Refine
Year of publication
- 2016 (73) (remove)
Document Type
- Doctoral Thesis (46)
- Article (27)
Language
- English (73) (remove)
Has Fulltext
- yes (73)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (73)
Keywords
- - (25)
- Genetik (3)
- Pancreatic cancer (3)
- Atmosphärendruckplasma (2)
- Biokatalyse (2)
- Enzyme (2)
- Molecular biology (2)
- Molekularbiologie (2)
- Plasmadiagnostik (2)
- Plasmamedizin (2)
- Plasmaphysik (2)
- Protein-Engineering (2)
- Proteomics (2)
- Prävention (2)
- Schleimpilze (2)
- Slime molds (2)
- Slime moulds (2)
- Staphylococcus aureus (2)
- Thrombozyt (2)
- Thrombozytopenie (2)
- fMRI (2)
- plasma medicine (2)
- 1-deoxy sphingolipids (1)
- 3DM (1)
- <span style="font-variant:small-caps; text-transform:lowercase">L</span>-Carnitine (1)
- ASDEX (1)
- Abdominal fat (1)
- Abiraterone (1)
- Afrika (1)
- Akt (1)
- Alcohol dehydrogenases (1)
- Alexithymia (1)
- Angiogenesis (1)
- Animal models (1)
- Antibacterial efficacy (1)
- Antikörper (1)
- Aquatic Interfaces (1)
- Art (1)
- Arxula adeninivorans (1)
- Atomspektrum (1)
- BDNF (1)
- BK-virus (1)
- Bacillus (1)
- Bacterial infection (1)
- Band (1)
- Beckenboden (1)
- Bernoulli convolutions (1)
- Bernoulli-Faltungen (1)
- Binaural beats (1)
- Biocatalysis (1)
- Biogeochemie (1)
- Biogeografie (1)
- Biomarkers (1)
- Biotechnologie (1)
- Bose-Einstein-Kondensation (1)
- CP7_E2alf (1)
- Calcium regulation (1)
- Caries decline (1)
- Cell surface molecules (1)
- Central Europe (1)
- Ceramide (1)
- Cerebral angiogram (1)
- Cerebral cavernous malformations (1)
- Cerebrovascular disease (1)
- Changai (1)
- Chemotherapy (1)
- Childhood trauma (1)
- Children (1)
- Chiral alcohols (1)
- Classical swine fever virus (1)
- Cluster (1)
- Cold atmospheric pressure plasma (1)
- Community dentistry (1)
- Community-based Health Insurance (1)
- Complement (1)
- Cytoprotection (1)
- DIVA-Impfstoff (1)
- Demenz (1)
- Dental profiles (1)
- Dental public health (1)
- Deutschland (1)
- Diabetes mellitus (1)
- Differentialgleichung (1)
- Diffusion (1)
- Dilated cardiomyopathy (1)
- Disease management (1)
- Dissociation (1)
- Dual-task (1)
- Dusty Plasma (1)
- ECC (1)
- EPR (1)
- ERK1/2 (1)
- Ecology (1)
- Efficacy (1)
- Effizienz (1)
- Eisenoxid-Nanopartikels (1)
- Eisflussmodellierung (1)
- Elastizitätstheorie (1)
- Electroencephalography (1)
- Elektronenemission (1)
- Elektronenparamagnetische Resonanz (1)
- Endomyokardbiopsien und Plasma (1)
- Enteral nutrition (1)
- Enzym (1)
- Enzyme identification (1)
- Enzymidentifizierung (1)
- Epidemiologie (1)
- Epilepsy (1)
- Epoxid-Hydrolase (1)
- Esterasen (1)
- Extracellular matrix (1)
- Exziton (1)
- FOLFIRINOX (1)
- FTIR (1)
- Ficus species (1)
- Ficus-Arten (1)
- Fidschi (1)
- Flüssigkeiten (1)
- Fusion plasma (1)
- Fusionsplasma (1)
- General Anesthesia (1)
- Genetics (1)
- Geochronologie (1)
- Geomorphologie (1)
- Germany (1)
- Gesundheitssysteme (1)
- Gesundheitssystementwicklung (1)
- Gesundheitsökonomie (1)
- Glucocorticoid receptor (1)
- Guided Streamer (1)
- Haemorrhagic cystitis (1)
- Haloalkan-Dehalogenase (1)
- Hansenula polymorpha (1)
- Heart Failure (1)
- Heat shock protein 27 (1)
- Heißes Plasma (1)
- Heparin (1)
- Herzchirurgie (1)
- Herzinsuffizienz (1)
- Hot plasma (1)
- Hue (1)
- Human (1)
- Hutchinson Operator (1)
- Hutchinson-Operator (1)
- Hydrolasen (1)
- Immobilisierung (1)
- Immobilization (1)
- Immunantwort (1)
- Immunbiologie (1)
- Immune response (1)
- Immunkomplex (1)
- Immunoadsorptionstherapie (1)
- Immunsystem (1)
- Impfstoff (1)
- Imunoadsorption therapy (1)
- Inanspruchnahme (1)
- Infektionen (1)
- Informeller Sektor (1)
- Innate immunity (1)
- Innere Energie (1)
- Insulin (1)
- Integrierte Soziale Sicherung (1)
- Internet (1)
- Intracerebral haemorrhage (1)
- Ionenstrahlfalle (1)
- Iterated Function System (1)
- Iteriertes Funktionensystem (1)
- Kardiovaskuläre Krankheit (1)
- Kernfusion (1)
- Kinder (1)
- Kinetische Gastheorie (1)
- Krankenversicherung (1)
- Krankheitskosten (1)
- LSR (1)
- Lebendmarker-Vakzine (1)
- Leptin (1)
- Limnologie (1)
- Linear Elasticity (1)
- Lipoprotein (1)
- Lévy processes (1)
- Lévy-prozess (1)
- MRP3 (1)
- Magnetohydrodynamik (1)
- Massenspektrometrie (1)
- Maus (1)
- Mediation analysis (1)
- Metabolismus (1)
- Metabolomics (1)
- Methicillin-resistant (1)
- Microarrays (1)
- Modellbildung (1)
- Modenübergang (1)
- Molecular Modelling (1)
- Molecular modelling (1)
- Mongolei (1)
- Mongolia (1)
- Mongolischer Altai (1)
- Monitoring (1)
- Myodes glareolus (1)
- N-Acyl-L-Homoserinlakton (1)
- NOD/SCID mouse model (1)
- Nab-paclitaxel (1)
- Narkose (1)
- Neonatal outcome (1)
- Neonates (1)
- Nephropathy (1)
- Netz (1)
- Neue Medien (1)
- Neukaledonien (1)
- Neutrophil extracellular traps (1)
- Niedertemperaturplasma (1)
- Nuckelflaschenkaries (1)
- Oberflächendatierung (1)
- Omega-3 fatty acids (1)
- Optimal Control (1)
- Optimale Kontrolle (1)
- Organic Matter (1)
- Organischer Stoff (1)
- P-Glykoprotein (1)
- PDAC (1)
- PDE (1)
- PI3K (1)
- PLK1 (1)
- PRP (1)
- PTSD (1)
- Palliative chemotherapy (1)
- Paläoklima (1)
- Pancreatitis (1)
- Panton-Valentin-Leukozidin (1)
- Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (1)
- Parenteral nutrition (1)
- Pazifischer Ozean <Süd > (1)
- Perinatal infection (1)
- Pharmakogenetik (1)
- Pharmakokinetik (1)
- Phosphoproteomik (1)
- Phylogenie (1)
- Physik (1)
- Physiologie (1)
- Pilz-Endophyten (1)
- Pilz-Vielfalt (1)
- Plasma-Flüssigkeits-Wechselwirkung (1)
- Plasmachemie (1)
- Polaron (1)
- Polymorphism (1)
- Polynesien (1)
- Population genetics (1)
- Populationsgenetik (1)
- Precision medicine (1)
- Preterm infants (1)
- Prevalence (1)
- Prevention (1)
- Process engineering (1)
- Progenitor cells (1)
- Progenitorzellen (1)
- Prostate cancer (1)
- Protamine (1)
- Protease (1)
- Proteine (1)
- Proteinphosphorylierung (1)
- Proteinreinigung (1)
- Proteomik (1)
- Prozesstechnik (1)
- Psychiatrie (1)
- Puumala virus (1)
- Quantendot (1)
- Quantengruppe (1)
- Quantenwahrscheinlichkeitstheorie (1)
- Quorum quenching (1)
- Quorum sensing (1)
- RNS (1)
- ROS (1)
- Radiation (1)
- Radiofrequenz (1)
- Random matrices (1)
- Reaktionskaskade (1)
- Recurrent depression (1)
- Redox Biogeochemie (1)
- Redox Biogeochemistry (1)
- Referred (1)
- Rekrutierung (1)
- Responder und Nicht-Responder (1)
- SPIONs (1)
- Schale (1)
- Schlaganfall (1)
- Schlieren (1)
- Schlinge (1)
- Schnecken (1)
- Schweineleber-Esterase (1)
- Screening (1)
- Sekundärmetaboliten (1)
- Shells (1)
- Sicherheit (1)
- Simulation (1)
- Social Health Insurance (1)
- Socio-economic status (1)
- Soziale Krankenversicherung (1)
- Sozialversicherung (1)
- Spektroskopie (1)
- Spektrum (1)
- Sphingolipide (1)
- Spin Trap (1)
- Spin Trapping (1)
- Statistik (1)
- Staubiges Plasma (1)
- Stem cell transplantation (1)
- Stereotactic surgery (1)
- Synthetic Biology (1)
- Synthetische Biologie (1)
- THP-1 cells (1)
- TRP channels (1)
- Talinolol (1)
- Targeted delivery (1)
- Temperatur (1)
- Theranostics (1)
- Thyroid function (1)
- Thyroid-stimulating hormone (1)
- Tokamak (1)
- Tolerability (1)
- Tomographie (1)
- Tourismus (1)
- Tracer particles (1)
- Tracerpartikel (1)
- Transaminasen (1)
- Transfer Operator (1)
- Transfer-Operator (1)
- Transportproteine (1)
- Tropen (1)
- Truncatelloidea (1)
- Tumor spezifischer Transport (1)
- Universal Health Coverage (1)
- Universelle Abdeckung (1)
- Urological complications (1)
- Vanuatu (1)
- Vergletscherung (1)
- Verhaltensmodifikation (1)
- Vietnam (1)
- Virulence (1)
- Virus der klassischen Schweinepest (1)
- Visceral adipose tissue (1)
- Visceral body fat (1)
- Vitronectin (1)
- Waves (1)
- Wellen (1)
- Wirt-Erreger Interaktion (1)
- Wirtsorganismus (1)
- Yeast (1)
- Zahnstatus (1)
- Zeeman and Stark effects (1)
- Zeeman- und Stark-Effekte (1)
- Zerstörung (1)
- Zufallsmatrizen (1)
- Zylinderschale (1)
- adhesin A (1)
- affective neuroscience (1)
- alloplastische Materialien (1)
- amygdala (1)
- aquatische Grenzzonen (1)
- arousal (1)
- atomic spectra (1)
- bank vole (1)
- caries prevelance (1)
- catalytic promiscuity (1)
- cell signaling (1)
- climate extremes (1)
- dendritic spine function (1)
- dendrometer measurements (1)
- destination image (1)
- destination loyalty (1)
- diffusion weighted imaging (1)
- dilatative Kardiomyopathie (1)
- duktale Adenokarzinom des Pankreas (1)
- dystrophin deficient (1)
- efficacy (1)
- electron emission (1)
- emotion (1)
- emotion perception (1)
- endemic region (1)
- endoscope-assisted (1)
- enzyme evolution (1)
- event coincidence analysis (1)
- evolutionary lineage (1)
- face perception (1)
- free probability (1)
- fungal diversity (1)
- fungal endophytes (1)
- gamma (1)
- gemeindebasierte Krankenversicherung (1)
- geochronology (1)
- gerichtete Evolution (1)
- glaciers (1)
- group prevention (1)
- growth response (1)
- guided streamer (1)
- hemifacial spasm (1)
- host pathogen interactions (1)
- hydrolases (1)
- ice flow model (1)
- individual differences (1)
- internal energy (1)
- intestinale Absorption (1)
- intraoperative monitoring (1)
- invariant measure (1)
- invariantes Maß (1)
- ion-beam trap (1)
- katalytische Promiskuität (1)
- lateral spread (1)
- life-span development (1)
- live marker vaccine (1)
- microvascular decompression (1)
- motivation (1)
- motor outcome (1)
- multilayers (1)
- neural circuits and behavior (1)
- neuroimmune interactions (1)
- outbreak (1)
- p38 (1)
- phagocytosis (1)
- phonon localization (1)
- phonon propagation (1)
- pig liver esterase (1)
- plasma-liquid-interaction (1)
- prediction (1)
- protein engineering (1)
- proteomics (1)
- psychiatric disorders (1)
- pulsed laser deposition (1)
- pump-probe spectroscopy (1)
- quantum groups (1)
- quantum probability (1)
- recovery (1)
- reinforcement learning (1)
- resting state fMRI (1)
- safety (1)
- secondary metabolites (1)
- sexual dimorphism (1)
- social relationships in school (1)
- spectrum (1)
- stroke (1)
- sub-Saharan Africa (1)
- surface exposure dating (1)
- synaptic function (1)
- synaptic remodeling (1)
- synaptic transmission (1)
- temperature (1)
- tourism (1)
- tourist satisfaction (1)
- transbilayer lipid (flip-flop) motion (1)
- tropics (1)
- visual processing (1)
- Ökologie (1)
Institute
- Institut für Physik (9)
- Institut für Biochemie (7)
- Abteilung für Mikrobiologie und Molekularbiologie (5)
- Institut für Botanik und Landschaftsökologie & Botanischer Garten (4)
- Institut für Mathematik und Informatik (3)
- Institut für Psychologie (3)
- Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie (3)
- Klinik und Poliklinik für Neurologie (3)
- Poliklinik für Kieferorthopädie, Präventive Zahnmedizin und Kinderzahnheilkunde (3)
- Institut für Geographie und Geologie (2)
Publisher
- S. Karger AG (15)
- Frontiers Media S.A. (8)
- De Gruyter (1)
- IOP Publishing (1)
Nanoengineering and laser optics allow for the fabrication of a wide range of systems that subject fermionic particles to geometric restrictions. In addition to strong correlations, the fermions may couple to internal or external bosonic fields, such as quantized lattice vibrations or light fields. This thesis considers the theoretical description of two such systems. One is a molecular junction, i.e., a small organic molecule contacted by metallic electrodes or leads. Itinerant electrons induce molecular vibrations and deformations, corresponding to phonon modes of considerable energy. The thesis investigates the effects of this local electron-phonon interaction on the electric and thermoelectric transport through the junction. Starting with an Anderson-Holstein quantum dot model, our ansatz is based on the application of a variational Lang-Firsov transformation that accounts for the polaronic character of the dot state. We solve the steady-state Kadanoff-Baym equations and derive a self-consistent approximation to the polaronic self-energy that accounts for finite densities and multi-phonon scattering processes. The optimal variational parameter is determined numerically by minimizing the thermodynamical potential. This allows a detailed study of the electronic dot spectral function for all interaction strengths and adiabaticity regimes. For instance, we discuss how a voltage dependent polaronic renormalization of the dot-lead coupling and the dot level causes negative differential conductance and novel conductance features. The investigation of the second system is motivated by recent experiments on the Bose-Einstein condensation of excitons in small semiconducting cuprous oxide crystals. At ultra cold temperatures three species of para- and orthoexcitons are caught in stress induced potential traps. Their decay luminescence is the primary method of detection. This thesis considers the thermodynamics of this system in terms of a multicomponent gas of weakly interacting bosons in external potentials. The coupled equations of motion are solved within a Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov-Popov approximation. For typical experimental parameters the density distributions of the interacting species are calculated numerically. Based on the luminescence formula by Shi and Verechaka we discuss, e.g., how the spectrum of the direct decay of thermal paraexcitons may reveal the formation of a nonluminescent paraexciton condensate as well as the spatial separation of strongly repulsive orthocondensates. First results for an extended luminescence theory are presented, which takes into account the polariton effect.
This thesis draws a comprehensive picture about the radiation and diversification of truncatelloidean gastropods across the south pacific. It covers three more specifc studies focussing on the Truncelloideans from Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia, respectively. And a conclusive analysis that combines the results of the three more specific studies and enhances them using species from the Austral Islands, Lord Howe Island, the Indonesian island Sulawesi as well as several species from New Zealand and Australia. Molecular phylogenies were calculated using four nuclear gene fragments (ITS2; 18S rRNA; 28S rRNA and Histone 3) besides the mitochondrial COI and 16S rRNA. Further molecuular data was used to calculate dated phylogenies, perform ancestral range reconstructions and develop a modified molecular barcoding approach.
In this thesis, rates and extend as well as the ecological implications of electron exchange reactions that involve redox-active moieties in organic matter (OM) were explored. The research builds on earlier findings that confirmed that OM may act as terminal electron acceptor (TEA) for electrons released in microbial respiration. This property was associated with quinone moieties that are ubiquitously found in OM from terrestrial and aquatic environments and that may undergo reversible reduction to the respective hydroquinone. Earlier methodological advances allowed for a rapid, direct and precise quantification of the electron accepting and donating properties of quinones in dissolved OM (DOM) by mediated electrochemical analysis. In this work, the previously established mediated electrochemical analysis was adapted and used in the characterization of redox properties of particulate natural samples that contain redox active iron and organic matter ("geochemical phases"). For the first time, direct measurements confirmed that microorganisms transferred electrons (e) from microbial respiration to the organic and inorganic electron acceptors in the particulate phase. Particulate OM in the sediments was found to provide a capacity to accept or donate e of 650 µmol e/gC. An incubation experiment resolved the spatiotemporal dynamics of organic and inorganic TEA species (i.e., nitrate, sulfate, Fe- and Mn oxyhydroxides) in sediments upon changes in oxygen availability and hence redox conditions. Oxygen is consumed when the reduced species are oxidized and, by this means, re-generate their electron-accepting capacity. The use of mediated electrochemical analysis allowed for the quantification of the redox state of the geochemical phases during their reduction and re-oxidation. The electron fluxes initiated by the oxic re generation of the TEAs nitrate, sulfate, Fe(III), Mn(IV) and quinoid moieties in OM were therefore directly monitored instead of modeled from the species’ distribution profiles in interstitial waters. The cyclic reduction and re-oxidation of redox species exposed to oxygen fluctuations was suspected to be a critical component of many aquatic ecosystems. In stratified lakes, extended sediment volumes are exposed to oxygen only upon lake overturn. Lake oxygen budgets are therefore influenced by benthic redox processes. The combined field and laboratory study showed that lake overturn seasonally introduces a finite amount of oxygen to the hypolimnion and that about 50% of the subsequent sediment oxygen consumption is exclusively associated with the re-generation of TEA species. These species previously formed in the sediment when organic matter was microbially decomposed during anaerobia. While lake overturn can completely mix epi- and hypolimnetic waters, small-scaled dynamics in temperature and oxygen availability may confine discrete parts of the water column with oscillations in physicochemical conditions. In the studied lake, a transient thermocline cyclically introduces oxygen to hypoxic hyplimnetic waters close to the pelagic redox interface. In the lake, organic TEAs may represent an important component of the total pelagic electron acceptor capacity. Due to the rapid and reversible redox reactions of DOM, reduced organic TEAs are re-generated upon dislocation to oxic parts of the water column. Results show that diurnal fluctuations of oxycline depth shape a micro-environment selecting for microbial species that are released from TEA limitations by OM in oxidized state. Pelagic microbial communities subjected to the same amount of OM in different oxidation states differed by more than 50% after one day. This work substantiates earlier findings that suggested that OM may be an important TEA species in many aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. OM reduction in microbial respiration was shown to directly affect critical system parameters as bacterial activity, oxygen budgets and aquatic biodiversity. Both the microbial reduction and subsequent abiotic oxidation of OM are sufficiently fast for relevant interaction with oxycline fluctuation on different timescales. Given that organic TEAs are cyclically regenerated, a significant share of ecosystem respiration could be linked to OM reduction. This thesis demonstrated the new and important role electron exchange reactions in OM-rich environments play and explored the mechanism of this previously neglected part of lake functioning. As of today, linking the chemistry of aquatic turnover processes with the microbiological and physical conditions at redox interfaces remains challenging. In conclusions, by providing several cases from aquatic environments, this thesis contributes to the mechanistic understanding of OM reduction in microbial respiration. The results prompt for further research regarding the competitive inhibition of other respiration pathways, including the reductive production of the potent greenhouse gas methane.
Background: Microvascular Decompression represents an effective treatment for hemifacial spasm. The use of lateral spread responses (LSRs) monitoring remains a useful intraoperative tool to ensure adequate decompression of the facial nerve. Objective: To assess the value of LSRs intraoperative monitoring as a prognostic indicator for the outcome of microvascular decompression in hemifacial spasm. Methods: Our study included 100 patients prospectively. The patients were classified into 4 groups whether LSRs were totally, partially, not relieved or not detected from the start. According to clinical outcome, the patients were classified into 4 groups depending on the clinical course after surgery and the residual symptoms if any. Then, correlations were made between LSRs events and treatment outcome to detect its reliability as a prognostic indicator. Results: LSRs were relieved totally in 56% of the patients, partially relieved in 14%, not relieved in 10% and were not detected in 20% of the patients from the start. HFS was relieved directly after operation in 62% with clinical improvement of 90-100%. 31% described 50-90% improvement over the next 3 months after surgery. Almost all of these 31% (28 out of 31 patients) reported further clinical improvement of 90-100% within one year after surgery. 3% suffered from a relapse after a HFS-free period and 4% reported minimal or no improvement describing 0-50% of the preoperative state. The percentage of the satisfied patients with the clinical outcome who reported after one year a clinical improvement of 90-100% was 90%. Statistical analysis did not find a significant correlation between the relief of LSRs and clinical outcome. Conclusion: LSRs may only represent an intraoperative tool to guide for an adequate decompression but failed to represent a reliable prognostic indicator for treatment outcome.
Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a myocardial disorder characterised by ventricular dilation with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Immunoadsorption (IA) followed by immunoglobulin (IgG) substitution (IA/IgG) has been shown to be a promising therapeutic intervention to recover myocardial functions in DCM patients. The beneficial effects of IA/IgG therapy are associated with increased LVEF, decreased left ventricular inner diameter at diastole (LVIDd) and reduced myocardial inflammation. Despite knowing the cardiac benefits of IA/IgG, the precise molecular mechanism induced by therapy is still elusive. Additionally, only ≈60 % DCM patients treated with IA/IgG demonstrated improved heart function. Moreover, the reasons for this differential outcome among DCM patients after treatment have not been clearly understood. In this study, efforts were made to uncover the therapy induced proteomic changes in the heart of responders (relative change in LVEF ≤ 20%, LVEF < 5% absolute value) and non-responders using a global proteomic approach. Apart from it, proteomic profiling of endomyocardial biopsies and plasma was performed to find protein biomarker candidates which might be useful to distinguish responder and non-responder DCM patients before immunoadsorption therapy and support a selective and individualized treatment. To reveal therapy induced myocardial proteomic changes, endomyocardial biopsies of DCM patients before and after therapy were compared. LVEF increased (32 ± 8 to 45±7, p<0.002) and LVIDd decreased (66 ± 6 to 60±6, p<0.040) after therapy in responders, whereas non-responders did not show any significant changes in these clinical parameters. To address the changes in the myocardial proteome induced by therapy, a label-free proteomic approach was applied. The most prominent proteomic differences between both subgroups were observed in cytoskeletal, fibrosis, and extracellular matrix proteins. Therapy linked benefit in responders seems to be highly associated with the lower abundance of fibrotic and extracellular matrix proteins which seems to reflect a lower activity of transforming growth factor-β signaling. To elucidate proteomic differences between responders and non-responders at baseline, endomyocardial biopsies and plasma proteome profiling were performed. Responder and non-responder DCM patients did not show any significant differences in the clinical parameters (LVEF, LVIDd, age, inflammation, etc.) before IA/IgG therapy except for disease duration that was in tendency higher among non-responders. Proteomics profiling of endomyocardial biopsies revealed 54 differentially abundant proteins between responders and non-responders. Among those proteins, Protein S100-A8 and kininogen-1 was found higher whereas perilipin-4 was found lower abundant in responders. Plasma profiling of these subgroups revealed five proteins (S100-A8, S100-A9, C-Reactive protein, lipopolysaccharide-binding protein, and cysteine-rich secretory protein) displaying strong discriminative power between responders and non-responders. Higher abundance of Protein S100-A8 was observed in myocardium as well as in plasma among responders. Protein S100-A8 might be a potential candidate to distinguish responders and non-responders at baseline, and its potential utility at clinical levels must be evaluated. The last objective of the thesis was to establish a workflow for the relative quantitation of phosphopeptides for samples generally obtained in small amounts like myocardial biopsies. To address this question, optimization was performed with HL-1 cardiomyocytes using a PolyMAC phosphopeptide enrichment kit and the effect of TGF-β1 on the phosphoproteome was evaluated as a proof-of-principle study. Using only 200µg protein of each sample up to 2000 phosphopeptides with an efficiency of >90 percent could be covered. In total, upon TGF-β1 incubation alterations of 214, 92, and 53 phosphopeptides were observed after 1, 6 and 24 hours, respectively. Differentially altered phosphopeptides belonged to many signaling pathways including the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, cytoskeletal regulation by Rho GTPase, calcium signaling, and TGF-β signaling. Thus, in this study a workflow for relative quantitation of phosphopeptides was established that may be later applied to precious biopsy samples. Along with this, TGF- β1 induced phosphoproteome was analysed in HL-1 cardiomyocytes.
The aim of this retrospective observational study is to describe and discuss various complications that can arise after insertion of alloplastic materials in the field of urogynecology that require further surgical interventions in order to manage them or to at least improve the quality of life in those women. We were able to collect data on 77 patients who fulfilled the criteria. Medical history, data of clinical findings, and outcomes were collected and analyzed. The most common complication seen as an indication for resecting slings or meshes was de novo overactive bladder syndrome (40%). Other indications seen were lower urinary tract obstruction or obstructive voiding symptoms (21%), chronic pain (21%), and de novo dyspareunia (13%). 36% of the patients had recurrent symptoms (failure) after insertion of alloplastic materials in the form of urinary incontinence or prolapse, 32% presented with vaginal erosions, 2 women had severe signs of infection with abscess formation, another 3 women had urogenital fistulae. Other rare complications after mesh or sling insertion are perforations of the urinary bladder or urethra. Proper case selection is the key factor. The use of meshes and slings seems justified only in patients with known connective tissue weakness and recurrences after native tissue repair. Otherwise, patients will be exposed to unnecessary risk without any expectable improvement to their quality of life. Most of the complications are mainly caused by wrong and inadequate surgical techniques, wrong indications, or missed diagnosis of the underlying problem. In addition, lack of long-term follow-up is usually the cause behind the negligence towards many complications. Therefore, only experienced physicians should be allowed to perform such procedures, and long-term postoperative follow-up is strongly recommended. As slings and meshes are used for procedures of choice as means to improve quality of life, and not for life threatening situations, there is a need for intensive informed consent. All possible alternatives have to be discussed, as do the pros and cons of selected procedures, even the rare complications. Mesh or sling resection is considered to be an effective solution for the management of such complications. It has shown a high success rate in comparison to conservative treatment, and the majority of patients were satisfied and experienced a big improvement in their quality of life. The most common complication after resection is the recurrence of primary symptoms, either urinary incontinence or prolapse. Major or serious intra- or postoperative complications are very rare. All complications were classified and given a code according to the classification system of the international urogynecological association and the international continence society (IUGA/ICS) on 2011. The applicability and practicability of this code were evaluated, looking for ways to possibly improve it or to identify missing parameters. Many patients had more than one code, a problem that entirely torpedoed the idea of “simple” classification. Some complications are not covered individually in the classification, such as failure and recurrence or overactive bladder syndrome. These complications should be included. Many cases began with the same code, despite having different complications. Further sub-classifications should be considered to enable the reader to easily recognize the complication at hand. Patients who came with complications more than one year after mesh or sling insertion were categorized as (T4), regardless of whether the complication arose after 1 year of after 10. Therefore, sub-classifications in the (T4) category are recommended. The “site” category was not applicable in many cases. Furthermore, it is necessary that the severity of a complication is discernible, and should be mentioned in the code. We did not find any correlation between the code given and patient satisfaction. After re-modification and completion, the IUGA/ICS code could be more practical for clinical use, which would allow for the comparison of complications and make the assessment of adverse effects easier for research purposes.
Background: Referral to specialized pediatric treatment seems to rise in Germany, especially for children under 5 years of age and mostly due to behaviour management problems, rampant caries and the need for comprehensive dental treatments. There are indications that more dental treatments under general anesthesia were needed in last decade, but there are very few studies on this topic in Germany. Aim: The objectives of this research were to investigate the characteristics and dental features of referred children to Greifswald university dental clinic in 2008 and 2011 as well as to assess dental treatment and characteristics of the children who underwent general anesthesia in 2011 at Greifswald University Clinic in comparison with three specialized pediatric private practices in Germany. Materials and methods: This retrospective analytical comparative study examined the records of all children younger than 18 years of age, whose were referred to the university dental clinic in Greifswald between 2008 and 2011. In addition, all cases that underwent general anesthesia at the university dental clinic and three other private practices in 2011 were analyzed anonymously. All data including age, gender, dental status and caries levels (dmft/DMFT), as well as diagnosis, referral/GA reasons and the dental treatments were collected and then analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences program (SPSS, Ver. 16 for Windows). Descriptive analysis was performed, along with univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Chi square tests. Differences between groups were tested through Mann-Whitney U test and Student’s t-test as appropriate. Results: The final study sample for children and adolescents referred to the university consisted of 389 under 18 years old (205 males and 184 females) with a mean age of 8.75 years in 2008 and 7.38 years in 2011. In addition, 297 children (160 males and 137 females) with a mean age of 4.77 years had been treated under general anesthesia in the three specialized private practices (n= 219, age: 4.81±2.06 years) and in the university (n=78, age: 4.65±2.59 years). More patients of age group 1 (5 yrs or younger), as well as, patients residing within a distance of 31-40 km away from the clinic were referred in 2011 (47.2% and 35.9% resp.) in comparison with 2008 (37.1% and 22.7% resp.) Panoramic and intraoral dental x-rays (46.7%, 11.8% resp.) have been widely carried out in 2011 compared to 2008 (29.9%, 6.5% resp. P = 0.002). Statistical analyses have shown that, younger children with higher values of dental caries indices (dmft, DMFT) were referred in 2011 (5.4 and 2.15 resp.) than in 2008 (5.16 and 1.57 resp.) with increasing demand for comprehensive dental treatment under GA. Whereas, more patients were diagnosed to have rampant caries (42.1%) in 2011 followed by orthodontic/oral surgery problems (16.9%) in comparison with 2008 (29.3%, 10.1% resp. P < 0.001). Non-invasive treatment was much more delivered (63%) in first dental visit for referred patients in 2011 followed by dental consultation (23.6%) compared to 2008 (53.6% and 21.3% resp.). While, on the other hand, considerably more fillings were supplied in 2008 (11.5%) compared to 2011 (2.6%). Further dental treatment pattern revealed more treatment under GA (27%) and a slightly more extractions (16.1%) were done in 2011 compared to 2008 (20.9%, 15.5% resp.). On the contrary, less fillings and preventive procedures were performed in 2011 (26.3% and 4.4% resp.) in comparison with 2008. Sixty-one percent of children were referred back to their family dentists in 2011 which was more than it in 2008. Indeed, about a half of children aged 5 years or younger preferred to stay at the University Clinics in 2011, while, the vast majority of children older than 12 years continued their dental care outside the University Clinics. About eighty percent and seventy percent of children underwent GA at both the university clinics and private practices respectively were under five years old. In total 7.1% mental disabilities and 2.4% preterm birth were detected in children treated under GA, as well as, dental caries were mostly diagnosed (37%) among them followed by irreversible pulpitis (21.5%) and Early Childhood Caries (ECC) (18.5%), where only 4.38% of all examined children had no carious lesions. More panoramic radiographs (41%) and less dental films (26.9%) were conducted at the university clinics as in the private practices (15.1% and 52.1% respectively) with a significant reduction in using x-rays at the university (69.2%) compared to private practices (94.1%). Dental extractions were often performed at university clinic (40.2%, 3.14±2.4) followed by fillings (33.9%, 2.65±2.7), while, more restorations and less extractions were supplied at private practices (47.8%, 5.47±3.1 and 16.3%, 1.86±2 resp.). Both of long (106-120 Min) and short (0-15 Min) treatment’s durations were needed in the university clinics to carried out the adequate dental therapy under GA, while, most of the GAs at private practices have lasted between 45 and 90 minutes. Conclusion: There is a growing definite need for specialized pediatric dentistry in Germany, especially for children under 5 years of age being referred with rampant caries and behaviour management problems to specialized pediatric dentistry. This results in a high number of extensive treatment performed under GA. In contrast to other countries, this seems to be a singular event for most children in Germany indicating a solid treatment under GA and possibly also improvements in the caries activity of the affected children afterwards. The range of dental treatment and its outcome at Greifswald University and in the examined three specialized private practices is very similar reflecting in both the profile of the children a valid indication for GA and the subsequent treatment up to date approaches in pediatric dentistry. Thus, the very professional treatment and effective secondary preventive strategies achieve better oral health and reestablished quality of life for these children, but a primary preventive approach would be preferable decreasing the number of children in need of dental treatment under general anaesthesia.
This thesis is about the establishment and the application of novel methods and tools that are re-lated to the most widely used enzyme class: hydrolases. It covers all fields from the identification to the application of these valuable enzymes with particular focus on lactonases, acylases and proteases. The activity assay introduced in Article I substantially extends the method toolbox for studies on lactonases and acylases that interfere with the bacterial cell-cell communication system. Article II describes a fully automatized robotic platform that represents the next-level tool for the high-throughput enzyme screening in the microtiter plate format. It was used, for instance, for the screening for improved porcine aminoacylase I variants. Diverse aspects of the protease-mediated hydrolysis of non-resistant proteins for the purification of resistant target proteins are highlighted in Article III.
Hantaviruses are enveloped viruses with a single-stranded RNA genome of negative polarity. The genome consists of three segments: small (S), medium (M) and large (L). As zoonotic pathogen, hantaviruses are worldwide responsible for 150,000 to 200,000 human disease cases per year. Two forms of human disease are currently distinguished: In the Americas the hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) and in Europe and Asia the hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). Since the introduction of the German Protection against Infection Act in 2001 until now a total of 10,082 disease cases have been reported. As a result, hantavirus infections currently rank as the fifth frequent notifiable disease in Germany. More than 80% of these infections were caused by the hantavirus species Puumala virus (PUUV), transmitted by the bank vole Myodes glareolus. Besides temporal oscillations, an unequal geographical distribution of human PUUV cases was noticed in Germany and in other countries of Central Europe. This is reflected in the presence of endemic and non-endemic regions as well as of so-called outbreak years. Therefore, the overall objective of this study was to find out possible reasons for the inhomogeneous distribution of PUUV in Central Europe, in particular in Poland, Germany and certain districts of Baden-Wuerttemberg. The basic working hypothesis was that PUUV spread in Central Europe after the last glaciation with different evolutionary lineages of the bank vole and that the current emergence of PUUV in bank vole populations is determined by local geographical and ecological factors. Very little was known about the presence of PUUV in Poland. Earlier studies were based exclusively on serological detection of PUUV, but a molecular detection with subsequent phylogenetic investigation was missing so far. Therefore, 45 bank voles from the northeastern part of Poland were investigated by serological and molecular assays. In three animals from a forest region close to the city of Miko³ajki PUUV-reactive antibodies and/or PUUV RNA were detected. Phylogenetic analysis indicated the presence of a Latvian (LAT) PUUV strain. Viral RNA was detected in one bank vole of the Eastern evolutionary lineage and two animals of the Carpathian lineage. Thereby it could be demonstrated for the first time that the distribution of the LAT PUUV lineage ranges from Latvia south-west to the northeastern part of Poland. An inhomogeneous spatial distribution of human disease cases has been observed even for Baden-Wuerttemberg, a long time known endemic federal state of Germany. Therefore 660 bank voles were trapped during the outbreak and non-outbreak years 2012 and 2013 in four districts with high incidences (H) and in four districts with low incidences or lacking PUUV cases (L). During the outbreak year 2012 PUUV-positive bank voles were detected by serological and molecular investigations in seven of eight districts. In contrast, in the following year only in one district PUUV infected bank voles were detected. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that after a beech mast, i.e., a massive fructification of beech trees, in H districts with a higher percentage of beech forest coverage a higher number of human cases was notified, but not in L districts with a lower percentage of beech forest coverage. For the future development of early warning modules it is therefore necessary to have a long-term bank vole monitoring established that incorporates beech mast data and information on beech forest coverage. High endemic regions for PUUV are mainly located in the southern and western parts of Germany, whereas in the eastern and northern parts only low numbers or even no human cases are recorded. To find out possible reasons for this inhomogeneous distribution, 1,774 bank voles from different regions of Germany were investigated for PUUV infections and in parallel for the corresponding bank vole evolutionary lineage (Western, Eastern, Carpathian). The PUUV investigations indicated positive voles in the known endemic regions with an easternmost and northernmost occurrence in western Saxony-Anhalt, western Thuringia and in Osnabrück. In the northern and eastern part of Germany none of the 1,210 investigated bank voles showed a PUUV infection. In the southern and western parts of Germany only the Western bank vole lineage was identified, whereas the Eastern lineage was exclusively found in the eastern and northern part and the Carpathian lineage in the South-East and North-East of Germany. PUUV infections were found almost exclusively in bank voles of the Western lineage. Individuals of the other two vole lineages were found to be PUUV infected only in regions with sympatric occurrence of the Western lineage. The previously described contact zone of the different bank vole phylogroups ranges from Poland to the entire northern part of Germany. In conclusion, the results of this investigation indicate two potential major reasons for the inhomogeneous distribution of PUUV in Germany: First, PUUV of the CE lineage seems to be associated with the Western bank vole lineage. The current geographical distribution of virus and host might be explained by a post-glacial northern expansion of the bank vole starting at the western refuge. Second, the missing detection of PUUV in bank voles of the Western lineage in areas close to high endemic regions might be explained by the extinction of the virus due to a limited winter survival of infected animals during long and harsh winters. The virus stability outside the host or ecological barriers, such as isolated forest areas or broad rivers, might also influence the distribution of PUUV in bank vole populations.
The history of Mathematics has been lead in part by the desire for generalization: once an object was given and had been understood, there was the desire to find a more general version of it, to fit it into a broader framework. Noncommutative Mathematics fits into this description, as its interests are objects analoguous to vector spaces, or probability spaces, etc., but without the commonsense interpretation that those latter objects possess. Indeed, a space can be described by its points, but also and equivalently, by the set of functions on this space. This set is actually a commutative algebra, sometimes equipped with some more structure: *-algebra, C*-algebra, von Neumann algebras, Hopf algebras, etc. The idea that lies at the basis of noncommutative Mathematics is to replace such algebras by algebras that are not necessarily commutative any more and to interpret them as "algebras of functions on noncommutative spaces". Of course, these spaces do not exist independently from their defining algebras, but facts show that a lot of the results holding in (classical) probability or (classical) group theory can be extended to their noncommutative counterparts, or find therein powerful analogues. The extensions of group theory into the realm of noncommutative Mathematics has long been studied and has yielded the various quantum groups. The easiest version of them, the compact quantum groups, consist of C*-algebras equipped with a *-homomorphism &Delta with values in the tensor product of the algebra with itself and verifying some coassociativity condition. It is also required that the compact quantum group verifies what is known as quantum cancellation property. It can be shown that (classical) compact groups are indeed a particular case of compact quantum groups. The area of compact quantum groups, and of quantum groups at large, is a fruitful area of research. Nevertheless, another generalization of group theory could be envisioned, namely by taking a comultiplication &Delta taking values not in the tensor product but rather in the free product (in the category of unital *-algebras). This leads to the theory of dual groups in the sense of Voiculescu, also called H-algebras by Zhang. These objects have not been so thoroughly studied as their quantum counterparts. It is true that they are not so flexible and that we therefore do not know many examples of them and showing that some relations cannot exist in the dual group case because they do not pass the coproduct. Nevertheless, I have been interested during a great part of my PhD work by these objects and I have made some progress towards their understanding, especially regarding quantum Lévy processes defined on them and Haar states.