Dr
Peter Wick
(EMPA, Swiss Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research, Switzerland)
23/03/2009, 10:15
Nanoparticulate materials and among them, carbon nanotubes
(CNTs) are a new type of materials that generate high
expectations due to their unique physical, chemical and
optical properties. Due to the predictably increasing
production of various types of carbon nanotubes and other
nanoparticle-containing products, it can be expected that
environmental and public exposure to...
Dr
Jayne Wallace
(University of Oxford, UK)
23/03/2009, 11:00
There is great interest in exploiting the novel properties
of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for use in biology and medicine.
For example, CNTs have potential application in drug
delivery, cancer and gene therapy, and as components of
biosensors. However, prior to their usage we need to both
develop methods to overcome the hydrophobicity-induced
aggregation of CNTs, and also to understand the...
Dr
Anne Thoustrup Saber
(National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark)
23/03/2009, 13:15
Different kinds of particles have been shown to induce
genotoxic damage after deposition in the lung. This may
result in cancer if the DNA damage is not repaired or if
selective apoptosis of the damaged cells fails. A primary
mechanism of particle-induced genotoxicity has been
attributed to the surface characteristics. A decade ago a
secondary pathway for genotoxicity was proposed on...
Dr
Anna Shvedova
(West Virginia University, USA)
23/03/2009, 14:30
Advancements in nanotechnology and broad applications of
nanomaterials raise the issue of their potential adverse
health effects particularly in occupational and
environmental settings. Among different nanomaterials,
Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNT) – with their unique
physico-chemical, electronic and mechanical properties – are
emerging as important objects of toxicological...
Dr
Pekka Koskinen
(University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
23/03/2009, 15:15
Nanoscale imaging techniques can be accurate, but sometimes
things are not as they seem. I will present two cases where
the imaging technique itself causes the measured phenomenon.
First case relates to TEM imaging of a metal atom diffusing
in graphene, and the second relates to STM imaging of small
potassium islands on graphite. In both cases theory is
needed to interpret
the...
Prof.
Yuri Volkov
(Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)
24/03/2009, 09:15
Rapid development of nanotechnology consistently increases
the likelihood of human contact with environmentally
presented and manufactured nanomaterials, i.e. the tiny
objects ranging in size from one to several hundreds of
nanometres and featuring an extreme diversity in shapes and
physico-chemical properties. However, there is still very
little definitive systematic information about...
Dr
Luca Monticelli
(INSERM Paris, France)
24/03/2009, 10:00
Carbon nanoparticles are biologically active and can enter
easily different kinds of cells. It is not clear how these
materials enter cell membranes and what are the mechanisms
of cell damage. Recently it has been found that natural
organic matter (NOM) interacts strongly with fullerene and
carbon nanotubes, altering their interaction with cells.
Gallic acid is one of the main components...
Prof.
Peter Tieleman
(University of Calgary, Canada)
24/03/2009, 11:15
The thermodynamics of interactions between the lipid bilayer
and other molecules determines to a large extend the
transport rate of these molecules across the bilayer as well
as the nature of the process involved in partitioning. In
the past few years we have studied these interactions for a
range of organic molecules, for lipids, cholesterol,
fullerenes, and models of carbon nanotubes....
Prof.
Baoshan Xing
(University of Massachusetts, USA)
24/03/2009, 12:00
Rapid development and expansion of nanotechnology and
growing use of nano-products have raised numerous safety
concerns among the public and scientific community.
Potential release of nanoparticles (NPs) into the
environment is predictable through point and/or non-point
sources. Environmental parameters such as pH, ionic
strength, and natural organic material (NOM) profoundly
affect...
Mr
Sijie Lin
(Clemson University, USA)
24/03/2009, 14:15
With the rapid development of nanotechnology engineered
nanoparticles will eventually enter the environment. The
interactions between engineered nanoparticles with naturally
organic molecules, aquatic organisms, and plant species
determine the fate of these nanoparticles in ecological
systems and the food chain, and present vast new
opportunities for multidisciplinary research. In...
Prof.
Olle Edholm
(Royal Institute of Technology KTH, Sweden)
24/03/2009, 15:30
The free energy cost for creating water filled pores of
different sizes in model membranes is discussed and
calculated from molecular dynamics simulations. Clearly the
free energy cost for creating a hydrophilic pore with the
lipid head groups turned inwards towards that water is less
than that for creating a hydrophobic pore with hydrocarbon
towards the water. This depends, however, on...
