Dr. Käthe Leichter: An Austrian Socialist, Pioneer of Social Science, and Jewish Nazi Victim and her Connections to Heidelberg University

In December 2022, Heidelberg University opened its new center for doctoral candidates, the Käthe Leichter Forum. To mark the occasion, this text, which is based on the lecture given at the inauguration ceremony, introduces the Austrian namesake and guides us through the stages of her eventful and impressive biography. Particular attention is paid to the connection that existed between Leichter and Heidelberg. For Heidelberg University history, Käthe Leichter (1895-1942) is paradigmatic of the vicissitudes of a "century of extremes" (Eric Hobsbawm): Leichter, a pioneer both as a woman and as a Jew, obtained her doctorate under the eminent scholar Max Weber, before the university leadership revoked her title two decades later under the Nazi rector Paul Schmitthenner because she had fallen into political disgrace as a socialist resistance fighter. As a Jewish member of the opposition, the social scientist, women's rights activist and politician Leichter was soon threatened by other consequences of Nazi ideology: in 1940 she was deported to the Ravensbrück concentration camp and murdered in the Bernburg killing center in 1942

Resolving the Lack of Private-School Accountability in State-Funded Special Education Voucher Programs

Article published in the Michigan State Law Review

Spectral Fitting Approach for Collective Thomson Scattering Experiments on an Extreme Ultraviolet Plasma Light Source

Modern computer chips as well as the entire semiconductor industry rely on Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUVL) at 13.5 nm ± 1% to create finer resolution features. In the industrial settings, the 13.5 nm photons are generated by a plasma following the interaction of 20-30 μm diameter molten tin droplets with focused CO2 pulsed laser beams running at kHz repetition rates. Although the 13.5 nm light generation process has already been comprehensively studied numerically, only a handful of experimental studies report simultaneous measurements of the plasma parameters relevant to the production of the highly charged ions Sn8+‒Sn14+ responsible for the EUV light. Time-resolved collective Thomson scattering measurements, probing simultaneously the electron and ion features would provide a complete picture of the physics at play. To prepare experimental data analysis, a MATLAB-based fitting tool was developed for real-time inference of the electron density, electron temperature and average charge state from Thomson scattering experimental spectra. Least-squares fitting using lsqcurvefit from MATLAB is deployed in conjunction with the analytical expression of the Thomson scattering spectral density function to perform a non-linear regression model for the fitting of the experimental data. This work was made possible by funding from the Department of Energy for the Summer Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program. This work is supported by the US DOE Contract No. DE-AC02-09CH11466

To Kill a Cuckoo Bird: Louisiana’s Dual Paternity Problem

The article focuses on the Louisiana\u27s law of filiation and the way it has given rise to the doctrinal problem of dual paternity, and discusses Department of Children and Family Services ex rel. A.L. v. Lowrie court case on same; and problem of forced dual paternity

Measuring quality in initial teacher education:A literature review for Scotland’s MQuITE Study.

The MQuITE project seeks to develop and implement a context-appropriate approach to measuring quality in initial teacher education. As a result, the focus of this literature review is on the various conceptualisations and measures of "quality" vis-à-vis teaching, teachers, and initial teacher education (ITE) across the globe. As Scotland considers what types of programmes and routes best prepare teachers for success in the classroom, there is a glaring need for a collaboratively-created framework with which to measure the quality of teacher preparation programmes. Such a framework would not only provide data to inform external evaluation and internal improvement but also provide a coherent and consistent model with which to compare the strengths, weaknesses, and innovative features of the various pathways into teaching

Intervall-basierte Kartierung von statischen Soundquellen durch ein mobiles Mikrofonarray

Mobile Serviceroboter nehmen vermehrt Einzug in das tägliche Leben und das industrielle Umfeld. Um ihre Aufgaben umzusetzen, müssen sie die Fähigkeit besitzen, ihre Umgebung ausreichend wahrzunehmen. Viel Aufmerksamkeit wurde bisher der visuellen Erfassung durch Kameras oder Laser-scanner gegeben. Im Vergleich dazu konzentriert sich hingegen wenig Forschung auf die akustische Wahrnehmung. In vielen Einsatzgebieten zeigt sich, dass Mikrofone relevante Informationen aus der Umgebung ermitteln können, die durch visuelle Sensoren nicht erfassbar sind. Ziel dieser Dissertation ist es, ein neues Verfahren zu entwickeln, um die dreidimensionale Kartierung von mehreren statischen Soundquellen innerhalb einer metrischen Karte durchzuführen. Dabei wird eine mobile Plattform verwendet, die mit mehreren Mikrofonen ausgerüstet ist und autonom durch die Umgebung navigiert. Für die Kartierung wird in dieser Arbeit das neue Verfahren IB-SSM (engl. Interval-based Sound Source Mapping) vorgestellt. IB-SSM basiert auf der Intervall-Arithmetik und führt mathematische Berechnungen auf begrenzten Mengen durch. Im Vergleich zu bekannten Verfahren der Soundquellenkartierung werden einige Einschränkungen aufgehoben. So wird für IB-SSM die Gesamtzahl der aktiven Soundquellen nicht als bekannt vorausgesetzt. Bekannte Verfahren heben geometrische Mehrdeutigkeiten durch die Randbedingungen in der Versuchsdurchführung auf. Demgegenüber werden in IB-SSM die geometrischen Mehrdeutigkeiten explizit mit modelliert. Falls mehrere Soundquellen aktiv sind, muss keine Datenzuordnung zwischen der möglichen Position einer Soundquelle und der Messung durchgeführt werden. Um die Robustheit des Verfahrens für reale Anwendungen zu steigern, werden in dieser Arbeit die Unsicherheiten der akustischen Merkmale und der Mikrofonpositionen durch Methoden der Intervall-Arithmetik beschrieben. Um die Unsicherheit der akustischen Merkmale zu ermitteln, werden in dieser Dissertation zur vergleichenden Evaluation die zwei alternativen Verfahren DoATiD (engl. Direction-of-Arrival-based Time Difference) und InTiD (engl. Interval-based Time Difference) entwickelt. DoATiD verwendet für die Berechnung die Ergebnisse von bekannten Ansätzen der Soundquellenlokalisierung. Im Gegensatz dazu basiert InTiD direkt auf intervall-basierten Methoden, die auf die Mikrofonsignale angewendet werden. Die vorgestellten Verfahren werden jeweils zunächst mit simulierten sowie nachfolgend mit realen Daten evaluiert. Weiterhin erfolgt ein systematischer Vergleich mit klassischen Verfahren. Diese Arbeit zeigt, dass das vorgestellte Kartierungsverfahren IB-SSM korrekte Bereiche für die Position von mehreren Soundquellen berechnet und in realen Umgebungen anwendbar ist

Analysis of dehydrogenase-independent functions of HSD17B10 in humans and animal models

Deficiency of the mitochondrial enzyme 2-methyl-3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase involved in isoleucine metabolism causes an organic aciduria with an atypical progressive neurodegenerative disease course (Zschocke et al, 2000). The symptoms in HSD10 deficiency patients are not correlated with residual dehydrogenase activity of mutated HSD10. LOF and rescue experiments in Xenopus embryos showed that a knock-down of HSD10 caused apoptosis. The dehydrogenase activity of HSD10 was not required for cell survival suggesting that HSD10 has additional functions. The pathogenetic basis of HSD10 deficiency has so far remained elusive but the symptoms observed in patients are likely related to defects in general mitochondrial function. Therefore, the effect of HSD10 LOF on mitochondrial structural and functional integrity was investigated. Embryonic Xenopus cells displayed severe disruption of mitochondrial morphology and function when translation of HSD10 mRNA was blocked. Similar effects on mitochondria were observed in cells derived from conditional HSD10 knock-out mice and in fibroblasts from patients with a severe clinical phenotype. In Xenopus overexpression of two HSD10 mutations, R130C and D86G, associated with severe disease in humans, strongly induced apoptosis in a dominant-negative manner which was not due to the unfolded protein response that is occasionally triggered by overexpression of (mutated) proteins. In contrast, wildtype HSD10 and the Q165H mutation had little effect on apoptosis. Expression analysis of apoptosis-associated genes in HSD10 depleted cells or cells carrying different HSD10 mutations demonstrated that no specific apoptotic pathway was activated. This indicated that intrinsic as well as extrinsic apoptosis signals contribute to cell death when HSD10 function is perturbed. Symptoms in patients usually develop after metabolic stress situations. Therefore the stress response behaviour of fibroblasts carrying HSD10 mutations was studied under different stress conditions. In contrast to control cells, fibroblasts from patients were not able to stimulate tRNA transcription upon oxidative stress. Interestingly cells with the R130C mutation could cope with stress just like the Q165H mutation. This was unexpected, since the R130C mutation causes a severe clinical phenotype whereas the Q165H mutation has been found in neurologically normal boys. In order to understand the mechanisms behind the physiological function of HSD10 a search for its binding partners was performed. In a homology based BLAST in yeast as well as in an IMAC approach putative HSD10-interacting proteins were identified. Unfortunately none of these candidates were directly connected to mitochondrial function or apoptosis. In a previously performed yeast-2-hybrid screen several HSD10 interaction partners had been identified. One of those binding proteins, UXT, was tested for a functional interaction with HSD10 in Xenopus embryos. Co-expression of HSD10 and UXT enhanced the induction of apoptosis. The mechanism of this functional interaction remains to be investigated. HSD10 is a component of the RNAseP complex which is essential for the 5’ processing of mitochondrial tRNAs. Therefore I tested the function of RNaseP in HSD10 deficiency in patient fibroblast and in a rescue experiment in HSD10 depleted cells. The rescue experiment, in which wildtype HSD10 function was substituted by the mutations R130C, D86G and Q165H indicated that all mutations still have RNaseP activity. This held also true for patient fibroblasts where no tRNA precursor accumulation or inhibition of mitochondrial translation was detected. Experiments with cells that are depleted of mitochondrial DNA and hence do not require mitochondrial transcription or mtRNaseP function revealed that these cells still become apoptotic upon HSD10 knock-down. Therefore, the apoptosis phenotype upon HSD10 LOF is not dependent on RNaseP function. Taken together, these experiments indicate that clinical symptoms in HSD10 deficiency are not fully explained by an impairment of RNaseP function

Phase-stabilized Ultrashort Laser Systems for Spectroscopy

The investigation of laser-matter interactions calls for ever shorter pulses as new effects can thus be explored. With laser pulses consisting of only a few cycles of the electric field, the phase of these electric field oscillations becomes important for many applications. In this thesis ultrafast laser sources are presented that provide few-cycle laser pulses with controlled evolution of the electric field waveform. Firstly, a technique for phasestabilizing ultra-broadband oscillators is discussed. With a simple setup it improves the reproducibility of the phase by an order of magnitude compared to previously existing methods. In a further step, such a phase-stabilized oscillator was integrated into a chirped-pulse amplifier. The preservation of phase-stability during amplification is ensured by secondary phase detection. The phase-stabilized intense laser pulses from this system were employed in a series of experiments that studied strong-field phenomena in a time-resolved manner. For instance, the laser-induced tunneling of electrons from atoms was studied on a sub-femtosecond timescale. Additional evidence for the reproducibility of the electric field waveform of the laser pulses is presented here: individual signatures of the electric field half-cycles were found in photoelectron spectra from above-threshold ionization. Frequency conversion of intense laser pulses by high-order harmonic generation is a common way of producing coherent light in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) spectral region. Many attempts have been made to increase the low efficiency of this nonlinear process, e.g. by quasi phase-matching. Here, high-harmonic generation from solid surfaces under grazing incidence instead from a gas target is studied as higher efficiencies are expected in this configuration. Another approach to increasing the efficiency of high-harmonic generation is the placing of the gas target in an enhancement resonator. Additionally, the production of XUV photons happens at the full repetition rate of the seeding laser, i.e. in the region of several tens to hundreds of megahertz. This high repetition rate enables the use of the XUV light for high-precision optical frequency metrology with the frequency comb technique. With such an arrangement, harmonics up to 15th order were produced. A build-up cavity that stacks femtosecond laser pulses in a coherent manner to produce intra-cavity pulse energies of more than ten microjoules at a repetition rate of ten megahertz is presented here. With this high average power measuring hitherto uninvestigated optical transition frequencies in the XUV, such as the 1S-2S transition in singly charged helium ions may become a reality

Letter from Lydia Ely [et al.] to John Muir, 1897 Dec 10.

Milwaukee, Dec. & [10?], 1897.Mr, John Muir,Bear Sir:-Upon the inclosed water-marked and engraved slip you are requested to write your autograph and profession, and return the same in the accompanying envelope. This autograph will be one among about one thousand names of persons eminent in the National, State and Municipal government of this country, and of men and women of foremost rank in the professions, in affairs, and in the fine arts; these, bound together in one grand volume, will be sold for the benefit of the Soldiers\u27 Monument of Milwaukee.A bronze group, already accepted, is now being executed in Rome by Sculptor John Saverino Conway. Twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) has already been raised, and to meet the deficiency (about$10,000), this volume of autographs to which we are asking you to contribute will be sold.Thus far over five hundred names of statesmen, diplomates and high officials have been given; more than one hundred of the most distinguished musicians and dramatists have kindly responded, and unsolicited have added musical notations, sentiments or quotations, thus contributing to make the volume unique and priceless. The Scientific division is just reached, and you are invited to be on this honorable roll. A remark in pen or pencil, or the name of your work which is most distinguishing, or best known, or anything you are willing to add, will be greatly appreciated and materially aid in the sale of the book.Please give your autograph and profession if you do not add anything thereto. The book will be distinguished and every name conspicuous in its department. It will be offered to the world for sale; already proposals for its purchase are made.Thanking you in advance.Very respectfully,(Signed) LYDIA ELY.(Signed) E. SCOFIELD,Governor of Wisconsin.(Signed) W. Q. RAUSCHENBERGER,Mayor of Milwaukee.0237