PHYLOGENETIC SYSTEMATICS, TAXONOMY, AND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF JELLYFISH (CNIDARIA: MEDUSOZOA)

The coastal shelf inhabiting box jellyfish (Cubozoa) represent the smallest class within Cnidaria with some 50 described species. A robust phylogenetic framework had been missing for Cubozoa. Herein, a molecular phylogeny for Cubozoa is presented. This phylogeny served as the basis for several taxonomic and nomenclatural changes in a reverse taxonomic approach, striving to align the classification scheme for Cubozoa with phylogenetic history. In addition, the revised classification led to a reevaluation of morphological characters used for the delineation and identification of species and higher taxa. This information was condensed into an illustrated taxonomic key to aid the identification of box jellyfish by non-specialists. Furthermore, the utility of ecological niche models for predicting the potential geographic distributions of box jellyfish based on correlations between species occurrences and environmental data was assessed. Since box jellyfish distributions are generally poorly documented, modeling approaches that make use of the limited data available may be of much value for making predictions about species distributions. Similarly, species distributions in the open oceans, in particular in the deep sea, are poorly understood and documented. A new approach to ecological niche and species distribution modeling in three dimensions was developed that has great potential for aiding studies of open ocean fauna. This new approach was used to derive an explicit a priori hypothesis about the population structure of a deep-sea inhabiting jellyfish species. In order to test this hypothesis and better understand the patterns of gene-flow in open ocean environments, population genomic data was used to evaluate population structure for this species on a global scale. The combined approach of ecological niche modeling and population genomics indicated that at least the species investigated here displays panmixia on a global scale

Intra firm and extra firm networks in the German knowledge economy. Economic development of German agglomerations from a relational perspective

Flows and inter-linkages between and within polycentric metropolitan regions have become a fundamental topic in regional sciences. The knowledge economy as a primary driver of spatial restructuring is forming these relations by generating knowledge within a spatially fine graded division of labor. This process drives companies to cooperate in intra firm and extra firm networks which in turn evoke patterns of interdependent spatial entities. The aim of the paper is twofold. Firstly, we analyze spatial patterns within these firm networks and secondly we combine this network approach with the development of the economic and spatial structure of German agglomerations. Inspired by formal social network analysis and spatial association statistics we apply methods to discover spatial clustering within relational data. We assume that relations between and within polycentric Mega-City Regions in Germany and its neighboring areas constitute a new form of hierarchical urban systems. Network analysis will help to detect locations of high centrality; cluster analyses of location-based data may show specific regional patterns of connectivity. We hypothesize that the position of locations within the functional urban hierarchy depends on the spatial scale of analysis: global, European, national or regional. Furthermore, we combine this relational perspective with an analysis of the economic development within these spatial entities. Here we assume that intensive interaction between functional urban areas has a high influence on their performance over time with regard to output indicators like labor, value-added and gross domestic product. Therefore we apply methods of spatial and network autocorrelation. We hypothesize that relational proximity influences economic development more intensively than effects of agglomeration and geographical proximity do.

ASSESSING PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARD ENDANGERED FRESHWATER MUSSELS

The Tippecanoe River, situated in northcentral Indiana, supports five federally endangered and one federally threatened species of freshwater mussels. Past overharvesting and present water quality degradation threaten the survivorship of these mussels. To increase awareness about the imperilment of the mussels, we are designing an outreach and education campaign. The first step of the campaign is to collect baseline data about riparian landowner attitudes toward the federally listed mussels. We surveyed 1804 landowners who own property along the Tippecanoe River. We found significant differences in attitudes among landowners based on their awareness of a conflict that occurred as a result of conservation efforts to protect the mussels. Landowner attitudes also differed significantly based on residency in or out of the town where the conflict occurred. We also found that a majority of our sample is religiously affiliated, specifically with Christian traditions. Some literature suggests that within Christian traditions, Catholics tend to exhibit more positive attitudes toward the environment. Our data do not support this claim. Instead, we found few significant differences across Catholic, Mainline Protestant, and Evangelical Protestant groups

Wat zijn of waren de kopersmotieven van de bewoners in de wijk “De Kersentuin” te Utrecht?

Het onderzoek is gedaan om een overzicht te creëren van de kopersmotieven van de bewoners in deduurzame wijk De Kersentuin. Er is onderzoek gedaan naar de kopersmotieven van de bewoners vanDe Kersentuin om deze later te vergelijken met soortgelijke duurzame projecten in Noordwolde enLeusden. Het is belangrijk om te weten waarom mensen in deze duurzame wijken gaan wonen, omdater dan rekening gehouden kan worden met de inrichting en het bouwen van nieuwe wijken. Deopdrachtgever heeft aangegeven dat zij ten behoeve van haar onderzoek informatie nodig heeft overde kopersmotieven van vastgoed in de Kersentuin te Utrecht. Naar aanleiding van deze behoefte heeftResearch&Co de volgende probleemstelling vastgesteld:Wat zijn of waren de kopersmotieven van de bewoners in de wijk “De Kersentuin” te Utrecht?Onderzoeksmethode & SteekproefBij het onderzoek is gebruik gemaakt van een kwalitatief onderzoek in combinatie met kwantitatiefonderzoek. Informatie is op verschillende manieren vanuit de praktijk verkregen. Zo zijn er schriftelijkeenquêtes in de wijk verspreid waaruit wij de meeste resultaten hebben verschaft. De populatie van ons onderzoek bestond uit alle bewoners van koopwoningen in De Kersentuin. De mogelijkheidbestond om de gehele populatie van 66 koopwoningen te enquêteren; uiteindelijk is dit uitgekomenop 70%, waar naar onze mening een zeer betrouwbaar resultaat uit voort is gekomen.Resultaten & Belangrijkste conclusies en aanbevelingen1De bewoners van de Kersentuin hebben gemiddeld een hoge leeftijd in verhouding met andere wijken.Er kan geconcludeerd worden dat een bepaalde soort gemiddeld inkomen in de wijk geenkopersmotief inhoudt. De bewoners van de Kersentuin hebben een zeer hoog opleidingsniveau. Opmerkelijk is dat vooral sociale duurzaamheid door bijna 80% van de bewoners als hoofdreden voorwonen in de Kersentuin wordt aangemerkt. Bewust leven wordt als voornaamste kopersmotiefaangemerkt voor het wonen in een duurzame wijk. Het technische duurzame aspect gaf vaak geendoorslaggevend kopersmotief. Wel is betrokkenheid bij de ontwikkeling van de wijk als kopersmotiefvastgesteld. Bewoners zijn van plan om nog lang in de wijk te blijven wonen. Aanbevolen wordt om bijnieuwe duurzame wijken de toekomstige bewoner centraal te stellen. De huidige duurzame wijken zijnvaak ontwikkeld op basis van het technisch duurzame aspect. Dit terwijl andere facetten zoals socialeenecologische duurzaamheid en betrokkenheid bij de ontwikkeling van de wijk als voornaamstekopersmotieven kunnen gelden.Studentenonderzoek in het kader van het thema Duurzaam bouwe

Agglomeration, Agglomerationsraum

Die Agglomeration ist eine Verdichtung von Unternehmen, Bevölkerung, Infrastrukturen und Interaktionsmöglichkeiten. Die Agglomeration bietet räumliche Nähe zu anderen Akteuren und schafft häufig positive Verstärkungseffekte. Durch die zunehmend wichtigere Rolle der wissensbasierten Ökonomie kommt dem Wechselspiel von räumlicher und relationaler Nähe eine immer größere Bedeutung zu. Im Ergebnis lassen sich Bedeutung und Funktion von Agglomerationen im Verhältnis zueinander besser verstehen

The Politics of Sufism and Ḥasidut in Medieval Egypt

The present article is, firstly, a review of a recent publication by Elisha Russ-Fishbane that will, secondly, seek to develop an entanglement perspective on piety in the Ayyubid age. Elisha Russ-Fishbane’s book offers the first systematic presentation of the Jewish pietist movement in late twelfth- and early thirteenth-century Egypt. It is largely based on a selection of Genizah documents, the writings of the movement’s pivotal figures, as well as a synthetic and critical discussion of the disparate remarks in previous publications. The present text will seek to summarize Russ-Fishbane’s book, discuss it in relation to other pertinent literature, and suggest some thoughts on Jewish-Muslim relations, parallels to Jewish pietism in Germany, and the book’s relevance for the perspective of entanglement

"Alte" und "neue" Medien in Deutschland - Angebot, Nutzung und Anwendung in einer räumlichen Perspektive

Die vielfältige Nutzung und Anwendung von Medien steht seit geraumer Zeit im Fokus soziologischer und medienwissenschaftlicher Forschungen. Der vorliegende Beitrag möchte einen Einblick in die Mediennutzung und -anwendungsformen aus einer räumlichen Perspektive geben. Zu diesem Zweck wird die Datenbank Media-Analyse verwendet, die detaillierte Informationen zur Anwendung von Internet, Radio, Fernsehen und Tageszeitungen sowie soziodemographische Daten liefert. Disparitäten in den Zugänglichkeiten zu neuen Medien (insbesondere Internet) zwischen städtisch und ländlich strukturierten Räumen sind weiterhin vorhanden, auch wenn in den vergangenen Jahren teilweise Konvergenzen festgestellt werden konnten. Allerdings können auch neue Trennlinien in Formen und Umgebung der Medienanwendung festgestellt werden. So weisen ländliche Räume vergleichsweise hohe Abonnentenquoten bei Tageszeitungen auf, die u.a. mit fehlenden Alternativen im Medienangebot erklärt werden können. Aber auch das Leseinteresse an regionalen Nachrichten ist bei Bewohnern ländlich geprägter Räume signifikant höher als bei Abonnenten in städtischen Räumen.The usage and application of media is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon, which was mainly explored within sociology and media sciences. This contribution tries to give an insight into usage and application of media from a spatial point of view. Therefore the database Media-Analyse is used, which provides detailed information on employment of internet, radio, TV and newspapers as well as socio-demographic aspects. Gaps in the accessibility to new media (here: internet) between urban and rural structured spaces still exist. Partly, these gaps converged in recent years and new parting lines can be detected. These lines are defi ned by the modes in which new media are applied, which in turn depend on socio-demographic and spatial aspects. Accordingly, in rural areas traditional media like newspapers are subscribed to a relatively high degree. Sparse supply and minor business competition cause these effects. Furthermore, the regional context provides explanations as well. Regional news are signifi cantly more often read in rural than in urban areas

Hymen Repair on the Arabic Internet

The permissability of hymen repair surgery is a controversial topic in Islamic contexts, as the opposing views of doctors convening at the 1987 meeting of the Islamic Organization of Medical Sciences testified. One would expect to find an even more diverse plethora of voices on the Internet, but the authors show that notwithstanding the image of the net as a decentralized medium that spurs pluralism, in practice it functions as a filter in which only a few dominant voices are heard in tremendous duplication

Evolution of Linear Mitochondrial Genomes in Medusozoan Cnidarians

In nearly all animals, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) consists of a single circular molecule that encodes several subunits of the protein complexes involved in oxidative phosphorylation as well as part of the machinery for their expression. By contrast, mtDNA in species belonging to Medusozoa (one of the two major lineages in the phylum Cnidaria) comprises one to several linear molecules. Many questions remain on the ubiquity of linear mtDNA in medusozoans and the mechanisms responsible for its evolution, replication, and transcription. To address some of these questions, we determined the sequences of nearly complete linear mtDNA from 24 species representing all four medusozoan classes: Cubozoa, Hydrozoa, Scyphozoa, and Staurozoa. All newly determined medusozoan mitochondrial genomes harbor the 17 genes typical for cnidarians and map as linear molecules with a high degree of gene order conservation relative to the anthozoans. In addition, two open reading frames (ORFs), polB and ORF314, are identified in cubozoan, schyphozoan, staurozoan, and trachyline hydrozoan mtDNA. polB belongs to the B-type DNA polymerase gene family, while the product of ORF314 may act as a terminal protein that binds telomeres. We posit that these two ORFs are remnants of a linear plasmid that invaded the mitochondrial genomes of the last common ancestor of Medusozoa and are responsible for its linearity. Hydroidolinan hydrozoans have lost the two ORFs and instead have duplicated cox1 at each end of their mitochondrial chromosome(s). Fragmentation of mtDNA occurred independently in Cubozoa and Hydridae (Hydrozoa, Hydroidolina). Our broad sampling allows us to reconstruct the evolutionary history of linear mtDNA in medusozoans