Einfluss von Public Relations in der Unternehmensberichterstattung

Journalismus hat unabhängig zu sein. Und kritisch. Er soll Allgemein- und nicht Partikularinteressen dienen und die kritische Distanz zu seinem Berichterstattungsgegenstand wahren. Informationen sind deshalb auf ihre Interessenbindung hin zu prüfen, kritisch zu reflektieren und in Bezug auf die Quellen transparent zu machen. Diese professionellen Qualitätsansprüche, die in den Binnennormen des Journalismus festgeschrieben sind (vgl. etwa www.impressum.ch), gelten in Zeiten der Globalisierung im Besonderen für den Wirtschaftsjournalismus. Denn die Entgrenzung der Wirtschaft aus sozialmoralischen Bezugsräumen und der demokratische Steuerungsverlust gegenüber einer zunehmend transnational operierenden Wirtschaft (Imhof 2005) erhöhen die Anforderungen an den Wirtschaftsjournalismus, Wirtschaftsdynamiken kritisch-distanziert zu begleiten. Um die öffentliche Aufgabe als unabhängige Instanz wahrnehmen zu können, braucht es allerdings Ressourcen in Form finanziell und personell gut ausgestatteter (Wirtschafts-)Redaktionen, d. h. Geld, Sachkenntnis und Zeit für Recherche. Dieser Beitrag liefert vor dem Hintergrund der bereits im Jahrbuch 2010 gezeigten Einbusse an Makroperspektiven* (Volkswirtschaften, Konjunkturzyklen, Branchen) zugunsten von Meso*- (Unternehmen) und Mikroperspektiven* (Personen) in der Wirtschaftsberichterstattung sowie angesichts der Synchronizität der Krisenberichterstattung mit den Aktienkursen bzw. dem Versagen der Frühwarnfunktion des Wirtschaftsjournalismus gegenüber krisenhaften Entwicklungen (vgl. Schranz/Eisenegger/Imhof/Schneider 2010) eine Bestandesaufnahme der Unabhängigkeit und Professionalität* des Wirtschaftsjournalismus gegenüber dem Einfluss von Public Relations in der Schweizer Unternehmensberichterstattung

Conjugation Dynamics of Self-Transmissible and Mobilisable Plasmids into E. coli O157:H7 on Arabidopsis thaliana Rosettes

Many antibiotic resistance genes present in human pathogenic bacteria are believed to originate from environmental bacteria. Conjugation of antibiotic resistance conferring plasmids is considered to be one of the major reasons for the increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistances. A hotspot for plasmid-based horizontal gene transfer is the phyllosphere, i.e., the surfaces of aboveground plant parts. Bacteria in the phyllosphere might serve as intermediate hosts with transfer capability to human pathogenic bacteria. In this study, the exchange of mobilisable and self-transmissible plasmids via conjugation was evaluated. The conjugation from the laboratory strain Escherichia coli S17-1, the model phyllosphere coloniser Pantoea eucalypti 299R, and the model pathogen E. coli O157:H7 to the recipient strain E. coli O157:H7::MRE103 (EcO157:H7red) in the phyllosphere of Arabidopsis thaliana was determined. The results suggest that short-term occurrence of a competent donor is sufficient to fix plasmids in a recipient population of E. coli O157:H7red. The spread of self-transmissible plasmids was limited after initial steep increases of transconjugants that contributed up to 10% of the total recipient population. The here-presented data of plasmid transfer will be important for future modelling approaches to estimate environmental spread of antibiotic resistance in agricultural production environments

Conjugation Dynamics of Self-Transmissible and Mobilisable Plasmids into E. coli O157:H7 on Arabidopsis thaliana Rosettes

Many antibiotic resistance genes present in human pathogenic bacteria are believed to originate from environmental bacteria. Conjugation of antibiotic resistance conferring plasmids is considered to be one of the major reasons for the increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistances. A hotspot for plasmid-based horizontal gene transfer is the phyllosphere, i.e., the surfaces of aboveground plant parts. Bacteria in the phyllosphere might serve as intermediate hosts with transfer capability to human pathogenic bacteria. In this study, the exchange of mobilisable and self-transmissible plasmids via conjugation was evaluated. The conjugation from the laboratory strain Escherichia coli S17-1, the model phyllosphere coloniser Pantoea eucalypti 299R, and the model pathogen E. coli O157:H7 to the recipient strain E. coli O157:H7::MRE103 (EcO157:H7red) in the phyllosphere of Arabidopsis thaliana was determined. The results suggest that short-term occurrence of a competent donor is sufficient to fix plasmids in a recipient population of E. coli O157:H7red. The spread of self-transmissible plasmids was limited after initial steep increases of transconjugants that contributed up to 10% of the total recipient population. The here-presented data of plasmid transfer will be important for future modelling approaches to estimate environmental spread of antibiotic resistance in agricultural production environments

Post-transcriptional control of executioner caspases by RNA-binding proteins

Caspases are key components of apoptotic pathways. Regulation of caspases occurs at several levels, including transcription, proteolytic processing, inhibition of enzymatic function, and protein degradation. In contrast, little is known about the extent of post-transcriptional control of caspases. Here, we describe four conserved RNA-binding proteins (RBPs)—PUF-8, MEX-3, GLD-1, and CGH-1—that sequentially repress the CED-3 caspase in distinct regions of the Caenorhabditis elegans germline. We demonstrate that GLD-1 represses ced-3 mRNA translation via two binding sites in its 3′ untranslated region (UTR), thereby ensuring a dual control of unwanted cell death: at the level of p53/CEP-1 and at the executioner caspase level. Moreover, we identified seven RBPs that regulate human caspase-3 expression and/or activation, including human PUF-8, GLD-1, and CGH-1 homologs PUM1, QKI, and DDX6. Given the presence of unusually long executioner caspase 3′ UTRs in many metazoans, translational control of executioner caspases by RBPs might be a strategy used widely across the animal kingdom to control apoptosis

The high-albedo, low polarization disk around HD 114082 harbouring a Jupiter-sized transiting planet: Constraints from VLT/SPHERE completed with TESS, Gaia, and radial velocities

We present new optical and near-IR images of debris disk around the F-type star HD 114082. We obtained direct imaging observations and analysed the TESS photometric time series data of this target with a goal to search for planetary companions and to characterise the morphology of the debris disk and the scattering properties of dust particles. HD 114082 was observed with the VLT/SPHERE instrument: the IRDIS camera in the K band together with the IFS in the Y, J and H band using the ADI technique as well as IRDIS in the H band and ZIMPOL in the I_PRIME band using the PDI technique. The scattered light images were fitted with a 3D model for single scattering in an optically thin dust disk. We performed aperture photometry in order to derive the scattering and polarized phase functions, polarization fraction and spectral scattering albedo for the dust particles in the disk. This method was also used to obtain the reflectance spectrum of the disk to retrieve the disk color and study the dust reflectivity in comparison to the debris disk HD 117214. We also performed the modeling of the HD 114082 light curve measured by TESS using the models for planet transit and stellar activity to put constraints on radius of the detected planet and its orbit. The debris disk appears as an axisymmetric debris belt with a radius of ~0.37$"$ (35 au), inclination of ~83$^\circ$ and a wide inner cavity. Dust particles in HD 114082 have a maximum polarization fraction of ~17% and a high reflectivity which results in a spectral scattering albedo of 0.65. The analysis of TESS photometric data reveals a transiting planetary companion to HD 114082 with a radius of $\sim$1~$\rm R_{J}$ on an orbit with a semi-major axis of $0.7 \pm 0.4$ au. Combining different data, we reach deep sensitivity limits in terms of companion masses down to ~5$M_{\rm Jup}$ at 50 au, and ~10 $M_{\rm Jup}$ at 30 au from the central star.ISSN:0004-6361ISSN:1432-074

The HIP 79977 debris disk in polarized light

ISSN:0004-6361ISSN:1432-074