Methodologische Überlegungen über Möglichkeiten und Grenzen einer Analyse der sozialen Zusammensetzung der NSDAP von 1925 bis 1945

Die Analyse der sozialen Zusammensetzung der NSDAP basiert auf einem systematischen Sample. Von den 8,5 Millionen Mitgliedskarten der NSDAP wurden 18940 ausgewählt, die Daten standardisiert und per Computer ausgewertet. Der Autor stellt die Konstruktion des Samples und die eingesetzten Variablen vor. Die Ergebnisse der Auswertungen werden in Tabellen dargestellt. Die Interpretation der Daten unter dem Gesichtspunkt der sozialen Gliederung verbindet der Autor mit einer Problematisierung der Bildung von Klassenmodellen. (BG

Zinserhöhung der EZB: Wie groß ist die Inflationsgefahr?

Für Thomas Mayer, Deutsche Bank, erscheint es sinnvoll, dass die EZB den Leitzins auf sein neutrales Niveau hochführt. Noch wichtiger für die Wahrung der Stabilität des Euro wäre es aber, dass sich die EZB aus der Finanzierung von durch Insolvenz bedrohten Staaten und ihren Banken zurückzieht. Holger Schmieding, Berenberg Bank, sieht keine Inflationsgefahr. Er rechnet für Deutschland mit einem jährlichen Preisanstieg von gut 2%. Manfred Jäger-Ambroz.ewicz, Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft Köln, vertritt die Meinung, dass die EZB eine sachgerechte Leitzinspolitik umsetzt und einen angemessenen Leitzinspfad suggeriert. Michael Lamla und Jan-Egbert Sturm, ETH Zürich, betonen, dass die EZB genügend Glaubwürdigkeit und Transparenz besitzt, um die Inflationserwartungen zu beeinflussen und zu homogenisieren. Ihrer Ansicht nach steigen insgesamt die Inflationserwartungen im Euroraum für das nächste Jahr weiterhin an, ohne aber beunruhigende Werte anzunehmen. Auch Ulrich Kater, DekaBank, sieht die Glaubwürdigkeit des Inflationsregimes mit der Geldwertstabilität als wichtigster Zielsetzung unabhängiger Notenbanken nicht gefährdet. Leon Leschus, HWWI, geht davon aus, dass hohe Rohstoffpreise weiterhin zum Inflationsdruck beitragen werden. Es wäre somit wünschenswert, wenn die EZB ihre begonnene restriktive Geldpolitik fortsetzen würde. Hans Wolfgang Brachinger, Universität Fribourg, sieht angesichts teurer Rohstoffe, zunehmender Spekulation und steigender Produktionskosten in China die Inflationsrisiken in Deutschland wachsen, und zwar unabhängig vom Handeln der EZB.Preisniveaustabilität, Geldpolitik, Zins, Zinspolitik, Inflation, Zentralbank, Europäische Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion

Production of tocotrienols in seeds of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) enhances oxidative stability and offers nutraceutical potential

Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is an economically important multi-purpose crop cultivated globally for fibre, seed oil and protein. Cottonseed oil also is naturally rich in vitamin E components (collectively known as tocochromanols), with a- and c-tocopherols comprising nearly all of the vitamin E components. By contrast, cottonseeds have little or no tocotrienols, tocochromanols with a wide range of health benefits. Here, we generated transgenic cotton lines expressing the barley (Hordeum vulgare) homogentisate geranylgeranyl transferase coding sequence under the control of the Brassica napus seed-specific promoter, napin. Transgenic cottonseeds had ~twofold to threefold increases in the accumulation of total vitamin E (tocopherols + tocotrienols), with more than 60% c-tocotrienol. Matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry imaging showed that c-tocotrienol was localized throughout the transgenic embryos. In contrast, the native tocopherols were distributed unequally in both transgenic and non-transgenic embryos. a- Tocopherol was restricted mostly to cotyledon tissues and c-tocopherol was more enriched in the embryonic axis tissues. Production of tocotrienols in cotton embryos had no negative impact on plant performance or yield of other important seed constituents including fibre, oil and protein. Advanced generations of two transgenic events were field grown, and extracts of transgenic seeds showed increased antioxidant activity relative to extracts from non-transgenic seeds. Furthermore, refined cottonseed oil from the two transgenic events showed 30% improvement in oxidative stability relative to the non-transgenic cottonseed oil. Taken together, these materials may provide new opportunities for cottonseed co-products with enhanced vitamin E profile for improved shelf life and nutrition

Generation of Functional CLL-Specific Cord Blood CTL Using CD40-Ligated CLL APC

PMCID: PMC3526610This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Be prepared: communism and the politics of scouting in 1950s Britain

This article examines the exposure, and in some cases dismissal, of Boy Scouts who belonged or sympathised with the Young Communist League in Britain during the early 1950s. A focus on the rationale and repercussions of the organisation's approach and attitudes towards ‘Red Scouts’ found within their ‘ranks’ extends our understanding of youth movements and their often complex and conflicting ideological foundations. In particular, the post-World War Two period presented significant challenges to these spaces of youth work in terms of broader social and political change in Britain. An analysis of the politics of scouting in relation to Red Scouts questions not only the assertion that British McCarthyism was ‘silent’, but also brings young people firmly into focus as part of a more everyday politics of communism in British society

Cytogenetic complexity in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: definitions, associations and clinical impact

Recent evidence suggests that complex karyotype (CK) defined by the presence of 653 chromosomal aberrations (structural and/or numerical) identified by chromosome banding analysis (CBA) may be relevant for treatment decision-making in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). However, many challenges towards routine clinical application of CBA remain. In a retrospective study of 5290 patients with available CBA data, we explored both clinicobiological associations and the clinical impact of CK in CLL. We found that patients with 655 abnormalities, defined as high-CK, exhibit uniformly dismal clinical outcome, independently of clinical stage, TP53 aberrations (deletion of chromosome 17p and or TP53 mutations, TP53abs) and the expression of somatically hypermutated (M-CLL) or unmutated (U-CLL) immunoglobulin heavy variable genes (IGHV). Thus, they contrasted CK cases with 3 or 4 aberrations (low-CK and intermediate-CK, respectively) who followed aggressive disease courses only in the presence of TP53abs. At the other end of the spectrum, patients with CK and +12,+19 displayed an exceptionally indolent profile. Building upon CK, TP53abs and IGHV gene somatic hypermutation status, we propose a novel hierarchical model where patients with high-CK exhibit the worst prognosis, while M-CLL lacking CK or TP53abs as well as CK with +12,+19 show the longest overall survival. In conclusion, CK should not be axiomatically considered unfavorable in CLL, representing a heterogeneous group with variable clinical behavior. High-CK with 655 chromosomal aberrations emerges as prognostically adverse, independently of other biomarkers. Prospective clinical validation is warranted before finally incorporating high-CK in risk stratification of CLL

Location of studies and evidence of effects of herbivory on Arctic vegetation: a systematic map

Herbivores modify the structure and function of tundra ecosystems. Understanding their impacts is necessary to assess the responses of these ecosystems to ongoing environmental changes. However, the effects of herbivores on plants and ecosystem structure and function vary across the Arctic. Strong spatial variation in herbivore effects implies that the results of individual studies on herbivory depend on local conditions, i.e., their ecological context. An important first step in assessing whether generalizable conclusions can be produced is to identify the existing studies and assess how well they cover the underlying environmental conditions across the Arctic. This systematic map aims to identify the ecological contexts in which herbivore impacts on vegetation have been studied in the Arctic. Specifically, the primary question of the systematic map was: “What evidence exists on the effects of herbivores on Arctic vegetation?”

Astrocytic Ca2+ Waves Guide CNS Growth Cones to Remote Regions of Neuronal Activity

Activity plays a critical role in network formation during developmental, experience-dependent, and injury related remodeling. Here we report a mechanism by which axon trajectory can be altered in response to remote neuronal activity. Using photoconductive stimulation to trigger high frequency action potentials in rat hippocampal neurons in vitro, we find that activity functions as an attractive cue for growth cones in the local environment. The underlying guidance mechanism involves astrocyte Ca2+ waves, as the connexin-43 antagonist carbenoxolone abolishes the attraction when activity is initiated at a distance greater than 120 µm. The asymmetric growth cone filopodia extension that precedes turning can be blocked with CNQX (10 µM), but not with the ATP and adenosine receptor antagonists suramin (100 µM) and alloxazine (4 µM), suggesting non-NMDA glutamate receptors on the growth cone mediate the interaction with astrocytes. These results define a potential long-range signalling pathway for activity-dependent axon guidance in which growth cones turn towards directional, temporally coordinated astrocyte Ca2+ waves that are triggered by neuronal activity. To assess the viability of the guidance effect in an injury paradigm, we performed the assay in the presence of conditioned media from lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activated purified microglial cultures, as well as directly activating the glia present in our co-cultures. Growth cone attraction was not inhibited under these conditions, suggesting this mechanism could be used to guide regeneration following axonal injury