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Strategies and evaluation criteria for retention areas in reconstruction processes – new perspectives and open research questions based on the case study Ahr ValleyIn summer 2021 parts of Western Germany, especially North-Rhine Westphalia and Rhineland Palatinate was hit severely by devastating floods resulting from the cyclone "Bernd" with almost stationary and high precipitation of 115 mm rain in 72 h (Kreienkamp et al. 2021). The resulting damage of the flood event was the highest since decades in Germany with a high number of damaged buildings and infrastructure and around 189 fatalities (DKKV 2022). The Ahr-Valley in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate was the most severely affected region.After one and a half years, the region and affected municipalities are still in the process of reconstruction and facing enormous challenges. Anyway, in order to better cope with future events the responsible planning authorities strive to develop strategies for flood prevention and flood risk reduction. In this regard, the identification of areas for effective water-retention measures and the designation of open corridors for runoff with reduced damage potential plays a crucial role. Possible measures range from adaptations in land use and cultivation patterns or nature based solutions to technical retention systems. Due to this variety of possible measures, which can have different resource requirements and different legal or financial dependencies, a systematic evaluation of potential measures is necessary.Against this background, this study aims at answering the questions on how to systematize and prioritize measures for potential water-retention areas and lowering flood damage potential while considering constraints and challenges during the reconstruction process after a major flood. In addition to common planning criteria, aspects of land allocation need to be taken into account and different levels of feasibility of a certain measure need to be considered. Therefore, we analyze and systematize the multitude of possible retention measures. Based on this research and on expert discussions with relevant actors in the Ahr-Valley we present and discuss a set of criteria for evaluation.The results of this study can help to inform political decision makers and planning authorities for land use and urban planning and support decisions on allocation of areas. Furthermore, the paper discusses which measures and strategies should be prepared long before a flood disaster for successful preparedness and improvement of flood prevention. ReferencesDKKV (Hrsg.,2022): Die Flutkatastrophe im Juli 2021. Ein Jahr danach: Aufarbeitung und erste Lehren für die Zukunft.DKKV-Schriftenreihe Nr. 62, BonnKreienkamp F, Philip SY, Tradowsky JS, Kew SF, Lorenz P, Arrighi J, Belleflamme A, Bettmann T, Caluwaerts S, Chan SC (2021) Rapid attribution of heavy rainfall events leading to the severe flooding in Western Europe during July 202

The flood event in the Ahr valley in mid-July 2021 surpassed all previous events since the installation of gauging stations on the river (Szymczak et al. 2022) between 1952 and 1991 (Land NRW 2022; LfU 2013a, 2013b). The high-energy flash flood caused severe damage (Kahle et al. 2022; Schüttrumpf et al. 2022), and several gauging stations were either destroyed or malfunctioned (Berkler et al. 2022).As a part of flood prevention efforts, the systematic evaluation of potential retention areas supports the development of recommended measures. Depending on the availability of land and the type of flood event, technical measures can provide different retention volumes. These systems are effective for floods with different annual frequencies. If the flood of mid-July 2021 is used as a benchmark and if retention potentials should be activated for events of HQ100 or higher, then approximately 20-35 million cubic meters of retention space would need to be kept available according to initial estimates. Natural measures, such as floodplain restoration and adapted land use practices, can provide additional retention potential.The Ahr valley is very steep, with narrow forelands shaped by past floods. These conditions limit the potential for technical retention measures such as large dams. Additionally, the largest tributary only accounts for around 12 % of the total catchment area, thus no obvious location for a single universal retention measure exists. Around 55 % of the Ahr catchment is covered by forest, while around 7 % is urban or sealed, and vineyards only make up 1 %. However, improvements in land use practices and retention measures should still be considered. In the Ahr valley, there are approximately 31 square kilometres (~3 % of the catchment) of areas with a surface slope below 10 degrees outside of urban and industrial areas where the feasibility of retention measures can be examined. Promising areas must be balanced with a multitude of conflicting interests, such as nature conservation, regional and urban planning, or the interests of land owners.Berkler SB, Bettmann T, Böhm M, Thomas N, Gerlach N, Hengst A, Henrichs Y, Heppelmann T, Iber C, Johst M, Lehmann H, Stickel S, van der Heijden S, Wallisch S (2022) Bericht: Hochwasser im Juli 2021, Mainz.Kahle M, Kempf M, Martin B, Glaser R (2022) Classifying the 2021 ‘Ahrtal’ flood event using hermeneutic interpretation, natural language processing, and instrumental data analyses. Environ. Res. Commun. 4:51002. https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ac6657Land NRW (2022) ELWAS-WEB: dl-de/by-2-0 (www.govdata.de/dl-de/by-2-0).LfU (2013a) Messdaten: Pegel Bad Bodendorf / Gewässer: Ahr. Messdaten: Pegel Bad Bodendorf / GewässerLfU (2013b) Messdaten: Pegel Müsch / Gewässer: AhrSchüttrumpf H, Brüll C, Klopries E-M, Lehmkuhl F, Wolf SS (2022) Das Hochwasser 2021 in Nordrhein-Westfalen und Rheinland-Pfalz : Beobachtungen und Erfahrungen. In: Wasserwirtschaft im Klimawandel": digitale 55. Essener Tagung für Wasserwirtschaft, Institut für Siedlungswasserwirtschaft der RWTH Aachen UniversitySzymczak S, Backendorf F, Bott F, Fricke K, Junghänel T, Walawender E (2022) Impacts of Heavy and Persistent Precipitation on Railroad Infrastructure in July 2021: A Case Study from the Ahr Valley, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Atmosphere 13:1118. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13071118

Background Because of global climate change, extreme flood events will increase in quantity and intensity in the upcoming decades. In catchments affected by ore mining, flooding leads to the deposition of fine sediments enriched in trace metal(loid)s. Depending on their concentration, trace metal(loid)s can be a health hazard. Therefore, the exposure of the local population to flood sediments, either by ingestion (covering direct ingestion and consuming food grown on these sediments) or via inhalation of dried sediments contributing to atmospheric particulate matter, is of concern. Results The extreme flood of July 2021 deposited enormous amounts of sediment across the town of Eschweiler (western Germany), with the inundation area exceeding previously mapped extreme flood limits (HQextreme). These sediments are rich in fine material (with the < 63 µm fraction making up 32% to 96%), which either can stick to the skin and be ingested or be inhaled. They are moderately to heavily enriched in Zn>Cu>Pb>Cd>Sn compared to local background concentrations. The concentrations of Zn, Pb, Cd, Cu, and As in flood sediments exceed international trigger action values. A simple assessment of uptake reveals that the tolerable daily intake is exceeded for Pb. Despite the enrichment of other trace elements like Zn, Cu, Cd, and Sn, they presumably do not pose a risk to human well-being. However, exposure to high dust concentrations may be a health risk. Conclusions In conclusion, flood sediments, especially in catchments impacted by mining, may pose a risk to the affected public. Hence, we propose to (I) improve the flood mapping by incorporating potential pollution sources, (II) extend warning messages to incorporate specific guidance, (III) use appropriate clean-up strategies in the aftermath of such flooding events, (IV) provide medical support, and (V) clue the public and medical professionals in on this topic accordingly.

Land use and water resource management influence the suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in rivers. Fine sediments are an important driver for river development, even in coarse-material-rich rivers. In this study, the sediment rating curve approach is modified to predict SSC several river-km downstream of a sampling site. Further, the prediction is improved by adding sediment input, storage, and dilution effects through relevant anthropogenic measures through a model identification approach. Thus, the impact of the most severe anthropogenic measures, damming and changes in the length of a channel section for the Rur River, could be identified. Further, the impact of describing parameter changes for those measures on the SSC can be computed and considered in future water resource management. In this approach, particle swarm optimization was used to fit parameters in permutable test- and training data sets to identify linear extensions to the sediment rating curve. The input data consists of (1) SSC, which was obtained by sampling along the river section four times a year over approximately two years, (2) discharge data from river gauges supplemented by rainfall-runoff modeling between stations, (3) rainfall data from meteorological stations, and (4) sub-catchment characteristics like river section length and erosivity obtained with GIS. Via incorporating the river section length and sediment deposition in response to damming, we reduced the RMSE (root mean squared error) from 152.27 to 131.83% with a p-value of 0.073 in the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. Further integration of sub-catchment parameters like erosivity led to overfitting and decreased prediction accuracy. A catchment-wide prediction was achieved, but sub-catchments operate on different spatial scales with different connectivity behavior, which restricts the transferability of the equation. SSC-Q hystereses provide the first indications of characteristic sediment sources and were used to discuss connectivity behavior within the study area. They are recommended as part of a (sub-) catchment characterization for further studies.

Since 1 January 2005, the practice of bariatric surgery has been examined with the help of the German Bariatric Surgery Registry (GBSR) in Germany. The focus of the study was to evaluate if sleeve gastrectomy (SG) or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) has the best benefit in terms of perioperative risk in patients over 60 years of age. Data collection includes patients over the age of 60 years who underwent SG or RYGB between 2005 and 2017. The bougie is limited to 33–40 French for SG. Furthermore, the RYGB is determined to be 120–180 cm alimentary and 40–60 cm biliopancreatic length. Outcome criteria are perioperative morbidity, postoperative complications, 30-day mortality, and postoperative length of stay. The study analyzes data from 3561 patients beyond the age of 60 years who underwent SG (1970 patients) and RYGB (1591 patients). Mean age of the patients was 63.4 ± 3.2 in the RYGB group and 63.8 ± 3.5 in the SG group. Mean BMI was 46.4 ± 6.8 in the RYGB group and 49.1 ± 8.0 in the SG group. The average number of comorbidities was 4.5 ± 2.4 for RYGB and 4.5 ± 2.3 for SG. For the 30-day mortality, identical results were found SG vs. RYGB (0.31 vs. 0.38, p = 1.000). Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that both SG and RYGB in patients ≥ 60 years can be considered safe surgical procedures.

Extreme precipitation and resulting extraordinary discharge on July 15th 2021 caused serious flooding and erosion in the northern foreland of the Eifel Mountains, western Germany. We provide two examples of strong backward erosion and sedimentation events from two open cast mining areas in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). The first one from the catchment of the Inde River close to Lamersdorf and the lignite open cast mining Inden; the second one from the catchment area of the Erft River near the village of Blessem and the local gravel mining. On-site fieldwork was supported by surveys of unoccupied aerial systems (UAS). Subsequent structure-from-motion (SfM) analyses were compared with the 1 m digital elevation model of the state NRW to estimate size and volume of the erosion and to provide the basis for a geomorphological mapping approach.At the Inde River between 1998 and 2005 a new river course was created due to the eastward extension of the lignite mining Inden. The 4 km long course of the Inde River was abandoned and today the river relocation, “new Inde River”, passes the mining area in a ~12 km long river bend to the west. At the junction of the new and old river course a flood protection dam was constructed to avoid the flooding of the lignite mining. After heavy rainfall on July 15th bankfull discharge of the Inde River resulted in a spill over at the junction and the reoccupation of parts of the old river channel. As the lignite mining is more than 200 m below the surface, rapid erosion of the old channel and fast backward erosion creates a 540 m long gorge which was about 5 m deep. More than 500.000 m³ of material were eroded and subsequently accumulated in the lignite mining area.At the Erft River flooding of a 60 m deep gravel pit occurred and backward erosion quickly reaches the nearby settlement Blessem resulting in the destruction and damage of several houses. In Blessem, first the settling basin of the gravel pit was flooded on July 15th 2021, resulting in backward erosion of the flood protection dams and finally in a large canyon. An area of more than 7 ha eroded until a depth of 8 m to max. 14m and more than 530,000 m³ sediment were transported into the nearby gravel pit. The new erosion level of the Erft River was about 3 m below its previous base. The original 60 m deep gravel pit was filled with water and about 30 meters of sediments. The digital elevation model and the aerial images indicate three morphdynamic phases of this flood event, with different direction of backward erosion and sediment transport.Both areas show semi-circle like structures caused by the backward erosion at the headwalls. Immediately deposited material in the headwalls during the event slowed down the erosion processes. Both examples show the high risk and strong geomorphological processes in flooded open-cast mining areas with large base-level changes on short distances.

Extreme precipitation and discharge between July 13th and 16th 2021 caused serious flooding with bank erosion, including damages to infrastructure and buildings nearby the Eifel mountain region. Especially the small town of Stolberg and Eschweiler in the Inde River catchment were heavily affected. On-site investigation along the Inde River and its tributary, the Vichtbach creek, after the flood event show that mainly coarse sediments were remobilized and accumulated in the upper and middle reaches. The water masses mobilized not only sediments including gravel but also large objects like broken down trees and cars. In contrast, silty sediments were deposited in the lower reaches.The Stolberg region is a former mining area with related industries resulting in contaminated soils and tailings close to the floodplains (Esser et al. 2020). Therefore, our investigations also focus on pollution by sediment-bound heavy metals and their distribution in the floodplains before and after this event. Flood sediment samples were taken immediately after the extreme flood event. Based on the results of flood-related pollution monitoring, conducted between 2016 and 2019 (Esser, 2020), the impact of the extreme event in July can be evaluated. During the July flood event, an exceptional amount of pollutants was remobilized. In addition to an increase in pollutants on the modern floodplain, wider areas of older and higher floodplains (Altauen) were also affected.Esser, V. (2020): Untersuchungen zur fluvialen Morphodynamik und zur rezenten Schadstoffausbreitung in Flusssystemen - Beispiele aus der Grenzregion Belgien, Niederlande und Deutschland. PhD-Thesis, RWTH Aachen University.Esser, V., Buchty-Lemke, M., Schulte, P., Podzun, L.S., Lehmkuhl, F. (2020): Signatures of recent pollution profiles in comparable Central European rivers - Examples from the International River Basin District Meuse. Catena 193: 104646. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2020.104646

Objectives Recently, multiple studies addressed the importance of lymph node ratio (LNR) in specifying patients’ risk of disease recurrence in various malignancies. The present study examines the prognostic significance of LNR in predicting outcome of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients after surgical treatment with curative intent. Methods Here, we describe a retrospective population-based cohort with 717 patients previously diagnosed with OSCC. Histopathologically verified lymph node metastasis was diagnosed in 290 patients. Among these patients, we evaluated the impact of LNR on overall survival (OAS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) in uni- as well as multivariate analysis. Results A median cutoff (0.055) in LNR was found to significantly predict outcome in OSCC patients. Five-year OAS was 54.1% in patients with a low LNR, whereas a high LNR was associated with a 5-year OAS of 33.3% (p p = 0.002). Results were confirmed in multivariate Cox regression which substantiated the importance of LNR in predicting survival in OSCC patients. Conclusions LNR was shown to be an independent prognostic factor for outcome of OSCC in a population-based cohort in uni- as well as multivariate analysis. Hereby, a LNR ≥ 0.055 predicted a shorter OAS and RFS in our cohort. Clinical relevance Besides established histopathological factors, LNR can be used as a reliable predictor of outcome in OSCC and might therefore be further applied in evaluating adjuvant treatment after resection in curative intention.

For collaborative embedded systems, it is essential to consider not only the behavior of each system and the interaction between systems, but also the interaction of systems with their often dynamic and unknown context.In this chapter, we present a solution approach based on process building blocks— describing both the modelling approach as well as the model execution approach—for engineering and operation to achieve the goal of developing systems that deal with dynamics in their open context at runtime by re-using the models from the engineering phase.

Since 1 January 2005, the practice of bariatric surgery has been examined with the help of the German Bariatric Surgery Registry (GBSR) in Germany. The focus of the study was to evaluate if sleeve gastrectomy (SG) or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) has the best benefit in terms of perioperative risk in patients over 60 years of age.Data collection includes patients over the age of 60 years who underwent SG or RYGB between 2005 and 2017. The bougie is limited to 33-40 French for SG. Furthermore, the RYGB is determined to be 120-180 cm alimentary and 40-60 cm biliopancreatic length. Outcome criteria are perioperative morbidity, postoperative complications, 30-day mortality, and postoperative length of stay.The study analyzes data from 3561 patients beyond the age of 60 years who underwent SG (1970 patients) and RYGB (1591 patients). Mean age of the patients was 63.4 ± 3.2 in the RYGB group and 63.8 ± 3.5 in the SG group. Mean BMI was 46.4 ± 6.8 in the RYGB group and 49.1 ± 8.0 in the SG group. The average number of comorbidities was 4.5 ± 2.4 for RYGB and 4.5 ± 2.3 for SG. For the 30-day mortality, identical results were found SG vs. RYGB (0.31 vs. 0.38, p = 1.000).Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that both SG and RYGB in patients ≥ 60 years can be considered safe surgical procedures.

Emergence of the novel pathogenic coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2 and its rapid pandemic spread presents challenges that demand immediate attention. Here, we describe the development of a semi‐quantitative high‐content microscopy‐based assay for detection of three major classes (IgG, IgA, and IgM) of SARS‐CoV‐2 specific antibodies in human samples. The possibility to detect antibodies against the entire viral proteome together with a robust semi‐automated image analysis workflow resulted in specific, sensitive and unbiased assay that complements the portfolio of SARS‐CoV‐2 serological assays. Sensitive, specific and quantitative serological assays are urgently needed for a better understanding of humoral immune response against the virus as a basis for developing public health strategies to control viral spread. The procedure described here has been used for clinical studies and provides a general framework for the application of quantitative high‐throughput microscopy to rapidly develop serological assays for emerging virus infections.

Emergence of the novel pathogenic coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 and its rapid pandemic spread presents numerous questions and challenges that demand immediate attention. Among these is the urgent need for a better understanding of humoral immune response against the virus and assessment of seroprevalence levels in the population, both of which form the basis for developing public health strategies to control viral spread. For this sensitive, specific and quantitative serological assays are required. Here, we describe the development of a semi-quantitative high-content microscopy-based assay for detection of three major classes (IgG, IgA and IgM) of Sars-CoV-2 specific antibodies in human samples. The possibility to detect antibodies against the entire viral proteome together with a robust semi-automated image analysis workflow resulted in improvement of sensitivity and specificity compared to an approved ELISA-based diagnostic test. Combining both resulted in maximum specificity in a negative control cohort, while maintaining high sensitivity. The procedure described here is compatible with high-throughput microscopy approaches and may be applied for serological analysis of other virus infections.

The potential to provide base-load electricity as well as industrial and domestic heat places geothermal energy in a unique position in the future energy mix. As estimated by the International Energy Agency, geothermal power can contribute to 3.5% to the worldwide power and 3.9% to heat production by 2050. This includes the development of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) in low-enthalpy systems. The EGS technology is still in an early stage of development and the intended upscaling of power plant capacities presupposes the assurance of efficiency, profitability and safety of geothermal facilities. Pushing EGS technologies towards market maturity requires a long-term strategic approach and massive investments in research and development. Comprehensive multidisciplinary research programs combining fundamental and applied concepts tackling technological, economic and ecological and safety challenges along the EGS process chain are needed. The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology has defined a broad research program on EGS technology development following the necessity of a transdisciplinary approach. Research activities cover the whole process chain including system integration and span from fundamental to applied research across scales. The research concept is embedded in the national research program of the Helmholtz Association and is structured in four clusters: reservoir characterization and engineering; thermal water circuit; materials and geo-processes; and power plant operation. The proximity to industry closely interlinked with fundamental research forms the basis of a target-orientated concept. It combines the disciplines geosciences, geophysics, material sciences, engineering, geochemistry and numerics. The present paper aims at giving an overview of geothermal research at KIT and emphases the need for concerted research efforts at the international level to accelerate technological breakthrough of EGS as essential part of a future sustainable energy system.

Software-intensive cyber-physical systems (CPS) perform essential tasks such as controlling automated production processes in industrial production plants. The required levels of autonomy, openness, and self-adaptation, as well as the dynamic nature of the context of such CPS, result in challenging tasks for their engineering. During operation, unexpected situations in which the system has insufficient knowledge about the current state of the system itself as well as its context may occur. Engineering CPS, e.g., for industrial production sites, must account for such uncertainties the system will have to cope with during its lifetime in a structured and systematic way. Since the development of CPS requires consideration of different system perspectives, current uncertainty modeling approaches cannot be applied right away, as they do not explicitly consider uncertainty aspects that affect different artifacts. To aid the engineering of CPS, this article presents a model-based approach to document uncertainty. We propose “Orthogonal Uncertainty Models,” which closely integrate with other engineering artifacts from different perspectives, as a means for capturing a dedicated uncertainty viewpoint. Our approach has been evaluated in the industry automation domain. The application shows that the idea of regarding uncertainty within a dedicated perspective is highly beneficial. Particularly, our approach helps to uncover and document uncertainties related to behavioral, functional, and structural properties of a system, as well as uncertainties related to business models that would otherwise possibly remain covert. Note to Practitioners —Identifying and documenting uncertainties, which may occur during operation of a system, is a common problem in engineering processes. Such uncertainties may lead to severe damage, and thus need to be mitigated appropriately. It is crucial to account for these uncertainties during engineering, especially in the early phases. Depending on the specific project characteristics, a multitude of different diagram types are used to model a system. Uncertainties thus reflect in many artifacts, which leads to: 1) redundancies in the specified uncertainty attached to diagram elements and 2) uncertainty information (e.g., about the cause or effect of uncertainty) that is spread across different diagrams. The latter makes it difficult to structure uncertainty information and trace it throughout the engineering process so that uncertainty can be systematically considered. Our approach provides a graphical modeling language that employs a dedicated perspective on uncertainty in separate diagrams that can be linked to any engineering artifact.

Hemangioblastoma (HB) is mainly located in the brain and the spinal cord. The tumor is composed of two major components, namely neoplastic stromal cells and abundant microvessels. Thus, hyper-vascularization is the hallmark of this tumor. Despite the identification of germline and/or epigenetic mutations of Von Hippel Lindau (VHL) gene as an important pathogenic mechanism of HB, little is known about the molecular signaling involved in this highly vascularized tumor. The present study investigated the key players of multiple angiogenic signaling pathways including VEGF/VEGFR2, EphB4/EphrinB2, SDF1α/CXCR4 and Notch/Dll4 pathways in surgical specimens of 22 HB. The expression of key angiogenic factors was detected by RT2 -PCR and Western blot. Immunofluorescent staining revealed the cellular localization of these proteins. We demonstrated a massive upregulation of mRNA levels of VEGF and VEGFR2, CXCR4 and SDF1α, EphB4 and EphrinB2, as well as the main components of Dll4-Notch signaling in HB. An increase in the protein expression of VEGF, CXCR4 and the core-components of Dll4-Notch signaling was associated with an activation of Akt and Erk1/2 and accompanied by an elevated expression of PCNA. Immuofluorescent staining revealed the expression of VEGF and CXCR4 in endothelial cells as well as in tumor cells. Dll4 protein was predominantly found in tumor cells, whereas EphB4 immunoreactivity was exclusively detected in endothelial cells. We conclude that multiple key angiogenic pathways were activated in HB, which may synergistically contribute to the abundant vascularization in this tumor. Identification of these aberrant pathways provides potential targets for a possible future application of anti-angiogenic therapy for this tumor, particularly when a total surgical resection becomes difficult due to the localization or multiplicity of the tumor.

Numerous studies analyzed lymphovascular invasion (LVI) in various malignant diseases, however, little is known about the role of lymphatic invasion (LI) as well as vascular invasion (VI) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The aim of this study is to illuminate the role of LI and VI in a population-based cohort study.We retrospectively analyzed 745 primarily resected OSCC patients in Eastern Bavaria for histopathologically verified LI and VI. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were calculated, whereas analysis was performed by uni- and multivariate statistics. Mean follow-up time was 7.4 years.LI was found in 115 patients (15.4%), VI was diagnosed in 23 cases (3.1%). LI correlated significantly with distinct anatomical sites (p = 0.004), increasing pT-classification (p 0.001), lymph node involvement (p 0.001), higher grading (p 0.001), advanced UICC-stages (p 0.001) and adjuvant therapies (p 0.001). Similar results were found for VI. Survival analysis resulted in a significantly decreased five-year OS and RFS in patients with diagnosed LI (OS: 41.1%, RFS: 38.3%) in contrast to LI-negative cases (OS: 66.8%, RFS: 59.7.7%, p 0.001). Analogous outcomes were seen for patients with VI. Additionally, LI was identified as a predictive parameter, indicating individual patients' response to adjuvant therapies.This population-based cohort study underlines the unfavorable aspect of LI and VI on outcome in OSCC. Including LI and VI in existing staging systems could help to stratify patients' risk for adverse outcome and consecutively determine adjuvant treatment in malignant disease.

We present a Monte Carlo study of heat transport in Si nanomeshes. Phonons are treated semiclassically as particles of specific energy and velocity that undergo phonon–phonon scattering and boundary scattering on the surfaces of the nanomesh pores. We investigate the influence of: (1) geometric parameters such as the pore arrangement/randomness and porosity, and (2) the roughness amplitude of the pore surfaces on the thermal conductivity of the nanomeshes. We show that the nanomesh porosity has a strong detrimental influence on the thermal conductivity. Boundary roughness still degrades the thermal conductivity, but its influence is smaller.

The respective first and last authors of this article, Mirko Bibl and Jens Wiltfang, would like to clarify the issue of the seeming duplicate publication of a figure in two articles.

End-of-life tire granulates were used in olefin metathesis reactions with ethene (ethenolysis); utilizing 0.0074 mmol of a Grubbs type ruthenium complex for 1.0 gram of tire granules leads to the isolation of ca. 0.5 g of organic solubles, which are primarily composed of oligomeric 1,4-cis isoprenes.

Hemangioblastoma (HB) is mainly located in the brain and the spinal cord. The tumor is composed of two major components, namely neoplastic stromal cells and abundant microvessels. Thus, hyper-vascularization is the hallmark of this tumor. Despite the identification of germline and/or epigenetic mutations of Von Hippel Lindau (VHL) gene as an important pathogenic mechanism of HB, little is known about the molecular signaling involved in this highly vascularized tumor. The present study investigated the key players of multiple angiogenic signaling pathways including VEGF/VEGFR2, EphB4/EphrinB2, SDF1α/CXCR4 and Notch/Dll4 pathways in surgical specimens of 22 HB. The expression of key angiogenic factors was detected by RT

Sequencing of partial cox2 (part of the mitochondrial cytochrome-c-oxydase (COX) gene) was performed with samples from the oomycete genus Pustula, the white blister rusts of Asteraceae and related families. Sequence comparison uncovered several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) between P. spinulosa and host specific strains of Pustula isolated from Senecio vulgaris, Tragopogon pratensis and cultivated sunflower, Helianthus annuus. Based on these differences, specific primers were designed for PCR-based detection of white blister rust strains pathogenic to sunflower. The specificity of the primers was confirmed by cross testing with DNA from various oomycetes occurring in the same locality. The limit of detection for DNA of P. helianthicola was 10 pg. This allowed detection with DNA from single sporangia and single oospores. The PCR-based experiments allowed detection of the presence of sunflower white blister rust in soil samples from fields on which infected plants had been cultivated several months before. Moreover, the molecular tools were successfully applied to trace the pathogen in asymptomatic tissue of infected plants, demonstrating the systemic nature of Pustula on sunflower.

Present evidence suggests that medial temporal cortices subserve allocentric representation and memory, whereas egocentric representation and memory also depends on parietal association cortices and the striatum. Virtual reality environments have a major advantage for the assessment of spatial navigation and memory formation, as computer-simulated first-person environments can simulate navigation in a large-scale space. Twenty-nine patients with amnestic MCI (aMCI) were compared with 29 healthy matched controls on two virtual reality tasks affording to learn a virtual park (allocentric memory) and a virtual maze (egocentric memory). Participants further received a neuropsychological investigation and MRI volumetry at the time of the assessment. Results indicate that aMCI patients had significantly reduced size of the hippocampus bilaterally and the right-sided precuneus and inferior parietal cortex. aMCI patients were severely impaired learning the virtual park and the virtual maze. Smaller volumes of the right-sided precuneus were related to worse performance on the virtual maze. Participants with striatal lacunar lesions committed more errors than participants without such lesions on the virtual maze but not on the virtual park. aMCI patients later converting to dementia (n=15) had significantly smaller hippocampal size when compared with non-converters (n=14). However, both groups did not differ on virtual reality task performance. Our study clearly demonstrates the feasibility of virtual reality technology to study spatial memory deficits of persons with aMCI. Future studies should try to design spatial virtual reality tasks being specific enough to predict conversion from MCI to dementia and conversion from normal to MCI.

Background/Aims: We determined cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of amyloid-β (Aβ)1–38, Aβ1–40, Aβ1–42, total tau and phospho-tau (p-tau) in order to study their differential expression in frontotemporal dementia (FTD, n = 25) and primary progressive aphasia (PPA, n = 12) as compared to Alzheimer’s dementia (AD, n = 25) and nondemented controls (n = 20). Methods: Commercially available ELISA and electrochemiluminescence methods were applied. Results: High CSF p-tau and low ratios of Aβ1–42/Aβ1–40 and Aβ1–42/Aβ1–38, respectively, were specific for AD. CSF Aβ1–38 was reduced in FTD as compared to each of the other diagnostic groups, including PPA. CSF tau and p-tau levels were elevated in PPA as compared to FTD. Conclusion: This is the first detailed report on biomarker patterns in PPA, indicating distinct CSF biomarker patterns in FTD and PPA as major subgroups of frontotemporal lobar degeneration. The diagnostic and pathophysiological implications of our results warrant further studies on larger and neuropathologically diagnosed patient populations.

The utility of [(NHC)(PPh 3 )RuCl 2 (CHPh)] for the facile and efficient synthesis of ten complexes of the type [(NHC)(NHC ewg )RuCl 2 (CHR)] with saturated and unsaturated NHC ligands in 85–94% isolated yield via a simple one step synthesis utilizing [AgI(NHC ewg )] as NHC ewg transfer reagents was demonstrated.

To test the validity and reliability of the scale for the assessment and rating of ataxia (SARA) in Friedreich ataxia (FRDA). SARA is limited to eight items and can be performed rapidly. Ninety-six patients with a molecular genetic diagnosis of FRDA were rated using three different clinical scales, the FRDA Rating Scale (FARS), the International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale (ICARS), and SARA. Despite considerable discrepancies in scale size and subscale structure, SARA total scores were significantly correlated with ICARS (r = 0.953, P < 0.0001) and FARS (r = 0.938, P < 0.0001) total scores. SARA total scores also correlated with the activities of daily living (ADL, r = 0.929, P < 0.0001). Although originally developed for the use in dominantly inherited ataxias, which are primarily ataxias of the cerebellar type, SARA can also be used successfully to assess afferent ataxia, which is the predominant form in FRDA. Because SARA is characterized by high interrater reliability and practicability, SARA is applicable and well suited forclinical trials of FRDA.

Twenty-three different Rh complexes of the (NHC)RhCl(cod) and (NHC)RhCl(CO) 2 type were synthesized from [RhCl(cod)] 2 . The electron donating nature of the NHC ligands was changed in a systematic manner. The redox potentials of the various (NHC)RhCl(cod) and the ν (CO) of the various (NHC)RhCl(CO) 2 were determined. A correlation of the Rh redox potentials and the Rh ν (CO), respectively, with the related data from analogous (NHC)IrCl(cod) and (NHC)IrCl(CO) 2 complexes established two linear relationships. The linear regression ( R 2 = 0.993) of the Rh and the Ir redox potentials results in an equation for the redox potential transformation: E 1/2 (Ir) = 1.016 · E 1/2 (Rh) − 0.076 V. The linear regression ( R 2 = 0.97) of the Rh and Ir ν av (CO) results in an equation for the ν av (CO) transformation: ν av (CO)Ir = 0.8695 · ν av (CO)Rh + 250.7 cm −1 . In this manner the Rh and the Ir-scale for the determination of the electron donating properties of NHC ligands are unified.

Der vorliegende Bericht beschreibt ein vom Bundesministerium für Gesundheit gefördertes Vorhaben zum «Leuchtturmprojekt Demenz» im Themenfeld 1 «Therapie und Pflegemaßnahmen: Wirksamkeit unter Alltagsbedingungen». Hierbei handelt es sich um eine multizentrische randomisierte Interventionsstudie, die den Einfluss von Sport (multimodale sportliche Aktivität) unter kontrollierten Bedingungen auf die kognitive Entwicklung von Alzheimer-Patienten im frühen Stadium prüft. In einem zweiarmigen Design werden je 150 Patienten mit früher AD unter Verum- bzw. Kontroll-Bedingungen untersucht. Die Verum-Gruppe erhält ein spezifisches sportliches Trainingsprogramm. In der Kontrollgruppe werden lediglich Dehnungsübungen durchgeführt. Primäre Endpunkte der Studie sind die kognitive Leistung der Patienten sowie deren Alltagskompetenz im Verlauf. Die gesundheitsbezogene Lebensqualität der Patienten sowie etwaige Verhaltensstörungen und depressive Symptome werden als sekundäre Endpunkte erfasst. Darüber hinaus werden die Angehörigen zur krankheitsbezogenen Belastung befragt und auf depressive Symptome untersucht. Angelehnt an die Hypothesen der «Initiative Demenzversorgung in der Allgemeinmedizin» (IDA) sollen entsprechende nicht-medikamentöse Versorgungsangebote dazu beitragen, dass Patienten länger in ihrem gewohnten häuslichen Umfeld leben. Im Sinne der Nachhaltigkeit der zu erwartenden Ergebnisse wird ein «Do it yourself»-Manual erstellt, mit dem das Trainingsprogramm auch ohne professionelle Anleitung, z. B. im Rahmen von Selbsthilfegruppen durchgeführt werden kann. Die weitere Implementierung (z. B. in Internetforen und weiteren Medien) wird durch einen Beirat der lokalen Krankenkassen, Gesundheitsämter und der Deutschen Alzheimer-Gesellschaft unterstützt.

Biomarkers for differential diagnosis of the three most frequent degenerative forms of dementia, Alzheimer's disease (AD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and frontotemporal dementias (FTD), are currently under intensive investigation, but disease-specific biomarkers for FTD and DLB are still lacking. We analyzed 303 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples of 71 AD, 32 DLB and 36 FTD patients in comparison to 93 various other dementias (OD), 20 peripheral neurologic disease (PND) controls, 25 neurodegenerative disorders without dementia (ND) and 26 depressive cognitive complainers (DCC) for distinct CSF amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptide patterns, using the quantitative Abeta-SDS-PAGE/immunoblot. Additionally, the novel electrochemiluminescence technique (MSD) was used to validate the measures on Abeta1-38. The main outcome measures were a striking decrease of Abeta1-42 in AD (P=7.4 x 10(-19)), and most interestingly a pronounced decrease of Abeta1-38 in FTD (P=9.6 x 10(-7)). Moreover, a novel peptide that most probably represents an oxidized alpha-helical form of Abeta1-40 (Abeta1-40(ox)) displayed a highly significant increase in DLB (P=3.7 x 10(-3)) as compared to non-demented disease controls. The overall diagnostic accuracy of percentage Abeta peptide abundances (Abeta1-X%) was clearly superior to absolute CSF Abeta levels. Abeta1-42% and Abeta1-38% enabled contrasts of 85% or beyond to distinguish AD and FTD, respectively, from all other investigated subjects. Abeta1-40(ox)% yielded a diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of 88 and 73% for the detection of DLB among all other investigated patients. We found a strong correlation between Abeta1-38 levels as measured by the Abeta-SDS-PAGE/immunoblot and MSD, respectively. CSF Abeta peptides may reflect disease-specific impact of distinct neurodegenerative processes on Abeta peptide metabolism and represent a potential diagnostic biomarker for AD, FTD and DLB.

The University of Goettingen the Interdisciplinary Virtual Reality Research Group developed a neuropsychological test system that was supported by virtual reality (VR). The test system was designed in order to evaluate VR technology for the diagnostics of neuropsychological orientation disorders. To identify application problems, a preclinical evaluation study has been done. Side effects and task performance have been documented and analyzed for 22 probands. Focusing on side effects, we evaluated the difference between two projection modalities (head mounted display [HMD] and one-wall projection [OWP]). Furthermore two different VR environments (maze and park) were applied. The VR system demonstrated a good overall functionality, only a few problems occurred during the tests with the HMD. In regard to simulator sickness, a higher level of simulator sickness was observed in the HMD group. All other parameters did not differ substantially. Our VR-system with the neuropsychological tests for orientation diso...

We theoretically investigate thermal conductivity in silicon nanomeshes using Monte Carlo simulations of phonon transport. Silicon membranes of 100nm thickness with randomly located pores of 50nm diameter are considered. The effects of material porosity and pore surface roughness are examined. Nanomesh porosity is found to have a strong detrimental effect on thermal conductivity. At room temperature, a porosity of 50% results in ~80% reduction in thermal conductivity. Boundary roughness scattering further degrades thermal conductivity, but its effect is weaker. Thermal transport can additionally be affected by the specific arrangement of the pores along the transport direction., Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures