<p>ZMPSTE24 is a seven transmembrane domain zinc metalloprotease that resides in the ER and inner nuclear membranes of mammalian cells. The crystal structures of both the mammalian and yeast homologs, ZMPSTE24 and Ste24, respectively, were solved recently and revealed a common novel structure. Both structures contain a large chamber of mixed hydrophobicity that is capped on both sides. The canonical catalytic HExxH zinc-binding motif lies inside the chamber. Defects in the enzymatic function of human ZMPSTE24 have been shown to cause premature aging disorders. In addition to the well-defined role ZMPSTE24 and Ste24 play in the maturation of prelamin A in mammals and <b>a</b>-factor in yeast, both proteins have been proposed to play protective roles in Type 2 diabetes and viral infections by interactions with the cellular translocon. ZMPSTE24 can also be inhibited by several common HIV aspartyl protease inhibitors, possibly causing the frequent and common side-effects of these prescribed drugs. As of now, no precise location for substrate binding has been identified in either ZMPSTE24 or Ste24. Thus, the goal of this project is to localize residues in the enzyme that are important for substrate binding. The yeast homolog Ste24 was used as a model system as it functionally complements the mammalian enzyme and can be reliably cloned, overexpressed, and purified in an active form. </p> <p>Three approaches were taken to directly determine the <i>K_D </i>values for substrates of Ste24. The ability to perform a direct analysis of <i>K_D</i> values of Ste24 mutations was successfully optimized using microscale thermophoresis. Through <i>K_D</i> analysis, the Ste24 mutation G255A, while completely inactive, does not prevent substrate binding. Alternatively, L441A and L410A mutations showed both an increase in thermal stability and a decrease in binding affinity, that could explain their lower activity levels. A photoaffinity labeling-based proteomics experiment was utilized to precisely locate the site of the prenyl group to a hydrophobic patch lying just under a side portal of Ste24, near K234, during the -aaXing cleavage of <b>a</b>-factor maturation. To assess the method of inhibition of HIV protease inhibitors on Ste24 the conserved aspartate mutants were explored. All mutations of these aspartate residues resulted in a severe loss of Ste24 function and instability of the protein.</p>

This thesis deals with the history of a method of plants cultivation without original substrate. The method is hydroponics and its subsequent development is called aeroponics. This work outlines the design of the whole aeroponic system including a control unit. The control unit has been designed to control the injection of nutrient solution, which is essential to the life of plants.Further, the control unit performs the control of lighting period, temperature, air flow and also regulation of nutrient solution pH. The control unit also keeps records of all data necessary for the monitoring process and for the evaluation of time differencies in the system.

This thesis deals with the design of external backscatter modulator for RFID tag emulator, which is used in UHF band. This modulator is connected with the Universal Software Radio Peripheral and antenna. Realization of a backscatter modulation contains switching between a matched load and an unmatched load. Impedance of the unmatched load is continuously adjustable. Result of this thesis is function prototype.

Lipide stellen eine der wichtigsten Stoffklassen in biologischen Systeme dar und werden in verschiedene Klassen eingeordnet, die sich in ihren Aufgaben stark unterscheiden. Als Energiespeicher dienen Triacylglycerole (TAG), die aus mit Glycerol versterten Fettsäuren bestehen. Die übermäßige Einlagerung von TAG ist ein zentraler Bestandteil der Adipositas. Im Rahmen des SFB 1052 wurde sich mit den Mechanismen auseinandergesetzt, die zur Adipositas führen können. Ein wichtiger Bestandteil vieler Fragestellungen ist hierbei die Analyse von Lipidproben. Dabei besteht ein großes Interesse die Lipidzusammensetzung zuverlässig und schnell ermitteln zu können. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde zu diesem Zweck hauptsächlich die Kernspinresonanzspektroskopie (NMR) eingesetzt und teilweise durch MALDI-TOF Massenpektrometrie (MALDI-TOF MS) ergänzt. Zunächst sollte die quantitative Genauigkeit von Standard 1H-NMR Messungen mit GC-MS verglichen werden. Hierzu wurden Extrakte von Fettgeweben aus adipösen Mäusen untersucht. Es konnte hierbei eine der GC-MS überlegene Genauigkeit der NMR-Messungen festgestellt werden. Die Analyse beschränkte sich dabei zunächst auf gut voneinander getrennte Resonanzen, was die Aussagekraft der Methode begrenzte. Daher wurde weiterhin eine neuartige Form der Auswertung von Lipidspektren entwickelt, die auch überlappende Resonanzen zur Analyse nutzen kann. Es wurde hierfür eine Bibliothek aus Referenzspektren verschiedener Fettsäuren/TAG angelegt und ein Modell basierend auf Linearkombination verwendet. Die zu analysierenden Spektren wurden Summe der Referenzspektren interpretiert und entsprechend in diese Teilkomponenten zerlegt. Dadurch war es möglich wesentlich mehr Komponenten voneinander zu unterscheiden, als bei der Standardauswertung. Neben der Analyse der allgemeinen Zusammensetzung von TAG-Proben war der zweite Aspekt die Trennung und Quantifizierung von TAG-Isomeren. Durch Verwendung hochaufgelöste 13C-NMR Spektren und MALDI-TOF MS konnten detaillierte Aussagen über die TAG-Zusammensetzung getroffen werden. Der genannte Ansatz wurde an TAG Gemischen getestet und im Anschluss auf biologische Proben übertragen. Einerseits wurden hierzu verschiedene Speiseöle untersucht, wodurch sich ein detaillierter Blick auf deren vielfältige TAG Zusammensetzung ergab. Andererseits wurde die Methode auf Fettgewebe von gesunden und adipösen Mäusen angewendet und offenbarte, dass der TAG Pool bei Entwicklung einer Adipositas überraschend stabil bleibt.

A tag system using RFID is proposed to avoid bending down, walking around, or bending over a bench for scanning ski boots (for their sole measurement). Using methods such as observations and interviews, the problem was defined and then visualised with the help of a persona and storyboard. Ideas were then created through brainstorming, braindrawing, and morphological matrix. They were then sorted through by feasibility and interest and combined to create three separate concepts. These were discussed, and two finalists were analysed further and compared in a weight value matrix. The final concept is a slanted footpad with a footprint and built-in lights to invite the user and promote correct usage, which has been the project’s focus.

Surface expression of recombinant proteins has attracted a lot of attention due to its potential in applications such as enzyme production, vaccine delivery and bioremediation. Autotransporters have been used for surface expression of a variety of proteins, but the expression systems reported in literature have typically been inflexible and incapable of detecting proteolysis, thereby limiting surface expression yield. In this thesis, a modular surface expression system, utilizing dual tag detection, was therefore created. It was based on the adhesin involved in diffuse adherence (AIDA-I) autotransporter, and was here used to express the model proteins SefA and H:gm on the cell surface of Escherichia coli. Due to the dual tag detection system, proteolysed H:gm could be successfully verified on the cell surface. By optimizing cultivation conditions, surface expression yield of SefA was increased by 300 %, and proteolysis reduced by 33 %. While proteolysis could not be eliminated completely, the work presented in this thesis is a major step towards a general system for surface expression of a wide range of proteins in varied applications. / <p>QC 20130506</p>

Am 24. Oktober 2011 wurde in ganz Deutschland der „Tag der Bibliotheken“ begangen. Im Anschluss daran startete zum vierten Mal die bundesweite einwöchige Aktionswoche unter dem Motto „Treffpunkt Bibliothek – Information hat viele Gesichter“. In Sachsen waren zahlreiche Bibliotheken mit einem bunten Programm dabei.

In diesem Jahr wurde am 24. Oktober bereits zum fünften Mal der „Tag der Bibliotheken“ begangen. Wieder schloss sich die Aktionswoche „Treffpunkt Bibliothek – Information hat viele Gesichter“ an. In vielen Veranstaltungen präsentierten sich die Bibliotheken als Kultureinrichtungen und wiesen auf ihre vielfältigen Angebote hin.

With the increasing demand of compact and lightweight wireless devices, there is a significant need to miniaturize the antennas, which are one of the largest radiofrequency components. The radiation performance of antennas degrades as their physical size becomes smaller in terms of operating wavelength [1]. The key challenge in antenna design, therefore, lies in the compromise between size and radiation performance. This challenge becomes critical for low frequency antennas such as for the RFID band. The Antenna-in-Package (AiP) concept, where the antenna is realized as part of the package along with the driving electronics, provides some console in terms of size as the antenna does not need any additional space. In this approach, the package becomes a functional module along with its primary job of protecting the components from the environment. This work aims to investigate various miniaturization techniques for a UHF RFID tag on package. Firstly, a dipole is given a 3D shape by carefully folding it over a package, in a manner that the currents on different segments add constructively. Secondly, the package material (which acts as the substrate for the antenna) is chosen to have a dielectric constant of 5.3 which further helps in size reduction. Finally, loading of slow-wave structures, comprising of inductors and capacitors, is used to achieve further miniaturization. The Artificial Transmission Line approach is utilized to determine the required values of the lumped components, and its location is optimized by analyzing the current distribution of the antenna to maintain a good efficiency. The RFID chip with a large capacitive impedance is conjugately matched to the antenna without an external matching network. This is done by carefully selecting the values of the lumped components as well as by adjusting the trace width of the antenna. The package has been realized through a low-loss filament (𝑡𝑎𝑛(𝛿) = 0.004) with the Raise3D Pro2 printer, and the conductor has been realized by copper tape using laser patterning technology with the laser platform PLS6MW. At an operational frequency of 866 MHz, a 𝑘𝑎 of 0.26, a read-range of 2.7 𝑚, and a radiation efficiency of approximately 32% is achieved.

Safeners are the chemicals used to protect plants from detrimental effects of herbicides, but their mode of action at the molecular level is not well understood. As an initial step towards understanding the molecular mechanism of safener action in trees, homologous genes in hybrid poplar (Populus nigra x Populus maximowiczii) that were induced by a safener were identified. We here describe the identification of differentially expressed genes in Populus that are induced by Concep-III, a herbicide safener. Expressed sequence tags (ESTs) enriched for transcriptionally induced genes were isolated by suppressive subtractive hybridization (SSH). The SSH library cDNA inserts were used to construct a cDNA microarray for high-throughput validation of the up-regulated expression of safener-induced genes. Single-pass and partial sequences of 1,344 safener-induced ESTs were assembled into 418 single-tons and 328 clusters, but the putative functions of almost 53% of the ESTs are not known. Genes encoding proteins involved in all three different phases of safener action, viz., oxidation, conjugation, and sequestration, were found in the SSH library. Almost 75% of genes that showed greater than 2-fold expression upon safener treatment were redundant in the SSH library. The expression pattern for selected genes was validated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. A few safener-induced genes that were not previously reported to be induced by safeners, but which may have a role in herbicide metabolism, were identified. The newly identified genes could have potential for application in genetic engineering of plants for herbicide detoxification and tolerance.