Key Factors of Faith Development : the Relationship Between Family and Church Factors and Faith Development of Adolescents and Young Adults in German-Speaking Europe

Problem. The church is losing its children. Research revealed that more than two thirds of the next generation leave their congregations during their teens and early 20s. Without these adolescents and young adults the church has no viable future. While the youth are able to make their way without church, the church will definitely not make its way without the youth. The problem addressed in this study is the continuing challenge for church leaders, educators, and administrators to provide the best possible conditions for spiritual and organizational growth in order to retain the next generation. Method. Observation and anecdotal evidence have suggested for a long time that the faith development of adolescents and young adults is influenced by family and church factors. But no actual study had been done to investigate whether these observations can be confirmed and generalized across German-speaking Europe. This study is based on the data gathered by Valuegenesis Europe and examines if a relationship between family and church variables and the faith development of adolescents and young adults in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland can be established. All 335 items of the original Valuegenesis Europe questionnaire were checked for applicability. Finally, 145 items were selected that resulted in 13 family variables, 14 church variables, and 7 control variables. Further, four new faith development scales were constructed and first employed as a new outcome measure for adolescents and young adults in German-speaking Europe. The sample of this study was 1,359 adolescents and young adults between 14 and 25 years of age. Seven overarching null hypotheses were tested in order to answer the seven research questions of this study. For the statistical procedures, Pearson correlation coefficient, ANOVA, multiple regression analysis, and multiple regression analysis using forward stepwise and backward stepwise procedures were used. Results. The study confirmed what anecdotal evidence already suggests: There are key factors of faith development in the area of family as well as in the area of church that influence the faith development of adolescents and young adults in German-speaking Europe. Family and church variables had the strongest relationship with the Belonging aspect of Faith Development followed by Doing and Believing. Caring always showed the weakest relationship. There are more and stronger key factors of faith development in the area of church than in the area of family. The strongest key factors in the area of family are Spiritual Life, Family Climate, and Religious Mother. The strongest key factors in the area of church are Church Activities, Youth Ministry, Importance of Church Relationships, Responsibilities and Personal Gifts, Worship Experience, Meaningful Youth Program, Thinking Climate, Spiritual Needs, and Church Warmth

Postmodern Teens and Twentysomethings in German-Speaking Europe

this article briefly summarizes the results of a pioneering study in faith development research. Based on the data gathered by Valuegenesis Europe, the study examined the relationship between family and church variables and the faith development of adolescents and young adults in Germany, austria, and Switzerland. Faith development was seen through the lenses of four new faith development dimensions: believing, belonging, caring, and doing. the article discusses the implications of this study to orient leaders to the faith development needs of the young generation in German-speaking Europe

Particulate matter (PM) 2.5 levels in ETS emissions of a Marlboro Red cigarette in comparison to the 3R4F reference cigarette under open- and closed-door condition

Introduction: Potential health damage by environmental emission of tobacco smoke (environmental tobacco smoke, ETS) has been demonstrated convincingly in numerous studies. People, especially children, are still exposed to ETS in the small space of private cars. Although major amounts of toxic compounds from ETS are likely transported into the distal lung via particulate matter (PM), few studies have quantified the amount of PM in ETS. Study aim The aim of this study was to determine the ETS-dependent concentration of PM from both a 3R4F reference cigarette (RC) as well as a Marlboro Red brand cigarette (MRC) in a small enclosed space under different conditions of ventilation to model car exposure. Method: In order to create ETS reproducibly, an emitter (ETSE) was constructed and mounted on to an outdoor telephone booth with an inner volume of 1.75 m3. Cigarettes were smoked under open- and closed-door condition to imitate different ventilation scenarios. PM2.5 concentration was quantified by a laser aerosol spectrometer (Grimm; Model 1.109), and data were adjusted for baseline values. Simultaneously indoor and outdoor climate parameters were recorded. The time of smoking was divided into the ETS generation phase (subset "emission") and a declining phase of PM concentration (subset "elimination"); measurement was terminated after 10 min. For all three time periods the average concentration of PM2.5 (Cmean-PM2.5) and the area under the PM2.5 concentration curve (AUC-PM2.5) was calculated. The maximum concentration (Cmax-PM2.5) was taken from the total interval. Results: For both cigarette types open-door ventilation reduced the AUC-PM2.5 (RC: from 59 400 +/- 14 600 to 5 550 +/- 3 900 mug*sec/m3; MRC: from 86 500 +/- 32 000 to 7 300 +/- 2 400 mug*sec/m3; p < 0.001) and Cmean-PM2.5 (RC: from 600 +/- 150 to 56 +/- 40 mug/m3, MRC from 870 +/- 320 to 75 +/- 25 mug/m3; p < 0.001) by about 90%. Cmax-PM2.5 was reduced by about 80% (RC: from 1 050 +/- 230 to 185 +/- 125 mug/m3; MRC: from 1 560 +/-500 mug/m3 to 250 +/- 85 mug/m3; p < 0.001). In the subset "emission" we identified a 78% decrease in AUC-PM2.5 (RC: from 18 600 +/- 4 600 to 4 000 +/- 2 600 mug*sec/m3; MRC: from 26 600 +/- 7 200 to 5 800 +/- 1 700 mug*sec/m3; p < 0.001) and Cmean-PM2.5 (RC: from 430 +/- 108 to 93 +/- 60 mug/m3; MRC: from 620 +/- 170 to 134 +/- 40 mug/m3; p < 0.001). In the subset "elimination" we found a reduction of about 96-98% for AUC-PM2.5 (RC: from 40 800 +/- 11 100 to 1 500 +/- 1 700 mug*sec/m3; MRC: from 58 500 +/- 25 200 to 1 400 +/- 800 mug*sec/m3; p < 0.001) and Cmean-PM2.5 (RC: from 730 +/- 200 to 27 +/- 29 mug/m3; MRC: from 1 000 +/- 450 to 26 +/- 15 mug/m3; p < 0.001). Throughout the total interval Cmax-PM2.5 of MRC was about 50% higher (1 550 +/- 500 mug/m3) compared to RC (1 050 +/- 230 mug/m3; p < 0.05). For the subset "emission" - but not for the other periods - AUC-PM2.5 for MRC was 43% higher (MRC: 26 600 +/- 7 200 mug*sec/m3; RC: 18 600 +/- 4 600 mug*sec/m3; p < 0.05) and 44% higher for Cmean-PM2.5 (MRC: 620 +/- 170 mug/m3; RC: 430 +/- 108 mug/m3; p < 0.05). Conclusion: This method allows reliable quantification of PM2.5-ETS exposure under various conditions, and may be useful for ETS risk assessment in realistic exposure situations. The findings demonstrate that open-door condition does not completely remove ETS from a defined indoor space of 1.75 m3. Because there is no safe level of ETS exposure ventilation is not adequate enough to prevent ETS exposure in confined spaces, e.g. private cars. Additionally, differences in the characteristics of cigarettes affect the amount of ETS particle emission and need to be clarified by ongoing investigations

Drei Jahrhunderte Agrarwissenschaft in Russland: von 1700 bis zur Gegenwart

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Zur Entwicklung von Containerschiffsflotten : eine Paneldatenanalyse

Diese Arbeit untersucht die regional aggregierten Containerschiffsflotten der wichtigsten Wirtschaftsräume entlang der Hauptverkehrsrouten der Seeschifffahrt. Anhand einer Paneldatenanalyse mit festen Effekten werden die positive Abhängigkeit der Containerschifffahrt von Weltwirtschaft und Welthandel quantifiziert und erklärende Variablen für die Entwicklung der Containerschifffahrt identifiziert. --

Declining rotation curves at z=2z=2 in Λ\LambdaCDM galaxy formation simulations

Selecting disk galaxies from the cosmological, hydrodynamical simulation Magneticum Pathfinder we show that almost half of our poster child disk galaxies at $z=2$ show significantly declining rotation curves and low dark matter fractions, very similar to recently reported observations. These galaxies do not show any anomalous behavior, reside in standard dark matter halos and typically grow significantly in mass until $z = 0$, where they span all morphological classes, including disk galaxies matching present day rotation curves and observed dark matter fractions. Our findings demonstrate that declining rotation curves and low dark matter fractions in rotation dominated galaxies at $z=2$ appear naturally within the $\Lambda$CDM paradigm and reflect the complex baryonic physics, which plays a role at the peak epoch of star-formation. In addition, we find some dispersion dominated galaxies at $z=2$ which host a significant gas disk and exhibit similar shaped rotation curves as the disk galaxy population, rendering it difficult to differentiate between these two populations with currently available observation techniques.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, ApJ Letters in press, www.magneticum.or

Selection Requirements to Work in Future ATM Systems

Different findings concerning staff selection requirements for future Air Traffic Management (ATM) resulting from empirical studies and expert judgement are summarised. The biggest impacts are foreseen for ATCO’s, commercial pilots, ATM technical staff and a/c maintenance staff, mainly related to advanced ATM concept features. An empirical study involving ATCOs and pilots encompassing workshops and simulations studying elements of a free flight scenario revealed significant changes in ability requirements for ATCOs and pilots. They indicate higher ability requirements for pilots in future ATM systems and only small changes for air traffic controllers. Pilot and air traffic controller profiles are likely to assimilate with regard to cognitive abilities. ‘Operational Monitoring’ is expected to become a core requirement for future ATM systems. A definition and a respective requirements analysis scale are proposed