Developing nanotechnology in Latin America

Development and Innovation on Dental Products in Argentina: A Technological Prospecting Based on Patents

BACKGROUND

Argentina has progressed with industrialization in comparison to other Latin American countries and this process had a direct impact on the innovative capacity of the national economy. A constant search for market leadership, including the dentistry field and dental materials, stimulates the industries to launch new products daily. Inventions related to health researches are mostly protected by patents as intellectual property. A patent landscape analysis through searches in patent banks is a tool used to identify trends in different areas of innovations.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to identify and evaluate the scenario of research, development and innovation of dental products in Argentina by a technological prospecting based on patents.

METHODS

A survey of patent documents was conducted by searching for deposited and granted patents of dental products. The search was carried out during January 2020 in the patent database of the National Institute of Industrial Property of Argentina (INPI-AR). The terms "dentistry", "buccal", "dental" and "oral" were used to select the titles and abstracts of patent application reports. The information extracted from patent reports was organized in tables and Figs using Fig.Pad Prism 6 software to evaluate the applications.

RESULTS

A total of 363 patents were published from 1989 to 2016, mainly by international industries, 93.3% as patent invention and 3.0% as utility model applications on dentistry. Only two patents (0.5%) were deposited by universities, as the University of Melbourne (Patent number 20060102378) and Universidad Nacional del Nordeste (Patent number 20140104149), among which only the last one is national. Among the deposits, only 6.6% were granted; mostly were in force, denied or lost. According to the specialties, most patents were related to compositions (64.7%) and personal products (21.7%), also on dentistry/cariology (6.33%) and prostheses/implants (4.68%).

CONCLUSION

In general, we find that most patent applications are related to the preventive area, personal products and compositions for formulations. Few dental patents deposits are currently available in Argentina, suggesting that the importation of products into the area remains large, which can make dental products more expensive. It is important to invest in technology-based companies to promote increased economic activity, being a consequence of an investment in knowledge creation and intellectual property to the Dentistry area.

Outcome and impact indicators for nanotechnology policies

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to suggest indicators for evaluating Iran national nanotechnology plan at the policy and program levels. Governments are required to evaluate their policies to be accountable to their audience and to improve their policies. The evaluation of nanotechnology policies both in academic and governmental institutions has been mainly confined to measuring the research and development outputs, while explicit models are required for evaluating national nanotechnology policies and programs. In other words, although policies are translated into several activities, it does not mean that the evaluation of activities results in holistic policy evaluation.

Design/methodology/approach

The present research uses a qualitative method to explore the process of developing a model for assessing nanotechnology policymaking in Iran. Expert opinions have been collected and analyzed by using local and international surveys to validate different elements of the model.

Findings

The model includes the evaluation time-frame, criteria and indicators for policy and program levels. Assessment at program and policy levels, as distinct from activity evaluation, measures the ultimate objectives of a policy intervention, based on which the outcome and impact indicators should be developed. This paper argues that the Iran national nanotechnology policy should be evaluated and revised triennially based on the model in which 46 outcome and impact indicators are included under three general criteria of appropriateness, efficiency and effectiveness. A number of these indicators should be evaluated annually or biannually.

Originality/value

The evaluation of nanotechnology plans has been mainly limited to assessing the research and development outputs that are related to the activity level. The main value of this work is developing outcome and impact indicators that are related to policy and program levels.

Effects of iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4) on life history and metabolism of the Neotropical cladoceran Ceriodaphnia silvestrii

Nanoparticles (NPs) production is increasing worldwide. These products are likely to end up in aquatic environments. However, few studies evaluated the chronic toxicity of iron-based NPs (Fe-NPs) to cladocerans and their potential ecotoxicological hazards. In this study we aimed to investigate the effects of iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄-NPs) to Ceriodaphnia silvestrii Daday, 1902, assessing acute (48 h) and chronic toxicity (up to 14 d). Besides traditional endpoints (immobility and lethality), we also evaluated physiological responses (respiration rates) in a 48 h-exposure. No immobility was observed (EC₅₀ > 100 mg L^-1) after 48 h, whereas respiration rates at the highest concentration were 400% of that in control, indicating that this endpoint was more sensitive during acute toxicity. In chronic assays, Fe₃O₄-NPs affected body length (8.24% growth inhibition in 7 d-exposure) and number of eggs (7-d IC₁₀: 3.53, IC₂₀: 6.69 mg Fe L^-1) and neonates (7-d IC₁₀: 1.25, IC₂₀: 3.75 mg Fe L^-1). Based on species sensitivity distribution (SSD), C. silvestrii was a sensitive organism, suggesting Fe-NPs as a possible threat for this species. Our results also indicate that the NPs caused a physical barrier, impairing food absorption, since we observed NPs agglomerations into cladocerans' gut. We demonstrate that Fe₃O₄-NPs affects C. silvestrii metabolism and reproduction and our results support the use of sublethal endpoints to assess environmental safety. The release of these NPs into freshwater environments should be carefully evaluated, since disturbances on cladoceran population dynamics could cause strong impacts on the entire food web structure and ultimately on ecosystem functioning.

Analysis of inequality in nanomedicine using clinical trials and disease burden

Aim: This study explores the impact nanomedicine will have on global health, poverty and inequality. Materials & methods: Using a nanotechnology search strategy, the team extracted nanotechnology clinical trials (CT) from the dataset clinicaltrials.gov . The team then combined CT with information about burden of disease data from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation. Finally, the team ran regression analyses to determine whether nanotechnology CT are decreasing inequality compared with non-nanotechnology CT. Results & conclusion: Nanomedicine and non-nanomedicine CT follow similar research patterns. In general, nanomedicine is neither increasing nor decreasing the technological gap between countries in the global North and South.

Nano-food packaging: an overview of market, migration research, and safety regulations

Recently, food packages produced with nanoparticles, "nano-food packaging," have become more available in the current market. However, although the use of nanomaterials is increasing in food packaging applications, concern over toxicity affects consumer perceptions and acceptance. Quite a number of commercialized forms of nano-food packaging are coated or composited product with inorganic materials, for example, nanosilver and nanoclay as representative examples. Several studies have shown the possibility of nanomaterial migration from packaging or containers to foodstuff. The debate is still ongoing among researchers about the extent of migration and whether it is negligible and safe. Government agencies and stakeholders must hurry to determine use limitations and release conclusive legislation and regulations as soon as possible since nano-food packaging may have great impacts on human health. This paper aims to review the availability of nano-food packaging in the current market, report case studies on nanomaterial migration, and present the current status of safety regulations and management of nano-food packaging in leading countries across regions. This review should enable governments and researchers to develop further nanomaterial risk assessment studies.

Food neophobia, nanotechnology and satisfaction with life

This study investigates the relationship between food neophobia, satisfaction with life and food-related life, and acceptance of the use of nanotechnology in food production. Questionnaire data was collected from a sample of 400 supermarket shoppers in southern Chile. The questionnaire measured knowledge of nanotechnology and willingness to purchase food products involving nanotechnology, and included the SWLS (Satisfaction with Life Scale), SWFL (Satisfaction with Food-related Life) and FNS (Food Neophobia Scale) scales. Using cluster analysis, four consumer types were distinguished with significant differences in their scores on the SWLS, SWFL and FNS. The types differed in their knowledge of nanotechnology, willingness to purchase foods involving nanotechnology, age, socioeconomic level and lifestyle. The least food-neophobic type had the highest levels of satisfaction with life and with food-related life and also had the highest acceptance of packaging and foods produced with nanotechnology. The results suggest that the degree of food neophobia is associated with satisfaction with life and with food-related life, as well as with the acceptance of products with nanotechnological applications.

Nanotecnología: gestión y reglamentación de riesgos para la salud y medio ambiente en América Latina y el Caribe

Este artículo analiza la discusión sobre los riesgos de las nanopartículas manufacturadas llevada a cabo en las reuniones regionales de América Latina y el Caribe del SAICM (Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management/Enfoque Estratégico para la Gestión de Productos Químicos a Nivel Internacional). Contextualiza esta discusión con un panorama del desarrollo de las nanotecnologías en la región y de las evidencias científicas disponibles sobre riesgos de las nanotecnologías. Propone un abordaje para identificar a los actores que deben participar en la discusión y gestión del riesgo basado en el ciclo de vida de las nanopartículas. El artículo propone, además, algunas condiciones necesarias para incentivar un desarrollo responsable de las nanotecnologías desde ámbitos como el SAICM, y trae a la discusión los ocho puntos relevados por más de cien organizaciones ambientalistas y de trabajadores acerca de la supervisión de las nanotecnologías y los nanomateriales.

Challenges for the Modern Science in its Descend Towards Nano Scale

The current rise in the interest in physical phenomena at nano spatial scale is described hereby as a natural consequence of the scientific progress in manipulation with matter with an ever higher sensitivity. The reason behind arising of the entirely new field of nanoscience is that the properties of nanostructured materials may significantly differ from their bulk counterparts and cannot be predicted by extrapolations of the size-dependent properties displayed by materials composed of microsized particles. It is also argued that although a material can comprise critical boundaries at the nano scale, this does not mean that it will inevitably exhibit properties that endow a nanomaterial. This implies that the attribute of "nanomaterial" can be used only in relation with a given property of interest. The major challenges faced with the expansion of resolution of the materials design, in terms of hardly reproducible experiments, are further discussed. It is claimed that owing to an unavoidable interference between the experimental system and its environment to which the controlling system belongs, an increased fineness of the experimental settings will lead to ever more difficulties in rendering them reproducible and controllable. Self-assembly methods in which a part of the preprogrammed scientific design is substituted with letting physical systems spontaneously evolve into attractive and functional structures is mentioned as one of the ways to overcome the problems inherent in synthetic approaches at the ultrafine scale. The fact that physical systems partly owe their properties to the interaction with their environment implies that each self-assembly process can be considered a co-assembly event.