Environmental pre-requisites and social interchange : the participation experience of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder in Zurich

Aim: Participation of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder hardly occurs in settings outside of home and school. Little is known about how their participation is influenced by environmental factors. This study explored how and why adolescents with autism spectrum disorder perceive aspects of their environment as facilitators or barriers to their participation outside of home and school. Method: This explanatory case study explored the participation experiences of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (15-21 years) from Zurich and surroundings with in-depth interviews and photo-elicitation, using photos made by the participants during activities outside of home and school. Data was analysed with a 7-step procedure. Result: The presence of two main themes seemed necessary to facilitate participation outside of home and school: "environmental prerequisites to attend activities", which consists of five subthemes, such as "the company of trusted persons" and "the provision of knowledge and information", and "social interchange and engagement", which consists of three subthemes and describes how actual involvement can be supported. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the influence of trusted persons on adolescents with autism spectrum disorder, and the need to extend the support network for these adolescents to other individuals, services and society so that their participation in activities can be encouraged. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION: Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder perceive every kind of participation outside of home and school as social. We recommend using the company of trusted persons to encourage adolescents with autism spectrum disorder to actively participate outside of home and school. Rehabilitation professionals should promote environment-based approaches to achieve participation of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. Rehabilitation professionals should actively approach, acknowledge and gently guide adolescents with autism spectrum disorder to support engagement in participation

Experimental entanglement distribution by separable states

The distribution of entanglement between macroscopically separated parties represents a crucial protocol for future quantum information networks. Surprisingly, it has been theoretically shown that two distant systems can be entangled by sending a third mediating system that is not entangled with either of them. Such a possibility seems to contradict the intuition that to distribute entanglement, the transmitted system always needs to be entangled with the sender. Here, we experimentally distribute entanglement by exchanging a subsystem and successfully prove that this subsystem is not entangled with either of the two parties. Our implementation relies on the preparation of a specific three-mode Gaussian state containing thermal noise that demolishes the entanglement in two of the three bipartite splittings. After transmission of a separable mode this noise can be removed by quantum interference. Our work demonstrates an unexpected variant of entanglement distribution and improves the understanding necessary to engineer multipartite quantum information networks.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

Heterogeneity in the Evaluation of Quality Assurance Systems: The International Food Standard (IFS) in European Agribusiness

Due to the growing demands of customers and several food crises, quality assurance schemes have become increasingly popular in agribusiness. With this trend in mind, it seems worthwhile to take a closer look at the satisfaction of participating European companies. The study focuses on the IFS, which has gained much relevance in the food industry. A questionnaire concerned with perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of the IFS was answered by 389 companies. The results indicate that the overall evaluation of the IFS is primarily affected by the perceived usefulness of the catalogue of requirements and its evaluation. Furthermore, a cluster analysis was conducted and three clusters were identified, representing heterogeneous evaluations of the IFS.evaluation, quality assurance systems, International Food Standard, agribusiness, Agribusiness, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Q10, Q13, Q18,

Effects of Progesterone and Its Antagonist Mifepristone on Progesterone Receptor A Expression in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells

Effects of female steroid hormones on endothelial cells are gaining increased importance due to several studies on the effects of hormonal treatment on cardiovascular risk. Recent data argue for an improvement of endothelium-derived relaxation and impaired vascular contraction by estradiol, whereas progesterone and testosterone might entail contrary effects. So far, gestagenic influence on endothelial cell physiology is poorly understood. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) exposed to the female sex hormones estradiol and progesterone show expression of estrogen receptor-beta (ER beta) and progesterone receptor A (PR-A), and are negative for ER alpha and PR-B. The aim of this study was to analyze the expression and stimulation of PR-A and -B in HUVECs after stimulation with progesterone and PR antagonists that are commercially available. PR-B expression or upregulation was abrogated after application of progesterone or antagonists to HUVECs. Expression of PR-A could be significantly upregulated with progesterone and mifepristone. Unexpectedly, stimulation with the progesterone antagonist RU486 (mifepristone) was accomplished by an upregulation of PR-A expression in our study. We conclude that gestagenic effects on HUVECs independent of modulators are mediated via the PR-A. Copyright (C) 2009 S. Karger AG, Base

Ein Schulprogramm demokratisch entwickeln. OSZ II - Wirtschaft und Verwaltung Potsdam, Brandenburg

Zur Profilierung als ein zukunftsorientiertes und gefragtes Oberstufenzentrum entschloss sich das OSZ II Wirtschaft und Verwaltung Potsdam, sein Schulprogramm auf demokratischer Basis zu entwickeln. Die Schule fragte alle Beteiligten nach den Stärken und Schwächen des OSZ. Auf dieser Grundlage erarbeiteten die Lehrer/-innen in einem längeren Diskussionsprozess die konkreten Ziele für ihre Schulentwicklung

Gewinnung und Identifizierung von nutzbaren Verbindungen aus den Nährlösungen und Biomassen von Mikroalgen

Mikroalgen und Cyanobakterien sind dafür bekannt, daß sie viele pharmazeutisch nutzbare Substanzen produzieren, wie zum Beispiel Carotinoide, Phycobiliproteine und essentielle Fettsäuren. Diese Verbindungen finden sich in der Biomasse. Zusätzlich sind Mikroalgen in der Lage, während ihres Wachstums Metaboliten mit biologischer Aktivität in ihre Nährlösung auszuscheiden, die ebenfalls von medizinisch-pharmazeutischen Interesse sein könnten. Im Rahmen dieser Dissertation wurden Methoden entwickelt, diese Verbindungen aus den Nährlösungen zu extrahieren, aufzutrennen, ihre Wirksamkeit gegenüber Artemia salina und gegenüber anderen Mikroalgen zu testen und, wenn möglich, ihre Struktur aufzuklären. In der Nährlösung von Nodularia harveyana wurde eine gegenüber anderen Mikroalgen wachstumsinhibitorisch wirkende Substanz entdeckt. Mit Hilfe von 1H-NMR Analysen wurde sie als das Carbolin Norharman identifiziert. In Mischkulturen von Nodularia harveyana mit anderen Mikroalgen wurde der Einfluß von Konkurrenz um Nährstoff und Licht auf die Exkretion dieses Wachstumshemmers untersucht

Measuring activities of daily living in children : validation of the German version of the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI-G)

Activities of daily living (ADL) are crucial for children with and without activity limitations because they enable them to participate in everyday life. For the evaluation of children’s ADL performance, health professionals such as occupational therapists use standardized ADL assessments, e.g. the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI). The general aim of this thesis was to evaluate evidence for the validity and the reliability of the German version of the PEDI (PEDI-G) for use in children with and without activity limitations in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. In Study I, a qualitative approach was chosen to gain knowledge about the process of translating and adapting an assessment in a review committee. Members from all three countries were recruited to represent a range of competencies and knowledge. The findings describe the adaptation of the PEDI for use in a new context as a question of striking a triple balance between (i) staying close to the original assessment while adapting the translation to the new context, (ii) making decisions and reaching consensus, (iii) catering for group dynamics while sticking to the planned schedule of the review committee. The precision (inter-rater and test-retest reliability) of the PEDI-G was examined in Study II which included children with (n=64) and without activity limitations (n=53) from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. The results of Study II demonstrate that the PEDI-G produces reliable results across raters and time points. As the test-retest reliability of the Modification Scale is overall insufficient, this scale may not be useful for measuring change. The evidence of validity of the internal structure of the PEDI-G was evaluated in children with (n=198) and without (n=64) known activity limitations in Study III. Exploratory factor analysis was used on the subscales of the Functional Skills Scale and the items of the Caregiver Assistance Scale of the six PEDI-G domains. The results of the analysis suggest that a one-factor model should be used for all six PEDI-G domains. The evidence relating to the validity of the PEDI-G was further examined with a Rasch model evaluating goodness-of fit, differential item functioning by country, and differential test functioning at item level of the Functional Skills Scale and the Caregiver Assistance Scale. Although a larger proportion of differences than expected exists at item level, this does not impact the generated individual PEDIG measure of the PEDI-G domains. In conclusion, the results of these studies contribute to the evidence for the reliability and the validity of the PEDI-G domains in evaluating ADL of children with and without activity limitations living in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Still, it remains necessary to further examine the psychometric properties of the PEDI-G within larger samples and including more details about the parents, caregivers and contexts

On Comments in Visual Languages

Visual languages based on node-link diagrams can be used to develop software and, like textual languages, offer the possibility to write explanatory comments. Which node a comment refers to is usually not made explicit, but is implicitly clear to readers through placement and content. While automatic layout algorithms can make working with diagrams more productive, they tend to destroy such implicit clues because they are not aware of them and thus do not preserve the relative placement of comments and the nodes they refer to. Implicit clues thus need to be inferred and made explicit to be taken into account by layout algorithms. This is what we call the comment attachment problem. In this paper, we improve upon a previous paper on the subject [9], introducing further heuristics that aim to describe relations between comments and nodes. Based on an analysis of comment placement in a set of example diagrams, we develop a general comment attachment framework and evaluate the quality of its inferred attachments

From competition to a sustainable raw materials diplomacy: pointers for European policymakers

German and European businesses are highly dependent on metals. Demand for these raw materials is expected to grow even further as they will be needed for the green energy and electric mobility tran­sition, digitalisation and other emerging technologies. Geopolitical developments influence security of supply. China's central role in mineral supply chains is a major factor of uncertainty in this con­text. The European Union has set ambitious sustainability targets. Implementing these in complex multi-tier metal supply chains is no easy matter, given the magnitude of environmental and human rights risks. Nevertheless, sustainability should not be sacrificed for security of supply. Instead, the European Union should pursue a strategic raw materials policy that reconciles the demands of both. The two biggest challenges in sustainability governance are: firstly, the diversity of standards and their inconsistent implementation and enforce­ment; and secondly, power asymmetries and lack of transparency along metal supply chains. A sustainable raw materials policy must seek to reduce dependency through strategic diversification and partnerships with countries that share European values. Transparency-enhancing measures and a regu­latory "smart mix" will be decisive elements. (authors's abstract