Pediatric Malnutrition: A Global Health Threat

Pediatric malnutrition is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in developing nations. In Ghana, one-third of childhood deaths are attributable to it. The most common forms of severe acute malnutrition include kwashiorkor (protein deficiency), marasmus (overall energy deficiency), and various micronutrient deficiencies (iodine, vitamin A, zinc, iron). Thirteen percent of Ghanaian children are moderately or severely underweight, 23% are stunted, and 6 % are wasted due to malnutrition. Princess Marie Louise Children’s Hospital (PML) is the largest facility in the greater Accra region for managing cases of pediatric severe acute malnutrition (SAM). Current public health guidelines to reduce disability and mortality from pediatric malnutrition in developing nations stem from the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) protocols for managing childhood malnutrition. Public health programs designed to combat pediatric malnutrition specific to Ghana include the Under Fives Child Health Policy (UFCHP) and Strengthening Health Outcomes Through the Private Sector (SHOPS) programs. Pediatric SAM is a complex issue that is unlikely to be eliminated in the foreseeable future. Therefore, public health efforts to prevent and treat pediatric SAM must be continuously optimized to reduce the societal and individual burden associated with malnutrition

Wie beeinflusst das Umfeld einer Bank die Effizienz? - Eine DEA-Analyse fuer die Bayerischen Genossenschaftsbanken

Although a huge literature has analysed the efficiency of the banking sector over the last years, only recently the importance to integrate further factors in the analysis has been mentioned. This paper, employing the non-parametric DEA approach to evaluate the efficiency of the Bavarian cooperative banks, investigates the impact of the environmental conditions on the technical efficiency. The results indicate that without consideration of the environment, the technical inefficiency of the banks is overestimated and thus may lead to a wrong evaluation of the quality of the managment.Effizienz, Banken, DEA

Gene dosage in mammals: characterization of haploid embryonic stem cells

RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Dissemination of European Cinema in the European Union and the International Market

This report by Josef Wutz aims to take stock of the dissemination of European films in Europe and in the world from 2002 to 2014. To do so, it takes all those working in the film industry into account: filmmakers, distributors, cinema operators, but also video content providers and public bodies providing funding to films. It focuses on four countries: Germany, Spain, France and Italy. Valentin Pérez then makes recommendations aiming at raising the profile of the European film industry. Four major current trends facing the European film industry can be considerable challenges: a record high of European productions despite stagnating market shares, the digitisation of theatres, the preservation of artistic diversity and quality and the emergence of new consumer patterns for European films

Ring1B is crucial for the regulation of developmental control genes and PRC1 proteins but not X inactivation in embryonic cells

The Polycomb group (PcG) gene Ring1B has been implicated in the repression of developmental control genes and X inactivation and is essential for embryogenesis. Ring1B protein contains a RING finger domain and functions as an E3 ubiquitin ligase that is crucial for the monoubiquitination of histone H2A (H2AK119ub1). Here, we study the function of Ring1B in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. The deletion of Ring1B causes the loss of several PcG proteins, showing an unanticipated function in the regulation of PcG protein levels. Derepression of lineage genes and an aberrant differentiation potential is observed in Ring1B-deficient ES cells. Despite a crucial function of Ring1B in establishing the chromosome-wide ubiquitination of histone H2A lysine 119 (H2AK119ub1) upon Xist expression in ES cells, the initiation of silencing by Xist is independent of Ring1B. Other chromatin marks associated with the initiation of X inactivation are not affected in Ring1B-deficient cells, suggesting compensation for the loss of Ring1B in X inactivation in contrast to the repression of lineage genes

Functionalized Photochromic Scaffolds for Biological Applications

The major part of this thesis (Chapter 1 – 3) focuses on the functionalization of different photochromic scaffolds for biological applications. Chapter 4 deals with a modified dye for purification of triplex DNA. Chapter 1 describes different synthetic routes to photochromic dithienylmaleimides functionalized either at each of the thiophene moieties or at the maleimide nitrogen. A Perkin-type condensation of two independently prepared thiophene precursors was successfully employed as the key step to assemble the maleimide core for non-symmetric diarylmaleimides. Thus, a photoswitchable amino acid was obtained and a variety of aromatic substituted dithienylmaleimides were synthesized by applying a Suzuki coupling strategy prior to the condensation. A different synthetic approach gave access to photochromic labeled natural amino acids as well as maleimide protected dithienylmaleimides by the reaction of a dithienylmaleic anhydride with amines or hydrazines. All prepared photoswitchable compounds exhibited reversible photochromism in polar organic solvents. Photoswitchable histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors are presented in Chapter 2. These inhibitors were gained by equipping dithienylethenes (DTEs) and fulgimides with hydroxamic acids to enable binding to zinc dependent HDACs. The control of these enzymes is of high biomedical interest in anticancer research and epigenetics due to their crucial role in numerous biological processes. While the photochromic performance of the two prepared classes of DTEs was only moderate in polar solvents the fulgimides featured excellent reversible photochromism even in aqueous buffer with very high photostationary states. All synthesized target compounds showed the anticipated inhibitory effect on the tested hHDAC1, hHDAC6, hHDAC8 and smHDAC8 with best IC50 values in the low nanomolar range. However, the corresponding photoisomers showed only a maximum four-fold difference in inhibitory ability. The differences in activity observed in the in vitro experiments could be rationalized by molecular dockings. Chapter 3 reports the synthesis and biological evaluation of photochromic ligands for modulation of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glycine-receptors by light. Therefore, photochromic ligands were synthesized by merging structural elements of nitrazepam and nicardipine, which are well-known pharmacophores for ion channels, with photoswitchable azobenzenes. The photochromic properties of the ligands were outstanding with very good fatigue resistance and high photostationary states. Initial in vitro electrophysiological investigations identified one azo benzodiazepine as very promising ligand. This compound acted not only as a UV sensitive blocker of GABAA-receptors, but also as subtype specific photoswitchable modulator of glycine-receptors. Preliminary molecular dockings could partly explain these experimental effects. Furthermore, in vivo investigations of the photochromic ligands were performed and another azo benzodiazepine showed photoswitchable influence on the activity of zebrafish larvae. The attempt to purify triplex DNA with a biotinylated thiazole orange derivative, which was synthesized by azide-alkyne click chemistry, is described in Chapter 4. Biological investigations of the functionalized compound could prove that the prepared thiazole orange kept the ability to stabilize triplexes against competitor oligonucleotides. However, a loss of overall affinity and specificity to triplex DNA was observed, which disqualified the biotinylated thiazole orange for a utilization to purify triplexes. Overall, this thesis presents functionalized synthetic compounds for biological applications. In particular, the contributions of this work are relevant for the future development of novel molecular tools to light-control cellular processes or living organisms

Introduction to Epigenetics

This open access textbook leads the reader from basic concepts of chromatin structure and function and RNA mechanisms to the understanding of epigenetics, imprinting, regeneration and reprogramming. The textbook treats epigenetic phenomena in animals, as well as plants. Written by four internationally known experts and senior lecturers in this field, it provides a valuable tool for Master- and PhD- students who need to comprehend the principles of epigenetics, or wish to gain a deeper knowledge in this field. After reading this book, the student will: Have an understanding of the basic toolbox of epigenetic regulation Know how genetic and epigenetic information layers are interconnected Be able to explain complex epigenetic phenomena by understanding the structures and principles of the underlying molecular mechanisms Understand how misregulated epigenetic mechanisms can lead to diseas

Posttraumatic growth of oncology patients in young and late adulthood

Katedra psychologieFaculty of EducationPedagogická fakult