Das Bildungswesen in Brasilien

Der vorliegende Beitrag möchte einen systematisch strukturierten Überblick über die historischen Entwicklungen und die aktuelle Bildungssituation in Brasilien liefern. Im Kapitel 1 werden zunächst die historisch-politischen Entwicklungen seit Ankunft der Portugiesen dargestellt. Im Anschluss daran wird mit Hilfe verschiedener sozialstruktureller Daten die aktuelle soziale und politisch-wirtschaftliche Situation Brasiliens skizziert (Kap. 2). Die brasilianische Bildungsgeschichte, angefangen von der portugiesischen Kolonialherrschaft bis heute, folgt im Kapitel 3, und das Kapitel 4 beschreibt Aufbau und Struktur des Bildungswesens. Kapitel 5 beschäftigt sich mit der Lehrerbildung in Brasilien. Die aktuelle Bildungssituation wird unter Verwendung verschiedener Indikatoren (z.B. Einschulungs- und Abschlussrate, Schülerleistungen, Bildungsausgaben etc.) im Kapitel 6 dargestellt. Zentrale Ergebnisse des Aufsatzes werden schließlich im Ausblick noch einmal eingeordnet und diskutiert. (DIPF/Orig.

Signals, Synapses, and Synthesis: How New Proteins Control Plasticity

Localization of mRNAs to dendrites and local protein synthesis afford spatial and temporal regulation of gene expression and endow synapses with the capacity to autonomously alter their structure and function. Emerging evidence indicates that RNA binding proteins, ribosomes, translation factors and mRNAs encoding proteins critical to synaptic structure and function localize to neuronal processes. RNAs are transported into dendrites in a translationally quiescent state where they are activated by synaptic stimuli. Two RNA binding proteins that regulate dendritic RNA delivery and translational repression are cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding protein and fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). The fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common known genetic cause of autism and is characterized by the loss of FMRP. Hallmark features of the FXS include dysregulation of spine morphogenesis and exaggerated metabotropic glutamate receptor-dependent long term depression, a cellular substrate of learning and memory. Current research focuses on mechanisms whereby mRNAs are transported in a translationally repressed state from soma to distal process and are activated at synaptic sites in response to synaptic signals

Schulqualität in Lateinamerika - Ein Überblick

Der Beitrag führt in das Themenheft ein, indem die Autorin einen Überblick über die Schulqualitätsforschung in Lateinamerika gibt. Während die lateinamerikanische Schulforschung ähnliche relevante Einflussfaktoren findet wie in industrialisierten Ländern, gibt es auch einige Unterschiede, etwa die größere Varianzerklärung auf der Schulebene in Lateinamerika. Die Autorin konstatiert, dass seit den 2000er Jahren insbesondere in den besser entwickelten Ländern (gemäß dem Human Development Index) die empirische Bildungsforschung stark zugenommen hat und hierbei Anwendungsbezug und Chancengleichheit im Vordergrund stehen. (DIPF/Orig.).School effectiveness research (SER) has flourished since the 1980s, especially in industrialized countries like the USA, Canada, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Norway, Australia and New Zealand. Yet, school effectiveness studies in Latin America have so far not attracted worldwide attention in the international debate. For this reason, the following article provides an overview of the SER in Latin America in the last 40 years. The author illustrates the developmental history of educational effectiveness and presents some main fields of research and a few characteristics of the Latin American SER. Finally, she discusses central results based on two international studies that consider the different socioeconomics and cultural contexts in Latin America. (DIPF/Orig.)

Indigene Universitäten in Lateinamerika

Die Autorin nähert sich in ihrem Beitrag einem recht neuen und in der deutschsprachigen Literatur bislang wenig beachteten und diskutierten Thema. Sie beschäftigt sich mit der Gründung sogenannter indigener Universitäten, einem Phänomen, das sich seit den 1960er Jahren weltweit beobachten lässt. Im Mittelpunkt steht dabei weniger der Versuch, einen Erklärungsansatz für die Entstehung indigener Universitäten zu liefern oder die Frage zu verfolgen, inwieweit diese einen interkulturellen Dialog fördern. Vielmehr möchte sie dem deutschsprachigen Publikum einen ersten Einblick geben. (DIPF/Orig.)This article would like to present a relatively new topic, which has received little attention so far. It deals with the creation of indigenous universities in Latin America, a phenomenon, which can be observed globally since the 1960s. The main idea of this article is not to explain the history of origins of indigenous universities or to answer the question whether these universities support an intercultural dialogue. This article would rather like to give a first insight into this topic for a German-speaking community. (DIPF/Orig.

Fertigungsmethoden zur Herstellung dreidimensionaler metallischer Mikrosysteme für Life-Science Anwendungen

Die Miniaturisierung ist eine der Schlüsseltechnologien in modernen Produktentwicklungsprozessen. Mikrosysteme werden unter immer extremeren Umweltbedingungen, z. B. hinsichtlich Temperatur und Druck eingesetzt. Solche Anforderungen verlangen robuste und verschleißfeste Systeme mit spezifischen Eigenschaften. Die Silizium-basierte Mikrotechnologie kann diesen Ansprüchen nicht mehr genügen. Es werden neue Materialien und Fertigungsmethoden benötigt. Die vorliegende Dissertation präsentiert vier Fertigungsverfahren für die präzise Strukturierung von dreidimensionalen Mikrosystemen in Edelstahl. Ermittelt wurde die Anwendbarkeit einer Standard UV-Lithographie mit einem anschließenden nasschemischen Ätzschritt in Eisen(III)-chlorid. Weitere Untersuchungen beschäftigen sich mit den nicht-konventionellen Fertigungsverfahren der Mikrobahnerosion und der Senkerosion. Die bereitgestellten Prozesse werden vervollständigt durch einen elektrochemischen Polierschritt zur nachträglichen Oberflächenbearbeitung. Die einzelnen Verfahren wurden detailliert untersucht und hinsichtlich der erreichbaren Abbildungsgenauigkeit, der Abtragrate und der Oberflächengüte optimiert. Ihre Anwendung erfolgt im Rahmen der DFG Forschergruppe 856 mikroPART bei der Entwicklung eines komplexen Mikrosystems für die Herstellung und Beladung von Lipidnanopartikeln als Arzneistoffträger. Die entwickelten Funkenerosionsprozesse zeigen eine außergewöhnliche Eignung für die Fertigung der benötigten Mikrokanäle. Mit Hilfe der Bahnerosion wurden kleinste Strukturbreiten von 50 μm mit einer Oberflächenrauheit von weniger als 100 nm hergestellt. Die Verwendung eines Senkerosionsprozesses verringert die Fertigungszeit. Bei einer vergleichbaren Strukturgüte wird die Abtragrate um 40 % gesteigert. Die Erzeugung von glatten, glänzenden Oberflächen ist in vielen Anwendungen unumgänglich, z. B. zur Vermeidung von Ablagerungen in mikrofluidischen Systemen. Die Kombination aus Bahnerosion und elektrochemischen Polieren ergibt eine Oberflächenverbesserung von mehr als 75 %. Die so hergestellten Mikrostrukturen ermöglichen den Betrieb des komplexen, modular aufgebauten und damit prozessflexiblen, Mikrogesamtsystems bei bis zu 2300 bar und 100 °C. In nur einem Systemdurchlauf wurden feste Lipidnanopartikel mit einer Partikelgröße von weniger als 200 nm hergestellt.Miniaturization is one of the key technologies in modern product development. Microsystem components are applied under more and more harsh conditions, e.g. higher temperature and higher pressure. Such challenges demand robust and wear resistant microsystems featuring specific characteristics. Often, common silicon based microtechnology does not suffice to fulfill these increasing demands. New materials and manufacturing methods are required. In this doctoral thesis, four manufacturing methods for the precise and accurate structuring of 3D microsystems made of stainless steel are presented. Based on a standard UV photolithography, a wet chemical etching process applying iron(III) chloride is tested for suitability. Further investigations include the non-conventional fabrication technologies microelectrical discharge milling (μED-milling) and diesinking microelectrical discharge machining (μEDM). The process cluster is completed by electrochemical polishing as a subsequent surface finishing method. Each fabrication method is analyzed in detail and optimized related to reproduction accuracy, removal rate and achievable surface roughness. The described manufacturing methods are applied in the context of the Research Group 856 mikroPART. One of the project aims is to design a complex microsystem for the integrated generation and loading of drug carrier systems. The developed microelectrical discharge processes provide an excellent ability for the production of required microchannel geometries. With µED-milling, orifices with a minimum width of 50 µm and a surface roughness of less than 100 nm are fabricated. The use of die-sinking μEDM offers comparable structural qualities and increases the removal rate about 40 %, leading to shorter production times. Smooth and bright surfaces are necessary for many applications, e.g. to prevent fouling in microfluidic systems. The combination of a μED-milling process with a subsequent electrochemical polishing step improves the surface quality by more than 75 %. Microstructures fabricated with the manufacturing processes established in this thesis prove to be combinable to form complex, nonetheless modular, multi-process microsystem that can be operated at up to 2300 bar and 100 °C. Solid lipid nanoparticles (mean particle size < 200 nm) were efficiently produced within only one cycle, paving the way to advantageous, continuous manufacturing

Architecture Fully Fashioned - Exploration of foamed spacer fabrics for textile based building skins

“Architecture Fully Fashioned” is about lightweight design and new textile based building skins. Fully fashioned refers to a textile production technology wherein all parts of a piece of cloth are produced in one integrated production process, ready to wear the moment they leave the machine. Fully fashioned powerskin in an architectural sense implies a light, highly prefabricated textile envelope with minimum needs of installation work on the building site.To develop these new textile powerskins, experimental student works and applied research projects at Frankfurt University of Applied Science investigate the potential of the combination of textile technologies with foaming technologies. This paper focuses on so called spacer fabrics and a research project called 3dTEX and founded by Zukunf Bau, where wall elements from foamed spacer fabrics presently are under development. The aim of the paper is to present 3dTEX within the context of the accompanying experimental student design works and to show the so far achieved results for a prefabricated, lightweight, self supporting and highly insulated foamed textile skin, with reduced needs of installation work on the building site. This has been achieved by using the spacer fabric as lost formwork and using 3d-textile technologies, so as woven or warp-knitted spacer fabrics, in order to receive complex geometrical sandwich-like textiles. Together with the foam they become FabricFoam©. The new selfsupporting building elements not only offer possibilities for complex architectonical geometries including loadbearing structures, but also a wide range of surface designs in terms of structures, colours and additional functionalities. The focus of 3dTEX is on the development of appropriate textile geometries for one- ore two-layer textile elements, depending on the choosen textile technologies. Foamed, they become lightweight, insulated elements, where the two layer textile can even be transformed into a ready-made, rear-ventilated, insulated wall element made from gradient fibre and foam material, able to absorb tensile and compressive forces at the same time.The challenge for 3dTEX is to close the knowledge gap about what kind of textile technology can produce the envisioned textile geometry with which kind of fibre material. Further, 3dTEX research is about the appropriate, possibly in-situ, foaming technology and foam material, so that fibre and foam materials match as an aesthetic architectural element and in terms of mechanical and building physics as well as in terms of grey energy and recycling aspects.

Resolution of lateral acoustic space assessed by electroencephalography and psychoacoustics

The encoding of auditory spatial acuity (measured as the precision to distinguish between two spatially distinct stimuli) by neural circuits in both auditory cortices is a matter of ongoing research. Here, the event-related potential (ERP) mismatch negativity (MMN), a sensitive indicator of preattentive auditory change detection, was used to tap into the underlying mechanism of cortical representation of auditory spatial information. We characterized the MMN response affected by the degree of spatial deviance in lateral acoustic space using a passive oddball paradigm. Two stimulation conditions (SCs)—specifically focusing on the investigation of the mid- and far-lateral acoustic space—were considered: (1) 65° left standard position with deviant positions at 70, 75, and 80°; and (2) 95° left standard position with deviant positions at 90, 85, and 80°. Additionally, behavioral data on the minimum audible angle (MAA) were acquired for the respective standard positions (65, 95° left) to quantify spatial discrimination in separating distinct sound sources. The two measurements disclosed the linkage between the (preattentive) MMN response and the (attentive) behavioral threshold. At 65° spatial deviations as small as 5° reliably elicited MMNs. Thereby, the MMN amplitudes monotonously increased as a function of spatial deviation. At 95°, spatial deviations of 15° were necessary to elicit a valid MMN. The behavioral data, however, yielded no difference in mean MAA thresholds for position 65 and 95°. The different effects of laterality on MMN responses and MAA thresholds suggest a role of spatial selective attention mechanisms particularly relevant in active discrimination of neighboring sound sources, especially in the lateral acoustic space

Personality and attitudes towards current political topics

Riemann R, Grubich C, Hempel S, Mergl S, Richter M. Personality and attitudes towards current political topics. Personality and Individual Differences. 1993;15(3):313-321.We presented a representative list of 162 political issues currently discussed in Germany and the German NEO-FFI to 184 subjects (45% university students). Principal components analysis of the attitude items reveals four factors which are interpreted as (1) general conservatism, preference for authoritarian punitiveness, (2) social welfare and support of women's equality, (3) liberalism and affirmation of technological progress, and (4) affirmation of increase in taxation for environmental protection and the development of East Europe. The first unrotated factor is identified as general conservatism. The analysis of zero and higher order correlations shows meaningful relationships between political attitudes and personality dimensions. The highest (negative) correlations are found between openness to experience and conservatism. Age and sex effects on political attitudes are reported

Health inequalities among young workers: the mediating role of working conditions and company characteristics

Objective Few studies have investigated health inequalities among young workers. The objectives of this study are to assess the extent of health inequalities in a sample of job starters and to explore the contribution of job demands and organisational factors. Methods We analyze data from the BIBB/BAuA Youth Employment Survey 2012. The cross-sectional survey includes a representative sample of 3214 German employees, apprentices, and trainees aged 15–24 years. Individuals were grouped by their years of schooling into low (< 12 years) and high levels of education (≥ 12 years). Regression analysis estimated the link between education and four health outcomes: self-rated health, number of health events, musculoskeletal symptoms, and mental health problems over the last 12 months. Counterfactual mediation analysis tested for indirect effects of educa- tion via working conditions (i.e., physical and psychosocial job demands) and company characteristics (i.e., company size, health prevention measures, financial situation, downsizing). All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, nationality, region, working hours, job tenure, employment relationship, and economic sector. Results Highly educated workers reported better self-rated health (b = 0.24, 95% CI 0.18–0.31) and lower numbers of health events (Rate Ratio (RR) = 0.74, 95% CI 0.67–0.82), musculoskeletal symptoms (RR = 0.73, 95% CI 0.66–0.80) and mental health problems (RR = 0.84, 95% CI 0.76–0.93). Total job demands explained between 21.6% and 87.2% of the educational differences (depending on health outcome). Unfavourable company characteristics were associated with worse health, but showed no or only small mediation effects. Conclusions Health inequalities are already present at the early working career due to socio-economically stratified working hazards. To enhance prevention measures that aim at reducing inequalities in workplace health, we propose shifting attention towards earlier stages of life.Peer Reviewe