Autophagy in the eye:from physiology to pathophysology

Autophagy is a catabolic self-degradative pathway that promotes the degradation and recycling of intracellular material through the lysosomal compartment. Although first believed to function in conditions of nutritional stress, autophagy is emerging as a critical cellular pathway, involved in a variety of physiological and pathophysiological processes. Autophagy dysregulation is associated with an increasing number of diseases, including ocular diseases. On one hand, mutations in autophagy-related genes have been linked to cataracts, glaucoma, and corneal dystrophy; on the other hand, alterations in autophagy and lysosomal pathways are a common finding in essentially all diseases of the eye. Moreover, LC3-associated phagocytosis, a form of non-canonical autophagy, is critical in promoting visual cycle function. This review collects the latest understanding of autophagy in the context of the eye. We will review and discuss the respective roles of autophagy in the physiology and/or pathophysiology of each of the ocular tissues, its diurnal/circadian variation, as well as its involvement in diseases of the eye

Corporate social responsibility and safety and health at work

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) was defined by the European Commission as a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. To be socially responsible means going beyond fulfilling the legal expectations, by also investing ‘more’ into human capital, the environment and the relations with stakeholders. A distinction is often made between three aspects of the social dimension of corporate social responsibility: 1. Internal aspects: human resource management, health and safety at work (OSH), business ethics, adaptation to change, and organisational learning ; 2. External local: local corporate citizenship; 3. External worldwide: human rights, global environmental concerns, safety and health in supply companies, corporate citizenship worldwide. This report explores the interactions between CSR and safety and health at work both at company and policy level. Eleven company cases from six EU countries (Germany, UK, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Finland) are presented as inspiring examples

Hydrogen-Driven Cage Unzipping of C₆₀ into Nano-Graphenes

Annealing of C₆₀ in hydrogen at temperatures above the stability limit of C–H bonds in C₆₀H_<i>x</i> (500–550 °C) is found to result in direct collapse of the cage structure, evaporation of light hydrocarbons, and formation of solid mixture composed of larger hydrocarbons and few-layered graphene sheets. Only a minor part of this mixture is soluble; this was analyzed using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization MS, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and found to be a rather complex mixture of hydrocarbon molecules composed of at least tens of different compounds. The sequence of most abundant peaks observed in MS, which corresponds to C₂H₂ mass difference, suggests a stepwise breakup of the fullerene cage into progressively smaller molecular fragments edge-terminated by hydrogen. A simple model of hydrogen-driven C₆₀ unzipping is proposed to explain the observed sequence of fragmentation products. The insoluble part of the product mixture consists of large planar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, as evidenced by FTIR and Raman spectroscopy, and some larger sheets composed of few-layered graphene, as observed by transmission electron microscopy. Hydrogen annealing of C₆₀ thin films showed a thickness-dependent results with reaction products significantly different for the thinnest films compared to bulk powders. Hydrogen annealing of C₆₀ films with the thickness below 10 nm was found to result in formation of nanosized islands with Raman spectra very similar to the spectra of coronene oligomers and conductivity typical for graphene