Entwickelter Norden, unterentwickelter Süden? Wissenseliten, Entwicklungshilfe und die Konstruktion des Westens in der OEEC und OECD

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and its predecessor, the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), are widely regarded as paradigmatic “Western” international organizations, essentially defining what it means to be a modern capitalist state. Focusing on transnational debates about development aid within the OEEC and OECD in the 1950s and 190s, this article analyses, in the context of Cold War and decolonization, how the “West” was constructed among experts, how they managed intra-European discrepancies between the richer “Northern” European and the poorer “Southern” European countries, and how these were conceptualized in relation to non-member countries from the global “South”. It shows how development aid within the OEEC emerged simultaneously from the apparatus of its colonial powers and from the need to handle an intra-European “North-South” divide. The article further argues that within this economic organization the rift between richer and poorer countries running through Western Europe was primarily couched in a technical and economic language in which the categories “developed” and “underdeveloped” were central concepts. The expert debates defined a region with specific characteristics – economically backwards, poor, and structurally lagging behind the richer OECD countries – thereby establishing a discourse that, from the 1970s onwards, powerfully shaped the explicitly geographic social scientific concept of “Southern” Europe

Effect of metal ions on the physical properties of multilayers from hyaluronan and chitosan, and the adhesion, growth and adipogenic differentiation of multipotent mouse fibroblasts

[EN] Polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) consisting of the polysaccharides hyaluronic acid (HA) as the polyanion and chitosan (Chi) as the polycation were prepared with layer-by-layer technique (LbL). The [Chi/HA](5) multilayers were exposed to solutions of metal ions (Ca2+, Co2+, Cu2+ and Fe3+). Binding of metal ions to [Chi/HA](5) multilayers by the formation of complexes with functional groups of polysaccharides modulates their physical properties and the bioactivity of PEMs with regard to the adhesion and function of multipotent murine C3H10T1/2 embryonic fibroblasts. Characterization of multilayer formation and surface properties using different analytical methods demonstrates changes in the wetting, surface potential and mechanical properties of multilayers depending on the concentration and type of metal ion. Most interestingly, it is observed that Fe3+ metal ions greatly promote adhesion and spreading of C3H10T1/2 cells on the low adhesive [Chi/HA](5) PEM system. The application of intermediate concentrations of Cu2+, Ca2+ and Co2+ as well as low concentrations of Fe3+ to PEMs also results in increased cell spreading. Moreover, it can be shown that complex formation of PEMs with Cu2+ and Fe3+ ions leads to increased metabolic activity in cells after 24 h and induces cell differentiation towards adipocytes in the absence of any additional adipogenic media supplements. Overall, complex formation of [Chi/HA](5) PEM with metal ions like Cu2+ and Fe3+ represents an interesting and cheap alternative to the use of growth factors for making cell-adhesive coatings and guiding stem cell differentiation on implants and scaffolds to regenerate connective-type of tissues.This work was part of the High-Performance Center Chemical and Biosystems Technology Halle/Leipzig, supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and a grant to HK from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg for female PhD students. The work was further supported by the Fraunhofer Internal Programs under Grant No. Attract 069-608203 (CEHS). TG acknowledges the kind support by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation within the framework of state support for the creation and development of World-Class Research Centers ``Digital biodesign and personalized healthcare'' 075-15-2020926. GGF acknowledges funding by the State Research Agency. Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain, grant PID2019106000RB-C21/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 project. We are grateful for the kind support by Christian Willems for the help in formatting and proof reading the manuscript.Kindi, H.; Menzel, M.; Heilmann, A.; Schmelzer, CEH.; Herzberg, M.; Fuhrmann, B.; Gallego-Ferrer, G.... (2021). Effect of metal ions on the physical properties of multilayers from hyaluronan and chitosan, and the adhesion, growth and adipogenic differentiation of multipotent mouse fibroblasts. Soft Matter. 17(36):8394-8410. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1sm00405k83948410173

Lipoplex-functionalized thin-film surface coating based on extracellular matrix components as local gene delivery system to control osteogenic stem cell differentiation

A gene-activated surface coating is presented as a strategy to design smart biomaterials for bone tissue engineering. The thin-film coating is based on polyelectrolyte multilayers composed of collagen I and chondroitin sulfate, two main biopolymers of the bone extracellular matrix, which are fabricated by layer-by-layer assembly. For further functionalization, DNA/lipid-nanoparticles (lipoplexes) are incorporated into the multilayers. The polyelectrolyte multilayer fabrication and lipoplex deposition are analyzed by surface sensitive analytical methods that demonstrate successful thin-film formation, fibrillar structuring of collagen, and homogenous embedding of lipoplexes. Culture of mesenchymal stem cells on the lipoplex functionalized multilayer results in excellent attachment and growth of them, and also, their ability to take up cargo like fluorescence-labelled DNA from lipoplexes. The functionalization of the multilayer with lipoplexes encapsulating DNA encoding for transient expression of bone morphogenetic protein 2 induces osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells, which is shown by mRNA quantification for osteogenic genes and histochemical staining. In summary, the novel gene-functionalized and extracellular matrix mimicking multilayer composed of collagen I, chondroitin sulfate, and lipoplexes, represents a smart surface functionalization that holds great promise for tissue engineering constructs and implant coatings to promote regeneration of bone and other tissues.publishe

Efficient Terahertz Generation by Tilted-Pulse-Front Pumping in Lithium Niobate for the Split-Ring Resonator Experiment at FLUTE

A compact, longitudinal diagnostics for fs-scale electron bunches using a THz electric-field transient in a split-ring resonator (SRR) for streaking will be tested at the Ferninfrarot Linac- Und Test- Experiment (FLUTE). For this new streaking technique, intensive THz pulses are required, which will be generated by laser-based optical rectification. We present a setup for generating THz pulses using tilted-pulse-front pumping in lithium niobate at room temperature. Excited by an 800 nm Ti:Sa pump laser with 35 fs bandwidth-limited pulse length, conversion efficiencies up to 0.027% were achieved. Furthermore, the status of the SRR experiment is shown

Split-ring resonator experiments and data analysis at FLUTE

FLUTE (Ferninfrarot Linac- Und Test-Experiment) is a compact linac-based test facility for accelerator and diagnostics R&D located at the Karlsruher Institute of Technology (KIT). A new accelerator diagnostics tool, called the split-ring resonator (SRR), was tested at FLUTE, which aims at measuring the longitudinal bunch profile of fs-scale electron bunches. Laser-generated THz radiation is used to excite a high frequency oscillating electromagnetic field in the SRR. Electrons passing through the 20 µm x 20 µm SRR gap are time-dependently deflected in the vertical plane, leading to a vertical streaking of the electron bunch. During the commissioning of the SRR at FLUTE, large series of streaking attempts with varying machine parameters and set-ups were investigated in an automatized way. The recorded beam screen images during this experiment have been analyzed and evaluated. This contribution motivates and presents the automatized experiment and discusses the data analysis

Highly Efficient Elimination of Colorectal Tumor-Initiating Cells by an EpCAM/CD3-Bispecific Antibody Engaging Human T Cells

With their resistance to genotoxic and anti-proliferative drugs and potential to grow tumors and metastases from very few cells, cancer stem or tumor-initiating cells (TICs) are a severe limitation for the treatment of cancer by conventional therapies. Here, we explored whether human T cells that are redirected via an EpCAM/CD3-bispecific antibody called MT110 can lyse colorectal TICs and prevent tumor growth from TICs. MT110 recognizes EpCAM, a cell adhesion molecule expressed on TICs from diverse human carcinoma, which was recently shown to promote tumor growth through engagement of elements of the wnt pathway. MT110 was highly potent in mediating complete redirected lysis of KRAS-, PI3 kinase- and BRAF-mutated colorectal TICs, as demonstrated in a soft agar assay. In immunodeficient mice, MT110 prevented growth of tumors from a 5,000-fold excess of a minimally tumorigenic TIC dose. T cells engaged by MT110 may provide a potent therapeutic means to eradicate TICs and bulk tumor cells derived thereof

Les droits disciplinaires des fonctions publiques : « unification », « harmonisation » ou « distanciation ». A propos de la loi du 26 avril 2016 relative à la déontologie et aux droits et obligations des fonctionnaires

The production of tt‾ , W+bb‾ and W+cc‾ is studied in the forward region of proton–proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.98±0.02 fb−1 . The W bosons are reconstructed in the decays W→ℓν , where ℓ denotes muon or electron, while the b and c quarks are reconstructed as jets. All measured cross-sections are in agreement with next-to-leading-order Standard Model predictions.The production of $t\overline{t}$, $W+b\overline{b}$ and $W+c\overline{c}$ is studied in the forward region of proton-proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.98 $\pm$ 0.02 \mbox{fb}^{-1}. The $W$ bosons are reconstructed in the decays $W\rightarrow\ell\nu$, where $\ell$ denotes muon or electron, while the $b$ and $c$ quarks are reconstructed as jets. All measured cross-sections are in agreement with next-to-leading-order Standard Model predictions