Phylogenetic patterns recover known HIV epidemiological relationships and reveal common transmission of multiple variants.

The growth of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) sequence databases resulting from drug resistance testing has motivated efforts using phylogenetic methods to assess how HIV spreads1-4. Such inference is potentially both powerful and useful for tracking the epidemiology of HIV and the allocation of resources to prevention campaigns. We recently used simulation and a small number of illustrative cases to show that certain phylogenetic patterns are associated with different types of epidemiological linkage5. Our original approach was later generalized for large next-generation sequencing datasets and implemented as a free computational pipeline6. Previous work has claimed that direction and directness of transmission could not be established from phylogeny because one could not be sure that there were no intervening or missing links involved7-9. Here, we address this issue by investigating phylogenetic patterns from 272 previously identified HIV transmission chains with 955 transmission pairs representing diverse geography, risk groups, subtypes, and genomic regions. These HIV transmissions had known linkage based on epidemiological information such as partner studies, mother-to-child transmission, pairs identified by contact tracing, and criminal cases. We show that the resulting phylogeny inferred from real HIV genetic sequences indeed reveals distinct patterns associated with direct transmission contra transmissions from a common source. Thus, our results establish how to interpret phylogenetic trees based on HIV sequences when tracking who-infected-whom, when and how genetic information can be used for improved tracking of HIV spread. We also investigate limitations that stem from limited sampling and genetic time-trends in the donor and recipient HIV populations

QCD Factorization in BB Decays into ρπ\rho \pi

Based on the QCD factorization approach we analyse the branching ratios for the channel $B \to \rho \pi$. From the comparisons with experimental data provided by CLEO, BELLE and BABAR we constrain the form factor $F^{B \to \pi}(m_{\rho}^{2})$ and propose boundaries for this form factor depending on the CKM matrix element parameters $\rho$ and $\eta$.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures. Talk presented at Fourth Tropical Workshop, Cairns, Australia, 9--13 June 2003. Proceedings to be published by AI

The Hankie Probe: A Materialistic Approach to Mobile UX Research

Mobile user experience (UX) research can benefit from unexplored opportunities from theory and practice. Contemporary sociology has developed sophisticated understandings of mobilities that can expand the scope of mobile HCI research. At the same time, we need to extend the scope of mobile experience beyond its current main foci on the portable device and moments of experience. We report the interim results of exploratory pilot studies of a fabric based probe that has been developed to extend the scope of mobile experience research both theoretically and in the range of insights that can be collected in mobile user studies. We report our initial experiences with a 'hankie' (handkerchief) probe that aims to gather rich usage and experience insights for early stages of design

Collaborative Shopping Networks: Sharing the Wisdom of Crowds in E-Commerce Environments

Social web services have gained enormous popularity over the past years because of a steadily increasing demand for user participation in the whole web sphere. Social networks like MySpace or Facebook and media sites like Flickr or YouTube clearly demonstrate the variety and functionality of social sites. Significantly affected by this trend, online retail and e-commerce environments rapidly changed within the last years. Users were integrated into existing e-shops and mutated from simple buyers to fully integrated customers. Thus, a modern shop visitor can recommend products, leave comments, rate vendors or publish wish lists. This recent phenomenon, called social commerce or social shopping, leads to more customer satisfaction, user participation and social interaction. Accordingly, there is a strong demand for innovative social commerce models and concepts like crowdsourcing, consumer generated content or live shopping. This paper shows the results of an extended analysis of collaborative shopping networks and demonstrates the development of a representative interaction model. An evaluation of social commerce models gave insights into functionalities, interactions and entities of successful social web applications. To create a collaborative shopping network model, conventional web services as well as selected best practice cases were analyzed in detail. To meet the demands of modern consumers, success factors are presented in the final part

Welche Rolle spielt der Biolandbau bei Schülerinnen und Schülern in den landwirtschaftlichen Schulen in Österreich?

A written standardised questionnaire registering attitudes, intentions, opinions, wishes, social norms etc. (45 items) was handed out to 259 pupils in six Agricultural colleges in autumn 2003. There is a highly significant correlation between the visited colleges and attitudes towards organic farming (Chi-Quadrat p<0,004). The attitude of the parents towards organic farming influences significantly that of the students. Girls do have a more positive approach towards organic farming

Bacteriophages: what role may they play in life after spinal cord injury?

Bacterial infections are the leading cause of death in people with a spinal cord injury (SCI). Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that solely infect and kill bacteria. The idea of using phages to treat bacterial infections, i.e., phage therapy, is very promising and potentially allows a more specific and personalized treatment of bacterial infections than antibiotics. While multi-drug resistant infections affect individuals from the general population, alternative therapeutic options are especially warranted in high-risk populations, such as individuals with SCI. However, more clinical data must be collected before phage therapy can be implemented in clinical practice, with numerous possible, subsequent applications

Strukturelle Reform der überörtlichen Sozialhilfe

Das Auseinanderfallen von Aufgabenwahrnehmung und Finanzierungsverantwortung in der organisatorischen Struktur einiger überörtlicher Sozialhilfeträger in Deutschland schafft keine Anreize für eine sparsame Mittelverwendung. In diesem Beitrag wird eine strukturelle Reform vorgeschlagen, die auf dem Konnexitätsprinzip beruht und zu erheblichen Effizienzgewinnen führen kann.Sozialhilfe, Reform, Ausgaben, Gemeinde, Berufliche Integration, Deutschland

Unternehmenskommunikation und ihre Auswirkungen auf Reputationskonstitution und Vertrauensvergabe

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Erforschung von Vertrauen und Reputation und den dahinterliegenden Konzepten der Authentizität, Identität und Marke. Innerhalb eines Analyserahmens, der aus ebendiesen Konzepten gebildet und im Verlauf der Arbeit weiter verfeinert und erweitert wird, werden die Zusammenhänge und Wechselwirkungen der einzelnen Konzepte in ihrer Beziehung zueinander untersucht. Die Forschungsperspektive stellt dabei die Unternehmenskommunikation dar – die Arbeit geht in weiterer Folge der Frage nach, welche Möglichkeiten der Unternehmenskommunikation zur Verfügung stehen, um die Vergabe von Vertrauen und den Aufbau von Reputation wahrscheinlicher zu machen. Auf dieser Basis werden Vertrauen, Reputation und Marke in einem zentralen Analyserahmen zusammengefasst und in ihrer Verbindung und wechselseitigen Wirkung untersucht. Die Konzepte werden in diesem theoretischen Rahmen um die zentralen Begriffe Authentizität und Identität ergänzt und schlussendlich im Drei-Welten-Konzept nach Habermas zu einem theoretisch fundierten Modell der Vergabe von Vertrauen zusammengefasst. Die Vergabe von Vertrauen wird als Prozess gefasst, der auf der Beurteilung von rational begründeten Erwartungsschemata in der objektiven, sozialen und subjektiven Welt beruht. Auf Basis dieser Analysen wird im zweiten Teil die spezifische Kommunikations- und Vertrauenssituation von überregionalen Unternehmen mit lokalen Repräsentanten, also etwa Filialen, selbstständigen Kaufleuten oder Franchise-Nehmern, untersucht. Dabei werden Vertrauens- und Reputationspotentiale identifiziert, die durch eine aktive Rolle der lokalen Repräsentanten unterstützt werden können. Die Bearbeitung dieser Potentiale verlangt Einsatz und Bewusstsein sowohl auf überregionaler, als auch auf lokaler Ebene und damit bestimmte Freiräume und Begrenzungen auf lokaler Ebene, sowie Unterstützungsleistungen von überregionaler Ebene. Insgesamt können daraus auf beiden Ebenen operative und strategische Handlungsspielräume entstehen. Basis dafür ist aber stets ein Handeln, das Vertrauen auch verdient.This paper focuses on the analysis of trust and reputation and the concepts of authenticity, identity and corporate brands that lie behind them. The relations and interdependencies of trust, reputation, authenticity, identity and corporate brands is being researched in an analytical framework. The paper researches the possibilities of corporate communications to heighten the probability of the constitution of reputation and the establishment of trust. On this basis, trust, reputation and brands are combined in a central frame of analysis and investigated upon in their mutual relationships. In this theoretical frame, the concepts are extended by the central concepts authenticity and identity and are finally integrated in a model that is based on the three-worlds-model by Habermas. The establishment of trust is modeled as a process relying on the assessment of rationally based systems of expectations in the objective, social and subjective world. On the basis of this analysis, the second part of the paper researches the specific situation of communication and trust in which supra-regional companies with local representatives find themselves. The goal is to analyze those potentials of trust and reputation that can be supported by an active role of the local representatives. Based upon central relevant literature and the analysis in the first part of the paper, there are the main potentials of local representatives to be found. These potentials need the combination of the local and supra-regional layers to establish freedom of action on an operative and strategic level. The basis for all this, however, is always a way of acting that earns trust