Politique d’éducation et évolution de l’école en Autriche

Contrairement à la Suède, à la Finlande, aux Pays-Bas et à l’Australie, l’Autriche ne fait pas partie des pays de l’OCDE réputés pour leur propension à l’innovation et pour donner des impulsions novatrices à l’évolution internationale des systèmes scolaires. Bien au contraire, tout comme l’Allemagne et la Suisse alémanique, l’Autriche fait figure de « village gaulois » qui résiste à la réforme et dont la caractéristique fondamentale est le maintien de la différenciation du premier degré de l’..

"Real" and pseudo comprehensive schools. A sketch of the Europe-wide implementation of reforms of the lower secondary educational system during the last forty years, including some remarks about the reform discourse in Germany and Austria

Während die Mehrzahl der europäischen Länder in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten die traditionelle ("alteuropäische"), selektive, mehrgliedrige Sekundarstufe I durch Gesamtschulsysteme ersetzt hat, halten Deutschland und Österreich am euphemistisch "gegliedert" genannten Schulsystem fest. Die deutschen Gesamtschulen entsprechen nicht den Kriterien, die für diese Schulform gelten, und müssen daher als Pseudo-Gesamtschulen bezeichnet werden. Der Vorschlag, die deutsche Mehrgliedrigkeit durch Zweigliedrigkeit zu ersetzen, dürfte angesichts der Probleme des seit Jahrzehnten existierenden zweigliedrigen österreichischen Schulsystems wenig erfolgversprechend sein. (DIPF/Orig.)While the majority of the European countries has replaced the traditional ("old European"), selective, subdivided lower secondary educational system by comprehensive schools during the last decades, Germany and Austria cling to the euphemistically so-called "subdivided" system. German comprehensive schools do not meet the criteria which have been established for this type of school and must therefore be called "pseudo"-comprehensive schools. The proposal to replace the German system by a binary one will be hardly promising if one regards the problems of the Austrian school system which has already been binary for decades.(DIPF/Orig.

Einfluss von Intensität und Zeitpunkt der Bodenbearbeitung auf Ertragsbildung von Weizen und N-Dynamik in Wasserschutzgebieten

Water protection is controlled by specific regulations in the German Federal States, e.g. the SchALVO in Baden-Württemberg. An amendment of the SchALVO demands, amongst others, a changed timing and intensity of soil tillage directly after growing crops with high-nitrogen residues. As Organic Farming highly relies on soil tillage for weed control, there is concern about decrease of yield and increase of weed infesta-tion in water protection areas if tillage is restricted. Field experiments were performed on practical farms with three treatments according to SchALVO (rigid tine cultivator or mouldboard plough for primary tillage, used in October, December or February) and two treatments according to best management practice (mouldboard plough in Octo-ber or November). The treatments were combined with growing either winter wheat or spring wheat, depending on the date of tillage. There were no significant differences between the SchALVO and the practice-related treatments for yield, yield parameters, protein content and weed infestation, whereas there were differences between the winter crop and spring crop. The total Nmin in soil was slightly lower in the SchALVO treatments. Here, Nmin reached 39 – 42 kg Nmin ha-1 (mean of the experimental years), compared to the practice-related treatments with 42 or 43 kg Nmin ha-1 in the sub-experiment exemplarily presented in this paper. These differences were not significant at P ≤ 0.05. Mean Nmin was 38.5 kg ha-1 before starting the experiment. The lowest Nmin was found after using a cultivator in October. Since the one-time use of a cultiva-tor instead of the plough did not result in obvious disadvantages for the crop, the risk of yield reduction and increased weed infestation seems to be small. Nevertheless, if the initial number of perennial weeds, e.g. thistles, is high, a plough is supposed to be more effective for weed control than non-inversion tillage by cultivator

Recent changes in the mutational dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease substantiate the danger of emerging resistance to antiviral drugs

IntroductionThe current coronavirus pandemic is being combated worldwide by nontherapeutic measures and massive vaccination programs. Nevertheless, therapeutic options such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) main-protease (Mpro) inhibitors are essential due to the ongoing evolution toward escape from natural or induced immunity. While antiviral strategies are vulnerable to the effects of viral mutation, the relatively conserved Mpro makes an attractive drug target: Nirmatrelvir, an antiviral targeting its active site, has been authorized for conditional or emergency use in several countries since December 2021, and a number of other inhibitors are under clinical evaluation. We analyzed recent SARS-CoV-2 genomic data, since early detection of potential resistances supports a timely counteraction in drug development and deployment, and discovered accelerated mutational dynamics of Mpro since early December 2021.MethodsWe performed a comparative analysis of 10.5 million SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences available by June 2022 at GISAID to the NCBI reference genome sequence NC_045512.2. Amino-acid exchanges within high-quality regions in 69,878 unique Mpro sequences were identified and time- and in-depth sequence analyses including a structural representation of mutational dynamics were performed using in-house software.ResultsThe analysis showed a significant recent event of mutational dynamics in Mpro. We report a remarkable increase in mutational variability in an eight-residue long consecutive region (R188-G195) near the active site since December 2021.DiscussionThe increased mutational variability in close proximity to an antiviral-drug binding site as described herein may suggest the onset of the development of antiviral resistance. This emerging diversity urgently needs to be further monitored and considered in ongoing drug development and lead optimization

Historische Anthropologie im südöstlichen Europa

The beginnings of historical anthropology as a transdisciplinary project have to be located in the 1970s. However, in this part of the world it is still considered as a young project. This seems to be the main reason for not having yet developed a common understanding about its aims, methods and core contents. There is also no unanimity about the perception, advocated in this volume, that historical anthropology does not represent a new scientific discipline but an altered understanding of history as a discipline as a whole for the purpose of transdisciplinarity. The intention of the endeavor ‘historical anthropology’ is far from questioning established disciplines such as the historical scholarship but to put man in its historical contingency and cultural complexity into the focus of research and academic teaching. Since the temporal dimension does play a central role anthropologically oriented historical scholarship occupies a specific position in this project. Historical anthropology is comprehended here as integration of disciplines in the sense of a comprehensive science of the human being. Historical anthropology conducted in a rather peripheral region such as Southeastern Europe or the Balkans due to its specific historic development and cultural features is confronted with partly other challenges and has partly different aims compared with Western or Central Europe, for instance, which is reflected in the composition of the present volume. It consists of five parts. The first one addresses migration and adaption strategies, the second one gender relations and stages of life. The third one deals with the complex relationship of geographic features such as mountains and sea, and the human being. The fourth part is devoted to law and disciplining, and the concluding one to identities. The authors are either directly affiliated with Centre for Southeast European History and Anthropology at University of Graz or colleagues from abroad with whom the Centre has intensive collaboration.Die bislang vor allem ethnozentrierte Perspektive auf Geschichte und Kultur Südosteuropas hat viel zu den unübersehbaren Spannungen in der Region beigetragen. Eine historisch-anthropologische Perspektive kann dem Entscheidendes entgegensetzen und ethnozentrierte Blicke auflösen. Dieser erste Überblick über Themenfelder einer Historischen Anthropologie im südostlichen Europa hat Einführungscharakter und weist gleichzeitig auf Forschungsperspektiven hin. Dargestellt werden u. a. folgende Themenfelder: Wanderungen und Anpassungsstrategien; Geschlechterbeziehungen und Lebensphasen; das Gebirge, die Stadt und das Meer; Recht und Disziplinierung; Identitäten. Die Beiträger und Beiträgerinnen stammen sowohl aus Ländern des westlichen als auch des südöstlichen Europa

The Correlation between Rates of Cancer and Autism: An Exploratory Ecological Investigation

Autism is associated with high rates of genomic aberrations, including chromosomal rearrangements and de novo copy-number variations. These observations are reminiscent of cancer, a disease where genomic rearrangements also play a role. We undertook a correlative epidemiological study to explore the possibility that shared risk factors might exist for autism and specific types of cancer.To determine if significant correlations exist between the prevalence of autism and the incidence of cancer, we obtained and analyzed state-wide data reported by age and gender throughout the United States. Autism data were obtained from the U.S. Department of Education via the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (2000-2007, reported annually by age group) and cancer incidence data were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (1999-2005). IDEA data were further subdivided depending on the method used to diagnose autism (DSM IV or the Code of Federal Regulations, using strict or expanded criteria). Spearman rank correlations were calculated for all possible pairwise combinations of annual autism rates and the incidence of specific cancers. Following this, Bonferroni's correction was applied to significance values. Two independent methods for determining an overall combined p-value based on dependent correlations were obtained for each set of calculations. High correlations were found between autism rates and the incidence of in situ breast cancer (p < or = 10(-10), modified inverse chi square, n = 16) using data from states that adhere strictly to the Code of Federal Regulations for diagnosing autism. By contrast, few significant correlations were observed between autism prevalence and the incidence of 23 other female and 22 male cancers.These findings suggest that there may be an association between autism and specific forms of cancer

Can electromagnetic fields influence the structure and enzymatic digest of proteins? A critical evaluation of microwave-assisted proteomics protocols

AbstractThis study reevaluates the putative advantages of microwave-assisted tryptic digests compared to conventionally heated protocols performed at the same temperature. An initial investigation of enzyme stability in a temperature range of 37–80°C demonstrated that trypsin activity declines sharply at temperatures above 60°C, regardless if microwave dielectric heating or conventional heating is employed. Tryptic digests of three proteins of different size (bovine serum albumin, cytochrome c and β-casein) were thus performed at 37°C and 50°C using both microwave and conventional heating applying accurate internal fiber-optic probe reaction temperature measurements. The impact of the heating method on protein degradation and peptide fragment generation was analyzed by SDS-PAGE and MALDI-TOF-MS. Time-dependent tryptic digestion of the three proteins and subsequent analysis of the corresponding cleavage products by MALDI-TOF provided virtually identical results for both microwave and conventional heating. In addition, the impact of electromagnetic field strength on the tertiary structure of trypsin and BSA was evaluated by molecular mechanics calculations. These simulations revealed that the applied field in a typical laboratory microwave reactor is 3–4 orders of magnitude too low to induce conformational changes in proteins or enzymes

Synthetic enzymes for synthetic substrates

In recent years, hydrolases like cutinases, esterases and lipases have been recognized as powerful tools for hydrolysis of synthetic polymers such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as an environmentally friendly alternative for environmentally harmful chemical recycling methods1. PET is currently the most common type of aromatic polyester, with widespread application as packaging material, beverage bottles, and synthetic textile fibers. So far, cutinases have been the most active enzyme class regarding PET degradation. In nature, cutinases catalyze the hydrolysis of the aliphatic biopolyester cutin, the structural component of plant cuticle. Although cutinases are able to act on natural insoluble polyesters, their activities on non-natural substrates are quit low. For this reason, different engineering strategies were established to optimize “polyesterases” for synthetic polymers (Fig.1). Thereby, development of rationale enzyme-engineering strategies led to remarkable enhancement of hydrolytic activities on polyesters and clearly showed that the affinity between the enzyme and the substrate plays a key role in the enzymatic hydrolysis of synthetic polyester. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Single Molecule Experiments Challenge the Strict Wave-Particle Dualism of Light

Single molecule techniques improve our understanding of the photon and light. If the single photon double slit experiment is performed at the “single photon limit” of a multi-atom light source, faint light pulses with more than one photon hamper the interpretation. Single molecules, quantum dots or defect centres in crystals should be used as light source. “Single photon detectors” do not meet their promise—only “photon number resolving single photon detectors” do so. Particularly, the accumulation time argument, the only safe basis for the postulate of a strictly particle like photon, has so far not yet been verified

Controlling the fatty acid hydroxylation regioselectivity of CYP152A1 (P450Bsb) by active site engineering

Regioselective hydroxylation on inactivated C-H bonds is among the dream reactions of organic chemists. Cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs) perform this reaction in general with high regio- and stereoselectivity (e.g. for steroids as substrates). Furthermore, enzyme engineering may allow to tune the regioselectivity of the enzyme. Regioselective in-chain hydroxylation of shorter or linear molecules (fatty acids), however, remains challenging even with this enzyme class, due to the high similarity of the substrate’s backbone carbons and their conformational flexibility. CYPs are well described for hydroxylating fatty acids selectively in the chemically more distinct a- or w-position. In contrast, selective in-chain hydroxylation of fatty acids lacks precedence. The peroxygenase CYP152A1 (P450Bsb) is a family member that displays fatty acid hydroxylation at both, the a- and b-position. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract