Ambiguous avant-gardes and their geographies: on blank spots of the postgrowth debate

In the following article, the focus is on the transformative potentials created by so-called persistence avant-gardes and prevention innovators. The text extends Blühdorn’s guiding concept of narratives of hope (Blühdorn 2017; Blühdorn and Butzlaff 2019) by considering those groups that are marginalized within debates on socio-ecological transformation. With a closer look at the narratives of prevention and blockade that these actors engage, the ambiguous nature of postgrowth avant-gardes is carved out. Their discursive, argumentative, and effective inhibition of transitory policies is interpreted as a pro-active potential, rather than a mere obstacle to socio-ecological transformation. Adding a geographical perspective, the paper pleads for a more precise theoretical penetration of the ambivalent figure of avant-gardes when analyzing processes of local and regional postgrowth

Perception of biological motion by form analysis

Detection of other living beings’ movements is a fundamental property of the human visual system. Viewing their movements, categorizing their actions, and interpreting social behaviors like gestures constitutes a framework of our everyday lives. These observed actions are complex and differences among them are rather subtle. However, humans recognize these actions without ma jor efforts and without being aware of the complexity of the observed tasks. In point-light walkers, the visual information about the human body is reduced to only a handful point-lights placed on the ma jor joints of the otherwise invisible body. But even this sparse information does not effectively reduce humans’ abilities to perceive the performed actions. Neurophysiological and neuroimaging studies suggested that the movement of the human body is represented in specific brain areas. Nonetheless, the underlying network is still issue of controversial discussion. To investigate the role of form information, I developed a model and conducted psychophysical experiments using point-light walkers. A widely accepted theory claims that in point-light walkers, form information is decreased to a non-usable minimum and, thus, the perception of biological motion is driven by the analysis of motion signals. In my study, I could show that point-light walker indeed contain useful form information. Moreover, I could show that temporal integration of this information is sufficient to explain results from psychophysical, neurophysiological, and neuroimaging studies. In opposition to the standard models of biological motion perception, I could also show that all results can be explained without the analysis of local motion signals

Jugendmobilität als europäische Strategie. Wer und was bewegt Jugendliche?

Die Mobilität von Jugendlichen und jungen Erwachsenen in Europa – zu Bildungszwecken im engeren und weiteren Sinne, zum Kennenlernen anderer Länder und Kulturen sowie zum Sammeln erster praktischer Berufserfahrungen – kann positive Effekte für die Jugendlichen sowie die gesellschaftliche und wirtschaftliche Entwicklung Europas und seiner Mitgliedstaaten haben. Diese Mobilität zu erforschen, war Ziel des internationalen, vom EU-Rahmenprogramm für Forschung und Innovation Horizont 2020 geförderten Forschungsprojektes „Move: Mapping mobility – pathways, institutions and structural effects of youth mobility in Europe“. Der Band dokumentiert die Ergebnisse einer Fachtagung, die dazu diente, die aus diesem Projekt resultierenden Erkenntnisse zu diskutieren und auf Lehren für die Praxis zu befragen

Circadian rhythms in obsessive-compulsive disorder

The etiopathology and neurobiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are not fully understood. As for altered circadian rhythms associated with OCD, hormonal dysregulation and a delayed sleep phase have come into the focus of research. The novel antidepressant agomelatine is able to resynchronize circadian rhythms and the augmentative administration of this compound has been shown to be of benefit in some OCD patients who are refractory to common forms of pharmacotherapy. Adjunctive chronotherapy might also enhance the outcome in treatment-refractory OCD. The present review summarises the findings regarding circadian abnormalities in OCD

Kiri kolleegidele, Halle

http://tartu.ester.ee/record=b1897175~S1*es

Kiri tundmatule, Halle

http://tartu.ester.ee/record=b1897200~S1*es

Characteristic Features of the Regulatory Functions of the ᴅ-Ribulose 1,5-Bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase from Spinach

Catalysis and regulation of CO2 fixation differ in a characteristic manner in their response to anionic modifiers and the polarity of the reaction medium. Monovalent inorganic anions inhibit catalysis and CO2-activation of the ᴅ-ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase from spinach, whereas the activity and binding of NADPH and effector sugar phosphates are affected only at appreciably higher concentrations. In contrast such modulators with a dianion structure stimulate CO2 fixation by an increase of the affinity of the enzyme for the activator CO2 and stabilization of the reactive carbamate. Structure-activity studies revealed a broad specificity of the enzyme for these regulatory effects. Essentially amino groups are involved in these processes. Certain organic solvents, as methanol or acetone, stimulate CO2 fixation by a similar modification of the CO2 activation centers, as induced by dianionic effectors. These results infer that such effects are due to a decrease of the polarity at the regulatory centers of the enzyme and a concomitant change of the pK of the active lysine responsible for the binding of the activator CO2. A correlation of effector binding and activity demonstrates that already low, non-saturating concentrations of such modifiers induce high activation levels of the carboxylase and prevent the dissociation of the activated ternary complex. It is discussed that the central problem concerning the catalytical competence of ᴅ-ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) in the presence of active site directed dianionic effectors can be solved kinetically