Barriers and Best Practices for the Circular Economy

Introduction We’re living in an exciting era. Rather than just another societal transition, we’re going through a fundamental societal transformation. Ecologist Joanne Macy calls this period ‘The Great Turning’: a period wherein we change from an industrial growth society into a life sustaining system’. Macy: “The most remarkable feature of this historical moment on Earth is not that we are on the way to destroying the world; we've actually been on the way for quite a while. It is that we are beginning to wake up, as from a millennia-long sleep, to a whole new relationship to our world, to ourselves and each other.” It is with these eyes that we have to see the rise of the Circular Economy. The Circular Economy is not just another trend in business; it’s the start of a completely new economic reality. The Circular Economy is the starting point for regenerative economics; for a new business-as-usual that - first and foremost - serves life and is based upon a fundamentally new value-paradigm. The future of success in business is about doing good for all stakeholders and creating benefit; not just profit. The Circular Economy demands next level thinking-and-doing in business, and there is no one more willing and able than the next generation of young professionals. It is therefore with great pride and pleasure that I present to you this publication of the SMO Promovendi. It offers fresh perspectives of a group of promising young scientists. All aspiring changemakers. It’s made with love and with the best of intentions; to help the Circular Economy forward

Histopathological Observation of Immunized Rhesus Macaques with Plague Vaccines after Subcutaneous Infection of Yersinia pestis

In our previous study, complete protection was observed in Chinese-origin rhesus macaques immunized with SV1 (20 µg F1 and 10 µg rV270) and SV2 (200 µg F1 and 100 µg rV270) subunit vaccines and with EV76 live attenuated vaccine against subcutaneous challenge with 6×106 CFU of Y. pestis. In the present study, we investigated whether the vaccines can effectively protect immunized animals from any pathologic changes using histological and immunohistochemical techniques. In addition, the glomerular basement membranes (GBMs) of the immunized animals and control animals were checked by electron microscopy. The results show no signs of histopathological lesions in the lungs, livers, kidneys, lymph nodes, spleens and hearts of the immunized animals at Day 14 after the challenge, whereas pathological alterations were seen in the corresponding tissues of the control animals. Giemsa staining, ultrastructural examination, and immunohistochemical staining revealed bacteria in some of the organs of the control animals, whereas no bacterium was observed among the immunized animals. Ultrastructural observation revealed that no glomerular immune deposits on the GBM. These observations suggest that the vaccines can effectively protect animals from any pathologic changes and eliminate Y. pestis from the immunized animals. The control animals died from multi-organ lesions specifically caused by the Y. pestis infection. We also found that subcutaneous infection of animals with Y. pestis results in bubonic plague, followed by pneumonic and septicemic plagues. The histopathologic features of plague in rhesus macaques closely resemble those of rodent and human plagues. Thus, Chinese-origin rhesus macaques serve as useful models in studying Y. pestis pathogenesis, host response and the efficacy of new medical countermeasures against plague