Reformation, Gegenreformation und katholische Reform in Vorarlberg

Die vorliegende Arbeit will die Geschichte der Reformation, der Gegenreformation und der katholischen Reform in Vorarlberg vom 16. bis Mitte des 17. Jahrhunderts untersuchen. Die bisherige Betrachtung dieses Themengebietes erfolgte zumeist aus einer dezidiert katholischen Perspektive, die einer erneuten Durchsicht bedarf. Die Sekundärliteratur beschränkte sich dabei auf Einzeldarstellungen, die nun zur Gänze gesammelt sowie kritisch und systematisch ausgewertet wurden. Die Leitmethode ist dabei weniger eine politisch- oder sozialgeschichtliche, sondern vielmehr eine kirchengeschichtliche. Die politischen, sozialen, wirtschaftlichen und insbesondere die geistigen und kirchlich-religiösen Verhältnisse am Vorabend der Reformation werden untersucht. Ohne diese Verhältnisse lässt sich das rasche Verbreiten reformatorischer Lehren in Vorarlberg nicht verstehen. Der „Kommunalisierung des öffentlichen religiösen Lebens“, den Missständen in der Kirche und im Klerus und dem Humanismus als geistigem Nährboden kommt eine wichtige Bedeutung bei der rasanten Verbreitung der Reformation in den 1520er Jahren in Vorarlberg zu. Zahlreiche Humanisten und Reformatoren aus Vorarlberg wirkten im protestantischen Ausland, insbesondere in Wittenberg im Umkreis Luthers. Reformatorische Prediger verbreiteten reformatorische Lehren, die die Bauern und die Bürger in ganz Vorarlberg begeistert aufnahmen. Die Hoffnungen der Prediger, der Bauern und der Bürger (insbesondere in Bludenz) auf eine Reform der Kirche und auf höhere politische Selbständigkeit wurden jedoch aufgrund des energischen Einschreitens der Habsburger und der Ritter von Ems enttäuscht. Dennoch konnte eine vollständige Rekatholisierung Vorarlbergs in weiterer Folge bis ca. 1650 nicht erreicht werden, obwohl die habsburgischen Landesfürsten durch Mandate und durch verstärkte soziale Kontrollen sowie die römisch-katholische Kirche nach dem Tridentinischen Konzil durch kirchliche Gebote, Mission und verstärkte Bildungsmaßnahmen für Klerus und Bevölkerung für eine einheitliche katholische Konfession unter der Bevölkerung sorgen wollten. Insbesondere in der Täufergemeinde zu Au und in den Städten Bregenz und Feldkirch hielt sich lange Zeit der Protestantismus im Untergrund und in der Illegalität auf. Insofern kann man für Vorarlberg von der Existenz eines „Geheimprotestantismus“ sprechen. Allerdings bedarf dieses Phänomen einer weiteren auf Primärquellen gestützten Erforschung. Die vorliegende Arbeit ist als eine grundlegende Einführung zur weiteren Erforschung protestantischen Lebens in Vorarlberg zu verstehen und gibt Hinweise, auf welchem Gebiet noch eventuell Material und Antworten hierfür zu finden wären

Assessment of Early Intervention Services to Better Child Outcomes among Part C Infants and Toddlers

Background: Early intervention services have been shown to improve child outcomes. Rapid proliferation of neural connections and circuits contribute to the rapid growth of the brain in the first three years of life. These neural circuits which create the foundation for learning are most flexible in this period and become increasingly more difficult to change thereafter. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between early enrollment in Georgia’s Part C birth to three early intervention program and improved child outcome ratings upon exiting the program at 3 years of age. The study used 2013 & 2014 Annual Performance Report (APR) data. Methods: This study included 6,309 participants who enrolled and received services in the Part C, Babies Can’t Wait (BCW) program. A Pearson’s correlation analysis was used to assess if there was an association between age at enrollment and improved child outcome score. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the variances within the age groups for equality. Bonferroni post hoc test was used to compare the mean child outcome score across the enrollment age groups. Results: A statistically significant inverse correlation was found between enrollment age and improved child outcome score at 3 years of age. One-way ANOVA showed that the variances within the enrollment age groups were equal while the mean child outcome scores were not. Bonferroni post hoc test revealed that the mean child outcome score in the enrollment age group 0 to ≤ 6 months was significantly higher than the other age groups. Conclusions: Significantly better child outcomes were associated with enrollment in early intervention services before 6 months of age

The Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone system in patients with depression compared to controls – a sleep endocrine study

BACKGROUND: Hypercortisolism as a sign of hypothamamus-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis overactivity and sleep EEG changes are frequently observed in depression. Closely related to the HPA axis is the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) as 1. adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) is a common stimulus for cortisol and aldosterone, 2. cortisol release is suppressed by mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) agonists 3. angiotensin II (ATII) releases CRH and vasopressin from the hypothalamus. Furthermore renin and aldosterone secretion are synchronized to the rapid eyed movement (REM)-nonREM cycle. METHODS: Here we focus on the difference of sleep related activity of the RAAS between depressed patients and healthy controls. We studied the nocturnal plasma concentration of ACTH, cortisol, renin and aldosterone, and sleep EEG in 7 medication free patients with depression (1 male, 6 females, age: (mean +/-SD) 53.3 ± 14.4 yr.) and 7 age matched controls (2 males, 5 females, age: 54.7 ± 19.5 yr.). After one night of accommodation a polysomnography was performed between 23.00 h and 7.00 h. During examination nights blood samples were taken every 20 min between 23.00 h and 7.00 h. Area under the curve (AUC) for the hormones separated for the halves of the night (23.00 h to 3.00 h and 3.00 h to 7.00 h) were used for statistical analysis, with analysis of co variance being performed with age as a covariate. RESULTS: No differences in ACTH and renin concentrations were found. For cortisol, a trend to an increase was found in the first half of the night in patients compared to controls (p < 0.06). Aldosterone was largely increased in the first (p < 0.05) and second (p < 0.01) half of the night. Cross correlations between hormone concentrations revealed that in contrast to earlier findings, which included only male subjects, in our primarily female sample, renin and aldosterone secretion were not coupled and no difference between patients and controls could be found, suggesting a gender difference in RAAS regulation. No difference in conventional sleep EEG parameters were found in our sample. CONCLUSION: Hyperaldosteronism could be a sensitive marker for depression. Further our findings point to an altered renal mineralocorticoid sensitivity in patients with depression

The organization of tip links and stereocilia on hair cells of bird and lizard basilar papillae

Auditory papillae from three species of bird (pigeon, starling, and chick), and two species of European lizard (Podarcis murolis and Podarcis sic&) were examined by scanning electron microscopy. Hair bundles from all papillae showed tip links oriented along the direction of gradation in heights of the stereocilia (i.e. parallel to the hair-cell axis of bilateral symmetry, and so parallel to the excitato~-i~bito~ axis for m~hanotransduction). This orientation was seen irrespective of the overall orientation of the hair bundle within the papilla. The stereocilia formed columns, joined by the tip links, which ran parallel to the hair-cell axis of bilateral symmetry. The stereocilia within the same column tended to stay together, while those in different columns tended to separate during preparation, In many columns ail the stereocilia tended to be a little taller, or a little shorter, than the equivalent stereocilia in adjacent columns, suggesting that all the stereocilia within one column had been affected by a common height determinant during development. In addition, links running laterally between stereocilia were seen, in a band near the base of the stereocilia. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that tip links are a universal feature of mechano-transducing acousticolateral hair cells, and that they are involved in sensory transduction. The results also support suggestions that the tip links may play a role in determining the heights of the stereocilia during development

LA MODIFICATION DE LA COMPOSITION DU LAIT A L'ÉPOQUE DE LA PAISSON

International audienc