With a diploma thesis on biomass fermentation, a student of the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt suggests a practicable solution for the residents of the Ilmkreis in Thuringia.
At the end of November, the first international congress took place in Athens, which dealt with the important role of copper in the fight against hospital-acquired infections. Globally leading scientists have attested copper with specific antimicrobial properties, which assign the material an important role as "health watchdog": Laboratory tests have shown that 99,9 percent of bacteria, including the highly dangerous MRSA pathogens (MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), are within over a period of a few minutes to two hours on copper surfaces. On the other hand, survival rates of the same microbes of up to three days were measured on stainless steel surfaces. In Athens, in addition to these research results, the first practical experiences from clinical investigations were presented that are being carried out in various hospitals in Great Britain, South Africa, Japan, the USA and the Asklepios Clinic in Hamburg-Wandsbek. Frequently used contact surfaces such as doorknobs or light switches have been replaced by products made of a copper alloy.
Producing food in a hygienically safe manner is the top priority for the food industry. Because the health of consumers should not be endangered by their products. To achieve this goal, machines and production processes must be designed according to hygienic standards. In the meantime, the food manufacturers have recognized that these measures also contribute to the optimization and thus to the profitability of their processes. The hygienic production, packaging and storage through to distribution will be comprehensively represented at Anuga FoodTec from March 10th to 13th, 2009.
Lace it does not bear, but of arsenic she understands a lot, because the food chemist Prof. Dr. Tanja Schwerdtle examined different arsenic compounds to determine their toxicity to humans. has been teaching this winter semester and researching the 33-year-old at the Institute of Food Chemistry of the University of Muenster. Previously, she was a research assistant at the Institute of Food Technology and Food Chemistry at the Technical University of Berlin.
A group of researchers at the University of Zurich around Professor Adriano Aguzzi (Institute of Neuropathology) has found that subtle changes in the structure of the prion protein lead to a serious neurological dysfunction. In addition, they showed that the mutated protein leads to an infectious disease. Her research results have been since 1. December 2008 published online on "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" (PNAS).
Developing new antimicrobial plastic surfaces for the protection of humans and animals is the goal of the "SmartSurf" project, in which the University of Bonn, Münster University of Applied Sciences and six commercial companies are involved. The research serves to improve food quality and safety. The Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology is making around 1,4 million euros available over a period of three years. The companies involved are taking on a good 500.000 euros.
NH DyeAGNOSTICS is the present in the founding biotech company that is since April 2008 in the premises of the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB) located in Halle. The company wants to establish itself with a new, innovative technology, which was filed in July 2008 patent. The new method allows the qualitative and quantitative detection of proteins. Thus, in future, faster and better than with conventional technologies, compared complex protein samples together and new proteins are identified, which are formed by stress or response of diseases.