Interdisciplinary science instruction in the fifth and sixth grade in cooperation with nature parks : a Delphi-Study to discover appropriate content and organizational framework

Naturparke sollen den Schutz und die gleichzeitige nachhaltige Nutzung von Landschaften verbinden. Zu ihren Aufgaben gehört auch Umweltbildung. Schon heute existieren dazu Kooperationen zwischen Schulen und Naturparken. Die dabei entwickelten schulbezogenen Bildungsangebote sind vor allem auf den Bereich der Primarstufe sowie auf biologische, geologische und geschichtliche Inhalte fokussiert. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wird untersucht, welche Themen und Inhalte sich für den anschließenden fächerübergreifenden naturwissenschaftlichen Anfangsunterricht der fünften und sechsten Jahrgangsstufe in Kooperation mit Naturparken eignen könnten. Dazu wurde eine zweistufige Delphi-Studie durchgeführt, bei der Experten aus den Bereichen Fachdidaktik, Schule und Naturpark befragt wurden. Der Schwerpunkt wurde im Verlaufe der Untersuchung auf Themenfelder aus dem Bereich Mensch-Natur-Wirtschaft gelegt. Es zeigte sich, dass von den Experten insbesondere die Themenfelder "Mensch und Landschaft", "Nachhaltigkeit, Umwelt- und Naturschutz" sowie "Landwirtschaft" als geeignet für den fächerübergreifenden naturwissenschaftlichen Anfangsunterricht in Naturparken eingeschätzt werden. Zudem konnte bei der Auswertung ein deutliches gruppenspezifisches Antwortverhalten festgestellt werden.It is the function of (so-called) nature parks to connect both the protection and the sustainable use of landscapes and to offer environmental education. Cooperations between schools and nature parks already exist, but the developed educational programmes focus mainly on primary schools and biological, geological and historical contents. In this thesis it is investigated which topics and contents could be suitable for the following interdisciplinary scientific education in the fifth and sixth grade in cooperation with nature parks. For this purpose, a two-stage Delphi-Study was carried out in which experts of didactics, school and nature parks were questioned about their ideas on this topic. During the investigation, special emphasis was laid on topics related to the area of human-nature-economy. It became apparent that especially the topics "humans and landscape", "sustainability, nature conservation and environmental protection" as well as "agriculture" were rated as suitable for scientific education in nature parks by the experts of out-of-school education. Additionally, a significant group-specific response behaviour could be identified

Distribution of Scattering Matrix Elements in Quantum Chaotic Scattering

Scattering is an important phenomenon which is observed in systems ranging from the micro- to macroscale. In the context of nuclear reaction theory the Heidelberg approach was proposed and later demonstrated to be applicable to many chaotic scattering systems. To model the universal properties, stochasticity is introduced to the scattering matrix on the level of the Hamiltonian by using random matrices. A long-standing problem was the computation of the distribution of the off-diagonal scattering-matrix elements. We report here an exact solution to this problem and present analytical results for systems with preserved and with violated time-reversal invariance. Our derivation is based on a new variant of the supersymmetry method. We also validate our results with scattering data obtained from experiments with microwave billiards.Comment: Published versio

Retrospective evaluation of vector-borne pathogens in cats living in Germany (2012-2020)

Background:Blood-feeding arthropods can transmit parasitic, bacterial, or viral pathogens to domestic animals and wildlife. Vector-borne infections are gaining significance because of increasing travel and import of pets from abroad as well as the changing climate in Europe. The main objective of this study was to assess the percentage of cats with positive test results for selected vector-borne pathogens in Germany and explore any possible association of such results with time spent abroad. Methods: This retrospective study included test results from cats included in the "Feline Travel Profile" established by the LABOKLIN laboratory at the request of veterinarians in Germany between April 2012 and March 2020. This diagnostic panel includes the direct detection of Hepatozoon spp. and Dirofilaria spp. via PCR as well as indirect detection assays (IFAT) for Ehrlichia spp. and Leishmania spp. The panel was expanded to include an IFAT for Rickettsia spp. from July 2015 onwards. Results: A total of 624 cats were tested using the "Feline Travel Profile." Serum for indirect detection assays was available for all 624 cats; EDTA samples for direct detection methods were available from 618 cats. Positive test results were as follows: Ehrlichia spp. IFAT 73 out of 624 (12%), Leishmania spp. IFAT 22 out of 624 (4%), Hepatozoon spp. PCR 53 out of 618 (9%), Dirofilaria spp. PCR 1 out of 618 cats (0.2%), and Rickettsia spp. IFAT 52 out of 467 cats (11%) tested from July 2015 onwards. Three cats had positive test results for more than one pathogen before 2015. After testing for Rickettsia spp. was included in 2015, 19 cats had positive test results for more than one pathogen (Rickettsia spp. were involved in 14 out of these 19 cats). Conclusions: At least one pathogen could be detected in 175 out of 624 cats (28%) via indirect and/or direct detection methods. Four percent had positive test results for more than one pathogen. These data emphasize the importance of considering the above-mentioned vector-borne infections as potential differential diagnoses in clinically symptomatic cats

Identifizierung und Charakterisierung neuer Verzweigungsregulatoren durch Verwendung natürlicher Variation in Arabidopsis thaliana

Die Sprossarchitektur höherer Pflanzen wird hauptsächlich durch die Aktivität des Sprossapikalmeristems (SAM) festgelegt. Dieses bestimmt während der pflanzlichen Entwicklung die Bildung von Blättern entlang der Sprossachse und die Initiation lateraler Meristeme (AM) in Achseln der Blätter, zur Bildung sekundärer Wachstumsachsen. Die Initiation axillärer Meristeme wird in Arabidopsis durch zwei, partiell redundante Stoffwechselwege über die Gene LATERAL SUPPRESSOR (LAS) und REGULATOR OF AXILLARY MERISTEM (RAX) reguliert. Dabei ist die Funktion von LAS essentiell für die Anlage von AMs während der vegetativen Entwicklung und las Mutanten bilden keine Seitentriebe aus Rosettenblattachseln. Zur Identifizierung neuer Verzweigungsregulation wurde die natürlich vorkommende, genetische Variation verschiedener Arabidopsis Ökotypen in einem sogenannten „second-site modifier screen“ genutzt. Hierfür wurde die las Mutante im Ökotyp Columbia zu sechs verschiedenen Ökotypen gekreuzt und die las homozygoten F2 Nachkommenschaften phänotypisch charakterisiert. In fünf der sechs F2 Populationen konnte ein verstärkter las Verzweigungsdefekt in Stängelblattachseln ermittelt werden und ausgewählte F2 Kandidaten wurden für Rückkreuzungen mit dem las Elter verwendet. Die Analyse der segregierenden BC1F1 Populationen zeigte eine Korrelation zwischen dem verstärkten las Verzweigungsdefekt und einem spätblühenden Phänotyp, insbesondere in Populationen aus Kreuzungen mit den Ökotypen Kyoto und C24. Nachkommen der Kreuzung las/C24 zeigten insgesamt die stärksten Defekte in der Anlage von Lateralmeristemen und wurden für weitere Analysen verwendet. Die Grobkartierung des verantwortlichen Locus unter Verwendung eines AtSNPtile1 Array, sowie die weitere Feinkartierung in BC3F2 Populationen, identifizierte fünf Kandidatengene in einer 13kb Region im oberen Bereich des kurzen Arms auf Chromosom IV und beinhaltete den dominanten Blühzeitpunktregulator FRIGIDA (FRI). In Arabidopsis wird die Regulation des Blühzeitpunkts maßgeblich durch die Interaktion der Regulatoren FLOWERING LOCUS C und FRI beeinflusst, wobei FRI positiv die Expression von FLC reguliert und dadurch die Blühinduktion vor der Vernalisation verhindert. Im Columbia Hintergrund der las Mutante ist diese Interaktion unterdrückt, da Columbia nur ein aktives FLC, jedoch ein inaktives FRI Allel trägt. Um den Einfluss von FRI auf die Anlage von Lateralmeristemen zu untersuchen, wurden las und las rax1 Mutanten zu der Linie FRI (SF-2) in Columbia gekreuzt, die aktive FRI Allele aus dem Ökotyp San Feliu-2 besitzt. Homozygote Nachkommen der Kreuzung zeigten kein von las abweichendes Verzweigungsmuster. Die verzögerte Blühinduktion durch Interaktion von FRI und FLC per se ist somit nicht für einen Verzweigungsdefekt während der reproduktiven Entwicklung verantwortlich. Pflanzen der Linie las rax1 FRI hingegen zeigten eine nahezu vollständige Unterdrückung der Initiation axillärer Meristeme entlang der Sprossachse. Für weitere Analysen wurden las und las rax1 Mutanten zusätzlich zu mutanten Allelen der Blühzeitpunktregulatoren constans und leafy gekreuzt. Mutationen in CONSTANS führten zu keinem veränderten Verzweigungsmuster der las Mutante, wohingegen las rax1 co Dreifachmutanten die gleichen Defekte in der Anlage von Lateralmeristemen widerspiegelten wie Pflanzen der Linie las rax1 FRI. Im Gegensatz zu Pflanzen der Mutanten las FRI und las co, ließen las lfy Doppelmutanten eine enorme Verstärkung des las Verzweigungsdefekts in Stängelblattachseln während der reproduktiven Entwicklung erkennen (siehe auch Clarenz, 2004). RNA-in-situ- Hybridisierungen und quantitative Real-Time-PCR Analysen des R2R3 Myb-Transkriptionsfaktors RAX1 zeigten, dass die erhöhte RAX1 Expression nach der Blühinduktion abhängig ist von der Funktion des Transkriptionsfaktors LEAFY. Zusammenfassend zeigen diese Ergebnisse, dass die Initiation axillärer Meristeme während der reproduktiven Entwicklung durch einen dritten Stoffwechselweg reguliert wird, welcher durch die Aktivität von Blühzeitpunktregulatoren wie FRIGIDA, über LEAFY die Aktivität von Verzweigungsregulatoren wie RAX1 und LAS steuert

Measuring the impact of learning at the workplace on organisational performance

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to explore the importance of workplace learning in the context of performance measurement on an organisational level. It shows how workplace learning analytics can be grounded on professional identity transformation theory and integrated into performance measurement approaches to understand its organisation-wide impact. Design/methodology/approach: In a conceptual approach, a framework to measure the organisation-wide impact of workplace learning interventions has been developed. As a basis for the description of the framework, related research on relevant concepts in the field of performance measurement approaches, workplace learning, professional identity transformation, workplace and social learning analytics are discussed. A case study in a European Public Employment Service is presented. The framework is validated by qualitative evaluation data from three case studies. Finally, theoretical as well as practical implications are discussed. Findings: Professional identity transformation theory provides a suitable theoretical framework to gain new insights into various dimensions of workplace learning. Workplace learning analytics can reasonably be combined with classical performance management approaches to demonstrate its organisation-wide impact. A holistic and streamlined framework is perceived as beneficial by practitioners from several European Public Employment Services. Research limitations/implications: Empirical data originates from three case studies in the non-profit sector only. The presented framework needs to be further evaluated in different organisations and settings. Practical implications: The presented framework enables non-profit organisations to integrate workplace learning analytics in their organisation-wide performance measurement, which raises awareness for the importance of social learning at the workplace. Originality/value: The paper enriches the scarce research base about workplace learning analytics and its potential links to organisation-wide performance measurement approaches. In contrast to most previous literature, a thorough conceptualisation of workplace learning as a process of professional identity transformation is used

Probing proton structure with ccˉc \bar c correlations in ultraperipheral pApA collisions

We study the exclusive diffractive $c \bar c$ photoproduction in ultraperipheral $pA$ collisions. The formalism makes use of off-diagonal generalizations of the unintegrated gluon distribution, the so-called generalized transverse momentum dependent distributions (GTMDs). We present two different formulations. The first one is based directly on gluon GTMD parametrizations in momentum space. Another option is the calculation of the GTMD as a Fourier transform of the dipole-nucleon scattering amplitude $N(Y,\vec{r}_{\perp},\vec{b}_{\perp})$. The latter approach requires some extra regularization discussed in the paper. Different dipole amplitudes from the literature are used. Compared to previous calculations in the literature, we integrate over the full phase space and therefore cross sections for realistic conditions are obtained. We present distributions in rapidity of $c$ or $\bar c$, transverse momentum of the $c \bar c$ pair, four-momentum transfer squared as well as the azimuthal correlation between a sum and a difference of the $c$ and $\bar c$ transverse momenta. The azimuthal correlations are partially due to the so-called elliptic gluon Wigner distribution. Different models lead to different modulations in the azimuthal angle. The modulations are generally smaller than 5%. They depend on the range of transverse momentum selected for the calculation.Comment: 22 pages, 14 figures, 1 tabl

Multiphoton microscopy for the investigation of dermal penetration of nanoparticle-borne drugs

Multiphoton microscopy of a dually fluorescence-labeled model system in excised human skin is employed for high resolution three dimensional visualization in order to study the release, accumulation and penetration properties of drugs released from nanoscale carrier particles in dermal administration. Polymer particles were covalently labeled with fluorescein while Texas Red as a drug-model was dissolved in the particle to be released to the formulation matrix. Single nanoparticles on skin could easily be localized and imaged with diffraction limited resolution. The temporal evolution of the fluorescent drug-model concentration in various skin compartments over more than five hours was investigated by multiphoton spectral imaging of the same area of the specimen. The three dimensional penetration profile of the drug-model in correlation with skin morphology and particle localization information are obtained by a multiple laser line excitation experiment. Multiphoton microscopy combined with spectral imaging was found to allow non invasive long term studies of particle-borne drug-model penetration into the skin with sub cellular resolution. By dual color labeling a clear discrimination between particle-bound and released drug-model was possible. The introduced technique was shown to be a powerful tool in revealing the dermal penetration properties and pathways of drugs and nanoscale drug vehicles on microscopic level

Protestantismus

Schäfer H. Protestantismus. In: Silke H, Barbara P, eds. Das Lateinamerika-Lexikon. Wuppertal: Peter Hammer Verlag; 2013: 274-277

Molecular and Serological Detection of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in Dogs from Germany (2008–2020)

Anaplasma phagocytophilum is an obligate intracellular bacterium that causes granulocytic anaplasmosis in domestic animals, wildlife, and humans and is primarily transmitted by ticks of the Ixodes persulcatus complex. This retrospective study aims to determine the percentages of dogs that tested positive for A. phagocytophilum in Germany. It included the results of direct (polymerase chain reaction [PCR]) and indirect (immunofluorescence antibody test [IFAT], antibody-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA]) detection methods performed in the laboratory LABOKLIN on canine samples provided by German veterinarians from 2008 to 2020. Out of a total of 27,368 dogs tested by PCR, 1332 (4.9%) tested positive, while 24,720 (27.4%) of the 90,376 dogs tested by IFAT/ELISA had positive serology. High rates of positive PCR results were observed in months with known peaks in vector activity, showing that the dynamics of A. phagocytophilum infections in dogs in Germany are consistent with vector activity. In dogs with a positive PCR result, peaks in serology could be observed four weeks after initial testing. Male and senior dogs had higher rates of positive serology. A possible impact of environmental factors such as changes in climate should be investigated further. Overall, the upward trend in positive test results over the years indicates that canine granulocytic anaplasmosis will continue to become increasingly important for veterinary medicine