Pacta sunt servanda? Das kindliche Verständnis von Verträgen am Beispiel des Tausches und der Leihe

Der Beitrag untersucht, wie Kinder Vereinbarungen über den Tausch und die Leihe von Objekten verstehen. Anhand von Bildergeschichten wurden 70 Kinder von 3-13 Jahren befragt. Die Resultate belegen, dass Kinder bereits mit vier Jahren die Verbindlichkeit von Abmachungen erkennen. Es zeigen sich aber auch große altersspezifische Unterschiede. Beim Tauschbegriff wurden vier Entwicklungsniveaus rekonstruiert: Eigentum lässt sich im Kindergartenalter nur begrenzt durch Verträge übertragen, alte Eigentumsrechte genießen Priorität. Kinder ab zehn Jahren sehen den Tausch dagegen als rationales Geschäft an. Ebenso erkennen sie die Nichtigkeit von Verträgen bei Drohung. Dagegen halten die meisten Vor- und Grundschulkinder erzwungene Abmachungen für verbindlich. Insgesamt variiert das Urteil der älteren Kinder stärker kontextspezifisch und nähert sich bestehenden Rechtsnormen an. (DIPF/Orig.)The author examines children´s understanding of agreements related to the swapping and lending of objects. On the basis of picture stories, 70 children aged 3 to 13 are interviewed. The results substantiate that, even at the age of 4, children clearly recognize the binding nature of agreements. On the other hand, depending on the age group, major differences become apparent. With regard to the concept of swapping, four levels of development could be reconstructed: In the age group of kindergarden kids, there are only limited possibilities to transfer property by contract: older rights of ownership are given priority. From the age of 10, children consider swapping a rational business; they also recognize the nullity of contracts based on threat. On the other hand, the majority of pre-school and elementary school kids consider enforced agreements to be binding. Overall, the judgement of older children varies more according to specific contexts and comes closer to existing legal norms. (DIPF/Orig.

Atomic trajectory characterization in a fountain clock based on the spectrum of a hyperfine transition

We describe a new method to determine the position of the atomic cloud during its interaction with the microwave field in the cavity of a fountain clock. The positional information is extracted from the spectrum of the F=3,mF=0 to F=4,mF=-1 hyperfine transition, which shows a position dependent asymmetry when the magnetic C-field is tilted by a few degrees with respect to the cavity axis. Analysis of this spectral asymmetry provides the horizontal center-of-mass position for the ensemble of atoms contributing to frequency measurements. With an uncertainty on the order of 0.1 mm, the obtained information is useful for putting limits on the systematic uncertainty due to distributed cavity phase gradients. The validity of the new method is demonstrated through experimental evidence.Comment: 6 figures, submitted to PR

"He should listen to the point of view of both sides!". How children understand conflict regulations by third parties

Mediationsverfahren haben sich zur Regelung sozialer Konflikte an vielen Schulen etabliert. Das zentrale Element von Mediation ist der Vermittler, eine neutrale dritte Person, die nicht in den Konflikt involviert ist. Wie verstehen Kinder die Rolle dritter Personen bei der Konfliktregelung? Anhand von Bildergeschichten zeigen sich bei Kindern von 3 bis 13 Jahren deutliche altersabhängige Unterschiede. (DIPF/Orig.)Methods of mediation for the regulation of social conflicts are established in many schools. The central element of mediation is the mediator, a neutral third person who is not involved in the conflict. How do children understand the role of third persons in conflict regulation? On the basis of picture stories with children from 3 to 13 years clear differences appear dependent on age. (DIPF/Orig.

Continuous optical generation of microwave signals for fountain clocks

For the optical generation of ultrastable microwave signals for fountain clocks we developed a setup, which is based on a cavity stabilized laser and a commercial frequency comb. The robust system, in operation since 2020, is locked to a 100 MHz output frequency of a hydrogen maser and provides an ultrastable 9.6 GHz signal for the interrogation of atoms in two caesium fountain clocks, acting as primary frequency standards. Measurements reveal that the system provides a phase noise level which enables quantum projection noise limited fountain frequency instabilities at the low $10^{-14} (\tau /\mathrm{s})^{-1/2}$ level. At the same time it offers largely maintenance-free operation.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Presence of depression and anxiety before and after coronary artery bypass graft surgery and their relationship to age

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Scientific literature on depression and anxiety in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) consistently reports data of elevated anxiety and depression scores indicating clinically relevant quantities of these psychopathological conditions. Depression is considered to be a risk factor for the development of CHD and deteriorates the outcome after cardiac rehabilitation efforts. The aim of our study was to evaluate the presence of clinically relevant anxiety and depression in patients before and after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Additionally we evaluated their relationship to age because of the increasing number of elderly patients undergoing CABG surgery.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>One hundred and forty-two consecutive patients who underwent CABG in our hospital were asked to fill in the "Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale – German Version (HADS)" to measure depression and anxiety scores two days before and ten days after CABG surgery. Differences between these pre- and post-surgical scores were then calculated as means for changes, and the amount of elevated scores were appraised. In order to investigate the relationship between age and anxiety and depression, respectively, Spearman correlations between age and the difference scores were calculated. In addition, ANOVA procedures with the factor "age group" and McNemar tests were calculated. Therefore the sample was divided into four equally sized age groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>25.8% of the patients were clinically depressed before and 17.5% after surgery; 34.0% of the patients were clinically anxious before and 24.7% after surgery. This overall change is not significant. We found a significant negative correlation between age and the difference between the two time points for anxiety (Spearman rho = -.218; p = 0.03), but not for depression (Spearman rho = -.128; p = 0.21). ANOVA and McNemar-Tests revealed that anxiety scores and the number of patients high in anxiety declined statistically meaningful only in the youngest patient group. Such a relationship could not be found for depression.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our data show a relationship between age and anxiety. Younger patients are more anxious before CABG surgery than older ones and show a decline in symptoms while elderly patients show hardly any change.</p

Neighbourhood socioeconomic status and cardiovascular risk factors: a multilevel analysis of nine cities in the Czech Republic and Germany

Background: Previous studies have shown that deprived neighbourhoods have higher cardiovascular mortality and morbidity rates. Inequalities in the distribution of behaviour related risk factors are one possible explanation for this trend. In our study, we examined the association between cardiovascular risk factors and neighbourhood characteristics. To assess the consistency of associations the design is cross-national with data from nine industrial towns from the Czech Republic and Germany. Methods: We combined datasets from two population based studies, one in Germany ('Heinz Nixdorf Recall (HNR) Study'), and one in the Czech Republic ('Health, Alcohol and Psychosocial Factors in Eastern Europe (HAPIEE) Study'). Participation rates were 56% in the HNR and 55% in the HAPIEE study. The subsample for this particular analysis consists of 11,554 men and women from nine German and Czech towns. Census based information on social characteristics of 326 neighbourhoods were collected from local administrative authorities. We used unemployment rate and overcrowding as area-level markers of socioeconomic status (SES). The cardiovascular risk factors obesity, hypertension, smoking and physical inactivity were used as response variables. Regression models were complemented by individual-level social status (education) and relevant covariates. Results: Smoking, obesity and low physical activity were more common in deprived neighbourhoods in Germany, even when personal characteristics including individual education were controlled for. For hypertension associations were weak. In the Czech Republic associations were observed for smoking and physical inactivity, but not for obesity and hypertension when individual-level covariates were adjusted for. The strongest association was found for smoking in both countries: in the fully adjusted model the odds ratio for 'high unemployment rate' was 1.30 [95% CI 1.02-1.66] in the Czech Republic and 1.60 [95% CI 1.29-1.98] in Germany. Conclusion: In this comparative study, the effects of neighbourhood deprivation varied by country and risk factor; the strongest and most consistent effects were found for smoking. Results indicate that area level SES is associated with health related lifestyles, which might be a possible pathway linking social status and cardiovascular disease. Individual-level education had a considerable influence on the association between neighbourhood characteristics and risk factors

Folterverbot oder "Rettungsfolter"? Urteile Jugendlicher über Moral, Menschenrechte und Rechtsstaatlichkeit angesichts eines realen moralischen Dilemmas

Das absolute Folterverbot gehört zu den Grundlagen des demokratischen Rechtsstaats, im Zuge der Diskussion über die "Rettungsfolter" ist es in jüngster Zeit jedoch stark relativiert worden. Der Beitrag untersucht anhand eines realen Falls, wie Jugendliche das Dilemma interpretieren und inwieweit sie dabei menschenrechtliche und rechtsstaatliche Aspekte beachten. Erwartet wurde, dass mit der Fähigkeit zu systemisch- transpersonalem Urteilen die Ablehnung der Folter und der Rekurs auf Menschenrechte und Rechtsstaatlichkeit zunehmen. Die Befunde bestätigen diese These, zeigen aber auch starke kontextspezifische Variationen und eine hohe Diskrepanz zwischen allgemeiner und kontextueller Beurteilung der Menschenrechte. (DIPF/Orig.)The absolute prohibition of torture is one of the fundamental principles of the democratic state under the rule of law; however, in the course of the recent debate on "rescue torture", it has been qualified considerably. On the basis of a real case, the authors investigate how adolescents interpret the dilemma and in how far they take aspects of human rights and rule of law into consideration. It was expected that, with the ability to make systemic-transpersonal judgments, the rejection of torture and the appeal to human rights and rule of law would increase. The results confirm this hypothesis; however, they also reveal strong context-specific variations and a high discrepancy between a general and a contextual assessment of human rights. (DIPF/Orig.

How do children and juveniles understand the law? Six phases of the development of legal thinking

Der Beitrag richtet sich auf die Entwicklung von Rechtsvorstellungen, einen bislang wenig untersuchten Bereich gesellschaftlichen Denkens. Zunächst werden theoretische Grundlagen zur Konzeption rechtlichen Denkens und zur Beziehung von Recht und Moral diskutiert. Vorgestellt werden dann die Ergebnisse zweier Forschungsprojekte zur Entwicklung des vorrechtlichen und rechtlichen Verständnisses. Insgesamt wurden 170 Kinder und Jugendliche im Alter von 1,5 bis 23 Jahren untersucht. Es lassen sich sechs Phasen rekonstruieren, die von dem Verständnis einseitiger Besitzregeln in der frühen Kindheit bis zu einem prinzipienorientierten Verständnis des Rechts im frühen Erwachsenenalter reichen. Abschließend werden die theoretische Konzeption des Modells sowie seine Grenzen und pädagogische Implikationen diskutiert.The present article is directed towards the development of legal thinking, a domain of societal understanding that has not been explored in depth until now. First, theoretical assumptions with regard to the conception of legal thinking and to the relationship of law and morality are discussed, followed by a presentation of the findings of two research projects that investigated the development of pre-legal and legal understanding. Overall 170 children and juveniles aged 1.5 to 23 years were examined. Six phases were reconstructed that range from the understanding of unilateral possession-rules in early childhood to a principle-based understanding of the law in early adulthood. Finally, the theoretical conception of the model, its limits and its educational implications are discussed