Engagiert, engagierter... Fernstudent! Die Bedeutung von Ressourcen und Engagement im Fernstudium

Das Fernstudium stellt besondere Anforderungen an die Studierenden. Es fordert eine selbstregulierte Lernstruktur sowie ein Zeitmanagement, die es erlauben, Studium, Familie und Berufstätigkeit miteinander zu vereinen. Zudem sind meist mehrere Jahre zwischen Schule und Studium vergangen. So liegt die Vermutung nahe, dass gerade bei Studierenden an einer Fernuniversität das Engagement (Bakker, Schaufeli, Leiter & Taris, 2008) besonders bedeutsam ist. Für die Betrachtung dieses Sachverhaltes wurde die Utrecht Work Engagement Scale für Studierende (UWES-S) (Schaufeli, Martinez, Pinto, Salanova & Bakker, 2002) herangezogen. Mit deren Übersetzung ins Deutsche wurde das Studienengagement Fernunistudierenden untersucht. Ferner wurde die Grundannahme des Job-Demands-Resources-Modells (JD-R) (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004; Bakker & Demerouti, 2007), dass Ressourcen einen durch Engagement vermittelten Einfluss auf den Studienerfolg besitzen (Hakanen, Schaufeli & Ahola, 2008), von uns auf den Studienkontext übertragen. Gerade für Fernstudierende interessante und relevante Ressourcen könnten z.B. die wahrgenommene allgemeine und studienkontextbezogene soziale Unterstützung, die Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung und die erlebte Autonomie bei der Einteilung des Studiums sein. In dieser Studie wurden von uns die folgenden Fragestellungen untersucht: Kann die Übersetzung und Anpassung der UWES-S für unseren Kontext als valide bezeichnet werden? Unterscheiden sich Fernstudierende von Studierenden an Präsenzuniversitäten im Engagement (unabhängig vom Alter)? Gibt es zwischen im Fernstudium relevanten Ressourcen und dem Studienerfolg einen Zusammenhang, der durch das Studienengagement vermittelt wird

Growth Over the Very Long-Run: Implications of a Specific Factors Model of Economic Development With Endogenous Technological Change

We use the two-sector specific factors model, which is known from the theory of international trade, in a growth context to describe major trends of long-run economic development. The endogenous technical progress functions establish the link between the agricultural and the manufacturing sector through the ratio of agricultural to total employment, which is determined by the savings propensities of wage-earners, landlords and capitalists, and by the investment ratio in manufacturing. Without reference to more complicated micro-based models of human capital accumulation highlighting changes in preferences of households and/ or shifts in attitudes of firms towards education, the calibrated two-sector specific factors model can replicate major historical trends and structural turnarounds

Growth Over the Very Long-Run: Implications of a Specific Factors Model of Economic Development With Endogenous Technological Change

We use the two-sector specific factors model, which is known from the theory of international trade, in a growth context to describe major trends of long-run economic development. The endogenous technical progress functions establish the link between the agricultural and the manufacturing sector through the ratio of agricultural to total employment, which is determined by the savings propensities of wage-earners, landlords and capitalists, and by the investment ratio in manufacturing. Without reference to more complicated micro-based models of human capital accumulation highlighting changes in preferences of households and/ or shifts in attitudes of firms towards education, the calibrated two-sector specific factors model can replicate major historical trends and structural turnarounds

Protocol of the VICTORIA study: personalized vitamin D supplementation for reducing or preventing fatigue and enhancing quality of life of patients with colorectal tumor - randomized intervention trial

Background!#!Cancer-related fatigue represents one major cause of reduced quality of life in cancer patients and can seriously affect the physical, emotional, and cognitive functioning impeding coping with the disease. Options for effective treatment of cancer-related fatigue are limited, consisting only of non-pharmacologic interventions like physical activity, psychosocial, and mind-body interventions. Recent evidence suggests that vitamin D!##!Methods!#!In this multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 456 colorectal cancer (CRC) patients aged 18 years and older are being recruited in three German rehabilitation clinics. Study inclusion requires hospitalization of at least 3 weeks at such a clinic, a diagnosis of non-metastatic CRC (stage I-III), surgical removal of the tumor within the past 9 months, and season-adapted vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency. Eligible patients are randomly assigned to a personalized regimen of vitamin D!##!Discussion!#!This trial tests whether a personalized vitamin D!##!Trial registration!#!European Clinical Trials Database: EudraCT-No: 2019-000502-30, January 21, 2019; German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS): DRKS00019907 , April 30, 2019

Efficacy and Safety of a Personalized Vitamin D3 Loading Dose Followed by Daily 2000 IU in Colorectal Cancer Patients with Vitamin D Insufficiency: Interim Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial

A personalized vitamin D3 loading dose has not yet been tested in cancer patients. This interim analysis of the randomized, placebo-controlled VICTORIA trial analyzed the first recruited 74 German adults with nonmetastatic colorectal cancer, a tumor surgery within the past year, and 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (25(OH)D) < 50 nmol/L. Study participants received a loading dose tailored for a baseline 25(OH)D level and BMI in the first 11 days, followed by a maintenance dose of 2000 IU of vitamin D3 daily until end of trial week 12. The mean 25(OH)D levels were 27.6, 31.0, and 34.1 nmol/L in the placebo group and 25.9, 63.1, and 75.5 nmol/L in the verum group during screening, visit 1 (end of loading dose), and visit 2 (end of maintenance dose), respectively. The prevalence of 25(OH)D) ≥ 50 nmol/L at visits 1 and 2 was 3.5% and 17.4% in the placebo group and 80.0% and 100% in the verum group. No events of 25(OH)D > 150 nmol/L or hypercalcemia were observed. Hypercalciuria events at visit 1 (n = 5 in verum and n = 1 in the placebo group; p = 0.209) receded after discontinuation of the study medication. The personalized loading dose effectively and safely increased the 25(OH)D levels, and 2000 IU of vitamin D3 daily sustained the achieved levels