Sprachliche Integration

In dieser Diplomarbeit wird der Frage nachgegangen, wie Migrantinnen aus Serbien Integration verstehen. Dabei wird untersucht, ob ihr Verständnis (emischer Diskurs) im Einklang oder im Widerspruch zu politischen Diskursen steht, die Integration auf die Beherrschung der Sprache des Aufnahmelandes reduzieren. Ausgehend von der Darstellung relevanter Trends in der Migrationsforschung wird der Begriff Integration im wissenschaftlichen sowie populären Diskurs(en) kritisch beleuchtet und hinterfragt. Anschließend wird auf die Bedeutung der Sprache und folglich der „sprachlichen Integration“ eingegangen. Für diese Arbeit wurden vier Frauen aus Serbien interviewt, die mit Hilfe transnationaler familiärer Netzwerke und Verbindungen nach Wien migrierten und so wie viele andere EinwanderInnen aufgrund rechtlicher Bestimmungen die Integrationsvereinbarung erfüllen mussten. Seit 2003 verpflichtet die Integrationsvereinbarung MigrantInnen aus Drittstaaten dazu, Deutschkenntnisse auf einem bestimmten Niveau des europäischen Referenzrahmens für Sprachen nachzuweisen. Die interviewten Frauen stehen für eine Gruppe von Migrantinnen, die Deutschkurse neben der Betreuung von Kleinkindern besuchen muss und aufgrund lernbiographischer Aspekte an niederschwelligen Deutschkursen teilnimmt. Es wird anhand qualitativer Interviews untersucht, unter welchen Umständen die Frauen nach Wien migrierten und wie rechtliche Rahmenbedingungen auf ihr Leben Einfluss nehmen. Die Ergebnisse der Interviews spiegeln ein funktionales Integrationsverständnis wieder, das Sprachkenntnisse als die Basis jeglicher Integration voraussetzt. Der Deutscherwerb der interviewten Frauen wird beschrieben, wobei näher darauf eingegangen wird, wie die Frauen mit dem Zwang umgehen, Deutsch lernen zu müssen, aber auch auf finanzielle Schwierigkeiten, die Lernmotivation so wie den Lernerfolg. Anhand von Freundschaften welche die Frauen schließen wird gezeigt, wie die (Mutter)Sprache kontextabhängig ein identitätsstiftendes Merkmal ist und in transnationalen so wie multiethnischen Beziehungen für die Aushandlung von Identität eine tragende Rolle einnimmt

Femtosecond laser generation of bimetallic oxide nanoparticles with potential X-ray absorbing and magnetic functionalities for medical imaging applications

Bimetallic nanoparticles have gained vivid attention due to their unique and synergistic properties. They can be used in fields such as solar cells, optics, sensing, as well as medicine. The generation of bimetallic nanoparticles, containing oxide phases of both magnetic and X-ray attenuating metals for bioimaging applications has been challenging with traditional chemical synthesis methods. An alternative is the generation of nanoparticles from binary oxide ceramics by laser ablation in liquid. However, the applicability of this technique for production of hybrid nanoparticles consisting of magnetic and X-ray absorbing elements has not been demonstrated yet. In this work, novel ceramics composed of bimetallic oxide phases of iron-tantalum, iron-tungsten, and ironbismuth were produced by a reaction-sintering method. The bulk samples were characterized with scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffractometry. Nanoparticles were produced in aqueous and ethanol solutions by employing a femtosecond laser and characterized with transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The results demonstrated that the production of binary oxide bulk ceramics and their subsequent laser ablation in liquids leads to the successful generation of bimetallic oxide nanoparticles, without a core-shell morphology. In addition, it was found that the ablation threshold fluence of bulk samples as well as the crystallinity of the synthesized nanoparticles is governed by both the nature of the metallic oxide ceramics and the employed liquid. The results pave the way for a single step generation of well-defined bimetallic nanoparticles by laser ablation that could potentially exhibit X-ray and magnetic absorption properties suitable for multimodal imaging applications.This research has been partially funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion through the research project MAT2015-67354R (MINECO-FEDER). Funding through a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (MSCA-IF 2014, 656908-NIMBLIS-ESR) of the Horizon 2020 program, and the Project PI-0030-2017 of the Junta de Andalucia in the framework of the integrated territorial initiative 20142020 for research and innovation in biomedicine and health sciences in the province of Cadiz is also greatly appreciated. The authors acknowledge support for scanning electron microscopy by Dr. Stephan Puchegger and the faculty center for nanostructure research at the University of Vienna

Effect of remote ischaemic conditioning on clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI): a single-blind randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Remote ischaemic conditioning with transient ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm has been shown to reduce myocardial infarct size in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). We investigated whether remote ischaemic conditioning could reduce the incidence of cardiac death and hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months. METHODS: We did an international investigator-initiated, prospective, single-blind, randomised controlled trial (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI) at 33 centres across the UK, Denmark, Spain, and Serbia. Patients (age >18 years) with suspected STEMI and who were eligible for PPCI were randomly allocated (1:1, stratified by centre with a permuted block method) to receive standard treatment (including a sham simulated remote ischaemic conditioning intervention at UK sites only) or remote ischaemic conditioning treatment (intermittent ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm through four cycles of 5-min inflation and 5-min deflation of an automated cuff device) before PPCI. Investigators responsible for data collection and outcome assessment were masked to treatment allocation. The primary combined endpoint was cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months in the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02342522) and is completed. FINDINGS: Between Nov 6, 2013, and March 31, 2018, 5401 patients were randomly allocated to either the control group (n=2701) or the remote ischaemic conditioning group (n=2700). After exclusion of patients upon hospital arrival or loss to follow-up, 2569 patients in the control group and 2546 in the intervention group were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. At 12 months post-PPCI, the Kaplan-Meier-estimated frequencies of cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure (the primary endpoint) were 220 (8·6%) patients in the control group and 239 (9·4%) in the remote ischaemic conditioning group (hazard ratio 1·10 [95% CI 0·91-1·32], p=0·32 for intervention versus control). No important unexpected adverse events or side effects of remote ischaemic conditioning were observed. INTERPRETATION: Remote ischaemic conditioning does not improve clinical outcomes (cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure) at 12 months in patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI. FUNDING: British Heart Foundation, University College London Hospitals/University College London Biomedical Research Centre, Danish Innovation Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, TrygFonden

Liquid-assisted femtosecond laser ablation of hybrid oxide nanoparticles with potenial applicaiton in medical imaging diagnosis

Medical imaging technologies such as mammography, magnetic resonance imaging and computed X-ray tomography play a leading role in the diagnosis of breast cancer. However clinical application of this multimodal approach is still problematic due the lack of appropriate commercial cantrast agents showing capabilities to distinguish between malignant tumours and benign abnormal masses. Hybrid nanoparticles, which contain in the same structure magnetic and radiopaque elements are a prornising alternative for the generation of these multimodal cantrast agents due to their unique characteristics, such as: high biocompatibility, cantrast enhancement efficacy, cost effectiveness and colloidal stability in the physiological environment. Liquid-Assisted Pulsed Laser Ablation (LA-PLA) of massive metal plates has proved as an efficient synthesis method to produce a wide range of stable nanoparticles in a variety of liquid solutions [1 ,2]. A major part ofthis work is production ofmultimodal nanoparticles by femtosecond laser treatment [3-5]. This method consists in the laser ablation of custom-made cerarnic plates of binary rnixed metal oxides (FeW06, FeLa03 and FeTa04) submerged in different liquids water and ethanol which contain both a magnetic (iron) and a radiopaque element, showing the same composition ofthe projected multimodal nanoparticles. The size distribution, chernical composition, and structure of the as-synthesized nanoparticles are going tobe identified by X-Ray Diffraction, Transmission Electron Microscopy, Selected Area Electron Diffraction and Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy. We are going to explore the influence ofthe quality ofthe cerarnic plates, nature ofthe solvent and laser parameters (wavelength, energy, repetition rate, fluence, scanning velocity, pulse number) on the nanoparticle productivity and characteristics ofthe colloidal nanoparticles.5

How Fluent Are You in the Language of Cultural Competency?

Do you truly know how to relate and talk to others from different backgrounds, experiences, and more? In this modern, evolving world, it’s more important than ever to be fluent in “cultural competency.” In this panel discussion, Admissions’ Ani Subotic, faculty members Kristen Kull and Shelley Hamill, and Residence Life’s Howard Seidler will share their experiences, answer audience questions, and challenge any previously held misconceptions and stereotypes you may have

Nucleation and crystal growth of zeolite A synthesised from hydrogels of different density

International audienceVarious factors affect the process of zeolite formation and thus the characteristics of the ultimate material. The present study is devoted to the influence of the density of the starting aluminosilicate hydrogels, i.e. the amount of the solid phase in the system, on the characteristics of the final product. Different density (viscosity) of the five alumosiliate gels was obtained by changing the ratio SiO2/H2O, while the ratios Na2O/H2O and SiO2/Al2O3 remained constant. The freshly prepared hydrogels were hydrothermally treated at 80 degrees C under static conditions. The reaction course was followed by a set of complementary analyses including XRD, chemical analysis, microscopy and thermogravimetry. The linear rate of crystal growth was calculated according to Zhdanov and Samulevich's method. The crystal size distribution curves of the end products were measured and the corresponding curves of nuclei distribution within gel matrix and specific number of crystals were calculated. The observed effect of “local ordered structure” (potential nuclei) formation was commented on from the viewpoint of the autocatalytic nucleation theory

Influence of alkalinity of the starting system on size and morphology of the zeolite A crystals

International audienceThe performance of zeolite crystals in different industrial processes often depends on their size and shape. Several physico-chemical parameters can have significant impact on their particulate properties (especially morphology). Amongst the chemical parameters the Si/Al ratio is one of most important variable together with the Na+ ions (alkalinity) content. The present study is devoted to the effect of Na on the morphology of zeolite A (LTA-type) crystals. Initial hydrogels were heated at 80 degrees C in reactors made of HDPE, under static conditions. After separation by centrifugation, samples of solid and liquid phase were characterized using several analytical methods such as: atomic absorption spectroscopy, Xray diffraction, laser light scattering, optical, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The results show that the increase of alkalinity in starting system causes two effects: (a) increase of the number of nuclei (crystals) in system through additional nucleation at surface and subsurface area of gel particles, and (b) the growth of crystals which have more irregular shape (rounded edges). (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Influence of alkalinity of the starting system on size and morphology of the zeolite A crystals

International audienceThe performance of zeolite crystals in different industrial processes often depends on their size and shape. Several physico-chemical parameters can have significant impact on their particulate properties (especially morphology). Amongst the chemical parameters the Si/Al ratio is one of most important variable together with the Na+ ions (alkalinity) content. The present study is devoted to the effect of Na on the morphology of zeolite A (LTA-type) crystals. Initial hydrogels were heated at 80 degrees C in reactors made of HDPE, under static conditions. After separation by centrifugation, samples of solid and liquid phase were characterized using several analytical methods such as: atomic absorption spectroscopy, Xray diffraction, laser light scattering, optical, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The results show that the increase of alkalinity in starting system causes two effects: (a) increase of the number of nuclei (crystals) in system through additional nucleation at surface and subsurface area of gel particles, and (b) the growth of crystals which have more irregular shape (rounded edges). (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

A Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation Tool for Identification of Protein-Protein Interactions in Candida albicans

Investigation of protein-protein interactions (PPI) in Candida albicans is essential for understanding the regulation of the signal transduction network that triggers its pathogenic lifestyle. Unique features of C. albicans, such as the alternative codon usage and incomplete meiosis, have enforced the optimization of standard genetic methods as well as development of novel approaches. Since the existing methods for detection of PPI are limited for direct visualization of the interacting complex in vivo, we have established a bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) in C. albicans, a powerful technique for studying PPI. We have developed an optimized set of plasmids that allows for N- and C-terminal tagging of proteins with split yeast-enhanced monomeric Venus fragments, so that all eight combinations of fusion orientations can be analyzed. With the use of our BiFC assay we demonstrate three interaction complexes in vivo, which were also confirmed by two-hybrid analysis. Our Candida optimized BiFC assay represents a useful molecular tool for PPI studies and shows great promise in expanding the knowledge on molecular mechanisms of protein functions.status: publishe