Learning from Sustainability-Oriented Innovation

This chapter argues that insights from the realm of sustainability-oriented innovation can provide useful answers to the question of why Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) would (or should) become interested in implementing responsible innovation practices. It is based on the assumption that “responsible innovation” and “sustainability-oriented innovation” are different approaches aimed at orienting innovation towards increased positive impacts on social and natural environments. Motivations and influences for pursuing sustainability-oriented inno-vation have been studied in the past, and can provide insights into reasons for pursu-ing the implementation of responsible innovation practices

Which Green Matters for Whom? Greening and Firm Performance across Age and Size Distribution of Firms.

A growing body of literature links firm performance with sustainability efforts.We contribute to this literature by developing a novel framework for contextualising greening through the lens of tangibility and visibility of greening activities and examine the impact of different types of greening on firm performance along the age and size distribution of firms. The empirical results based on a large-scale database suggest that rewards to different types of greening differ across age and size distributions

Ultrafast laser micro-nano structuring of transparent materials with high aspect ratio

Ultrafast lasers are ideal tools to process transparent materials because they spatially confine the deposition of laser energy within the material's bulk via nonlinear photoionization processes. Nonlinear propagation and filamentation were initially regarded as deleterious effects. But in the last decade, they turned out to be benefits to control energy deposition over long distances. These effects create very high aspect ratio structures which have found a number of important applications, particularly for glass separation with non-ablative techniques. This chapter reviews the developments of in-volume ultrafast laser processing of transparent materials. We discuss the basic physics of the processes, characterization means, filamentation of Gaussian and Bessel beams and provide an overview of present applications

Old World Arenaviruses Enter the Host Cell via the Multivesicular Body and Depend on the Endosomal Sorting Complex Required for Transport

The highly pathogenic Old World arenavirus Lassa virus (LASV) and the prototypic arenavirus lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) use α-dystroglycan as a cellular receptor and enter the host cell by an unusual endocytotic pathway independent of clathrin, caveolin, dynamin, and actin. Upon internalization, the viruses are delivered to acidified endosomes in a Rab5-independent manner bypassing classical routes of incoming vesicular trafficking. Here we sought to identify cellular factors involved in the unusual and largely unknown entry pathway of LASV and LCMV. Cell entry of LASV and LCMV required microtubular transport to late endosomes, consistent with the low fusion pH of the viral envelope glycoproteins. Productive infection with recombinant LCMV expressing LASV envelope glycoprotein (rLCMV-LASVGP) and LCMV depended on phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase (PI3K) as well as lysobisphosphatidic acid (LBPA), an unusual phospholipid that is involved in the formation of intraluminal vesicles (ILV) of the multivesicular body (MVB) of the late endosome. We provide evidence for a role of the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) in LASV and LCMV cell entry, in particular the ESCRT components Hrs, Tsg101, Vps22, and Vps24, as well as the ESCRT-associated ATPase Vps4 involved in fission of ILV. Productive infection with rLCMV-LASVGP and LCMV also critically depended on the ESCRT-associated protein Alix, which is implicated in membrane dynamics of the MVB/late endosomes. Our study identifies crucial cellular factors implicated in Old World arenavirus cell entry and indicates that LASV and LCMV invade the host cell passing via the MVB/late endosome. Our data further suggest that the virus-receptor complexes undergo sorting into ILV of the MVB mediated by the ESCRT, possibly using a pathway that may be linked to the cellular trafficking and degradation of the cellular receptor

Effects of age, parity, and pregnancy abnormalities on foal birth weight and uterine blood flow in the mare

Color Doppler sonography has become routine for the evaluation of high-risk pregnancies in human medicine. Previous studies documenting uterine blood flow parameters in the pregnant mare have found a decrease in peripheral blood flow resistance in the first pregnancy weeks and an increase in uterine blood flow, especially in the last trimester of pregnancy. However, these studies involved only a small number of mares. No naturally occurring pregnancy abnormalities occurred that would allow blood flow changes to be retrospectively examined and analyzed. The objective of the present study was to monitor the diameter of the uterine artery, uterine blood flow, and the combined thickness of the uterus and placenta (CTUP) throughout gestation in a large number of pregnant mares of different age and parity. In the present study, 51 warmblood mares were examined by ultrasonography on Days 16 and 30, at monthly intervals until Day 300, and then every 10 days from Day 300 until parturition. After localization of the uterine artery ipsilateral and contralateral to the conceptus, the diameter of each artery, the uterine blood flow (pulsatility index [PI], blood flow volume [BFV], and the presence of early diastolic notch), and the CTUP were measured and correlated to placental and foal birth weight after delivery. Furthermore, the effect of age (3–7 years [n = 16], 8–11 years [n = 17], 12–16 years [n = 18]) and parity (0–2 foals [n = 22], 3–4 foals [n = 15], 5–8 foals [n = 14]) on these parameters were analyzed. The diameter of the uterine artery increased more than threefold in the ipsilateral artery (0.40 ± 0.07–1.33 ± 0.08 cm) and 2.7-fold in the contralateral artery (0.39 ± 0.07–1.07 ± 0.08 cm [P 52.6 kg) had a 1.38-fold higher BFV in the last 2 months (P < 0.05) compared with lighter foals. Pulsatility index decreased 2-fold until completion of placentation at around Day 150 and continued to decline until Day 240 where it then stayed constant and at a low level until delivery. Age predominantly influenced PI, whereas the diameter of the uterine arteries, which is correlated to BFV (r ipsilateral = 0.919, P < 0.0001 and r contralateral = 0.909, P < 0.000), was strongly affected by parity. Four mares spontaneously aborted (Days 200, 208, 213, and 246) and four mares spontaneously developed placentitis that was diagnosed by the presence of an increased CTUP and/or placental pathology after delivery. Although not statistically relevant, the aborting mares showed a slightly increased total BFV, but no differences in PI were seen compared with mares without abnormalities of pregnancy. Mares that developed placentitis had a late (Days 150–210) disappearance of the early diastolic notch and an increased PI in the first half of pregnancy. In conclusion, the study documented differences in uterine artery diameter and blood flow in a large number of pregnant mares. Furthermore, this is the first known report to document uteroplacental blood flow changes associated with naturally occurring placentitis and abortion in mares