ALPNAP – A NEW PROJECT ON TRAFFIC-INDUCED NOISE AND AIR POLLUTION ALONG TRANSPORT ROUTES IN THE ALPS

Abstract. ALPNAP (Monitoring and Minimisation of Traffic-Induced Noise and Air Pollution Along Major Alpine Transport Routes) is a new project financed under the EU Interreg III B Alpine Space Programme. It will run from 2005-2007. A network of eleven institutions has been formed with DLR Institute of Atmospheric Physics as the lead partner. The project aims at the integrated use of advanced science-based methods to monitor, assess, and predict air pollution and noise and their impact on the environment, quality of life and health along major transport routes. These methods are adapted to the Alpine topography and its specific meteorological phenomena which often amplify the levels of concentration and noise. The purpose of the project is to promote these methods to regional and local authorities, to supplement standard methods towards more reliable predictions and scenario assessments, to quantify the limits of emissions if given air quality and noise standards are to be met, and to assess the environmental impact of traffic flow changes due to regulations, new infrastructure, or modal shifts. Previous work has shown that the conditions for the propagation of noise and the dispersion of air pollutants in Alpine valleys are quite different, and often considerably more unfavourable than in flat terrain. Standard models which are still applied in such environments, too, are not adequate. The project aims at demonstrating the advantage of more advanced methods taking into account state-of-the-art scientific tools

KULTUR-PSYKOLOGI I GLOBALISERINGENS TIDSALDER INDLEDNING

Den tværkulturelle psykologi har udviklet sig meget gennem de 13 år, der er gået siden Psyke & Logos udsendte et temanummer om Kulturpsykologi (nr. 1, 1988). Fra at opfatte psykologiens rolle som at beskrive forskelle mellem forskellige kulturers indflydelse på kognition, emotion og perception er interessen i stigende grad samlet omkring at undersøge de udvekslingsprocesser, der er mellem mennesker, der beskriver sig som tilhørende forskellige kulturer. Dette interkulturelle niveau er rykket i fokus. Og er nu videre udviklet til også at omfatte et transkulturelt niveau, nemlig de transaktioner, der forudsætter en viden om selve kulturmødet, dvs. en over-kulturel kompetence. Denne udvikling er udvirket af, at der sker en øget migration, der gør udvekslingen på tværs af – og over – kulturer stadig mere nærværende for millioner af mennesker. Også kommunikationsmidlernes udvikling bidrager til denne proces. Om end der stadig er meget store forskelle i menneskers livsmuligheder – i den forstand at verdens ressourcer ikke er blevet »globaliserede« – lever vi faktisk efterhånden på nogle områder i den globale landsby. Med flyvemaskinens indførelse begyndte byerne at få samme spinkle forhold til menneskelige behov som museer har. (McLuhan 1967, side 113). Dette citat, der viser at med tiden er Monty Python ved at blive socialrealisme, udtrykker ét aspekt ved ideen om den globale landsby. Til metaforen hører, at landsbyer er fyldt med problemer, sladder, medmenneskelige spændinger og intriger – og bastant mistro mod enhver fremmed. I den globale landsby er der ingen fremmede – eller er der? Måske fører globaliseringen til at vi alle bliver de(n) fremmede

Identification. The missing link between joint attention and imitation

In this paper we outline our hypothesis that human intersubjective engagement entails identifying with other people. We tested a prediction derived from this hypothesis that concerned the relation between a component of joint attention and a specific form of imitation. The empirical investigation involved “blind” ratings of videotapes from a recent study in which we tested matched children with and without autism for their propensity to imitate the self-/other-orientated aspects of another person's actions. The results were in keeping with three a priori predictions, as follows: (a) children with autism contrasted with control participants in spending more time looking at the objects acted upon and less time looking at the tester; (b) participants with autism showed fewer “sharing” looks toward the tester, and although they also showed fewer “checking” and “orientating” looks, they were specifically less likely to show any sharing looks; and, critically, (c) within each group, individual differences in sharing looks (only) were associated with imitation of self–other orientation. We suggest that the propensity to adopt the bodily anchored psychological stance of another person is essential to certain forms of joint attention and imitation, and that a weak tendency to identify with others is pivotal for the developmental psychopathology of autism

ALPNAP – A NEW PROJECT ON TRAFFIC-INDUCED NOISE AND AIR POLLUTION ALONG TRANSPORT ROUTES IN THE ALPS

Abstract. ALPNAP (Monitoring and Minimisation of Traffic-Induced Noise and Air Pollution Along Major Alpine Transport Routes) is a new project financed under the EU Interreg III B Alpine Space Programme. It will run from 2005-2007. A network of eleven institutions has been formed with DLR Institute of Atmospheric Physics as the lead partner. The project aims at the integrated use of advanced science-based methods to monitor, assess, and predict air pollution and noise and their impact on the environment, quality of life and health along major transport routes. These methods are adapted to the Alpine topography and its specific meteorological phenomena which often amplify the levels of concentration and noise. The purpose of the project is to promote these methods to regional and local authorities, to supplement standard methods towards more reliable predictions and scenario assessments, to quantify the limits of emissions if given air quality and noise standards are to be met, and to assess the environmental impact of traffic flow changes due to regulations, new infrastructure, or modal shifts. Previous work has shown that the conditions for the propagation of noise and the dispersion of air pollutants in Alpine valleys are quite different, and often considerably more unfavourable than in flat terrain. Standard models which are still applied in such environments, too, are not adequate. The project aims at demonstrating the advantage of more advanced methods taking into account state-of-the-art scientific tools

Die Linke in der SPD

Eine Untersuchung über die Chancen der Linken in der SPD erfordert eigentlich auch eine Einschätzung der Gesamtpartei, die wir hier nicht leisten können. Wrr sprechen von der SPD als einer „Volkspartei" in Anführungszeichen, da mit diesem Begriff die Veränderungen in der SPD seit 1959 nur unzureichend beschrieben werden. Wir gehen davon aus, daß sich spätestens seit 1959 in der SPD eine sozialreformerische Mehrheit durchgesetzt hat, die die bestehende privatkapitalistischeGesellschaft nur noch reformerisch verbessern will. Die Linke iri der SPD sehen wir als Einheit von sicherlich verschiedenen reformistischen Ansätzen. Es geht uns, gerade auch bei den Jusos, nicht um eine Darstellung und Kritik der unterschiedlichen Positionen. Ohne Zweifel bleibt diese Kritik weiterhin notwendig. (Vgl. dazu als ein Beispiel in dieser Zeitschrift: Siegfried Heimann/Bodo Zeuner, Eine neue Integrationsideologie. Zu den Thesen zur Strategie und Taktik des demokratischen Sozialismus des Peter von Oertzen, in: Prokla 14/ 15 (1974), S.105-148).Wir unterscheiden allerdings, ohne das weiter auszuführen, im Spektrum der reformistischen Linken in der SPD sich anpassende Reformisten, die sich mit der Formulierung von Modellen bescheiden und kämpferische Reformisten, die diejenigen, in deren Namen ein „Demokratischer Sozialismus" auf reformistischem Wege erreicht werden soll, als handelnde Subjekte mit einbeziehen

Simulation of Congenital Heart Defect Corrective Surgeries Using Thin Shell Elements

International audienceCongenital heart defect (CHD) corrective interventions in infants are extremely challenging due to commonly complex and heterogeneous disease pat-terns. At present, cardiac surgeons can only rely on non-invasive imaging prior to surgery. Critical decisions regarding the surgical procedure of choice and its exe-cution must be made during the actual surgery and are strongly dependent on ex-perience. We want to improve surgery planning by providing a simulation system that is able to accurately predict patient-specific results for different surgical pro-cedures preoperatively. Therefore we use a sophisticated simulation model based on thin shell elements. We present a novel joining approach that allows for im-plementing all necessary surgical low-level procedures, e.g. incising and suturing, independent from the simulation model. No modifications are necessary for al-ready approved thin shell implementations and our simulation system can instan-taneously benefit from further improved simulation models in the future. By re-ducing computationally expensive simulations to a minimum during a virtual surgery we can achieve a fluent workflow for surgeons. However, a specialized mesh resampling algorithm is required to fully utilize our simulation system

Effects of small-scale turbulence on the growth of two diatoms of different size in a phosphorus-limited medium

15 pages, 7 figures, 5 tables, 1 appendix.-- Issue title: "Workshop on Future Directions in Modelling Physical-Biological Interactions (WKFDPBI)"The effect of turbulence on the nutrient flux towards osmotrophic cells is predicted to be size dependent. This should translate into growth. We experimentally followed and modelled the growth of two marine diatoms of different size (Thalassiosira pseudonana, 6 μm in diameter and Coscinodiscus sp., ca. 109 μm in diameter) under still water and turbulent conditions, using a shaker table. Experiments were done with phosphorus-limited cultures and lasted for ca. 5 days. Turbulence enhanced the growth of Coscinodiscus sp. in agreement with theory but not the growth of T. pseudonana, which was actually slightly lower under turbulence. At the end of the experiments there were about 1.7 times as many Coscinodiscus sp. cells in the turbulent treatment than in the still treatment, while for T. pseudonana almost the same cell concentration was found in both conditions. In addition, the Coscinodiscus sp. cells growing under still conditions presented a higher specific alkaline phosphatase activity than those growing in turbulence which indicates a higher need for phosphorus in the still cultures. A simple dynamic model, based on Michaelis Menten nutrient uptake kinetics, needed nearly no optimisation other than using observed initial conditions of phosphate and cell concentrations. The model showed how an increased nutrient flux towards the cells translates non-linearly into cell growth, most likely by affecting the half-saturation constant (KM). However, since Coscinodiscus sp. experienced significant mortality and cells partially settled to the bottom of the containers, unequivocal support for the size-dependent effect of turbulence on nutrient uptake will require further experiments and more sophisticated modelling. The mechanisms to connect an increased nutrient flux towards cells with population growth and whether this process is size dependent are important in parameterizing the effects of turbulence on marine plankton in coupled physical biological modelsThis work was supported by Spanish Projects TURFI (REN2002-01591/MAR) and VARITEC (CTM2004-04442-C02) and by European Union projects MEDEA (MAS3-CT95-0016) and NTAP (EVK3-CT-2000-00022). This is European Land Ocean Interaction Studies contribution 523/40Peer reviewe

Interaction of adult human neural crest-derived stem cells with a nanoporous titanium surface is sufficient to induce their osteogenic differentiation

Osteogenic differentiation of various adult stem cell populations such as neural crest-derived stem cells is of great interest in the context of bone regeneration. Ideally, exogenous differentiation should mimic an endogenous differentiation process, which is partly mediated by topological cues. To elucidate the osteoinductive potential of porous substrates with different pore diameters (30 nm, 100 nm), human neural crest-derived stem cells isolated from the inferior nasal turbinate were cultivated on the surface of nanoporous titanium covered membranes without additional chemical or biological osteoinductive cues. As controls, flat titanium without any topological features and osteogenic medium was used. Cultivation of human neural crest-derived stem cells on 30 nm pores resulted in osteogenic differentiation as demonstrated by alkaline phosphatase activity after seven days as well as by calcium deposition after 3 weeks of cultivation. In contrast, cultivation on flat titanium and on membranes equipped with 100 nm pores was not sufficient to induce osteogenic differentiation. Moreover, we demonstrate an increase of osteogenic transcripts including Osterix, Osteocalcin and up-regulation of Integrin β1 and α2 in the 30 nm pore approach only. Thus, transplantation of stem cells pre-cultivated on nanostructured implants might improve the clinical outcome by support of the graft adherence and acceleration of the regeneration process

Endosomal accumulation of APP in wobbler motor neurons reflects impaired vesicle trafficking: Implications for human motor neuron disease

Palmisano R, Golfi P, Heimann P, et al. Endosomal accumulation of APP in wobbler motor neurons reflects impaired vesicle trafficking: Implications for human motor neuron disease. BMC Neuroscience. 2011;12(1): 24.Background: The cause of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is largely unknown but hypotheses about disease mechanisms include oxidative stress, defective axonal transport, mitochondrial dysfunction and disrupted RNA processing. Whereas familial ALS is well represented by transgenic mutant SOD1 mouse models, the mouse mutant wobbler (WR) develops progressive motor neuron degeneration due to a point mutation in the Vps54 gene, and provides an animal model for sporadic ALS. VPS54 protein as a component of a protein complex is involved in vesicular Golgi trafficking; impaired vesicle trafficking might also be mechanistic in the pathogenesis of human ALS. Results: In motor neurons of homozygous symptomatic WR mice, a massive number of endosomal vesicles significantly enlarged (up to 3 mu m in diameter) were subjected to ultrastructural analysis and immunohistochemistry for the endosome-specific small GTPase protein Rab7 and for amyloid precursor protein (APP). Enlarged vesicles were neither detected in heterozygous WR nor in transgenic SOD1(G93A) mice; in WR motor neurons, numerous APP/Rab7-positive vesicles were observed which were mostly LC3-negative, suggesting they are not autophagosomes. Conclusions: We conclude that endosomal APP/Rab7 staining reflects impaired vesicle trafficking in WR mouse motor neurons. Based on these findings human ALS tissues were analysed for APP in enlarged vesicles and were detected in spinal cord motor neurons in six out of fourteen sporadic ALS cases. These enlarged vesicles were not detected in any of the familial ALS cases. Thus our study provides the first evidence for wobbler-like aetiologies in human ALS and suggests that the genes encoding proteins involved in vesicle trafficking should be screened for pathogenic mutations