Lowering the voting age to 16 in practice:Processes and outcomes compared

Research into the possible consequences of lowering the voting age to 16 used to be rather speculative in nature, as there were few countries that had implemented earlier enfranchisement. This has changed over the past decade. We now have a range of countries in different locations, mostly in Europe and South America, where 16- and 17-year-olds can vote in some or all elections. In many of those places empirical research has given us insights into the experiences of young people and the impact of those changes on political discussions. However, so far these studies have largely been conducted individually in each country, which makes comparisons difficult. This article summarises the key insights from empirical research across countries with lower voting ages. It identifies common patterns, but also highlights differences. Overall, the impact appears to not be negative and often positive in terms of political engagement and civic attitudes. However, the comprehensiveness of effects varies. The article offers some possible frameworks to understand differences, in particular by reflecting on the processes that led to voting franchise changes, but also indicates where gaps in knowledge remain, and what sort of research would be required to produce systematically comparable results

Triple‐responsive polyampholytic graft copolymers as smart sensors with varying output

Abstract Three triggers result in two measurable outputs from polymeric sensors: multiresponsive polyampholytic graft copolymers respond to pH‐value and temperature, as well as the type and concentration of metal cations and therefore, allow the transformation of external triggers into simply measurable outputs (cloud point temperature (T CP ) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of encapsulated silver nanoparticles). The synthesis relies on poly(dehydroalanine) (PDha) as the reactive backbone and gives straightforward access to materials with tunable composition and output. In particular, a rather high sensitivity toward the presence of Cu 2+ , Co 2+ , and Pb 2+ metal cations is found

Auswirkungen von Klimaänderungen auf den Wasserhaushalt von Wäldern im Hessischen Ried

Die Wälder im Hessischen Ried sind geprägt durch hohen Nutzungsdruck, häufigen Trockenstress und daraus resultierend starken Waldschäden. Die im Rahmen des Projektes INKLIM 2012 II PLUS durchgeführten Wasserhaushaltssimulationen zeigten, dass die Wasserversorgung der Bestände bereits in der Vergangenheit teilweise extrem eingeschränkt war, was als Ursache der vielfach beschriebenen Waldschäden zu bewerten ist. Simulationen mit IPCC-SRES-Klimaprojektionsdaten ergaben, dass zukünftig häufiger mit ähnlichen Trockenperioden zu rechnen ist. Zur Sicherung der Stabilität der Waldbestände ergibt sich daraus für die Forstwirtschaft ein extrem eingeschränkter Handlungsrahmen in Bezug auf Umtriebszeiten, Zeitpunkt und Intensität von Durchforstungsmaßnahmen sowie der Baumartenwahl

Taming the beast : fluoromesityl groups induce a dramatic stability enhancement in boroles

The electron-deficient pentaarylborole 1-(2′,4′,6′-tris(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-2,3,4,5-tetraphenylborole (1) has been synthesised with the long-term aim of developing borole-based optoelectronic materials. The bulky 2,4,6-tris(trifluoromethyl)phenyl (FMes) group on the boron atom of 1 significantly improves (>600 times) its air stability relative to its mesityl analogue. Moreover, 1 shows good thermal stability without undergoing the dimerisation or isomerisation reactions reported for some other boroles. A triarylborole analogue (2), belonging to a new class of borole with the 3- and 4-positions of the BC4 ring linked by a -(CH2)3- group, has also been synthesised to elucidate the influence of carbon-bonded substituents on the stability of boroles. Both boroles were prepared through the reaction of Li[FMesBF3] and divinyldilithium reagents, a new and general method for borole syntheses. Compound 2 was found to isomerise through a [1,3]-H shift and double-bond rearrangement to an s-trans-butadienylborane species under highly basic (NaOH) conditions. The increased steric crowding at the boron centre through incorporation of the FMes group does not preclude binding of Lewis bases to either 1 or 2, as demonstrated by their fully reversible binding of pyridine. Interestingly, 1 exhibits a blue-shifted absorption spectrum, as compared with its mesityl analogue, a result contrary to previous understanding of the influence of substituent electronics on the absorption spectra of boroles. Most importantly, these boroles exhibit much greater air-stability than previously reported analogues without sacrificing the strong electron-accepting ability that makes boroles so attractive; indeed, 1 and 2 have very low reduction potentials of -1.52 and -1.69 eV vs. Fc/Fc+, respectively

Partial Anterior Cruciate Ligament Ruptures: Advantages by Intraligament Autologous Conditioned Plasma Injection and Healing Response Technique—Midterm Outcome Evaluation

The historical treatment options for partial anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures were conservative therapy or ACL reconstruction by injured bundle or entire ACL replacement. In awareness of the regenerative potential of biologic agents such as mesenchymal stem cells or platelet rich plasma (PRP), the healing response technique was developed to preserve the injured ACL with belter outcomes lhan ihe conservative therapy. Further improvement of this technique seems to be obtained by the additional application of PRP products. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the midterm outcome after intraligament autologous conditioned plasma (ACP) by a clinical, scoring, and functional performance assessment. 42 patients were evaluated in this study. The failure rate was 9.5%. Outcome evaluation showed good to excellent results. The scores were IKDC subjective 83.2 (SD 14.5), Lysholm 85.5 (SD 15.5), Tegner 4.7 (SD 1.7), and Cincinnati 85.4 (SD 15.5) afler a mean follow-up of 33 months. Clinical examination showed stable Lachman tesl, negative pivot shift phenomenon, and a significant reduction in AP-laxity compared to preoperative status (rolimeter preoperative: 1.9 (SD1.4); postoperative 0.6 (SD1.8), p=0.001) in all patients. Functional performance testing showed no significant differences between the injured and healthy side. Return to sport was achieved after a mean of 5.8 months (SD 3.6) in 71.1% of the included patients. In summary, this new treatment option revealed in midterm follow-up promising results to treat partial ACL lesions with a reduced need for conversion to ACL reconstruction and with a high percentage of return to preinjury sport activity

Impact of weather cues and resource dynamics on mast occurrence in the main forest tree species in Europe

Mast seeding, the synchronised occurrence of large amounts of fruits and seeds at irregular intervals, is a reproductive strategy in many wind-pollinated species. Although a series of studies have investigated mast year (MY) patterns in European forest tree species at the regional scale, there are few recent evaluations at a European scale on the impact of weather variables (weather cues) and resource dynamics on mast behaviour. Thus the main objective of this study is to investigate the impact of specific weather conditions, as environmental drivers for MYs, on resources in Fagus sylvatica L., Quercus petraea (Matt.)Liebl., Quercus robur L., Picea abies (L.) Karst. and Pinus sylvestris L. at a European level and to explore the robustness of the relationships in smaller regions within Europe. Data on seed production originating from the International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP Forests) were analysed. Three beta regression models were applied to investigate the impact of seasonal weather variables on MY occurrence, as well as the influence of fruiting intensity levels in the years prior to MYs. Resource dynamics are analysed at three different spatial scales (continent, countries and ecoregions). At a European scale, important weather cues for beech MYs were a cold and wet summer two years before a MY, a dry and warm summer one year before a MY and a warm spring in the MY. For spruce, a cold and dry summer two years prior to a MY and a warm and dry summer in the year before the MY showed the strongest associations with the MY. For oak, high spring temperature in the MY was the most important weather cue. For beech and spruce, and to some extent also for oak species, the best fitting models at European scale were well reflected by those found at smaller scales. For pine, best fitting models were highly diverse concerning weather cues. Fruiting levels were high in all species two years before the MY and also high one year before the MY in the oak species and in pine. In beech, fruiting levels one year before the MY were not important and in spruce, they were inconsistent depending on the region. As a consequence, evidence of resource depletion could only be seen in some regions for spruce.publishedVersio