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Staphylococcus aureus is a gram positive bacterium frequently occurring in nature. Over the years a resistant form developed which is known as MRSA – methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus. MRSA can cause severe problems especially in immune compromised patients. The antibiotic of choice to treat these infections was vancomycin. But since resistance to vancomycin has also been observed as well as the development of multiple resistances the application of the recently used antibiotics is increasingly limited. Novel active substances are provided. Their application will overcome resistance mechanisms based on genetic variability because they show a different mode of action.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Some forms are very aggressive due to their invasive growth and the high frequency of metastases. Treatment is extremely difficult and costly, especially when highly specific antibodies are applied. Two enzymes play a major role in the development of tumors – HER2 and Brk. Enzyme inhibitors developed so far only inhibit HER2. The effectiveness is however limited since resistance has developed due to mutations in HER2. Novel substances are provided which selectively inhibit HER2 and/or Brk. The application of these substances allows addressing three important processes concurrently: the receptor mediated tumor growth, the inhibition of apoptosis, and metastasis.

Carotenoids are widely used, i.e. in the food and cosmetics industries for coloring and as scavengers. They can be extracted from plant material or produced chemically. The trend is to establish biotechnological processes but so far the yields are often too low. The application of a novel process for the cultivation Blakeslea trispora results in high yields of carotenoids.

Subject of this innovation is a silver-free paste for establishing contacts in solar cells with nickel, nickel compounds or titanium instead of silver.
The process involves the local opening of the dielectric layer at moderate temperatures, thereby allowing the nickel particles in the paste to form nickel silicide with the surface of the silicon substrate. The high-energy-step of firing the silver contacts with glass frit can be dispensed with.
Furthermore, it is possible to strengthen the nickel layer with copper or tin to increase the electrical conductivity of the contacts still further.

The invention provides a novel predictive biomarker to help identify the patient population with the most
favorable clinical outcome to angiogenesis-targeted treatment in mCRC patients. Experiments revealed that patients with low pretherapeutic Ang-2 serum levels
receiving a bevacizumab-containing treatment were associated with a better Response rate compared to patients with high pretherapeutic Ang-2 levels. Additionally to a reduced risk of death (>90%) patients with low pretherapeutic Ang-2 levels showed a
significant increase in progression-free survival (up to five months).

Alexander Disease (AxD) is a rare fatal neurodegenerative disorder that is attributed to mutations in glial fubrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Clinically, AxD is considered a type of leukoencephalopathy sometimes characterized by demyelination of the central nervous system (CNS) and the formation of GFAP-containing Rosenthal fibers in astrocytes.

While it has been shown that GFAP mutations cause AxD, the exact pathomechanism is still unknown and there is still no accepted line of treatment.

The present invention provides a new approach for AxD therapy based on the newly indentified role of GFAP in the unconventional secretory pathway (USP).