Short term effects of clear cutting on the regeneration of sub-arctic birch forest following severe outbreaks by geometrid moths

Birch forests in northern Fennoscandia experience re-occurring mass outbreaks of pest insects often resulting in severe defoliation. Here I test whether systematic clear cutting can accelerate the forest regeneration after outbreaks with uncut control plots as comparison. Basal shoot abundance was used as a main indicator for recovery but comprehensive data sampling also included the abundance of birch saplings, herbivore presence and understorey vegetation. Treatment responses of basal shoots were analyzed with generalized linear mixed models. Effects were distinguished between oligotrophic (poor) and eutrophic (rich) forest types, which were validated using vegetation data in a multi response permutation procedure. Results showed a highly significant increase of basal shoots throughout clear cut plots, with varying rich-poor differences between the two field sites. Forest regeneration through saplings showed only little improvement within the first years of the experiment

Opportunities and challenges of innovations for media practice

This chapter uses the empirical findings of the JoIn-DemoS project on the implementation of innovations in journalism, their goals, and supportive and obstructive conditions to draw implications for journalistic practice. A comprehensive framework for media managers is outlined to effectively address and implement innovation in media organizations. The authors highlight the importance of aligning rules (quality objectives) and supporting resources (allocating and authoritative) to achieve sustainable innovation in journalism. The central premise is that a quality management system is crucial for the sustainable implementation of innovations in media organizations. The authors further emphasize the need for recursiveness in the quality management process, where rules and resources are continuously updated and adjusted in response to organizational actions. The chapter acknowledges as well that managing innovation can occasionally lead to dilemmas

Profiles and outcome of traditional healing practices for severe mental illnesses in two districts of Eastern Uganda

Background : The WHO estimates that more than 80% of African populations attend traditional healers for health reasons and that 40%–60% of these have some kind of mental illness. However, little is known about the profiles and outcome of this traditional approach to treatment. Objective : The purpose of this study was to describe the profiles and outcome of traditional healing practices for severe mental illnesses in Jinja and Iganga districts in the Busoga region of Eastern Uganda. Methods : Four studies were conducted. Study I used focus group discussions (FGDs) with case vignettes with local community members and traditional healers to explore the lay concepts of psychosis. Studies II and III concerned a cross-sectional survey of patients above 18 years at the traditional healer's shrines and study IV was made on a prospective cohort of patients diagnosed with psychosis in study III. Manual content analysis was used in study I; quantitative data in studies II, III, and IV were analyzed at univariate, bivariate, and multivariate levels to determine the association between psychological distress and socio-demographic factors; for study IV, factors associated with outcome were analyzed. One-way ANOVA for independent samples was the analysis used in Study IV. Results : The community gave indigenous names to psychoses (mania, schizophrenia, and psychotic depression) and had multiple explanatory models for them. Thus multiple solutions for these problems were sought. Of the 387 respondents, the prevalence of psychological distress was 65.1%, where 60.2% had diagnosable current mental illness, and 16.3% had had one disorder in their lifetime. Over 80% of patients with psychosis used both biomedical and traditional healing systems. Those who combined these two systems seemed to have a better outcome. All the symptom scales showed a percentage reduction of more than 20% at the 3- and 6-month follow-ups. Conclusion : Traditional healers shoulder a large burden of care of patients with mental health problems. This calls for all those who share the goal of improving the mental health of individuals to engage with traditional healers

Reduced prefrontal gyrification in obsessive–compulsive disorder

Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies reveal evidence for brain abnormalities in obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), for instance, reduction of gray matter volume in the prefrontal cortex. Disturbances of gyrification in the prefrontal cortex have been described several times in schizophrenia pointing to a neurodevelopmental etiology, while gyrification has not been studied so far in OCD patients. In 26 OCD patients and 38 healthy control subjects MR-imaging was performed. Prefrontal cortical folding (gyrification) was measured bilaterally by an automated version of the automated-gyrification index (A-GI), a ratio reflecting the extent of folding, from the slice containing the inner genu of the corpus callosum up to the frontal pole. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA, independent factor diagnosis, covariates age, duration of education) demonstrated that compared with control subjects, patients with OCD displayed a significantly reduced A-GI in the left hemisphere (p = 0.021) and a trend for a decreased A-GI in the right hemisphere (p = 0.076). Significant correlations between prefrontal lobe volume and A-GI were only observed in controls, but not in OCD patients. In conclusion, prefrontal hypogyrification in OCD patients may be a structural correlate of the impairment in executive function of this patient group and may point to a neurodevelopmental origin of this disease

Short term effects of clear cutting on the regeneration of sub-arctic birch forest following severe outbreaks by geometrid moths

Birch forests in northern Fennoscandia experience re-occurring mass outbreaks of pest insects often resulting in severe defoliation. Here I test whether systematic clear cutting can accelerate the forest regeneration after outbreaks with uncut control plots as comparison. Basal shoot abundance was used as a main indicator for recovery but comprehensive data sampling also included the abundance of birch saplings, herbivore presence and understorey vegetation. Treatment responses of basal shoots were analyzed with generalized linear mixed models. Effects were distinguished between oligotrophic (poor) and eutrophic (rich) forest types, which were validated using vegetation data in a multi response permutation procedure. Results showed a highly significant increase of basal shoots throughout clear cut plots, with varying rich-poor differences between the two field sites. Forest regeneration through saplings showed only little improvement within the first years of the experiment

Radü, Jens: New Digital Storytelling : Anspruch, Nutzung und Qualität von Multimedia-Geschichten. Baden-Baden, 2019

Die Rezension setzt sich mit der im Jahr 2019 publizierten Dissertation von Jens Radü zum Thema "New Digital Storytelling. Anspruch, Nutzung und Qualität von Multimedia-Geschichten." auseinander