Development of microsatellite markers for the wetland grasshopper Stethophyma grossum

Stethophyma grossum is a threatened Eurosiberian grasshopper species. Since it is bound to wetlands, S. grossum is often used as indicator for extensive wet meadows. To study its movement capability and dispersal habitat in landscape genetic analyses, we developed ten polymorphic microsatellite markers, making use of next generation sequencing. Markers were tested on 75 individuals collected in five populations from Switzerland. We found four to 18 alleles per locus. Observed and expected heterozygosities varied between 0.215-0.893 and 0.397-0.831, respectively. One marker seems to be sex-chromosome X-linked and one showed high null allele frequencies, a phenomenon generally detected in microsatellite studies on grasshopper

Coping with IT-Related Demands: A Behavioral Change Experiment Through Online Training

Information systems (IS) used in the workplace give various demands. Behaviors contributing to successfully coping with the demands of IS can support healthier IS use. Inducing behavior change in IS use is challenging due to the influence of habits. We aim to understand how users\u27 coping behavior changes through adaptive coping training for IT-related demands and how to design this online training. We developed an online training based on behavior change theories and IS research. Our study uses mixed methods, combining qualitative and quantitative data collection through questionnaires in an experimental design. We will conduct a multigroup analysis for quantitative evaluation. Further, we use inductively open coding and clustering by axial coding for qualitative data analysis. Our research will provide insights into the feasibility of behavior change through online training and for practitioners to design practical online training

Did dog domestication contribute to language evolution?

Different factors seemingly account for the emergence of present-day languages in our species. Human self-domestication has been recently invoked as one important force favoring language complexity mostly via a cultural mechanism. Because our self-domestication ultimately resulted from selection for less aggressive behavior and increased prosocial behavior, any evolutionary or cultural change impacting on aggression levels is expected to have fostered this process. Here, we hypothesize about a parallel domestication of humans and dogs, and more specifically, about a positive effect of our interaction with dogs on human self-domestication, and ultimately, on aspects of language evolution, through the mechanisms involved in the control of aggression. We review evidence of diverse sort (ethological mostly, but also archeological, genetic, and physiological) supporting such an effect and propose some ways of testing our hypothesis

Design for Service Innovation & Development. Final Report

This is an AHRC research report exploring design's contribution to Service Innovation and New Service Development

Der Preis der hohen Zinsen: die hohen Refinanzierungskosten einiger EU-Staaten belasten weit mehr als nur die Staatshaushalte

Mit dem Krisenmanagement in der Eurozone soll unter anderem verhindert werden, dass die Regierungen zu hohe Zinsen auf Staatsanleihen zahlen müssen. Diesem Ziel dient das umstrittene Bondaufkaufprogramm OMT der Europäischen Zentralbank (EZB). Seit Auflage der ersten Hilfsprogramme 2010 wird immer wieder behauptet, dass ein Zinsniveau von über sechs Prozent für Länder wie Spanien und Italien noch erträglich sei. Der Marktdruck sei sogar gesund, weil er wichtige Reformen anstoße und dafür sorge, dass Staatsdefizite abgebaut würden. Diese vermeintlichen Vorteile müssen gegen vier gefährliche Folgen hoher Zinsen auf Staatsanleihen abgewogen werden. Erstens erhöhen sie auch die Finanzierungskosten von Banken. Die dadurch bedingte Kapitalverknappung schadet, zweitens, der Realwirtschaft. Drittens wirken geldpolitische Maßnahmen bei solch hohen Zinsen von Land zu Land sehr unterschiedlich und fördern Divergenzen. Viertens können erhöhte Zinsen kurzfristig überzogene Sparmaßnahmen provozieren, die sowohl die Konjunktur wie die Steuereinnahmen beeinträchtigen. Aufgrund dieser Zusammenhänge und da hohe Zinsen einen Vertrauensverlust der Märkte reflektieren, ist eine Stabilisierung der Risikoprämien Voraussetzung für die Erholung der Eurozone. Dazu müssen auch die Regierungen beitragen. (Autorenreferat

Cultured Human Foreskin as a Model System for Evaluating Ionizing Radiation-Induced Skin Injury

Purpose: Precise molecular and cellular mechanisms of radiation-induced dermatitis are incompletely understood. Histone variant H2A.J is associated with cellular senescence and modulates senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) after DNA-damaging insults, such as ionizing radiation (IR). Using ex vivo irradiated cultured foreskin, H2A.J was analyzed as a biomarker of radiation-induced senescence, potentially initiating the inflammatory cascade of radiation-induced skin injury. Methods: Human foreskin explants were collected from young donors, irradiated ex vivo with 10 Gy, and cultured in air-liquid interphase for up to 72 h. At different time-points after ex vivo IR exposure, the foreskin epidermis was analyzed for proliferation and senescence markers by immunofluorescence and immunohistochemical staining of sectioned tissue. Secretion of cytokines was measured in supernatants by ELISA. Using our mouse model with fractionated in vivo irradiation, H2A.J expression was analyzed in epidermal stem/progenitor cell populations localized in different regions of murine hair follicles (HF). Results: Non-vascularized foreskin explants preserved their tissue homeostasis up to 72 h (even after IR exposure), but already nonirradiated foreskin epithelium expressed high levels of H2A.J in all epidermal layers and secreted high amounts of cytokines. Unexpectedly, no further increase in H2A.J expression and no obvious upregulation of cytokine secretion was observed in the foreskin epidermis after ex vivo IR. Undifferentiated keratinocytes in murine HF regions, by contrast, revealed low H2A.J expression in non-irradiated skin and significant radiation-induced H2A.J upregulations at different time-points after IR exposure. Based on its staining characteristics, we presume that H2A.J may have previously underestimated the importance of the epigenetic regulation of keratinocyte maturation. Conclusions: Cultured foreskin characterized by highly keratinized epithelium and specific immunological features is not an appropriate model for studying H2A.J-associated tissue reactions during radiation-induced dermatitis