Summer Universities for Women in Computer Science

A cross-university approach will be discussed that reflects moneducation, networking, and gender oriented organizational reforms in university programs. The concept was developed in Germany in 1997 as a national approach. Each year “Informatica Feminale” (www. Informatica-feminale.de) attracts more than 70 female lectures from universities, research, or industry to give courses on all topics of computer science oriented to the existing university curricula. Participants are female students as well as women interested in further education. The approach has won an European award for best practice. Since 2003 Austria provides a similar project called the “ditact-women’s IT summer studies” (www.ditact.ac.at). Another project will be located in New Zealand in 2005 as the “Computing Women Conference” (www/ cwc.org.nz)

Promovierende im Profil: Wege, Strukturen und Rahmenbedingungen von Promotionen in Deutschland ; Ergebnisse aus dem ProFile-Promovierendenpanel

Wer an deutschen Hochschulen promoviert und wie die Wege zur Promotion aussehen, kann seit Jahren nur sehr bedingt beantwortet werden. Das Institut für Forschungsinformation und Qualitätssicherung (iFQ) hat vor diesem Hintergrund drei Studien veröffentlicht, die einen neuen Überblick über das deutsche Promotionswesen geben. Neue Ergebnisse aus dem ProFile-Promovierendenpanel des iFQ geben außerdem erstmals umfassend Aufschluss über die Situation von Promovierenden und die Entwicklungen im Rahmen der strukturierten Promotion. Die Studie "Promovierende im Profil" versammelt neue Einsichten auf der Grundlage einer seit 2009 stattgefundenen Befragung von 28.000 Promovierenden unter Berücksichtigung unterschiedlicher Promotionsmodelle und Fachkulturen

ASXL1 mutations predict inferior molecular response to nilotinib treatment in chronic myeloid leukemia

Gene mutations independent of BCR::ABL1 have been identified in newly diagnosed patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in chronic phase, whereby mutations in epigenetic modifier genes were most common. These findings prompted the systematic analysis of prevalence, dynamics, and prognostic significance of such mutations, in a clinically well-characterized patient population of 222 CML patients from the TIGER study (CML-V) by targeted next-generation sequencing covering 54 myeloid leukemia-associated genes. In total, 53/222 CML patients (24%) carried 60 mutations at diagnosis with ASXL1 being most commonly affected (n = 20). To study mutation dynamics, longitudinal deep sequencing analysis of serial samples was performed in 100 patients after 12, 24, and 36 months of therapy. Typical patterns of clonal evolution included eradication, persistence, and emergence of mutated clones. Patients carrying an ASXL1 mutation at diagnosis showed a less favorable molecular response to nilotinib treatment, as a major molecular response (MMR) was achieved less frequently at month 12, 18, and 24 compared to all other patients. Patients with ASXL1 mutations were also younger and more frequently found in the high risk category, suggesting a central role of clonal evolution associated with ASXL1 mutations in CML pathogenesis

Durable remission with ruxolitinib in a chronic neutrophilic leukemia patient harboring a truncation and membrane proximal CSF3R compound mutation

In haemophilia, thrombin generation and fibrin deposition upon vascular injury critically depend on the tissue factor (TF)-driven coagulation pathway. TF expression by monocytes/macrophages and circulating microvesicles contributes to haemostasis, thrombosis and inflammation. Inflammation is a hallmark of blood-induced joint disease. The aim of this study is to correlate TF production by whole-blood monocytes with inflammatory markers and clinical parameters in patients with moderate-to-severe haemophilia A or B (n = 43) in comparison to healthy males (n = 23). Monocyte TF antigen and microvesicle-associated TF procoagulant activity (MV TF PCA) were measured immediately after blood draw (baseline) and following incubation of whole blood with buffer or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) using two-colour flow cytometry and chromogenic FXa generation assay, respectively. Patients with HIV or uncontrolled HBV/HCV infections were excluded. TF was hardly detectable and not different in baseline and buffer-treaded samples from both groups. Stimulation with LPS, however, induced monocyte TF production, with increased TF-specific mean fluorescence intensity (P = 0.08) and MV TF PCA (P < 0.05) in patients compared to controls. Patients also had elevated hs-CRP and IL-6 serum levels (P < 0.001), which correlated with LPS-induced TF parameters. Further exploratory analyses revealed that the presence of systemic (low-grade) inflammation and boosted LPS-induced monocyte TF production were mainly restricted to patients with clinically controlled HBV and/or HCV infection (n = 16), who were older and also had a significantly worse orthopaedic joint score than patients with no history of viral hepatitis (P < 0.01). Our study delineates a previously unrecognised link between systemic inflammation and inducible monocyte TF production in patients with haemophilia A or B

Prevalence and dynamics of clonal hematopoiesis caused by leukemia-associated mutations in elderly individuals without hematologic disorders

Clonal hematopoiesis is frequently observed in elderly people. To investigate the prevalence and dynamics of genetic alterations among healthy elderly individuals, a cohort of 50 people >80 years was genotyped for commonly mutated leukemia-associated genes by targeted deep next-generation sequencing. A total of 16 somatic mutations were identified in 13/50 (26%) individuals. Mutations occurred at low variant allele frequencies (median 11.7%) and remained virtually stable over 3 years without development of hematologic malignancies in affected individuals. With DNMT3A mutations most frequently detected, another cohort of 160 healthy people spanning all age groups was sequenced specifically for DNMT3A revealing an overall mutation rate of 6.2% (13/210) and an age-dependent increase of mutation prevalence. A significant difference (p = 0.017) in the DNMT3A expression pattern was detected between younger and healthy elderly people as determined by qRT-PCR. To evaluate the selection of clonal hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), bone marrow of two healthy individuals with mutant DNMT3A was transplanted in a humanized mouse model. Xenografts displayed stable kinetics of DNMT3A mutations over 8 months. These findings indicate that the appearance of low-level clones with leukemia-associated mutations is a common age-associated phenomenon, but insufficient to initiate clonal selection and expansion without the additional influence of other factors

Conductance Enhancement of InAs/InP Heterostructure Nanowires by Surface Functionalization with Oligo(phenylene vinylene)s

We have investigated the electronic transport through 3 mu m long, 45 nm diameter InAs nanowires comprising a 5 nm long InP segment as electronic barrier. After assembly of 12 nm long oligo(phenylene vinylene) derivative molecules onto these InAs/InP nanowires, we observed a pronounced, nonlinear I-V characteristic with significantly increased currents of up to 1 mu A at 1 V bias, for a back-gate voltage of 3 V. As supported by our model calculations based on a nonequilibrium Green Function approach, we attribute this effect to charge transport through those surface-bound molecules, which electrically bridge both InAs regions across the embedded InP barrier