Crowdfunding Success: A Perspective from Social Media and E-Commerce

Crowdfunding as a new way of financing in the web 2.0 has increased over the last years, but only little is known how project initiators increase their chances of successful fundraising through on-page and off-page communication activities. Using a dataset of 740 projects published on one of the dominant crowdfunding platforms in Switzerland, we test communication-related determinants of fundraising success in terms of (1) number of donations (2) average amount of donations and (3) total campaign success. Our results show that high media richness in the project presentation and a high frequency of project updates leverage fundraising success. In contrast, no beneficial effects of the simple application of social media channels could be observed. The implications for research on crowdfunding and practice are discussed

Muttergebundene Aufzucht in der Milchviehhaltung - langfristige Auswirkungen auf Verhalten und Wohlbefinden

The integration of dairy heifers into the cow herd shortly before their first parturition is a common management practice also in organic farming and is associated with stress. In this study we investigated whether the ability to cope with such challenges is affected by experiences during early age. Three groups of heifers which differed with respect to the contact to their mother during the first 12 weeks of life were compared. At the age of 25+/-0.2 months heifers were integrated individually into the cow herd and observed for 33 hours. Heifers reared with contact to their mother used the cubicles quicker and more consistently and also tended to differ in the social behaviour compared to the heifers reared without mother. These preliminary results suggest some positive long-term effects of mother-bonded rearing on later challenge response and welfare of dairy cattle

Zulassungssituation nach Biozidrecht

Approval situation after the Biocidal Products Notification Ordinanc

Zur Beschäftigungsentwicklung in der Region Hannover – Ein Vergleich mit 12 deutschen Verdichtungsräumen

Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht die Beschäftigungsentwicklung in der Region Hannover für den Zeitraum 1999 bis 2006 und stellt sie zwölf weiteren deutschen Verdichtungsräumen gegenüber. Unter Verwendung des Betriebs-Historik-Panels des Institutes für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB) werden neben der Beschäftigungsentwicklung im Aggregat auch die dahinter liegenden Bruttoströme analysiert um somit auch Aussagen über die Dynamik der Beschäftigungsentwicklung treffen zu können. Insgesamt1 weist die Region Hannover zwischen 1999 und 2006 ein Nettobeschäftigungswachstum von 2,2 Prozent auf, was mit Blick auf die Vergleichsregionen als relativ ungünstig einzuschätzen ist. Zieht man die Bruttoströme zur Betrachtung hinzu, wird deutlich, dass hinter der relativ geringen Nettowachstumsrate eine beachtliche Dynamik an Beschäftigungsauf- und -abbau steht. So weist die Region Hannover eine Bruttowachstumsrate der Beschäftigung von 35,1 Prozent sowie eine Bruttoabbaurate der Beschäftigung von -32,9 Prozent auf. Im Vergleich zu den anderen Verdichtungsräumen zeigt sich, dass die relativ ungünstige Nettobeschäftigungsentwicklung in der Region Hannover insbesondere auf eine vergleichsweise geringe Bruttowachstumsrate zurückzuführen ist.Region Hannover, Beschäftigungsentwicklung, Paneldaten

Versatile Genetic Tool Box for the Crenarchaeote Sulfolobus acidocaldarius

For reverse genetic approaches inactivation or selective modification of genes are required to elucidate their putative function. Sulfolobus acidocaldarius is a thermoacidophilic Crenarchaeon which grows optimally at 76°C and pH 3. As many antibiotics do not withstand these conditions the development of a genetic system in this organism is dependent on auxotrophies. Therefore we constructed a pyrE deletion mutant of S. acidocaldarius wild type strain DSM639 missing 322 bp called MW001. Using this strain as the starting point, we describe here different methods using single as well as double crossover events to obtain markerless deletion mutants, tag genes genomically and ectopically integrate foreign DNA into MW001. These methods enable us to construct single, double, and triple deletions strains that can still be complemented with the pRN1 based expression vector. Taken together we have developed a versatile and robust genetic tool box for the crenarchaeote S. acidocaldarius that will promote the study of unknown gene functions in this organism and makes it a suitable host for synthetic biology approaches

Endothelin receptor antagonists influence cardiovascular morphology in uremic rats

Endothelin receptor antagonists influence cardiovascular morphology in uremic rats.BackgroundIt is generally held that renal failure results in blood pressure (BP)-independent structural changes of the myocardium and the vasculature. The contribution, if any, of endothelin (ET) to these changes has been unknown.MethodsWe morphometrically studied random samples of the left ventricle myocardium and small intramyocardial arteries in subtotally (5/6) nephrectomized (SNx) male Sprague-Dawley rats treated with either the selective ETA receptor antagonist BMS182874 (30mg/kg/day) or the nonselective ETA/ETB receptor antagonist Ro46-2005 (30mg/kg/day) in comparison with either sham-operated rats, untreated SNx, or SNx rats treated with the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor trandolapril (0.1mg/kg/day).ResultsEight weeks later, systolic BP was lower in trandolapril-treated SNx compared with untreated SNx animals. No decrease in BP was seen following either ET receptor antagonist at the dose used. A significantly increased volume density of the myocardial interstitium was found in untreated SNx rats as compared with sham-operated controls. Such interstitial expansion was prevented by trandolapril and either ET receptor antagonist. SNx caused a substantial increase in the wall thickness of small intramyocardial arteries. The increase was prevented by trandolapril or BMS182874 treatment. The arteriolar wall:lumen ratio was significantly lower in all treated groups when compared with untreated SNx. In contrast, only trandolapril, but not the ET receptor antagonists, attenuated thickening of the aortic media in SNx animals.ConclusionsThe ETA-selective and ETA/ETB-nonselective receptor antagonists appear to prevent development of myocardial fibrosis and structural changes of small intramyocardial arteries in experimental chronic renal failure. This effect is independent of systemic BP

Hydrogen 4-ammonio­phenyl­phospho­n­ate

The title compound, C6H8NO3P, is isostructural with p-arsanilic acid. It exists as the zwitterion H3N+C6H4PO3H−. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by O—H⋯O and N—H⋯O hydrogen-bond bridges, giving a three-dimensional network structure. The strongest hydrogen bonds are formed between adjacent PO3H groups with O⋯O distances of 2.577 (2) Å

Data Partitions, Bayesian Analysis and Phylogeny of the Zygomycetous Fungal Family Mortierellaceae, Inferred from Nuclear Ribosomal DNA Sequences

Although the fungal order Mortierellales constitutes one of the largest classical groups of Zygomycota, its phylogeny is poorly understood and no modern taxonomic revision is currently available. In the present study, 90 type and reference strains were used to infer a comprehensive phylogeny of Mortierellales from the sequence data of the complete ITS region and the LSU and SSU genes with a special attention to the monophyly of the genus Mortierella. Out of 15 alternative partitioning strategies compared on the basis of Bayes factors, the one with the highest number of partitions was found optimal (with mixture models yielding the best likelihood and tree length values), implying a higher complexity of evolutionary patterns in the ribosomal genes than generally recognized. Modeling the ITS1, 5.8S, and ITS2, loci separately improved model fit significantly as compared to treating all as one and the same partition. Further, within-partition mixture models suggests that not only the SSU, LSU and ITS regions evolve under qualitatively and/or quantitatively different constraints, but that significant heterogeneity can be found within these loci also. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that the genus Mortierella is paraphyletic with respect to the genera Dissophora, Gamsiella and Lobosporangium and the resulting phylogeny contradict previous, morphology-based sectional classification of Mortierella. Based on tree structure and phenotypic traits, we recognize 12 major clades, for which we attempt to summarize phenotypic similarities. M. longicollis is closely related to the outgroup taxon Rhizopus oryzae, suggesting that it belongs to the Mucorales. Our results demonstrate that traits used in previous classifications of the Mortierellales are highly homoplastic and that the Mortierellales is in a need of a reclassification, where new, phylogenetically informative phenotypic traits should be identified, with molecular phylogenies playing a decisive role

Community perspectives on HIV, violence and health surveillance in rural South Africa : a participatory pilot study

Acknowledgements: The authors would like to acknowledge the study participants who contributed time and information and made significant contributions to the analysis, and the staff at the MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Funding: The analysis presented in this paper is supported by Health Systems Research Initiative Development Grant from DFID/MRC/Wellcome Trust/ESRC (MR/N005597/1). The fieldwork was completed with the Umeå Centre for Global Health Research, with support from FORTE: Swedish Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (grant No. 2006–1512). The Agincourt HDSS is supported by the School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, South African Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust, UK (Grants 058893/Z/99/A; 069683/Z/02/Z; 085477/Z/08/Z; 085477/B/08/Z)Peer reviewedPublisher PD