Manufacturing of primary CAR-NK cells in an automated system for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) still constitutes a dreadful disease with limited therapeutic options. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells struggle to target AML partly due to a lack of true AML-exclusive antigens and heterogeneity of the disease. Natural killer (NK) cells possess a high intrinsic killing capacity against AML and might be well suited for the treatment of this disease.

Rapid detection and online analysis of microbial changes through flow cytometry.

Short-read 16 S rRNA gene sequencing is the dominating technology to profile microbial communities in different habitats. Its uncontested taxonomic resolution paved the way for major contributions to the field. Sample measurement and analysis, that is, sequencing, is rather slow-in order of days.

Engineered biosynthetic pathways and biocatalytic cascades for sustainable synthesis.

Nature exploits biosynthetic cascades to construct numerous molecules from a limited set of starting materials. A deeper understanding of biosynthesis and extraordinary developments in gene technology has allowed the manipulation of natural pathways and construction of artificial cascades for the preparation of a range of molecules, which would be challenging to access using traditional synthetic chemical approaches. Alongside these metabolic engineering strategies, there has been continued interest in developing in vivo and in vitro biocatalytic cascades.

Quantitative analysis of astrogliosis in drug-dependent humans.

Drug addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease caused by neurochemical and molecular changes in the brain. In this human autopsy study qualitative and quantitative changes of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive astrocytes in the hippocampus of 26 lethally intoxicated drug addicts and 35 matched controls are described. The morphological characterization of these cells reflected alterations representative for astrogliosis.

Classifying prostate cancer malignancy by quantitative histomorphometry.

Purpose: Prostate cancer is routinely graded according to the Gleason grading scheme. This scheme is predominantly based on the textural appearance of aberrant glandular structures. Gleason grade is difficult to standardize and often leads to discussion due to interrater and intrarater disagreement.

Spatial organization of mesenchymal stem cells in vitro--results from a new individual cell-based model with podia.

Therapeutic application of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) requires their extensive in vitro expansion. MSC in culture typically grow to confluence within a few weeks. They show spindle-shaped fibroblastoid morphology and align to each other in characteristic spatial patterns at high cell density.

Image-processing chain for a three-dimensional reconstruction of basal cell carcinomas.

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common malignant skin cancer. For a deeper insight into the specific growth patterns of the tumorous tissue in BCC, we have focused on the development of a novel automated image-processing chain for 3D reconstruction of BCC using histopathological serial sections. For fully automatic delineation of the tumor within the tissue, we apply a fuzzy c-means segmentation method.

PROCESS FLOW FOR CLASSIFICATION AND CLUSTERING OF FRUIT FLY GENE EXPRESSION PATTERNS.

The rapidly growing collection of fruit fly embryo images makes automated Image Segmentation and classification an indispensable requirement for a large-scale analysis of in situ hybridization (ISH) - gene expression patterns (GEP). We present here such an automated process flow for Segmenting, Classification, and Clustering large-scale sets of Drosophila melanogaster GEP that is capable of dealing with most of the complications implicated in the images.

3-D analysis of the invasion front in squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix: histopathologic evidence for collective invasion per continuitatem.

Objective: To investigate spatial tumor invasion using ex vivo specimens and pursue a new morphometric approach for a quantitative assessment of the invasion front.

Study Design: Based on histologic serial sections with up to 500 slices stained with hematoxylin-eosin, volumes of interest of the tumor invasion front were 3-D reconstructed for 13 specimens from patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the uterine cervix. Starting from very sensitive automatic tumor segmentation, 404 presumptive loci of isolated tumor islets were detected within the reconstructed volume data sets.

Large histological serial sections for computational tissue volume reconstruction.

Objectives: A proof of principle study was conducted for microscopic tissue volume reconstructions using a new image processing chain operating on alternately stained large histological serial sections.

Methods: Digital histological images were obtained from conventional brightfield transmitted light microscopy. A powerful nonparametric nonlinear optical flow-based registration approach was used.

Characteristic quantities of microvascular structures in CLSM volume datasets.

A method for fully automated morphological and topological quantification of microvascular structures in confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) volume datasets is presented. Several characteristic morphological and topological quantities are calculated in a series of image-processing steps and can be used to compare single components as well as whole networks of microvascular structures to each other. The effect of the individual image-processing steps is illustrated and characteristic quantities of measured volume datasets are presented and discussed.

Evaluation of the invasion front pattern of squamous cell cervical carcinoma by measuring classical and discrete compactness.

The invasion front pattern of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is a conspicuous histological phenomenon, which is assessed without precise criteria. The current study was performed to introduce the classical (C(C)) and discrete compactness (C(D)) as new morphometric parameters for quantification of this pattern. A retrospective analysis of 76 surgically treated patients with cervical carcinoma was conducted and the pattern of invasion was qualitatively classified as closed, finger-like or diffuse, respectively, by two pathologists.

Combined serial section-based 3D reconstruction of cervical carcinoma invasion using H&E/p16INK4a/CD3 alternate staining.

Background: Malignant growth and invasiveness of cancers is a function of both intratumoral and stromal factors. The accessibility to nutrients, oxygen and growth factors, the stromal composition, and the interference with the immune system all shape the tumor invasion front. A recent study has shown a prognostic difference with respect to different invasion patterns analyzed on histological specimens of cervical cancers.

[Topographical anatomy of the female pelvis in ultrasound].

Aim: Achieving a high quality gynaecological ultrasound examination requires thorough knowledge of topographic anatomy. To date, there are no guidelines for a standardised course of the examination. The goal of the study was to define exact planes by means of cross-sectional anatomy and then to standardise the gynaecological ultrasound examination with the transabdominal, introital and transvaginal technique.

Three-dimensional reconstruction and quantification of cervical carcinoma invasion fronts from histological serial sections.

The analysis of the three-dimensional (3-D) structure of tumoral invasion fronts of carcinoma of the uterine cervix is the prerequisite for understanding their architectural-functional relationship. The variation range of the invasion patterns known so far reaches from a smooth tumor-host boundary surface to more diffusely spreading patterns, which all are supposed to have a different prognostic relevance. As a very decisive limitation of previous studies, all morphological assessments just could be done verbally referring to single histological sections.

[Nephrologic analysis of 94 women with diagnosed "primary" gestosis].

Among 94 women with diagnosed "primary" gestosis during pregnancy, 67 patients demonstrated (3-6 months after delivery) chronic glomerulonephritis (25 women) or chronic pyelonephritis (28 women) or hypertension caused by others than nephrologic reasons. "Primary" gestosis was diagnosed correctly only in 29% cases. The most often reason of "secondary" gestosis was undiagnosed chronic nephropathy before and during pregnancy.

[Hypercalciuria and primary hyperparathyroidism in patients with kidney calculi. II. Primary hyperparathyroidism].

Among 1819 patients with renal stone disease 44 cases with primary hyperparathyroidism (p.h.p.

[Hypercalciuria and primary hyperparathyroidism in patients with kidney calculi. I. Hypercalciuria].

In 1819 patients with active or non active respectively nephrolithiasis the following parameters were assessed: plasma level of calcium, phosphate, and uric acid and urinary excretion of calcium, phosphate, oxalate, uric acid and creatinine. These parameters were estimated after 5 days of diet containing 400 mg of calcium, 800 mg of phosphate, 100 mg of purines and 40 g of proteins. In 3/4 of all examined patients at least one lithogenic factor was present.

[Vestibular function in calcium and phosphate metabolism disorders in chronic renal failure].

45 patients with chronic renal failure (25 dialysed and 20 undialysed) were examined for function of vestibular organ and 35 patients with chronic renal failure treated by diet and drugs were examined for hearing acuity by pure tone audiometry and above-threshold audiometry. All patients serum sample's were examined for calcium, inorganic phosphates and uric acid. The examination revealed the damage of vestibular organ in 84.

Pharmacokinetics of ritanserin in patients undergoing hemodialysis.

The pharmacokinetics of ritanserin were studied in five patients with chronic renal insufficiency and who were undergoing periodic hemodialysis. Immediately after breakfast, a single 10-mg ritanserin tablet was administered to each patient on a day that they did not undergo dialysis. Plasma ritanserin levels were measured by a specific high-performance liquid chromatographic assay sensitive to 2 ng/mL plasma.

Cimetidine pharmacokinetics after oral administration of cimetidine retard in normal and impaired renal function.

Cimetidine pharmacokinetics was investigated in four groups: Group I with three normals (serum creatinine less than 1.5 mg/dl), Group II with three kidney patients, renal function slightly impaired (serum creatinine greater than 1.8-4.

[Diagnostic value of the captopril test in patients with arterial hypertension].

In 30 patients with renovascular hypertension, 50 with hypertension in a course of arteries, 71 hypertensive subjects with coexisting parenchymal nephropathy and in 63 with primary hypertension the captopril test was performed after 8 hours night rest and within high sodium diet. Positive test result was stated in 76.67% of patients with renovascular hypertension, in 70.