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The metabolites, transporters, and enzymes involved in choline metabolism are regarded as biomarkers for disease progression in a variety of cancers, but their in vivo detection is not ideal. Both magnetic resonance spectroscopy [MRS using chemical shift imaging (CSI) total choline (tCho)] and 11C-choline positron emission tomography (PET) can probe this pathway, but they have not been compared side by side. In this study, we used the spontaneous murine astrocytoma model SMA560 injected intracranially into syngeneic VM/Dk mice, analyzing animals at various postimplantation time points using dynamic microPET imaging and CSI MRS. We observed an increase in tumor volume and 11C-choline uptake between days 5 and 18. Similarly, tCho levels decreased at days 5 to 18. We found a negative correlation between the tCho and PET results in the tumor and a positive correlation between the tCho tumor-to-brain ratio and choline uptake in the tumor. PCR results confirmed expected increases in expression levels for most of the transporters and enzymes. Using MRS quantification, a good agreement was found between CSI and 11C-choline PET data, whereas a negative correlation occurred when CSI was not referenced. Thus, 11C-choline PET and MRS methods seemed to be complementary in strengths. While advancing tumor proliferation caused an increasing 11C-choline uptake, gliosis and inflammation potentially accounted for a high peritumoral tCho signal in CSI, as supported by histology and secondary ion mass spectrometry imaging. Our findings provide definitive evidence of the use of MRS, CSI, and PET for imaging tumors in vivo. Cancer Res; 73(5); 1470–80. ©2012 AACR.

Intravenous injection of toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1) produced by Staphylococcus aureus, can reactivate arthritis in a rat ankle joint that has been previously inflamed by injection of peptidoglycanpolysaccharide polymers isolated from the cell walls of group A streptococci. The severity and chronicity of this renewed arthritis is dose dependent and at higher doses (125 micrograms/kg) a prolonged joint inflammation with pannus formation and marginal erosion of cartilage and bone is induced after a single injection of TSST-1. Only modest synovial hyperplasia is induced in control ankle joints by systemic injection of TSST-1. Another superantigen, streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin induces a much weaker, acute reactivation of arthritis that resolves by 2 days. Repeated injections of TSST-1 at 7-day intervals give the same undiminished pattern of joint response, but the joint swelling persists at a higher level with each succeeding injection. Cyclosporin A suppresses all phases of the recurrent arthritis, indicating that TSST-1 could be functioning through its property of a superantigen activating T lymphocytes. II-1 receptor antagonist and anti-TNF-alpha neutralizing antibody, which reduce reactivation of arthritis by peptidoglycan-polysaccharide polymers, have no effect on reactivation by TSST-1. This experimental model provides a means to examine in vivo the possible role of superantigens in rheumatoid arthritis and related diseases, and to analyze the cellular and molecular pathways induced by this family of microbial products.

Einleitung: Es ist unklar wie stark und lange Patienten nach Rekumkarzinomresektion mit revisionsbedürftiger Anastomoseninsuffizienz in ihrer Lebensqualität (LQ) beeinträchtigt sind. Mittels matched-pair Design soll analysiert werden, welche Bereiche der LQ regenerationsfähig sind[for full text, please go to the a.m. URL], 127. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Chirurgie

Modernste Technologien wie Virtual Reality und Augmented Reality als Bestandteile des Virtual Engineering sind eine der wichtigsten Innovationsfaktoren und Eckpfeiler zur Sicherung der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit im Hochtechnologieland Deutschland. Das Virtual Engineering stellt Methoden und Werkzeuge für das durchgängige digitale Entwickeln, Testen und Betreiben von Produkten und Fabriken bereit. Virtuelle Prototypen und Modelle sind das Fundament des Virtual Engineerings. Insbesondere in der Automobilindustrie sind diese Zukunftstechnologien unverzichtbar geworden. Aber auch in anderen Branchen wie beispielsweise in der Luftfahrtindustrie, dem Maschinen- und Anlagenbau oder der Medizintechnik setzten sie sich zunehmend durch. Im Rahmen der 2. Gastvortragsreihe Virtual Reality - Mensch und Maschine im interaktiven Dialog haben Referenten aus Wirtschaft und Wissenschaft dargestellt, in welcher Form und in welchem Umfang Methoden der Virtual und Augmented Reality Einzug in Ihr Unternehmen gefunden haben und wie sie als Anwender und Entwickler die Technologietrends in diesem Bereich einschätzen.

Logistik ist ein Arbeitsfeld mit Zukunft. In der Diskussion um teure Mitarbeiter und hohe Produktivität wird immer mehr klar, dass althergebrachte Produktions-, Handels- und Dienstleistungskonzepte nicht ausreichen, um Arbeitsplätze und Wohlstand zu sichern. Die Logistik beschäftigt sich in Wissenschaft und Praxis mit der Suche nach neuen Lösungen der Planung und Steuerung, der Optimierung und Umgestaltung ganzheitlicher Systeme. Dieser realen Vision fühlt sich die Gastvortragsreihe »Logistik als Arbeitsfeld der Zukunft - Potenziale, Umsetzungsstrategien und Visionen« verpflichtet, die in diesem Jahr bereits zum fünften Mal durchgeführt wird. Die Initiatoren Herr Prof. Schenk als Institutsleiter am IFF, Herr Prof. Ziems (Uni-Maschinenbau) und Herr Prof. Inderfurth (Uni-BWL) wollen auf dieser Veranstaltung hochrangigen Vertretern aus Industrie, Dienstleistung, Handel und Verkehr ein Forum geben, damit sie ihre Ideen und Konzepte in insgesamt 7 Vorträgen einem breiten Publikum präsentieren können. Ziel der Veranstaltung ist es, den Stellenwert der Logistik in der Region zu erhöhen.

Peptidoglycan polysaccharide (PG-PS) is a primary structural component of bacterial cell walls and causes rheumatoid-like arthritis in rats. Recently, glycine has been shown to be a potential immunomodulator; therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if glycine would be protective in a PG-PS model of arthritis in vivo. In rats injected with PG-PS intra-articularly, ankle swelling increased 21% in 24 to 48 h and recovered in about 2 weeks. Three days prior to reactivation with PG-PS given intravenously (i.v.), rats were divided into two groups and fed a glycine-containing or nitrogen-balanced control diet. After i.v. PG-PS treatment joint swelling increased 2.1 ± 0.3 mm in controls but only 1.0 ± 0.2 mm in rats fed glycine. Infiltration of inflammatory cells, edema, and synovial hyperplasia in the joint were significantly attenuated by dietary glycine. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) mRNA was detected in ankle homogenates from rats fed the control diet but not in ankles from rats fed glycine. Moreover, intracellular calcium was increased significantly in splenic macrophages treated with PG-PS; however, glycine blunted the increase about 50%. The inhibitory effect of glycine was reversed by low concentrations of strychnine or chloride-free buffer, and it increased radiolabeled chloride influx nearly fourfold, an effect also inhibited by strychnine. In isolated splenic macrophages, glycine blunted translocation of the p65 subunit of NF-κB into the nucleus, superoxide generation, and TNF-α production caused by PG-PS. Further, mRNA for the beta subunit of the glycine receptor was detected in splenic macrophages. This work supports the hypothesis that glycine prevents reactive arthritis by blunting cytokine release from macrophages by increasing chloride influx via a glycine-gated chloride channel.