Supporting Engineering Processes Utilizing Service-Oriented Grid Technology

Speeding up knowledge-intensive core processes in engineering and increas-ing the quality of their results is becoming more and more decisive, since economic pressure from national and international competitors and customers is rising. In particular, these demands exceed the organizational and infrastructural capacities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) by far. Hence, combining complementary core competencies across organizational boundaries is crucial for an enterprise's continuing success. Efficient and economically reasonable support of knowledge-intensive core processes in virtual organisations is therefore a predominant requirement for future IT infrastructures. The paradigm shift to service-orientation in Grid middleware opens the possibility to provide such support along the product lifecycle by employing a flexible software development approach, namely to compose applications from standard components, promising easier development and modification of Grid applications. In this paper, a service-oriented Grid computing approach is presented which aims at supporting distributed business processes in industry (see section 2 for industrial scenarios) from top level modelling, workflow design and exe-cution to actual Grid service code (presented in section 3). Parts of this gap between processes and code can be bridged by semi-automatically generated Grid service code. Orchestration of these Grid services is also automated by using a Grid-enabled workflow engine (see section 3). The feasibility of the proposed approach is demonstrated by presenting an exemplary process chain from the casting industry (see full paper)

Barrier Tissue Macrophages: Functional Adaptation to Environmental Challenges

Macrophages are found throughout the body, where they have crucial roles in tissue development, homeostasis and remodeling, as well as being sentinels of the innate immune system that can contribute to protective immunity and inflammation. Barrier tissues, such as the intestine, lung, skin and liver, are exposed constantly to the outside world, which places special demands on resident cell populations such as macrophages. Here we review the mounting evidence that although macrophages in different barrier tissues may be derived from distinct progenitors, their highly specific properties are shaped by the local environment, which allows them to adapt precisely to the needs of their anatomical niche. We discuss the properties of macrophages in steady-state barrier tissues, outline the factors that shape their differentiation and behavior and describe how macrophages change during protective immunity and inflammation

Tissue-specific differentiation of colonic macrophages requires TGFβ receptor-mediated signaling

Intestinal macrophages (mφ) form one of the largest populations of mφ in the body and are vital for the maintenance of gut homeostasis. They have several unique properties and are derived from local differentiation of classical Ly6Chi monocytes, but the factors driving this tissue-specific process are not understood. Here we have used global transcriptomic analysis to identify a unique homeostatic signature of mature colonic mφ that is acquired as they differentiate in the mucosa. By comparing the analogous monocyte differentiation process found in the dermis, we identify TGFβ as an indispensable part of monocyte differentiation in the intestine and show that it enables mφ to adapt precisely to the requirements of their environment. Importantly, TGFβR signaling on mφ has a crucial role in regulating the accumulation of monocytes in the mucosa, via mechanisms that are distinct from those used by IL10

Absence epilepsy in rats: How nurture shapes nature. Genotypic and environmental influences on spike-wave discharges across the lifespan

Absence epilepsie of 'petit mal' epilepsie komt vooral voor bij kinderen tussen 4 en 12 jaar. Hoewel het een erfelijke vorm van epilepsie betreft, zijn er aanwijzingen dat een aanval mede veroorzaakt wordt door andere invloeden. Ulrich Schridde heeft binnen een veel gebruikt diermodel voor deze ziekte (WAG/Rij rat) voor de eerste keer systematisch onderzocht hoe erfelijke en omgevingsinvloeden gedurende de ontwikkeling de expressie van de epileptische aanvallen beïnvloeden. De uitkomsten van het onderzoek laten zien dat de diverse karakteristieken van de aanvallen (zoals de duur van en de frequentie van impulsen binnen de aanval) verschillen in de mate waarin ze door erfelijke en omgevingsfactoren beïnvloed worden. Hoewel de omgevingseffecten op de aanvallen complex zijn, en door een combinatie van factoren en onderliggende mechanismen worden veroorzaakt, blijkt dat met name vroege omgevingsmanipulaties (in de eerste drie weken van een rattenleven) de aanvallen reduceren, via een bepaald eiwit. Deze uitkomsten zullen uiteindelijk tot een betere behandeling van de ziekte leiden

Corticosterone increases spike-wave discharges in a dose- and time-dependent manner in WAG-Rij rats

Contains fulltext : 64051.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access

The role of the environment on the development of spike-wave discharges in two strains of rats

Item does not contain fulltextRecently, we demonstrated that Type 1 and 2 spike-wave discharges (SWD) in the EEG of juvenile WAG/Rij rats were affected differently by housing before the period at which SWD start to occur. Here we consider possible sensitive periods by analyzing strain and housing influences before and after age of SWD onset. The effects of environment in WAG/Rij and ACI rats were investigated by manipulating housing during the period in which SWD become fully manifested in WAG/Rij rats. Rats were first housed from weaning in either an impoverished or enriched environment. Housing changed for half of the rats at three months, while for the other half housing stayed the same. EEG recordings at six months showed that enriched housing led to a worsening of seizure activity. The occurrence, number and mean duration of both types of discharges were influenced differently by strain, housing and age. Our data strengthen the strong genetic dependence of Type 1 SWD, but the mean duration seems to remain sensitive to housing during development. Type 2 SWD are more sensitive to environmental influences, especially in WAG/Rij rats. Moreover, the period after three months seems a sensitive period for housing effects on Type 2 SWD in this strain. Finally, our data further support the idea that Type 1 and 2 SWD are different phenomena, with their number and mean duration controlled by distinct mechanisms

Early environmental manipulations influence seizure activity, I-h and HCN1 protein expression later in life

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How the environment shapes genetically induced seizure activity in rats

Item does not contain fulltextUnderling biology that governs the age-dependent seizure susceptibility is a new, exciting research field for every pediatric epileptologists and developmental nouroscientists. From daily practice, clinicians are well aware about a close correlation between the degree of seizure susceptibility and age of the individual. Pathophysiological mechanisms involved are multiplex, including race/gender nutrition, receptors/ion channels, dysgenesis, pharmacokinetics of AEDs, acute illnesses/inflammation and many others. In this book, the top-ranked experts contributed their original papers dealing with the cutting edge of knowledge in various aspects of underlying biology. Each article presents a comprehensive review of the subjects, guiding the readers to better understanding the contemporary status of achievements in this challenging research field