TY - JOUR A1 - Abouzar, Maryam H. A1 - Poghossian, Arshak A1 - Cherstvy, Andrey G. A1 - Pedraza, Angela M. A1 - Ingebrandt, Sven A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef T1 - Label-free electrical detection of DNA by means of field-effect nanoplate capacitors: Experiments and modeling JF - Physica Status Solidi (a) N2 - Label-free electrical detection of consecutive deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) hybridization/denaturation by means of an array of individually addressable field-effect-based nanoplate silicon-on-insulator (SOI) capacitors modified with gold nanoparticles (Au-NP) is investigated. The proposed device detects charge changes on Au-NP/DNA hybrids induced by the hybridization or denaturation event. DNA hybridization was performed in a high ionic-strength solution to provide a high hybridization efficiency. On the other hand, to reduce the screening of the DNA charge by counter ions and to achieve a high sensitivity, the sensor signal induced by the hybridization and denaturation events was measured in a low ionic-strength solution. High sensor signals of about 120, 90, and 80 mV were registered after the DNA hybridization, denaturation, and re-hybridization events, respectively. Fluorescence microscopy has been applied as reference method to verify the DNA immobilization, hybridization, and denaturation processes. An electrostatic charge-plane model for potential changes at the gate surface of a nanoplate field-effect sensor induced by the DNA hybridization has been developed taking into account both the Debye length and the distance of the DNA charge from the gate surface. Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pssa.201100710 SN - 1862-6319 VL - 209 SP - 925 EP - 934 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aggarwal, P. A1 - Dhiman, S. A1 - Kumar, G. A1 - Scherer, Ulrich W. A1 - Singla, M. L. A1 - Srivastava, A. T1 - Optical study of poly(ethyleneterephthalate) modified by different ionizing radiation dose JF - Indian Journal of Pure and Applied Physics N2 - Thin films of poly(ethyleneterephthalate) [PET]were exposed to radiation dose ranging from 10 to 30 kGy by using gamma rays in the range 12.8-177.8 MGy using swift light ions of hydrogen. There was no effect of the radiation dose on the optical behaviour of PET as a result of exposure to radiation dose up to 30 kGy brought about by gamma rays but a significant decrease in the optical band gap values was observed when PET was exposed to swift light ions of hydrogen. The data obtained are discussed in terms of optical studies carried out on PET using swift heavy ions. Y1 - 2012 SN - 0019-5596 VL - 50 IS - 2 SP - 129 EP - 132 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Alexopoulos, Spiros T1 - Biogas systems: basics, biogas multifunction, principle of fermentation and hybrid application with a solar tower for the treatment of waste animal manure JF - Journal of Engineering Science and Technology Review N2 - Two of the main environmental problems of today’s society are the continuously increasing production of organic wastes as well as the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the related green house effect. A way to solve these problems is the production of biogas. Biogas is a combustible gas consisting of methane, carbon dioxide and small amounts of other gases and trace elements. Production of biogas through anaerobic digestion of animal manure and slurries as well as of a wide range of digestible organic wastes and agricultural residues, converts these substrates into electricity and heat and offers a natural fertiliser for agriculture. The microbiological process of decomposition of organic matter, in the absence of oxygen takes place in reactors, called digesters. Biogas can be used as a fuel in a gas turbine or burner and can be used in a hybrid solar tower system offering a solution for waste treatment of agricultural and animal residues. A solar tower system consists of a heliostat field, which concentrates direct solar irradiation on an open volumetric central receiver. The receiver heats up ambient air to temperatures of around 700°C. The hot air’s heat energy is transferred to a steam Rankine cycle in a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). The steam drives a steam turbine, which in turn drives a generator for producing electricity. In order to increase the operational hours of a solar tower power plant, a heat storage system and/ or hybridization may be considered. The advantage of solar-fossil hybrid power plants, compared to solar-only systems, lies in low additional investment costs due to an adaptable solar share and reduced technical and economical risks. On sunny days the hybrid system operates in a solar-only mode with the central receiver and on cloudy days and at night with the gas turbine only. As an alternative to methane gas, environmentally neutral biogas can be used for operating the gas turbine. Hence, the hybrid system is operated to 100% from renewable energy sources Y1 - 2012 SN - 1791-2377 N1 - Special Issue on Renewable Energy Systems VL - 5 IS - 4 SP - 48 EP - 55 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Atlas, Glen A1 - Brealey, David A1 - Dhar, Sunil A1 - Dikta, Gerhard A1 - Singer, Meryvn T1 - Additional hemodynamic measurements with an esophageal Doppler monitor: a preliminary report of compliance, force, kinetic energy, and afterload in the clinical setting JF - Journal of clinical monitoring and computing N2 - The esophageal Doppler monitor (EDM) is a minimally-invasive hemodynamic device which evaluates both cardiac output (CO), and fluid status, by estimating stroke volume (SV) and calculating heart rate (HR). The measurement of these parameters is based upon a continuous and accurate approximation of distal thoracic aortic blood flow. Furthermore, the peak velocity (PV) and mean acceleration (MA), of aortic blood flow at this anatomic location, are also determined by the EDM. The purpose of this preliminary report is to examine additional clinical hemodynamic calculations of: compliance (C), kinetic energy (KE), force (F), and afterload (TSVRi). These data were derived using both velocity-based measurements, provided by the EDM, as well as other contemporaneous physiologic parameters. Data were obtained from anesthetized patients undergoing surgery or who were in a critical care unit. A graphical inspection of these measurements is presented and discussed with respect to each patient’s clinical situation. When normalized to each of their initial values, F and KE both consistently demonstrated more discriminative power than either PV or MA. The EDM offers additional applications for hemodynamic monitoring. Further research regarding the accuracy, utility, and limitations of these parameters is therefore indicated. KW - Acceleration KW - Velocity KW - Kinetic energy KW - Force KW - Compliance KW - Afterload KW - Contractility KW - Volume status KW - Esophageal Doppler monitor Y1 - 2012 SN - 1573-2614 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10877-012-9386-5 IS - 26 SP - 473 EP - 482 PB - Springer Nature CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Backes, Klaus A1 - Adam, Mario A1 - Gottschald, Beng Jonas A1 - Faber, Christian A1 - Henneböhl, Friedrich-Gregor A1 - Lanz, Marco A1 - Anthrakidis, Anette T1 - KWKK-Anlagen im Feldtest. Optimaler Betrieb durch Verbesserungen bei Regelung und Hydraulik JF - Die Kälte- und Klimatechnik Y1 - 2012 SN - 0343-2246 IS - 2 PB - Gentner CY - Stuttgart ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bassam, Rasha A1 - Hescheler, Jürgen A1 - Temiz Artmann, Aysegül A1 - Artmann, Gerhard A1 - Digel, Ilya T1 - Effects of spermine NONOate and ATP on the thermal stability of hemoglobin JF - BMC Biophysics N2 - Background Minor changes in protein structure induced by small organic and inorganic molecules can result in significant metabolic effects. The effects can be even more profound if the molecular players are chemically active and present in the cell in considerable amounts. The aim of our study was to investigate effects of a nitric oxide donor (spermine NONOate), ATP and sodium/potassium environment on the dynamics of thermal unfolding of human hemoglobin (Hb). The effect of these molecules was examined by means of circular dichroism spectrometry (CD) in the temperature range between 25°C and 70°C. The alpha-helical content of buffered hemoglobin samples (0.1 mg/ml) was estimated via ellipticity change measurements at a heating rate of 1°C/min. Results Major results were: 1) spermine NONOate persistently decreased the hemoglobin unfolding temperature T u irrespectively of the Na + /K + environment, 2) ATP instead increased the unfolding temperature by 3°C in both sodium-based and potassium-based buffers and 3) mutual effects of ATP and NO were strongly influenced by particular buffer ionic compositions. Moreover, the presence of potassium facilitated a partial unfolding of alpha-helical structures even at room temperature. Conclusion The obtained data might shed more light on molecular mechanisms and biophysics involved in the regulation of protein activity by small solutes in the cell. KW - Nitric Oxide Donor KW - NONOate KW - Circular Dichroism KW - Nitric Oxide Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/2046-1682-5-16 SN - 2046-1682 VL - 5 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Becker, Jörg A1 - Delfmann, Patrick A1 - Eggert, Mathias A1 - Schwittay, Sebastian T1 - Generalizability and Applicability of Model-Based Business Process Compliance-Checking Approaches — A State-of-the-Art Analysis and Research Roadmap JF - Business Research : BuR N2 - With a steady increase of regulatory requirements for business processes, automation support of compliance management is a field garnering increasing attention in Information Systems research. Several approaches have been developed to support compliance checking of process models. One major challenge for such approaches is their ability to handle different modeling techniques and compliance rules in order to enable widespread adoption and application. Applying a structured literature search strategy, we reflect and discuss compliance-checking approaches in order to provide an insight into their generalizability and evaluation. The results imply that current approaches mainly focus on special modeling techniques and/or a restricted set of types of compliance rules. Most approaches abstain from real-world evaluation which raises the question of their practical applicability. Referring to the search results, we propose a roadmap for further research in model-based business process compliance checking. Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF03342739 SN - 1866-8658 VL - 5 IS - 2 SP - 221 EP - 247 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Blecken, Udo A1 - Holthaus-Sellheier, Ursula T1 - Quantitative Prognoseverfahren für Mietpreise von Bueroimmobilien am Beispiel Düsseldorf JF - GuG : Grundstücksmarkt und Grundstückswert Y1 - 2012 SN - 0938-0175 VL - 23 IS - 1 SP - 12 EP - 21 PB - Werner CY - Köln ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Boettcher, Martin A1 - Haselhuhn, Angelika A1 - Jakse, Gerhard A1 - Brehmer, Bernhard A1 - Kirschner-Hermanns, Ruth T1 - Overactive bladder syndrome: an underestimated long-term problem after treatment of patients with localized prostate cancer? JF - BJU international N2 - In this study we observed courses of micturition symptoms and differentiated degrees of symptoms for each point in time while also considering the impact of bothersomeness. Our data show that not only significantly more patients who have undergone BT suffer from OAB than those who have undergone RP, but also that those affected show significantly higher values for severity of OAB symptoms throughout the whole observation period of 36 months. Our data analysis further shows that variability of OAB symptoms as well as fluctuation of severity of OAB symptoms vary to a significantly higher degree after BT than after RP. Looking only at mean figures at a given point in time clearly underestimates the underlying problem. This fact is not reflected in the literature. KW - quality of life KW - prostate cancer KW - prostatectomy KW - incontinence KW - brachytherapy Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-410X.2011.10623.x SN - 1365-2176 (E-Journal); 1464-410X (E-Journal); 0007-1331 (Print); 1464-4096 (Print) VL - 109 IS - 12 SP - 1824 EP - 1830 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bohrn, U. A1 - Stütz, E. A1 - Fuchs, K. A1 - Fleischer, M. A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef A1 - Wagner, P. T1 - Monitoring of irritant gas using a whole-cell-based sensor system JF - Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical N2 - Cell-based sensors for the detection of gases have long been underrepresented, due to the cellular requirement of being cultured in a liquid environment. In this work we established a cell-based gas biosensor for the detection of toxic substances in air, by adapting a commercial sensor chip (Bionas®), previously used for the measurement of pollutants in liquids. Cells of the respiratory tract (A549, RPMI 2650, V79), which survive at a gas phase in a natural context, are used as biological receptors. The physiological cell parameters acidification, respiration and morphology are continuously monitored in parallel. Ammonia was used as a highly water-soluble model gas to test the feasibility of the sensor system. Infrared measurements confirmed the sufficiency of the medium draining method. This sensor system provides a basis for many sensor applications such as environmental monitoring, building technology and public security. Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2012.05.088 SN - 0925-4005 VL - 175 SP - 208 EP - 217 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -