From Individual Wellbeing to Collective Welfare: A New Perspective of Being and Becoming in a Post-Pandemic World

This article gives an overview of the twice four-dimensional logic that underpins the POZE paradigm at the individual and collective level. It is based on the understanding that human existence is a composition of four dimensions—soul, heart, mind and body, expressed as aspirations, emotions, thoughts and sensations. This individual multidimensionality reflects the collective arena, which is composed of micro, meso, macro and meta dimensions, in the form of individuals, communities, countries and planet earth. Individual wellbeing is the cause and consequence of collective welfare, due to four principles that influence the individual and the collective sphere: change, connection, continuity and complementarity. One without the other is not sustainable. Aid must be designed and delivered with the ambition of holistic support that considers not only each dimension but contributes to the optimisation of their mutual interplay, the ultimate ambition being to lift individuals everywhere to fulfill their potential

Facing the challenges – A miniaturized platform for integrated process development of products from microbial hosts

The recent developments within the biopharmaceutical market change the demands and requirements that have to be addressed. The venture of biosimilars and biobetters based on the off-patent situation enhances the need for acceleration of process development with high flexibility for new products. The trend toward PAT and continuous processing raises the need for better process understanding and integrated process development which challenges both - up and downstream processing. Bacterial systems offer high advantages and flexibility for high yield overexpression but often end up in very complex processes during product recovery. Often overexpression in E.coli is therefore limited to soluble fractions which means a severe limitation and restricts the opportunity to succeed. This talk present a HTS platform to evaluate the entire process of proteins expressed in E. coli as inclusion bodies – directly connecting DoE screening in upstream development to the subsequent downstream process including cell disruption, IB preparation and protein capture. This fast and material saving platform method provides a high-quality evaluation of fermentation screenings and reduces the initial barrier and reservation for IB processes opening potential for new products. As additional benefit you will generate valuable knowledge and gain better understanding of your process on the way

Arbeitskreis: HochschulMathematikDidaktik

Der Bericht blickt auf die vergangene Herbsttagung 2016 in Würzburg sowie der Arbeitskreissitzung auf der Jahrestagung der GDM in Potsdam zurück. Zudem gibt er einen Ausblick auf die kommende Herbsttagung

Role of Spinophilin in Group I Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Endocytosis, Signaling, and Synaptic Plasticity

Activation of Group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) activates signaling cascades, resulting in calcium release from intracellular stores, ERK1/2 activation, and long term changes in synaptic activity that are implicated in learning, memory, and neurodegenerative diseases. As such, elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying Group I mGluR signaling is important for understanding physiological responses initiated by the activation of these receptors. In the current study, we identify the multifunctional scaffolding protein spinophilin as a novel Group I mGluR-interacting protein. We demonstrate that spinophilin interacts with the C-terminal tail and second intracellular loop of Group I mGluRs. Furthermore, we show that interaction of spinophilin with Group I mGluRs attenuates receptor endocytosis and phosphorylation of ERK1/2, an effect that is dependent upon the interaction of spinophilin with the C-terminal PDZ binding motif encoded by Group I mGluRs. Spinophilin knock-out results in enhanced mGluR5 endocytosis as well as increased ERK1/2, AKT, and Ca2+ signaling in primary cortical neurons. In addition, the loss of spinophilin expression results in impaired mGluR5-stimulated LTD. Our results indicate that spinophilin plays an important role in regulating the activity of Group I mGluRs as well as their influence on synaptic activity

Resting cells rely on the DNA helicase component MCM2 to build cilia

Minichromosome maintenance (MCM) proteins facilitate replication by licensing origins and unwinding the DNA double strand. Interestingly, the number of MCM hexamers greatly exceeds the number of firing origins suggesting additional roles of MCMs. Here we show a hitherto unanticipated function of MCM2 in cilia formation in human cells and zebrafish that is uncoupled from replication. Zebrafish depleted of MCM2 develop ciliopathy-phenotypes including microcephaly and aberrant heart looping due to malformed cilia. In non-cycling human fibroblasts, loss of MCM2 promotes transcription of a subset of genes, which cause cilia shortening and centriole overduplication. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments show that MCM2 binds to transcription start sites of cilia inhibiting genes. We propose that such binding may block RNA polymerase II-mediated transcription. Depletion of a second MCM (MCM7), which functions in complex with MCM2 during its canonical functions, reveals an overlapping cilia-deficiency phenotype likely unconnected to replication, although MCM7 appears to regulate a distinct subset of genes and pathways. Our data suggests that MCM2 and 7 exert a role in ciliogenesis in post-mitotic tissues

First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. II. EHT and Multiwavelength Observations, Data Processing, and Calibration

We present Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) 1.3 mm measurements of the radio source located at the position of the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), collected during the 2017 April 5–11 campaign. The observations were carried out with eight facilities at six locations across the globe. Novel calibration methods are employed to account for Sgr A*'s flux variability. The majority of the 1.3 mm emission arises from horizon scales, where intrinsic structural source variability is detected on timescales of minutes to hours. The effects of interstellar scattering on the image and its variability are found to be subdominant to intrinsic source structure. The calibrated visibility amplitudes, particularly the locations of the visibility minima, are broadly consistent with a blurred ring with a diameter of ∼50 μas, as determined in later works in this series. Contemporaneous multiwavelength monitoring of Sgr A* was performed at 22, 43, and 86 GHz and at near-infrared and X-ray wavelengths. Several X-ray flares from Sgr A* are detected by Chandra, one at low significance jointly with Swift on 2017 April 7 and the other at higher significance jointly with NuSTAR on 2017 April 11. The brighter April 11 flare is not observed simultaneously by the EHT but is followed by a significant increase in millimeter flux variability immediately after the X-ray outburst, indicating a likely connection in the emission physics near the event horizon. We compare Sgr A*’s broadband flux during the EHT campaign to its historical spectral energy distribution and find that both the quiescent emission and flare emission are consistent with its long-term behavior

The law at the service of the child

L'enfant est un être en développement. C'est une personne vulnérable à cause de son état physiologique, mental et social. Sa protection est nécessaire afin qu'il puisse grandir et atteindre son potentiel. Bien que tous les enfants aient les mêmes droits, partout dans le monde nombreux souffrent encore de privations et de violences. Cet état de fait met en péril leur avenir et celui de toute la société. Car, seul l'être auquel a été donnée l'opportunité d'évoluer en fonction de ses capacités inhérentes, contribuera à l'avancement social et économique de sa Nation mais également de la communauté mondiale. Ainsi, les droits des enfants représentent une responsabilité pour tous. Tout Etat doit respecter et faire respecter la Convention relative aux droits de l'enfant. La famille élargie est responsable pour le bien-être de l'enfant dans son entourage immédiat. Car, il y a une relation directe entre les droits de l'enfant et les devoirs envers lui. Cependant, la réalité des enfants ne correspond pas au cadre normatif. Force est de constater que la Loi ne suffit pas pour traduire cette norme commune en résultats tangibles. Aussi un dispositif additionnel, complémentaire au droit, doit-il exister pour protéger l'être vulnérable, et assurer la cohésion de la société qui l'entoure. La Responsabilité sociale des entreprises et la philanthropie représentent les premières manifestations du principe que chacun est responsable de chacun. De nouveaux outils comme l'Internet, ainsi que les théories traditionnelles comme celle du bien public, doivent être mis à profit afin d'améliorer la protection de l'enfant, au bénéfice de tous.A child is a being in development. S/he is a vulnerable person because of his/her physiological, mental and social status. Her/his protection and participation are required so s/he can grow and reach her/his potential. Every child has the same rights throughout the world, yet many suffer from deprivation and violence. This situation jeopardizes their future and that of the whole society. Because only the being who has been given the opportunity to evolve according to her/his inherent capacities will contribute to the progress of her Nation, which forms part of the international community's headway. Children's rights are everyone's responsibility. The State must respect and ensure respect of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, key treaty in this domain. The extended family is responsible for the well-being of the child in her immediate environment. Beyond this external stakeholders are involved. They shouldn't seek to replace but to enhance the capacity of family, community and State in protecting the child. There is a direct relationship between the right of the child and the duty towards the child, with the requirement to ensure results, as a consequence of the inherent logic of children's rights. Yet reality does not match the normative framework. While responsibility for others is recognized as an imperative of action from an ethical, religious and legal point of view, children suffer and die. Since laws alone are not enough to translate this universal norm into results, an additional device, complementary to the legal framework, must exist to protect the vulnerable being, and to ensure cohesion of the society that surrounds her