The need for the development of discipline-specific approaches to address academic bullying

Background It is now well-documented that academic bullying, mainly driven by power differences, affects all disci-plines and academic people with various positions (from students to senior faculty) of all levels of experience. Our aim is to probe whether academic bullying, in its specific forms, manifests differently across disciplines. Methods We analyzed discipline-specific data from our global survey on academic bullying, which was collected since November 2019. The survey was a cross-sectional global study that was administered via Qualtrics. It reflects responses from 2122 individuals whose participation was solicited through various means including advertisements in Science and Nature magazines and the American Chemical Society. Findings The main finding is that academic bullying does not affect all scientific fields equally. Our cross-sectional global survey of targets of academic bullying indicates that bullying behavior depended strongly on the scientific dis-cipline. Specifically, our comparison of the three major scientific categories, including Applied Sciences, Natural Sci-ences, and Social Sciences revealed significant differences (p < 0.05) in four (out of ten) of the contextual behaviors. Further comparison of the bullying behavior among specific disciplines (e.g., Chemistry, Engineering, Life Sciences, Neuroscience, and Social Sciences) revealed significant differences (p < 0.05) in five of the contextual behaviors. We also noticed that, among the top five disciplines analyzed, respondents in Engineering experienced the highest rate of bullying behaviors. Interpretation The variation in contextual bullying behavior across disciplines suggests the need for specific and nuanced training, monitoring, and actions by stakeholders in addressing academic bullying in a context-specific manner.Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd

Breaking the silence around academic harassment

It is time to hold every member of the scientific community responsible and 'response able' in addressing/reporting academic harassment. Stop applauding academic stars on the podium prior to checking what is happening underneath!</p

Cannabinoid receptor CB1 mediates baseline and activity-induced survival of new neurons in adult hippocampal neurogenesis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Adult neurogenesis is a particular example of brain plasticity that is partially modulated by the endocannabinoid system. Whereas the impact of synthetic cannabinoids on the neuronal progenitor cells has been described, there has been lack of information about the action of plant-derived extracts on neurogenesis. Therefore we here focused on the effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD) fed to female C57Bl/6 and Nestin-GFP-reporter mice on proliferation and maturation of neuronal progenitor cells and spatial learning performance. In addition we used cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) deficient mice and treatment with CB1 antagonist AM251 in Nestin-GFP-reporter mice to investigate the role of the CB1 receptor in adult neurogenesis in detail.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>THC and CBD differed in their effects on spatial learning and adult neurogenesis. CBD did not impair learning but increased adult neurogenesis, whereas THC reduced learning without affecting adult neurogenesis. We found the neurogenic effect of CBD to be dependent on the CB1 receptor, which is expressed over the whole dentate gyrus. Similarly, the neurogenic effect of environmental enrichment and voluntary wheel running depends on the presence of the CB1 receptor. We found that in the absence of CB1 receptors, cell proliferation was increased and neuronal differentiation reduced, which could be related to CB1 receptor mediated signaling in Doublecortin (DCX)-expressing intermediate progenitor cells.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>CB1 affected the stages of adult neurogenesis that involve intermediate highly proliferative progenitor cells and the survival and maturation of new neurons. The pro-neurogenic effects of CBD might explain some of the positive therapeutic features of CBD-based compounds.</p

A novel approach of homozygous haplotype sharing identifies candidate genes in autism spectrum disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly heritable disorder of complex and heterogeneous aetiology. It is primarily characterized by altered cognitive ability including impaired language and communication skills and fundamental deficits in social reciprocity. Despite some notable successes in neuropsychiatric genetics, overall, the high heritability of ASD (~90%) remains poorly explained by common genetic risk variants. However, recent studies suggest that rare genomic variation, in particular copy number variation, may account for a significant proportion of the genetic basis of ASD. We present a large scale analysis to identify candidate genes which may contain low-frequency recessive variation contributing to ASD while taking into account the potential contribution of population differences to the genetic heterogeneity of ASD. Our strategy, homozygous haplotype (HH) mapping, aims to detect homozygous segments of identical haplotype structure that are shared at a higher frequency amongst ASD patients compared to parental controls. The analysis was performed on 1,402 Autism Genome Project trios genotyped for 1 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We identified 25 known and 1,218 novel ASD candidate genes in the discovery analysis including CADM2, ABHD14A, CHRFAM7A, GRIK2, GRM3, EPHA3, FGF10, KCND2, PDZK1, IMMP2L and FOXP2. Furthermore, 10 of the previously reported ASD genes and 300 of the novel candidates identified in the discovery analysis were replicated in an independent sample of 1,182 trios. Our results demonstrate that regions of HH are significantly enriched for previously reported ASD candidate genes and the observed association is independent of gene size (odds ratio 2.10). Our findings highlight the applicability of HH mapping in complex disorders such as ASD and offer an alternative approach to the analysis of genome-wide association data

Die orthographische Fehlerhaftigkeit in schriftlichen Arbeiten von Schülerinnen und Schülern in der Sekundarstufe I

Rechtschreibung ist ein Thema, welches unsere Gesellschaft bereits mehrere Jahrhunderte hinweg beschäftigt. Damit verbunden ist auch die Rechtschreibleistung von Schülerinnen und Schülern ein oft umstrittenes Sujet. Mit der am 1. September 2012 neu lancierten Schulform NMS rückte der Fokus auf Individualität und Chancengleichheit. Trotz allem scheint die Tie- fe der Fachkenntnisse in den nun vorhandenen Schulformen NMS und AHS stark zu divergieren, so auch in Hinblick auf den Deutschunterricht und das mit ihm verbundene Wissen über die deutsche Orthographie. Mit dieser Arbeit wird versucht, eine Antwort auf dieses Phänomen zu erhalten. Im Theorieteil werden prägende Einflussfaktoren auf den Schriftspracherwerb, die wichtigsten Eckdaten der deutschen Orthographiehistorie und ein wissenschaftlich fundiertes Wissen über die Teilbereiche Groß- und Kleinschreibung sowie Getrennt- und Zusammenschreibung erörtert. Der zweite Part beinhaltet die Forschungsbeschreibung und die Datenauswertung. Alle Ergebnisse werden anschließend mit Hinblick auf die theoretisch erarbeiteten Kenntnisse analysiert

Breaking the silence around academic harassment

It is time to hold every member of the scientific community responsible and 'response able' in addressing/reporting academic harassment. Stop applauding academic stars on the podium prior to checking what is happening underneath

Ecotoxicity assessment of natural attenuation effects at a historical dumping site in the western Baltic Sea

During the late 1950s and early 1960s of the past century, industrial waste material highly enriched in various contaminants (heavy metals, PAHs) was dumped in the inner Mecklenburg Bay, western Baltic Sea. Large-scale shifts in the spatial distribution of heavy metals in surface sediments were mapped by geochemical monitoring in the mid-1980s and 12 years later in 1997. A further study in 2001 was designed to investigate the small-scale spatial distribution of contaminants inside, on top of, and around the historical dumping ground and to examine possible effects to benthic organisms (Arctica islandica, microbiological toxicity tests). The site is located within an area characterized by a discontinuous deposition of fine sediments, but net sedimentation rate of about 3 mm/y led ultimately to a gradual coverage of the dumped material. During the first decades after the dumping, about half of the originally dumped material was already spread over the surrounding area as a result of sediment dynamics and re-suspension processes. Recent sediments of the historical dump site are still significantly enriched in heavy metals and PAHs. Microbiological toxicity test results were positive, though uptake of contaminants in mussels was found to deviate only slightly from that of a non-contaminated reference station due to a gradual dilution and decrease in bioavailability of the contaminants. %26COPY; 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved