Umwelt in der Politikwissenschaft

Zusammenfassung: Was ist Politikwissenschaft? Was verstehen wir unter politikwissenschaftlicher Umweltforschung? Welche Forschungsbereiche, Institutionen und Studienmöglichkeiten gibt es und mit welchen Themen hat sich die politikwissenschaftliche Umweltforschung in den letzten Jahren beschäftigt? Diese und weitere Fragen stehen im Vordergrund dieses Überblickartikels, der zum Ziel hat, einen einfachen Einstieg in das Fachgebiet und zentrale Themenkomplexe zu bieten sowie auf aktuelle Trends, Chancen und Herausforderungen der Inter- und Transdisziplinarität auf diesem Gebiet einzugehen. Mit Blick auf die Entwicklung der politikwissenschaftlichen Umweltforschung in den letzten Jahren ist, nicht zuletzt aufgrund der zunehmenden Dynamik politikrelevanter Umweltherausforderungen, zu erwarten, dass die Bedeutung des Fachs weiter zunehmen wird. Um zum Verständnis politischer Strukturen, Prozesse und Inhalte im Umweltkontext beitragen zu können, gewinnt die effektive Zusammenarbeit mit Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftlern aus anderen Fächern aufgrund der Komplexität des Themenbereichs kontinuierlich an Bedeutung

Quantifying absolute addressability in DNA origami with molecular resolution

Self-assembled DNA nanostructures feature an unprecedented addressability with sub-nanometer precision and accuracy. This addressability relies on the ability to attach functional entities to single DNA strands in these structures. The efficiency of this attachment depends on two factors: incorporation of the strand of interest and accessibility of this strand for downstream modification. Here we use DNA-PAINT super-resolution microscopy to quantify both incorporation and accessibility of all individual strands in DNA origami with molecular resolution. We find that strand incorporation strongly correlates with the position in the structure, ranging from a minimum of 48% on the edges to a maximum of 95% in the center. Our method offers a direct feedback for the rational refinement of the design and assembly process of DNA nanostructures and provides a long sought-after quantitative explanation for efficiencies of DNA-based nanomachines

Smartglass augmented reality-assisted targeted prostate biopsy using cognitive point-of-care fusion technology

Introduction MRI-guided targeted biopsy has become standard of care for diagnosis of prostate cancer, with establishment of several biopsy techniques and platforms. Augmented reality smart glasses have emerged as novel technology to support image-guided interventions. We aimed to investigate its usage while prostate biopsy. Methods MRI with PIRADS-lesions ≥3 was uploaded to smart glasses (Vuzix BladeR) and augmented reality smart glasses-assisted targeted biopsy (SMART-TB) of the prostate was performed using cognitive fusion technology at the point of care. Detection rates were compared to systematic biopsy. Feasibility for SMART-TB was assessed (10 domains from bad [1] to excellent [10]). Results SMART-TB was performed for four patients. Prostate cancer detection was more likely for SMART-TB (46%; 13/28) than for systematic biopsy (27%; 13/48). Feasibility scores were high [8–10] for practicality, multitasking, execution speed, comfort and device weight and low [1–4] for handling, battery and image quality. Median execution time: 28 min; Investment cost smart glass: 1017 USD. Conclusion First description of SMART-TB demonstrated convenient feasibility. This novel technology might enhance diagnosis of prostate cancer in future

Complex multicomponent patterns rendered on a 3D DNA-barrel pegboard

DNA origami, in which a long scaffold strand is assembled with a many short staple strands into parallel arrays of double helices, has proven a powerful method for custom nanofabrication. However, currently the design and optimization of custom 3D DNA-origami shapes is a barrier to rapid application to new areas. Here we introduce a modular barrel architecture, and demonstrate hierarchical assembly of a 100 megadalton DNA-origami barrel of similar to 90nm diameter and similar to 250nm height, that provides a rhombic-lattice canvas of a thousand pixels each, with pitch of similar to 8nm, on its inner and outer surfaces. Complex patterns rendered on these surfaces were resolved using up to twelve rounds of Exchange-PAINT super-resolution microscopy. We envision these structures as versatile nanoscale pegboards for applications requiring complex 3D arrangements of matter, which will serve to promote rapid uptake of this technology in diverse fields beyond specialist groups working in DNA nanotechnology

Fast, Background-Free DNA-PAINT Imaging Using FRET-Based Probes

DNA point accumulation in nanoscale topography (DNA-PAINT) enables super-resolution microscopy by harnessing the predictable, transient hybridization between short dye-labeled “imager” and complementary target-bound “docking” strands. DNA-PAINT microscopy allows sub-5 nm spatial resolution, spectrally unlimited multiplexing, and quantitative image analysis. However, these abilities come at the cost of nonfluorogenic imager strands, also emitting fluorescence when not bound to their docking strands. This has thus far prevented rapid image acquisition with DNA-PAINT, as the blinking rate of probes is limited by an upper-bound of imager strand concentrations, which in turn is dictated by the necessity to facilitate the detection of single-molecule binding events over the background of unbound, freely diffusing probes. To overcome this limitation and enable fast, background-free DNA-PAINT microscopy, we here introduce FRET-based imaging probes, alleviating the concentration-limit of imager strands and speeding up image acquisition by several orders of magnitude. We assay two approaches for FRET-based DNA-PAINT (or FRET-PAINT) using either fixed or transient acceptor dyes in combination with transiently binding donor-labeled DNA strands and achieve high-quality super-resolution imaging on DNA origami structures in a few tens of seconds. Finally, we also demonstrate the applicability of FRET-PAINT in a cellular environment by performing super-resolution imaging of microtubules in under 30 s. FRET-PAINT combines the advantages of conventional DNA-PAINT with fast image acquisition times, facilitating the potential study of dynamic processes