Major Flaws in Conflict Prevention Policies towards Africa. The Conceptual Deficits of International Actors’ Approaches and How to Overcome Them

Current thinking on African conflicts suffers from misinterpretations (oversimplification, lack of focus, lack of conceptual clarity, state- centrism and lack of vision). The paper analyses a variety of the dominant explanations of major international actors and donors, showing how these frequently do not distinguish with sufficient clarity between the ‘root causes’ of a conflict, its aggravating factors and its triggers. Specifically, a correct assessment of conflict prolonging (or sustaining) factors is of vital importance in Africa’s lingering confrontations. Broader approaches (e.g. “structural stability”) offer a better analytical framework than familiar one-dimensional explanations. Moreover, for explaining and dealing with violent conflicts a shift of attention from the nation-state towards the local and sub-regional level is needed.Saharan Africa, Conflict Prevention, Conflict Factors, Root causes, Conflict Prolonging Factors, Escalation Patterns, Peace Order, Structural Stability

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Injection seeded ns-pulsed Nd:YAG laser at 1116 nm for Fe-Lidar

Vorstellung eines injection-seeded Nd:YAG Laser bei 1116 nm für Eisen-Lida

Virtual unfolding of folded papyri

The historical importance of ancient manuscripts is unique since they provide information about the heritage of ancient cultures. Often texts are hidden in rolled or folded documents. Due to recent improvements in sensitivity and resolution, spectacular disclosures of rolled hidden texts were possible by X-ray tomography. However, revealing text on folded manuscripts is even more challenging. Manual unfolding is often too risky in view of the fragile condition of fragments, as it can lead to the total loss of the document. X-ray tomography allows for virtual unfolding and enables non-destructive access to hidden texts. We have recently demonstrated the procedure and tested unfolding algorithms on a mockup sample. Here, we present results on unfolding ancient papyrus packages from the papyrus collection of the Musée du Louvre, among them objects folded along approximately orthogonal folding lines. In one of the packages, the first identification of a word was achieved, the Coptic word for “Lord”

Regulatory T cell-derived adenosine induces dendritic cell migration through the Epac-Rap1 pathway

Dendritic cells (DC) are one target for immune suppression by regulatory T cells (Treg), because their interaction results in reduced T cell stimulatory capacity and secretion of inhibitory cytokines in DC.We show that DC in the presence of Treg are more mobile as compared with cocultures with conventional CD4+ T cells and form DC-Treg aggregates within 2 h of culture. The migration of DC was specifically directed toward Treg, as Treg, but not CD4+ T cells, attracted DC in Boyden chambers. Treg deficient for the ectonucleotidase CD39 were unable to attract DC. Likewise, addition of antagonists for A2A adenosine receptors abolished the formation of DC-Treg clusters, indicating a role for adenosine in guiding DC-Treg interactions. Analysis of the signal transduction events in DC after contact to Treg revealed increased levels of cAMP, followed by activation of Epac1 and the GTPase Rap1. Subsequently activated Rap1 localized to the subcortical actin cytoskeleton in DC, providing a means by which directed locomotion of DC toward Treg is facilitated. In aggregate, these data show that Treg degrade ATP to adenosine via CD39, attracting DC by activating Epac1-Rap1-dependent pathways. As a consequence, DC-Treg clusters are formed and DC are rendered less stimulatory. This adenosine-mediated attraction of DC may therefore act as one mechanism by which Treg regulate the induction of immune responses by DC.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Transaction Synchronization for XML Data in Client-Server Web Applications

GI/OCG-Jahrestagung 2001 in Wien behandelt die Nutzung und Weiterentwicklung von Datenbanktechnologien im World Wide Web, welches zahlreiche spannende Herausforderungen an die Datenverwaltung stellt. Dies betrifft u.a. die Themen der Datenintegration für heterogene Informationsquellen, intelligente Suchverfahren, Metadaten-Verwaltung, Modellierung von Web-Daten und Skalierbarkeit. Besondere Bedeutung kommt dabei der Datenbankunterstützung von XML sowie wichtiger Web-Applikationen wie E-Business, digitale Bibliotheken, Portale etc. zu. Das qualitativ hochstehende Programm setzt sich aus einem eingeladenen Vortrag und neun weiteren Fachbeiträgen zusammen. Als Referent für den Hauptvortra

Microbiota-Induced Type I Interferons Instruct a Poised Basal State of Dendritic Cells.

Environmental signals shape host physiology and fitness. Microbiota-derived cues are required to program conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) during the steady state so that they can promptly respond and initiate adaptive immune responses when encountering pathogens. However, the molecular underpinnings of microbiota-guided instructive programs are not well understood. Here, we report that the indigenous microbiota controls constitutive production of type I interferons (IFN-I) by plasmacytoid DCs. Using genome-wide analysis of transcriptional and epigenetic regulomes of cDCs from germ-free and IFN-I receptor (IFNAR)-deficient mice, we found that tonic IFNAR signaling instructs a specific epigenomic and metabolic basal state that poises cDCs for future pathogen combat. However, such beneficial biological function comes with a trade-off. Instructed cDCs can prime T cell responses against harmless peripheral antigens when removing roadblocks of peripheral tolerance. Our data provide fresh insights into the evolutionary trade-offs that come with successful adaptation of vertebrates to their microbial environment