GOSA – An European Offshore Spaceport for Microlaunchers & Small Satellites

Europe profits from the boom of the New Space industry, a growing number of startups and small and medium-sized companies offering space infrastructure and space-based services. With HyImpulse, ISAR Aerospace, Orbex, PLD, Rocket Factory Augsburg and Skyrora, several promising microlauncher companies are located in Europe. An offshore spaceport with a well-connected on-shore site in Northern Germany enabling launch of small satellites to Polar or Sun Synchronous Low Earth Orbits provides the opportunity for this growing New Space region to develop a cluster in a future market and thereby create an economic eco system, which spans everything from the satellite manufacturer to the complete downstream application. Bremen as the German “City of Space” is the perfect host for the Spaceport: In Bremen’s aerospace sector, more than 140 companies and 20 institutes with around 12,000 employees generate over 4 billion euros per year. In 2020, the companies Tractebel DOC Offshore, MediaMobil, OHB and Harren&Partner joined their forces in the German Offshore Spaceport Alliance on the basis of their unique competencies in their respective fields of activity in maritime offshore and space projects. The concept foresees a preparation area in Bremerhaven, Germany, and a mobile launch and control infrastructure on two vessels. The fully integrated launcher is transported to the launch site in the offshore German exclusive economic zone (EEZ) where the launcher is erected and prepared for a launch. The infrastructure and the operational concept is kept flexible and agile to be able to serve different type of launchers and to offer rapid turnaround between two launches. The project has the ambitious target be ready in 2023 to offer launch possibilities for European and international microlauncher providers to serve the worldwide growing small satellite market. In September 2021, the German Offshore Spaceport Alliance GOSA signed MoUs with Skyrora, Rocket Factory Augsburg, T-Minus and HyImpulse. This paper will give an overview on the infrastructure and the operational concept, it will cover topics like airspace and maritime safety and it will show the recent progress in the implementation of the German Offshore Spaceport with regard to technical aspects

Metabolite analysis distinguishes between mice with epidermolysis bullosa acquisita and healthy mice

Abstract Background Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA) is a rare skin blistering disease with a prevalence of 0.2/ million people. EBA is characterized by autoantibodies against type VII collagen. Type VII collagen builds anchoring fibrils that are essential for the dermal-epidermal junction. The pathogenic relevance of antibodies against type VII collagen subdomains has been demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo. Despite the multitude of clinical and immunological data, no information on metabolic changes exists. Methods We used an animal model of EBA to obtain insights into metabolomic changes during EBA. Sera from mice with immunization-induced EBA and control mice were obtained and metabolites were isolated by filtration. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra were recorded and analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares discrimination analysis (PLS-DA) and random forest. Results The metabolic pattern of immunized mice and control mice could be clearly distinguished with PCA and PLS-DA. Metabolites that contribute to the discrimination could be identified via random forest. The observed changes in the metabolic pattern of EBA sera, i.e. increased levels of amino acid, point toward an increased energy demand in EBA. Conclusions Knowledge about metabolic changes due to EBA could help in future to assess the disease status during treatment. Confirming the metabolic changes in patients needs probably large cohorts. </jats:sec

Evidenzkarten-basierte Sensorfusion zur Umfelderkennung und Interpretation in der Ernte

Korthals T, Skiba A, Krause T, Jungeblut T. Evidenzkarten-basierte Sensorfusion zur Umfelderkennung und Interpretation in der Ernte. In: Ruckelshausen A, Meyer-Aurich A, Rath T, Recke G, Theuvsen B, eds. Informatik in der Land-, Forst- und Ernährungswirtschaft - Intelligente Systeme - Stand der Technik und neue Möglichkeiten. 2016: 97-100

PDE4 Inhibition as Potential Treatment of Epidermolysis Bullosa Acquisita

Pemphigoid diseases such as epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA) may be difficult to treat. In pemphigoid diseases, mucocutaneous blistering is caused by autoantibodies to hemidesmosomal antigens; in EBA the autoantigen is type VII collagen. Despite growing insights into pemphigoid disease pathogenesis, corticosteroids are still a mainstay of treatment. In experimental EBA, myeloid cell activation is a key event leading to blistering. Activation of these cells depends on phosphodiesterase (PDE) 4. We therefore evaluated the potential for PDE4 inhibition in EBA: PDE4 was highly expressed in inflammatory cells and in the epidermis of patients compared with healthy skin samples. PDE4 inhibitors rolipram, roflumilast, and roflumilast N-oxide prevented the release of immune complex-induced reactive oxygen species from polymorphonuclear leukocytes and separation of the dermal-epidermal junction of skin incubated with antibodies to collagen type VII and polymorphonuclear leukocytes. The PDE4 inhibitors also impaired CD62L shedding and decreased CD11b expression on immune complex-stimulated polymorphonuclear leukocytes. For in vivo validation, experimental EBA was induced in mice by transfer of anti-collagen type VII IgG or immunization with collagen type VII. Roflumilast dose-dependently reduced blistering in antibody transfer-induced EBA and also hindered disease progression in immunization-induced EBA. PDE4 inhibition emerges as a new treatment modality for EBA and possibly other neutrophil-driven pemphigoid diseases.</p

Prevalence of pemphigus and pemphigoid autoantibodies in the general population

Background: Mucocutaneous blistering is characteristic of autoimmune bullous dermatoses (AIBD). Blisters are caused by autoantibodies directed against structural components of the skin. Hence, detection of specific autoantibodies has become a hallmark for AIBD diagnosis. Studies on prevalence of AIBD autoantibodies in healthy individuals yielded contradictory results. Methods: To clarify this, samples from 7063 blood donors were tested for presence of anti-BP180-NC16A, anti-BP230 and anti-Dsg1/3 IgG by indirect immunofluorescence (IF) microscopy using a biochip. Results: Cumulative prevalence of these autoantibodies was 0.9 % (CI: 0.7-1.1 %), with anti-BP180-NC16A IgG being most prevalent. Validation of IF findings using ELISA confirmed presence of autoantibodies in 7/15 (anti-Dsg1), 6/7 (anti-Dsg3), 35/37 (anti-BP180-NC16A) and 2/3 (anti-BP230) cases. Moreover, in 16 samples, anti-BP180-NC16A autoantibody concentrations exceeded the cut-off for the diagnosis of bullous pemphigoid. Interestingly, these anti-BP180-NC16A autoantibodies from healthy individuals formed immune complexes with recombinant antigen and dose-dependently activated neutrophils in vitro. However, fine-epitope mapping within NC16A showed a different binding pattern of anti-BP180-NC16A autoantibodies from healthy individuals compared to bullous pemphigoid patients, while IgG subclasses were identical. Conclusions: Collectively, we here report a low prevalence of AIBD autoantibodies in a large cohort of healthy individuals. Furthermore, functional analysis shows differences between autoantibodies from healthy donors and AIBD patients

Case report: Schnitzler-like syndrome without monoclonal gammopathy

Schnitzler syndrome is a rare autoinflammatory disorder characterized by urticarial rash, joint pain, recurrent fever, leucocytosis, elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid A (SAA), and monoclonal IgM or IgG gammopathy. According to the Strasbourg criteria, both urticarial rash and gammopathy are mandatorily required for the diagnosis of Schnitzler’s syndrome. However, incomplete variants lacking either skin symptoms or monoclonal gammopathy have also been described. Here, we report a case in which the diagnosis of Schnitzler-like syndrome was made despite the absence of gammopathy, based on neutrophilic dermal inflammation, episodic and excessive increase in inflammatory parameters, and prompt response to anakinra, a soluble IL1 receptor antagonist (sIL-1RA). In addition, we detected neutrophil epitheliotropism, which is highly suggestive of autoinflammatory disease. Using whole-exome sequencing, we were unable to find a causative pathogenic mutation but did find several mutations possibly related to the inflammatory processes in this patient. This and other cases highlight that the existing Strasbourg criteria are too strict to capture Schnitzler-like syndromes that may respond well and rapidly to IL1 inhibition. Recurrent episodes of disease with normalization of inflammatory symptoms in the interval, rapid response to anakinra, and neutrophilic epitheliotropism in a lesional skin biopsy may help confirm the diagnosis of Schnitzler-like syndrome

Pathogenic Activation and Therapeutic Blockage of FcαR-Expressing Polymorphonuclear Leukocytes in IgA Pemphigus

Pathomechanisms in IgA pemphigus are assumed to rely on Fc-dependent cellular activation by antigen-specific IgA autoantibodies; however, models for the disease and more detailed pathophysiologic data are lacking. In this study, we aimed to establish in vitro models of disease for IgA pemphigus, allowing us to study the effects of the interaction of anti-keratinocyte IgA with cell surface FcαRs. Employing multiple in vitro assays, such as a skin cryosection assay and a human skin organ culture model, in this study, we present mechanistic data for the pathogenesis of IgA pemphigus, mediated by anti–desmoglein 3 IgA autoantibodies. Our results reveal that this disease is dependent on FcαR-mediated activation of leukocytes in the epidermis. Importantly, this cell-dependent pathology can be dose-dependently abrogated by peptide-mediated inhibition of FcαR:IgA-Fc interaction, as confirmed in an additional model for IgA-dependent disease, that is, IgA vasculitis. These data suggest that IgA pemphigus can be modeled in vitro and that IgA pemphigus and IgA vasculitis are FcαR-dependent disease entities that can be specifically targeted in these experimental systems

The p.Arg435His Variation of IgG3 With High Affinity to FcRn Is Associated With Susceptibility for Pemphigus Vulgaris—Analysis of Four Different Ethnic Cohorts

IgG3 is the IgG subclass with the strongest effector functions among all four IgG subclasses and the highest degree of allelic variability among all constant immunoglobulin genes. Due to its genetic position, IgG3 is often the first isotype an antibody switches to before IgG1 or IgG4. Compared with the other IgG subclasses, it has a reduced half-life which is probably connected to a decreased affinity to the neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn). However, a few allelic variants harbor an amino acid replacement of His435 to Arg that reverts the half-life of the resulting IgG3 to the same level as the other IgG subclasses. Because of its functional impact, we hypothesized that the p.Arg435His variation could be associated with susceptibility to autoantibody-mediated diseases like pemphigus vulgaris (PV) and bullous pemphigoid (BP). Using a set of samples from German, Turkish, Egyptian, and Iranian patients and controls, we were able to demonstrate a genetic association of the p.Arg435His variation with PV risk, but not with BP risk. Our results suggest a hitherto unknown role for the function of IgG3 in the pathogenesis of PV

Risk for cancer development in familial Mediterranean fever and associated predisposing factors: an ambidirectional cohort study from the international AIDA Network registries

Objective: Inflammation has been associated with an increased risk for cancer development, while innate immune system activation could counteract the risk for malignancies. Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a severe systemic inflammatory condition and also represents the archetype of innate immunity deregulation. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the risk for cancer development in FMF. Methods: The risk ratio (RR) for malignancies was separately compared between FMF patients and fibromyalgia subjects, Still's disease patients and Behçet's disease patients. Clinical variables associated with cancer development in FMF patients were searched through binary logistic regression. Results: 580 FMF patients and 102 fibromyalgia subjects, 1012 Behçet's disease patients and 497 Still's disease patients were enrolled. The RR for the occurrence of malignant neoplasms was 0.26 (95% Confidence Interval [CI.] 0.10-0.73, p=0.006) in patients with FMF compared to fibromyalgia subjects; the RR for the occurrence of malignant cancer was 0.51 (95% CI. 0.23-1.16, p=0.10) in FMF compared to Still's disease and 0.60 (95% CI. 0.29-1.28, p=0.18) in FMF compared to Behçet's disease. At logistic regression, the risk of occurrence of malignant neoplasms in FMF patients was associated with the age at disease onset (β1 = 0.039, 95% CI. 0.001-0.071, p=0.02), the age at the diagnosis (β1 = 0.048, 95% CI. 0.039-0.085, p=0.006), the age at the enrolment (β1 = 0.05, 95% CI. 0.007-0.068, p=0.01), the number of attacks per year (β1 = 0.011, 95% CI. 0.001- 0.019, p=0.008), the use of biotechnological agents (β1 = 1.77, 95% CI. 0.43-3.19, p=0.009), the use of anti-IL-1 agents (β1 = 2.089, 95% CI. 0.7-3.5, p=0.002). Conclusions: The risk for cancer is reduced in Caucasic FMF patients; however, when malignant neoplasms occur, this is more frequent in FMF cases suffering from a severe disease phenotype and presenting a colchicine-resistant disease