Vom Wissen zum Wandel. Evaluation im E-Learning zur kontinuierlichen Verbesserung des didaktischen Designs

Lehrevaluationen gehören zum Alltag an Hochschulen und Universitäten. Die Herausforderung besteht jedoch darin, die daraus gewonnenen Erfahrungen auch für eine konkrete Verbesserung der Lehre wirksam werden zu lassen. Am Beispiel der Evaluation eines Blended-Learning-Kurses wird gezeigt, wie das didaktische Design einer Lehrveranstaltung mit einem Drei-Stufen-Modell überprüft und fortlaufend optimiert werden kann. (DIPF/ Orig.

A local global principle for regular operators in Hilbert C*-modules

Hilbert C*-modules are the analogues of Hilbert spaces where a C*-algebra plays the role of the scalar field. With the advent of Kasparov's celebrated KK-theory they became a standard tool in the theory of operator algebras. While the elementary properties of Hilbert C*-modules can be derived basically in parallel to Hilbert space theory the lack of an analogue of the Projection Theorem soon leads to serious obstructions and difficulties. In particular the theory of unbounded operators is notoriously more complicated due to the additional axiom of regularity which is not easy to check. In this paper we present a new criterion for regularity in terms of the Hilbert space localizations of an unbounded operator. We discuss several examples which show that the criterion can easily be checked and that it leads to nontrivial regularity results.Comment: 31 pages, 2 figures; v3: revised version containing an erratum to v2 clarifying the contributions by Fran\c{c}ois Pierro

Proinflammatory adipocytokines induce TIMP-1 expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes

AbstractTissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1 is an adipocyte-secreted protein upregulated in obesity which promotes adipose tissue development. Furthermore, the proinflammatory adipocytokines tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and interleukin (IL)-6 induce insulin resistance, and plasma concentrations are increased during weight gain. In the current study, the impact of TNFα and IL-6 on TIMP-1 mRNA and protein expression was determined in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Interestingly, TNFα and IL-6 induced TIMP-1 protein secretion more than 3- and 2-fold, respectively. Furthermore, TIMP-1 mRNA was upregulated in a time- and dose-dependent fashion. Inhibitor experiments suggested that nuclear factor κB and p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinase are involved in both, basal and adipocytokine-induced TIMP-1 expression. Moreover, the thiazolidinedione troglitazone partly reversed TNFα- but not IL-6-induced TIMP-1 synthesis. Taken together, we demonstrate that TIMP-1 expression is selectively upregulated in fat cells by proinflammatory adipocytokines and might play a role in maintaining adipose tissue mass in obesity

Increased betulinic acid induced cytotoxicity and radiosensitivity in glioma cells under hypoxic conditions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Betulinic acid (BA) is a novel antineoplastic agent under evaluation for tumor therapy. Because of the selective cytotoxic effects of BA in tumor cells (including gliomas), the combination of this agent with conservative therapies (such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy) may be useful. Previously, the combination of BA with irradiation under hypoxic conditions had never been studied.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study, the effects of 3 to 30 μM BA on cytotoxicity, migration, the protein expression of PARP, survivin and HIF-1α, as well as radiosensitivity under normoxic and hypoxic conditions were analyzed in the human malignant glioma cell lines U251MG and U343MG. Cytotoxicity and radiosensitivity were analyzed with clonogenic survival assays, migration was analyzed with Boyden chamber assays (or scratch assays) and protein expression was examined with Western blot analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Under normoxic conditions, a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of 23 μM was observed in U251MG cells and 24 μM was observed in U343MG cells. Under hypoxic conditions, 10 μM or 15 μM of BA showed a significantly increased cytotoxicity in U251MG cells (p = 0.004 and p = 0.01, respectively) and U343MG cells (p < 0.05 and p = 0.01, respectively). The combination of BA with radiotherapy resulted in an additive effect in the U343MG cell line under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Weak radiation enhancement was observed in U251MG cell line after treatment with BA under normoxic conditions. Furthermore, under hypoxic conditions, the incubation with BA resulted in increased radiation enhancement. The enhancement factor, at an irradiation dose of 15 Gy after treatment with 10 or 15 μM BA, was 2.20 (p = 0.02) and 4.50 (p = 0.03), respectively. Incubation with BA led to decreased cell migration, cleavage of PARP and decreased expression levels of survivin in both cell lines. Additionally, BA treatment resulted in a reduction of HIF-1α protein under hypoxic conditions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest that BA is capable of improving the effects of tumor therapy in human malignant glioma cells, particularly under hypoxic conditions. Further investigations are necessary to characterize its potential as a radiosensitizer.</p

Effective Long-Distance Pollen Dispersal in Centaurea jacea

BACKGROUND: Agri-environment schemes play an increasingly important role for the conservation of rare plants in intensively managed agricultural landscapes. However, little is known about their effects on gene flow via pollen dispersal between populations of these species. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In a 2-year experiment, we observed effective pollen dispersal from source populations of Centaurea jacea in restored meadows, the most widespread Swiss agri-environment scheme, to potted plants in adjacent intensively managed meadows without other individuals of this species. Potted plants were put in replicated source populations at 25, 50, 100 m and where possible 200 m distance from these source populations. Pollen transfer among isolated plants was prevented by temporary bagging, such that only one isolated plant was accessible for flower visitors at any one time. Because C. jacea is self-incompatible, seed set in single-plant isolates indicated insect mediated effective pollen dispersal from the source population. Seed set was higher in source populations (35.7+/-4.4) than in isolates (4.8+/-1.0). Seed set declined from 18.9% of that in source populations at a distance of 25 m to 7.4% at 200 m. At a distance of 200 m seed set was still significantly higher in selfed plants, indicating long-distance effective pollen dispersal up to 200 m. Analyses of covariance suggested that bees contributed more than flies to this long-distance pollen dispersal. We found evidence that pollen dispersal to single-plant isolates was positively affected by the diversity and flower abundance of neighboring plant species in the intensively managed meadow. Furthermore, the decline of the dispersal was less steep when the source population of C. jacea was large. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that insect pollinators can effectively transfer pollen from source populations of C. jacea over at least 200 m, even when "recipient populations" consisted of single-plant isolates, suggesting that gene flow by pollen over this distance is very likely. Source population size and flowering environment surrounding recipient plants appear to be important factors affecting pollen dispersal in C. jacea. It is conceivable that most insect-pollinated plants in a network of restored sites within intensively managed grassland can form metapopulations, if distances between sites are of similar magnitude as tested here

Modellprädiktive Einzelraumregelung auf Basis datengetriebener Modelle

This contribution demonstrates an approach for the design of a model predictive Controller (MPC) of the temperature in a single room, based on dynamic models generated from measurement data. After a brief description of the MPC-principle the required dynamic models are discussed, which are generated and validated by means of system identification. Finally, the MPC design method is demonstrated and compared to a conventional control strategy