87 research outputs found
SNSF Datastory - Key role in evaluation procedure: the evaluation panels and their members
No full textThe SNSF’s National Research Council decides whether or not to fund applications. The 89 evaluation panels handle the preparatory work on which it bases its decisions, assessing several thousand applications each year.
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Author(s): Julius Mattern
Publication date: 2021-12-2
Pandora's Signal Boxes
No full textIncluded here, dear reader, is a discussion that took place between media and design author and scholar Shannon Mattern and perennial continent. probationer Jamie Allen. The conversation occurred on a rather rainy and cold day, on a walk that Shannon and Jamie took through Basel, Switzerland, toward the Central Signal Box building. Shannon Mattern had come to Switzerland at Jamie’s invitation, as part of a lecture series called “Medialogue”, held jointly by the Critical Media Lab Basel and the Medienwissenschaft group at Universität Basel. The Signal Box is an infrastructural landmark that delimits a transition between residential and (formerly) industrial zones in Kanton Basel-Stadt. The building was designed by locals, stalwart innovators and ‘starchitects’ Herzog and Herzog & de Meuron, whose numerous offices and archives in Basel are all but a few minutes’ tram-ride away.https://continentcontinent.cc/archives/issues/issue-5-3-2016/pandora-s-signal-boxe
SNSF Datastory - Open Access in 2020: up by 8 percentage points
No full textOpen Access in 2020: up by 8 percentage points
SNSF-funded research produced a total of 13,938 publications in 2020, 63% of which are freely accessible. Upgrades in monitoring capabilities make the positive trend towards more Open Access (OA) more readily visible.
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Author(s): Tobias Philipp, Julius Mattern
Publication date: 2022-04-2
SNSF Datastory - 70 years of the SNSF: from a few million to a billion
No full textThe SNSF has been awarding grants to research projects across all scientific disciplines since 1952. How has the amount of funding evolved over time?
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Author(s): This Rutishauser, Daniel Schnyder, Julius Mattern
Publication date: 2022-08-1
The Emotional Politics of Transnational Crime
No full textThe University Archives has determined that this item is of continuing value to OSU's history.The media can be accessed here: http://streaming.osu.edu/knowledgebank/mershon09/110609.mp4Janice Bially Mattern is associate professor of international relations at Lehigh University. Her research focuses on the social dynamics of world political orders and their transformations. She teaches courses on international relations theory, criminality and transnational crime, international ethics, sovereignty, as well as international organization, especially global governance and transformations in world order. Her current project, tentatively entitled Illicit Sovereigns, examines the role of emotion in mobilizing transnational crime networks to transnational political violence. Bially Mattern is the author of Ordering International Politics: Identity, Crisis, and Representational Force (Routledge, 2005). She has written a number of journal articles and book chapters on topics ranging from soft power and language power to the politics of identity. She previously worked as a political risk analyst in New York City and as a policy analyst in Washington, D.C., during which time she co-authored Measuring National Power in a Post-Industrial Age (RAND, 2000). Bially Mattern received her B.A. in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She studied International Relations at Yale Unviersity, receiving her M.A., her M.Phil., and her Ph.D., which was awarded with distinction in December 1998.Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security Studie
Datastory: The SNSF funds over 80% of researchers from Switzerland before their first ERC grant
No full textDatastory: The SNSF funds over 80% of researchers from Switzerland before their first ERC grant
Researchers working in Switzerland are very successful with applications to the European Research Council (ERC). Our analysis shows: By 2019, 84% of these grantees had previously received funding from the SNSF.
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Author(s): Julius Mattern, Georges Klein
DOI: 10.46446/datastory.erc-grantees-snsf-grants / 10.5281/zenodo.4787966
Publication date: 2021-05-0
Aging-induced effects on DNA methylation profiles of developmental genes in oocytes and embryos on the model organism Bos taurus
No full textDie postovulatorische Alterung sowie die ovarielle Alterung konnten bei der Anwendung assistierter Reproduktionstechniken (ARTs) als entscheidende Faktoren identifiziert werden, die den Reproduktionserfolg nachhaltig beeinträchtigen. Die postovulatorische Alterung tritt ein, sobald die reife Eizelle nicht mehr innerhalb ihres physiologischen Zeitfensters befruchtet wird. Die ovarielle Alterung beschreibt hingegen die Abnahme des Follikel-Vorrats mit zunehmendem Alter des weiblichen Individuums bzw. des Ovars. Sowohl die postovulatorische Alterung als auch die ovarielle Alterung führen u.a. zu einer reduzierten Oozytenqualität und einer geringeren Blastozystenrate. Die Zielsetzung dieser Arbeit bestand darin, den Einfluss der postovulatorischen Alterung und der ovariellen Alterung im Holstein-Rind (Bos taurus) auf die DNA-Methylierung entwicklungsrelevanter Gene in Eizellen und Embryonen zu untersuchen. Aus Schlachthof-Ovarien wurden Antralfollikeln unterschiedlicher Größe (6 mm) isoliert. Eizellen aus Follikeln der Größe 3-5 mm wurden für 24h (physiologisch) und 48h (gealtert) in vitro gereift (IVM). Die gereiften Oozyten wurden anschließend in vitro fertilisiert und Embryonen im 4-6 Zellstadium generiert. Sowohl in den unreifen Eizellen aus Antralfollikeln unterschiedlicher Größe als auch in den gereiften Oozyten und den Embryonen wurde die Promotormethylierung der Gene bH19, bSNRPN, bZAR1, bDNMT3A, bOCT4, bDNMT3Lo und bDNMT3Ls analysiert. Zur Untersuchung der ovariellen Alterung wurden mittelgroßen Antralfollikel aus Ovarien lebender Rinder (in vivo) unterschiedlichen Alters (9-12 Monate, 3-7 Jahre und 8-11 Jahre) gewonnen. In den daraus isolierten unreifen Eizellen wurde die DNA-Methylierung der Promotorregionen der Gene bTERF2, bREC8, bBCL-XL, bPISD, bBUB1, bDNMT3Lo, bH19 und bSNRPN bestimmt. Als Methode zur Analyse der Promotormethylierung wurde die Limiting Dilution Bisulfit-Sequenzierung angewendet.
In unreifen Eizellen aus Antralfollikeln unterschiedlicher Größe (6 mm) konnte ein erhöhtes Auftreten abnormal methylierter Allele in den geprägten Genen bH19 und bSNRPN von Eizellen kleiner Follikel (<2 mm) identifiziert werden. Dieses Ergebnis könnte eine mögliche Ursache einer bereits bekannten und mehrfach beschriebenen geringeren Entwicklungskompetenz von Eizellen kleiner Follikel (<2 mm) auf epigenetischer Ebene darstellen.
Die verlängerte Reifungsdauer der IVM-Eizellen hatte eine signifikante Hypermethylierung in der Promotorregion des Gens DNMT3Lo von 48h-gereiften Eizellen zur Folge. Beim Übergang von 48h-gereiften Eizellen zum Embryo konnte eine signifikante Hypomethylierung von CpG7 des stammzellspezifischen Transkripts DNMT3Ls beobachtet werden. Diese CpG-Stelle wies ebenfalls einen signifikanten Anstieg von CpGs mit nicht-eindeutigem Methylierungszustand in unreifen Eizellen mit steigender Follikelgröße auf. Da sich die CpG-Position innerhalb eines Sequenz-Motivs einer Bindungsstelle des Transkriptionsfaktors CREB befindet, könnten die Methylierungsdaten auf eine Interaktion zwischen dem Transkriptionsfaktor CREB und der DNA-Methylierung während der Entwicklung und Reifung der Eizelle sowie der Transition von der Eizelle zum Embryo hindeuten.
Die DNA-Methylierungsprofile der untersuchten Gene in unreifen Eizellen aus Kühen unterschiedlichen Alters (9-12 Monate, 3-7 Jahre und 8-11 Jahre) wiesen keine signifikanten Unterschiede zwischen den Altersgruppen auf. Die ovarielle Alterung bei Rindern zwischen 9 Monaten und 11 Jahren zeigte damit keinen Effekt auf die DNA-Methylierung der untersuchten Promotorregionen der Gene bTERF2, bREC8, bBCL-XL, bPISD, bBUB1, bDNMT3Lo, bH19 und bSNRPN.
Nach einer simulierten postovulatorischen Alterung durch eine in vitro Reifung für 48h konnte eine Veränderung der DNA-Methylierung der Oozyten-spezifischen (DNMT3Lo) und Stammzell-spezifischen (DNMT3Ls) Promotoren des katalytisch inaktiven Cofaktors von DNMT3A, DNMT3L, beobachtet werden. Die veränderte DNA-Methylierung von DNMT3Ls tritt dabei erst im frühen Embryo in Erscheinung und interagiert vermutlich mit dem Transkriptionsfaktor CREB. Die Veränderungen von DNMT3Lo in Eizellen und DNMT3Ls in den daraus generierten Embryonen lässt vermuten, dass es sich hierbei um eine dynamische Anpassung des Embryos auf äußere Umweltbedingungen der Eizelle über die Methylierung der DNA handelt.Postovulatory aging and ovarian aging have been identified as key factors in assisted
reproductive techniques (ARTs) and have a lasting effect on reproductive success. Postovulatory
aging occurs if the mature egg is not fertilized within its physiological time window. On the other
hand, ovarian aging describes the decrease in the follicular reserve with increasing age of the
female or the ovary, respectively. Both post-ovulatory aging and ovarian aging result in reduced
oocyte quality and lower blastocyst rate. The aim of this thesis was to explore the effects of
postovulatory aging and ovarian aging in Holstein cattle (Bos taurus) on the DNA methylation of
developmentally important genes in oocytes and embryos. Antral follicles of different sizes (<2 mm,
3-5 mm and> 6 mm) were isolated from slaughterhouse ovaries. Female germ cells from middle-sized
follicles (3-5 mm) were matured for 24h (physiological conditions) and 48h (aged conditions) in
vitro (IVM). The IVM- oocytes were subsequently fertilized in vitro and embryos at the 4-6 cell
stage were generated. Promoter methylation of the genes bH19, bSNRPN, bZAR1, bDNMT3A, bOCT4,
bDNMT3Lo and bDNMT3Ls was analysed in immature oocytes from antral follicles of different sizes as
well as in matured oocytes and the respective embryos. For studying ovarian aging, middle-sized
antral follicles were obtained in vivo from animals of different age groups (9-12 months, 3-7 years
and 8-11 years). In the extracted immature gametes, the DNA methylation of the promoter regions of
bTERF2, bREC8, bBCL-XL, bPISD, bBUB1, bDNMT3Lo, bH19 and bSNRPN was examined. The limiting dilution
bisulfite (pyro)sequencing method was applied to determine the promoter methylation of the
candidate genes at the single allele level.
In immature oocytes from antral follicles of different diameters ( 6 mm) an
increased occurrence of abnormally methylated alleles of the imprinted genes bH19 and bSNRPN was
identified in small follicles (<2 mm). This failure to establish imprinting could be a possible
cause of a well-known reduced developmental potential of small follicles (<2 mm) at the epigenetic
level.
The extended maturation time of the IVM-oocytes resulted in a significant hypermethylation in the
promoter region of DNMT3Lo in 48h matured oocytes. After transition from 48h matured oocytes to
embryos, a significant hypomethylation of CpG7 of the stem cell specific transcript DNMT3Ls was
detected. The same CpG site showed a significant increase of CpGs with unclear methylation state in
immature female germ cells with increasing follicular size. This CpG position is located within a
potential binding site of the transcription factor CREB. Thus, the methylation data indicates an
interaction between the transcription factor CREB and the DNA methylation during development and
maturation of oocytes as well as during transition from the oocyte to the embryo.
The DNA methylation profiles of the analysed genes in immature oocytes from cows of different age
(9-12 months, 3-7 years and 8-11 years) showed no significant differences between age groups.
Hence, the ovarian aging in cattle between 9 months and 11 years caused no effect on the DNA
methylation of bTERF2, bREC8, bBCL-XL, bPISD, bBUB1, bDNMT3Lo, bH19 and bSNRPN.
After a simulated postovulatory aging by in vitro maturation for 48h, a change in the DNA
methylation of the oocyte-specific (DNMT3Lo) and stem cell-specific (DNMT3Ls) promoters of the
catalytically inactive DNA-methyltransferase DNMT3L was observed. The altered DNA methylation of
DNMT3Ls occurs in the early embryo and probably interacts with the transcription factor CREB. The
changes of DNMT3Lo in oocytes and DNMT3Ls in the resulting
embryos might represent a dynamic adaptation to external environmental conditions
De bereiding van tetrachloorkoolstof uit methaan met overmaat chloor
No full textDocument(en) uit de collectie Chemische ProcestechnologieDelftChemTechApplied Science
A piggyBac-based platform for genome editing and clonal rhesus macaque iPSC line derivation
No full textAbstract Non-human primates (NHPs) are, due to their close phylogenetic relationship to humans, excellent animal models to study clinically relevant mutations. However, the toolbox for the genetic modification of NHPs is less developed than those for other species like mice. Therefore, it is necessary to further develop and refine genome editing approaches in NHPs. NHP pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) share key molecular signatures with the early embryo, which is an important target for genomic modification. Therefore, PSCs are a valuable test system for the validation of embryonic genome editing approaches. In the present study, we made use of the versatility of the piggyBac transposon system for different purposes in the context of NHP stem cell technology and genome editing. These include (1) Robust reprogramming of rhesus macaque fibroblasts to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs); (2) Culture of the iPSCs under feeder-free conditions even after removal of the transgene resulting in transgene-free iPSCs; (3) Development of a CRISPR/Cas-based work-flow to edit the genome of rhesus macaque PSCs with high efficiency; (4) Establishment of a novel protocol for the derivation of gene-edited monoclonal NHP-iPSC lines. These findings facilitate efficient testing of genome editing approaches in NHP-PSC before their in vivo application
L'introduction de l'heure standardisée en Allemagne entre l'industrialisation et la formation de l'État-nation
No full textLa thèse s’occupe de l'introduction des différentes heures standardisées à la fin du XIXèe et au début du XXe siècle en Allemagne. Nous analysons les moments quand les réglementations gouvernementales de l’heure ont atteint un nouveau point culminant : en examinant des cas exemplaires – l'introduction de l'heure d’Europe centrale, de l'heure d'été ou du système de 24 heures – nous examinons les débats autour de l'introduction des nouvelles heures dans la société industrielle. Outre les débats qui ont précédé l'introduction des nouvelles heures standardisées, nous analysons la mise en œuvre des nouvelles règles de temps, l'opposition et la réaction de l'Etat et de l'administration. L'introduction des nouvelles heures n'a jamais été un processus linéaire : il y a toujours eu des parties de la société ou de l'Etat où de nouvelles heures étaient déjà utilisées et d'autres où elles n'ont pas été introduites pour longtemps – par exemple les chemins de fer ont toujours été le premier domaine où de nouvelles heures étaient utilisées. Nous travaillons surtout avec des sources des administrations allemandes, qui ont rassemblé des informations sur les débats et sur les effets des nouvelles heures.Dès la fin du XIXe siècle, avec l'orientation relative de leurs heures nationales aux fuseaux horaires, les États ont produit une coordination internationale, ce qui signifie que l'uniformisation de l’heure peut être classée comme un forme d'internationalisme. Ces efforts pour établir des structures et des normes transnationales, qui se sont répandus à la fin du XIXe siècle, étaient principalement basés sur des intérêts réglementaires nationaux. Avec la réglementation de l'heure, l'État national s'est attribué une autre compétence et a ainsi renforcé son pouvoir infrastructurel. Mais la diffusion de cette nouvelle réglementation de l'heure dans la vie quotidienne de la société s'est avérée encore plus difficile et de longue durée : Les coutumes, les mentalités et la compréhension de l'heure de la population étaient bien moins adaptables que ne l'avaient prévu les politiciens et les fonctionnaires, si désireux de créer un État-nation unifié. Mais si l'unification nationale de l'heure devait contribuer à la construction de la nation, il était logique que son application généralisée dans la vie quotidienne mette à l'épreuve le pouvoir de l'État-nation. L'État-nation a d'abord dû prouver qu'il était effectivement en mesure de mettre en œuvre sa nouvelle compétence de déterminer l'heure, après que la diffusion de l'heure exacte soit devenue une préoccupation centrale d'intérêt social et national au début du siècle.Dans l'histoire des processus de normalisation, il y a toujours eu de nouvelles normes qui sont restées largement inefficaces et d'autres qui ont connu un énorme succès et se sont répandues dans le monde entier. L'histoire de la normalisation de l'heure offre les deux variantes : les fuseaux horaires, par exemple, forment une histoire de succès qui a maintenant bien plus de cent ans et a finalement été acceptée dans tous les pays du monde au fil des décennies. Mais à l'inverse, le format de 24 heures n'est utilisé pas dans le langage familial jusqu’aujourd’hui et aussi l'heure d'été n'est également que modérément populaire. D'autres propositions de réforme, telles que le système décimal pour l’heure, étaient dès le début un échec total. Car des nouvelles réglementations de l'heure n'étaient acceptées que si elles avaient un sens social. C'est pourquoi l'heure normale a eu peu d'influence sur la vie professionnelle quotidienne dans les zones rurales jusqu’au milieu du XXe siècle.This PhD project focuses, on the introductions of different standardised clock times in the late 19th and early 20th century in Germany. I analyse the points in time when governmental time regulations reached a new climax and a new universal time structure started to spread into everyday life. Multiple issues arise in the analysis of the concrete impact of time regimes on society: by looking at concrete cases (e.g. the introduction of the European Central Time, of Daylight-Saving Time or 24-hours-system), I examine the debates about the introduction of new, uniform clock times in the industrializing society. An aim of the project is to examine which arguments, actors, groups and ideas had such great influence on society at that time that their suggestions during the debate became the new standard time for the whole society. Besides the debates appearing before the introduction of new standard times I analyse how the implementation of new time regulations worked, what opposition looked like and how the state and administration reacted to it. The introduction of new clock times never was a linear process: there have always been parts of society or of the state where new standard times were already used and others where they weren’t introduced for a long time (e.g. the railroads were always the first domain where new clock times were used). The biggest differences appeared between cities and rural areas. The basis of all time structures are the regulations of the clock time: it’s an artificial construction of time structures caused by political and economic decisions. Chosen clock time structures are always following economic, social and cultural changes. The regulation and synchronisation of clock times has a global dimension of coordination, but is introduced by national states for reinforcing national uniformity and stripped away local times on a regional scale. The implementation of official standard times is linked to questions of the role and impact of time in daily life – because only few other regulations of the state penetrated the private life as deeply as time regulation. I primarily work with sources from German administrations, who gathered material on the debates about and on the effects of new standard times. Debates following the introduction of new standard times show a typical conflict of societies in the process of industrialisation.From the end of the 19th century, with the relative orientation of their national clock times to time zones, states produced international coordination, which means that the standardisation of time can be classified as a form of internationalism. These efforts to establish transnational structures and standards, which became widespread in the late 19th century, were based on national regulatory interests. With the regulation of clock time, the national state assumed another competence and thus strengthened its infrastructural power. But if the national unification of time was to contribute to nation-building, it was logical that its application in everyday life would test the power of the nation-state. The nation-state first had to prove that it was indeed able to implement its new competence to determine clock time.In the history of standardisation processes, there have always been new standards that have remained largely ineffective and others that have been hugely successful and spread around the world. The history of time standardisation offers both variants: time zones, for example, form a success story that is now well over a hundred years old and has finally been accepted in all countries of the world over the decades. But in contrast, the 24-hour format is not used in colloquial language until today, and summer time is also only moderately popular. Other reform proposals, such as the decimal system for time, were a complete failure. New time regulations were only accepted if they made social sense
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