Childhood in flux – Part II: Modern times until today

Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts wurde in New York die „Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children“ gegründet nach dem Bekanntwerden eines grausamen Falls von Vernachlässigung und Misshandlung eines Mädchens. Hiermit begann die Zeit, seitdem Kinder vermehrt Schutz erfahren. Doch erst in den 1950er Jahren wurde in den USA eine Anzeigepflicht für Ärzte eingeführt, die bei Verletzungen von Kindern Fälle von Misshandlung vermuteten. In Schweden wurde ein Körperstrafenverbot 1981, in Deutschland 2001 eingeführt. Der sexuelle Missbrauch von Kindern wurde über Jahrhunderte tabuisiert, wenngleich einzelne Versuche unternommen wurden, das Tabu zu durchbrechen – beispielsweise von S. Freud mit der Verführungstheorie. Erst mit der Frauenbewegung zu Beginn der 1970er Jahre wurde eine öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit hierfür geschaffen. Durch die Arbeiten des englischen Psychiaters J. Bowlby in den 1950er Jahren wurde das Bewusstsein befördert, dass Kinder von Primaten mehr brauchen als Luft, Wasser und Nahrung – nämlich die Bindung zu einer erwachsenen Bezugsperson. Inwieweit die grundlegenden Bedürfnisse von Kindern heute in den westlichen Kulturen erfüllt werden, wird kontrovers diskutiert.(DIPF/Orig.)At the end of the 19th century, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was founded in New York, after a barbarous case of neglect and abuse of a girl became public. From then on, children received more and more protection. Only in the 1950s were doctors in the USA bound by law to report cases of putative physical abuse to officials. In Sweden, physical punishment of children has been forbidden since 1989, and in Germany since 2001. The existence of sexual abuse of children had been a taboo subject for centuries, even though individual attempts to break that taboo were made – e. g., by S. Freud in the theory of seduction (Verführungstheorie). Only with the birth of the women’s liberation movement in the early 1970s has public awareness arisen. Due to the work of J. Bowlby in the 1950s, it became clear that children of primates need more than air, water and food, namely a relationship between the child and an adult person (attachment). To what degree the basic needs of children are being fulfilled in Western societies today is still a controversial issue.(DIPF/Orig.

Management by Objectives as a Method of Measuring HR Teams Effectiveness

The aim of the paper is to present the method of management by objectives in measuring effectiveness of teams. The main elements of this method – goals and tasks – were used to measure teams’ work on the same project. The quantitative measurers of goals and tasks let assess an effectiveness of teams and compare teams to one another. The methodology of the research was an experiment conducted with on-line management tools named goaler® and tasker® based on the system of organizational terms. This theoretical foundation represent system and positivist approach to management. However, this approach was developed in the mix research method. This paper contains quantitative results and conclusions about effectiveness of teams. For this purpose following measurers were used: numbers of goals and tasks in each group, numbers of actions taken by team managers, duration of teamwork, number of goals and tasks editions. Despite the fact that the method of management by objectives is thoroughly described and parameterized, human contribution in the application of the method in practice appeared still crucial. However, the originality of this paper comes from implementing online management tools which are based on the system of organizational terms and using them to measure human behavior

Proof Complexity of Propositional Model Counting

Recently, the proof system MICE for the model counting problem #SAT was introduced by Fichte, Hecher and Roland (SAT\u2722). As demonstrated by Fichte et al., the system MICE can be used for proof logging for state-of-the-art #SAT solvers. We perform a proof-complexity study of MICE. For this we first simplify the rules of MICE and obtain a calculus MICE\u27 that is polynomially equivalent to MICE. Our main result establishes an exponential lower bound for the number of proof steps in MICE\u27 (and hence also in MICE) for a specific family of CNFs

Expression pattern of the thrombopoietin receptor (Mpl) in the murine central nervous system

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Thrombopoietin (Thpo) and its receptor (Mpl), which regulate megakaryopoiesis, are expressed in the central nervous system (CNS), where Thpo is thought to exert pro-apoptotic effects on newly generated neurons. Mpl expression has been analysed in brain tissue on transcript level and in cultured primary rat neurons and astrocytes on protein level. Herein, we analysed Mpl expression in the developing and adult murine CNS by immunohistochemistry and investigated the brain of mice with homozygous <it>Mpl </it>deficiency (<it>Mpl</it>^-/-) by MRI.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mpl was not detectable at developmental stages E12 to E15 in any resident cells of the CNS. From E18 onwards, robust Mpl expression was found in various brain areas, including cerebral cortex, olfactory bulb, thalamus, hypothalamus, medulla, pons, and the grey matter of spinal cord. However, major developmental changes became obvious: In the subventricular zone of the cerebral cortex Mpl expression occurred only during late gestation, while in the hippocampus Mpl expression was detectable for first time at stage P4. In the white matter of the cerebellum Mpl expression was restricted to the perinatal period. In the adult cerebellum, Mpl expression switched to Purkinje cell. The majority of other Mpl-positive cells were NeuN-positive neurons. None of the cells could be double-labelled with astrocyte marker GFAP. <it>Mpl</it>^-/-mice showed no gross abnormalities of the brain.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data locate Mpl expression to neurons at different subdivisions of the spinal cord, rhombencephalon, midbrain and prosencephalon. Besides neuronal cells Mpl protein is also expressed in Purkinje cells of the adult cerebellum.</p

(Epi)genetic Inheritance in Schistosoma mansoni: A Systems Approach

International audienceThe G×E concept, in which genotype × environment interactions bring about the phenotype, is widely used to describe biological phenomena. We propose to extend the initial notion of the concept, replacing G by ‘inheritance system’. This system, comprised of both genome and epigenome components, collectively interacts with the environment to shape the development of a phenotype. In the case of the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni, responsible for intestinal bilharzia, the phenotypic trait that is most relevant to global health is infection success. Taking a systems biology view we show how genetic and epigenetic interactions result in ephemeral, but also heritable, phenotypic variations that are important for infection success

A multi-purpose phantom kit for magnetic particle imaging

Phantoms are essential tools for the development and characterization of Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI), an imaging technique that can quantitatively map the spatial distribution of magnetic nanoparticles (MNP). The objective of this study was to develop and validate a modular MPI phantom kit with high versatility for platform-independent quality assurance and the assembling of defined geometries in MPI. It was shown that the developed MPI phantom kit can be used for both application scenario testing and quality assurance in MPI which provides the basis for future reference phantoms to directly compare existing scanners within the MPI community

A decadal satellite record of gravity wave activity in the lower stratosphere to study polar stratospheric cloud formation

Atmospheric gravity waves yield substantial small-scale temperature fluctuations that can trigger the formation of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs). This paper introduces a new satellite record of gravity wave activity in the polar lower stratosphere to investigate this process. The record is comprised of observations of the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) aboard NASA's Aqua satellite from January 2003 to December 2012. Gravity wave activity is measured in terms of detrended and noise-corrected 15 µm brightness temperature variances, which are calculated from AIRS channels that are the most sensitive to temperature fluctuations at about 17–32 km of altitude. The analysis of temporal patterns in the data set revealed a strong seasonal cycle in wave activity with wintertime maxima at mid- and high latitudes. The analysis of spatial patterns indicated that orography as well as jet and storm sources are the main causes of the observed waves. Wave activity is closely correlated with 30 hPa zonal winds, which is attributed to the AIRS observational filter. We used the new data set to evaluate explicitly resolved temperature fluctuations due to gravity waves in the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) operational analysis. It was found that the analysis reproduces orographic and non-orographic wave patterns in the right places, but that wave amplitudes are typically underestimated by a factor of 2–3. Furthermore, in a first survey of joint AIRS and Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) satellite observations, nearly 50 gravity-wave-induced PSC formation events were identified. The survey shows that the new AIRS data set can help to better identify such events and more generally highlights the importance of the process for polar ozone chemistry

Modeling of Self-Pulsating DFB Lasers

A theoretical model of a self-pulsating three section DFB-laser with an integrated phase tuning section is established. It is based on traveling wave equations and the standard carrier rate equations. As the key conditions for obtaining self-pulsations the spectral correlation of the different device sections are considered. The specific roles of each section are discussed and the theoretical results are compared to experimental measurements on these devices

Zur Überwinterung von Flughafer (Avena fatua L.)

In einem Freiland-Modellversuch auf Tschernosem (Standort Halle, Heide-Süd) wurde in 2010/11 das Überwinterungsverhalten (Temperaturminimum Luft -17 °C, Boden in 5 cm - 5 °C) von sechs Avena fatua-Varietäten, vier vorwinterlichen Entwicklungsstadien (BBCH) und fünf standörtlich verschiedenen Herkünften untersucht.Der morphologische Entwicklungsstand der Flughaferpflanzen vor dem Winter wirkte sich dabei wesentlich auf die Frostverträglichkeit aus. Die größten Überlebensraten traten im BBCH-Stadium 20-22 auf. Jüngere (BBCH 9-10, 11) und ältere Pflanzen (BBCH 23-25) überlebten den Winter unter den spezifischen Versuchsbedingungen zumeist nicht. Bei der Varietät intermedia war die Frostverträglichkeit am größten, die geringste kam bei den Varietäten cinerea und pilosa vor. Die Varietäten pilosissima, superba und glabrata nahmen eine Mittelstellung ein.Auswirkungen waren auch bei der Herkunft der Karyopsen zu erkennen. Bei den Wische-Herkünften war die Anzahl der überwinterten Pflanzen (Varietäten cinerea und pilosissima) vergleichsweise hoch. Dabei wies die Varietät pilosissima bei den Herkünften der Wische, Elbaue und aus Thüringen deutlich größere Überwinterungsraten als die Varietät cinerea auf. Die mediterran verbreitete Wildhaferart Avena sterilis L. ssp. ludoviciana Dur. zeichnete sich gegenüber den Avena fatua-Varietäten in den BBCH-Stadien 11, 20-22 und 23-25 durch eine wesentlich größere Frosttoleranz aus.Insgesamt deuten die Ergebnisse darauf hin, dass künftig mit einer vermehrten Reproduktion frostverträglicher Flughafer-Biotypen zu rechnen sein wird. Stichwörter: Avena-Arten, Avena fatua-Varietäten, Frosttoleranz, Herkunft, Karyopse, Ontogenese, Polymorphismus, StandortOverwinter survival of wild oat (Avena fatua L.)The overwinter survival of six different varieties sampled at five geographical locations of Avena fatua L. was investigated in a model experiment on a black earth soil (site Halle, Germany). Temperatures dropped to -17 °C and –5 °C in 5 cm depth. The plants were assessed at four sampling dates before winter.The overwinter survival of wild oat was mainly affected by the developmental stage of the plants before winter. Highest survival rates were recorded in BBCH stage 20 to 22. Smaller plants (BBCH 9 to 10 or 11) did mostly not survive. The winter hardiness of the variety intermedia was higher compared with the varieties pilosissima, superba and glabrata. The lowest hardiness was recorded in the varieties cinerea and pilosa. Additionally, the sampling location had an effect on the winter hardiness of the caryopsis. If the samplings were taken in the area of the Wische, the number of surviving plants of the varieties cinerea and pilosissima was higher. Especially the variety pilossisima showed very high survival rates if sampled in the Wische, Elbaue or Thuringia compared with the variety cinerea. The wild oat species Avena sterilis L. ssp. ludoviciana Dur., which is mainly found in Mediterranean environments, showed a much stronger winter hardiness compared with the Avena fatua varietes in the growth stages 11, 20 to 22 and 23 to 25. We therefore argue that in future climatic condition it is very likely, that the reproduction of winter hard varieties will increase.Keywords: Avena-species, Avena fatua varieties, caryopsis, frost tolerance, habitat, ontogenesis, polymorphism, regional origi