Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health of Oncology Healthcare Workers and Interdisciplinary Collaboration

The 2019 coronavirus pandemic has caused serious health crises around the world such as psychological reactions of health workers. The way we work (stress, anxiety) and the activities assigned to pharmacists, such as vaccination, have changed. In addition to these problems, numerous ethical questions and moral doubts are increasingly emerging are inevitable during the treatment and care of patients in this extremely difficult situation. Work in the oncology department is stressful even when there is no epidemic/pandemic. Constant changes in hospital protocols, reorganization of work, influx of patients, work in intensive conditions and other new challenges of adaptation to the new situation affect both the physical and mental health of healthcare workers. Together with physicians and nurses, pharmacists were one of the professional categories most exposed to the risk of SARS- CoV-2 infection since the pandemic onset. Together with this crisis, pharmaceutical care entered a new phase demonstrating the ability of pharmacists to be competent and accessible providers of public health. Preserving the mental health of healthcare workers are very important so that they can perform their work with quality and conscientiousness. Health care corporations should consider providing coverage for mental health treatment for employees who experience COVID-19 traumas

VaporLIFT: On-Chip Chemical Synthesis of Glycan Microarrays

Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) of polymers is a versatile printing method for parallel in situ synthesis of peptides on microarrays. Chemical building blocks embedded in a polymer matrix are transferred and coupled in a desired pattern to a surface, generating peptides on microarrays by repetitive in situ solid-phase synthesis steps. To date, the approach is limited to simple, heat induced chemical reactions. The VaporLIFT method, disclosed here, combines LIFT with chemical vapor glycosylation to rapidly generate glycans on microarray surfaces while maintaining inert, low temperature conditions required for glycosylations. Process design and parameter optimization enables the synthesis of a collection of glycans at defined positions on a glass surface. The synthetic structures are detected by mass spectrometry, fluorescently labeled glycan-binding proteins, and covalent staining with fluorescent dyes. VaporLIFT is ideal for parallel screening of other chemical reactions, that require inert and well-defined reaction conditions

VaporSPOT: Parallel Synthesis of Oligosaccharides on Membranes

Automated chemical synthesis has revolutionized synthetic access to biopolymers in terms of simplicity and speed. While automated oligosaccharide synthesis has become faster and more versatile, the parallel synthesis of oligosaccharides is not yet possible. Here, a chemical vapor glycosylation strategy (VaporSPOT) is described that enables the simultaneous synthesis of oligosaccharides on a cellulose membrane solid support. Different linkers allow for flexible and straightforward cleavage, purification, and characterization of the target oligosaccharides. This method is the basis for the development of parallel automated glycan synthesis platforms

Skills, entrepreneurship and new business models: Ways to rejuvenate the German industrial model

New business models are at the heart of the global competitive challenge. In several areas of manufacturing and closely related services industries, new market participants, business models and technologies lead to faster change in market conditions and the competitive environment. These developments pose new challenges for the successful German industrial system. Strategic treatment of innovation, a stronger focus on disruptive technologies or business models, organ-izational experimentation such as spin-outs to retain entrepreneurial employees, less intra-cor-porate bureaucracy in such ventures and the interaction with new business partners are key elements to master the evolving challenges. Entrepreneurship, new business models and inno-vation in rapidly changing markets should be fostered by focused approaches of management and general economic policies. This includes measures to facilitate to entrepreneurship educa-tion, an entrepreurial culture and corporate training. [...

A Novel Method for Quantifying Shape Deformation Applied to Biocompatibility Testing

Cytotoxicity tests are important for the screening and evaluation of biocompatibility of artificial organs. Morphological changes of cells which were contacted to biomaterials or biomaterial extracts indicate their toxicity. However, information on cytotoxical effects is still obtained by subjective visual inspection of microscopic samples. In thi