Fraunhofer-Publica
The Fraunhofer-Publica has been successfully documenting the research results of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft for over 30 years. The platform enables the collaborative linking of research-relevant objects and disseminates within the international scientific community.
The Fraunhofer-Publica thus fulfils its responsibility to promote the transfer of knowledge and know-how to industry and society.
Categories
Research outputs
As an application-oriented research organisation, Fraunhofer aims to conduct highly innovative and solution-oriented research - for the benefit of society and to strengthen the German and European economy.
Projects
Fraunhofer is tackling the current challenges facing industry head on. By pooling their expertise and involving industrial partners at an early stage, the Fraunhofer Institutes involved in the projects aim to turn original scientific ideas into marketable products as quickly as possible.
Researchers
Scientific achievement and practical relevance are not opposites - at Fraunhofer they are mutually dependent. Thanks to the close organisational links between Fraunhofer Institutes and universities, science at Fraunhofer is conducted at an internationally first-class level.
Institutes
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is the leading organisation for applied research in Europe. Institutes and research facilities work under its umbrella at various locations throughout Germany.
Recent Additions
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PublicationDevelopment and challenges of support structures for offshore wind turbines( 2021)The objective of this article is to provide an overview on the development of the offshore wind energy and the challenges regarding the support structures of wind turbines. Since this field is very broad, the focus of this paper is on four topics: The general development of offshore wind energy, the different design types, the verification of fatigue strength and a review of the approval procedure and new normative regulations. Hence, a summary of the development of the offshore wind energy including an outlook is provided. Further, the different design types of support structures are introduced. A central topic of this paper is the testing and verification of fatigue strength of the critical design details, particularly the connections. As the author is active in several committees, challenges, changes and innovations in approval procedures and standardization are also discussed. Finally, these topics are summarized and related to the importance of offshore wind energy for the energy transition.
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Publication
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PublicationHigh-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell transplants in adult primary non-seminoma mediastinal germ-cell tumors. A report from the Cellular Therapy and Immunobiology working party of the EBMT( 2024)Background: Primary mediastinal germ-cell tumors (PMGCTs) account for 1%-3% of all germ-cell tumors (GCTs). Non-seminoma have a poorer prognosis compared to their gonadal counterpart and, according to the International Germ Cell Cancer Collaborative Group, they are considered 'poor risk' disease. Medical treatment is the same, with overall survival (OS) being ∼40%, declining to 10%-15% at 3 years in case of lung and non-visceral metastases. Patients failing first-line chemotherapy have a dismal prognosis, with only 5%-10% of cases being cured in the salvage setting. High-dose chemotherapy (HDC) with autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) has been successfully used to treat patients with relapsed or refractory gonadal GCTs. Patients and methods: This retrospective study aimed to investigate the value of HDC with ASCT in the whole population and define primary mediastinal non seminoma germ cell tumor (PMNSGCT) patient subgroups, who were registered in the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation database from January 2000 to January 2018. Sixty-nine adult male patients with PMNSGCT were included. HDC consisted mainly of carboplatin/etoposide doublet, and most patients received HDC as part of a multiple sequential HDC program. Results: OS was 43.3% at 2 years, and 34.7% at 5 and 10 years for the entire cohort. Analysis of outcomes showed that patients undergoing HDC as upfront therapy had a better progression-free survival (PFS) and OS compared to those treated in subsequent relapses (5-year PFS 51.8% versus 26.8% and 5-year OS 51.3% versus 25.9%). Better remission status before transplantation was predictive of the benefit of HDC. Three treatment-related deaths were recorded. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the most extensive retrospective study of HDC in PMNSGCTs patients and the first to thoroughly investigate potential predictors of benefit from this treatment. HDC with ASCT may well represent a therapeutic option in patients with PMNSGCTs after the first relapse or even as a front-line program.
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PublicationChange in the serum selenium level of patients with non-metastatic and metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) during radiotherapy as a predictive factor for survival( 2024)Background: Lung cancer remains a serious medical problem. The trace element selenium seems to be a promising prognostic marker or therapeutic option for cancer patients. Methods: We enrolled 99 patients with histologically confirmed NSCLC undergoing radiotherapy. The serum selenium level of these patients was determined prior to irradiation (t0), after reaching 20 Gy (t1), and at the end of radiotherapy (t2). Selenium concentrations were measured with total-reflection X‑ray fluorescence (TXRF) spectroscopy. We formed three subgroups according to the change in serum selenium levels across timepoints, and Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to estimate overall survival (OS). Further subgroups were patients with/without metastatic disease. We used adjusted Cox regression models. Results: The change in selenium concentration was especially significant between t0 and t1 for the whole study group (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.5, p = 0.03) as well as in patients with metastasized NSCLC (HR = 0.3, p = 0.04) after adjustment. The baseline selenium value in patients with non-metastasized NSCLC was associated with overall survival (HR = 0.3, p = 0.04). The change in selenium levels between t0 and t2 was significant in patients with metastatic lung cancer (HR = 0.1, p = 0.03). Patients with increased serum selenium levels during radiotherapy between the start of treatment (t0) and t1 had better OS (HR = 0.46, p = 0.05). Conclusion: Especially patients with increasing selenium levels during radiotherapy showed an improved overall survival. Thus, serum selenium might be a predictive factor for OS in NSCLC patients. The value of supplementation of the trace element is subject to future research.