Strategic market position of the European Crime Prevention Network

The activities and tasks of the European Crime Prevention Network (EUCPN), established in 2001, have significantly expanded over the past two decades. In view of the further implementation of its multiannual strategy, the EUCPN has commissioned a study into its current and future strategic market position, conducted with the financial support of the EU’s Internal Security Fund – Police. This book reflects the results. Whilst the EUCPN proves a well-equipped, versatile and multipurpose network in the EU crime prevention area, consolidation and further boosting are due. Key suggestions are to enhance outputs and visibility, to intensify existing partnerships, to broaden target and beneficiary audiences, including at local levels, to implement practice-oriented, multi-language and multimedia approaches, and to focus on the implementation, monitoring, coordination and evaluation of crime prevention policies or strategies, including through cooperation with academia

Nucleotide Excision Repair in Caenorhabditis elegans

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) plays an essential role in many organisms across life domains to preserve and faithfully transmit DNA to the next generation. In humans, NER is essential to prevent DNA damage-induced mutation accumulation and cell death leading to cancer and aging. NER is a versatile DNA repair pathway that repairs many types of DNA damage which distort the DNA helix, such as those induced by solar UV light. A detailed molecular model of the NER pathway has emerged from in vitro and live cell experiments, particularly using model systems such as bacteria, yeast, and mammalian cell cultures. In recent years, the versatility of the nematode C. elegans to study DNA damage response (DDR) mechanisms including NER has become increasingly clear. In particular, C. elegans seems to be a convenient tool to study NER during the UV response in vivo, to analyze this process in the context of a developing and multicellular organism, and to perform genetic screening. Here, we will discuss current knowledge gained from the use of C. elegans to study NER and the response to UV-induced DNA damage

Silicon-on-insulator polarization rotating micro-ring resonator

We propose a novel micro-ring resonator which uses quasi-TE polarized light in the bus waveguide to excite the quasi-TM polarized modes in a micro-ring. An all-pass filter is demonstrated on Silicon-on-Insulator

High-performance low-loss silicon-on-insulator microring resonators using TM-polarized light

Microring resonators on SOI are investigated for both orthogonal polarizations. By demonstrating low-loss (1.94dB/cm) microring resonators with an intrinsic Q up to 340000 we proof that using TM-polarized light enables high-performance filters

Exploring what works in professional development: An assessment of a prototype intervention and its accompanying design principles

The growing complexity and numerous changes in Dutch vocational education and training (VET) pressureteachers to continually develop their teaching profession. Therefore professional development (PD) is needed, but policy-initiated and imposed PD might be ineffective. Thus the purpose of this research is to evaluate which design requirements (DR) in a mandatory PD programme delivered in a VET institute appear to show the most effectiveness. Based on a review study aimed at detecting effectiveness enhancing DR an assessor PD programme was redesigned and implemented. This programme was evaluated with respect to effectiveness on five different levels of impact considering participants’ attitudes, their reactions, what they had learned or what behaviour they developed, and organizational support. Each level of impact was evaluated using existing and self-constructed instruments including questionnaires, surveys, interviews and observations. Thirty-nine teachers took part in this redesigned PD programme. Several DR appeared to show measurable levels of effectiveness: tolerance for complex contexts, contribution to a professional identity and team based and collective participation

Reflectionless grating coupling for silicon-on-insulator integrated circuits

We propose a novel grating coupler design which is inherently reflectionless by focusing the reflected light away from the entrance waveguide. The grating coupler design is investigated by means of 3D FDTD simulations

ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling in the DNA-damage response

The integrity of DNA is continuously challenged by metabolism-derived and environmental genotoxic agents that cause a variety of DNA lesions, including base alterations and breaks. DNA damage interferes with vital processes such as transcription and replication, and if not repaired properly, can ultimately lead to premature aging and cancer. Multiple DNA pathways signaling for DNA repair and DNA damage collectively safeguard the integrity of DNA. Chromatin plays a pivotal role in regulating DNA-associated processes, and is itself subject to regulation by the DNA-damage response. Chromatin influences access to DNA, and often serves as a docking or signaling site for repair and signaling proteins. Its structure can be adapted by post-translational histone modifications and nucleosome remodeling, catalyzed by the activity of ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling complexes. In recent years, accumulating evidence has suggested that ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling complexes play important, although poorly characterized, roles in facilitating the effectiveness of the DNA-damage response. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the involvement of ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling in three major DNA repair pathways: nucleotide excision repair, homologous recombination, and non-homologous end-joining. This shows that a surprisingly large number of different remodeling complexes display pleiotropic functions during different stages of the DNA-damage response. Moreover, several complexes seem to have multiple functions, and are implicated in various mechanistically distinct repair pathways

Chromatin structure and DNA damage repair

The integrity of the genome is continuously challenged by both endogenous and exogenous DNA damaging agents. These damaging agents can induce a wide variety of lesions in the DNA, such as double strand breaks, single strand breaks, oxidative lesions and pyrimidine dimers. The cell has evolved intricate DNA damage response mechanisms to counteract the genotoxic effects of these lesions. The two main features of the DNA damage response mechanisms are cell-cycle checkpoint activation and, at the heart of the response, DNA repair. For both damage signalling and repair, chromatin remodelling is most likely a prerequisite. Here, we discuss current knowledge on chromatin remodelling with respect to the cellular response to DNA damage, with emphasis on the response to lesions resolved by nucleotide excision repair. We will discuss the role of histone modifications as well as their displacement or exchange in nucleotide excision repair and make a comparison with their requirement in transcription and double strand break repair