Wissenschaft und Innovation: Wissenschaftsforschung Jahrbuch 2001

Innovationen bilden in gesamtwirtschaftlicher Perspektive den Kern des technischen Fortschritts. Wissenschaftliche Arbeit im Bereich der Hochtechnologie benötigt Förderung durch Investitionen und die Verfügbarkeit eines hervorragend ausgebildeten Nachwuchses. Mit zunehmender Refinanzierung der Wissenschaft durch die Innovationskraft der Wirtschaft kann es einen Wandel der Forschung in einer wissenschaftsintegrierten Wirtschaft geben. Der Druck des internationalen Forschungswettbewerbs gibt dem Industrie- und Technologiestandort Deutschland keinen Zeitaufschub für den notwendigen Anpassungsprozess. Die Verbesserung der Wettbewerbs- und Innovationsfähigkeit der Unternehmen wird in Chancen gesehen, die sich aus der engeren Kooperation von Wirtschaft und Wissenschaft ergeben. Ein solcher Wandel verändert die gesellschaftliche Position der Wissenschaften und fordert zu Fragen nach neuen Strukturen des Wissenschaftssystems heraus. Untersuchungen über diesen grundlegenden Vorgang neuerer Wissenschaftsentwicklung sind ein wichtiges Anliegen der Wissenschaftsforschung. Die Gesellschaft für Wissenschaftsforschung hat sich dieser Fragestellung angenommen und sie im Rahmen ihrer Jahrestagung im Produktionstechnischen Zentrum der Technischen Universität Berlin am 30. und 31. März 2001 unter dem Thema „Wissenschaft und Innovation“ analysiert und diskutiert. Dabei ist es gelungen, theoretische Überlegungen mit historischen und aktuellen Fakten zu verbinden. Die Ergebnisse dieser Tagung werden in diesem Jahrbuch der Gesellschaft für Wissenschaftsforschung dem interessierten Leser vorgestellt.Peer Reviewe

The surface composition/organization of ionic liquids with Au nanoparticles revealed by high sensitivity Low Energy Ion Scattering.

International audienceHigh-sensitivity low-energy ion scattering (HS-LEIS) analysis was used to elucidate the outermost layer of both functionalized and non-functionalized imidazolium ionic liquids (ILs). The IL outermost layer is composed of all atoms of both cations and anions. The HS-LEIS analyses also allow for quantitative measurement of the thickness of IL overlayers on Au nanoparticles prepared by sputter deposition, which was shown to be a monolayer of ions, as predicted by density functional theory calculations

The impact of plant diversity and fertilization on fitness of a generalist grasshopper

In many environments land use intensification is likely to result in a decrease in species richness and in an increase in eutrophication. Although the importance of both factors for higher trophic levels such as insect herbivores is well documented, their impact has rarely been studied in combination. Herbivorous insects have a strong impact on the functioning of ecosystems and it is therefore important to understand how they are affected by eutrophication in high or low diversity environments. We used a grassland biodiversity experiment to investigate the combined effect of fertilization and plant diversity loss on the fitness of the generalist grasshopper Chorthippus parallelus by rearing grasshopper nymphs for four weeks in cages on unfertilized or fertilized (NPK) subplots across a species richness gradient from 1 to 60 plant species. Survival, the number of oothecae, body mass and the number of hatchlings were measured separately for each cage. Plant diversity had no effect on any of the grasshopper fitness measures, neither in unfertilized nor in fertilized plots. NPK-fertilization reduced grasshopper survival but increased body mass of males and reproductive success of the surviving females. Fertilization effects were not mediated by plant community structure, productivity or composition, suggesting that higher food plant quality was one of the main drivers. There was no interaction between plant diversity and fertilization on any of the measures. In conclusion, an increase in eutrophication, in both species-rich and species-poor grasslands, could lead to higher reproductive success and therefore higher abundances of herbivorous insects including insect pests, with fertilization effects dominating plant diversity effects

Dnmt1 has an essential function despite the absence of CpG DNA methylation in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum

Epigenetic mechanisms, such as CpG DNA methylation enable phenotypic plasticity and rapid adaptation to changing environments. CpG DNA methylation is established by DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), which are well conserved across vertebrates and invertebrates. There are insects with functional DNA methylation despite lacking a complete set of Dnmts. But at least one of the enzymes, DNMT1, appears to be required to maintain an active DNA methylation system. The red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, lacks Dnmt3 but possesses Dnmt1 and it has been controversial whether it has a functional DNA methylation system. Using whole genome bisulfite sequencing, we did not find any defined patterns of CpG DNA methylation in embryos. Nevertheless, we found Dnmt1 expressed throughout the entire life cycle of the beetle, with mRNA transcripts significantly more abundant in eggs and ovaries. A maternal knockdown of Dnmt1 caused a developmental arrest in offspring embryos. We show that Dnmt1 plays an essential role in T. castaneum embryos and that its downregulation leads to an early developmental arrest. This function appears to be unrelated to DNA methylation, since we did not find any evidence for this modification. This strongly suggests an alternative role of this protein

Cobalt nanocubes in ionic liquids : synthesis and properties

4 p. : il.The magnetic, optical, and catalytic properties of soluble metal nanoparticles (MNPs) depend primarily on their size, shape, and type, and on the nature of the stabilizer. [1–6] The generation of MNPs of controlled size and shape has been achieved by using a variety of methods that are mainly based on the use of ligands. [7, 8] Indeed, the vast majority of stable and soluble MNPs formed from transition metals have a ligand and/or oxide environment that has a substantial effect on the metal-surface properties of the nanoparticles. [7, 9] The synthesis of stable, soluble, naked, and ligand-free MNPs of controlled size and shape still remains a challenge. Although these MNPs can be produced in organic solvents (e.g., alcohols or tetrahydrofuran) by the simple decomposition of organometallic precursors, [10] the properties of these nanoparticles cannot be investigated in solution because of their poor stability and the volatility of the solvents. [11] Since imidazolium ionic liquids (ILs) possess preorganized structures that can adapt or are adaptable to many species—as they provide hydrophobic or hydrophilic regions with high directionality—they are emerging as alternative liquid templates for the generation of a plethora of size- and shapecontrolled nanostructures. [12–18