Selected conceptual issues in border studies

The paper is based on first results of the EUBORDERSCAPES project supported by the 7th European Framework Programme and revisits a number of major themes and concepts that have been important for the development of border studies in recent years. It also investigates emerging research perspectives that appear to be important drivers of conceptual change from the perspective of human geography. The authors stress that the present state of debate indicate that contemporary border studies question the rationales behind everyday border-making by understanding borders as institutions, processes and symbols. A particular attention is paid to the process of reconfiguring state borders in terms of territorial control, security and sovereignty and to the nexus between everyday life-worlds, power relations and constructions of social borders.L’article se fonde sur les premiers résultats du projet EUBORDERSCAPES soutenu par le 7ème Programme-cadre européen, et est consacré à plusieurs des principaux thèmes et concepts importants dans le développement des études sur les frontières au cours des dernières années. Ce faisant, il aborde des perspectives de recherche émergentes de nature à susciter un changement conceptuel dans l’optique de la géographie humaine. D’après l’état de la littérature, les auteurs soulignent que les travaux actuels sur les frontières s’intéressent aux raisons présidant à la production de la frontière à travers les pratiques quotidiennes des populations, en comprenant les frontières à la fois comme institutions, processus et symboles. Une attention particulière est portée au processus de la reconfiguration des frontières étatiques en termes de contrôle territorial, de sécurité et de souveraineté, ainsi qu’aux interrelations entre la sphère de la vie quotidienne, celle du pouvoir et celle de la construction des frontières sociales

3D BEM-based cooling-channel shape optimization for injection moulding processes

International audienceToday, around 30 % of manufactured plastic goods rely on injection moulding. The cooling time can represents more than 70 % of the injection cycle. Moreover, in order to avoid defects in the manufactured plastic parts, the temperature in the mould must be homogeneous. We propose in this paper a practical methodology to optimize both the position and the shape of the cooling channels in 3D injection moulding processes. For the evaluation of the temperature required both by the objective and the constraint functions, we must solve 3D heat-transfer problems via numerical simulation. We solve the heat-transfer problem using Boundary Element Method (BEM). This yields a reduction of the dimension of the computational space from 3D to 2D,avoiding full 3D remeshing: only the surface of the cooling channels needs to be remeshed at each evaluation required by the optimization algorithm. We propose a general optimization model that attempts at minimizing the desired overall low temperature of the plastic-part surface subject to constraints imposing homogeneity of the temperature. Encouraging preliminary results on two semi-industrial plastic parts show that our optimization methodology is viable

MicroRNA Profiling during Cardiomyocyte-Specific Differentiation of Murine Embryonic Stem Cells Based on Two Different miRNA Array Platforms

MicroRNA (miRNA) plays a critical role in a wide variety of biological processes. Profiling miRNA expression during differentiation of embryonic stem cells will help to understand the regulation pathway of differentiation, which in turn may elucidate disease mechanisms. The identified miRNAs could then serve as a new group of possible therapeutic targets. In the present paper, miRNA expression profiles were determined during cardiomyocyte-specific differentiation and maturation of murine embryonic stem (ES) cells. For this purpose a homogeneous cardiomyocyte population was generated from a transgenic murine ES cell line. Two high throughput array platforms (Affymetrix and Febit) were used for miRNA profiling in order to compare the effect of the platforms on miRNA profiling as well as to increase the validity of target miRNA identification. Four time points (i.e. day 0, day 12, day 19 and day 26) were chosen for the miRNA profiling study, which corresponded to different stages during cardiomyocyte-specific differentiation and maturation. Fifty platform and pre-processing method-independent miRNAs were identified as being regulated during the differentiation and maturation processes. The identification of these miRNAs is an important step for characterizing and understanding the events involved in cardiomyocyte-specific differentiation of ES cells and may also highlight candidate target molecules for therapeutic purposes

Establishment of embryonic stem cells secreting human factor VIII for cell-based treatment of hemophilia A

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72012/1/j.1538-7836.2008.03022.x.pd

New scanning strategy to reduce warpage in additive manufacturing

This paper proposes a novel geometric based scanning strategy adopted in the selective laser melting (SLM) manufacturing technology aimed at reducing the level of residual stresses generated during the build-up process. A set of computer simulations of the build, based on different scans strategies, including temperature dependent material properties, and a moving heat flux, were performed. The research novelty explores intermittent scan strategies in order to analyze the effect of reduction on heat concentration on the residual stress and deformation. Coupled thermal-structural computations revealed a significant stress and warpage reduction on the proposed scanning scheme. Different powder material properties were investigated and the computational model was validated against published numerical and experimental studies

Nebuliser therapy in the intensive care unit

The relationship between identity, lived experience, sexual practices and the language through which these are conveyed has been widely debated in sexuality literature. For example, ‘coming out’ has famously been conceptualised as a ‘speech act’ (Sedgwick 1990) and as a collective narrative (Plummer 1995), while a growing concern for individuals’ diverse identifications in relations to their sexual and gender practices has produced interesting research focusing on linguistic practices among LGBT-identified individuals (Leap 1995; Kulick 2000; Cameron and Kulick 2006; Farqhar 2000). While an explicit focus on language remains marginal to literature on sexualities (Kulick 2000), issue of language use and translation are seldom explicitly addressed in the growing literature on intersectionality. Yet intersectional perspectives ‘reject the separability of analytical and identity categories’ (McCall 2005:1771), and therefore have an implicit stake in the ‘vernacular’ language of the researched, in the ‘scientific’ language of the researcher and in the relationship of continuity between the two. Drawing on literature within gay and lesbian/queer studies and cross-cultural studies, this chapter revisits debates on sexuality, language and intersectionality. I argue for the importance of giving careful consideration to the language we choose to use as researchers to collectively define the people whose experiences we try to capture. I also propose that language itself can be investigated as a productive way to foreground how individual and collective identifications are discursively constructed, and to unpack the diversity of lived experience. I address intersectional complexity as a methodological issue, where methodology is understood not only as the methods and practicalities of doing research, but more broadly as ‘a coherent set of ideas about the philosophy, methods and data that underlie the research process and the production of knowledge’ (McCall 2005:1774). My points are illustrated with examples drawn from my ethnographic study on ‘lesbian’ identity in urban Russia, interspersed with insights from existing literature. In particular, I aim to show that an explicit focus on language can be a productive way to explore the intersections between the global, the national and the local in cross-cultural research on sexuality, while also addressing issues of positionality and accountability to the communities researched

Engraftment of engineered ES cell–derived cardiomyocytes but not BM cells restores contractile function to the infarcted myocardium

Cellular cardiomyoplasty is an attractive option for the treatment of severe heart failure. It is, however, still unclear and controversial which is the most promising cell source. Therefore, we investigated and examined the fate and functional impact of bone marrow (BM) cells and embryonic stem cell (ES cell)–derived cardiomyocytes after transplantation into the infarcted mouse heart. This proved particularly challenging for the ES cells, as their enrichment into cardiomyocytes and their long-term engraftment and tumorigenicity are still poorly understood. We generated transgenic ES cells expressing puromycin resistance and enhanced green fluorescent protein cassettes under control of a cardiac-specific promoter. Puromycin selection resulted in a highly purified (>99%) cardiomyocyte population, and the yield of cardiomyocytes increased 6–10-fold because of induction of proliferation on purification. Long-term engraftment (4–5 months) was observed when co-transplanting selected ES cell–derived cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts into the injured heart of syngeneic mice, and no teratoma formation was found (n = 60). Although transplantation of ES cell–derived cardiomyocytes improved heart function, BM cells had no positive effects. Furthermore, no contribution of BM cells to cardiac, endothelial, or smooth muscle neogenesis was detected. Hence, our results demonstrate that ES-based cell therapy is a promising approach for the treatment of impaired myocardial function and provides better results than BM-derived cells

Entrepreneurial resourcefulness in unstable institutional contexts - the example of European Union borderlands

This paper advances our understanding of entrepreneurial resourcefulness in unstable institutional contexts, which are characterized by resource constraints and institutional changes but are rich in intangible resources of a socio-cultural nature. Drawing on qualitative data of individuals engaged in informal cross border activities in EU borderlands, we theorize resourcefulness along two core dimensions: continuity and change in relation to socio-cultural, spatial and institutional conditions and, development and coping as outcomes. We identify six configurations of resourcefulness patterns and outcomes that extend current understandings of the variations in how individuals interact with their contexts offering, therefore, a nuanced view of resourcefulness

Enhanced Proliferation of Monolayer Cultures of Embryonic Stem (ES) Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes Following Acute Loss of Retinoblastoma

Background: Cardiomyocyte (CM) cell cycle analysis has been impeded because of a reliance on primary neonatal cultures of poorly proliferating cells or chronic transgenic animal models with innate compensatory mechanisms. Methodology/Principal Findings: We describe an in vitro model consisting of monolayer cultures of highly proliferative embryonic stem (ES) cell-derived CM. Following induction with ascorbate and selection with puromycin, early CM cultures are.98 % pure, and at least 85 % of the cells actively proliferate. During the proliferative stage, cells express high levels of E2F3a, B-Myb and phosphorylated forms of retinoblastoma (Rb), but with continued cultivation, cells stop dividing and mature functionally. This developmental transition is characterized by a switch from slow skeletal to cardiac TnI, an increase in binucleation, cardiac calsequestrin and hypophosphorylated Rb, a decrease in E2F3, B-Myb and atrial natriuretic factor, and the establishment of a more negative resting membrane potential. Although previous publications suggested that Rb was not necessary for cell cycle control in heart, we find following acute knockdown of Rb that this factor actively regulates progression through the G1 checkpoint and that its loss promotes proliferation at the expense of CM maturation. Conclusions/Significance: We have established a unique model system for studying cardiac cell cycle progression, and show in contrast to previous reports that Rb actively regulates both cell cycle progression through the G1 checkpoint an