Support for Syria's civil society - misguided and ineffective: without military action, international support will continue to be of no avail

Three-and-a-half years after the start of the peaceful protests in Syria the civil actors have been marginalised. The picture is dominated by a broad range of different militias. Few of them have a vision of Syria as a country based on pluralism and united in territorial, ethnic and denominational terms. Half of the population has fled abroad or has been displaced within the country. Millions of internal refugees are dependent on humanitarian aid. In view of the international military campaign against the group which calls itself Islamic State, the Western supporters of the opposition urgently need to review their original strategy, which focused almost entirely on promoting civilian structures. (Autorenreferat

Caught between autocracy and jihadism: Syria's Christians hope for the implementation of Geneva I

The discourse conducted by Syria's Christians since March 2011 reveals that many of them have now turned their back on the protest movement, despite their initial sympathy and even involvement with it. These Christians have not turned away out of any deeply held convictions in support of the regime, but because they are worried by the militarisation and radicalisation of the revolution, and by the fact that after three years the opposition has still not shown itself to be a credible alternative to the regime. German and European policymakers should continue working towards a political solution and avoid supporting any particular religious or ethnic groups at the expense of others, because apart from those in areas where foreign Jihadists operate, Christians in Syria are no more at risk than other Syrians. (author's abstract

Doubling your payoff: winning pain relief engages endogenous pain inhibition

When in pain, pain relief is much sought after, particularly for individuals with chronic pain. In analogy to augmentation of the hedonic experience (“liking”) of a reward by the motivation to obtain a reward (“wanting”), the seeking of pain relief in a motivated state might increase the experience of pain relief when obtained. We tested this hypothesis in a psychophysical experiment in healthy human subjects, by assessing potential pain-inhibitory effects of pain relief “won” in a wheel of fortune game compared with pain relief without winning, exploiting the fact that the mere chance of winning induces a motivated state. The results show pain-inhibitory effects of pain relief obtained by winning in behaviorally assessed pain perception and ratings of pain intensity. Further, the higher participants scored on the personality trait novelty seeking, the more pain inhibition was induced. These results provide evidence that pain relief, when obtained in a motivated state, engages endogenous pain-inhibitory systems beyond the pain reduction that underlies the relief in the first place. Consequently, such pain relief might be used to improve behavioral pain therapy, inducing a positive, perhaps self-amplifying feedback loop of reduced pain and improved functionality

The crushing of Syria's civil actors: survival of grassroots structures is crucial for country's future

The Syrian regime’s strategy of using sieges and bombardments to force rebel-held areas to surrender is bringing it closer to its goal of eliminating independent civil-society engagement and alternative governance structures. Over the past six years, civil structures – that is, non-state non-military organisations and institutions – have been established and consolidated across Syria in areas out of government control to organise local affairs and provide the most essential community services. With the international debate on Syria concentrating on local military developments and regional power struggles, Syria’s civil actors have been shifted out of focus. However, the marginalisation of these local and decentralised actors and structures represents a major risk for Syria’s future. They not only constitute the bedrock for implementing any potential political agreement on the ground, they are also crucial for providing Syrians with an alternative to so-called Islamic State (IS) and other Islamist groups, which cannot be fought successfully by military means alone. (Autorenreferat

Dysfunctional Neurotransmitter Systems in Fibromyalgia, Their Role in Central Stress Circuitry and Pharmacological Actions on These Systems

Fibromyalgia is considered a stress-related disorder, and hypo- as well as hyperactive stress systems (sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) have been found. Some observations raise doubts on the view that alterations in these stress systems are solely responsible for fibromyalgia symptoms. Cumulative evidence points at dysfunctional transmitter systems that may underlie the major symptoms of the condition. In addition, all transmitter systems found to be altered in fibromyalgia influence the body's stress systems. Since both transmitter and stress systems change during chronic stress, it is conceivable that both systems change in parallel, interact, and contribute to the phenotype of fibromyalgia. As we outline in this paper, subgroups of patients might exhibit varying degrees and types of transmitter dysfunction, explaining differences in symptomatoloy and contributing to the heterogeneity of fibromyalgia. The finding that not all fibromyalgia patients respond to the same medications, targeting dysfunctional transmitter systems, further supports this hypothesis

Relating Alpha Power and Phase to Population Firing and Hemodynamic Activity Using a Thalamo-cortical Neural Mass Model

Oscillations are ubiquitous phenomena in the animal and human brain. Among them, the alpha rhythm in human EEG is one of the most prominent examples. However, its precise mechanisms of generation are still poorly understood. It was mainly this lack of knowledge that motivated a number of simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) – functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. This approach revealed how oscillatory neuronal signatures such as the alpha rhythm are paralleled by changes of the blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal. Several such studies revealed a negative correlation between the alpha rhythm and the hemodynamic BOLD signal in visual cortex and a positive correlation in the thalamus. In this study we explore the potential generative mechanisms that lead to those observations. We use a bursting capable Stefanescu-Jirsa 3D (SJ3D) neural-mass model that reproduces a wide repertoire of prominent features of local neuronal-population dynamics. We construct a thalamo-cortical network of coupled SJ3D nodes considering excitatory and inhibitory directed connections. The model suggests that an inverse correlation between cortical multi-unit activity, i.e. the firing of neuronal populations, and narrow band local field potential oscillations in the alpha band underlies the empirically observed negative correlation between alpha-rhythm power and fMRI signal in visual cortex. Furthermore the model suggests that the interplay between tonic and bursting mode in thalamus and cortex is critical for this relation. This demonstrates how biophysically meaningful modelling can generate precise and testable hypotheses about the underpinnings of large-scale neuroimaging signals

Small-scale spatial variations of shortwave downward radiation

DWD/Meteorological Observatory Lindenberg is operating a small-scale ground- based network of measurement sites for precipitation and shortwave radiation. The area is located roughly 60 km southeast of Berlin city. 8 measurement sites are equipped with high quality instruments CM21/CM11 by Kipp & Zonen. The quality assessment routinely applied takes into account the basic astronomical and empirical considerations as well as some interdependencies like total to diffuse flux ratio and cross checking with sunshine duration. Possible shading due to growing vegetation is taken into account, too. This is complemented by an approach that is utilizing time-series of clear sky radiative transfer simulations for every site. For that purpose a link to cloud coverage obtained from Meteosat second generation geostationary satellite data, highly resolved in time and space, was established. The paper provides an overview of the surface radiation network and the current activities to improve automatic quality assessment using remotely sensed data and clear sky modelling. First evaluation efforts cover up to 12 years of data

Hilfe für Syriens Zivilgesellschaft - ineffektiv und fehlgeleitet: ohne militärische Schritte bleibt internationale Unterstützung wirkungslos

Dreieinhalb Jahre nach Beginn der friedlichen Protestbewegung in Syrien sind die zivilen Akteure marginalisiert. Das Bild wird beherrscht von Milizen unterschiedlichster Couleur. Nur wenige von ihnen haben eine Vision für ein territorial, ethnisch und konfessionell geeintes und pluralistisches Syrien. Die Hälfte der Bevölkerung ist entweder ins Ausland geflohen oder wurde im Landesinnern vertrieben. Millionen von Binnenflüchtlingen sind auf humanitäre Hilfe angewiesen. Angesichts der internationalen Militärkampagne gegen den sogenannten Islamischen Staat ist es höchste Zeit für die westlichen Unterstützer der Opposition, dass sie ihre ursprüngliche Strategie - fast nur auf die Förderung ziviler Strukturen zu setzen - ernsthaft auf den Prüfstand stellen

Zwischen Autokratie und Dschihadismus: Syriens Christen hoffen auf die Umsetzung von Genf I

Der Diskurs, den Syriens Christinnen und Christen seit März 2011 führen, lässt erkennen, dass viele von ihnen der Protestbewegung inzwischen den Rücken gekehrt haben, obwohl sie zu Beginn Sympathien für sie hegten und sich auch daran beteiligten. Diese Christinnen und Christen haben sich nicht deshalb abgekehrt, weil sie aus innerster Überzeugung hinter dem Regime stehen, sondern weil die Militarisierung und Radikalisierung der Revolution sie ebenso verunsichert hat wie die Tatsache, dass die Opposition es auch nach drei Jahren nicht geschafft hat, sich als glaubwürdige Alternative zum Regime zu präsentieren. Deutsche und europäische Politik sollte es sein, weiter auf eine politische Lösung hinzuwirken und sich davor zu hüten, einzelne religiöse oder ethnische Gruppen auf Kosten anderer zu unterstützen. Denn mit Ausnahme jener Gebiete, in denen ausländische Dschihadisten operieren, sind Christinnen und Christen in Syrien nicht stärker gefährdet als andere Syrerinnen und Syrer. (Autorenreferat