Climate philanthropy networks : Shaping and supporting the philanthropy ecosystem in the field of climate

This mapping shows the growing diversity and number of networks that have embraced the mission to support and grow the development of the philanthropy ecosystem in the field of climate. The twenty-one organisations presented range from those that are solely dedicated to climate issues to more general networks that work in a range of areas. Each profile gives a flavor of the organisation or platform's activities and goals. This mapping exercise is part of the activities of the Philanthropy Coalition for Climate (https://philea.eu/how-we-can-help/initiatives/philanthropy-coalition-for-climate/), a group of foundations, philanthropy infrastructure organisations and other partners gathered around the aim to empower philanthropy to drive bold climate action and transformational change in Europe and beyond

Staphylococcus aureus gene expression in a rat model of infective endocarditis

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a frequent underlying comorbidity in patients with Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis, and it represents a risk factor for complications and a negative outcome. The pathogenesis of staphylococcal endocardial infections in diabetic hosts has been poorly characterized, and little is known about S. aureus gene expression in endocardial vegetations. Methods: We utilized a rat model of experimental S. aureus endocarditis to compare the pathogenesis of staphylococcal infection in diabetic and nondiabetic hosts and to study the global S. aureus transcriptome in endocardial vegetations in vivo. Results: Diabetic rats had higher levels of bacteremia and larger endocardial vegetations than nondiabetic control animals. Microarray analyses revealed that 61 S. aureus genes were upregulated in diabetic rats, and the majority of these bacterial genes were involved in amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism. When bacterial gene expression in vivo (diabetic or nondiabetic endocardial vegetations) was compared to in vitro growth conditions, higher in vivo expression of genes encoding toxins and proteases was observed. Additionally, genes involved in the production of adhesins, capsular polysaccharide, and siderophores, as well as in amino acid and carbohydrate transport and metabolism, were upregulated in endocardial vegetations. To test the contribution of selected upregulated genes to the pathogenesis of staphylococcal endocarditis, isogenic deletion mutants were utilized. A mutant defective in production of the siderophore staphyloferrin B was attenuated in the endocarditis model, whereas the virulence of a surface adhesin (ΔsdrCDE) mutant was similar to that of the parental S. aureus strain. Conclusions: Our results emphasize the relevance of diabetes mellitus as a risk factor for infectious endocarditis and provide a basis for understanding gene expression during staphylococcal infections in vivo. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13073-014-0093-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Barriers and facilitators experienced by osteopaths in implementing a biopsychosocial (BPS) framework of care when managing people with musculoskeletal pain – a mixed methods systematic review

BACKGROUND: Clinical practice guidelines commonly recommend adopting a biopsychosocial (BPS) framework by practitioners managing musculoskeletal pain. However, it remains unclear how osteopaths implement a BPS framework in the management of musculoskeletal pain. Hence, the objective of this review was to systematically appraise the literature on the current practices, barriers and facilitators experienced by osteopaths in implementing a BPS framework of care when managing people with musculoskeletal pain. METHODS: The following electronic databases from January 2005 to August 2020 were searched: PubMed, CINAHL, Science Direct, Google Scholar, ProQuest Central and SCOPUS. Two independent reviewers reviewed the articles retrieved from the databases to assess for eligibility. Any studies (quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods) that investigated the use or application of the BPS approach in osteopathic practice were included in the review. The critical appraisal skills program (CASP) checklist was used to appraise the qualitative studies and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) was used to appraise quantitative or mixed methods studies. Advanced convergent meta-integration was used to synthesise data from quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods studies. RESULTS: A total of 6 studies (two quantitative, three qualitative and one mixed methods) were included in the final review. While two key concepts (current practice and embracing a BPS approach) were generated using advanced meta-integration synthesis, two concepts (barriers and enablers) were informed from qualitative only data. DISCUSSION: Our review finding showed that current osteopathic practice occurs within in the biomedical model of care. Although, osteopaths are aware of the theoretical underpinnings of the BPS model and identified the need to embrace it, various barriers exist that may prevent osteopaths from implementing the BPS model in clinical practice. Ongoing education and/or workshops may be necessary to enable osteopaths to implement a BPS approach

Biographie im Kontext des Sterbens: der Einfluss institutioneller Kontexte auf biographische Erzählformate

Der vorliegende Beitrag will anhand des Forschungsprojekts "Konstruktionen des Sterbens" zeigen, dass autobiographische Selbstthematisierungen sterbender Menschen sich von anderen Stegreiferzählungen nachhaltig unterscheiden. Die Differenzen der Erzählweisen sind so weitreichend, dass von biographischen Neukonstruktionen zu sprechen ist. Die rekonstruierten Phänomene sind dabei nicht als Ausdruck der (anthropologischen) Situation des Sterbens selbst zu deuten. Vielmehr erweisen sich die jeweiligen institutionellen Kontexte in der Versorgung und Begleitung der Sterbenden als "wirksame Biographiemoderatoren". Damit wird über das Sterben hinaus die grundlegende Frage aufgeworfen, inwiefern professionelle, institutionalisierte Kontexte biographische Konstruktionen moderieren.This paper presents results of the DFG funded research project 'The Social Construction of Dying'. Based on an analysis of numerous narrative interviews, findings demonstrate very specific characteristics of impromptu biographical narratives of terminally ill people. These characteristics can be best described as a new format of biographical narratives. Although the new biographical narrative format is not an anthropological fact concerning the situation of dying itself, it can be related to the institutional context in which the terminally ill are treated. The results call attention to the influence of institutional contexts on biographical narratives

High Order Correction Terms for The Peak-Peak Correlation Function in Nearly-Gaussian Models

One possible way to investigate the nature of the primordial power spectrum fluctuations is by investigating the statistical properties of the local maximum in the density fluctuation fields. In this work we present a study of the mean correlation function, $\xi_r$, and the correlation function for high amplitude fluctuations (the peak-peak correlation) in a slighlty non-Gaussian context. From the definition of the correlation excess, we compute the Gaussian two-point correlation function and, using an expansion in Generalized Hermite polynomials, we estimate the correlation of high density peaks in a non-Gaussian field with generic distribution and power spectrum. We also apply the results obtained to a scale-mixed distribution model, which correspond to a nearly Gaussian model. The results reveal that, even for a small deviation from Gaussianity, we can expect high density peaks to be much more correlated than in a Gaussian field with the same power spectrum. In addition, the calculations reveal how the amplitude of the peaks in the fluctuations field is related to the existing correlations. Our results may be used as an additional tool to investigate the behavior of the N-point correlation function, to understand how non-Gaussian correlations affect the peak-peak statistics and extract more information about the statistics of the density field.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

Humboldt versus Hightech?! Entwicklung und Erprobung eines Lehrkonzeptes zur Integration von Bestimmungsapps in die universitäre Sachunterrichtslehrpersonenausbildung

Dieser Beitrag stellt das Lehrkonzept einer universitären Übungseinheit für angehende Grundschullehrpersonen im sachunterrichtlichen Bezugsfach Biologie vor. Dabei wird das übergeordnete Ziel verfolgt, den Studierenden Bestimmungskompetenzen und Artenkenntnis zu vermitteln. Sie gelten als wichtige Faktoren, um Interesse am Schutz der Umwelt und der Biodiversität zu entwickeln. Die Übungsinhalte werden durch Alexander von Humboldts südamerikanische Forschungsreise kontextualisiert. Es wurde ein Screencast produziert, der die Studierenden motivieren soll, sich mit den fachwissenschaftlichen Lerninhalten auseinanderzusetzen. In der Bestimmungsübung zu Laub- und Nadelbäumen kommen ausschließlich Bestimmungsapps mit automatischer bzw. manueller Bestimmungsmethode zum Einsatz. Um die Kursteilnehmer*innen ebenfalls im Umgang mit dichotomen Bestimmungshilfen zu schulen, wird auf einen digitalen, dichotomen Bestimmungsschlüssel zurückgegriffen. Die Ergebnisse der begleitenden qualitativen sowie quantitativen Querschnittsstudie (N=46) weisen auf hohe Zustimmungsraten bezüglich der getroffenen Kontextualisierung sowie der ausschließlichen Verwendung von digitalen Bestimmungshilfen hin. Als Gründe dafür werden produkteigenschafts- und wirksamkeitsbezogene Aspekte genannt. Knapp 75 Prozent der Befragten halten den Einsatz von Bestimmungsapps im Studium für sinnvoll. Darüber hinaus geben die Studierenden nach der Übungseinheit an, Bestimmungsapps in ihrem eigenen Unterricht einsetzen zu wollen. Der Beitrag gibt Anregungen dazu, wie das Lernen mit und über digitale(n) Medien, hier insbesondere in Form von Bestimmungsapps und Screencasts, im Lehramtstudium gelingen kann und welche Hürden es dabei zu bewältigen gibt