Social Justice in the EU and OECD. Bertelsmann Stiftung Index Report 2019

With the onset of the economic and financial crisis, social justice has deteriorated – on average – in the OECD and EU countries surveyed by the SJI.1 While the Social Justice Index shows a slight but ongoing upward trend since economic recovery began in 2014, the overall score remains below the pre-crisis level. In addition, there are still striking discrepancies with regard to available opportunities to participate in society in the 41 countries surveyed

Strategisches Controlling als Ausweg aus der Bürokratiefalle

Über die Notwendigkeit eines Bürokratieabbaus sind sich Bürger, Politiker und Wissenschaftler grundsätzlich einig. Doch über die Details einer Entbürokratisierung wird häufig gestritten. Wie sind Bürokratiekosten zu messen? Welche Formen von Bürokratieproblemen gibt es? Wie sollte eine exzessive Bürokratisierung bekämpft werden? --

Effect of jaw clenching on balance recovery: Dynamic stability and lower extremity joint kinematics after forward loss of balance

Postural control is crucial for most tasks of daily living, delineating postural orientation and balance, with its main goal of fall prevention. Nevertheless, falls are common events, and have been associated with deficits in muscle strength and dynamic postural stability. Recent studies reported on improvements in rate of force development and static postural control evoked by jaw clenching activities, potentially induced by facilitation of human motor system excitability. However, there are no studies describing the effects on dynamic stability. The present study, therefore, aimed to investigate the effects of submaximum jaw clenching on recovery behavior from forward loss of balance. Participants were 12 healthy young adults, who were instructed to recover balance from a simulated forward fall by taking a single step while either biting at a submaximum force or keeping the mandible at rest. Bite forces were measured by means of hydrostatic splints, whereas a 3D motion capture system was used to analyze spatiotemporal parameters and joint angles, respectively. Additionally, dynamic stability was quantified by the extrapolated CoM concept, designed to determine postural stability in dynamic situations. Paired t-tests revealed that submaximum biting did not significantly influence recovery behavior with respect to any variable under investigation. Therefore, reductions in postural sway evoked by submaximum biting are obviously not transferable to balance recovery as it was assessed in the present study. It is suggested that these contradictions are the result of different motor demands associated with the abovementioned tasks. Furthermore, floor effects and the sample size might be discussed as potential reasons for the absence of significances. Notwithstanding this, the present study also revealed that bite forces under both conditions significantly increased from subjects’ release to touchdown of the recovery limb. Clenching the jaw, hence, seems to be part of a common physiological repertoire used to improve motor performance

Influence of Controlled Stomatognathic Motor Activity on Sway, Control and Stability of the Center of Mass During Dynamic Steady-State Balance—An Uncontrolled Manifold Analysis

Multiple sensory signals from visual, somatosensory and vestibular systems are used for human postural control. To maintain postural stability, the central nervous system keeps the center of mass (CoM) within the base of support. The influence of the stomatognathic motor system on postural control has been established under static conditions, but it has not yet been investigated during dynamic steady-state balance. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of controlled stomatognathic motor activity on the control and stability of the CoM during dynamic steady-state balance. A total of 48 physically active and healthy adults were assigned to three groups with different stomatognathic motor conditions: jaw clenching, tongue pressing and habitual stomatognathic behavior. Dynamic steady-state balance was assessed using an oscillating platform and the kinematic data were collected with a 3D motion capturing system. The path length (PL) of the 3D CoM trajectory was used for quantifying CoM sway. Temporal dynamics of the CoM movement was assessed with a detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). An uncontrolled manifold (UCM) analysis was applied to assess the stability and control of the CoM with a subject-specific anthropometric 3D model. The statistical analysis revealed that the groups did not differ significantly in PL, DFA scaling exponents or UCM parameters. The results indicated that deliberate jaw clenching or tongue pressing did not seem to affect the sway, control or stability of the CoM on an oscillating platform significantly. Because of the task-specificity of balance, further research investigating the effects of stomatognathic motor activities on dynamic steady-state balance with different movement tasks are needed. Additionally, further analysis by use of muscle synergies or co-contractions may reveal effects on the level of muscles, which were not visible on the level of kinematics. This study can contribute to the understanding of postural control mechanisms, particularly in relation to stomatognathic motor activities and under dynamic conditions

Influence of controlled masticatory muscle activity on dynamic reactive balance

Background The influence of the stomatognatic system on human posture control has been investigated under static conditions, but the effects on dynamic balance have not yet been considered. Objective Investigating the influence of different functional stomatognatic activities (jaw clenching (JAW), tongue pressing (TON) and habitual jaw position (HAB)) on postural performance during a dynamic reactive balance task. Methods Forty-eight physically active and healthy adults were assigned to three groups differing in oral-motor tasks (JAW, TON or HAB). Dynamic reactive balance was assessed by an oscillating platform which was externally perturbed in four directions. Performance was quantified by means of Lehr\u27s damping ratio. Mean speeds of the selected anatomical regions (head, trunk, pelvis, knee and foot) were analysed to determine significant performance differences. Results The groups differed significantly in balance performance in direction F (i.e., forwards acceleration of the platform). Post hoc tests revealed that the JAW group had significantly better performance compared with both the HAB and TON groups. Better performance was associated with a decreased mean speed of the analysed anatomical regions. Conclusion JAW can improve dynamic reactive balance but the occurrence of positive effects seems to be task-specific and not general. TON seems not to have any observable effects on dynamic reactive balance performance, at least when evaluating it with an oscillating platform. JAW might be a valuable strategy which could possibly reduce the risk of falls in elderly people; however, further investigations are still needed

Origin of isotopic diversity among carbonaceous chondrites

Carbonaceous chondrites are some of the most primitive meteorites and derive from planetesimals that formed a few million years after the beginning of the solar system. Here, using new and previously published Cr, Ti, and Te isotopic data, we show that carbonaceous chondrites exhibit correlated isotopic variations that can be accounted for by mixing among three major constituents having distinct isotopic compositions, namely refractory inclusions, chondrules, and CI chondrite-like matrix. The abundances of refractory inclusions and chondrules are coupled and systematically decrease with increasing amount of matrix. We propose that these correlated abundance variations reflect trapping of chondrule precursors, including refractory inclusions, in a pressure maximum in the disk, which is likely related to the water ice line and the ultimate formation location of Jupiter. The variable abundance of refractory inclusions/chondrules relative to matrix is the result of their distinct aerodynamical properties resulting in differential delivery rates and their preferential incorporation into chondrite parent bodies during the streaming instability, consistent with the early formation of matrix-poor and the later accretion of matrix-rich carbonaceous chondrites. Our results suggest that chondrules formed locally from isotopically heterogeneous dust aggregates which themselves derive from a wide area of the disk, implying that dust enrichment in a pressure trap was an important step to facilitate the accretion of carbonaceous chondrite parent bodies or, more generally, planetesimals in the outer solar system.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Isotopic evidence for pallasite formation by impact mixing of olivine and metal during the first 10 million years of the Solar System

Pallasites are mixtures of core and mantle material that may have originated from the core-mantle boundary of a differentiated body. However, recent studies have introduced the possibility that they record an impact mix, in which case an isotopic difference between metal and silicates in pallasites may be expected. We report a statistically significant oxygen isotope disequilibrium between olivine and chromite in main group pallasites that implies the silicate and metal portions of these meteorites stem from distinct isotopic reservoirs. This indicates that these meteorites were formed by impact mixing, during which a planetary core was injected into the mantle of another body. The impactor likely differentiated within ∼1–2 Myr of the start of the Solar System based on Hf-W chronology of pallasite metal, and we infer the age of the impact based on Mn-Cr systematics and cooling rates at between ∼1.5 and 9.5 Myr after CAIs. When combined with published slow sub-solidus cooling rates for these meteorites and considering that several pallasite groups exist, our results indicate that such impacts may be an important stage in the evolution of planetary bodies

Bank competition and stability: Cross-country heterogeneity

This paper documents large cross-country variation in the relationship between bank competition and bank stability and explores market, regulatory and institutional features that can explain this variation. We show that an increase in competition will have a larger impact on banks’ fragility in countries with stricter activity restrictions, lower systemic fragility, better developed stock exchanges, more generous deposit insurance and more effective systems of credit information sharing. The effects are economically large and thus have important repercussions for the current regulatory reform debate