Opinion, Dialogue, Review : The new ILO report on child labour: a success story, or the ILO still at a loss?

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.With this year’s Global Report on Child Labour the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopts a stance of victory. With confidence and pride, it announces that ‘the worldwide movement against child labour’ led by the ILO itself has brought ‘the end of child labour – within reach’. However, no convincing proof is given for this surprising assertion. The numerous illogicalities contained in the report are, rather, calculated to create the impression that the ILO no longer has an idea – or still has none – of how the fight against child labour is to be continued

Vibrationally coherent crossing and coupling of electronic states during internal conversion in beta-carotene

Coupling of nuclear and electronic degrees of freedom mediates energy flow in molecules after optical excitation. The associated coherent dynamics in polyatomic systems, however, remain experimentally unexplored. Here, we combined transient absorption spectroscopy with electronic population control to reveal nuclear wavepacket dynamics during the S2-S1 internal conversion in beta-carotene. We show that passage through a conical intersection is vibrationally coherent and thereby provides direct feedback on the role of different vibrational coordinates in the breakdown of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation

Sub-10 fs pulses tunable from 480 to 980 nm from a NOPA pumped by a Yb:KGW source

We describe two noncollinear optical parametric amplifier (NOPA) systems pumped by either the second (515 nm) or the third (343 nm) harmonic of an Yb:KGW amplifier, respectively. Pulse durations as short as 6.8 fs are readily obtained by compression with commercially available chirped mirrors. The availability of both second and third harmonic for NOPA pumping allows for gap-free tuning from 520 to 980 nm. The use of an intermediate NOPA to generate seed light at 780 nm extends the tuning range of the third-harmonic pumped NOPA towards 450 nm

The Moscow Declaration on the Rights of the Child (1918): a contribution from the hidden history of Children’s Rights

La Declaració de Moscou sobre els Drets de la Infància va ser elaborada per un grup de pedagogs compromesos durant la Revolució Russa de 1917-1918 i va ser la manifestació d’una corrent emancipadora en la història dels Drets de la Infància. Analitzant fonts originals russes, l’autor presenta de manera detallada la Declaració. Explicant el seu rerefons polític i pedagògic i comentant els seus efectes i el seu significat i importància històrics,arriba a la conclusió que la Declaració constitueix una aportació important a la teoria i pràctica dels Drets de la Infància que mereix més atenció de la que generalment se li brinda.La Declaración de Moscú sobre los Derechos del Niño y la Niña fue elaborada por un grupo de pedagogos comprometidos durante la Revolución Rusa de 1917-1918 y fue la manifestación de una corriente emancipadora en la historia de los Derechos de la Infancia.Analizando fuentes originales rusas, el autor presenta de manera pormenorizada la Declaración. Explicando su trasfondo políticoy pedagógico y comentando sus efectos y su significado e importancia históricos, llega a la conclusión de que la Declaración constituyeun aporte importante a la teoría y práctica de los Derechos del Niño que merece más atención de la que generalmente se le brinda.The Moscow Declaration on the Rights of the Child, which was drawn up during the Russian Revolution, in 1917-18, by a group of socially and politically engaged pedagogues, exemplifies an emancipatory current in the historyof children’s rights. Having examined original Russian sources, the author presents this little-known declaration in detail, outlining its political and pedagogical background, and comments on its historical impact and relevance, arriving at the conclusion that the declaration constitutes a valuable contribution to the theory and practice of children’s rights, whichdeserves greater attention than it has received

Ultrasensitive Label-Free Nanosensing and High-Speed Tracking of Single Proteins

: Label-free detection, analysis, and rapid tracking of nanoparticles is crucial for future ultrasensitive sensing applications, ranging from understanding of biological interactions to the study of size-dependent classical-quantum transitions. Yet optical techniques to distinguish nanoparticles directly among their background remain challenging. Here we present amplified interferometric scattering microscopy (aiSCAT) as a new all-optical method capable of detecting individual nanoparticles as small as 15 kDa proteins that is equivalent to half a GFP. By balancing scattering and reflection amplitudes the interference contrast of the nanoparticle signal is amplified 1 to 2 orders of magnitude. Beyond high sensitivity, a-iSCAT allows high-speed image acquisition exceeding several hundreds of frames-per-second. We showcase the performance of our approach by detecting single Streptavidin binding events and by tracking single Ferritin proteins at 400 frames-per-second with 12 nm localization precision over seconds. Moreover, due to its extremely simple experimental realization, this advancement finally enables a cheap and routine implementation of label-free all-optical single nanoparticle detection platforms with sensitivity operating at the single protein level.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Working Children as Social Subjects : The Contribution of Working Children's Organizations to Social Transformations

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.The article focuses on the question of what significance the organizations of working children, which have sprung up in various regions of the Third World since the 1980s, have for processes of transformation in their societies. First, it looks at the common ground shared by the working children and their organizations in different countries. Second, it discusses what kind of social subject emerges from this discussion. Finally, the article asks what possible effects these organizations have on the children themselves or on the society around them

Los movimientos de los niños y niñas trabajadores. Un enfoque desde la sociología

Para comprender los aspectos significativos de los movimientos y organizaciones de niños, y niñas trabajadores (NATs), que surgen en varias regiones del hemisferio sur desde los años 1980, el autor se refiere a un concepto del niño y la niña como sujeto capaz de interpretar sus realidades y actuar de manera consciente. Primero, se examina si hay puntos en común en el auto concepto de los NATs y sus organizaciones. Segundo, se discute la categoría del sujeto social, preguntando en qué medida dicha categoría representa estos puntos comunes, pero también a qué prerrequisitos sociales y culturales está ligado el hablar de sujeto social. Tercero, el autor pregunta qué efectos tienen o pueden esperarse de los movimientos de NATs, ya sea en los niños involucrados o en la sociedad que los rodea y que comparten. Finalmente, se concentra en las implicaciones que tiene el enfoque orientado en el sujeto para comprender el fenómeno del trabajo infantil en toda su complejidad, en particular en sus significados para los niños y niñas trabajadores.With the intention to understand the significant aspects of the movements and organizations of working children (NATs), that have sprung up in various regions of the Southern hemisphere since the 1980s, the author refers to a concept of the child as a subject, that is able to interpret his realities and to act in a conscious way. Firstly, he questions whether there is a common ground shared by the working children and their organizations. Secondly, he discusses the category social subject asking to what extent it represents this common ground, but also on which social and cultural prerequisites the discourse on social subjects depends. Thirdly, the author questions what possible effects these organizations have on the children themselves and on the society they live in. Finally, he concentrates on the implications that the subjectorientated approach has for the understanding of the phenomena of children’s work in its whole complexity, particularly in its significances for the working children

Humor and freedoms: a short essay on being Charlie

The violence perpetrated by some Islamic fundamentalist groups in recent years, particularly the murder of the French cartoonists who worked for Charlie Hebdo, in early 2015, bring up doubts in the Western societies regarding the nature of their economic system, their global interconnection, the democracy, and specifically the freedoms. This article analyzes some cartoons of Muhammad published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, in 2005, and by the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in 2012, and it explores their humor, their violence, and the reactions raised by them. The brief reflections derived from the analysis of these cases lead us to a discussion about the ‘Western’ tradition of satire, addressing religious freedom and freedom of expression, in addition to the very idea of democracy. Theories proposed by classic authors, such as Montesquieu and Stuart Mill, as well as those by contemporary authors who thought of the democratic freedoms, such as John Rawls and Pierre Rosanvallon are addressed, situating this relevant debate of contemporaneity in the long-term. This short essay promotes the debate about the limits of humor, especially in its relation to religions and politics nowadays. Keywords: Humor; Liberty; Democracy; Cartoon; Muhammad