Addressing Supply-Side Hurdles to Gender-Equal Representation in Germany

One hundred years after being granted the right to active suffrage, German women remain underrepresented in elective office. Quotas have partially addressed demand-side barriers to gender parity in descriptive representation, but significant supply-side gaps remain. Men comprise over 70% of political party members in the Federal Republic, dominating the bodies that provide candidates for elective office. Solutions to this supply-side problem have often focused on “fixing” women to fit into gendered party institutions, rather than altering these structures to be more welcoming to women. In contrast, drawing on interviews with (potential) party members in Germany, this article identifies informal institutions that deter gender-balanced involvement in political parties and suggests ways in which these norms might be changed.100 Jahre nach der Einführung des Frauenstimmrechts sind Frauen in Deutschland immer noch unterrepräsentiert in der Politik. Geschlechterquoten konnten teilweise die Hindernisse für Geschlechtergleichheit in der deskriptiven Repräsentation auf der Nachfrageseite beeinflussen. Es bestehen jedoch weiterhin bedeutende Lücken auf der Angebotsseite. Männer stellen mehr als 70% der Parteimitglieder in Deutschland und dominieren damit die Gremien, die die Kandidat_innen für die Wahlen aufstellen. Um dem Problem der Angebotsseite entgegenzuwirken, wird häufig versucht, Frauen für die vergeschlechtlichen parteilichen Institutionen passend zu machen, anstatt diese Strukturen zu verändern, um sie für Frauen einladender zu machen. Im Gegensatz dazu identifiziert dieser Artikel unter Rückgriff auf Interviews mit (potenziellen) Parteimitgliedern in Deutschland informelle Institutionen, die auf eine geschlechtergerechte Beteiligung in politischen Parteien abschreckend wirken und schlägt Wege vor, wie diese Normen verändert werden könnten

Crustose Coralline Algae and a Cnidarian Neuropeptide Trigger Larval Settlement in Two Coral Reef Sponges

In sessile marine invertebrates, larval settlement is fundamental to population maintenance and persistence. Cues contributing to the settlement choices and metamorphosis of larvae have important implications for the success of individuals and populations, but cues mediating larval settlement for many marine invertebrates are largely unknown. This study assessed larval settlement in two common Great Barrier Reef sponges, Coscinoderma matthewsi and Rhopaloeides odorabile, to cues that enhance settlement and metamorphosis in various species of scleractinian coral larvae. Methanol extracts of the crustose coralline algae (CCA), Porolithon onkodes, corresponding to a range of concentrations, were used to determine the settlement responses of sponge larvae. Cnidarian neuropeptides (GLW-amide neuropeptides) were also tested as a settlement cue. Settlement in both sponge species was approximately two-fold higher in response to live chips of CCA and optimum concentrations of CCA extract compared to 0.2 µm filtered sea water controls. Metamorphosis also increased when larvae were exposed to GLW-amide neuropeptides; R. odorabile mean metamorphosis reached 42.0±5.8% compared to 16.0±2.4% in seawater controls and in C. matthewsi mean metamorphosis reached 68.3±5.4% compared to 36.7±3.3% in seawater controls. These results demonstrate the contributing role chemosensory communication plays in the ability of sponge larvae to identify suitable habitat for successful recruitment. It also raises the possibility that larvae from distinct phyla may share signal transduction pathways involved in metamorphosis

Modeling the TNFα-Induced Apoptosis Pathway in Hepatocytes

The proinflammatory cytokine TNFα fails to provoke cell death in isolated hepatocytes but has been implicated in hepatocyte apoptosis during liver diseases associated with chronic inflammation. Recently, we showed that TNFα is able to sensitize primary murine hepatocytes cultured on collagen to Fas ligand-induced apoptosis and presented a mathematical model of the sensitizing effect. Here, we analyze how TNFα induces apoptosis in combination with the transcriptional inhibitor actinomycin D (ActD). Accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in response to TNFR activation turns out to be critical for sustained activation of JNK which then triggers mitochondrial pathway-dependent apoptosis. In addition, the amount of JNK is strongly upregulated in a ROS-dependent way. In contrast to TNFα plus cycloheximide no cFLIP degradation is observed suggesting a different apoptosis pathway in which the Itch-mediated cFLIP degradation and predominantly caspase-8 activation is not involved. Time-resolved data of the respective pro- and antiapoptotic factors are obtained and subjected to mathematical modeling. On the basis of these data we developed a mathematical model which reproduces the complex interplay regulating the phosphorylation status of JNK and generation of ROS. This model was fully integrated with our model of TNFα/Fas ligand sensitizing as well as with a published NF-κB-model. The resulting comprehensive model delivers insight in the dynamical interplay between the TNFα and FasL pathways, NF-κB and ROS and gives an example for successful model integration

Identification of Hypoxia-Regulated Proteins Using MALDI-Mass Spectrometry Imaging Combined with Quantitative Proteomics

Hypoxia is present in most solid tumors and is clinically correlated with increased metastasis and poor patient survival. While studies have demonstrated the role of hypoxia and hypoxia-regulated proteins in cancer progression, no attempts have been made to identify hypoxia-regulated proteins using quantitative proteomics combined with MALDI-mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI). Here we present a comprehensive hypoxic proteome study and are the first to investigate changes in situ using tumor samples. In vitro quantitative mass spectrometry analysis of the hypoxic proteome was performed on breast cancer cells using stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture (SILAC). MS analyses were performed on laser-capture microdissected samples isolated from normoxic and hypoxic regions from tumors derived from the same cells used in vitro. MALDI-MSI was used in combination to investigate hypoxia-regulated protein localization within tumor sections. Here we identified more than 100 proteins, both novel and previously reported, that were associated with hypoxia. Several proteins were localized in hypoxic regions, as identified by MALDI-MSI. Visualization and data extrapolation methods for the in vitro SILAC data were also developed, and computational mapping of MALDI-MSI data to IHC results was applied for data validation. The results and limitations of the methodologies described are discussed. 2014 American Chemical Societ

Development of the rhopalial nervous system in Aurelia sp.1 (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa)

We examined the development of the nervous system in the rhopalium, a medusa-specific sensory structure, in Aurelia sp.1 (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) using confocal microscopy. The rhopalial nervous system appears primarily ectodermal and contains neurons immunoreactive to antibodies against tyrosinated tubulin, taurine, GLWamide, and FMRFamide. The rhopalial nervous system develops in an ordered manner: the presumptive gravity-sensing organ, consisting of the lithocyst and the touch plate, differentiates first; the “marginal center,” which controls swimming activity, second; and finally, the ocelli, the presumptive photoreceptors. At least seven bilaterally arranged neuronal clusters consisting of sensory and ganglion cells and their neuronal processes became evident in the rhopalium during metamorphosis to the medusa stage. Our analysis provides an anatomical framework for future gene expression and experimental studies of development and functions of scyphozoan rhopalia

"The Content of European Parliament Election Campaigns: A Framework for Analysis and Evidence from Germany in 2004"

[From the Introduction]. This paper seeks to explain the overwhelmingly national focus of European Parliament election campaigns. The first section reviews the plethora of oft-contradictory existing explanations for the national focus of EP campaigns, arguing that few of these explanations are both logically convincing and empirically supported. Second, the paper posits an alternative explanation for why parties may – or may not – choose to organize an EP election campaign around national rather than European themes. This alternative explanation predicts not only the primacy of national content in EP campaigns but also the exceptions to this rule – cases which other scholars write off as anomalies. The third section uses the 2004 EP campaigns by German political parties as a plausibility probe to investigate our hypotheses

Searching for the Origins of Civic Community in the Newly Expanded European Union. Jean Monnet/Robert Schumann Paper Series Vol. 4 No. 18, December 2004

Although many scholars stress the importance of a civic political culture for a functioning democracy, there is little consensus about where such a culture originates. The ‘bottom up’ approach argues that the civic culture has centuries old, enduring roots that in turn shape political and economic institutions. The ‘top down’ approach implies that political culture itself can be shaped by political institutions. Both schools of thought, however, stress the interrelatedness of civic behaviors; voluntary group membership, newspaper readership, and voting are expected to all be high in civic cultures and low elsewhere. In contrast, this article argues that these four components of ‘civicness’ are differently influenced by contemporary political institutions and are therefore less interrelated than previous scholars have hypothesized. Germany and its neighbors in a newly expanded EU provide an excellent laboratory in which to empirically investigate these conflicting hypotheses about the origin of the civic community. If the ‘bottom up’ approach were correct, there would be no differences in the level of civic community between the Eastern and Western parts of Germany and Central Europe since they were separated by the Iron Curtain for only four decades. If the ‘top down’ approach were correct, forty years of communist rule would have indeed reduced the level of civic community in Eastern Germany and Eastern Central Europe. Instead, I find marked differences in voluntary group membership across the former Iron Curtain, but much less divergence in terms of newspaper readership and voter turnout

The Content of European Parliament Election Campaigns: A Framework for Analysis and Evidence from Germany in 2004. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol. 5 No. 6, April 2005

[From the introduction]. This paper seeks to explain the overwhelmingly national focus of European Parliament election campaigns. The first section reviews the plethora of oft-contradictory existing explanations for the national focus of EP campaigns, arguing that few of these explanations are both logically convincing and empirically supported. Second, the paper posits an alternative explanation for why parties may – or may not – choose to organize an EP election campaign around national rather than European themes. This alternative explanation predicts not only the primacy of national content in EP campaigns but also the exceptions to this rule – cases which other scholars write off as anomalies. The third section uses the 2004 EP campaigns by German political parties as a plausibility probe to investigate our hypotheses