Drei Jahre Regierung der Hindunationalisten vor dem Hintergrund der neueren Geschichte Indiens

Es sind nun schon drei Jahre, dass eine von der Partei der Hindunationalisten geführte Regierung in Delhi regiert. Am 18. März 1998 trat das erste Kabinett Vajpayee an und hielt sich etwa ein Jahr lang, bis einer der 18 Koalitionspartner absprang und damit die Regierung zu Fall brachte. Nachdem die Kongresspartei unter Sonia Gandhi sich als unfähig erwiesen hatte, eine neue Regierung zu bilden, wurden Neuwahlen für den Herbst 1999 ausgeschrieben. In diesen wurde die Regierung Vajpayee bestätigt, diesmal auf einer noch breiteren Koalitionsbasis von 24 Parteien. Diese Koalition (National Democratic Alliance - NDA) gewann zusammen 301 Sitze (von insgesamt 543), die Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleine kam auf 182 Sitze und hatte 23,70% aller Stimmen bekommen

Theoretical and Experimental Adsorption Studies of Polyelectrolytes on an Oppositely Charged Surface

Using self-assembly techniques, x-ray reflectivity measurements, and computer simulations, we study the effective interaction between charged polymer rods and surfaces. Long-time Brownian dynamics simulations are used to measure the effective adhesion force acting on the rods in a model consisting of a planar array of uniformly positively charged, stiff rods and a negatively charged planar substrate in the presence of explicit monovalent counterions and added monovalent salt ions in a continuous, isotropic dielectric medium. This electrostatic model predicts an attractive polymer-surface adhesion force that is weakly dependent on the bulk salt concentration and that shows fair agreement with a Debye-Huckel approximation for the macroion interaction at salt concentrations near 0.1 M. Complementary x-ray reflectivity experiments on poly(diallyldimethyl ammonium) chloride (PDDA) monolayer films on the native oxide of silicon show that monolayer structure, electron density, and surface roughness are likewise independent of the bulk ionic strength of the solution.Comment: Revtex, prb format; uses amssym

Changes in Greenland’s peripheral glaciers linked to the North Atlantic Oscillation

Glaciers and ice caps peripheral to the main Greenland Ice Sheet contribute markedly to sea-level rise1,2,3. Their changes and variability, however, have been difficult to quantify on multi-decadal timescales due to an absence of long-term data4. Here, using historical aerial surveys, expedition photographs, spy satellite imagery and new remote-sensing products, we map glacier length fluctuations of approximately 350 peripheral glaciers and ice caps in East and West Greenland since 1890. Peripheral glaciers are found to have recently undergone a widespread and significant retreat at rates of 12.2 m per year and 16.6 m per year in East and West Greenland, respectively; these changes are exceeded in severity only by the early twentieth century post-Little-Ice-Age retreat. Regional changes in ice volume, as reflected by glacier length, are further shown to be related to changes in precipitation associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), with a distinct east–west asymmetry; positive phases of the NAO increase accumulation, and thereby glacier growth, in the eastern periphery, whereas opposite effects are observed in the western periphery. Thus, with projected trends towards positive NAO in the future5,6, eastern peripheral glaciers may remain relatively stable, while western peripheral glaciers will continue to diminish

A checklist for using Beals’ index with incomplete floristic monitoring data : reply to Christensen et al. (2021): Problems in using Beals’ index to detect species trends in incomplete floristic monitoring data

Christensen et al. criticized the application of Beals’ index of sociological favourability to adjust for incomplete species lists when comparing repeated surveys. Their main argument was that using Beals’ conditional occurrence probabilities would systematically underestimate biodiversity change compared to using observed frequencies. Although this might be the case for rare species, as we explicitly stated in our original publication, we here use a worked-out example to show that this criticism is unjustified for species that are sufficiently represented in the reference data set. In our opinion, the misconception derives from ignoring one of the key requirements for applying Beal's index, which is the use of a sufficiently large reference data set to derive a reliable co occurrence matrix. We here show how the predicted probability for the occurrence of a species depends on the size of the reference data set and give recommendations on the premises for applying Beals’ approach for monitoring purposes

Using incomplete floristic monitoring data from habitat mapping programmes to detect species trends

Aim: The loss of biodiversity has raised serious concerns about the entailing losses of ecosystem services. Here, we explore the potential of repeated habitat mapping data to identify floristic changes over time. Using one German federal state as a case study, we assessed floristic changes between the 1980s and 2010s. These habitat data have great potential for analysis because of their high spatial coverage while also posing methodological challenges such as incomplete observation data. We developed a modelling approach that accounts for incomplete observations and explored the ability to detect temporal trends. Location: The Federal State of Schleswig‐Holstein (Germany) Methods: We compiled plant species lists from the earliest (1980s) and most recent (2010s) habitat mapping survey and aligned differing habitat definitions across mapping campaigns. A total of 5,503 mapped polygons, each with a list of species records, intersected the two surveys. We accounted for underrecorded species by assigning occurrence probabilities, based on species co‐occurrence information across all surveys, using Beals' index and tested the robustness of this approach by simulation experiments. For those species with significant increases and decreases in occurrence probability, we linked these trends to the species' functional characteristics. Results: We found a systematic loss of species that are moderately threatened. Species that indicate low nitrogen supply and high soil moisture declined, suggesting a shift towards a more eutrophic and drier landscape. Importantly, assessing specific plant traits associated with losses, we also detected a decrease in species with reddish and blueish flowers and species providing nectar, pointing to a decrease of insect‐pollinated taxa. Main conclusions: The identified changes raise concerns that plant biodiversity has fundamentally changed over the last three decades, with concomitant consequences for ecosystem services, especially pollination. Given the general lack of historical standardized data, our approach for trend analyses using incomplete observation data may be widely applicable to assess long‐term biodiversity change

Deutschland, Indien und das deutsche Indienbild: Das romantische und das utilitaristische Indienbild Europas

Deutschland ist, außerhalb Indiens, das Land mit den weitaus meisten Sanskrit-Lehrstühlen, dessen ersten der Romantiker August Wilhelm Schlegel einnahm (1818 in Bonn). Das kommt nicht von ungefähr, sahen doch die Romantiker in Indien die „heile Welt“ gegenüber dem durch die Aufklärung verdorbenen Europa. In England selbst hatte sich mit dem Utilitarismus ein Indien-Bild durchgesetzt, das in Indien Rückständigkeit in allen Bereichen sah – Rechtfertigung für die britische Kolonialherrschaft wie für die christliche Mission. Die konträren Indien-Bilder leben bis heute fort, spiegeln die eigene Einstellung zum Gang der Weltgeschichte wider: Glaube an den Fortschritt oder Zivilisationsmüdigkeit, und projizieren somit unsere eigene Einstellung zur Moderne auf Indien

Prevalence and functional characterisation of antineuronal antibodies in patients with gastrointestinal disorders

Antineuronale Antikörper in Patienten mit verschiedenen gastrointestinalen Erkrankungen haben in den letzten Jahren an Bedeutung gewonnen. Ein Beispiel für die Verknüpfung neurologischer und gastroenterologischer Syndrome durch Autoantikörper ist die anti-DPPX-Enzephalitis, eine Autoimmunenzephalitis mit typischen gastrointestinalen Prodromi. Damit assoziierte Antikörper gegen die Kaliumkanal-Untereinheit dipeptidyl-peptidase-like protein-6 (DPPX) binden an Neuronen im myenterischen Plexus und im Zentralen Nervensystem (ZNS) und zeigen ex-vivo eine direkte Pathogenität. Sowohl in diesem Kontext als auch in Patienten mit anderen antikörpervermittelten gastrointestinalen Symptomen wäre eine frühe Diagnostik wichtig für eine adäquate Immuntherapie. Doch bis heute ist der Zusammenhang antineuronaler Antikörper mit typischen gastrointestinalen Krankheitsbildern weitgehend unbekannt. Wir testeten daher Serumproben gastroenterologischer Patienten auf Antikörper gegen Darm- und Hirngewebe und analysierten deren funktionelle Relevanz. Die Seren von 107 Patienten (Morbus Crohn n=42, Colitis Ulcerosa n=16, Reizdarmsyndrom n=13, andere Diagnosen n=36) und 44 Kontrollen wurden mit indirekten Immunfluoreszenzfärbungen auf Rattendarm und -hirn systematisch auf antineuronale Antikörper untersucht. Reaktive Seren wurden einer weiteren standardisierten Testung auf 15 etablierte antineuronale Antikörper mit diversen Geweben und transfizierten Zellen unterzogen. In Ussing-Kammer- und Organbad-Experimenten untersuchten wir die funktionellen Effekte hochtitriger Patientenseren. Von den 107 Patienten hatten 21 (19,6%) antineuronale Antikörper gegen das Enterische Nervensystem (ENS) und 22 Patienten (20,6%) zeigten Immunreaktivität gegen ZNS-Strukturen. Die Kontrollgruppe hingegen hatte nur in 2 von 44 Fällen (4,5%) anti-ENS- und in weiteren 2 (4,5%) anti-ZNS-Antikörper, womit ein signifikanter Unterschied zwischen Patienten und Kontrollen bestand. Die Analyse der verschiedenen Krankheitsgruppen zeigte eine ungleichmäßige Verteilung der Antikörper-positiven Fälle, wobei nur in Einzelfällen eine statistische Signifikanz erreicht wurde. Abgesehen von einem Patientenserum mit Antikörpern gegen leucine rich glioma inactivated 1 (LGI1) konnten im Rahmen der standardisierten Antikörperdiagnostik keine weiteren gut etablierten Antigene identifiziert werden. Bei Experimenten im Organbad ließen sich keine statistisch signifikanten Antikörpereffekte auf die Motilität von Meerschweinchen-Kolon feststellen. In Ussing-Kammer-Versuchen hingegen zeigte sich ein signifikanter positiver Effekt immunreaktiver Seren auf die intestinale Sekretion. Diese Daten zeigen, dass antineuronale Antikörper signifikant häufiger in gastroenterologischen Patienten als in gesunden Kontrollen zu finden sind. Funktionelle Testungen deuten auf einen potentiellen Zusammenhang zwischen Antikörpern und klinischen Phänotypen hin. In zukünftigen Studien sollte ermittelt werden, ob solche Antikörper die Identifizierung von Patienten ermöglichen, welche von einer Immuntherapie profitieren. Dass weder Antikörper gegen DPPX noch gegen andere etablierte neuronale Epitope gefunden werden konnten, verdeutlicht deren Seltenheit in klinischen Routinekohorten.Antineuronal antibodies in patients with various gastrointestinal disorders have gained importance over the last years. One example for the connection of neurological and gastroenterological syndromes through autoantibodies is the anti-DPPX encephalitis, an autoimmune encephalitis with typical gastrointestinal prodromes. Associated antibodies against the potassium channel subunit dipeptidyl-peptidase-like protein-6 (DPPX) bind to neurons of the myenteric plexus and the central nervous system (CNS) and show direct pathogenicity ex vivo. In this context and in patients with other antibody-mediated gastrointestinal symptoms early diagnostics would be important for adequate immunotherapy. However, until today the association of antineuronal antibodies with typical gastrointestinal disorders remains mostly unknown. We tested serum samples of gastroenterological patients for antibodies against intestinal and brain tissue and analyzed their functional relevance. Sera of 107 patients (Crohn's disease n=42, Ulcerative Colitis n=16, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) n=13, other diagnoses n=36) and 44 controls were systematically screened with indirect immunofluorescence stainings on rat intestine and brain for the presence of antineuronal antibodies. Reactive sera were further tested for 15 established antineuronal antibodies in a standardized screening using diverse tissues and transfected cells. In Ussing chamber and organ bath experiments we examined functional effects of high titer patient sera. Of the 107 patients 21 (19,6%) had antineuronal antibodies against the enteric nervous system (ENS) and 22 patients (20,6%) showed immunoreactivity against CNS structures. The control group, however, had anti-ENS antibodies in only 2 of 44 (4,5%) and anti-CNS antibodies in further 2 of 44 (4,5%) cases, therefore indicating a significant difference between patients and controls. Analysis of different disease groups revealed a differential distribution of antibody-positive cases which was only in parts statistically significant. Apart from one patient serum with antibodies against leucine rich glioma inactivated 1 (LGI1) no other well-established antigens could be identified with standardized antibody testing. Experiments in the organ bath could not determine any statistically significant antibody effects on the motility of guinea pig colon. In Ussing chamber experiments, however, a significant positive effect of immunoreactive sera on intestinal secretion was shown. These data show that antineuronal antibodies are significantly more frequent in gastroenterological patients than in healthy controls. Functional tests suggest a potential connection between antibodies and clinical phenotypes. Future studies should examine whether such antibodies allow the identification of patients who benefit from immunotherapy. The absence of antibodies against DPPX and other established neuronal epitopes emphasizes their rarity in clinical routine cohorts

Business model validation: Practical assessment of an early-stage digital business model

The thesis analyzes the validation of early-stage digital business models. In the first part, frameworks for business model development and their approach to validation are outlined. In the second part, the validation of a business model is carried out and examined in practice. Frameworks are applied, and attempts are examined to achieve validation through various measures. An MVP and its development are described, along with the measurement of user behavior and collection of customer feedback. Ultimately, the results are evaluated, and practi-cal guidance for digital entrepreneurs is derived.The thesis analyzes the validation of early-stage digital business models. In the first part, frameworks for business model development and their approach to validation are outlined. In the second part, the validation of a business model is carried out and examined in practice. Frameworks are applied, and attempts are examined to achieve validation through various measures. An MVP and its development are described, along with the measurement of user behavior and collection of customer feedback. Ultimately, the results are evaluated, and practical guidance for digital entrepreneurs is derived

Structural and magnetic properties of ion beam sputtered NiMnSb films

In this work the structural and magnetic properties of NiMnSb (NMS)-films deposited at different temperatures were investigated to determine optimal sample preparation conditions. Films of NMS were sputtered from a composite target onto heated (150–300°C) Si(1 0 0) and MgO(1 0 0) substrates. The crystal structure was characterized by high angle X-ray diffraction, and polycrystalline samples with the typical C1b structure were found for higher deposition temperatures. The roughness of the growth surface was investigated by X-ray reflectivity and X-ray diffuse scattering measurements. It was found to range from 13 to 60 Å depending on the deposition temperature. Magnetization measurements confirmed ferromagnetic layers with a strong dependence of the coercive field on the deposition temperature. The saturation moments were found to be affected by deposition temperature and in all cases less than 2.5 μB per Mn-site