Heterologous Expression of Various PHA Synthase Genes in Rhodospirillum rubrum

The phototrophic non-sulfur purple bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum is known for its metabolic versatility. Particularly, R. rubrum is able to synthesize PHA under heterotrophic or even autotrophic growth with carbon monoxide as carbon and energy source. R. rubrum has therefore become a promising candidate for future cheap PHA production. However, R. rubrum synthesizes lower amounts of PHAs in comparison to well-known PHA producers like Ralstonia eutropha H16 or recombinant Escherichia coli strains. Since the PHA synthase is the key enzyme of PHA biosynthesis, genes encoding for twelve different PHA synthases were heterologously expressed in two generated phaC deletion mutants of R. rubrum in this study. To clearly see the effect of the foreign PHA synthases, PHA-negative mutants were required. The single mutant R. rubrum ΔphaC2 showed a PHA-leaky phenotype (< 1 % PHA, wt/wt, of CDW), while the double mutant R. rubrum ΔphaC1ΔphaC2 accumulated no measurable PHA. Eight different PHA synthase genes of class I, and four of class IV were chosen for heterologous expression. All recombinant R. rubrum strains showed significant PHA synthesis and accumulation, although PHA contents in the recombinant strains of the single mutant R. rubrum ΔphaC2 were generally higher in comparison to those of the double mutant R. rubrum ΔphaC1ΔphaC2. Recombinant strains of the single mutant could be divided into two groups according to the accumulation of PHA in the cells. While recombinant strains dedicated to group one showed an increased PHA synthesis when compared to the wild type carrying an empty vector, strains of group two accumulated less PHA than the wild type. Finally, it was possible to increase the accumulation of PHA by up to 25 % due to heterologous expression of PHA synthase genes compared to the wild type

The Real Daily Need for Incontinence Aids and Appliances in Patients with Neurogenic Bladder Dysfunction in a Community Setting in Germany

PURPOSE: For successful long-term rehabilitation of patients with neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (NLUTD), it is necessary to define the objective requirement for urological aids based on a scientifically validated basis. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional multicenter study, based on a questionnaire. Data concerning bladder management and daily consumption of urological appliances for patients with NLUTD in a community setting were collected through a standardized survey. RESULTS: Seven hundred and sixty-seven records were analyzed: 543 males, 221 females (N/A = 3). Patients using intermittent catheterization (n= 608) required 5.06 (mean) single-use catheters per day. Out of them, 94 (15.5%) required additional pads (mean: 2.29 per day), 34 patients (5.6%) additionally used pants (mean: 2.55 per day) and 46 patients (7.6%) utilized condom catheters (mean: 3.81 per day) between catheterizations. Among all, 126 patients (16.4%) used pads (mean: 5.03 per day), and 51 patients (6.6%) used pants (mean: 3.03 per day). Women needed both pads (p &lt; 0.0001) and diapers (p = 0.0084) significantly more frequently than men. Eighty-two of the male patients (15.1%) applied condom catheters (mean: 2.8 per day). The target value of the objective daily requirement of incontinence aids for adult patients with NLUTD (based on the upper twofold standard deviation from the mean value) was defined as follows: up to nine single-use catheters, seven condom catheters, nine pads and/or seven pants. A “mixed supply” of different incontinence aids is part of the daily supply for many patients. CONCLUSION: For the first time, these results allow a reasonable regulation of urological aids and appliances based on scientific data for patients with neurogenic bladder

Development of the Slow Control for the PANDA-EMC

The Slow Control of the PANDA experiment will be based on EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System). EPICS is a set of open source software tools, libraries and applications used worldwide to create distributed real-time control systems for scientific instruments and industrial applications. For the PANDA-EMC the slow control will monitor the temperature, humidity and pressure inside the calorimeter as well as control the power supplies for the read out electronics, crates and the cooling system

Development of the Slow Control for the PANDA-EMC

The Slow Control of the PANDA experiment will be based on EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System). EPICS is a set of open source software tools, libraries and applications used worldwide to create distributed real-time control systems for scientific instruments and industrial applications. For the PANDA-EMC the slow control will monitor the temperature, humidity and pressure inside the calorimeter as well as control the power supplies for the read out electronics, crates and the cooling system

Technical Design Report for the: PANDA Straw Tube Tracker

This document describes the technical layout and the expected performance of the Straw Tube Tracker (STT), the main tracking detector of the PANDA target spectrometer. The STT encloses a Micro-Vertex-Detector (MVD) for the inner tracking and is followed in beam direction by a set of GEM-stations. The tasks of the STT are the measurement of the particle momentum from the reconstructed trajectory and the measurement of the specific energy-loss for a particle identification. Dedicated simulations with full analysis studies of certain proton-antiproton reactions, identified as being benchmark tests for the whole \Panda scientific program, have been performed to test the STT layout and performance. The results are presented, and the time lines to construct the STT are described

Technical design report for the PANDA (AntiProton Annihilations at Darmstadt) Straw Tube Tracker

<p>This document describes the technical layout and the expected performance of the Straw Tube Tracker (STT), the main tracking detector of the PANDA target spectrometer. The STT encloses a Micro-Vertex-Detector (MVD) for the inner tracking and is followed in beam direction by a set of GEM stations. The tasks of the STT are the measurement of the particle momentum from the reconstructed trajectory and the measurement of the specific energy loss for a particle identification. Dedicated simulations with full analysis studies of certain proton-antiproton reactions, identified as being benchmark tests for the whole PANDA scientific program, have been performed to test the STT layout and performance. The results are presented, and the time lines to construct the STT are described.</p>