Germany, Greece and Poland: The Complicated story of Reparations and their impact on European (dis?) Integration,

in Paravantis, Spero (Ed.) BENELUX, Europe and the Cold War: Asymmetrical cold war power relations in the Integration process of Europe (2018)

Transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms underlying astrocyte identity

in Progress in Neurobiology (2018)

Astrocytes play a significant role in coordinating neural development and provide critical support for the function of the CNS. They possess important adaptation capacities that range from their ... [more ▼]

Astrocytes play a significant role in coordinating neural development and provide critical support for the function of the CNS. They possess important adaptation capacities that range from their transition towards reactive astrocytes to their ability to undergo reprogramming, thereby revealing their potential to retain latent features of neural progenitor cells. We propose that the mechanisms underlying reactive astrogliosis or astrocyte reprogramming provide an opportunity for initiating neuronal regeneration, a process that is notably reduced in the mammalian nervous system throughout evolution. Conversely, this plasticity may also affect normal astrocytic functions resulting in pathologies ranging from neurodevelopmental disorders to neurodegenerative diseases and brain tumors. We postulate that epigenetic mechanisms linking extrinsic cues and intrinsic transcriptional programs are key factors to maintain astrocyte identity and function, and critically, to control the balance of regenerative and degenerative activity. Here, we will review the main evidences supporting this concept. We propose that unravelling the epigenetic and transcriptional mechanisms underlying the acquisition of astrocyte identity and plasticity, as well as understanding how these processes are modulated by the local microenvironment under specific threatening or pathological conditions, may pave the way to new therapeutic avenues for several neurological disorders including neurodegenerative diseases and brain tumors of astrocytic lineage. [less ▲]

Large-scale validation of miRNAs by disease association, evolutionary conservation and pathway activity.

in RNA biology (2018)

The validation of microRNAs (miRNAs) identified by next generation sequencing involves amplification-free and hybridization-based detection of transcripts as criteria for confirming valid miRNAs. Since ... [more ▼]

The validation of microRNAs (miRNAs) identified by next generation sequencing involves amplification-free and hybridization-based detection of transcripts as criteria for confirming valid miRNAs. Since respective validation is frequently not performed, miRNA repositories likely still contain a substantial fraction of false positive candidates while true miRNAs are not stored in the repositories yet. Especially if downstream analyses are performed with these candidates (e.g. target or pathway prediction), the results may be misleading. In the present study, we evaluated 558 mature miRNAs from miRBase and 1,709 miRNA candidates from next generation sequencing experiments by amplification-free hybridization and investigated their distributions in patients with various disease conditions. Notably, the most significant miRNAs in diseases are often not contained in the miRBase. However, these candidates are evolutionary highly conserved. From the expression patterns, target gene and pathway analyses and evolutionary conservation analyses, we were able to shed light on the complexity of miRNAs in humans. Our data also highlight that a more thorough validation of miRNAs identified by next generation sequencing is required. The results are available in miRCarta ( https://mircarta.cs.uni-saarland.de ). [less ▲]

Digital Resources and Tools in Historical Research

in Kollmann, Stefanie; Müller, Lars; Reh, Sabine (Eds.) et al Picture archives and the emergence of visual history of education. ISCHE 40 pre-conference workshop. 3rd workshop "Pictura Paedagogica Online: educational knowledge in images (2018, December 21)

One of the characteristic features of modern life is the omnipresence of images - in public life as well as in the private surroundings. At latest with coining the term "Visual history" at the beginning ... [more ▼]

One of the characteristic features of modern life is the omnipresence of images - in public life as well as in the private surroundings. At latest with coining the term "Visual history" at the beginning of the nineteen nineties historical disciplines are dealing with this ever growing pool of pictorial sources. This is also true for educational history - especially when keeping in mind that the use of images in an educational context is common practice since early modern ages. This concerns the presentation practices, the design of didactic visual media and their use in educational practice as well as the illustrated traces of historical educational practice and historical educational knowledge (e.g. photographs of school buildings or educational scenes). There are various digital picture archives to address the research questions of many historical disciplines. These databases, though, differ widely in purpose and design - and of course they cannot serve every scientific demand. According to Gerhard Paul there should be at least four layers of information evaluation when analysing historical images (reality of depiction, genesis, use and impact). Thus, building up a corpus of image sources with sufficient accompanying information can be quite challenging. As major topic the Pre-Conference Workshop will focus on the impact of the discipline on developing and maintaining of a picture archive. (DIPF/Orig.) [less ▲]

Lubrication mechanism design for aircraft landing gear bearings

Patent (2018)

A shock absorber with lubricated bearings for an aircraft landing gear includes a piston that is received in a cylinder, and an upper bearing fixed to the piston that slidably engages an inner surface of ... [more ▼]

A shock absorber with lubricated bearings for an aircraft landing gear includes a piston that is received in a cylinder, and an upper bearing fixed to the piston that slidably engages an inner surface of the cylinder. A lower bearing extends inwardly from a lower portion of the cylinder and engages an outer surface of the piston. The lower bearing has a center axis and defines an annular bearing surface configured to slidably engage the piston outer surface. The annular bearing surface has a first portion that extends circumferentially more than one hundred eighty degrees about the center axis at a constant radius, defining a circular annular segment. A second portion closes the circular annular segment and defines a shallow channel or pocket in the annular bearing surface. In some embodiments the lower bearing further comprises oppositely disposed frustoconical thrust portions. [less ▲]

Dialog - traduction française du magazine DIALOG

Article for general public (2018)

Preventing and Resolving Conflicts of Jurisdiction in EU Criminal Law

Book published by Oxford University Press (2018)

A study of the molecular mechanisms underlying the response of human colorectal adenomacarcinoma enterocytes to prebiotics and probiotics

Doctoral thesis (2018)

The human gastrointestinal tract (GIT) microbiome plays essential roles in maintaining human health. A variety of diseases including colorectal cancer (CRC) are associated with microbial dysbiosis ... [more ▼]

The human gastrointestinal tract (GIT) microbiome plays essential roles in maintaining human health. A variety of diseases including colorectal cancer (CRC) are associated with microbial dysbiosis. Administration of microbial isolates associated with health benefits (e.g. prebiotics) together with specific dietary components (e.g., probiotics) may find application as supportive therapeutic options in the treatment and management of CRC. Although microbiome-modulating therapeutics hold great promise, such approaches are presently not formally integrated into treatment plans. To obtain better understanding of combined pre- and probiotic regimens in relation to CRC, the present study was dedicated to investigate the effects of selected prebiotics on the proliferation of CRC primary cells and conventional CRC-cell lines, the effects of prebiotics on the growth and metabolism of selected probiotic strains, and the combinatorial/synbiotic effects of selected pre- and probiotics on CRC proliferation. In addition, this work established the in vitro gut-on-a chip HuMiX model with a simulated high-fibre medium for co-culturing human and microbial cells in HuMiX. Furthermore, the anti-carcinogenic combinatorial effects of dietary fiber (e.g., prebiotics), and GIT bacteria (e.g., probiotics) were evaluated using human GIT transcriptomes and metabolomes in HuMiX. An integrated in vitro and in silico modeling approach was finally established to decipher the complex cross-talk between gut bacteria, dietary components and human host cells. My results demonstrate that in stark contrast to the individual pre- or probiotic treatments, the synbiotic regimen of the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and dietary fiber results in the down-regulation of genes involved in pro-carcinogenic pathways and drug resistance (e.g., ABC transporters) and reduced levels of the oncometabolite lactate. Distinct ratios of organic and short-chain fatty acids are produced during the simulated regimens. Treatment of primary CRC-derived cells with a molecular cocktail reflecting the synbiotic regimen attenuated self-renewal capacity. The developped integrated in vitro and in silico modelling approach provides mechanistic insights into the interplay between pre- and probiotics and elucidation of the microbiota-host relationship. In summary, my dissertation work illustrates the potential of HuMiX to be used for nutritional studies and more precisely for studying the underlying mechanisms of the effects that dietary components (e.g., dietary fiber) and probiotics have on CRC-derived cells. Thereby, this dissertation work highlights the potential for formulating efficacious dietary supplements including synbiotics in the context of therapeutic regimens for microbiome-linked diseases in the future. [less ▲]

Upcycling polymers: a revolutionary approach to promoting the circular economy

in Impact (2018), 2018(Number 9), 103-1053

The UPcycling using Additive Manufacturing (UpAM) project seeks to introduce an innovative educational and interactive framework to demonstrate the benefits of upcycling so that any individual can produce ... [more ▼]

The UPcycling using Additive Manufacturing (UpAM) project seeks to introduce an innovative educational and interactive framework to demonstrate the benefits of upcycling so that any individual can produce their own products using recycled raw materials. For years, societies have been aware that the unlimited consumption of products is unavoidably intertwined with the unlimited production of waste. This is exactly why scientists and researchers have been trying to find alternative and meaningful solutions to the Linear Economy model, a model that dictates a specific sequence of events: extracting raw materials, manufacturing products, consuming and discarding these products. Looking beyond that ‘take, make, dispose’ approach, it was in 1989 that the notion of Circular Economy (CE) was first proposed by Pearce and Turner; a concept that is restorative and regenerative and that involves reusing products, repairing, recycling and upcycling. Therefore, the core element of this innovative and environmentally-friendly model is to rely on system-wide innovative processes in order to redefine products, services and, most importantly, our way of thinking, to design waste out, thus allowing a profound transition to renewable energy sources [less ▲]

Quantization of spectral curves and DQ-modules

in Journal of Noncommutative Geometry (2018)

Given an holomorphic Higgs bundle on a compact Riemann surface of genus greater than one, we prove the existence of an holonomic DQ-module supported by the spectral curve associated to this bundle. Then ... [more ▼]

Given an holomorphic Higgs bundle on a compact Riemann surface of genus greater than one, we prove the existence of an holonomic DQ-module supported by the spectral curve associated to this bundle. Then, we relate quantum curves arising in various situations (quantization of spectral curves of Higgs Bundles, quantization of the A-polynomial...) to DQ-modules and show that a quantum curve and the DQ-module canonically associated to it have isomorphic sheaves of solutions. [less ▲]