The Influence of Pretherapeutic and Preoperative Sarcopenia on Short-Term Outcome after Esophagectomy

By introducing minimally invasive surgery the rate of postoperative morbidity in esophageal cancer patients could be reduced. But esophagectomy is still associated with a relevant risk of postoperative morbidity and mortality. Patients often present with nutritional deficiency and sarcopenia even at time of diagnosis. This study focuses on the influence of skeletal muscle index (SMI) on postoperative morbidity and mortality. Fifty-two patients were included in this study. SMI was measured using computer tomographic images at the time of diagnosis and before surgery. Then, SMI and different clinicopathological and demographic features were correlated with postoperative morbidity. There was no correlation between SMI before neoadjuvant therapy (p = 0.5365) nor before surgery (p = 0.3530) with the short-term postoperative outcome. Regarding cholesterol level before surgery there was a trend for a higher risk of complications with lower cholesterol levels (p = 0.0846). Our findings suggest that a low preoperative SMI does not necessarily predict a poor postoperative outcome in esophageal cancer patients after esophagectomy but that there are many factors that influence the nutritional status of cancer patients. To improve nutritional status, cancer patients at our clinic receive specialized nutritional counselling during neoadjuvant treatment as well as after surgery

Engineering Electrostatic Repulsion of Metal Nanoparticles for Reduced Adsorption in Single-Impact Electrochemical Recordings

Stochastic impact electrochemistry is a promising concept to detect ultralow concentrations of nanoparticles in solution. However, statistically reliable sensor outputs require an appropriate number of observed nanoparticle collision events. Here, arrays of individually addressable electrodes allow increasing the effective detection area, and thereby the number of collision events, without sacrificing the signal-to-noise ratio. At the same time, however, these measurements typically increase the surface-to-volume ratio of the system, leading to a stronger influence of adsorption on the number of available particles. We address this issue of nanoparticle adsorption by controlling the electrode–electrolyte interface close to the detection electrodes. We use a direct nanoimpact experiment to demonstrate that a negatively charged surface leads to electrostatic repulsion, which results in a 2.5-fold increase in the number of detected collision events. Adding to this improved sensor performance, a tunable shield electrode offers a versatile tool to study nanoparticle adsorption at the solid–liquid interface

Let’s Talk about Love! Das Liebesbriefarchiv in der forschungsnahen Lehre

Dieses Working Paper ist das Ergebnis eines Experiments: Im Rahmen des Seminars Let’s talk about love! Linguistische und kulturhistorische Forschungen zu Liebesbriefen, das im Sommersemester 2021 an der Technischen Universität Darmstadt angeboten wurde, haben Studierende Transkriptionen und Basiserschließungen mit Briefmetadaten und Annotationen zahlreicher Liebesbriefe aus dem Bestand des Liebesbriefarchivs, das in der UB Koblenz aufbewahrt wird, erstellt. Alle Beteiligten hatten dabei mehrere Herausforderungen zu meistern: Zum einen galt es mit dem Umstand des pandemiebedingten digitalen Semesters zurechtzukommen. Zum anderen kamen im Seminar Studierende aus mehreren unterschiedlichen Studiengängen zusammen, was eine Vielfalt an unterschiedlichen Vorerfahrungen bezüglich der Transkription und Annotation von Textzeugen sowie an unterschiedlichen Leistungsvoraussetzungen der einzelnen Studierenden mit sich brachte. Anstelle der üblichen Hausarbeiten wurden daher als Seminarleistung von einzelnen Studierenden Aufsätze über seminarbezogene Themen erstellt, die wir nun neben einem Überblick über das Koblenzer Liebesbriefarchiv, das aktuelle Citizen-Science-Projekt Gruß & Kuss sowie über das durchgeführte Seminar in diesem Working Paper präsentieren

Transduction Enhancers Enable Efficient Human Adenovirus Type 5-Mediated Gene Transfer into Human Multipotent Mesenchymal Stromal Cells

Human multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs) are currently developed as cell therapeutics for different applications, including regenerative medicine, immune modulation, and cancer treatment. The biological properties of hMSCs can be further modulated by genetic engineering. Viral vectors based on human adenovirus type 5 (HAdV-5) belong to the most frequently used vector types for genetic modification of human cells in vitro and in vivo. However, due to a lack of the primary attachment receptor coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) in hMSCs, HAdV-5 vectors are currently not suitable for transduction of this cell type without capsid modification. Here we present several transduction enhancers that strongly enhance HAdV-5-mediated gene transfer into both bone marrow- and adipose tissue-derived hMSCs. Polybrene, poly-l-lysine, human lactoferrin, human blood coagulation factor X, spermine, and spermidine enabled high eGFP expression levels in hMSCs. Importantly, hMSCs treated with enhancers were not affected in their migration behavior, which is a key requisite for many therapeutic applications. Exemplary, strongly increased expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-stimulated gene 6 (TSG-6) (a secreted model therapeutic protein) was achieved by enhancer-facilitated HAdV-5 transduction. Thus, enhancer-mediated HAdV-5 vector transduction is a valuable method for the engineering of hMSCs, which can be further exploited for the development of innovative hMSC therapeutics

Dokumentation des Projekts "Nutzung offener Bücherschränke" 11.03.-11.07.2022

Der Projektbericht beschreibt die erfolgten Arbeitsschritte im Studierendenprojekt "Nutzung offener Bücherschränke" im Sommersemester 2022 an der Hochschule Hannover im Rahmen des 6. Semesters im Studiengang Informationsmanagement – berufsbegleitend. Der Bericht beschreibt den Projektverlauf von Festlegung und Entwicklung eines Untersuchungsdesign bis zur Auswertung und Visualisierung der erhobenen Daten. Dabei wird auch auf Schwierigkeiten und sowohl entwickelte als auch verworfene Lösungsansätze während der einzelnen Projektphasen eingegangen

White Paper of the ModelSEN Workshop (April 2022)

In April 2022, scholars from a variety of different disciplines and training met in Berlin for a workshop on historical networks organized by ModelSEN. This workshop brought together scholars, who have a joint interest in approaches drawn from multi-layer net- work analysis to investigate historical processes that involve layers of different kinds and include both social and epistemic components. This paper summarizes the outcomes and is intended to serve as a starting point for further discussions and the strengthening of a community in Historical Network Research

Farnesoid X receptor activation by bile acids suppresses lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis

Abstract Ferroptosis is a regulated cell death modality that occurs upon iron-dependent lipid peroxidation. Recent research has identified many regulators that induce or inhibit ferroptosis; yet, many regulatory processes and networks remain to be elucidated. In this study, we performed a chemical genetics screen using small molecules with known mode of action and identified two agonists of the nuclear receptor Farnesoid X Receptor (FXR) that suppress ferroptosis, but not apoptosis or necroptosis. We demonstrate that in liver cells with high FXR levels, knockout or inhibition of FXR sensitized cells to ferroptotic cell death, whereas activation of FXR by bile acids inhibited ferroptosis. Furthermore, FXR inhibited ferroptosis in ex vivo mouse hepatocytes and human hepatocytes differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells. Activation of FXR significantly reduced lipid peroxidation by upregulating the ferroptosis gatekeepers GPX4, FSP1, PPARα, SCD1, and ACSL3. Together, we report that FXR coordinates the expression of ferroptosis-inhibitory regulators to reduce lipid peroxidation, thereby acting as a guardian of ferroptosis

Stable population structure in Europe since the Iron Age, despite high mobility

Ancient DNA research in the past decade has revealed that European population structure changed dramatically in the prehistoric period (14,000-3000 years before present, YBP), reflecting the widespread introduction of Neolithic farmer and Bronze Age Steppe ancestries. However, little is known about how population structure changed from the historical period onward (3000 YBP - present). To address this, we collected whole genomes from 204 individuals from Europe and the Mediterranean, many of which are the first historical period genomes from their region (e.g. Armenia and France). We found that most regions show remarkable inter-individual heterogeneity. At least 7% of historical individuals carry ancestry uncommon in the region where they were sampled, some indicating cross-Mediterranean contacts. Despite this high level of mobility, overall population structure across western Eurasia is relatively stable through the historical period up to the present, mirroring geography. We show that, under standard population genetics models with local panmixia, the observed level of dispersal would lead to a collapse of population structure. Persistent population structure thus suggests a lower effective migration rate than indicated by the observed dispersal. We hypothesize that this phenomenon can be explained by extensive transient dispersal arising from drastically improved transportation networks and the Roman Empire's mobilization of people for trade, labor, and military. This work highlights the utility of ancient DNA in elucidating finer scale human population dynamics in recent history