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A New Efficient Method for Measuring Oxygen Consumption Rate Directly ex vivo in Human Epidermal Biopsies
No full textSkin cells are constantly exposed to environmental influences such as air pollution, chemicals, pathogens and UV radiation. UV radiation can damage different biological structures, but most importantly cellular DNA. Mitochondria contain their own genome and accumulate UV-induced DNA mutations to a large extent. This can result, e.g., in accelerated skin aging. Understanding the impact of harmful external influences on mitochondrial function is therefore essential for a better view on the development of age-related diseases. Previous studies have been carried out on cell cultures derived from primary cells, which does not fully represent the real situation in the skin, while the mitochondrial parameters were considered barely or not at all. Here we describe a method to measure mitochondrial respiratory parameters in epithelial tissue derived from human skin biopsies using an Agilent Seahorse XF24 Flux Analyzer. Before the assay, epidermis and dermis are separated enzymatically, we then used the XF24 Islet capture microplates to position the epidermis samples to measure oxygen consumption rates (OCR) and extracellular acidification rates (ECAR). In these plates, small nets can be fixed to the plate bottom. The epidermis was placed with the vital–basal–side on the net. Active ingredients in the three ports were injected consecutively to determine the effect of each compound. This allows determining the efficiency of the individual complexes within the respiratory chain. This protocol enables the testing of toxic substances and their influence on the mitochondrial respiration parameters in human epithelial tissue
Biozidprodukte im Haushalt – Argumente gegen den Einsatz im Hinblick auf die Auswirkungen auf Mensch und Umwelt
No full textProdukte zur Oberflächen-, Haut- und Handdesinfektion sowie zur Desinfektion von Wäsche werden im Haushalt verstärkt eingesetzt, da Hersteller mit einem hygienisch sauberen Ergebnis werben. Die EU-Verordnung 528/2012 (Biozidverordnung) reguliert den Einsatz von Desinfektionsmitteln. Zu den Risiken zählen die Entstehung von
resistenten Bakterien, Kreuzresistenzen gegen Antibiotika, allergische Reaktionen und die Anreicherung von Biozid-Wirkstoffen im menschlichen Körper, in Gewässern und Böden. Obwohl die Anwendung von Bioziden im Haushalt immer häufiger als sichere Methode zur Senkung von Infektionskrankheiten dargestellt wird, kann diese bis heute nicht nachgewiesen werden. Deshalb und aufgrund der zahlreichen, teilweise auch unterschätzten Risiken sollte auf Biozide im Haushalt weitgehend verzichtet werden
Highly Sensitive Matrix-Independent Quantification of Major Food Allergens Peanut and Soy by Competitive Real-Time PCR Targeting Mitochondrial DNA
No full textThe development of two competitive real-time PCR assays for the quantitative detection of trace amounts of two major food allergens, peanut and soybean, is reported. In order to achieve very low detection levels for both allergens, we established PCR primers and probes targeting mitochondrial DNA sequences. We were able to demonstrate that this approach led to an increase in detection sensitivity in the range of at least 1 order of magnitude compared with published assays targeting nuclear DNA. Furthermore, we generated corresponding competitor molecules, which were used as internal standards to compete with matrix effects that are evident during DNA extraction and PCR amplification in heterogeneous analytical matrixes like food. According to the recently described competitive quantitative PCR method published by Holzhauser et al. (2014), we performed threshold calibration against milk powder spiked with 10 ppm peanut and soy. Matrix-independent quantitative determination of peanut and soy could be demonstrated for three different calibrated food matrix standards in a range between 1 and 100 ppm. The data presented indicate that both assay concepts are powerful analytical tools for the quantitative detection of trace amounts of peanut and soy in commercial food products
Ant Colony Optimization for Optimized Operation Scheduling of Combined Heat and Power Plants
No full textIn the worldwide expansion of renewable energies, there is not only a need for weather-dependent plants, but also for plants with flexible power generation that have the potential to reduce storage requirements by working against fluctuations. A highly promising technology is provided by Combined heat and power (CHP) plants, which achieve high efficiencies through the simultaneous generation of electricity and heat. This is why they are also being promoted by the European Union. Also, the construction of biogas plants is usually linked to the construction of CHP plants in order to generate energy from the emission-free produced biogas. However, until now CHP plants have mostly been operated by heat demand (just like boilers), causing the generated electricity often to put additional stress on the power grid. The planning of a CHP plant, whose generated heat always finds a consumer and the generated electricity is simultaneously optimized with regard to an optimization objective, requires nonlinear optimization approaches due to the physical effects in the heat storage. This paper presents a methodology for optimized planning of CHP plants using Ant Colony Optimization. The selected optimization objectives are the power exchange, the tenant electricity and CO2. It could be shown that all optimizations are at least 10% better than the heat-led operation. The best results were achieved with the electricity exchange optimization that can be up to 24% more profitable than a CHP in a heat-led mode
Exploration of Artifical Intelligence Approaches for the Integration of E-Mobility Energy Storage Systems into Virtual Power Plants
No full textAs a side effect to the mobility aspect, the steadily increasing proportion of electric vehicles provides a decentralized electrical storage network which can be used as an alternative to traditional central storage systems for buffering fluctuations in power generation and balancing the stability of the power grid. The systematic optimization of such energy-technical scenarios towards multiple objectives provides a complex optimization problem, which is addressed in this paper by using mechanisms of Artificial Intelligence (AI). A methodology for an optimized energy exchange between a network of e-mobility energy storages (ES) and a virtual power plant (VPP) will be presented, which improves the stability of the power grid and at the same time charges the storage systems of the electric vehicles for their further use. To validate the developed methodology, the results of two metaheuristics are explored: Simulated Annealing (SA) and Particle Swarm optimization (PSO)
Produktionsplanungs- und -steuerungssystem
No full textProduktionsplanungs- und -steuerungssysteme (PPS- Systeme) unterstützen das Produktionsmanagement bei der operativen Gestaltung des Produktionsprogramms und der zu dessen Realisierung erforderlichen Produktionsprozesse. Der Beitrag beschreibt Aufbau und Entwicklung von PPS-Systemen
Zeitwirtschaft
No full textDie Zeitwirtschaft umfasst die im Rahmen der Termin- und Kapazitätsplanung durchzuführende Grobterminierung der Fertigungsaufträge mit den Schritten Durchlaufterminierung, Kapazitätsplanung und Kapazitätsabgleich. Der zentrale Begriff der Zeitwirtschaft ist die Durchlaufzeit. Diese steht im Mittelpunkt des Beitrags