Technology Offerings

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 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.