Interactome network analysis identifies multiple caspase-6 interactors involved in the pathogenesis of HD.

in Human molecular genetics (2016), 25(8), 1600-18

Caspase-6 (CASP6) has emerged as an important player in Huntington disease (HD), Alzheimer disease (AD) and cerebral ischemia, where it is activated early in the disease process. CASP6 also plays a key ... [more ▼]

Caspase-6 (CASP6) has emerged as an important player in Huntington disease (HD), Alzheimer disease (AD) and cerebral ischemia, where it is activated early in the disease process. CASP6 also plays a key role in axonal degeneration, further underscoring the importance of this protease in neurodegenerative pathways. As a protein's function is modulated by its protein-protein interactions, we performed a high-throughput yeast-2-hybrid (Y2H) screen against ∼17,000 human proteins to gain further insight into the function of CASP6. We identified a high-confidence list of 87 potential CASP6 interactors. From this list, 61% are predicted to contain a CASP6 recognition site. Of nine candidate substrates assessed, six are cleaved by CASP6. Proteins that did not contain a predicted CASP6 recognition site were assessed using a LUMIER assay approach, and 51% were further validated as interactors by this method. Of note, 54% of the high-confidence interactors identified show alterations in human HD brain at the mRNA level, and there is a significant enrichment for previously validated huntingtin (HTT) interactors. One protein of interest, STK3, a pro-apoptotic kinase, was validated biochemically to be a CASP6 substrate. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that in striatal cells expressing mutant huntingtin (mHTT), an increase in full length and fragment levels of STK3 are observed. We further show that caspase-3 is not essential for the endogenous cleavage of STK3. Characterization of the interaction network provides important new information regarding key pathways of interactors of CASP6 and highlights potential novel therapeutic targets for HD, AD and cerebral ischemia. [less ▲]

A mean-shift algorithm based autonomous visual tracking for micro aerial vehicles

in International Journal of Recent Trends in Engineering Research (2016), 2(4), 362--369

An efficient approach of autonomous visual tracking for micro aerial vehicles

in International Journal of Recent Scientific Research (2016), 7(6), 11959--11964

Bessere Verhaltensinhibition nach Stress bei Jung und Alt – eine EKP Studie

in Kathmann, Norbert (Ed.) Programmheft PuG 2016; Abstractband PuG2016 (2016)

Ein Großteil der kognitiven Fertigkeiten, vor allem im Bereich der exekutiven Funktionen, nimmt mit zunehmendem Alter ab. Dabei sind insbesondere diejenigen Funktionen betroffen, welche auf dem ... [more ▼]

Ein Großteil der kognitiven Fertigkeiten, vor allem im Bereich der exekutiven Funktionen, nimmt mit zunehmendem Alter ab. Dabei sind insbesondere diejenigen Funktionen betroffen, welche auf dem präfrontalen Cortex basieren. Dieser gilt als besonders stress-sensitiv. Im Humanbereich sind Stresseffekte auf exekutive Funktionen, speziell Verhaltensinhibition, bisher wenig erforscht worden. Die vorliegende EEG Studie untersuchte den gemeinsamen Einfluss von Alter und Stress auf Verhaltensinhibition und deren neuronale Korrelate. Dazu wurden 49 junge und alte Männer mittels des Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) gestresst oder durchliefen eine Kontrollprozedur bevor sie ein Go Nogo Paradigma bearbeiteten. Der TSST führte in beiden Altersgruppen gleichermaßen zu einem signifikanten Cortisolanstieg. Junge und alte Probanden machten nach dem TSST weniger Fehler in Nogo Durchgängen. Die Analyse der ereigniskorrelierten Potentiale zeigte, dass Alter und Stress die neuronalen Korrelate (N2, P3) veränderte. Während ältere Probanden generell eine reduzierte N2 und P3 im Vergleich zu jungen Probanden aufwiesen, führte Stress in beiden Altersgruppen zu einer vergrößerten N2. Hinsichtlich der P3 zeigten junge gestresste Probanden eine reduzierte P3 Amplitude, während Stress in älteren Probanden eine Vergrößerung der Amplitude bewirkte. Zudem führte Stress tendenziell in beiden Gruppen zu kürzeren Latenzen, insbesondere bei jungen Probanden. Entgegen der weit verbreitenden Annahme, dass Stress zu Einbußen in exekutiven Funktionen führt, zeigen die Ergebnisse eine stressinduzierte Verbesserung der inhibitorischen Kontrolle in beiden Altersklassen. Allerdings scheinen zum Teil unterschiedliche Mechanismen dafür in jungen und alten Probanden dafür verantwortlich zu sein. [less ▲]

"Doing Family" im Bild .Visualisierte Geschlechterrollen gestern und heute.

Speeches/Talks (2016)

Chinese university patents: quantity, quality, and the role of subsidy programs

in Journal of Technology Transfer (2016), 41(1), 60-84

Chinese university patenting has gained importance in recent years. Using a comprehensive dataset of university patents by 155 leading Chinese universities from 1991 to 2009, our study pursues two ... [more ▼]

Chinese university patenting has gained importance in recent years. Using a comprehensive dataset of university patents by 155 leading Chinese universities from 1991 to 2009, our study pursues two objectives: First, we analyze the quantity and quality of patents filed by leading Chinese universities. Second, we analyze the role of subsidy programs with regard to university patenting in China. With regard to the first objective, our results show that university patents witnessed rapid growth in terms of quantity while patent quality did not increase to a similar degree. Regarding the second objective, we find that a subsidy program to promote research excellence at selected universities is a significant driver of patent quantity and quality. In contrast, a subsidy program that decreases the costs of patent applications seems to enhance patent quantity but not patent quality. We conclude that innovation policies which aim to stimulate patents of higher quality should focus primarily on increasing university R&D, and to a lesser extent on decreasing the costs of university patenting. [less ▲]

Who prefers working in family firms? An exploratory study of individuals’ organizational preferences across 40 countries

in Journal of Family Business Strategy (2016), 7(2), 65-74

Employees can work in family or in non-family firms. Using a sample of more than 12,000 individuals in 40 countries, we investigate this particular occupational choice decision by exploring individual ... [more ▼]

Employees can work in family or in non-family firms. Using a sample of more than 12,000 individuals in 40 countries, we investigate this particular occupational choice decision by exploring individual preferences to work in family firms. Our results show that socio-demographic, occupation-related, and entrepreneurship-related variables influence the preference to work in family firms. For example, a preference to work in family firms correlates positively with being female, a positive opinion on entrepreneurs, and self-employment intention, while it correlates negatively with length of full-time education, living in an urban area, being a manager, and entrepreneurship education. Our results help family firms with regard to recruiting of non-family employees and employer branding. [less ▲]

Frontaliers atypiques dans la Grande-Région SaarLorLux

E-print/Working paper (2016)

The Greater Region is characterised by the singular independence of its labour market between its different sectors. Cross-border commuting across national borders has been facilitated in a tangible way ... [more ▼]

The Greater Region is characterised by the singular independence of its labour market between its different sectors. Cross-border commuting across national borders has been facilitated in a tangible way by the process of European unification, as a result of which the status of cross-border commuters has been defined from the point of view of social and fiscal rights. This definition does not distinguish between border workers who migrate from their "home region" to the neighbouring country and those who come from the neighbouring country to the "home region" to join their place of work. The last-mentioned atypical border phenomenon is becoming increasingly important in the Greater Region. It is therefore in the context of residential mobility and atypical mobility of cross-border employees that the motivations of the latter as well as questions relating to the spatial organisation of daily practices are analysed in the context of the change of domicile. Aspects of social life at the place of residence will also be investigated and the subjective evaluation of residential migration will be detailed. The evaluation of each of these elements is based on the comparative study of atypical commuting at the border between Luxembourg and Lorraine/Saarland. [less ▲]

Possessions en prêt au Haut Moyen Âge des Abbayes de Gorze et Wissembourg, de 661 à environ 860

E-print/Working paper (2016)

In the medieval world, the abbey had multiple meanings. On the one hand, it was a place of spiritual life where the abbey community lived, prayed and worked according to the strict ideals of the rule. The ... [more ▼]

In the medieval world, the abbey had multiple meanings. On the one hand, it was a place of spiritual life where the abbey community lived, prayed and worked according to the strict ideals of the rule. The schools, libraries and scriptoriums in which manuscripts were copied and partially decorated, also made it a centre of learning and the spread of knowledge. On the other hand, the abbeys were one of the largest landowners in the Middle Ages and their abbots were not only the superiors of religious communities but also the directors of large economic centres. The endowments for their foundation and donations from royalty or nobility provided the abbeys with considerable property. These assets were by no means a coherent mass in the vicinity of the abbey, but were rather scattered over long distances. The abbeys of Wissembourg and Gorze, through the cartularies that have come down to us, lend themselves to a more precise examination of the abbeys' economy. [less ▲]

Crossbenching Toward Participation as Critical Spatial Practice

Book published by Sternberg Press (2016)

With a preface by Armen Avanessian, an introduction by Hannes Grassegger and Markus Miessen, and a postscript by Patricia Reed “At the heart of this book is a simple and profound proposition: to ‘do’ ... [more ▼]

With a preface by Armen Avanessian, an introduction by Hannes Grassegger and Markus Miessen, and a postscript by Patricia Reed “At the heart of this book is a simple and profound proposition: to ‘do’ architecture is to immerse oneself in a conflictual process of material production—participation is not a productive encounter of multiple practitioners and stakeholders, but a set of conflicts, negotiations, maneuvers, and swindles between and within a multiplicity of agents, human and nonhuman alike—equally including architects, clients, financiers, and builders, say, but also silicon, plastic, concrete, each with its conflicting aims and different material means to achieve them. Every building is thus the materialization of such encounter. So, despite the hubris of the field, none of the parties to such an encounter can ultimately control that the result—architecture (unlike real estate), according to Miessen, belongs to no one but affects and is affected by everyone—and this proposition asks that we reframe questions of ethics and politics. They can no longer be the property of an individual but a collective set of interrelations—it is through such profound departure from the terms of architecture that Miessen’s new book demands nothing less than to reimagine how we might finally become citizens.” —Eyal Weizman, Professor of Spatial and Visual Cultures, Director of the Centre for Research Architecture, Goldsmiths, University of London “Miessen’s new book depicts in a challenging and projective manner the problem of politics in times of conceptual indeterminacy, where ‘participation’ of the civil society seems to become the salvation for the political mess we are in, especially in Europe. Well, it is not! ‘Participation’ will not eradicate the Front National, and more transparency will not deprive Orbán of his power. Civil society will not gain power by criticizing or demonstrating loudly against the European system or chatting on the Internet. The populists have understood that if you want power, you need parties. What we risk to lose in that participatory game is representative democracy in its current shape and for no good: the majority of the street is no democracy. The post-structuralist hype for participation fuels into the mills of those who want to play la volonté de tous against la volonté generale, to go back to Rousseau: yet, the plebs killed Socrates in Athens.“ —Ulrike Guerot, political scientist, founder and director, European Democracy Lab, Berlin [less ▲]