Short Description of the Invention: The invention enables the use of electrically insulating flanges for the connection of tubing with high internal pressures at high temperatures. The mechanical integrity of these flange connections is highly constrained by the used ceramic material. The invention enables the decoupling of the preload force from the insulating element under the stress of the internal pressure. Moreover, it allows the electrically insulating element to be only partially fabricated from ceramic material, such that it can be used in conformity with the European pressure equipment directive.
The novel design principle presented here for a piezomagnetic high voltage generator facilitates the virtually wear-free construction of energy harvesting systems for various applications. A system of this kind can therefore be operated largely without the need for maintenance.
The invention concerns an actuator system which allows up to 100% availability. lt comprises a number of redundant actuator sub-units working completely independent which can be replaced during system Operation without reducing system functionality.
An algorithm has been developed to determine the distance between an RFID-Reader and a tag involved in the communication. The algorithm can be applied
for existing tags without the need for modification and can be used for passive, semi-passive, and active tags.
High-grade textiles (e.g. Cashmere, Pashmina and other natural fibers) are nowadays often counterfeited. Cashmeres shawls labeled as „100% Pashmina” can be made out of almost 100% polyester or other synthetic fibers. For this reason, a tool to proof the fabric composition declared on the label is very desirable. The object of this invention is a reliable method to determine the type and the nature of a fiber. The characteristic diffraction pattern of the fiber, recorded with an USB camera, enables the determination of the thickness, the surface structure as well as the grade of transparency and eventually the internal structure of the fiber. On the base of this information a reliable identification of the fiber material is provided.
Monocrystalline solar cells that are produced using the relatively inexpensive CZ method (Czochralski method) display a noticeable drop in efficiency of more than 1% in absolute figures under sunlight within a few hours. This effect is called Light Induced Degradation (LID). Solar cells and modules are sold in relation to their performance. This is why elimination of light induced degradation holds tremendous economic potential. As early as 2006, a simple method for the regeneration of solar cells was developed at the University of Konstanz which proved to be very efficient at moderate temperatures and light intensity.
This well-known method has now been significantly enhanced and modified: the degradation of the Cz silicon solar cells can now be largely eliminated during the production process. The regeneration process is now carried out at much higher temperatures than before, using hydrogen that had diffused into silicon nitride. This makes the regeneration process a lot more efficient and faster. Ideally, this step follows the co-firing process during the production.
Cancer-immunotherapy is currently gaining interest thanks to novel genetic engineering technologies. The most promising approach is the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) technique for redirecting hereby modified T cells against cancer-associated antigens. The herein presented CAR constitutes of a B cell-derived single chain antibody fragment (scFv) directed against TOSO. This ectodomain is fused with a co-stimulatory CD28 T cell activation domain, finally followed by a CD3ζ domain. The receptor is introduced into allogenic or autologous peripheral blood T cells by retroviral gene transfer.
Cell-based assays show high killing specificity of the anti-TOSO CAR T cells against CLL cells, whereas normal B cells remain intact. The discrimination is strongly improved in comparison to previously engineered anti-CD19 CAR T cells that are currently used in clinical studies.
The described anti-TOSO CAR T cells have a strongly improved selectivity of target cell killing. The reduction of adverse effects on normal cells provides a competitive advantage against all other CAR T cell approaches that are currently on the market.
On behalf of the University of Cologne, PROvendis offers a patent license as well as a research collaboration with licensing option.
The efficiency of solar cells can be increased simply and effectively by smoothing the back side through wet chemical etching. A smooth surface structure makes the back side highly reflective. During smoothing, the parasitic emitter on the back side is etched away as well, while a viscous paste protects the microscopic pyramidal structure on the front side. The process utilizes solely inexpensive and established technologies in industrial manufacturing of solar cells.
The recombinant peroxidase-protein G fusion protein is recombinantely produced at high yields in bioreactor cultivations of Pichia pastoris. The used process enables reproducible products of consistent high quality due to independence of varying enzyme isolates and chemical conjugation procedures.
Unevenly deposited swaths of green feed can cause an irregular flow in the forage harvester when crop is chopped in windrows. Thus, the energy consumption increases and a degradation of the quality of the chopped material is possible.
The described invention provides a remedy. One component of the invention are anticipatory sensors that detect the thickness or volume of the swath – not only directly on the machine, but also at a greater distance.
Modern technology enables agricultural machinery to perform better and more efficiently under changing conditions at any time. It is important that appropriate procedures secure the profitability of farmland and increase the efficiency of crop production. For this purpose detailed information on all aspects of the production process are necessary. An important part of this is a spatially resolved measurement of crop yields in real time.
The technologies presented here are inventions of Prof. Dr. Karl Wild at the University of Applied Sciences Dresden at the Faculty of Agriculture/Environment/Chemistry. Professor Karl Wild is engaged in the field “Technology in Horticulture and Agriculture”. The techniques are developments that meet the current requirements of “Smart Farming”. They employ a variety of variables / data in the harvesting process and enable the detection of the crop yield in order to optimize crop yields.
This presentation outlines five techniques for volumetric and mass flow detection and for the determination of the density of cereals as a basis for a local yield determination in harvesting machines.
The unique physical and chemical properties arising
from graphene may lead to remarkable advantages in the fields of electronics and energy storage devices. Its superior electronic conductivity and the single-to few-atoms thickness are particularly appealing for the use as anode material for lithium-ion batteries. Graphene ́s electrochemical properties, relevant for its use in batteries, are strongly depending on its synthesis.
The innovative method object of this invention is a
n ionic liquid-assisted microwave exfoliation of expanded graphite. It allows the bulk production of high-quality multilayer crystalline graphene flakes. Used as anode material in lithium-ion batteries, at low temperatures (< 0°C) it shows advanced lithium-ion storage performance, when compared with commercially available graphite.
At the University of Konstanz, Germany, a new method for wiring rear contact solar cells has been developed, in particular suited for wire-based interconnection of IBC solar cells. For wiring, narrow tabbing or wire (e.g. highly conductive copper wire), which is run orthogonally to the contact fingers, is used. Half of the wires are led through very small gaps in the p contacts to connect to the n contacts. The other half is led through gaps in the n contacts, connecting to the p contacts.
Many biological processes depend on oligomeric protein-protein interactions (PPI). However, state-of-the-art in vivo PPI techniques focus on analysing binary interactions (i.e. the Split-Ubiquitin System (SUS)1). The SUS can also be used to analyse binding of three proteins in the so-called SUS Bridge Assay (SUB)2 – see Figure A. Nevertheless, this assay makes an unbiased screening approach cumbersome and its low efficiency restricts the identification of meaningful candidates.
Here, we present the first screening system in yeast that permits high-throughput screening of cDNA libraries for ternary binding partners of a known interaction couple. This is achieved by a unique combination of SUB and yeast mating. Technical prerequisites are special “2in1”-vectors3, which allow simultaneous transformation of “Bait I” and “Bait II” on a single plasmid in yeast of one mating type and the cDNA library in the other – see Figure B.
In cooperation with Italian partners, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences recently developed a new type of anti-fouling coating on membranes with scalable retention to improve the quality of purified water while reducing the costs involved in cleaning, maintaining and replacing the membranes. Pore sizes and thus separation efficiency and chemical properties of the novel PBM coated membrane surface can be individually adjusted to the composition of the water to be purified. The PBM coated ultrafiltration membranes were successfully tested in membrane bioreactor (MBR) systems using real wastewater.
The new Soft Switching Three Level Inverter (S3L – Inverter) is of striking simplicity and is therefore inexpensive. Because of the underlying principle, it works without losses and thus with maximum efficiency. The inverter is easily controlled, has EMC friendly inherent di/dt- and du/dt limitation, and can be built using low-cost standard semiconductors.
Field of use: electric drives, solar power inverter, wind power inverter, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS).
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