Unternehmen und Postwachstum: Das Beispiel Premium-Cola

In der Postwachstumsdebatte wird eine Wirtschaft ohne Wachstumszwänge gefordert.Nun gilt es, diesen Gedanken auf das einzelne Unternehmen zu übertragen. Ein mögliches Beispiel für ein nachhaltigkeitsorientiertes Postwachstumsunternehmen ist der Kollektivbetrieb Premium-Cola

Modification of silicone elastomers with Bioglass 45S5® increases in ovo tissue biointegration

Silicone is an important material family used for various medical implants. It is biocompatible, but its bioinertness prevents cell attachment, and thus tissue biointegration of silicone implants. This often results in constrictive fibrosis and implant failure. Bioglass 45S5® (BG) could be a suitable material to alter the properties of silicone, render it bioactive and improve tissue integration. Therefore, BG micro- or nanoparticles were blended into medical-grade silicone and 2D as well as 3D structures of the resulting composites were analyzed in ovo by a chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay. The biomechanical properties of the composites were measured and the bioactivity of the composites was verified in simulated body fluid. The bioactivity of BG-containing composites was confirmed visually by the formation of hydroxyapatite through scanning electron microscopy as well as by infrared spectroscopy. BG stiffens as prepared non-porous composites by 13% and 36% for micro- and nanocomposites respectively. In particular, after implantation for 7 days, the Young's modulus had increased significantly from 1.20 ± 0.01 to 1.57 ± 0.03 MPa for microcomposites and 1.44 ± 0.03 to 1.69 ± 0.29 MPa to for nanocpmosites. Still, the materials remain highly elastic and are comparably soft. The incorporation of BG into silicone overcame the bioinertness of the pure polymer. Although the overall tissue integration was weak, it was significantly improved for BG-containing porous silicones (+72% for microcomposites) and even further enhanced for composites containing nanoparticles (+94%). These findings make BG a suitable material to improve silicone implant properties. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res B Part B: Appl Biomater, 2018

Inhibitors of dihydroorotate dehydrogenase cooperate with molnupiravir and N4-hydroxycytidine to suppress SARS-CoV-2 replication

Funding Information: We thank Thorsten Wolff, Daniel Bourquain, Jessica Schulz, and Christian Mache from the Robert-Koch Institute and Martin Beer from the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI) for providing isolates of SARS-CoV-2 variants. We thank Anna Kraft and Gabriele Czerwinski (both FLI) for support in the preparation of samples for pathology, and Catherine Hambly (University of Aberdeen) for help with daily energy expenditure measurements. We would like to thank Cathrin Bierwirth (University Medical Center Göttingen), Isabell Schulz, Anne-Kathrin Donner, and Frank-Thorben Peters for excellent technician assistance and Jasmin Fertey and Alexandra Rockstroh for providing the virus stocks for the mice experiment (Fraunhofer Institute IZI Leipzig). We acknowledge support by the Open Access Publication Funds of the Göttingen University. KMS was a member of the Göttingen Graduate School GGNB during this work. This work was funded by the COVID-19 Forschungsnetzwerk Niedersachsen (COFONI) to MD, by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research Germany ( Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung; BMBF ; OrganSARS , 01KI2058 ) to SP and TM, and by a grant of the Max Planck Foundation to DG. Declaration of interests AS, HK, EP, and DV are employees of Immunic AG and own shares and/or stock-options of the parent company of Immunic AG, Immunic Inc. Some of the Immunic AG employees also hold patents for the Immunic compounds described in this manuscript (WO2012/001,148, WO03006425). KMS, AD, and MD are employees of University Medical Center Göttingen, which has signed a License Agreement with Immunic AG covering the combination of DHODH inhibitors and nucleoside analogs to treat viral infections, including COVID-19 (inventors: MD, KMS, and AD). The other authors declare no conflict of interest.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

2020 taxonomic update for phylum Negarnaviricota (Riboviria: Orthornavirae), including the large orders Bunyavirales and Mononegavirales.

In March 2020, following the annual International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) ratification vote on newly proposed taxa, the phylum Negarnaviricota was amended and emended. At the genus rank, 20 new genera were added, two were deleted, one was moved, and three were renamed. At the species rank, 160 species were added, four were deleted, ten were moved and renamed, and 30 species were renamed. This article presents the updated taxonomy of Negarnaviricota as now accepted by the ICTV

Directing Stem Cell Commitment by Amorphous Calcium Phosphate Nanoparticles Incorporated in PLGA: Relevance of the Free Calcium Ion Concentration

The microenvironment of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is responsible for the modulation in MSC commitment. Nanocomposites with an inorganic and an organic component have been investigated, and osteogenesis of MSCs has been attributed to inorganic phases such as calcium phosphate under several conditions. Here, electrospun meshes and two-dimensional films of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) or nanocomposites of PLGA and amorphous calcium phosphate nanoparticles (PLGA/aCaP) seeded with human adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) were analyzed for the expression of selected marker genes. In a two-week in vitro experiment, osteogenic commitment was not found to be favored on PLGA/aCaP compared to pure PLGA. Analysis of the medium revealed a significant reduction of the Ca$^{2+}$ concentration when incubated with PLGA/aCaP, caused by chemical precipitation of hydroxyapatite (HAp) on aCaP seeds of PLGA/aCaP. Upon offering a constant Ca$^{2+}$ concentration, however, the previously observed anti-osteogenic effect was reversed: alkaline phosphatase, an early osteogenic marker gene, was upregulated on PLGA/aCaP compared to pristine PLGA. Hence, in addition to the cell-material interaction, the material-medium interaction was also important for the stem cell commitment here, affecting the cell-medium interaction. Complex in vitro models should therefore consider all factors, as coupled impacts might emerge

Muropeptide Modification-Amidation of Peptidoglycan d-Glutamate Does Not Affect the Proinflammatory Activity of Staphylococcus aureus

Peptidoglycan muropeptides, potent proinflammatory components, are amidated in Staphylococcus aureus for unknown reasons. To study whether this modification may modulate proinflammatory capacity, cytokine induction by isogenic S. aureus strains with different amidation levels and by synthetic amidated/nonamidated muramyldipeptides was evaluated. However, amidation did not significantly affect cytokine induction. This finding contributes to defining peptidoglycan receptor specificities and indicates that further rationales for muropeptide amidation have to be considered