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The usage of data to improve or create business models has become vital for companies in the 21st century. However, to extract value from data it is important to understand the business model. Taxonomies for data-driven business models (DDBM) aim to provide guidance for the development and ideation of new business models relying on data. In IS research, however, different taxonomies have emerged in recent years, partly redundant, partly contradictory. Thus, there is a need to synthesize the common ground of these taxonomies within IS research. Based on 26 IS-related taxonomies and 30 cases, we derive and define 14 generic building blocks of DDBM to develop a consolidated taxonomy that represents the current state-of-the-art. Thus, we integrate existing research on DDBM and provide avenues for further exploration of data-induced potentials for business models as well as for the development and analysis of general or industry-specific DDBM.
Power relations within the area of blockchain governance are complex by definition and a comprehensive analysis that links technological and institutional elements is missing to date. The research that is presented with this article focuses on the visualization of the shifting power relations with the introduction of blockchain. For this purpose, the analysis leverages an adjusted version of the multi-stakeholder influence mapping tool. The analysis considers the various stakeholders within the multi-layered blockchain technology stack and compares three fundamental blockchain scenarios, including public and private blockchain settings. The findings show that public administrations face indeed less power with the introduction of blockchain, while new stakeholders come into play who wield influence rather uncontrolled. Nonetheless, public administrations are not powerless overall and remain influential stakeholders. This paper concludes that blockchain governance is not as democratic as blockchain enthusiasts tend to argue and derives corresponding opportunities for further research.
As a central functionality of SNSs, the newsfeed is responsible for the way, how content is presented. This paper investigates the implications of current content presentation on Facebook, which has appeared to be a matter of users’ criticism. Leaning on the communication theory, we conceptualize clutter on a newsfeed as noise that hinders the receiver’s adequate message decoding (i.e., sensemaking). We further operationalize newsfeed clutter via perceived disorder, information overload, and system feature overload. Our participants browsed their Facebook newsfeed for at least 5 minutes. The follow-up survey results provide partial support for our hypotheses, with only perceived disorder significantly associated with lower sensemaking. These findings shed new light on user experience and underpin the importance of SNSs as communication systems, adding to the existent literature on the dark sides of social media.
On October 9, 2014, a Mw 7.1-6.7 seismic doublet occurred at the Juan Fernandez microplate, close to the triple junction with Pacific and Nazca plates. The Mw 7.1 earthquake is the largest earthquake ever to have been recorded in the region. Its thrust focal mechanism is also unusual for the region, although the northern part of the microplate is expected to undergo compression. The region is remote and seismological data is limited to a seismic station at similar to 600 km distance on Easter Island and teleseismic observations for the largest events. We use a combination of advanced seismological techniques to overcome the lack of local data and resolve earthquake source parameters for the doublet and its aftershock sequence, being able to reconstruct the chronology of the sequence and the geometry of affected fault segments. Our results depict a complex seismic sequence characterized by the interplay of thrust and strike-slip earthquakes along different structures, including a second, reversed strike slip-thrust seismic doublet in November 2014. Seismicity occurred within the microplate and only in the late part of the sequence migrated northward, towards the microplate boundary. The first largest doublet, whose rupture kinematic is well explained by stress changes imparted by the first subevent on the second one, may have activated unmapped E-W and NE-SW faults or an internal curved pseudofault, attributed to the longterm rotation of the microplate. Few large, thrust earthquakes are observed within the sequence, taking place in the vicinity of mapped compressional ridges. We suggest that compressional stresses in the northern part of the microplate and at its boundary are partially accommodated aseismically. However, the occasional occurrence of large, impulsive thrust earthquakes, with a considerable tsunamigenic potential, poses a relevant hazard for islands in the South Pacific region.
This book deconstructs Eurocentric narratives and showcases local voices to re-examine childhood in Eastern Africa.
Moving away from portrayals of eastern African childhood as characterised by want, the author argues for a differentiated and pluralist nature of the eastern African childhood. Taking a chronological approach, the author provides a multidisciplinary critical reading of Africanist research on childhood in eastern Africa, drawing from anthropological and cultural studies, while examining writings from the pre-imperial and colonial periods. Moving into the contemporary period, the book reveals the continuity, tensions and ruptures of these portrayals in humanitarian, legal, and journalistic discourses, before exploring postcolonial writings on childhood in works by Eastern African novelists.
Based on such a multidisciplinary perspective, this book will be of interest to scholars of African literature, eastern African history, critical childhood studies, museums and Africanist epistemologies.
Shadow education has become part of mass schooling in many societies. Against the background of the continuing expansion of formal education and the persistence of educational and social inequalities, the growing influence of shadow education begs major implications for the postulated goal of equality in educational opportunities. This chapter addresses this issue both theoretically and empirically, focusing on the following question: What is the relationship between the continuous growth of SE across the world and the persistence of social inequality in educational attainment? First, existing findings on the topic are reviewed before I draw on and expand neo-institutionalist and social reproduction theories to incorporate SE, thereby identifying the universal causes for the inevitable expansion of SE and its relation to social inequality across the world. Finally, policy implications and future research directions are discussed. The results of this analysis indicate that even though there exist tremendous differences in the effects of family background on SE use in different regions and systems of education across the world, SE always feeds into the broader institutionalization of education and its role for social stratification. SE might occupy a key role in maintaining vertical and horizontal inequalities in educational attainment in schooled societies, which continue to struggle with inequity of educational opportunities and outcomes in spite of massive educational expansion at the higher education levels and more equity in educational opportunities.
Статья посвящена общим вопросам регулирования программ комплаенса в Германии и их влиянию на уголовную и административную ответственность. Авторы начинают с общего обзора практики регулирования комплаенса в Германии и внедрения его в жизнь. Далее ими раскрывается значимость программ комплаенса для избежания уголовной ответственности в бизнес-среде. Особое внимание уделяется такому явлению, как несение уголовной ответственности уже вследствие внедрения программ комплаенса самого по себе. Авторы называют это явление самовоспроизводимым риском ответственности, возникающим ввиду чрезмерно детального регулирования допустимого и запрещенного поведения. Статья завершается обзором административной ответственности юридических лиц за нарушения, связанные с комплаенс-сферой.
We present general existence and uniqueness results for marked models with pair interactions, exemplified through Gibbs point processes on path space.
More precisely, we study a class of infinite-dimensional diffusions under Gibbsian interactions, in the context of marked point configurations: the starting points belong to R-d, and the marks are the paths of Langevin diffusions.
We use the entropy method to prove existence of an infinite-volume Gibbs point process and use cluster expansion tools to provide an explicit activity domain in which uniqueness holds.
Migration and democracy
(2021)
In the last few years, we have been increasingly experiencing a discursive and practical use of the existing democratic structures as an instrument of anti-immigration anxiety and sentiment, from electoral support to right-wing populist parties to anti-immigrant, xenophobic, and/or racist mobilizations in and beyond the Western world. This article argues that the origins and political histories that the concepts of demos and democracy stand on provide a firm ground to resist the attempts at their current nativist/nationalist closure. Contesting the attempts to reduce the concepts of democracy and demos to strictly limited or ethnically defined populations, the article develops a political argument that relates democracy and migration, which have been represented as opposite poles within the current political map defined by the populist surge.
Abstract
In recent years, feedforward neural networks (NNs) have been successfully applied to reconstruct global plasmasphere dynamics in the equatorial plane. These neural network‐based models capture the large‐scale dynamics of the plasmasphere, such as plume formation and erosion of the plasmasphere on the nightside. However, their performance depends strongly on the availability of training data. When the data coverage is limited or non‐existent, as occurs during geomagnetic storms, the performance of NNs significantly decreases, as networks inherently cannot learn from the limited number of examples. This limitation can be overcome by employing physics‐based modeling during strong geomagnetic storms. Physics‐based models show a stable performance during periods of disturbed geomagnetic activity if they are correctly initialized and configured. In this study, we illustrate how to combine the neural network‐ and physics‐based models of the plasmasphere in an optimal way by using data assimilation. The proposed approach utilizes advantages of both neural network‐ and physics‐based modeling and produces global plasma density reconstructions for both quiet and disturbed geomagnetic activity, including extreme geomagnetic storms. We validate the models quantitatively by comparing their output to the in‐situ density measurements from RBSP‐A for an 18‐month out‐of‐sample period from June 30, 2016 to January 01, 2018 and computing performance metrics. To validate the global density reconstructions qualitatively, we compare them to the IMAGE EUV images of the He+ particle distribution in the Earth's plasmasphere for a number of events in the past, including the Halloween storm in 2003.
Woody plants provide natural archives of climatic variation which can be investigated by applying dendroclimatological methods. Such studies are limited in Southern Africa but have great potential of improving our understanding of past climates and plant functional adaptations in the region. This study therefore investigated the responsiveness of Dichrostachys cinerea to seasonal variations in temperature and rainfall at two sites in central Namibia, Waterberg and Kuzikus. Dichrostachys cinerea is one of the encroacher species thriving well in Namibia. A moving correlation and response function analysis were used to test its responsiveness to seasonal climatic variations over time. Dichrostachys cinerea growth rings showed relationships to late summer warming, lasting up to half of the rainy season. The results also revealed that past temperatures had been fluctuating and their influence on growth rings had been intensifying over the years, but to varying extents between the two sites. Temperature was a more important determinant of ring growth at the drier site (Kuzikus), while rainfall was more important at the wetter site (Waterberg). Growth ring responsiveness to rainfall was not immediate but showed a rather lagged pattern. We conclude that D. cinerea differentially responds to variations in rainfall and temperature across short climatic gradients. This study showed that the species, due to its somewhat wide ecological amplitude, has great potential for dendroclimatological studies in tropical regions.
Although cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) is probably the most promising noninvasive proximal soil moisture measurement technique at the field scale, its application for hydrological simulations remains underexplored in the literature so far. This study assessed the use of CRNS to inversely calibrate soil hydraulic parameters at the intermediate field scale to simulate the groundwater recharge rates at a daily timescale. The study was conducted for two contrasting hydrological years at the Guaraira experimental basin, Brazil, a 5.84-km(2), a tropical wet and rather flat landscape covered by secondary Atlantic forest. As a consequence of the low altitude and proximity to the equator low neutron count rates could be expected, reducing the precision of CRNS while constituting unexplored and challenging conditions for CRNS applications. Inverse calibration for groundwater recharge rates was used based on CRNS or point-scale soil moisture data. The CRNS-derived retention curve and saturated hydraulic conductivity were consistent with the literature and locally performed slug tests. Simulated groundwater recharge rates ranged from 60 to 470 mm yr(-1), corresponding to 5 and 29% of rainfall, and correlated well with estimates based on water table fluctuations. In contrast, the estimated results based on inversive point-scale datasets were not in alignment with measured water table fluctuations. The better performance of CRNS-based estimations of field-scale hydrological variables, especially groundwater recharge, demonstrated its clear advantages over traditional invasive point-scale techniques. Finally, the study proved the ability of CRNS as practicable in low altitude, tropical wet areas, thus encouraging its adoption for water resources monitoring and management.
Schon wieder ist Benis Skateboard kaputt. Er braucht dringend ein neues – aber wer soll es bezahlen? Wie gut, dass es den Wettbewerb „Meine Welt in den Gärten der Welt“ gibt. Beni träumt vom Preisgeld und beschließt, ein Kunstwerk zum gerade entstehenden Jüdischen Garten zu schaffen. In Begleitung seiner vergesslichen Oma wird der Ausflug dorthin jedoch zu einer echten Herausforderung. Ständig geht Oma verloren!
Im vierten Band der beliebten Kinderbuch-Reihe um Beni und seine jüdische Familie zieht Beni los. Er muss sich an Bushaltestellen und im großen Park alleine orientieren und findet heraus, dass sich Pflanzen an keine Grenzen halten und auch Menschen gerne mal jemand anders sind.
Kalter Hund
(2021)
Zwischen Schulabbruch und erstem Sex, zwischen Berlin und Istanbul, zwischen religiöser Freundin und wilder Cousine sucht die 16-jährige Gülay ihren Weg. Sie verknallt sich in Hacke und erkennt zu spät, dass sein Rassismus nicht nur Fassade ist, sondern zu echter Gewalt führt. Wird Gülay vor Gericht gegen ihn aussagen? Sie muss eine Entscheidung treffen – allein, rasch und mit allen Konsequenzen.
Geodetic studies of crustal deformation using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS, earlier commonly referred to as Global Positioning System, GPS) measurements at CSIR-NGRI started in 1995 with the installation of a permanent GNSS station at CSIR-NGRI Hyderabad which later became an International GNSS Service (IGS) site. The CSIR-NGRI started expanding its GNSS networks after 2003 with more focussed studies through installation in the NE India, Himalayan arc, Andaman subduction zone, stable and failed rift regions of India plate. In each instance, these measurements helped in unravelling the geodynamics of the region and seismic hazard assessment, e.g., the discovery of a plate boundary fault in the Indo-Burmese wedge, rate and mode of strain accumulation and its spatial variation in the Garhwal-Kumaun and Kashmir region of the Himalayan arc, the influence of non-tectonic deformation on tectonic deformation in the Himalayan arc, nature of crustal deformation through earthquake cycle in the Andaman Sumatra subduction zone, and localised deformation in the intraplate region and across the paleo rift regions. Besides these, GNSS measurements initiated in the Antarctica region have helped in understanding the plate motion and influence of seasonal variations on deformation. Another important by-product of the GNSS observations is the capabilities of these observations in understanding the ionospheric variations due to earthquake processes and also due to solar eclipse. We summarize these outcomes in this article.
Aufklärung und Emanzipation stellten das deutschsprachige Judentum vor die Aufgabe, ein modernes jüdisches Selbstverständnis zu entwickeln, das den neuen gesellschaftlichen Anforderungen entsprach. Dabei war das Gebiet der Erziehung einer jener Bereiche, in denen die jüdische Modernisierung zuerst zum Tragen kam. Durch die Neukonzeption des jüdischen Lernens, die stark von transkulturellen Diskursen geprägt war, entstanden neue pädagogische Konzepte und neue Lehrbücher. Als Erziehungsmittel trugen diese einen wichtigen Teil zum Sozialisierungsprozess des sich transformierenden Judentums bei und sind somit zentrale Quellen für die in jener Zeit stattfindende Aushandlung eines neuen jüdischen Selbstverständnisses. Der Sammelband beleuchtet in Überblicksdarstellungen und Einzelstudien die vielfältigen Wechselbeziehungen zwischen pädagogischen, religiösen und gesellschaftlichen Entwicklungen dieser Zeit und konturiert damit die im Hintergrund der jüdischen Modernisierung stehenden Prozesse des Kulturtransfers genauer.
Mehr als eine Villa
(2021)
Kein Epilog
(2021)
Random logic networks
(2021)
We investigate dynamical properties of a quantum generalization of classical reversible Boolean networks. The state of each node is encoded as a single qubit, and classical Boolean logic operations are supplemented by controlled bit-flip and Hadamard operations. We consider synchronous updating schemes in which each qubit is updated at each step based on stored values of the qubits from the previous step. We investigate the periodic or quasiperiodic behavior of quantum networks, and we analyze the propagation of single site perturbations through the quantum networks with input degree one. A nonclassical mechanism for perturbation propagation leads to substantially different evolution of the Hamming distance between the original and perturbed states.
Mussel-inspired multifunctional coating for bacterial infection prevention and osteogenic induction
(2021)
Bacterial infection and osteogenic integration are the two main problems that cause severe complications after surgeries. In this study, the antibacterial and osteogenic properties were simultaneously introduced in biomaterials, where copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) were generated by in situ reductions of Cu ions into a mussel-inspired hyperbranched polyglycerol (MI-hPG) coating via a simple dip-coating method. This hyperbranched polyglycerol with 10 % catechol groups' modification presents excellent antifouling property, which could effectively reduce bacteria adhesion on the surface. In this work, polycaprolactone (PCL) electrospun fiber membrane was selected as the substrate, which is commonly used in biomedical implants in bone regeneration and cardiovascular stents because of its good biocompatibility and easy post-modification. The as-fabricated CuNPs-incorporated PCL membrane [PCL-(MI-hPG)-CuNPs] was confirmed with effective antibacterial performance via in vitro antibacterial tests against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Escherichia coli (E. coli), and multi-resistant E. coli. In addition, the in vitro results demonstrated that osteogenic property of PCL-(MI-hPG)-CuNPs was realized by upregulating the osteoblast-related gene expressions and protein activity. This study shows that antibacterial and osteogenic properties can be balanced in a surface coating by introducing CuNPs.
We apply the concepts of relative dimensions and mutual singularities to characterize the fractal properties of overlapping attractor and repeller in chaotic dynamical systems. We consider one analytically solvable example (a generalized baker's map); two other examples, the Anosov-Mobius and the Chirikov-Mobius maps, which possess fractal attractor and repeller on a two-dimensional torus, are explored numerically. We demonstrate that although for these maps the stable and unstable directions are not orthogonal to each other, the relative Renyi and Kullback-Leibler dimensions as well as the mutual singularity spectra for the attractor and repeller can be well approximated under orthogonality assumption of two fractals.
The fundamental sensitivity limit of atomic force microscopy is strongly correlated to the thermal noise of cantilever oscillation. A method to suppress this unwanted noise is to reduce the bandwidth of the measurement, but this approach is limited by the speed of the measurement and the width of the cantilever resonance, commonly defined through the quality factor Q. However, it has been shown that optomechanical resonances in interferometers might affect cantilever oscillations resulting in an effective quality factor Q(eff). When the laser power is sufficiently increased cantilever oscillations might even reach the regime of self-oscillation. In this self-oscillation state, the noise of the system is partially determined by the interaction with laser light far from equilibrium. Here, we show and discuss how tuning of laser power leads to nonlinear optomechanical effects that can dramatically increase the effective quality factor of the cantilever leading to out-of-equilibrium noise. We model the effects using a fourth order nonlinearity of the damping coefficient. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.
Background:
Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a complex developmental genetic disorder associated with intellectual disability and deficits in executive functions which result in disorganisation and poor personal autonomy.
Aims:
This study aimed to determine impairments in planning skills of adults with PWS, in relation with their intellectual disabilities, as well as the influence of food compulsions on their performance.
Methods and procedures:
A modified version of the Zoo Map from the Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome was used in three groups: a group of adults with PWS in comparison with two groups both matched on chronological age, one with typical development (TD) and one with intellectual disability (ID).
Outcomes and results:
Compared to TD adults, both adults with PWS and ID showed increased planning time and lower raw scores on the planning task. The execution time and the number of errors were higher in the PWS group compared to the comparison groups. All three groups performed worse in the non-food condition only for number of errors and raw score.
Conclusions and implications:
Planning abilities were impaired in PWS adults. Results also showed that intellectual level plays a role in participants' performance. These findings are essential to understand the difficulties of people with PWS daily life.
Mediterranean oak woodlands are currently facing unprecedented degradation threats from oak decline. The Iberian oak decline "Seca", related to Phytophthora infection, causes crown defoliation that may adversely affect ecosystem services (ESs). We aim to improve our understanding of how Seca-induced declines in crown foliation affect the provision of multiple ecosystem services from understory vegetation. We selected holm (Quercus ilex) and cork oak (Q. suber) trees in a Spanish oak woodland and evaluated three proxies of canopy effects. One proxy (crown defoliation) solely captured Seca-dependent effects, one proxy solely captured Seca-independent effects (tree dimensions such as diameter and height), while the third proxy (tree vigor) captured overall canopy effects. We then used the best-performing proxies to assess canopy effects on key ecosystem services (ESs) such as aboveground net primary production (ANPP), grass and legume biomass, species diversity, litter decomposition rates, and a combined index of ecosystem multifunctionality. <br /> We found that both types of canopy effects (i.e. Seca-dependent and Seca-independent effects) were related, indicating that ANPP was disproportionally more affected by Seca when defoliated trees were large. Responses of other ESs were mostly not significant, although lower species diversity was found under trees with intermediate vigor. Our results underline that a Seca-related decline in canopy density triggered a homogenization of ecosystem service delivery on the ecosystem scale. The ecosystem functions (EFs) under trees of low vigor are similar to that in adjacent open microsites indicating that the presence of vigorous (i.e. old and vital) trees is critical for maintaining EFs at a landscape level. Our results also highlight the importance of quantifying not only defoliation but also tree dimensions as both factors jointly and interactively modify canopy effects on ecosystem multifunctionality.
Safe human-robot interactions require robots to be able to learn how to behave appropriately in spaces populated by people and thus to cope with the challenges posed by our dynamic and unstructured environment, rather than being provided a rigid set of rules for operations. In humans, these capabilities are thought to be related to our ability to perceive our body in space, sensing the location of our limbs during movement, being aware of other objects and agents, and controlling our body parts to interact with them intentionally. Toward the next generation of robots with bio-inspired capacities, in this paper, we first review the developmental processes of underlying mechanisms of these abilities: The sensory representations of body schema, peripersonal space, and the active self in humans. Second, we provide a survey of robotics models of these sensory representations and robotics models of the self; and we compare these models with the human counterparts. Finally, we analyze what is missing from these robotics models and propose a theoretical computational framework, which aims to allow the emergence of the sense of self in artificial agents by developing sensory representations through self-exploration.
Motivational profiles across domains and academic choices within Eccles et al.’s situated expectancy
(2021)
This longitudinal person-centered study aimed to identify profiles of subjective task values and ability self-concepts of adolescents in the domain of mathematics, English, biology, and physics in Grades 10 and 12. We were interested in gendered changes of profile membership, and in relations between profile membership and educational and occupational outcomes in adulthood. Data were drawn from the Michigan Study of Adolescent and Adult Life Transitions. We focused on students who participated in the data collection in Grades 10 and 12 (N = 911; 56.1% female; M-age = 16.49, SD = .63; 91.2% European American, 4.6% African American, and 2.1% other ethnic groups such as Hispanic, Asian, Native American). Data on subsequent college majors were assessed 2, 6, and 10 years after finishing high school and data on occupational outcomes was assessed up to 22 years after high school. Using Latent Profile Analyses, our findings revealed five profiles in grade 10 and four profiles in grade 12, which were meaningfully related to student gender. Latent Transition Analyses showed that motivational beliefs became more hierarchical over time. Gendered changes in profile membership occurred, with boys experiencing a process of specialization into mathematics domains. We were also able to show that gender-specific intraindividual hierarchies of motivational beliefs were related to gender-specific specialization processes in adolescence and to subsequent gendered choices throughout the life course.
Raman spectroscopic quantification of tetrahedral boron in synthetic aluminum-rich tourmaline
(2021)
The Raman spectra of five B-[4]-bearing tourmalines of different composition synthesized at 700 degrees C/4.0 GPa (including first-time synthesis of Na-Li-B-[4]-tourmaline, Ca-Li-B-[4]-tourmaline, and Ca-bearing square-B-[4]-tourmaline) reveal a strong correlation between the tetrahedral boron content and the summed relative intensity of all OH-stretching bands between 3300-3430 cm(-1). The band shift to low wavenumbers is explained by strong O3-H center dot center dot center dot O5 hydrogen bridge bonding. Applying the regression equation to natural B-[4]-bearing tourmaline from the Koralpe (Austria) reproduces the EMPA-derived value perfectly [EMPA: 0.67(12) B-[4] pfu vs. Raman: 0.66(13) B-[4] pfu]. This demonstrates that Raman spectroscopy provides a fast and easy-to-use tool for the quantification of tetrahedral boron in tourmaline. The knowledge of the amount of tetrahedral boron in tourmaline has important implications for the better understanding and modeling of B-isotope fractionation between tourmaline and fluid/melt, widely used as a tracer of mass transfer processes.
Dysfunctional islets of Langerhans are a hallmark of type 2 diabetes (T2D). We hypothesize that differences in islet gene expression alternative splicing which can contribute to altered protein function also participate in islet dysfunction. RNA sequencing (RNAseq) data from islets of obese diabetes-resistant and diabetes-susceptible mice were analyzed for alternative splicing and its putative genetic and epigenetic modulators. We focused on the expression levels of chromatin modifiers and SNPs in regulatory sequences. We identified alternative splicing events in islets of diabetes-susceptible mice amongst others in genes linked to insulin secretion, endocytosis or ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis pathways. The expression pattern of 54 histones and chromatin modifiers, which may modulate splicing, were markedly downregulated in islets of diabetic animals. Furthermore, diabetes-susceptible mice carry SNPs in RNA-binding protein motifs and in splice sites potentially responsible for alternative splicing events. They also exhibit a larger exon skipping rate, e.g., in the diabetes gene Abcc8, which might affect protein function. Expression of the neuronal splicing factor Srrm4 which mediates inclusion of microexons in mRNA transcripts was markedly lower in islets of diabetes-prone compared to diabetes-resistant mice, correlating with a preferential skipping of SRRM4 target exons. The repression of Srrm4 expression is presumably mediated via a higher expression of miR-326-3p and miR-3547-3p in islets of diabetic mice. Thus, our study suggests that an altered splicing pattern in islets of diabetes-susceptible mice may contribute to an elevated T2D risk.
In this study, we investigate numerically the hydro-mechanical behavior of fractured crystalline rock due to one of the five hydraulic stimulations at the Pohang Enhanced Geothermal site in South Korea. We use the commercial code FracMan (Golder Associates) that enables studying hydro-mechanical coupled processes in fractured media in three dimensions combining the finite element method with a discrete fracture network. The software is used to simulate fluid pressure perturbation at fractures during hydraulic stimulation. Our numerical simulation shows that pressure history matching can be obtained by partitioning the treatment into separate phases. This results in adjusted stress-aperture relationships. The evolution of aperture adjustment implies that the stimulation mechanism could be a combination of hydraulic fracturing and shearing. The simulated extent of the 0.01 MPa overpressure contour at the end of the treatment equals to similar to 180 m around the injection point.
Moderate and temporary heat stresses prime plants to tolerate, and survive, a subsequent severe heat stress. Such acquired thermotolerance can be maintained for several days under normal growth conditions, and can create a heat stress memory. We recently demonstrated that plastid-localized small heat shock protein 21 ( HSP21) is a key component of heat stress memory in Arabidopsis thaliana. A sustained high abundance of HSP21 during the heat stress recovery phase extends heat stress memory. The level of HSP21 is negatively controlled by plastid-localized metalloprotease FtsH6 during heat stress recovery. Here, we demonstrate that autophagy, a cellular recycling mechanism, exerts additional control over HSP21 degradation. Genetic and chemical disruption of both metalloprotease activity and autophagy trigger superior HSP21 accumulation, thereby improving memory. Furthermore, we provide evidence that autophagy cargo receptor ATG8-INTERACTING PROTEIN1 (ATI1) is associated with heat stress memory. ATI1 bodies co-localize with both autophagosomes and HSP21, and their abundance and transport to the vacuole increase during heat stress recovery. Together, our results provide new insights into the module for control of the regulation of heat stress memory, in which two distinct protein degradation pathways act in concert to degrade HSP21, thereby enabling cells to recover from the heat stress effect at the cost of reducing the heat stress memory.
Protecting the vulnerable
(2021)
Contemporary pressures of climate change and migration are abetting the spread of (re)emerging infectious diseases (EIDs), including HIV, Ebola and tuberculosis (TB). While the fact remains that any person can become infected, those most affected are vulnerable populations. In Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) these include marginalized groups such as people who sell sex, LGBTI and MSM, but more widely also adolescents. Adolescents and young adults represent a particularly vulnerable group, caught as they are on the cusp between child protections and adult citizenship claims, including to health and educational provisions and protections. Without, or with incomplete claims, members of marginalized and vulnerable communities are excluded from access to provisions and protections of health as part of human security, whether out of apathy, fear or jurisdiction or through (deliberate) neglect.
The chapter proceeds through the framework of human security, which puts the security of individuals at the centre of its analysis. This stands in contrast to the 1990s securitization argument which framed HIV as a threat to state security. This chapter analyzes unique challenges of vulnerable adolescent populations as these relate to HIV prevention and treatment access. In doing so, it pays special heed to the “double vulnerability” of non-citizenship and compromised citizenship among this cohort. By invoking the human security paradigm, this chapter explores HIV interventions as they pertain to and aim to protect vulnerable populations beyond borders.
Stochastic resetting, a diffusive process whose amplitude is reset to the origin at random times, is a vividly studied strategy to optimize encounter dynamics, e.g., in chemical reactions. Here we generalize the resetting step by introducing a random resetting amplitude such that the diffusing particle may be only partially reset towards the trajectory origin or even overshoot the origin in a resetting step. We introduce different scenarios for the random-amplitude stochastic resetting process and discuss the resulting dynamics. Direct applications are geophysical layering (stratigraphy) and population dynamics or financial markets, as well as generic search processes.
The genus Microhyla Tschudi, 1838 includes 52 species and is one of the most diverse genera of the family Microhylidae, being the most species-rich taxon of the Asian subfamily Microhylinae. The recent, rapid description of numerous new species of Microhyla with complex phylogenetic relationships has made the taxonomy of the group especially challenging. Several recent phylogenetic studies suggested paraphyly of Microhyla with respect to Glyphoglossus Gunther, 1869, and revealed three major phylogenetic lineages of mid-Eocene origin within this assemblage. However, comprehensive works assessing morphological variation among and within these lineages are absent. In the present study we investigate the generic taxonomy of Microhyla-Glyphoglossus assemblage based on a new phylogeny including 57 species, comparative morphological analysis of skeletons from cleared-and-stained specimens for 23 species, and detailed descriptions of generalized osteology based on volume-rendered micro-CT scans for five speciesal-together representing all major lineages within the group. The results confirm three highly divergent and well-supported clades that correspond with external and osteological morphological characteristics, as well as respective geographic distribution. Accordingly, acknowledging ancient divergence between these lineages and their significant morphological differentiation, we propose to consider these three lineages as distinct genera: Microhyla sensu stricto, Glyphoglossus, and a newly described genus, Nanohyla gen. nov.
Large earthquakes are usually modeled with simple planar fault surfaces or a combination of several planar fault segments. However, in general, earthquakes occur on faults that are non-planar and exhibit significant geometrical variations in both the along-strike and down-dip directions at all spatial scales. Mapping of surface fault ruptures and high-resolution geodetic observations are increasingly revealing complex fault geometries near the surface and accurate locations of aftershocks often indicate geometrical complexities at depth. With better geodetic data and observations of fault ruptures, more details of complex fault geometries can be estimated resulting in more realistic fault models of large earthquakes. To address this topic, we here parametrize non-planar fault geometries with a set of polynomial parameters that allow for both along-strike and down-dip variations in the fault geometry. Our methodology uses Bayesian inference to estimate the non-planar fault parameters from geodetic data, yielding an ensemble of plausible models that characterize the uncertainties of the non-planar fault geometry and the fault slip. The method is demonstrated using synthetic tests considering slip spatially distributed on a single continuous finite non-planar fault surface with varying dip and strike angles both in the down-dip and along-strike directions. The results show that fault-slip estimations can be biased when a simple planar fault geometry is assumed in presence of significant non-planar geometrical variations. Our method can help to model earthquake fault sources in a more realistic way and may be extended to include multiple non-planar fault segments or other geometrical fault complexities.
Tula orthohantavirus (TULV) is a rodent-borne hantavirus with broad geographical distribution in Europe. Its major reservoir is the common vole (Microtus arvalis), but TULV has also been detected in closely related vole species. Given the large distributional range and high amplitude population dynamics of common voles, this host-pathogen complex presents an ideal system to study the complex mechanisms of pathogen transmission in a wild rodent reservoir. We investigated the dynamics of TULV prevalence and the subsequent potential effects on the molecular evolution of TULV in common voles of the Central evolutionary lineage. Rodents were trapped for three years in four regions of Germany and samples were analyzed for the presence of TULV-reactive antibodies and TULV RNA with subsequent sequence determination. The results show that individual (sex) and population-level factors (abundance) of hosts were significant predictors of local TULV dynamics. At the large geographic scale, different phylogenetic TULV clades and an overall isolation-by-distance pattern in virus sequences were detected, while at the small scale (<4 km) this depended on the study area. In combination with an overall delayed density dependence, our results highlight that frequent, localized bottleneck events for the common vole and TULV do occur and can be offset by local recolonization dynamics.
Comb-like geometric constraints leading to emergence of the time-fractional Schrödinger equation
(2021)
This paper presents an overview over several examples, where the comb-like geometric constraints lead to emergence of the time-fractional Schrodinger equation. Motion of a quantum object on a comb structure is modeled by a suitable modification of the kinetic energy operator, obtained by insertion of the Dirac delta function in the Laplacian. First, we consider motion of a free particle on two- and three-dimensional comb structures, and then we extend the study to the interacting cases. A general form of a nonlocal term, which describes the interactions of the particle with the medium, is included in the Hamiltonian, and later on, the cases of constant and Dirac delta potentials are analyzed. At the end, we discuss the case of non-integer dimensions, considering separately the case of fractal dimension between one and two, and the case of fractal dimension between two and three. All these examples show that even though we are starting with the standard time-dependent Schrodinger equation on a comb, the time-fractional equation for the Green's functions appears, due to these specific geometric constraints.
Epistemic logic programs constitute an extension of the stable model semantics to deal with new constructs called subjective literals. Informally speaking, a subjective literal allows checking whether some objective literal is true in all or some stable models. As it can be imagined, the associated semantics has proved to be non-trivial, since the truth of subjective literals may interfere with the set of stable models it is supposed to query. As a consequence, no clear agreement has been reached and different semantic proposals have been made in the literature. Unfortunately, comparison among these proposals has been limited to a study of their effect on individual examples, rather than identifying general properties to be checked. In this paper, we propose an extension of the well-known splitting property for logic programs to the epistemic case. We formally define when an arbitrary semantics satisfies the epistemic splitting property and examine some of the consequences that can be derived from that, including its relation to conformant planning and to epistemic constraints. Interestingly, we prove (through counterexamples) that most of the existing approaches fail to fulfill the epistemic splitting property, except the original semantics proposed by Gelfond 1991 and a recent proposal by the authors, called Founded Autoepistemic Equilibrium Logic.
Earthquake source parameters such as seismic stress drop and corner frequency are observed to vary widely, leading to persistent discussion on potential scaling of stress drop and event size. Physical mechanisms that govern stress drop variations arc difficult to evaluate in nature and are more readily studied in controlled laboratory experiments. We perform two stick-slip experiments on fractured (rough) and cut (smooth) Westerly granite samples to explore fault roughness effects on acoustic emission (AE) source parameters. We separate large stick-slip events that generally saturate the seismic recording system from populations of smaller AE events which are sensitive to fault stresses prior to slip. AE event populations show many similarities to natural seismicity and may be interpreted as laboratory equivalent of natural microseismic events. We then compare the temporal evolution of mechanical data such as measured stress release during slip to temporal changes in stress drops derived from Alis using the spectral ratio technique. We report on two primary observations: (1) In contrast to most case studies for natural earthquakes, we observe a strong increase in seismic stress drop with AE size. (2) The scaling of stress drop with magnitude is governed by fault roughness, whereby the rough fault shows a more rapid increase of the stress drop magnitude relation with progressing large stick-slip events than the smooth fault. The overall range of AE sizes on the rough surface is influenced by both the average grain size and the width of the fault core. The magnitudes of the smallest AE events on smooth faults may also be governed by grain size. However, AEs significantly grow beyond peak roughness and the width of the fault core. Our laboratory tests highlight that source parameters vary substantially in the presence of fault zone heterogeneity (i.e. roughness and narrow grain size distribution), which may affect seismic energy partitioning and static stress drops of small and large AE events.
One of the main challenges of education in modern societies is to effectively address the variability of students in academic learning settings. Students vary in terms of their individual learning preconditions, such as achievement and preknowledge, but also motivation and emotion. Teachers, in turn, have limited resources to provide each learner with individually tailored instruction. This research overview reviews research on artificially intelligent teaching assistants and their role in providing adaptive learning opportunities in relation to learners’ heterogeneous individual learning preconditions in the field of motivation and emotion.
Am Ende der Globalisierung
(2021)
Die Globalisierung ist zur allgegenwärtigen Gewissheit geworden. Doch wie zutreffend ist das Konzept »Globalisierung«, wenn zeitgleich nationale Grenzen gestärkt und transnationale Freihandelszonen ausgeweitet werden, wenn auf unterschiedlichen scales Territorien überwunden und zugleich territoriale Abgrenzungen neu gesetzt werden? Aktuelle Veränderungen als Re-Figuration von Räumen zu verstehen, ermöglicht die Analyse und Diskussion widersprüchlicher, spannungsreicher und konflikthafter räumlicher Prozesse und ihrer alltäglichen Erfahrung. Die interdisziplinären Beiträge des Bandes liefern theoretische und empirische Analysen zu politischen, digitalen und alltäglichen Räumen im Konzept der Re-Figuration.
Am Ende der Globalisierung
(2021)
Zunz in Prag
(2021)
The paper addresses an under-researched chapter in the history of the Jewish Reform movement which is at the same time a commonly overlooked period in the biography of Leopold Zunz (1794–1886), one of the founding members of Wissenschaft des Judentums. By placing his eight-month appointment as a preacher to the Reform synagogue in Prague in its socio-political and biographical contexts, the article sheds new light at Zunz’s commitment for the religious renewal of Judaism. A schematic comparison between the development of the Reform movement in the German lands and the Habsburg Monarchy, at the beginning of the nineteenth century highlights the role of state involvement into internal Jewish affairs. Finally, the analysis of Zunz’s Synagogenordnung from 1836, according to the original manuscript from the National Library of Israel, allows a re-evaluation of the (Reform) synagogue as an institution for social disciplining of its members.
Die Reform der Haskala
(2021)
Der erste programmatische Text der Haskala, der durch die josephinischen Toleranzpatente inspirierte Traktat Naphtali Herz Weisels (= Hartwig Wessely, 1725–1805) Divre Schalom we-Emet, befasste sich mit der Neuorganisation des jüdischen Unterrichts. Bewusst ging Weisel in dieser Schrift, die mit grundsätzlichen Idealen traditioneller jüdischer Erziehung brach, vom Bibelvers"נחךונלרעלעיפרדוכ,םגייכקזןיאלסירוממהנ" („Erziehe den Knaben nach seinen Fähigkeiten, dann wird er auch im Alter nicht davon abweichen“, Sprüche22,6) aus. Im Unterschied zur traditionellen Betonung von Limmud, das heißt des Studiums von religiösen Schriften des Judentums, stellte Weisel Chinnuch, also Erziehung, ins Zentrumseiner Überlegungen.
Im Hochmittelalter entstehen Erzählungen, die etablierte literarische Formen und Traditionen neu verbinden: Sie sind volkssprachig, allegorisch und verwenden als Erzählform die erste Person, um in dieser Kombination, die sich zu einem die Grenzen der Einzelsprachen überschreitenden Erzähl-Format verfestigt, unterschiedlichste Themen aufzugreifen. Dieses Format, erstmals realisiert im altfranzösischen Roman de la Rose, wird die europäische Literatur mit Texten wie Dantes Divina Comedia, Guillaumes de Deguileville Pèlerinage de la Vie Humaine, William Langlands Pierce Plowman und Christines de Pizan Le Livre de la mutation de Fortune bis weit in die Neuzeit hinein prägen. Der in den Band einleitende Beitrag geht der Frage nach, ob das narrative Format dabei universell verwendet wird oder, z.B. im Rahmen der Liebesdichtung, spezifische Besonderheiten aufweist.
Die ›Klage der Kunst‹ Konrads wird auf dem Hintergrund und in Bezug zur Sangspruchdichtung sowie der Textfamilie allegorischer Erzählungen in der ersten Person untersucht. Während Strophik, Sangbarkeit und kunst-Thematik das Werk in den Kontext der Sangspruchdichtung rücken, stellt es sich durch seinen Umfang, seine Narrativität und das Erzähltempus, das die Handlung zwar nicht dominiert, aber rahmt, an die Seite erster früher Erzählexperimente, die Dialog, Streit oder Rede als erlebte Erfahrung eines Ich präsentieren wie das ›Frauenbuch‹ Ulrichs von Liechtenstein, das aber – ähnlich wie Konrads ›Klage der Kunst‹ – zu seiner Zeit offenbar nur mäßig erfolgreich, jedenfalls nur unikal überliefert, ist. Konrad scheint der erste zu sein, der in der höfischen Literatur das Erzählen in der ersten Person mit Allegorizität verknüpft. Er nutzt dieses neue und in der späteren Literatur so überaus fruchtbare Erzählformat geschickt, um seine eigene literarische Meisterschaft unter anderem in den Gestalten von wildekeit und kunst unter Beweis zu stellen, zu thematisieren und szenisch zu verhandeln.
Tod und Krise
(2021)
Der Tod wird oftmals als größtmögliche menschliche Krise wahrgenommen. Doch wie definiert sich Krise im Kontext von Tod und Sterben? Dieser Frage geht der vorliegende Sammelband im zeitlichen Rahmen des langen 19. Jahrhunderts nach, welches sich durch zahlreiche Brüche und Veränderungen im Umgang mit dem Tod und den Verstorbenen auszeichnet.
Die Beiträge sind das Ergebnis eines gleichnamigen Symposiums im Jahr 2019. Aus interdisziplinärer Perspektive thematisieren Jungforscher:innen Bestattungspraktiken im Krieg und in Seuchenzeiten, setzen sich mit Innovationen im europäischen Bestattungswesen und mit den daraus resultierenden Spannungsverhältnissen auseinander. Sie problematisieren die Repräsentationsbedürfnisse des Adels im Zusammenhang mit dem Tod und untersuchen Erinnerungskulturen sowie das bewusste Verdrängen von Todeskontexten. Hierbei wird der Fokus auf die Akteur:innen gelegt, deren Intentionen und ihr konkretes Handeln. Krisen fungieren zum einen als Motor für neue Entwicklungen. Zum anderen verdeutlichen sie bisweilen eine erstaunliche Innovationsresistenz beim Umgang mit dem Tod. Eines aber zeichnet Krisen maßgeblich aus: sie zwingen die Betroffenen zu einer Entscheidung.
Wilhelm Herzbergs „Das Mädchen von Tanger“ ist an zentraler Stelle seiner Jüdischen Familienpapiere als Binnenerzählung angelegt. In diesem konkreten Fall handelt es sich um eine gerahmte Binnenerzählung, die als fingierte Quelle dem Leser Authentizität vermitteln soll. Die literarischen Vorbilder dieses Genres liegen sowohl in der klassischen indischen und persischen Literatur als auch in der homerischen Odyssee. Die Binnenerzählung wurde von Goethe in seinen Unterhaltungen deutscher Auswanderer (1795) weiterentwickelt. Im 19.Jahrhundert wurde sie stilbildend und erfreute sich großer Beliebtheit. Sie verfügt über eine eigene epische Erzählstruktur und versteht sich als „Erzählung in der Erzählung“ . Dadurch kann sie noch zusätzliche Akzente setzen und zugleich moralische Anleitung für die Leserschaftbereithalten.