Static and dynamic bridge amplifier calibration according to ISO 4965-2

Dynamic measurements to correctly adjust the magnitude in fatigue testing require a dynamic calibration of force transducers and conditioning electronics if the dynamic loads are to be measured correctly. International standard ISO 4965 describes a calibration method for these components. At PTB, such a calibration of bridge amplifiers has now been performed for the first time. The calibration includes tests with static and dynamic signals. The reference for the calibration is the dynamic bridge standard of PTB. It is particularly suitable for this application as it can generate static and dynamic signals, and thus all investigations can be performed with one reference and in a reasonably short time. The signal creation and the data analysis were carried out using the open source program GNU Octave. For the data analysis, a semi-automatic procedure was developed to simplify the process. Calibrations of two digital bridge amplifiers were carried out.

A new bio-compatible Cd2+-selective nanostructured fluorescent imprinted polymer for cadmium ion sensing in aqueous media and its application in bio imaging in Vero cells

Schematic representation of Cd2+ recognition by the imprinted polymer and fluorescence signal creation as a result of the mentioned recognition process.

Reconstructing the complex evolutionary history of the fused Aco2 gene in fission yeast

The Aco2 gene of Schizosaccharomyces pombe was formed by gene fusion between curious partners, namely genes encoding the enzyme aconitase and a mitochondrial ribosomal protein. In addition to a full-length transcript, a truncated mRNA encoding only the N-terminal aconitase domain is produced by polyadenylation at an internal site. Protein products of the gene are found in the nucleus, mitochondria and cytoplasm, consistent with the presence of multiple subcellular targeting signals. To reconstruct the evolution of this complex gene, we studied homologous genes from a range of related species. We find evidence for a dynamic history within Taphrinomycotina, including: early evolution of a nuclear localization signal; creation of a 3’ intron that could be involved in regulating subcellular targeting; evolution of multiple peroxisomal targeting signals in different lineages; and recurrent gene loss. We present a likely stepwise model for the evolution of this remarkable gene and discuss alternative scenarios.