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Grundschule
(2022)
Nicht-bewusst
(2022)
Die digitale Aufrüstung des Sozialen und Psychischen schreitet voran. Social media, verkabelte Infrastrukturen und autonome technische Artefakte bestimmen das Bild einer Gesellschaft, die in immer komplexeren Gefügen agiert. Die zunehmende Präsenz von nonhumanen Agenten (nicht nur in Film und Literatur), die Entwicklung von smarten Objekten und die sensortechnologische Ausstattung des menschlichen Körpers und der Umwelt führen zu Kurzschlüssen zwischen humaner und nonhumaner agency, die nicht mehr unbewusst, sondern nichtbewusst sind. Das Unbewusste der Psychoanalyse ist an ein humanes (sprachlich-symbolisch organisiertes) Subjekt gekoppelt, der Begriff »nicht«-bewusst verbindet hingegen technische, mentale und körperliche Prozesse und ist damit nicht mehr ausschließlich dem Menschen zuzuordnen. Doch wie ist dieses ›nichtbewusst‹ zu fassen: ist es etwas Zusätzliches, ist es eine neue Zone, die sich zwischen unbewusst und bewusst schiebt, oder wird durch die Unterscheidung von unbewusst und bewusst dadurch insgesamt in Frage gestellt?
Manches deutet auf die zweite Entwicklung hin. Denn spätestens mit der Kybernetik werden technische und neuronale Prozesse zusammen gedacht. Gilbert Simondon hat die technische und humane Entwicklung als einen Prozess verstanden. Catherine Malabou führt den Begriff des cerebral nonconscious ein, um das psychoanalytische Unbewusste in ein nichtbewusstes Gehirn überzuführen, und N. Katherine Hayles spricht von nonconscious cognition, um das Zusammenwirken von neuronalen und technischen Prozessen zu benennen. Doch all diesen Unternehmungen, die diese (intensiven) Beziehungen von Gehirn und Maschine zu fassen suchen, fehlt ein wesentliches Moment der Verkopplung und psychischen Integration.
Hierfür wird der Begriff des Affektiven eingeführt, der als technischer Terminus die Bewegungen des Schließens, Unterbrechens und Übersetzens zwischen human und nonhuman bezeichnet. Dadurch werden die Kurzschlüsse von psycho-technischen Prozessen als nichtbewusste Taktung von Bewegungs- und Zeitformationen fassbar.
Pannexin 1
(2022)
Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction is an active alveolar hypoxia-caused physiological response redirecting pulmonary blood flow from poorly ventilated areas to better oxygenated lung regions in order to optimize oxygen supply. However, the signaling pathways underlying this pulmonary vascular response remain an area under investigation. In the present study I investigated the functional relevance of Pannexin 1 (Panx1)-mediated ATP release in hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction and chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension using murine isolated perfused lungs, chronic hypoxic mice, and pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell culture. In isolated mouse lungs, switch to hypoxic gas induced a marked increase in pulmonary artery pressure. Pharmacological inhibition of Panx1 using probenecid, Panx1 specific inhibitory peptide (10Panx1) or spironolactone as well as genetic deletion of Panx1 in smooth muscle cells diminished hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction in isolated perfused mouse lungs. Fura-2 imaging revealed a reduced Ca2+ response to hypoxia in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells treated with spironolactone or 10Panx1. Although these findings suggested an important role of Panx1 in HPV, neither smooth muscle cell nor endothelial cell specific genetic deletion of Panx1 prevented the development of pulmonary hypertension in chronic hypoxic mice. Surprisingly, hypoxia did not induce ATP release and inhibition of purinergic receptors or ATP degradation by ATPase failed to decrease the pulmonary vasoconstriction response to hypoxia in isolated perfused mouse lungs. However, Panx1 antagonism as well as TRPV4 inhibition prevented the hypoxia-induced increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells in an additive manner suggesting that Panx1 might modulate intracellular Ca2+ signaling independently of the ATP-P2-TRPV4 signaling axis. In line with this assumption, overexpression of Panx1 in HeLa cells increased intracellular Ca2+ concentrations in response to acute hypoxia. Conclusion: In this study I identifiy Panx1 as novel regulator of HPV.. Yet, the role of Panx1 was not attributable to the release of ATP and downstream P2 signaling pathways or activation of TRPV4 but rathter relates to a role of Panx1 as indirect or direct modulator of the Ca2+ response to hypoxia in PASMCs. Genetic deletion of Panx1 did not influence the development of chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension in mice.
These days design thinking is no longer a “new approach”. Among practitioners, as well as academics, interest in the topic has gathered pace over the last two decades. However, opinions are divided over the longevity of the phenomenon: whether design thinking is merely “old wine in new bottles,” a passing trend, or still evolving as it is being spread to an increasing number of organizations and industries. Despite its growing relevance and the diffusion of design thinking, knowledge on the actual status quo in organizations remains scarce. With a new study, the research team of Prof. Uebernickel and Stefanie Gerken investigates temporal developments and changes in design thinking practices in organizations over the past six years comparing the results of the 2015 “Parts without a whole” study with current practices and future developments. Companies of all sizes and from different parts of the world participated in the survey. The findings from qualitative interviews with experts, i.e., people who have years of knowledge with design thinking, were cross-checked with the results from an exploratory analysis of the survey data. This analysis uncovers significant variances and similarities in how design thinking is interpreted and applied in businesses.
»Plus outre« – immer weiter
(2022)
Rechtschreibung online
(2022)
In der hier vorgestellten Unterrichtssequenz wird eine ausgewählte Textpassage aus Caesars Bellum Gallicum unter Einbeziehung möglichst vieler Textteile aus dem Original analysiert. Das Konzept der Fokalisierung bereitet die Schüler auf die Einnahme einer distanzierten und differenzierten Perspektive vor und fordert sie zu einer kritischen Auseinandersetzung mit dem Text auf. Mittels der Übernahme verschiedener »Rollen« werden sie motiviert, individuelle Aufgaben zu erfüllen, sich in die Lage anderer Akteure hineinzuversetzen, aber auch Kommunikationsabläufe und -barrieren zu berücksichtigen, die für den Umgang mit dem Text von Bedeutung sind.
Struggle for existence
(2022)
In this project, I sought to understand how Palestinian claim-making in the West Bank is possible within the context of continuing Israeli occupation and repression by the Palestinian political leadership. I explored the questions of what channels non-state actors use to advance their claims, what opportunities they have for making these claims, and what challenges they face. This exploration covers the time period from the Oslo Accords in the mid-1990s to the so-called Great March of Return in 2018.
I demonstrated that Palestinians used different modes and strategies of resistance in the past century, as the area of what today is Israel/Palestine has historically been a target for foreign penetration. Yet, the Oslo agreements between the Israeli government and the Palestinian leadership have ended Palestinians’ decentralized and pluralist social governance, reinforced Israeli rule in the Palestinian territories, promoted continuing dispossession and segregation of Palestinians, and further restricted their rights and their claim-making opportunities until this day. Therefore, today, Palestinian society in the West Bank is characterized by fragmentation, geographical and societal segregation, and double repression by Israeli occupation and Palestinian Authority (PA) policies. What is more, Palestinian claim-making is legally curtailed due to the establishment of different geographical entities in which Palestinians are subjugated to different forms of Israeli rule and regulations.
I argue that the concepts of civil society and acts of citizenship, which are often used to describe non-state actors’ rights-seeking activities, fall short on understanding and describing Palestinian claim-making in the West Bank comprehensively. By determining their boundaries, the concept of acts of subjecthood evolved as a novel theoretical approach within the research process and as a means of claim-making within repressive contexts where claim makers’ rights are curtailed and opportunities for rights-seeking activities are few. Thereby, this study applies a new theoretical framework to the conflict in Israel/Palestine and contributes to a better understanding of rights-seeking activities within the West Bank. Further, I argue that Palestinian acts of subjecthood against hostile Israeli rule in the West Bank are embedded within the comprehensive structure of settler colonialism. As a form of colonialism that aims at replacing an indigenous population, Israeli settler colonialism in the West Bank manifests itself in restrictions of Palestinian movement, settlement constructions, home demolitions, violence, and detentions.
By using grounded theory and inductive reasoning as methodological approaches, I was able to make generalizations about the state of Palestinian claim-making. These generalizations are based on the analysis of secondary materials and data collected via face-to-face and video interviews with non-state actors in Israel/Palestine. The conducted research shows that there is not a single measure or a standalone condition that hinders Palestinian claim-making, but a complex and comprehensive structure that, on the one hand, shrinks Palestinian living space by occupation and destruction and, on the other hand, diminishes Palestinian civic space by limiting the fundamental rights to organize and build social movements to change the status Palestinians live in.
Although the concrete, tangible outcomes of Palestinian acts of subjecthood are marginal, they contribute to strengthening and perpetuating Palestinian’s long history of resistance against Israeli oppression. With a lack of adherence to international law, the neglect of UN resolutions by the Israeli government, the continuous defeats of rights organizations in Israeli courts, and the repression of institutions based in the West Bank by PA and occupation policies, Palestinian acts of subjecthood cannot overturn current power structures. Nevertheless, the ongoing persistence of non-state actors claiming rights, as well as the pop-up of new initiatives and youth movements are all essential for strengthening Palestinians’ resilience and documenting current injustices. Therefore, they can build the pillars for social change in the future.
Das Ziel der vorliegenden Dissertation war es zu untersuchen, wie palästinensisches claim-making, also die Artikulation von Forderungen bzw. die Geltendmachung von bestimmten Rechten, vor dem Hintergrund der anhaltenden israelischen Besatzung und Repressalien durch die palästinensische politische Führung im Westjordanland durchgesetzt werden kann. Dabei soll der Frage nachgegangen werden, welche Kanäle nichtstaatliche Akteure nutzen, um ihre Ansprüche geltend zu machen, welche Möglichkeiten sich ihnen dafür bieten und vor welchen Herausforderungen sie stehen. Der Untersuchungszeitraum erstreckt sich dabei vom Osloer Friedensprozess Mitte der 1990er Jahre bis hin zum sogenannten Great March of Return im Jahr 2018.
Die im Gebiet des heutigen Israel/Palästina lebenden PalästinenserInnen bedienten sich in Zeiten ausländischer Einflussnahme, z.B. während der britischen Besatzung im vergangenen Jahrhundert, verschiedenster Widerstandsformen und -strategien. Jedoch haben die Osloer Abkommen zwischen der israelischen Regierung und der palästinensischen Führung die dezentrale und partizipative Mobilisierung der palästinensischen Gesellschaft erschwert, die andauernde Enteignung von PalästinenserInnen begünstigt und ihre Rechte bis zum heutigen Tag weiter eingeschränkt. Die heutige palästinensische Gesellschaft im Westjordanland ist daher durch Zersplitterung, geografische und gesellschaftliche Segregation und doppelte Un-terdrückung durch die israelische Besatzung sowie die Palästinensische Autonomiebehörde gekennzeichnet. Zudem führt die Etablierung verschiedener geografischer Entitäten, in denen PalästinenserInnen unterschiedlichen Formen israelischer Herrschaft, Regularien und Ein-griffsrechten unterworfen sind, dazu, dass palästinensisches claim-making auch formalrecht-lich eingeschränkt ist.
Um die Aktivitäten nichtstaatlicher Akteure in diesem Kontext beschreiben zu können, wer-den häufig das Konzept der Zivilgesellschaft oder das der acts of citizenship herangezogen. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird jedoch argumentiert, dass diese Konzepte nur bedingt auf den Status Quo im Westjordanland anwendbar sind und palästinensisches claim-making nicht hinreichend verstehen und beschreiben können. Im Laufe des Forschungsprozesses hat sich daher das Konzept der acts of subjecthood als neuer theoretischer Ansatz herausgebildet, der claim-making in repressiven Kontexten beschreibt, in denen nichtstaatliche Akteure nur geringen Handlungsspielraum haben, ihre Forderungen durchsetzen zu können. Durch diese „Theorie-Brille“ ermöglicht meine Forschung einen neuartigen Blick auf den israelisch-palästinensischen Konflikt und trägt auf diese Weise zu einem besseren Verständnis von claim-making-Aktivitäten im Westjordanland bei. Darüber hinaus bettet die vorliegende Ar-beit acts of subjecthood in den größeren Kontext des Siedlungskolonialismus ein. Dieser beschreibt eine Form des Kolonialismus, die darauf abzielt, eine einheimische Bevölkerung durch die der Kolonialmacht zu ersetzen. Im Westjordanland manifestiert sich der israelische Siedlungskolonialismus in der Einschränkung der Bewegungsfreiheit von PalästinenserIn-nen, dem Bau von Siedlungen, der Zerstörung von Häusern, Gewalt und Inhaftierungen.
Die Verwendung der Grounded Theory und des induktiven Denkens als methodische Ansätze ermöglichte es, verallgemeinerbare Aussagen zum Zustand palästinensischen claim-makings treffen zu können. Diese Verallgemeinerungen beruhen auf der Analyse von Sekundärquellen und Daten, die im Rahmen von Interviews mit VertreterInnen nichtstaatlicher Organisationen in Israel/Palästina erhoben wurden. Die durchgeführte Analyse macht deutlich, dass nicht eine einzelne Maßnahme oder Bedingung palästinensisches claim-making behindert, sondern eine komplexe, vielschichtige und zielgerichtet implementierte Struktur. Diese verringert einerseits den Lebensraum von PalästinenserInnen durch Besatzung und Zerstörung und schränkt andererseits den zivilen Raum ein, indem sie ihnen grundlegende Rechte und fundamentale Freiheiten verwehrt.
Obwohl die konkreten Auswirkungen palästinensischer acts of subjecthood marginal sind, tragen sie dazu bei, den Widerstand gegen politische Unterdrückung zu stärken und fortzusetzen. Angesichts der Verletzung von Völkerrecht und der Missachtung zahlreicher UN-Resolutionen durch die israelische Regierung, der Niederlagen von Menschenrechtsorganisationen vor israelischen Gerichten, der Unterdrückung von Institutionen im Westjordanland durch die Palästinensische Autonomiebehörde und die Besatzungspolitik können acts of subjecthood die derzeitigen Machtstrukturen nicht aufbrechen. Dennoch sind die anhaltende Beharrlichkeit nichtstaatlicher Akteure, Forderungen zu artikulieren und Rechte einzufordern und die Gründung neuer Initiativen und Organisationen essenziell für die Stärkung gesellschaftlicher Resilienz sowie die Dokumentation von Ungerechtigkeiten und Rechtsverletzungen. Diese Akteure legen so den Grundstein für einen möglichen gesellschaftspolitischen Wandel in der Zukunft.
Receptors predominantly expressed on tumor cells represent one of the key prerequisites of targeted radiotherapy. The gastric inhibitory polypeptide receptor (GIPR) has emerged as a promising target due to its substantial overexpression in neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) and virtual absence in healthy tissues (Waser 2012). So far, only radiolabeled peptides targeting the somatostatin receptor 2 (SSTR2) are approved for targeted radiotherapy of inoperable, metastatic NENs.
The aim of this thesis was to develop highly affine GIPR tracers for targeted radiotherapy by continuous in vitro and in vivo characterization of peptide sequence modifications. It was hypothesized that a GIPR antagonist might increase the sensitivity to detect GIPR-positive tumors relative to the agonist GIP(1-30), as shown for SSTR2 tracers (Reubi 2017). Further comparison to the SSTR2 agonist and antagonist (DOTATATE, JR11) should allow compound ranking regarding their ability to detect NENs.
The novel GIPR-targeting antagonists were conjugated to DOTA, enabling complexation of diagnostic (e. g. 111In) and therapeutic radionuclides (e. g. 177Lu). Among the high number of compounds screened, 3BP-3775 proved to be the most promising candidate for further preclinical and clinical development. High GIPR affinity and long receptor residence time in vitro were reflected in strong tumor uptake and retention in vivo. Low initial kidney accumulation and fast subsequent clearance represented a major advantage relative to previously described GIPR-targeting molecules (Gourni 2014). Furthermore, administration of 177Lu-3BP-3775 demonstrated for the first time strong therapeutic efficacy of a GIPR-targeting compound. In vitro receptor autoradiography with 111In-3BP-3626 (GIPR antagonist) demonstrated up to 6-fold higher signals in gastroenteropancreatic and bronchial NENs, relative to the clinically utilized SSTR2 agonist 111In-DOTATATE. Both receptor antagonists, however, revealed similar signal strength. In contrast to 111In-JR11, 111In-3BP-3626 showed no binding to non-target tissues, which led to higher tumor-to-background ratios for 111In-3BP-3626. Signal strength of the GIPR agonist 111In-GIP(1-30) was close to background in all investigated tumor samples. The ranking of compounds according to their ability to detect NENs based on autoradiographic signal intensities was determined to be: 111In-3BP-3626 ~ 111In-JR11> 111In-DOTATATE > 111In GIP(1-30).
In summary, this thesis proposes the application of the GIPR antagonist 3BP-3775 for a targeted radiotherapy in GEP- and bronchial NENs.
Dictyostelium cells undergo a semi-closed mitosis, during which the nuclear envelope (NE) persists; however, free diffusion between the cytoplasm and the nucleus takes place. To permit the formation of the mitotic spindle, the nuclear envelope must be permeabilized in order to allow diffusion of tubulin dimers and spindle assembly factors into the nucleus. In Aspergillus, free diffusion of proteins between the cytoplasm and the nucleus is achieved by a partial disassembly of the nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) prior to spindle assembly. In order to determine whether this is also the case in Dictyostelium, we analysed components of the NPC by immunofluorescence microscopy and live cell imaging and studied their behaviour during interphase and mitosis. We observed that the NPCs are absent from the contact area of the nucleoli and that some nucleoporins also localize to the centrosome and the spindle poles. In addition, we could show that, during mitosis, the central FG protein NUP62, two inner ring components and Gle1 depart from the NPCs, while all other tested NUPs remained at the NE. This leads to the conclusion that indeed a partial disassembly of the NPCs takes place, which contributes to permeabilisation of the NE during semi-closed mitosis.
Dictyostelium cells undergo a semi-closed mitosis, during which the nuclear envelope (NE) persists; however, free diffusion between the cytoplasm and the nucleus takes place. To permit the formation of the mitotic spindle, the nuclear envelope must be permeabilized in order to allow diffusion of tubulin dimers and spindle assembly factors into the nucleus. In Aspergillus, free diffusion of proteins between the cytoplasm and the nucleus is achieved by a partial disassembly of the nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) prior to spindle assembly. In order to determine whether this is also the case in Dictyostelium, we analysed components of the NPC by immunofluorescence microscopy and live cell imaging and studied their behaviour during interphase and mitosis. We observed that the NPCs are absent from the contact area of the nucleoli and that some nucleoporins also localize to the centrosome and the spindle poles. In addition, we could show that, during mitosis, the central FG protein NUP62, two inner ring components and Gle1 depart from the NPCs, while all other tested NUPs remained at the NE. This leads to the conclusion that indeed a partial disassembly of the NPCs takes place, which contributes to permeabilisation of the NE during semi-closed mitosis.
Culture and law
(2022)
Die Beantwortung der rechtlichen Fragen, die mit dem Lebensende zusammenhängen, unterliegt starken kulturellen und religiösen Einflüssen. Zu berücksichtigen sind zudem medizinische, philosophische und historische Aspekte. Wegen der engen Verbindung von Recht und Kultur wurden Länder mit unterschiedlichen kulturellen und religiösen Hintergründen für eine vergleichende Studie zu Fragen des Lebensendes ausgewählt. In Frankreich, Deutschland und der Schweiz mit einem kontinentalen Rechtssystem, in Großbritannien mit einem common law System, in Indien und Japan üben die verschiedenen Religionen und Kulturen einen wichtigen Einfluss auf die Modernisierung der einschlägigen Rechtsvorschriften aus. Das Buch behandelt die jüngsten Gesetzesänderungen und die Entwicklungen in den in die Untersuchung einbezogenen Länder.
Die Jagdflieger der Wehrmacht waren die »Popstars« der nationalsozialistischen Propaganda. Doch was steckte hinter der glänzenden Fassade? Jens Wehner wirft – nüchtern und ausgewogen – ein neues Licht auf ihre militärische Funktion in der Luftkriegsführung. Seine Studie analysiert den militärischen Nutzen der Jagdflugzeugtypen von Messerschmitt und Focke-Wulf, ihre taktische Anwendung und Leitbilder. Vergleiche mit dem Entwicklungsstand der alliierten Kriegsgegner hinterfragen die Sinnhaftigkeit des Strebens nach technischer Überlegenheit. So entsteht das Bild einer Technik, welche die in sie gesetzten Erwartungen nicht erfüllte, einer fehlerhaften und statischen Doktrin, die für zahlreiche Rückschläge sorgte, und von individualistisch agierenden Piloten, die sich dem militärhierarchischen System entfremdeten.
Background
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has a severe impact on all aspects of patient care. Among the numerous biomarkers of potential validity for diagnostic and clinical management of COVID-19 are biomarkers at the interface of iron metabolism and inflammation.
Methods
The follow-up study included 54 hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 with a moderate and severe/critical form of the disease. Iron deficiency specific biomarkers such as iron, ferritin, transferrin receptor, hepcidin, and zinc protoporphyrin (ZnPP) as well as relevant markers of inflammation were evaluated twice: in the first five days when the patient was admitted to the hospital and during five to 15 days; and their validity to diagnose iron deficiency was further assessed. The regression and Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analyses were performed to evaluate the prognosis and determine the probability for predicting the severity of the disease in the first five days of COVID-19.
Results
Based on hemoglobin values, anemia was observed in 21 of 54 patients. Of all iron deficiency anemia-related markers, only ZnPP was significantly elevated (P<0.001) in the anemic group. When patients were grouped according to the severity of disease, slight differences in hemoglobin or other anemia-related parameters could be observed. However, the levels of ZnPP were significantly increased in the severely ill group of patients. The ratio of ZnPP to lymphocyte count (ZnPP/L) had a discrimination power stronger than the neutrophil to lymphocyte count ratio (N/L) to determine disease severity. Additionally, only two markers were independently associated with the severity of COVID-19 in logistic regression analysis; D-dimer (OR (5.606)(95% CI 1.019–30.867)) and ZnPP/L ratio (OR (74.313) (95% CI 1.081–5108.103)).
Conclusions
For the first time ZnPP in COVID-19 patients were reported in this study. Among all iron-related markers tested, ZnPP was the only one that was associated with anemia as based on hemoglobin. The increase in ZnPP might indicate that the underlying cause of anemia in COVID-19 patients is not only due to the inflammation but also of nutritional origin. Additionally, the ZnPP/L ratio might be a valid prognostic marker for the severity of COVID-19.
Background
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has a severe impact on all aspects of patient care. Among the numerous biomarkers of potential validity for diagnostic and clinical management of COVID-19 are biomarkers at the interface of iron metabolism and inflammation.
Methods
The follow-up study included 54 hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 with a moderate and severe/critical form of the disease. Iron deficiency specific biomarkers such as iron, ferritin, transferrin receptor, hepcidin, and zinc protoporphyrin (ZnPP) as well as relevant markers of inflammation were evaluated twice: in the first five days when the patient was admitted to the hospital and during five to 15 days; and their validity to diagnose iron deficiency was further assessed. The regression and Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analyses were performed to evaluate the prognosis and determine the probability for predicting the severity of the disease in the first five days of COVID-19.
Results
Based on hemoglobin values, anemia was observed in 21 of 54 patients. Of all iron deficiency anemia-related markers, only ZnPP was significantly elevated (P<0.001) in the anemic group. When patients were grouped according to the severity of disease, slight differences in hemoglobin or other anemia-related parameters could be observed. However, the levels of ZnPP were significantly increased in the severely ill group of patients. The ratio of ZnPP to lymphocyte count (ZnPP/L) had a discrimination power stronger than the neutrophil to lymphocyte count ratio (N/L) to determine disease severity. Additionally, only two markers were independently associated with the severity of COVID-19 in logistic regression analysis; D-dimer (OR (5.606)(95% CI 1.019–30.867)) and ZnPP/L ratio (OR (74.313) (95% CI 1.081–5108.103)).
Conclusions
For the first time ZnPP in COVID-19 patients were reported in this study. Among all iron-related markers tested, ZnPP was the only one that was associated with anemia as based on hemoglobin. The increase in ZnPP might indicate that the underlying cause of anemia in COVID-19 patients is not only due to the inflammation but also of nutritional origin. Additionally, the ZnPP/L ratio might be a valid prognostic marker for the severity of COVID-19.
Welcome to the Dark Side
(2022)
Differences in natural light conditions caused by changes in moonlight are known to affect perceived predation risk in many nocturnal prey species. As artificial light at night (ALAN) is steadily increasing in space and intensity, it has the potential to change movement and foraging behavior of many species as it might increase perceived predation risk and mask natural light cycles. We investigated if partial nighttime illumination leads to changes in foraging behavior during the night and the subsequent day in a small mammal and whether these changes are related to animal personalities. We subjected bank voles to partial nighttime illumination in a foraging landscape under laboratory conditions and in large grassland enclosures under near natural conditions. We measured giving-up density of food in illuminated and dark artificial seed patches and video recorded the movement of animals. While animals reduced number of visits to illuminated seed patches at night, they increased visits to these patches at the following day compared to dark seed patches. Overall, bold individuals had lower giving-up densities than shy individuals but this difference increased at day in formerly illuminated seed patches. Small mammals thus showed carry-over effects on daytime foraging behavior due to ALAN, i.e., nocturnal illumination has the potential to affect intra- and interspecific interactions during both night and day with possible changes in personality structure within populations and altered predator-prey dynamics.
Welcome to the Dark Side
(2022)
Differences in natural light conditions caused by changes in moonlight are known to affect perceived predation risk in many nocturnal prey species. As artificial light at night (ALAN) is steadily increasing in space and intensity, it has the potential to change movement and foraging behavior of many species as it might increase perceived predation risk and mask natural light cycles. We investigated if partial nighttime illumination leads to changes in foraging behavior during the night and the subsequent day in a small mammal and whether these changes are related to animal personalities. We subjected bank voles to partial nighttime illumination in a foraging landscape under laboratory conditions and in large grassland enclosures under near natural conditions. We measured giving-up density of food in illuminated and dark artificial seed patches and video recorded the movement of animals. While animals reduced number of visits to illuminated seed patches at night, they increased visits to these patches at the following day compared to dark seed patches. Overall, bold individuals had lower giving-up densities than shy individuals but this difference increased at day in formerly illuminated seed patches. Small mammals thus showed carry-over effects on daytime foraging behavior due to ALAN, i.e., nocturnal illumination has the potential to affect intra- and interspecific interactions during both night and day with possible changes in personality structure within populations and altered predator-prey dynamics.
Wie kam es zu dem ikonischen Überschuss des christlichen Heiligenbildes? Janine Luge-Winter geht dieser Frage nach, indem sie die verschiedenen Argumente byzantinischen Bildapologien des 8. und 9. Jahrhunderts und der modernen Ikonentheorien des 20. Jahrhunderts erstmals in ihrer Studie versammelt, miteinander vergleicht und kontextualisiert. Sie zeigt, dass das Mehr der Ikone deren besonderer Sichtbarkeit ist, die eine Überwindung der Undarstellbarkeit des Undarstellbaren evoziert, indem sie das Undarstellbare konkret als solches akzeptiert. Verständlich wird dies nur, wenn die Ikone als »etwas anderes« als ein repräsentationales oder mimetisches Bild anerkannt wird.
The key to reduce the energy required for specific transformations in a selective manner is the employment of a catalyst, a very small molecular platform that decides which type of energy to use. The field of photocatalysis exploits light energy to shape one type of molecules into others, more valuable and useful.
However, many challenges arise in this field, for example, catalysts employed usually are based on metal derivatives, which abundance is limited, they cannot be recycled and are expensive. Therefore, carbon nitrides materials are used in this work to expand horizons in the field of photocatalysis.
Carbon nitrides are organic materials, which can act as recyclable, cheap, non-toxic, heterogeneous photocatalysts. In this thesis, they have been exploited for the development of new catalytic methods, and shaped to develop new types of processes.
Indeed, they enabled the creation of a new photocatalytic synthetic strategy, the dichloromethylation of enones by dichloromethyl radical generated in situ from chloroform, a novel route for the making of building blocks to be used for the productions of active pharmaceutical compounds.
Then, the ductility of these materials allowed to shape carbon nitride into coating for lab vials, EPR capillaries, and a cell of a flow reactor showing the great potential of such flexible technology in photocatalysis.
Afterwards, their ability to store charges has been exploited in the reduction of organic substrates under dark conditions, gaining new insights regarding multisite proton coupled electron transfer processes.
Furthermore, the combination of carbon nitrides with flavins allowed the development of composite materials with improved photocatalytic activity in the CO2 photoreduction.
Concluding, carbon nitrides are a versatile class of photoactive materials, which may help to unveil further scientific discoveries and to develop a more sustainable future.
Portal Wissen = Zusammen
(2022)
Darüber, was den Menschen zum Menschen macht – und von anderen Lebewesen auf der Erde unterscheidet – wird schon lange und bis heute eifrig diskutiert. Als „Homo sapiens“ ist die wissenschaftliche Selbstbeschreibung unserer Art schon die Charakterisierung als „verstehender, weiser, wissender Mensch“. Dieses Mehr an Wissen verdanken wir, so ließe sich argumentieren, dem Wesenszug, dass wir unseresgleichen (grundsätzlich) besonders verbunden sind. Wir sind, was wir sind, vor allem, vielleicht sogar ausschließlich: zusammen. Die Entwicklung, durch die aus Gemeinschaften irgendwann Gesellschaften wurden, in deren Zuge Kultur und Wissen entstanden, ließe sich durchaus als eine Geschichte des mehr oder weniger Zusammens erzählen. Erfolgreich waren Menschen immer dann, wenn sie miteinander statt gegeneinander lebten, später Bestauntes entstand, wenn sie zusammenarbeiteten, Wissen, das als Fortschritt Geschichte machte, wurde von Köpfen entwickelt, die ins Gespräch kamen.
Umso verwunderlicher, dass dieses „Erfolgsrezept“ in Zeiten, wo es mehr denn je gebraucht wird, in den Hintergrund gedrängt wird. Wir leben infolge der Corona- Pandemie in einer Zeit, in der die Welt vor eine – wörtlich genommen – allumfassende Aufgabe gestellt ist, die sie, wie bereits vielfach geäußert, nur zusammen bewältigen kann. Und doch sorgen sich viele Menschen auf vielfältige Weise vor allem um ihr eigenes Wohl – nicht selten ohne zu reflektieren, dass auf diesem Wege das Wohl vieler anderer leidet und möglicherweise letztlich sogar ihr eigenes. Wenn es mehr Zusammen braucht, wo viel über Spaltung gesprochen wird, zeigt sich, dass der Erfolg des Miteinander kein Selbstläufer ist: Wenn wir zusammen etwas erreichen wollen, müssen wir über die Ziele und den Weg dorthin immer im Gespräch bleiben.
Was Menschen miteinander erreichen können und wie Wissenschaft das „Geheimnis des Zusammens“ an vielen Stellen zu ergründen versucht, haben wir für dieses Heft zusammengetragen. Wir haben ein Team von Umweltwissenschaftlerinnen und -wissenschaftlern besucht, die gemeinsam mit engagierten Bürgerinnen und Bürgern Waldgärten entwickeln – als grüne Oasen mitten in der Stadt. Wir haben Psychologinnen über die Schulter geschaut, die untersuchen, wie sich sexuelle Aggression unter jungen Menschen verringern lässt, und zwar gemeinsam. Eine Altphilologin hat uns erklärt, warum Mensch und Tier in antiken Fabeln eine ganz besondere Beziehung eingehen, und wir haben einen ersten Blick auf den Prototypen einer nationalen Bildungsplattform geworfen, die digitales Lernen aller Art künftig bündeln soll. Außerdem stellen wir zwei Modellprojekte vor, die auf unterschiedlichen Wegen Lehrenden sowie Schülerinnen und Schülern dabei helfen wollen, antidemokratischen Tendenzen und Hatespeech vorzubeugen. Nicht zuletzt präsentiert das Heft eine kleine Auswahl aus der Vielfalt der Kooperationen über Fach- und Ländergrenzen: Wir zeigen, wie Forschende aus der Rechtsund der Politikwissenschaft zusammen das Auf und Ab des Völkerrechts in den Blick nehmen, warum Religionswissenschaftlerinnen und -wissenschaftler aus Potsdam und dem Irak voneinander profitieren und wie die Uni Potsdam und die Europauniversität Viadrina in Frankfurt/Oder gemeinsam jüdische Friedhöfe in Brandenburg und Westpolen wiederentdecken.
Natürlich bringt das Heft darüber hinaus die ganze Breite der Forschung an der Uni Potsdam zusammen, versprochen! Wir haben uns schlau gemacht, wie aus Starkregen „flash floods“ werden und wie man sich darauf vorbereiten kann. Wir haben mit der Vizepräsidentin für Forschung Prof. Barbara Höhle über Anfänge und Zukünfte gesprochen, einen Migrationsforscher befragt und einen Geoforscher besucht, den es auf Berg und Tal gleichermaßen zieht. Es geht um – oft ungeschriebene – „body rules“ im Alltag, die höfische Minne und was sie uns heute noch zu sagen hat, die Erforschung unseres Blicks mithilfe Künstlicher Intelligenz, 33 Antworten voller Komplexität und die Mathematik im Unendlichen. Genug der Worte. Lesen Sie selbst – allein oder zusammen. Wie Sie wollen!
Cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) is a non-invasive tool for measuring hydrogen pools such as soil moisture, snow or vegetation. The intrinsic integration over a radial hectare-scale footprint is a clear advantage for averaging out small-scale heterogeneity, but on the other hand the data may become hard to interpret in complex terrain with patchy land use.
This study presents a directional shielding approach to prevent neutrons from certain angles from being counted while counting neutrons entering the detector from other angles and explores its potential to gain a sharper horizontal view on the surrounding soil moisture distribution.
Using the Monte Carlo code URANOS (Ultra Rapid Neutron-Only Simulation), we modelled the effect of additional polyethylene shields on the horizontal field of view and assessed its impact on the epithermal count rate, propagated uncertainties and aggregation time.
The results demonstrate that directional CRNS measurements are strongly dominated by isotropic neutron transport, which dilutes the signal of the targeted direction especially from the far field. For typical count rates of customary CRNS stations, directional shielding of half-spaces could not lead to acceptable precision at a daily time resolution. However, the mere statistical distinction of two rates should be feasible.
Cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) is a non-invasive tool for measuring hydrogen pools such as soil moisture, snow or vegetation. The intrinsic integration over a radial hectare-scale footprint is a clear advantage for averaging out small-scale heterogeneity, but on the other hand the data may become hard to interpret in complex terrain with patchy land use.
This study presents a directional shielding approach to prevent neutrons from certain angles from being counted while counting neutrons entering the detector from other angles and explores its potential to gain a sharper horizontal view on the surrounding soil moisture distribution.
Using the Monte Carlo code URANOS (Ultra Rapid Neutron-Only Simulation), we modelled the effect of additional polyethylene shields on the horizontal field of view and assessed its impact on the epithermal count rate, propagated uncertainties and aggregation time.
The results demonstrate that directional CRNS measurements are strongly dominated by isotropic neutron transport, which dilutes the signal of the targeted direction especially from the far field. For typical count rates of customary CRNS stations, directional shielding of half-spaces could not lead to acceptable precision at a daily time resolution. However, the mere statistical distinction of two rates should be feasible.
We live in an aging society. The change in demographic structures poses a number of challenges, including an increase in age-associated diseases. Delirium, dementia, and depression are considered to be of particular interest in the field of aging and mental health. A common theory regarding healthy aging and mental health is that the highest satisfaction and best performance is achieved when a person's abilities match the demands of their environment. In this context, the person's environment includes both the physical and the social environment. Based on this assumption, this dissertation focuses on the investigation of non-pharmacological interventions that modify environmental factors in order to facilitate the prevention and treatment of mental disorders in older patients and their caregivers. The first part of this dissertation consists of two publications and deals with the prevention of postoperative delirium in elderly patients. The PAWEL study investigated the use of a multimodal, non-pharmacological intervention in the routine care of patients aged 70 years or older undergoing elective surgery. The intervention included an interdepartmental delirium prevention team, daily use of seven manualized “best practice” procedures, structured staff training on delirium, and the adaptation of the hospital environment to the patients’ needs. The second part of the dissertation used a meta-analysis to investigate whether technology-based interventions are a suitable form of support for informal caregivers of people with dementia. Subgroup analyses were conducted to examine the effect of different types of technology on caregiver burden and depressive symptoms. The following main results were found: The PAWEL study showed that the use of a multimodal, non-pharmacological intervention resulted in a significantly lower incidence rate of postoperative delirium and reduced days with delirium in the intervention group compared to the control group. However, this difference could not be observed in the group of patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery. The results of the meta-analysis showed that technology-based interventions offer a promising alternative to traditional “face-to-face” services. Significant effect sizes could be found in relation to both the burden and the depressive symptoms of caregiving relatives. These results provide further important information on the significant impact of non-pharmacological interventions that modify environmental factors on mental health, and support the consideration of such interventions in the prevention and treatment of mental disorders in both older patients and their caregivers.
Afropolitan Encounters
(2022)
Afropolitan Encounters: Literature and Activism in London and Berlin explores what Afropolitanism does. Mobile people of African descent use this term to address their own lived realities creatively, which often includes countering stereotypical notions of being African. Afropolitan practices are enormously heterogeneous and malleable, which constitutes its strengths and, at the same time, creates tensions.
This book traces the theoretical beginnings of Afropolitanism and moves on to explore Afropolitan practices in London and Berlin. Afropolitanism can take different forms, such as that of an identity, a political and ethical stance, a dead–end road, networks, a collective self–care practice or a strategic label. In spite of the harsh criticism, Afropolitanism is attractive for people to deal with the meanings of Africa and Africanness, questions of belonging, equal rights and opportunities.
While not a unitary project, the vast variety of Afropolitan practices provide approaches to contemporary political problems in Europe and beyond. In this book, Afropolitan practices are read against the specific context of German and British colonial histories and structures of racism, the histories of Black Europeans, and contemporary right–wing resurgence in Germany and England, respectively.
The motivation for this work was the question of reliability and robustness of seismic tomography. The problem is that many earth models exist which can describe the underlying ground motion records equally well. Most algorithms for reconstructing earth models provide a solution, but rarely quantify their variability. If there is no way to verify the imaged structures, an interpretation is hardly reliable. The initial idea was to explore the space of equivalent earth models using Bayesian inference. However, it quickly became apparent that the rigorous quantification of tomographic uncertainties could not be accomplished within the scope of a dissertation.
In order to maintain the fundamental concept of statistical inference, less complex problems from the geosciences are treated instead. This dissertation aims to anchor Bayesian inference more deeply in the geosciences and to transfer knowledge from applied mathematics. The underlying idea is to use well-known methods and techniques from statistics to quantify the uncertainties of inverse problems in the geosciences. This work is divided into three parts:
Part I introduces the necessary mathematics and should be understood as a kind of toolbox. With a physical application in mind, this section provides a compact summary of all methods and techniques used. The introduction of Bayesian inference makes the beginning. Then, as a special case, the focus is on regression with Gaussian processes under linear transformations. The chapters on the derivation of covariance functions and the approximation of non-linearities are discussed in more detail.
Part II presents two proof of concept studies in the field of seismology. The aim is to present the conceptual application of the introduced methods and techniques with moderate complexity. The example about traveltime tomography applies the approximation of non-linear relationships. The derivation of a covariance function using the wave equation is shown in the example of a damped vibrating string. With these two synthetic applications, a consistent concept for the quantification of modeling uncertainties has been developed.
Part III presents the reconstruction of the Earth's archeomagnetic field. This application uses the whole toolbox presented in Part I and is correspondingly complex. The modeling of the past 1000 years is based on real data and reliably quantifies the spatial modeling uncertainties. The statistical model presented is widely used and is under active development.
The three applications mentioned are intentionally kept flexible to allow transferability to similar problems. The entire work focuses on the non-uniqueness of inverse problems in the geosciences. It is intended to be of relevance to those interested in the concepts of Bayesian inference.
Despite the positive effects of including patients’ preferences into therapy on psychotherapy outcomes, there are still few thoroughly validated assessment tools at hand. We translated the 18-item Cooper-Norcross Inventory of Preferences (C-NIP) into German and aimed at replicating its factor structure. Further, we investigated the reliability of the questionnaire and its convergence with trait measures. A heterogeneous sample of N = 969 participants took part in our online survey. Performing ESEM models, we found acceptable model fit for a four-factor structure similar to the original factor structure. Furthermore, we propose an alternative model following the adjustment of single items. The German C-NIP showed acceptable to good reliability, as well as small correlations with Big-Five personality traits, trait and attachment anxiety, locus of control, and temporal focus. However, we recommend further replication of the factor structure and further validation of the C-NIP.
Despite the positive effects of including patients’ preferences into therapy on psychotherapy outcomes, there are still few thoroughly validated assessment tools at hand. We translated the 18-item Cooper-Norcross Inventory of Preferences (C-NIP) into German and aimed at replicating its factor structure. Further, we investigated the reliability of the questionnaire and its convergence with trait measures. A heterogeneous sample of N = 969 participants took part in our online survey. Performing ESEM models, we found acceptable model fit for a four-factor structure similar to the original factor structure. Furthermore, we propose an alternative model following the adjustment of single items. The German C-NIP showed acceptable to good reliability, as well as small correlations with Big-Five personality traits, trait and attachment anxiety, locus of control, and temporal focus. However, we recommend further replication of the factor structure and further validation of the C-NIP.
The reduction in cost and increasing benefits of 3D printing technologies suggest the potential for printing dental prosthetics. However, although 3D printing technologies seem to be promising, their implementation in practice is complicated. To identify and rank the greatest implementation challenges of 3D printing in dental practices, the present study surveys dentists, dental technicians, and 3D printing companies using a ranking-type Delphi study. Our findings imply that a lack of knowledge is the most crucial obstacle to the implementation of 3D printing technologies. The high training effort of staff and the favoring of conventional methods, such as milling, are ranked as the second and third most relevant factors. Investment costs ranked in seventh place, whereas the lack of manufacturing facilities and the obstacle of print duration ranked below average. An inclusive implementation of additive manufacturing could be achieved primarily through the education of dentists and other staff in dental practices. In this manner, production may be managed internally, and the implementation speed may be increased.
The reduction in cost and increasing benefits of 3D printing technologies suggest the potential for printing dental prosthetics. However, although 3D printing technologies seem to be promising, their implementation in practice is complicated. To identify and rank the greatest implementation challenges of 3D printing in dental practices, the present study surveys dentists, dental technicians, and 3D printing companies using a ranking-type Delphi study. Our findings imply that a lack of knowledge is the most crucial obstacle to the implementation of 3D printing technologies. The high training effort of staff and the favoring of conventional methods, such as milling, are ranked as the second and third most relevant factors. Investment costs ranked in seventh place, whereas the lack of manufacturing facilities and the obstacle of print duration ranked below average. An inclusive implementation of additive manufacturing could be achieved primarily through the education of dentists and other staff in dental practices. In this manner, production may be managed internally, and the implementation speed may be increased.
Das vorliegende Werk stellt sich anhand einer longitudinal angelegten Fallstudie einem Forschungsdesiderat: der mehrsprachigen Erwerbskonstellation Kurmancî-Kurdisch und Deutsch. Über einen Zeitraum von etwa acht Monaten werden die Sprachentwicklung und Sprachkompetenz von sechs Kindern im Vorschulalter in Kurmancî-Kurdisch und in Deutsch mit diversen Instrumenten erfasst und analysiert, wobei auch die weiteren Sprachen der Studienkinder sorgfältig herausarbeitet und im Zusammenhang mit ihren ersten beiden Sprachen erläutert werden. Die Studie setzt sich auch mit dem Einfluss der Familiensprachpraxis auf die Sprachentwicklung und Sprachkompetenz auseinander. In diesem Zusammenhang wird außerdem die Rolle der bislang einmaligen bilingualen kurdisch-deutschen Kindertagesstätte Pîya mit in die Analyse einbezogen. Entsprechend vielfältig und vielsichtig sind die Ergebnisse dieser Studie.
Digitale Medien sind aus unserem Alltag kaum noch wegzudenken. Einer der zentralsten Bereiche für unsere Gesellschaft, die schulische Bildung, darf hier nicht hintanstehen. Wann immer der Einsatz digital unterstützter Tools pädagogisch sinnvoll ist, muss dieser in einem sicheren Rahmen ermöglicht werden können. Die HPI Schul-Cloud ist dieser Vision gefolgt, die vom Nationalen IT-Gipfel 2016 angestoßen wurde und dem Bericht vorangestellt ist – gefolgt. Sie hat sich in den vergangenen fünf Jahren vom Pilotprojekt zur unverzichtbaren IT-Infrastruktur für zahlreiche Schulen entwickelt. Während der Corona-Pandemie hat sie für viele Tausend Schulen wichtige Unterstützung bei der Umsetzung ihres Bildungsauftrags geboten. Das Ziel, eine zukunftssichere und datenschutzkonforme Infrastruktur zur digitalen Unterstützung des Unterrichts zur Verfügung zu stellen, hat sie damit mehr als erreicht. Aktuell greifen rund 1,4 Millionen Lehrkräfte und Schülerinnen und Schüler bundesweit und an den deutschen Auslandsschulen auf die HPI Schul-Cloud zu.
Erklärungen im Widerstreit
(2022)
Das vorliegende Buch ist der Versuch einer etwas anderen Systematik der Stoffvermittlung, bei der die Vorgehensweise der Bearbeitung eines Strafrechtsfalles die Funktion des leitenden und strukturierenden roten Fadens hat. Die Fülle des strafrechtlichen Stoffes wird hier nicht streng nach AT und BT gegliedert, sondern danach, an welcher Stelle im Prozess der Bearbeitung eines Strafrechtsfalles etwas zum Tragen kommt. Daher sollte die Arbeit mit dem Buch den nicht zu unterschätzenden Nebeneffekt haben, mit der Vermehrung und Verfestigung des Strafrechtswissens zugleich den Rhythmus der strafrechtlichen Fallbearbeitung zu verinnerlichen. Von einem Lehrbuch unterscheidet sich das vorliegende Werk noch in einem zweiten Punkt, der gerade in der heißen Examensvorbereitungsphase von nicht zu unterschätzender Bedeutung ist: der behandelte Stoff wird begrenzt durch die Vorgaben der Juristenausbildungsordnungen der Bundesländer, die sich in dieser Hinsicht jedenfalls im Kern nur unwesentlich unterscheiden. Was nicht prüfungsrelevant ist, bleibt außen vor. Vor allem aus dem Besonderen Teil werden daher manche Tatbestände überhaupt nicht angesprochen, weil sie in allen oder den meisten Bundesländern nicht zum Prüfungsstoff gehören.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of moderate intensity, low volume (MILV) vs. low intensity, high volume (LIHV) strength training on sport-specific performance, measures of muscular fitness, and skeletal muscle mass in young kayakers and canoeists.
Methods: Semi-elite young kayakers and canoeists (N = 40, 13 ± 0.8 years, 11 girls) performed either MILV (70–80% 1-RM, 6–12 repetitions per set) or LIHV (30–40% 1-RM, 60–120 repetitions per set) strength training for one season. Linear mixed-effects models were used to compare effects of training condition on changes over time in 250 and 2,000 m time trials, handgrip strength, underhand shot throw, average bench pull power over 2 min, and skeletal muscle mass. Both between- and within-subject designs were used for analysis. An alpha of 0.05 was used to determine statistical significance.
Results: Between- and within-subject analyses showed that monthly changes were greater in LIHV vs. MILV for the 2,000 m time trial (between: 9.16 s, SE = 2.70, p < 0.01; within: 2,000 m: 13.90 s, SE = 5.02, p = 0.01) and bench pull average power (between: 0.021 W⋅kg–1, SE = 0.008, p = 0.02; within: 0.010 W⋅kg–1, SE = 0.009, p > 0.05). Training conditions did not affect other outcomes.
Conclusion: Young sprint kayakers and canoeists benefit from LIHV more than MILV strength training in terms of 2,000 m performance and muscular endurance (i.e., 2 min bench pull power).
Strange New Worlds
(2022)
The Indo-Pacific is fast becoming the main arena for great power competition. After explaining the regional power hierarchy, the paper describes how the EU defines like-mindedness as an explicit partnership category in the Indo-Pacific and which of the countries qualify. Finally, the paper also examines the structural problems the EU faces when projecting power into a faraway region such as this one. The paper argues that for China’s rise to remain peaceful and in the absence of fully regional security arrangements, other Asian actors are increasingly looking for new regional structures that combine elements of cooperation, competition and containment vis-à-vis China - including a more pronounced EU role in the region.
Transnational Lawmaking Coalitions is the first comprehensive analysis of the role and impact of informal collaborations in the UN human rights treaty bodies. Issues as central to international human rights as the right to water, abortion, torture, and hate speech are often only clarified through the instrument of treaty interpretations. This book dives beneath the surface of the formal access, procedures, and actors of the UN treaty body system to reveal how the experts and external collaborators play a key role in the development of human rights. Nina Reiners introduces the concept of 'Transnational Lawmaking Coalitions' within a novel theoretical framework and draws on a number of detailed case studies and original data. This study makes a significant contribution to the scholarship on human rights, transnational actors, and international organizations, and contributes to broader debates in international relations and international law
This study offers a view into Buber's conception of the social role of the “person of spirit” – the individual who, in other contexts, would be called philosopher, thinker, or intellectual.A key element of the person of spirit's role, according to Buber, is the evaluation of social reality – judging the public's ability to be guided by the realm of the spirit at any given hour while responding to the challenges that this particular hour may present. The person of spirit is required to constantly mediate between “heaven” and “earth” – between the ideal and reality – even if in a particular situation the moral action which has to be taken can only be partial, and will fall short of the absolute demand of the spirit.Buber emphasizes that the influence of the spirit on reality always begins with an effort of the “person of spirit” to transform him or herself from a monological to a dialogical person. Without a dialogical affinity between the person of spirit and their community, there can be no real effect of the spirit on reality.The person of spirit is, therefore, according to Buber, fully involved in the social life of the community. Our study shows that Buber shaped this figure of the “person of spirit” by combining the model of the biblical prophet, who is sent to the people, with the model of the Hasidic leader who acts according to the principle of the “Descent of the Zaddik.” The person of spirit is required to live their life in a “Thou” relationship with their community, and is therefore frequently descending from an elevated spiritual level to the level of the people, in order to empathetically share their mundane worries, fears, and afflictions.By comparing the models of the biblical prophet and the Hassidic Zaddik to the model of the Greek prophetes and Plato's philosopher-king, we can, according to Buber, reflect on the role of the person of spirit in society in our time as well.
Under the in vivo condition, a cell is continually interacting with its surrounding microenvironment, which is composed of its neighboring cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM). These components generate and transmit the microenvironmental signals to regulate the fate and function of the target cells. Except the signals from the microenvironment, stimuli from the ambient environment, such as temperature changes, also play an important in modulating the cell behaviors, which are considered as regulators from the macroenvironment. In this regard, recapitulation of these environmental factors to steer cell function will be of crucial importance for therapeutic purposes and tissue regeneration. Although the role of a variety of environmental factors has been evaluated, it is still challenging to identify and provide the appropriate factors, which are required for optimizing the survival of cells and for ensuring effective cell functions.
Thus, in vitro recreating the environmental factors that are present in the extracellular environment would help to understand the mechanism of how cells sense and process those environmental signals. In this context, this thesis is aimed to harness these environmental parameters to guide cell responses. Here, human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and human keratinocytes (KTCs), HaCaT cells, were used to investigate the impact of signals from the microenvironment or stimuli from the macroenvironment.
Firstly, polydopamine (PDA) or chitosan (CS) modifications were applied to generate different substrate surfaces for hiPSCs and KTCs (Chapter 4 to Chapter 6). Our results showed that the PDA modification was efficient to increase the cell-substrate adhesion and consequently promoted cell spreading. While CS modification was able to decrease the cell-substrate adhesion and enhance the cell-cell interaction, which enabled the morphology shift from monolayered cells to multicellular spheroids. The quantitative result was acquired using the atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based single-cell force spectroscopy. The balance between the cell-substrate and cell-cell adhesion yielded a net force, which determined the preference of the cell to adhere to its neighboring cells or to the substrate. The difference in the adhesive behaviors further affected the cellular function, such as the proliferation and differentiation potential of both hiPSCs and HaCaT cells.
Next, the cyclic temperature changes (ΔT) were selected here to study the influence of macroenvironmental stimuli on hiPSCs and KTCs (Chapter 7 and Chapter 8). The macroenvironmental temperature ranging from 10.0 ± 0.1 °C to 37.0 ± 0.1 °C was achieved using a thermal chamber equipped with a temperature controller. This temperature range was selected to explore the responses of hiPSCs to the extreme environments, while a temperature variation between 25.0 ± 0.1 °C and 37.0 ± 0.1 °C was applied to mimic the ambient temperature variations experienced by the skin epithelial KTCs. The ΔT led to cell stiffening in both hiPSCs and HaCaT cells in a cytoskeleton-dependent manner, which was measured by AFM. Specifically, in hiPSCs, the cell stiffening was resulted from the rearrangement of the actin skeleton; in HaCaT cells, was due to the difference of the Keratin (KRT) filaments. Except for inducing cell hardening, ΔT also caused differences in the protein expression profiles in hiPSCs or HaCaT cells, compared to those without ΔT treatment, which might be attributed to the alterations in their cytoskeleton structures.
To sum up, the results of the thesis demonstrated how individual factors from the micro-/macro-environment can be harnessed to modulate the behaviors of hiPSCs and HaCaT cells. Engineering the microenvironmental cues using surface modification and exploiting the macroenvironmental stimuli through temperature control were identified as precise and potent approaches to steer hiPSC and HaCaT cell behaviors. The application of AFM served as a non-invasive and real-time monitoring platform to trace the change in cell topography and mechanics induced by the environmental signals, which provide novel insights into the cell-environment interactions.
Dynamic resource management is an essential requirement for private and public cloud computing environments. With dynamic resource management, the physical resources assignment to the cloud virtual resources depends on the actual need of the applications or the running services, which enhances the cloud physical resources utilization and reduces the offered services cost. In addition, the virtual resources can be moved across different physical resources in the cloud environment without an obvious impact on the running applications or services production. This means that the availability of the running services and applications in the cloud is independent on the hardware resources including the servers, switches and storage failures. This increases the reliability of using cloud services compared to the classical data-centers environments.
In this thesis we briefly discuss the dynamic resource management topic and then deeply focus on live migration as the definition of the compute resource dynamic management. Live migration is a commonly used and an essential feature in cloud and virtual data-centers environments. Cloud computing load balance, power saving and fault tolerance features are all dependent on live migration to optimize the virtual and physical resources usage. As we will discuss in this thesis, live migration shows many benefits to cloud and virtual data-centers environments, however the cost of live migration can not be ignored. Live migration cost includes the migration time, downtime, network overhead, power consumption increases and CPU overhead.
IT admins run virtual machines live migrations without an idea about the migration cost. So, resources bottlenecks, higher migration cost and migration failures might happen. The first problem that we discuss in this thesis is how to model the cost of the virtual machines live migration. Secondly, we investigate how to make use of machine learning techniques to help the cloud admins getting an estimation of this cost before initiating the migration for one of multiple virtual machines. Also, we discuss the optimal timing for a specific virtual machine before live migration to another server. Finally, we propose practical solutions that can be used by the cloud admins to be integrated with the cloud administration portals to answer the raised research questions above.
Our research methodology to achieve the project objectives is to propose empirical models based on using VMware test-beds with different benchmarks tools. Then we make use of the machine learning techniques to propose a prediction approach for virtual machines live migration cost. Timing optimization for live migration is also proposed in this thesis based on using the cost prediction and data-centers network utilization prediction. Live migration with persistent memory clusters is also discussed at the end of the thesis. The cost prediction and timing optimization techniques proposed in this thesis could be practically integrated with VMware vSphere cluster portal such that the IT admins can now use the cost prediction feature and timing optimization option before proceeding with a virtual machine live migration.
Testing results show that our proposed approach for VMs live migration cost prediction shows acceptable results with less than 20% prediction error and can be easily implemented and integrated with VMware vSphere as an example of a commonly used resource management portal for virtual data-centers and private cloud environments. The results show that using our proposed VMs migration timing optimization technique also could save up to 51% of migration time of the VMs migration time for memory intensive workloads and up to 27% of the migration time for network intensive workloads. This timing optimization technique can be useful for network admins to save migration time with utilizing higher network rate and higher probability of success.
At the end of this thesis, we discuss the persistent memory technology as a new trend in servers memory technology. Persistent memory modes of operation and configurations are discussed in detail to explain how live migration works between servers with different memory configuration set up. Then, we build a VMware cluster with persistent memory inside server and also with DRAM only servers to show the live migration cost difference between the VMs with DRAM only versus the VMs with persistent memory inside.
Das Führen eines Fahrzeugs wird seit jeher als ein menschengesteuerter Vorgang angesehen. Entsprechend etablierte sich in der Gesetzgebung das Dogma der menschlichen Fahrzeugführung, welches sich jedoch seit der Existenz von hoch- und vollautomatisierten Fahrerassistenzsystemen auf dem Prüfstand befindet. Der Autor nimmt sich dem in strafrechtlicher Hinsicht mit Blick auf die Führungsdelikte des StGB unter reflektierender Betrachtung der Regelungen des StVG an. Rechtlicher Ausgangspunkt ist die Auswertung der uneinheitlichen und kasuistischen Rechtsprechung zum Fahrzeugführen. Die daraus abgeleitete Notwendigkeit einer analytischen Betrachtung der Arbeitsaufgabe der Fahrzeugführung mündete schließlich in die Entwicklung eines neuen Definitionsvorschlags. Dessen Mehrwert wird anschließend an der Strafrechtsdogmatik, insbesondere am Eigenhändigkeitsdogma und der unechten Unterlassungsstrafbarkeit, gemessen und durch die Bezugnahme von sog. Use-Cases des automatisierten Fahrens verdeutlicht.
The world energy consumption has constantly increased every year due to economic development and population growth. This inevitably caused vast amount of CO2 emission, and the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere keeps increasing with economic growth. To reduce CO2 emission, various methods have been developed but there are still many bottlenecks to be solved. Solvents easily absorbing CO2 such as monoethanol-amine (MEA) and diethanolamine, for example, have limitations of solvent loss, amine degradation, vulnerability to heat and toxicity, and the high cost of regeneration which is especially caused due to chemisorption process. Though some of these drawbacks can be compensated through physisorption with zeolites and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) by displaying significant adsorption selectivity and capacity even in ambient conditions, limitations for these materials still exist. Zeolites demand relatively high regeneration energy and have limited adsorption kinetics due to the exceptionally narrow pore structure. MOFs have low stability against heat and moisture and high manufacturing cost.
Nanoporous carbons have recently received attention as an attractive functional porous material due to their unique properties. These materials are crucial in many applications of modern science and industry such as water and air purification, catalysis, gas separation, and energy storage/conversion due to their high chemical and thermal stability, and in particular electronic conductivity in combination with high specific surface areas. Nanoporous carbons can be used to adsorb environmental pollutants or small gas molecules such as CO2 and to power electrochemical energy storage devices such as batteries and fuel cells. In all fields, their pore structure or electrical properties can be modified depending on their purposes.
This thesis provides an in-depth look at novel nanoporous carbons from the synthetic and the application point of view. The interplay between pore structure, atomic construction, and the adsorption properties of nanoporous carbon materials are investigated. Novel nanoporous carbon materials are synthesized by using simple precursor molecules containing heteroatoms through a facile
templating method. The affinity, and in turn the adsorption capacity, of carbon materials toward polar gas molecules (CO2 and H2O) is enhanced by the modification of their chemical construction. It is also shown that these properties are important in electrochemical energy storage, here especially for supercapacitors with aqueous electrolytes which are basically based on the physisorption of ions on carbon surfaces. This shows that nanoporous carbons can be a “functional” material with specific physical or chemical interactions with guest species just like zeolites and MOFs.
The synthesis of sp2-conjugated materials with high heteroatom content from a mixture of citrazinic acid and melamine in which heteroatoms are already bonded in specific motives is illustrated. By controlling the removal procedure of the salt-template and the condensation temperature, the role of salts in the formation of porosity and as coordination sites for the stabilization of heteroatoms is proven. A high amount of nitrogen of up to 20 wt. %, oxygen contents of up to 19 wt.%, and a high CO2/N2 selectivity with maximum CO2 uptake at 273 K of 5.31 mmol g–1 are achieved. Besides, the further controlled thermal condensation of precursor molecules and advanced functional properties on applications of the synthesized porous carbons are described. The materials have different porosity and atomic construction exhibiting a high nitrogen content up to 25 wt. % as well as a high porosity with a specific surface area of more than 1800 m2 g−1, and a high performance in selective CO2 gas adsorption of 62.7. These pore structure as well as properties of surface affect to water adsorption with a remarkably high Qst of over 100 kJ mol−1 even higher than that of zeolites or CaCl2 well known as adsorbents. In addition to that, the pore structure of HAT-CN-derived carbon materials during condensation in vacuum is fundamentally understood which is essential to maximize the utilization of porous system in materials showing significant difference in their pore volume of 0.5 cm3 g−1 and 0.25 cm3 g−1 without and with vacuum, respectively.
The molecular designs of heteroatom containing porous carbon derived from abundant and simple molecules are introduced in the presented thesis. Abundant precursors that already containing high amount of nitrogen or oxygen are beneficial to achieve enhanced interaction with adsorptives. The physical and chemical properties of these heteroatom-doped porous carbons are affected by mainly two parameters, that is, the porosity from the pore structure and the polarity from the atomic composition on the surface. In other words, controlling the porosity as well as the polarity of the carbon materials is studied to understand interactions with different guest species which is a fundamental knowledge for the utilization on various applications.
Novel algorithms for prediction of protein complexes from protein-protein interacton networks
(2022)
Für ein besseres Miteinander
(2022)
We provide the first estimates of the impact of managers’ risk preferences on their training allocation decisions. Our conceptual framework links managers’ risk preferences to firms’ training decisions through the bonuses they expect to receive. Risk-averse managers are expected to select workers with low turnover risk and invest in specific rather than general training. Empirical evidence supporting these predictions is provided using a novel vignette study embedded in a nationally representative survey of firm managers. Risk-tolerant and risk-averse decision makers have significantly different training preferences. Risk aversion results in increased sensitivity to turnover risk. Managers who are risk-averse offer significantly less general training and, in some cases, are more reluctant to train workers with a history of job mobility. All managers, irrespective of their risk preferences, are sensitive to the investment risk associated with training, avoiding training that is more costly or targets those with less occupational expertise or nearing retirement. This suggests the risks of training are primarily due to the risk that trained workers will leave the firm (turnover risk) rather than the risk that the benefits of training do not outweigh the costs (investment risk).
Is Vienna still a just city?
(2022)
The negative impact of crude oil on the environment has led to a necessary transition toward alternative, renewable, and sustainable resources. In this regard, lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) is a promising renewable and sustainable alternative to crude oil for the production of fine chemicals and fuels in a so-called biorefinery process. LCB is composed of polysaccharides (cellulose and hemicellulose), as well as aromatics (lignin). The development of a sustainable and economically advantageous biorefinery depends on the complete and efficient valorization of all components. Therefore, in the new generation of biorefinery, the so-called biorefinery of type III, the LCB feedstocks are selectively deconstructed and catalytically transformed into platform chemicals. For this purpose, the development of highly stable and efficient catalysts is crucial for progress toward viability in biorefinery. Furthermore, a modern and integrated biorefinery relies on process and reactor design, toward more efficient and cost-effective methodologies that minimize waste. In this context, the usage of continuous flow systems has the potential to provide safe, sustainable, and innovative transformations with simple process integration and scalability for biorefinery schemes.
This thesis addresses three main challenges for future biorefinery: catalyst synthesis, waste feedstock valorization, and usage of continuous flow technology. Firstly, a cheap, scalable, and sustainable approach is presented for the synthesis of an efficient and stable 35 wt.-% Ni catalyst on highly porous nitrogen-doped carbon support (35Ni/NDC) in pellet shape. Initially, the performance of this catalyst was evaluated for the aqueous phase hydrogenation of LCB-derived compounds such as glucose, xylose, and vanillin in continuous flow systems. The 35Ni/NDC catalyst exhibited high catalytic performances in three tested hydrogenation reactions, i.e., sorbitol, xylitol, and 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol with yields of 82 mol%, 62 mol%, and 100 mol% respectively. In addition, the 35Ni/NDC catalyst exhibited remarkable stability over a long time on stream in continuous flow (40 h). Furthermore, the 35Ni/NDC catalyst was combined with commercially available Beta zeolite in a dual–column integrated process for isosorbide production from glucose (yield 83 mol%).
Finally, 35Ni/NDC was applied for the valorization of industrial waste products, namely sodium lignosulfonate (LS) and beech wood sawdust (BWS) in continuous flow systems. The LS depolymerization was conducted combining solvothermal fragmentation of water/alcohol mixtures (i.e.,methanol/water and ethanol/water) with catalytic hydrogenolysis/hydrogenation (SHF). The depolymerization was found to occur thermally in absence of catalyst with a tunable molecular weight according to temperature. Furthermore, the SHF generated an optimized cumulative yield of lignin-derived phenolic monomers of 42 mg gLS-1. Similarly, a solvothermal and reductive catalytic fragmentation (SF-RCF) of BWS was conducted using MeOH and MeTHF as a solvent. In this case, the optimized total lignin-derived phenolic monomers yield was found of 247 mg gKL-1.
Mundart und Umgangssprache
(2022)
Fünf gegen einen Atomkrieg
(2022)
In the automotive industry, suppliers from the consumer electronics and high-tech industry are becoming increasingly relevant, for example in the context of automated vehicles. The carmakers’ purchasing organizations need to understand the power constellation in negotiations with these new suppliers, since negotiating power is the greatest lever for influencing the outcome of negotiations. This study analyzes the importance of organizational sources of power and their interplay with the products’ degree of innovation.
Kontrafaktik der Gegenwart
(2022)
Nicht-realistisches Erzählen ist hochpopulär, wurde aber häufig des politischen Eskapismus verdächtigt. Diese Studie bietet einen fiktionstheoretischen Zugang zum Erzählverfahren der Kontrafaktik und zeigt dessen Nähe zum politischen Schreiben auf. Analysen kontrafaktischer Werke von Christian Kracht, Kathrin Röggla, Juli Zeh und Leif Randt demonstrieren die Vielfalt und Relevanz politischer Realitätsvariationen in der Gegenwartsliteratur.
Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) moves atmospheric carbon to geological or land-based sinks. In a first-best setting, the optimal use of CDR is achieved by a removal subsidy that equals the optimal carbon tax and marginal damages. We derive second-best subsidies for CDR when no global carbon price exists but a national government implements a unilateral climate policy. We find that the optimal carbon tax differs from an optimal CDR subsidy because of carbon leakage, terms-of-trade and fossil resource rent dynamics. First, the optimal removal subsidy tends to be larger than the carbon tax because of lower supply-side leakage on fossil resource markets. Second, terms-of-trade effects exacerbate this wedge for net resource exporters, implying even larger removal subsidies. Third, the optimal removal subsidy may fall below the carbon tax for resource-poor countries when marginal environmental damages are small.
Objective: The behaviors of endothelial cells or mesenchymal stem cells are remarkably influenced by the mechanical properties of their surrounding microenvironments. Here, electrospun fiber meshes containing various mechanical characteristics were developed from polyetheresterurethane (PEEU) copolymers. The goal of this study was to explore how fiber mesh stiffness affected endothelial cell shape, growth, migration, and angiogenic potential of endothelial cells. Furthermore, the effects of the E-modulus of fiber meshes on human adipose-derived stem cells (hADSCs) osteogenic potential was investigated.
Methods: Polyesteretherurethane (PEEU) polymers with various poly(p-dioxanone) (PPDO) to poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) weight percentages (40 wt.%, 50 wt.%, 60 wt.%, and 70 wt.%) were synthesized, termed PEEU40, PEEU50, PEEU60, and PEEU70, accordingly. The electrospinning method was used for the preparation of PEEU fiber meshes. The effects of PEEU fiber meshes with varying elasticities on the human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) shape, growth, migration and angiogenic potential were characterized. To determine how the E-modulus of fiber meshes affects the osteogenic potential of hADSCs, the cellular and nuclear morphologies and osteogenic differentiation abilities were evaluated.
Results: With the increasing stiffness of PEEU fiber meshes, the aspect ratios of HUVECs cultivated on PEEU materials increased. HUVECs cultivated on high stiffness fiber meshes (4.5 ± 0.8 MPa) displayed a considerably greater proliferation rate and migratory velocity, in addition demonstrating increased tube formation capability, compared with those of the cells cultivated on lower stiffness fiber meshes (2.6 ± 0.8 MPa). Furthermore, in comparison to those cultivated on lower stiffness fiber meshes, hADSCs adhered to the highest stiffness fiber meshes PEEU70 had an elongated shape. The hADSCs grown on the softer PEEU40 fiber meshes showed a reduced nuclear aspect ratio (width to height) than those cultivated on the stiffer fiber meshes. Culturing hADSCs on stiffer fibers improved their osteogenic differentiation potential. Compared with cells cultured on PEEU40, osteocalcin expression and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity increased by 73 ± 10% and 43 ± 16%, respectively, in cells cultured on PEEU70.
Conclusion: The mechanical characteristics of the substrate are crucial in the modulation of cell behaviors. These findings indicate that adjusting the elasticity of fiber meshes might be a useful method for controlling the blood vessels development and regeneration. Furthermore, the mechanical characteristics of PEEU fiber meshes might be modified to control the osteogenic potential of hADSCs.
While estimated numbers of past and future climate migrants are alarming, the growing empirical evidence suggests that the association between adverse climate-related events and migration is not universally positive. This dissertation seeks to advance our understanding of when and how climate migration emerges by analyzing heterogeneous climatic influences on migration in low- and middle-income countries. To this end, it draws on established economic theories of migration, datasets from physical and social sciences, causal inference techniques and approaches from systematic literature review. In three of its five chapters, I estimate causal effects of processes of climate change on inequality and migration in India and Sub-Saharan Africa. By employing interaction terms and by analyzing sub-samples of data, I explore how these relationships differ for various segments of the population. In the remaining two chapters, I present two systematic literature reviews. First, I undertake a comprehensive meta-regression analysis of the econometric climate migration literature to summarize general climate migration patterns and explain the conflicting findings. Second, motivated by the broad range of approaches in the field, I examine the literature from a methodological perspective to provide best practice guidelines for studying climate migration empirically. Overall, the evidence from this dissertation shows that climatic influences on human migration are highly heterogeneous. Whether adverse climate-related impacts materialize in migration depends on the socio-economic characteristics of the individual households, such as wealth, level of education, agricultural dependence or access to adaptation technologies and insurance. For instance, I show that while adverse climatic shocks are generally associated with an increase in migration in rural India, they reduce migration in the agricultural context of Sub-Saharan Africa, where the average wealth levels are much lower so that households largely cannot afford the upfront costs of moving. I find that unlike local climatic shocks which primarily enhance internal migration to cities and hence accelerate urbanization, shocks transmitted via agricultural producer prices increase migration to neighboring countries, likely due to the simultaneous decrease in real income in nearby urban areas. These findings advance our current understanding by showing when and how economic agents respond to climatic events, thus providing explicit contexts and mechanisms of climate change effects on migration in the future. The resulting collection of findings can guide policy interventions to avoid or mitigate any present and future welfare losses from climate change-related migration choices.
Vienna
(2022)
This book explores and debates the urban transformations that have taken place in Vienna over the past 30 years and their consequences in policy fields such as labour and housing, political and social participation and the environment. Historically, European cities have been characterised by a strong association between social cohesion, quality of life, economic ambition and a robust State. Vienna is an excellent example for that. In more recent years, however, cities were pressured to change policy principles and mechanisms in the context of demographic shifts, post-industrial transformations and welfare recalibration which have led to worsened social conditions in many cities. Each chapter in this volume discusses Vienna's responses to these pressures in key policy arenas, looking at outcomes from the context-specific local arrangements. Against a theoretical framework debating the European city as a model of inclusion and social justice, authors explore the local capacity to innovate urban policies and to address new social risks, while paying attention to potential trade-offs.
The book questions and assesses the city's resilience using time series and an institutional analysis of four key dimensions that characterise the European city model within the context of post-industrial transition: redistribution, recognition, representation and sustainability. It offers a multiscalar perspective of urban governance through labour, housing, participatory and environmental policies, bringing together different levels and public policy types.
Vermögen vererben
(2022)
Die politische Regulierung der Vermögensweitergabe und individuelle Erbregelungen in der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts.
Das Vererben von Vermögen stabilisiert die Gesellschaftsordnung. Erbregelungen können soziale Ungleichheitsverhältnisse in die Zukunft fortschreiben oder zu Enttäuschungen übergangener Familienmitglieder führen. Da das Vererben soziale Gerechtigkeits- und Familienvorstellungen berührt, ist seine Regulierung politisch höchst umstritten. Obwohl die jährlich vererbten Vermögen in den letzten Jahren immer neue Rekordhöhen erreichten, ist die Vorgeschichte dieser gegenwärtigen Entwicklung bisher kaum erforscht.
Ronny Grundig untersucht den Wandel der Vermögensvererbung vom Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs bis zum Ende der 1980er Jahre. Er blickt auf politische Regulierungen,
die Praktiken des Vererbens und die Aneignung des Erbes durch die Hinterbliebenen. Der Autor analysiert die Steuervermeidung Vermögender sowie Konflikte zwischen Erben und Erbinnen. Ebenso zeigt er den Wandel von Paar- und Familienbeziehungen beim Vererben, die sich in den Testamenten niederschlagen und die Verteilung der hinterlassenen Vermögen beeinflussen.
Ausblick
(2022)
Einleitung
(2022)
Zionism and Cosmopolitanism
(2022)
Die Studie analysiert das brandenburgisch-preußische Gesandtschaftszeremoniell um 1700. Der Untersuchungszeitraum, von 1648 bis 1740, umfasst die Regentschaft dreier Hohenzollern, veranschaulicht vorhandene Kontinuitäten und erläutert den Einfluss einzelner Personen auf das Zeremoniell. Zugleich wird die Entwicklung des Gesandtschaftszeremoniells an sich über einen längeren Zeitraum verfolgt. Hier offenbart sich, die Vorgänge am und das Vorgehen des Berliner Hofes muten geradezu exemplarisch an. Die Hohenzollern waren Vertreter der allgemein vorherrschenden zeremoniellen Konjunkturen. In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden wiederkehrende Muster und Mechanismen des Gesandtschaftszeremoniells, sei es das Aufeinderbeziehen von Forderungen, der beständige Vergleich mit den übrigen Mächten oder die Darstellung von Abhängigkeiten, aufgezeigt. Es wird analysiert, welche Elemente einander bedingten, wie diese zusammenwirkten und welche Bestandteile häufig zu Diskussionen führten.
Transitional Justice
(2022)
This publication deals with the topic of transitional justice. In six case studies, the authors link theoretical and practical implications in order to develop some innovative approaches. Their proposals might help to deal more effectively with the transition of societies, legal orders and political systems.
Young academics from various backgrounds provide fresh insights and demonstrate the relevance of the topic. The chapters analyse transitions and conflicts in Sierra Leone, Argentina, Nicaragua, Nepal, and South Sudan as well as Germany’s colonial genocide in Namibia. Thus, the book provides the reader with new insights and contributes to the ongoing debate about transitional justice.
Modality refers to the attitudes a speaker can adopt toward the propositional content of an utterance including, among others, possibility and necessity. After introducing different theoretical perspectives on this concept, this manual presents the markers of modality (moods, modal verbs, adverbs) in Romance languages. It also addresses diachronic questions and the overlaps between modality and other grammatical categories.
Aldehyde oxidases (AOXs) (E.C. 1.2.3.1) are molybdoflavo-enzymes belonging to the xanthine oxidase (XO) family. AOXs in mammals contain one molybdenum cofactor (Moco), one flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and two [2Fe-2S] clusters, the presence of which is essential for the activity of the enzyme. Human aldehyde oxidase (hAOX1) is a cytosolic enzyme mainly expressed in the liver. hAOX1is involved in the metabolism of xenobiotics. It oxidizes aldehydes to their corresponding carboxylic acids and hydroxylates N-heterocyclic compounds. Since these functional groups are widely present in therapeutics, understanding the behaviour of hAOX1 has important implications in medicine. During the catalytic cycle of hAOX1, the substrate is oxidized at Moco and electrons are internally transferred to FAD via the FeS clusters. An electron acceptor juxtaposed to the FAD receives the electrons and re-oxidizes the enzyme for the next catalytic cycle. Molecular oxygen is the endogenous electron acceptor of hAOX1 and in doing so it is reduced and produces reactive oxygen species (ROS) including hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and superoxide (O2.-). The production of ROS has patho-physiological importance, as ROS can have a wide range of effects on cell components including the enzyme itself.
In this thesis, we have shown that hAOX1 loses its activity over multiple cycles of catalysis due to endogenous ROS production and have identified a cysteine rich motif that protects hAOX1 from the ROS damaging effects. We have also shown that a sulfido ligand, which is bound at Moco and is essential for the catalytic activity of the enzyme, is vulnerable during turnover. The ROS produced during the course of the reaction are also able to remove this sulfido ligand from Moco. ROS, in addition, oxidize particular cysteine residues. The combined effects of ROS on the sulfido ligand and on specific cysteine residues in the enzyme result in its inactivation. Furthermore, we report that small reducing agents containing reactive sulfhydryl groups, in a selective manner, inactivate some of the mammalian AOXs by modifying the sulfido ligand at Moco. The mechanism of ROS production by hAOX1 is another scope that has been investigated as part of the work in this thesis. We have shown that the ratio of type of ROS, i.e. hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and superoxide (O2.-), produced by hAOX1 is determined by a particular position on a flexible loop that locates in close proximity of FAD. The size of the cavity at the ROS producing site, i.e. the N5 position of the FAD isoalloxazine ring, kinetically affects the amount of each type of ROS generated by hAOX1. Taken together, hAOX1 is an enzyme with emerging importance in pharmacological and medical studies, not only due to its involvement in drug metabolism, but also due to ROS production which has physiological and pathological implications.
Jenseits überkommener Deutungsmuster schildert Dominik Geppert in diesem anschaulich geschriebenen Band die Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart. Er zeichnet den Weg vom Frontstaat im Kalten Krieg bis zur heutigen Macht in der Mitte Europas nach und legt dabei ein besonderes Augenmerk auf die sich verstärkt seit der Wiedervereinigung stellende Frage nach der staatlichen und gesellschaftlichen Identität Deutschlands. Gerade die Jahre nach 1989/1991 mit ihren neuen Herausforderungen finden hier eine ebenso fundierte wie manche vertrauten Narrative kritisch hinterfragende Darstellung.
Subsidizing the geographical mobility of unemployed workers may improve welfare by relaxing their financial constraints and allowing them to find jobs in more prosperous regions. We exploit regional variation in the promotion of mobility programs along administrative borders of German employment agency districts to investigate the causal effect of offering such financial incentives on the job search behavior and labor market integration of unemployed workers. We show that promoting mobility – as intended – causes job seekers to increase their search radius, apply for and accept distant jobs. At the same time, local job search is reduced with adverse consequences for reemployment and earnings. These unintended negative effects are provoked by spatial search frictions. Overall, the unconditional provision of mobility programs harms the welfare of unemployed job seekers.
Die Rechtsfigur der fehlerhaften Personengesellschaft blickt sowohl im deutschen als auch im französischen Recht auf eine lange Tradition zurück, wobei sich das deutsche Recht in seinen Anfangszeiten am französischen Vorbild orientierte. Auch mit Blick auf die heutige gesetzliche Regelung in Frankreich lohnt sich daher eine rechtsvergleichende Untersuchung der Lehre von der fehlerhaften Personengesellschaft in beiden Ländern.
Trotz der unterschiedlichen dogmatischen Herangehensweise offenbaren sich wichtige Vergleichsmöglichkeiten. Besonders bei der konstruktiven Einordnung des Phänomens von Faktizität im Zivilrecht kann sich die Perspektive des französischen Rechts als ausgesprochen fruchtbar für die deutsche Dogmatik erweisen.
Die internationale Schifffahrt erhofft sich mit der Entwicklung unbemannter Schiffe, die nur noch von Kontrollzentren an Land durch Personal überwacht werden und sonst durch Elektromotoren und Solarenergie betrieben und mit selbstlernenden Navigationsprogrammen ausgestattet weitgehend autark agieren, eine Einsparung von Transportkosten von über 20 %. Diese voranschreitende technische Entwicklung wird insbesondere das internationale Seerecht in Zukunft vor Herausforderungen stellen. Das Werk untersucht vor diesem Hintergrund primär die Kompatibilität dieser Schiffe mit dem Seerechtsübereinkommen. Zunächst wird eine Schiffsdefinition für den Vertrag entwickelt und eine Anwendung des Regelwerks auf autonome Schiffe überprüft. Dann wird auf Problemfelder wie die Einhaltung von Pflichten durch die Schiffe, die Notwendigkeit besonderer Schutzrechte vor allem in Bezug auf Zwangsmaßnahmen durch die Küstenstaaten an Bord und die Anwendbarkeit der bestehenden Piraterievorschriften auf diese Schiffe eingegangen. Weiter wirft die Arbeit die Frage auf, ob die Staatengemeinschaft, besonders mit Hinblick auf den maritimen Umweltschutz, nach dem Seerechtsübereinkommen eine Pflicht zur Förderung unbemannter Schiffe hat. Abschließend wird auf erforderliche Cyber Security Maßnahmen für diesen besonderen Schiffstyp eingegangen. Insgesamt zeigt sich nach dieser Analyse, dass das Seerechtsübereinkommen, mit überschaubaren Anpassungen, gut Anwendung auf autonome Schiffe finden kann.
Lateinische Deklamationen
(2022)
Die vorliegende Publikation bietet einen Überblick über die lateinische Deklamatorik mit einer Unterrichtsreihe für die Oberstufe im Umfang von 13 Unterrichtsstunden. Deklamationen waren im antiken Rom Übungs- und Konzertreden und bildeten Gegenstand und Ziel der höheren Bildung. Dass sie im heutigen Lateinunterricht und auch im Lateinstudium kaum behandelt werden, steht in einem deutlichen Missverhältnis zu ihrer damaligen Bedeutung. Diese Lücke zu schließen ist das Anliegen der vorliegenden Masterarbeit mit dem darin enthaltenen Schülermaterial. Bei dessen Bearbeitung werden die Schüler die thematische Vielfalt der Deklamationen kennenlernen, aber auch bemerkenswerte Parallelen zum gegenwärtigen Populismus feststellen und das Macht- und Verführungspotential von Rhetorik selbst erfahren. Das Material wurde auf der Basis der aktuellen fachwissenschaftlichen Diskussion erstellt. Der Anhang enthält zwei tabellarische Übersichten zu den Deklamationsthemen. Diese sind für eigene Fortentwicklungen der Reihe gedacht.
Turnschuhdiplomatie
(2022)
Auch wenn der Sport der DDR mit seinen Rekorden und Medaillen als eines ihrer weltweiten Aushängeschilder galt, fehlte bisher eine detaillierte Unter- suchung ihrer internationalen Sportbeziehungen. Der vorliegende Band holt dies in Form einer erstmaligen außen- und sportpolitischen Kontinentalstudie am Beispiel Afrikas nach und erörtert, welche Rolle die vielfältigen Facetten des Sports in der Afrikapolitik der DDR spielten und mit welchen Interessen diese u.a. in den Bereichen der Diplomatie, der kulturellen Auslandsarbeit, des Leistungssports oder des Außenhandels verknüpft waren. Die 610 Seiten starke Schrift beleuchtet die Zeit von 1955 bis 1990 und stützt sich dabei u.a. auf über 2200 (teils erstmals recherchierte) Quellen- und Literaturnachweise. Schwerpunkte bilden hierbei u.a. ausführliche Länder- und Regional- studien für Nordafrika (Ägypten, Algerien), Westafrika (Ghana, Mali, Guinea) sowie zu Äthiopien und Mosambik.
The COVID-19 pandemic created the largest experiment in working from home. We study how persistent telework may change energy and transport consumption and costs in Germany to assess the distributional and environmental implications when working from home will stick. Based on data from the German Microcensus and available classifications of working-from-home feasibility for different occupations, we calculate the change in energy consumption and travel to work when 15% of employees work full time from home. Our findings suggest that telework translates into an annual increase in heating energy expenditure of 110 euros per worker and a decrease in transport expenditure of 840 euros per worker. All income groups would gain from telework but high-income workers gain twice as much as low-income workers. The value of time saving is between 1.3 and 6 times greater than the savings from reduced travel costs and almost 9 times higher for high-income workers than low-income workers. The direct effects on CO₂ emissions due to reduced car commuting amount to 4.5 millions tons of CO₂, representing around 3 percent of carbon emissions in the transport sector.
Hier geblieben?
(2022)
Die historische Forschung hat seit längerem herausgearbeitet, dass Migration nichts von einer Norm Abweichendes ist, sondern vielmehr ein »konstitutives Element der Menschheitsgeschichte« (J. Oltmer), der Mensch mithin stets ein »homo migrans« (K.-J. Bade) war. Auch die Geschichte Brandenburgs wurde seit jeher von Einwanderungsprozessen geprägt. Von »Toleranz« im modernen Sinne kann freilich keine Rede sein, sondern meistens ging es um ökonomisch nutzbringende Aufnahme bestimmter Gruppen. Sehr oft waren die Ansiedlungen aber auch das Ergebnis von Flucht, Vertreibung und kriegerischer Gewalt. Der vorliegende Band zeigt anhand von Beispielen vom frühen Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart die Bedeutung der Zuwanderung für Brandenburg auf. Der Bogen reicht von der slawischen Einwanderung des 8./9. Jahrhunderts bis zur Ankunft russisch-jüdischer »Kontingentflüchtlinge« im Gefolge der deutschen Wiedervereinigung, von Niederländern, Juden, Hugenotten, Revolutionsflüchtlingen in der Frühen Neuzeit bis hin zu Muslimen, Zwangsarbeitern, Vertriebenen und DDR-»Fremdarbeitern« im 20. Jahrhundert – eine Geschichte der Vielfalt des brandenburgischen Raumes und seiner Bevölkerung im Spiegel der Zuwanderung.
Dass das Wohlergehen künftig lebender Individuen moralische Berücksichtigung verdient, ist unbestritten. Sowohl im Rahmen des öffentlichen Diskurses als auch in der akademischen Umwelt- oder Zukunftsethik wird diese Ansicht vertreten.Durch das Problem der Nicht-Identität wird sie jedoch auf empfindliche Weise in Frage gestellt: Wie kann eine Handlung wie die Verschwendung begrenzt verfügbarer Ressourcen falsch sein, wenn die faktisch davon betroffenen künftig lebenden Individuen nur durch sie in die Existenz gelangen konnten? Gilt dann nicht, dass diese Handlung für niemanden schlecht ist und keine Schädigung darstellt? Dieses Buch verfolgt das Ziel zu verdeutlichen, wie das moralische Unrecht, das künftig lebende Individuen durch Handlungen gegenwärtig lebender Akteur:innen erfahren – trotz des Faktums der Nicht-Identität – mithilfe eines nicht-personenbezogenen Prinzips identifiziert und das Problem der Nicht-Identität somit gelöst werden kann.
Moving mountains?
(2022)
Introduction
(2022)