auf Seiten der Kirche war Eugenio Pacelli, der spätere Papst Pius XII. Der Abschluss des preußischen Konkordats bildete den finalen Coup seiner Ära als Nuntius in Deutschland.
Die vorliegende Arbeit schließt eine beträchtliche Lücke in der Konkordatsforschung. Erstmals werden die einschlägigen Akten aus dem Vatikanischen Apostolischen Archiv ausgewertet. In Verbindung mit zum Teil unerschlossenem Material aus deutschen Beständen ergibt sich ein umfassendes Gesamtbild der Verhandlungen von 1919 bis 1929, die zum preußischen Konkordat führten.
Der Schwerpunkt der Untersuchung, die die kirchlich-römische Diplomatie, ist von der Persönlichkeit Eugenio Pacellis nicht zu trennen. Kein anderes Projekt sollte ihn während seiner Zeit als Nuntius ähnlich in Beschlag nehmen. Die Untersuchung seiner Vorgehensweise lässt deshalb nicht nur Rückschlüsse auf seine Kompetenzen als Chefdiplomat des Heiligen Stuhls zu, sie stellt auch eine einzigartige Charakterstudie über eine der umstrittensten Persönlichkeiten der Kirche des 20. Jahrhunderts dar.
Aim
To assess the prevalence and severity of periodontitis in patients with moderate chronic kidney disease (CKD) and comparing the results with the self‐reported periodontitis awareness of the study subjects.
Material and methods
The periodontal status of 270 patients with moderate CKD randomly selected from a cohort of 5,217 subjects participating in the prospective observational German Chronic Kidney Disease (GCKD) project was analysed by recording bleeding on probing (BOP), probing pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attachment level (CAL). Furthermore, the awareness of the study subjects of their periodontal conditions was evaluated by a self‐reported questionnaire.
Results
24.4% of the CKD study patients showed no or only mild signs of periodontal disease, 47.6% displayed moderate and 27% severe periodontitis. Questionnaire data revealed that 62.3% of the study subjects with severe periodontitis were not aware of the presence of the disease, 44.4% denied having received any systematic periodontal therapy so far, although 50% of them indicated to visit their dentist regularly for professional tooth cleanings.
Conclusion
While the clinical study data confirm an increased prevalence of periodontitis in CKD patients, their self‐reported awareness of periodontitis was low.
The rating of perceived exertion (RPE) is a subjective load marker and may assist in individualizing training prescription, particularly by adjusting running intensity. Unfortunately, RPE has shortcomings (e.g., underreporting) and cannot be monitored continuously and automatically throughout a training sessions. In this pilot study, we aimed to predict two classes of RPE (≤15 “Somewhat hard to hard” on Borg’s 6–20 scale vs. RPE >15 in runners by analyzing data recorded by a commercially-available smartwatch with machine learning algorithms. Twelve trained and untrained runners performed long-continuous runs at a constant self-selected pace to volitional exhaustion. Untrained runners reported their RPE each kilometer, whereas trained runners reported every five kilometers. The kinetics of heart rate, step cadence, and running velocity were recorded continuously ( 1 Hz ) with a commercially-available smartwatch (Polar V800). We trained different machine learning algorithms to estimate the two classes of RPE based on the time series sensor data derived from the smartwatch. Predictions were analyzed in different settings: accuracy overall and per runner type; i.e., accuracy for trained and untrained runners independently. We achieved top accuracies of 84.8 % for the whole dataset, 81.8 % for the trained runners, and 86.1 % for the untrained runners. We predict two classes of RPE with high accuracy using machine learning and smartwatch data. This approach might aid in individualizing training prescriptions.
Mit einer weltweiten Inzidenz von etwa 600.000 Neuerkrankten pro Jahr gehört das orale Plattenepithelkarzinom zu den sechs häufigsten malignen Tumorerkrankungen des Menschen. Zur Behandlung operabler Tumoren der Stadien III-IVb hat sich hingegen die multimodale Therapie mit primär operativem Vorgehen, gegebenenfalls mit nachfolgender adjuvanter Radiatio beziehungsweise Radiochemotherapie, etabliert. Beim Vorhandensein von Fernmetastasen hingegen ist das Therapiekonzept als palliativ einzustufen. Während sich für die adjuvante, kurativ intendierte Radiochemotherapie die Verwendung von Cisplatin oder cisplatinhaltiger Wirkstoffe etabliert hat, stellen seit einigen Jahren selektive Wirkstoffe wie Nivolumab und Cetuximab eine Alternative zur Cisplatin-Anwendung im palliativen Setting dar. Für die medikamentöse Therapie des fortgeschrittenen oralen Plattenepithelkarzinoms scheinen daher neue rationale Therapieansätze notwendig zu sein. Besonders ein hohes Maß an Toxizität sowie die individuelle Resistenzbildung vermögen den Therapieerfolg der herkömmlichen Chemotherapie zu kompromittieren. Spezifisch wirksame sogenannte "targeted agents" binden RTK und blockieren somit die nachgeschaltete Signalkaskade. In der vorliegenden Studie kam es zur Anwendung der TKI Afatinib, Volasertib und Nintedanib in alleiniger Anwendung sowie Kombinationstherapie mit Cisplatin und dem Smac-mimetic LCL-161. Die Analyse der Wirksamkeit oben genannter Stoffe erfolgte durch eine In-vitro-Evaluation an fünf Zelllinien des humanen Plattenepithelkarzinoms der Kopf- und Halsregion. Nach semiquantitativem Expressionsnachweis der Zielstrukturen erfolgte die Stimulation der Zellen mittels spezifischer Verdünnungsreihen in Mono- und Kombinationstherapie. Folgend wurden auf der Basis von Zellzahlanalysen, Kristallviolettassays und der Erstellung von Dosis-Wirkungskurven zelllinienspezifische IC50- beziehungsweise IC20-Werte ermittelt, statistisch ausgewertet und miteinander verglichen.
Die Anwendung von Afatinib in Monotherapie zeigte in der vorliegenden Studie keine signifikant erhöhte Zytoreduktion im Vergleich zur alleinigen Anwendung von Cisplatin. Auch ein Zusatz von Cisplatin zur Anwendung ergab keinen erwarteten synergistischen Effekt.
Die Anwendung von Nintedanib in Monotherapie zeigte in der Analyse keine signifikanten Vorteile gegenüber einer alleinigen Cisplatinanwendung. Auf der Basis der Ergebnisse der vorausgegangenen Expressionsanalysen scheint der FGFR-2 eine übergeordnete Rolle zu spielen, da hier partiell von einer verstärkten Wirksamkeit auszugehen ist. Weiterhin scheint gegenüber selektiven Angiogeneseinhibitoren kein Vorteil für Nintedanib zu bestehen. Betrachtet man die Kombinationsanwendung von Nintedanib mit Cisplatin so fallen sowohl synergistische wie auch partiell antagonistische Effekte im Vergleich zur Cisplatin-Monotherapie auf. Diese können durch die heterogene Expression der Zielstrukturen allein nicht erklärt werden, sodass hier weiterführende Untersuchungen sinnvoll wären.
Bei der Anwendung von Volasertib konnte für alle Zelllinien eine sehr deutliche Zytoreduktion erzielt werden, was durch generell erhöhte Expressionsraten erklärbar scheint. Sie manifestierte sich zudem in deutlich erniedrigten mittleren inhibitorischen Konzentrationen der Monotherapie gegenüber einer alleinigen Cisplatin-Anwendung. Betrachtet man die Kombinationsanwendung von Volasertib mit Cisplatin imponierten für alle Zelllinien erstaunlicherweise sogar schlechtere Ansprechraten verglichen mit der Volasertib-Monotherapie. Hier könnte man von einer inhibierenden Wechselwirkung der Wirkstoffe ausgehen. Diese Tatsache macht weiterführende Untersuchung zur Anwendung von Volasertib in Monotherapie attraktiver als die jeweilige Kombinationsanwendung.
Die Kombinationsanwendungen von LCL-161 mit Afatinib beziehungsweise Volasertib wiesen keine signifikant erhöhten zytoreduktiven Effekte auf. Hingegen waren die Untersuchungsergebnisse der Kombinationsanwendung des verwendeten Smac-Analogons und Nintedanib bemerkenswert. In vier von fünf Zelllinien sorgte ein LCL-161-Zusatz für eine signifikant erhöhte Zytoreduktion. Eine zusätzlich zur Angiogeneseinhibition durch Nintedanib induzierte Apoptoseinduktion in Kombination mit der Apoptosesensibilisierung durch LCL-161 könnte eine mögliche Erklärung dieser Beobachtung darstellen.
Aufgrund der sehr heterogenen Ergebnisse dieser Studie mit partiell synergistischen aber auch antagonistischen Effekten lässt sich schlussfolgern, dass alle drei verwendeten TKI aktuell keine vielversprechende Alternative zu der herkömmlichen Chemotherapie darstellen. Diese Heterogenität verdeutlicht auch, dass die Suche nach individuellen, zielgerichteten medikamentösen Therapieansätzen essenziell bleibt. Hierbei könnten Smac-Analoge ein vielversprechendes Feld weiterführender experimenteller und klinischer Studien eröffnen.
T cells play an essential role in the immune system. Engaging the T cell receptor (TCR) initiates a cascade of signaling events that activates the T cells. Neutral sphingomyelinase (NSM) is a member of a superfamily of enzymes responsible for the hydrolysis of sphingomyelin into phosphocholine and ceramide. Sphingolipids are essential mediators in signaling cascades involved in apoptosis, proliferation, stress responses, necrosis, inflammation, autophagy, senescence, and differentiation.
Upon specific ablation of NSM2, T cells proved to be hyper-responsive to CD3/CD28 co-stimulation, indicating that the enzyme acts to dampen early overshooting activation of these cells. It remained unclear whether a deregulated metabolic activity supports the hyper-reactivity of NSM2 deficient T cells. This work demonstrates that the ablation of NSM2 activity affects the metabolism of the quiescent CD4+ T cells. These accumulate ATP in mitochondria and increase basal glycolytic activity by increasing the basal glucose uptake and GLUT1 receptor expression, which, altogether, raises intracellular ATP levels and boosts cellular respiration. The increased basal metabolic activity is associated with rapid phosphorylation of S6, a mTORC1 target, as well as enhanced elevation total ATP levels within the first hour after CD3/CD28 costimulation. Increased metabolic activity in resting NSM2 deficient T cells does, however, not support sustained stimulated responses. While elevated under steady-state conditions and elevated early after co-stimulation in NSM2 deficient CD4+ T cells, the mTORC1 pathway regulating mitochondria size, oxidative phosphorylation, and ATP production is impaired after 24 hours of stimulation. Taken together, the absence of NSM2 promotes a hyperactive metabolic state in unstimulated CD4+ T cells yet fails to support sustained T cell responses upon antigenic stimulation without affecting T cell survival.
Neutral sphingomyelinase-2 (NSM2) is a member of a superfamily of enzymes responsible for conversion of sphingomyelin into phosphocholine and ceramide at the cytosolic leaflet of the plasma membrane. Upon specific ablation of NSM2, T cells proved to be hyper-responsive to CD3/CD28 co-stimulation, indicating that the enzyme acts to dampen early overshooting activation of these cells. It remained unclear whether hyper-reactivity of NSM2-deficient T cells is supported by a deregulated metabolic activity in these cells. Here, we demonstrate that ablation of NSM2 activity affects metabolism of the quiescent CD4\(^+\) T cells which accumulate ATP in mitochondria and increase basal glycolytic activity. This supports enhanced production of total ATP and metabolic switch early after TCR/CD28 stimulation. Most interestingly, increased metabolic activity in resting NSM2-deficient T cells does not support sustained response upon stimulation. While elevated under steady-state conditions in NSM2-deficient CD4\(^+\) T cells, the mTORC1 pathway regulating mitochondria size, oxidative phosphorylation, and ATP production is impaired after 24 h of stimulation. Taken together, the absence of NSM2 promotes a hyperactive metabolic state in unstimulated CD4\(^+\) T cells yet fails to support sustained T cell responses upon antigenic stimulation.
Ketamine is commonly used as an anaesthetic agent and has more recently gained attention as an antidepressant. It has been linked to increased stimulus‐locked excitability, inhibition of interneurons and modulation of intrinsic neuronal oscillations. However, the functional network mechanisms are still elusive. A better understanding of these anaesthetic network effects may improve upon previous interpretations of seminal studies conducted under anaesthesia and have widespread relevance for neuroscience with awake and anaesthetized subjects as well as in medicine. Here, we investigated the effects of anaesthetic doses of ketamine (15 mg kg\(^{-1}\) h\(^{-1}\)i.p.) on the network activity after pure‐tone stimulation within the auditory cortex of male Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus). We used laminar current source density (CSD) analysis and subsequent layer‐specific continuous wavelet analysis to investigate spatiotemporal response dynamics on cortical columnar processing in awake and ketamine‐anaesthetized animals. We found thalamocortical input processing within granular layers III/IV to be significantly increased under ketamine. This layer‐dependent gain enhancement under ketamine was not due to changes in cross‐trial phase coherence but was rather attributed to a broadband increase in magnitude reflecting an increase in recurrent excitation. A time–frequency analysis was indicative of a prolonged period of stimulus‐induced excitation possibly due to a reduced coupling of excitation and inhibition in granular input circuits – in line with the common hypothesis of cortical disinhibition via suppression of GABAergic interneurons.
Der ubiquitär vorkommende Schimmelpilz Aspergillus fumigatus (A. fumigatus) ist Haupterreger der invasiven Aspergillose (IA). Diese invasive Pilzinfektion tritt gehäuft bei Patienten mit immunsuppressiver Langzeit-Therapie z. B. nach allogener Stammzelltransplantation zur Prophylaxe und Therapie der Graft-versus-Host-Disease (GvHD) auf. Trotz der in-vitro-Suszeptibilität der Pilze gegenüber verschiedenen Antimykotika ist die Erkrankung in diesem Patientenkollektiv weiterhin mit einer hohen Letalität assoziiert. Neben ihren direkten, antifungalen Eigenschaften wurden durch Antimykotika auch indirekte, modulierende Wirkungen auf die Funktionalität von Immunzellen beschrieben, die damit möglicherweise das therapeutische Ansprechen dieser Erkrankung beeinflussen. Insbesondere neutrophile Granulozyten (PMN) spielen als Teil der angeborenen Immunität durch ihre Vielzahl an Abwehrmechanismen eine essentielle Rolle für die Bekämpfung von invasiven Pilzinfektionen und damit der IA. Von zusätzlicher Bedeutung und bislang kaum untersucht ist das kombinierte Einwirken von Antimykotika und Immunsuppressiva auf die Funktionalität dieser Zellen.
In dieser Arbeit wurde daher in-vitro der Einfluss klinisch eingesetzter Antimykotika zur Therapie der IA (liposomales Amphotericin B bzw. Amphotericin B – Desoxycholat, Voriconazol) auf wichtige Effektorfunktionen humaner neutrophiler Granulozyten nach Exposition gegenüber A. fumigatus untersucht. Im Fokus stand hierbei die Analyse des oxidativen Burst, der Interleukin (IL)-8-Freisetzung, der Bildung von neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) sowie der Phagozytose-Aktivität dieser Immunzellen. Außerdem wurde der Effekt einer zusätzlichen Gabe klinisch relevanter Immunsuppressiva (Ciclosporin A / Mycophenolat-Mofetil, Prednisolon), die zur Prophylaxe und Therapie der akuten GvHD eingesetzt werden, auf diese vier Funktionen evaluiert.
Zusammenfassend ergaben unsere Analysen keinen Anhalt für eine relevante Beeinflussung des oxidativen Burst, der IL-8-Freisetzung und der Phagozytose-Aktivität neutrophiler Granulozyten durch die untersuchten Antimykotika, insbesondere gegenüber A. fumigatus. Weiterhin wurden in dieser Arbeit keine signifikanten Differenzen zwischen dem Einfluss von liposomalem Amphotericin B und Amphotericin B - Desoxycholat beobachtet. Durch Prednisolon konnten überwiegend bereits bekannte, immunsuppressive Wirkungen auf PMN bestätigt sowie zusätzlich Hinweise auf eine Modulation Antimykotika-vermittelter Immuneffekte durch Immunsuppressiva gewonnen werden. Die kurze Exposition der PMN gegenüber Ciclosporin A / Mycophenolat-Mofetil ergab keine signifikanten Veränderungen der Sekretion von reaktiven Sauerstoffspezies.
Des Weiteren unterstützen unsere Daten Hinweise auf differente Aktivierungsmechanismen von verschiedenen Effektorfunktionen der PMN. Im Gegensatz zu den anderen untersuchten Funktionen konnte in dieser Arbeit eine signifikant verminderte Bildung von NETs durch liposomales Amphotericin B, Amphotericin B - Desoxycholat und auch Voriconazol beobachtet werden. Damit geben unsere Ergebnisse Anlass zu tiefergehenden Analysen des Zusammenspiels von Antimykotika insbesondere mit dem noch immer wenig verstandenen Mechanismus der Auslösung und Bildung von NETs. Zudem wären weitere Studien wünschenswert, um einen umfassenderen Überblick und ein besseres Verständnis auch hinsichtlich anderer invasiver Pilzinfektionen sowie weiterer Abwehrmechanismen zu erhalten.