Erfahrungen bei der Entwicklung eines Informationssystems auf RDBMS- und 4GL-Basis

Anläßlich der Entwicklung eines großen Informationssystems wurde die Entscheidung getroffen, ein Werkzeug der vierten Generation (4GL) und ein relationales Datenbanksystem (Oracle) zu verwenden. Der Beitrag beschreibt die Erfahrungen, die bei der Datenmodellierung auf Basis des Entity-Relationship-Ansatzes und der Überführung in ein Relationenmodell sowie mit den Oracle-spezifischen 4GL-Werkzeugen und der dadurch ermöglichten Entwicklungsmethodik (Prototyping) gesammelt wurden. Das Informationssystem selbst ist an anderer Stelle beschrieben.<br

Uniformity of optical absorption in HgCdTe epilayer measured by infrared spectromicroscopy

Infrared absorption in HgCdTe epitaxial material has been investigated using infrared spectromicroscopy to study the uniformity at dimensions representative of typical infrared detectors. Infrared transmission measurements were performed on HgCdTe material using an infrared beam diameter of 9 μm. Line scans and area maps of transmission spectra were obtained to investigate statistical variations in infrared absorption. The HgCdTe material demonstrates a high degree of uniformity, with a standard deviation in absorption coefficient near the sensitive turn-on region of less than 3% and standard deviation in extracted Hg1-xCdxTeHg1-xCdxTe compositon of 3×10−4.3×10−4. © 2003 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69699/2/APPLAB-83-18-3701-1.pd

Sub-bandgap photoconductivity in ZnO epilayers and extraction of trap density spectra

Photoconductivity is observed in ZnO epilayers due to photoexcitation in the visible spectral region of 400–700 nm, below the ZnO bandgap energy of 3.4 eV. Photoconductive transients due to visible photoexcitation have time constants in the order of minutes. Treatment of the ZnO surface with SiO2 passivation layers results in a significant reduction in the photoconductive signal and photoconductive time constant. The photoconductive response is attributed to hole traps in ZnO, where a rate equation model is presented to describe the photoconductive characteristics. A method of extracting the hole trap density spectrum is presented on the basis of the rate equation model and assumptions for hole capture lifetime and carrier recombination lifetime that are validated by experimental time-resolved photoluminescence measurements of the material under study. Traps are found to be distributed near 0.75 eV and 0.9 eV from the valence band edge for SiO2 passivated and unpassivated ZnO epilayers, respectively.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/48934/2/sst6_6_001.pd

Influence of SiO2 micro-particles onto microstructure, mechanical properties and wear resistance of uhmwpe based composite under dry sliding friction

Operation is demonstrated of a field-effect transistor made of transparant oxidic thin films, showing an intrinsic memory function due to the usage of a ferroelectric insulator. The device consists of a high mobility Sb-doped n-type SnO2 semiconductor layer, PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 as a ferroelectric insulator, and SrRuO3 as a gate electrode, each layer prepared by pulsed laser deposition. The hysteresis behavior of the channel conductance is studied. Using gate voltage pulses of 100 µs duration and a pulse height of ±3 V, a change of a factor of two in the remnant conductance is achieved. The dependence of the conductance on the polarity of the gate pulse proves that the memory effect is driven by the ferroelectric polarization. The influence of charge trapping is also observed and discussed. © 1996 American Institute of Physics

Metabolic profiling of sourdough fermented wheat and rye bread

Sourdough fermentation by lactic acid bacteria is commonly used in bread baking, affecting several attributes of the final product. We analyzed whole-grain wheat and rye breads and doughs prepared with baker's yeast or a sourdough starter including Candida milleri, Lactobacillus brevis and Lactobacillus plantarum using non-targeted metabolic profiling utilizing LC-QTOF-MS. The aim was to determine the fermentation-induced changes in metabolites potentially contributing to the health-promoting properties of whole-grain wheat and rye. Overall, we identified 118 compounds with significantly increased levels in sourdough, including branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and their metabolites, small peptides with high proportion of BCAAs, microbial metabolites of phenolic acids and several other potentially bioactive compounds. We also identified 69 compounds with significantly decreased levels, including phenolic acid precursors, nucleosides, and nucleobases. Intensive sourdough fermentation had a higher impact on the metabolite profile of whole-grain rye compared to milder whole-grain wheat sourdough fermentation. We hypothesize that the increased amount of BCAAs and potentially bioactive small peptides may contribute to the insulin response of rye bread, and in more general, the overall protective effect against T2DM and CVD.Peer reviewe

Trends in ovarian cancer incidence in Iran

Background: Cancer is amajorcause of morbidityandmortality,amongwhichovarian cancer has a high incidenceandcase fatality. Gaining insight into the epidemiology and trends of ovarian cancer can be very influential in cancer screening and treatments programming. This study aimed to investigate the trends in the incidence of ovarian cancer in Iran, because this issue has been neglected so far. Methods: This study is a re-analysis of existing data from the cancer data recording system in Iran during the years 2003 to 2009. The incidence rates reported were standardized according to the world health organization (WHO) and the trend in the incidence of this disease was determined by STATA software and the significance of the morbidity trend diagram was also derived via WINPEPI software. Results: The statistics of cancer registry center shows an increasing trend of ovarian cancer from 2003 to 2008, while it decreased from 2008 to 2009. During this period, 6078 cases of ovarian cancer were registered in Iran, increasing from 591 cases in 2003 to 1077 in 2009, which shows an approximately 2-fold increase in the incidence of registered cases. During these seven years, the highest incidence rate was seen in Markazi province with 6.33 per 100,000 persons and the least in Kohkiloye-va-Boyerahmad province with zero incidence. Almost all provinces, except a few, had increasing incidence of ovarian cancer. Conclusions: According to the results of the study, the incidence of ovarian cancer is increasing in Iran, especially in the central and northwestern regions of the country. This increase may be due to changing the patterns of risk factors for this disease, such as changes in lifestyle in the population, which will lead to changes in the incidence of the disease. Hence, due to the increase in incidence of this cancer, it is recommended to implement screening and early detection programs in high risk areas and populations. © 2016, Iranian Journal of Cancer Prevention

STAT3 regulated ARF expression suppresses prostate cancer metastasis.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most prevalent cancer in men. Hyperactive STAT3 is thought to be oncogenic in PCa. However, targeting of the IL-6/STAT3 axis in PCa patients has failed to provide therapeutic benefit. Here we show that genetic inactivation of Stat3 or IL-6 signalling in a Pten-deficient PCa mouse model accelerates cancer progression leading to metastasis. Mechanistically, we identify p19(ARF) as a direct Stat3 target. Loss of Stat3 signalling disrupts the ARF-Mdm2-p53 tumour suppressor axis bypassing senescence. Strikingly, we also identify STAT3 and CDKN2A mutations in primary human PCa. STAT3 and CDKN2A deletions co-occurred with high frequency in PCa metastases. In accordance, loss of STAT3 and p14(ARF) expression in patient tumours correlates with increased risk of disease recurrence and metastatic PCa. Thus, STAT3 and ARF may be prognostic markers to stratify high from low risk PCa patients. Our findings challenge the current discussion on therapeutic benefit or risk of IL-6/STAT3 inhibition.Lukas Kenner and Jan Pencik are supported by FWF, P26011 and the Genome Research-Austria project “Inflammobiota” grants. Helmut Dolznig is supported by the Herzfelder Family Foundation and the Niederösterr. Forschungs-und Bildungsges.m.b.H (nfb). Richard Moriggl is supported by grant SFB-F2807 and SFB-F4707 from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Ali Moazzami is supported by Infrastructure for biosciences-Strategic fund, SciLifeLab and Formas, Zoran Culig is supported by FWF, P24428, Athena Chalaris and Stefan Rose-John are supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Grant SFB 877, Project A1and the Cluster of Excellence --“Inflammation at Interfaces”). Work of the Aberger lab was supported by the Austrian Science Fund FWF (Projects P25629 and W1213), the European FP7 Marie-Curie Initial Training Network HEALING and the priority program Biosciences and Health of the Paris-Lodron University of Salzburg. Valeria Poli is supported by the Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC, No IG13009). Richard Kennedy and Steven Walker are supported by the McClay Foundation and the Movember Centre of Excellence (PC-UK and Movember). Gerda Egger is supported by FWF, P27616. Tim Malcolm and Suzanne Turner are supported by Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms873

Identification of neural networks that contribute to motion sickness through principal components analysis of fos labeling induced by galvanic vestibular stimulation

Motion sickness is a complex condition that includes both overt signs (e.g., vomiting) and more covert symptoms (e.g., anxiety and foreboding). The neural pathways that mediate these signs and symptoms are yet to identified. This study mapped the distribution of c-fos protein (Fos)-like immunoreactivity elicited during a galvanic vestibular stimulation paradigm that is known to induce motion sickness in felines. A principal components analysis was used to identify networks of neurons activated during this stimulus paradigm from functional correlations between Fos labeling in different nuclei. This analysis identified five principal components (neural networks) that accounted for greater than 95% of the variance in Fos labeling. Two of the components were correlated with the severity of motion sickness symptoms, and likely participated in generating the overt signs of the condition. One of these networks included neurons in locus coeruleus, medial, inferior and lateral vestibular nuclei, lateral nucleus tractus solitarius, medial parabrachial nucleus and periaqueductal gray. The second included neurons in the superior vestibular nucleus, precerebellar nuclei, periaqueductal gray, and parabrachial nuclei, with weaker associations of raphe nuclei. Three additional components (networks) were also identified that were not correlated with the severity of motion sickness symptoms. These networks likely mediated the covert aspects of motion sickness, such as affective components. The identification of five statistically independent component networks associated with the development of motion sickness provides an opportunity to consider, in network activation dimensions, the complex progression of signs and symptoms that are precipitated in provocative environments. Similar methodology can be used to parse the neural networks that mediate other complex responses to environmental stimuli. © 2014 Balaban et al