EU Regulation of Nanobiocides: Challenges in Implementing the Biocidal Product Regulation (BPR)

The Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) contains several provisions for nanomaterials (NMs) and is the first regulation in the European Union to require specific testing and risk assessment for the NM form of a biocidal substance as a part of the information requirements. Ecotoxicological data are one of the pillars of the information requirements in the BPR, but there are currently no standard test guidelines for the ecotoxicity testing of NMs. The overall objective of this work was to investigate the implications of the introduction of nano-specific testing requirements in the BPR and to explore how these might be fulfilled in the case of copper oxide nanoparticles. While there is information and data available in the open literature that could be used to fulfill the BPR information requirements, most of the studies do not take the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s nanospecific test guidelines into consideration. This makes it difficult for companies as well as regulators to fulfill the BPR information requirements for nanomaterials. In order to enable a nanospecific risk assessment, best practices need to be developed regarding stock suspension preparation and characterization, exposure suspensions preparation, and for conducting ecotoxicological test

Resolving the shocked gas in HH54 with Herschel: CO line mapping at high spatial and spectral resolution

The HH54 shock is a Herbig-Haro object, located in the nearby Chamaeleon II cloud. Observed CO line profiles are due to a complex distribution in density, temperature, velocity, and geometry. Resolving the HH54 shock wave in the far-infrared cooling lines of CO constrain the kinematics, morphology, and physical conditions of the shocked region. We used the PACS and SPIRE instruments on board the Herschel space observatory to map the full FIR spectrum in a region covering the HH54 shock wave. Complementary Herschel-HIFI, APEX, and Spitzer data are used in the analysis as well. The observed features in the line profiles are reproduced using a 3D radiative transfer model of a bow-shock, constructed with the Line Modeling Engine code (LIME). The FIR emission is confined to the HH54 region and a coherent displacement of the location of the emission maximum of CO with increasing J is observed. The peak positions of the high-J CO lines are shifted upstream from the lower J CO lines and coincide with the position of the spectral feature identified previously in CO(10-9) profiles with HIFI. This indicates a hotter molecular component in the upstream gas with distinct dynamics. The coherent displacement with increasing J for CO is consistent with a scenario where IRAS12500-7658 is the exciting source of the flow, and the 180 K bow-shock is accompanied by a hot (800 K) molecular component located upstream from the apex of the shock and blueshifted by -7 km s$^{-1}$. The spatial proximity of this knot to the peaks of the atomic fine-structure emission lines observed with Spitzer and PACS ([OI]63, 145 $\mu$m) suggests that it may be associated with the dissociative shock as the jet impacts slower moving gas in the HH54 bow-shock.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

UCE: A uracil excision (USER™)-based toolbox for transformation of cereals

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cloning of gene casettes and other DNA sequences into the conventional vectors for biolistic or <it>Agrobacterium</it>-mediated transformation is hampered by a limited amount of unique restriction sites and by the difficulties often encountered when ligating small single strand DNA overhangs. These problems are obviated by "The Uracil Specific Excision Reagent (USER™)" technology (New England Biolabs) which thus offers a new and very time-efficient method for engineering of big and complex plasmids.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>By application of the USER™ system, we engineered a collection of binary vectors, termed UCE (USER cereal), ready for use in cloning of complex constructs into the T-DNA. A series of the vectors were tested and shown to perform successfully in <it>Agrobacterium</it>-mediated transformation of barley (<it>Hordeum vulgare </it>L.) as well as in biolistic transformation of endosperm cells conferring transient expression.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The USER™ technology is very well suited for generating a toolbox of vectors for transformation and it opens an opportunity to engineer complex vectors, where several genetic elements of different origin are combined in a single cloning reaction.</p

Scandinavian perspectives on plant gene technology: applications, policies and progress

Plant research and breeding has a long and successful history in the Scandinavian countries, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Researchers in the region have been early in adopting plant gene technologies as they developed. This review gives a background, as well as discuss the current and future progress of plant gene technology in these four countries. Country-specific details of the regulation of genetically modified plants are described, as well as similarities and differences in the approach to regulation of novel genome-editing techniques. Also, the development of a sustainable bioeconomy may encompass the application of plant gene technology and we discuss whether or not this is reflected in current associated national strategies. In addition, country-specific information about the opinion of the public and other stakeholders on plant gene technology is presented, together with a country-wise political comparison and a discussion of the potential reciprocal influence between public opinion and the political process of policy development. The Scandinavian region is unique in several aspects, such as climate and certain agriculturally related regulations, and at the same time the region is vulnerable to changes in plant breeding investments due to the relatively small market sizes. It is therefore important to discuss the role and regulation of innovative solutions in Scandinavian plant research and breeding.Peer reviewe

Determining the Parameters of Massive Protostellar Clouds via Radiative Transfer Modeling

A one-dimensional method for reconstructing the structure of prestellar and protostellar clouds is presented. The method is based on radiative transfer computations and a comparison of theoretical and observed intensity distributions at both millimeter and infrared wavelengths. The radiative transfer of dust emission is modeled for specified parameters of the density distribution, central star, and external background, and the theoretical distribution of the dust temperature inside the cloud is determined. The intensity distributions at millimeter and IR wavelengths are computed and quantitatively compared with observational data. The best-fit model parameters are determined using a genetic minimization algorithm, which makes it possible to reveal the ranges of parameter degeneracy as well. The method is illustrated by modeling the structure of the two infrared dark clouds IRDC-320.27+029 (P2) and IRDC-321.73+005 (P2). The derived density and temperature distributions can be used to model the chemical structure and spectral maps in molecular lines.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy Report

Разработка инструментов продвижения инновационного продукта на рынке B2B

Тема данной работы - "Разработка инструментов продвижения инновационного продукта на рынке B2B" - в рамках которой были разработаны инструменты продвижения которые будут использоваться компанией ОАО "Манотомь". Задача данной работы заключается в анализе продукции выпускаемой компанией и инструментов продвижения используемых компанией. С целью модернизации и разработкой новых инструментов продвижения. Исходя из поставленных задач, в дипломной работе последовательно рассмотрены ряд вопросов, такие как конкурентоспособность продукции ОАО "Манотомь" а так же используемые инструменты продвижения. Разработан новый инструмент продвижения такой как контекстная реклама. Разработаны предложения по модернизации сайта. И рассчитаны оптимальные экономические затраты на внедрения данных инструментов.The topic of this work is "Development of tools for promoting an innovative product in the B2B market" - within the framework of which the promotion tools were developed that will be used by the company "Manotom". The task of this work is to analyze the products produced by the company and the promotion tools used by the company. In order to modernize and develop new promotion tools. Based on the tasks set, the thesis consistently considers a number of issues, such as the competitiveness of the products of JSC "Manotom" as well as the promotion tools used. A new promotion tool, such as contextual advertising, has been developed. Proposals for the modernization of the site have been developed. And the optimal economic costs for the implementation of these tools are calculated

Massive galaxy formation caught in action at z~5 with JWST

We report the discovery of a compact group of galaxies, CGG-z5, at z~5.2 in the EGS field covered by the JWST/CEERS survey. CGG-z5 was selected as the highest overdensity of galaxies at z>2 in recent JWST public surveys and it consists of six candidate members lying within a projected area of $1.5''\times3''$ (10$\times$20~kpc$^2$). All group members are HST/F435W and HST/F606W dropouts while securely detected in the JWST/NIRCam bands, yielding a narrow range of robust photometric redshifts $5.0<z<5.3$. The most massive galaxy in the group has a stellar mass log$(M_{*}/M_{\odot})\approx9.8$, while the rest are low-mass satellites (log$(M_{*}/M_{\odot})\approx8.4-9.2$). While several group members were already detected in the HST and IRAC bands, the low stellar masses and the compactness of the structure required the sensitivity and resolution of JWST for its identification. To assess the nature and evolutionary path of CGG-z5, we searched for similar compact structures in the \textsc{Eagle} simulations and followed their evolution with time. We find that all the identified structures merge into a single galaxy by z=3 and form a massive galaxy (log$(M_{*}/M_{\odot})>11$) at z~1. This implies that CGG-z5 could be a "proto-massive galaxy" captured during a short-lived phase of massive galaxy formation.Comment: A&A Letter in pres