"Wir beschäftigen uns eigentlich nur mit nicht-idealen Adressaten...": eine sozialwissenschaftlich-hermeneutische Perspektive auf Konstruktionen von Kindern als Adressat/-innen der Kinder- und Jugendhilfe

"Im Zentrum des Beitrags steht die Frage, wie Professionelle der Kinder- und Jugendhilfe anhand von Kategorisierungen Kinder als Adressat/-innen Sozialer Arbeit konstruieren. Als Grundlage der Auseinandersetzung dient eine qualitativ-rekonstruktive Studie, in deren Rahmen zur Untersuchung der interessierenden Fragestellung Repertory Grid Interviews mit Professionellen der Kinder- und Jugendhilfe geführt wurden. Ein zentrales Ergebnis der sozialwissenschaftlich-hermeneutischen Rekonstruktion ist, dass Konstruktionen von Kindern als Adressat/-innen durch die sozialpädagogischen Professionellen (auch) anhand essentialistischer Negativkategorisierungen erfolgen, deren Sinn für Soziale Arbeit als professionalisierte Hilfe abschließend diskutiert wird." (Autorenreferat)"This paper focuses on how social workers in child and youth welfare categorize children as clients. The discussion is based on a qualitative-reconstructive study. The findings of this study are derived from repertory grid interviews with social workers. The central outcome of the study is that social workers' constructions of children as clients can be essentialist and negative. The meaning of this result for social work will be discussed to conclude the paper." (author's abstract

Zur Unverzichtbarkeit von Schulsozialarbeit in der Oberstufe: Ein wissenschaftliches Plädoyer

Schulsozialarbeit hat sich in Deutschland seit den 1970er-Jahren als Angebot an der Schnittstelle von Kinder- und Jugendhilfe und Schule etabliert (vgl. u.a. Rademacker, 2009, S. 16). Insbesondere in den vergangenen 20 Jahren ist ein umfassender Ausbau von Angeboten der Schulsozialarbeit erfolgt, einhergehend mit einer entsprechenden Aufstockung der in diesem Bereich tätigen Fachkräfte (vgl. Knoche & Liel, 2020, S. 122; Speck, 2019, S. 381f.). Neben der somit wachsenden Bedeutsamkeit von Schulsozialarbeit in der Praxis in den letzten Jahrzehnten hat auch das wissenschaftliche Interesse an diesem Gegenstand zugenommen, wie zahlreiche Publikationen und Studien dokumentieren. Allerdings sind sowohl schulsozialarbeiterische Angebote in der Praxis als auch auf Schulsozialarbeit bezogene wissenschaftliche Auseinandersetzungen auf den Primarbereich und die Sekundarstufe I, mittlerweile auch auf berufsbildende Schulen fokussiert; die Oberstufe als möglicher Ort von Schulsozialarbeit spielt sowohl in der Praxis als auch in wissenschaftlichen Auseinandersetzungen so gut wie keine Rolle. Weshalb Schulsozialarbeit – entgegen der gegenwärtigen Situation – ein auch für die Oberstufe unverzichtbares Angebot repräsentiert, wird im Rahmen eines wissenschaftlichen Plädoyers dargelegt. Zurückgegriffen wird in diesem auf ein sozialisations- und modernisierungstheoretisches, auf ein schultheoretisches, auf ein bildungstheoretisches und auf ein rollen- und professionstheoretisches Begründungsmuster für Schulsozialarbeit (vgl. Speck, 2014, S. 51ff.), die jeweils spezifisch mit Blick auf die Oberstufe, unter Berücksichtigung aktueller Einflüsse der Covid-19-Pandemie, ausbuchstabiert werden. Den Abschluss bildet ein Ausblick auf Schulsozialarbeit in Post-Covid-19-Pandemiezeiten. In Germany, school social work has been established since the 1970s. School social workers provide services for students, parents, and teachers. It is an offer at the intersection of child and youth welfare and school (cp. Rademacker, 2009, p. 16). Particularly in the past 20 years, there has been a comprehensive expansion of school social work services, accompanied by a corresponding increase in the number of social workers working in this field (cp. Knoche & Liel, 2020, p. 122; Speck, 2019, pp. 381f.). In addition to this growing importance of school social work, the scientific interest has also increased as numerous publications and studies show. Both school social work services and scientific examinations focus on the primary and secondary school level I, as well as on the vocational school level. School social work on the upper secondary school level (in German: Oberstufe), however, as well as corresponding scientific works, can hardly be found. This article argues why, in contrast to the current situation, school social work on the upper secondary school level really matters. Several theoretical arguments (cp. Speck, 2014, pp. 51ff.) are discussed, considering the current influences of the Covid-19 pandemic. Finally, there is an outlook on the increased importance of school social work in post-Covid-19 pandemic times

Does the balancing of profession cultural dissonances in differential learning environments induce new old educational inequality? The potential influence of structure and composition effects and school cultural institution-environment-matching on the interpretations of teachers and social work professionals

Nach den PISA-Studien entstanden viele unterschiedliche Deutungen über die Gründe dafür, weshalb das deutsche Schulsystem Bildungsungleichheiten verstärkt (Kap. 1). Neben tendenziell monokausalen Deutungen existieren als zwei ausdifferenzierte Erklärungsansätze die quantitativ operierenden Studien zu Struktur- und Kompositionseffekten sowie die dem Paradigma qualitativer Sozialforschung entstammenden Untersuchungen zu schulkulturellen Institutionen-Milieu-Passungen. Im Kontext der Diskussion dieser Erklärungsmodelle wird die Hoffnung formuliert, durch multiprofessionelle Teams den Ungleichheit stiftenden Effekten Abhilfe schaffen zu können, indem diese die Widersprüchlichkeit der Institution Schule - gleichzeitig Ort der Förderung persönlicher Entwicklung und Selektionsagentur zu sein - besser zu bearbeiten helfen (Kap. 2). Im Beitrag wird anhand von Fallstudien (Kap. 3-5) der Frage nachgegangen, inwieweit die Hoffnung auf die positiven Effekte unterschiedlicher Professionskulturen berechtigt sein könnte oder inwiefern nicht durch Dissonanzausgleiche in den Deutungen der Professionellen erneut davon auszugehen ist, dass schulformspezifische und/oder schulkulturelle Passungsverhältnisse durchschlagen, so dass eben jene Schülerinnen und Schüler weiterhin benachteiligt werden, die schon jetzt im Schulsystem nicht die ausreichende kompensatorische Unterstützung erhalten. (DIPF/Orig.)The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has revealed that the school system in Germany reproduces and even increases educational inequalities. Until today there have been many different interpretations of this result (chapter one). Beside interpretations that are rather monocausal there exist two more differentiated explanations. Firstly, re-analyses of the large-scale assessments explain the phenomenon by effects relating to the type of school as well as to the composition of pupils. Secondly, in the paradigm of structure theory, qualitative studies explore the matching of the institution and the social environment of the pupils. In the discussion following these approaches, multi-professional teams are seen as a possible answer to the problem of educational inequalities. The reason is that they might help to deal with the main contradiction of school: On the one hand, schools have to support the individual development of each pupil. On the other hand, schools must select (chapter two). Based on case studies, the article deals with the question whether the cooperation of multi-professional teams can indeed reduce educational inequalities (chapter three to five). Or may the balancing of dissonances in the professionals\u27 interpretations induce a school typical or school cultural matching, which leads to the fact that those pupils are disadvantaged who are already not sufficiently supported at school? (DIPF/Orig.

The TreaT-Assay: A Novel Urine-Derived Donor Kidney Cell-Based Assay for Prediction of Kidney Transplantation Outcome

Donor-reactive immunity plays a major role in rejection after kidney transplantation, but analysis of donor-reactive T-cells is not applied routinely. However, it has been shown that this could help to identify patients at risk of acute rejection. A major obstacle is the limited quantity or quality of the required allogenic stimulator cells, including a limited availability of donor-splenocytes or an insufficient HLA-matching with HLA-bank cells. To overcome these limitations, we developed a novel assay, termed the TreaT (Transplant reactive T-cells)-assay. We cultivated renal tubular epithelial cells from the urine of kidney transplant patients and used them as stimulators for donor-reactive T-cells, which we analyzed by flow cytometry. We could demonstrate that using the TreaT-assay the quantification and characterization of alloreactive T-cells is superior to other stimulators. In a pilot study, the number of pre-transplant alloreactive T-cells negatively correlated with the post-transplant eGFR. Frequencies of pre-transplant CD161+ alloreactive CD4+ T-cells and granzyme B producing alloreactive CD8+ T-cells were substantially higher in patients with early acute rejection compared to patients without complications. In conclusion, we established a novel assay for the assessment of donor-reactive memory T-cells based on kidney cells with the potential to predict early acute rejection and post-transplant eGFR

Attitudes towards sex workers: a nationwide cross-sectional survey among German healthcare providers

BackgroundWorldwide, sex workers face stigmatization and discrimination, also within healthcare. Only few studies on healthcare providers’ attitudes towards care of sex workers have been performed. This study assessed attitudes and knowledge of healthcare providers in Germany towards sex workers and their specific health risks.MethodsGerman healthcare professionals and medical students were invited to participate in a nationwide cross-sectional study in 2022. The online survey used a German translation of the “Attitudes towards Prostitutes and Prostitution Scale” by Levin and Peled for assessment of attitudes towards sex work and workers, together with prevalence estimates of common mental and physical disorders.ResultsA total of 469 questionnaires were included into analysis. Older participants tended to regard sex work as less of a choice (p < 0.004) and sex workers as more victimized (p < 0.001). The frequency of professional contact to sex workers neither affected the perception of sex workers’ status as victims vs. independent individuals, nor the perceived moral status. Moreover, healthcare professionals overestimated the prevalence of various disorders which was influenced by participants’ attitudes towards sex workers.DiscussionA comparison to a recent Allensbach survey demonstrated similar attitudes of healthcare providers and the general population towards sex workers. Our results suggest that German healthcare professionals are not free of prejudices against sex workers, as has been shown for other marginalized groups in society. Instead, they seem to be influenced by personal opinion rather than by objective facts which they should have acquired during their professional education. Future interventions (e.g., better training regarding marginal societal groups) are necessary to encounter these issues in order to improve healthcare for sex workers

Immune Response in Moderate to Critical Breakthrough COVID-19 Infection After mRNA Vaccination

SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) can trigger severe endemic waves and vaccine breakthrough infections (VBI). We analyzed the cellular and humoral immune response in 8 patients infected with the alpha variant, resulting in moderate to fatal COVID-19 disease manifestation, after double mRNA-based anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. In contrast to the uninfected vaccinated control cohort, the diseased individuals had no detectable high-avidity spike (S)-reactive CD4+ and CD8+ T cells against the alpha variant and wild type (WT) at disease onset, whereas a robust CD4+ T-cell response against the N- and M-proteins was generated. Furthermore, a delayed alpha S-reactive high-avidity CD4+ T-cell response was mounted during disease progression. Compared to the vaccinated control donors, these patients also had lower neutralizing antibody titers against the alpha variant at disease onset. The delayed development of alpha S-specific cellular and humoral immunity upon VBI indicates reduced immunogenicity against the S-protein of the alpha VOC, while there was a higher and earlier N- and M-reactive T-cell response. Our findings do not undermine the current vaccination strategies but underline a potential need for the inclusion of VBI patients in alternative vaccination strategies and additional antigenic targets in next-generation SARS-CoV-2 vaccines

Imputation of Orofacial Clefting Data Identifies Novel Risk Loci and Sheds Light on the Genetic Background of Cleft Lip ± Cleft Palate and Cleft Palate Only.

Abstract Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (nsCL/P) is among the most common human birth defects with multifactorial etiology. Here, we present results from a genome-wide imputation study of nsCL/P in which, after adding replication cohort data, four novel risk loci for nsCL/P are identified (at chromosomal regions 2p21, 14q22, 15q24 and 19p13). On a systematic level, we show that the association signalswithin this high-density datasetare enriched in functionally-relevant genomic regions that are active in both human neural crest cells (hNCC) and mouse embryonic craniofacial tissue. This enrichment is also detectable in hNCC regions primed for later activity. Using GCTA analyses, we suggest that 30% of the estimated variance in risk for nsCL/P in the European population can be attributed to common variants, with 25.5% contributed to by the 24 risk loci known to date. For each of these, we identify credible SNPs using a Bayesian refinementapproach, with two loci harbouring only one probable causal variant. Finally, we demonstrate that there is no polygenic component of nsCL/P detectable that is shared with nonsyndromic cleft palate only (nsCPO). Our data suggest that, while common variants are strongly contributing to risk for nsCL/P, they do not seem to be involved in nsCPO which might be more often caused by rare deleterious variants. Our study generates novel insights into both nsCL/P and nsCPO etiology and provides a systematic framework for research into craniofacial development and malformation

Extending the allelic spectrum at noncoding risk loci of orofacial clefting

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have generated unprecedented insights into the genetic etiology of orofacial clefting (OFC). The moderate effect sizes of associated noncoding risk variants and limited access to disease-relevant tissue represent considerable challenges for biological interpretation of genetic findings. As rare variants with stronger effect sizes are likely to also contribute to OFC, an alternative approach to delineate pathogenic mechanisms is to identify private mutations and/or an increased burden of rare variants in associated regions. This report describes a framework for targeted resequencing at selected noncoding risk loci contributing to nonsyndromic cleft lip with/without cleft palate (nsCL/P), the most frequent OFC subtype. Based on GWAS data, we selected three risk loci and identified candidate regulatory regions (CRRs) through the integration of credible SNP information, epigenetic data from relevant cells/tissues, and conservation scores. The CRRs (total 57 kb) were resequenced in a multiethnic study population (1061 patients; 1591 controls), using single-molecule molecular inversion probe technology. Combining evidence from in silico variant annotation, pedigree- and burden analyses, we identified 16 likely deleterious rare variants that represent new candidates for functional studies in nsCL/P. Our framework is scalable and represents a promising approach to the investigation of additional congenital malformations with multifactorial etiology

Freshwater ecoregions of the world: A new map of biogeographic units for freshwater biodiversity conservation

We present a new map depicting the first global biogeographic regionalization of Earth's freshwater systems. This map of freshwater ecoregions is based on the distributions and compositions of freshwater fish species and incorporates major ecological and evolutionary patterns. Covering virtually all freshwater habitats on Earth, this ecoregion map, together with associated species data, is a useful tool for underpinning global and regional conservation planning efforts (particularly to identify outstanding and imperiled freshwater systems); for serving as a logical framework for large-scale conservation strategies; and for providing a global-scale knowledge base for increasing freshwater biogeographic literacy. Preliminary data for fish species compiled by ecoregion reveal some previously unrecognized areas of high biodiversity, highlighting the benefit of looking at the world's freshwaters through a new framework.La lista completa de autores que integran el documento puede consultarse en el archivo.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse