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Incorporation of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) with bioorthogonal reactive groups by amber suppression allows the generation of synthetic proteins with desired novel properties. Such modified molecules are in high demand for basic research and therapeutic applications such as cancer treatment and in vivo imaging. The positioning of the ncAA-responsive codon within the protein's coding sequence is critical in order to maintain protein function, achieve high yields of ncAA-containing protein, and allow effective conjugation. Cell-free ncAA incorporation is of particular interest due to the open nature of cell-free systems and their concurrent ease of manipulation. In this study, we report a straightforward workflow to inquire ncAA positions in regard to incorporation efficiency and protein functionality in a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell-free system. As a model, the well-established orthogonal translation components Escherichia coli tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase (TyrRS) and tRNATyr(CUA) were used to site-specifically incorporate the ncAA p-azido-l-phenylalanine (AzF) in response to UAG codons. A total of seven ncAA sites within an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) single-chain variable fragment (scFv) N-terminally fused to the red fluorescent protein mRFP1 and C-terminally fused to the green fluorescent protein sfGFP were investigated for ncAA incorporation efficiency and impact on antigen binding. The characterized cell-free dual fluorescence reporter system allows screening for ncAA incorporation sites with high incorporation efficiency that maintain protein activity. It is parallelizable, scalable, and easy to operate. We propose that the established CHO-based cell-free dual fluorescence reporter system can be of particular interest for the development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).
Law smells
(2022)
Building on the computer science concept of code smells, we initiate the study of law smells, i.e., patterns in legal texts that pose threats to the comprehensibility and maintainability of the law. With five intuitive law smells as running examples-namely, duplicated phrase, long element, large reference tree, ambiguous syntax, and natural language obsession-, we develop a comprehensive law smell taxonomy. This taxonomy classifies law smells by when they can be detected, which aspects of law they relate to, and how they can be discovered. We introduce text-based and graph-based methods to identify instances of law smells, confirming their utility in practice using the United States Code as a test case. Our work demonstrates how ideas from software engineering can be leveraged to assess and improve the quality of legal code, thus drawing attention to an understudied area in the intersection of law and computer science and highlighting the potential of computational legal drafting.
Deep lipidomics in human plasma: cardiometabolic disease risk and effect of dietary fat modulation
(2022)
Background: In blood and tissues, dietary and endogenously generated fatty acids (FAs) occur in free form or as part of complex lipid molecules that collectively represent the lipidome of the respective tissue. We assessed associations of plasma lipids derived from high-resolution lipidomics with incident cardiometabolic diseases and subsequently tested if the identified risk-associated lipids were sensitive to dietary fat modification. Methods: The EPIC Potsdam cohort study (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) comprises 27 548 participants recruited within an age range of 35 to 65 years from the general population around Potsdam, Germany. We generated 2 disease-specific case cohorts on the basis of a fixed random subsample (n=1262) and all respective cohort-wide identified incident primary cardiovascular disease (composite of fatal and nonfatal myocardial infarction and stroke; n=551) and type 2 diabetes (n=775) cases. We estimated the associations of baseline plasma concentrations of 282 class-specific FA abundances (calculated from 940 distinct molecular species across 15 lipid classes) with the outcomes in multivariable-adjusted Cox models. We tested the effect of an isoenergetic dietary fat modification on risk-associated lipids in the DIVAS randomized controlled trial (Dietary Intervention and Vascular Function; n=113). Participants consumed either a diet rich in saturated FAs (control), monounsaturated FAs, or a mixture of monounsaturated and n-6 polyunsaturated FAs for 16 weeks. Results: Sixty-nine lipids associated (false discovery rate<0.05) with at least 1 outcome (both, 8; only cardiovascular disease, 49; only type 2 diabetes, 12). In brief, several monoacylglycerols and FA16:0 and FA18:0 in diacylglycerols were associated with both outcomes; cholesteryl esters, free fatty acids, and sphingolipids were largely cardiovascular disease specific; and several (glycero)phospholipids were type 2 diabetes specific. In addition, 19 risk-associated lipids were affected (false discovery rate<0.05) by the diets rich in unsaturated dietary FAs compared with the saturated fat diet (17 in a direction consistent with a potential beneficial effect on long-term cardiometabolic risk). For example, the monounsaturated FA-rich diet decreased diacylglycerol(FA16:0) by 0.4 (95% CI, 0.5-0.3) SD units and increased triacylglycerol(FA22:1) by 0.5 (95% CI, 0.4-0.7) SD units. Conclusions: We identified several lipids associated with cardiometabolic disease risk. A subset was beneficially altered by a dietary fat intervention that supports the substitution of dietary saturated FAs with unsaturated FAs as a potential tool for primary disease prevention.
In seismic risk assessment, the sources of uncertainty associated with building exposure modelling have not received as much attention as other components related to hazard and vulnerability. Conventional practices such as assuming absolute portfolio compositions (i.e., proportions per building class) from expert-based assumptions over aggregated data crudely disregard the contribution of uncertainty of the exposure upon earthquake loss models. In this work, we introduce the concept that the degree of knowledge of a building stock can be described within a Bayesian probabilistic approach that integrates both expert-based prior distributions and data collection on individual buildings. We investigate the impact of the epistemic uncertainty in the portfolio composition on scenario-based earthquake loss models through an exposure-oriented logic tree arrangement based on synthetic building portfolios. For illustrative purposes, we consider the residential building stock of Valparaiso (Chile) subjected to seismic ground-shaking from one subduction earthquake. We have found that building class reconnaissance, either from prior assumptions by desktop studies with aggregated data (top-down approach), or from building-by-building data collection (bottom-up approach), plays a fundamental role in the statistical modelling of exposure. To model the vulnerability of such a heterogeneous building stock, we require that their associated set of structural fragility functions handle multiple spectral periods. Thereby, we also discuss the relevance and specific uncertainty upon generating either uncorrelated or spatially cross-correlated ground motion fields within this framework. We successively show how various epistemic uncertainties embedded within these probabilistic exposure models are differently propagated throughout the computed direct financial losses. This work calls for further efforts to redesign desktop exposure studies, while also highlighting the importance of exposure data collection with standardized and iterative approaches.
Gut zwei Jahrzehnte nach dem Millenniumsgipfel der Vereinten Nationen bleiben berechtigte Zweifel an der Wirksamkeit von Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (EZ). Ist das Politikfeld von den Realitäten überholt worden? Welchen Beitrag haben Entwicklungstheorien für die Weiterentwicklung von Entwicklungspolitik leisten können? Der Beitrag zieht eine Bilanz, die von der ersten Entwicklungsdekade in den 1960er-Jahren bis zu den Folgen der Covid-19-Pandemie reicht. Er plädiert für eine herrschaftskritische Weiterentwicklung des Entwicklungsbegriffs und für eine Stärkung globaler Kooperation.
Hot, compact, hydrogen-deficient pre-white dwarfs (pre-WDs) with effective temperatures of Teff > 70 000 K and a surface gravity of 5.0 < logg < 7.0 are rather rare objects despite recent and ongoing surveys. It is believed that they are the outcome of either single star evolution (late helium-shell flash or late helium-core flash) or binary star evolution (double WD merger). Their study is interesting because the surface elemental abundances reflect the physics of thermonuclear flashes and merger events. Spectroscopically they are divided in three different classes, namely PG1159, O(He), or He-sdO. We present a spectroscopic analysis of five such stars that turned out to have atmospheric parameters in the range Teff = 70 000-80 000 K and logg = 5.2-6.3. The three investigated He-sdOs have a relatively high hydrogen mass fraction (10%) that is unexplained by both single (He core flash) and binary evolution (He-WD merger) scenarios. The O(He) star JL 9 is probably a binary helium-WD merger, but its hydrogen content (6%) is also at odds with merger models. We found that RL 104 is the 'coolest' (Teff = 80 000 K) member of the PG1159 class in a pre-WD stage. Its optical spectrum is remarkable because it exhibits C※ IV lines involving Rydberg states with principal quantum numbers up to n = 22. Its rather low mass (0.48-0.02+0.03 M·) is difficult to reconcile with the common evolutionary scenario for PG1159 stars due to it being the outcome of a (very) late He-shell flash. The same mass-problem faces a merger model of a close He-sdO plus CO WD binary that predicts PG1159-like abundances. Perhaps RL 104 originates from a very late He-shell flash in a CO/He WD formed by a merger of two low-mass He-WDs.
The benefits of counting butterflies: recommendations for a successful citizen science project
(2022)
Citizen science (CS) projects, being popular across many fields of science, have recently also become a popular tool to collect biodiversity data. Although the benefits of such projects for science and policy making are well understood, relatively little is known about the benefits participants get from these projects as well as their personal backgrounds and motivations. Furthermore, very little is known about their expectations. We here examine these aspects, with the citizen science project "German Butterfly Monitoring" as an example. A questionnaire was sent to all participants of the project and the responses to the questionnaire indicated the following: center dot Most transect walkers do not have a professional background in this field, though they do have a high educational level, and are close to retirement, with a high number of females; center dot An important motivation to join the project is to preserve the natural environment and to contribute to scientific knowledge; center dot Participants benefit by enhancing their knowledge about butterflies and especially their ability to identify different species (taxonomic knowledge); center dot Participants do not have specific expectations regarding the project beyond proper management and coordination, but have an intrinsic sense of working for a greater good. The willingness to join a project is higher if the project contributes to the solution of a problem discussed in the media (here, insect decline). Based on our findings from the analysis of the questionnaire we can derive a set of recommendations for establishing a successful CS project. These include the importance of good communication, e.g., by explaining what the (scientific) purpose of the project is and what problems are to be solved with the help of the data collected in the project. The motivation to join a CS project is mostly intrinsic and CS is a good tool to engage people during difficult times such as the COVID-19 pandemic, giving participants the feeling of doing something useful.
In this paper, we employ an experimental paradigm using insights from the psychology of reasoning to investigate the question whether certain modals generate and draw attention to alternatives. The article extends and builds on the methodology and findings of Mascarenhas & Picat (2019). Based on experimental results, they argue that the English epistemic modal might raises alternatives. We apply the same methodology to the English modal allowed to to test different hypotheses regarding the involvement of alternatives in deontic modality. We find commonalities and differences between the two modals we tested. We discuss theoretical consequences for existing semantic analyses of these modals, and argue that reasoning tasks can serve as a diagnostic tool to discover which natural language expressions involve alternatives.
So far, various studies have aimed at decomposing the integrated terrestrial water storage variations observed by satellite gravimetry (GRACE, GRACE-FO) with the help of large-scale hydrological models. While the results of the storage decomposition depend on model structure, little attention has been given to the impact of the way that vegetation is represented in these models. Although vegetation structure and activity represent the crucial link between water, carbon, and energy cycles, their representation in large-scale hydrological models remains a major source of uncertainty. At the same time, the increasing availability and quality of Earth-observation-based vegetation data provide valuable information with good prospects for improving model simulations and gaining better insights into the role of vegetation within the global water cycle. In this study, we use observation-based vegetation information such as vegetation indices and rooting depths for spatializing the parameters of a simple global hydrological model to define infiltration, root water uptake, and transpiration processes. The parameters are further constrained by considering observations of terrestrial water storage anomalies (TWS), soil moisture, evapotranspiration (ET) and gridded runoff ( Q) estimates in a multi-criteria calibration approach. We assess the implications of including varying vegetation characteristics on the simulation results, with a particular focus on the partitioning between water storage components. To isolate the effect of vegetation, we compare a model experiment in which vegetation parameters vary in space and time to a baseline experiment in which all parameters are calibrated as static, globally uniform values. Both experiments show good overall performance, but explicitly including varying vegetation data leads to even better performance and more physically plausible parameter values. The largest improvements regarding TWS and ET are seen in supply-limited (semi-arid) regions and in the tropics, whereas Q simulations improve mainly in northern latitudes. While the total fluxes and storages are similar, accounting for vegetation substantially changes the contributions of different soil water storage components to the TWS variations. This suggests an important role of the representation of vegetation in hydrological models for interpreting TWS variations. Our simulations further indicate a major effect of deeper moisture storages and groundwater-soil moisture-vegetation interactions as a key to understanding TWS variations. We highlight the need for further observations to identify the adequate model structure rather than only model parameters for a reasonable representation and interpretation of vegetation-water interactions.
Guidance of postinfarct myocardial remodeling processes by an epicardial patch system may alleviate the consequences of ischemic heart disease. As macrophages are highly relevant in balancing immune response and regenerative processes their suitable instruction would ensure therapeutic success. A polymeric mesh capable of attracting and instructing monocytes by purely physical cues and accelerating implant degradation at the cell/implant interface is designed. In a murine model for myocardial infarction the meshes are compared to those either coated with extracellular matrix or loaded with induced cardiomyocyte progenitor cells. All implants promote macrophage infiltration and polarization in the epicardium, which is verified by in vitro experiments. 6 weeks post-MI, especially the implantation of the mesh attenuates left ventricular adverse remodeling processes as shown by reduced infarct size (14.7% vs 28-32%) and increased wall thickness (854 mu m vs 400-600 mu m), enhanced angiogenesis/arteriogenesis (more than 50% increase compared to controls and other groups), and improved heart function (ejection fraction = 36.8% compared to 12.7-31.3%). Upscaling as well as process controls is comprehensively considered in the presented mesh fabrication scheme to warrant further progression from bench to bedside.
In the picture-word interference paradigm, participants name pictures while ignoring a written or spoken distractor word. Naming times to the pictures are slowed down by the presence of the distractor word. The present study investigates in detail the impact of distractor and target word properties on picture naming times, building on the seminal study by Miozzo and Caramazza. We report the results of several Bayesian meta-analyses based on 26 datasets. These analyses provide estimates of effect sizes and their precision for several variables and their interactions. They show the reliability of the distractor frequency effect on picture naming latencies (latencies decrease as the frequency of the distractor increases) and demonstrate for the first time the impact of distractor length, with longer naming latencies for trials with longer distractors. Moreover, distractor frequency interacts with target word frequency to predict picture naming latencies. The methodological and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the moderating effect of technology use for friendship maintenance in the associations between self-isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic and friendship quality, measured 6 months later (Time 2). Participants were 1,567 seventh and eighth graders (51% female; 51% white; M-age = 13.47) from the United States. They completed questionnaires on friendship quality at Time 1, and self-isolation during COVID-19 and technology use for friendship maintenance and friendship quality at Time 2. The findings revealed that self-isolation during COVID-19 was related positively to technology use for friendship maintenance and negatively to Time 2 friendship quality. Higher technology use for friendship maintenance buffered against the negative impacts on friendship quality associated with self-isolation during COVID-19, while lower technology use had the opposite effects on Time 2 friendship quality.
Liebesgaben aus West-Berlin
(2023)
Eine Frage der Würdigkeit?
(2023)
Die DDR im Plural
(2023)
DDR im Plural
(2023)
Es gab nicht nur eine DDR. Ob Unrechtsstaat, Fürsorgediktatur oder „Nischengesellschaft“: Der ehemalige ostdeutsche Teilstaat hat in Geschichtswissenschaft und öffentlichen Debatten diverse Deutungen erfahren. Ebenso plural sind die Erfahrungen und Erinnerungen der Menschen, die in der DDR lebten. In „Die DDR im Plural“ zeigen 25 junge Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler in anschaulichen Beiträgen, wie sie sich mit neuen Forschungsansätzen dem vielschichtigen Wesen der DDR und seinen Nachwirkungen bis in die gesamtdeutsche Gegenwart annähern. In prägnanten, kurzen Texten widmen sie sich unter anderem dem alltäglichen Leben, kulturellen Räumen, aber auch dem Politik- und Sicherheitsapparat. Die gewählten Perspektiven reichen von der Aufbauzeit bis zu den Jahren nach der „Wende“. Der Band spiegelt die Methodenvielfalt aktueller Forschungen und lädt zum weiteren Nachdenken über die DDR und Ostdeutschland ein.
Kants Recht der Freiheit
(2024)
Das vorliegende Buch berücksichtigt neben den drei Kritiken und der späten Rechtslehre Kants Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten, seine Anthropologie in pragmatischer Hinsicht, den Weltbürgeressay, den Streit der Fakultäten, die Friedensschrift und die Abhandlung über den Gemeinspruch, aus der die Formulierung ‚Recht der Freiheit‘ stammt.
Erstes Kant-Buch zu seiner eigenen Wortschöpfung "Recht der Freiheit".
Erörtert Kants "Rechtslehre und Gerichtsbarkeit" in der Kritik der reinen Vernunft
In this article we prove upper bounds for the Laplace eigenvalues lambda(k) below the essential spectrum for strictly negatively curved Cartan-Hadamard manifolds. Our bound is given in terms of k(2) and specific geometric data of the manifold. This applies also to the particular case of non-compact manifolds whose sectional curvature tends to -infinity, where no essential spectrum is present due to a theorem of Donnelly/Li. The result stands in clear contrast to Laplacians on graphs where such a bound fails to be true in general.
Bundesrechnungshof
(2021)
Der Bundesrechnungshof schaut mittlerweile auf eine über 300 jährige Geschichte der Finanzkontrolle zurück (vgl. Engels 2014). Auch wenn Aufgaben und Organisation damaliger Rechenkammern bestenfalls rudimentär mit den Einrichtungen moderner Finanzkontrolle vergleichbar sind, so legten sie doch einst deren Grundstein. Heute ist der Bundesrechnungshof eine oberste Bundesbehörde und prüft laut Artikel 114 Abs. 2 GG die „Rechnung sowie die Wirtschaftlichkeit und Ordnungsmäßigkeit der Haushalts- und Wirtschaftsführung des Bundes.“ Weitere Regelungen für den Bundesrechnungshof finden sich in der Bundeshaushaltsordnung (BHO, hier Teil V Rechnungsprüfung bis Teil VIII Entlastung, §§ 88 bis 114) und im Bundesrechnungshofgesetz (BRHG vom 11.07.1985, mit letzter Änderung vom 05.02.2009).
Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are highly sensitive to extrinsic physical and biochemical signals from their extracellular microenvironments. In this study, we analyzed the effect of cyclic temperature changes on hiPSCs behaviors, especially by means of scanning force microscopy (BIO-AFM). The alternation in cellular mechanics, as well as the secretion and pattern of deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) protein in hiPSCs were evaluated. The arrangement of the actin cytoskeleton changed with the variation of the temperature. The rearranged cytoskeleton architecture led to the subsequent changes in cell mechanics (Young's modulus of hiPSCs). With the exposure to the cyclic cold stimuli, an increase in the average surface roughness (Ra) and roughness mean square (RMS) was detected. This observation might be at least in part due to the upregulated secretion of Laminin alpha 5 during repeated temporary cooling. The expression of pluripotent markers, NANOG and SOX2, was not impaired in hiPSCs, when exposed to the cyclic cold stimuli for 24 h. Our findings provide an insight into the effect of temperature on the hiPSC behaviors, which may contribute to a better understanding of the application of locally controlled therapeutic hypothermia.
We consider an array of nonlocally coupled oscillators on a ring, which for equally spaced units possesses a Kuramoto-Battogtokh chimera regime and a synchronous state. We demonstrate that disorder in oscillators positions leads to a transition from the synchronous to the chimera state. For a static (quenched) disorder we find that the probability of synchrony survival depends on the number of particles, from nearly zero at small populations to one in the thermodynamic limit. Furthermore, we demonstrate how the synchrony gets destroyed for randomly (ballistically or diffusively) moving oscillators. We show that, depending on the number of oscillators, there are different scalings of the transition time with this number and the velocity of the units.
The following article deals with the new-institutionalist concept of buffering. The concept describes in short, how organizations cope with external and internal demands in order to gain or maintain legitimacy. The article applies this approach to quality management in higher education. We argue, that the introduction of quality management is a reaction to external demands to achieve more quality in teaching and learning. Simultaneously, it functions as a buffer for other organizational subunits within the higher education institution and tries to prevent them from becoming overloaded with external demands. Based on interviews from a research project, the article shows, that both quality managers and higher education managers partly perceive quality management as service unit, which prevents the departments from exaggerating external demands.
Binary III-V nitrides such as AlN, GaN and InN in the wurtzite-type structure have long been considered as potent semiconducting materials because of their optoelectronic properties, amongst others. With rising concerns over the utilization of scarce elements, a replacement of the trivalent cations by others in ternary and multinary nitrides has led to the development of different variants of nitrides and oxide nitrides crystallizing in lower-symmetry variants of wurtzite. This work presents the symmetry relationships between these structural types specific to nitrides and oxide nitrides and updates some prior work on this matter. The non-existence of compounds crystallizing in Pmc2(1), formally the highest subgroup of the wurtzite type fulfilling Pauling's rules for 1:1:2 stoichiometries, has been puzzling scientists for a while; a rationalization is given, from a crystallographic basis, of why this space group is unlikely to be adopted.
1. Microplastics in soils have become an important threat for terrestrial systems as they may potentially alter the geochemical/biophysical soil environment and can interact with drought. As microplastics may affect soil water content, this could exacerbate the well-known negative effects of drought on ecosystem functionality. Thus, functions including litter decomposition, soil aggregation or those related with nutrient cycling can be altered. Despite this potential interaction, we know relatively little about how microplastics, under different soil water conditions, affect ecosystem functions and multifunctionality.
2. To address this gap, we performed an experiment using grassland plant communities growing in microcosms. Microplastic fibres (absent, present) and soil water conditions (well-watered, drought) were applied in a fully factorial design. At harvest, we measured soil ecosystem functions related to nutrient cycling (beta-glucosaminidase, beta-D-cellobiosidase, phosphatase, beta-glucosidase enzymes), respiration, nutrient retention, pH, litter decomposition and soil aggregation (water stable aggregates). As terrestrial systems provide these functions simultaneously, we also assessed ecosystem multifunctionality, an index that encompasses the array of ecosystem functions measured here.
3. We found that the interaction between microplastic fibres and drought affected ecosystem functions and multifunctionality. Drought had negatively affected nutrient cycling by decreasing enzymatic activities by up to similar to 39%, while microplastics increased soil aggregation by similar to 18%, soil pH by similar to 4% and nutrient retention by up to similar to 70% by diminishing nutrient leaching. Microplastic fibres also impacted soil enzymes, respiration and ecosystem multifunctionality, but importantly, the direction of these effects depended on soil water status. That is, under well-watered conditions, these functions decreased with microplastic fibres by up to similar to 34% while under drought they had similar values irrespective of the microplastic presence, or tended to increase with microplastics. Litter decomposition had a contrary pattern increasing with microplastics by similar to 6% under well-watered conditions while decreasing to a similar percentage under drought.
4. Synthesis and applications. Single ecosystem functions can be positively or negatively affected by microplastics fibres depending on soil water status. However, our results suggest that microplastic fibres may cause negative effects on ecosystem soil multifunctionality of a similar magnitude as drought. Thus, strategies to counteract this new global change factor are necessary.
Challenges, triggers and initiators of climate policies and implications for policy formulation
(2020)
Eine evidenzbasierte Gestaltung von Studium und Lehre, wie sie heute normativ eingefordert wird, bedarf des integrierten Zusammenwirkens von Qualitätsmanagement und Hochschuldidaktik – aber gibt es dieses in der Praxis? Mit Blick auf die allgemeine Befundlage, aber auch anhand einer eigenen empirischen Untersuchung zeigt der Beitrag diesbezüglich auf, dass Qualitätsmanagement und Hochschuldidaktik als weitgehend desintegrierte Funktionsbereiche wahrgenommen werden und Evidenzbasierung in der Praxis folglich keinen sehr hohen Stellenwert genießt. Ausgehend von einer Ursachenanalyse wird auf die dysfunktionalen, aber auch auf die funktionalen Auswirkungen dieser Separierung aufmerksam gemacht.
Räuberischer Menschenraub
(2022)
Einen Straftatbestand mit dem Namen „Räuberischer Menschenraub“ gibt es im deutschen Strafrecht nicht. Was es aber gibt, sind wirkliche Straftaten, die wegen ihrer tatsächlichen Bestandteile und deren strafrechtlicher Bedeutung mit „Räuberischer Menschenraub“ zutreffend bezeichnet sind. Die Frage ist daher, welchem Straftatbestand des geltenden Strafrechts eine solche Tat zugeordnet werden kann. Eine neue Entscheidung des BGH gibt Antwort auf die Frage. Der zugrunde liegende Sachverhalt enthält so viele weitere interessante strafrechtliche Elemente, dass er fast unverändert als Strafrechtsaufgabe im Examen Verwendung finden könnte. Die Beschäftigung mit dem Fall ist daher zu empfehlen. Hier soll das Hauptaugenmerk auf die mit dem „Räuberischen Menschenraub“ zusammenhängenden Probleme gerichtet werden.
Vielleicht stellen sich auch andere Benutzer der Berliner S-Bahn hin und wieder die Frage, wer von den Mitfahrenden wohl ein gültiges Ticket dabei hat. Selbstverständlich soll hier niemand diskriminiert werden; aber bei manchem Mitreisenden, der um eine kleine Spende bittet, eine Obdachlosenzeitung offeriert oder musikalische Darbietungen gibt, habe ich manchmal Zweifel. Nicht ganz fernliegend ist dann wohl die Erwägung, dass es sich jedenfalls zum Teil um Mitbürger handelt, deren Einkommens- und Vermögenssituation schlecht ist. Das gibt Anlass zu der Frage, ob unter dieser Voraussetzung die strafrechtliche Beurteilung der – das sei hier des Themas wegen unterstellt – unbefugt erlangten unentgeltlichen Personenbeförderung zu einem anderen Ergebnis führt als bei einem „Schwarzfahrer“, der über genügend Finanzmittel verfügt, um die Fahrt zu bezahlen. Einige Gerichtsentscheidungen zu Fällen, in denen es zwischen einem Taxichauffeur und dem von ihm beförderten Fahrgast zu gewalttätigen Auseinandersetzungen über die – vom Fahrgast verweigerte − Fahrpreisentrichtung gekommen war, suggerieren eine Straflosigkeit des Täters, der keinerlei pfändbares Vermögen hat. Die Entscheidungen betrafen den Erpressungstatbestand (§§ 253, 255 StGB), sind aber vielleicht auch präjudiziell für § 263 StGB und für § 265 a StGB. Dem soll hier nachgegangen werden.
Rechts nur noch die Wand?
(2023)
Die Macht der Sonntagsfrage
(2023)
Für das Jahr 2024 sind entscheidende Wahlen geplant – unter ihnen die
US-Präsidentschaftswahl und die Wahlen zum Europäischen Parlament. In
Deutschland werden in Brandenburg, Sachsen und Thüringen die Landtage
gewählt. Wahlumfragen, insbesondere die Sonntagsfrage, sind zu einem
integralen Bestandteil von Wahlkämpfen geworden; gleichzeitig steht auch
deren Zuverlässigkeit im Zentrum medialer Aufmerksamkeit. Eine Debatte über
die Kommunikation und Darstellung von Meinungsumfragen ist in Deutschland
dringend notwendig. Eine bindende Selbstverpflichtung der Umfrageinstitute und
Medienhäuser wäre eine vielversprechende Lösung.
Satellite-measured tidal magnetic signals are of growing importance. These fields are mainly used to infer Earth's mantle conductivity, but also to derive changes in the oceanic heat content. We present a new Kalman filter-based method to derive tidal magnetic fields from satellite magnetometers: KALMAG. The method's advantage is that it allows to study a precisely estimated posterior error covariance matrix. We present the results of a simultaneous estimation of the magnetic signals of 8 major tides from 17 years of Swarm and CHAMP data. For the first time, robustly derived posterior error distributions are reported along with the reported tidal magnetic fields. The results are compared to other estimates that are either based on numerical forward models or on satellite inversions of the same data. For all comparisons, maximal differences and the corresponding globally averaged RMSE are reported. We found that the inter-product differences are comparable with the KALMAG-based errors only in a global mean sense. Here, all approaches give values of the same order, e.g., 0.09 nT-0.14 nT for M2. Locally, the KALMAG posterior errors are up to one order smaller than the inter-product differences, e.g., 0.12 nT vs. 0.96 nT for M2.
Planned decommissioning of coal-fired plants in Europe requires innovative technical and economic strategies to support coal regions on their path towards a climate-resilient future. The repurposing of open pit mines into hybrid pumped hydro power storage (HPHS) of excess energy from the electric grid, and renewable sources will contribute to the EU Green Deal, increase the economic value, stabilize the regional job market and contribute to the EU energy supply security. This study aims to present a preliminary phase of a geospatial workflow used to evaluate land suitability by implementing a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) technique with an advanced geographic information system (GIS) in the context of an interdisciplinary feasibility study on HPHS in the Kardia lignite open pit mine (Western Macedonia, Greece). The introduced geospatial analysis is based on the utilization of the constraints and ranking criteria within the boundaries of the abandoned mine regarding specific topographic and proximity criteria. The applied criteria were selected from the literature, while for their weights, the experts' judgement was introduced by implementing the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), in the framework of the ATLANTIS research program. According to the results, seven regions were recognized as suitable, with a potential energy storage capacity from 1.09 to 5.16 GWh. Particularly, the present study's results reveal that 9.27% (212,884 m(2)) of the area had a very low suitability, 15.83% (363,599 m(2)) had a low suitability, 23.99% (550,998 m(2)) had a moderate suitability, 24.99% (573,813 m(2)) had a high suitability, and 25.92% (595,125 m(2)) had a very high suitability for the construction of the upper reservoir. The proposed semi-automatic geospatial workflow introduces an innovative tool that can be applied to open pit mines globally to identify the optimum design for an HPHS system depending on the existing lower reservoir.
Infection is a common and often deadly complication after burn injury. A major underlying factor is burn-induced immune dysfunction, particularly with respect to neutrophils as the primary responders to infection. Temporally after murine scald injury, we demonstrate impaired bone marrow neutrophil chemotaxis toward CXCL1 ex vivo. Additionally, we observed a reduced recruitment of neutrophils to the peritoneal after elicitation 7 days after injury. We demonstrate that neutrophil ceramide levels increase after burn injury, and this is associated with decreased expression of CXCR2 and blunted chemotaxis. A major signaling event upon CXCR2 activation is Akt phosphorylation and this was reduced when ceramide was elevated. In contrast, PTEN levels were elevated and PTEN-inhibition elevated phospho-Akt levels and mitigated the burn-induced neutrophil chemotaxis defect. Altogether, this study identifies a newly described pathway of ceramide-mediated suppression of neutrophil chemotaxis after burn injury and introduces potential targets to mitigate this defect and reduce infection-related morbidity and mortality after burn.
Full-length transcriptome
(2021)
Fish is considered as a supreme model for clarifying the evolution and regulatory mechanism of vertebrate immunity. However, the knowledge of distinct immune cell populations in fish is still limited, and further development of techniques advancing the identification of fish immune cell populations and their functions are required. Single cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) has provided a new approach for effective in-depth identification and characterization of cell subpopulations. Current approaches for scRNA-seq data analysis usually rely on comparison with a reference genome and hence are not suited for samples without any reference genome, which is currently very common in fish research. Here, we present an alternative, i.e. scRNA-seq data analysis with a full-length transcriptome as a reference, and evaluate this approach on samples from Epinephelus coioides-a teleost without any published genome. We show that it reconstructs well most of the present transcripts in the scRNA-seq data achieving a sensitivity equivalent to approaches relying on genome alignments of related species. Based on cell heterogeneity and known markers, we characterized four cell types: T cells, B cells, monocytes/macrophages (Mo/M phi) and NCC (non-specific cytotoxic cells). Further analysis indicated the presence of two subsets of Mo/M phi including M1 and M2 type, as well as four subsets in B cells, i.e. mature B cells, immature B cells, pre B cells and early-pre B cells. Our research will provide new clues for understanding biological characteristics, development and function of immune cell populations of teleost. Furthermore, our approach provides a reliable alternative for scRNA-seq data analysis in teleost for which no reference genome is currently available.
Neutrons on rails
(2021)
Large-scale measurements of the spatial distribution of water content in soils and snow are challenging for state-of-the-art hydrogeophysical methods. Cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) is a noninvasive technology that has the potential to bridge the scale gap between conventional in situ sensors and remote sensing products in both, horizontal and vertical domains. In this study, we explore the feasibility and potential of estimating water content in soils and snow with neutron detectors in moving trains. Theoretical considerations quantify the stochastic measurement uncertainty as a function of water content, altitude, resolution, and detector efficiency. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the sensitivity of measured water content is almost unperturbed by train materials. Finally, three distinct real-world experiments provide a proof of concept on short and long-range tracks. With our results a transregional observational soil moisture product becomes a realistic vision within the next years.
Teaching quality is a key factor in student academic success, but few studies have investigated how teaching quality changes at the beginning of secondary education and how such changes are predicted by dimensions of teacher motivation. This study investigated the changes in class-level student perceptions of teaching quality over one school year at the beginning of secondary school and examined how teachers? self-efficacy and enthusiasm predicted such changes. Data from 1996 students (53.8% male; mean age: 11.09 years, SD = 0.55) and their homeroom teachers (N = 105), who were surveyed at the beginning of Grades 5 and 6, were analyzed. Results showed a significant decline in class-level student-perceived emotional support, classroom management, and instructional clarity. Teacher-reported self-efficacy was not significantly related to changes in teaching quality. Teacher-reported enthusiasm buffered the decline in students? class-level classroom management.
Objective
Problem-drinking among university students is common and poses serious health-related risks. Therefore, identifying and addressing associated factors is important.
Participants and methods
A large cross-sectional online-survey with 12,914 university students from Berlin was conducted from November 2016 to August 2017. Relative-risk- and correlation-analysis was used to identify factors associated with problem-drinking and regular heavy-drinking. Independent t-tests compared impulsivity and personality traits, chi-square-tests compared drinking motives between risk- and non-risk-drinkers.
Results
Male gender, tobacco-smoking, illegal substance use, impulsivity and various sociodemographic and psychosocial variables were significantly related to problem/heavy-drinking. Extraversion was a risk, conscientiousness and agreeableness were protective factors. Drinking-motives did not differ significantly between risk- and non-risk-drinkers. Generally, the main drinking-motives were to feel elated, relax and social purposes.
Conclusion
The identified markers and related problem behaviors may serve as a tool to enhance the identification of student subgroups at risk for problem/heavy-drinking, and hence improve targeted health-intervention-programs.
Objectives To compare image quality of deep learning reconstruction (AiCE) for radiomics feature extraction with filtered back projection (FBP), hybrid iterative reconstruction (AIDR 3D), and model-based iterative reconstruction (FIRST). Methods Effects of image reconstruction on radiomics features were investigated using a phantom that realistically mimicked a 65-year-old patient's abdomen with hepatic metastases. The phantom was scanned at 18 doses from 0.2 to 4 mGy, with 20 repeated scans per dose. Images were reconstructed with FBP, AIDR 3D, FIRST, and AiCE. Ninety-three radiomics features were extracted from 24 regions of interest, which were evenly distributed across three tissue classes: normal liver, metastatic core, and metastatic rim. Features were analyzed in terms of their consistent characterization of tissues within the same image (intraclass correlation coefficient >= 0.75), discriminative power (Kruskal-Wallis test p value < 0.05), and repeatability (overall concordance correlation coefficient >= 0.75). Results The median fraction of consistent features across all doses was 6%, 8%, 6%, and 22% with FBP, AIDR 3D, FIRST, and AiCE, respectively. Adequate discriminative power was achieved by 48%, 82%, 84%, and 92% of features, and 52%, 20%, 17%, and 39% of features were repeatable, respectively. Only 5% of features combined consistency, discriminative power, and repeatability with FBP, AIDR 3D, and FIRST versus 13% with AiCE at doses above 1 mGy and 17% at doses >= 3 mGy. AiCE was the only reconstruction technique that enabled extraction of higher-order features. Conclusions AiCE more than doubled the yield of radiomics features at doses typically used clinically. Inconsistent tissue characterization within CT images contributes significantly to the poor stability of radiomics features.
Applications of advanced cathode materials with well-designed chemical components and/or optimized nanostructures promoting the sulfur redox kinetics and suppressing the shuttle effect of polysulfides are highly valued. However, in the case of actual lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries under practical working conditions, one long-term obstacle still exists, which is mainly due to the difficulties in massive synthesis of such nanomaterials with low cost and ease of control on the nanostructure. Herein, we develop a facile synthesis of carbon coated Ti4O7 hollow nanoparticles (Ti4O7) using spherical polymer electrolyte brush as soft template, which is scalable via utilizing a minipilot reactor. The C Ti4O7 hollow nanoparticles provide strong chemical adsorption to polysulfides through the large polar surface and additional physical confinement by rich micro- & mesopores and have successfully been employed as an efficient sulfur host for multilayer pouch cells. Besides, the sluggish kinetics of the sulfur and lithium sulfide redox mechanism can be improved by the highly conductive Ti4O7 via catalyzation of the conversion of polysulfides. Consequently, the C-Ti4O7 based pouch cell endows a high discharge capacity of 1003 mAhg(-1) at 0.05 C, a high-capacity retention of 83.7% after 100 cycles at 0.1 C, and a high Coulombic efficiency of 97.5% at the 100th cycle. This work proposes an effective approach to transfer the synthesis of hollow Ti4O7 nanoparticles from lab- to large-scale production, paving the way to explore a wide range of advanced nanomaterials for multilayer Li-S pouch cells.
Immense uncertainty and the need for drastic interventions cause politicians to rely heavily on scientific advice for underpinning or legitimating their COVID-19 decision-making. This paper explores the role of scientific advice in this policy field in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK. It shows that scientific advice is based on the disciplinary, mainly medical, backgrounds of advisors but is also influenced by social and economic values, which are core to what politicians find important. During the pandemic a growing gap between scientific advice and political decisions is observed.
Werner Krause and Christina Gahn argue that we need to pay more attention to how the media communicates the results of opinion polls to the public. Reporting methodological details, such as margins of error, can alter citizens’ vote choices on election day. This has important implications for elections around the world
We report generation of ultra-broadband longitudinal acoustic coherent phonon wavepackets in SrTiO3 (STO) with frequency components extending throughout the first Brillouin zone. The wavepackets are efficiently generated in STO using femtosecond infrared laser excitation of an atomically flat 1.6 nm-thick epitaxial SrRuO3 film. We use femtosecond x-ray diffraction at the European X-Ray Free Electron Laser Facility to study the dispersion and damping of phonon wavepackets. The experimentally determined damping constants for multi-THz frequency phonons compare favorably to the extrapolation of a simple ultrasound damping model over several orders of magnitude.
The impact of civilian harm on strategic outcomes in war has been the subject of persistent debate. However, the literature has primarily focused on civilian casualties, thereby overlooking the targeting of civilian infrastructure, which is a recurrent phenomenon during war. This study fills this gap by examining the targeting of healthcare, one of the most indispensable infrastructures during war and peace time. We contend that attacks on medical facilities are distinct from direct violence against civilians. Because they are typically unrelated to military dynamics, the targeting of hospitals is a highly visible form and powerful signal of civilian victimization. To assess its effects, we analyze newly collected data on such attacks by pro-government forces and event data on combat activities in Northwest Syria (2017-2020). Applying a new approach for panel data analysis that combines matching methods with a difference-in-differences estimation, we examine the causal effect of counterinsurgent bombings on subsequent violent events. Distinguishing between regime-initiated and insurgent-initiated combat activities and their associated fatalities, we find that the targeting of hospitals increases insurgent violence. We supplement the quantitative analysis with unique qualitative evidence derived from interviews, which demonstrates that hospital bombings induce rebels to resist more fiercely through two mechanisms: intrinsic motivations and civilian pressure. The results have important implications for the effects of state-led violence and the strength of legal norms that protect noncombatants.
We address the effect of stochastic resetting on diffusion and subdiffusion process. For diffusion we find that mean square displacement relaxes to a constant only when the distribution of reset times possess finite mean and variance. In this case, the leading order contribution to the probability density function (PDF) of a Gaussian propagator under resetting exhibits a cusp independent of the specific details of the reset time distribution. For subdiffusion we derive the PDF in Laplace space for arbitrary resetting protocol. Resetting at constant rate allows evaluation of the PDF in terms of H function. We analyze the steady state and derive the rate function governing the relaxation behavior. For a subdiffusive process the steady state could exist even if the distribution of reset times possesses only finite mean.
There has been little research attention given to how Gay-Straight Alliances might mitigate mental health consequences associated with experiencing homophobic cyberbullying. To address this gap in knowledge, the purpose of this one-year longitudinal study was to investigate the moderating effect of perceived social support from Gay-Straight Alliances in the relationships among homophobic cyberbullying victimization and bystanding and depressive and anxiety symptoms among 466 LGBTQIA adolescents (M-age = 15.76; 52% female). The findings revealed that perceived social support was related negatively to homophobic cyberbullying involvement and depressive and anxiety symptoms. Homophobic cyberbullying involvement was related positively to depressive and anxiety symptoms. High perceived social support buffered against the depressive and anxiety symptoms resulting from homophobic victimization and bystanding among LGBTQIA adolescents but low levels and average levels did not moderate these associations. These findings highlight the importance of expanding Gay-Straight Alliances in schools.