Broader Societal Issues of Nanotechnology

Nanoscale science and engineering are providing unprecedented understanding and control over the basic building blocks of matter, leading to increased coherence in knowledge, technology, and education. The main reason for developing nanotechnology is to advance broad societal goals such as improved comprehension of nature, increased productivity, better healthcare, and extending the limits of sustainable development and of human potential. This paper outlines societal implication activities in nanotechnology R&D programs. The US National Nanotechnology Initiative annual investment in research with educational and societal implications is estimated at about $30 million (of which National Science Foundation (NSF) awards about $23 million including contributions to student fellowships), and in nanoscale research with relevance to environment at about $50 million (of which NSF awards about $30 million and EPA about $6 million). An appeal is made to researchers and funding organizations worldwide to take timely and responsible advantage of the new technology for economic and sustainable development, to initiate societal implications studies from the beginning of the nanotechnology programs, and to communicate effectively the goals and potential risks with research users and the public.     

A Comprehensive Review on Therapeutic Perspectives of Phytosterols in Insulin Resistance: A Mechanistic Approach

Natural products in the form of functional foods have become increasingly popular due to their protective effects against life-threatening diseases, low risk of adverse effects, affordability, and accessibility. Plant components such as phytosterol, in particular, have drawn a lot of press recently due to a link between their consumption and a modest incidence of global problems, such as Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM), cancer, and cardiovascular disease. In the management of diet-related metabolic diseases, such as T2DM and cardiovascular disorders, these plant-based functional foods and nutritional supplements have unquestionably led the market in terms of cost-effectiveness, therapeutic efficacy, and safety. Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder categoriszed by high blood sugar and insulin resistance, which influence major metabolic organs, such as the liver, adipose tissue, and skeletal muscle. These chronic hyperglycemia fallouts result in decreased glucose consumption by body cells, increased fat mobilisation from fat storage cells, and protein depletion in human tissues, keeping the tissues in a state of crisis. In addition, functional foods such as phytosterols improve the body’s healing process from these crises by promoting a proper physiological metabolism and cellular activities. They are plant-derived steroid molecules having structure and function similar to cholesterol, which is found in vegetables, grains, nuts, olive oil, wood pulp, legumes, cereals, and leaves, and are abundant in nature, along with phytosterol derivatives. The most copious phytosterols seen in the human diet are sitosterol, stigmasterol, and campesterol, which can be found in free form, as fatty acid/cinnamic acid esters or as glycosides processed by pancreatic enzymes. Accumulating evidence reveals that phytosterols and diets enriched with them can control glucose and lipid metabolism, as well as insulin resistance. Despite this, few studies on the advantages of sterol control in diabetes care have been published. As a basis, the primary objective of this review is to convey extensive updated information on the possibility of managing diabetes and associated complications with sterol-rich foods in molecular aspects.     

Numbers,scale and symbols: the public understanding of nanotechnology

Nanotechnology will be an increasing part of the everyday lives of most people in the world. There is a general recognition that few people understand the implications of the technology, the technology itself or even the definition of the word. This lack of understanding stems from a lack of knowledge about science in general but more specifically difficulty in grasping the size scale and symbolism of nanotechnology. A potential key to informing the general public is establishing the ability to comprehend the scale of nanotechnology. Transitioning from the macro to the nanoscale seems to require an ability to comprehend scales of one-billion. Scaling is a skill not common in most individuals and tests of their ability to extrapolate size based upon scaling a common object demonstrates that most individuals cannot scale to the extent needed to make the transition to nanoscale. Symbolism is another important vehicle to providing the general public with a basis to understand the concepts of nanotechnology. With increasing age, individuals are able to draw representations of atomic scale objects, but these tend to be iconic and the different representations not easily translated. Ball and stick models are most recognized by the public, which provides an opportunity to present not only useful symbolism but also a reference point for the atomic scale.     

Nanoparticulate materials and regulatory policy in Europe: An analysis of stakeholder perspectives

The novel properties of nanoparticulate materials (NPM) and the rapid development of NPM based products have raised many unanswered questions and concerns by different stakeholders over its consequences for the environment and human health. These concerns have led to an increasing discussion in both the US and Europe about possible regulatory policies for NPM. In this article a comparative study of stakeholders’ perceptions on regulatory policy issues with NPM in Europe is presented. It was found that industry wants to regulate this area if the scientific evidence demonstrates that NPM are harmful, but also that the regulatory bodies do not find it necessary at this point of time to regulate until scientific evidence demonstrates that NPM are harmful. This research therefore shows that there will most likely not be any regulatory interventions until there is an established and convincing scientific knowledge base demonstrating that NPM can be hazardous. It is furthermore discussed in this article the different roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders in financing the research required to establish the necessary level of fundamental scientific evidence. It was also found that the activity of the regulatory bodies on this issue differ between the European countries.     

Public perception of nanotechnology

While several studies on the public opinion of nanotechnology have pointed to a rather enthusiastic U.S. public, the public uptake of nanotechnology in Europe is more contained. The results of the Swiss publifocus on nanotechnology reveal a pragmatic attitude of citizens toward the emerging technologies, thus confirming what has been identified as a “balanced approach” in the NanoJury UK.

A Raman spectroscopic study of copiapites Fe2+Fe3+(SO4)6(OH)2 · 20H2O: environmental implications

Raman spectroscopy has been used to study selected mineral samples of the copiapite group. Copiapite (Fe²⁺Fe³⁺(SO₄)₆(OH)₂ · 20H₂O) is a secondary mineral formed through the oxidation of pyrite. Minerals of the copiapite group have the general formula AFe₄(SO₄)₆(OH)₂ · 20H₂O, where A has a + 2 charge and can be either magnesium, iron, copper, calcium and/or zinc. The formula can also be B_2/3Fe₄(SO₄)₆(OH)₂ · 20H₂O, where B has a + 3 charge and may be either aluminium or iron. For each mineral, two Raman bands are observed at around 992 and 1029 cm⁻¹, assigned to the (SO₄)²⁻ν₁ symmetric stretching mode. The observation of two bands provides evidence for the existence of two non‐equivalent sulfate anions in the mineral structure. Three Raman bands at 1112, 1142 and 1161 cm⁻¹ are observed in the Raman spectrum of copiapites, indicating a reduction of symmetry of the sulfate anion in the copiapite structure. This reduction in symmetry is supported by multiple bands in the ν₂ and ν₄(SO₄)²⁻ spectral regions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A (computational) social science perspective on societal transitions

This paper aims to illustrate how social sciences, sociology in particular, have theorized on societal transitions. The first section introduces some preliminary definitions. The assumption is that a societal transition is more than a social, economic or technological change. It is a large-scale and long-term macro process through which a given social system radically changes its structural basis, in terms of new socio-technical practices, governance rules, social and economic institutions, cultural frames, and patterns of social life. The second section provides an excursus on social science accounts on transitions. In particular, the attention has been given to Norbert Elias’ famous study on the rise and fall of the court society in France, between 17th and 18th century and to Manuel Castells’ recent analysis of the emergence of the network society. The third section discusses problems and challenges of standard approaches and suggests some building blocks of societal transition models, taken from complexity and social simulation literature. The concluding section suggests some way-forward measures towards a computational social science approach to societal transitions.

Analysis and Implications of Transition-Band Signals in High-Resolution NMR

The problem of signals generated in and received from regions outside the active coil area is discussed in the context of using standard measurement techniques. Some of the conceptual and practical consequences of the existence of such transition-band signals are highlighted. Examples include radiation damping, pulse-width calibration, lineshape and radiofrequency homogeneity tests, improper saturation, and exchange- and relaxation-rate determinations. One interesting implication is that apparent sample-to-sample variations in the calibrated 90° pulse width values are a function not only of probe tuning and bulk susceptibility effects, but also of the linewidths involved. A semi-quantitative treatment of the phenomenon is also given.     

Optimization Method for the Selection of the Appropriate Fuzzy Implication

In this paper, we introduce a method allowing us to choose the most suitable fuzzy implication in an inference system application. We introduce also a similarity measure, which we call degree of sameness of two fuzzy implications in an inference system application.