innate immune system, Toll-like receptors, NF-kappaB, treponemes, lipoteichoic acids

The innate immune response to microbial pathogens is able to protect the host after a first pathogen contact. This immediate immune response is largely mediated by macrophages and neutrophils. They recognize and phagocytose pathogens, and coordinate host responses by secreting inflammatory mediators, such as cytokines. The recognition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Gram-negative bacteria, or peptidoglycan (PG) and lipoteichoic acids (LTAs) of Gram-positive bacteria leads to the induction of prot...

n-dimensional local skew fields, n-dimensional local fields, valuation theory, Krichever correspondence

In this work we study local skew fields, which are natural generalization of n-dimensional local fields, and their applications to the theory of central division algebras over henselian fields. We study mostly two-dimensional local skew fields with commutative residue skew field. The sufficient condition for a skew field to be split is given. Namely, a local skew field splits if the canonical automorphism has infinite order. We classify all the skew fields which posess this condition up to isomo...

D-branes, K-theory, Gepner models, Exceptional holonomy

In this thesis I consider various aspects of string theory compactifications, especially for nontrivial internal manifolds.The first part is dedicated to the application of K-theory to the study of D-branes. It is the generalized cohomology theory which classifies the possible charges on a given spacetime. A natural question is whether there is any difference between K-theory and the usual description via (de Rahm) cohomology/homology. For this I present a Calabi-Yau manifold which illustrates t...

enthorinal cortex, glutamate transporter, negative feedback, mGluR

Glutamate is the primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system. The precise control of extracellular glutamate is crucial for the maintenance of normal synaptic transmission and the prevention of excitotoxicity. High-affinity glutamate transporters ensure termination of glutamatergic neurotransmission and keep the synaptic glutamate concentration below excitotoxic levels. In layer III, a region that is especially prone to cell damage in Alzheimer s disease, schizoph...

QED Corrections, hadronic cross sections, DAFNE physics, Standard Model

Radiative corrections to low energy hadron production as measured at the e+ e- colliders DAFNE and VEPP-2M are investigated. The goal of this work is to provide the theoretical condition for extracting hadronic cross sections undressed from QED corrections from the measured data with a precision of per mill level. High precision hadronic data are required to reduce the theoretical error of the running fine structure constant alpha(s) and the muon anomalous magnetic moment a(mu) and therefore rep...

Tisse Engineering, Immunomodulation, Prednisolone, Cartilage, Bone

Tissue replacement is a common need in clinical medicine. And often there is too less tissue available. Tissue Engineering (TE) is a valuable measure to solve this problem: only a few cells of the origin tissue are cultivated and new threedimensional structures are built. But even autologeously built tissues can be rejected by the host. Therefore, this investigation is about immunomodulation of TE-transplants.Chondrocytes of ear cartilage of New Zealand rabbits were enzymatically isolated, ampli...

oxygen, nitric oxide, inducible nitric oxide synthase, peroxynitrite, microglia, brain, leukocyte activation, L-selectin

The present investigations deal with the effects and interactions of gases, which are ubiquitous in the human body i.e. oxygen and nitric oxide. Both substances are small enough to freely diffuse across biological membranes. This ability predestines both molecules for the function of signal transduction. The results of our investigations lead to conclusions as follows: * Nitric oxide has selective bacteriostatic effects in-vitro on some bacterial strains typically isolated from preterm and term ...

staging, surgery, endoscopic ultrasound, laparoscopy

Accurate preoperative staging of gastrointestainal tumors is essential for planning of surgical therapy. Endoscopic ultrasound has improved evaluation of locoregional tumor spread significantly. However, there are some technical problems that limit the clinical value of endoscopic ultrasound with currently available techniques. The most important limitations is the insatisfactory sensitivity for metastatic disease. We have developed new technologies for endoscopic ultrasound that can overcome mo...

Regulation, Political Economy, Mobile Telecommunications, Lobbying, Institution, Applied Econometrics

Regulation, like many other policy decisions, results out of a complex process that is shaped by political as well as economic forces. Therefore, regulatory decisions must be endogenized when studying their impact on the market outcome. This thesis offers various econometric approaches to study this issue. In the first contribution, I analyze how a country s political and bureaucratic institutions, as well as its political environment, affect the entry liberalization of the mobile telecommunicat...

Genetics, Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophy, Sudden cardiac death

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a heart disorder characterized by unexplained ventricular myocardial hypertrophy and a high risk of sudden cardiac death. The disease is inherited as an autosomal-dominant trait. Nine disease-causing genes have been described all encoding for sarcomeric proteins. Mutations in the ventricular myosin essential (ELC) and regulatory (RLC) light chain genes are responsible approximately for 1% and 1 - 7% of all HCM cases, respectively. Limited data are available o...

experimental theatre, avantgarde, theatre in china, theatre in the 20th century

The starting point of this paper was both to describe the theatre-historical phenomenon of Chinese experimental theatre in a comparative way, as the result of the encounter of two culture-historical lines differing very much (China/Europe) and to put it in its proper historic context and thus to explain from its context. The power-political context of intercultural encounters is dealt with.The question arises whether one would be able to watch China at all " sitting on a transcen-dental hil...

open quantum systems, laser induced desorption from surfaces, ultrashort laser pulses, non-Markovian approach

This thesis investigates condensed phase quantum systems which interact with their environment and which are subject to ultrashort laser pulses. For such systems the timescales of the involved processes cannot be separated, and standard approaches to treat open quantum systems fail. The Surrogate Hamiltonian method represents one example of a number of new approaches to address quantum dissipative dynamics. Its further development and application to phenomena under current experimental investiga...

STM, self-assembly, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, monolayer

Self-assembled structures and electronic properties of alkylsubstituted, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at the solid liquid interface between a solution and the basal plane of graphite have been studied in situ by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS). The number of pi-conjugated carbon atoms per investigated molecular species ranges from 42 (hexabenzocoronene, HBC) to 114. Supplementary structural information was obtained by forcefield based simulations. Upon adsor...

cerebral oxygenation, neurovascular coupling, near-infrared spectroscopy, functional imaging

We here present a optical method, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), and its application for non-invasive measurement of oxygenation changes in the adult head.The first part deals with methodological aspects of NIRS. This includes (i) the question whether changes of cytochrome-oxidase redox state can be monitored by NIRS; (ii) the discussion of study results investigating the non-invasive detectability of ‘fast optical signals’, known to reflect electrophysiological changes in ...

rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), male reproductive skew, paternal kin discrimination among adult female, relatedness threshold, coalition formation

The impact of maternal kinship on social behaviour has been studied in detail for many primate species, but it is difficult to assess the importance of kin selection in shaping the evolution of social behaviour when studies are limited to maternal kin, completely ignoring paternal kinship. This thesis aimed to investigate the extent of paternal kinship and its impact on the social relationships among adult females in one group of free-ranging rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) living on the island...

Czech-German relations, Policy of reconciliation, Czech Republik, Rapprochement policy, Central Europe, External Dimension of transition, Czech-German declaration, Political actors, Interaction of domestic and foreign policy

The book traces the rapprochement policy of the Czecho-Slowak Republic respective Czech Republic towards its German neighbour during the 90s of the 20th century. The promising gestures of reconciliation by the freshly appointed President Václav Havel towards the formerly expelled Sudeten Germans were not answered. More over, Czech-German relations became trapped by their difficult common history already at the beginning of 1990. Thus, one of the main tasks of Prague foreign policy was t...

Apoptosis, B cells, LAPTM5, Lysosomes, episomal

Programmed cell death (PCD) or apoptosis is a key feature of normal development and tissue homeostasis. In the development of a functional immunesystem the occurence of autoreactive cells is tightly controlled and prevented by apoptosis. The negative selection of autoreactive immature B cells after encountering self antigen occures via surface IgM (sIgM) mediated apoptosis and depends on de novo gene transcription. The precise mechanism of this process and the possible involvement of different g...

Clinical Science, model, high-dose chemotherapy, dipeptidyl peptidase IV, hematopoietic progenitor cells

In the thesis presented here, I have taken the challenge to use the topics of my scientific work to discuss the role that models appear to exert in clinical science. This decision arose from discrepancies that became evident in the comparative assessment of my own studies in relation with the surrounding scientific context: the role of tumor cells contaminating peripheral blood or progenitor cell harvests as part of a high-dose chemotherapy regimen on the one hand, and the enzyme dipeptidyl pept...

V2O3, Epitaxy, Electronic structure, Phonon, Adsorption, Photoemission, CO, CO2, Water

In this work, we firstly showed that it is possible to grow thin V2O3(0001) films on Au(111) and W(110). The stoichiometry of the film has been characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS). We inferred with infrared absorption spectroscopy (IRAS) the existence of two possible terminations of the V2O3(0001) surface. These two terminations differ only by the presence or not of oxygen atoms on the top of the surface, for...

temporal lobe epilepsy, hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, subiculum

1. Interaction between the entorhinal cortex and the hippocampusThe hippocampus and the entorhinal cortex are crucially involved in the acquisition, consolidation and retrieval of long-term memory traces. However, both structures play a critical role in pharmacologically intractable temporal lobe epilepsy. The entorhinal cortex provides the main input to the hippocampus. We have shown that kindling facilitates the propagation of epileptiform activity through the dentate gyrus. Our data are consi...

near-field optical microscopy, quantum well thickness fluctuations, quantum wire LED structures, ferromagnetic MnAs on GaAs

In this thesis, investigations on both epitactically grown GaAs/(Al,Ga)As semiconductor nanostructures using near-field scanning optical microscopy (SNOM) as well as ferromagnetic MnAs films on GaAs using scanning force microscopy are presented.Setup, operation modes, and properties of a new SNOM designed for low-temperature experiments are discussed. In terms of resolution, both topographical sensitivity of the scanner and optical limitsare distinguished. Surprisingly, the use of uncoated optic...

Hantavirus, vaccine, virus-like particles, epitope

Human infections with European hantaviruses are associated with the "Haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome" (HFRS), whereas North and South-American hantaviruses cause in human the "Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome". In Central Europe two hantavirus species, Puumala virus (PUUV) and Dobrava virus (DOBV), are pathogenic to human. PUUV infections result in milder clinical courses of HFRS, designated also as "Nephropathia epidemica". For DOBV the sympatric occurrence of ...

metabolic networks, structure, evolutionary optimisation, robustness

In the present thesis two models are presented which study the structural design of metabolic systems. The investigation is based on the hypothesis that present day metabolic systems are the result of an evolutionary development governed by mutation mechanisms and natural selection principles. Therefore, it can be assumed that these parameters have reached, during the course of their evolution, values which imply certain optimal properties with respect to their biological function.The first mode...

receptor tyrosin kinase, ErbB2, ErbB3, Neuregulin, Schwann cell, motoneuron, sensory neuron, neuromuscular junction, neurodegeneration, defasiculation neural crest cells

ErbB2 belongs to class I of receptor tyrosine kinases and functions as a co-receptor by the transduction of the neuregulin signal. During embryonic development the ErbB2 gene is expressed in the heart, neural crest, in muscle and epithelial cells (Kokai et al. 1987). Embryos with null mutation of the ErbB2 gene die at midgestation. The mutation causes a morphogenetic defect that results in the absence of trabecules (Lee et al. 1995). In addition the mutant embryos show defects in cranial ganglia...

Computer Aided Verification, State space analysis, Reduction techniques, Model Checking

Verification is the task of determining whether a (model of a) system holds a given behavioral property. State space verification comprises a class of computer aided verification techniques where the property is verified through exhaustive exploration of the reachable states of the system. Brute force implementations of state space verification are intractable, due to the well known state explosion problem. Explicit state space verification techniques explore the state space one state at a time,...

lipoxygenase, membrane binding, peroxidation, eicosanoid, mutagenesis

Lipoxygenases are nonheme iron-containig dioxygenases that catalyze the oxygenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids to hydroperoxy derivatives. Here, the interaction of lipoxygenases with various ligands was investigated:a) From substrate modifications and site directed mutagenesis it was concluded that fatty acids are bound with their methyl end in the substrate binding pocket of mammalian lipoxygenases. The positional specificity is therefore related to different volumes of this binding pocket ...

GaN, III-V semiconductors, Quantum-confined Stark Effect, m-plane, heterostructures, photoluminescence, stimulated emission, waveguiding

In this thesis, the optical properties of molecular beam epitaxy grown hexagonal group-III nitride heterostructures are studied. The photoluminescence (PL) characteristics of InGaN/GaN and GaN/AlGAN multiple quantum well structures are investigated by time-integrated and time-resolved measurements. The analyzed specimens differ in the width of the quantum wells and barriers (InGaN) and in the crystallographic orientation (AlGaN), respectively.As a result of the large characteristic electrostatic...

III-V Quantum dots, Gas-source molecular-beam epitaxy, InP/GaP, InP/InGaP

The growth and structural properties of self-assembled InP quantum dots are presented and discussed, together with their optical properties and associated carrier dynamics. The QDs are grown using gas-source molecular-beam epitaxy in and on the two materials InGaP (lattice matched to GaAs) and GaP. Under the proper growth conditions, formation of InP dots via the Stranski-Krastanow mechanism is observed. The critical InP coverage for 2D-3D transition is found to be 3ML for the InP/ InGaP system ...

vesicoureteral reflux, children, therapy, prenatal diagnosis

This retrospective study analysed the results off 88 children, who got a diagnostic procedure or were operated because of a vesicoureteral reflux in the Klinik und Poliklinik für Kinderchirurgie der Charité between 1980 and 1995. Regarding the time of diagnosis three groups were opposed (prenatal-in the first year of life-after the first year of life) and in each group the primary and secondary reflux was separately regarded. The aim of the study was on the one hand to find sta...

granulosa cell tumor, survival analysis, prognosis, ovary

In a multi-institutional study we analyzed 65 patients who were initially treated for a granulosa cell tumor of the ovary between 1968 and 2000. Median follow-up was 75 months (6-315). We applied the Kaplan-Meier method to estimate survival rates. Survival after ten years was 87% for stage I, 75% for Stage II, 20% for stage III and 0% for stage IV tumor disease. Overall survival was 76% after ten years. Mitotic rate, staging and residual tumor disease were associated with a poor prognosis in our...

String Theory, Orientifolds, Stability, Standard Model

Intersecting branes have been the subject of an elaborate string model building for several years. After a general introduction into string theory, this work introduces in detail the toroidal and Z_N-orientifolds. The picture involving D9-branes with B-fluxes is shortly reviewed, but the main discussion employs the T-dual picture of intersecting D6-branes. The derivation of the R-R and NS-NS tadpole cancellation conditions in the conformal field theory is shown in great detail. Various aspects o...

Paramyxovirus, Sendai virus, Simian virus 5, fusion protein, 3D structure, F protein, HN protein, membrane fusion, lysolipids, fusion intermediate, lipidmixing, fusion pore, transmembrane domain, cytoplasmic domain

Paramyxoviruses infect their host cells by fusion of the viral envelope with the cell membrane. The membrane fusion is mediated by a confomational change of a viral envelope glycoprotein called the fusion (F) protein. The trigger of the F protein conformational change is still unknown. It is suggested, that an interaction of the F protein with the second envelope glycoprotein hemagglutinin-neuraminase (HN) induces its conformational change. However the F protein can mediate membrane fusion in ab...

vaccine, tumor antigen, mucin, DNA

The recent development in oncological and hematological basic sciences has opened new therapeutic strategies. The transfer of molecular biology- and tumorimmunological research into clinical application and the development of different new immuno- and gene-therapeutical methods using DNA of the human tumor antigen mucin are the main focus of the work. Presented are results reaching from vaccination of chimpanzees to a clinical phase I / II study in patients: The human tumor antigen mucin, encode...

Adele Schreiber-Krieger, Women´s Movement, Women�s suffrage, Maternity leave, Child protection, Bund für Mutterschutz, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Mutter- und Kindesrecht, Weimarer Republik, Reichstag, Exile, PEN

During the time of the Weimar republic, Adele Schreiber was one of the most famous women in Germany and could be found all the accounts by well-known German women. Due to the break in her life brought about by the threatening seizure of power by the National Socialists which forced her into exile, she became forgotten and by the end of the Second World War she had already disappeared into insignificance.The following work attempts not only to explore the life of Adele Schreiber itself, but also ...

This paper justifies how research results can be more effectively and efficiently communicated between interested parties. In particular, it will focus on the process of seeking research results that most of the times interested parties do not know when they will be communicated. This makes the entire retrieval method a very time consuming approach and most importantly not always a successful one. To this extent, the paper will propose methods of how interested parties will effectively and effic...

Electronic theses and dissertations are a technological and organizational innovation. As a technological innovation, they may redefine the content, structure or audience of the traditional print dissertation; as an organizational innovation, they may redefine faculty, student, graduate school, and library perceptions of graduate student research and the purposes it serves within the university. The inclusion of content in visual and/or audio form, the use of hyperlinks to provide alternative re...

It is a well known fact that TeX can do a pretty good job on typesetting math. This is one reason why many scientific articles, papers and books are typeset using TeX. However, in these days of triumphing angle brackets, coding in TeX looks more and more out of place.From the point of view of an author, coding in TeX is quite natural, given that some time is spent on reading the manuals. This is because not only the natural flow of the definition suits the way mathematicians think, but also beca...

The role of electronic theses to jumpstart scholarly communication is discussed in the context of a first world university in a developing country.In the developing world the context within which new initiatives are taken is of the utmost importance: resources are constantly in short supply which implies that projects cannot be launched merely because they are interesting, because the enabling technology is available or because the rest of the world is doing it. It should make a very definite co...

Welcome to ETD 2003, the Sixth International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs). On behalf of the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD, see www.ndltd.org), I encourage you to learn and to share, to listen and to speak, to observe and to report. Do not be shy! There will be many new to ETD activities, and people from varied perspectives, as well as a relatively small number who have wide experience. As the number of members of NDLTD reaches 180, it is ...

The creating, using and supply of scholarly documents in a digital way by the internet is a new, additional and improved kind of scholarly communication in comparison to traditional paper-based procedure of publication. In this sense you can speak of a "culture of electronic publishing". That means that all participants in this process should work together and change their attitudes of minds. That starts with the authors, who should structure their texts in order to sup...

The lecture describes current solutions in the area of content management and cross media publishing. In addition to the technical aspects of modern CMS application, examples of concrete projects carried out by NIONEX GmbH will be given. For instance:* The new Bertelsmann AG Intranet based on Tridion R5 CMS* The wissen media publishing house and wissen.de cross media platform, BeCom, designed for print, Internet, I-TV and mobile devices* The media portal for Humboldt University in Berlin* Bund p...

Real estate price indices, Hedonic approach, Appraisal accuracy, State space model

Appraisals should assess the market value of properties and are necessary for buying, selling or building decisions, for lending and for taxation. Despite this unambiguous task different techniques exist for ascertaining market values. An valuation approach should be in accordance with economic theory and should generate appraisals, which are reliable estimates for transaction prices. This dissertation analyzes the three most important valuation approaches, i.e. cost, sales comparison, and incom...

Wnt-Signaling, Shh-Signaling, Holoprosencephaly, Animal Model

The Wnt/beta-Catenin pathway represents one of the most important signaling cascades during development as well as in the adult organism. The homologous scaffolding proteins Conductin and Axin are the backbone of a central multi protein complex that is responsible for the tight regulation of the Wnt/beta-Catenin pathway in the cytoplasm. In the present study I have performed a combined genetic analysis of Conductin and Axin in the mouse. To this end I have deleted the Conductin gene by homologou...

Cytochrome P450, CYP1A1, CYP2D6, NAT2, Russians, Genotype

The basic principle of drug and xenobiotic metabolism in the body is to make them more water soluble and thus more readily excreted in the urine. Genetic polymorphisms of phases I and II xenobiotic transformation reactions are known to contribute considerably to interindividual variations in the metabolism of numerous drugs and xenobiotics and to associate with altered risk of adverse drug reactions and some cancers. The frequency of functionally important mutations and alleles of genes coding f...

Atrial septal defect, Atrial septal aneurysm, Transcatheter closure, Leftventricular restriction

IntroductionInterventional closure of the simple secundum type atrial septal defect (ASD) and of persistent foramen ovale (PFO) has developed into a routine procedure (1). The intervention is carried out under X-ray monitoring (X-ray exposure). Since it is minimally invasive it can be carried out even in patients of advanced age with significantly less risk than an operation (2). The work presented here investigates systematically the possibilities of carrying out the intervention without X-ray ...

Apoptosis, chemoresistance, lymphoma, mouse model, senescence

Intrinsic or acquired chemoresistance is the major cause for the adverse outcome of disseminated malignancies. The fact that most anticancer agents bind to subcellular targets prompted the assumption that drug-induced cytotoxicity must be a direct consequence of severe cellular damage. Hence, chemoresistance was thought to arise from mechanisms that prevent or disrupt the drug-target interaction. By contrast, more recent data suggested that DNA damage caused by most, if not all, anticancer agent...

H-REV107-1, PP2A, Apoptosis, IFNgamma, Tumor Suppressor

The H-REV107-1 class II tumor suppressor gene is ubiquitously expressed in normal tissues and down-regulated in human breast, ovarian and lung tumours. H-REV107-1 has the capacity to suppress growth of tumour cells in vitro and in vivo. To understand the mechanism of H-REV107-1 mediated growth suppression I performed a search for H-REV107-1 interacting proteins using a LexA-based yeast two-hybrid system. I screened a human kidney cDNA library with a truncated form of the H-REV107-1 as a bait. Th...

SUSY, Searches, Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, MSSM, R-parity

This thesis is devoted to searches for the scalar top and the scalar bottom quarks within the framework of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) with the assumption of R-parity conservation.Searches for the following decay modes of the stop quark have been performed: stop -> c neutralino_1, stop -> b l sneutrino, (where l is either electron, muon or tau-lepton with equal probabilities) and stop -> b tau sneutrino (where only the tau-lepton is considered). In addit...

philosophy of the mind, universal realizability, cognitive science, functionalism, artificial intelligence, cognitivism, finite state automaton, Turing machine, computer program, digital computer, symbol, mind, brain

In this paper I claim that the problem of universal realizability - an argument by John R. Searle and Hilary Putnam against cognitive science - is based on a misleading notion of the finite state automaton. After a correction of this notion, there remains a general problem of description or ascription, which is a problem common to every empirical approach in science and hence not very useful for a critique specific to cognitive science.

cervical spine, cage, growth factors, carrier, animal model, sheep

Anatomical, biomechanical and animal experimental studies were carried out to determine the effect of cage design, carrier systems and growth factors on interbody fusion in a sheep cervical spine model.Primary stability of cages was influenced by the implant design. However, there was no direct correlation between primary and secondary stability of cages. The dimension of the endplate-implant-contact area had no significant influence on subsidence of cages. Yet, stress-shielding and volume-relat...