Joining institutional policy with the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Higher educational context and implementation strategies at the Universities of Lübeck and Hamburg

An article about the implementation of the concept of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) at the universities of Lübeck and Hamburg. Both universities have integrated SoTL as a central element in their teaching and learning strategies. At the University of Lübeck, SoTL is promoted through a certificate program that includes individual research and development projects. At the University of Hamburg, SoTL is an integral part of a master\u27s degree program in Higher Education. Both implementations show that it is possible to implement SoTL at the institutional level in Germany. However, systematic guidance and support are critical to the success of these efforts. (Author)Ein Artikel über die Implementierung des Konzepts des Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) an den Universitäten Lübeck und Hamburg. Beide Universitäten haben SoTL als zentrales Element in ihre Lehr- und Lernstrategien integriert. An der Universität Lübeck wird SoTL durch ein Zertifikatsprogramm gefördert, das individuelle Forschungs- und Entwicklungsprojekte umfasst. An der Universität Hamburg ist SoTL ein wesentlicher Bestandteil eines Masterstudiengangs in Higher Education. Beide Implementierungen zeigen, dass es möglich ist, SoTL auf institutioneller Ebene in Deutschland umzusetzen. Systematische Anleitung und Unterstützung sind jedoch entscheidend für den Erfolg dieser Bemühungen. (Autor

Genderintegrierte Hochschuldidaktik

Hochschullehre wird heute mit zwei Innovationen konfrontiert: zum Einen verlangt die Modularisierung des Studiums neue Lehr-Lernkonzepte, den "shift from teaching to learning". Zum Anderen wird von guter Lehre auch Gender- und Diversity-Orientierung strukturell, inhaltlich und interaktionsbezogen erwartet. Beides spiegelt sich noch kaum in der Hochschuldidaktik wider und schon gar nicht in einem integrierten hochschuldidaktischen Konzept. In dem Beitrag werden am Beispiel der Leuphana Universität Lüneburg Konzepte und Ansätze des Integrativen Genderings in der Lehre und der genderintegrierten Hochschuldidaktik vorgestellt. 29.08.2008 | Bettina Jansen-Schulz (Lüneburg

Brain-derived proteins in the CSF, do they correlate with brain pathology in CJD?

BACKGROUND: Brain derived proteins such as 14-3-3, neuron-specific enolase (NSE), S 100b, tau, phosphorylated tau and Aβ(1–42 )were found to be altered in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) patients. The pathogenic mechanisms leading to these abnormalities are not known, but a relation to rapid neuronal damage is assumed. No systematic analysis on brain-derived proteins in the CSF and neuropathological lesion profiles has been performed. METHODS: CSF protein levels of brain-derived proteins and the degree of spongiform changes, neuronal loss and gliosis in various brain areas were analyzed in 57 CJD patients. RESULTS: We observed three different patterns of CSF alteration associated with the degree of cortical and subcortical changes. NSE levels increased with lesion severity of subcortical areas. Tau and 14-3-3 levels increased with minor pathological changes, a negative correlation was observed with severity of cortical lesions. Levels of the physiological form of the prion protein (PrP(c)) and Aβ(1–42 )levels correlated negatively with cortical pathology, most clearly with temporal and occipital lesions. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the alteration of levels of brain-derived proteins in the CSF does not only reflect the degree of neuronal damage, but it is also modified by the localization on the brain pathology. Brain specific lesion patterns have to be considered when analyzing CSF neuronal proteins

ENIGMA-anxiety working group : Rationale for and organization of large-scale neuroimaging studies of anxiety disorders

Altres ajuts: Anxiety Disorders Research Network European College of Neuropsychopharmacology; Claude Leon Postdoctoral Fellowship; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation, 44541416-TRR58); EU7th Frame Work Marie Curie Actions International Staff Exchange Scheme grant 'European and South African Research Network in Anxiety Disorders' (EUSARNAD); Geestkracht programme of the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw, 10-000-1002); Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) program within the National Institute of Mental Health under the Intramural Research Program (NIMH-IRP, MH002781); National Institute of Mental Health under the Intramural Research Program (NIMH-IRP, ZIA-MH-002782); SA Medical Research Council; U.S. National Institutes of Health grants (P01 AG026572, P01 AG055367, P41 EB015922, R01 AG060610, R56 AG058854, RF1 AG051710, U54 EB020403).Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent and disabling but seem particularly tractable to investigation with translational neuroscience methodologies. Neuroimaging has informed our understanding of the neurobiology of anxiety disorders, but research has been limited by small sample sizes and low statistical power, as well as heterogenous imaging methodology. The ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group has brought together researchers from around the world, in a harmonized and coordinated effort to address these challenges and generate more robust and reproducible findings. This paper elaborates on the concepts and methods informing the work of the working group to date, and describes the initial approach of the four subgroups studying generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and specific phobia. At present, the ENIGMA-Anxiety database contains information about more than 100 unique samples, from 16 countries and 59 institutes. Future directions include examining additional imaging modalities, integrating imaging and genetic data, and collaborating with other ENIGMA working groups. The ENIGMA consortium creates synergy at the intersection of global mental health and clinical neuroscience, and the ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group extends the promise of this approach to neuroimaging research on anxiety disorders

Identification of regulatory variants associated with genetic susceptibility to meningococcal disease.

Non-coding genetic variants play an important role in driving susceptibility to complex diseases but their characterization remains challenging. Here, we employed a novel approach to interrogate the genetic risk of such polymorphisms in a more systematic way by targeting specific regulatory regions relevant for the phenotype studied. We applied this method to meningococcal disease susceptibility, using the DNA binding pattern of RELA - a NF-kB subunit, master regulator of the response to infection - under bacterial stimuli in nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. We designed a custom panel to cover these RELA binding sites and used it for targeted sequencing in cases and controls. Variant calling and association analysis were performed followed by validation of candidate polymorphisms by genotyping in three independent cohorts. We identified two new polymorphisms, rs4823231 and rs11913168, showing signs of association with meningococcal disease susceptibility. In addition, using our genomic data as well as publicly available resources, we found evidences for these SNPs to have potential regulatory effects on ATXN10 and LIF genes respectively. The variants and related candidate genes are relevant for infectious diseases and may have important contribution for meningococcal disease pathology. Finally, we described a novel genetic association approach that could be applied to other phenotypes