Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg

Future plastic materials will be very different from those that are used today. The increasing importance of sustainability promotes the development of bio-based and biodegradable polymers, sometimes misleadingly referred to as 'bioplastics'. Because both terms imply "green" sources and "clean" removal, this paper aims at critically discussing the sometimes-conflicting terminology as well as renewable sources with a special focus on the degradation of these polymers in natural environments. With regard to the former we review innovations in feedstock development (e.g. microalgae and food wastes). In terms of the latter, we highlight the effects that polymer structure, additives, and environmental variables have on plastic biodegradability. We argue that the 'biodegradable' end-product does not necessarily degrade once emitted to the environment because chemical additives used to make them fit for purpose will increase the longevity. In the future, this trend may continue as the plastics industry also is expected to be a major user of nanocomposites. Overall, there is a need to assess the performance of polymer innovations in terms of their biodegradability especially under realistic waste management and environmental conditions, to avoid the unwanted release of plastic degradation products in receiving environments.

BACKGROUND The nomenclature for patients with multiple injuries with high mortality rates is highly variable, and there is a lack of a uniform definition of the term polytrauma. A consensus process was therefore initiated by a panel of international experts with the goal of assessing an improved, database-supported definition for the polytraumatized patient. METHODS The consensus process involved the following: 1. Expert panel. Multiple meetings and consensus discussions (members: European Society for Trauma and Emergency Surgery [ESTES], American Association for the Surgery of Trauma [AAST], German Trauma Society [DGU], and British Trauma Society [BTS]). 2. Literature review (original articles before June 8, 2014). 3. A priori assumptions by the expert panel. The basis for a new definition should include the Injury Severity Score (ISS) based on the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS); “A patient classified as polytraumatized should have a mortality rate of approximately 30%, twice above the established mortality of ISS > 15.” 4. Database-derived resources. Deductive calculation of parameters based on a nationwide trauma registry (TraumaRegister DGU) with the following inclusion criteria: multiple injuries and need for intensive care therapy. RESULTS A total of 28,211 patients in the trauma registry met the inclusion criteria. The mean (SD) age of the study cohort was 42.9 (20.2) years (72% males, 28% females). The mean (SD) ISS was 30.5 (12.2), with an overall mortality rate of 18.7% (n = 5,277) and an incidence of 3% of penetrating injuries (n = 886). Five independent physiologic variables were identified, and their individual cutoff values were calculated based on a set mortality rate of 30%: hypotension (systolic blood pressure ≤ 90 mm Hg), level of consciousness (Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] score ≤ 8), acidosis (base excess ≤ −6.0), coagulopathy (international normalized ratio ≥ 1.4/partial thromboplastin time ≥ 40 seconds), and age (≥70 years). CONCLUSION Based on several consensus meetings and a database analysis, the expert panel proposes the following parameters for a definition of “polytrauma”: significant injuries of three or more points in two or more different anatomic AIS regions in conjunction with one or more additional variables from the five physiologic parameters. Further validation of this proposal should occur, favorably by mutivariate analyses of these parameters in a separate data set.

The baseline model featured in the conference paper for The 28th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Digital Libraries titled "Towards Multilingual LLM-based Approaches for Automatic Dewey Decimal Classification". The model is fine-tuned from the pretrained model "sentence-transformers/multi-qa-MiniLM-L6-cos-v1" (https://huggingface.co/sentence-transformers/multi-qa-MiniLM-L6-cos-v1), trained on open access Linguistic texts with metadata, assigned a DDC class between 400 and 499. This version is trained on the "description" metadata. The model is trained with the trainer on Huggingface. It can be run locally as other huggingface models.

Despite continuous improvement of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) eradication therapy, new treatment regimens are necessary if established first-line treatments fail. In the present pilot study, a recently described rifabutin-based triple therapy was evaluated after preceding failure of triple therapy. Rifabutin (150 mg), amoxicillin (1 g), and lansoprazole (30 mg) were administered twice daily for 1 week to 25 patients infected with Hp who had previously failed to respond to eradication treatment and/or who had developed resistance to macrolides and nitroimidazoles. Four patients were lost to follow-up. Eradication rate of rifabutin-based triple therapy was 86% (18/21; per protocol) and 72% (18/25; intention-to-treat). Side effects were minimal. It is concluded that this new drug combination is an effective therapy for Hp strains resistant to clarithromycin or metronidazole; however, rifabutin-based treatment regimens for Hp eradication should be restricted to patients infected with resistant strains.

The tremendous diversity of life in the ocean has proven to be a rich source of inspiration for drug discovery, with success rates for marine natural products up to 4 times higher than other naturally derived compounds. Yet the marine biodiscovery pipeline is characterized by chronic underfunding, bottlenecks and, ultimately, untapped potential. For instance, a lack of taxonomic capacity means that, on average, 20 years pass between the discovery of new organisms and the formal publication of scientific names, a prerequisite to proceed with detecting and isolating promising bioactive metabolites. The need for "edge" research that can spur novel lines of discovery and lengthy high-risk drug discovery processes, are poorly matched with research grant cycles. Here we propose five concrete pathways to broaden the biodiscovery pipeline and open the social and economic potential of the ocean genome for global benefit: (1) investing in fundamental research, even when the links to industry are not immediately apparent; (2) cultivating equitable collaborations between academia and industry that share both risks and benefits for these foundational research stages; (3) providing new opportunities for early-career researchers and under-represented groups to engage in high-risk research without risking their careers; (4) sharing data with global networks; and (5) protecting genetic diversity at its source through strong conservation efforts. The treasures of the ocean have provided fundamental breakthroughs in human health and still remain under-utilised for human benefit, yet that potential may be lost if we allow the biodiscovery pipeline to become blocked in a search for quick-fix solutions.

The type and distribution of indoleamine-accumulating neurons were studied in the cat retina. The neurons were characterized by their capacity to take up an exogenous indoleamine, 5,6-dihydroxytryptamine, which could then be visualized using formaldehyde-induced fluorescence. Under direct microscopic control, intracellular injection of Lucifer yellow into the labeled cells revealed that the indoleamine-accumulating neurons comprise 2 distinct morphological types of amacrine cell and 1 class of ganglion cell. The dendritic morphology and retinal distribution of these cells were studied in detail. The proportion of retinal cells that accumulate 5-HT was measured using 5-HT (5-hydroxytryptamine) preloading in vitro and immunocytochemistry with an anti-5-HT antibody. Only 1 type of amacrine cell showed uptake of 5-HT at a concentration of 10(-7) M. Cells containing endogenous 5-HT were not detected by immunocytochemistry.

Department of Surgery; University Hospital of Frankfurt; Frankfurt, Germany, and Department of Surgery; University of Ioannina; Ioannina, Greece

Abstract Background: Promising results have been observed in our previous phase-II study evaluating the combination of Bendamustine plus Rituximab (B-R) in patients with relapsed/refractory indolent or mantle cell lymphomas. An overall response rate (ORR) of 90%, including a 60% rate of complete remissions (CR) was documented. Objective: In October 2003 we initiated a multicenter randomized phase-III study to compare efficacy and safety of the combination B-R versus CHOP plus Rituximab (CHOP-R) as first-line therapy for follicular, indolent and mantle cell lymphomas. Methods: Patients (pts) were randomized to receive Rituximab 375 mg/qm (day 1) plus either Bendamustine 90 mg/qm (days 1+2) every 28 days or the standard CHOP regimen every 21 days for a maximum of 6 cycles. The primary endpoint was event-free survival (EFS). A sample size of 474 pts were calculated to power the study sufficiently to demonstrate a non-inferior EFS associated with B-R treatment, as defined by a difference in EFS between the two regimes of less than 10% after 3 years. An event was defined by a response less than a partial response, disease progression, relapse, or death from any cause. Results: So far 439 patients have been randomized. 273 patients are evaluable for response for this first interim analysis (B-R: n=139; CHOP-R: n=134). Median patient age is 63 years. Histologies are equally distributed between arms: follicular 52%, mantle cell 20%, and other indolent lymphomas 28% in both treatment groups, each. The ORR for pts treated with B-R was similar to that associated with CHOP-R (94% vs 93%, respectively). CR was also similar at 51% for B-R compared to 40% for CHOP-R. The median observation time for both groups is 17 months. Thus far, 15 deaths have been observed (B-R: 7; CHOP-R: 8). Progressive or relapsed disease has been documented during the follow-up period: 27 in pts treated with B-R and 32 in the CHOP-R group. The B-R regimen appears to have a better toxicity profile, as evidenced by a lower rate of total alopecia (40% CHOP-R vs. 0% with B-R) and a lower number of infectious complications (41 in CHOP-R pts vs. 19 in the B-R group). Correlating, the CHOP-R regimen was more hematotoxic: WHO grade 3/4 leukocytopenia was reported in 41% CHOP-R treated pts compared with 12% in pts treated with B-R. Conclusions: In this first interim analysis the combination of Bendamustine plus Rituximab appears to be non-inferior to the standard CHOP-R while showing a better tolerability profile. The study will be closed in December 2007 according to the planned patient recruitement schedule. Updated results will be presented at this time.

Memory has always been a central issue in psychoanalytic theory and practice. Recent developments in the cognitive and neural sciences suggest that traditional notions of memory based on stored structures which are also often underlying psychoanalytic thinking cannot account for a number of fundamental phenomena and thus need to be revised. We suggest that memory be conceived as a) a theoretical construct explaining current behaviour by reference to events that have happened in the past. b) Memory is not to be conceived as stored structures but as a function of the whole organism, as a complex, dynamic, recategorising and interactive process, which is always ‘embodied’. c) Memory always has a subjective and an objective side. The subjective side is given by the individual's history, the objective side by the neural patterns generated by the sensory motor interactions with the environment. This implies that both ‘narrative’ (subjective) and ‘historical’ (objective) truth have to be taken into account achieving stable psychic change as is illustrated by extensive clinical materials taken from a psychoanalysis with a psychogenic sterile borderline patient.

several alien species of the eurasian genus Cotoneaster are naturalising in central europe, apparently increasingly so, and some on a massive scale. They presumably originate from large-scale cultivation for ground cover, hedges or as ornamental shrubs. The present paper keys and synopses the Cotoneaster species indigenous to, naturalising or commonly cultivated in central europe, on the basis of, relatively limited, both living (wild, adventive and cultivated) and herbarium material. an attempt is made to understand the nature of variation from the genus' centre of diversification, the mountains of china and the himalayas, which are likewise the origin of most cultivated and naturalising Cotoneaster species. Taxonomic and nomenclatural problems, putatively relating to the presence of apomixis and hybridization in the genus, are discussed. Many of the more than 500 published binomials, including a substantial proportion of those based on cultivated material, seem to be poorly defined, both morphologically and chorologically. of an estimated total of only 50-70 Cotoneaster species worldwide, about 20, mainly chinese species have been found escaping from cultivation in central europe. presently, about ten species must be considered fully naturalised and, locally at least, invasive.

Ultrahigh vacuum (UHV)-deposited films of the mixed phase of tetramethoxypyrene and tetracyanoquinodimethane $({\text{TMP}}_{1}{\text{-TCNQ}}_{1})$ on gold have been studied using ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), x-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared (IR) spectroscopy, and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS). The formation of an intermolecular charge-transfer (CT) compound is evident from the appearance of new reflexes in XRD (${d}_{1}=0.894\text{ }\text{nm}$ and ${d}_{2}=0.677\text{ }\text{nm}$). A softening of the CN stretching vibration (redshift by $7\text{ }{\text{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$) of TCNQ is visible in the IR spectra, being indicative of a CT on the order of $0.3e$ from TMP to TCNQ in the complex. Characteristic shifts in the electronic level positions occur in UPS and STS that are in reasonable agreement with the prediction of density-functional theory (DFT) calculations (GAUSSIAN03 with hybrid functional B3LYP). STS reveals a highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) gap of the CT complex of about 1.25 eV being much smaller than the gaps $(>3.0\text{ }\text{eV})$ of the pure moieties. The electron-injection and hole-injection barriers are 0.3 eV and 0.5 eV, respectively. Systematic differences in the positions of the HOMOs determined by UPS and STS are discussed in terms of the different information content of the two methods.

This study was designed as a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, prospectively randomized study comparing, after a 4-week placebo run-in phase, moxonidine 0.4 mg once daily (o.d.), hydrochlorothiazide 25 mg o.d., and the combination of the two with placebo. A total of 160 patients were analyzed in an intent-to-treat analysis. Moxonidine 0.4 mg o.d. was effective in significantly lowering blood pressure in this group of mild-to-moderate hypertensive patients in comparison with placebo. The efficacy and the side-effect profile of moxonidine were comparable to those of the first-line antihypertensive agent hydrochlorothiazide. The combination of moxonidine and hydrochlorothiazide in the same dosage as a monotherapy improves efficacy significantly without additive effects on the safety profile. Response rate after monotherapies was calculated with 70.3 and 70.0%, respectively, after combination treatment in 87.8% of all patients in the treatment group. The trial gives support to a recommended dosage regimen of moxonidine 0.4 mg o.d. This profile of moxonidine is highly comparable to a standard first-line antihypertensive drug such as hydrochlorothiazide, without sacrificing tolerance and safety for increased efficacy, in combination with hydrochlorothiazide.

We investigated the dose-dependent cardiovascular effects of enalaprilat at different dosing times in two animal models of hypertension. Blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were measured telemetrically in 5 spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and in 5 transgenic hypertensive rats (TGR) after intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of enalaprilat either at 700 h or at 1900 h. In SHR, dosing of enalaprilat at the beginning of the resting period, i.e., at 700 h, significantly reduced BP but did not influence HR. After dosing at 1900 h, BP was unchanged, whereas HR increased, which might have resulted from reflexly increased sympathetic tone. In TGR, enalaprilat at either dosing time decreased BP dose dependently and to a higher extent than in SHR, but the effects were more pronounced after morning than after evening dosing. These findings demonstrate that in two animal models of hypertension the antihypertensive effects of enalaprilat depended on the time of drug dosing.

Abstract To review a book that deals with 1000 years of Byzantine history is just as bold an undertaking as the writing of the book itself. Treadgold (henceforth T.) took this challenge on, and we should be grateful to him for doing so. The reviewer admits that he is not informed equally well over all periods of the history of the Byzantine empire – there is probably no-one on the planet who could with a clear conscience assert that they were. In this respect the reviewer admires T. for his lack of reserve in expressing his views on problems and periods of Byzantine history with which he is clearly less familiar than with those of the eighth and ninth centuries.

The blue light-dependent interaction between the proteins iLID and Nano allows recruiting and patterning proteins on GUV membranes, which thereby capture key features of patterns observed in nature. This photoswitchable protein interaction provides non-invasive, reversible and dynamic control over protein patterns of different sizes with high specificity and spatiotemporal resolution.

The author begins by pointing out that myths have always been powerful vehicles for the projection of ubiquitous unconscious fantasies. Having noted the importance of certain male protagonists of the Greek myths in Freud's theories, she observes that their female counterparts exert an equal fascination and suggests that the Medea myth as recounted by Euripides can be invoked to elucidate a central unconscious fantasy found to underlie the psychogenic frigidity and sterility of several of her female patients. The manifestation of this 'Medea fantasy' is illustrated by a clinical account in which a dream is analysed. The author next summarises the Medea story as told by Euripides and attempts a psychoanalytic interpretation of it. She draws attention to features of the 'unconscious truth' inherent in the myth that were shared by all the members of her group of patients. A case history then shows how the progressive understanding and working through of the Medea fantasy led to a change in the analysand's experience of femininity and enabled her to have children. It is postulated that both early infantile sexual fantasies and repressed memories of early object-relations traumas such as maternal depression combine with ubiquitous bodily fantasies to produce the unconscious Medea fantasy.

In this article, the cyclic homology theory of formal deformation quantizations of the convolution algebra associated to a proper étale Lie groupoid is studied. We compute the Hochschild cohomology of the convolution algebra and express it in terms of alternating multi-vector fields on the associated inertia groupoid. We introduce a non-commutative Poisson homology whose computation enables us to determine the Hochschild homology of formal deformations of the convolution algebra. Then it is shown that the cyclic (co)homology of such formal deformations can be described by an appropriate sheaf cohomology theory. This enables us to determine the corresponding cyclic homology groups in terms of orbifold cohomology of the underlying orbifold. Using the thus obtained description of cyclic cohomology of the deformed convolution algebra, we give a complete classification of all traces on this formal deformation, and provide an explicit construction.

Ina 24-month-old girl with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and invasive aspergillosis, only combination therapy with liposomal amphotericin B and caspofungin achieved a good response. Combination therapy could be a useful treatment option in children with invasive fungal disease, but before it can be routinely recommended, carefully controlled in vivo studies and well-designed randomized clinical trials are needed.

This article explains the "new" institutional framework for fiscal policy-making in the EU countries agreed first in the Maastricht Treaty and later complemented by the Stability and Growth Pact. This framework introduces a – probably unprecedented – supra-national institutional framework for national fiscal policies. It also serves as a basis for monitoring and assessing fiscal policies and their compatibility with price stability-oriented monetary policy making.

Herein, i-motif DNA-immobilized magnetic nanoparticles are used as templates to promote the <italic>in situ</italic> cycloaddition generating specific binders for i-motifs.