Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg

About: Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg is a education organization based out in Halle, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Liquid crystal. The organization has 20232 authors who have published 38773 publications receiving 965004 citations. The organization is also known as: MLU & University of Wittenberg.

The importance of brain temperature in patients after severe head injury: relationship to intracranial pressure, cerebral perfusion pressure, cerebral blood flow, and outcome.

Abstract: Brain temperature was continuously measured in 58 patients after severe head injury and compared to rectal temperature, intracranial pressure, cerebral blood flow, and outcome after 3 months. The temperature difference between brain and rectal temperature was also calculated. Mild hypothermia (34-36°C) was also used to treat uncontrollable intracranial pressure (ICP) above 20 mm Hg when other methods failed. Brain and rectal temperature were strongly correlated (r = 0.866; p < 0.001). Four groups were identified. The mean brain temperature ranged from 36.9 ± 0.4°C in the normothermic group to 38.2 ± 0.5°C in the hyperthermic group, 35.3 ± 0.5°C in the mild therapeutic hypothermia group, and 34.3 ± 1.5°C in the hypothermia group without active cooling. The mean ΔTbr-rect was positive for patients with a Tbr above 36.0°C (0.0 ± 0.5°C) and negative for patients during mild therapeutic hypothermia (-0.2 ± 0.6°C) and also in those with a brain temperature below 36°C without active cooling (0.8 ± -1.4°C) - the ...

Extremely low surface recombination velocities in black silicon passivated by atomic layer deposition

Abstract: We investigate the optical and opto-electronic properties of black silicon (b-Si) nanostructures passivated with Al2O3. The b-Si nanostructures significantly improve the absorption of silicon due to superior anti-reflection and light trapping properties. By coating the b-Si nanostructures with a conformal layer of Al2O3 by atomic layer deposition, the surface recombination velocity can be effectively reduced. We show that control of plasma-induced subsurface damage is equally important to achieve low interface recombination. Surface recombination velocities of Seff<13 cm/s have been measured for an optimized structure which, like the polished reference, exhibits lifetimes in the millisecond range.

Standard methods for molecular research in Apis mellifera

Abstract: SummaryFrom studies of behaviour, chemical communication, genomics and developmental biology, among many others, honey bees have long been a key organism for fundamental breakthroughs in biology. With a genome sequence in hand, and much improved genetic tools, honey bees are now an even more appealing target for answering the major questions of evolutionary biology, population structure, and social organization. At the same time, agricultural incentives to understand how honey bees fall prey to disease, or evade and survive their many pests and pathogens, have pushed for a genetic understanding of individual and social immunity in this species. Below we describe and reference tools for using modern molecular-biology techniques to understand bee behaviour, health, and other aspects of their biology. We focus on DNA and RNA techniques, largely because techniques for assessing bee proteins are covered in detail in Hartfelder et al. (2013). We cover practical needs for bee sampling, transport, and storage, an...

Down-regulation of the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) supports non-small cell lung carcinoma

Abstract: The receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) is a transmembrane receptor of the immunoglobulin superfamily. Several ligands binding to RAGE have been identified, including amphoterin. Experimental studies have given rise to the discussion that RAGE and its interaction with amphoterin contribute to tumour growth and metastasis. However, none of the studies considered a differential transcription profile in cancer that might change the interpretation of the study results when comparing RAGE in tumours with histologically normal tissues. Here we show that RAGE is strongly reduced at the mRNA and even more so at the protein level in non-small cell lung carcinomas compared with normal lung tissues. Down-regulation of RAGE correlates with higher tumour (TNM) stages but does not depend on the histological subtypes, squamous cell lung carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. Subsequent overexpression of full-length human RAGE in lung cancer cells (NCI-H358) showed diminished tumour growth under some conditions. While proliferation of RAGE-expressing cells was less than that of cells expressing the cytoplasmic domain deletion mutant DeltacytoRAGE or mock-transfected NCI-H358 in monolayer cultures, RAGE cells also formed smaller tumours in spheroid cultures and in vivo in athymic mice compared with DeltacytoRAGE cells. Moreover, we observed a more epithelial growth of RAGE-expressing, but also of DeltacytoRAGE-expressing, cells on collagen layers, whereas mock NCI-H358 cells kept their tumour morphology. This observation was supported by immunofluorescence analyses demonstrating that RAGE preferentially localizes at intercellular contact sites, independent of expression of the cytoplasmic domain. Thus, down-regulation of RAGE may be considered as a critical step in tissue reorganization and the formation of lung tumours.