Oil bodies of transgenicBrassica napus as a source of immobilized β-glucuronidase

The process of immobilizing enzymes is a major cost factor in the utilization of heterogeneous catalysts on an industrial scale. We have developed a new strategy, based on plant genetic manipulation, for the production of foreign peptides associated with the oil body in plant seeds. Seeds of transgenic rapeseed can be produced on a large scale at relatively low cost. Furthermore, oil bodies are readily isolated from seeds by floatation centrifugation. In this paper, we describe some physical and operational properties of an oil body—fusion protein complex and its suitability as a heterogeneous catalyst. Oil bodies from rapeseed, corn, and flax aggregate at pH 5, which facilitates their recovery by floatation. Oil bodies from transgenic rapeseed, carrying the reporter gene β-glucuronidase or the pharmaceutical peptide, hirudin, also aggregate in the same range. This aggregation is reversible. Oil bodies are resistant to a wide range of pH, with some lysis occurring (<10%) at the extremes. They are resistant to shearing forces, such as stirring. The thermal and pH stabilities, as well as the catalytic activity of β-glucuronidase expressed on the oil body surface, are comparable to those of free β-glucuronidase enzyme.     

Expressions of supersaturation for systems containing hydrates,partially dissociated electrolytes and mixtures of electrolytes

The crystallization of hydrates and partially dissociated salts from aqueous solution is analysed from the thermodynamic viewpoint and exact expression     

Infrarotspektroskopische Untersuchungen zur Wirkung von Emulgatoren in Hefebackwaren I: Modellversuche zur Wirkung von Emulgatoren auf Gluten und Aminosäuren

Investigation on the Properties of Emulsifiers in Yeast Leavened Dough by Means of Infrared Spectroscopy I: Experiments on the Interaction of Emulsifiers With Gluten and Amino Acids The influence of emulsifiers on the development of the gluten of yeast-leavened bakery goods was investigated in model by means of FT-IR-spectroscopy. It was observed that the carbonyl valence bond frequency was red shifted due to hydrogen bonding of the carbonyl moiety to the nitrogen-hydrogen bond of the amid group of glutamine, the most frequent amino acid in gluten. The magnitude of shift is in an order of approx. 4 cm^?1. The effect was exclusively observed with glutamine. Other amino acids did not react in a comparable manner. It is concluded therefore that the contents of glutamine is crucial for the complexation of gluten and emulsifiers.     

Automatisierte Plasmatechnologie für die Wirkstoffentwicklung

Automated Plasma Technology for Drug Development Processes The fast and economic development of new drugs and materials requires a high grade of automation. Beside biochemical test methods cell based assays such as proliferation, apoptosis or cytotoxicity assays are used for the testing of potential drugs against their biological activity. The use of cells is often connected with the requirement of strict sterile conditions and environments. This results in high investments and operating costs. The use of plasma for the sterilization of different surfaces has been demonstrated in a number of investigations. A suitable plasma source has been developed for the sterilization of micro titer plates used in biological screening processes. The integration of 96 parallel plasma sources into an special device enables the automated sterilization of micro plates in highly complex robot based screening systems. The system will be tested with different cell lines and assays.     

High resolution gamma ray tomography scanner for flow measurement and non-destructive testing applications

We report on the development of a high resolution gamma ray tomography scanner that is operated with a Cs-137 isotopic source at 662 keV gamma photon energy and achieves a spatial image resolution of 0.2 line pairs/ mm at 10% modulation transfer function for noncollimated detectors. It is primarily intended for the scientific study of flow regimes and phase fraction distributions in fuel element assemblies, chemical reactors, pipelines, and hydrodynamic machines. Furthermore, it is applicable to nondestructive testing of larger radiologically dense objects. The radiation detector is based on advanced avalanche photodiode technology in conjunction with lutetium yttrium orthosilicate scintillation crystals. The detector arc comprises 320 single detector elements which are operated in pulse counting mode. For measurements at fixed vessels or plant components, we built a computed tomography scanner gantry that comprises rotational and translational stages, power supply via slip rings, and data communication to the measurement personal computer via wireless local area network.     

An automatic system for crystal growth studies at constant supersaturation

An automatic system for growing crystals from seeded supersaturated solutions at constant supersaturation is described. Control of burettes and data acquisition are controlled by computer. The system was tested with a study of the calcium oxalate kinetics of crystal growth.     

Integrated exploration of clay deposits: Some changes of strategy

Clay deposits often occur associated with deposits of ores and hydrocarbons. Because exploration projects strictly follow only one target, useful information on associated rocks is lost and valuable by-products remain unrecovered. Modern mineral policy and exploration strategy suggest integrated exploration during which all potential raw materials in the prospection area are registered and evaluated. A tough timing of exploitation often impairs selective mining and storage of valuable by-products. Regarding clays, certain modification of exploration procedures are necessary and simplification of sampling and analytical strategy is required. Integrated exploration leads to an integral extraction of all raw materials which occur in the prospected area. It also respects the geotechnical and ecological conditions of other deposits. All aspects of field exploration, subsequent laboratory examination (analyses and technological testing) and economic assessment should be balanced and scheduled in a logical sequence. Such a new strategy has to respect distinct quality requirements of different users and manufactured products. However, particular specifications of clay raw materials are nowadays too complex and not always justified. Therefore they should be unified and simplified in the near future. Civil engineering exploration, soils exploration and environmental care call for other parameters of clays. These differ from those required by ceramics and other industries. Information on basic mineral, chemical and textural properties, thorough examination of physical and chemical properties and long term behaviour of clays are of primary importance.     

CombiTool--a new computer program for analyzing combination experiments with biologically active agents.

CombiTool is a new computer program for the analysis of combination effects of biologically active agents. It performs model calculations and an analysis of experimental combination effects for two or three agents according to both the Bliss independence and the Loewe additivity criteria. Zero interaction response surfaces are calculated from single-agent dose-response relations and compared to experimental combination data. The calculation of response surfaces for Loewe additivity is based on a new approach which combines the implicit definition equation in terms of doses alone with single-agent dose-response relations. The simultaneous analysis of experimental data according to both Loewe additivity and Bliss independence within one program can hopefully contribute to a better understanding of the meaning and limits of the two criteria. CombiTool has a built-in graphics facility which allows the direct visualization of the response surfaces or the corresponding contour plots and the experimental data.     

Assessing energy supply security: Outage costs in private households

The objective of this paper is to contribute to the topic of energy supply security by proposing a Monte Carlo-based and a survey based model to analyze the costs of power interruptions. Outage cost estimations are particularly important when deciding on investments to improve supply security (e.g. additional transmission lines) in order to compare costs to benefits. But also other policy decisions on measures that have direct or indirect consequences for the supply security (e.g. a phasing out of nuclear energy) need to be based on results from outage cost estimations. The main focus of this paper lies with residential consumers, but the model is applied to commercial, industrial and governmental consumers as well. There are limited studies that have approached the problem of evaluating outage cost. When comparing the results of these studies, they often display a high degree of diversification. As consumers have different needs and dependencies towards the supply of electricity because of varying circumstances and preferences, a great diversity in outage cost is a logical consequence. To take the high degree of uncertainties into account, a Monte Carlo simulation was conducted in this study for the case of private households in Germany.