Showing posts with label Science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Science. Show all posts
2015/10/26
2015/10/20
Last-Minute EXPO Milan 2015 Tips: My Top 8 Pavilions
I
am still breathing (somehow) and typing, but mostly different things than blog
posts. I accumulated a lot of material over the 3 months absence, and I am
starting with the most urgent one:
only 11 days left until EXPO Milan 2015
ends.
If
you plan to attend, first of all, let me warn you that the content below the
cut might be a spoiler for you as it shows a lot of photos from the pavilions.
On the other hand, those who cannot visit EXPO – feel free to skip all of the
last-minute advice and go straight for the list and photos.
Without
further ado, this is my personal ranking of the top 8 Pavilions:
1
– 2) Japan & Korea
-
Showcase both national cuisine and global food issues and how they (can)
contribute to alleviate them
-
Good balance between amount of information conveyed and multimedia use
-
Include a short WOW show
3
– 4) Kazakhstan & UAE
--
Showcase both national asects and global food issues and how they (can)
contribute to alleviate them
-
Both have really cool movies
-
In summer, Kazakhstan had very good queue management with continuous dance and
singing performances and cooling fans
5)
Fab Food
- (located along Cardo, on the left side if you walk from the central
cross with the Tree of Life behind your back)
-
Learn about the food industry while playing retro arcade games
-
Based on what I saw very much under the radar and might not have horrible
queues
6)
European Union
-
EU is very proactive in terms of food and agriculture regulation and
sustainability promotion, but it is normally really bad at conveying it to the
citizens. The exhibition is actually the most citizen-friendly way to learn
about what are all the laws really good for.
-
Features a super cool animation that is nominated for film festival award
7)
Israel
-
Very engaging real-life show + movie interaction showcasing Israel’s
contribution to agricultural development in areas with lack of water.
8)
Pavilion Zero
-
It is the UN pavilion
-
It shows a very strong, visual message about topics such as food prices and
food waste
+
Buy your lunch at the COOP Supermarket of the Future
+
Go watch the Tree of Life at night
Rating
Criteria:
This
list is definitely subjective – but I have visited every single pavilion at the
EXPO and I dare say I have a good knowledge of the EXPO theme. First, the list
only includes pavilions that are relevant to the topic of EXPO – food security,
sustainability, food-related issues, contribution of the countries to improving
the world food system etc. Pavilions acting as tourism ads or simply showcasing
national food, even if they were beautiful and popular, couldn’t make it here,
because in my opinion the EXPO should have been an opportunity to bring to the
attention of global public the giant issues food & agriculture have today,
but also show best practices from all over the world to help solve them.
Second,
I did not include very content-heavy pavilions either (e.g. Germany, Holland,
France) even though they fit the theme perfectly. I think those are amazing for
people who are really interested in the topic, maybe even have some background
knowledge and have a lot of time. But if you go to EXPO as a regular person,
spending most likely just one day there, I don’t think they are the best
choice. The pavilions I listed above have one more thing in common (on top of
being relevant) – they are all very engaging, have strong visuals, clear
message, WOW factors that will rejuvenate you after 3 h in a queue and they
will let you leave with an inspirational feeling. And I think ultimately,
experiencing a strong message will make you more inspired to get involved than
being flooded with facts.
Additional
advice:
Waiting
As
of last Friday, my parents who went as regular visitors claim that they only
managed to visit 4 pavilions despite having a thorough briefing by me about
everything. Queues were everywhere, too. As EXPO nears its end, it will most
likely become even worse. Supposedly work days are even worse than weekends,
but either way, bring a fully charged smartphone, headphones, extra battery or
charger, water bottles and snacks (hopefully these will pass through security)
to survive hours-long queuing. In summer, the longest queues were for Palazzo
Italia (extremely overrated and disappointing based on my experience and my
Italian colleagues) and Japan – often 4 hours long.
Time
management
Buy
tickets in advance, arrive one hour before opening time to queue up at the
entrance nearest to your must-visit pavilion and then run the moment security
opens. Still, you will not be the first in queue – because obviously the
employees at EXPO working afternoon shifts will come earlier than you can enter
to avoid queues. Before you get mad, most of them (us) are volunteers and thus
enjoy this small privilege in exchange for tirelessly assisting visitors for
free. So you should merely be prepared for having to wait even if you are the
first visitor to enter the area. As for food, I personally think the
restaurants at EXPO are overpriced and have long queues too, so I would just
get a couple cheap sandwiches/chocolate bars/fruits at COOP. Future supermarket
experience at suburb prices. You can eat as you wait in queues. As there is
good wifi connection, it is useful to have fully charged phone/tab to kill
time. I also suggest not wasting day time by going to see the Tree of Life show
– the tree will be there after pavilions already close and I think it is way
prettier at night, too. If you need to cross from one end of EXPO to the other,
consider taking the EXPO mini bus.
What
to bring
For
entrance, be prepared for airport-level security. So no knives, liquids might
depend on your luck. I suggest bringing an empty water bottle that you ca
refill from the free water fountains. Dry food should hopefully be fine. Most
queues are outside, so raincoat or umbrella is handy. Comfortable shoes are a
must because you will walk and stand a lot. A lot of pavilions tried to make
their content selfie-friendly, so a camera phone or a proper camera might be
something you would regret not bringing. There are ATMs but I would bring some
cash just in case – though the pavilion souvenir shops are really overpriced
and especially in Asian pavilions, they are either selling stuff you can buy
for 50% less in your neighborhood Asian supermarket, or weird stuff I have
never seen on shelves in actual stores there (esp. Korea).
2014/10/14
2014/05/30
2014/05/11
2013/08/29
Vita's Moving Forward... Well, More Like South-West
Did you think that my research internship in Tokyo was the high point of my "career"? Well, it was just the beginning.
2013/08/05
2013/07/05
2013/07/03
2013/05/15
2013/04/12
2013/03/20
Poison Ivy’s Beauty Secret
Poison Ivy’s Beauty Secret
Based on the usual content of my blog, you couldn’t even tell I was a
science student, could you? So I thought I’d share a short review I wrote for a subject at uni and which I also submitted for a popularization competition
(not that I expect to succeed as the language is not exactly that
non-biochemist friendly, I didn’t have the time to re-write it between the
school assignment and the competition deadline, and my upperclassmen suggested
I tried participating anyway...). I realize this text may be a little tough for
people who aren’t into natural sciences, but I think the most important points
are understandable anyway - but if you have any questions, feel free to ask and
I’ll try my best to answer. If I write this kind of post next time, I’ll make
sure to write in a bit more entertaining way.
As for my silly drawings - science magazines are crazy about copyright
and I really didn’t want Elsevier breathing down my neck with a lawsuit, so I
had to draw my own illustrations based on the original pictures. The art world
should thank me for being a scientist and not a painter. XD
Lastly, if you disagree about the content, feel free to let me know!
P.S. as for my interview, I had no trouble with English, and well, I hope my French was B1... I kind of hoped I'd do the "introduce yourself" in French, as that would be easier (because of course, I prepared vocabulary like des metaux lourds XD), well I'll have the results soon enough I think, but TBH, I'll only talk about my applications properly if I am accepted and if I am, than after (if) I graduate, I would feel like an idiot if I made an annoucement and then was forced to change it because I failed.
Lastly, if you disagree about the content, feel free to let me know!
P.S. as for my interview, I had no trouble with English, and well, I hope my French was B1... I kind of hoped I'd do the "introduce yourself" in French, as that would be easier (because of course, I prepared vocabulary like des metaux lourds XD), well I'll have the results soon enough I think, but TBH, I'll only talk about my applications properly if I am accepted and if I am, than after (if) I graduate, I would feel like an idiot if I made an annoucement and then was forced to change it because I failed.
Poison Ivy’s Beauty Secret
(Poison
Ivy is a reference to the comix character, not the poisonous plant. This
article is about English ivy nanoparticles.)
Beautiful
and youthful looking skin is one of the requirements for being considered attractive
in cultures all over the world. For individuals seeking to conform to this
criterion, it is therefore crucial to become aware of factors that have adverse
effects on skin condition and also of the means to prevent skin damage. It is
common knowledge that sun belongs among the factors contributing to worsening
of skin condition, and that it can be prevented by regular use of sunscreens.
However, there have been qualms about the safety of the commonly used UV
radiation filters - titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. Several recent studies
have shown that these oxides could be replaced by ivy nanoparticles.
Sun, tan, and photodamage
Exposing skin
to sunlight, containing UVR, can cause a number of unpleasant effects, such as
dryness and roughness, inflammation, irregular pigmentation, wrinkles, loss of
elasticity and also skin cancer (Polefka et al.,
2012; Yaar and Gilchrest, 2007). All of these effects are basically
the result of the reactive oxygen species produced by UVR causing DNA mutations
beyond the skin cells’ regeneration capacity (Moriwaki and
Takahashi, 2008).
ZnO and TiO2 - Friends or Fiends?
These oxides
are part of the modern sunscreen’s gear for photodamage prevention. As
nano-sized particles, they reflect and scatter UVR photons. Whether these
metal-containing molecules are able to penetrate into the living skin cells,
and therefore can potentially pose danger to human health, or they only stay on
the surface of the skin and in the upper layers of stratum corneum, has been investigated by countless studies, and it
has been agreed that these nanoparticles pose no threat to our health (Darvin et al.,
2012; Nohynek and Dufour, 2012; Nohynek et al., 2008). Nevertheless, ZnO has not been
approved yet for use in sunscreens in most countries of the European Union (Loden et al.,
2011). This caution is explained by the
uncertainty whether ZnO nanoparticles penetrate skin or not. Apparently, the
penetration ability is dependent on the nanoparticle size and it is essential
to determine the minimal diameter that makes incursion impossible (Henkler et al.,
2012). But even though it has been
clearly demonstrated that the benefits of these nanoparticles outweigh any
unlikely risks, the consumers’ opinion of “unnatural and inorganic” compounds
in cosmetics is very negative (Schilling et
al., 2010). In the past few years, “bio
cosmetics”, containing mostly herbal and animal extracts, has been gaining
popularity and has been generally seen as “safe and natural” (Chermahini et
al., 2011). Therefore, it would be a logical
step for cosmetic companies to explore herbal isolates that could potentially
substitute the unpopular oxides.
Ivy nanoparticles - an acceptable compromise
between natural and nano
Finding
nanoparticles with the same benefits as TiO2 and ZnO but minus the potential
risks and negative connotations is a fairly new idea. So far, two studies have shown
that nanoparticles isolated from Hedera
helix (English ivy) roots are the perfect candidates to replace the oxides.
Recently,
nanoparticles from ivy rootlets were isolated and tested for light-scattering
and absorption properties. It was discovered that the ivy nanoparticles range
in size between tens and hundreds nanometers, which is a size range similar to
the size of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide nanoparticles used in sunscreens.
The extinction spectra showed that the particles had powerful extinction in the
UVR range. Even though the exact biochemical composition of the ivy
nanoparticles remains unknown, distinct absorption maximum at 280 nm suggests
proteins rich in Trp, Tyr and Phe. Overall, the extinction is mostly due to
absorption, while light scattering plays a minor role. The studies conclude
that ivy nanoparticles can effectively protect against UVR and are harmless, as
their penetration ability is low and they are readily degraded in the body.
Moreover, cytotoxicity comparison of ivy nanoparticles and TiO2
showed that TiO2 treated cells experienced apoptosis in twice as
many cases as ivy nanoparticles treated cells (Li et al.,
2010; Xia et al., 2010).
Having noticed
the potential for biotechnological applications, two research groups optimized
the nanoparticle production to be as efficient as possible (Burris et al.,
2012; Xu et al., 2012).
Therefore,
so far ivy nanoparticles seem to be a promising alternative to the
traditionally used ZnO and TiO2. They can protect skin against UVR,
they are harmless and there are protocols for their high throughput production.
References:
Yours truly
Vita
Břečťanem ke kráse
Podle mých obvyklých příspěvků byste ani nepoznali, že
studuji přírodní vědy, že? Tak jsem si říkala, že bych pro změnu mohla
zveřejnit rešerši kterou jsme psala na jeden předmět ve škole a kterou jsem
také poslala do popularizační soutěže (ne že bych čekala, že se umístím,
jelikož to není psané zrovna populárně-naučným jazykem, neměla jsem čas to
přepsat mezi uzávěrkou úkolu a uzávěrkou soutěže a poslala jsem to jen proto,
že můj starší spolužák navrhl, ať to pošlu i tak). Myslím ale, že by hlavní
myšlenky měly být celkem jasné i pro lidi, kteří s biochemií moc
společného nemají - pokud ale máte otázky, klidně se ptejete a já se pokusím co
nejlépe odpovědět. A slibuju, že pokud v budoucnu napíšu podobný článek,
bude to zábavnější formou.
Co se týče mých ošklivých čmáranic - vědecké časopisy jsou na
autorská práva vysazené a já fakt netoužím po tom, aby mě naháněl Elsevier s žalobou,
tak jsem musela podle původních fotek nakreslit vlastní. Myslím, že umělecký
svět mi může být vděčný, že jsem zůstala u vědy. XD
A na závěr - máte-li nějaké připomínky k obsahu, sem s nimi! :)
A na závěr - máte-li nějaké připomínky k obsahu, sem s nimi! :)
Břečťanem ke kráse
Krásná a mladistvá pleť je jedním ze základních univerzálně
platných požadavků pro to, aby byl jedinec považován za pohledného. Pro ty, kdo
usilují o splnění tohoto kritéria, je tedy důležité znát faktory, které mají
negativní účinek na pokožku, a také prostředky, jak se poškození kůže bránit.
Je všeobecně známo, že sluneční záření patří mezi faktory, které zhoršují stav
pleti, a že je možné tomuto poškození předejít pravidelným používáním krémů na
opalování. Již delší dobu se ovšem diskutuje, zda jsou v dnešní době
používané anorganické UV filtry, oxid zinečnatý a oxid titaničitý, skutečně
bezpečné. Několik nedávných studií ukázalo, že tyto oxidy by mohly být
nahrazeny břečťanovými nanočásticemi.
Slunce, seno a
poškození kůže
Vystavování pokožky slunečnímu světlu, obsahujícímu UV
záření, může způsobit mnoho nepříjemných efektů, například suchost, hrubost,
záněty, nepravidelnou pigmentaci, vrásky, ztrátu pružnosti a také rakovinu kůže
(Polefka et al., 2012; Yaar and Gilchrest, 2007).
Všechny tyto dopady jsou v podstatě výsledkem toho, že reaktivní kyslíkové
radikály, produkované právě UV zářením, způsobují mutace DNA za hranicí
schopností buněk tato poškození opravit (Moriwaki and Takahashi, 2008).
ZnO a TiO2
- Přátelé či protivníci?
Oba tyto oxidy jsou součástí arzenálu běžně používaných krémů
na opalování pro prevenci poškození pleti sluncem. V podobě nanočástic
odrážejí a rozptylují fotony UV záření. Mnoho studií se zabývalo tím, zda jsou
tyto částice schopné pronikat do živých buněk (a tedy být potenciálně
nebezpečné pro lidské zdraví), nebo zda jsou zadrženy v horních vrstvách strata cornea na povrchu kůže. Tyto
studie povětšinou dospěly k závěru, že nanočástice ZnO a TiO2
nepředstavují žádné riziko pro naše zdraví (Darvin et al., 2012; Nohynek and Dufour, 2012; Nohynek et al., 2008).
Přesto ale nanočástice oxidu zinečnatého zatím nebyly povoleny pro použití
v opalovacích krémech ve většině zemí Evropské unie (Loden et al., 2011).
Tato opatrnost je vysvětlována nejistotou, zda nanočástice ZnO kůží pronikají
nebo ne. Zřejmě je jejich schopnost prostupovat pokožkou závislá na jejich
velikosti a je tedy nutné určit minimální průměr, při němž již ZnO spolehlivě
není schopen pletí pronikat (Henkler et al., 2012).
Ovšem ačkoliv již bylo přesvědčivě dokázáno, že výhody těchto
nanočástic převyšují jakékoliv nepravděpodobné nebezpečí plynoucí z jejich
používání, názor zákazníků na „nepřírodní a anorganické“ chemikálie
v kosmetice je velmi negativní (Schilling et al., 2010).
V posledních několika letech začala získávat popularitu
„bio kosmetika“ obsahující především rostlinné a živočišné extrakty, která jsou
všeobecně považované za „bezpečné a přírodní“ (Chermahini et al., 2011). Pro kosmetické společnosti
by tedy bylo logickým krokem zaměřit se na rostlinné izoláty, které by mohly
případně nahradit nepopulární oxidy.
Břečťanové
nanočástice - přijatelný kompromis mezi „bio“ a biotechnologiemi
Hledání nanočástic se stejnými přínosy jako mají ZnO a TiO2
ale bez případných rizik a negativních konotací je poměrně nová myšlenka. Doposavad vyšly
dvě studie ukazující, že nanočástice izolované z kořenů Hedera helix (břečťan popínavý) jsou
ideálními kandidáty pro náhradu oxidů. Byla testována schopnost těchto částic rozptylovat
a absorbovat světlo. Bylo zjištěno, že břečťanové nanočástice se vyskytují
v rozpětí velikostí v řádech desítek až stovek nanometrů, což jsou
rozměry podobné těm, v nichž jsou oxidy zinečnatý a titaničitý přidávané
do přípravků na opalování. Extinkční spektra ukázala, že v oblasti UV
záření dochází k vysoké extinkci. Ačkoliv přesně biochemické složení
nanočástic zatím není známé, zřetelné absorpční maximum při 280 nm naznačuje,
že se jedná o proteiny bohaté na Trp, Tyr a Phe. Celkově je extinkce způsobená
především absorpcí, rozptyl k ní přispívá jen v nižší míře. Obě
studie se shodují, že břečťanové nanočástice jsou schopné efektivně bránit kůži
před negativními účinky UV záření a jsou bezpečné, neboť jejich schopnost
pronikat kůží je nízká a jsou v lidském těle rychle degradovány. Navíc při
porovnání jejich cytotoxicity s oxidem titaničitým bylo zjištěno, že buňky
vystavené TiO2 zahájily apoptózu v dvojnásobném počtu případů
než buňky vystavené břečťanovým nanočásticím (Li et al., 2010; Xia et al., 2010).
Jelikož mají tyto nanočástice zřejmý vysoký potenciál
v biotechnologických aplikacích, dva výzkumné týmy optimalizovaly produkci
nanočástic tak, aby byla co nejefektivnější (Burris et al., 2012; Xu et al., 2012).
Břečťanové nanočástice se tedy zatím zdají být slibnou
alternativou k tradičně používaným ZnO a TiO2, neboť účinně
chrání před UV zářením, nejsou nebezpečné pro lidské zdraví a existují
protokoly pro jejich produkci s vysokými výnosy.
Citace:
Burris,
J.N., Lenaghan, S.C., Zhang, M.J., and Stewart, C.N. (2012). Nanoparticle
biofabrication using English ivy (Hedera helix). Journal of Nanobiotechnology 10, 7.
Chermahini,
S.H., Majid, F.A.A., and Sarmidi, M.R. (2011). Cosmeceutical value of herbal
extracts as natural ingredients and novel technologies in anti-aging. Journal
of Medicinal Plants Research 5,
3074-3077.
Darvin, M.E.,
Konig, K., Kellner-Hoefer, M., Breunig, H.G., Werncke, W., Meinke, M.C.,
Patzelt, A., Sterry, W., and Lademann, J. (2012). Safety Assessment by
Multiphoton Fluorescence/Second Harmonic Generation/Hyper-Rayleigh Scattering
Tomography of ZnO Nanoparticles Used in Cosmetic Products. Skin Pharmacology
and Physiology 25, 219-226.
Henkler, F.,
Tralau, T., Tentschert, J., Kneuer, C., Haase, A., Platzek, T., Luch, A., and
Gotz, M.E. (2012). Risk assessment of nanomaterials in cosmetics: a European
union perspective. Archives of Toxicology
86, 1641-1646.
Li, Q.S., Xia,
L.J., Zhang, Z.L., and Zhang, M.J. (2010). Ultraviolet Extinction and Visible
Transparency by Ivy Nanoparticles. Nanoscale Research Letters 5, 1487-1491.
Loden, M.,
Beitner, H., Gonzalez, H., Edstrom, D.W., Akerstrom, U., Austad, J.,
Buraczewska-Norin, I., Matsson, M., and Wulf, H.C. (2011). Sunscreen use:
controversies, challenges and regulatory aspects. British Journal of
Dermatology 165, 255-262.
Moriwaki, S.,
and Takahashi, Y. (2008). Photoaging and DNA repair. Journal of Dermatological
Science 50, 169-176.
Nohynek, G.J.,
and Dufour, E.K. (2012). Nano-sized cosmetic formulations or solid
nanoparticles in sunscreens: A risk to human health? Archives of Toxicology 86, 1063-1075.
Nohynek, G.J.,
Dufour, E.K., and Roberts, M.S. (2008). Nanotechnology, cosmetics and the skin:
Is there a health risk? Skin Pharmacology and Physiology 21, 136-149.
Polefka, T.G.,
Meyer, T.A., Agin, P.P., and Bianchini, R.J. (2012). Effects of Solar Radiation
on the Skin. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology
11, 134-143.
Schilling, K.,
Bradford, B., Castelli, D., Dufour, E., Nash, J.F., Pape, W., Schulte, S.,
Tooley, I., van den Bosch, J., and Schellauf, F. (2010). Human safety review of
"nano" titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. Photochemical &
Photobiological Sciences 9, 495-509.
Xia, L.,
Lenaghan, S.C., Zhang, M., Zhang, Z., and Li, Q. (2010). Naturally occurring
nanoparticles from English ivy: an alternative to metal-based. J
Nanobiotechnology 8, 12.
Xu, Z.H.,
Lenaghan, S., Gilmore, D., Xia, L.J., Zhang, M.J., and Ieee (2012). Automated
High Throughput Scalable Green Nanomanufacturing for Naturally Occurring
Nanoparticles using English Ivy. 2012 Ieee International Conference on Robotics
and Automation (Icra), 2761-2766.
Yaar, M., and Gilchrest, B.A.
(2007). Photoageing: mechanism, prevention and therapy. British Journal of
Dermatology 157, 874-887.
S láskou
Víta
2012/09/19
2012/09/12
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