Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 22
  • Item
    An extended hybrid input-output model applied to fossil- and bio-based plastics
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2021) Jander, Wiebke
    Matrix augmentation method is developed further and described transparently for enabling more specific input-output analyses of bio- vs. fossil-based sectors. A number of economic and environmental effects of substitution can be estimated, compared, and managed. While the model was applied for the first time to the German plastics industry, it can be well integrated into existing bioeconomy monitorings to represent substitution in sectors and countries. • Original matrix augmentation method is described in much detail for the first time considering available data for bio- and fossil-based industries. • Particular attention is paid to balancing cost and benefit in model building so that indicators can be integrated in a continuous monitoring of the bioeconomy. Hence, industry data is prefered to process data whenever possible. • Input structures of bio-based imports are considered in single-region input-output analysis.
  • Item
    Cell cycle-related genes associate with sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide-induced toxicity
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2022) Bekeschus, Sander; Liebelt, Grit; Menz, Jonas; Singer, Debora; Wende, Kristian; Schmidt, Anke
    Reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) are well-described agents in physiology and pathology. Chronic inflammation causes incessant H2O2 generation associated with disease occurrences such as diabetes, autoimmunity, and cancer. In cancer, conditioning of the tumor microenvironment, e.g., hypoxia and ROS generation, has been associated with disease outcomes and therapeutic efficacy. Many reports have investigated the roles of the action of H2O2 across many cell lines and disease models. The genes predisposing tumor cell lines to H2O2-mediated demise are less deciphered, however. To this end, we performed in-house transcriptional profiling of 35 cell lines and simultaneously investigated each cell line's H2O2 inhibitory concentration (IC25) based on metabolic activity. More than 100-fold differences were observed between the most resistant and sensitive cell lines. Correlation and gene ontology pathway analysis identified a rigid association with genes intertwined in cell cycle progression and proliferation, as such functional categories dominated the top ten significant processes. The ten most substantially correlating genes (Spearman r > 0.70 or < -0.70) were validated using qPCR, showing complete congruency with microarray analysis findings. Western blotting confirmed the correlation of cell cycle-related proteins negatively correlating with H2O2 IC25. Top genes related to ROS production or antioxidant defense were only modest in correlation (Spearman r > 0.40 or < -0.40). In conclusion, our in-house transcriptomic correlation analysis revealed a set of cell cycle-associated genes associated with a priori resistance or sensitivity to H2O2-induced cellular demise with the detailed and causative roles of individual genes remaining unclear.
  • Item
    Static and dynamic 3D culture of neural precursor cells on macroporous cryogel microcarriers
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2020) Newland, Ben; Ehret, Fanny; Hoppe, Franziska; Eigel, Dimitri; Pette, Dagmar; Newland, Heike; Welzel, Petra B.; Kempermann, Gerd; Werner, Carsten
    Neural precursor cells have been much studied to further our understanding of the far-reaching and controversial question of adult neurogenesis. Currently, differentiation of primary neural precursor cells from the mouse dentate gyrus via 2-dimentional in vitro culture yields low numbers of neurons, a major hindrance to the field of study. 3-dimentional “neurosphere” culture allows better 3D cell-cell contact, but control over cell differentiation is poor because nutrition and oxygen restrictions at the core of the sphere causes spontaneous differentiation, predominantly to glial cells, not neurons. Our group has developed macroporous scaffolds, which overcome the above-mentioned problems, allowing long-term culture of neural stem cells, which can be differentiated into a much higher yield of neurons. Herein we describe a method for culturing neural precursor cells on RGD peptide functionalized-heparin containing cryogel scaffolds, either in standard non-adherent well-plates (static culture) or in spinner flasks (dynamic culture). This method includes: • The synthesis and characterization of heparin based microcarriers. • A “static” 3D culture method for that does not require spinner flask equipment. • “Dynamic” culture in which cell loaded microcarriers are transferred to a spinner flask. © 2020 The Authors
  • Item
    Assessing the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes for the production of lactic acid
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2019) López-Gómez, J. Pablo; Latorre-Sánchez, Marcos; Unger, Peter; Schneider, Roland; Coll Lozano, Caterina; Venus, Joachim
    With an estimated yearly production of about 140 Mt in the EU, conventionally, the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes (OFMSW) has been disposed in landfills with negative environmental effects. Nonetheless, the chemical composition of this residue make it a substrate with great bioconversion potential. In this study, OFMSW from Spanish municipal treatment plants, were evaluated for the production of LA. Samples were identified according to the sorting mechanisms employed for their collection in: (A) separately collected, (B) non-separately collected and (C) separately collected+paper/cardboard. Enzymatic hydrolysis was used to produce hydrolysates A, B and C accordingly. Hydrolysate A showed the highest total sugars and glucose content with values of 70 and 55 g·L−1, respectively. Following the characterisation, a screening showed that growth of B. coagulans was possible in all three hydrolysates. Furthermore, lab scale fermentations showed that LA final concentrations could reach around 60 g·L−1, with yields from total sugars of above 0.60 g·g−1. A technical scale fermentation of the hydrolysate A resulted in a final LA concentration of 60.7 g·L−1, a yield of 0.71 g·g−1 with a productivity of 2.68 g·L−1·h−1. Overall, it was estimated that 0.23 g of LA could be produced from one g of dry OFMSW.
  • Item
    Global and country-level data of the biodiversity footprints of 175 crops and pasture
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2021) Beyer, Robert; Manica, Andrea
    The destruction of natural habitat for cropland and pasture represents a major threat to global biodiversity. Despite widespread societal concern about biodiversity loss associated with food production, consumer access to quantitative estimates of the impact of crop production on the world's species has been very limited compared to assessments of other environmental variables such as greenhouse gas emissions or water use. Here, we present a consistent dataset of the biodiversity footprints of pasture and 175 crops at the global and national level. The data were generated by combining maps of the global distribution of agricultural areas in the year 2000 with spatially explicit estimates of the biodiversity loss associated with the conversion of natural habitat to farmland. Estimates were derived for three common alternative measures of biodiversity - species richness, threatened species richness, and range rarity - of the world's mammals, birds, and amphibians. Our dataset provides important quantitative information for food consumers and policy makers, allowing them to take evidence-based decisions to reduce the biodiversity footprint of global food production.
  • Item
    Propagating and localized surface plasmon resonance sensing — A critical comparison based on measurements and theory
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2016) Jatschka, Jacqueline; Dathe, André; Csáki, Andrea; Fritzsche, Wolfgang; Stranik, Ondrej
    With its potential for ultrasensitive, label-free detection of molecular interactions, sensing methods based on the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect fully meet the requirements for modern analytical techniques. Already established by using propagating SPR in thin gold layers, the last years witnessed the emergence of another related technique utilizing extremely miniaturized noble metal sensor structures, based on a localized SPR. This paper provides a critical comparison of these kinds of SPR sensing, reviews the foundation of both general approaches, presents experimental data on exactly the same molecular model system using both techniques, as well as theoretical considerations in order to allow reasonable comparison. It highlights the specific features and effects, in order to provide guidance in choosing the right technique for given bioanalytical tasks. The study demonstrated the capabilities of LSPR for sensing of molecular layers even in the lower nanometer dimension. For the detection of small (bio)molecules, smaller particle diameters are favored regarding highest sensitivity. It also presents an approach to obtain refractive index and the thickness of a molecular film by analyzing the signal response of plasmonic sensors with metal nanoparticles. Moreover, an additional method for the improvement of the parameters' determination is introduced.
  • Item
    Example dataset for the hMRI toolbox
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2019) Callaghan, Martina F.; Lutti, Antoine; Ashburner, John; Balteau, Evelyne; Corbin, Nadège; Draganski, Bogdan; Helms, Gunther; Kherif, Ferath; Leutritz, Tobias; Mohammadi, Siawoosh; Phillips, Christophe; Reimer, Enrico; Ruthotto, Lars; Seif, Maryam; Tabelow, Karsten; Ziegler, Gabriel; Weiskopf, Nikolaus
    The hMRI toolbox is an open-source toolbox for the calculation of quantitative MRI parameter maps from a series of weighted imaging data, and optionally additional calibration data. The multi-parameter mapping (MPM) protocol, incorporating calibration data to correct for spatial variation in the scanner's transmit and receive fields, is the most complete protocol that can be handled by the toolbox. Here we present a dataset acquired with such a full MPM protocol, which is made freely available to be used as a tutorial by following instructions provided on the associated toolbox wiki pages, which can be found at http://hMRI.info, and following the theory described in: hMRI – A toolbox for quantitative MRI in neuroscience and clinical research [1].
  • Item
    Grain-size distribution dataset of supercritical flow sediments from a Gilbert-type delta that are associated with disaggregation bands
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2022) Tanner, David C.; Brandes, Christian; Winsemann, Jutta
    This is a dataset of grain-size distribution in sub- and supercritical flow sediments of a Gilbert-type delta from an outcrop in North Germany. Thirteen samples of ca 2.5 kg were dried (at 105°C), and homogenised twice with a sample divider. A representative sample of 1-2 g was then analysed using laser diffraction. The grain-size distribution of the sand has a maximum between fine to medium sand, with a long fine fraction tail down to 0.06 µm and occasional coarse fractions (up to 1.5 mm) in some samples. Specific grain-size distributions correlate with the different sedimentary bedforms from which the samples were taken. This data is important for two reasons: Firstly, sedimentary structures formed by Froude supercritical flows are controlled by grain-size. However, few studies have provided grain-size datasets from the natural record, which often have a much wider grain-size distribution than experimentally-produced supercritical flow deposits. Secondly, the sands were deformed subsequently by disaggregation bands, a type of geological fault that only develops in porous granular materials, i.e. well-sorted, medium sand. The disaggregation bands are indicative of seismic or even aseismic, creeping movement of basement faults.
  • Item
    xCT (SLC7A11) expression confers intrinsic resistance to physical plasma treatment in tumor cells
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2020) Bekeschus, Sander; Eisenmann, Sebastian; Sagwal, Sanjeev Kumar; Bodnar, Yana; Moritz, Juliane; Poschkamp, Broder; Stoffels, Ingo; Emmert, Steffen; Madesh, Muniswamy; Weltmann, Klaus-Dieter; von Woedtke, Thomas; Gandhirajan, Rajesh Kumar
    Cold physical plasma is a partially ionized gas investigated as a new anticancer tool in selectively targeting cancer cells in monotherapy or in combination with therapeutic agents. Here, we investigated the intrinsic resistance mechanisms of tumor cells towards physical plasma treatment. When analyzing the dose-response relationship to cold plasma-derived oxidants in 11 human cancer cell lines, we identified four 'resistant' and seven 'sensitive' cell lines. We observed stable intracellular glutathione levels following plasma treatment only in the 'resistant' cell lines indicative of altered antioxidant mechanisms. Assessment of proteins involved in GSH metabolism revealed cystine-glutamate antiporter xCT (SLC7A11) to be significantly more abundant in the 'resistant' cell lines as compared to 'sensitive' cell lines. This decisive role of xCT was confirmed by pharmacological and genetic inhibition, followed by cold physical plasma treatment. Finally, microscopy analysis of ex vivo plasma-treated human melanoma punch biopsies suggested a correlation between apoptosis and basal xCT protein abundance. Taken together, our results demonstrate that xCT holds the potential as a biomarker predicting the sensitivity of tumor cells towards plasma treatment.
  • Item
    Integrative programming for simulation of packaging headspace and shelf life of fresh produce
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2021) Jalali, Ali; Linke, Manfred; Geyer, Martin; Mahajan, Pramod
    Fresh horticultural products are exposed to different environmental conditions from farm to fork. Barrier properties of packaging and physiological behaviour of produce, namely respiration and transpiration can affect headspace conditions surrounding produce and consequently remaining shelf life. Packaging material also plays a role in heat and mass transfer, such as thermal conduction and permeation of O2, CO2 and water vapour. All of these behaviours are integrated together in the form of ordinary differential equations and solved using numerical methods in MATLAB. • The simulation program is useful for designing the size and number of perforations to achieve equilibrium modified atmosphere alone or in combination with packaging material having a higher water transmission rate or active moisture absorber. • The simulation program is also useful for predicting the shelf life of fresh produce under the actual supply chain conditions. • The simulation program provides a flexible system to input predefined supply chain conditions and the properties of fresh produce and packaging material, thus, minimizing the costly and time consuming experimental procedures for selecting the optimum packaging material for fresh produce.