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Mit dem Klima wandelt sich auch notwendig die offene Gesellschaft. Und mit ihr wandelt sich wiederum auch die Verfassung(-sinterpretation). Periodisch wiederkehrende Gesundheits- und Sicherheitskrisen fordern eine dynamische Reaktion des Grundgesetzes auf mit ihnen einhergehende Probleme. In andauernden Krisen wie der Umweltkrise muss die Verfassung gleichzeitig in vielerlei Hinsicht nachhaltig sein. Dabei muss das, was wir unter Freiheit, Klima‑, Umwelt- oder Tierschutz verstehen, immer im Wandel bleiben.
Strategic social media use positively influences organizational goals such as the long-term accrual of social capital, and thus social media information governance has become an increasingly important organizational objective. It is particularly important for humanitarian nongovernmental organizations (HNGOs), whose work relies on accurate and timely information regarding socially altruistic behavior (donations, volunteerism, etc.). Despite the potential of social media for increasing social capital, tensions in governing social media information across an organization's different operational levels (regional, intermediate, and national) pose a difficult challenge. Prominent governance frameworks offer little guidance, as their focus on control and incremental policymaking is largely incompatible with the processes, roles, standards, and metrics needed for managing self-governing social media. This study offers a notion of dynamic and co-evolutionary process management of multi-level organizations as a means of conceptualizing social media information governance for the accrual of organizational social capital. Based on interviews with members of HNGOs, this study reveals tensions that emerge within eight focus areas of accruing social capital in multi-level organizations, explains how dynamic process management can ease those tensions, and proposes corresponding strategy recommendations.
With the latest technological developments and associated new possibilities in teaching, the personalisation of learning is gaining more and more importance. It assumes that individual learning experiences and results could generally be improved when personal learning preferences are considered. To do justice to the complexity of the personalisation possibilities of teaching and learning processes, we illustrate the components of learning and teaching in the digital environment and their interdependencies in an initial model. Furthermore, in a pre-study, we investigate the relationships between the learner's ability to (digital) self-organise, the learner’s prior- knowledge learning in different variants of mode and learning outcomes as one part of this model. With this pre-study, we are taking the first step towards a holistic model of teaching and learning in digital environments.
Phonologie, die Lehre von der lautlichen Organisation der Sprache, ist einer der zentralen Bereiche der Sprachwissenschaft. Auch das Schriftsystem, das Gegenstand der Graphematik ist, gewinnt zunehmend an Bedeutung für Forschung und Lehre. Dieser Band informiert über Form und Funktion der wichtigsten Einheiten des gesprochenen und geschriebenen Deutschen, von den Lauten und Buchstaben über Sprech- und Schreibsilben bis hin zu phonologischen und graphematischen Wörtern, phonologischen Äußerungen und graphematischen Sätzen. In zweifarbiger Gestaltung mit Definitionen, Beispielen, Grafiken und Aufgaben. – Die 2. Auflage wurde durchgängig aktualisiert und erweitert.
Zwischen Bach und Klezmer
(2023)
The years 1953 through the 1970s in the Soviet Union have been called the era of the “Jews of silence.” And yet through various types of musical activities, certain parts of the Jewish population in the USSR were able to maintain a collective cultural identity in the public sphere. Captured as a musical community, this collectivity also extended to non-Jewish composers, musicians, and audiences. As such it thematicized, performed, represented, and received Jewishness, through Yiddish theater and songs, art music, and popular music. Concerts and works conceived for the Soviet stages demonstrate that Jewishness mattered, with music taking on new symbolism and becoming imbued with new meaning. This chapter focuses on the presence (and absence) of Jewish music in the public sphere, specifically in the concert hall and other stages in the post-Stalinist Soviet Union.
Background
Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide and a significant contributor to the global burden of disease. Altered leptin levels are known to be associated with depressive symptoms, however discrepancies in the results of increased or decreased levels exist. Due to various limitations associated with commonly used antidepressant drugs, alternatives such as exercise therapy are gaining more importance. Therefore, the current study investigates whether depressed patients have higher leptin levels compared to healthy controls and if exercise is efficient to reduce these levels.
Methods
Leptin levels of 105 participants with major depressive disorder (MDD; 45.7% female, age mean ± SEM: 39.1 ± 1.0) and 34 healthy controls (HC; 61.8% female, age mean ± SEM: 36.0 ± 2.0) were measured before and after a bicycle ergometer test. Additionally, the MDD group was separated into three groups: two endurance exercise intervention groups (EX) differing in their intensities, and a waiting list control group (WL). Leptin levels were measured pre and post a 12-week exercise intervention or the waiting period.
Results
Baseline data showed no significant differences in leptin levels between the MDD and HC groups. As expected, correlation analyses displayed significant relations between leptin levels and body weight (HC: r = 0.474, p = 0.005; MDD: r = 0.198, p = 0.043) and even more with body fat content (HC: r = 0.755, p < 0.001; MDD: r = 0.675, p < 0.001). The acute effect of the bicycle ergometer test and the 12-week training intervention showed no significant changes in circulating leptin levels.
Conclusion
Leptin levels were not altered in patients with major depression compared to healthy controls and exercise, both the acute response and after 12 weeks of endurance training, had no effect on the change in leptin levels.
Trial registration
The study was registered at the German register for clinical studies (DRKS) and the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform of the World Health Organization https://trialsearch.who.int/Trial2.aspx?TrialID=DRKS00008869 on 28/07/2015.
How predictable is the next move of an animal? Specifically, which factors govern the short- and long-term motion patterns and the overall dynamics of land-bound, plant-eating animals in general and ruminants in particular? To answer this question, we here study the movement dynamics of springbok antelopes Antidorcas marsupialis. We propose several complementary statistical-analysis techniques combined with machine-learning approaches to analyze—across multiple time scales—the springbok motion recorded in long-term GPS tracking of collared springboks at a private wildlife reserve in Namibia. As a result, we are able to predict the springbok movement within the next hour with a certainty of about 20%. The remaining about 80% are stochastic in nature and are induced by unaccounted factors in the modeling algorithm and by individual behavioral features of springboks. We find that directedness of motion contributes approximately 17% to this predicted fraction. We find that the measure for directedeness is strongly dependent on the daily cycle of springbok activity. The previously known daily affinity of springboks to their water points, as predicted from our machine-learning algorithm, overall accounts for only about 3% of this predicted deterministic component of springbok motion. Moreover, the resting points are found to affect the motion of springboks at least as much as the formally studied effects of water points. The generality of these statements for the motion patterns and their underlying behavioral reasons for other ruminants can be examined on the basis of our statistical-analysis tools in the future.
Introduction
Elderly patients after hospitalisation for acute events on account of age-related diseases (eg, joint or heart valve replacement surgery) are often characterised by a remarkably reduced functional health. Multicomponent rehabilitation (MR) is considered an appropriate approach to restore the functioning of these patients. However, its efficacy in improving functioning-related outcomes such as care dependency, activities of daily living (ADL), physical function and health-related quality of life (HRQL) remains unclarified. We outline the research framework of a scoping review designed to map the available evidence of the effects of MR on the independence and functional capacity of elderly patients hospitalised for age-related diseases in four main medical specialties beyond geriatrics.
Methods and analysis
The biomedical databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, ICTRP Search Platform, ClinicalTrials) and additionally Google Scholar will be systematically searched for studies comparing centre-based MR with usual care in patients ≥75 years of age, hospitalised for common acute events due to age-related diseases (eg, joint replacement, stroke) in one of the specialties of orthopaedics, oncology, cardiology or neurology. MR is defined as exercise training and at least one additional component (eg, nutritional counselling), starting within 3 months after hospital discharge. Randomised controlled trials as well as prospective and retrospective controlled cohort studies will be included from inception and without language restriction. Studies investigating patients <75 years, other specialties (eg, geriatrics), rehabilitation definition or differently designed will be excluded. Care dependency after at least a 6-month follow-up is set as the primary outcome. Physical function, HRQL, ADL, rehospitalisation and mortality will be additionally considered. Data for each outcome will be summarised, stratified by specialty, study design and type of assessment. Furthermore, quality assessment of the included studies will be performed.
Ethics and dissemination
Ethical approval is not required. Findings will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at national and/or international congresses.
Step selection analysis (SSA) is a common framework for understanding animal movement and resource selection using telemetry data. Such data are, however, inherently autocorrelated in space, a complication that could impact SSA‐based inference if left unaddressed. Accounting for spatial correlation is standard statistical practice when analysing spatial data, and its importance is increasingly recognized in ecological models (e.g. species distribution models). Nonetheless, no framework yet exists to account for such correlation when analysing animal movement using SSA.
Here, we extend the popular method integrated step selection analysis (iSSA) by including a Gaussian field (GF) in the linear predictor to account for spatial correlation. For this, we use the Bayesian framework R‐INLA and the stochastic partial differential equations (SPDE) technique.
We show through a simulation study that our method provides accurate fixed effects estimates, quantifies their uncertainty well and improves the predictions. In addition, we demonstrate the practical utility of our method by applying it to three wolverine (Gulo gulo) tracks.
Our method solves the problems of assuming spatially independent residuals in the SSA framework. In addition, it offers new possibilities for making long‐term predictions of habitat usage.
Probabilistic models to inform landslide early warning systems often rely on rainfall totals observed during past events with landslides. However, these models are generally developed for broad regions using large catalogs, with dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of landslide occurrences. This study evaluates strategies for training landslide forecasting models with a scanty record of landslide-triggering events, which is a typical limitation in remote, sparsely populated regions. We evaluate 136 statistical models trained on a precipitation dataset with five landslide-triggering precipitation events recorded near Sitka, Alaska, USA, as well as 6000 d of non-triggering rainfall (2002–2020). We also conduct extensive statistical evaluation for three primary purposes: (1) to select the best-fitting models, (2) to evaluate performance of the preferred models, and (3) to select and evaluate warning thresholds. We use Akaike, Bayesian, and leave-one-out information criteria to compare the 136 models, which are trained on different cumulative precipitation variables at time intervals ranging from 1 h to 2 weeks, using both frequentist and Bayesian methods to estimate the daily probability and intensity of potential landslide occurrence (logistic regression and Poisson regression). We evaluate the best-fit models using leave-one-out validation as well as by testing a subset of the data. Despite this sparse landslide inventory, we find that probabilistic models can effectively distinguish days with landslides from days without slide activity. Our statistical analyses show that 3 h precipitation totals are the best predictor of elevated landslide hazard, and adding antecedent precipitation (days to weeks) did not improve model performance. This relatively short timescale of precipitation combined with the limited role of antecedent conditions likely reflects the rapid draining of porous colluvial soils on the very steep hillslopes around Sitka. Although frequentist and Bayesian inferences produce similar estimates of landslide hazard, they do have different implications for use and interpretation: frequentist models are familiar and easy to implement, but Bayesian models capture the rare-events problem more explicitly and allow for better understanding of parameter uncertainty given the available data. We use the resulting estimates of daily landslide probability to establish two decision boundaries that define three levels of warning. With these decision boundaries, the frequentist logistic regression model incorporates National Weather Service quantitative precipitation forecasts into a real-time landslide early warning “dashboard” system (https://sitkalandslide.org/, last access: 9 October 2023). This dashboard provides accessible and data-driven situational awareness for community members and emergency managers.
Increased rates of glacier retreat and thinning need accurate local estimates of glacier elevation change to predict future changes in glacier runoff and their contribution to sea level rise. Glacier elevation change is typically derived from digital elevation models (DEMs) tied to surface change analysis from satellite imagery. Yet, the rugged topography in mountain regions can cast shadows onto glacier surfaces, making it difficult to detect local glacier elevation changes in remote areas. A rather untapped resource comprises precise, time-stamped metadata on the solar position and angle in satellite images. These data are useful for simulating shadows from a given DEM. Accordingly, any differences in shadow length between simulated and mapped shadows in satellite images could indicate a change in glacier elevation relative to the acquisition date of the DEM. We tested this hypothesis at five selected glaciers with long-term monitoring programmes. For each glacier, we projected cast shadows onto the glacier surface from freely available DEMs and compared simulated shadows to cast shadows mapped from ∼40 years of Landsat images. W validated the relative differences with geodetic measurements of glacier elevation change where these shadows occurred. We find that shadow-derived glacier elevation changes are consistent with independent photogrammetric and geodetic surveys in shaded areas. Accordingly, a shadow cast on Baltoro Glacier (the Karakoram, Pakistan) suggests no changes in elevation between 1987 and 2020, while shadows on Great Aletsch Glacier (Switzerland) point to negative thinning rates of about 1 m yr−1 in our sample. Our estimates of glacier elevation change are tied to occurrence of mountain shadows and may help complement field campaigns in regions that are difficult to access. This information can be vital to quantify possibly varying elevation-dependent changes in the accumulation or ablation zone of a given glacier. Shadow-based retrieval of glacier elevation changes hinges on the precision of the DEM as the geometry of ridges and peaks constrains the shadow that we cast on the glacier surface. Future generations of DEMs with higher resolution and accuracy will improve our method, enriching the toolbox for tracking historical glacier mass balances from satellite and aerial images.
We propose a generalization of the widely used fractional Brownian motion (FBM), memory-multi-FBM (MMFBM), to describe viscoelastic or persistent anomalous diffusion with time-dependent memory exponent α(t ) in a changing environment. In MMFBM the built-in, long-range memory is continuously modulated by α(t ). We derive the essential statistical properties of MMFBM such as its response function, mean-squared displacement (MSD), autocovariance function, and Gaussian distribution. In contrast to existing forms of FBM with time-varying memory exponents but a reset memory structure, the instantaneous dynamic of MMFBM is influenced by the process history, e.g., we show that after a steplike change of α(t ) the scaling exponent of the MSD after the α step may be determined by the value of α(t ) before the change. MMFBM is a versatile and useful process for correlated physical systems with nonequilibrium initial conditions in a changing environment.
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) allows for a reliable assessment of oxygenated blood flow in relevant brain regions. Recent advancements in immersive virtual reality (VR)-based technology have generated many new possibilities for its application, such as in stroke rehabilitation. In this study, we asked whether there is a difference in oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2) within brain motor areas during hand/arm movements between immersive and non-immersive VR settings. Ten healthy young participants (24.3 ± 3.7, three females) were tested using a specially developed VR paradigm, called “bus riding”, whereby participants used their hand to steer a moving bus. Both immersive and non-immersive conditions stimulated brain regions controlling hand movements, namely motor cortex, but no significant differences in HbO2 could be found between the two conditions in any of the relevant brain regions. These results are to be interpreted with caution, as only ten participants were included in the study.
In the Gasht-Masuleh area in the Alborz Mountains, gabbroic magma intruded Palaeozoic metasediments and Mesozoic sediments and crystallised as isotropic and cumulate gabbros. LREE enrichment points to relatively low degrees of mantle melting and depletion of Ti, Nb and Ta relative to primitive mantle points to an arc related component in the magma. Clinopyroxene compositions indicate MORB to arc signatures. U–Pb zircon crystallisation ages of 99.5 ± 0.6 Ma and 99.4 ± 0.6 Ma and phlogopite 40Ar/39Ar ages of 97.1 ± 0.4 Ma, 97.5 ± 0.4 Ma, 97.1 ± 0.1 Ma, within 2σ error, indicate that gabbro intrusion occurred in the (Albian-)Cenomanian (mid-Cretaceous). As active subduction did not take place in the Cretaceous in North Iran, the small volume mafic magmatism in the Gasht-Masuleh area must be due to local, extension-related mantle melting. Melting was most likely caused by far field effects triggered by roll-back of the Neo-Tethys subducting slab. As subduction took place at a distance of ~ 400 km (present distance) from the Alborz Mountains, the observed arc geochemical signatures must be inherited from a previous subduction event and concomitant mantle metasomatism, possibly in combination with contamination of the magma by crustal material.
The pathogenesis of influenza A viruses (IAVs) is influenced by several factors, including IAV strain origin and reassortment, tissue tropism and host type. While such factors were mostly investigated in the context of virus entry, fusion and replication, little is known about the viral-induced changes to the host lipid membranes which might be relevant in the context of virion assembly. In this work, we applied several biophysical fluorescence microscope techniques (i.e., Förster energy resonance transfer, generalized polarization imaging and scanning fluorescence correlation spectroscopy) to quantify the effect of infection by two IAV strains of different origin on the plasma membrane (PM) of avian and human cell lines. We found that IAV infection affects the membrane charge of the inner leaflet of the PM. Moreover, we showed that IAV infection impacts lipid–lipid interactions by decreasing membrane fluidity and increasing lipid packing. Because of such alterations, diffusive dynamics of membrane-associated proteins are hindered. Taken together, our results indicate that the infection of avian and human cell lines with IAV strains of different origins had similar effects on the biophysical properties of the PM.
Background: Socially assistive devices (care robots, companions, smart screen assistants) have been advocated as a promising tool in elderly care in Western healthcare systems. Ethical debates indicate various challenges. One of the most prevalent arguments in the debate is the double-benefit argument claiming that socially assistive devices may not only provide benefits for autonomy and well-being of their users but might also be more efficient than other caring practices and might help to mitigate scarce resources in healthcare. Against this background, we used a subset of comparative empirical studies from a comprehensive systematic review on effects and perceptions of human-machine interaction with socially assistive devices to gather and appraise all available evidence supporting this argument from the empirical side.
Methods: Electronic databases and additional sources were queried using a comprehensive search strategy which generated 9851 records. Studies were screened independently by two authors. Methodological quality of studies was assessed. For 39 reports using a comparative study design, a narrative synthesis was performed.
Results: The data shows positive evidential support to claim that some socially assistive devices (Paro) might be able to contribute to the well-being and autonomy of their users. However, results also indicate that these positive findings may be heavily dependent on the context of use and the population. In addition, we found evidence that socially assistive devices can have negative effects on certain populations. Evidence regarding the claim of efficiency is scarce. Existing results indicate that socially assistive devices can be more effective than standard of care but are far less effective than plush toys or placebo devices.
Discussion: We suggest using the double-benefit argument with great caution as it is not supported by the currently available evidence. The occurrence of potentially negative effects of socially assistive devices requires more research and indicates a more complex ethical calculus than suggested by the double-benefit argument.
Animal societies are structured of dominance hierarchy (DH). DH can be viewed as networks and analyzed by graph theory. We study the impact of state-dependent feedback (winner-loser effect) on the emergence of local dominance structures after pairwise contests between initially equal-ranking members (equal resource-holding-power, RHP) of small and large social groups. We simulated pairwise agonistic contests between individuals with and without a priori higher RHP by Monte-Carlo-method. Random pairwise contests between equal-ranking competitors result in random dominance structures (‘Null variant’) that are low in transitive triads and high in pass along triads; whereas state-dependent feedback (‘Winner-loser variant’) yields centralized ‘star’ structured DH that evolve from competitors with initially equal RHP and correspond to hierarchies that evolve from keystone individuals. Monte-Carlo simulated DH following state-dependent feedback show motif patterns very similar to those of a variety of natural DH, suggesting that state-dependent feedback plays a pivotal role in robust self-organizing phenomena that transcend the specifics of the individual. Self-organization based on state-dependent feedback leads to social structures that correspond to those resulting from pre-existing keystone individuals. As the efficiency of centralized social networks benefits both, the individual and the group, centralization of social networks appears to be an important evolutionary goal.
SONAR
(2023)
Accurate and comprehensive nursing documentation is essential to ensure quality patient care. To streamline this process, we present SONAR, a publicly available dataset of nursing activities recorded using inertial sensors in a nursing home. The dataset includes 14 sensor streams, such as acceleration and angular velocity, and 23 activities recorded by 14 caregivers using five sensors for 61.7 hours. The caregivers wore the sensors as they performed their daily tasks, allowing for continuous monitoring of their activities. We additionally provide machine learning models that recognize the nursing activities given the sensor data. In particular, we present benchmarks for three deep learning model architectures and evaluate their performance using different metrics and sensor locations. Our dataset, which can be used for research on sensor-based human activity recognition in real-world settings, has the potential to improve nursing care by providing valuable insights that can identify areas for improvement, facilitate accurate documentation, and tailor care to specific patient conditions.
Small temporary wetlands, like kettle holes, provide many valuable ecosystem functions and serve as refuge habitats in otherwise monotonous agricultural landscapes. However, the mechanisms that maintain biodiversity in these habitats are still poorly understood. In this study, we investigate how three taxa (vascular plants, ground beetles and spiders) respond to small-scale flooding and disturbance gradients in kettle holes as well as kettle hole area. For this purpose, we determined total, hygrophilic and red list species richness for all taxa and activity density for arthropods along transects extending from the edge towards the center of kettle holes. Furthermore, we calculated the community-weighted mean body size for arthropods and seed mass for plants as surrogates for the ability to respond to disturbance. Our analyses revealed that in particular plants and ground beetles showed strong responses along the small-scale spatial gradient. Total plant species richness decreased towards the center, while hygrophilic plant species increased. In contrast, both total and hygrophilic species richness of ground beetles increased towards the center. Spiders showed similar responses as ground beetles, but less pronounced. We found no evidence that disturbance at the edge of kettle holes leads to smaller body sizes or seed masses. However, arthropods in adjacent arable fields (one meter from the kettle hole edge) were particularly small. Kettle hole area had only weak effects on plants, but not on arthropods. Our study indicates that differences in the depth at the drier edge and the moist, regularly flooded center have a large and taxon-dependent influence on the species composition. Therefore, small-scale heterogeneity seems to be an important predictor for the maintenance of species diversity.
Formate dehydrogenases catalyze the reversible oxidation of formate to carbon dioxide. These enzymes play an important role in CO2 reduction and serve as nicotinamide cofactor recycling enzymes. More recently, the CO2-reducing activity of formate dehydrogenases, especially metal-containing formate dehydrogenases, has been further explored for efficient atmospheric CO2 capture. Here, we investigate the nicotinamide binding site of formate dehydrogenase from Rhodobacter capsulatus for its specificity toward NAD+ vs. NADP+ reduction. Starting from the NAD+-specific wild-type RcFDH, key residues were exchanged to enable NADP+ binding on the basis of the NAD+-bound cryo-EM structure (PDB-ID: 6TG9). It has been observed that the lysine at position 157 (Lys157) in the β-subunit of the enzyme is essential for the binding of NAD+. RcFDH variants that had Glu259 exchanged for either a positively charged or uncharged amino acid had additional activity with NADP+. The FdsBL279R and FdsBK276A variants also showed activity with NADP+. Kinetic parameters for all the variants were determined and tested for activity in CO2 reduction. The variants were able to reduce CO2 using NADPH as an electron donor in a coupled assay with phosphite dehydrogenase (PTDH), which regenerates NADPH. This makes the enzyme suitable for applications where it can be coupled with other enzymes that use NADPH.
Housing in metabolic cages can induce a pronounced stress response. Metabolic cage systems imply housing mice on metal wire mesh for the collection of urine and feces in addition to monitoring food and water intake. Moreover, mice are single-housed, and no nesting, bedding, or enrichment material is provided, which is often argued to have a not negligible impact on animal welfare due to cold stress. We therefore attempted to reduce stress during metabolic cage housing for mice by comparing an innovative metabolic cage (IMC) with a commercially available metabolic cage from Tecniplast GmbH (TMC) and a control cage. Substantial refinement measures were incorporated into the IMC cage design. In the frame of a multifactorial approach for severity assessment, parameters such as body weight, body composition, food intake, cage and body surface temperature (thermal imaging), mRNA expression of uncoupling protein 1 (Ucp1) in brown adipose tissue (BAT), fur score, and fecal corticosterone metabolites (CMs) were included. Female and male C57BL/6J mice were single-housed for 24 h in either conventional Macrolon cages (control), IMC, or TMC for two sessions. Body weight decreased less in the IMC (females—1st restraint: −6.94%; 2nd restraint: −6.89%; males—1st restraint: −8.08%; 2nd restraint: −5.82%) compared to the TMC (females—1st restraint: −13.2%; 2nd restraint: −15.0%; males—1st restraint: −13.1%; 2nd restraint: −14.9%) and the IMC possessed a higher cage temperature (females—1st restraint: 23.7 °C; 2nd restraint: 23.5 °C; males—1st restraint: 23.3 °C; 2nd restraint: 23.5 °C) compared with the TMC (females—1st restraint: 22.4 °C; 2nd restraint: 22.5 °C; males—1st restraint: 22.6 °C; 2nd restraint: 22.4 °C). The concentration of fecal corticosterone metabolites in the TMC (females—1st restraint: 1376 ng/g dry weight (DW); 2nd restraint: 2098 ng/g DW; males—1st restraint: 1030 ng/g DW; 2nd restraint: 1163 ng/g DW) was higher compared to control cage housing (females—1st restraint: 640 ng/g DW; 2nd restraint: 941 ng/g DW; males—1st restraint: 504 ng/g DW; 2nd restraint: 537 ng/g DW). Our results show the stress potential induced by metabolic cage restraint that is markedly influenced by the lower housing temperature. The IMC represents a first attempt to target cold stress reduction during metabolic cage application thereby producing more animal welfare friendlydata.
The ‘social brain’, consisting of areas sensitive to social information, supposedly gates the mechanisms involved in human language learning. Early preverbal interactions are guided by ostensive signals, such as gaze patterns, which are coordinated across body, brain, and environment. However, little is known about how the infant brain processes social gaze in naturalistic interactions and how this relates to infant language development. During free-play of 9-month-olds with their mothers, we recorded hemodynamic cortical activity of ´social brain` areas (prefrontal cortex, temporo-parietal junctions) via fNIRS, and micro-coded mother’s and infant’s social gaze. Infants’ speech processing was assessed with a word segmentation task. Using joint recurrence quantification analysis, we examined the connection between infants’ ´social brain` activity and the temporal dynamics of social gaze at intrapersonal (i.e., infant’s coordination, maternal coordination) and interpersonal (i.e., dyadic coupling) levels. Regression modeling revealed that intrapersonal dynamics in maternal social gaze (but not infant’s coordination or dyadic coupling) coordinated significantly with infant’s cortical activity. Moreover, recurrence quantification analysis revealed that intrapersonal maternal social gaze dynamics (in terms of entropy) were the best predictor of infants’ word segmentation. The findings support the importance of social interaction in language development, particularly highlighting maternal social gaze dynamics.
Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been used for a wide range of applications in astronomy, including for the restoration of degraded images using a spatially invariant point spread function (PSF) across the field of view. Most existing development techniques use a single PSF in the deconvolution process, which is unrealistic when spatially variable PSFs are present in real observation conditions. Such conditions are simulated in this work to yield more realistic data samples. We propose a method that uses a simulated spatially variable PSF for the T80-South (T80-S) telescope, an 80-cm survey imager at Cerro Tololo (Chile). The synthetic data use real parameters from the detector noise and atmospheric seeing to recreate the T80-S observational conditions for the CNN training. The method is tested on real astronomical data from the T80-S telescope. We present the simulation and training methods, the results from real T80-S image CNN prediction, and a comparison with space observatory Gaia. A CNN can fix optical aberrations, which include image distortion, PSF size and profile, and the field position variation while preserving the source's flux. The proposed restoration approach can be applied to other optical systems and to post-process adaptive optics static residual aberrations in large-diameter telescopes.
Jonah
(2023)
In the Masoretic canon of the Tanakh the book of Jonah appears as the fifth part of Tre Assar, or Twelve Minor Prophets, between Obadiah and Micah. In the Septuagint, on the other hand, Jonah appears as the sixth book in the series, and is followed immediately by Nahum. As both Jonah and Nahum speak out against the city of Nineveh, their chronology became an issue early in their discourses of reception (Liv. Pro. 11:1; Josephus, Ant. 9:239–242; Tg.Nah 1:1).
Die Zulässigkeit der Durchführung von Strafverfahren wegen Mord-Taten, die vor Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs und somit vor einem Dreivierteljahrhundert begangen wurden, hängt von der Einschlägigkeit des § 78 Abs. 2 StGB ab. Der Autor hält die Anwendung dieser Norm für einen Verstoß gegen das Rückwirkungsverbot des Art. 103 Abs. 2 GG. Er wendet sich zudem gegen die Einbeziehung der Beihilfe zum Mord in den Tatbestand des § 78 Abs. 2 StGB. Der Justiz wirft er vor, dass in den Verfahren und Urteilen der räumliche Geltungsbereich des deutschen Strafrechts nicht thematisiert wird. Schließlich macht er auf Widersprüche zu Prinzipien des Jugendstrafrechts aufmerksam. Dem Gesetzgeber empfiehlt er die Abschaffung des § 78 Abs. 2 StGB.
Sulfur mustard (SM) and its derivatives are potent genotoxic agents, which have been shown to trigger the activation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerases (PARPs) and the depletion of their substrate, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). NAD+ is an essential molecule involved in numerous cellular pathways, including genome integrity and DNA repair, and thus, NAD+ supplementation might be beneficial for mitigating mustard-induced (geno)toxicity. In this study, the role of NAD+ depletion and elevation in the genotoxic stress response to SM derivatives, i.e., the monofunctional agent 2-chloroethyl-ethyl sulfide (CEES) and the crosslinking agent mechlorethamine (HN2), was investigated with the use of NAD+ booster nicotinamide riboside (NR) and NAD+ synthesis inhibitor FK866. The effects were analyzed in immortalized human keratinocytes (HaCaT) or monocyte-like cell line THP-1. In HaCaT cells, NR supplementation, increased NAD+ levels, and elevated PAR response, however, did not affect ATP levels or DNA damage repair, nor did it attenuate long- and short-term cytotoxicities. On the other hand, the depletion of cellular NAD+ via FK866 sensitized HaCaT cells to genotoxic stress, particularly CEES exposure, whereas NR supplementation, by increasing cellular NAD+ levels, rescued the sensitizing FK866 effect. Intriguingly, in THP-1 cells, the NR-induced elevation of cellular NAD+ levels did attenuate toxicity of the mustard compounds, especially upon CEES exposure. Together, our results reveal that NAD+ is an important molecule in the pathomechanism of SM derivatives, exhibiting compound-specificity. Moreover, the cell line-dependent protective effects of NR are indicative of system-specificity of the application of this NAD+ booster.
Am 23. und 24. Juni 2023 fand die 8. Tagung der „GRUR Junge Wissenschaft – Kolloquium zum Gewerblichen Rechtsschutz, Urheber- und Medienrecht“ zum Thema „Plattformen – Grundlagen und Neuordnung des Rechts digitaler Plattformen“ in Potsdam statt. Die Organisatorinnen und Organisatoren, Prof. Dr. Johannes Buchheim (Phillips-Universität Marburg), Dr. Victoria Kraetzig (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt/M.), Prof. Dr. Juliane Mendelsohn (Technische Universität Ilmenau) und Prof. Dr. Björn Steinrötter (Universität Potsdam) begrüßten die rund 120 Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer in den Räumlichkeiten der Universität Potsdam am Campus Griebnitzsee.
Mit Spannung wird die Entscheidung des BVerfG zu § 362 Nr. 5 StPO erwartet. Die Verfassungsbeschwerde des Beschuldigten, der vor Jahrzehnten vom Vorwurf des Mordes rechtskräftig freigesprochen worden war und der nun befürchten muss, auf der Grundlage des § 362 Nr. 5 StPO wegen derselben Tat verurteilt zu werden, hat die verfassungsrechtliche Überprüfung der Vorschrift veranlasst. Zuvor waren bereits in zahlreichen Texten von Rechtswissenschaftlern Argumente für und gegen die Regelung ausgetauscht worden. Verständlicherweise steht dabei Art. 103 Abs. 3 GG im Vordergrund. Wer § 362 Nr. 5 StPO ablehnt, begründet das in erster Linie mit einer Verletzung des ne-bis-in-idem-Grundsatzes. Nicht wenige Befürworter der erweiterten Wiederaufnahmemöglichkeit verweisen – gefühlsgeleitet − auf „materielle Gerechtigkeit“ sowie auf „schlechterdings unerträgliche Ergebnisse“. Unbefriedigend ist das für Menschen, die es weder ungerecht noch unerträglich finden, dass ein Tatverdächtiger nach rechtskräftigem Freispruch bis an sein Lebensende als „unschuldig“ gilt und zwar auch, wenn auf Grund neuer Beweismittel aus dem Freigesprochenen ein zu lebenslanger Freiheitsstrafe Verurteilter werden könnte. Dass das Festhalten am rechtskräftigen Freispruch richtig ist, dafür gibt es starke juristische Gründe. Auch für die Durchbrechung des Strafklageverbrauchs in den von § 362 Nr. 5 StPO erfassten Fällen gibt es gewiss beachtliche Gründe. Sie sind meines Erachtens jedoch nicht gewichtig genug. Im vorliegenden Text soll die verfassungsrechtliche Dimension außen vor bleiben. Eine neue Vorschrift, mit der das geltende Strafprozessrecht verändert wird, muss auch eine Prüfung am Maßstab des geltenden Strafprozessrechts durchlaufen, um akzeptiert werden zu können. § 362 Nr. 5 StPO fällt bei dieser Prüfung durch und sollte deshalb aufgehoben werden.
BtMG § 30 a Abs. 1
Der Anbau von Betäubungsmitteln in Form der Aufzucht umfasst sämtliche gärtnerischen oder landwirtschaftlichen Bemühungen, um Wachstum von in den Anlagen I bis III zum Betäubungsmittelgesetz genannten Pflanzen zu erreichen. Hierzu zählen namentlich das Bewässern, das Düngen und das Belichten
BGH, Urteil vom 6. September 2023 – 6 StR 107/23
Lanthanide based ceria nanomaterials are important practical materials due to the redox properties that are useful in the avenues pertaining to technology and life sciences. Sub 10 nm spherical and highly monodisperse Ce1−xYbxO2−y (0.04 ≤ x ≤ 0.22) nanoparticles were synthesized by thermal decomposition, annealed separately at 773 K and 1273 K for 2 hours and characterized. Elemental mapping for Yb3+ doped ceria nanoparticles shows homogeneous distribution of Yb3+ atoms in the ceria with low Yb3+ content annealed at 773 K and 1273 K for 2 hours. However, clusters are observed for 773 K annealed ceria samples with high concentration of Yb3+. These clusters are not detected in 1273 K annealed nanomaterials. Introducing small amounts of Yb3+ ions into the ceria lattice as spectroscopic probes can provide detailed information about the atomic structure and local environments allowing the monitoring of small structural changes, such as clustering. The emission spectra observed at room temperature and at 4 K have a manifold of bands that corresponds to the 2F5/2 → 2F7/2 transition of Yb3+ ions. Some small shifts are observed in the Stark splitting pattern depending on the sample and the annealing conditions. The deconvolution by PARAFAC analysis yielded luminescence decay kinetics as well as the associated luminescence spectra of three species for each of the low Yb3+ doped ceria samples annealed at 773 K and one species for the 1273 K annealed samples. However, the ceria samples with high concentration of Yb3+ annealed at the two temperatures showed only one species with lower decay times as compared to the low Yb3+ doped ceria samples.
Entscheidungen über die vorläufige Entziehung der Fahrerlaubnis nach § STPO § 111 a StPO rücken in der Regel nicht in das Licht der Öffentlichkeit. Sie müssen schon aus tatsächlichen oder rechtlichen Gründen eine Besonderheit darstellen, um über die Medien einem breiteren (Fach-)Publikum bekannt gemacht zu werden und auf diesem Weg ein großes Quantum Aufmerksamkeit auf sich zu ziehen. Dies gelang einem Beschluss des LG Oldenburg, über den Interessierte z. B. via „Juristischer Flurfunk“ oder „LTO“ im Dezember 2022 informiert worden sind. In der Begründung dieser Beschwerdeentscheidung bemerken die Richter beiläufig, dass ein E-Scooter von mehreren Benutzern gleichzeitig „in einer Art Mittäterschaft“ geführt werden könne. Der Verfasser des Beschlusses war sich wohl unsicher, ob die beiden E-Scooter-Fahrer in dem konkreten Fall wirklich Mittäter im Sinne des § STGB § 25 Abs. STGB § 25 Absatz 2 StGB waren oder nicht. Die Formulierung „Art Mittäterschaft“ klingt wie die Antwort „jein“ auf diese Frage. Sachverhalt und Entscheidung sind interessant und inspirieren zum Nachdenken darüber, ob und wie die Deliktstatbestände § STGB § 316 StGB und § STVG § 24 a StVG verwirklicht werden können, wenn nicht eine Person allein das Fahrzeug führt, sondern auf dessen Fortbewegung von mehreren Nutzern eingewirkt wird. Im Folgenden sollen über den aktuellen verfahrensgegenständlichen Sachverhalt hinaus weitere Varianten eines solchen Geschehens gewürdigt werden.
Notwehr gegen »Klimakleber«?
(2023)
Die verständliche Verärgerung über die Behinderung des fließenden Straßenverkehrs durch Menschen, die ihre Hände mit Sekundenkleber auf der Fahrbahn fixieren, hat Diskussionen über die (straf-)rechtliche Bewertung dieser Aktionen und möglicher Gegenmaßnahmen angeregt. Ein umstrittenes Thema ist die Selbsthilfe aufgehaltener Autofahrer, die sich freie Bahn dadurch verschaffen, dass sie die festgeklebten Menschen mit physischer Gewalt von der Fahrbahn entfernen, was erhebliche Verletzungen an den festgeklebten Händen zur Folge haben kann. Der Beitrag dreht sich um die bisher nur unvollständig erörterte Frage einer Rechtfertigung solcher Selbsthilfehandlungen gemäß § 32 StGB.
Der in diesem Beitrag vorgestellte Entwurf eines neu formulierten Notwehrrechts war Gegenstand und Grundlage einer lebhaften Diskussion, die im Rahmen einer Online-Tagung stattgefunden hat. Neben den Mitgliedern des Kriminalpolitischen Kreises, die zum Teil an der Erstellung des Gesetzesentwurfes mitgearbeitet hatten, waren weitere Experten und Interessierte beteiligt. Daraus resultierten wertvolle kritische Anmerkungen, die von der Arbeitsgruppe dankbar aufgenommen und umgesetzt wurden.
Dass unser geltendes Strafrecht eine „Verschlankung“ vertragen könnte, ist nun auch im Bundesjustizministerium bemerkt worden. Aus dem Besonderen Teil sollen Vorschriften entfernt werden, die aus unterschiedlichen Gründen nicht (mehr) benötigt werden. Als weitere Maßnahme der Entkriminalisierung steht möglicherweise die punktuelle Senkung von Strafrahmen auf der Agenda. Dies hat nicht nur eine Reduzierung des Sanktionsniveaus zur Folge, sondern kann dort, wo infolge der niedrigeren Strafrahmenuntergrenze aus Verbrechen Vergehen werden, Straflosigkeit bewirken. Das betrifft § 30 StGB, eine Vorschrift, die Anlass für die Überlegungen sein kann, nicht nur im Besonderen Teil, sondern auch im Allgemeinen Teil des StGB nach entbehrlichen Normen zu suchen. § 30 StGB ist aktuell anwendbar in Kombination mit den Tatbestandsvarianten des § 184b StGB, die Verbrechenscharakter haben. Welche strafrechtlichen Ergebnisse daraus resultieren können, ist in der Debatte um die Strafbarkeit von Kinderpornographie bislang nicht erörtert worden. Dasselbe gilt für den praktisch selten zur Anwendung kommenden § 16 Abs. 2 StGB, der neuerdings in Verbindung mit § 184b StGB und § 184c StGB in Erscheinung getreten ist. Aus der Betrachtung der Zusammenhänge dieser Vorschriften lassen sich einige Empfehlungen an die Gesetzgebung ableiten.
Mit Urteil vom 31. Oktober 2023 hat der 2. Senat des BVerfG die im Dezember 2021 durch „Gesetz zur Herstellung materieller Gerechtigkeit“ eingeführte Vorschrift § 362 Nr. 5 StPO für mit dem Grundgesetz unvereinbar und deshalb nichtig erklärt. Erwartungsgemäß waren die Reaktionen auf diese Entscheidung nicht nur zustimmende. Die vorliegende Anmerkung wendet sich nicht gegen das Ergebnis, setzt sich aber − auch kritisch − mit einigen Teilen der Entscheidungsbegründung sowie den Erwiderungen der beiden abweichend votierenden Senatsmitglieder auseinander.
Technology for humanity
(2023)
The educational sector currently faces a massive digital transformation with various digital offerings entering the market. To provide some orientation in this transforming space, a national digital education platform (NDEP) is under development in Germany as part of a nationwide flagship project. On the one hand, in efficiently connecting the relevant stakeholders to each other and to value-adding education-related offerings, various benefits emerge. On the other hand, monopolising the educational sector and influencing the respective market through a state-controlled platform bears potential regulatory risks from misuse of power by the platform to malpractice by the users. Against this background, we aim to identify and systematise these potential drawbacks prior to the platform’s actual development and implementation. We pursue a qualitative, interpretivist approach for policy analysis, based on ten elite interviews and two workshops. Our results are threefold: (1) We capture the consolidated NDEP architecture; (2) We categorise the range of relevant functions and value propositions of the NDEP; (3) We derive 23 regulatory areas of conflict across the three building blocks that result from the potential ecosystem and function scope configurations of the NDEP. As a contribution to research, we shed new interdisciplinary light on the governance and infrastructure of public-private platforms that enable innovation and collaboration while integrating respective market segments. As a contribution to practice, we provide clear guidance for policy-makers in strategizing the development and governance of and through national digital platforms in education.
In this paper we consider surfaces which are critical points of the Willmore functional subject to constrained area.
In the case of small area we calculate the corrections to the intrinsic geometry induced by the ambient curvature.
These estimates together with the choice of an adapted geometric center of mass lead to refined position estimates in relation to the scalar curvature of the ambient manifold.
The Circular Economy (CE) - based on five principles (reduce, reuse, refurbish, repair, and recycle) - has received increased attention in both academia and practice in recent years. The transition to CE by public and private organizations can be seen as an entrepreneurial act encompassing their strategic policies, business models, structures, and processes. Little is known about the involvement of employees of organizations making this transition. Therefore, this study investigates the influence of organizations’ commitment to the five CE principles on their employees’ perceptions of the usefulness, ease of implementation, and acceptability of the principles. The method used is exploratory, a mixed-method approach combining PLS-SEM and fsQCA. This research contributes to the field by developing a unified theoretical perspective on the entrepreneurial context. It also highlights the impact of CE principles on organizations that are transitioning to more sustainable development.
Purpose
This paper provides a systematization of the existing body of literature on both employee participation goals and the intervention formats in the context of organizational change. Furthermore, degrees of employee involvement that the intervention formats address are identified and related to the goals of employee participation. On this basis, determinants of employee involvement and participation in the context of digital transformation are unveiled.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a systematic literature review the authors structure and relate employee participation goals and formats. Through a workshop with expert practitioners, the authors transfer and enhance these theoretical findings in the context of digital transformation. Experts rated the three most important goals and identified accompanying success factors, barriers and effects.
Findings
The results show that it is not necessarily the degree of involvement but a context-specific selection of measures, the quality of their implementation as well as the actual uptake of suggestions and activities developed by employees that contribute to employees accepting and participating in goal-directed transformations. Moreover, employees must have sufficient information and time for their participation in transformation processes.
Originality/value
This paper is based on a transformative approach, combining literature analysis to identify formats and goals of employee participation with experiential knowledge of digital transformation practitioners. In addition to relating intervention formats to goals pursued in organizational change processes, empirical and experiential perspectives are used to identify three very relevant goals and respective determinants in digital transformation processes.
German and European migration policy operates in permanent crisis mode. Sudden increases in irregular immigration create a sense of loss of control, which is instrumentalised by populist forces. This has generated great interest in quantitative migration predictions. High expectations are placed in the AI-based tools currently under devel­op­ment for forecasting irregular migration. The potential applications of these tools are manifold. They range from managing and strengthening the EU's reception capacity and border protections to configuring humanitarian aid provision and longer-term planning of development programmes. There is a significant gap between the expectations placed in the new instruments and their practical utility. Technical limits exist, medium-term forecasts are methodologically implausible, and channels for feeding the results into political decision-making processes are lacking. The great demand for predictions is driven by the political functions of migration prediction, which include its uses in political communication, funding acquisition and legitimisation of political decisions. Investment in the quality of the underlying data will be more productive than developing a succession of new prediction tools. Funding for applications in emergency relief and development cooperation should be prioritised. Crisis early warning and risk analysis should also be strengthened and their networking improved.