A new Bajocian profil (middle Jurassic) in the "Osnabrücker Bergland" (Niedersachsen)

In den Jahren 1984-1986 wurde südöstlich von Osnabrück beim Bau der Autobahn (A 33) ein großer Aufschluß im Bajocium und Bathonium geschaffen. Mit Hilfe der horizontiert aufgesammelten Ammoniten konnte das Bajocium im Osnabrücker Bergland entsprechend den Standard-Zonen und -Subzonen der nordwesteuropäischen Faunenprovinz untergliedert werden.During the construction of the motorway (A 33) southeast of Osnabrück a large exposure in the Bajocian and the Bathonian was created in the years 1984-86. By means of the ammonites which had been collected, bed by bed it was possible to subdivide the Bajocian in the "Osnabrücker Bergland" according to the habitat-zones and sub-zones of the Northwest European province of faunas

Die Faunenhorizonte der "Subfurcaten-Schichten" (Bajocium, Niortense-Zone) in Nordwestdeutschland

Aufgrund neuer Aufschlüsse der "Subfurcaten-Schichten" (Bajocium, Niortense- Zone) in Nordwestdeutschland ist es möglich, die Schichtenfolge in Ammonitenfaunen-Horizonte zu untergliedern. Eine paläontologische Revision der Ammonitengattung Strenoceras HYATTmit den Untergattungen Strenoceras HYATT(m) und Garantiana HYATT(M) wird durchgeführt.Because of new exposures in the "Subfurcaten-Schichten" (Bajocian, Niortense- Zone) in Northwest Germany it is possible to subdivide the sequence in ammonite faunal horizons. A palaeontological revision of the genus Strenoceras HYATTwith the subgenus Strenoceras HYATT(m) and Garantiana HYATT(M) is executed

Das Jura-Profil (Ober-Bajocium bis Mittel-Kimmeridge) des Erdgasgrabens Oberbauerschaft (Wiehengebirge, Nordwestdeutschland)

Im Herbst 1992 entstand südöstlich von Preußisch Oldendorf bei den Erdarbeiten zum Bau einer Erdgasfernleitung für kurze Zeit ein neuer Aufschluß im Wiehengebirge. Die damals freigelegten Schichten des Dogger und Malm vom oberen Bajocium bis hin zum tiefen Mittleren Kimmeridge werden beschrieben.In autumn 1992 during the construction of the natural gas pipeline east of Preußisch Oldendorf a new exposure was created for a short time. This publication gives a lithological description of the Dogger and Malm sediments from the Upper-Bajocium to the lower part of the Middle-Kimmeridge

Sub-μ\mu structured Lotus Surfaces Manufacturing

Sub-micro structured surfaces allow modifying the behavior of polymer films or components. Especially in micro fluidics a lotus-like characteristic is requested for many applications. Structure details with a high aspect ratio are necessary to decouple the bottom and the top of the functional layer. Unlike to stochastic methods, patterning with a LIGA-mold insert it is possible to structure surfaces very uniformly or even with controlled variations (e.g. with gradients). In this paper we present the process chain to realize polymer sub-micro structures with minimum lateral feature size of 400 nm and up to 4 micrometers high.Comment: Submitted on behalf of EDA Publishing Association (http://irevues.inist.fr/handle/2042/16838

Shortening of treatment duration in patients with chronic hepatitis C genotype 2 and 3 - impact of ribavirin dose - a randomized multicentre trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) Patients, infected with genotype (GT) 2 or 3 are treated with Peg-IFN and ribavirin (RBV) (800 mg/day) for 24 weeks. Treatment duration can be shortened to 12-16 weeks if a higher dose of RBV (1.000/1.200 mg/day) was used without considerable loss of responsiveness or increased risk of relapse. Previously we have shown that in patients with CHC, GT 2/3 RBV can be reduced to 400 mg/day if administered for 24 weeks without an increase in relapse rates. Therefore we investigated the efficacy of a reduced RBV dosage of 400 mg/day with shorter treatment duration (16 weeks).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Treatment naïve patients with CHC, GT 2/3 were randomized to receive 180 μg peginterferonα2a/week in combination with either 800 (group C) or 400 mg/d (group D) for 16 weeks. The primary endpoint was SVR.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>12 months after the first patient was randomized a inferior outcome of group D as compared to group C was noted, therefore the study was terminated. At study termination 89 patients were enrolled (group C: 31, D: 51). The SVR rate was statistically different in the two study groups with 51.6% in group C and 28.4% in group D (p = 0.038). Patients with low viral load had higher SVR rates (C: 67%, D: 33%) than those with high viral load (C: 33%, D: 21%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Both treatment duration and the dose of RBV play a major role to optimize outcome of patients with GT3. If one intends to shorten the treatment weight based RBV dose should be used, if lower RBV doses are used patients should be treated for at least 24 weeks as. A treatment regimen with a reduced RBV dosage and shortened treatment duration is associated with low SVR rates due to high relapse rates.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p><a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01258101">NCT01258101</a></p

Human blood plasma factors affect the adhesion kinetics of Staphylococcus aureus to central venous catheters

Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of catheter-related blood stream infections (CRBSI). The bacterium has the ability to form multilayered biofilms on implanted material, which usually requires the removal of the implanted medical device. A first major step of this biofilm formation is the initial adhesion of the bacterium to the artificial surface. Here, we used single-cell force spectroscopy (SCFS) to study the initial adhesion of S. aureus to central venous catheters (CVCs). SCFS performed with S. aureus on the surfaces of naïve CVCs produced comparable maximum adhesion forces on three types of CVCs in the low nN range (~ 2-7 nN). These values were drastically reduced, when CVC surfaces were preincubated with human blood plasma or human serum albumin, and similar reductions were observed when S. aureus cells were probed with freshly explanted CVCs withdrawn from patients without CRBSI. These findings indicate that the initial adhesion capacity of S. aureus to CVC tubing is markedly reduced, once the CVC is inserted into the vein, and that the risk of contamination of the CVC tubing by S. aureus during the insertion process might be reduced by a preconditioning of the CVC surface with blood plasma or serum albumin

The cosmic web and the orientation of angular momenta

We use a 64$h^{-1}$Mpc dark matter (DM) only cosmological simulation to examine the large scale orientation of haloes and substructures with respect the cosmic web. A web classification scheme based on the velocity shear tensor is used to assign to each halo in the simulation a web type: knot, filament, sheet or void. Using $\sim10^6$ haloes that span ~3 orders of magnitude in mass the orientation of the halo's spin and the orbital angular momentum of subhaloes with respect to the eigenvectors of the shear tensor is examined. We find that the orbital angular momentum of subhaloes tends to align with the intermediate eigenvector of the velocity shear tensor for all haloes in knots, filaments and sheets. This result indicates that the kinematics of substructures located deep within the virialized regions of a halo is determined by its infall which in turn is determined by the large scale velocity shear, a surprising result given the virilaized nature of haloes. The non-random nature of subhalo accretion is thus imprinted on the angular momentum measured at z = 0. We also find that haloes' spin axis is aligned with the third eigenvector of the velocity shear tensor in filaments and sheets: the halo spin axis points along filaments and lies in the plane of cosmic sheets.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, MNRAS Letters in Accepte

S2k guideline: Diagnosis and treatment of chronic pruritus

Pruritus is a cross-disciplinary leading symptom of numerous diseases and represents an interdisciplinary diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. In contrast to acute pruritus, chronic pruritus (CP) is a symptom of various diseases that is usually difficult to treat. Scratching and the development of scratch-associated skin lesions can alter the original skin status. In the presence of an itch-scratch-cycle, even secondary diseases such as chronic prurigo can develop. Chronic pruritus leads to considerable subjective suffering of those affected, which can result in restrictions on the health-related quality of life such as sleep disturbances, anxiety, depressiveness, experience of stigmatization and/or social withdrawal up to clinically relevant psychic comorbidities. Medical care of patients should therefore include (a) interdisciplinary diagnosis and therapy of the triggering underlying disease, (b) therapy of the secondary symptoms of pruritus (dermatological therapy, sleep promotion, in the case of an accompanying or underlying psychological or psychosomatic disease an appropriate psychological-psychotherapeutic treatment) and (c) symptomatic antipruritic therapy. The aim of this interdisciplinary guideline is to define and standardize the therapeutic procedure as well as the interdisciplinary diagnosis of CP. This is the short version of the updated S2k-guideline for chronic pruritus. The long version can be found at www.awmf.org

Glucosylsphingosine Is a Highly Sensitive and Specific Biomarker for Primary Diagnostic and Follow-Up Monitoring in Gaucher Disease in a Non-Jewish, Caucasian Cohort of Gaucher Disease Patients

Gaucher disease (GD) is the most common lysosomal storage disorder (LSD). Based on a deficient β-glucocerebrosidase it leads to an accumulation of glucosylceramide. Standard diagnostic procedures include measurement of enzyme activity, genetic testing as well as analysis of chitotriosidase and CCL18/PARC as biomarkers. Even though chitotriosidase is the most well-established biomarker in GD, it is not specific for GD. Furthermore, it may be false negative in a significant percentage of GD patients due to mutation. Additionally, chitotriosidase reflects the changes in the course of the disease belatedly. This further enhances the need for a reliable biomarker, especially for the monitoring of the disease and the impact of potential treatments.Here, we evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of the previously reported biomarker Glucosylsphingosine with regard to different control groups (healthy control vs. GD carriers vs. other LSDs).Only GD patients displayed elevated levels of Glucosylsphingosine higher than 12 ng/ml whereas the comparison controls groups revealed concentrations below the pathological cut-off, verifying the specificity of Glucosylsphingosine as a biomarker for GD. In addition, we evaluated the biomarker before and during enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) in 19 patients, demonstrating a decrease in Glucosylsphingosine over time with the most pronounced reduction within the first 6 months of ERT. Furthermore, our data reveals a correlation between the medical consequence of specific mutations and Glucosylsphingosine.In summary, Glucosylsphingosine is a very promising, reliable and specific biomarker for GD

Th2/Th17 cell associated cytokines found in seroma fluids after breast cancer surgery

Purpose The development of a seroma after breast cancer surgery is a common postoperative complication seen after simple mastectomy and axillary surgery. We could recently demonstrate that breast cancer patients undergoing a simple mastectomy with subsequent seroma formation developed a T-helper cell increase within the aspirated fluid measured by flow cytometry. The same study revealed a Th2 and/or a Th17 immune response in peripheral blood and seroma fluid of the same patient. Based on these results and within the same study population, we now analyzed the Th2/Th17 cell associated cytokine content as well as the best known clinical important cytokine IL-6. Methods Multiplex cytokine measurements (IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, IL-10, IL-17, and IL-22) were done on 34 seroma fluids (Sf) after fine needle aspiration of patients who developed a seroma after a simple mastectomy. Serum of the same patient (Sp) and that of healthy volunteers (Sc) were used as controls. Results We found the Sf to be highly cytokine rich. Almost all analyzed cytokines were significantly higher in abundance in the Sf compared to Sp and Sc, especially IL-6, which promotes Th17 differentiation as well as suppresses Th1 differentiation in favor of Th2 development. Conclusion Our Sf cytokine measurements reflect a local immune event. In contrast, former study results on T-helper cell populations in both Sf and Sp tend to demonstrate a systemic immune process