Innovec: fighting infectious diseases with a bloodless mosquito diet - customer partnerships & marketing strategy

Vector-borne diseases such as Malaria, Dengue fever or Zika have previously mainly concerned countries below the equator. However, climate change forces them to move up north and make them an even more relevant problem for all countries across the globe. To fight vector-borne diseases, research requires a lot of blood in order to rear the distinct vectors such as mosquitoes, bugs, fleas, ticks and others. Within this pitch we present the company In no Vec and its product BLESS, a blood-free feeding alternative for vectors used in research and big-scale rearing projects. This individual part covers the customers, partnerships and the marketing strategy of Inno Vec. First, the goals of strategic partnerships are presented. Second, customers and partnerships are analyzed indepth, along side an exemplary customer journey. Lastly, a comprehensive B2B marketing strategy is presented

Dissecting The Functions Of Atr In Replication Fork Stability

Genome maintenance is required for cellular viability, and failure to preserve genomic integrity is associated with an increased risk of diseases, such as cancer. To ensure genomic stability, cells have checkpoints that control cell cycle progression in the event of DNA damage or incomplete DNA replication. The DNA replication checkpoint is regulated by the ATR-CHK1 pathway that stabilizes stalled replication forks and prevents their collapse into DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Two distinct models have been proposed to explain how ATR stabilizes stalled forks: 1) through local modulation of fork remodelers, such as SMARCAL1 inhibition, and 2) through inhibition of CDK-dependent pathways, such as inhibition of the AURKA-PLK1 pathway, which prevent cell cycle progression. However, it remains unclear which stabilization function is essential for fork stability and whether specific sites in the genome depend on one function over the other. In an effort to test if an essential part of fork stabilization is mediated through inhibiting CDK-dependent pathways, such as inhibiting premature activation of the AURKA-PLK1 pathway, we established a system to hyper-activate the AURKA-PLK1 pathway to determine if it is sufficient to cause fork collapse. We found that fork collapse was not achievable solely through Aurora A overexpression nor with overexpression of its co-activators, TPX2 and BORA, but rather that CDK1 activation was also required. To test if CDK1-activation is sufficient to promote fork collapse, we inhibited WEE1, which short-circuits the cell cycle checkpoint function of ATR without inhibiting its fork-proximal activity. Using flow cytometry based fork collapse assays and genome-wide detection of RPA accumulation using RPA ChIP-Seq, we show that WEE1 and ATR inhibition cause similar levels of fork collapse at overlapping genomic locations in a CDK1-depdendent manner under conditions of partial replication inhibition (low dose aphidicolin). Notably, treatment with WEE1 inhibitor (WEE1i) alone was also sufficient to cause replication fork collapse, and did so more rapidly and to a higher degree than treatment with ATR inhibitor (ATRi) alone. Interestingly, clear differences in site specificity were observed when WEE1i was combined with ATRi, suggesting that particular sites in the genome may be slightly more dependent on the local functions of ATR than others. Thus, cell cycle checkpoint abrogation by WEE1i is sufficient to cause replication fork collapse in a manner similar to ATRi; however, site-specific roles for ATR remain. Together our findings indicate that the cell cycle checkpoint of ATR is key in stabilizing replication forks at a majority of sites in the genome. These findings could be leveraged to develop cancer treatments that exploit combinations of oncogenic genomic breakage signatures with that of WEE1 or ATR inhibitors

Pourquoi une langue emprunte-t-elle des suffixes ? L’exemple du grec et du latin

Afin de déterminer les raisons pour lesquelles le grec a emprunté des suffixes au latin, nous examinons, en suivant le cadre théorique de Danielle Corbin, le suffixe -(i)ár(is) < du latin ‑arius, par exemple dans vromiaris [‘malpropre’], qui construit des adjectifs dénominaux à caractère [-savant/-soutenu]. En particulier, les adjectifs en -(i)ár(is) attribuent d’une manière permanente une qualité péjorative qui, dans le cadre de l’activité humaine quotidienne, dévie de la norme sociale d’une manière perceptible directement par les sens. Ce trait, lié à leur registre, résulte du fait que le suffixe est emprunté au latin, une langue sans prestige aux yeux des Grecs. Cette représentation stéréotypique de la latinité permet au grec de marquer les différences entre, d’un côté, le [+soutenu], l’officiel, l’objectif et, de l’autre, le [-soutenu], le quotidien, le subjectif, en conservant, dans le premier cas, les éléments d’origine grecque, et en utilisant, dans le second, des éléments empruntés.In order to determine the reasons that lead Greek to borrow suffixes from Latin, we examine the suffix -(i)ár(is) < Latin -arius, e.g., vromiaris [‘dirty’], within the theoretical morphological framework of Danielle Corbin. This suffix creates denominal adjectives bearing the [-learned/-elevated] feature attributing in a permanent way a degrading or below the social norm quality in a way that can be perceived by the senses, along with the use of these adjectives in everyday life situations. Their [-learned] character is a result of their having borrowed from Latin, a low prestige language, in the Greek judgment. This stereotypical representation of Latinhood allows Greek to signal the difference between the [+learned] (the official, the objective) and the [‑learned] (the subjective, that used in everyday life) while keeping in the first case the elements of Greek origin, and in the second case using borrowed elements

Analyzing farmers' preferences for substrate supply contracts for sugar beets

Biogas production using biomass of agricultural origin plays a key role in Germany's energy transition process. Being the main substrate, maize has been increasingly criticized in recent years leading to a down-regulation of this crop for the use in biogas plants by an adjustment of the Renewable Energy Sources (RES) Act in 2012. Thus, it is necessary to widen the range of sustainable and suitable substrate alternatives. This study explores German farmers' willingness to grow sugar beets for biogas production based upon the analysis of a discrete choice experiment with 118 arable farmers conducted from November 2013 to February 2014. Models are estimated in willingness to pay space. Our results reveal that at least two-thirds of the participating farmers assess biogas production from sugar beets as an important and sustainable alternative to maize. However, with respect to their own farms, farmers prefer to maintain their status-quo instead of choosing a contract. Findings also indicate that risk-averse farmers are more likely to contract sugar beets as a biogas substrate than less risk-averse farmers resulting in a lower price demand. However risk-averse farmers prefer short contract periods and a small share of their arable land, otherwise they demand a markup. Regarding the expansion of renewable energies these findings are highly relevant for future political decisions that aim to enable a sustainable energy transition

Differential processing effects within second group Modern Greek verbs

International audienceOn-line processing of Greek 2nd group verbs was examined through a psycholinguistic experiment using the masked priming technique. The critical comparison concerned the effect of past tense primes on present tense targets between the two forms of the same verb: 2nd group basic verbs and their alternative forms. Results showed that alternative forms elicit morphological priming whereas basic forms do not, and this cannot be compatible with a decompositional approach. We propose an interpretation based on a lexematic approach within an interactive activation model (IAM, McClelland & Rumelhart, 1981). In the discussion, we underline the difficulty in avoiding methodological caveats when transferring logic and material constitution techniques (mostly based on orthographic-phonological criteria) directly from one language to another. The experiment presented here highlights the need to consider a given verbal system in its complexity when designing a psycholinguistic experiment

Les cartes d'identité grecques et la dé-légitimation d'une pratique d'identification

Lors du début de la "crise des cartes d¹identité" en Grèce en 1993, l'image du pays contrastait sérieusement avec la bonne publicité dont il bénéficie aujourd'hui, après une présidence de l'Union européenne plutôt réussie. Cette crise était censée démontrer soit le caractère orthodoxe ­ "incompatible" avec l'Europe ­ de la Grèce, soit l'opposition persistante au sein du pays entre un parti occidentaliste, modernisateur, incarné par les intellectuels et un parti orientaliste orthodoxe, et "traditionaliste", dont le porte-parole était l'Eglise de Grèce. Et si pour commencer à échapper à ces oppositions transcendantes, nous analysions plutôt la manière dont l'Etat grec a commencé à "catégoriser" ses citoyens, légitimant ainsi certains critères tout en écartant d'autres

L'anathème sur la flamme olympique ?

La mise en scène autour de la flamme olympique adoptée par les nazis lors de l'Olympiade de 1936 interpella l'Église orthodoxe de Grèce à plusieurs niveaux. Derrière l'apparente unanimité de ses critiques sur l'aspect païen de la cérémonie ou sur l'émergence d'un « culte du corps » lié à des grands modèles politiques modernes (communisme, nazisme, « américanisme »), il est intéressant de constater que le débat faisait rage. En s'inspirant de la relecture de Weber par Bourdieu, cet article vise à montrer comment l'intervention de l'Église dans ce débat fut la résultante d'une âpre compétition entre agents religieux ayant chacun sa propre vision de l'idéal « traditionnel » du chrétien et sa propre stratégie pour réussir la survie de l'Église dans l'ère moderne de la sécularisation.The Nazi staging of the Olympic flame ceremony during the 1936 Olympics obliged the Greek orthodox Church to tackle this issue for numerous reasons. Its criticism of the pagan aspects of the ceremony or of the emergence of a “body worship” linked to a number of contemporary political models (Communism, Nazism, “Americanism”) was apparently unanimous. Nevertheless, in the backstage, fierce debates were taking place. This article draws inspiration from Bourdieu's reading of Weber in order to demonstrate that the Church's intervention in the debate was the result of an on-going competition among different religious agents. They all had their own vision of the “traditional” ideal of Christian behavior and their own strategy for succeeding the Church's survival in the modern era of secularization.La puesta en escena alrededor de la llama olímpica adoptada por los nazis durante las Olimpíadas de 1936 interpeló a la Iglesia ortodoxa de Grecia a varios niveles. Detrás de la aparente unanimidad de sus críticas sobre el aspecto pagano de la ceremonia o sobre la emergencia de un “culto del cuerpo” ligado a grandes modelos políticos modernos (comunismo, nazismo, “americanismo”), es interesante constatar que el debate se expandió con fuerza. Inspirándose en la relectura de Weber por Bourdieu, este artículo apunta a mostrar cómo la intervención de la Iglesia en este debate fue la resultante de una áspera competencia entre agentes religiosos, cada uno portador de su propia visión del ideal “tradicional” de lo Cristiano, y su propia estrategia para lograr la supervivencia de la Iglesia en la era moderna de la secularización

Analyzing farmers' preferences for collaborative arrangements: An experimental approach

[Introduction ...] The rest of the paper is structured as follows: In section 2, the hypotheses with regard to farmers’ preferences for CAs that shall be tested by means of the DCE are derived from the literature. The design of the questionnaire, which includes the DCE, as well as the descriptive data are described in the subsequent section. Afterwards, the theoretical background of the analysis methods is explained in section 5. Finally, the results of the DCE are presented in section 6. The paper ends with some conclusive remarks (section 7)