Suchergebnisse

This book bridges three different fields: nanoscience, bioscience, and environmental sciences. It starts with fundamental electrostatics at interfaces and includes a detailed description of fundamental theories dealing with electrical double layers around a charged particle, electrokinetics, and electrical double layer interaction between charged particles. The stated fundamentals are provided as the underpinnings of sections two, three, and four, which address electrokinetic phenomena that occur in nanoscience, bioscience, and environmental science.

Programmed cell death via apoptosis is a natural defence against excessive cell division, crucial for foetal development to maintenance of homeostasis and elimination of precancerous and senescent cells. Here we demonstrate an electrified liquid bio-interface that replicates the molecular machinery of the inner mitochondrial membrane at the onset of apoptosis. By mimicking in vivo cytochrome c (Cyt c) interactions with cell membranes, our platform allows us to modulate the conformational plasticity of the protein by simply varying the electrochemical environment at an aqueous|organic interface. Remarkably, we observe interfacial electron transfer between an organic electron donor decamethylferrocene and O2, electrocatalysed by Cyt c. This interfacial reaction requires partial Cyt c unfolding, mimicking Cyt c in vivo peroxidase activity. As proof-of-concept, we use our electrified liquid bio-interface to identify drug molecules, such as bifonazole, that can potentially downregulate Cyt c and protect against uncontrolled neuronal cell death in neurodegenerative disorders. ; D.T. thanks Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) for computing resources at the SFI/Higher Education Authority Irish Center for High-End Computing (ICHEC). A.G.-Q. acknowledges funding received from an Irish Research Council (IRC) Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship Award (Grant Number GOIPD/2018/252). G.H. and M.D. are grateful to the French Programme Investissement d'Avenir (PIA) "Lorraine Université d'Excellence" (Reference no. ANR-15-IDEX-04-LUE). M.D.S. and G.H. are grateful to the support of the IRC and Campus France for travel support between the French and Irish groups through their joint ULYSSES programme. DT thanks Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) for support (awards Grant Numbers 15/CDA/3491 and 12/RC/2275_P2).

Der Name Schweisfurth steht seit den 80er-Jahren für ökologische Pionierarbeit in Deutschland. Der Vater leitete einmal den größten fleischverarbeitenden Konzern Europas, das Unbehagen über die damit verbundene Massentierhaltung führte jedoch zum Umstieg auf ökologische Landwirtschaft. Zu einem Zeitpunkt, als es für einen solchen Schritt noch wenige Vorbilder gab und "Bio" ein Synonym für verschrobene Weltverbesserer ohne Geschäftssinn war. Spätestens mit der Gründung der Bio-Supermarktkette "basic" zeigte Georg Schweisfurth, dass "Bio-Genuss für alle" möglich ist. In seinem neuen Buch zieht er Bilanz: Erleben wir, angesichts von Klimawandel und Lebensmittelskandalen, endlich eine echte "Bio-Revolution"? Wo steht "Bio" heute? Wo findet man funktionierende Modelle, und welche Lösungsansätze für eine Landwirtschaft der Zukunft bieten sie? Georg Schweisfurth ist zu mehr als 20 Vorzeige-Bio-Betrieben in Europa gereist und hat mit den leidenschaftlichen Pionieren und Pionierinnen über autochthone Tierarten und Weinsorten, traditionelle Anbaumethoden und modernes Marketing, über Erfolge und Rückschläge diskutiert. Vom traditionellen Rohschinkenproduzenten in Andalusien bis zur ältesten deutschen Bio-Brauerei – die ungewöhnlichen Erfolgsgeschichten dieser Menschen geben uns einen unverstellten Einblick in das wahre Gesicht der Bio-Branche und zeigen, wie jeder einzelne von uns für eine gesündere Umwelt und eine zukunftsfähige Landwirtschaft kämpfen kann. "Was Georg Schweisfurth somit auf 200 Seiten anschaulich zeigt, ist, dass ökologisches und nachhaltiges Wirtschaften keineswegs ein Hirngespinst von wenigen technikfeindlichen und rückwärtsgewandten Nachfahren der 68er-Generation ist. Es wird ein starkes Gefühl dafür vermittelt, dass eben dieser Wirtschaftsweise die Zukunft gehören muss und dass alle Bestrebungen, diese Modelle flächendeckend umzusetzen, zu unterstützen sind. Grundlegende fachwissenschaftliche Fragen sollte man sich dennoch lieber von Spezialisten beantworten lassen" (titel-kulturmagazin.net)

Contributed articles

If Chile's national electricity company ENDESA has its way, the next twenty years will see the river impounded by a series of six large dams. Half the ancestral land of the Pehuenche Indians, a tribe of forest dwellers, will be flooded, destroying once and for all the Pehuenches' traditional way of life

Several years ago, both authors engaged in research into bioscience and biomedical regulation in Asian countries. One of us (BP) explored why the regulatory and discursive embedding of human embryonic stem cell research in Israel was much more permissive than elsewhere. The other author (AW) sought to understand the conditions under which traditional herbal medicine came to be mobilised in Vietnam's national health delivery system to an extent that it is now considered one of the most integrated in the world. In both cases, we found that to understand science policies and regulatory frameworks we needed to go beyond official documents and expert interviews, and instead move the meanings of social conventions, political, legal and social histories, as well as other informal practices, into the focus of our studies. Exploring these conditions of possibility for the regulatory configurations in our case studies meant bringing what we call 'ethnographic sensibility' to our research. This article discusses the implications of this approach, which often entails rendering visible the contradictions and 'disorders' in what seems coherent and orderly. ; Several years ago, both authors engaged in research into bioscience and biomedical regulation in Asian countries. One of us (BP) explored why the regulatory and discursive embedding of human embryonic stem cell in Israel was much more permissive than elsewhere. The other author (AW) sought to understand the conditions under which traditional herbal medicine came to be mobilised in Vietnam's national health delivery system to an extent that it is now considered one of the most integrated in the world. In both cases, we found that to understand science policies and regulatory frameworks we needed to go beyond official documents and expert interviews, and instead move the meanings of social conventions, political, legal, and social histories, as well as other informal practices, into the focus of our studies. Exploring these conditions of possibility for the regulatory configurations in our case studies meant bringing what we call 'ethnographic sensibility' to our research. This paper discusses the implications of this approach, which often entails rendering visible the contradictions and 'disorders' in what seems coherent and orderly.