Genetics and Epigenetics of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and its Treatment

Daniela Conrad – Hector Fellow Thomas Elbert

The risk to develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) depends on the number of traumatic events experienced and individual risk factors, e.g. genetic predispositions. However, to identify causal genetic variants of this polygenic disease, trauma exposure needs to be adequately assessed. More ...

Applications of Non-Invasive Ocular Signal Measurements

Margaret Deibel – Hector Fellow Eberhart Zrenner

Several goals were pursued in the development of this work, including the development of a novel in vivo method to measure the ciliary muscle of a human subject non-invasively during accommodation, the characterization of the recorded muscle signals based on the accommodative abilities of the subject, and the development of a device that would utilize the recorded muscle signals to mimic the appropriate level of accommodation for the user, actuated through the use of a variable refractive lens. More ...

Continuum Damage Models for Reliability Assessment of Structural Composites

Zalikha Murni Abdul Hamid – Hector Fellow Peter Gumbsch

The market’s demand for carbon fiber/epoxy composite has dramatically increased due to its significant applications and advantages in industry. Typical loading on the structures that are made up by this material often involves tensile and lateral bending of the composite laminates. More ...

Magnetism in Perovskite Manganites and Cobaltites at the Nano Scale

Cornelia E. Hintze – Hector Fellow Hilbert von Löhneysen

The exact position of atoms in the crystal structure of lanthanum manganites and cobaltates (both anorganic ionic compounds) significantly affects their magnetic properties. The crystal structure of these materials can be altered by pressure, substitution of elements, or crystallite size: Since nanoparticles have a large surface-to-volume ratio, their surface has a dominant effect on the crystal structure, leading to changes compared to bulk materials. More ...

Genetic & Developmental Basis of Color in Cichlid Fish

Margaret Sefton – Hector Fellow Axel Meyer

Cichlid fish are well-known for their beautiful colors and multitude of body shapes. They are found in the East African Rift lakes where they have formed so-called adaptive radiations, in which hundreds of new species originated extremely quickly – sometimes within less than 100,000 years. More ...