Early Computer Science Education. Goals and Success Criteria for Pre-Primary and Primary Education

“Scientific Studies on the Work of the ‘Haus der kleinen Forscher’ Foundation” is a regularly published series of scientific reports authored by distinguished experts from the field of early education. This series serves to pursue professional dialogue between the Foundation, academia and practice, with the aim of lending sound support to all child-care centres, after-school care centres and primary schools in Germany in their educational mission. This ninth volume of the series, with a foreword by Ilan Chabay, deals with the goals and requirements of computer science education in the elementary and primary sector. In their expert report, Nadine Bergner, Hilde Köster, Johannes Magenheim, Kathrin Müller, Ralf Romeike, Ulrik Schroeder and Carsten Schulte specify the pedagogical and content-related goal dimensions of computer science education at child-care centres and primary schools. In addition to establishing a theoretical basis for various goal dimensions, the authors discuss the success criteria for effective and efficient early computer science education in practice. They also provide recommendations for the further development of the Foundation’s offerings and scientific accompaniment of the work of the Foundation in the field of computer science. In their expert recommendation, Nadine Bergner and Kathrin Müller describe a selection of informatics systems for children at child-care centres and primary schools and offer suggestions for particularly suitable systems and their use in elementary and primary education based on professional criteria. The final chapter of the volume describes the implementation of these professional recommendations in the programmes of the “Haus der kleinen Forscher” Foundation – with and without computers. (DIPF/Verlag

Pre-therapeutic dosimetry and biodistribution of 86Y-DOTA-Phe1-Tyr3-octreotide versus 111In-pentetreotide in patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumours.

PURPOSE: For the internal radiotherapy of neuroendocrine tumours, the somatostatin analogue DOTATOC labelled with 90Y is frequently used [90Y-DOTA-Phe1-Tyr3)-octreotide (SMT487-OctreoTher)]. Radiation exposure to the kidneys is critical in this therapy as it may result in renal failure. The aim of this study was to compare cumulative organ and tumour doses based upon dosimetric data acquired with the chemically identical 86Y-DOTA-Phe1-Tyr3-octreotide (considered as the gold standard) and the commercially available 111In-pentetreotide. METHODS: The cumulative organ and tumour doses for the therapeutic administration of 13.32 GBq 90Y-DOTA-Phe1-Tyr3-octreotide (three cycles, each of 4.44 GBq) were estimated based on the MIRD concept (MIRDOSE 3.1 and IMEDOSE). Patients with a cumulative kidney dose exceeding 27 Gy had to be excluded from subsequent therapy with 90Y-DOTA-Phe1-Tyr3-octreotide, in accordance with the directives of the German radiation protection authorities. RESULTS: The range of doses (mGy/MBq 90Y-DOTA-Phe1-Tyr3-octreotide) for kidneys, spleen, liver and tumour masses was 0.6-2.8, 1.5-4.2, 0.3-1.3 and 2.1-29.5 (86Y-DOTA-Phe1-Tyr3-octreotide), respectively, versus 1.3-3.0, 1.8-4.4, 0.2-0.8 and 1.4-19.7 (111In-pentetreotide), with wide inter-subject variability. Despite renal protection with amino acid infusions, estimated cumulative kidney doses in two patients exceeded 27 Gy. CONCLUSION: Compared with 86Y-DOTA-Phe1-Tyr3-octreotide, dosimetry with 111In-pentetreotide overestimated doses to kidneys and spleen, whereas the radiation dose to the tumour-free liver was underestimated. However, both dosimetric approaches detected the two patients with an exceptionally high radiation burden to the kidneys that carried a potential risk of renal failure following radionuclide therapy

Preemptive tumor profiling for biomarker-stratified early clinical drug development in metastatic breast cancer patients

Biomarker-stratified cancer pharmacotherapy was pioneered in the care of breast cancer patients. The utility of agents modulating hormone receptors, synthesis of steroid hormones, or HER2-targeting agents has been greatly enhanced by the detection of predictive biomarkers in diagnostic tumor samples. Based on deeper understanding of breast cancer biology multiple drug candidates have been developed to modulate additional molecular targets which may associate with specific biomarker profiles. Accordingly, exploratory biomarkers are increasingly incorporated in early clinical trials, thus demanding a new process of patient selection. Here, we describe the implementation of preemptive, multiplexed biomarker profiling linked to standard diagnostic algorithms for metastatic breast cancer patients treated at the West German Cancer Center. Profiling for experimental biomarkers was prospectively offered to patients with metastatic breast cancer who met generic clinical trial inclusion criteria. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor samples were retrieved and studied for potentially "actionable" biomarkers related to active clinical trials by immunohistochemistry, amplicon sequencing, and in situ hybridization. The clinical course of those "profiled" patients was closely monitored to offer trial participation whenever applicable. Here, we report results from the first 131 patients enrolled in this program. PIK3CA mutations (23 %) and amplifications (2 %), loss of PTEN expression (13 %), and FGFR1 amplifications (8 %) were detected next to established biomarkers such as estrogen (67 %) and progesterone receptor expression (52 %), and HER2 overexpression or amplification (23 %). So far 16 "profiled" patients (12 %) have been enrolled in biomarker-stratified early clinical trials. Preemptive profiling of investigational biomarkers can be integrated into the diagnostic algorithm of a large Comprehensive Cancer Center. Extensive administrative efforts are required to successfully enroll "profiled" patients with metastatic breast cancer in early clinical trials stratified by exploratory biomarkers. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York