A European lens upon adult and lifelong learning in Asia

In this article, we seek to assess the extent to which adult and lifelong learning policies and practices in Asia have distinctiveness by comparison to those found in western societies, through an analysis of inter-governmental, national and regional policies in the field. We also inform our study through the analysis of the work of organisations with an international remit with a specific focus on Asia and Europe. In one case, the Asia–Europe Meeting Lifelong Learning (ASEM LLL) Hub has a specific function of bringing together researchers in Asia and Europe. In another, the PASCAL Observatory has had a particular focus on one aspect of lifelong learning, that of learning cities, with a concentration in its work on Asia and Europe. We focus on learning city development as a particular case of distinction in the field. We seek to identify the extent to which developments in the field in Asia have influenced and have been influenced by practices elsewhere in world, especially in Europe, and undertake our analysis using theories of societal learning/the learning society, learning communities and life-deep learning. We complement our analysis through assessment of material contained in three dominant journals in the field, the International Journal of Lifelong Education, the International Review of Education and Adult Education Quarterly, each edited in the west

Future research on information technology in knowledge management

Over the past two decades, knowledge management (KM) and the use of information technologies (IT) has attracted increasing interest. IT is widely considered as a vital part of KM, providing means for knowledge creation, sharing, and capture. However, failures of KM in organizational practice are often attributed to an overemphasis of IT. Although KM and IT seem inextricably linked, research still struggles to identify a proper composition of the two. Via input from a global panel of KM experts from academia and practice (n = 222), we identify social software; consumerization (of knowledge); human factors; and the redesign of work, systems, and practices as future key research areas. These are contrasted with review papers proposing research in technologies aimed at supporting KM. On this basis, we present a future research agenda that should enhance the relationship between KM and IT, including their intersection through technology enablers

Physics at the e+ e- Linear Collider

A comprehensive review of physics at an e+e- Linear Collider in the energy range of sqrt{s}=92 GeV--3 TeV is presented in view of recent and expected LHC results, experiments from low energy as well as astroparticle physics.The report focuses in particular on Higgs boson, Top quark and electroweak precision physics, but also discusses several models of beyond the Standard Model physics such as Supersymmetry, little Higgs models and extra gauge bosons. The connection to cosmology has been analyzed as well.Comment: 179 pages, plots and references updated, version to be published at EPJ

A novel approach to modelling water transport and drug diffusion through the stratum corneum

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The potential of using skin as an alternative path for systemically administering active drugs has attracted considerable interest, since the creation of novel drugs capable of diffusing through the skin would provide a great step towards easily applicable -and more humane- therapeutic solutions. However, for drugs to be able to diffuse, they necessarily have to cross a permeability barrier: the <it>stratum corneum </it>(SC), the uppermost set of skin layers. The precise mechanism by which drugs penetrate the skin is generally thought to be diffusion of molecules through this set of layers following a "tortuous pathway" around corneocytes, i.e. impermeable dead cells.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this work, we simulate water transport and drug diffusion using a three-dimensional porous media model. Our numerical simulations show that diffusion takes place through the SC regardless of the direction and magnitude of the fluid pressure gradient, while the magnitude of the concentrations calculated are consistent with experimental studies.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results support the possibility for designing arbitrary drugs capable of diffusing through the skin, the time-delivery of which is solely restricted by their diffusion and solubility properties.</p

Physiological Notch Signaling Maintains Bone Homeostasis via RBPjk and Hey Upstream of NFATc1

Notch signaling between neighboring cells controls many cell fate decisions in metazoans both during embryogenesis and in postnatal life. Previously, we uncovered a critical role for physiological Notch signaling in suppressing osteoblast differentiation in vivo. However, the contribution of individual Notch receptors and the downstream signaling mechanism have not been elucidated. Here we report that removal of Notch2, but not Notch1, from the embryonic limb mesenchyme markedly increased trabecular bone mass in adolescent mice. Deletion of the transcription factor RBPjk, a mediator of all canonical Notch signaling, in the mesenchymal progenitors but not the more mature osteoblast-lineage cells, caused a dramatic high-bone-mass phenotype characterized by increased osteoblast numbers, diminished bone marrow mesenchymal progenitor pool, and rapid age-dependent bone loss. Moreover, mice deficient in Hey1 and HeyL, two target genes of Notch-RBPjk signaling, exhibited high bone mass. Interestingly, Hey1 bound to and suppressed the NFATc1 promoter, and RBPjk deletion increased NFATc1 expression in bone. Finally, pharmacological inhibition of NFAT alleviated the high-bone-mass phenotype caused by RBPjk deletion. Thus, Notch-RBPjk signaling functions in part through Hey1-mediated inhibition of NFATc1 to suppress osteoblastogenesis, contributing to bone homeostasis in vivo

Target Gene Analysis by Microarrays and Chromatin Immunoprecipitation Identifies HEY Proteins as Highly Redundant bHLH Repressors

HEY bHLH transcription factors have been shown to regulate multiple key steps in cardiovascular development. They can be induced by activated NOTCH receptors, but other upstream stimuli mediated by TGFß and BMP receptors may elicit a similar response. While the basic and helix-loop-helix domains exhibit strong similarity, large parts of the proteins are still unique and may serve divergent functions. The striking overlap of cardiac defects in HEY2 and combined HEY1/HEYL knockout mice suggested that all three HEY genes fulfill overlapping function in target cells. We therefore sought to identify target genes for HEY proteins by microarray expression and ChIPseq analyses in HEK293 cells, cardiomyocytes, and murine hearts. HEY proteins were found to modulate expression of their target gene to a rather limited extent, but with striking functional interchangeability between HEY factors. Chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed a much greater number of potential binding sites that again largely overlap between HEY factors. Binding sites are clustered in the proximal promoter region especially of transcriptional regulators or developmental control genes. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that HEY proteins primarily act as direct transcriptional repressors, while gene activation seems to be due to secondary or indirect effects. Mutagenesis of putative DNA binding residues supports the notion of direct DNA binding. While class B E-box sequences (CACGYG) clearly represent preferred target sequences, there must be additional and more loosely defined modes of DNA binding since many of the target promoters that are efficiently bound by HEY proteins do not contain an E-box motif. These data clearly establish the three HEY bHLH factors as highly redundant transcriptional repressors in vitro and in vivo, which explains the combinatorial action observed in different tissues with overlapping expression