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Forschende Lernwerkstatt
(2013)
Was Bürger bem(a)erken
(2013)
Eingebettet in die aktuelle Open-Government-Debatte gewinnen E-Bürgerdienste weiter an Bedeutung. Zu den Vorreitern internetbasierter Bürgerdienste wird der Brandenburger Bürgerservice Maerker gezählt, da dieser eine einfache Möglichkeit der Kommunikation zwischen Bürger und Verwaltung über Infrastrukturprobleme in der Gemeinde bietet. Auf der Grundlage von Experteninterviews und einer Umfrage unter den teilnehmenden Kommunen evaluieren die Autoren die Einführung und Umsetzung des Maerker Brandenburgs. Im Ergebnis zeigen sich neben einer großen Breite an Akzeptanz und Zustimmung unter den beteiligten Akteuren auch unausgeschöpfte Potenziale zur Verbesserung der Prozesse innerhalb der Verwaltung. Dieser Artikel stellt die Ergebnisse der Evaluation des Maerkers dar und gibt einen Ausblick auf weitere Entwicklungspotenziale.
Hochbegabung
(2013)
Das Thema „Hochbegabung“ erfährt seit mehreren Jahren zunehmende Aufmerksamkeit. Um intellektuell hochbegabte Kinder und Jugendliche angemessen fördern zu können, sind eine rechtzeitige Diagnostik und fundierte Beratung unumgänglich. Das vorliegende Buch bietet einen umfassenden und aktuellen Überblick über die theoretischen Grundlagen von Hochbegabung sowie über Möglichkeiten der Diagnostik und Förderung. Durch eine klare Strukturierung und didaktische Aufbereitung der Inhalte eignet es sich ideal für das (Selbst-)Studium und die berufliche Weiterbildung.
Einleitend setzt sich der Band mit den verschiedenen und sich zum Teil scheinbar widersprechenden Modellvorstellungen von Hochbegabung auseinander. Unterschiedliche Forschungszugänge zum Thema werden anhand prominenter Studien aufgezeigt. Weiterhin thematisiert der Band die Entwicklung von Hochbegabung sowie Eigenschaften von Hochbegabten. Hierzu gehören neben leistungsbezogenen Merkmalen bestimmte Temperamentseigenschaften oder soziale Kompetenzen. Erwartungswidrige Minderleistungen (Underachievement) und mögliche Entwicklungsbesonderheiten, die hoch relevante Themen in der pädagogisch-psychologischen Beratung Hochbegabter darstellen, werden ebenfalls berücksichtigt. Ausführlich erörtern die Autorinnen Möglichkeiten der Diagnostik von hochbegabten Kindern und Jugendlichen und stellen geeignete diagnostische Verfahren vor. Den Abschluss bildet ein Kapitel zu konkreten Fördermöglichkeiten in Kindergarten und Schule.
Die Vorstandsperspektive
(2013)
Business cases (BC) are often used to support information systems (IS) investment evaluation. Unfortunately, business case development (BCD) is a complex task, especially identifying and quantifying the benefits of a proposed investment. Although today’s business case frameworks (BCF) support BCD to some extent, they have several limitations
The aim of the present study was to examine how different types of tracking—
between-school streaming, within-school streaming, and course-by-course
tracking—shape students’ mathematics self-concept. This was done in an
internationally comparative framework using data from the Programme for
International Student Assessment (PISA). After controlling for individual
and track mean achievement, results indicated that generally for students
in course-by-course tracking, high-track students had higher mathematics
self-concepts and low-track students had lower mathematics self-concepts.
For students in between-school and within-school streaming, the reverse pat-
tern was found. These findings suggest a solution to the ongoing debate about
the effects of tracking on students’ academic self-concept and suggest that the
reference groups to which students compare themselves differ according to the
type of tracking.
Biological age
(2013)
Global commons form a comparatively new part of international law, since the term appeared in international discussions and codifications only in the second half of the 20th century. The Common Heritage of Mankind is the corresponding legal principle that can establish an international regime to determine the legal status of non-sovereign territories and to allocate exploitation rights. Its main aim is to balance competing national claims by emphasising mankind’s common interest in the preservation and controlled exploitation of natural re-
sources. Against this background, the chapter sheds a critical light on attempts to transfer the institute of the Common Heritage of Mankind to the sphere of communication. Taking debates revolving around the New World Information and Communication Order in the framework of UNESCO since the late 1970s as a starting point, the author analyses the pitfalls and limits of attempts to establish governance structures for a global information order, including recent attempts to govern the internet.
Die Arbeit befasst sich mit der Schilderung von Paris im Erzählwerk von Delphine de Vigan, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von zwei Romanen, No et moi (2007) und Les heures souterraines (2009), in denen der Großstadthintergrund einen zentralen Stellenwert erhält. Die Fragestellung richtet sich auf die Aspekte der Stadtdarstellung und auf die Rolle, die unterirdischen Durchgangsräumen dabei zugesprochen wird. Mögliche autoreflexive Deutungen der Stadt-Inszenierung in Bezug auf Sprache und Text, sowie Spuren einer mythisch-realistischen Charakterisierung der Stadt als Projektionsoberfläche des Imaginären
werden zum Schluss betrachtet.
Consciousness for fair consumption : conceptualization, scale development and empirical validation
(2013)
Sustainable consumption means that consumers act in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. Compared with the vast amount of studies concerning environmentally conscious consumer behaviour, relatively little is known about socially conscious consumption. The present paper focuses on fair consumption as an important aspect of social consumption. In our study, consciousness for fair consumption (CFC) is defined as a latent disposition of consumers to prefer products that are produced and traded in compliance with fair labour and business practices. A scale to measure CFC was conceptualized and tested in three independent empirical studies. Two studies were conducted at European universities (2010 and 2012) and used 352 and 362 undergraduate business students respectively. The third study, conducted in 2011, used 141 employees at a European university. The results confirmed the reliability and validity of the new CFC scale across samples. While being moderately related to other aspects of sustainable consumption such as ecological concern and moral reasoning, CFC was significantly distinct from those concepts. Most importantly, it was established that the CFC, as measured by the new CFC scale, is a strong determinant of consumption of fair trade products that has been neglected in existing research.
The “triple bottom line” concept (planet, people, and profit) represents an important guideline for the sustainable, hence future-oriented, development of societies and for the behaviors of all societal members. For institutions promoting societal change, as well as for companies being confronted with growing expectations regarding compelling contributions to sustainable changes, it is of great importance to know if, and to what extent, consumers have already internalized the idea of sustainability. Against the background of existing research gaps regarding a comprehensive measurement of the consciousness for sustainable consumption (CSC), the authors present the result of a scale development. Consciousness was operationalized by weighting personal beliefs with the importance attached by consumers to sustainability dimensions. Four separate tests of the CSC scale indicated an appropriate psychometric quality of the scale and provided support for this new measurement approach that incorporates the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainability.
Les représentants du relativisme linguistique du XXème siècle qui se réclament de l’histoire de leur théorie mentionnent normalement Guillaume de Humboldt comme initiateur de l’idée que la manière particulière de penser d’un peuple dépendrait de sa langue. La théorie de Humboldt s’avère, cependant, difficilement maniable dans la recherche linguistique. Malgré une similitude évidente dans certaines positions, comme par exemple les concepts d’‘articulation’ et de ‘valeur’, le renouvellement de la linguistique sur une base saussurienne, au début du XXème siècle, se passait des idées de Humboldt. Il n’y avait que quelques philologues ‘idéalistes’ qui poursuivaient ce type de recherche. Ainsi, Karl Vossler constatait un parallélisme entre la langue et la culture et les considérait comme résultats de la création humaine. Le mécontentement quant à la description des langues selon le paradigme positiviste des néogrammairiens s’articulait nettement.
Le concept d’une vision linguistique du monde fut développé dans la théorie des néohumboldtiens (Weisgerber, Trier et autres) qui affirmaient que l’individu s’approprie le monde à travers la langue. Des différences entre des langues influeraient considérablement sur les facultés cognitives des hommes et sur leur comportement. L’idée humboldtienne de l’energeia se trouvait exclue de ces théories qui aspiraient à un renouvellement de la langue maternelle dans le sens d’une ‘grammaire à partir du contenu’ (inhaltbezogene Grammatik). Ce type de réflexion linguistique se prêtait aussi à une utilisation politique sous le national-socialisme. La théorie de Weisgerber, déclarée comme antiraciste et anti-national-socialiste par l’auteur lui-même, fut considérée comme « mother-tongue fascism » par Christopher Hutton. La relation entre le relativisme linguistique et la doctrine nationale-socialiste est évidente dans les écrits de plusieurs auteurs, par exemple dans « notre langue maternelle comme arme et instrument de la pensée allemande » de Georg Schmidt-Rohr. Il y eut des implications racistes de la théorie de quelques indo-germanistes bien avant 1933.
L’influence des néohumboldtiens s’est poursuivie jusqu’aux années 60, époque où ils durent faire place à des linguistes structuralistes et générativistes. On trouve dans quelques vérifications plus récentes du relativisme linguistique des références à des textes antérieurs à Humboldt. Par exemple, Gumperz et Levison (1996) citent le concours de l’Académie de Berlin sur la question suivante : Quelle est l'influence réciproque des opinions du peuple sur le langage et du langage sur les opinions? Est-ce que cet élargissement de l’horizon de rétrospection a quelque chose à voir avec la conscience d’une portée sociale possible de cette théorie ?
This article investigates whether self-employed households use consumer loans - in particular, instalment loans and overdrafts - to finance business activities. Controlling for financial and nonfinancial household variables, we show that self-employed households particularly use personal overdrafts significantly more often than employee households. When analysing the correlation between consumer loan take-ups and consumption of self-employed in comparison to employee households, we find first evidence that overdrafts are used by self-employed to finance their business as well. This indicates that intermingling constitutes a financing strategy when regular business loans might not be accessible.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) contribute to innovation and economic growth, despite their resource shortages and lack of professional intellectual property (IP) management practices. Drawing on social practice theory and combining insights from recent scholarship on IP strategies and its management, this paper examines the cases of three pharmaceutical SME providing insights into how they appropriate returns on research and development (R&D) investments. It discusses their IP strategies and management practices, examining how the IP management practices are embedded in the firm's organisational structure. Moreover, this paper develops recommendations for SME regarding the professionalisation of their IP management practices.
Bacteriophage HK620 recognizes and cleaves the O-antigen polysaccharide of Escherichia coli serogroup O18A1 with its tailspike protein (TSP). HK620TSP binds hexasaccharide fragments with low affinity, but single amino acid exchanges generated a set of high-affinity mutants with submicromolar dissociation constants. Isothermal titration calorimetry showed that only small amounts of heat were released upon complex formation via a large number of direct and solvent-mediated hydrogen bonds between carbohydrate and protein. At room temperature, association was both enthalpy- and entropy-driven emphasizing major solvent rearrangements upon complex formation. Crystal structure analysis showed identical protein and sugar conformers in the TSP complexes regardless of their hexasaccharide affinity. Only in one case, a TSP mutant bound a different hexasaccharide conformer. The extended sugar binding site could be dissected in two regions: first, a hydrophobic pocket at the reducing end with minor affinity contributions. Access to this site could be blocked by a single aspartate to asparagine exchange without major loss in hexasaccharide affinity. Second, a region where the specific exchange of glutamate for glutamine created a site for an additional water molecule. Side-chain rearrangements upon sugar binding led to desolvation and additional hydrogen bonding which define this region of the binding site as the high-affinity scaffold.
Solid surfaces are modified using photo-crosslinkable copolymers based on oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (OEGMA) bearing 2-(4-benzoylphenoxy) ethyl methacrylate (BPEM) as a photosensitive crosslinking unit. Thin films of about 100 nm are formed by spin-coating these a priori highly biocompatible copolymers onto silicon substrates. Subsequent UV-irradiation assures immobilization and crosslinking of the hydrogel films. Their stability is controlled by the number of crosslinker units per chain and the molar mass of the copolymers. The swelling of the hydrogel layers, as investigated by ellipsometry, can be tuned by the crosslinker content in the copolymer. If films are built from the ternary copolymers of OEGMA, BPEM and 2-(2-methoxyethoxy) ethyl methacrylate (MEO(2)MA), the hydrogel films exhibit a swelling/deswelling transition of the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) type. The observed thermally induced hydrogel collapse is fully reversible and the onset temperature of the transition can be tuned at will by the copolymer composition. Different from analogously prepared thermo-responsive hydrogel films of photocrosslinked poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), the swelling-deswelling transition occurs more gradually, but shows no hysteresis.
This study focuses on the evolutionary relationships among Turkish species of the cave cricket genus Troglophilus. Fifteen populations were studied for sequence variation in a fragment (543 base pairs) of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) 16S rDNA gene (16S) to reconstruct their phylogenetic relationships and biogeographic history. Genetic data retrieved three main clades and at least three divergent lineages that could not be attributed to any of the taxa known for the area. Molecular time estimates suggest that the diversification of the group took place between the Messinian and the Plio-Pleistocene.
In aqueous solution, symmetric triblock copolymers with a thermoresponsive middle block and hydrophobic end blocks form flower-like core-shell micelles which collapse and aggregate upon heating through the cloud point (CP). The collapse of the micellar shell and the intermicellar aggregation are followed in situ and in real-time using time-resolved small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), while heating micellar solutions of a poly((styrene-d(8))-b-(N-isopropyl acrylamide)-b-(styrene-d(8))) triblock copolymer in D2O rapidly through their CP. The influence of polymer concentration as well as of the start and target temperatures is addressed. In all cases, the micellar collapse is very fast. The collapsed micelles immediately form small clusters which contain voids. They densify which slows down or even stops their growth. For low concentrations and target temperatures just above the CP, i.e. shallow temperature jumps, the subsequent growth of the clusters is described by diffusion-limited aggregation. In contrast, for higher concentrations and/or higher target temperatures, i.e. deep temperature jumps, intermicellar bridges dominate the growth. Eventually, in all cases, the clusters coagulate which results in macroscopic phase separation. For shallow temperature jumps, the cluster surfaces stay rough; whereas for deep temperature jumps, a concentration gradient develops at late stages. These results are important for the development of conditions for thermal switching in applications, e.g. for the use of thermoresponsive micellar systems for transport and delivery purposes.
A population of Luisia curtisii (Orchidaceae: Aeridinae) in northern Thailand was studied with regard to pollination biology. Although a high level of self-compatibility was demonstrated experimentally, the very low natural fruit set (1.4-1.9 %) clearly indicated that the species depends on external agents for pollination. Our observations suggest that L. curtisii is pollinated by beetles, as Lema unicolor (Chrysomelidae) and Clinteria ducalis (Scarabaeidae) were the only flower visitors observed to carry pollinaria of this species. The hypothesis of specialised cantharophily is further supported by 2-methylbutyric acid and caproic acid being striking components of the floral scent. Judging from the lack of nectar and the behaviour of visiting beetles, the pollination system seems to rely on food or brood site deception. Retention of the anther on the pollinarium for some time after pollinarium removal probably reduces the frequency of insect-mediated autogamy and geitonogamy in Luisia curtisii-a possibility that was supported by comparative data on (1) the anther retention time and inflorescence visitation time of Lema unicolor and (2) stigma and anther length in the orchid. Existing reports of specialised beetle pollination in orchids are reviewed, and we conclude that there is accumulating evidence that specialised cantharophily is more common in the Orchidaceae than previously assumed.
Birth weight within the normal range is associated with a variety of adult-onset diseases, but the mechanisms behind these associations are poorly understood(1). Previous genome-wide association studies of birth weight identified a variant in the ADCY5 gene associated both with birth weight and type 2 diabetes and a second variant, near CCNL1, with no obvious link to adult traits(2). In an expanded genome-wide association metaanalysis and follow-up study of birth weight (of up to 69,308 individuals of European descent from 43 studies), we have now extended the number of loci associated at genome-wide significance to 7, accounting for a similar proportion of variance as maternal smoking. Five of the loci are known to be associated with other phenotypes: ADCY5 and CDKAL1 with type 2 diabetes, ADRB1 with adult blood pressure and HMGA2 and LCORL with adult height. Our findings highlight genetic links between fetal growth and postnatal growth and metabolism.
The lively debate about speciation currently focuses on the relative importance of factors driving population differentiation. While many studies are increasingly producing results on the importance of selection, little is known about the interaction between drift and selection. Moreover, there is still little knowledge on the spatial-temporal scales at which speciation occurs, that is, arrangement of habitat patches, abruptness of habitat transitions, climate and habitat changes interacting with selective forces. To investigate these questions, we quantified variation on a fine geographical scale analysing morphological (shell) and genetic data sets coupled with environmental data in the land snail Murella muralis, endemic to the Mediterranean island of Sicily. Analysis of a fragment of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I gene (COI) and eight nuclear microsatellite loci showed that genetic variation is highly structured at a very fine spatial scale by local palaeogeographical events and historical population dynamics. Molecular clock estimates, calibrated here specifically for Tyrrhenian land snails, provided a framework of palaeogeographical events responsible for the observed geographical variations and migration routes. Finally, we showed for the first time well-documented lines of evidence of selection in the past, which explains divergence of land snail shell shapes. We suggest that time and palaeogeographical history acted as constraints in the progress along the ecological speciation continuum. Our study shows that testing for correlation among palaeogeography, morphology and genetic data on a fine geographical scale provides information fundamental for a detailed understanding of ecological speciation processes.
Delay tuning was studied in the auditory cortex of Pteronotus quadridens. All the 136 delay-tuned units that were studied responded strongly to heteroharmonic pulse-echo pairs presented at specific delays. In the heteroharmonic pairs, the first sonar call harmonic marks the timing of pulse emission while one of the higher harmonics (second or third) indicates the timing of the echo. Delay-tuned units are organized chronotopically along a rostrocaudal axis according to their characteristic delay. There is no obvious indication of multiple cortical axes specialized in the processing of different harmonic combinations of pulse and echo. Results of this study serve for a straight comparison of cortical delay-tuning between P. quadridens and the well-studied mustached bat, Pteronotus parnellii. These two species stem from the most recent and most basal nodes in the Pteronotus lineage, respectively. P. quadridens and P. parnellii use comparable heteroharmonic target-range computation strategies even though they do not use biosonar calls of a similar design. P. quadridens uses short constant-frequency (CF)/frequency-modulated (FM) echolocation calls, while P. parnellii uses long CF/FM calls. The ability to perform "heteroharmonic" target-range computations might be an ancestral neuronal specialization of the genus Pteronotus that was subjected to positive Darwinian selection in the evolution.
The present study focuses on differences in lingual coarticulation between French children and adults. The specific question pursued is whether 4-5 year old children have already acquired a synergy observed in adults in which the tongue back helps the tip in the formation of alveolar consonants. Locus equations, estimated from acoustic and ultrasound imaging data were used to compare coarticulation degree between adults and children and further investigate differences in motor synergy between the front and back parts of the tongue. Results show similar slope and intercept patterns for adults and children in both the acoustic and articulatory domains, with an effect of place of articulation in both groups between alveolar and non-alveolar consonants. These results suggest that 4-5 year old children (1) have learned the motor synergy investigated and (2) have developed a pattern of coarticulatory resistance depending on a consonant place of articulation. Also, results show that acoustic locus equations can be used to gauge the presence of motor synergies in children.
In recent years, an increasing number of mutations in what would appear to be 'housekeeping genes' have been identified as having unexpectedly specific defects in multicellular organogenesis. This is also the case for organogenesis in seed plants. Although it is not surprising that loss-of-function mutations in 'housekeeping' genes result in lethality or growth retardation, it is surprising when (1) the mutant phenotype results from the loss of function of a 'housekeeping' gene and (2) the mutant phenotype is specific. In this review, by defining housekeeping genes as those encoding proteins that work in basic metabolic and cellular functions, we discuss unexpected links between housekeeping genes and specific developmental processes. In a surprising number of cases housekeeping genes coding for enzymes or proteins with functions in basic cellular processes such as transcription, post-transcriptional modification, and translation affect plant development.
In aquatic food webs, consumers, such as daphnids and copepods, differ regarding their accumulation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). We tested if the accumulation of PUFAs in a seston size fraction containing different consumers and in Daphnia as a separate consumer is subject to seasonal changes in a large deep lake due to changes in the dietary PUFA supply and specific demands of different consumers. We found that the accumulation of arachidonic acid (ARA) in Daphnia increased from early summer to late summer and autumn. However, ARA requirements of Daphnia appeared to be constant throughout the year, because the accumulation of ARA increased when the dietary ARA supply decreased. In the size fraction 140 m, we found an increased accumulation of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) during late summer and autumn. These seasonal changes in DHA accumulation were linked to changes in the proportion of copepods in this size fraction, which may have increasingly accumulated DHA for active overwintering. We show that consumer-specific PUFA demands can result in seasonal changes in PUFA accumulation, which may influence the trophic transfer of PUFAs within the food web.
Background: In behavioural tests of sentence comprehension in aphasia, correct and incorrect responses are often randomly distributed. Such a pattern of chance performance is a typical trait of Broca's aphasia, but can be found in other aphasic syndromes as well. Many researchers have argued that chance behaviour is the result of a guessing strategy, which is adopted in the face of a syntactic breakdown in sentence processing. Aims: Capitalising on new evidence from recent studies investigating online sentence comprehension in aphasia using the visual world paradigm, the aim of this paper is to review the concept of chance performance as a reflection of a syntactic impairment in sentence processing and to re-examine the conventional interpretation of chance performance as a guessing behaviour. Main Contribution: Based on a review of recent evidence from visual world paradigm studies, we argue that the assumption of chance performance equalling guessing is not necessarily compatible with actual real-time parsing procedures in people with aphasia. We propose a reinterpretation of the concept of chance performance by assuming that there are two distinct processing mechanisms underlying sentence comprehension in aphasia. Correct responses are always the result of normal-like parsing mechanisms, even in those cases where the overall performance pattern is at chance. Incorrect responses, on the other hand, are the result of intermittent deficiencies of the parser. Hence the random guessing behaviour that persons with aphasia often display does not necessarily reflect a syntactic breakdown in sentence comprehension and a random selection between alternatives. Instead it should be regarded as a result of temporal deficient parsing procedures in otherwise normal-like comprehension routines. Conclusion: Our conclusion is that the consideration of behavioural offline data alone may not be sufficient to interpret a performance in language tests and subsequently draw theoretical conclusions about language impairments. Rather it is important to call on additional data from online studies that look at language processing in real time in order to gain a comprehensive picture about syntactic comprehension abilities of people with aphasia and possible underlying deficits.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between variables of lower extremity muscle strength, balance, and mobility assessed under various task conditions.
Twenty-one healthy children (mean age: 9 +/- 1 years) were tested for their isometric and dynamic strength as well as for their steady-state, proactive, and reactive balance and mobility. Balance and mobility tests were conducted under single and dual task conditions.
Significant positive correlations were detected between measures of isometric and dynamic leg muscle strength. Hardly any significant associations were observed between variables of strength and balance/mobility and between measures of steady-state, proactive, and reactive balance. Additionally, no significant correlations were detected between balance/mobility tests performed under single and dual task conditions.
The predominately non-significant correlations between different balance components and mobility imply that balance and mobility performance is task specific. Further, strength and balance/mobility as well as balance under single and dual task conditions seem to be independent of each other and may have to be tested and trained complementarily.
Poststroke spasticity (PSS)-related disability is emerging as a significant health issue for stroke survivors. There is a need for predictors and early identification of PSS in order to minimize complications and maladaptation from spasticity. Reviewing the literature on stroke and upper motor neuron syndrome, spasticity, contracture, and increased muscle tone measured with the Modified Ashworth Scale and the Tone Assessment Scale provided data on the dynamic time course of PSS. Prevalence estimates of PSS were highly variable, ranging from 4% to 42.6%, with the prevalence of disabling spasticity ranging from 2% to 13%. Data on phases of the PSS continuum revealed evidence of PSS in 4% to 27% of those in the early time course (1-4 weeks poststroke), 19% to 26.7% of those in the postacute phase (1-3 months poststroke), and 17% to 42.6% of those in the chronic phase (>3 months poststroke). Data also identified key risk factors associated with the development of spasticity, including lower Barthel Index scores, severe degree of paresis, stroke-related pain, and sensory deficits. Although such indices could be regarded as predictors of PSS and thus enable early identification and treatment, the different measures of PSS used in those studies limit the strength of the findings. To optimize evaluation in the different phases of care, the best possible assessment of PSS would make use of a combination of indicators for clinical impairment, motor performance, activity level, quality of life, and patient-reported outcome measures. Applying these recommended measures, as well as increasing our knowledge of the physiologic predictors of PSS, will enable us to perform clinical and epidemiologic studies that will facilitate identification and early, multimodal treatment.
This article presents the results of a study on the interpretation and acceptance of adjectival resultatives of German children between 6 and 9 years of age and adults. These results brought to light significant differences, due to age, in the interpretation and acceptance of these resultatives, that is to say, sentences with an adjective in the final position. The youngest participants were prone to accept ungrammatical sentences by assigning a resultative meaning. The ungrammaticality of the sentences in question was not due to semantic inconsistencies but to violations of the selectional properties of verbs, as for instance in *die Kinder erschrecken die Katze angstlich 'the children frighten the cat scared'. In contrast, the adults rejected or amended those sentences. The conclusion is (a) that the children seemed to rely on the sentence structure as a primary cue to compute the meaning of an utterance and (b) that, in contrast with adults, the youngest children in particular had not yet learned the relevant semantic properties of verbs that determine the selectional restrictions and thus the syntactic options of verbs. This means that differences in interpretation and acceptance of sentences are due to differences in knowledge of semantic verb properties between adults and children. The relevant semantic knowledge increases in gradual stages during language acquisition.
In this article, it will be argued that the concept of functional layering - an extension of Hopper's (1991) concept of layering - can be fruitfully applied to understand the mechanisms behind the sometimes large and messy looking synchronic picture of diverse meanings which one and the same construction can fulfill at a particular point in time. The concept will be used to account for the meaning spectrum of the present-day English progressive, which, it will be argued, no monosemic approach to date can account for. Taking a look at the diachrony of the construction will help to reveal that the various "exceptions" found in the use of the progressive can be understood as reflections of different stages in its development. Older, less grammaticalized or less well-defined usage patterns thus often survive in certain restricted niches next to the newer, more grammaticalized or more clear-cut functions, representing different diachronic layers. In addition to this diachronic motivation for synchronic meaning variety, the article will also address the crucial question of how a present-day hearer of a progressive form is able to decode the specific meaning intended by the speaker based on contextual clues. The article ends with some suggestions for further applications of the concept of functional layering.
Nowadays, an increasing amount of seismic data is collected by daily observatory routines. The basic step for successfully analyzing those data is the correct detection of various event types. However, the visually scanning process is a time-consuming task. Applying standard techniques for detection like the STA/LTAtrigger still requires the manual control for classification. Here, we present a useful alternative. The incoming data stream is scanned automatically for events of interest. A stochastic classifier, called hidden Markov model, is learned for each class of interest enabling the recognition of highly variable waveforms. In contrast to other automatic techniques as neural networks or support vector machines the algorithm allows to start the classification from scratch as soon as interesting events are identified. Neither the tedious process of collecting training samples nor a time-consuming configuration of the classifier is required. An approach originally introduced for the volcanic task force action allows to learn classifier properties from a single waveform example and some hours of background recording. Besides a reduction of required workload this also enables to detect very rare events. Especially the latter feature provides a milestone point for the use of seismic devices in alpine warning systems. Furthermore, the system offers the opportunity to flag new signal classes that have not been defined before. We demonstrate the application of the classification system using a data set from the Swiss Seismological Survey achieving very high recognition rates. In detail we document all refinements of the classifier providing a step-by-step guide for the fast set up of a well-working classification system.
The knowledge of the local soil structure is important for the assessment of seismic hazards. A widespread, but time-consuming technique to retrieve the parameters of the local underground is the drilling of boreholes. Another way to obtain the shear wave velocity profile at a given location is the inversion of surface wave dispersion curves. To ensure a good resolution for both superficial and deeper layers, the used dispersion curves need to cover a wide frequency range. This wide frequency range can be obtained using several arrays of seismic sensors or a single array comprising a large number of sensors. Consequently, these measurements are time-consuming. A simpler alternative is provided by the use of the ellipticity of Rayleigh waves. The frequency dependence of the ellipticity is tightly linked to the shear wave velocity profile. Furthermore, it can be measured using a single seismic sensor. As soil structures obtained by scaling of a given model exhibit the same ellipticity curve, any inversion of the ellipticity curve alone will be ambiguous. Therefore, additional measurements which fix the absolute value of the shear wave velocity profile at some points have to be included in the inversion process. Small-scale spatial autocorrelation measurements or MASW measurements can provide the needed data. Using a theoretical soil structure, we show which parts of the ellipticity curve have to be included in the inversion process to get a reliable result and which parts can be omitted. Furthermore, the use of autocorrelation or high-frequency dispersion curves will be highlighted. The resulting guidelines for inversions including ellipticity data are then applied to real data measurements collected at 14 different sites during the European NERIES project. It is found that the results are in good agreement with dispersion curve measurements. Furthermore, the method can help in identifying the mode of Rayleigh waves in dispersion curve measurements.
Cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) is a valuable method for the fast expression of difficult-to-express proteins as well as posttranslationally modified proteins. Since cell-free systems circumvent possible cytotoxic effects caused by protein overexpression in living cells, they significantly enlarge the scale and variety of proteins that can be characterized. We demonstrate the high potential of eukaryotic CFPS to express various types of membrane proteins covering a broad range of structurally and functionally diverse proteins. Our eukaryotic cell-free translation systems are capable to provide high molecular weight membrane proteins, fluorescent-labeled membrane proteins, as well as posttranslationally modified proteins for further downstream analysis.
Questions Can forest site characteristics be used to predict Ellenberg indicator values for soil moisture? Which is the best averaged mean value for modelling? Does the distribution of soil moisture depend on spatial information? Location Bavarian Alps, Germany. Methods We used topographic, climatic and edaphic variables to model the mean soil moisture value as found on 1505 forest plots from the database WINALPecobase. All predictor variables were taken from area-wide geodata layers so that the model can be applied to some 250 000 ha of forest in the target region. We adopted methods developed in species distribution modelling to regionalize Ellenberg indicator values. Therefore, we use the additive georegression framework for spatial prediction of Ellenberg values with the R-library mboost, which is a feasible way to consider environmental effects, spatial autocorrelation, predictor interactions and non-stationarity simultaneously in our data. The framework is much more flexible than established statistical and machine-learning models in species distribution modelling. We estimated five different mboost models reflecting different model structures on 50 bootstrap samples in each case. Results Median R2 values calculated on independent test samples ranged from 0.28 to 0.45. Our results show a significant influence of interactions and non-stationarity in addition to environmental covariates. Unweighted mean indicator values can be modelled better than abundance-weighted values, and the consideration of bryophytes did not improve model performance. Partial response curves indicate meaningful dependencies between moisture indicator values and environmental covariates. However, mean indicator values <4.5 and >6.0 could not be modelled correctly, since they were poorly represented in our calibration sample. The final map represents high-resolution information of site hydrological conditions. Conclusions Indicator values offer an effect-oriented alternative to physically-based hydrological models to predict water-related site conditions, even at landscape scale. The presented approach is applicable to all kinds of Ellenberg indicator values. Therefore, it is a significant step towards a new generation of models of forest site types and potential natural vegetation.
Various 1,6- and 1,8-naphthalenophanes were synthesized by using the Photo-Dehydro-Diels-Alder (PDDA) reaction of bis-ynones. These compounds are easily accessible from omega-(3-iodophenyl)carboxylic acids in three steps. The obtained naphthalenophanes are axially chiral and the activation barrier for the atropisomerization could be determined in some cases by means of dynamic NMR (DNMR) and/or dynamic HPLC (DHPLC) experiments.
Lateral diffusion plays a crucial role in numerous processes that take place in cell membranes, yet it is quite poorly understood in native membranes characterized by, e.g., domain formation and large concentration of proteins. In this article, we use atomistic and coarse-grained simulations to consider how packing of membranes and crowding with proteins affect the lateral dynamics of lipids and membrane proteins. We find that both packing and protein crowding have a profound effect on lateral diffusion, slowing it down. Anomalous diffusion is observed to be an inherent property in both protein-free and protein-rich membranes, and the time scales of anomalous diffusion and the exponent associated with anomalous diffusion are found to strongly depend on packing and crowding. Crowding with proteins also has a striking effect on the decay rate of dynamical correlations associated with lateral single-particle motion, as the transition from anomalous to normal diffusion is found to take place at macroscopic time scales: while in protein-poor conditions normal diffusion is typically observed in hundreds of nanoseconds, in protein-rich conditions the onset of normal diffusion is tens of microseconds, and in the most crowded systems as large as milliseconds. The computational challenge which results from these time scales is not easy to deal with, not even in coarse-grained simulations. We also briefly discuss the physical limits of protein motion. Our results suggest that protein concentration is anything but constant in the plane of cell membranes. Instead, it is strongly dependent on proteins' preference for aggregation.
Two studies explored the psychometric properties of free association methods for the assessment of attitudes. Even though the stability of the actual associations was rather low, psychometric properties of the valence estimates of the free associations were highly satisfactory. Valence estimates of associations were provided by independent judges who rated the valence of the associations that were generated by participants. Valence estimates of the associations showed satisfactory internal consistencies and retest reliabilities over three weeks. Additionally, valence estimates of the associations were significantly and independently related to both explicit self-reported attitudes and implicit attitudes that were assessed with an OssiWessi Implicit Association Test. Free association methods represent a useful complement to the family of implicit measures and are especially suitable for the assessment of non-relative attitudes towards single attitude objects.
A Biosensor for aromatic aldehydes comprising the mediator dependent PaoABC-Aldehyde oxidoreductase
(2013)
A novel aldehyde oxidoreductase (PaoABC) from Escherichia coli was utilized for the development of an oxygen insensitive biosensor for benzaldehyde. The enzyme was immobilized in polyvinyl alcohol and currents were measured for aldehyde oxidation with different one and two electron mediators with the highest sensitivity for benzaldehyde in the presence of hexacyanoferrate(III). The benzaldehyde biosensor was optimized with respect to mediator concentration, enzyme loading and pH using potassium hexacyanoferrate(III). The linear measuring range is between 0.5200 mu M benzaldehyde. In correspondence with the substrate selectivity of the enzyme in solution the biosensor revealed a preference for aromatic aldehydes and less effective conversion of aliphatic aldehydes. The biosensor is oxygen independent, which is a particularly attractive feature for application. The biosensor can be applied to detect contaminations with benzaldehyde in solvents such as benzyl alcohol, where traces of benzaldehyde in benzyl alcohol down to 0.0042?% can be detected.
We study the properties of the probability density function (PDF) of a bistable system driven by heavy tailed white symmetric L,vy noise. The shape of the stationary PDF is found analytically for the particular case of the L,vy index alpha = 1 (Cauchy noise). For an arbitrary L,vy index we employ numerical methods based on the solution of the stochastic Langevin equation and space fractional kinetic equation. In contrast to the bistable system driven by Gaussian noise, in the L,vy case, the positions of maxima of the stationary PDF do not coincide with the positions of minima of the bistable potential. We provide a detailed study of the distance between the maxima and the minima as a function of the depth of the potential and the L,vy noise parameters.
Two synthetic approaches to functionalize plant oil derived platform chemicals were investigated. For this purpose, methyl 10-undecenoate, which can be obtained by pyrolysis of castor oil, was used in olefin cross-metathesis under neat conditions forming an unsaturated a,?-acetoxy ester. A catalyst screening with 11 different ruthenium-based metathesis catalysts was performed, revealing that well-suited catalysts allow for full conversion and very good cross-metathesis selectivity at a loading of only 0.5?mol%. An alternative possibility to the aforementioned synthetic method is a palladium-catalyzed reaction of methyl 10-undecenoate with acetic acid in the presence of dimethyl sulfoxide. Here, the formation of linear and branched unsaturated acetoxy esters as well as a ketone was observed. The conversion as well as the selectivity of this procedure was studied under different reaction conditions and compared to the cross-metathesis results. Based on the successful functionalization of methyl 10-undecenoate, methyl oleate was investigated in this palladium-catalyzed C?H activation reaction. Due to the lower reactivity of the internal double bond the desired acetoxy ester was only obtained in moderate conversion in this case. In summary, this study clearly shows that palladium-catalyzed functionalization of unsaturated fatty compounds via C?H activation is an attractive alternative to the well-established olefin cross-metathesis procedure.
The photochemistry as well as electrochemistry of novel donor-acceptor bis(morpholinothiazolyl)maleimides has been investigated. Proper substitution of these diarylethene-type molecular switches leads to the unique situation in which their ring-closure can only be accomplished electrochemically, while ring-opening can only be achieved photochemically. Hence, these switches operate with orthogonal stimuli, i.e. redox potential and light, respectively. The switch system could be optimized by introducing trifluoromethyl groups at the reactive carbon atoms in order to avoid by-product formation during oxidative ring closure. Both photochemical and electrochemical pathways were investigated for methylated, trifluoromethylated, and nonsymmetrical bis(morpholinothiazolyl) maleimides as well as the bis(morpholinothiazolyl) cyclopentene reference compound. With the aid of the nonsymmetrical "mixed" derivative, the mechanism of electrochemically driven ring closure could be elucidated and seems to proceed via a dicationic intermediate generated by two-fold oxidation. All experimental work has been complemented by density functional theory that provides detailed insights into the thermodynamics of the ring-open and closed forms, the nature of their excited states, and the reactivity of their neutral as well as ionized species in different electronic configurations. The particular diarylethene systems described herein could serve in multifunctional (logic) devices operated by different stimuli (inputs) and may pave the way to converting light into electrical energy via photoinduced "pumping" of redox-active meta-stable states.
Derivatization of fullerene (C-60) with branched aliphatic chains softens C-60-based materials and enables the formation of thermotropic liquid crystals and room temperature nonvolatile liquids. This work demonstrates that by carefully tuning parameters such as type, number and substituent position of the branched chains, liquid crystalline C-60 materials with mesophase temperatures suited for photovoltaic cell fabrication and room temperature nonvolatile liquid fullerenes with tunable viscosity can be obtained. In particular, compound 1, with branched chains, exhibits a smectic liquid crystalline phase extending from 84 degrees C to room temperature. Analysis of bulk heterojunction (BHJ) organic solar cells with a ca. 100 nm active layer of compound 1 and poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as an electron acceptor and an electron donor, respectively, reveals an improved performance (power conversion efficiency, PCE: 1.6 + 0.1%) in comparison with another compound, 10 (PCE: 0.5 + 0.1%). The latter, in contrast to 1, carries linear aliphatic chains and thus forms a highly ordered solid lamellar phase at room temperature. The solar cell performance of 1 blended with P3HT approaches that of PCBM/P3HT for the same active layer thickness. This indicates that C-60 derivatives bearing branched tails are a promising class of electron acceptors in soft (flexible) photovoltaic devices.
A new class of star-shaped, liquid crystalline, low-molecular weight compounds functionalized with photochromic azobenzene and mesogenic groups was investigated in terms of light-induced anisotropy. The behaviour of the materials under the action of light with simultaneous or subsequent thermal treatment was examined with respect to the induction of anisotropy. The unconventional UV light treatment prior to the irradiation with linearly polarized light allowed induction of very high values of anisotropy (D = 0.77) at room temperature. Moreover, the simultaneous action of light and temperature led to the induction of higher values of dichroism in comparison with anisotropy generated by the standard procedure. Subsequent thermal treatment led to dewetting and the formation of 3D macroscopic stripe- and dome-like structures for one of the investigated compounds. Despite photoinduction of anisotropy by a single beam, the formation of polarization and surface relief gratings by two-beam interference pattern was also investigated.