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Breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) is expressed in various tissues, such as the gut, liver, kidney and blood brain barrier (BBB), where it mediates the unidirectional transport of substrates to the apical/luminal side of polarized cells. Thereby BCRP acts as an efflux pump, mediating the elimination or restricting the entry of endogenous compounds or xenobiotics into tissues and it plays important roles in drug disposition, efficacy and safety. Bcrp knockout mice (Bcrp−/−) have been used widely to study the role of this transporter in limiting intestinal absorption and brain penetration of substrate compounds. Here we describe the first generation and characterization of a mouse line humanized for BCRP (hBCRP), in which the mouse coding sequence from the start to stop codon was replaced with the corresponding human genomic region, such that the human transporter is expressed under control of the murine Bcrp promoter. We demonstrate robust human and loss of mouse BCRP/Bcrp mRNA and protein expression in the hBCRP mice and the absence of major compensatory changes in the expression of other genes involved in drug metabolism and disposition. Pharmacokinetic and brain distribution studies with several BCRP probe substrates confirmed the functional activity of the human transporter in these mice. Furthermore, we provide practical examples for the use of hBCRP mice to study drug-drug interactions (DDIs). The hBCRP mouse is a promising model to study the in vivo role of human BCRP in limiting absorption and BBB penetration of substrate compounds and to investigate clinically relevant DDIs involving BCRP.
NVS123 is a poorly water-soluble protease 56 inhibitor in clinical development. Data from in vitro hepatocyte studies suggested that NVS123 is mainly metabolized by CYP3A4. As a consequence of limited solubility, NVS123 therapeutic plasma exposures could not be achieved even with high doses and optimized formulations. One approach to overcome NVS123 developability issues was to increase plasma exposure by coadministrating it with an inhibitor of CYP3A4 such as ritonavir. A clinical boost effect was predicted by using physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling. However, initial boost predictions lacked sufficient confidence because a key parameter, fraction of drug metabolized by CYP3A4 (ƒₘCYP3A4), could not be estimated with accuracy on account of disconnects between in vitro and in vivo preclinical data. To accurately estimate ƒₘCYP3A4 in human, an in vivo boost effect study was conducted using CYP3A4-humanized mouse model which showed a 33- to 56-fold exposure boost effect. Using a top-down approach, human ƒₘCYP3A4 for NVS123 was estimated to be very high and included in the human PBPK modeling to support subsequent clinical study design. The combined use of the in vivo boost study in CYP3A4-humanized mouse model mice along with PBPK modeling accurately predicted the clinical outcome and identified a significant NVS123 exposure boost (∼42-fold increase) with ritonavir.
The Pharmacokinetics and Metabolism of Lumiracoxib in Chimeric Humanized and Murinized FRG Mice
(2017)
Motivation-based Learning: Teaching Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering with an LED Spinning Top
(2018)
The pharmacokinetics and metabolism of diclofenac in chimeric humanized and murinized FRG mice
(2018)
The pharmacokinetics of diclofenac were investigated following single oral doses of 10 mg/kg to chimeric liver humanized and murinized FRG and C57BL/6 mice. In addition, the metabolism and excretion were investigated in chimeric liver humanized and murinized FRG mice. Diclofenac reached maximum blood concentrations of 2.43 ± 0.9 µg/mL (n = 3) at 0.25 h post-dose with an AUCinf of 3.67 µg h/mL and an effective half-life of 0.86 h (n = 2). In the murinized animals, maximum blood concentrations were determined as 3.86 ± 2.31 µg/mL at 0.25 h post-dose with an AUCinf of 4.94 ± 2.93 µg h/mL and a half-life of 0.52 ± 0.03 h (n = 3). In C57BL/6J mice, mean peak blood concentrations of 2.31 ± 0.53 µg/mL were seen 0.25 h post-dose with a mean AUCinf of 2.10 ± 0.49 µg h/mL and a half-life of 0.51 ± 0.49 h (n = 3). Analysis of blood indicated only trace quantities of drug-related material in chimeric humanized and murinized FRG mice. Metabolic profiling of urine, bile and faecal extracts revealed a complex pattern of metabolites for both humanized and murinized animals with, in addition to unchanged parent drug, a variety of hydroxylated and conjugated metabolites detected. The profiles in humanized mice were different to those of both murinized and wild-type animals, e.g., a higher proportion of the dose was detected in the form of acyl glucuronide metabolites and much reduced amounts as taurine conjugates. Comparison of the metabolic profiles obtained from the present study with previously published data from C57BL/6J mice and humans revealed a greater, though not complete, match between chimeric humanized mice and humans, such that the liver humanized FRG model may represent a model for assessing the biotransformation of such compounds in humans.
Humanized UGT2 and CYP3A transchromosomic rats for improved prediction of human drug metabolism
(2019)
Slot die coating is applied to deposit thin and homogenous films in roll-to-roll and sheet-to-sheet applications. The critical step in operation is to choose suitable process parameters within the process window. In this work, we investigate an upper limit for stripe coatings. This maximum film thickness is characterized by stripe merging which needs to be avoided in a stable process. It is shown that the upper limit reduces the process window for stripe coatings to a major extent. As a result, stripe coatings at large coating gaps and low viscosities are only possible for relatively thick films. Explaining the upper limit, a theory of balancing the side pressure in the gap region in the cross-web direction has been developed.
MedicVR : Acceleration and Enhancement Techniques for Direct Volume Rendering in Virtual Reality
(2019)
BACKGROUND: Muscle stretch reflexes are widely considered to beneficially influence joint stability and power generation in the lower limbs. While in the upper limbs and especially in the muscles surrounding the shoulder joint such evidence is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To quantify the electromyographical response in the muscles crossing the shoulder of specifically trained overhead athletes to an anterior perturbation force. METHODS: Twenty healthy male participants performed six sets of different external shoulder rotation stretches on an isokinetic dynamometer over a range of amplitudes and muscle pre-activation moment levels. All stretches were applied with a dynamometer acceleration of 10,000∘/s2 and a velocity of 150∘/s. Electromyographical response was measured via sEMG. RESULTS: Consistent reflexes were not observed in all experimental conditions. The reflex latencies revealed a significant muscle main effect (F (2,228) = 99.31, p< 0.001; η2= 0.466; f= 0.934) and a pre-activation main effect (F (1,228) = 142.21, p< 0.001; η2= 0.384; f= 1.418). The stretch reflex amplitude yielded a significant pre-activation main effect (F (1,222) = 470.373, p< 0.001; η2= 0.679; f= 1.454). CONCLUSION: Short latency muscle reflexes showed a tendency to an anterior to posterior muscle recruitment whereby the main internal rotator muscles of the shoulder revealed the most consistent results.
After a liver tumor intervention the medical doctor has to compare both pre and postoperative CT acquisitions to ensure that all carcinogenic cells are destroyed. A correct assessment of the intervention is of vital importance, since it will reduce the probability of tumor recurrence. Some methods have been proposed to support the medical doctors during the assessment process, however, all of them focus on secondary tumors. In this paper a tool is presented that enables the outcome validation for both primary and secondary tumors. Therefore, a multiphase registration (preoperative arterial and portal phases) followed by a registration between the pre and postoperative CT images is carried out. The first registration is in charge of the primary tumors that are only visible in the arterial phase. The secondary tumors will be incorporated in the second registration step. Finally, the part of the tumor that was not covered by the necrosis is quantified and visualized. The method has been tested in 9 patients, with an average registration error of 1.41 mm.
Small Claims Regulation
(2017)
Names of individuals
(2017)
This Research Briefing, issued in July 2010, concluded that:
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Europe have long called for a matching legal form valid across the EU (similar to that of the European company (SE) for large firms)
- The main benefits would be the availability of uniform Europe-wide company structures, significant cost reductions for businesses and further integration of the internal market
- Given the differing national views regarding the concrete features of the new legal form there is currently no sign of an agreement being reached at the European level in the short term; however, it is possible that progress will be made in negotiations during the year
- The key issues being discussed in depth are company formation, transnationality and employee participation rights in the new European private company (SPE).
Rare event simulation to optimise maintenance intervals of safety critical redundant subsystems
(2018)
For smaller railway operators or those with a diverse fleet, it can be difficult to collect sufficient data to improve maintenance programs. At the same time, new rules such as entity in charge of maintenance – ECM – regulations impose an additional workload by requiring a dedicated maintenance management system and specific reports. The RailCrowd platform sets out to facilitate compliance with ECM and similar regulations while at the same time pooling anonymised fleet data across operators to form virtual fleets, providing greater data insights.
Sensor positioning and thermal model for condition monitoring of pressure gas reservoirs in vehicles
(2018)
Does stiffer electoral competition reduce political shirking? For a micro-analysis of this question, I construct a new data set spanning the years 2005 to 2012 covering biographical and political information about German Members of Parliament (MPs), including their attendance rates in voting sessions. For the parliament elected in 2009, I show that indeed opposition party MPs who expect to face a close race in their district show significantly and relevantly lower absence rates in parliament beforehand. MPs of governing parties seem not to react significantly to electoral competition. These results are confirmed by an analysis of the parliament elected in 2005, by several robustness checks, and also by employing an instrumental variable strategy exploiting convenient peculiarities of the German electoral system. The study also shows how MPs elected via party lists react to different levels of electoral competition.
Divided government is often thought of as causing legislative deadlock. I investigate the link between divided government and economic reforms using a novel data set on welfare reforms in US states between 1978 and 2010. Panel data regressions show that, under divided government, a US state is around 25% more likely to adopt a welfare reform than under unified government. Several robustness checks confirm this counter-intuitive finding. Case study evidence suggests an explanation based on policy competition between governor, senate, and house.
Retrofitting of existing parabolic trough collector power plants with molten salt tower systems
(2018)
This chapter introduces performance and acceptance testing and describes state-of-the-art tools, methods, and instruments to assess the plant performance or realize plant acceptance testing. The status of the development of standards for performance assessment is given.
Impact of electric propulsion technology and mission requirements on the performance of VTOL UAVs
(2018)
One of the engineering challenges in aviation is the design of transitioning vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. Thrust-borne flight implies a higher mass fraction of the propulsion system, as well as much increased energy consumption in the take-off and landing phases. This mass increase is typically higher for aircraft with a separate lift propulsion system than for aircraft that use the cruise propulsion system to support a dedicated lift system. However, for a cost–benefit trade study, it is necessary to quantify the impact the VTOL requirement and propulsion configuration has on aircraft mass and size. For this reason, sizing studies are conducted. This paper explores the impact of considering a supplemental electric propulsion system for achieving hovering flight. Key variables in this study, apart from the lift system configuration, are the rotor disk loading and hover flight time, as well as the electrical systems technology level for both batteries and motors. Payload and endurance are typically used as the measures of merit for unmanned aircraft that carry electro-optical sensors, and therefore the analysis focuses on these particular parameters.
A future bio-economy should not only be based on renewable raw materials but also in the raise of carbon yields of existing production routes. Microbial electrochemical technologies are gaining increased attention for this purpose. In this study, the electro-fermentative production of biobutanol with C. acetobutylicum without the use of exogenous mediators is investigated regarding the medium composition and the reactor design. It is shown that the use of an optimized synthetic culture medium allows higher product concentrations, increased biofilm formation, and higher conductivities compared to a synthetic medium supplemented with yeast extract. Moreover, the optimization of the reactor system results in a doubling of the maximum product concentrations for fermentation products. When a working electrode is polarized at −600 mV vs. Ag/AgCl, a shift from butyrate to acetone and butanol production is induced. This leads to an increased final solvent yield of Yᴀᴃᴇ = 0.202 gg⁻¹ (control 0.103 gg⁻¹), which is also reflected in a higher carbon efficiency of 37.6% compared to 23.3% (control) as well as a fourfold decrease in simplified E-factor to 0.43. The results are promising for further development of biobutanol production in bioelectrochemical systems in order to fulfil the principles of Green Chemistry.
This paper investigates the extent to which corporate governance affects the cost of debt and equity capital of German exchange-listed companies. I examine corporate governance along three dimensions: financial information quality, ownership structure and board structure. The results suggest that firms with high levels of financial transparency and bonus compensations face lower cost of equity. In addition, block ownership is negatively related to firms' cost of equity when the blockholders are other firms, managers or founding-family members. Consistent with the conjecture that agency costs increase with firm size, I find significant cost of debt effects only in the largest German companies. Here, the creditors demand lower cost of debt from firms with block ownerships held by corporations or banks. My findings demonstrate that a uniform set of governance attributes is unlikely to satisfy suppliers of debt and equity capital equally.
BACKGROUND
Immunosuppression is often considered as an indication for antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent surgical site infections (SSI) while performing skin surgery. However, the data on the risk of developing SSI after dermatologic surgery in immunosuppressed patients are limited.
PATIENTS AND METHODS
All patients of the Department of Dermatology and Allergology at the University Hospital of RWTH Aachen in Aachen, Germany, who underwent hospitalization for a dermatologic surgery between June 2016 and January 2017 (6 months), were followed up after surgery until completion of the wound healing process. The follow-up addressed the occurrence of SSI and the need for systemic antibiotics after the operative procedure. Immunocompromised patients were compared with immunocompetent patients. The investigation was conducted as a retrospective analysis of patient records.
RESULTS
The authors performed 284 dermatologic surgeries in 177 patients. Nineteen percent (54/284) of the skin surgery was performed on immunocompromised patients. The most common indications for surgical treatment were nonmelanoma skin cancer and malignant melanomas. Surgical site infections occurred in 6.7% (19/284) of the cases. In 95% (18/19), systemic antibiotic treatment was needed. Twenty-one percent of all SSI (4/19) were seen in immunosuppressed patients.
CONCLUSION
According to the authors' data, immunosuppression does not represent a significant risk factor for SSI after dermatologic surgery. However, larger prospective studies are needed to make specific recommendations on the use of antibiotic prophylaxis while performing skin surgery in these patients.
The available data on complications after dermatologic surgery have improved over the past years. Particularly, additional risk factors have been identified for surgical site infections (SSI). Purulent surgical sites, older age, involvement of head, neck, and acral regions, and also the involvement of less experienced surgeons have been reported to increase the risk of the SSI after dermatologic surgeries.1 In general, the incidence of SSI after skin surgery is considered to be low.1,2 However, antibiotics in dermatologic surgeries, especially in the perioperative setting, seem to be overused,3,4 particularly regarding developing antibiotic resistances and side effects.
Immunosuppression has been recommended to be taken into consideration as an additional indication for antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent SSI after skin surgery in special cases.5,6 However, these recommendations do not specify the exact dermatologic surgeries, and were not specifically developed for dermatologic surgery patients and treatments, but adopted from other surgical fields.6 According to the survey conducted on American College of Mohs Surgery members in 2012, 13% to 29% of the surgeons administered antibiotic prophylaxis to immunocompromised patients to prevent SSI while performing dermatologic surgery on noninfected skin,3 although this was not recommended by Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology Advisory Statement. Indeed, the data on the risk of developing SSI after dermatologic surgery in immunosuppressed patients are limited. However, it is possible that due to the insufficient evidence on the risk of SSI occurrence in this patient group, dermatologic surgeons tend to overuse perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis.
To make specific recommendations on the use of antibiotic prophylaxis in immunosuppressed patients in the field of skin surgery, more information about the incidence of SSI after dermatologic surgery in these patients is needed. The aim of this study was to fill this data gap by investigating whether there is an increased risk of SSI after skin surgery in immunocompromised patients compared with immunocompetent patients.
For fuel flexibility enhancement hydrogen represents a possible alternative gas turbine fuel within future low emission power generation, in case of hydrogen production by the use of renewable energy sources such as wind energy or biomass. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (KHI) has research and development projects for future hydrogen society; production of hydrogen gas, refinement and liquefaction for transportation and storage, and utilization with gas turbine / gas engine for the generation of electricity. In the development of hydrogen gas turbines, a key technology is the stable and low NOx hydrogen combustion, especially Dry Low Emission (DLE) or Dry Low NOx (DLN) hydrogen combustion. Due to the large difference in the physical properties of hydrogen compared to other fuels such as natural gas, well established gas turbine combustion systems cannot be directly applied for DLE hydrogen combustion. Thus, the development of DLE hydrogen combustion technologies is an essential and challenging task for the future of hydrogen fueled gas turbines. The DLE Micro-Mix combustion principle for hydrogen fuel has been in development for many years to significantly reduce NOx emissions. This combustion principle is based on cross-flow mixing of air and gaseous hydrogen which reacts in multiple miniaturized “diffusion-type” flames. The major advantages of this combustion principle are the inherent safety against flashback and the low NOx-emissions due to a very short residence time of the reactants in the flame region of the micro-flames.
On the flight performance impact of landing gear drag reduction methods for unmanned air vehicles
(2018)
The flight performance impact of three different landing gear configurations on a small, fixed-wing UAV is analyzed with a combination of RANS CFD calculations and an incremental flight performance algorithm. A standard fixed landing gear configuration is taken as a baseline, while the influence of retracting the landing gear or applying streamlined fairings is investigated. A retraction leads to a significant parasite drag reduction, while also fairings promise large savings. The increase in lift-to-drag ratio is reduced at high lift coefficients due to the influence of induced drag. All configurations are tested on three different design missions with an incremental flight performance algorithm. A trade-off study is performed using the retracted or faired landing gear's weight increase as a variable. The analysis reveals only small mission performance gains as the aerodynamic improvements are negated by weight penalties. A new workflow for decision-making is presented that allows to estimate if a change in landing gear configuration is beneficial for a small UAV.
Postural and metabolic benefits of using a forearm support walker in older adults with impairments
(2019)
Background
Impairment of neurovascular coupling (NVC) was recently reported in the context of subarachnoid hemorrhage and may correlate with disease severity and outcome. However, previous techniques to evaluate NVC required invasive procedures. Retinal vessels may represent an alternative option for non-invasive assessment of NVC.
Methods
A prototype of an adapted retinal vessel analyzer was used to assess retinal vessel diameter in mice. Dynamic vessel analysis (DVA) included an application of monochromatic flicker light impulses in predefined frequencies for evaluating NVC. All retinae were harvested after DVA and electroretinograms were performed.
Results
A total of 104 retinal scans were conducted in 21 male mice (90 scans). Quantitative arterial recordings were feasible only in a minority of animals, showing an emphasized reaction to flicker light impulses (8 mice; 14 scans). A characteristic venous response to flicker light, however, could observed in the majority of animals. Repeated measurements resulted in a significant decrease of baseline venous diameter (7 mice; 7 scans, p < 0.05). Ex-vivo electroretinograms, performed after in-vivo DVA, demonstrated a significant reduction of transretinal signaling in animals with repeated DVA (n = 6, p < 0.001).
Conclusions
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first non-invasive study assessing murine retinal vessel response to flicker light with characteristic changes in NVC. The imaging system can be used for basic research and enables the investigation of retinal vessel dimension and function in control mice and genetically modified animals.
The light-addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS) and scanning photo-induced impedance microscopy (SPIM) are two closely related methods to visualise the distributions of chemical species and impedance, respectively, at the interface between the sensing surface and the sample solution. They both have the same field-effect structure based on a semiconductor, which allows spatially resolved and label-free measurement of chemical species and impedance in the form of a photocurrent signal generated by a scanning light beam. In this article, the principles and various operation modes of LAPS and SPIM, functionalisation of the sensing surface for measuring various species, LAPS-based chemical imaging and high-resolution sensors based on silicon-on-sapphire substrates are described and discussed, focusing on their technical details and prospective applications.
Algal polysaccharides (extracellular polysaccharides) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were adsorbed on dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide Langmuir monolayers to serve as a matrix for the incorporation of urease. The physicochemical properties of the supramolecular system as a monolayer at the air–water interface were investigated by surface pressure–area isotherms, surface potential–area isotherms, interfacial shear rheology, vibrational spectroscopy, and Brewster angle microscopy. The floating monolayers were transferred to hydrophilic solid supports, quartz, mica, or capacitive electrolyte–insulator–semiconductor (EIS) devices, through the Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) technique, forming mixed films, which were investigated by quartz crystal microbalance, fluorescence spectroscopy, and field emission gun scanning electron microscopy. The enzyme activity was studied with UV–vis spectroscopy, and the feasibility of the thin film as a urea sensor was essayed in an EIS sensor device. The presence of CNT in the enzyme–lipid LB film not only tuned the catalytic activity of urease but also helped to conserve its enzyme activity. Viability as a urease sensor was demonstrated with capacitance–voltage and constant capacitance measurements, exhibiting regular and distinctive output signals over all concentrations used in this work. These results are related to the synergism between the compounds on the active layer, leading to a surface morphology that allowed fast analyte diffusion owing to an adequate molecular accommodation, which also preserved the urease activity. This work demonstrates the feasibility of employing LB films composed of lipids, CNT, algal polysaccharides, and enzymes as EIS devices for biosensing applications.