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OBJECTIVE To contribute data on long-term outcome and potential curative impact of ASCT in FL, especially following HDT with the BEAM protocol (BCNU, etoposide, cytarabine and melphalan), given very limited data on this topic in the literature. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with FL (n = 76) were treated in our institution with HDT and ASCT. In the case of long-term remission (≥8 years), peripheral blood was tested for minimal residual disease by t(14;18)- and IGH-PCR, including the last follow-up. RESULTS 10-year overall survival, progression-free survival, and freedom from progression (FFP) after first-line ASCT (n = 20) were 80%, 60%, and 69%, after second-line ASCT (n = 48, following BEAM) 66%, 38%, and 41%, after third/fourth-line ASCT (n = 8) 33%, 25%, and 25%, respectively. Prognostic factors for FFP were treatment line and FLIPI (Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index). 10-year FFP for second-line ASCT and low-risk FLIPI at relapse was 69%, intermediate-risk 28%, and high-risk 25% (P

Aroyl‐S,N‐ketene acetal‐based bichromophores can be readily synthesized in a consecutive three‐component synthesis in good to excellent yields by condensation of aroyl chlorides and an N‐(p‐bromobenzyl) 2‐methyl benzothiazolium salt followed by a Suzuki coupling, yielding a library of 31 bichromophoric fluorophores with substitution pattern‐tunable emission properties. Varying both chromophores enables different communication pathways between the chromophores, exploiting aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) and energy transfer (ET) properties, and thus, furnishing aggregation‐based fluorescence switches. Possible applications range from fluorometric analysis of alcoholic beverages to pH sensors., Multifunctional shining tool: A library of 31 aroyl‐S,N‐ketene acetal solid‐state emissive bichromophores, synthesized by a consecutive three‐component reaction (3CR), exhibits aggregation induced emission (AIE), acidochromicity, as well as dual emission and energy transfer in aggregates suitable for alcoholic beverage analysis and encapsulation in micrometer sized polystyrene particles with enhanced fluorescence quantum yield.

8-Methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) serves as a PUVA (psoralen + UV-A) agent in the treatment of certain skin diseases. Derivatives of 8-MOP with cationic aromatic substituents at the five positions were synthesized and characterized by steady-state, femtosecond and nanosecond spectroscopy as well as cyclic voltammetry. The aromatic substituents' positive charge increases the water solubility and the affinity toward intercalation into DNA. The aromatic substituents were supposed to lower the psoralen S1 energy and thereby suppress a photo-induced electron transfer (PET) with guanine-bearing DNA. Such a suppression of this PET is expected to increase the propensity of psoralens to photo-addition to DNA. For derivatives bearing methylpyridinium residues, femtosecond spectroscopy revealed an intramolecular PET occurring on the picosecond time scale. This PET precludes the population of the triplet state. As triplet states are the precursor state for the photo-addition to DNA, their intermolecular PET renders these derivatives ineffective in terms of PUVA. For two derivatives bearing trimethylphenylammonium moieties, such an intramolecular PET does not occur and the triplet state is populated. Surprisingly, these compounds also exhibit no PUVA activity. Based on these findings, implications for further optimization of PUVA agents are discussed.

A theorem of Dolfi, Herzog, Kaplan, and Lev \cite[Thm.~C]{DHKL} asserts that in a finite group with trivial Fitting subgroup, the size of the soluble residual of the group is bounded from below by a certain power of the group order, and that the inequality is sharp. Inspired by this result and some of the arguments in \cite{DHKL}, we establish the following generalisation: if $\mathfrak{X}$ is a subgroup-closed Fitting formation of full characteristic which does not contain all finite groups and $\overline{\mathfrak{X}}$ is the extension-closure of $\mathfrak{X}$, then there exists an (optimal) constant $\gamma$ depending only on $\mathfrak{X}$ such that, for all non-trivial finite groups $G$ with trivial $\mathfrak{X}$-radical, \begin{equation} \left\lvert G^{\overline{\mathfrak{X}}}\right\rvert \,>\, \vert G\vert^\gamma, \end{equation} where $G^{\overline{\mathfrak{X}}}$ is the ${\overline{\mathfrak{X}}}$-residual of $G$. When $\mathfrak{X} = \mathfrak{N}$, the class of finite nilpotent groups, it follows that $\overline{\mathfrak{X}} = \mathfrak{S}$, the class of finite soluble groups, thus we recover the original theorem of Dolfi, Herzog, Kaplan, and Lev. In the last section of our paper, building on J.\,G. Thompson's classification of minimal simple groups, we exhibit a family of subgroup-closed Fitting formations $\mathfrak{X}$ of full characteristic such that $\mathfrak{S} \subset \overline{\mathfrak{X}} \subset \mathfrak{E}$, thus providing applications of our main result beyond the reach of \cite[Thm.~C]{DHKL}., Comment: 19 pages

We present a real-time neural radiance caching method for path-traced global illumination. Our system is designed to handle fully dynamic scenes, and makes no assumptions about the lighting, geometry, and materials. The data-driven nature of our approach sidesteps many difficulties of caching algorithms, such as locating, interpolating, and updating cache points. Since pretraining neural networks to handle novel, dynamic scenes is a formidable generalization challenge, we do away with pretraining and instead achieve generalization via adaptation, i.e. we opt for training the radiance cache while rendering. We employ self-training to provide low-noise training targets and simulate infinite-bounce transport by merely iterating few-bounce training updates. The updates and cache queries incur a mild overhead -- about 2.6ms on full HD resolution -- thanks to a streaming implementation of the neural network that fully exploits modern hardware. We demonstrate significant noise reduction at the cost of little induced bias, and report state-of-the-art, real-time performance on a number of challenging scenarios., To appear at SIGGRAPH 2021. 16 pages, 16 figures

We present a software-assisted workflow for the alignment and matching of filamentous structures across a three-dimensional (3D) stack of serial images. This is achieved by combining automatic methods, visual validation, and interactive correction. After the computation of an initial automatic matching, the user can continuously improve the result by interactively correcting landmarks or matches of filaments. Supported by a visual quality assessment of regions that have been already inspected, this allows a trade-off between quality and manual labour. The software tool was developed in an interdisciplinary collaboration between computer scientists and cell biologists to investigate cell division by quantitative 3D analysis of microtubules (MTs) in both mitotic and meiotic spindles. For this, each spindle is cut into a series of semi-thick physical sections, of which electron tomograms are acquired. The serial tomograms are then stitched and non-rigidly aligned to allow tracing and connecting of MTs across tomogram boundaries. In practice, automatic stitching alone provides only an incomplete solution, because large physical distortions and a low signal-to-noise ratio often cause experimental difficulties. To derive 3D models of spindles despite dealing with imperfect data related to sample preparation and subsequent data collection, semi-automatic validation and correction is required to remove stitching mistakes. However, due to the large number of MTs in spindles (up to 30k) and their resulting dense spatial arrangement, a naive inspection of each MT is too time-consuming. Furthermore, an interactive visualisation of the full image stack is hampered by the size of the data (up to 100 GB). Here, we present a specialised, interactive, semi-automatic solution that considers all requirements for large-scale stitching of filamentous structures in serial-section image stacks. To the best of our knowledge, it is the only currently available tool which is able to process data of the type and size presented here. The key to our solution is a careful design of the visualisation and interaction tools for each processing step to guarantee real-time response, and an optimised workflow that efficiently guides the user through datasets. The final solution presented here is the result of an iterative process with tight feedback loops between the involved computer scientists and cell biologists. LAY DESCRIPTION: Electron tomography of biological samples is used for a three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of filamentous structures, such as microtubules (MTs) in mitotic and meiotic spindles. Large-scale electron tomography can be applied to increase the reconstructed volume for the visualisation of full spindles. For this, each spindle is cut into a series of semi-thick physical sections, from which electron tomograms are acquired. The serial tomograms are then stitched and non-rigidly aligned to allow tracing and connecting of MTs across tomogram boundaries. Previously, we presented fully automatic approaches for this 3D reconstruction pipeline. However, large volumes often suffer from imperfections (ie physical distortions) caused by the image acquisition process, making it difficult to apply fully automatic approaches for matching and stitching of numerous tomograms. Therefore, we developed an interactive, semi-automatic solution that considers all requirements for large-scale stitching of microtubules in image stacks of consecutive sections. We achieved this by combining automatic methods, visual validation and interactive error correction, thus allowing the user to continuously improve the result by interactively correcting landmarks or matches of filaments. We present large-scale reconstructions of spindles in which the automatic workflow failed and where different steps of manual corrections were needed. Our approach is also applicable to other biological samples showing 3D distributions of MTs in a number of different cellular contexts.

In this contribution, we revisit the neglected and forgotten cationic, air-stable, 18-valence electron, heteroleptic sandwich complex (cycloheptatrienyl)(cyclopentadienyl)manganese, which was reported independently by Fischer and by Pauson about 50 years ago. Using advanced high-power LED photochemical synthesis, an expedient rapid access to the parent complex and to functionalized derivatives with alkyl, carboxymethyl, bromo, and amino substituents was developed. A thorough study of these "tromancenium" salts by a range of spectroscopic techniques (1H/13C/55Mn-NMR, IR, UV-vis, HRMS, XRD, XPS, EPR), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and quantum chemical calculations (DFT) shows that these manganese sandwich complexes are unique metallocenes with quite different chemical and physical properties in comparison to those of isoelectronic cobaltocenium salts or (cycloheptatrienyl)(cyclopentadienyl) sandwich complexes of the early transition metals. Electrochemically, all tromancenium ions undergo a chemically partially reversible oxidation and a chemically irreversible reduction at half-wave or peak potentials that respond to the substituents at the Cp deck. As exemplarily shown for the parent tromancenium ion, the product generated during the irreversible reduction process reverts at least partially to the starting material upon reoxidation. Quantum-chemical calculations of the parent tromancenium salt indicate that metal-ligand bonding is distinctly weaker for the cycloheptatrienyl ligand in comparison to that of the cyclopentadienyl ligand. Both the HOMO and the LUMO are metal and cycloheptatrienyl-ligand centered, indicating that chemical reactions will occur either metal-based or at the seven-membered ring, but not on the cyclopentadienyl ligand. published

Dibrominated bis[1]benzothieno[3,2-b;2',3'-e][1,4]thiazines (BBTT) are efficiently synthesized and applied in Suzuki and Buchwald-Hartwig cross-coupling reactions to give access to 3,9-disubstituted BBTT derivatives with extended π-conjugation and enhanced electronic properties. For instance, 3,9-di(hetero)aryl substituted BBTT derivatives surpass their parent congeners phenothiazines with lower oxidation potentials and pronounced yellow to orange-red fluorescence (Φf ≈ 30-45%). In addition, 3,9-bis(di(hetero)arylamino substituted BBTT possess very high lying HOMO energy (EHOMO = -4.46 to -4.83 eV), a favorable property of hole transport molecules. A representative X-ray structure analysis reveals that the central BBTT core in these extended π-systems is essentially planarized. Upon protonation of a 3,9-bis(di(hetero)arylamino) substituted BBTT, the absorption color shifts from yellow to deep blue with a concomitant loss of the emission. The optical properties of these novel BBTT derivatives can be plausibly rationalized by time-dependent density functional theory (TD(DFT)) calculations and correlation between experimentally determined oxidation potentials and σp parameters as well as between photophysical data and the specific substituent parameter σp- by establishing electronic structure-property relationships.

In microdroplets, rates of chemical or biomolecular reactions can exceed those in the bulk phase by more than a million times. As electrospray ionization-based mass spectrometry (MS) involves the formation of charged microdroplets, reaction acceleration and online MS monitoring of reaction products can readily be performed at the same time. We investigated accelerated enzymatic reactions in microdroplets and focused on the proteolytic enzyme pepsin. Electrosonic spray ionization (ESSI) was utilized for developing the ultrarapid pepsin in-spray digestion of two different proteins, cytochrome c and RocC, at low pH values. The optimization of the protein digestion aimed at achieving maximum sequence coverage for the analyzed proteins. Furthermore, carefully designed control experiments allowed us to unambiguously prove that enzymatic protein cleavage almost exclusively occurs within the spray at a millisecond time scale and not prior to microdroplet generation.

The synthesis of persistent sila‐ and germacyclopentadienyl (silolyl‐ and germolyl‐) radicals by careful stoichiometric reduction of the corresponding halides with potassium is reported. The radicals were characterized by EPR spectroscopy and trapping reactions. The reduction of tris(trimethylsilyl)silyl‐substituted halides was successful while smaller substituents (i. e., t‐Butyl, Ph) gave the corresponding dimers. The EPR spectroscopic parameter of the synthesized tetrolyl radicals indicate only small spin delocalization to the butadiene unit due to cross‐hyperconjugation. Silolyl‐ and germolyl anions are unavoidable byproducts and are isolated in the form of their potassium salts and characterized by X‐ray crystallography. The comparison of the molecular structures of two closely related potassium silolides provided an example for different coordination of the potassium cation to the silolyl anion (η1 vs. η5 coordination) that triggers the switch between delocalized and localized states., Persistent silolyl and germolyl radicals were synthesized by reduction of sterically congested halide precursors. The radicals are pyramidalized and show only little spin delocalization.

Golgi-associated retrograde protein (GARP) and endosome-associated recycling protein (EARP) complexes are membrane-tethering heterotetramers located at the trans-Golgi network and recycling endosomes, respectively. GARP and EARP share the three subunits VPS51, VPS52 and VPS53, while VPS50 is unique to EARP and VPS54 to GARP. Retrograde transport of endosomal cargos to the trans-Golgi network is mediated by GARP and endocytic recycling by EARP. Here we report two unrelated individuals with homozygous variants in VPS50, a splice variant (c.1978-1G>T) and an in-frame deletion (p.Thr608del). Both patients had severe developmental delay, postnatal microcephaly, corpus callosum hypoplasia, seizures and irritability, transient neonatal cholestasis and failure to thrive. Light and transmission electron microscopy of liver from one revealed the absence of gamma-glutamyltransferase at bile canaliculi, with mislocalization to basolateral membranes and abnormal tight junctions. Using patient-derived fibroblasts, we identified reduced VPS50 protein accompanied by reduced levels of VPS52 and VPS53. While the transferrin receptor internalization rate was normal in cells of both patients, recycling of the receptor to the plasma membrane was significantly delayed. These data underscore the importance of VPS50 and/or the EARP complex in endocytic recycling and suggest an additional function in establishing cell polarity and trafficking between basolateral and apical membranes in hepatocytes. Individuals with biallelic hypomorphic variants in VPS50, VPS51 or VPS53 show an overarching neurodegenerative disorder with severe developmental delay, intellectual disability, microcephaly, early-onset epilepsy and variable atrophy of the cerebellum, cerebrum and/or brainstem. The term ‘GARP/EARP deficiency’ designates disorders in such individuals.

Biallelic STX3 variants were previously reported in five individuals with the severe congenital enteropathy, microvillus inclusion disease (MVID). Here, we provide a significant extension of the phenotypic spectrum caused by STX3 variants. We report ten individuals of diverse geographic origin with biallelic STX3 loss-of-function variants, identified through exome sequencing, single-nucleotide polymorphism array-based homozygosity mapping, and international collaboration. The evaluated individuals all presented with MVID. Eight individuals also displayed early-onset severe retinal dystrophy, i.e., syndromic—intestinal and retinal—disease. These individuals harbored STX3 variants that affected both the retinal and intestinal STX3 transcripts, whereas STX3 variants affected only the intestinal transcript in individuals with solitary MVID. That STX3 is essential for retinal photoreceptor survival was confirmed by the creation of a rod photoreceptor-specific STX3 knockout mouse model which revealed a time-dependent reduction in the number of rod photoreceptors, thinning of the outer nuclear layer, and the eventual loss of both rod and cone photoreceptors. Together, our results provide a link between STX3 loss-of-function variants and a human retinal dystrophy. Depending on the genomic site of a human loss-of-function STX3 variant, it can cause MVID, the novel intestinal-retinal syndrome reported here or, hypothetically, an isolated retinal dystrophy.

A triazole-directed direct C–H arylation of arenes with electron-deficient aryl halides or a synthetically useful pyrimidyl chloride was achieved through ruthenium catalysis. Our novel strategy provides operationally simple and environmentally benign access to highly functionalized hetarenes, avoiding the use of strong organometallic bases. Detailed studies revealed a significant effect of the phosphine ligand, thereby permitting the reaction to occur with excellent levels of chemo- and position selectivity.

Null-Toleranz-Strategien der Polizei bundesweit sollten uberdacht werden, weil sie die Stigmatisierung ganzer Gruppen bedeuten, Rassismus begunstigen und den Kontakt in die Zielgruppe massiv behindern. Deshalb fragt sich, inwieweit Polizei auch „Soziale Arbeit“ leisten sollte. Ein Gedankenaustausch zur Situation in Bremen und der dortigen Entwicklung.

This review summarizes syntheses of S,N-heteropentacenes, i.e. electron-rich sulfur and nitrogen-embedding pentacycles, and briefly highlights selected applications in molecular electronics. Depending on the anellation mode and the number of incorporated heteroatoms, electron density can be raised by increasing nitrogen incorporation and polarizability is manifested by the sulfur content. In comparison to triacene analogues, the conjugation pathways of S,N-heteropentacenes are increased and the favorable acene-typical crystallization behavior allows for diverse application in organic electronics. Furthermore, substitution patterns allow fine-tuning the electronic properties, extending the π-systems, and supplying structural elements for further application.1 Introduction2 Thiophene-Centered S,N-Heteropentacenes2.1 Dipyrrolo-Fused Thiophenes2.2 Diindolo-Fused Thiophenes3 Pyrrole-Centered S,N-Heteropentacenes3.1 Dithieno-Fused Pyrroles3.2 Bis[1]benzothieno-Fused Pyrrole4 Fused 1,4-Thiazines4.1 Dinaphtho-Fused 1,4-Thiazines4.2 Bis[1]benzothieno-Fused 1,4-Thiazines5 Conclusions and Outlook

Dithienothiazine copolymers are efficiently obtained by Suzuki polymerization or in situ lithiation–Negishi polymerization in good to excellent yields. Gel permeation chromatography was applied to characterize the dispersities and degrees of polymerization of these novel materials. Thermogravimetric analysis shows that the copolymers are stable towards side-chain cleavage up to 200 °C. The materials are deep red to black amorphous solids or resins and their absorption and emission spectra in solution reveal broad absorption bands in the visible and orange to deep red luminescence upon UV excitation. According to the optical band gaps these novel copolymers qualify as a new class of low band gap organic semiconductors.

Artificial language games give researchers the opportunity to investigate the emergence and evolution of semantic structure, i.e. the organisation of meaning spaces into discrete categories. A possible issue with this approach is that categories mightcarry over from participants’ native languages, a potential bias that has mostly been ignored. In a referential communication game, we compare colour terms from three different languages to those of an artificial language. We assess the similarity of the semantic structures and test the influence of the semantic structure on artificial language communication by comparing to a separate online naming task providing us with the native language semantic structure. Our results show that native and artificial language structures overlap at least moderately. Furthermore, communicative behaviour and performance were influenced by the shared semantic structure, but only for English-speaking pairs. These results imply a cognitive link between participants’ semantic structures and artificial language structure formation. Introduction Artificial language games, semantic structure, and possible biases Colour terms and categorical facilitation Method - The Color Game -- Participants -- Materials -- Procedure - Online survey -- Participants -- Materials -- Procedure - Predictions Results - Predictions 1 - Predictions 2.1 - Predictions 2.2 - Predictions 2.3 - Predictions 4 Discussion Conclusion

The cloning of agriculturally important genes is often complicated by haplotype variation across crop cultivars. Access to pan-genome information greatly facilitates the assessment of structural variations and rapid candidate gene identification. Here, we identified the red glume 1 (Rg-B1) gene using association genetics and haplotype analyses in ten reference grade wheat genomes. Glume color is an important trait to characterize wheat cultivars. Red glumes are frequent among Central European spelt, a dominant wheat subspecies in Europe before the 20th century. We used genotyping-by-sequencing to characterize a global diversity panel of 267 spelt accessions, which provided evidence for two independent introductions of spelt into Europe. A single region at the Rg-B1 locus on chromosome 1BS was associated with glume color in the diversity panel. Haplotype comparisons across ten high-quality wheat genomes revealed a MYB transcription factor as candidate gene. We found extensive haplotype variation across the ten cultivars, with a particular group of MYB alleles that was conserved in red glume wheat cultivars. Genetic mapping and transient infiltration experiments allowed us to validate this particular MYB transcription factor variants. Our study demonstrates the value of multiple high-quality genomes to rapidly resolve copy number and haplotype variations in regions controlling agriculturally important traits., Krattinger, Abrouk et al. use genome wide association study and haplotype analyses to investigate the genetics of glume colour in ten reference grade wheat genomes. Haplotype comparison identifies a MYB transcription factor as a candidate gene for red glume colour.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most chronic neurodegenerative disorder worldwide. Deficit of monoamines, particularly dopamine, causes an individually varying compilation of motor and non-motor features. Constraint of presynaptic uptake extends monoamine stay in the synaptic cleft. This review discusses possible benefits of dopamine reuptake inhibition for the treatment of PD. Translation of this pharmacologic principle into positive clinical study results failed to date. Past clinical trial designs did not consider a mandatory, concomitant stable inhibition of glial monoamine turnover, i.e. with monoamine oxidase B inhibitors. These studies focused on improvement of motor behavior and levodopa associated motor complications, which are fluctuations of motor and non-motor behavior. Future clinical investigations in early, levodopa- and dopamine agonist naïve patients shall also aim on alleviation of non-motor symptoms, like fatigue, apathy or cognitive slowing. Oral levodopa/dopa decarboxylase inhibitor application is inevitably necessary with advance of PD. Monoamine reuptake (MRT) inhibition improves the efficacy of levodopa, the blood brain barrier crossing metabolic precursor of dopamine. The pulsatile brain delivery pattern of orally administered levodopa containing formulations results in synaptic dopamine variability. Ups and downs of dopamine counteract the physiologic principle of continuous neurotransmission, particularly in nigrostriatal, respectively mesocorticolimbic pathways, both of which regulate motor respectively non-motor behavior. Thus synaptic dopamine pulsatility overwhelms the existing buffering capacity. Onset of motor and non-motor complications occurs. Future MRT inhibitor studies shall focus on a stabilizing and preventive effect on levodopa related fluctuations of motor and non-motor behavior. Their long-term study designs in advanced levodopa treated patients shall allow a cautious adaptation of oral l-dopa therapy combined with a mandatory inhibition of glial monoamine turnover. Then the evidence for a preventive and beneficial, symptomatic effect of MRT inhibition on motor and non-motor complications will become more likely.