The Material Culture of Childhood: Problems and Potential in Historical Explanation

The discovery of childhood over the past two centuries, initially by educators, clergy, merchandisers, and sociologists throughout the nineteenth century, and then by childpsychologists, antique dealers, writers, and social historians in the twentieth century, has meant an ever-expanding interest in the role of children and the concept of childhood. Part of this interest has focused on the things of children, on the surviving artifacts of past infancy, childhood and adolescence. Two questions are posed about this interest in extant childhood artifacts: How and why has the material culture of childhood intrigued so many collectors, curators and scholars? What are the problems and possibilities of using such physical evidence in historical explanation? These questions are explored by reviewing how the objects of the child have been collected, exhibited, and interpreted over the past century. The essay's argument and supporting data, while largely drawn from the American historical experience, aims at providing a tentative overview of the topic. Résumé La découverte de la condition de l'enfance au cours des deux derniers siècles, faite d'abord par les éducateurs, les membres du clergé, les spécialistes des techniques marchandes et les sociologues pendant tout le XIXe siècle, puis par les psychologues, les antiquaires, les écrivains et les historiens sociaux, au cours du XXe siècle, a suscité un intérêt sans cesse croissant envers le rôle de l'enfant et le concept de l'enfance. On s'est notamment intéressé aux choses que possédaient les enfants: aux objets des bambins, des enfants et des adolescents d'autrefois, parvenus jusqu'à nous. Cette étude pose deux questions sur l'intérêt manifesté à propos des objets façonnés ayant appartenu aux enfants et qui ont été conservés. On se demande comment et pourquoi la culture matérielle de l'enfance a suscité la curiosité de tant de collectionneurs, de conservateurs et de spécialistes, et on s'interroge aussi sur la nature des problèmes et des possibilités qu'entraîne l'utilisation de ces témoins d'un autre âge pour expliquer le passé. On explore ces questions en étudiant comment les objets que possédaient les enfants d'autrefois ont été collectionnés, exposés et interprétés depuis un siècle. L'étude, dont les raisonnements et les preuves apportées à l'appui sont tirés en majeure partie de l'histoire américaine, vise à donner provisoirement une vue d'ensemble du sujet

Anwendungsmodalitäten und Qualität von Online-Befragungen in der Kommunikationswissenschaft

Seit Mitte der 90er Jahre ergänzt die Online-Befragung das Repertoire der sozialwissenschaftlichen Befragungsinstrumente. Sie hat sich seither sowohl in der kommerziellen Marktforschung als auch in den empirischen Sozialwissenschaften etabliert. Auch im wissenschaftlichen Bereich erfreuen sich internetgestützte Befragungen wachsender Beliebtheit. Die wachsende Popularität der Online-Befragung kann man jedoch nicht nur an ihrer zunehmenden Anwendungshäufigkeit ablesen, auch weichere Indikatoren, wie entsprechende Kapitel in Methodenlehrbüchern, lassen erkennen, dass sie mittlerweile einen festen Platz im Kanon des sozialwissenschaftlichen Methodeninstrumentariums einnimmt. Die Gründe für diesen Zuwachs liegen in den zahlreichen Vorteilen der Methode, insbesondere ihren geringen Kosten, ihrer Schnelligkeit und Flexibilität. Der durchschlagende Erfolg der Online-Befragung wurde in der wissenschaftlichen Sphäre von einer intensiven Qualitätsdiskussion begleitet, in deren Mittelpunkt vor allem die offensichtlichen Schwächen dieses Befragungsmodus standen

Genetic diversity for nitrogen use efficiency in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Meyer RC, Gryczka C, Neitsch C, et al. Genetic diversity for nitrogen use efficiency in Arabidopsis thaliana. Planta. 2019;250(1):41-57.MAIN CONCLUSION: The plasticity of plant growth response to differing nitrate availability renders the identification of biomarkers difficult, but allows access to genetic factors as tools to modulate root systems to a wide range of soil conditions. Nitrogen availability is a major determinant of crop yield. While the application of fertiliser substantially increases the yield on poor soils, it also causes nitrate pollution of water resources and high costs for farmers. Increasing nitrogen use efficiency in crop plants is a necessary step to implement low-input agricultural systems. We exploited the genetic diversity present in the worldwide Arabidopsis thaliana population to study adaptive growth patterns and changes in gene expression associated with chronic low nitrate stress, to identify biomarkers associated with good plant performance under low nitrate availability. Arabidopsis accessions were grown on agar plates with limited and sufficient supply of nitrate to measure root system architecture as well as shoot and root fresh weight. Differential gene expression was determined using Affymetrix ATH1 arrays. We show that the response to differing nitrate availability is highly variable in Arabidopsis accessions. Analyses of vegetative shoot growth and root system architecture identified accession-specific reaction modes to cope with limited nitrate availability. Transcription and epigenetic factors were identified as important players in the adaption to limited nitrogen in a global gene expression analysis. Five nitrate-responsive genes emerged as possible biomarkers for NUE in Arabidopsis. The plasticity of plant growth in response to differing nitrate availability in the substrate renders the identification of morphological and molecular features as biomarkers difficult, but at the same time allows access to a multitude of genetic factors which can be used as tools to modulate and adjust root systems to a wide range of soil conditions

An Architectural Blueprint For Digital Energy Platforms In Industrial Energy Flexibility Applications

This paper examines the integration of industrial demand-side management into existing digital energy platforms, considering the global push towards renewable energy sources and climate change mitigation. Despite the proliferation of digital energy platforms, there is a notable lack of energy flexibility measures within these systems, which are essential for industrial demand-side management. Through a comprehensive analysis, this paper presents an Architectural Blueprint designed to enable platform providers to assess and integrate essential functionalities for energy flexibility. The research follows a systematic approach, starting with an outline of the necessary architectural components and their relevance. Subsequently, a gap analysis is conducted to pinpoint the discrepancies between the existing functionalities of digital energy platforms and the capabilities necessary for the efficient integration of energy flexibility. The study concludes with strategic recommendations for enhancing platform capabilities. The paper contributes a new and meaningful architecture blueprint to digital energy platforms by enabling platform providers to align their systems with the needs of energy-flexible manufacturing

Extending the Automation Pyramid for Industrial Demand Response

Industrial demand response uses a multitude of energy flexibility measures. Their planning and control requires various production IT systems. A widely accepted approach to classify these inhouse IT systems are the levels of the automation pyramid in companies. This paper broadens the scope of this concept to overcome the limitation to companies’ (virtual) borders by including required IT systems that refine and monetarize a company’s energy flexibility, e.g. energy markets, aggregators, etc. Therefore, a holistic approach for the classification of functionalities for industrial demand response across companies and energy markets is developed and applied exemplarily

Clinical Study Routine Follow-Up Cranial Computed Tomography for Deeply Sedated, Intubated, and Ventilated Multiple Trauma Patients with Suspected Severe Head Injury

Background. Missed or delayed detection of progressive neuronal damage after traumatic brain injury (TBI) may have negative impact on the outcome. We investigated whether routine follow-up CT is beneficial in sedated and mechanically ventilated trauma patients. Methods. The study design is a retrospective chart review. A routine follow-up cCT was performed 6 hours after the admission scan. We defined 2 groups of patients, group I: patients with equal or recurrent pathologies and group II: patients with new findings or progression of known pathologies. Results. A progression of intracranial injury was found in 63 patients (42%) and 18 patients (12%) had new findings in cCT 2 (group II). In group II a change in therapy was found in 44 out of 81 patients (54%). 55 patients with progression or new findings on the second cCT had no clinical signs of neurological deterioration. Of those 24 patients (44%) had therapeutic consequences due to the results of the follow-up cCT. Conclusion. We found new diagnosis or progression of intracranial pathology in 54% of the patients. In 54% of patients with new findings and progression of pathology, therapy was changed due to the results of follow-up cCT. In trauma patients who are sedated and ventilated for different reasons a routine follow-up CT is beneficial

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal