Feedback im Arbeitsleben - eine Selbstwert-Perspektive

Zusammenfassung: Feedback ist unerlässlich und allgegenwärtig. Konstruktives Feedback ist ein wichtiges Führungsinstrument. Gutes Feedback zu geben, ist jedoch alles andere als einfach, und nicht selten fühlen sich Mitarbeitende durch Feedback verletzt und demotiviert. Ein zentraler Aspekt guten Feedbacks bezieht sich auf Aufrechterhaltung, Förderung oder Schädigung des Selbstwerts; der vorliegende Artikel beleuchtet Feedback vor allem unter diesem Aspekt. Diskutiert werden die Bedeutung des Feedbacks für den Selbstwert, Kriterien für optimales Feedback sowie die Schwierigkeiten, optimales Feedback zu geben wie auch Feedback anzunehmen, wobei negatives Feedback im Vordergrund steht. Abschließend wird auf Feedback im Rahmen betrieblicher Leistungsbewertung eingegange

At Least Four Distinct Circadian Regulatory Mechanisms Required for All Phases of Rhythms in mRNA Amount

Since the advent of techniques to investigate gene expression on a large scale, numerous circadian rhythms in mRNA abundance have been reported. These rhythms generally differ in amplitude and phase. First studies on circadian rhythms of transcription on a large scale are also emerging. We investigated to what extent the same circadian regulatory mechanism of transcription can give rise to rhythms in RNA amount that differ in phase solely based on a parameter that is not regulated by the circadian clock. Using a discrete-time approach, we modeled a sinusoidal rhythm in transcription with various constant exponential RNA decay rates. We found that the slower the RNA is degraded the later the phase of the RNA amount rhythm compared to the phase of the transcriptional rhythm. However, we also found that the phase of the rhythm in RNA amount is limited to a time frame spanning the first quarter of the period following the phase of the transcriptional rhythm. This finding is independent of the amplitude and vertical shift of the transcriptional rhythm or even of the way RNA degradation is modeled. We confirmed our results with a continuous-time model, which also allowed us to derive a simple formula that relates the phase of a rhythm in mRNA amount solely to the phase and period of its sinusoidal transcriptional rhythm and its constant mRNA half-life. This simple formula even holds true for the best sinusoidal approximations of a non-sinusoidal rhythm of transcription and mRNA amount. When using our discrete-time approach to model constant rates of transcription with a sinusoidal RNA half-life, on the other hand, we found that varying the constant component of the system, i.e. the rate of transcription, does not change the phase of the rhythm in RNA amount. In summary, our data show that at least four distinct circadian regulatory mechanisms are required to allow for all phases in rhythms of RNA amount, one for each quarter of the period

»Die szenischen Bilder, auf denen das Auge des Meisters geruht«: Wagners Gesamtkunstwerk in historisch informierter Inszenierungspraxis?

Während die Bayreuther Uraufführungsinszenierung des Parsifal (1882) als Paradebeispiel einer »unter den Augen des Meisters« entstandenen Opernproduktion gelten kann, die Jahrzehnte lang praktisch unverändert auf dem Spielplan stand und so eine Tradition normativer Wagner-Regie begründete, verschwand die Uraufführungsinszenierung des Ring des Nibelungen (1876) bereits nach den ersten Bayreuther Festspielen nach nur drei Aufführungen für immer in der Versenkung. Die negative Beurteilung der Inszenierung von 1876 durch Richard und Cosima Wagner, wie sie sich in den Tagebüchern Cosimas niederschlägt, kann zur Erklärung beitragen, warum der Ring zwei Jahrzehnte lang überhaupt nicht mehr in Bayreuth gespielt wurde und sodann 1896 in einer völlig neuen Inszenierung unter der Leitung Cosima Wagners herauskam. Diese und weitere Zeugnisse zur Bayreuther Produktion werden in dem Beitrag ausführlich diskutiert. Sodann wird die Rolle der Theatersemiotik für die Rekonstruktionen historischer Operninszenierungen diskutiert. Inszenierungsdokumente wie diejenigen zu den Uraufführungen von Wagners Ring des Nibelungen und Parsifal können einen wesentlichen Beitrag zum Verständnis des multimedialen Kunstwerks Oper und seiner unterschiedlichen Zeichensysteme leisten und zugleich auch zur Anregung gegenwärtiger Produktionen dienen. Eine aus historischer Perspektive (bzw. aus derjenigen von Richard und Cosima Wagner) »unvollkommene« und alles andere als mustergültige Inszenierung wie diejenige des Ring des Nibelungen von 1876 detailgetreu zu rekonstruieren, wäre ein fragwürdiges Unterfangen. Sinnvoller erscheint es, die umfassend dokumentierten Erfahrungen aus der Uraufführungsinszenierung in eine heutige »historisch informierte« Aufführung einfließen zu lassen. In diesem Falle würde es sich zwar nicht um eine »werktreue«, womöglich aber um eine »werkgerechte« Inszenierung handeln.Whilst the Bayreuth premiere production of Parsifal (1882) could be considered a paradigm example of an opera production created »in the eyes of the Master« as it remained on the programme schedule essentially unaltered for decades thereby establishing a normative tradition of Wagnerian direction, the debut production of the Ring of the Nibelung (1876) already fell into permanent oblivion after only three performances at the first Bayreuth Festival. Richard and Cosima Wagner’s negative critique of the 1876 production, as expressed in Cosima Wagner’s journals, may help to explain why the Ring of the Nibelung was not performed at all in Bayreuth for two decades before it returned to the stage in 1896 in an entirely new production under Cosima Wagner’s direction. This critique and further witness accounts of the Bayreuth production are comprehensively examined in the article. Furthermore, the role of theatre semiotics in the reconstruction of historical opera productions will be discussed. Documents on the staging, such as those concerning the premieres of Richard Wagner’s Ring des Nibelungen and Parsifal, could contribute significantly to gaining an understanding of the multimedia oeuvre that is opera and its various sign systems, and at the same time serve as a stimulus for contemporary productions. A true to detail reconstruction of an »imperfect« production from a historical perspective (or from the perspective of Richard and Cosima Wagner) and a less than exemplary production such as the Ring of the Nibelung of 1876, would certainly be a questionable undertaking. A more sensible approach would seem to be the integration of the comprehensively documented accounts from the premiere production into a contemporary 'historically informed' performance. While this may not be »true to the original«, it may well do »justice to the original«. (Übersetzung: Jennifer Smyth

Adding insult to injury:Illegitimate stressors and their association with situational well-being, social self-esteem, and desire for revenge

Implying an offense to self, appraising a stressor as indicating a lack of consideration by others should have effects beyond its stressfulness per se. In Stress-as-Offense-to-Self theory (SOS), such stressors are called “illegitimate stressors.” We assessed situations appraised as stressful in two diary studies (N 1 = 117, N 2 = 137). Outcome variables were feelings of resentment in both studies, plus nervousness, anxiety, and sadness in Study 1 and depressive mood, threat to social self-esteem, and desire for revenge in Study 2. Controlling for stressfulness, perceived illegitimacy predicted affective reactions that are outward-directed (feelings of resentment [Studies 1 and 2], threat to social self-esteem and desire for revenge [Study 2]); it also predicted sadness in Study 1 but not depressive mood in Study 2, nor nervousness (Study 1). Thus, not all hypotheses were confirmed but the pattern was as expected, in that results were consistent regarding outcomes typically associated with the attribution of blame. The independent contribution of perceived illegitimacy aligns well with the underlying Stress-as-Offense-to-Self theory. Practical implications refer to efforts to avoid illegitimate stressors, for instance by perspective-taking, by showing appreciation and support, and by supporting such behaviours through keeping stressors in general at a manageable level

Hotline update of clinical trials and registries presented at the German Cardiac Society Meeting 2009

This review article gives an overview on a number of novel clinical trials and registries in the field of cardiovascular medicine. Key presentations made at the 75th annual meeting of the German Cardiac Society, held in Mannheim, Germany, in April 2009 are reported. The data were presented by leading experts in the field with relevant positions in the trials and registries. These comprehensive summaries should provide the readers with the most recent data on diagnostic and therapeutic developments in cardiovascular medicine similar as previously reported (Rosenkranz et al. in Clin Res Cardiol 96:457–468, 9; Maier et al. in Clin Res Cardiol 97:356–363, 3)

Improved automated monitoring and new analysis algorithm for circadean phototaxis rhythms in Chlamydomonas

Automated monitoring of circadian rhythms is an efficient way of gaining insight into oscillation parameters like period and phase for the underlying pacemaker of the circadian clock. Measurement of the circadian rhythm of phototaxis (swimming towards light) exhibited by the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii has been automated by directing a narrow and dim light beam through a culture at regular intervals and determining the decrease in light transmittance due to the accumulation of cells in the beam. In this study, the monitoring process was optimized by constructing a new computercontrolled measuring machine that limits the test beam to wavelengths reported to be specific for phototaxis and by choosing an algal strain, which does not need background illumination between test light cycles for proper expression of the rhythm. As a result, period and phase of the rhythm are now unaffected by the time a culture is placed into the machine. Analysis of the rhythm data was also optimized through a new algorithm, whose robustness was demonstrated using virtual rhythms with various noises. The algorithm differs in particular from other reported algorithms by maximizing the fit of the data to a sinusoidal curve that dampens exponentially. The algorithm was also used to confirm the reproducibility of rhythm monitoring by the machine. Machine and algorithm can now be used for a multitude of circadian clock studies that require unambiguous period and phase determinations such as light pulse experiments to identify the photoreceptor(s) that reset the circadian clock in C. reinhardtii