New molecular mediators in tumor angiogenesis

Angiogenesis is essential for tumor growth and progression. It has been demonstrated that tumor growth beyond a size 1 to 2 mm3 requires the induction of new vessels. Angiogenesis is regulated by several endogenous stimulators and inhibitors of endothelial cell migration, proliferation and tube formation. Under physiological conditions these mediators of endothelial cell growth are in balance and vessel growth is limited. In fact, within the angiogenic balance endothelial cell turnover is sufficient to maintain a functional vascular wall but does not allow vessel growth. Tumor growth an progression has successfully been correlated to the serum concentration of angiogenic mediators. Furthermore, the vascular density of tumor tissues could be correlated to the clinical course of the disease in several tumor entities. Within the last years several new mediators of endothelial cell growth have been isolated e.g. angiopoietin 1, angiopoietin 2, midkine, pleiotropin, leptin and maspin. In this review we discuss the mechanisms leading to tumor angiogenesis and describe some of the newer mediators of endothelial cell stimulation and inhibition

Das Recht auf Zeit und das Recht auf Stadt: Die zeitgerechte Stadt - eine Handlungs- und Forschungsagenda

Wenn ein Leitbild "Zeitgerechte Stadt" entwickeln werden soll, so muss danach gefragt werden, wie man eine raumzeitliche Verteilungsgerechtigkeit und eine ebensolche Verfahrensgerechtigkeit ermöglichen kann. Ausgehend von verschiedenen Gruppen, Räumen und Zeiten gilt es, die Kräfteverhältnisse der beteiligten Akteure zu erkennen, wobei der öffentlichen Hand bei der Umsetzung des Leitbilds eine zentrale Rolle zukommt. Es muss aber auch danach gefragt werden, für wen diese Stadt gestaltet werden soll. Dabei gilt es, Konflikte zwischen den verschiedenen Zielgruppen zu erkennen und abzuwägen, was eine große Herausforderung an die Zeitpolitik und die Raum-Zeit-Planung der Städte darstellt. Die Verzahnung von zeitlichen Aspekten und Rhythmen mit räumlichen Strukturen muss auf den verschiedenen räumlichen Skalen stattfinden. Bei der Umsetzung in konkrete Maßnahmen kann man an Sensibilisierungsstrategien, an Zeitverträglicheitsprüfungen oder auch an gesetzliche Regelungen denken. Langfristig sollten Raumzeitpolitik und Raum-Zeit-Planungen als integrative Ansätze den Bürgerinnen und Bürgern zu einem Recht auf Zeit und einem Recht auf Stadt verhelfen.The topics of space, time and justice come together in the ARL working group on temporal justice in the city, with a focus on temporal, spatial and social urban structures. The interdisciplinary working group aimed to use these central components to develop a concept of space-time justice. Particular attention was paid to two issues: spatial-temporal distributive justice, i.e. who can use and access which resources and services where and when, and what changes arise due to planning interventions, infrastructural interventions, the restructuring of institutional frameworks and the activities of private sector actors; procedural justice, i.e. who can participate in the spatial-temporal structuring and distribution of these supply. This determines how the ideal of temporal justice in the city can be achieved, how time prosperity and time sovereignty can be attained for as many people in the city as possible. In order to develop the notion of temporal justice in the city as a guiding principle, the papers published in this book analyse current structures and processes in the city in terms of their spatial-temporal components, considering various spaces, specific times, social groups and actors in detail, and inquiring into the balance of power between actors (e.g. between the market and the state). The guiding principle is outlined in an as-yet rough form as integrated spatial-temporal planning that can be implemented using time policy measures

Prepared to Plan? A Snapshot of Researcher Readiness to Address Data Management Planning Requirements

Objective:Cornell University’s Research Data Management Service Group (RDMSG) surveyed NSF principal investigators (PIs) at Cornell in order to understand how well-prepared researchers are to meet the new NSF data management planning requirement, to build our own understanding of the potential impact on campus services, and to identify service gaps. Methods: We administered a 43-question online survey, which included questions about the respondents’ research and research data, their interest in assistance with the creation of data management plans, and questions for each of the five general areas cited in the NSF’s Grant Proposal Guide (2011) section on data management plans. Results and Discussion: Respondents produce a wide variety of types and formats of data, although most expect to share relatively small amounts of data. Respondents are generally uncertain as to whether the data they produce conforms to disciplinary standards. The majority create no metadata; of those that do, most do not create metadata according to a particular standard. Most researchers do not express a need for advice regarding intellectual property issues. Researchers report using a variety of strategies (on-campus and commercial) for backing up and for providing access to their data sets. Conclusions: The overarching finding from our survey is that there is much uncertainty about what the new requirement means and how to meet it, and researchers welcome offers of assistance. To the extent that Cornell researchers are representative of NSF PIs, our findings reveal something about researchers’ readiness to meet the new requirement, and their attitudes towards it

Zeitgerechte Stadt - eine Einführung

Die zunehmende Bedeutung von Gerechtigkeitsdiskursen auf unterschiedlichen Feldern hat auch für die zukünftige Stadtentwicklung in der Verknüpfung von räumlicher und zeitlicher Gerechtigkeit Gewicht. Obwohl jedes der Themen Raum, Zeit und Gerechtigkeit teilweise eine lange Tradition hat, ist die Verknüpfung noch sehr jungen Datums. Für diese Integration zu sensibilisieren und Forschungs- und Handlungsdesiderata herauszuarbeiten, ist der Anspruch des Bandes. Damit eine Integration auch aus notwendigerweise unterschiedlichen Disziplinen und Perspektiven gelingen kann, wird in der Einleitung einerseits die Struktur des Themenfeldes beschrieben. Zudem werden zentrale Begriffe und ihre Verknüpfung (Unterschiede, Ungleichheit, Ungerechtigkeit) definiert sowie die beiden für den Band zentralen Gerechtigkeitsperspektiven (Verteilungsgerechtigkeit und Verfahrensgerechtigkeit) formuliert. Auf dieser Basis wird die Struktur des Sammelbandes erläutert und begründet.Against a background of comprehensive social and economic transformation on all scales, differences and inequalities are also increasing. The debate on justice is consequently gaining significance throughout the world and in a range of situations. The introduction describes the context of the various debates on justice in order to demonstrate the particular importance of three foci: space, time and justice. Each topic has long been the subject of intensive debate in its own right but the linking of these themes remains in its infancy, despite being key to the future of urban development. A brief overview of the three strands is provided as a basis for an integrated perspective on spatial-temporal justice. Differentiating between the terms differences, inequalities and injustices (which can represent an (implicit) call to action especially for public actors) is of central importance as this also provides a framework for the volume as a whole. Two components of justice play a key role here: the equitable distribution of access, i.e. material justice, and procedural justice, i.e. access to decision-making processes about the acceptability of differences, about the evaluation of conflicts and trade-offs, and about compensation and redistribution. Even when discussing just the terminology it becomes clear that the implementation of spatial-temporal justice is an objective that cannot be fully met, it is only possible to take steps in the right direction. A central role is played here by conflicts, unavoidable trade-offs and power imbalances. Tackling the topic thus requires the input of various disciplines and perspectives. The choice of perspectives and the structure of the work undertaken during this project are presented in the introduction. Only by integrating these different perspectives is it possible to close the research gaps and identify the action required by public agents. The introduction also demonstrates that historical, spatial, cultural and economic embedding is indispensible - especially for the normatively loaded topic of justice

Near-zone sizes and the rest frame extreme ultra-violet spectral index of the highest redshift quasars

The discovery of quasars with redshifts higher than six has prompted a great deal of discussion in the literature regarding the role of quasars, both as sources of reionization, and as probes of the ionization state of the IGM. However the extreme ultra-violet (EUV) spectral index cannot be measured directly for high redshift quasars owing to absorption at frequencies above the Lyman limit, and as a result, studies of the impact of quasars on the intergalactic medium during reionization must assume a spectral energy distribution in the extreme ultra-violet based on observations at low redshift, z<1. In this paper we use regions of high Ly-alpha transmission (near-zones) around the highest redshift quasars to measure the quasar EUV spectral index at z~6. We jointly fit the available observations for variation of near-zone size with both redshift and luminosity, and propose that the observed relation provides evidence for an EUV spectral index that varies with absolute magnitude in the high redshift quasar sample, becoming softer at higher luminosity. Using a large suite of detailed numerical simulations we find that the typical value of spectral index for a luminous quasar at z~6 is constrained to be alpha=1.3+/-0.4 for a specific luminosity of the form L\propto\nu^{-alpha}. We find the scatter in spectral index among individual quasars to be in the range ~0.75-1.25. These values are in agreement with direct observations at low redshift, and indicate that there has been no significant evolution in the EUV spectral index of quasars over 90% of cosmic time.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures. Submitted to MNRA

Atomic carbon at redshift ~2.5

Using the IRAM 30m telescope we detected the lower fine structure line of neutral carbon towards three high--redshift sources: IRAS FSC10214 (z=2.3), SMMJ14011+0252 (z=2.5) and H1413+117 (Cloverleaf quasar, z=2.5). SMMJ14011+0252 is the first high--redshift, non--AGN source in which CI has been detected. The CI(1-0) line from FSC10214 is almost an order of magnitude weaker than previously claimed, while our detection in the Cloverleaf is in good agreement with earlier observations. The CI(1-0) linewidths are similar to the CO widths, indicating that both lines trace similar regions of molecular gas on galactic scales. Derived CI masses for all three objects are of order few 10^7 solar masses and the implied CI(1-0)/CO(3-2) line luminosity ratio is about 0.2. This number is similar to values found in local galaxies. We derive a CI abundance of 5x10^{-5} which implies significant metal enrichment of the cold molecular gas at redshifts 2.5 (age of the universe 2.7 Gyr). We conclude that the physical properties of systems at large lookback times are similar to today's starburst/AGN environments.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; accepted by A&

Meeting Funders’ Data Policies: Blueprint for a Research Data Management Service Group (RDMSG)

This report summarizes the elements that we expect to be required in data management plans, describes Cornell’s current capabilities and needs in meeting such requirements, and proposes a structure for a virtual organization that builds on the collaboration between the DRSG, CAC, CUL and CISER. The proposed organization also includes Cornell Information Technologies (CIT) and Weill Cornell Medical College Information Technologies and Services (WCMC-ITS) to further develop and provide this support

The Robinson-Trautman Type III Prolongation Structure Contains K2_2

The minimal prolongation structure for the Robinson-Trautman equations of Petrov type III is shown to always include the infinite-dimensional, contragredient algebra, K$_2$, which is of infinite growth. Knowledge of faithful representations of this algebra would allow the determination of B\"acklund transformations to evolve new solutions.Comment: 20 pages, plain TeX, no figures, submitted to Commun. Math. Phy