Preoperative chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiation therapy based on hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy and definitive surgery in locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: mature results of a phase II trial

The ability of rats to learn the location of a hidden platform in a swim maze was compared in animals with excitotoxic lesions of the anterior or posterior (retrosplenial) cingulate cortex or radiofrequency lesions of the cingulum bundle or fimbria-fornix. Performance of this allocentric spatial task was unaffected by the posterior cingulate cortex lesions, while anterior cingulate cortex damage produced only a mild acquisition deficit. Transection of the fornix and lesions of the cingulum bundle produced similar patterns of impairment on initial acquisition, but the cingulum bundle lesions had less effect on reversal of the task. The results from the water maze, and from a subsequent T-maze alternation task, indicate that cingulum bundle lesions can produce a spatial deficit that is similar, but milder, to that observed after fornix transection. The results of the excitotoxic lesions suggest that previous studies examining conventional cingulate lesions may have been influenced by damage to adjacent fibre tracts, such as the cingulum bundle.     

Cell-associated glucans of Burkholderia solanacearum and Xanthomonas campestris pv. citri: a new family of periplasmic glucans

The cell-associated glucans produced by Burkholderia solanacearum and Xanthomonas campestris pv. citri were isolated by trichloroacetic acid treatment and gel permeation chromatography. The compounds obtained were characterized by compositional analysis, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry, and high-performance anion-exchange chromatography. B. solanacearum synthesizes only a neutral cyclic glucan containing 13 glucose residues, and X. campestris pv. citri synthesizes a neutral cyclic glucan containing 16 glucose residues. The two glucans were further purified by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography. Methylation analysis revealed that these glucans are linked by 1,2-glycosidic bonds and one 1,6-glycosidic bond. Our 600-MHz homonuclear and 1H-13C heteronuclear nuclear magnetic resonance experiments revealed the presence of a single alpha-1,6-glycosidic linkage, whereas all other glucose residues are beta-1,2 linked. The presence of this single alpha-1,6 linkage, however, induces such structural constraints in these cyclic glucans that all individual glucose residues could be distinguished. The different anomeric proton signals allowed complete sequence-specific assignment of both glucans. The structural characteristics of these glucans contrast with those of the previously described osmoregulated periplasmic glucans.     

IV. Referate

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

High‐Pressure Treatment of Wood – Combination of Mechanical and Thermal Drying in the “I/D Process”

Thermal drying of materials with internal pores is always a time‐consuming and energy‐intensive step within a production process. For chemical and pharmaceutical mass products and, in particular, for wood as an important raw material it is desirable to reduce the water content before thermal treatment by mechanical operations. The wood‐processing industry, facing a rising stress of competition, is forced more than ever to offer high‐quality products at lowest prices. Today, drying of timber is mostly done by air drying or by technical drying in kiln dryers. In any case, drying is necessary to prevent deterioration in quality by shrinkage, formation of cracks, discoloration or infestation. A new process of dewatering wood by combining mechanical and thermal means has been developed at the University of Karlsruhe. Compared to conventional drying processes, short drying times and a low residual moisture content can be achieved and, thus, energy consumption and costs can be reduced. In industrial wood drying only thermal processes (e.g., convective kiln drying, vacuum drying, etc.) have been established because so far no method has been known for removing liquid by mechanical force without significant change in wood structure. With the new I/D process chances for alternatives to conventional thermal drying or for mechanothermal applications are offered.     

Streamlining the digital economy: how to avert a tragedy of thecommons

To achieve its unique potential in a digital economy, the Internet must be able to guarantee a quality of service. Solving this problem requires the integration of economic principles and engineering design. The authors describe their work on a control mechanism that is decentralized and computationally feasible     

Safe starting regions by fixed points and tightening

In this paper, we present a method for finding safe starting regions for a given system of non-linear equations. The method is an improvement of the usual method which is based on the fixed point theorem. The improvement is obtained by enclosing the components of the equation system by univariante interval polynomials whose zero sets are found. This operation is called “tightening”. Preliminary experiments show that the tightening operation usually reduces the number of bisections, and thus the computing time. The reduction seems to become more dramatic when the number of variables increases.     

Biochemical and biophysical characterization of refolded Drosophila DPP, a homolog of bone morphogenetic proteins 2 and 4

The mature C-terminal signaling domain of the Drosophila Decapentaplegic proprotein (DPP) can be efficiently refolded from chaotrope-solubilized inclusion bodies with the aid of a membrane protein-solubilizing detergent, high concentrations (0.75-2 M) of NaCl, and low temperatures (5-15 degreesC). The disulfide-linked homodimeric product contains N-terminal heparin-binding sites that were utilized as intrinsic affinity tags to obtain a highly enriched preparation in one chromatographic step. A subsequent C4 reverse phase high pressure liquid chromatography step provides high purity, salt-free protein that is amenable to biophysical and structural studies at a yield of approximately 3 mg/liter of bacterial culture. The dimeric protein is correctly folded as determined by electrophoretic, spectroscopic, chemical, and proteolytic analyses. Refolded DPP is also bioactive as shown by induction of chondrogenesis in embryonic chick limb bud cells and by high affinity binding to Noggin, an antagonist of bone morphogenetic protein signaling. In contrast to bone morphogenetic proteins extracted from demineralized bone or overexpressed in cell culture, the refolded Escherichia coli-expressed protein is not glycosylated at a conserved N-linked site and is therefore homogeneous. The C-terminal domain dimer is more hydrophobic and thus less soluble than its unfolded or partially folded forms, necessitating highly solubilizing conditions for recovery after folding in vitro. Hence solubilization of the mature ligand may be one of the principal roles of the large (250-400 amino acids) N-terminal prodomains of transforming growth factor-beta superfamily members, shown to act as intramolecular chaperones in vivo.     

Identification of naturally processed T cell epitopes from glutamic acid decarboxylase presented in the context of HLA-DR alleles by T lymphocytes of recent onset IDDM patients

Glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) has been defined as a major target antigen in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). To identify the molecular ligands triggering a T cell response to GAD, a panel of human GAD65-specific T lymphocyte lines was generated from peripheral blood of three recent onset IDDM patients. All lines derived from a patient expressing the high-risk-conferring HLA-DR*0301/ *0401 haplotypes recognized a single epitope localized between amino acid positions 270 and 283 of GAD65, a stretch that is located in close proximity to the homology region shared with Coxsackie virus P2-C protein. All lines with this specificity were restricted to the DRA, B1*0401 product of the DR4 haplotype. Analysis of the GAD-specific T cell response in a second patient homozygous for DR4 haplotypes demonstrated that the same DRA, B1*0401 allele selected T cells specific for a different determinant. The T cell response profile in a third patient showed that DR*1501/ *1601-encoding haplotypes could present at least three different epitopes to GAD65-specific T lymphocytes. One of these epitopes was presented by a DR allele associated with the resistance-conferring DRB1*1501 haplotype. GAD-specific T cell lines could not be isolated from HLA class II-matched normal individuals. Our data reveal that (a) the T cell response to GAD65 is quite heterogenous in recent onset IDDM patients; (b) HLA-DR, not DQ, seems to be the principal restriction element used by T cells present at the onset of the disease; and (c) T cells responding to epitopes containing identical sequences to Coxsackie virus P2-C protein were not detected.     

Mesonephric origin of the gonadal primitive medulla in chick embryos

The development of the gonadal primitive medulla in embryonic chick gonads was studied with the light microscope, using serial longitudinal sections from 72 h to 108 h of incubation. The sex of embryos was established from karyotypes. At 72 h, the germinal epithelium in the genital ridges was thickened. The nephrogenic cord was not differentiated into nephrons underneath, although the surrounding mesonephros displayed renal corpuscles and tubules. Clusters and trabeculae of mobilized mesonephric cells piled up under the germinal epithelium, forming the rudiment of the primitive medulla. From 78 h onwards, nephrotome-like structures existed in the mesenchyme underlying the germinal epithelium. Mesonephric cells became detached from their ventral walls and incorporated into the rudiment of the medulla. Finally, at 90 h, when the gonads were constituted, the primitive medulla was definitively formed without any contribution of the germinal epithelium. Adrenal cortical cells, also originating from the mesonephric blastema, showed tight relationships with the gonadal medullarian structures. Our observations support the concept of the mesonephric origin of the gonadal components having male potentialities in birds.