Making in America Berger, Suzanne; MIT Task Force on Production in the Inno, M. I. T. Task
08/2013
eBook
America is the world leader in innovation, but many of the innovative ideas that are hatched in American start-ups, labs, and companies end up going abroad to reach commercial scale. Apple, the ...superstar of innovation, locates its production in China (yet still reaps most of its profits in the United States). When innovation does not find the capital, skills, and expertise it needs to come to market in the United States, what does it mean for economic growth and job creation? Inspired by the MIT Made in America project of the 1980s,Making in Americabrings experts from across MIT to focus on a critical problem for the country.MIT scientists, engineers, social scientists, and management experts visited more than 250 firms in the United States, Germany, and China. In companies across America--from big defense contractors to small machine shops and new technology startups--these experts tried to learn how we can rebuild the industrial landscape to sustain an innovative economy. At each stop, they asked this basic question: "When you have a new idea, how do you get it into the market?" They found gaping holes and missing pieces in the industrial ecosystem. Critical strengths and capabilities that once helped bring new enterprises to life have disappeared: production capacity; small and medium-size suppliers; spillovers of research, training, and new technology from big corporations. (Production in the Innovation Economy, also published by the MIT Press in 2013, describes this research.)Even in an Internet-connected world, proximity to innovation and users matters for industry.Making in Americadescribes ways to strengthen this connection, including public-private collaborations, new government-initiated manufacturing innovation institutes, and industry-community college projects. If we can learn from these ongoing experiments in linking innovation to production, American manufacturing could have a renaissance.
Heinz‐Günter Floss, a world‐renowned biosynthetic chemist, passed away on December 19, 2022. He was one of the most influential scientists in expanding the range of methods for deciphering the ...biosynthetic pathways of complex natural products. He was a mentor to many collaborators who later followed in his footsteps, creating a global “scientific school of natural products”.
Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are potentially harmful and heterogeneous molecules derived from nonenzymatic glycation. The pathological implications of AGEs are ascribed to their ability to ...promote oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis. Recent studies in basic and translational research have revealed the contributing roles of AGEs in the development and progression of various aging-related pathological conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular complications, gut microbiome-associated illnesses, liver or neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. Excessive chronic and/or acute binge consumption of alcohol (ethanol), a widely consumed addictive substance, is known to cause more than 200 diseases, including alcohol use disorder (addiction), alcoholic liver disease, and brain damage. However, despite the considerable amount of research in this area, the underlying molecular mechanisms by which alcohol abuse causes cellular toxicity and organ damage remain to be further characterized. In this review, we first briefly describe the properties of AGEs: their formation, accumulation, and receptor interactions. We then focus on the causative functions of AGEs that impact various aging-related diseases. We also highlight the biological connection of AGE-alcohol-adduct formations to alcohol-mediated tissue injury. Finally, we describe the potential translational research opportunities for treatment of various AGE- and/or alcohol-related adduct-associated disorders according to the mechanistic insights presented.
Inflammation is a physiological response to different pathological, cellular or vascular damages due to physical, chemical or mechanical trauma. It is characterized by pain, redness, heat and ...swelling. Current natural drugs are carefully chosen as a novel therapeutic strategy for the management of inflammatory diseases. Different phytochemical constituents are present in natural products. These phytochemicals have high efficacy both in vivo and in vitro. Among them, flavonoids occur in many foods, vegetables and herbal medicines and are considered as the most active constituent, having the ability to attenuate inflammation. Kaempferol is a polyphenol that is richly found in fruits, vegetables and herbal medicines. It is also found in plant-derived beverages. Kaempferol is used in the management of various ailments but there is no available review article that can summarize all the natural sources and biological activities specifically focusing on the anti-inflammatory effect of kaempferol. Therefore, this article is aimed at providing a brief updated review of the literature regarding the anti-inflammatory effect of kaempferol and its possible molecular mechanisms of action. Furthermore, the review provides the available updated literature regarding the natural sources, chemistry, biosynthesis, oral absorption, metabolism, bioavailability and therapeutic effect of kaempferol.
Age-related, non-communicable chronic inflammatory diseases represent the major 21st century health problem. Especially in Western countries, the prevalence of non-communicable diseases like chronic ...obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis are exponentially rising as the population ages. These diseases are determined by common risk factors and share an age-related onset. The affected organs display evidence of accelerated ageing, and are hallmarked by chronic inflammation and oxidative stress. The receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) has been implicated in a number of inflammatory diseases and plays a central role in amplifying inflammatory responses. Advanced glycation end product (AGE) formation and accumulation is accelerated under these conditions. Advanced glycation end products are not only linked to RAGE signaling and inflammation, but to various hallmarks of the ageing process. In addition to these biological functions, circulating levels of the soluble form of RAGE and of advanced glycation end products are candidate biomarkers for many age-related inflammatory diseases. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the mechanistic connections between RAGE and advanced glycation end products and the processes of inflammation and ageing. Furthermore, through the presented overview of AGE-RAGE alterations that have been described in clinical studies in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis, and insight obtained from mechanistic in vitro and animal studies, it can be concluded that these AGE-RAGE disturbances are a common contributing factor to the inflammatory state and pathogenesis of these various conditions.
Researchers investigated the biological and chemical synthesis of xanthiones derived from fungi, lichens and bacteria. Several chemical compounds and natural products were derived, including ...arthothelin, aspercanthone and austocystins.
Green products can play a key role in the achievement of sustainable development goals. Through a survey of 188 Italian companies with eco‐labeled green products, this study aims at understanding the ...relative importance of several motivations to develop green products, the influence of different motivations and firm characteristics on green product features (radicalness and differentiation), and which factors affect market performance of green products.
This study reports a ranking of 49 motivations, highlighting that the most relevant are related to the prospect of market benefits. Results also show that product radicalness and differentiation have partially different antecedents in terms of motivations, while being a family firm positively influences only product differentiation. With regards to factors affecting market performance of green products, prospect of market benefits, availability of new technologies, firm foreign ownership, product radicalness and differentiation show a positive influence, while firm age displays a negative effect.
Persistent hyperglycemic state in type 2 diabetes mellitus leads to the initiation and progression of non-enzymatic glycation reaction with proteins and lipids and nucleic acids. Glycation reaction ...leads to the generation of a heterogeneous group of chemical moieties known as advanced glycated end products (AGEs), which play a central role in the pathophysiology of diabetic complications. The engagement of AGEs with its chief cellular receptor, RAGE, activates a myriad of signaling pathways such as MAPK/ERK, TGF-β, JNK, and NF-κB, leading to enhanced oxidative stress and inflammation. The downstream consequences of the AGEs/RAGE axis involve compromised insulin signaling, perturbation of metabolic homeostasis, RAGE-induced pancreatic beta cell toxicity, and epigenetic modifications. The AGEs/RAGE signaling instigated modulation of gene transcription is profoundly associated with the progression of type 2 diabetes mellitus and pathogenesis of diabetic complications. In this review, we will summarize the exogenous and endogenous sources of AGEs, their role in metabolic dysfunction, and current understandings of AGEs/RAGE signaling cascade. The focus of this review is to recapitulate the role of the AGEs/RAGE axis in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus and its associated complications. Furthermore, we present an overview of future perspectives to offer new therapeutic interventions to intervene with the AGEs/RAGE signaling pathway and to slow down the progression of diabetes-related complications.
Abstract
The role of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in promoting and/or exacerbating metabolic dysregulation is being increasingly recognized. AGEs are formed when reducing sugars ...nonenzymatically bind to proteins or lipids, a process that is enhanced by hyperglycemic and hyperlipidemic environments characteristic of numerous metabolic disorders including obesity, diabetes, and its complications. In this mini-review, we put forth the notion that AGEs span the spectrum from cause to consequence of insulin resistance and diabetes, and represent a “common soil” underlying the pathophysiology of these metabolic disorders. Collectively, the surveyed literature suggests that AGEs, both those that form endogenously as well as exogenous AGEs derived from environmental factors such as pollution, smoking, and “Western”-style diets, contribute to the pathogenesis of obesity and diabetes. Specifically, AGE accumulation in key metabolically relevant organs induces insulin resistance, inflammation, and oxidative stress, which in turn provide substrates for excess AGE formation, thus creating a feed-forward–fueled pathological loop mediating metabolic dysfunction.
Hot off the Press Hill, Robert A; Sutherland, Andrew
Natural product reports,
10/2023, Volume:
4, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
A personal selection of 32 recent papers is presented covering various aspects of current developments in bioorganic chemistry and novel natural products, such as dysambiol from a
Dysidea
species.
A ...personal selection of 32 recent papers is presented covering various aspects of current developments in bioorganic chemistry and novel natural products, such as dysambiol from a
Dysidea
species.
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