Zur Personenwahrnehmung im Attributionsgeschehen: Eine Replikation der klassischen Arbeit von Heider und Simmel (1944)

Als zentraler Befund der einflussreichen Arbeit von Heider und Simmel [American Journal of Psychology, 57, 243-259 (1944)]zeigte sich, dass bewegte geometrische Objekte ganz überwiegend als intentional handelnde Lebewesen wahrgenommen werden und diese wiederum mehrheitlich als Personen. Da die Originaluntersuchung ausschließlich Frauen miteinbezog und die Darstellung der Ergebnisse mitunter keine genauen Angaben zur Häufigkeit personaler Kausalität erlaubt, wird eine Replikation durchgeführt, um die Befunde auf eine breiter generalisierbare Basis zu stellen. Unter Verwendung des Originalversuchsmaterials zeigt sich auch bei konservativer Analyse der Ergebnisse, dass geschlechtsunabhängig weniger als 35 % der Teilnehmenden die geometrischen Objekte als Lebewesen beschrieben. Von denjenigen, die die Objekte als beseelt wahrnahmen, wurden diese in etwa 80 % der Fälle als Menschen bezeichnet. Mögliche Erklärungen dieser Abweichungen von den Originalbefunden werden diskutiert

Epidermal-specific deletion of CD44 reveals a function in keratinocytes in response to mechanical stress

CD44, a large family of transmembrane glycoproteins, plays decisive roles in physiological and pathological conditions. CD44 isoforms are involved in several signaling pathways essential for life such as growth factor-induced signaling by EGF, HGF or VEGF. CD44 is also the main hyaluronan (HA) receptor and as such is involved in HA-dependent processes. To allow a genetic dissection of CD44 functions in homeostasis and disease, we generated a Cd44 floxed allele allowing tissue- and time-specific inactivation of all CD44 isoforms in vivo. As a proof of principle, we inactivated Cd44 in the skin epidermis using the K14Cre allele. Although the skin of such Cd44Δker mutants appeared morphologically normal, epidermal stiffness was reduced, wound healing delayed and TPA induced epidermal thickening decreased. These phenotypes might be caused by cell autonomous defects in differentiation and HA production as well as impaired adhesion and migration on HA by Cd44Δker keratinocytes. These findings support the usefulness of the conditional Cd44 allele in unraveling essential physiological and pathological functions of CD44 isoforms.We are grateful to Professor Ben Wielockx (DIPP,Dresden, Germany) for help with the in vivo wound healing assay, to Professors Pierre Chambon and Daniel Metzger (IGBMC, Strasbourg, France) for the kind gift of the K14 Cre mice. We thank Karin Müller-Decker (DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany) and Peter Angel (DKFZ) for their help with the TPA induction experiments. We are extremely grateful to the animal facility of our institute (ITG, KIT) and especially to Selma Huber for their help with animal experiments. We also want to thank R. Saffrich. (Department of Medicine V (Hematology, Oncology & Rheumatology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg) for technical assistance in time-lapse imaging. We are grateful to Julia Gutjahr (Laboratory for Immunological and Molecular Cancer Research, Salzburg, Austria) for her help with the immunohistological pictures. We also thank Ana Guío-Carrión (Spanish National Cancer Centre, Genes Development and Disease Group, Cancer Cell Biology Programme, Madrid, Spain) for technical assistance. MT and ASB thank the German Research Foundation (Collaborative Research Center, CRC 873 B07) for support. ASB thank C. Monzel (Laboratoire Physico-Chimie, Institut Curie, Paris, France) for assistance in data analysis. iCeMS is supported by World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI), MEXT (Japan). EFW and LB are supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy (BFU2012 – 40230, and SAF2015 – 70857, co-funded by the ERDF-EU)S

The inter-institutional governance of money laundering: an in-depth look at Chile following re-democratisation

Chile began its re-democratisation process in 1990 with a profound lack of counter- money laundering standards. Over time, the nascent political order was compelled to build institutions and generate norms in light of the security principles promoted by foreign actors. However, Chile’s reluctance, for instance, to not create a financial intelligence unit (FIU) until 2003, put the country in a particular stance for assessing criminal proceedings. This article reviews the construction of Chile’s governance of money laundering and focuses specifically on the role played by the Unidad de Análisis Financiero (UAF, Chile’s FIU) in maximising inter-institutional governing relations. The paper reviews three periods of time: the institutionalisation era (1990–2002), the UAF’s formative years (2003–2008) and the policy-building phase (2009–2014). The research concludes by exploring how Chile’s case adds to our qualitative knowledge on democratic network governance. © 2015 Taylor & Francis

Epidermal-specific deletion of CD44 reveals a function in keratinocytes in response to mechanical stress

CD44, a large family of transmembrane glycoproteins, plays decisive roles in physiological and pathological conditions. CD44 isoforms are involved in several signaling pathways essential for life such as growth factor-induced signaling by EGF, HGF or VEGF. CD44 is also the main hyaluronan (HA) receptor and as such is involved in HA-dependent processes. To allow a genetic dissection of CD44 functions in homeostasis and disease, we generated a Cd44 floxed allele allowing tissue- and time-specific inactivation of all CD44 isoforms in vivo. As a proof of principle, we inactivated Cd44 in the skin epidermis using the K14Cre allele. Although the skin of such Cd44Δker mutants appeared morphologically normal, epidermal stiffness was reduced, wound healing delayed and TPA induced epidermal thickening decreased. These phenotypes might be caused by cell autonomous defects in differentiation and HA production as well as impaired adhesion and migration on HA by Cd44Δker keratinocytes. These findings support the usefulness of the conditional Cd44 allele in unraveling essential physiological and pathological functions of CD44 isoforms

Mutations in the mitochondrial thioredoxin reductase gene TXNRD2 cause dilated cardiomyopathy

Aims Cardiac energy requirement is met to a large extent by oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria that are highly abundant in cardiac myocytes. Human mitochondrial thioredoxin reductase (TXNRD2) is a selenocysteine−containing enzyme essential for mitochondrial oxygen radical scavenging. Cardiac−specific deletion of Txnrd2 in mice results in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). The aim of this study was to investigate whether TXNRD2 mutations explain a fraction of monogenic DCM cases. Methods and results Sequencing and subsequent genotyping of TXNRD2 in patients diagnosed with DCM (n = 227) and in DCM−free (n = 683) individuals from the general population sample KORA S4 was performed. The functional impact of observed mutations on Txnrd2 function was tested in mouse fibroblasts. We identified two novel amino acid residue−altering TXNRD2 mutations [175G > A (Ala59Thr) and 1124G > A (Gly375Arg)] in three heterozygous carriers among 227 patients that were not observed in the 683 DCM−free individuals. Both DCM−associated mutations result in amino acid substitutions of highly conserved residues in helices contributing to the flavin−adenine dinucleotide (FAD)−binding domain of TXNRD2. Functional analysis of both mutations in Txnrd2−/− mouse fibroblasts revealed that contrasting to wild−type (wt) Txnrd2, neither mutant did restore Txnrd2 function. Mutants even impaired the survival of Txnrd2 wt cells under oxidative stress by a dominant−negative mechanism. Conclusion For the first time, we describe mutations in DCM patients in a gene involved in the regulation of cellular redox state. TXNRD2 mutations may explain a fraction of human DCM disease burde