A new method for constructing linker scanning mutants

A new procedure for the construction of linker scanning mutants is described. A plasmid containing the target DNA is randomly linearized and slightly shortened by a novel combination of established methods. After partial apurination with formic acid a specific nick or small gap is introduced at the apurinic site by exonuclease III, followed by nuclease S1 cleavage of the strand opposite the nick/gap. Synthetic linkers are ligated to the ends and plasmids having the linker inserted in the target DNA are enriched. Putative linker scanning mutants are identified by their topoisomer patterns after relaxation with topoisomerase I. This technique allows the distinction of plasmids differing in length by a single basepair. We have used this rapid and efficient strategy to generate a set of 32 linker scanning mutants covering the chicken lysozyme promoter from –208 to +1

Tissue-specific DNase I-hypersensitive sites in the 5´flanking sequences of the trytophane oxygenase and tyrosine aminotransferase genes

The genes for tryptophan oxygenase (TO) and tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) are expressed in a tissue- and development-specific manner and are regulated by glucocorticoids (TO and TAT) and glucagon or its intracellular mediator cAMP (TAT) in rat liver. We have analyzed the chromatin structure of these genes in the vicinity of the 5' ends with regard to DNaseI hypersensitivity and have found DNaseI hypersensitive sites upstream of each of the promoters. Mapping of this region reveals three closely spaced cleavage sites near the TO promoter and a doublet of sites near the TAT promoter. In both genes additional cleavage sites are found further upstream. All hypersensitive sites of both genes are absent in kidney nuclei and therefore appear to be specific for the tissue expressing the genes. A correlation of expression and modified chromatin structure was also observed in a hepatoma cell line expressing TAT but not TO: hypersensitive sites are present in TAT but not in TO chromatin. Upon glucocorticoid induction an additional hypersensitive site is detected approximately 2 kb upstream of the TAT promoter in liver and hepatoma cells

Die Herausbildung normativer Ordnungen : zur Idee eines interdisziplinären Forschungsprogramms

Ein geistes- und sozialwissenschaftliches Forschungsprogramm betritt mit der These, dass wir in einer Zeit tiefgreifender sozialer Veränderungen leben, kein Neuland. Ein thematischer Fokus auf die Frage der Herausbildung normativer Ordnungen mit Bezug auf die entsprechenden Verschiebungen, Umbrüche und Konflikte in verschiedenen Gesellschaften und auf transnationaler Ebene bringt dagegen etwas Neues und Wichtiges ans Licht. Das ist jedenfalls unsere Überzeugung

Innenansichten: über die Dynamik normativer Konflikte : Jürgen Habermas’ Philosophie im Lichte eines aktuellen Forschungsprogramms

Das Werk von Jürgen Habermas ragt einsam aus der Theorielandschaft unserer Tage heraus, denn ihm ist es auf einzigartige Weise gelungen, eine einheitliche Theorie in der Vielzahl der disziplinären Stimmen der Philosophie und der Sozial- und Rechtswissenschaften zu schaffen: die Theorie des Diskurses. Sie hat auf all diesen Gebieten innovativ und paradigmenbildend gewirkt, was sich nicht zuletzt daran zeigt, wie stark seine Erkenntnisse auf neuere Forschungsprogramme wirken. Ein Beispiel hierfür ist der Frankfurter Exzellenzcluster »Herausbildung normativer Ordnungen«, der seit Herbst 2007 von der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft gefördert wird und unter anderem neun neue Professuren an der Goethe-Universität geschaffen und besetzt hat. In mehr als 30 Forschungsprojekten arbeiten Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler zu unterschiedlichen Fragestellungen der Veränderung gesellschaftlicher Ordnungen

Pressure-Induced Alterations in the Protein Pattern of the Thermophilic Archaebacterium Methanococcus thermolithotrophicus

Elevated hydrostatic pressure has been shown to affect the growth rate of the thermophilic methanobacterium Methanococcus thermolithotrophicus without extending its temperature range of viability. Analysis of the cell inventory after approximately 10 h of incubation at 65 degrees C and 50 MPa (applying high-pressure liquid chromatography and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis) proved that pressure induces alterations in the protein pattern and the amino acid composition of the total cell hydrolysate. Gels showed that after pressurization a series of (basic) proteins with a molecular mass in the range of 38 and 70 kilodaltons occurs which is not detectable in cells grown at normal atmospheric pressure. The question of whether the observed alterations are caused by the perturbation of the balance of protein synthesis and turnover or by the pressure-induced synthesis of compounds analogous to heat shock proteins remains unanswered

On radiation-zone dynamos

It is shown that the magnetic current-driven (`kink-type') instability produces flow and field patterns with helicity and even with \alpha-effect but only if the magnetic background field possesses non-vanishing current helicity \bar{\vec{B}}\cdot curl \bar{\vec{B}} by itself. Fields with positive large-scale current helicity lead to negative small-scale kinetic helicity. The resulting \alpha-effect is positive. These results are very strict for cylindric setups without z/I>-dependence of the background fields. The sign rules also hold for the more complicated cases in spheres where the toroidal fields are the result of the action of differential rotation (induced from fossil poloidal fields) at least for the case that the global rotation is switched off after the onset of the instability.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Proceedings of IAU Symp. 274: Advances in Plasma Astrophysic

Field of research in sustainable manufacturing

Sustainability has raised significant attention in manufacturing research over the last decades and has become a significant driver of the development of innovative technologies and management concepts. The current chapter aims to provide a structured overview of the wide field of research in sustainable manufacturing with a particular focus on manufacturing technology and management. It intends to describe the role of manufacturing in sustainability, outline the complementary approaches necessary for a transition to sustainable manufacturing and specify the need for engaging in interdisciplinary research. Based on a literature review, it provides a structuring framework defining four complementary areas of research focussing on analysis, synthesis and transition solutions. The challenges of the four areas of research manufacturing technologies (“how things are produced”), product development (“what is being produced”), value creation networks (“in which organisational context”) and global manufacturing impacts (“how to make a systemic change”) are highlighted and illustrated with examples from current research initiatives

Non-axisymmetric Magnetorotational Instabilities in Cylindrical Taylor-Couette Flow

We study the stability of cylindrical Taylor-Couette flow in the presence of azimuthal magnetic fields, and show that one obtains non-axisymmetric magnetorotational instabilities, having azimuthal wavenumber m=1. For Omega_o/Omega_i only slightly greater than the Rayleigh value (r_i/r_o)^2, the critical Reynolds and Hartmann numbers are Re_c ~ 10^3 and Ha_c ~ 10^2, independent of the magnetic Prandtl number Pm. These values are sufficiently small that it should be possible to obtain these instabilities in the PROMISE experimental facility.Comment: final version as accepted by Phys Rev Let

Sol-gel preparation of scratch-resistant AI₂O₃ coatings on float glass

Glass surfaces including those of automotive glazing show insufficient Scratch resistance. In order to improve this, a sol-gel process has been developed by means of which scratch-resistant and transparent corundum coatings (α-Αl₂O₃) may be deposited on glass surfaces. Coatings which were produced by using commercial boehmite(AlOOH) dispersions could also be completely transformed into α-Αl₂O₃, but they were not dense enough at about 500 nm thickness. Coatings produced by an alkoxide-gel process from aluminium butoxide were dense at a thickness of maximal 100 nm and adhered very well to the glass surface which had been slightly roughened by HF etching. Α Scratch test with a quartz grain showed that the damage of the glass surfaces coated in this way was less than 2 % compared to that of uncoated surfaces. Transmission of these coated glasses was about 90 % in the visible wavelength ränge

Open Educational Resources as a Driver for Manufacturing-related Education for Learning of Sustainable Development

Since the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) launched its OpenCourseWare program in 2002, the idea of an open and democratic education has spread rapidly all over the globe. Under the name of “Open Educational Resources” (OER), innumerable working sheets, curricular and teaching units have been developed and shared digitally under free commons licenses, connecting teachers and learners worldwide. Especially with regard to the UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Program, the concept has been allocated a pole position. However, challenges arise when it comes to matters of repository design, traceability, quality control and user acceptance. In this paper studies are presented that assess German and English manufacturing-related OER for sustainability education, targeting high school students, showing challenges and potentials of open education for sustainable manufacturing. It will be shown that classic schoolbooks leave inacceptable gaps when covering sustainable development by ignoring both, core issues of sustainable development and central didactic standards of Education for Sustainable Development such as competency-orientation. Although there are a number of German and English OER initiatives that could help close these gaps, they often do not make use of the full OER potential, as will be shown via quality assessment and a comparative analysis. Finally, an OER development process of the Collaborative Research Centre 1026 “Sustainable Manufacturing” will be described as a best practice example.DFG, 199828953, SFB 1026: Sustainable Manufacturing - Globale Wertschöpfung nachhaltig gestalte