Megasonic Enhanced Electrodeposition

A novel way of filling high aspect ratio vertical interconnection (microvias) with an aspect ratio of >2:1 is presented. High frequency acoustic streaming at megasonic frequencies enables the decrease of the Nernst-diffusion layer down to the sub-micron range, allowing thereby conformal electrodeposition in deep grooves. Higher throughput and better control over the deposition properties are possible for the manufacturing of interconnections and metal-based MEMS.Comment: Submitted on behalf of EDA Publishing Association (http://irevues.inist.fr/handle/2042/16838

Hautkrebs – cremen statt schneiden? : Nichtoperative Behandlungen auf dem Vormarsch

»Gönnen Sie Ihrer Haut Zukunft.« Unter diesem Slogan wirbt die Frankfurter Oberbürgermeisterin Petra Roth als Schirmherrin der Deutschen Hautkrebsstiftung (www.hautkrebsstiftung.de) für Maßnahmen zur Prävention von Hauttumoren. Diese Krebsformen nehmen derzeit weltweit in der hellhäutigen Bevölkerung am stärksten zu, wobei aufgrund unserer bereits in frühen Jahren sonnenbelasteten Freizeitgewohnheiten mehr und mehr jüngere Menschen erkranken. Neue Therapieoptionen erlauben es, Krebs sowie Krebsvorstufen früher und effektiver zu behandeln. Dabei spielen insbesondere nichtinvasive Methoden eine immer wichtigere Rolle. Cremen statt schneiden – dies ist nicht immer, aber immer öfter die richtige Lösung

The IFN-inducible Golgi- and endoplasmic reticulum- associated 47-kDa GTPase IIGP is transiently expressed during listeriosis.

Members of the 47-kDa GTPase family are implicated in an IFN-gamma-induced, as yet unclear, mechanism that confers innate resistance against infection with intracellular pathogens. Overt immunological parameters are apparently uncompromised in mice deficient for individual members and the prototype of this family, IGTP, localizes to the endoplasmic reticulum. This suggests that these GTPases are involved in intracellular defense. We analyzed the expression of the 47-kDa GTPase cognate, IIGP, in splenic sections from mice infected with the intracellular pathogen Listeria monocytogenes by immunohistochemistry. An early transient IIGP induction was observed revealing the IFN-gamma responsiveness of cellular subcompartments within the spleen in early listeriosis. Marginal metallophilic macrophages and endothelial cells within the red and white pulp strongly expressed IIGP, while other splenocytes remained negative. In vitro analyses show that both type I and type II IFNs are prime stimuli for IIGP induction in various cells, including L. monocytogenes-infected or LPS-stimulated macrophages, endothelial cells, and activated T cells. Contrary to the subcellular localization of IGTP, IIGP was predominantly associated with the Golgi apparatus and also localizes to the endoplasmic reticulum. We conclude that IIGP exerts a distinct role in IFN-induced intracellular membrane trafficking or processing

Assessment of left atrial functional parameters using a novel dedicated analysis tool for real-time three-dimensional echocardiography: validation in comparison to magnetic resonance imaging

Real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT3DE) is superior to two-dimensional echocardiography in assessing left atrial (LA) parameters, but to date algorithms developed for the left ventricle were applied due to a lack of dedicated LA software. In addition, no data are available on RT3DE assessment of active atrial contraction. The aim of this study was to validate a novel RT3DE analysis tool specifically dedicated to evaluate the LA. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) served as standard of reference. Fifty-five patients scheduled for pulmonary vein isolation underwent cardiac MRI and RT3DE. On ultrasound image datasets, a dynamic polyhedron model of the LA was generated from which LA maximum and minimum volumes (LAmax and LAmin), passive atrial emptying fraction (LAEF), and active atrial ejection fraction (LAEFtrue) were derived and compared to values obtained from cardiac MRI. High intraclass correlations between RT3DE and MRI were found for LAmax (r=0.94, p<0.001), LAmin (r=0.95, p<0.001), LAEF (r=0.92, p<0.001), and LAEFtrue (r=0.87, p<0.001). Similarly, Bland-Altman analysis revealed narrow limits of agreement for LAmax (−28.6 to 14.1ml), LAmin (−26.8 to 12.4ml), LAEF (−11.2 to 14.9%), and LAEFtrue (−10.6 to 6.8%). LAmax, LAmin and LAEFtrue were measured significantly (p<0.05) lower by RT3DE (111±38ml vs. 118±39ml, 73±38ml vs. 80±41ml, and 23±14% vs. 27±14%, respectively). Interobserver and intraobserver RT3DE measurements correlated closely. RT3DE using a novel dedicated software tool is valid, accurate and reproducible for assessing LA dimensional and functional parameters. This study corroborates previous reports and extends its validity to the assessment of active LA contractio

Zurich Consensus: German Expert Opinion on the St. Gallen Votes on 15 March 2009 (11th International Conference at St. Gallen: Primary Therapy of Early Breast Cancer)

A German working group of 23 breast cancer experts discussed the results from the vote at this year's St. Gallen Consensus Conference on Primary Therapy for Early Breast Cancer ( March 11-14, 2009) and came up with some concrete recommendations for day-to-day therapeutic decisions in Germany. Due the fact that the concept of the St. Gallen Consensus Conference merely allows for a minimal consensus, the objective of the working group was to provide practice-related recommendations for day-to-day clinical decisions in Germany. One area of emphasis at St. Gallen was tumor biology as a starting point for reaching individual therapeutic decisions. Intensive discussion was necessary with respect to the clinical relevance of predictive and prognostic factors. A new addition to the area of systemic therapy was a first-ever discussion of the adjuvant administration of bisphosponates and the fact that therapy with trastuzumab in HER2 overexpressing breast cancer has been defined as the standard for neoadjuvant therapy. The value of taxanes as a component of (neo) adjuvant chemotherapy as well as the value of aromatase inhibitors for the endocrine adjuvant treatment of postmenopausal patients were affirmed

Designing Cross-Company Business Intelligence Networks

Business Intelligence (BI) ist der allgemein akzeptierte Begriff für Methoden, Konzepte und Werkzeuge zur Sammlung, Aufbereitung, Speicherung, Verteilung und Analyse von Daten für Management- und Geschäftsentscheidungen. Obwohl unternehmensübergreifende Kooperation in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten stets an Einfluss gewonnen hat, existieren nur wenige Forschungsergebnisse im Bereich unternehmensübergreifender BI. Die vorliegende Arbeit stellt eine Arbeitsdefinition des Begriffs Cross-Company BI (CCBI) vor und grenzt diesen von gemeinschaftlicher Entscheidungsfindung ab. Auf Basis eines Referenzmodells, das existierende Arbeiten und Ansätze verwandter Forschungsbereiche berücksichtigt, werden umfangreiche Simulationen und Parametertests unternehmensübergreifender BI-Netzwerke durchgeführt. Es wird gezeigt, dass eine Peer-To-Peer-basierte Gestaltung der Netzwerke leistungsfähig und kompetitiv zu existierenden zentral-fokussierten Ansätzen ist. Zur Quantifizierung der Beobachtungen werden Messgrößen geprüft, die sich aus existierenden Konzepten zur Schemaüberführung multidimensionaler Daten sowie Überlegungen zur Daten- und Informationsqualität ableiten oder entwickeln lassen.Business Intelligence (BI) is a well-established term for methods, concepts and tools to retrieve, store, deliver and analyze data for management and business purposes. Although collaboration across company borders has substantially increased over the past decades, little research has been conducted specifically on Cross-Company BI (CCBI). In this thesis, a working definition and distinction from general collaborative decision making is proposed. Based on a reference model that takes existing research and related approaches of adjacent fields into account a peer-to-peer network design is created. With an extensive simulation and parameter testing it is shown that the design proves valuable and competitive to centralized approaches and that obtaining a critical mass of participants leads to improved usefulness of the network. To quantify the observations, appropriate quality measures rigorously derived from respected concepts on data and information quality and multidimensional data models are introduced and validated

Zurich Consensus: Statement of German Experts on St. Gallen Conference 2011 on Primary Breast Cancer (Zurich 2011)

Every 2 years, the International Consensus Conference on the Treatment of Primary Breast Cancer takes place in St. Gallen. Given that the concept of the St. Gallen Consensus Conference mainly reflects an international opinion, it appears useful to adapt the results of the vote for everyday therapy in Germany. A German working group comprising 28 breast cancer experts, amongst whom there are 3 members of the international St. Gallen panel, has therefore commented on this year's St. Gallen Consensus Conference (2011) from the German viewpoint. The focus of interest of this year's St. Gallen Conference was tumour biology as the starting point for decisions regarding individual therapy. There was an intensive discussion in relation to the clinical relevance of predictive and prognostic factors and possible consequences for decisions regarding therapy. Therefore, questions concerning the indication for adjuvant chemotherapy focused especially on the significance of the molecular phenotype of the tumour. In addition, important points for discussion were also the value of complete axillary dissection and the use of accelerated complete breast irradiation

A physical model for PDZ-domain/peptide interactions

The PDZ domain is an interaction motif that recognizes and binds the C-terminal peptides of target proteins. PDZ domains are ubiquitous in nature and help assemble multiprotein complexes that control cellular organization and signaling cascades. We present an optimized energy function to predict the binding free energy (ΔΔG) of PDZ domain/peptide interactions computationally. Geometry-optimized models of PDZ domain/peptide interfaces were built using Rosetta, and protein and peptide side chain and backbone degrees of freedom are minimized simultaneously. Using leave-one-out cross-validation, Rosetta’s energy function is adjusted to reproduce experimentally determined ΔΔG values with a correlation coefficient of 0.66 and a standard deviation of 0.79 kcal mol−1. The energy function places an increased weight on hydrogen bonding interactions when compared to a previously developed method to analyze protein/protein interactions. Binding free enthalpies (ΔΔH) and entropies (ΔS) are predicted with reduced accuracies of R = 0.60 and R = 0.17, respectively. The computational method improves prediction of PDZ domain specificity from sequence and allows design of novel PDZ domain/peptide interactions