The invention discloses methylation patterns found in umbilical cord blood which might be indicative towards an increased risk of afflictedness with an addiction.

The CRISPR technology could be the most im-portant new genetic engineering technique since the beginning of the biotechnology age in the 1970s. It was shown that it’s possible to use CRISPR to rid mice of muscular dystrophy, cure them of a rare liver disease, make human cells immune to HIV, and genetically modify monkeys. In addition there is interest in using CRISPR to gen-erate monkey models of diseases like autism, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, and bipolar disorder.

The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, used data from the European Space Agency's (ESA) XMM-Newton space observatory to reveal for the first time…

Nearly 10 billion years ago in a galaxy known as PKS B1424-418, a dramatic explosion occurred. Light from this blast began arriving at Earth in 2012. Now, an…

The present invention is a technology that significantly simplifies the measurement of BAT by PCR-based quantification of exosomal microRNA-92a in serum. Exosomal miR-92a levels inversely correlate with BAT activity. This novel method is as the first of its kind qualified to routinely measure the BAT activity in large cohorts of patients.
The measurement of BAT activity is not only important in the diagnosis and treatment of weight-related diseases, but is also a screening tool for the development of drugs that regulate the BAT activity. Such drugs are of use in pathological leanness (e.g. cachexia), obesity and other metabolic diseases.
The invention has been validated by studies in mice and man. On behalf of the University of Bonn, PROvendis offers access to rights for commercial use as well as the opportunity for further co-development. In case of interest we will be pleased to inform you about the patent status.

The invention here described regards a textile rescue seat designed for the effective distribution of the weight on two carrying-operators. Experiments show that an adult of average weight can be carried on staircases and along corridors without overloading the two operators, relieving the strain on shoulders, neck and back and preventing health issues.
A prototype of the invention has been produced and successfully tested in a simulated evacuation in a multi-storey building. Low material and production costs comibined with little space required for storage are attractive features for a competitive product to be introduced into the market. Many items can be preventively stored in every public building or on board passenger ships and used also by non-professional operators. The principle of usage is intuitive and enables every healthy person on site to take part in the evacuation operation. A patent application has been filed in Germany. On behalf of the RWTH University, PROvendis is seeking a partner for further development in view of licensing the technology.

State of the art antimicrobial polymers are polymers with antimicrobial additives such as silver or copper. Additionally, a further approach is using functionalized monomers, containing amine or quaternary ammonium/phosphonium groups. These monomers can be polymerized to intrinsically microbial polymers. Unfortunately, they suffer from poor material properties (low glass transition temperature, high water uptake).
The novel intrinsic antimicrobial polymers overcome these shortcomings. Several groups of polymers have been developed (homopolymers and copolymers) with favorable processing characteristics, e.q. can be used in an injection molding process or press molding.
The standard JIS Z 2801 test to quantitatively test the ability to inhibit the growth of microorganisms over a 24 hour period of contact reveals a reduction of up to log 7,1.
Four patent applications have been filed at the European Patent Office. Further international applications are still possible. On behalf of the Fachhochschule Münster PROvendis offers licenses for interested enterprises.

Open-cell foams and fibrous substrates provide a wide range of properties which make them very attractive for different applications in many fields. Metallization of open-cell foams and fibrous substrates could give novel polymer / metal composites with highly interesting properties for a variety of ap- plications. However, the applications with metal composites are still limited, because of the existing problems due to the metallization methods, where often complex or laborious procedures are required or are restricted to certain polymer surfaces, if high quality metallization is desired.
Therefore, there is a need for the homogenous metallization of open-cell mel- amine formaldehyde (MF) foams which provides electrically conductive foams with a specific resistance R < 50 Ω mm2 m–1, which until now is not known in the current state-of-the-art.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that leads to progressive joint deformity, disability, and occasionally premature death. Emerging evidence suggests the utility of histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) in the treatment of chronic immune and inflammatory disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis. Several studies have shown the decreasing effect of selective HDAC6 inhibitors on the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines in vitro and a significant therapeutic response has been demonstrated in animal inflammatory disease models.

Fraunhofer FEP has years of experience in the field of processing organic semiconductor materials. Scientists here are also developing organic light-emitting…

After a ten-year design and construction period, a new universal device for astronomical observation at the world’s largest single telescope, the Large…

Everyday objects possess properties independently of each other and regardless of whether we observe them or not. Einstein famously asked whether the moon…

Food industry is seeking for strategies to enhance production throughput in order to reduce costs. One bottleneck is not the production process itself, but the subsequent quality control analysis of each production charge. The herein described invention expedites this process and is therefore of interest for contract analytic labs as well as for food production companies with an own quality analysis laboratory. The culture medium has been optimized for osmo-tolerant yeast growth and has been tested and validated in comparison to conventional culture media. The invention is ready for industrial use.
On behalf of the University of Applied Sciences Ostwestfalen-Lippe, PROvendis offers access to rights for commercial use as well as the opportunity for further co-development. In case of interest we will be pleased to inform you about the patent status.

The herein presented new architecture of a bioreactor basically consists of an inner and outer cylinder, whereas the disperse phases are added in either one of the cylinders. The two key elements of the design are baffles on the upper end of the inner cylinder, which prevent a mixture of the disperse phases, in combination with a collection device placed on top of the inner cylinder. This design allows continuous product extraction by means of biocompatible solvents and a simultaneous oxygen supply.
Moreover, the addition of both disperse phases and the regulation of the loop flow can be adapted continuously and anytime through steering of the volume flow rates. With this invention three or four phases can be brought together intensively with only small transport hindrances while the two additional disperse phases are spatially separated. On behalf of the University of Aachen (RWTH Aachen), PROvendis offers access to rights for commercial use as well as the opportunity for further co-development and evaluation. The design of the reactor and the requested fluid dynamics can be assisted by the inventors.

Twenty six years ago, on 24 April 1990, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit aboard the space shuttle Discovery as the first space…

A team of researchers from across the country, led by Alexander Spott, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, have built the first quantum cascade laser…