Freiheit, Freiheit, ist die einzige, die fehlt: Überlegungen zur aktuellen Definition Sozialer Arbeit

Die Neufassung der Definition Sozialer Arbeit 2014 und deren (unterschiedliche) Übersetzungen sind Anlass, um über Ziele und Methoden Sozialer Arbeit nachzudenken. Im Zentrum stehen die Begriffe der Selbstbestimmung, der Befreiung und der Freiheit. Mit Hannah Arendt wird Freiheit als Ziel Sozialer Arbeit insofern als brauchbar diskutiert, als damit nicht die reine Notabwendung, sondern die spontane Begegnung und die Einmaligkeit und Eigensinnigkeit jedes einzelnen Menschen im Fokus steht

Menschenrechte: Materialien für die Bildungsarbeit mit Jugendlichen und Erwachsenen

Was sind Menschenrechte? Wo sind sie verankert und wer schützt sie? Was hat Diskriminierung mit Menschenrechten zu tun und warum ist der Zugang zum Recht unverzichtbarer Bestandteil der Menschenrechte? Welche Menschenrechtsverletzungen erleben Menschen mit Behinderung, was steht in der UN-Kinderrechtskonvention und wo ist das Recht auf Asyl festgeschrieben? Auf diese Fragen geben die Bildungsmaterialien Antworten. Sie vermitteln Grundwissen, erklären das Menschenrechtschutzsystem der Vereinten Nationen und zeigen auf, welche Rolle Menschenrechte im Alltag spielen. Darüber hinaus beleuchten sie die Themen Schutz vor Diskriminierung, Zugang zum Recht, Behinderung und Inklusion, Kinderrechte und Partizipation sowie Flucht und Asyl. Die Materialien bestehen aus didaktischen Hinweisen zu Menschenrechtsbildung sowie sechs Modulen. Die Bildungsmaterialien können für die schulische und außerschulische Bildung genutzt werden. Sie sind für die Arbeit mit Menschen ab 15 Jahren geeignet

Ice platelets below Weddell Sea landfast sea ice

Basal melt of ice shelves may lead to an accumulation of disc-shaped ice platelets underneath nearby sea ice, to form a sub-ice platelet layer. Here we present the seasonal cycle of sea ice attached to the Ekström Ice Shelf, Antarctica, and the underlying platelet layer in 2012. Ice platelets emerged from the cavity and interacted with the fast-ice cover of Atka Bay as early as June. Episodic accumulations throughout winter and spring led to an average platelet-layer thickness of 4m by December 2012, with local maxima of up to 10 m. The additional buoyancy partly prevented surface flooding and snow-ice formation, despite a thick snow cover. Subsequent thinning of the platelet layer from December onwards was associated with an inflow of warm surface water. The combination of model studies with observed fast-ice thickness revealed an average ice-volume fraction in the platelet layer of 0.25+-0.1. We found that nearly half of the combined solid sea-ice and ice-platelet volume in this area is generated by heat transfer to the ocean rather than to the atmosphere. The total ice-platelet volume underlying Atka Bay fast ice was equivalent to more than one-fifth of the annual basal melt volume under the Ekström Ice Shelf

Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome type 2 manifests with fibrosing lung disease early in childhood

Background: Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS), a hereditary multisystem disorder with oculocutaneous albinism, may be caused by mutations in one of at least 10 separate genes. The HPS-2 subtype is distinguished by the presence of neutropenia and knowledge of its pulmonary phenotype in children is scarce. Methods: Six children with genetically proven HPS-2 presented to the chILD-EU register between 2009 and 2017;the data were collected systematically and imaging studies were scored blinded. Results: Pulmonary symptoms including dyspnea, coughing, need for oxygen, and clubbing started 3.3 years before the diagnosis was made at the mean age of 8.83 years (range 2-15). All children had recurrent pulmonary infections, 3 had a spontaneous pneumothorax, and 4 developed scoliosis. The frequency of pulmonary complaints increased over time. The leading radiographic pattern was ground-glass opacities with a rapid increase in reticular pattern and traction bronchiectasis between initial and follow-up Computer tomography (CT) in all subjects. Honeycombing and cysts were newly detectable in 3 patients. Half of the patients received a lung biopsy for diagnosis;histological patterns were cellular non-specific interstitial pneumonia, usual interstitial pneumonia-like, and desquamative interstitial pneumonia. Conclusions: HPS-2 is characterized by a rapidly fibrosing lung disease during early childhood. Effective treatments are required

Emergence of Zaire Ebola Virus Disease in Guinea - Preliminary Report

In March 2014, the World Health Organization was notified of an outbreak of a communicable disease characterized by fever, severe diarrhea, vomiting, and a high fatality rate in Guinea. Virologic investigation identified Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) as the causative agent. Full-length genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis showed that EBOV from Guinea forms a separate clade in relationship to the known EBOV strains from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon. Epidemiologic investigation linked the laboratory-confirmed cases with the presumed first fatality of the outbreak in December 2013. This study demonstrates the emergence of a new EBOV strain in Guinea

Molecular Diagnostics for Lassa Fever at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Nigeria: Lessons Learnt from Two Years of Laboratory Operation

Background: Lassa fever is a viral hemorrhagic fever endemic in West Africa. However, none of the hospitals in the endemic areas of Nigeria has the capacity to perform Lassa virus diagnostics. Case identification and management solely relies on non-specific clinical criteria. The Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) in the central senatorial district of Edo State struggled with this challenge for many years. Methodology/Principal Findings A laboratory for molecular diagnosis of Lassa fever, complying with basic standards of diagnostic PCR facilities, was established at ISTH in 2008. During 2009 through 2010, samples of 1,650 suspected cases were processed, of which 198 (12%) tested positive by Lassa virus RT-PCR. No remarkable demographic differences were observed between PCR-positive and negative patients. The case fatality rate for Lassa fever was 31%. Nearly two thirds of confirmed cases attended the emergency departments of ISTH. The time window for therapeutic intervention was extremely short, as 50% of the fatal cases died within 2 days of hospitalization—often before ribavirin treatment could be commenced. Fatal Lassa fever cases were older (p = 0.005), had lower body temperature (p<0.0001), and had higher creatinine (p<0.0001) and blood urea levels (p<0.0001) than survivors. Lassa fever incidence in the hospital followed a seasonal pattern with a peak between November and March. Lassa virus sequences obtained from the patients originating from Edo State formed—within lineage II—a separate clade that could be further subdivided into three clusters. Conclusions/Significance: Lassa fever case management was improved at a tertiary health institution in Nigeria through establishment of a laboratory for routine diagnostics of Lassa virus. Data collected in two years of operation demonstrate that Lassa fever is a serious public health problem in Edo State and reveal new insights into the disease in hospitalized patients.Organismic and Evolutionary Biolog