Clean Energy Innovators Given New Global Platform

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

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Clean Energy Innovators Given New Global Platform

UK - Clean energy entrepreneurs are being given the opportunity to get their ideas in front of an influential audience of business insiders, policymakers and government representatives in a new initiative from the International Herald Tribune.

Submissions to the IHT Innovation Showcase should demonstrate a technological innovation or a new business model or process that could revolutionise the clean energy industry. Selected projects will be presented at the IHT Global Clean Energy Forum in Barcelona on the 2 and 3 October.

Proposals are encouraged from academics, start-ups and established organisations in the fields of design, engineering, business and technology. Thirty industry leaders will make up a specially convened Clean Energy Future Think Tank to review the proposals.

Chosen presenters will showcase their idea to an audience of 250 executives from the energy industry at the IHT Global Clean Energy Forum in Barcelona and the audience will vote for the best idea. The presentations and voting will be live-streamed on the IHT?s community site, IHT Rendezvous.

Stephen Dunbar-Johnson, publisher of the IHT said: "As we saw highlighted recently at the Rio+20 summit, finding alternative energy solutions should be the concern of every industry, organisation, government and individual.

"There may be all sorts of fantastic ideas out there but the challenge is often just giving them the exposure they need to take shape. The IHT Innovation Showcase will give this much-needed voice to emerging talent from the global design, business and technology communities and make sure that they come to the attention of the people who could make their ideas a reality."

All of the selected proposals will feature in an IHT special supplement. The best idea will be profiled on the IHT Global Clean Energy Forum Web site and feature in a special video interview which will be available to the conference?s extensive international industry network.

TheBioenergySite News Desk

Source: http://www.thebioenergysite.com/news/11276/clean-energy-innovators-given-new-global-platform

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Epigenetics alters genes in rheumatoid arthritis

ScienceDaily (July 3, 2012) ? It's not just our DNA that makes us susceptible to disease and influences its impact and outcome. Scientists are beginning to realize more and more that important changes in genes that are unrelated to changes in the DNA sequence itself -- a field of study known as epigenetics -- are equally influential.

A research team at the University of California, San Diego -- led by Gary S. Firestein, professor in the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology at UC San Diego School of Medicine -- investigated a mechanism usually implicated in cancer and in fetal development, called DNA methylation, in the progression of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). They found that epigenetic changes due to methylation play a key role in altering genes that could potentially contribute to inflammation and joint damage. Their study is currently published in the online edition of the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

"Genomics has rapidly advanced our understanding of susceptibility and severity of rheumatoid arthritis," said Firestein. "While many genetic associations have been described in this disease, we also know that if one identical twin develops RA that the other twin only has a 12 to 15 percent chance of also getting the disease. This suggests that other factors are at play -- epigenetic influences."

DNA methylation is one example of epigenetic change, in which a strand of DNA is modified after it is duplicated by adding a methyl to any cytosine molecule (C) -- one of the 4 main bases of DNA. This is one of the methods used to regulate gene expression, and is often abnormal in cancers and plays a role in organ development.

While DNA methylation of individual genes has been explored in autoimmune diseases, this study represents a genome-wide evaluation of the process in fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS), isolated from the site of the disease in RA. FLS are cells that interact with the immune cells in RA, an inflammatory disease in the joints that damages cartilage, bone and soft tissues of the joint.

In this study, scientists isolated and evaluated genomic DNA from 28 cell lines. They looked at DNA methylation patterns in RA FLS and compared them with FLS derived from normal individuals or patients with non-inflammatory joint disease. The data showed that the FLS in RA display a DNA methylome signature that distinguishes them from osteoarthritis and normal FLS. These FLS possess differentially methylated (DM) genes that are critical to cell trafficking, inflammation and cell-extracellular matrix interactions.

"We found that hypomethylation of individual genes was associated with increased gene expression and occurred in multiple pathways critical to inflammatory responses," said Firestein, adding that this led to their conclusion: Differentially methylated genes can alter FLS gene expression and contribute to the pathogenesis of RA.

Additional contributors include Kazuhisa Nakano and David L. Boyle, UCSD Department of Medicine; and John W. Whitaker and Wei Wang, UCSD Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

This project was supported by grant number UL1RR031980 from the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Advancing Translational Science.

NexDx, Inc. licensed the technology from UC San Diego and provided informatics support for this study. Gary S. Firestein and Wei Wang are on the Scientific Advisory Board of NexDx, Inc.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - San Diego, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. K. Nakano, J. W. Whitaker, D. L. Boyle, W. Wang, G. S. Firestein. DNA methylome signature in rheumatoid arthritis. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 2012; DOI: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2012-201526

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120703172549.htm

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It Was Always a Tax (Powerlineblog)

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Russian PM visits islands claimed by Japan

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Naturally adhesive

Public release date: 2-Jul-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Dr. Stephan Kabasci
stephan.kabasci@umsicht.fraunhofer.de
49-208-859-81164
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

Shoes, cars, airplanes, rotor blades for wind turbines, self-adhesive notes, plasters this is just a sample of the many products featuring adhesives. More than 820,000 tons of adhesive were produced in Germany in 2010, according to the German Adhesives Association Industrieverband Klebstoffe. To this day the majority of adhesives are manufactured from petroleum-based materials. Only gradually is the industry also offering adhesives made from renewable raw materials such as starch, cellulose, dextrins, and proteins. Pioneering products featuring these new adhesives include wallpaper pastes and glue sticks.

Adhesive based on polylactic acid

In two projects, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT are working on further new adhesive formulas based on renewable raw materials. In cooperation with the Recklinghausen site of the Westflische Hochschule, University of Applied Sciences, and the companies Jowat, Logo tape, and Novamelt, and with support from Germany's Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, researchers at UMSICHT in Oberhausen are developing a pressure-sensitive adhesive for industrial applications. Products using pressure-sensitive adhesives include adhesive bandages, self-adhesive labels, and adhesive tapes. They are subject to particularly demanding requirements: They have to remain permanently adhesive at room temperature. Gentle pressure should suffice for them to adhere to almost all substrates, and yet it must be possible to remove them without leaving behind any residue. To achieve this, the adhesive force must precisely match the respective use.

Pressure-sensitive adhesives are based on backbone polymers, which give the adhesives their inner strength (cohesion). The challenge for the UMSICHT researchers is to develop a backbone polymer from the raw material polylactic acid. What makes this biological material particularly attractive is its low production cost; since lactic acid is produced on an industrial scale, costs are in the region of prices for fossil-based backbone polymers. "However, the properties of polylactic acid are completely different from those of the polymers used to date, such as polyacrylates and styrene-based block copolymers," explains Dr. Stephan Kabasci, who heads the UMSICHT renewable resources business unit. This means that the researchers have to develop a completely new formula.

Packaging using compostable films

However, adhesives are also found in many types of packaging, for example where laminating films protect foodstuffs from dirt, moisture, and chemicals. This involves covering printed packaging and printed paper products on one or both sides with a transparent, shiny, matt, or embossed plastic film. In a collaborative project, UMSICHT scientists are working with the companies Achilles Papierveredelung Bielefeld, Jowat, and Deckert Management Consultants to develop innovative adhesive systems that meet the exacting quality requirements of laminated products as well as being compostable. In pursuit of this objective, the researchers are focusing primarily on water-based dispersion adhesives, in which the adhesive components are dispersed very finely in water. They are applied to one side of the product and joined while wet.

Nature shows us another path to developing biological adhesives. The buoy barnacle (Dosima fascicularis) produces a special adhesive which it uses to attach itself tightly to flotsam. This super-adhesive is so strong that it is almost impossible to break down into its constituent parts using ordinary solvents. Another special property it has is its ability to cure under water. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM in Bremen are now trying to find out which amino acid components make up the relevant proteins. "Once we've done that, the next step will be to recreate the adhesive proteins in the laboratory," says Dr. Ingo Grunwald, expert for biological adhesives at the IFAM. Such bioadhesives are primarily of interest for medical applications, for example to close incisions or to replace or support the pins and screws used to treat bone fractures.

###

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 2-Jul-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Dr. Stephan Kabasci
stephan.kabasci@umsicht.fraunhofer.de
49-208-859-81164
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

Shoes, cars, airplanes, rotor blades for wind turbines, self-adhesive notes, plasters this is just a sample of the many products featuring adhesives. More than 820,000 tons of adhesive were produced in Germany in 2010, according to the German Adhesives Association Industrieverband Klebstoffe. To this day the majority of adhesives are manufactured from petroleum-based materials. Only gradually is the industry also offering adhesives made from renewable raw materials such as starch, cellulose, dextrins, and proteins. Pioneering products featuring these new adhesives include wallpaper pastes and glue sticks.

Adhesive based on polylactic acid

In two projects, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT are working on further new adhesive formulas based on renewable raw materials. In cooperation with the Recklinghausen site of the Westflische Hochschule, University of Applied Sciences, and the companies Jowat, Logo tape, and Novamelt, and with support from Germany's Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, researchers at UMSICHT in Oberhausen are developing a pressure-sensitive adhesive for industrial applications. Products using pressure-sensitive adhesives include adhesive bandages, self-adhesive labels, and adhesive tapes. They are subject to particularly demanding requirements: They have to remain permanently adhesive at room temperature. Gentle pressure should suffice for them to adhere to almost all substrates, and yet it must be possible to remove them without leaving behind any residue. To achieve this, the adhesive force must precisely match the respective use.

Pressure-sensitive adhesives are based on backbone polymers, which give the adhesives their inner strength (cohesion). The challenge for the UMSICHT researchers is to develop a backbone polymer from the raw material polylactic acid. What makes this biological material particularly attractive is its low production cost; since lactic acid is produced on an industrial scale, costs are in the region of prices for fossil-based backbone polymers. "However, the properties of polylactic acid are completely different from those of the polymers used to date, such as polyacrylates and styrene-based block copolymers," explains Dr. Stephan Kabasci, who heads the UMSICHT renewable resources business unit. This means that the researchers have to develop a completely new formula.

Packaging using compostable films

However, adhesives are also found in many types of packaging, for example where laminating films protect foodstuffs from dirt, moisture, and chemicals. This involves covering printed packaging and printed paper products on one or both sides with a transparent, shiny, matt, or embossed plastic film. In a collaborative project, UMSICHT scientists are working with the companies Achilles Papierveredelung Bielefeld, Jowat, and Deckert Management Consultants to develop innovative adhesive systems that meet the exacting quality requirements of laminated products as well as being compostable. In pursuit of this objective, the researchers are focusing primarily on water-based dispersion adhesives, in which the adhesive components are dispersed very finely in water. They are applied to one side of the product and joined while wet.

Nature shows us another path to developing biological adhesives. The buoy barnacle (Dosima fascicularis) produces a special adhesive which it uses to attach itself tightly to flotsam. This super-adhesive is so strong that it is almost impossible to break down into its constituent parts using ordinary solvents. Another special property it has is its ability to cure under water. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM in Bremen are now trying to find out which amino acid components make up the relevant proteins. "Once we've done that, the next step will be to recreate the adhesive proteins in the laboratory," says Dr. Ingo Grunwald, expert for biological adhesives at the IFAM. Such bioadhesives are primarily of interest for medical applications, for example to close incisions or to replace or support the pins and screws used to treat bone fractures.

###

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-07/f-na070212.php

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Join the Engadget HD Podcast live on Ustream at 8:30PM ET

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