Declaration of Authorship

“I declare in lieu of an oath that the Master thesis submitted has been produced by me without illegal help from other persons. I state that all passages which have been taken out of publications of all means or unpublished material either whole or in part, in words or ideas, have been marked as quotations in the relevant passage. I also confirm that the quotes included show the extent of the original quotes and are marked as such. I know that a false declaration will have legal consequences.” i

Albumin in patients with liver disease shows an altered conformation

Paar et al. propose a SAXS-based approach to study conformations of human serum albumin (HSA) from patients with liver disease and a structural understanding of HSA dynamicity and its correlation with clinical variables are provided. Using it on real clinical samples, this study has concrete practical implications too

Processing Hundreds of SARS-CoV-2 Samples with an In-House PCR-Based Method without Robotics

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has required the development of multiple testing systems to monitor and control the viral infection. Here, we developed a PCR test to screen COVID-19 infections that can process up to ~180 samples per day without the requirement of robotics. For this purpose, we implemented the use of multichannel pipettes and plate magnetics for the RNA extraction step and combined the reverse transcription with the qPCR within one step. We tested the performance of two RT-qPCR kits as well as different sampling buffers and showed that samples taken in NaCl or PBS are stable and compatible with different COVID-19 testing systems. Finally, we designed a new internal control based on the human RNase P gene that does not require a DNA digestion step. Our protocol is easy to handle and reaches the sensitivity and accuracy of the standardized diagnostic protocols used in the clinic to detect COVID-19 infections

From targets to impacts: Eight steps for evaluating energy efficiency policies

Germany’s energy system is currently undergoing a massive transformation. Besides a shift towards renewable energy, energy efficiency is playing a key part in the transformation towards a green energy economy. This is reflected in ambitious energy efficiency targets; the reduction of primary energy consumption by 20% by 2020 and 50% by 2050 (both compared to a 2008 baseline). In order to achieve these targets, the German government introduced new energy efficiency policies. Many of them are funded through the Energy Efficiency Fund (EEF), which is financed by the German government and revenues from the European emissions trading scheme. The EEF overall, and all its individual policies, will be subjected to an independent evaluation process. In order to ensure a homogenous evaluation, the evaluators (the authors of this paper) developed a common evaluation approach. For successful monitoring of energy efficiency policies financed with Federal funds, German law demands monitoring in three areas: (1) target achievement (2) effectiveness and (3) efficiency (cost effectiveness). The evaluation system outlines objectives, indicators and methods. Based on these legal and methodological foundations, we derive an eight-step evaluation approach. This paper describes this approach and outlines how the approach is applied to a specific program that provides funding for energy management systems in companies