Optimal allocation of change points in simple step-stress experiments under Type-II censoring

In simple step-stress experiments under Type-II censoring with the cumulative exposure model and exponentially distributed lifetimes, maximum likelihood estimates (MLE) of the expected lifetimes may not exist due to the absence of failure times either before or after the stress change point. For this reason, when planning a step-stress experiment, the change point could be chosen so as to minimize the probability of non-existence of the MLE. These non-existence probabilities are examined and compared in the one- as well as the two-sample situations. Moreover, the optimal allocations of the change points are discussed and the effects of the use of non-optimal choices for the change points are assessed.     

Efficient computation based on stochastic spikes

The speed and reliability of mammalian perception indicate that cortical computations can rely on very few action potentials per involved neuron. Together with the stochasticity of single-spike events in cortex, this appears to imply that large populations of redundant neurons are needed for rapid computations with action potentials. Here we demonstrate that very fast and precise computations can be realized also in small networks of stochastically spiking neurons. We present a generative network model for which we derive biologically plausible algorithms that perform spike-by-spike updates of the neuron's internal states and adaptation of its synaptic weights from maximizing the likelihood of the observed spike patterns. Paradigmatic computational tasks demonstrate the online performance and learning efficiency of our framework. The potential relevance of our approach as a model for cortical computation is discussed.     

Liver pathology in juvenile chronic polyarthritis

Besides lymphodenopathy and splenomegaly, hepatomegaly may also be detected in 25-50% of children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. This is particularly evident in patients with complete Still's syndrome. The hepatomegaly increases during relapse situations and disappears during remissions. Transient icterus, elevation of aminotransferases and delayed bromsulfalein excretion have been reported, particularly in patients with complete Still's syndrome, and indicate impairment of liver function. Liver biopsies have been performed only rarely and show nonspecific infiltrations of portal fields with lymphocytes and, in a few cases, "autoimmune" hepatitis and even cirrhosis with portal hypertension. Plasma cell hepatitis with affection of joints can be readily differentiated from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis: the synovitis is merely transiet and disappears with institution of steroid therapy. As in the adult, severe liver dysfunction leads to remission of arthritis. Amyloidosis should be considered in every case of long-lasting hepatomegaly.     

Ortselektive laserchemische Oberflächenfunktionalisierung von Polymeren im Mikrometerbereich. Selective laser‐chemical micro surface modification of polymers

Polymeric substrate materials like polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC) or cyclic olefins (COC) are getting more attention besides silica, glass and ceramic for the preparation of reaction vessels, optical slides, microfluidic components or microtiterplates in applications like medical diagnostics and pharmaceutical drug screening. Actually, the market of transparent polymeric chips is demanding the availability of modified surfaces with well defined arrays of wettable areas or special chemical functionalities. The modified areas are starting point to graft bioactive molecules, for instance proteins or DNA‐oligomers. Another application is pretreatment of adhesive bonded joints. Presently surface modifications are performed chemically and physically by plasma surface interaction. IWS has developed a new technique for dry chemical structuring of polymeric surfaces based on the principle of excimer laser irradiation in reactive gas atmosphere. This technique is characterized by a high resolution and a negligible amount of chemicals. The procedure consists of only a few processing steps, in contrast to conventional lithographic structuring methods. Also wetting problems do not play a role as they do in printing techniques. The technology provides the possibility of tailoring the chemical and topographical surface properties from ultrahydrophobic to hydrophilic or to functionalize areas of choice in the μm range with a chemical group of defined density. Using an excimer‐laser to induce reactions, mask imaging can be applied for microstructuring the surface with new properties, e. g. for microarrays. In addition, the laser allows defined amount of energy into the elementary reaction, according to the wavelength applied, which opens the possibility of replacing atoms in the polymer molecules by other atoms or molecules taken from an agent in the environment, in a selective way. The precondition is that both the polymer and the agent absorb the same wavelength. For instance 193 nm radiation (ArF excimer laser) is absorbed by polyolefines and by ammonia allowing an exchange of H atoms for amino groups by which the surface is changed to starting point to graft bioactive molecules. Chemical microstructures for instance amino group arrays have been realized on a variety of polymeric materials like cyclic olefin foil. This array of monofunctionality is the starting point for the preparation of parallel microreactors. These samples of topographical and chemical microstructures are the first step for biochemical preparations in medical diagnostic kits, DNA‐, protein‐ or cell biochips. The upscaling of the laser modification process in a multi‐chamber reactor offers the semicontinuous functionalization of polymers in pilot scale or in batch processing. On this basis the surface modification step can be adapted into a mass production line of “Lab‐on‐a‐chip” systems.     

Study of the dead layer in germanium for the CDMS detectors

We present new measurements on a Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) detector with electron, neutron, and gamma sources. The measurements have been performed to investigate the dead layer of one of the CDMS Z-dependent Ionization Phonon germanium detectors. The dead layer has been studied at both charge electrodes and at different electric field intensities. We also present a method to remove the dependence of athermal phonon measurements on event position.     

An ADI-based adaptive mesh Poisson solver for the MHD code NIRVANA

I describe a Poisson solver for the adaptive mesh magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) code NIRVANA using ADI techniques (ADI: Alternative Direction Implicit). The solver is fit to the mesh refinement framework of the code and utilizes its special block-structured design. The key part of the method is an algorithm for the intelligent clustering of subgrids which permits the application of numerical methods based on dimensional operator splitting like ADI. Test problems show the convergence of this ansatz.     

The Significance of Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition for Circulating Tumor Cells

Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process involved in embryonic development, but it also plays a role in remote metastasis formation in tumor diseases. During this process cells lose their epithelial features and adopt characteristics of mesenchymal cells. Thereby single tumor cells, which dissolve from the primary tumor, are enabled to invade the blood vessels and travel throughout the body as so called “circulating tumor cells” (CTCs). After leaving the blood stream the reverse process of EMT, the mesenchymal to epithelial transition (MET) helps the cells to seed in different tissues, thereby generating the bud of metastasis formation. As metastasis is the main reason for tumor-associated death, CTCs and the EMT process are in the focus of research in recent years. This review summarizes what was already found out about the molecular mechanisms driving EMT, the consequences of EMT for tumor cell detection, and suitable markers for the detection of CTCs which underwent EMT. The research work done in this field could open new roads towards combating cancer.