Neutrophils in cancer: neutral no more

Neutrophils are indispensable antagonists of microbial infection and facilitators of wound healing. In the cancer setting, a newfound appreciation for neutrophils has come into view. The traditionally held belief that neutrophils are inert bystanders is being challenged by the recent literature. Emerging evidence indicates that tumours manipulate neutrophils, sometimes early in their differentiation process, to create diverse phenotypic and functional polarization states able to alter tumour behaviour. In this Review, we discuss the involvement of neutrophils in cancer initiation and progression, and their potential as clinical biomarkers and therapeutic targets

A theorem proving framework for the formal verification of Web Services Composition

We present a rigorous framework for the composition of Web Services within a higher order logic theorem prover. Our approach is based on the proofs-as-processes paradigm that enables inference rules of Classical Linear Logic (CLL) to be translated into pi-calculus processes. In this setting, composition is achieved by representing available web services as CLL sentences, proving the requested composite service as a conjecture, and then extracting the constructed pi-calculus term from the proof. Our framework, implemented in HOL Light, not only uses an expressive logic that allows us to incorporate multiple Web Services properties in the composition process, but also provides guarantees of soundness and correctness for the composition.Comment: In Proceedings WWV 2011, arXiv:1108.208

Much ado about not-very-much? Assessing ten years of German citizenship reform

This article examines the development and impact of German citizenship policy over the past decade. As its point of departure, it takes the 2000 Citizenship Law, which sought to undertake a full-scale reform and liberalisation of access to German membership. The article discusses this law’s content and subsequent amendments, focusing particularly on its quantitative impact, asking why the number of naturalisations has been lower than originally expected. The article outlines current challenges to the law’s structure operation and identifies potential trajectories for its future development

Two Distinct Coagulase-Dependent Barriers Protect Staphylococcus aureus from Neutrophils in a Three Dimensional in vitro Infection Model

Staphylococcus aureus is a pyogenic abscess-forming facultative pathogenic microorganism expressing a large set of virulence-associated factors. Among these, secreted proteins with binding capacity to plasma proteins (e.g. fibrinogen binding proteins Eap and Emp) and prothrombin activators such as Coagulase (Coa) and vWbp are involved in abscess formation. By using a three-dimensional collagen gel (3D-CoG) supplemented with fibrinogen (Fib) we studied the growth behavior of S. aureus strain Newman and a set of mutants as well as their interaction with mouse neutrophils by real-time confocal microscopy. In 3D-CoG/Fib, S. aureus forms microcolonies which are surrounded by an inner pseudocapsule and an extended outer dense microcolony-associated meshwork (MAM) containing fibrin. Coa is involved in formation of the pseudocapsule whereas MAM formation depends on vWbp. Moreover, agr-dependent dispersal of late stage microcolonies could be observed. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the pseudocapsule and the MAM act as mechanical barriers against neutrophils attracted to the microcolony. The thrombin inhibitor argatroban is able to prevent formation of both pseudocapsule and MAM and supports access of neutrophils to staphylococci. Taken together, this model can simulate specific stages of S. aureus abscess formation by temporal dissection of bacterial growth and recruitment of immune cells. It can complement established animal infection models in the development of new treatment options

The Heidelberg Drilling Project (Upper Rhine Graben, Germany)

The Heidelberg basin hosts one of the thickest successions of unconsolidated Pliocene and Quaternary deposits in continental middle Europe, and certainly the thickest succession built by the Geosystem Rhine, connecting Alps, Rhine Graben, North Sea and English Channel. Also local Geosystems, first place the Neckar System, contribute to the basin infill. The more or less continuous subsidence of the Upper Rhine Graben (URG) during all periods of tertiary Graben history, but especially during the last few million years, led to a succession of alternating fluvial and lacustrine environments of various provenances. This archive contains not only various proxies of the mid-European climate evolution during the Plio-Quaternary, but also signals of geodynamic processes controlled by tectonics. Various pre project activities during the last years prove the feasibility of an extensive research project to begin in late 2005. In its centre will be three drillings envisaged to become 300 m, 350 m and 500 m deep which are all designed to expose the Plio-Quaternary transition. The various techniques of facies analysis, geophysical exploration, geochronology, climate and tectonics modelling, to be combined in a comprehensive 3D evolutionary scenario, will – hopefully – enable us to read and understand the archive of the Heidelberg basin fill. The expected results will not only contribute to the data pools of palaeoclimate and neotectonics, but are also a methodological test in handling complex Geosystems. A considerable fallout with regard to societal use and handling of the geo-environment is also expected: from use of geothermal energy, hydrogeology and pollution handling in a highly industrialized region, right to assessment of climate and seismic risks.The project will be run by a Co-operation of the Leibniz Institute for Applied Geosciences (Hannover) and the Geological Services of the three German federal States sharing the territories of the Heidelberg basin (Baden-Württemberg, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz). This paper is designed to outline the project, present some very preliminary results of pre-project research and stimulate further collaboration into the main project to come.Le bassin d’Heidelberg présente une des successions de dépôts quaternaires non consolidés les plus épaisses d’Europe continentale moyenne et certainement la succession la plus épaisse du géosystème Rhin, connectant les Alpes, le graben du Rhin, la Mer du Nord et la Manche. Des géosystèmes locaux, avec en premier lieu celui du Neckar, contribuent également au remplissage du bassin. La subsidence plus ou moins continue de cette partie du graben du Rhin durant toute son histoire cénozoïque, mais en particulier durant les derniers millions d’années, a conduit à la mise en place d’une succession d’environnements fluviaux et lacustres de différentes provenances. Cette archive ne contient pas seulement différents proxies de l’évolution climatique durant le Plio-Quaternaire, mais également des signaux des processus géodynamiques controlés par le climat et la tectonique.Différentes activités pré-projet menées durant ces dernières années ont montré la faisabilité d’un programme de recherche important qui a pris corps autour d’un projet de carottage profond prévue pour commencer à la fin 2005. Les différentes techniques d’analyse de faciès, d’exploration géophysique, de géochronologie, de modélisation du climat et de la tectonique, prévues pour être intégrées dans un modèle compréhensif d’évolution 3D, permettront de lire et de comprendre l’archive d’Heidelberg. Les résultats escomptés ne contribueront pas seulement à documenter les aspects paléoclimatiques et néotectoniques, mais fourniront également un apport méthodologique pour l´appréhension des géosystèmes complexes. Des retombées importantes sont également attendues par rapport aux usages sociaux et à la gestion des géo-environnements, en ce qui concerne l’énergie géothermique, l’hydrogéologie et la maîtrise des pollutions dans une région très industrialisée, sensible aux modifications climatiques et au risque sismique.Le projet sera mis en œuvre grâce à une coopération de l’Institut GGA pour les Géosciences appliquées de Hanovre et les services géologiques des trois Länder recouvrant le bassin d’Heidelberg (Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Rhénanie-Palatinat). Cet article expose le projet, présente quelques résultats préliminaires ou recherches pré-projets et propose des opportunités de collaboration