Abstract: The invention relates to a light microscope for examining microscopic objects with high throughput. The microscope comprises a light source for illuminating a measuring zone, a sample vessel, in which the microscopic objects can be successively moved into the measuring zone, and a detection device for measuring detection light, which originates from a microscopic object located in the measuring zone. According to the invention, the microscope is characterized in that the imaging means comprise a detection lens having a stationary front optics and movable focusing optics, wherein the focusing optics is arranged behind the front optics and in front of an intermediate image plane, and can be adjusted for the height adjustment of a detection plane. The invention further relates to a corresponding microscopy method.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of assessing whether a subject suffers from cancer or is prone to suffering from cancer, in particular lung cancer, comprising the measurement of the amounts of specific isoforms of GATA6 and/or NKX2-1 in a sample of said subject. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a composition for use in medicine comprising (an) inhibitor(s) of specific isoforms of GATA6 and/or NKX2-1. Additionally, the present invention relates to a kit for use in a method of assessing whether a subject suffers from cancer or is prone to suffering from cancer, in particular lung cancer.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a vasopressin receptor 1B (V1B) antagonist for use in the treatment of depressive symptoms and/or anxiety symptoms in patients showing an elevated arginine vasopressin (AVP) level and/or an elevated copeptin level. The present invention further relates to a method for predicting the treatment response to a V1B antagonist in patients with depressive symptoms and/or anxiety symptoms.

Abstract: A training apparatus includes an elastic band; a device for continuously determining an actual configuration of the training apparatus during exercise, e.g. a stretch of the elastic band or a 2D or 3D position of said device; and for generating a control signal for an audio device, the control signal being at least partially based on the actual configuration of the training apparatus; and for outputting the control signal.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a device, comprising at least one layer of an active material having a first optical thickness, the active material being selected so as to experience a change (i) of at least one size dimension, (ii) of the resistance, (iii) of the refractive index or (iv) combinations of two or more of the foregoing, when the active material is subjected to a change in environment, wherein at least one and preferably all of the layers of the at least one layer of the active material is composed of at least two nanosheets of the active material, with the at least two nanosheets randomly overlapping one another. The invention further relates to a nanosheet of active material and to a use of the nanosheet of the material.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a Drosophila in vitro system which was used to demonstrate that dsRNA is processed to RNA segments 21-23 nucleotides (nt) in length. Furthermore, when these 21-23 nt fragments are purified and added back to Drosophila extracts, they mediate RNA interference in the absence of long dsRNA. Thus, these 21-23 nt fragments are the sequence-specific mediators of RNA degradation. A molecular signal, which may be their specific length, must be present in these 21-23 nt fragments to recruit cellular factors involved in RNAi. This present invention encompasses these 21-23 nt fragments and their use for specifically inactivating gene function. The use of these fragments (or chemically synthesized oligonucleotides of the same or similar nature) enables the targeting of specific mRNAs for degradation in mammalian cells, where the use of long dsRNAs to elicit RNAi is usually not practical, presumably because of the deleterious effects of the interferon response.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for encapsulating a nanostructure, the method comprising the steps of: providing a substrate; forming a plug composed of plug material at said substrate; forming a nanostructure (on or) at said plug; forming a shell composed of at least one shell material on external surfaces of the nanostructure, with the at least one shell material covering said nanostructure and at least some of the plug material, whereby the shell and the plug encapsulate the nanostructure. The invention further relates to a coated nanostructure and to the use of a coated nanostructure.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a compound represented by formula (E). The present invention also relates to a compound represented by the formula (E) for use in the treatment or prevention of diseases linked to protein aggregation and/or neurodegenerative diseases. Moreover, the present invention relates to pharmaceutical and diagnostic compositions comprising the compound of the invention as well as to a kit. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method of imaging deposits of aggregated protein. A kit for preparing a detectably labelled compound of the present invention is also disclosed.

Abstract: A method of treatment of a neurodegenerative disease which is associated with a decline in mitochondrial activity, includes administering to a person in need of such treatment at least one of Glycolic acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof, and D-lactic acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof.

Abstract: The invention comprises a fault-tolerant clock synchronization method with high precision, hardware implementations thereof and the corresponding digital circuits, designed to contain metastability.

Abstract: A long-term stable photoactive composition, namely a phosphorescent composition or a TTA-photon upconversion composition, contains: a) at least one compound, which has a triplet state capable of energy transfer via an emissive process or a non-emissive process, wherein the at least one compound having a triplet state is i) at least one phosphorescent compound and/or ii) at least one sensitizer compound being capable of absorbing radiation at a first frequency v1 and at least one emissive compound, wherein the at least one sensitizer compound is capable of transferring energy to the at least one emissive compound and wherein the at least one emissive compound, after obtaining energy transferred from the at least one sensitizer compound, is capable of emitting light at a second frequency v2, wherein the following equation is fulfilled: v2>v1, wherein the at least one sensitizer compound is capable of a triplet-triplet energy transfer to the at least one emissive compound and wherein the at least one emissi

Abstract: The invention comprises a learned model of human body shape and pose dependent shape variation that is more accurate than previous models and is compatible with existing graphics pipelines. Our Skinned Multi-Person Linear model (SMPL) is a skinned vertex based model that accurately represents a wide variety of body shapes in natural human poses. The parameters of the model are learned from data including the rest pose template, blend weights, pose-dependent blend shapes, identity-dependent blend shapes, and a regressor from vertices to joint locations. Unlike previous models, the pose-dependent blend shapes are a linear function of the elements of the pose rotation matrices. This simple formulation enables training the entire model from a relatively large number of aligned 3D meshes of different people in different poses. The invention quantitatively evaluates variants of SMPL using linear or dual-quaternion blend skinning and show that both are more accurate than a Blend SCAPE model trained on the same data.

Abstract: A training apparatus includes adjustable resistance means; means for continuously determining an actual configuration of the training apparatus during exercise; means for generating a control signal for an audio device, the control signal being at least partially based on the actual configuration of the training apparatus; and means for outputting the control signal.

Abstract: The present invention belongs to the field of biotechnology. More specifically, the present invention provides a protease, a non-naturally occurring fusion protein comprising a corresponding protease recognition site, expression vectors encoding same, host cells comprising said expression vectors, kit of parts as well as methods applying the protease, fusion protein, and uses thereof, as defined in the claims. The presently disclosed protease/protease recognition site is particularly useful in methods requiring an orthogonal set of proteases, and is suitable for use in both prokaryotic and selected eukaryotic expression systems.

Abstract: The present invention relates to methods of identifying substances that modulate GA action through targeting its receptor or acting as a GA functional analog, sensor peptides especially designed for that methods as well as a strain of the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing such a sensor peptide.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for the in vitro detection of a latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in a subject, wherein said method comprises determining at least one nucleotide sequence and/or at least one polypeptide of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) in a blood cell population of said subject, and wherein the presence of said at least one nucleotide sequence and/or said at least one polypeptide is indicative for said latent tuberculosis infection. In particular, the blood cell population is enriched for hematopoietic stem cells. The invention also relates to a pharmaceutical composition for use in the treatment of the LTBI in the subject, wherein it is determined if the nucleotide sequence and/or the polypeptide of Mtb is/are present in the blood cell population. Further, the invention relates to kits for carrying out the methods of the invention. The invention also relates to the use of the kits.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for determining in an expedient manner and with minimal sample consumption the structure of an unknown carbohydrate by using ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) in negative ionization mode and fragmentation and a database containing structures of carbohydrates and/or of the fragments of the negative ions of carbohydrates, and for each of the structures of the target carbohydrates the collision cross section value and the mass-to-charge ratio value of the negative ion thereof, and for each of the structures of the fragments of the negative ions of the target carbohydrates the collision cross section value and the mass-to-charge ratio value of the fragment of the negative ion of the target carbohydrate.

Abstract: A method of treating a human patient with depressive and/or anxiety symptoms which includes administering an effective amount of a V1B receptor antagonist and/or CRHR1 antagonist to the patient in need thereof, wherein the patient's genome has certain polymorphoric variants.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the total synthesis of saccharide structures contained in the capsular polysaccharide of Streptococcus pneumoniae type 1, to glycoconjugates containing said saccharide structures obtained by total synthesis and to use of such glycoconjugates and pharmaceutical compositions thereof in the immunization against diseases associated with bacteria containing said saccharide structures in their capsular polysaccharide, and more specifically associated with Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for preparing an expression vector encoding a tailored recombinase, which tailored recombinase is capable of recombining asymmetric target sequences within the long terminal repeat (LTR) of proviral DNA of a plurality of retrovirus strains inserted into the genome of a host cell, as well as to the obtained expression vector, cells transfected with this, expressed recombinase and pharmaceutical compositions comprising the expression vector, cells and/or recombinase. Pharmaceutical compositions are useful, e.g., in treatment and/or prevention of retrovirus infection. In particular, asymmetric target sequences present in a plurality of HIV strains are disclosed, as well as tailored recombinases capable of combining these sequences (Tre 3.0 and 4.0) and expression vectors encoding them.