Evaluation of re-depositing hydropower trapped sediments at large rivers to improve flood protection and aquatic habitats - Case study Danube/Austria.

Sedimentation in impoundments of run-of-river hydropower plants is an ongoing and progressing management issue for hydropower operators because of its consequences for e.g., the maintenance of flood protection and waterway parameters.

How an election can be safely planned and conducted during a pandemic: Decision support based on a discrete event model.

In 2020, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused major limitations for any aspect of social life and in specific for all events that require a gathering of people. While most events of this kind can be postponed or cancelled, democratic elections are key elements of any democratic regime and should be upheld if at all possible. Consequently, proper planning is required to establish the highest possible level of safety to both voters and scrutineers.

Extension of the Thermographic Signal Reconstruction Technique for an Automated Segmentation and Depth Estimation of Subsurface Defects.

With increased use of light-weight materials with low factors of safety, non-destructive testing becomes increasingly important. Thanks to the advancement of infrared camera technology, pulse thermography is a cost efficient way to detect subsurface defects non-destructively. However, currently available evaluation algorithms have either a high computational cost or show poor performance if any geometry other than the most simple kind is surveyed.

Evaluation of undetected cases during the COVID-19 epidemic in Austria.

Background: Knowing the number of undetected cases of COVID-19 is important for a better understanding of the spread of the disease. This study analyses the temporal dynamic of detected vs. undetected cases to provide guidance for the interpretation of prevalence studies performed with PCR or antibody tests to estimate the detection rate.

Potential causes of male and female infertility in Qatar.

A steady decline in the fertility rate has been observed in Qatar during the past fifty years. Therefore, infertility is considered a national priority in Qatar, a pronatalist society. This review article summarises the potential causes of infertility that are particularly prevalent in the Qatari population.

Using national electronic health care registries for comparing the risk of psychiatric re-hospitalisation in six European countries: Opportunities and limitations.

Psychiatric re-hospitalisation rates have been of longstanding interest as health care quality metric for planners and policy makers, but are criticized for not being comparable across hospitals and countries due to measurement unclarities. The objectives of the present study were to explore the interoperability of national electronic routine health care registries of six European countries (Austria, Finland, Italy, Norway, Romania, Slovenia) and, by using variables found to be comparable, to calculate and compare re-hospitalisation rates and the associated risk factors. A "Methods Toolkit" was developed for exploring the interoperability of registry data and protocol led pilot studies were carried out.

The Long-Term Effectiveness and Cost Effectiveness of Organized versus Opportunistic Screening for Breast Cancer in Austria.

Background: In 2014, Austrian health authorities implemented an organized breast cancer screening program. Until then, there has been a long-standing tradition of opportunistic screening.

Objectives: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of organized screening compared with opportunistic screening, as well as to identify factors influencing the clinical and economic outcomes.

Statistical methods and modelling techniques for analysing hospital readmission of discharged psychiatric patients: a systematic literature review.

Background: Psychiatric services have undergone profound changes over the last decades. CEPHOS-LINK is an EU-funded study project with the aim to compare readmission of patients discharged with psychiatric diagnoses using a registry-based observational record linkage study design and to analyse differences in the findings for five different countries. A range of different approaches is available for analysis of the available data.

Context matters: The importance of dimerization-induced conformation of the LukGH leukocidin of Staphylococcus aureus for the generation of neutralizing antibodies.

LukGH (LukAB) is a potent leukocidin of Staphylococcus aureus that lyses human phagocytic cells and is thought to contribute to immune evasion. Unlike the other bi-component leukocidins of S. aureus, LukGH forms a heterodimer before binding to its receptor, CD11b expressed on professional phagocytic cells, and displays significant sequence variation.

Bactericidal monoclonal antibodies specific to the lipopolysaccharide O antigen from multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli clone ST131-O25b:H4 elicit protection in mice.

The Escherichia coli sequence type 131 (ST131)-O25b:H4 clone has spread worldwide and become responsible for a significant proportion of multidrug-resistant extraintestinal infections. We generated humanized monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) that target the lipopolysaccharide O25b antigen conserved within this lineage. These MAbs bound to the surface of live bacterial cells irrespective of the capsular type expressed.

Five birds, one stone: neutralization of α-hemolysin and 4 bi-component leukocidins of Staphylococcus aureus with a single human monoclonal antibody.

Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen associated with high mortality. The emergence of antibiotic resistance and the inability of antibiotics to counteract bacterial cytotoxins involved in the pathogenesis of S. aureus call for novel therapeutic approaches, such as passive immunization with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs).

Site-specific N-glycosylation analysis of human immunoglobulin e.

Immunoglobulin E (IgE) is a heterodimeric glycoprotein involved in antiparasitic and allergic immune reactions. IgE glycosylation is known to exhibit significant interindividual variation, and several reports have indicated its relevance in determining IgE activity. Here, we present site-specific glycosylation analysis of IgE from three different sources: IgE from the serum of a hyperimmune donor, from the pooled serum of multiple nondiseased donors, and from the pooled serum of 2 patients with IgE myeloma.

Appropriate evidence sources for populating decision analytic models within health technology assessment (HTA): a systematic review of HTA manuals and health economic guidelines.

Background: An increasing number of evidence sources are relevant for populating decision analytic models. What is needed is detailed methodological advice on which type of data is to be used for what type of model parameter.

Purpose: We aim to identify standards in health technology assessment manuals and economic (modeling) guidelines on appropriate evidence sources and on the role different types of data play within a model.

Bi-enzyme sensor for phenolic compounds with fluorescent read-out.

In this paper, the use of tyrosinase (Ty) from Streptomyces antibioticus, labeled with a fluorescent tag, in combination with soluble quinoprotein (PQQ-containing) glucose dehydrogenase (s-GDH) to measure trace amounts of phenols is explored. Proof of concept is provided by a series of experiments, which show a clear quantitative dependence of the response on the phenol concentration. One of the advantages of the detection system is that apart from a standard fluorimeter no further instrumentation is required.

Brain tumor classification using AFM in combination with data mining techniques.

Although classification of astrocytic tumors is standardized by the WHO grading system, which is mainly based on microscopy-derived, histomorphological features, there is great interobserver variability. The main causes are thought to be the complexity of morphological details varying from tumor to tumor and from patient to patient, variations in the technical histopathological procedures like staining protocols, and finally the individual experience of the diagnosing pathologist. Thus, to raise astrocytoma grading to a more objective standard, this paper proposes a methodology based on atomic force microscopy (AFM) derived images made from histopathological samples in combination with data mining techniques.

Glycoproteomic analysis of antibodies.

Antibody glycosylation has been shown to change with various processes. This review presents mass spectrometric approaches for antibody glycosylation analysis at the level of released glycans, glycopeptides, and intact protein. With regard to IgG fragment crystallizable glycosylation, mass spectrometry has shown its potential for subclass-specific, high-throughput analysis.

Nano-HPLC-MS of glycopeptides obtained after nonspecific proteolysis.

Liquid chromatography-tandem stage mass spectrometry of glycopeptides is a powerful tool for the site-specific glycosylation analysis of glycoproteins. Using fetuin as a model substance, we describe a protocol for glycopeptide dissection using nonspecific proteolysis by proteinase K. Proteolysis is achieved using dissolved or immobilized enzyme.

Glycoproteomic analysis of human fibrinogen reveals novel regions of O-glycosylation.

Human fibrinogen is a 340 kDa, soluble plasma glycoprotein composed of paired sets of three subunits (α, β, γ). The protein plays a crucial role in protecting the vascular network against the loss of blood after tissue injury. The beta and gamma subunits each contain one N-glycosylation site, each of which is occupied by a biantennary N-glycan.

Protein O-glycosylation analysis.

This review provides an overview on the methods available for analysis of O-glycosylation. Three major themes are addressed: analysis of released O-glycans including different O-glycan liberation, derivatization, and detection methods; analysis of formerly O-glycosylated peptides yielding information on O-glycan attachment sites; analysis of O-glycopeptides, representing by far the most informative but also most challenging approach for O-glycan analysis. Although there are various techniques available for the identification of O-linked oligosaccharides, the focus here is on MS fragmentation techniques such as collision-induced fragmentation, electron capture dissociation, and electron transfer dissociation.

MALDI-TOF-MS analysis of sialylated glycans and glycopeptides using 4-chloro-α-cyanocinnamic acid matrix.

For MALDI analysis of glycans and glycopeptides, the choice of matrix is crucial in minimizing desialylation by mass spectrometric in-source and metastable decay. Here, we evaluated the potential of 4-chloro-α-cyanocinnamic acid (Cl-CCA) for MALDI-TOF-MS analysis of labile sialylated tryptic N-glycopeptides and released N- and O-glycans. Similar to DHB, but in contrast to CHCA, the Cl-CCA matrix allowed the analysis of sialylated N-glycans and glycopeptides in negative ion mode MALDI-TOF-MS.

Recent advances in hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) for structural glycomics.

This review presents recent progress in employing hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) for glycan and glycopeptides analysis. After an introduction of this technique, the following themes are addressed: (i) implementation of HILIC in large-scale studies for analyzing the human plasma N-glycome; (ii) the use of HILIC UPLC (ultrahigh pressure liquid chromatography) for fast high-resolution runs and its successful application with online MS for glycan and glycopeptide analysis; (iii) high-throughput profiling using HILIC solid-phase extraction in combination with MS detection; (iv) HILIC sample preparation for CE and CGE; (v) the latest glycoproteomic approaches implementing HILIC separation; (vi) future perspectives of HILIC including its use in large-scale glycoproteomics studies such as the analysis of entire glycoproteomes at the glycopeptide level.

Mass spectrometric O-glycan analysis after combined O-glycan release by beta-elimination and 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone labeling.

Background: Analysis of protein glycosylation is an important first step towards establishing the functions of glycans in health and disease. In contrast to N-glycans which are generally enzymatically released for analysis, there is no corresponding enzyme for O-glycan liberation. Therefore, O-glycans are generally released by chemical methods involving tedious procedures.