Drohende Finanzierungsklemme bei Innovationen: rechtzeitig entgegensteuern

Finanzierungsbeschränkungen gelten als eine der wichtigsten Hürden im Innovationsprozess. Im Innovationsindikator 2009 hat sich Deutschland im Bereich Finanzierung gegenüber dem Vorjahr verschlechtert und verharrt mit Rang 15 abgeschlagen in der Schlussgruppe. Die Finanzierungsfrage bleibt weiterhin ein zentrales Problem bei der Stärkung der Innovationskraft. Besonders bei der Finanzierung von Unternehmensgründungen hinkt Deutschland hinterher. Schärfere Finanzierungskonditionen für etablierte Unternehmen und die Erhöhung der Risikoprämien auf breiter Front lassen keinen anderen Schluss zu: Die Finanzierung von Innovationen, ohnehin durch partielles Marktversagen erschwert, wird durch die Wirtschafts- und Finanzkrise noch schwieriger werden. Umso wichtiger ist es, rechtzeitig gegenzusteuern. Das DIW Berlin schlägt hierzu vor, die Sanierung des Bankensektors entschiedener als bisher voranzutreiben, Venture Capital gezielt zu fördern und die Rahmenbedingung für Beteiligungskapital zu verbessern.Financial crisis, Financing of innovation, Corporate finance

Nordische Bankenkrise der 90er Jahre: gemischte Erfahrungen mit "Bad Banks"

Zentrale Maßnahmen zur Überwindung der Bankenkrisen der 90er Jahre in Schweden und Finnland waren in beiden Ländern der Aufkauf von "schlechten Papieren" durch Vermögensverwaltungsgesellschaften ("Bad Banks") und die Verstaatlichung von wichtigen Banken. Aus finnischer und schwedischer Sicht sollte dem Krisenmanagement und insbesondere der Sanierung der notleidenden Aktiva in den Bankbilanzen Priorität eingeräumt werden. Dank strikter Abnahmekonditionen und erfolgreicher Verwertungsstrategien gelang es den schwedischen "Bad Banks" den Steuerzahler von den Kosten der Krise zu entlasten. Die Übertragbarkeit dieser Ergebnisse auf die Gegenwart ist indes fraglich. Preisfindung und Verwertung sind für verbriefte, mit Hypotheken unterlegte Wertpapiere weitaus schwieriger zu handhaben als für einheimische Immobilien- und Unternehmenskredite. Wichtiger ist es angesichts der weiter schwelenden Bankenkrise, zunächst einmal die Eckpfeiler der neuen Finanzmarktarchitektur festzulegen.Financial crisis, Bad bank, Finland, Sweden

Prostate lymphoscintigraphy and radio-guided surgery for sentinel lymph node identification in prostate cancer - Technique and results of the first 350 cases

Introduction: Having in mind the promising results of lymphoscintigraphy and intraoperative gamma probe application for the detection of sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) in malignant melanoma, breast and penis cancer, we tried to identify the SLN in prostate cancer by applying a comparable technique. Materials and Method. 350 patients with prostate cancer were examined after providing informed consent. The day before pelvic lymphadenectomy technetium-99m nanocolloid was transrectally injected into the prostate under ultrasound guidance. A single central application was done per prostate lobe in most cases. Activity attained 90400 MBq, and the total injected volume was about 2-3 ml. Hereafter, lymphoscintigraphy was carried out. Those lymph nodes having been identified as SLN by means of gamma probe detection and lymphoscintigraphy were removed intraoperatively. Later, most of the cases had different types of pelvic lymphadenectomy. SLN received serial sections and immunohistochemistry, non-SLN step sections. Results: 335 patients showed at least 1 SLN in lymphoscintigraphy. 24.7% had lymph node metastases. In 2 patients, metastases in non-SLN were found without at least one SLN being affected (false-negative patient). Conclusion:Our experience suggests that the SLN identification is not only feasible in breast cancer and malignant melanoma, but also in prostate cancer with a comparable technique. Copyright (C) 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel

Was verstehen Sie unter Fachdidaktik? Expert(inn)en-Befragung zur Fachdidakktik und zur Fachdidaktiker(innen)-Ausbildung

Die Auffassungen über das (Wissenschafts-)Verständnis von Fachdidaktik, über ihre Abgrenzung von Nachbardisziplinen, über ihre Funktion in der Lehrer(innen)bildung und über die Aus- und Fortbildungsstrukturen und -inhalte von Fachdidaktiker(inne)n sind durchaus nicht einheitlich. Sie dürften u.a. wesentlich davon abhängen, aus welchem beruflichen Blickwinkel man sich mit dem Gebiet beschäftigt und welche Fachbereiche und Ausbildungsstufen man dabei im Auge hat. nWir legten sechs Expert(inn)en, Leiterinnen und Leitern von Instituten, an denen Lehrer(innen) verschiedener Stufen und Fachbereiche ausgebildet werden, je vier Fragen zu den obigen Problemkreisen vor, die sie in schriftlichen Statements beantworteten. nProf. Dr. Rudolf Künzli, Rektor des Aargauischen Instituts für Bezirkslehrer/innen- Bildung (Didaktikum) und selber Experte in erziehungswissenschaftlichen Fragen, hat die "Interview"-Beiträge gesichtet, Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede in den Expert(inn)en-Antworten ausgemacht und einen wissenschaftskritischen Kommentar aus seiner Sicht beigefügt

Circulating cell-free methylated DNA and lactate dehydrogenase release in colorectal cancer

Background: Hypermethylation of DNA is an epigenetic alteration commonly found in colorectal cancer (CRC) and can also be detected in blood samples of cancer patients. Methylation of the genes helicase-like transcription factor (HLTF) and hyperplastic polyposis 1 (HPP1) have been proposed as prognostic, and neurogenin 1 (NEUROG1) as diagnostic biomarker. However the underlying mechanisms leading to the release of these genes are unclear. This study aimed at examining the possible correlation of the presence of methylated genes NEUROG1, HLTF and HPP1 in serum with tissue breakdown as a possible mechanism using serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) as a surrogate marker. Additionally the prognostic impact of these markers was examined. Methods: Pretherapeutic serum samples from 259 patients from all cancer stages were analyzed. Presence of hypermethylation of the genes HLTF, HPP1, and NEUROG1 was examined using methylation-specific quantitative PCR (MethyLight). LDH was determined using an UV kinetic test. Results: Hypermethylation of HLTF and HPP1 was detected significantly more often in patients with elevated LDH levels (32% vs. 12% {[}p = 0.0005], and 68% vs. 11% {[}p < 0.0001], respectively). Also, higher LDH values correlated with a higher percentage of a fully methylated reference in a linear fashion (Spearman correlation coefficient 0.18 for HLTF {[}p = 0.004]; 0.49 {[}p <.0001] for HPP1). No correlation between methylation of NEUROG1 and LDH was found in this study. Concerning the clinical characteristics, high levels of LDH as well as methylation of HLTF and HPP1 were significantly associated with larger and more advanced stages of CRC. Accordingly, these three markers were correlated with significantly shorter survival in the overall population. Moreover, all three identified patients with a worse prognosis in the subgroup of stage IV patients. Conclusions: We were able to provide evidence that methylation of HLTF and especially HPP1 detected in serum is strongly correlated with cell death in CRC using LDH as surrogate marker. Additionally, we found that prognostic information is given by both HLTF and HPP1 as well as LDH. In sum, determining the methylation of HLTF and HPP1 in serum might be useful in order to identify patients with more aggressive tumors

Prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Validation and ranking of established staging-systems in a large western HCC-cohort.

HCC is diagnosed in approximately half a million people per year, worldwide. Staging is a more complex issue than in most other cancer entities and, mainly due to unique geographic characteristics of the disease, no universally accepted staging system exists to date. Focusing on survival rates we analyzed demographic, etiological, clinical, laboratory and tumor characteristics of HCC-patients in our institution and applied the common staging systems. Furthermore we aimed at identifying the most suitable of the current staging systems for predicting survival. Overall, 405 patients with HCC were identified from an electronic medical record database. The following seven staging systems were applied and ranked according to their ability to predict survival by using the Akaike information criterion (AIC) and the concordance-index (c-index): BCLC, CLIP, GETCH, JIS, Okuda, TNM and Child-Pugh. Separately, every single variable of each staging system was tested for prognostic meaning in uni- and multivariate analysis. Alcoholic cirrhosis (44.4%) was the leading etiological factor followed by viral hepatitis C (18.8%). Median survival was 18.1 months (95%-CI: 15.2-22.2). Ascites, bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, AFP, number of tumor nodes and the BCLC tumor extension remained independent prognostic factors in multivariate analysis. Overall, all of the tested staging systems showed a reasonable discriminatory ability. CLIP (closely followed by JIS) was the top-ranked score in terms of prognostic capability with the best values of the AIC and c-index (AIC 2286, c-index 0.71), surpassing other established staging systems like BCLC (AIC 2343, c-index 0.66). The unidimensional scores TNM (AIC 2342, c-index 0.64) and Child-Pugh (AIC 2369, c-index 0.63) performed in an inferior fashion. Compared with six other staging systems, the CLIP-score was identified as the most suitable staging system for predicting prognosis in a large German cohort of predominantly non-surgical HCC-patients

Stimulation of commercial coal seam methane production aimed at improving mining technology

The relevance of the current research is due to the urgent need to revise the existing normative bases and procedures involved in intensive development of coal-methane deposits and commercial production of coal seam methane. The article presents the analysis of data on coal production volume and amount of methane emitted into the atmosphere in Kuzbass. There is a need to develop the exploration techniques that would allow implementing pre-mining gas drainage of coal seams and provide the companies with the guidance on coal seam methane drainage in very gassy coal mines. Commercial production of methane should become an integral part of economy and energy balance of the Russian Federation, which, in its turn, would enhance environmental protection due to reducing methane emissions, the largest source of greenhouse effect

Long-lived virus-reactive memory T cells generated from purified cytokine-secreting T helper type 1 and type 2 effectors

Many vaccination strategies and immune cell therapies aim at increasing the numbers of memory T cells reactive to protective antigens. However, the differentiation lineage and therefore the optimal generation conditions of CD4 memory cells remain controversial. Linear and divergent differentiation models have been proposed, suggesting CD4 memory T cell development from naive precursors either with or without an effector-stage intermediate, respectively. Here, we address this question by using newly available techniques for the identification and isolation of effector T cells secreting effector cytokines. In adoptive cell transfers into normal, nonlymphopenic mice, we show that long-lived virus-specific memory T cells can efficiently be generated from purified interferon γ–secreting T helper (Th) type 1 and interleukin (IL)-4– or IL-10–secreting Th2 effectors primed in vitro or in vivo. Importantly, such effector-derived memory T cells were functional in viral challenge infections. They proliferated vigorously, rapidly modulated IL-7 receptor expression, exhibited partial stability and flexibility of their cytokine patterns, and exerted differential effects on virus-induced immunopathology. Thus, cytokine-secreting effectors can evade activation-induced cell death and develop into long-lived functional memory cells. These findings demonstrate the efficiency of linear memory T cell differentiation and encourage the design of vaccines and immune cell therapies based on differentiated effector T cells

Ten-year follow-up results from the Goettingen Risk, Incidence and Prevalence Study (GRIPS), I: risk factors for myocardial infarction in a cohort of 5790 men. Atherosclerosis

Abstract Besides the accepted major risk factors for myocardial infarction (MI), cholesterol, hypertension and smoking, several other variables such as lipoproteins, apolipoproteins, fibrinogen and family history of MI, have been considered, but their usefulness as predictors of MI is controversially discussed. The Gö ttingen Risk Incidence and Prevalence Study (GRIPS) aimed to evaluate the independent impact of the latter in comparison to the established risk factors. GRIPS is a prospective cohort study, which included 5790 men, aged 40-59.9 years, without cardiovascular disease at baseline. Multivariate logistic regression models for the estimation of the MI risk based on the 10-year follow-up data from 97.4% of the study participants established LDL cholesterol as the strongest predictor of MI. It was followed by family history of MI, Lp(a), age, smoking, systolic blood pressure, HDL cholesterol (inversely related) and plasma glucose (PB0.00l). Apolipoprotein B as well as the ratios total/HDL cholesterol, LDL/HDL cholesterol and Apo B/AI were less effective predictors than LDL cholesterol and did not contribute independently to the estimation of MI risk. Similarly apoprotein AI was a weaker predictor of MI risk then HDL cholesterol. GRIPS is the first prospective cohort study which clearly justifies the key role of LDL cholesterol in preventive strategies. However, the data also give strong support for the additional consideration of other risk factors for a valid estimation of the MI risk for an individual subject. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd