On Developing an E-Assessment Tool for Agile Practices

As agile software development processes are widely applied in industry, students need to develop a good understanding of agile principles and practices as part of their education. During our ten years of experience with teaching the Scrum framework in team project modules, we noticed that students frequently struggle with writing good user stories and concise sprint goals. To support students in mastering basic practices and to free limited teaching resources for more in-depth discussions on advanced topics, e-assessment tools should be developed to provide timely feedback on at least common mistakes. This paper argues that, and sketches how, research on quality criteria for artifacts of agile development can serve as the basis for such a tool. However, multiple challenges remain that we invite lecturers and researchers to discuss

Distinct patterns of mitochondrial genome diversity in bonobos (Pan paniscus) and humans

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We have analyzed the complete mitochondrial genomes of 22 <it>Pan paniscus </it>(bonobo, pygmy chimpanzee) individuals to assess the detailed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) phylogeny of this close relative of <it>Homo sapiens</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified three major clades among bonobos that separated approximately 540,000 years ago, as suggested by Bayesian analysis. Incidentally, we discovered that the current reference sequence for bonobo likely is a hybrid of the mitochondrial genomes of two distant individuals. When comparing spectra of polymorphic mtDNA sites in bonobos and humans, we observed two major differences: (i) Of all 31 bonobo mtDNA homoplasies, i.e. nucleotide changes that occurred independently on separate branches of the phylogenetic tree, 13 were not homoplasic in humans. This indicates that at least a part of the unstable sites of the mitochondrial genome is species-specific and difficult to be explained on the basis of a mutational hotspot concept. (ii) A comparison of the ratios of non-synonymous to synonymous changes (<it>d</it>_<it>N</it><it>/d</it>_<it>S</it>) among polymorphic positions in bonobos and in 4902 <it>Homo sapiens </it>mitochondrial genomes revealed a remarkable difference in the strength of purifying selection in the mitochondrial genes of the F₀F₁-ATPase complex. While in bonobos this complex showed a similar low value as complexes I and IV, human haplogroups displayed 2.2 to 7.6 times increased <it>d</it>_<it>N</it><it>/d</it>_{<it>S </it>}ratios when compared to bonobos.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Some variants of mitochondrially encoded subunits of the ATPase complex in humans very likely decrease the efficiency of energy conversion leading to production of extra heat. Thus, we hypothesize that the species-specific release of evolutionary constraints for the mitochondrial genes of the proton-translocating ATPase is a consequence of altered heat homeostasis in modern humans.</p

On the problem of supersonic gas flow in two-dimensional channel with the oscillating upper wall

In the present paper we solve the problem of supersonic gas flow in two-dimensional channel with the moving upper wall making oscillations according to the harmonic law. In order to get a numerical solution for gas dynamics equations we have implemented a difference scheme with space and time approximation of the first order and one with space approximation of the second order. Depending on a type of harmonic law and initial gas inflow conditions, the peculiarities of angle-shock wave propagation in moving curvilinear domains have been investigated. It has been determined that the increase of oscillation amplitude causes the increase of shock wave intensity. It has been shown that under particular oscillation amplitude the moving wall has practically no effect on the flow within the domain

Epilepsy, hippocampal sclerosis and febrile seizures linked by common genetic variation around SCN1A

Epilepsy comprises several syndromes, amongst the most common being mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis. Seizures in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis are typically drug-resistant, and mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis is frequently associated with important co-morbidities, mandating the search for better understanding and treatment. The cause of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis is unknown, but there is an association with childhood febrile seizures. Several rarer epilepsies featuring febrile seizures are caused by mutations in SCN1A, which encodes a brain-expressed sodium channel subunit targeted by many anti-epileptic drugs. We undertook a genome-wide association study in 1018 people with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis and 7552 control subjects, with validation in an independent sample set comprising 959 people with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis and 3591 control subjects. To dissect out variants related to a history of febrile seizures, we tested cases with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis with (overall n = 757) and without (overall n = 803) a history of febrile seizures. Meta-analysis revealed a genome-wide significant association for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis with febrile seizures at the sodium channel gene cluster on chromosome 2q24.3 [rs7587026, within an intron of the SCN1A gene, P = 3.36 × 10(-9), odds ratio (A) = 1.42, 95% confidence interval: 1.26-1.59]. In a cohort of 172 individuals with febrile seizures, who did not develop epilepsy during prospective follow-up to age 13 years, and 6456 controls, no association was found for rs7587026 and febrile seizures. These findings suggest SCN1A involvement in a common epilepsy syndrome, give new direction to biological understanding of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis with febrile seizures, and open avenues for investigation of prognostic factors and possible prevention of epilepsy in some children with febrile seizures

Digital Collages and Aesthetic-Communicative Networking: Insights into a Workshop of the NFKB Research Cluster Interaction and Participation

Dieser Beitrag dokumentiert Eindrücke, Beobachtungen und Ergebnisse aus einem Online-Workshop des Forschungsclusters «Interaktion und Partizipation in der Kulturellen Bildung», der die Vorstellung von Themen, Arbeitsweisen und Prinzipien des Forschungsclusters zum Ziel hatte. Dabei lag es nahe, die Auseinandersetzung selbst interaktiv und partizipativ sowie entlang der Thematik der rahmenden Tagung zu konzipieren. Ein Grossteil der Kommunikation wird hierfür parallel zur Videokonferenz auf ein digitales Whiteboard verlagert, auf dem alle Teilnehmenden individuell und gemeinsam agieren können. Als Material liegen zentrale Fragmente aus einem Text des Clusters bereit, in dem die Begriffe Interaktion und Partizipation in einem gemeinsamen Selbstversuch und geleitet vom Prinzip der Collage verhandelt werden. Dieses Textprinzip wird zum Handlungsprinzip des Workshops: Die Teilnehmenden werden dem Versuch ausgesetzt, in kleinen Gruppen auf dem digitalen Whiteboard sowohl mit dem bereitgestellten als auch mit eigenem Material selbst Collagen zu erstellen. In dem experimentellen Format des Workshops konturiert sich performativ ein ästhetisch-digitaler Möglichkeits- und Erfahrungsraum, in dem die individuellen Positionen und Perspektiven aller Beteiligten über Text, Bild und Sprache interaktiv in vernetzende Artikulationsformen treten. In den entstandenen Collagen kommen Aspekte von Ästhetik, Digitalität und Macht in eindrücklicher Weise zum Tragen.This contribution documents – especially visually – impressions, observations and results from an online workshop «Interaction and Participation in Cultural Education», which aimed to present topics, working methods and principles of the research cluster. It made sense to conceptualize the workshop itself in an interactive and participative manner, as well as along the theme of the framing conference. A large part of the communication is shifted to a digital whiteboard parallel to the video conference, on which all participants can act individually and together. Central fragments from a text of the cluster are available as material, in which the terms interaction and participation are negotiated in a joint self-experiment and guided by the principle of collage. The text principle becomes the operating principle of the workshop: The participants are exposed to the attempt to create collages themselves in small groups on the digital whiteboard using both the provided and their own material. In the experimental format of the workshop, an aesthetic-digital space of possibility and experience is contoured performatively, in which the individual positions and perspectives of all participants interactively enter into networked forms of articulation via text, image and language. In the resulting collages, aspects of aesthetics, digitality and power come into play in an impressive way

Epilepsy, hippocampal sclerosis and febrile seizures linked by common genetic variation around SCN1A

Epilepsy comprises several syndromes, amongst the most common being mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis. Seizures in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis are typically drug-resistant, and mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis is frequently associated with important co-morbidities, mandating the search for better understanding and treatment. The cause of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis is unknown, but there is an association with childhood febrile seizures. Several rarer epilepsies featuring febrile seizures are caused by mutations in SCN1A, which encodes a brain-expressed sodium channel subunit targeted by many anti-epileptic drugs. We undertook a genome-wide association study in 1018 people with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis and 7552 control subjects, with validation in an independent sample set comprising 959 people with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis and 3591 control subjects. To dissect out variants related to a history of febrile seizures, we tested cases with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis with (overall n = 757) and without (overall n = 803) a history of febrile seizures. Meta-analysis revealed a genome-wide significant association for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis with febrile seizures at the sodium channel gene cluster on chromosome 2q24.3 [rs7587026, within an intron of the SCN1A gene, P = 3.36 × 10−9, odds ratio (A) = 1.42, 95% confidence interval: 1.26-1.59]. In a cohort of 172 individuals with febrile seizures, who did not develop epilepsy during prospective follow-up to age 13 years, and 6456 controls, no association was found for rs7587026 and febrile seizures. These findings suggest SCN1A involvement in a common epilepsy syndrome, give new direction to biological understanding of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis with febrile seizures, and open avenues for investigation of prognostic factors and possible prevention of epilepsy in some children with febrile seizure

Auf dem Weg zum Erinnerungsort - das Gebäude der NS-Medizinbürokratie in Weimar

Die Bauhausstraße 11 war in der NS-Zeit Sitz von zahlreichen Institutionen der Gesundheitspolitik. Jetzt ist das Gebäude zum Gegenstand eines Forschungsprojektes geworden, in Zukunft wird auch vor Ort an seine Einbindung in nationalsozialistische Verbrechen erinnert. Dieses Buch dokumentiert und reflektiert die Erinnerungsarbeit auf dem Campus der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar und darüber hinaus. Anhand der interdisziplinären Beiträge wird das Gebäude in der heutigen Bauhausstraße 11 räumlich in Weimar und Thüringen, erinnerungspolitisch aber in einer seit Jahrzehnten erkämpften Landschaft des Gedenkens an nationalsozialistische Verbrechen verortet

GWAS meta-analysis of over 29,000 people with epilepsy identifies 26 risk loci and subtype-specific genetic architecture

Epilepsy is a highly heritable disorder affecting over 50 million people worldwide, of which about one-third are resistant to current treatments. Here we report a multi-ancestry genome-wide association study including 29,944 cases, stratified into three broad categories and seven subtypes of epilepsy, and 52,538 controls. We identify 26 genome-wide significant loci, 19 of which are specific to genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE). We implicate 29 likely causal genes underlying these 26 loci. SNP-based heritability analyses show that common variants explain between 39.6% and 90% of genetic risk for GGE and its subtypes. Subtype analysis revealed markedly different genetic architectures between focal and generalized epilepsies. Gene-set analyses of GGE signals implicate synaptic processes in both excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the brain. Prioritized candidate genes overlap with monogenic epilepsy genes and with targets of current antiseizure medications. Finally, we leverage our results to identify alternate drugs with predicted efficacy if repurposed for epilepsy treatment

„Was tun?“: – Zur Bedeutung Ästhetischer Bildung für die Auseinandersetzung mit gesellschaftlichen Fragestellungen im Sachunterricht diskutiert am Beispiel der documenta 12

Einer der Bildungsansprüche des Sachunterrichts ist es, Lernen über Gesellschaft und Kultur anzuregen bzw. sozial- und kulturwissenschaftliche Perspektiven auf Phänomene und Probleme unserer Welt zu fördern. Im Folgenden soll mit Blick auf die documenta 12 diskutiert werden, welche Rolle Ästhetische Bildung im Prozess der Bedeutungskonstitution von Welt spielt und welche Bedeutung dies für die Auseinandersetzung mit gesellschaftlichen Frage- und Problemstellungen im Sachunterricht haben kann. Dabei werden verschiedene Szenarien eröffnet, die aus Sicht einzelner künstlerischer Arbeiten, der Reflexion der Leitmotive des Konzepts der documenta 12 und anhand bildungstheoretischer Überlegungen im allgemeinen und speziell im ästhetischen Sinne die Fragestellung diskutieren.„Wer wie wir heute in der fatalen Situation steht, infolge des bedingten Zweifel[s] bereits an der Möglichkeit der Wahrheit, die auch wieder geradezu die Voraussetzung unseres gewohnten verständigen/ verstandesgemäßen Gebrauchs der Wörter und Begriffe ist, nach Mitteln zu fahnden, um die Grenzen des Verstandes Überschreiten zu können, greift nach jedem Strohhalm. Und das Wort 'Widerstreit' schien mir für die Sachlage passend zu sein, da es genau in diesem Sinn als ein 'Kind' dieser Sprachnot verstanden werden kann.” (Ansgar Häußling in einem Brief an Gerold Scholz vom 1.2.2002