Towards Adjusting Mobile Devices To User's Behaviour

Mobile devices are a special class of resource-constrained em- bedded devices. Computing power, memory, the available energy, and network bandwidth are often severely limited. These constrained re- sources require extensive optimization of a mobile system compared to larger systems. Any needless operation has to be avoided. Time- consuming operations have to be started early on. For instance, load- ing files ideally starts before the user wants to access the file. So-called prefetching strategies optimize system’s operation. Our goal is to ad- just such strategies on the basis of logged system data. Optimization is then achieved by predicting an application’s behavior based on facts learned from earlier runs on the same system. In this paper, we ana- lyze system-calls on operating system level and compare two paradigms, namely server-based and device-based learning. The results could be used to optimize the runtime behaviour of mobile devices

E+E-Projekt „Integration von Naturschutzzielen in den Ökologischen Landbau am Beispiel der Hessischen Staatsdomäne Frankenhausen“ - Maßnahmen zur Entwicklung dauerhafter Landschaftsstrukturen

The Hessian state domain Frankenhausen near Kassel was converted to organic farming in July 1998 and serves as a research and demonstration farm of the univer-sity. Before that time the farm changed constantly by typical intensification of conven-tional farming: The landscape is a mirror of intense use: cleared and drained fields, canalised brooks and large fields with few structural elements. – Within the project “The Integration of Nature Conservation into Organic Farming” (supported by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with funds from the Federal Envi-ronmental Ministry) and based on the analysis of the present situation using methods of landscape ecology. Measures to restore brooks, structural elements and biotopes are to be implemented. The aim is to integrate structural elements like hedgerows into the farm management

E+E-Projekt „Integration von Naturschutzzielen in den Ökologischen Landbau am Beispiel der Hessischen Staatsdomäne Frankenhausen“ - Maßnahmen in der bewirtschafteten Fläche

On the Hessian state domain Frankenhausen near Kassel the project “The Integration of Nature Conservation into Organic Farming” (supported by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with funds of the Federal Environmental Ministry) aims to support biodiversity not only by restoring biotopes on the farmland. The focus lies on measures to enhance the diversity on the arable land and the pastures of the farm. A participatory approach is striven for, in which the scientists and planners take the role of a companion catalyst or moderator

Cellular gene expression during Hepatitis C virus replication as revealed by Ribosome Profiling

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects human liver hepatocytes, often leading to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It is believed that chronic infection alters host gene expression and favors HCC development. In particular, HCV replication in Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) derived membranes induces chronic ER stress. How HCV replication affects host mRNA translation and transcription at a genome wide level is not yet known. Methods: We used Riboseq (Ribosome Profiling) to analyze transcriptome and translatome changes in the Huh-7.5 hepatocarcinoma cell line replicating HCV for 6 days. Results: Established viral replication does not cause global changes in host gene expression—only around 30 genes are significantly differentially expressed. Upregulated genes are related to ER stress and HCV replication, and several regulated genes are known to be involved in HCC development. Some mRNAs (PPP1R15A/GADD34, DDIT3/CHOP, and TRIB3) may be subject to upstream open reading frame (uORF) mediated translation control. Transcriptional downregulation mainly affects mitochondrial respiratory chain complex core subunit genes. Conclusion: After establishing HCV replication, the lack of global changes in cellular gene expression indicates an adaptation to chronic infection, while the downregulation of mitochondrial respiratory chain genes indicates how a virus may further contribute to cancer cell-like metabolic reprogramming (“Warburg effect”) even in the hepatocellular carcinoma cells used here

Cesium activates the neurotransmitter receptor for glycine

The monovalent cations sodium and potassium are crucial for the proper functioning of excitable cells, but, in addition, other monovalent alkali metal ions such as cesium and lithium can also affect neuronal physiology. For instance, there have been recent reports of adverse effects resulting from self-administered high concentrations of cesium in disease conditions, prompting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue an alert concerning cesium chloride. As we recently found that the monovalent cation NH4+ activates glycine receptors (GlyRs), we investigated the effects of alkali metal ions on the function of the GlyR, which belongs to one of the most widely distributed neurotransmitter receptors in the peripheral and central nervous systems. Whole-cell voltage clamp electrophysiology was performed with HEK293T cells transiently expressing different splice and RNA-edited variants of GlyR α2 and α3 homopentameric channels. By examining the influence of various milli- and sub-millimolar concentrations of lithium, sodium, potassium, and cesium on these GlyRs in comparison to its natural ligand glycine (0.1 mM), we could show that cesium activates GlyRs in a concentration- and post-transcriptional-dependent way. Additionally, we conducted atomistic molecular dynamic simulations on GlyR α3 embedded in a membrane bilayer with potassium and cesium, respectively. The simulations revealed slightly different GlyR-ion binding profiles for potassium and cesium, identifying interactions near the glycine binding pocket (potassium and cesium) and close to the RNA-edited site (cesium) in the extracellular GlyR domain. Together, these findings show that cesium acts as an agonist of GlyRs

Primary tumor–derived systemic nANGPTL4 inhibits metastasis

Primary tumors and distant site metastases form a bidirectionally communicating system. Yet, the molecular mechanisms of this crosstalk are poorly understood. Here, we identified the proteolytically cleaved fragments of angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) as contextually active protumorigenic and antitumorigenic contributors in this communication ecosystem. Preclinical studies in multiple tumor models revealed that the C-terminal fragment (cANGPTL4) promoted tumor growth and metastasis. In contrast, the N-terminal fragment of ANGPTL4 (nANGPTL4) inhibited metastasis and enhanced overall survival in a postsurgical metastasis model by inhibiting WNT signaling and reducing vascularity at the metastatic site. Tracing ANGPTL4 and its fragments in tumor patients detected full-length ANGPTL4 primarily in tumor tissues, whereas nANGPTL4 predominated in systemic circulation and correlated inversely with disease progression. The study highlights the spatial context of the proteolytic cleavage-dependent pro- and antitumorigenic functions of ANGPTL4 and identifies and validates nANGPTL4 as a novel biomarker of tumor progression and antimetastatic therapeutic agent