University transcultural space: everyday cultural practice of foreign students

Показано, что площадкой для отслеживания динамики траскультурных процессов является образовательная среда. Академическая мобильность позволяет интегрировать собственные культурные атрибуты человека в новую среду, распространяя тенденции транскультурности. Мобильность трансформирует мировосприятие, пространственно-временные и культурные границы. Сделан вывод о том, что транскультурная среда стимулирует к осознанию ситуации наличия "своей" и "чужой" культуры, необходимости выбирать оптимальные пути взаимодействия с "Другим", сравнительному анализу культур через повседневные культурные практики, толерантному отношению к представителям других культур и самовосприятию в ином культурном контексте

Pionierinnen der nächsten Generation : ein Blick auf die Adoleszenzphase junger Frauen kosovarischer Herkunft in der Schweiz – Herausforderungen, Strategien und Ressourcen

Die Phase der Adoleszenz stellt insbesondere weibliche Personen mit Migrationshintergrund vor besondere Herausforderungen, so auch junge Frauen der zweiten Generation aus dem Kosovo. Sozialarbeitende, die Jugendliche beraten, müssen deren Lebenswelt kennen. Ziel dieser Master-Thesis ist es deshalb, die Herausforderungen, denen die jungen Frauen während ihrer Adoleszenz begegnen, sowie ihre Ressourcen und Handlungsstrategien zu ergründen und diese in Beziehung zu vorhandenen Macht- und Ungleichheitsverhältnissen zu setzen. Dafür wurden fünf narrativ-problemzentrierte Interviews mit jungen Frauen kosovarischer Herkunft der zweiten Generation geführt sowie vier Interviews mit Expertinnen, die im beruflichen und/oder privaten Kontext mit ebendieser Zielgruppe zu tun haben. Ausgewertet wurden die Daten mithilfe der inhaltlich strukturierenden qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse, wodurch insgesamt sechs Herausforderungen herausgearbeitet werden konnten. Dabei stellen die strenge Erziehung und die damit einhergehenden Einschränkungen in Bezug auf das Ausgehen die zentrale Herausforderung dar. Weiter wurde deutlich, dass die Jugendlichen bei der Bewältigung der Herausforderungen nicht handlungsunfähig sind, sondern auf vier Ressourcen zurückgreifen können und über acht unterschiedliche Strategien verfügen, um ihre Handlungsspielräume zu vergrössern

Racemic total synthesis and evaluation of the biological activities of the isoquinoline–benzylisoquinoline alkaloid muraricine

The first racemic total synthesis of the isoquinoline–benzylisoquinoline alkaloid muraricine is reported herein. Pharmacological characterization identified muraricine as a moderate inhibitor of P‐glycoprotein, a crucial factor of multidrug resistance in cancer. When combined with vincristine, muraricine partly reversed the chemoresistance of vincristine‐resistant leukemia cells at a nontoxic concentration. Furthermore, no cytotoxic effects on noncancerous human cells in therapeutically relevant concentrations were observed

Kernel learning for ligand-based virtual screening: discovery of a new PPARgamma agonist

Poster presentation at 5th German Conference on Cheminformatics: 23. CIC-Workshop Goslar, Germany. 8-10 November 2009 We demonstrate the theoretical and practical application of modern kernel-based machine learning methods to ligand-based virtual screening by successful prospective screening for novel agonists of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) [1]. PPARgamma is a nuclear receptor involved in lipid and glucose metabolism, and related to type-2 diabetes and dyslipidemia. Applied methods included a graph kernel designed for molecular similarity analysis [2], kernel principle component analysis [3], multiple kernel learning [4], and, Gaussian process regression [5]. In the machine learning approach to ligand-based virtual screening, one uses the similarity principle [6] to identify potentially active compounds based on their similarity to known reference ligands. Kernel-based machine learning [7] uses the "kernel trick", a systematic approach to the derivation of non-linear versions of linear algorithms like separating hyperplanes and regression. Prerequisites for kernel learning are similarity measures with the mathematical property of positive semidefiniteness (kernels). The iterative similarity optimal assignment graph kernel (ISOAK) [2] is defined directly on the annotated structure graph, and was designed specifically for the comparison of small molecules. In our virtual screening study, its use improved results, e.g., in principle component analysis-based visualization and Gaussian process regression. Following a thorough retrospective validation using a data set of 176 published PPARgamma agonists [8], we screened a vendor library for novel agonists. Subsequent testing of 15 compounds in a cell-based transactivation assay [9] yielded four active compounds. The most interesting hit, a natural product derivative with cyclobutane scaffold, is a full selective PPARgamma agonist (EC50 = 10 ± 0.2 microM, inactive on PPARalpha and PPARbeta/delta at 10 microM). We demonstrate how the interplay of several modern kernel-based machine learning approaches can successfully improve ligand-based virtual screening results

Heat and shear stability of particle stabilised foams for application in gluten‑free bread

Erworben im Rahmen der Schweizer Nationallizenzen (http://www.nationallizenzen.ch) ​Bread forms an integral part of the daily diet in many cultures worldwide. At the same time, a signifcant number of people try to avoid wheat-based products for either health reasons or due to personal preferences. The absence of a protein network in gluten free bread afects its structure, taste, texture and shelf-life. This paper suggests a technological solution to this issue that uses a pre-foamed mass of gluten free raw materials which is mixed with the bread’s ingredients, then kneaded and baked to form a high quality gluten free bread. To survive the high shear stresses during kneading and temperature increase during baking, the foam requires exceptional stability. This stability was achieved through particle stabilisation of the bubble inter faces. Both of the tested foams (with and without particles) exhibited thermal stability up to 80 °C. However, resistance to shear stresses was higher in the particle stabilised foams. Of all the tested particles, linseed press cake and banana powder led to the best results. In conclusion, particle stabilised foams seem very well suited to applications in gluten free baked goods. Further application potential is seen for vegan foamed desserts

Evaluation of the effect of a novel membrane filtration system on the life span of frying oil

Frying oil has a limited lifetime which results in the disposal of approximately 67% of all used oil. The aim of this study is to determine the suitability of different membranes for purifying frying oil and investigate the application of continuous membrane filtration in a commercial deep fryer. Eleven different membranes were tested to assess their suitability for filtrating frying oil. A prototype continuous filtration system with an integrated membrane filter was developed for a deep fryer to assess the effect of continuous membrane filtration on oil degradation. The prototype was subjected to a frying test over 13 days and the results compared to those from a standard deep fryer. The prototype maintained total polar compounds (TPC) at an acceptable level of 27%

Effect of particle characteristics and foaming parameters on resulting foam quality and stability

Highlights: • Use of particles without emulsifier reduced median bubble size and improved foam stability. • Combining PGE emulsifier and particles resulted in higher foam stability. • Particularly low drainage was observed in particle stabilized foams using banana powder. • Increases in particle size and wetting angle correlated with reduced drainage. • High shear rates were strongly associated with narrower bubble size distributions.In this study, the effects of ten different food-grade particles on bubble quality and stabilization of particle-stabilized food foams in batch and continuous foaming with and without polyglycerol ester (PGE) as an emulsifier were investigated. Particle properties, such as contact angle and porosity, and varying process parameters, such as shear rate and gas fraction, were assessed with respect to their impact on bubble size x50,0, bubble size distribution width and drainage. The smallest bubble size x50,0 in foams without PGE could be achieved with banana powder (88 μm), calcium carbonate (89 μm) and microcrystalline cellulose (79 μm) particles. In comparison, the smallest size in the reference without particles were 105 μm. Combining the use of particles with PGE further reduced bubble size by up to 57% and drainage by up to 100%. Increasing the shear rate from 4922 s−1 (35 μm) to 9844 s−1 (14 μm) resulted in smaller mean bubble sizes and significantly narrower bubble size distributions whereas no distinct correlation between gas fraction and resulting bubble size was found. This study shows that using suitable particles in combination with an optimized foaming process promotes both bubble quality and the stability of foams

Silexan does not affect driving performance after single and multiple dose applications: Results from a double-blind, placebo and reference-controlled study in healthy volunteers

Anxiolytic drugs often have sedative effects that impair the ability to drive. Our double-blind, randomized crossover trial investigated the effect of Silexan, a non-sedating, anxiolytic herbal medicinal product, on driving performance in healthy volunteers. Part 1 aimed at demonstrating equivalence between 80 mg/d Silexan and placebo. Part 2 was performed to demonstrate superiority of 160 and 320 mg Silexan over 1 mg lorazepam and included a placebo arm for assay sensitivity. Driving performance was assessed in a validated, alcohol-calibrated simulator test. The primary outcome was the standard deviation of the lane position (SDLP). Secondary outcomes included driving errors and sleepiness. Fifty and 25 subjects were randomized in Parts 1 and 2, respectively. In Part 1, Silexan 80 mg was confirmed to be equivalent to placebo after single administration (equivalence range: δ = ±2 cm). The 95% confidence interval (CI) for the SDLP marginal mean value difference Silexan-placebo for single administration was -1.43; +1.38 and thus similar to the 95% CI of -1.45; +0.79 cm for 7 days' multiple dosing. In Part 2, 95% CIs for SDLP marginal mean value differences to lorazepam were -8.58; -5.42 cm for Silexan 160 mg and -8.65; -5.45 cm for 320 mg (p < 0.001). Confirmatory results were supported by secondary outcomes, where results for Silexan were comparable to placebo and more favorable than for lorazepam. The study demonstrates that single doses of up to 320 mg Silexan and multiple doses of 80 mg/d have no adverse effect on driving performance