Echo questions in German and Polish on the basis of literary dialogues and their translation

The paper deals with two types of German and Polish echo-questions (so called Rückfragen and Gegenfragen) and their communicative functions. It will be discussed which linguistic means can be used to achieve these functions in both languages.The paper deals with two types of German and Polish echo-questions (so called Rückfragen and Gegenfragen) and their communicative functions. It will be discussed which linguistic means can be used to achieve these functions in both languages.

Expanding the repertoire of sortases applicable for advanced protein engineering

Sortases are transpeptidases which are used to modify, ligate and immobilize peptides or proteins in a site-specific manner 1. To extend the portfolio of sortases used to engineer proteins in vitro, a new type of assay was developed, applicable as high throughput screening tool but also as very sensitive analytical method. With this so-called Reporter Immobilization Assay (REIA) it was possible to perform a biodiversity screening of a variety of wild type sortases found in different species as well as a directed evolution campaign on one of those wild type enzymes 2. The biodiversity screening revealed that the sortase A from Listeria monocytogenes (Lm-SrtA) holds a high reactivity to the unusual LPXTA sort motif. This newly described specificity of Lm-SrtA can be used for efficient orthogonal double-labeling approaches e.g. in combination with sortase A from S. aureus (Sa-SrtA) catalyzing conjugation reactions at the conventional LPXTG sort motif. Furthermore, the Lm-SrtA appears calcium-independent and for this reason is able to catalyze conjugation reactions in vivo. Based on this finding, the Lm-SrtA is suggested as intracellular bioengineering tool. Another conclusion of the biodiversity screening was that Sa-Srt appears as the most efficient wild type enzyme for conjugation at the LPXTG motif, as described also by previous studies performed by others 3. Based on its high starting efficiency, a directed evolution approach was performed with the REIA with the intent to further increase activity and affinity of Sa-SrtA. After four rounds of directed evolution, indeed a five-time mutant of Sa-SrtA was identified possessing a dramatically increased catalytic efficiency and even slightly increased thermo stability. Finally, molecular dynamics simulations gave first insights that two of these five beneficial mutations found in the engineered Sa-SrtA variant are stabilizing the catalytically active Arginine which is in charge of substrate binding and oxyanion stabilization. 1. Schmohl, L.; Schwarzer, D., Curr Opin Chem Biol 2014, 22, 122-8. 2. Schatte, M.; Bocola, M.; Roth, T.; Martinez, R.; Kopetzki, E.; Schwaneberg, U.; Bönitz-Dulat, M., Bioconjugate chemistry 2016, 27, 1484-1492. 3. Navarre, W. W.; Schneewind, O., Mol Microbiol 1994, 14, 115-21

Die Wechselwirkung von N3F mit Lewis-Säuren und HF. N3F als möglicher Vorläufer für die Synthese von N3+-Salzen

Triazadienyl fluoride, N3F, forms stable adducts with BF3 and AsF5 at low temperatures, as demonstrated by infrared measurements. The Lewis acids are bonded to the Nα-atom of N3F, as deduced from the data for 15N-isotopically enriched N3F. The basicity of N3F is comparable to that of ethine and ethene, according to the HF stretching frequency of the N3F/HF complex isolated in an argon matrix. Despite the low NF bond energy (< 150 kJ/mol), abstraction of the fluoride ion and formation of an N3+ salt was not possible. The different behavior of N3F and ClN3 towards Lewis acids is discussed

Animal studies on Spacelab-3

The flight of two squirrel monkeys and 24 rates on Spacelab-3 was the first mission to provide hand-on maintenance on animals in a laboratory environment. With few exceptions, the animals grew and behaved normally, were free of chronic stress, and differed from ground controls only for gravity-dependent parameters. One of the monkeys exhibited symptoms of space sickness similar to those observed in humans, which suggests squirrel monkeys may be good models for studying the space-adaptation syndrome. Among the wide variety of parameters measured in the rats, most notable was the dramatic loss of muscle mass and increased fragility of long bones. Other interesting rat findings were those of suppressed interferon production by spleen cells, defective release of growth hormone by somatotrophs, possible dissociation of circadian pacemakers, changes in hepatic lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, and hypersensitivity of marrow cells to erythopoietin. These results portend a strong role for animals in identifying and elucidating the physiological and anatomical responses of mammals to microgravity

Artificial Intelligence for Sustainability: Facilitating Sustainable Smart Product-Service Systems with Computer Vision

The usage and impact of deep learning for cleaner production and sustainability purposes remain little explored. This work shows how deep learning can be harnessed to increase sustainability in production and product usage. Specifically, we utilize deep learning-based computer vision to determine the wear states of products. The resulting insights serve as a basis for novel product-service systems with improved integration and result orientation. Moreover, these insights are expected to facilitate product usage improvements and R&D innovations. We demonstrate our approach on two products: machining tools and rotating X-ray anodes. From a technical standpoint, we show that it is possible to recognize the wear state of these products using deep-learning-based computer vision. In particular, we detect wear through microscopic images of the two products. We utilize a U-Net for semantic segmentation to detect wear based on pixel granularity. The resulting mean dice coefficients of 0.631 and 0.603 demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach. Consequently, experts can now make better decisions, for example, to improve the machining process parameters. To assess the impact of the proposed approach on environmental sustainability, we perform life cycle assessments that show gains for both products. The results indicate that the emissions of CO2 equivalents are reduced by 12% for machining tools and by 44% for rotating anodes. This work can serve as a guideline and inspire researchers and practitioners to utilize computer vision in similar scenarios to develop sustainable smart product-service systems and enable cleaner production

Poly[μ-(1,3-dihy­droxy­propan-2-olato)-potassium]

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, [K(C3H7O3)]n or K[H2gl]n, common name potassium glycerolate, contains half the K+ cation and half of the glycerolate anion. The other half of the anion is generated through a mirror plane passing through the K atom, and a C, an H and an O atom of the glycerolate ligand. The K+ ion is coordinated by the O atoms of the OH groups, leading to a six-membered chelate ring that adopts a very distorted boat conformation. The negatively charged O atom of the glycerolate anion, [H2gl−], is found in the flagpole position and forms an ionic bond with the K+ ion. The O atoms of the hydroxo groups are coordinated to two K+ ions, whereas the negatively charged O atom is bonded to one K+ ion. The K+ ion is coordinated by three other symmetry-related monodentate H2gl− ligands, so that each H2gl− ligand is bonded to two K+ ions, and the potassium has a seven-coordinate environment. The H2gl− ligands are connected via a strong O—H⋯O hydrogen bond and, together with the K⋯O inter­connections, form polymeric sheets which propagate in the directions of the a and b axes

Expressions of kindness in german as a foreign language handbooks

In teaching of every foreign language routines and pattern expressions play a very important role, e.g. expressions of kindness. In this paper the author conducts an analysis of 6 handbooks of the German language, trying to define what expressions of kindness, (and their number and form) consider the method according to which a given handbook was designed

Norms of reference of qualifying sentential adferbials in the spoken language texts

The article presents the division of sentential adverbs depending on their connection with: 1) logical value of sentence, 2) scope of sentence value, 3) relevance of content, 4) division of text and 5) evaluating statements, and then argues with paraphrasing as the method of explaining meaning and function. The author proposes using different connections of sentential adyerbs as the criterion of the choice of means of explanation. This classification allows to precisely define the yarious norms of reference of ąualifying sentential adyerbs

Phraseologisierte Partizipalkonstruktionen im Deutschen und Polnischen

The author analyses participial constructions in German and Polish taking into consideration their semantic aspect as well as pragmatie one and discusses their specific status on the borderline between syntax and phraseology