The life course approach - it's about time!

"Obwohl der Lebenslaufansatz unser Verständnis von Gesellschaft über die letzten Jahrzehnte erheblich bereichert und zu wichtigen methodologischen Innovationen geführt hat, war sein Beitrag zur allgemeinen Theoriebildung eher gering. Indem er den essentiell zeitlichen Charakter des Lebenslaufansatzes in den Vordergrund rückt, versteht sich dieser Artikel als ein erster Schritt in Richtung einer theoretischen Elaboration des Lebenslaufansatzes. Zunächst beschreiben die Autoren die wesentlichen Aspekte und Dimensionen des Lebenslaufansatzes und diskutieren die zeitsoziologischen Implikationen seiner Leitprinzipien, die oft als theoretische Kernaussagen missverstanden werden. Im Anschluss daran erörtern sie zeitliche Aspekte der analytischen Schlüsselkonzepte des Lebenslaufansatzes (Transition, Trajektorie und Wendepunkt). Um den unmittelbaren Zusammenhang zur Zeitsoziologie zu unterstreichen, schließt der Artikel mit einer Diskussion ausgewählter zeitlicher Aspekte der Struktur von Trajektorien." (Autorenreferat)"Over the last few decades the life course approach has considerably enriched our understanding of the social world and stimulated important methodological innovations. Yet, its theoretical contribution for advancing social theory in general has been marginal. The article suggests first steps towards life course theorizing by considering the essentially temporal character of this approach. The article first defines what constitutes the life course approach and then discusses its dimensions and, in a time-sociological perspective its guiding principles which are often mistaken for the theoretical essence of life course research. The authors then elaborate on the temporal aspects of the analytical key concepts of the life course approach: transition, trajectory, and turning point. In order to indicate the direct link to the sociology of time the authors conclude with a discussion of some temporal aspects of the structure of trajectories." (author's abstract

Bridging the gap between single-cell migration and collective dynamics

Motivated by the wealth of experimental data recently available, we present a cellularautomaton-based modeling framework focussing on high-level cell functions and their concerted effect on cellular migration patterns. Specifically, we formulate a coarse-grained description of cell polarity through self-regulated actin organization and its response to mechanical cues. Furthermore, we address the impact of cell adhesion on collective migration in cell cohorts. The model faithfully reproduces typical cell shapes and movements down to the level of single cells, yet allows for the efficient simulation of confluent tissues. In confined circular geometries, we find that specific properties of individual cells (polarizability;contractility) influence the emerging collective motion of small cell cohorts. Finally, we study the properties of expanding cellular monolayers (front morphology;stress and velocity distributions) at the level of extended tissues

Multistability and dynamic transitions of intracellular Min protein patterns

Cells owe their internal organization to self-organized protein patterns, which originate and adapt to growth and external stimuli via a process that is as complex as it is little understood. Here, we study the emergence, stability, and state transitions of multistable Min protein oscillation patterns in live Escherichia coli bacteria during growth up to defined large dimensions. De novo formation of patterns from homogenous starting conditions is observed and studied both experimentally and in simulations. A new theoretical approach is developed for probing pattern stability under perturbations. Quantitative experiments and simulations show that, once established, Min oscillations tolerate a large degree of intracellular heterogeneity, allowing distinctly different patterns to persist in different cells with the same geometry. Min patterns maintain their axes for hours in experiments, despite imperfections, expansion, and changes in cell shape during continuous cell growth. Transitions between multistable Min patterns are found to be rare events induced by strong intracellular perturbations. The instances of multistability studied here are the combined outcome of boundary growth and strongly nonlinear kinetics, which are characteristic of the reaction-diffusion patterns that pervade biology at many scales

Comorbidity and long‐term clinical outcome of laryngotracheal clefts types III and IV: Systematic analysis of new cases

Background Long segment laryngotracheoesophageal clefts (LTECs) are very rare large‐airway malformations. Over the last 40 years mortality rates declined substantially due to improved intensive care and surgical procedures. Nevertheless, long‐term morbidity, comorbidity, and clinical outcomes have rarely been assessed systematically. Methods In this retrospective case series, the clinical presentation, comorbidities, treatment, and clinical outcomes of all children with long‐segment LTEC that were seen at our department in the last 15 years were collected and analyzed systematically. Results Nine children were diagnosed with long segment LTEC (four children with LTEC type III and five patients with LTEC type IV). All children had additional tracheobronchial, gastrointestinal, or cardiac malformations. Tracheostomy for long‐time ventilation and jejunostomy for adequate nutrition was necessary in all cases. During follow‐up one child died from multiorgan failure due to sepsis at the age of 43 days. The clinical course of the other eight children (median follow‐up time 5.2 years) was stable. Relapses of the cleft, recurrent aspirations, and respiratory tract infections led to repeated hospital admissions. Conclusions Long‐segment LTECs are consistently associated with additional malformations, which substantially influence long‐term morbidity. For optimal management, a multidisciplinary approach is essential

Combining 16S sequencing and qPCR quantification reveals Staphylococcus aureus driven bacterial overgrowth in the skin of severe atopic dermatitis patients

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an inflammatory skin disease with a microbiome dysbiosis towards a high relative abundance of Staphylococcus aureus. However, information is missing on the actual bacterial load on AD skin, which may affect the cell number driven release of pathogenic factors. Here, we combined the relative abundance results obtained by next-generation sequencing (NGS, 16S V1-V3) with bacterial quantification by targeted qPCR (total bacterial load = 16S, S. aureus = nuc gene). Skin swabs were sampled cross-sectionally (n = 135 AD patients; n = 20 healthy) and longitudinally (n = 6 AD patients; n = 6 healthy). NGS and qPCR yielded highly inter-correlated S. aureus relative abundances and S. aureus cell numbers. Additionally, intra-individual differences between body sides, skin status, and consecutive timepoints were also observed. Interestingly, a significantly higher total bacterial load, in addition to higher S. aureus relative abundance and cell numbers, was observed in AD patients in both lesional and non-lesional skin, as compared to healthy controls. Moreover, in the lesional skin of AD patients, higher S. aureus cell numbers significantly correlated with the higher total bacterial load. Furthermore, significantly more severe AD patients presented with higher S. aureus cell number and total bacterial load compared to patients with mild or moderate AD. Our results indicate that severe AD patients exhibit S. aureus driven increased bacterial skin colonization. Overall, bacterial quantification gives important insights in addition to microbiome composition by sequencing

Asymmetrien eines Ethernet-Systems und deren Auswirkungen auf die Störaussendung im automobilen Umfeld

Seit Jahren ist ein Zuwachs von elektronischen Komponenten im Fahrzeug zu beobachten. Der Wunsch nach mehr Komfort und Sicherheit trägt hier maßgeblich dazu bei. Um den Anforderungen gerecht zu werden, sind schnelle Übertragungssysteme im Fahrzeug erforderlich, die die großen Datenmengen verteilen und verarbeiten können. Ein solches System ist zum Beispiel Ethernet, mit dem periphere Komponenten mit hohen Datenraten vernetzt werden können. Eine spezielle Variante für den automobilen Einsatz stellt dabei das OABR-Ethernet (Open-Alliance-BroadR-Reach) dar. Dieses Kommunikationssystem nutzt eine bidirektionale Übertragungstechnik um 100MBit/s über eine ungeschirmte Zweidrahtleitung (UTP) zu übertragen. Eine weitere Besonderheit ist die Begrenzung des Nutzsignalspektrums durch einen Tiefpassfilter auf ca. 70MHz. Dadurch wird das Risiko einer Störung im UKW-Bereich minimiert. Der Einsatz dieses schnellen Übertragungssystems im Fahrzeug stellt jedoch eine große Herausforderung an die Elektromagnetische-Verträglichkeit (EMV) dar. Bereits kleine Asymmetrien im Übertragungspfad führen dazu, dass ein Teil des Nutzsignals (Gegentaktsignal) durch Modenkonversion in ein Störsignal (Gleichtaktstörung) umgewandelt wird - nachfolgend Modenkonversion genannt. Diese Gleichtaktstörungen können über die UTP-Leitung abstrahlen und zu Grenzwertüberschreitungen bei Störaussendungsmessungen führen. Jede Komponente im Übertragungspfad trägt maßgeblich zur Modenkonversion und somit zur Störaussendung bei. Diese Arbeit soll eine Übersicht über die Modenkonversion der einzelnen Elemente der physikalischen OABR-Schnittstelle geben. Diese Elemente sind im Einzelnen der Tiefpassfilter (LPF), die Common-Mode-Choke (CMC), die differentiellen Mikrostreifenleitungen (DML) sowie die Platinen- und In-Line-Stecker