Carbohydrate masking of an antigenic epitope of influenza virus haemagglutinin independent of oligosaccharide size

Comparison of the haemagglutinins (HA) of the pathogenic avian influenza viruses A/FPV/Dutch/27 (H7N7) and A/FPV/Rostock/34 (H7N1) revealed 94.7% nucleotide and 93.8% amino acid sequence homologies. Six of the seven N-glycosidic oligosaccharides of the Rostock HA are at the same positions as the six carbohydrates of the Dutch strain. The additional oligosaccharide side chain of the Rostock strain, which is of the complex type, is attached to asparagine149 in antigenic epitope B. The accessibility of this antigenic epitope has been analysed by using rabbit antisera raised against synthetic peptides comprising amino acids 143-162. The carbohydrates of the HA of the Rostock strain have been modified (i) to truncated cores by expression in insect cells using a baculovirus vector, (ii) to oligomannosidic side chains by growth in the presence of the trimming inhibitor methyldeoxynojirimycin and (iii) to a single N-acetylglucosamine residue by removal of the oligomannosidic sugar with endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase H. Neither the authentic nor the modified oligosaccharides allowed antibody binding, as indicated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot analyses. Reactivity was observed, however, after complete removal of the carbohydrate from HA of the Rostock strain by digestion with peptide-N-glycosidase F. HA of the Dutch strain was reactive without prior peptide-N-glycosidase F treatment. These results demonstrate that a single N-acetylglucosamine at asparagine149 is sufficient to prevent recognition of the peptide epitop

Crystallisation Phenomena of In2O3:H Films

The crystallisation of sputter-deposited, amorphous In2O3:H films was investigated. The influence of deposition and crystallisation parameters onto crystallinity and electron hall mobility was explored. Significant precipitation of metallic indium was discovered in the crystallised films by electron energy loss spectroscopy. Melting of metallic indium at ~160 °C was suggested to promote primary crystallisation of the amorphous In2O3:H films. The presence of hydroxyl was ascribed to be responsible for the recrystallization and grain growth accompanying the inter-grain In-O-In bounding. Metallic indium was suggested to provide an excess of free electrons in as-deposited In2O3 and In2O3:H films. According to the ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, the work function of In2O3:H increased during crystallisation from 4 eV to 4.4 eV, which corresponds to the oxidation process. Furthermore, transparency simultaneously increased in the infraredspectral region. Water was queried to oxidise metallic indium in UHV at higher temperature as compared to oxygen in ambient air. Secondary ion mass-spectroscopy results revealed that the former process takes place mostly within the top ~50 nm. The optical band gap of In2O3:H increased by about 0.2 eV during annealing, indicating a doping effect. This was considered as a likely intra-grain phenomenon caused by both (In0)O•• and (OH−)O• point defects. The inconsistencies in understanding of In2O3:H crystallisation, which existed in the literature so far, were considered and explained by the multiplicity and disequilibrium of the processes running simultaneously.DFG, 414044773, Open Access Publizieren 2019 - 2020 / Technische Universität Berli

Gutachten zur Qualität der Arzneimittelversorgung durch Apotheken im Ländlichen Raum Baden-Württembergs - Die Rolle der Apotheken für die künftige Sicherstellung der medizinischen Versorgung

Zielsetzung: Insbesondere strukturschwache Regionen sind von der Demographie, der Alterung der Bevölkerung betroffen. Das geht mit steigenden medizinischen Versorgungsbedarfen einher, insbesondere werden die Anforderungen an Arzneimittelversorgung und -therapie komplexer. Vor diesem Hintergrund stellt sich das Gutachten der Frage, welche Trends sich bezüglich der Versorgungssituation mit Medikamenten, insbesondere durch Apotheken, zeigen und welche Maßnahmen zur künftigen Sicherstellung sinnvoll sein können. Status Quo: Die Apothekenanzahl und -dichte sank insbesondere in den letzten 10 Jahren. Die Versorgung in Baden-Württemberg liegt mit rund 22 Apotheken je 100.000 Einwohner leicht unter dem Bundesdurchschnitt. Nur 12 Landkreise zeigen eine stark unterdurchschnittliche Apothekendichte, davon befindet sich nur ein Drittel im ländlichen Raum. Es gibt keine Definition für eine optimale Versorgungsdichte, jedoch gibt es aktuell keine Anhaltspunkte für eine bestehende Unterversorgung. Apotheken sind im Kerngeschäft (verschreibungspflichte Arzneimittel) auf die Verordnung von Ärzten angewiesen, Produktsortiment und Preise sind weitgehend festgelegt. D.h. sie können ihren Markt kaum selbst beeinflussen. Wettbewerbsmechanismen reduzieren sich somit auf den OTC-Bereich, in dem sich gerade auch der Versandhandel etabliert hat. Apotheker sind somit einerseits mit einem rechtlich sehr dynamischen Umfeld konfrontiert, das sie selbst kaum beeinflussen können, andererseits erfordert gerade auch das Themenfeld Digitalisierung (e-Rezept & Co)entsprechende Investitionen und vorausschauendes unternehmerisches Agieren. Ländliche Apotheken haben ein anderes Patientenkollektiv (mehr Stammkunden, breites Versorgungsspektrum) und tendenziell eine größere Arbeitsdichte, aber keine wirtschaftlich schwächere Position. Der Nachwuchsmangel ist auf dem Land jedoch besonders prekär. Lösungsansätze: Die Vor-Ort-Apotheke sollte erhalten bleiben, da sie einen wesentlich breiteren Versorgungsbeitrag vor Ort leisten als das der reine Versandhandel kann. Hierzu gehört u.a. die persönliche Beratung, die Vernetzung und Unterstützung der Versorgung vor Ort. Insbesondere auf dem Land erfordert das, die Attraktivität für den Nachwuchs zu fördern. Hierzu gehören ein attraktives Umfeld, flexible Arbeitsbedingungen und erweiterte Aufgabenbereiche für junge Apotheker, die gern mehr pharmazeutische Aufgaben in Kooperation mit Ärzten und weiteren Leistungserbringern erbringen wollen. Letzteres kann auch zur Sicherung der Versorgung insgesamt beitragen

Carbohydrate masking of an antigenic epitope of influenza virus haemagglutinin independent of oligosaccharide size

Comparison of the haemagglutinins (HA) of the pathogenic avian influenza viruses A/FPV/Dutch/27 (H7N7) and A/FPV/Rostock/34 (H7N1) revealed 94.7% nucleotide and 93.8% amino acid sequence homologies. Six of the seven N-glycosidic oligosaccharides of the Rostock HA are at the same positions as the six carbohydrates of the Dutch strain. The additional oligosaccharide side chain of the Rostock strain, which is of the complex type, is attached to asparagine149 in antigenic epitope B. The accessibility of this antigenic epitope has been analysed by using rabbit antisera raised against synthetic peptides comprising amino acids 143-162. The carbohydrates of the HA of the Rostock strain have been modified (i) to truncated cores by expression in insect cells using a baculovirus vector, (ii) to oligomannosidic side chains by growth in the presence of the trimming inhibitor methyldeoxynojirimycin and (iii) to a single N-acetylglucosamine residue by removal of the oligomannosidic sugar with endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase H. Neither the authentic nor the modified oligosaccharides allowed antibody binding, as indicated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot analyses. Reactivity was observed, however, after complete removal of the carbohydrate from HA of the Rostock strain by digestion with peptide-N-glycosidase F. HA of the Dutch strain was reactive without prior peptide-N-glycosidase F treatment. These results demonstrate that a single N-acetylglucosamine at asparagine149 is sufficient to prevent recognition of the peptide epitop

Habitat use of large ungulates in northeastern Germany in relation to forest management

Estimating large herbivore density has been a major area of research in recent decades. Previous studies monitoring ungulate density, however, focused mostly on determining animal abundance, and did not interpret animal distribution in relation to habitat parameters. We surveyed large ungulates in the Biodiversity Exploratory Schorfheide-Chorin using faecal pellet group counts. This allowed us to explore the link between relative ungulate abundance, habitat use, and browsing damage on trees in a region with several types of forest, including unharvested and age-class beech forests, as well as age-class pine forests. Our results demonstrate that roe deer and fallow deer relative abundance is negatively correlated with large tree cover, and positively correlated with the cover of small shrubs (Rubus spec., Vaccinium spec.), and winter food supply. Habitat use of roe deer and fallow deer, as estimated by counting faecal pellet groups, revealed a preference for mature pine forests, and avoidance of deciduous forests. This differential habitat use is explained by different distributions of high quality food resources during winter. The response of deer to understory cover differed between roe deer and fallow deer at high cover percentages. The amount of browsing damage we observed on coniferous trees was not consistent with the relative deer abundance. Browsing damage was consistently higher on most deciduous trees, except for beech saplings which sustained less damage when roe deer density was low. Because roe deer is a highly selective feeder, it was reported to affect tree diversity by feeding only on trees with high nutritional value. Consequently, we propose that managing the number of all deer species by hunting is necessary to allow successful forest regeneration. Such an adjustment to deer numbers would need to account for both current tree diversity and alternative food resources. Our findings may be applicable to other forest landscapes in northeastern Germany including mature pine stands and differently harvested deciduous forests. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved