No description available.

No description available.

Stuttgart, Univ., Diss., 2000.

Cardiac contraction at the level of the sarcomere is regulated by the thin filament (TF) composed of actin, alpha tropomyosin (TPM), and the troponin (Tn) complex (cTnT: cTnC: cTnI). The "gate-keeper" protein, α-TPM, is a highly conserved α-helical, coiled-coil dimer that spans actin and regulates myosin-actin interactions. The N-terminus of one α-TPM dimer inter-digitates with the C-terminus of the adjacent dimer in a head-to-tail fashion forming the flexible and cooperative TPM-overlap that is necessary for myofilament activation. Two dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) causing mutations in TPM (D84N and D230N) and one hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) causing mutation (E62Q), all identified in large, unrelated, multigenerational families, were utilized to study how primary alterations in protein structure cause functional deficits. We hypothesize that structural changes from a single point mutation propagate along the -helical coiled-coil of TPM, thus affecting its regulatory function. Structural effects of the mutations studied via differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) on TPM alone revealed significant changes in the thermal unfolding temperatures of both the C- and N-termini for all mutants compared to WT, indicating that mutational effects propagate to both ends of TPM, thus affecting the overlap region. Although, of note, the proximal termini to the mutation has shown more significant structural changes compared to WT. DSC analysis on fully reconstituted TF’s (Tn:TPM:Actin) revealed effects on the TPM-Actin cooperativity of activation, affecting interaction strength (thermal stability), and the rigidity of TPM moving along actin (FWHM). To characterize the resultant functional effect of these discrete changes in thermal stability and TPM rigidity, ATPase assays were used to measure actomyosin activation in the presence and absence of Ca2+. Together, these data will provide a molecular level understanding of the structural and functional deficits caused by these mutations to help elucidate the mechanisms leading to disease.

Zugl.: Halle (Saale), Univ., Diss., 2008

Stuttgart, Univ., Diss., 2000.

This study presents results on the use of ellipsometry as a novel probe for thin films of a diblock copolymer. Ellipsometry makes use of the change in polarisation induced upon reflection of light from a film covered substrate to enable calculation of the refractive index and thickness of the film. The infom1ation obtained in these measurements can be compared to differential scanning calorimetry, with the additional advantages that small sample volumes and slow cooling rates can be employed, and expansion coefficients can be determined. The work is presented in two parts; first crystallisation within the phase-separated domains is studied, then a morphological transition in the diblock ordering is characterised. By studying the temperature dependence of the film thickness and refractive index, crystallisation kinetics within very small volumes( 10^-10 L) of a poly (butadiene-b-ethylene oxide) diblock copolymer are measured. Through a comparison of two different PEO block lengths, a reduction in both the crystallisation and melting temperatures is demonstrated as the domain volume is decreased. Upon cooling, an additional transition is observed. We ascribe this to a morphological transition from a layer of ordered spheres to a lamellar layer at the substrate, which is consistent with a comparison between the data and simulated ellipsometry data. The sensitivity of ellipsometry makes it a well suited and versatile technique for probing thin film kinetics in diblock copolymers. / Thesis / Bachelor of Science (BSc)

No / The present study demonstrates the application of decision tree algorithms to the co-crystallization process. Fifty four (54) batches of carbamazepine–salicylic acid co-crystals embedded in poly(ethylene oxide) were manufactured via hot melt extrusion and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, differnetial scanning calorimetry, and near-infrared spectroscopy. This dataset was then applied in WEKA, which is an open-sourced machine learning software to study the effect of processing temperature, screw speed, screw configuration, and poly(ethylene oxide) concentration on the percentage of co-crystal conversion. The decision trees obtained provided statistically meaningful and easy-to-interpret rules, demonstrating the potential to use the method to make rational decisions during the development of co-crystallization processes.

No description available.

Mit der Entwicklung und Einführung ökologischer Bauweise im Neubau sowie neuen Baustoffsystemen in Sandwichbauweise wird es zunehmend erforderlich, neue effektive Befestigungsvarianten zu entwickeln, die eine dauerhafte Fixierung auch unter sicherheitstechnischen Bestimmungen sowie aus Garantie- bzw. haftungsrechtlichen Gründen ermöglichen. Die aus der Praxis bisher bekannten chemischen Befestigungssysteme (Zweikomponentenverbundmörtel, Verbundankerpatronen) weisen hinsichtlich der Applikation unter bautechnischen Bedingungen noch einige Nachteile auf. Dazu gehören vor allem längere Aushärtungszeiten zur Realisierung der abschließenden Verbundfestigkeit, Inhomogenitäten im Verbund, der Einsatz toxischer Verbindungen und eine Limitierung der Applikationsmöglichkeiten in horizontalen und Überkopf-Einsatzbereichen sowie Hohlkammersystemen. Alle zuvor genannten Punkte haben bis jetzt die Nutzung solcher Verbundwerkstoffe als universale Anwendungsmöglichkeit verhindert. Ein neues chemisches Befestigungssystem, welches aus Novolak gehärteten mit Hexamethylentetramin (Hexa) und anorganischen Füllstoff besteht, wurde für Applikationen in Beton entwickelt. Das Bindemittel härtet bei der Temperaturzuführung aus. Die unkatalysierte Befestigungsmasse zeigt bei einer Temperatur zwischen 150-300 °C eine hohe Reaktivität. Die Vorteile dieses Systems sind die unbegrenzte Lagerfähigkeit der vorgemischten härtbaren Masse sowie die Gewährleistung einer homogenen Netzwerkstruktur im gesamten Verbund und sie ist frei von giftigen und flüchtigen Substanzen. Auf den Einsatz toxischer Substanzen wurde verzichtet. In dieser Arbeit wurde die Gesamtkinetik der Reaktion während des Aushärtungsprozesses dieser Polymerkomposite untersucht. Die DSC- (nicht-isothermen, isothermen) und MDSC-Untersuchungen haben sich als ein sicheres Verfahren zur Qualitätskontrolle des Aushärtezustands der Befestigungssysteme herausgestellt. Parallel zur nicht-isothermischen und isothermischen DSC wurden Leitfähigkeitsmessungen durchgeführt, um den Endpunkt der Aushärtungsreaktion zu bestimmen. / The development and introduction of ecological construction methods and the use of sandwich materials make it necessary to develop new fixing systems and technologies. Dealing with the application in concrete and other substrates commercial chemical fixing systems show some disadvantages up to date. Especially the rather long curing time in order to realize the final bond strength, inhomogenities in the composite, the partial use of toxic substances and application limits of such systems in horizontal direction as well as hollow section materials has so far prevented the use of such composites for all-purpose applications. A new chemical fixing system, which consists of hexamethylene tetramine (hexa) cured novolac and inorganic filler, was developed for application in concrete. It is applied by a thermo-curing procedure. The uncatalyzed curable mixture has a high reactivity at temperature between 150-300 °C. Compared with commercial chemical fixing systems, the premixed curable mass has many benefits. First it has a unique storage stability and second, it is free of toxic and volatile substances. Another important aspect is, it is self-foaming. In this study was investigated the overall kinetics of the reaction during the curing process of these polymer composites. An appropriate method for this experiment proved to be the DSC in isothermal and non-isothermal mode and MDSC. This turned out to be a safe quality control technique for these systems. Parallel to the non-isothermal and isothermal DSC conductivity measurements have been performed to determine the end point of the curing reaction.