Technologieangebote

Our scientists have identified a conserved defense mechanism covering a new metabolite in tobacco that protects against leafhoppers. They have discovered how to reconstitute it in vitro and engineer the compound in crop plants, demonstrating that it confers resistance to herbivores.

File no.: MI-1012-5677-LI-ZE
(liked to MI-1012-4430-LI-ZE describing the generation of neuro- epithelial stem cells as precursors for microtissue generation)

A robust method for producing and analyzing highly homogenous human neural organoids.

Recently, many efforts have been made to improve growth and yield of crop plants. CO₂ fixation in plants is primarily catalyzed by the enzyme ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (Rubisco). The inherent inefficiency of Rubisco necessitates an additional metabolic process termed photorespiration, which results in the loss of carbon and energy. In fact, it has been estimated that plants lose approximately 25% of the fixed carbon due to photorespiration. Despite several attempts to improve ...

With approximately 600,000 deaths annually colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancer types worldwide. Early cancer and pre-cancer (polyps) detection by colonoscopy over the age of 50 until now is the best strategy for disease control and the chance of the cancer to be curable. Epigenetic changes such as DNA methylation has been shown to occur already at early stages of tumor development making such differentially methylated regions (DMRs) highly attractive for biomarker development ...

Cancer remains a major health burden and is the second leading cause of death globally (WHO). The microenvironment of cancer cells plays an important role in disease progression. In particular, the composition of the extracellular matrix regulates angiogenesis, cell proliferation, differentiation, cell survival and apoptosis. Dysregulation and accumulation of the extracellular matrix promotes cellular transformation and metastasis leading to cancer progression. A better understanding of the role ...

Noble metals are used in various fields of application such as catalysis, jewelry, high technology electronic equipment, equipment for glass industry and many others. As noble metals are rare and hard to extract from the ores or exhausted compounds, many efforts have been undertaken to establish an efficient recycling process. Due to their corrosion resistant properties, noble metals recycling by means of dissolution is limited to the usage of very reactive and harmful chemicals such as Aqua Regia. ...

The study of mechanical properties of materials at high temperatures at the microstructural length scale requires dedicated testing setups. An accurate measurement of the sample temperature is vital for reliable testing. Most of the successful current testing platforms record the temperatures of the sample and tip near the heating sources but not at the respective surface. As a consequence, due to spatial and temporal thermal gradients a reliable surface temperature cannot be measured today. Even ...

Conventional mechanical zippers find manifold applications for luggage, clothing or even industrial applications. However, their design features significant disadvantages. In particular, they require the use of both hands by the user to align the ends of the garment and lock the insertion pin into the slider. This mechanism can be prone to jamming and failure and more generally requires the user to free his or her hands. The user must further use one or both hands to move the slider along the ...

Prof. Alois Fürstner and co-workers at Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung developed a new class of molybdenum alkylidyne catalysts equipped with tripodal silanolate ligands which mark a significant milestone in the field of alkyne metathesis. Their improved stability, functional group tolerance, and ease of synthesis position them as valuable tools for researchers and industry professionals alike, promising to expand the scope of alkyne metathesis applications ...

Ultrasound is being used in many fields ranging from medical imaging and therapy to non-destructive testing, contact-free particle handling or spatially selective heating in industrial settings. Often, those applications require shaping (including focusing) of an ultrasonic field. Compared to existing transducers with fixed lenses or phased array transducers (PATs) the present invention allows much more sophisticated sound fields to be generated using much simpler and cheaper technology.

The development of the cation channel channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii by Prof. Ernst Bamberg and his colleagues and its application to light-induced modulation of neurons paved the way for the field of optogenetics.
Over time the light-gated cation channel channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) has become an indispensable tool in neuroscience. Based on the pioneering work on ChR2 new variants have emerged, differing in their spectrum of light absorption, their kinetic ...

To monitor crystallization processes a special camera setup to measure the crystal size and 3D shape distribution was developed.
The setup consists of two high-speed cameras that are positioned orthogonally to one another such that a precise overlap of both fields of view can be achieved. The setup further contains a specially designed flow-through cell that allows to observe the crystal suspension from both camera directions and given the opportunity to temperate the solution within the cell. ...

Die Erfindung betrifft einen Bildleiter, der insbesondere für den Einsatz in einer Umgebung mit radioaktiver Strahlung geeignet ist. In einer solchen Umgebung verringert sich die Transmission des Bildleiters mit der Zeit. Bekannterweise kann die Transmission des Bildleiters durch Erwärmen auf eine Temperatur im Bereich von 100° bis 300° regeneriert werden. Weil dieses Erwärmen bisher in einem Ofen erfolgte, implizierte das Regenerieren des Bildleiters seinen Abbau von seinem Betriebsort, ...

The diterpenoid paclitaxel (taxol) is a chemotherapy medication widely used as a first-line treatment against several types of solid cancers. However, adequate supply has remained a major challenge. Extraction of paclitaxel from natural sources is limited, while the chemical synthesis is complex and economically unfavourable. Currently paclitaxel is mainly produced by microbial fermentation or in plant cell cultures with low overall yields. Ideally, paclitaxel production is reconstructed in a ...

A lightweighted,  long-life, long-range and low-cost Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)-based tracking system with monitoring app.

Our scientists developed a vector-based high tolerable and efficient antiviral (plasmid-derived defective interfering particles) to support IAV pandemic preparedness. The DIP also shows a broad-spectrum antiviral activity against other respiratory viruses, e.g. RSV and SARS-CoV-2 and is Intended for intranasal administration (droplet spray) for human use. A state-of-the-art, high-yield production process in a GMP-ready controlled and sterile environment in animal cell culture.

Carbon fixation is arguably the most important biochemical processes on earth, supporting our biosphere by transforming inorganic carbon into organic matter and literally feeding all life forms. The reductive pentose phosphate cycle (rPP, also known as the Calvin–Benson–Bassham Cycle) is responsible for ≥95% of the carbon fixed in the biosphere. Although under a strong selective pressure for eons, this process displays major inefficiencies, some are due to the low catalytic rate and the ...

CellNetAnalyzer (CNA) is a MATLAB toolbox providing various computational methods for analyzing structure and function of metabolic, signaling, and regulatory networks. For metabolic networks, CNA supports a variety of stoichiometric and constraint-based modeling techniques, including flux balance analysis (FBA), metabolic flux analysis, elementary-modes analysis, or computational strain design (e.g., minimal cut set analysis). Signal transduction and (gene) regulatory networks can be ...

Many viruses use programmed ribosome frameshifting (FS) to increase genome-coding capacity and to regulate the stoichiometric ratio between viral proteins. Among them are human-pathogenic viruses HIV-1, SARS-CoV-2 and alphaviruses such as Semliki Forest virus (SFV). Synthesis of two major HIV-1 genes, gag and pol, requires –1FS. The ratio between Gag and Gag-Pol is crucial for virus propagation and its dysregulation is detrimental for replication, particle formation and infectivity of HIV-1. ...

The conductor device is designed for low-temperature, particularly superconducting applications, featuring multiple superconducting wires arranged along the length of the device and encapsulated in an electrically insulating material. The device's design includes self-supporting wire sections between longitudinal end sections, facilitating stable and efficient connections in superconducting environments. This technology is suitable for applications requiring high-precision signal processing ...

Prof. Kai Sundmacher and co-workers at the MPI for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems developed a novel core-shell catalyst design with a highly active catalyst core surrounded by an inert, low-permeability shell. The new catalyst design leads to an intrinsic heat management that avoids hotspots in strongly exothermic reactions. This allows faster reactor start-up and shut-down and makes the catalysts suitable for rapid load changes in discontinuous processes.

We offer novel phosphenium ligands and corresponding metal complexes (both air stable) that are claimed as substances by granted EP and US patents. The ligands can be prepared in multigram scale by simple direct condensation. The corresponding gold complexes are suitable as homogeneous catalysts in organic synthesis (such as cycloisomerization) that can be easily precipitated and recycled due to their salt properties.

This technology describes a method and device for generating optical tomograms of microscopic samples using an advanced imaging process. The method involves rotating and displacing a sample within an optical microscope’s focal plane to capture a series of images from multiple angles. These images are subsequently processed to create a detailed three-dimensional model of the sample. The innovation reduces motion stress on living samples and minimizes the time required for tomogram acquisition. ...

The invention outlines a novel process for converting synthesis gas (syngas), comprising carbon monoxide and hydrogen, into higher alcohols (C₃₊), using a combination of Fischer-Tropsch and olefin hydroformylation catalysts. This innovative approach improves selectivity towards valuable terminal alcohols, including higher alcohols that can serve as fatty alcohols (C₆₊). Higher alcohols produced through this method are crucial in industries such as solvents, plasticizers, ...

A novel molecular target of the semaphorin-plexin system to develop treatment options for cancer and for osteoporosis.

The invention relates to a new method to reduce acquisition time in MR imaging. It is based on the variation of the sensitivity profile of the RF coils and allows an easy access to an additional source of spatial information to further improve imaging.
MR imaging is among the most important tools for modern medical diagnostics with a unique range of applications. The imaging duration however limits the applicability for situations with movements within the volume of interest. Therefore, many ...

The invention relates to a new method for imaging setting optimization for electron microscopy
based on deep learning. The AI is a robust and simple to implement optimization possibility for
direct operation with various types of electron microscopes.

For a wide spectrum of applications automated precision electron microscopy is a powerful
method. Existing auto focusing routines are often based on physical models of the microscope
and are hence lacking general applicability ...

An Enhancement Cavity (EC) with at least one toroidal and/or cylindrical mirror is described. This allows for an arbitrary beam ellipticity of the eigenmode. In particular at a stability edge, where the ellipticity diverges with purely spherical optics, a round beam can be obtained.

Three novel processes to separate Cl₂ from unconverted HCl in the anode outlet stream of a electrochemical gas-phase reactor were developed at the MPI for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems. The novel processes lead to a higher reaction yield in gas-phase reactor and have an reduced energy demand compared to the Bayer UhDenora state-of-the-art process.

The development of the cation channel channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii by Prof. Ernst Bamberg and his colleagues, and its application to light-induced modulation of neurons paved the way for the field of optogenetics.
Over time the light-gated cation channel channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) has become an indispensable tool in neuroscience. Based on the pioneering work on ChR2 new variants have emerged, differing in their spectrum of light absorption, their kinetic ...

Fusion Tags Comprising Ubiquitin-like Modifiers and Corresponding Proteases For Protein Purification From Selected Eukaryotic Expression Hosts

The invention relates to a new method for processing magnetic resonance (MR) data based on a neural network (NN). After training, the NN quickly delivers high quality CEST images with low computational effort. Additionally, it provides uncertainty data aiding to judge the images appropriately.

Typically, sophisticated MR contrasts are calculated based on complex mathematical models, which is computationally expensive, and it requires long processing durations. Besides that, the results ...

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is nowadays a leading mo¬dality for diagnostic imaging with about 100 million examinations per year worldwide. However, when invented by Paul Christian Lauterbur in 1973, MRI was too slow to allow for routine medical applications. A breakthrough was achieved in 1985 by the FLASH (Fast Low Angle Shot) technique developed by Jens Frahm and his team at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany. With FLASH the measuring time for a cross-sectional ...

An accurate dispensing device for powders and irregularly shaped particles

The cellular identity of mature cells that are confined in a specialized genetic expression profile can be overcome by introducing just a few genes that encode for so-called reprogramming factors [1]. By means of this intervention, also known as reprogramming, the cells then become pluripotent and represent induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) [1]. Nowadays, numerous new cell culture models have been established based on reprogramming protocols that yield iPS cells. Such cell culture models ...

The RNA-programmable DNA-endonuclease Cas9 is widely used for genome engineering, where a high degree of specificity is required. Though this is a mechanism well controlled by canonical base-pairing, there is evidence that Cas9 does accept mismatches under certain circumstances.
This might be seen as a threat to precision needed in genome engineering at least in environments where such high precision is ultimately needed and acceptance of mismatches needs to be avoided, e.g.: cellular gene ...

Mutually delay-coupled phase-locked loops (PLLs) enhance network synchronization by leveraging the self-organization dynamics of interconnected nodes each outfitted with controllable oscillators. These systems ensure stable in-phase locking of spatially distributed oscillators in the presence of considerable signaling time-delays and thereby provide precise clocking signals, e.g., essential for high precision localization services. The scalability and robustness of self-organized synchronization ...

A Cas nuclease such as Cas9 can introduce a DNA double strand break in a sequence target that is complementary to a 20-nt spacer sequence of its bound guide RNA (gRNA) when a protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) is present. The gRNA can be provided as duplex of spacer containing CRISPR RNA (crRNA) and trans-activating crRNA (tracrRNA). Or as a single gRNA (sgRNA) where crRNA and tracrRNA are fused by an artificial loop.
Hence a gRNA consists of the target-specific spacer and a constant part typically ...

The innovation involves nanofilament-based superhydrophobic coatings designed for membrane distillation (MD), specifically targeting brine desalination and wastewater treatment applications. By coating microporous membranes with polysiloxane nanofilaments, a multi-scale, hierarchical porous structure is achieved, enhancing the membrane's resistance to wetting and fouling without using fluorinated compounds. The membrane's superhydrophobic nature results from nanofilament coatings that ...

A full material Fresnel Zone Plate is a diffractive lens, composed of multilayers of at least two materials to act as the zones of the FZP. Researchers in Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems developed a production method in which alternating layers over focused ion beam (FIB) milled micro pillars are first deposited using atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique and then sliced by using the FIB again.

An innovative high throughput screening method for measurement of RNA- and DNA-polymerase activity at room temperature, based on time-resolved FRET.

Ultrafast amplifier systems providing high average powers (>10W) at repetition rates in the kHz regime suffer from severe accumulation of nonlinear phase inside the laser gain medium and other optical components within the amplifier. Implementation of chirped pulse amplification (CPA) constitutes a well-established method to reduce the peak intensity of the laser pulse during the amplification process [1, 2]. However, state of the art laser materials supporting high average output powers such ...

Robots need detailed haptic sensing that covers their complex surfaces to learn effective behaviors in unstructured environments. However, state-of-the-art sensors tend to focus on improving precision and sensitivity, increasing texel density, or enlarging the sensed area rather than prioritizing system robustness and the usability of the sensed haptic information.

Screening the level of specific blumenols in plant leaves allows simple implementation in marker assisted breeding and high-throughput analysis.

The efficiency of solar cells is strongly affected by local inhomogeneities. Especially inhomogeneities of the dark-current voltage (I-V) characteristic are of interest: The local dark current-voltage characteristic is a measure for the local recombination properties of the solar cell. Lock-in thermography performed in the dark (DLIT) can be used to detect and evaluate locally increased dark current densities.

The invention relates to a new method of using magnetic forces in order to mechanically couple the worm of a worm gear with its corresponding worm wheel. According to the invented arrangement, a (permanent) magnet, i.e., a relatively hard magnetic material, magnetizes the worm, which is made from a relatively soft magnetic material. Thus, the magnetized worm develops attraction forces concerning the (also magnetically soft) tooth system of the worm wheel. In this way, it is sufficient to use comparably ...

The invention relates to a monolithic optical frequency comb generator. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method of generating an optical frequency comb.

This invention presents a method and apparatus for investigating the hydrogen permeability of materials, offering a simplified and cost-effective solution to test the tightness of a material. A sensor is placed on one side of the test object, while a hydrogen-containing test gas is applied to the opposite side. The hydrogen permeating through the material interacts with a sensitive sensor layer, causing measurable physical changes such as color shifts. These changes provide real-time, spatially ...

An improved method to perform cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) assays or other fluorescent assays in the context of CFPS with very low reaction mix volumes. Various additional advantages allow to significantly reduce costs and time.

Cryo-Electron Microscopy (Cryo-EM) today is revolutionizing biological research by revealing the structure of cells and proteins with atomic resolution and steadily improving contrast. However, the quality of the results depends critically on the sample preparation. High Pressure Freezing (HPF) and plunge freezing, both pioneered in the 1960s, still represent the state-of-the-art in sample preparation for cryo-EM. Both methods have poor timing precision, disrupt the natural environment of the ...

The MINSTED method is an innovative technique for determining the position of a singularized fluorophore molecule within an object. Traditional methods in molecular imaging faced challenges in achieving high resolution due to limitations in fluorescence microscopy. Existing solutions like STED (Stimulated Emission Depletion) microscopy improved the spatial resolution but rely on high illumination intensity and/or sample exposure, which can lead to thermal issues and photochemical reactions. MINSTED ...

A synthetic virus-like particle, comprising a lipid bilayer, that can be adjusted precisely to mimic biophysical features of various natural pathogens. The lipid bilayer can also be equipped with relevant molecules such as the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein ectodomain.

A tRNA^ALA heteroplasmy mouse model to study mitochondrial disorders such as encephalomyophathies, that recapitulates symptoms as observed in human patients with disease-causing mutation in the same mitochondrial gene.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) such as exosomes and microvesicles participate in the intercellular communication by transferring bioactive molecules between various cells and tissues. Such EVs cross-talk was shown to play important roles in cell–cell communication, cell maintenance, disease progression and therapy. By containing disease specific markers, EVs can also act as diagnostic biomarkers. In addition, synthetic EVs are used as carriers to deliver drugs or mRNA-based vaccines to specific ...

An efficient system to monitor and control animal behavior in wildlife as well as in laboratory settings

Simultaneous sensing of oxygen content and temperature within a living object is crucial to monitor its biochemical reactions and to evaluate its health condition. Non-invasive sensors used for this purpose feature optical read-out. These sensors detect changes in phosphorescence (decay time or emission intensity) of a phosphorescent compound and the delayed fluorescence intensity of a fluorescent compound induced by an increase of temperature and/or oxygen. Unfortunately, the temperature and ...

The invention relates to a new concept for a high efficiency light antenna, namely the Truncated Omnidirectional Reflector (TOR). It is well suited for obtaining directional emission and efficient fiber coupling from various types of light sources like single photon emitters.
Especially in the fast-growing field of quantum technologies efficient collectors for solid-state single photon emitters are needed. Achieving collector efficiencies of more than 95% into the fundamental Gaussian mode, ...

We present an extremely sensitive, reliable and fast novel Lysine deacetylase (KDAC) assay, which can be performed in a continuous format. This novel KDAC assay is based on Firefly luciferase harboring an acetylation on an essential active site lysine, incorporated by genetic code expansion.

We furthermore offer a bacterial selection system that can help engineer KDACs. The selection system uses a reporter enzyme inactivated by lysine modifications at an essential active site residue, thereby ...

A classical spin valve (SV) is a device in which the electrical resistance depends on the relative position of the magnetic moments of two ferromagnetic (FM) layers: with parallel (P) and antiparallel (AP) ordering, the SV resistance is minimum and maximum, respectively. Nowadays SVs are actively used in magnetic sensors, hard disk read heads and magnetic random-access memory. Thus, the SV, analogous to a transistor in conventional electronics, is a binary (digital) device. Here we offer a new ...

Crystallization is the limiting step in X-ray structure determination of biological macro-molecules. As crystallization experiments can be largely automatized, the diversity of precipitant solutions is often the determinant factor to obtain crystals of high quality.

HR-defective cancers are a class of malignancies characterized by impaired DNA repair mechanisms, typically resulting from mutations or deficiencies in genes involved in the Homologous Recombination (HR) pathway, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2. These cancers pose significant challenges in treatment due to their inherent resistance to standard therapies.

Poly ADP-ribose Polymerase 1 (PARP1) inhibitors represent a promising targeted therapy class designed to exploit ...

To realize a circular, carbon-neutral economy, it will become important to utilize the greenhouse gas CO2 as a sustainable carbon source. One-carbon (C1) substrates, such as methanol or formate, are attractive feedstocks for bioeconomy due to their low cost and easy availability. These substrates are typically converted into formaldehyde, serving as the entry point into metabolism. Biocatalytic carbon-carbon bond formation is one of the most important reactions for green and sustainable C1 assimilation ...

Plant pathogenic fungi, oomycetes and bacteria have highly diverse lifestyles, infection strategies and morphologies. Therefore, pesticides frequently target basic cellular processes, as these are well characterized and often very similar among plant pathogens. Many pesticides target enzymes that play a role in e.g. nucleic acid synthesis, respiration, cell division and other essential cellular processes. However, the molecular ...

Chiral amines are crucial building blocks for the synthesis of bioactive compounds in the pharmaceutical, and agrochemical industry. Chiral amines are also important for chemical synthesis as chiral auxiliaries or resolving agents for diastereometric salt crystallizations. In recent years, biocatalysts, particularly imine reductases (IREDs) and reductive aminases capable of reducing imines to chiral amines were discovered and developed for industrial application. However, the portfolio of current ...

Pancreatic cancer continues to pose significant challenges in the field of oncology, with dismal survival rates and limited treatment options. Patients diagnosed with this aggressive malignancy often face an uphill battle, with a five-year relative survival rate of just 11%.

Ras proteins are well-known as pivotal regulators of cell growth, proliferation, and differentiation, with their dysfunction implicated ...

Cancer stands as the second-leading cause of human death worldwide, following closely behind cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, with a prevalence that continues to rise.

Pancreatic cancer, in particular, continues to challenge the field of oncology with a 5-years survival rate of 11% and limited treatment options. Hematologic malignancies have also seen a steady rise in incident cases since 1990, ...

This invention relates to an optical fiber vacuum feedthrough designed to transmit optical signals between the inside and outside of the vacuum chamber. Traditional methods often require frequent replacement of flanges or optical fibers due to leakage over time, and the high pressure applied to the optical fibers led to transmission losses. In order to address these issues, the presented optical fiber feedthrough comprises a compression device which compresses sealing elements axially along the ...

For the evaluation of crystallisation processes, process parameters like temperature and concentration can be easily measured. However, to measure the crystal size distribution continuously is a challenging task.
Different methods relaying on back scattering or reflection of monochromatic light can be applied that yield chord-length distributions, which often deviate from the actual crystal or particle size distribution. For analysing the true crystal dimensions and, additionally, the crystal ...

The mRNA processing factor YBX1 is a novel target in Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), which in an combinatorial inhibitor treatment with JAK inhibitors completely overcomes disease persistance.

A process for parallel synthesis of glycans on cellulose membranes by using a novel VaporSPOT method and an experimental setup that ensures controlled conditions suitable for glycosylation reactions.

Point patterns are characterized by their density and correlation. While spatial variation of density is well-understood, analysis and synthesis of spatially-varying correlation is an open challenge. We offer a tool for intuitively editing point patterns, based on a compact representation for spatially varying correlation. We can map point patterns to common three-channel raster images, enabling manipulation with off-the-shelf image editing software. To synthesize back point patterns, we propose ...

This invention presents a series of photoactivatable fluorescent dyes characterized by their hydrophilic caging groups. These novel compounds are primarily designed for bioimaging applications, allow for controlled photoactivation at the desired wavelengths and exhibit enhanced solubility in aqueous environments. The technology facilitates high-precision imaging techniques, including super-resolution fluorescence microscopy and single-molecule tracking, by enabling precise spatial and temporal ...

The invention relates to a new device for precise large-angle beam steering at an extended wavelength range. It is based on an electrically-controlled metasurface and allows for the implementation in advanced LIDAR systems.

Metasurfaces are used to change properties of light and can therefore be used to steer an incoming beam. However, common devices are lacking spatial resolution and are thus limited to small angles. Furthermore, state-of-the-art metasurfaces for respective applications ...

Mesoporous materials present a large surface-to-volume ratio providing sites for catalysis, molecular separation, adsorption or chemical sensing. Some of the classical mesoporous materials employed include silica, alumina, zirconia, zeolites, and other diverse oxides such Ti or Co, and they are synthetized by routes as self-assembly, sol-gel, spray drying and some variations of these methods known in the state of the art. Additionally, some elements of the platinum group such as Pd, Ru, and their ...

Direct quantification of the absolute amount of multiple proteins in one a SILAC experiment using Protein Epitope Signature Tags (PrESTs) which consist of a short and unique region of the protein of interest as well as purification and solubility tags and are expressed recombinantly in E. coli

Driven by the favourable operational effectiveness of neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) magnets, there has been a considerably rising demand for neodymium in permanent magnet manufacturing. According to Spherical Insights & Consulting the global neodymium magnet market size was valued at 2.3 Billion US$ in 2022 and is expected to reach 3.83 Billion US$ by 2032. As the market for rare earth materials is heavily influenced by Chinese supplies, which causes supply and price uncertainties, end users ...

Speckle interferometry is an established metrology technique for the characterization of rough objects. Deformations of rough objects under a load can be determined, as well as – with the help of an additional second wavelength – the surface shape of the object under test. As an illustration, Figure 1 (left) shows the so called raw phase as a result of a deformation measurement on a metal plate. The shape and the density of the fringes indicate the response of the metal plate to the load.
Owing ...

The invention relates to a newly developed image processing method for optical coherence tomography (OCT) to be used in particular on the (human) eye’s anterior chamber. Said OCT images are used to diagnose glaucoma, but the required assessing methods are not yet available as automated and fully unsupervised.

Glaucoma is the main reason for irreversible blindness. Early-stage diagnosis is typically based on images of the anterior chamber. Various automated techniques for image analysis ...

The invention enables a fast and effective safety for persons (or obstacles) being in danger of hitting the beam of powerful lasers like YAG lasers. While being extremely powerful, the YAG laser light is invisible to the human eye. The safety mechanism is based on a harmless, visible laser light, i.e., cylindrically surrounding the YAG beam a shutter mechanism (i.e., with an entrance of cylindrical symmetry and made of synthetic material). The safety laser light is controlled by a ring (or sector) ...

Objects with different shapes can dissolve in significantly different ways inside a solution. Predicting different shapes’ dissolution dynamics is an important problem especially in pharmaceutics. More important and challenging, however, is controlling the dissolution via shape, i.e., designing shapes that lead to a desired release behavior of materials in a solvent over a specific time. Here, we tackle this challenge by introducing a computational inverse design pipeline.

A simple, one-step assay for reliable measurements of NAD(H) and NADP(H) in complex samples, with various applications such as enzymatic assays, clinicals tests, and as point of care tests in the field of ageing.

The invention relates to a new and improved concept for Depleted p-channel Field Effect Transistors (DePFET) detectors that provides a significantly higher intrinsic amplification. By the extension of the transistor layout, former limitations were overcome.
DePFETs are insufficient for many applications in terms of the achievable intrinsic amplification. This is since shorter transistor channels needed for high amplification would increase the detector noise caused by impact ionization events.
Additional ...

The invention relates to a new detection method for small periodic signals in Scanning Near Field Optical Microscopy (s-SNOM). Solving the problem of the rapid sampling rates necessary for lock-in amplification, the method is a powerful new readout system for various other applications as well.

Lock-in detection is a widespread technique, which enables the detection of very small periodic signals. However, it imposes constraints between the lock-in modulation frequency and the sampling ...

Universal genomic landing pads for site-directed nucleases

Natural products from plants and microorganism are potent bioactive molecules that have been widely used in medicine, agriculture, food industry and cosmetics. Increased awareness of the environmental and health concerns of consuming chemically synthesized products has led to a rising demand for natural products that are greener and more sustainable.  Moreover, the increasing frequency of antibiotic-resistant infections clearly demonstrates a continues need for novel antibiotics. Despite ...

Cancer stands as the second-leading cause of human death worldwide, following closely behind cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, with a prevalence that continues to rise. In particular, hepatocellular carcinoma is a significant health concern, ranking as the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths, and with a rising incidence rate due to increasing levels of cirrhosis and NAFLD/NASH.

Despite recent advancements in cancer therapies, ...

Novel gas exchange membranes based on superamphiphobic coatings applied on metal meshes were created and tested in different applications, like gas scrubbing and blood oxygenation.
By using the novel membrans drawbacks of traditional membranes - like insufficient wetting, plugging and depositions chemical incompatibility and temperature instability - can be avoided.

Two groundbreaking technologies are introduced, offering substantial enhancements to the precision and efficiency of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) by auto-calibrating spin phase information directly from imaging data.
The first invention presents a method to extract spin phase evolution maps – arising from arbitrary spatial encoding fields that continuously oscillate and evolve during signal acquisition – using existing imaging data without the need for additional field mapping scans. ...

Proteins are the main functional units within cells. Their regulated synthesis and degradation are crucial for controlling biological processes. In all cells, protein synthesis is used to respond to extra- and/or intracellular cues to remodel cellular function. Previous studies probing the role of protein synthesis have used chemical inhibitors, often common antibiotics, which are effective but lack functional and cell-type specificity when applied to a mixture of cells.

A method for the stable production of cannabinoids at high yields with the concomitant absence of psychoactive constituents.

The invention relates to a new dynamic optical component based on a metasurface that can be operated electrically at visible frequencies. Realizing pixel level addressability of the metasurface properties paves the way towards the next generation of optical devices for data storage and communication.

Nanoantennas on a metasurface are used to directly change properties of light but are typically limited to static effects. However, state-of-the-art devices with optical reconfigurability are ...

A ultrarapid cryo-arrest directly on a multimodal fluorescence microscope that preserves molecular activity patterns during observation of their dynamics in living cells at any timepoint.

In arid and semiarid regions biological soil crusts (BSC) cover about 1/3 of the soil surface. As far as it is known, these BSC (consisting of cyanobacteria, algae, fungi, bryophytes, and other bacteria living in contact with soil particles) are crucial for the global terrestrial carbon and nitrogen cycle. The water status plays a major role, since their water content directly controls the activity of these poikilohydric organisms.