Gender-Fair Language in the Context of CSR - How Much Language Responsibility Do Organizations Have?

An article by managing director of the Linguistische Unternehmensberatung (LUB GmbH), Dr. Simone Burel, and consultant for gender-fair language, Franziska Saur

Event-Marketing : Handlungsempfehlungen zur erfolgreichen Gestaltung von Events auf Basis der Werthaltungen von Eventbesuchern

Die Bedeutung der Kommunikationspolitik von Unternehmen hat in vergangener Zeit aufgrund des stetig wachsenden Produktangebots und damit einhergehend einem stärkeren Wettbewerb sowie aufgrund immer homogener werdender Produkte stark zugenommen. Die Wirksamkeit traditioneller Kommunikationsinstrumente nimmt jedoch kontinuierlich ab. Im Zuge der vermehrten Erlebnisorientierung der Konsu-menten konnte sich das Event-Marketing als geeignetes Kommunikationsinstrument zur Erzielung von Wettbewerbsvorteilen etablieren. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird eine detaillierte Untersuchung bestehender Definitionen von Events und Event-Marketing durchgeführt. Der Eventbegriff, der sich als valide und anwendbar herauskristallisierte, beschreibt Events als inszenierte Ereignisse in Form von Veranstaltungen und Aktionen, die dem Adressaten firmen- oder produktbezogene Kommunikationsinhalte erlebnisorientiert vermitteln. Event-Marketing stellt demzufol-ge auf den gezielten Einsatz von Ereignissen und Veranstaltungen im Rahmen der absatzpolitischen Instrumente ab. Durch eine empirische Studie zur Identifikation kaufverhaltensprägender Werte (Means-End-Analyse) von Event-Besuchern konnten die Werthaltungen aufgedeckt werden, die Konsumenten zum Besuch von Events veranlassen. Sport- und Musikevents sind im Zuge der gestiegenen Freizeitorientierung sehr gut besucht und wurden deshalb in der Untersuchung berücksichtigt. Die Studie basiert auf der Means-End-Theorie, die über das „laddering“-Verfahren die Gedankenstrukturen der Konsumenten zu rekonstruieren hilft. So entsteht eine Means-End-Kette, die bei konkreten Attributen eines Events beginnt und sich über den aus dem Event gezogenen Nutzen bis zu den terminalen Werthaltungen eines Individuums fortsetzt. Im Rahmen der Studie konnten die Werthaltungen identifiziert werden, die Individuen zum Besuch von Musik- bzw. Sportevents veranlassen. Zwei bzw. drei Konsumenten- bzw. Besuchercluster wurden erkannt: (1) die Spaßorientierten, (2) die Geselligen und (3) die Erfolgsorientierten. Die Kenntnis der terminalen Werthaltungen erlaubt die zielgruppengerechte Formulie rung von Marketingstrategien und die Ableitung von Vorschlägen zu deren erfolgreicher Umsetzung

Photoassociation and coherent transient dynamics in the interaction of ultracold rubidium atoms with shaped femtosecond pulses - I. Experiment

We experimentally investigate various processes present in the photoassociative interaction of an ultracold atomic sample with shaped femtosecond laser pulses. We demonstrate the photoassociation of pairs of rubidium atoms into electronically excited, bound molecular states using spectrally cut femtosecond laser pulses tuned below the rubidium D1 or D2 asymptote. Time-resolved pump-probe spectra reveal coherent oscillations of the molecular formation rate, which are due to coherent transient dynamics in the electronic excitation. The oscillation frequency corresponds to the detun-ing of the spectral cut position to the asymptotic transition frequency of the rubidium D1 or D2 lines, respectively. Measurements of the molecular photoassociation signal as a function of the pulse energy reveal a non-linear dependence and indicate a non-perturbative excitation process. Chirping the association laser pulse allowed us to change the phase of the coherent transients. Furthermore, a signature for molecules in the electronic ground state is found, which is attributed to molecule formation by femtosecond photoassociation followed by spontaneous decay. In a subsequent article [A. Merli et al., submitted] quantum mechanical calculations are presented, which compare well with the experimental data and reveal further details about the observed coherent transient dynamics

Monitoring Anti-PEG Antibodies Level upon Repeated Lipid Nanoparticle-Based COVID-19 Vaccine Administration

PEGylated lipids are one of the four constituents of lipid nanoparticle mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Therefore, various concerns have been raised on the generation of anti-PEG antibodies and their potential role in inducing hypersensitivity reactions following vaccination or in reducing vaccine efficacy due to anti-carrier immunity. Here, we assess the prevalence of anti-PEG antibodies, in a cohort of vaccinated individuals, and give an overview of their time evolution after repeated vaccine administrations. Results indicate that, in our cohort, the presence of PEG in the formulation did not influence the level of anti-Spike antibodies generated upon vaccination and was not related to any reported, serious adverse effects. The time-course analysis of anti-PEG IgG showed no significant booster effect after each dose, whereas for IgM a significant increase in antibody levels was detected after the first and third dose. Data suggest that the presence of PEG in the formulation does not affect safety or efficacy of lipid-nanoparticle-based COVID-19 vaccines

How Much Inequality of Earnings do People Perceive as Just?: the Effect of Interviewer Presence on Inequality Preferences

Liebig S, May M, Sauer C, Schneider S, Valet P. How Much Inequality of Earnings do People Perceive as Just?: the Effect of Interviewer Presence on Inequality Preferences. SFB 882 Working Paper Series. Vol 35. Bielefeld: DFG Research Center (SFB) 882 From Heterogeneities to Inequalities; 2014.This paper asks how two structural conditions of an interview situation – the presence of the interviewer and the use of incentives – influence the preferences towards inequality. According to goal-framing theory and the findings of empirical justice research, different goal frames are activated in different types of relationships, producing different distributional preferences: A normative goal frame results in a stronger preference for equality in cooperative situations whereas a gain frame favors inequality in competitive situations. We assume the former type of relationship to be established by the presence of an interviewer, and the latter type to be established by incentivizing. Two experimental studies test our hypotheses. The results suggest that generating a collaborative relationship through interviewer presence and cooperation priming leads to a preference for equality in comparison to a neutral, competitive, or exchange situation using competitive priming techniques. The use of incentives generates a clear preference for inequality

Timescales of methane seepage on the Norwegian margin following collapse of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet

Gas hydrates stored on continental shelves are susceptible to dissociation triggered by environmental changes. Knowledge of the timescales of gas hydrate dissociation and subsequent methane release are critical in understanding the impact of marine gas hydrates on the ocean–atmosphere system. Here we report a methane efflux chronology from five sites, at depths of 220–400 m, in the southwest Barents and Norwegian seas where grounded ice sheets led to thickening of the gas hydrate stability zone during the last glaciation. The onset of methane release was coincident with deglaciation-induced pressure release and thinning of the hydrate stability zone. Methane efflux continued for 7–10 kyr, tracking hydrate stability changes controlled by relative sea-level rise, bottom water warming and fluid pathway evolution in response to changing stress fields. The protracted nature of seafloor methane emissions probably attenuated the impact of hydrate dissociation on the climate system

Implications of transient methane flux on associated biological communities in high-arctic seep habitats, Storbanken, Norwegian Barents sea

The continental margins of the Arctic Ocean basin contain methane seeps, where transient fluxes of seafloor methane are released due to the thermal dissociation of gas hydrates. An increase in shallow methane seeps identified over the past decade, potentially due to enhanced warming of the Arctic Ocean bottom water and associated destabilization of hydrate structure. Biological communities associated with methane release east of Svalbard in the Barents Sea (Storbanken Crater site, 76° 46.7′N, 35° 43.5′E, depths between 120 m–300 m depths) were investigated using towed camera imagery and ship-based platforms during a 2017 CAGE17-2 cruise on the RV Helmer Hanssen. We analyzed relationships among methane flux data, seafloor habitat characteristics, and biological community structure (i.e., presence and distribution of megafauna and expression of microbial mats) from a total of 14 surveys (6827 images and 40 multicore sediment cores) within the Storbanken Crater area and compared it to 2015 data. Unlike seep expressions at deeper sites (∼1200 m) in the Norwegian margin region, no seep-endemic, chemosynthetic-associated megafaunal species were observed at the shallow surveyed sites and all sites hosted similarly diverse communities of non-seep species, including commercially important fish and crustaceans. Methane concentrations did not markedly differ between the crater and non-crater sites. Rates of methane gas advection through sediments (in the form of flares) were relatively low and concentration of methane was even lower in porewater samples at the crater site. We present the first evidence of methane flare flux and intermittent microbial mat distribution with associated folliculinid ciliates, which suggests a long history of methane emissions and a transient seep environment in spatial and temporal flux. Together, this study presents a critical baseline on the temporal release of arctic methane and benthic biological communities to initiate temporal studies that identify future changes and predict the impact of climate chang