Characterisation of modified pharmaceutical proteins: the somatropin case

Somatropin, a recombinant protein containing 191 amino acids, is derived from the endogenous human growth hormone, somatotropin [1]. This protein is clinically used in children and adults with inadequate endogenous growth hormone to stimulate a normal bone and muscle growth. In addition, somatropin is currently being investigated for the diagnosis and radiotherapy of certain hormonal cancers. The modification of the protein with a chelating agent like NOTA (1,4,7-triazacyclononane-1,4,7-triacetic acid) allows the inclusion of metals coupled to the protein. The NOTA unit is selectively introduced on a lysine side chain. This yields 9 possible labelling sites for somatropin: 38, 41, 70, 115, 140, 145, 158, 168 and 172. As site-specific labelling is necessary to avoid active region interactions, characterisation of the chelate-modified somatropin is indispensable. Therefore, we have applied an enzymatic digestion procedure using trypsin, chymotrypsin and Staphylococcus aureus V-8 proteases. The resulting peptides were then monitored using HPLC-MSn, allowing the investigation of the exact position of amino acid modifications

The sociocultural sustainability of livestock farming: an inquiry into social perceptions of dairy farming.

Over the past 50 years, the scale and intensity of livestock farming have increased significantly. At the same time, Western societies have become more urbanised and fewer people have close relatives involved in farming. As a result, most citizens have little knowledge or direct experience of what farming entails. In addition, more people are expressing concerns over issues such as farm animal welfare. This has led to increasing public demand for more sustainable ways of livestock farming. To date, little research has been carried out on the social pillar of sustainable livestock farming. The aim of this study is to provide insights into the sociocultural sustainability of livestock farming systems. This study reviews the key findings of earlier published interdisciplinary research about the social perceptions of dairy farming in the Netherlands and Norway (Boogaard et al., 2006, 2008, 2010a and 2010b) and synthesises the implications for sociocultural sustainability of livestock farming. This study argues that the (sociocultural) sustainable development of livestock farming is not an objective concept, but that it is socially and culturally constructed by people in specific contexts. It explains the social pillar of the economics/ecological/social model sustainability in terms of the fields of tensions that exist between modernity, traditions and naturality – ‘the MTN knot’ – each of which has positive and negative faces. All three angles of vision can be seen in people's attitudes to dairy farming, but the weight given to each differs between individuals and cultures. Hence, sociocultural sustainability is context dependent and needs to be evaluated according to its local meaning. Moreover, sociocultural sustainability is about people's perceptions of livestock farming. Lay people might perceive livestock farming differently and ascribe different meanings to it than experts do, but their ‘reality’ is just as real. Finally, this study calls for an ongoing collaboration between social and animal scientists in order to develop livestock farming systems that are more socioculturally sustainable

Europees en nationaal plattelandsbeleid : een beknopte uiteenzetting over doelstellingen en maatregelen : achtergronddocument project ‘Zelfsturing en profit in de Noordelijke Friese Wouden’

In dit document een beknopt overzicht van het plattelandsbeleid op Europees, nationaal en provinciaal niveau. Dit beleid vormt (een deel van) het kader (zowel beperkend als mogelijkheden biedend) waarbinnen activiteiten en ambities van de Vereniging Noordelijke Friese Wouden plaatsvinden en dienen te worden gerealiseerd

Zelfsturing en Profit in de Noordelijke Friese Wouden : catalogus van inspirerende voorbeelden

Als onderdeel van de verkenningsfase van het TransForum innovatieve praktijkproject in de Noordelijke Friese Wouden over zelfsturing en profit, wordt in deze bijdrage een aantal binnen- en buitenlandse voorbeelden gegeven die als inspiratiebron kunnen dienen voor toekomstige ontwikkelingen in de Noordelijke Friese Wouden

Every city a food growing city? What food growing Schools London reveals about city strategies for food system sustainability

© 2018 by the authors. Cities have emerged as leaders in food system innovation and transformation, but their potential can be limited by the absence of supportive governance arrangements. This study examined the value of Food Growing Schools London (FGSL) as a programme seeking city-wide change through focusing on one dimension of the food system. Mixed methods case study research sought to identify high-level success factors and challenges. Findings demonstrate FGSL's success in promoting food growing by connecting and amplifying formerly isolated activities. Schools valued the programme's expertise and networking opportunities, whilst strategic engagement facilitated new partnerships linking food growing to other policy priorities. Challenges included food growing's marginality amongst priorities that direct school and borough activity. Progress depended on support from individual local actors so varied across the city. London-wide progress was limited by the absence of policy levers at the city level. Experience from FGSL highlights how city food strategies remain constrained by national policy contexts, but suggests they may gain traction through focusing on well-delineated, straightforward activities that hold public appeal. Sustainability outcomes might then be extended through a staged approach using this as a platform from which to address other food issues

Managing technical-institutional design processes: some strategic lessons from environmental co-operatives in the Netherlands

In this paper the case of the environmental co-operatives VEL and VANLA is reviewed in terms of coevolving technical and institutional change and the strategic lessons to be learned for a pro-active management of such complex technical-institutional design processes. Facing the many-sided crisis in agriculture the two co-operatives developed a radically different approach. The aim is to re-ground agriculture in local agro-ecological processes following the approach of lowering external inputs (i.e., material inputs, capital and labour). The results are promising: a system-innovation is emerging out of a wide range of connected novel operational practices (i.e., novelties) including technical as well as institutional aspects. The findings of VEL and VANLA stress once again the need for a simultaneous redesign of technical and institutional change to facilitate a transition towards a more sustainable agriculture. Furthermore, we conclude that this transition cannot but be rooted in promising, innovative practices that embody the potential to challenge conventional scientific approaches to sustainable agricultural development. More space should be created for ‘smart’ experimentation exploring and evaluating the potentialities of different transition paths