Frauen und politische Parteien in Liechtenstein

Eine Analyse der Wahlergebnisse der liechtensteinischen Landtagswahlen seit der Einführung des Frauenstimmrechtes von 1984 zeigt, dass sich die Lücke zwischen der Kandidatur von Frauen und deren tatsächlicher Wahlerfolg im Laufe der Zeit immer mehr geschlossen hat und damit die Wahlchancen der Frauen gestiegen sind. Gleich geblieben ist hingegen die Anzahl der Kandidaten. Experteninterviews sollen zeigen, warum es den liechtensteinischen Parteien nicht gelingt, mehr Frauen auf ihre Wahllisten zu bringen. Eine Ansiedelung von Erklärungsfaktoren auf der individuellen Ebene, der Meso- und der Makroebene zeigt, dass sich insbesondere das System der „politischen Kaltstarts“ und der Rekrutierung mittels Kooption für Frauen negativ auswirken kann. Auch der vermeintlich positive Effekt des Verhältniswahlrechtes wird in Liechtenstein durch die Möglichkeiten des Panaschierens, welche primär Männern zugute kommen, abgeschwächt. Im Vergleich mit Deutschland und der Schweiz zeigt sich, dass die Frauenanteile in allen drei Ländern stagnieren, jedoch auf unterschiedlichen Niveaus. Da die Wege in die Politik für Frauen in Liechtenstein grundsätzlich kürzer wären als in Ländern wie Deutschland oder der Schweiz, stellt sich die Frage, ob die Frauenförderungsmassnahmen der politischen Parteien in Liechtenstein zu kurz greifen bzw. zu wenig verbindlich sind

Vom Mythos der Chancengleichheit : Frauen und Gleichberechtigung in Liechtenstein

Immer mehr Frauen in Liechtenstein sind heute berufstätig und immer besser ausgebildet. Gleichzeitig sind die Frauenanteile im Landtag seit 2013 rückläufig. Der ausgebliebenen, aber eigentlich erwarteten Anpas-sung der neuen Gegebenheiten an die politische Partizipation der Frauen kann nur auf den Grund gegangen werden, indem die Phänomene Chancengleichheit und Gleichberechtigung auf gesamtgesellschaftlicher und nicht nur auf politischer Ebene untersucht werden. Eine nähere Betrachtung der Frauenerwerbstätigkeit zeigt auch für Liechtenstein Traditionalisierungseffekte im Erwerbsverlauf, geschlechtsspezifische Berufs-wahlen ebenso wie eine allgemeine Zweiteilung der Gesellschaft in männliche (bezahlte) und weibliche (un-bezahlte) Bereiche. Mit dieser Zuschreibung verbunden sind auch eine Ungleichbewertung beider Bereiche und weitere qualitative Unterschiede, welche Männer (die weniger unbezahlte Arbeit verrichten) bevortei-len und Frauen (die den grossen Teil dieser Arbeit erledigen) benachteiligen. Da die zunehmende Erwerbs-tätigkeit der Frauen keine Zunahme unbezahlter Arbeit durch die Männer zur Folge hatte, verstärken sich die Ungleichheiten nun vielmehr auch zwischen den Frauen. In der „neuen Dienstbotengesellschaft“ können es sich einige Frauen „leisten“, erwerbstätig zu sein indem sie unbezahlte Arbeit externalisieren. Andere müssen schlecht bezahlte Arbeit und gleichzeitig auch noch unbezahlte Arbeit unter einen Hut bringen

Challenges in Ceramic Science: A Report from the Workshop on Emerging Research Areas in Ceramic Science

In March 2012, a group of researchers met to discuss emerging topics in ceramic science and to identify grand challenges in the field. By the end of the workshop, the group reached a consensus on eight challenges for the future:—understanding rare events in ceramic microstructures, understanding the phase-like behavior of interfaces, predicting and controlling heterogeneous microstructures with unprecedented functionalities, controlling the properties of oxide electronics, understanding defects in the vicinity of interfaces, controlling ceramics far from equilibrium, accelerating the development of new ceramic materials, and harnessing order within disorder in glasses. This paper reports the outcomes of the workshop and provides descriptions of these challenges

Protective Gene Expression Changes Elicited by an Inherited Defect in Photoreceptor Structure

Inherited defects in retinal photoreceptor structure impair visual transduction, disrupt relationship with the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), and compromise cell viability. A variety of progressive retinal degenerative diseases can result, and knowledge of disease etiology remains incomplete. To investigate pathogenic mechanisms in such instances, we have characterized rod photoreceptor and retinal gene expression changes in response to a defined insult to photoreceptor structure, using the retinal degeneration slow (rds) mouse model. Global gene expression profiling was performed on flow-sorted rds and wild-type rod photoreceptors immediately prior and subsequent to times at which OSs are normally elaborated. Dysregulated genes were identified via microarray hybridization, and selected candidates were validated using quantitative PCR analyses. Both the array and qPCR data revealed that gene expression changes were generally modest and dispersed amongst a variety of known functional networks. Although genes showing major (>5-fold) differential expression were identified in a few instances, nearly all displayed transient temporal profiles, returning to WT levels by postnatal day (P) 21. These observations suggest that major defects in photoreceptor cell structure may induce early homeostatic responses, which function in a protective manner to promote cell viability. We identified a single key gene, Egr1, that was dysregulated in a sustained fashion in rds rod photoreceptors and retina. Egr1 upregulation was associated with microglial activation and migration into the outer retina at times subsequent to the major peak of photoreceptor cell death. Interestingly, this response was accompanied by neurotrophic factor upregulation. We hypothesize that activation of Egr1 and neurotrophic factors may represent a protective immune mechanism which contributes to the characteristically slow retinal degeneration of the rds mouse model

ENIGMA and global neuroscience: A decade of large-scale studies of the brain in health and disease across more than 40 countries

This review summarizes the last decade of work by the ENIGMA (Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta Analysis) Consortium, a global alliance of over 1400 scientists across 43 countries, studying the human brain in health and disease. Building on large-scale genetic studies that discovered the first robustly replicated genetic loci associated with brain metrics, ENIGMA has diversified into over 50 working groups (WGs), pooling worldwide data and expertise to answer fundamental questions in neuroscience, psychiatry, neurology, and genetics. Most ENIGMA WGs focus on specific psychiatric and neurological conditions, other WGs study normal variation due to sex and gender differences, or development and aging; still other WGs develop methodological pipelines and tools to facilitate harmonized analyses of "big data" (i.e., genetic and epigenetic data, multimodal MRI, and electroencephalography data). These international efforts have yielded the largest neuroimaging studies to date in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, epilepsy, and 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. More recent ENIGMA WGs have formed to study anxiety disorders, suicidal thoughts and behavior, sleep and insomnia, eating disorders, irritability, brain injury, antisocial personality and conduct disorder, and dissociative identity disorder. Here, we summarize the first decade of ENIGMA's activities and ongoing projects, and describe the successes and challenges encountered along the way. We highlight the advantages of collaborative large-scale coordinated data analyses for testing reproducibility and robustness of findings, offering the opportunity to identify brain systems involved in clinical syndromes across diverse samples and associated genetic, environmental, demographic, cognitive, and psychosocial factors

Analyses of pig genomes provide insight into porcine demography and evolution

For 10,000 years pigs and humans have shared a close and complex relationship. From domestication to modern breeding practices, humans have shaped the genomes of domestic pigs. Here we present the assembly and analysis of the genome sequence of a female domestic Duroc pig (Sus scrofa) and a comparison with the genomes of wild and domestic pigs from Europe and Asia. Wild pigs emerged in South East Asia and subsequently spread across Eurasia. Our results reveal a deep phylogenetic split between European and Asian wild boars ∼1 million years ago, and a selective sweep analysis indicates selection on genes involved in RNA processing and regulation. Genes associated with immune response and olfaction exhibit fast evolution. Pigs have the largest repertoire of functional olfactory receptor genes, reflecting the importance of smell in this scavenging animal. The pig genome sequence provides an important resource for further improvements of this important livestock species, and our identification of many putative disease-causing variants extends the potential of the pig as a biomedical model

Can volumetric modulated arc radiation therapy reduce organ at risk dose in stage 4 sinonasal tumors in dogs treated with boost irradiation?

Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) introduced marked changes to cancer treatment in animals by reducing dose to organs at risk (OAR). As the next technological step, volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) has advantages (increased degrees-of-freedom, faster delivery) compared to fixed-field IMRT. Our objective was to investigate a possible advantage of VMAT over IMRT in terms of lower OAR doses in advanced-disease sinonasal tumors in dogs treated with simultaneously-integrated boost radiotherapy. A retrospective, analytical, observational study design was applied using 10 pre-existing computed tomography datasets on dogs with stage 4 sinonasal tumors. Each dataset was planned with both, 5-field IMRT and 2 arc VMAT with 10x4.83 Gy to the gross tumor volume and 10x4.2 Gy to the planning target volume. Adequate target dose coverage and normal tissue complication probability of brain ≤5% was required. Dose constraints aspired to were D60 <15 Gy for eyes, D2 <35.4 Gy for corneae, and Dmean <20 Gy for lacrimal glands. OAR dose was statistically significantly higher in IMRT plans than in VMAT plans. Median eye D60% was 18.5 Gy (interquartile range (IQR) 17.5) versus 16.1 Gy (IQR 7.4) (p = 0.007), median lacrimal gland dose 21.8 Gy (IQR 20.5) versus 18.6 Gy (IQR 7.0) (p = 0.013), and median cornea D2% 45.5 Gy (IQR 6.8) versus 39.9 Gy (IQR 10.0) (p<0.005) for IMRT versus VMAT plans, respectively. Constraints were met in 21/40 eyes, 7/40 corneae, and 24/40 lacrimal glands. Median delivery time was significantly longer for IMRT plans than for VMAT plans (p<0.01). Based on these results, VMAT plans were found to be superior in sparing doses to eyes, lacrimal glands, corneae. However, not all ocular OAR constraints could be met while ensuring adequate dose coverage and restricting brain toxicity risk for both planning techniques