Visualisierung von Fremdsprachengrammatik

»San Gramadón« ist ein spanisches Grammatik-Nachschlagewerk für deutsche Muttersprachler. Sie versucht den autonomen Lerner interaktiv miteinzubeziehen. Die grammatischen Inhalte werden auf spielerische Weise interessant und motivierend vermittelt. Im Zentrum stehen dabei Visualisierungen und Interaktionsmöglichkeiten mittels Pop-ups. Auf diese Weise schaut sich der Lerner die Erklärungen nicht nur an, sondern wird selber aktiv – dreht, schiebt, zieht, klappt auf – und kann die Inhalte so besser verstehen und einprägen. Als Metapher für das Grammatik-Nachschlagewerk dient die Stadt. Sich in einer fremden Sprache zurechtzufinden ist wie in eine unbekannte Stadt zu kommen. Es braucht ein Orientierungssystem. In der Sprache ist dies die Grammatik, in der Stadt der Stadt- oder beispielsweise der Metroplan. So ist das Nachschlagewerk wie ein Metronetz aufgebaut, in dem jedes grammatikalische Thema eine Haltestelle symbolisiert. Der Lerner kann frei navigieren. Es gibt keine vorgesehene Abfolge, sondern er kann, wie in einer Stadt, selber entscheiden, wann er welchen Stadtteil besichtigen bzw. welche Regel er bearbeiten will. Die kleinen Lerneinheiten befinden sich auf Karteikarten, den sogenannten Haltestellen, die wiederum in einer Kartei-Box Platz finden

Die Ubiquitinierung humaner Nitrilase 1

Die Entdeckung der humanen Nitrilasen folgte aus der Charakterisierung des Tumorsuppressorproteins Fhit und des NitFhit-Fusionsproteins aus Invertebraten (Pekarsky et al., 1998). Bisher gibt es nur wenige Publikationen zur Rolle und Funktion humaner Nitrilasen. In der eigenen Arbeitsgruppe konnte gezeigt werden, dass Nitrilase 1 (Nit1) mit β-Catenin interagiert und als Repressor der -Catenin-vermittelten Transkription im kanonischen Wnt-Signalweges fungiert (Mittag et al., 2016). Der Wnt-Signalweg spielt eine wichtige Rolle in Entwicklungsprozessen und ist in einer Vielzahl von Krebserkrankungen fehlreguliert. Wie Nit1 in den Kern transloziert, ist bisher noch nicht geklärt worden. Durch posttranslationale Modifikationen (PTMs) werden Proteine nach ihrer Synthese beeinflusst. Bei der Ubiquitinierung wird das in eukaryontischen Zellen ubiquitiär vorkommende Polypeptid Ubiquitin kovalent an das Zielprotein gebunden. Diese Verknüpfung erfolgt durch eine von 3 Enzymgruppen katalysierte sequentielle Abfolge von Reaktionen (Hershko und Ciechanover, 1998; Pickart 2001). Je nachdem, wie viele und in welcher Art die Ubiquitin-Moleküle am Zielprotein gebunden sind, können die Aktivität/Funktion oder Lokalisation des Proteins durch die Ubiquitinierung beeinflusst werden. Daher sollte in dieser Arbeit untersucht werden, ob Nit1 durch Ubiquitinierung modifiziert wird und welchen Einfluss diese Modifikation auf die Lokalisation und Funktion von Nit1 hat. Ausgehend von einem positiven Befund sollten potentielle Ubiquitinierungsstellen in Nit1 identifiziert und anschließend durch ortsspezifische Mutagenese verändert werden. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit zeigen, dass humane Nit1 ubiquitiniert wird und dass das Lysin an Position 125 eine Ubiquitinierungsstelle darstellt. Als mögliche physiologische Auswirkungen dieser posttranslationalen Modifikation im Falle von Nit1 konnten eine Beeinflussung auf die Repressorfunktion im Wnt-Signalweg und eine verstärkte Kerntranslokalisation beobachtet werden

Adaptive behavior in optimal sequential search

Sequential decision making-making a decision where available options are encountered successively-is a hallmark of everyday life. Such decisions require deciding to accept or reject an alternative without knowing potential future options. Prior work focused on understanding choice behavior by developing decision models that capture human choices in such tasks. We investigated people's adaptive behavior in changing environments in light of their cognitive strategies. We present two studies in which we modified (a) outcome variance and (b) the time horizon and provide empirical evidence that people adapt to both context manipulations. Furthermore, we apply a recently developed threshold model of optimal stopping to our data to disentangle different cognitive processes involved in optimal stopping behavior. The results from Study 1 show that participants adaptively scaled the values of the sampling distribution to its variance, suggesting that the value of an option is perceived in relative rather than absolute terms. The results from Study 2 suggest that increasing the time horizon decreases the initial acceptance level, but less strongly than would be optimal. Furthermore, for longer sequences, participants more weakly adjusted this acceptance threshold over time than for shorter sequences. Further correlations between individual estimates in each condition indicate that individual differences between the participants' thresholds remain fairly stable between the conditions, pointing toward an additive effect of our manipulations

mHealth Interventions to Reduce Physical Inactivity and Sedentary Behavior in Children and Adolescents: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background: Children and adolescents increasingly do not meet physical activity (PA) recommendations. Hence, insufficient PA (IPA) and sedentary behavior (SB) among children and adolescents are relevant behavior change domains for using individualized mobile health (mHealth) interventions. Objective: This review and meta-analysis investigated the effectiveness of mHealth interventions on IPA and SB, with a special focus on the age and level of individualization. Methods: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, SPORTDiscus, and Cochrane Library were searched for randomized controlled trials published between January 2000 and March 2021. mHealth interventions for primary prevention in children and adolescents addressing behavior change related to IPA and SB were included. Included studies were compared for content characteristics and methodological quality and summarized narratively. In addition, a meta-analysis with a subsequent exploratory meta-regression examining the moderating effects of age and individualization on overall effectiveness was performed. Results: On the basis of the inclusion criteria, 1.3% (11/828) of the preliminary identified studies were included in the qualitative synthesis, and 1.2% (10/828) were included in the meta-analysis. Trials included a total of 1515 participants (mean age (11.69, SD 0.788 years; 65% male and 35% female) self-reported (3/11, 27%) or device-measured (8/11, 73%) health data on the duration of SB and IPA for an average of 9.3 (SD 5.6) weeks. Studies with high levels of individualization significantly decreased insufficient PA levels (Cohen d=0.33; 95% CI 0.08-0.58; Z=2.55; P=.01), whereas those with low levels of individualization (Cohen d=−0.06; 95% CI −0.32 to 0.20; Z=0.48; P=.63) or targeting SB (Cohen d=−0.11; 95% CI −0.01 to 0.23; Z=1.73; P=.08) indicated no overall significant effect. The heterogeneity of the studies was moderate to low, and significant subgroup differences were found between trials with high and low levels of individualization (χ$^{2}$1=4.0; P=.04; I$^{2}$=75.2%). Age as a moderator variable showed a small effect; however, the results were not significant, which might have been because of being underpowered. Conclusions: Evidence suggests that mHealth interventions for children and adolescents can foster moderate reductions in IPA but not SB. Moreover, individualized mHealth interventions to reduce IPA seem to be more effective for adolescents than for children. Although, to date, only a few mHealth studies have addressed inactive and sedentary young people, and their quality of evidence is moderate, these findings indicate the relevance of individualization on the one hand and the difficulties in reducing SB using mHealth interventions on the other

Exploring Causal Relationships Among Emotional and Topical Trajectories in Political Text Data

We explore relationships between dynamics of emotion (arousal and valence) and topical stability in political discourse in two diachronic corpora of Austrian German. In doing so, we assess interactions among emotional and topical dynamics related to political parties as well as interactions between two different domains of discourse: debates in the parliament and journalistic media. Methodologically, we employ unsupervised techniques, time-series clustering and Granger-causal modeling to detect potential interactions. We find that emotional and topical dynamics in the media are only rarely a reflex of dynamics in parliamentary discourse

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Access to Education and Social Participation in Children and Adolescents with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in Switzerland.

BACKGROUND  Two-thirds of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) have cognitive and neuropsychiatric problems. Concerning their quality of life, negative factors are the lack of qualifying education and social participation in sporting and leisure activities. Adapted assistance in education and participation in social life are thus important. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the pediatric population was less severely impacted by the disease, but by the restrictions associated. AIM  The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic regarding access to education and social participation for young patients with DMD in Switzerland. METHODS  We conducted a survey study from May to August 2021 assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to education and social participation in 8 to 18 years old patients with DMD in Switzerland. RESULTS  Of 60 sent surveys, 40 were returned and included. Mean age of participants was 13.5 years (±3.1 standard deviation); 23/40 of the participants were wheelchair bound, 21/40 attended a special school, and 19/40 a regular school. Of the 22/40 participants receiving assistance at school, 7/40 reported a change caused by the pandemic: for 5/7, the assistance was paused. Of the 12 boys and adolescents attending sporting activities, 10 had to suspend these. Nine attended other leisure activities; for 3/9, these activities were paused. CONCLUSION  The COVID-19 pandemic had direct effects on school assistance, sporting, and leisure activities in young patients with DMD in Switzerland. It is important to ensure that school assistance and leisure activities are rapidly resumed

Evaluation of hypochlorous acid as an ear flush in dogs with chronic otitis externa

BackgroundChronic otitis externa (OE) in dogs frequently requires anaesthetised ear flushing. ObjectivesTo evaluate hypochlorous acid as an ear flushing and antimicrobial agent in dogs with chronic OE. AnimalsTwenty dogs with chronic OE caused by the same organisms bilaterally. Materials and MethodsOne ear was flushed under anaesthesia with hypochlorous acid, the other with saline solution. Subsequently, the ear flushed with hypochlorous acid was cleaned with the same solution twice daily for 2 weeks, the other ear with a commercial ear cleaner. An ear medication containing miconazole, polymyxin B and prednisolone was used once daily in both ears. Clinical scores were determined before the flush. Ear cytological results were obtained, a hearing test was conducted before and after the ear flush, and a culture was taken directly after flushing. Ears were evaluated after 2 weeks of therapy. ResultsYeast was present in the ears of 11, cocci in one and a mixed infection in eight dogs. Five ears were negative on culture after flushing with hypochlorous acid, one after the saline flush. Clinical and cytological scores decreased significantly with both solutions after 2 weeks of treatment. There was no difference between treatments in any of the scores at any time point between treatments and in the results of the hearing test before and after the flushing procedure. Adverse effects were not seen. Conclusions and Clinical RelevanceHypochlorous acid is a suitable cleaning solution for canine OE