Was ist ein Politikfeld und warum entsteht es?

Mit der Frage, was ein Politikfeld ist, hat sich die Politikfeldanalyse bislang allenfalls am Rande beschäftigt. Die wachsende Differenzierung von Themenfeldern und die Zunahme von Problemlagen führen zu einer Proliferation "politikfeldverdächtiger Konstellationen". Welches aber sind die konstituierenden Merkmale eines Politikfeldes und welches sind die Kausalfaktoren, die die Entstehung eines solchen Politikfeldes verursachen? Diesen beiden Fragen geht der Beitrag nach, indem er erstens das Politikfeld definiert und anhand der festgelegten Kriterien fünf "politikfeldverdächtige Konstellationen" untersucht. Zweitens werden theoriegeleitete Hypothesen zu den Ursachen der Entstehung von Politikfeldern entwickelt und diese Hypothesen in den fünf Feldern überprüft und abschließend präzisiert.Whereas policy analysis in German is called "Politikfeldanalyse", so far little effort has been made to define what a policy field really is. The differentiation of issues and the increase of problems produce more and more constellations that could be a policy field. Yet, what are the criteria for a policy field to exist? And which are the driving forces that cause the emergence of policy fields? This article addresses these two questions. It first defines the policy field and analyses accordingly five constellations that could be a policy field. Second, based on theoretical assumptions the paper develops three hypotheses on the possible causal driving forces and tests these hypotheses with our five constellations

Evaluation of an Early Intervention Model for Child and Adolescent Victims of Interpersonal Violence

Only the minority of youth exposed to traumatic events receive mental health care, as trauma-informed clinical services are lacking or are poorly accessible. In order to bridge this gap, the Outpatient Trauma Clinic (OTC) was founded, an easily accessible early, short-time intervention, with onward referral to follow-up treatment. This report presents the OTC’s interventional approach and first outcome data. Using a retrospective naturalistic design, we analyzed trauma- and intervention-related data of the sample (n = 377, 55.4% female, mean age 10.95, SD = 4.69). Following drop-out analyses, predictors for treatment outcome were identified by logistic regression. The majority (81.9%) was suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or adjustment disorders. Around one forth dropped out of treatment; these cases showed higher avoidance symptoms at presentation. In 91%, psychological symptoms improved. Experience of multiple traumatic events was the strongest predictor for poor treatment outcome (B = −0.823, SE = 0.313, OR = 0.439, 95% CI 0.238–0.811). Around two thirds were connected to follow-up treatment. The OTC realized a high retention rate, initial improvement of symptoms and referral to subsequent longer-term psychotherapeutic treatment in the majority. Further dissemination of comparable early intervention models is needed, in order to improve mental health care for this vulnerable group

Separation of atomic and molecular ions by ion mobility with an RF carpet

Gas-filled stopping cells are used at accelerator laboratories for the thermalization of high-energy radioactive ion beams. Common challenges of many stopping cells are a high molecular background of extracted ions and limitations of extraction efficiency due to space-charge effects. At the FRS Ion Catcher at GSI, a new technique for removal of ionized molecules prior to their extraction out of the stopping cell has been developed. This technique utilizes the RF carpet for the separation of atomic ions from molecular contaminant ions through their difference in ion mobility. Results from the successful implementation and test during an experiment with a 600~MeV/u $^{124}$Xe primary beam are presented. Suppression of molecular contaminants by three orders of magnitude has been demonstrated. Essentially background-free measurement conditions with less than $1~\%$ of background events within a mass-to-charge range of 25 u/e have been achieved. The technique can also be used to reduce the space-charge effects at the extraction nozzle and in the downstream beamline, thus ensuring high efficiency of ion transport and highly-accurate measurements under space-charge-free conditions.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Amisulpride as a potential disease-modifying drug in the treatment of tauopathies

INTRODUCTION: Hyperphosphorylation and aggregation of the microtubule-associated protein tau cause the development of tauopathies, such as Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). We recently uncovered a causal link between constitutive serotonin receptor 7 (5-HT7R) activity and pathological tau aggregation. Here, we evaluated 5-HT7R inverse agonists as novel drugs in the treatment of tauopathies. METHODS: Based on structural homology, we screened multiple approved drugs for their inverse agonism toward 5-HT7R. Therapeutic potential was validated using biochemical, pharmacological, microscopic, and behavioral approaches in different cellular models including tau aggregation cell line HEK293 tau bimolecular fluorescence complementation, primary mouse neurons, and human induced pluripotent stem cell–derived neurons carrying an FTD-associated tau mutation as well as in two mouse models of tauopathy. RESULTS: Antipsychotic drug amisulpride is a potent 5-HT7R inverse agonist. Amisulpride ameliorated tau hyperphosphorylation and aggregation in vitro. It further reduced tau pathology and abrogated memory impairment in mice. DISCUSSION: Amisulpride may be a disease-modifying drug for tauopathies

Erroneously Disgusted: fMRI Study Supports Disgust-Related Neural Reuse in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Objective: fMRI scans of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) consistently show a hyperactivity of the insular cortex, a region responsible for disgust-processing, when confronted with symptom-triggering stimuli. This asks for an investigation of the role of disgust and the insula in OCD patients.Methods: Seventeen inpatients with OCD and 17 healthy controls (HC) underwent fMRI scanning. Whole-brain contrasts were calculated for “Disgust vs. Neutral” for both groups, plus an analysis of variance (ANOVA) to assess the interaction between group and condition. Additionally, the emotional dimensions of valence and arousal, along with the ability to cope, were assessed by picture ratings.Results: The picture ratings confirmed the patients’ heightened sensitivity to disgust with higher values for arousal and inability to cope, but not for valence. fMRI scans revealed no hyperactivity of the insula in patients compared to controls for the condition “Disgust vs. Neutral,” indicating no basic hypersensitivity to disgusting stimuli. Increased activity in the precuneus in controls for this condition might correspond to the downregulation of arousal.Conclusions: The absent differences in neural activity of the insula in patients compared to controls for the disgust-condition, but heightened activity for symptom-provoking conditions, suggests that the illness is due to an erroneous recruitment of the insula cortex for OCD-stimuli. The finding is interpreted within the framework of the neural reuse hypothesis

The science case of the FRS Ion Catcher for FAIR Phase-0

The FRS Ion Catcher at GSI enables precision experiments with thermalized projectile and fission fragments. At the same time it serves as a test facility for the Low-Energy Branch of the Super-FRS at FAIR. The FRS Ion Catcher has been commissioned and its performance has been characterized in five experiments with 238U and 124Xe projectile and fission fragments produced at energies in the range from 300 to 1000 MeV/u. High and almost element-independent efficiencies for the thermalization of short-lived nuclides produced at relativistic energies have been obtained. High-accuracy mass measurements of more than 30 projectile and fission fragments have been performed with a multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS) at mass resolving powers of up to 410,000, with production cross sections down to the microbarn-level, and at rates down to a few ions per hour. The versatility of the MR-TOF-MS for isomer research has been demonstrated by the measurement of various isomers, determination of excitation energies and the production of a pure isomeric beam. Recently, several instrumental upgrades have been implemented at the FRS Ion Catcher. New experiments will be carried out during FAIR Phase-0 at GSI, including direct mass measurements of neutron-deficient nuclides below 100Sn and neutron-rich nuclides below 208Pb, measurement of β-delayed neutron emission probabilities and reaction studies with multi-nucleon transfer.Peer reviewe

Identification of regulatory variants associated with genetic susceptibility to meningococcal disease.

Non-coding genetic variants play an important role in driving susceptibility to complex diseases but their characterization remains challenging. Here, we employed a novel approach to interrogate the genetic risk of such polymorphisms in a more systematic way by targeting specific regulatory regions relevant for the phenotype studied. We applied this method to meningococcal disease susceptibility, using the DNA binding pattern of RELA - a NF-kB subunit, master regulator of the response to infection - under bacterial stimuli in nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. We designed a custom panel to cover these RELA binding sites and used it for targeted sequencing in cases and controls. Variant calling and association analysis were performed followed by validation of candidate polymorphisms by genotyping in three independent cohorts. We identified two new polymorphisms, rs4823231 and rs11913168, showing signs of association with meningococcal disease susceptibility. In addition, using our genomic data as well as publicly available resources, we found evidences for these SNPs to have potential regulatory effects on ATXN10 and LIF genes respectively. The variants and related candidate genes are relevant for infectious diseases and may have important contribution for meningococcal disease pathology. Finally, we described a novel genetic association approach that could be applied to other phenotypes

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Genomic investigations of unexplained acute hepatitis in children

Since its first identification in Scotland, over 1,000 cases of unexplained paediatric hepatitis in children have been reported worldwide, including 278 cases in the UK1. Here we report an investigation of 38 cases, 66 age-matched immunocompetent controls and 21 immunocompromised comparator participants, using a combination of genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and immunohistochemical methods. We detected high levels of adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) DNA in the liver, blood, plasma or stool from 27 of 28 cases. We found low levels of adenovirus (HAdV) and human herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B) in 23 of 31 and 16 of 23, respectively, of the cases tested. By contrast, AAV2 was infrequently detected and at low titre in the blood or the liver from control children with HAdV, even when profoundly immunosuppressed. AAV2, HAdV and HHV-6 phylogeny excluded the emergence of novel strains in cases. Histological analyses of explanted livers showed enrichment for T cells and B lineage cells. Proteomic comparison of liver tissue from cases and healthy controls identified increased expression of HLA class 2, immunoglobulin variable regions and complement proteins. HAdV and AAV2 proteins were not detected in the livers. Instead, we identified AAV2 DNA complexes reflecting both HAdV-mediated and HHV-6B-mediated replication. We hypothesize that high levels of abnormal AAV2 replication products aided by HAdV and, in severe cases, HHV-6B may have triggered immune-mediated hepatic disease in genetically and immunologically predisposed children

Unternehmenssanierung mittels Factoring : ist Factoring ein geeignetes Instrument, um eine drohende Krisensituation zu vermeiden?

Im ersten Teil dieser Arbeit werden die Ursachen, die ausschlaggebend für eine Krisensituation sind, aufgezeigt. Da eine heikle Situation sowohl anhand von betriebswirtschaftlichen als auch durch rechtliche Kriterien definiert wird, werden diese erläutert. Befindet sich ein Unternehmen in einer wirtschaftlich bedrohlichen Situation müssen Gegenmaßnahmen gesetzt werden. Da in den meisten Krisensituationen das Vermögen eines Unternehmens wesentlich sinkt, ist eine zusätzliche Kapitalbeschaffung vonnöten. Im nächsten Schritt werden daher mögliche Finanzierungsinstrumente dargestellt. Der Schwerpunkt wird auf die Kapitalbeschaffung mittels Factoring gesetzt. Es werden im Besonderen die Funktionen des Factorings erläutert sowie die Vorteile beschrieben, die diese Finanzierungsvariante mit sich bringt. Anschließend beschäftigt sich der Hauptteil der vorliegenden Arbeit mit der Kernfrage, nämlich, ob Factoring ein adäquates Mittel darstellt, um eine drohende Krisensituation zu vermeiden. Der Fokus wird hierbei auf die Krisenindikatoren nach dem URG sowie die Insolvenztatbestände gesetzt. Für die Feststellung des Vorliegens von Krisenindizien orientiert sich das Unternehmensreorganisationsgesetz an zwei Komponenten, nämlich der Eigenmittelquote und der fiktiven Schuldentilgungsdauer. Sinkt die Eigenmittelquote eines Unternehmens nachhaltig und erhöht sich die fiktive Schuldentilgungsdauer, soll dies den Unternehmer auf eine heikle Situation aufmerksam machen. Daher wird im nächsten Schritt dargestellt, ob mittels Factoring die Eigenmittelquote erhöht werden kann. Anschließend wird geprüft, ob Factoring ein adäquates Mittel darstellt, um die Zahlungsunfähigkeit oder die insolvenzrechtliche Überschuldung zu beseitigen. Des Weiteren werden die verschiedenen Factoring-Varianten, die sich im Laufe der Jahre etabliert haben, beschrieben. Dies ist zielführend zur Beantwortung der Frage, welche Factoring-Art in einer Krisensituation empfehlenswert ist. Im letzten Teil wird anhand zweier Beispiele aus der Praxis dargestellt, auf welche Weise Factoring in einem bereits eröffneten Sanierungsverfahren mit Eigenverwaltung angewendet wurde.The first part of this thesis deals with the reasons that can lead to a precarious situation. A company crisis is defined on the basis of business or on the basis of jurisprudential criteria. If a company reaches the stage of a company crisis, it immediately needs to initiate appropriate countermeasures. In most cases the money, which an undertaking possesses at the beginning, is gone. In order to raise capital the company has to consider another financing method. Nowadays, there is a big range of financial opportunities, which means that a business has a wide selection of choosing a suitable financial instrument. Concerning this matter, the paper describes possible financing options and focusses on Factoring. Due to that, it represents all basic facts about this specific financing method. It points out the main functions of factoring and its benefits. Subsequently, the aim of this diploma thesis is to answer the key question. The key question is whether the instrument of factoring is suitable to avoid a company crisis. Referring to that, it is necessary to take a look on the Law for the Reorganization of Enterprises (Unternehmensreorganisationsgesetz). According to this law, there are two components which define a crisis, on the one hand the equity ratio and on the other hand the fictional debt amortization period. In this connection, the Law for the Reorganization of Enterprises declares the presence of symptoms of a crisis if there is a lasting deterioration of these key figures. So the next step is to verify if factoring is an appropriate instrument to increase the figure of equity ratio. The next part of this thesis focusses on the insolvency code. The insolvency code states that a debtor has to make an application of opening insolvency procedures, if the debtor is insolvent or heavily indebted. For this reason, the effects of factoring on the insolvency facts have to be examined. Afterwards, the question whether factoring is a suitable instrument to rescue a company from insolvency will be answered. Subsequently, the paper deals with the different types of Factoring. It will be pointed out, which options of factoring are recommended in a company crisis. Finally, this thesis presents two practical cases about two companies, which have chosen factoring in already opened insolvency proceedings.vorgelegt von Kathrin ReiterAbweichender Titel laut Übersetzung des Verfassers/der VerfasserinKarl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Diplomarbeit, 2016(VLID)125591