A New Immobilized Glucose Isomerase with High Productivity Produced by a Strain of Streptomyces murinus

The properties of a new immobilized glucose isomerase, produced by a selected strain of Streptomyces murinus, are described. The major advantages of the new immobilized enzyme are a productivity of more than 10,000 kg syrup dry substance per kg enzyme under optimal industrial conditions, increased activity and a very low syrup by-product formation. The influence of process parameters (temperature, pH and feed syrup additives) on activity and stability is discussed based on laboratory and industrial plant data.     

主编寄语

亲爱的读者: 欧洲与中国正彼此靠拢,越来越多的公司穿梭往来于两地之间.数量众多的来自德国、奥地利和瑞士的塑料及橡胶工业的供应商也加入到这股潮流之中.对他们而言,中国是最重要的销售市场之一.     

Differential Metabotypes in Synovial Fibroblasts and Synovial Fluid in Hip Osteoarthritis Patients Support Inflammatory Responses

Changes in cellular metabolism have been implicated in mediating the activated fibroblast phenotype in a number of chronic inflammatory disorders, including pulmonary fibrosis, renal disease and rheumatoid arthritis. The aim of this study was therefore to characterise the metabolic profile of synovial joint fluid and synovial fibroblasts under both basal and inflammatory conditions in a cohort of obese and normal-weight hip OA patients. Furthermore, we sought to ascertain whether modulation of a metabolic pathway in OA synovial fibroblasts could alter their inflammatory activity. Synovium and synovial fluid was obtained from hip OA patients, who were either of normal-weight or obese and were undergoing elective joint replacement surgery. The synovial fluid metabolome was determined by 1H NMR spectroscopy. The metabolic profile of isolated synovial fibroblasts in vitro was characterised by lactate secretion, oxygen consumption rate (OCR) and extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) using the Seahorse XF Analyser. The effects of a small molecule pharmacological inhibitor and siRNA targeted at glutaminase-1 (GLS1) were assessed to probe the role of glutamine metabolism in OA synovial fibroblast function. Obese OA patient synovial fluid (n = 5) exhibited a different metabotype, compared to normal-weight patient fluid (n = 6), with significantly increased levels of 1, 3-dimethylurate, N-Nitrosodimethylamine, succinate, tyrosine, pyruvate, glucose, glycine and lactate, and enrichment of the glutamine–glutamate metabolic pathway, which correlated with increasing adiposity. In vitro, isolated obese OA fibroblasts exhibited greater basal lactate secretion and aerobic glycolysis, and increased mitochondrial respiration when stimulated with pro-inflammatory cytokine TNFα, compared to fibroblasts from normal-weight patients. Inhibition of GLS1 attenuated the TNFα-induced expression and secretion of IL-6 in OA synovial fibroblasts. These findings suggest that altered cellular metabolism underpins the inflammatory phenotype of OA fibroblasts, and that targeted inhibition of glutamine–glutamate metabolism may provide a route to reducing the pathological effects of joint inflammation in OA patients who are obese.     

Blends of Two Perylene Derivatives: Mesogenic Properties and Application As Emitter Materials in OLEDs

Blends consisting of two components, namely a liquid crystalline perylene ester and a bilaterally extended perylene ester, were studied. The liquid crystalline properties of these blends were investigated in detail by means of polarized optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The resulting phase diagram was used to explore the potential of these blends as emitter layers in OLEDs, which were prepared via thermal evaporation in a vacuum and spin coating of solutions.     

Purification and structural characterisation of lipid transfer protein from red wine and grapes

Lipid transfer proteins (LTP) play a major role in plant defence and are of particular interest due to their known ability to cause allergic reactions. These proteins are expressed in grapes and also remain detectable after vinification, especially in red wine. However, it remains unknown whether the protein undergoes any changes during the vinification process. Here, we present a purification method for LTPs from Dornfelder grapes and wine. By liquid-chromatography–mass spectroscopy (LC–MS/MS) we identified LTPs from two different species (Vitis vinifera and Vitis aestivalis). Additionally, the purified LTPs were characterised using spectrometric methods, confirming their high purity and structural stability during vinification. We conclude that LTPs are resistant to the alcohol content (13.5 vol%), acidic milieu of wine and other ingredients present during the vinification process, indicating that the allergenic potential of grape LTP is not diminished by the vinification process.     

Mass Transport in Shallow Turbulent Wake Flow by Planar Concentration Analysis Technique

A planar concentration analysis (PCA) system is used for observing the transport and mixing of a tracer mass in a shallow turbulent free-surface wake flow of a large cylindrical obstacle. The nonintrusive, fieldwise PCA measuring technique is applied to evaluate depth-averaged mass concentrations by making use of light attenuation due to absorption and scattering processes related to a dissolved tracer mass. The scalar fields are decomposed into a low-frequency quasiperiodic part, the coherent flow, and a randomly fluctuating part. From accompanying near-surface velocity measurements, large-scale coherent structures are identified and related to the coherent mass fields. This allows one to assess the role of the large-scale vortices for advection and diffusion in shallow wake flows. The time–mean wake flow displays a self-similar spanwise distribution both for mass and velocity. The longitudinal development of shallow wakes initially shows the growth of unbounded wakes; in the wake far field an attenuated behavior applies.     

Competing risks as a multi-state model

This paper deals with the competing risks model as a special case of a multi-state model. The properties of the model are reviewed and contrasted to the so-called latent failure time approach. The relation between the competing risks model and right-censoring is discussed and regression analysis of the cumulative incidence function briefly reviewed. Two real data examples are presented and a guide to the practitioner is given.     

Ein Planungsansatz zum Umgang mit Störungen bei der Produktion: Die flexible Produktionsfeinplanung mithilfe von Planungsschritten

Disruptions like the breakdown of machines or delays in the delivery of materials cause generated production plans to be useless, at least in some parts. A new planning approach for coping with this uncertainty caused by disruptions is presented. Planning steps that are described by properties, preconditions and consequences are used for material requirements planning and scheduling. If their preconditions are satisfied in a certain state of environment, planning steps will be applicable. The consequences of planning steps change the state of environment. Each customer order establishes a goal of a new planning problem to be achieved by applying planning steps. Plan execution concerns all planning steps applicable in a certain state of environment. In choosing among applicable planning steps and among available resources the flexibility of plan execution is preserved.     

Changes of physicochemical indicators during mastitis and the effects of milk ejection on their sensitivity

We examined the relationship between physicochemical indicators and somatic cells in the milk of dairy cows during experimentally induced mastitis and their significance as indicators for use in controlling udder health. We were concerned particularly with the effect of alveolar milk ejection on the sensitivity of these indicators. In Expt 1, Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (Esch. coli LPS) was injected into the left rear quarter to induce an inflammatory reaction in one quarter in each of six cows. The contralateral control quarter was injected with a solution of NaCl (9 g/l). Nine milk samples were taken from both quarters until 60 h after injection. In Expt 2, repeated milk samples were taken every 20 s from one quarter during a 120-s teat stimulation in 20 cows with different somatic cell counts (SCC). Quarters were clustered for low (<5.0 log cells/ml), mid (5.0-5.7 log cells/ml) and high (>5.7 log cells/ml) SCC of the sample taken at t=0 s. Samples were analysed for SCC, electrical conductivity (EC) and Na+ and Cl- concentrations. During the experimental inflammation SCC, EC, Na+ and Cl- peaked at 12 h from LPS administration and values in treated quarters (T) at this time were elevated to 7900, 157, 501 and 169% of the values in untreated quarters, respectively. In Expt 2, SCC, EC, Na+ and Cl- in high SCC quarters were 2520, 121, 283 and 141% of low SCC quarters at the start of stimulation (t=0 s), respectively. Highly significant (P<0.001) differences in EC, Na+ and Cl- between high and low SCC quarters disappeared owing to the onset of alveolar milk ejection 100 s after the first contact with the teat. In conclusion, SCC in cows' milk provided the strongest amplitude in the case of an intramammary inflammation. EC, Na+ or Cl- were useful tools only if the measurements were performed in cisternal milk before the start of alveolar milk ejection.