Selected anti-tumor vaccines merit a place in multimodal tumor therapies.

Multimodal approaches are nowadays successfully applied in cancer therapy. Primary locally acting therapies such as radiotherapy (RT) and surgery are combined with systemic administration of chemotherapeutics. Nevertheless, the therapy of cancer is still a big challenge in medicine.

Cells under pressure - treatment of eukaryotic cells with high hydrostatic pressure, from physiologic aspects to pressure induced cell death.

The research on high hydrostatic pressure in medicine and life sciences is multifaceted. According to the used pressure head the research has to be divided into two different parts. To study physiological aspects of pressure on eukaryotic cells physiological pressure (pHHP; < 100 MPa) is used.

Usability of food industry waste oils as fuel for diesel engines.

Two cogeneration units were each fitted with a prechamber (IDI) diesel engine in order to test the feasibility of using waste oils from the food industry as a fuel source, and additionally to test emissions generated by the combustion of these fuels. Esterified waste oils and animal fats as well as mustard oil were tested and compared to the more or less "common" fuels: diesel, rapeseed oil and rapeseed methyl ester. The results show that, in principle, each of these fuels is suitable for use in a prechamber diesel engine.

Microscopy under pressure--an optical chamber system for fluorescence microscopic analysis of living cells under high hydrostatic pressure.

High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) becomes more and more interesting for life science research, since it can be employed to inactivate various cells. To directly monitor "cells under pressure," the development of an optical high-pressure chamber is required. Therefore, an optical pressure chamber that can be used for up to 300 MPa was constructed.

Utilizing waste products from the food production and processing industries.

Waste in the food industry is characterized by a high ratio of product-specific waste. Not only does this mean that the generation of this waste is unavoidable, but also that the amount and kind of waste produced, which consists primarily of the organic residue of processed raw materials, can scarcely be altered if the quality of the finished product is to remain consistent. The utilization and disposal of product-specific waste is difficult, due to its inadequate biological stability, potentially pathogenic nature, high water content, potential for rapid autoxidation, and high level of enzymatic activity.

Induction of tumor cell death by high hydrostatic pressure as a novel supporting technique in orthopedic surgery.

As vegetative forms of microorganisms are impaired by high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) in the range of 400-600 MPa, the non-thermal inactivation of vegetative bacteria, yeasts, and moulds present in foods such as jams, fruit juices, and dressings by HHP is now well-established. Eukaryotic cells, when subjected to HHP are also damaged. In the present study, the effect of HHP on cell viability of human osteoblasts (HOB), human fibroblasts (HFB), and different tumor cell lines such as osteosarcoma cells SAOS-2, human histiocytic leukemia cells U-937, and the ovarian cancer cell line OV-MZ-6 was investigated.