Detection of the Three Kunitz-Type Single Domains of Membrane-Bound Tissue Factor Pathway Inhibitor (TFPI) by Flow Cytometry

Peer Reviewe

Automated fiber placement: The impact of manufacturing constraints on achieving structural property targets for CFRP-stiffeners

The use of automated fiber placement (AFP) to manufacture integrated CFRP stiffening structures leads to a conflict between structural requirements and process limitations in early design stages. In order to avoid costly design iterations, the presented analytical approach enables the computation of tool geometries that are at the limit of theoretical manufacturability. The model is able to determine the profile of manufacturable omega stiffeners with high accuracy. It is shown that the maximum manufacturable profile parameters depend non-linearly on the properties of the AFP system and the profile itself. This allows prioritization of the profile parameters for the efficient definition of omega stiffeners that should meet distinct structural property targets. The results show that current, non-optimized AFP systems already have the potential to manufacture omega stiffeners with sufficiently high stiffness values when taking into account current aerospace applications

Primary NK/T cell lymphoma nasal type of the stomach with skin involvement: a case report

Since nasal NK/T cell lymphoma and NK/T cell lymphoma nasal type are rare diseases, gastric involvement has seldom been seen. We report a unique case of a patient with a primary NK/T cell lymphoma nasal type of the stomach with skin involvement. The patient had no history of malignant diseases and was diagnosed with hematemesis and intense bleeding from his gastric primary site. Shortly after this event, exanthemic skin lesions appeared with concordant histology to the primary site. Despite chemotherapy, the patient died one month after the first symptomatic appearance of disease

Applied system analysis and technology of designing the software

An analogy is made between the stages of applied system analysis and the stages of software Engineerin

Photoassociation spectroscopy of cold calcium atoms

Photoassociation spectroscopy experiments on 40Ca atoms close to the dissociation limit 4s4s 1S0 - 4s4p 1P1 are presented. The vibronic spectrum was measured for detunings of the photoassociation laser ranging from 0.6 GHz to 68 GHz with respect to the atomic resonance. In contrast to previous measurements the rotational splitting of the vibrational lines was fully resolved. Full quantum mechanical numerical simulations of the photoassociation spectrum were performed which allowed us to put constraints on the possible range of the calcium scattering length to between 50 a_0 and 300 a_0

Delta-like protein 3 expression in paired chemonaive and chemorelapsed small cell lung cancer samples

Rovalpituzumab tesirine (Rova-T), an antibody-drug conjugate directed against Delta-like protein 3 (DLL3), is under development for patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). DLL3 is expressed on the majority of SCLC samples. Because SCLC is rarely biopsied in the course of disease, data regarding DLL3 expression in relapses is not available. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of DLL3 in chemorelapsed (but untreated with Rova-T) SCLC samples and compare the results with chemonaive counterparts. Two evaluation methods to assess DLL3 expression were explored. Additionally, we assessed if DLL3 expression of chemorelapsed and/or chemonaive samples has prognostic impact and if it correlates with other clinicopathological data. The study included 30 paired SCLC samples, which were stained with an anti DLL3 antibody. DLL3 expression was assessed using tumor proportion score (TPS) and H-score and was categorized as DLL3 low (TPS < 50%, H-score ≤ 150) and DLL3 high (TPS ≥ 50%, H-score > 150). Expression data were correlated with clinicopathological characteristics. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to illustrate overall survival (OS) depending on DLL3 expression in chemonaive and chemorelapsed samples, respectively, and depending on dynamics of expression during course of therapy. DLL3 was expressed in 86.6% chemonaive and 80% chemorelapsed SCLC samples without significant differences between the two groups. However, the extent of expression varied in a substantial proportion of pairs (36.6% with TPS, 43.3% with H-score), defined as a shift from low to high or high to low expression. TPS and H-score provided comparable results. There were no profound correlations with clinicopathological data. Survival analysis revealed a trend toward a more favorable OS in DLL low-expressing chemonaive SCLC (p = 0.57) and, in turn, in DLL3 high-expressing chemorelapsed SCLC (p = 0.42) as well as in SCLC demonstrating a shift from low to high expression (p = 0.56) without being statistically significant. This is the first study to investigate DLL3 expression in a large cohort of rare paired chemonaive-chemorelapsed SCLC specimens. Comparative analysis revealed that DLL3 expression was not stable during the course of therapy, suggesting therapy-based alterations. Unlike in chemonaive samples, a high DLL3 expression in chemorelapsed samples indicated a trend for a more favorable prognosis. Our results highlight the importance to investigate DLL3 in latest chemorelapsed SCLC tumor tissue

HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis was associated with no impact on sexually transmitted infection prevalence in a high-prevalence population of predominantly men who have sex with men, Germany, 2018 to 2019

Introduction: Despite increased use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in Germany, HIV infection rates are not declining and little is known about how this prevention method affects the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STI) among men who have sex with men (MSM). Aim: We studied, in a large multicentre cohort, STI point prevalence, co-infection rates, anatomical location and influence of PrEP. Methods: The BRAHMS study was a prospective cohort study conducted at 10 sites in seven major German cities that enrolled MSM reporting increased sexual risk behaviour. At screening visits, MSM were tested for Mycoplasma genitalium (MG), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Treponema pallidum (TP), and given a behavioural questionnaire. With binomial regression, we estimated prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association of PrEP and STI. Results: We screened 1,043 MSM in 2018 and 2019, with 53.0% currently using PrEP. At screening, 370 participants (35.5%) had an STI. The most common pathogen was MG in 198 (19.0%) participants, followed by CT (n = 133; 12.8%), NG (n = 105; 10.1%) and TP (n = 37; 3.5%). Among the 370 participants with at least one STI, 14.6% (n = 54) reported STI-related symptoms. Infection prevalence was highest at anorectal site (13.4% MG, 6.5% NG, 10.2% CT). PrEP use was not statistically significant in adjusted models for STI (PR: 1.10; 95% CI: 0.91–1.32), NG/CT, only NG or only CT. Conclusions: Prevalence of asymptomatic STI was high, and PrEP use did not influence STI prevalence in MSM eligible for PrEP according to national guidelines.Peer Reviewe

Basics of collaborative research data management: Requirements for a Schleswig-Holstein state initiative on research data management

Das Papier "Grundlagen eines partnerschaftlichen Forschungsdatenmanagements - Anforderungen an eine schleswig-holsteinische Landesinitiative zum Forschungsdatenmanagement" umreißt die Anforderungen für eine schleswig-holsteinische Landesinitiative zum Forschungsdatenmanagement (FDM-SH). Hierfür wird zunächst das Umfeld, in dem eine solche Initiative entstehen und agieren soll, beschrieben. So beeinflussen sowohl die Eigenheiten der regionalen Forschungslandschaft wie auch die Entwicklungen im Bereich der Nationalen Forschungsdateninfrastruktur (NFDI) die Ausprägungen von Landesinitiativen. Die speziellen Anforderungen werden durch den Vergleich mit anderen Landesinitiativen, die Analyse von spezifischen Umfrageergebnissen aus Schleswig-Holstein sowie die Berücksichtigung der Anforderungen der NFDI gesammelt. Der Ansatz des partnerschaftlichen Forschungsdatenmanagements (FDM) spiegelt das Anliegen Schleswig-Holsteins wider, die Herausforderungen für ein zeitgemäßes FDM vor Ort gemeinsam zu bewältigen und dabei sowohl Know-how zu teilen als auch Ressourcen zu schonen

Experimentelle Implantation von Kniegelenks-Totalendoprothesen unter Verwendung des CT-freien VectorVision-Navigationssystems

Die vorliegende Studie wurde durchgeführt, um die aktuellen Vor- und Nachteile sowie Probleme der Navigation zum heutigen Zeitpunkt darzustellen. Es wurden insgesamt acht kreuzbanderhaltende Genesis-II-Kniegelenks-Totalendoprothesen der Firma Smith & Nephew bei 4 Körperspendern in Thielfixierung implantiert. Intraoperativ wurde die Aufklappbarkeit der Kniegelenke vor und nach der Implantation in Millimetern bei 0°, 30° und 90° Flexion mit dem CT-freien Navigationssystem gemessen. In der Auswertung wurden die Differenzen der Mittelwerte der Aufklappbarkeit bestimmt. Postoperativ wurden anhand von CT-Aufnahmen der „anatomisch mediale distale Femurwinkel (a MDFW)“, der „mechanisch mediale distale Femurwinkel (m MDFW)“, der „mechanisch mediale proximale Tibiawinkel (m MPTW)“, der „mechanisch posteriore distale Femurwinkel (m PPTW)“, der „mechanisch posteriore proximale Tibiawinkel (m PPTW)“ sowie die Rotation der Femur- und der Tibiakomponente gemessen und anhand aktueller Studien eingeordnet. Im Vergleich der präoperativen zu den postoperativen medialen sowie lateralen Aufklappbarkeiten konnte eine signifikante Verringerung für die mediale Aufklappbarkeit (p= 0,018) und die laterale Aufklappbarkeit (p=0,028) bei 0 Grad Flexion eruiert werden. Weiterhin bestand ein signifikanter Unterschied für die laterale Aufklappbarkeit (p=0,018) bei 90° Flexion. Bei der Auswertung der CT-Aufnahmen und deren Einordnung anhand anderer Studien zeigte sich, dass insgesamt bei Betrachtung der ermittelten Winkel sehr gute bis gute Ergebnisse erzielt werden konnten. Ein großer Vorteil der Navigation gegenüber konventionellen Verfahren, ist die Möglichkeit einer besseren Achsausrichtung der Komponenten und einer exakten Weichteilbalancierung. Die vorliegende Studie zeigt außerdem, dass durch die Anwendung eines Navigationssystems eine signifikante Verbesserung der Stabilität des Kniegelenkes erreicht werden kann. Neben diesen Vorteilen sind unter anderem die hohen Anschaffungskosten eines Navigationssystems, perioperative Frakturen und Abweichungen der anatomischen und digitalisierten Daten voneinander nicht zu verachtende Nachteile dieses Operationsverfahrens. Entscheidend für die letztendliche Beurteilung und Einordnung der Navigationstechnik werden Studien sein, die postoperative Langzeitergebnisse nach zehn und noch mehr Jahren liefern und die postoperative subjektive Patientenzufriedenheit mit einbeziehen