Zur Situation muttersprachlichen Unterrichts und der muttersprachlichen LehrerInnen in der Wiener Sonderschule

Muttersprachlicher Unterricht stellt ein Bildungsanliegen eines multikulturellen Landes, wie Österreich es in den letzten Jahren geworden ist, dar. Die vorliegende Diplomarbeit verfolgt das Ziel des muttersprachlichen Unterrichts und die Situation muttersprachlicher Lehrkräfte besonders in der Sonderschule zu beleuchten – vor dem Hintergrund der teilweise bestehenden Überrepräsentanz von Kindern mit einer anderen Erstsprache in dieser Schulform. Es sollen darüber hinaus Aufgaben muttersprachlicher LehrerInnen, Zielsetzungen und Schwierigkeiten im beruflichen Alltag und vor allem auch ihr Einbezug in SPF-Feststellungsverfahren erhoben werden. Da sie bei Kindern mit einer anderen Erstsprache als Deutsch, die Muttersprache des jeweiligen Kindes sprechend, beim Auftreten von Lernbeeinträchtigungen die möglichen Ursachen klären können, sind sie in dieses Verfahren mit einzubeziehen. Es wurden ein Experteninterview mit der Beauftragten des BM:UKK für Migration und Schule und sechs problemzentrierte Interviews mit muttersprachlichen LehrerInnen geführt, um herauszufinden, inwiefern muttersprachliche Lehrkräfte in diesen Prozess mit einbezogen sind und wie ausschlaggebend ihre Meinung im Feststellungsverfahren ist. Die theoretische Auseinandersetzung und die empirische Untersuchung haben ergeben, dass Theorie und Praxis bezüglich der muttersprachlichen Förderung sich mitunter gravierend voneinander unterscheiden. Aus der Theorie geht deutlich hervor, wie wichtig die Muttersprache für das Erlernen der Zweitsprache sein kann, welch hohen Stellenwert sie für Identität und Selbstbewusstsein hat und welchen Wert Mehrsprachigkeit in der heutigen Gesellschaft hat. Anhand einiger Punkte, wie der Ausbildung der LehrerInnen oder der Durchführung und Rahmenbedingungen des muttersprachlichen Unterrichts lassen sich viele Lücken und Diskrepanzen zwischen dem, was möglich wäre und dem, was gemacht wird, aufzeigen.Mother tongue teaching is on the agenda in a multicultural state like Austria has become. The theses aims to throw light on mother tongue teaching and the situation of mother tongue teachers in special schools – in the context of overrepresentation of children with another first language than German in special education. The teachers’ tasks as well as encountered problems and challenges shall be discovered. If learning difficulties arise, their causes should be assessed under inclusion of qualified persons that speak the mother tongue of the child. Therefore, mother tongue teachers may also be included in assessing special educational needs. An expert interview and six problem-centered interviews with mother tongue teachers where conducted to find out in how far mother tongue teachers are involved in this process in Viennese special schools and how crucial their opinion is. The theoretical debate and the empirical investigation show that there is many a slip between the cup and the lip concerning mother tongue support. Theory proves how important mother tongue can be for learning another language, what emphasis is laid on identity and self-confidence and the value of multilingualism. On the basis of facts like teachers’ education or the performing and conditions of mother tongue teaching discrepancies between what’s possible and what’s actually done, could be outlined

Enlightening Tanzania

Diese Diplomarbeit befasst sich mit der Praxis des Hautbleichens unter tansanischen Frauen. Die Forschungsfrage bezieht sich auf die Reproduktion von Machtverhältnissen durch das Phänomen des Hautbleichens. Die Diplomarbeit wird von drei Annahmen geleitet. Die erste setzt Hautbleichen in den Kontext neoliberaler, neokolonialer, patriarchaler Machtverhältnisse, die den weißen oder hellen weiblichen Körper als ‘normal‘ und den nicht-weißen oder nicht-hellen als ‘abweichend’ konstruieren. Zweitens wird Hautbleichen als ein Ausdruck zunehmender Kommodifizierungstendenzen innerhalb des kapitalistischen Systems angesehen. Weißsein wird zu einer Ware, die jede(r) zum ‘angemessenen’ Preis kaufen kann. Drittens spiegelt Hautbleichen die Interdependenz verschiedener sozialer Verhältnisse wie „Rassen-”, Klassen-, oder Geschlechterverhält-nissen wieder. Weißsein wird daher nicht als statisches, sonder als flexibles Konstrukt angesehen. In diesem Sinne wird der Begriff der Normalisierung herangezogen, um die verschiedenen Kontextualisierungen von Weißsein und die Integration bestimmter ‘abweichender Anderer’ in die ‘weiße Gemeinschaft’ zu beschreiben. Die Diplomarbeit besteht aus zwei großen Kapiteln. Das erste befasst sich mit dem Forschungsansatz, sprich der methodischen und theoretischen Verortung, die sich aus einer Verbindung poststrukturalistischer und polit-ökonomischer Ansätze ergibt. Methodisch orientiert sich diese Diplomarbeit an einer Foucaultschen Diskursanalyse, wobei polit-ökonomische Ansätze integriert werden. Diskurse und polit-ökonomische Strukturen werden daher als sich beeinflussend angesehen. Im Sinne einer Foucaultschen Diskursanalyse werden im theoretischen Teil so genannte Formationsregeln anhand von zwei „Settings” — dem kolonialen, patriarchalen, liberal-bürgerlichen Setting und dem neoliberalen, neokolonialen, patriarchalen Setting – herausgearbeitet. Als wichtige Formationsregeln werden das Zusammenspiel von Klasse-, „Rassen”- und Geschlechter-verhältnissen, der Prozess der Kommodifizierung und die Verbindung von „Rasse” mit Schönheitskonstruktionen identifiziert. Weiters werden Konstruktionen von Weißsein in den Kontext der Entstehung kapitalistischer Strukturen gesetzt. Dabei wird analysiert, wie Weißsein in Form von Waren wie der Seife im kolonialen Kontext und Hautbleich-produkten im neoliberalen Kontext (re)konstruiert wurde/wird. Diese Formationsregeln und polit-ökonomischen Strukturen werden dann im Untersuchungsmaterial bestehend aus Interviews und visuellem Material rekonstruiert. Die Autorin nimmt die Lesenden auf eine Art ‘Reise’ durch verschiedene Arenen in Tansania, wo Weißsein oder Hellsein als hegemonial (re)produziert werden. Diese Arenen stellen der Markt, die Werbung, die Freundinnen als soziale Gruppe und die Stadt mit der Straße als zentralem ‘Schauplatz’ dar. Außerdem werden verschiedene Subjektivierungs-formen wie die ‘gebleichte Frau’, die ‘natürlich helle Frau’ gegenüber der ‘künstlich hellen Frau’ etc. analysiert. Die Analyse des empirischen Materials zeigt, wie bestimmte Machtverhältnisse, die im theoretischen Teil identifiziert wurden, reproduziert werden. Dabei wird jedoch auch ein Fokus auf Formen des Widerstands gegenüber herrschenden Machtverhältnissen gelegt. In diesem Zusammenhang spielt die Verschiebung von Weißsein zu Hellsein als DER Subjektivierungsform eine besondere Rolle. Dieser Wandel stellt einerseits eine Kontextualisierung von Weißsein im tansanischen Kontext dar, durch die Weißsein hegemonial bleibt, andererseits kann er auch als eine Möglichkeit des Widerstands gegenüber Weißsein als hegemonialem Machtverhältnis angesehen werden. In diesem Sinne versteht die Autorin Hautbleichen nicht nur als einen Ausdruck der Unterwerfung von Subjekten unter Machtverhältnisse, sondern wendet sich den Handlungsmöglichkeiten der interviewten Frauen zu. Die Frage besteht in Folge dessen darin, wie und warum Bleichcremen verwendet werden und wie sich die Interviewten innerhalb der tansanischen Gesellschaft wahrnehmen. Der Fokus liegt auf Formen der Kontextualisierung von Weißsein und Formen des Widerstands gegen dieses hegemoniale Machtverhältnis.In this diploma thesis the practice of skin bleaching among Tanzanian woman is analysed. The research question deals with how power relations are reconstructed by the practice of skin bleaching of Tanzanian women. The thesis is structured by three assumptions. First, skin bleaching needs to be analysed in relation to neocolonial, neoliberal and patriarchal power relations constructing the white or light female body as the ‘normal’ and the non-white or non-light body as the ‘deviant’. Second, skin bleaching reflects the commodification of whiteness as it becomes a commodity which everybody can buy at the ‘accurate’ price. Third, skin bleaching by non-white women illustrates how different social categories such as race, class and gender are interdependent. Consequently, whiteness can not be understood as a static but flexible construct. Using the concept of normalisation, whiteness is perceived as a a such always integrating some of the ‘abnormal others’ in order to stay hegemonic. The thesis is structured into two main parts. The first deals with the methodic and theoretical approach — the research approach. My research approach is a ‘mix’ between poststructuralist and politico-economic theories. My method is based on a Foucauldian discourse analytical approach but broadened by a politico-economic perspective. Thus discourses and politico-economic structures are perceived as acting in a joined way. According to a Foucauldian discourse analysis, so called rules of formations are identified in the theoretical part which are then reconstructed in the empirical material. Two ‘settings‘ — the colonial, patriarchal, liberal-bourgeois and the neoliberal, neocolonial, patriarchal setting are analysed regarding how whiteness has been and is being constructed. Important rules of formation identified are the interdependence of class, race and gender relations, the process of commodification and the link of race with beauty. Furthermore, the construction of whiteness is analysed in relation to the emergence of capitalist structures. The focus is put on how whiteness has been and is (re)constructed by the means of commodities such as the soap in the colonial context and skin bleaching products in the neoliberal context. In the second part these rules of formation and politico-economic structures are reconstructed in the empirical material consisting of interviews and visual material in form of advertisements. The author takes the reader on a trip through various sites where whiteness or rather lightness are being reproduced in the Tanzanian context. These site are the market, advertising, the domestic sphere, friends as a social group and the city setting with the street as the main area. Furthermore, forms of subjectivation such as the ‘bleached woman’, the ‘naturally light woman’ versus the ‘artificially white woman’ etc. are analysed. The analysis of the empirical material shows how some power relations identified in the theoretical part are being reproduced in the Tanzanian context while a focus is also set on challenges towards them. In this context the shift from whiteness to lightness as THE form of subjectivation identified in the empirical material is of crucial importance. On the one hand it needs to be perceived as a contextualisation of whiteness through which whiteness becomes hegemonic in the Tanzanian context. Yet, the challenging aspect towards power relations of this shift from whiteness to lightness is also emphasised. Thus the diploma thesis shows that skin bleaching cannot only be understood as a subjection under power relations by emphasising the agency of the subjects using bleaching creams. The focus is placed on how women use these creams, why they use it and how they perceive themselves within the Tanzanian society. Thus in this diplomat thesis various forms of contextualisations of whiteness and possibilities to resist this hegemonic power relation are explored

Die Rolle von Galectin-3 während der Prozessierung von pre-mRNA.

Galectin-3 ist ein Vertreter der Galectine, welche durch ihre Bindungsaffinität an β-Galactoside gekennzeichnet sind. Speziell Galectin-3 ist durch seinen chimären Aufbau, bestehend aus N-terminaler Oligomerisierungsdomäne, der C-terminalen Kohlenhydrat-Binderegion, und seinem ubiquitären Vorkommen im adulten Gewebe gekennzeichnet. Abhängig vom Zelltyp oder dem Proliferationsstadium ist es vermehrt extrazellulär, im Zytoplasma oder im Zellkern zu finden. Diese diffuse Verteilung führt auch zu einer Vielzahl an Funktionen für Galectin-3, die bisher noch nicht ausreichend aufgeklärt sind. Die subzelluläre Verteilung ist auch in verschiedenen Tumorvarianten sehr unterschiedlich. In Zellen des klarzelligen Nierentumors wird das Lektin verstärkt in den Zell-kern transportiert. Basierend auf dieser Beobachtung stellte sich die Frage nach möglichen Galec-tin-3-Interaktionspartnern im Zellkern und der Funktion dieser Interaktion. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurde zunächst hnRNPA2B1 als Interaktionspartner von Galectin-3 identi-fiziert. Es konnte mittels biochemischer Methoden nachgewiesen werden, dass diese Interaktion Laktose-abhängig und RNA-unabhängig ist. Außerdem wurde die Interaktion mit Hilfe des Proximi-ty Ligation Assay bestätigt. Weitere mikroskopische Untersuchungen zeigten nukleäre Kolokalisa-tionen in punktförmigen Strukturen. Anhand einer Affinitätschromatographie konnte nicht nur die Interaktion zum hnRNPA2B1 identifiziert werden, es wurden auch weitere Interaktionspartner von Galectin-3 gefunden, wie die Spleißkomponenten U2AF65 oder U1 70k. In zusätzlichen Experimenten konnte gezeigt werden, dass Galectin-3 an der Prozessierung von mRNA beteiligt ist, da es nach gemeinsamer Depletion von Galectin-3 und Galectin-1 zur Akkumula-tion von mRNA im Zellkern kam. Darüber hinaus wurde durch RNA-Sequenzierung nach Galectin-3 knockdown demonstriert, dass das Lektin das alternative Spleißen einzelner Gene beeinflusst. Diese Beobachtungen werden durch die hier identifizierten Galectin-3-Interaktionspartner unter-stützt, da es sich dabei um Komponenten des alternativen Spleißapparates handelt

Investigating the relation between positive affective responses and exercise instigation habits in an affect-based intervention for exercise trainers: A longitudinal field study

The present study contains an affect-based intervention intended to support exercise trainers in positively influencing their course participants’ affective responses to their exercise courses. We argue that positive affective responses are associated with habit formation, thereby being a promising approach for avoiding high drop-out rates in exercise courses. First, the present study aimed to investigate whether the intervention for exercise trainers could increase (a) affective attitudes, and (b) exercise instigation habit strength, and influence the development of (c) weekly measured affective responses and (d) automaticity among adult participants of exercise courses. Second, it examined the relationship between the development of affective responses and exercise instigation habit strength. Ten exercise trainers of weekly sports and exercise courses at a German university received either an affect-based intervention or a control intervention. 132 of their course participants answered the Self-Report Habit Index (SRHI; the automaticity sub-scale SRBAI was also analyzed) for exercise instigation habit strength and items to measure affective attitude in the initial and final assessment. Moreover, they were assessed for a duration of 10 weeks during which, each time after attending the course, they reported their affective response to exercise as well as their automaticity in arriving at the decision to exercise. In the repeated measures ANOVA, there was a significant main effect of time for exercise instigation habit strength. Overall, habit strength was higher in the final than in the initial assessment. However, there were no significant differences between the two conditions in all study variables. In the latent growth curve model, the trajectory of the latent growth curve of valence was a significant predictor of the final exercise instigation habit strength. While the applied affect-based intervention was not successful in enhancing positive affective responses to exercise, the results indicate that positive affective responses may contribute to strengthening exercise instigation habits. Future studies should examine the effectiveness of interventions in long-term study designs

Crystal growth and thermodynamic investigation of Bi2M2+O4 (M = Pd, Cu)

Phase equilibria that are relevant for the growth of Bi2MO4 have been studied experimentally, and the ternary phase diagrams of Bi2O3–PdO2–Pd and Bi2O3–Cu2O–CuO and its isopleth section Bi2O3–CuO were redetermined. It is shown that every melting and crystallization process is always accompanied by a redox process at the phase boundary and that for both title compounds, the valence of the transition metal is lowered during melting. Vice versa, during crystal growth, O2 must be transported through the melt to the phase boundary. Based on these new insights provided by our thermodynamic studies, Bi2CuO4 single crystals with a length of up to 7 cm and a diameter of 6 mm were grown by the OFZ technique to be used for investigations of magnetic, electronic and thermal transport properties. The grown crystals were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, Laue, magnetization and specific heat measurements

Effectivity of a mHealth intervention for individuals with obesity: a study protocol for a controlled intervention study

Background Obesity is considered an epidemic problem with an increasing number of individuals affected. The physical and psychological complaints associated with obesity point to the importance of implementing effective interventions. Innovative mHealth applications appear to be promising in helping provide a continuous and flexible support during the intervention. Since research on mHealth interventions is still relatively sparse, the main goal of the current study is to assess the effectiveness of an mHealth obesity intervention in terms of weight reduction, health behaviours as well as health-related quality of life. In addition, the study aims to investigate various psychological explicit and implicit processes associated with physical activity behaviour. Methods The study includes quantitative and qualitative methods. Regarding the quantitative methods, the goal is to recruit up to 450 individuals at baseline in different obesity centres across Germany with some of these centres offering an mHealth intervention. All individuals who agree to take part in the mHealth intervention will be assigned to the intervention group, while all other individuals will be assigned to the control group. The mHealth obesity intervention consists of three stays at an obesity centre, with approximately six months between stays during which patients are supported by the digital platform CASPAR. The study includes three measurements with a baseline measurement and two follow-up measurements, one after six months and one after twelve months. To assess the effectiveness of the intervention, body weight, physical activity behaviour, eating behaviour as well as health related quality of life will be assessed. In addition, motivation, intentions, self-efficacy, enjoyment, and habit will be used to assess the psychological processes related with physical activity behaviour. A multivariate analysis of variance with repeated measurement and latent growth curve models will be used to compare the development of the variables within the two groups. In relation to the qualitative methods, interviews with individuals of the intervention group will be conducted to shed light on the applicability, acceptance, and usability of the mHealth intervention. Discussion This study may provide a valuable insight into the potential of mHealth obesity interventions and the psychological processes related to physical activity behaviour

Anticipatory and Anticipated Emotions in Regular and Non-regular Exercisers – A Qualitative Study

Future-oriented emotions could influence our decisions in everyday life and help understand why some individuals are physically active whilst others are not. Current literature distinguishes between two future-oriented emotion constructs: anticipatory and anticipated emotions. While anticipatory emotions are currently experienced emotions about a future event, anticipated emotions refer to the emotions that a person is expected to experience when confronted with a future event. The main aims of the present study were (1) to identify and describe (a) categories of anticipatory emotions experienced before exercise, and (b) categories of anticipated emotions expected to be experienced during and after exercise, and (2) to develop a theoretical model of anticipated emotion categories. Sixteen participants (Mage = 26.03, SD = 6.66) were recruited for semi-structured interviews, and their statements were analyzed using principles of the Grounded Theory. In total, 13 different anticipatory and anticipated emotion categories were identified, such as enjoyment, anxiety, pride, self-anger, and relief. Anticipatory emotions seem to reflect the current affective valence of exercising and may be influenced by daily factors. With regards to anticipated emotions, the results show that regular exercisers anticipated also negative emotions such as anxiety, disappointment, and self-anger, and non-regular exercisers also anticipated positive emotions such as enjoyment, pride, and satisfaction. Therefore, future research should not only focus on the valence of future-oriented emotions, but should investigate the possible impact of specific anticipated emotions on exercise behavior. In addition, a theoretical model of anticipated emotion categories in exercise behavior derived from the interviews. The model outlines different categories of anticipated emotions based on appraisal processes. In conclusion, we assume that this developmental process of anticipated emotions may be embedded in a broader, cyclical process within the context of exercising

Towards Tutoring an Interactive Robot

Wrede B, Rohlfing K, Spexard TP, Fritsch J. Towards tutoring an interactive robot. In: Hackel M, ed. Humanoid Robots, Human-like Machines. ARS; 2007: 601-612.Many classical approaches developed so far for learning in a human-robot interaction setting have focussed on rather low level motor learning by imitation. Some doubts, however, have been casted on whether with this approach higher level functioning will be achieved. Higher level processes include, for example, the cognitive capability to assign meaning to actions in order to learn from the tutor. Such capabilities involve that an agent not only needs to be able to mimic the motoric movement of the action performed by the tutor. Rather, it understands the constraints, the means and the goal(s) of an action in the course of its learning process. Further support for this hypothesis comes from parent-infant instructions where it has been observed that parents are very sensitive and adaptive tutors who modify their behavior to the cognitive needs of their infant. Based on these insights, we have started our research agenda on analyzing and modeling learning in a communicative situation by analyzing parent-infant instruction scenarios with automatic methods. Results confirm the well known observation that parents modify their behavior when interacting with their infant. We assume that these modifications do not only serve to keep the infant’s attention but do indeed help the infant to understand the actual goal of an action including relevant information such as constraints and means by enabling it to structure the action into smaller, meaningful chunks. We were able to determine first objective measurements from video as well as audio streams that can serve as cues for this information in order to facilitate learning of actions

Galectin-3 interacts with components of the nuclear ribonucleoprotein complex

Differentially spliced mRNAs following galectin‐3 depletion. (PDF 122 kb