The bat fauna of the caves near havran in western turkey and their importance for bat conservation

This paper describes the bat fauna of a cave system with three caves in a karst area near Havran in Western Turkey. One of these caves harbours approximately 15–20,000 adult bats of eight species, all of them forming nursery colonies. This represents the second largest summer colony of bats in Turkey. The species richness and the colony sizes qualify the site as an Important Mammal Area and would qualify it as a Special Area for Conservation, according to the Habitats Directive of the European Union. The area including the most important bat cave will be partly flooded by a dam which is currently being constructed by the State Water Authority. © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Enlargement rate of geographic atrophy before and after secondary CNV conversion with associated anti-VEGF treatment

Background!#!To study the enlargement rate of primary geographic atrophy (GA) before and after diagnosis of a secondary choroidal neovascularization (CNV) treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy.!##!Methods!#!Five hundred twenty-two consecutive eyes with primary GA were screened for the development of a complicating secondary CNV. Geographic atrophy was measured on blue autofluorescence (BAF) by two readers and calculated into mean growth rate before and after CNV diagnosis.!##!Results!#!Ten eyes of six patients were included in the study (six study eyes with GA complicated by CNV, four GA only partner eyes). Follow-up was 1.42 ± 0.48 years before and 3.64 ± 2.73 years after CNV. There was no significant difference between mean growth rate before and after CNV (1.58 ± 0.99 vs. 1.39 ± 0.65 mm!##!Conclusion!#!In this pilot study, primary GA enlargement did not seem to be influenced by a secondary CNV. No association between the intensity of anti-VEGF treatment and changes in atrophy enlargement rates were found. Further studies with larger sample sizes are warranted

Parkplatzlaermstudie Untersuchung von Schallemissionen aus Parkplaetzen, Autohoefen und Omnisbusbahnhoefen sowie von Parkhaeusern und Tiefgaragen

Available from TIB Hannover: RN 9276(89) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLE4. tot. rev. ed.DEGerman

Genotyping of Circulating Free DNA Enables Monitoring of Tumor Dynamics in Synovial Sarcomas

Background: Synovial sarcoma (SS) is a malignant soft tissue tumor of mesenchymal origin that frequently occurs in young adults. Translocation of the SYT gene on chromosome 18 to the SSX genes on chromosome X leads to the formation of oncogenic fusion genes, which lead to initiation and proliferation of tumor cells. The detection and quantification of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) can serve as a non-invasive method for diagnostics of local or distant tumor recurrence, which could improve survival rates due to early detection. Methods: We developed a subtype-specific targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) approach specifically targeting SS t(X;18)(p11;q11), which fuses SS18 (SYT) in chromosome 18 to SSX1 or SSX2 in chromosome x, and recurrent point mutations. In addition, patient-specific panels were designed from tumor exome sequencing. Both approaches were used to quantify ctDNA in patients’ plasma. Results: The subtype-specific assay allowed detection of somatic mutations from 25/25 tumors with a mean of 1.68 targetable mutations. The minimal limit of detection was determined at a variant allele frequency of 0.05%. Analysis of 29 plasma samples from 15 tumor patients identified breakpoint ctDNA in 6 patients (sensitivity: 40%, specificity 100%). The addition of more mutations further increased assay sensitivity. Quantification of ctDNA in plasma samples (n = 11) from one patient collected over 3 years, with a patient-specific panel based on tumor exome sequencing, correlated with the clinical course, response to treatment and tumor volume. Conclusions: Targeted NGS allows for highly sensitive tumor profiling and non-invasive detection of ctDNA in SS patients, enabling non-invasive monitoring of tumor dynamics

Prospective noninterventional BLUE SKY study evaluating the efficacy of brolucizumab in treatment-naive and previously treated patients with neovascular AMD

Intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is the standard treatment for patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). In addition to the approved substances ranibizumab (Lucentis (R), Novartis) and aflibercept (Eylea (R), Bayer), bevacizumab (Avastin (R), Roche) is also available. Furthermore, brolucizumab (Beovu (R), Novartis) has been approved and has been available in Germany since April 2020. The multicenter, noninterventional prospective BLUE SKY study investigates brolucizumab treatment with different schemes in 600 treatment-naive and pretreated nAMD patients in routine clinical practice over a 24-month period. Besides general patient data, visual acuity and treatment data will be documented. Fluorescein angiography, fundus photography, spectral domain optical coherence tomography and swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography will be performed and analyzed by reading centers. The focus of the analysis will be on the intraretinal and subretinal fluid distribution as well as morphological MNV changes and injection frequency. Also, safety and adverse drug effects of brolucizumab, with a specific focus on inflammatory complications, particularly retinal (occlusive) vasculitis will be evaluated