Knessetwahlen in Israel 2006

"Die Wahlen zur 17. Knesset am 28. März 2006 bestätigten die im November 2005 von Ariel Scharon ins Leben gerufene Zentrumspartei Kadimah (Vorwärts) als zurzeit wichtigste politische Kraft in der israelischen Parteienlandschaft. Die Wahlergebnisse belegen deutliche Veränderungen auf der politischen Landkarte Israels. Sie weisen in der Friedens- bzw. Sicherheitsfrage im Vergleich zu den Wahlen von 2003 eine leichte Stärkung des kompromissbereiten Lagers der 'Tauben' und eine Schwächung des Blocks der religiös-nationalistischen 'Falken' aus. Die ideologisch motivierte Stimmabgabe trat deutlich hinter pragmatische Erwägungen zurück. Partikularistische Tendenzen wurden gestärkt. Die Wahlen wiesen die niedrigste Beteiligung der israelischen Parlamentsgeschichte auf. Der designierte Ministerpräsident Ehud Olmert verfügt in der Knesset über eine Mehrheit für die von ihm verkündeten Rückzugspläne aus größeren Teilen des Westjordangebiets. Von der Zusammensetzung der Regierungskoalition wird abhängen, ob, in welchem Zeitrahmen, mit welcher Konsequenz und mit welchen Schritten er dieses Ziel erreichen kann. Die Wahlen zur 17. Knesset waren zugleich die 'ersten sozialen Wahlen' in Israel. Arbeitspartei, Schas, Rentnerpartei und VTJ (44 Abgeordnete) sind bestrebt, ihre Forderungen nach Erhöhung von Mindestlohn, Kindergeld und Renten bzw. Verbesserung der Gesundheitsfürsorge in die Koalitionsvereinbarung einzubringen. Die Positionen der möglichen Koalitionspartner divergieren wesentlich sowohl hinsichtlich der Sicherheits- und Grenzproblematik als auch in innenpolitischen Fragen. Vorzeitige Neuwahlen sind deshalb nicht auszuschließen." (Autorenreferat

MAPK phosphatase-1 represents a novel antiinflammatory target of glucocorticoids in the human endothelium

Glucocorticoids are well-established anti- inflammatory drugs thought to mainly act by inhibition of proinflammatory transcription factors like NF-κB. In recent years, however, transcription factorindependent mechanisms of glucocorticoid action have been proposed, namely the influence on MAPK pathways. Here we identify MAPK phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) as a pivotal mediator of the anti-inflammatory action of glucocorticoids in the human endothelium. We applied dexamethasone (Dex) to TNF-α-activated human endothelial cells and used the adhesion molecule E-selectin as inflammatory read-out parameter. Dex is known to reduce the expression of E-selectin, which is largely regulated by NF-κB. Here, we communicate that Dex at low concentrations (1–100 nM) markedly attenuates E-selectin expression without affecting NF-κB. Importantly, Dex is able to increase the expression of MKP-1, which causes an inactivation of TNF-α-induced p38 MAPK and mediates inhibition of E-selectin expression. In endothelial MKP-1ˉ/ˉ cells differentiated from MKP-1ˉ/ˉ embryonic stem cells and in MKP-1-silenced human endothelial cells, Dex did not inhibit TNF-α-evoked E-selectin expression. Thus, our findings introduce MKP-1 as a novel and crucial mediator of the anti-inflammatory action of glucocorticoids at low concentrations in the human endothelium and highlight MKP-1 as an important and promising antiinflammatory drug target

On the evolution of an ice shelf melt channel at the base of Filchner Ice Shelf, from observations and viscoelastic modeling

Ice shelves play a key role in the stability of the Antarctic Ice Sheet due to their buttressing effect. A loss of buttressing as a result of increased basal melting or ice shelf disintegration will lead to increased ice discharge. Some ice shelves exhibit channels at the base that are not yet fully understood. In this study, we present in situ melt rates of a channel which is up to 330 m high and located in the southern Filchner Ice Shelf. Maximum observed melt rates are 2 m yr−1. Melt rates inside the channel decrease in the direction of ice flow and turn to freezing ∼55 km downstream of the grounding line. While closer to the grounding line melt rates are higher within the channel than outside, this relationship reverses further downstream. Comparing the modeled evolution of this channel under present-day climate conditions over 250 years with its present geometry reveals a mismatch. Melt rates twice as large as the present-day values are required to fit the observed geometry. In contrast, forcing the model with present-day melt rates results in a closure of the channel, which contradicts observations. The ice shelf experiences strong tidal variability in vertical strain rates at the measured site, and discrete pulses of increased melting occurred throughout the measurement period. The type of melt channel in this study diminishes in height with distance from the grounding line and is hence not a destabilizing factor for ice shelves.</p

A new species of Acanthaspidia Stebbing, 1898 (Isopoda, Asellota, Acanthaspidiidae) from the bathyal Weddell Sea (Southern Ocean)

A new acanthaspidiid species, Acanthaspidia matsi sp. nov., is described from the Powell Basin slope (Weddell Sea, Southern Ocean). Specimens of the new species were collected during the expedition ANDEEP III on board RV Polarstern in March 2005. The new species most closely resembles Acanthaspidia typhlops (G. O. Sars, 1879), Acanthaspidia natalensis (Kensley, 1977) andAcanthaspidia bifurcatoides Kussakin &amp; Vasina, 1982, but can be distinguished from all these species by the following characters: rostrum strongly trifid (tips 0.4 times rostrum length); pereonites 1, 3–4 and 6 with 2 mid-dorsal spines; pleotelson spinulated, with 2 robust mid-dorsal spines. Systematic difficulties to distinguish the genera Acanthaspidia Stebbing, 1898 and Ianthopsis Beddard, 1886 are discussed and a key to all species in the genus Acanthaspidia is provided

Modelling the Transformation from Snow to Ice Based on the Underlying Sintering Process

In cold regions of the earth, like Antarctica, Greenland or mountains at high altitude, the annual amount of deposited snow exceeds the amount of snow melting. Snow, which is more than one year old, is called firn. Over time firn transforms into ice by a sintering process, mainly driven by overburden pressure and temperature. This ultimately leads to the formation of glaciers and ice sheets. We simulate firn densification based on the processes of sintering. The constitutive law represents grain boundary sliding, dislocation creep and diffusion. These mechanisms sum up to the overall densification which leads to the transformation of snow to ice. The model aims at obtaining a physics driven simulation tool for firn densification which provides data for a wider range of areas. It will contribute to develop better models and better understanding of the cryosphere

Modelling the Transformation from Snow to Ice Based on the Underlying Sintering Process

In cold regions of the earth, like Antarctica, Greenland or mountains at high altitude, the annual amount of deposited snow exceeds the amount of snow melting. Snow, which is more than one year old, is called firn. Over time firn transforms into ice by a sintering process, mainly driven by overburden pressure and temperature. This ultimately leads to the formation of glaciers and ice sheets. We simulate firn densification based on the processes of sintering. The constitutive law represents grain boundary sliding, dislocation creep and diffusion. These mechanisms sum up to the overall densification which leads to the transformation of snow to ice. The model aims at obtaining a physics driven simulation tool for firn densification which provides data for a wider range of areas. It will contribute to develop better models and better understanding of the cryosphere

On the contribution of grain boundary sliding type creep to firn densification – an assessment using an optimization approach

Simulation approaches to firn densification often rely on the assumption that grain boundary sliding is the leading process driving the first stage of densification. Alley (1987) first developed a process-based material model of firn that describes this process. However, often so-called semi-empirical models are favored over the physical description of grain boundary sliding owing to their simplicity and the uncertainties regarding model parameters. In this study, we assessed the applicability of the grain boundary sliding model of Alley (1987) to firn using a numeric firn densification model and an optimization approach, for which we formulated variants of the constitutive relation of Alley (1987). An efficient model implementation based on an updated Lagrangian numerical scheme enabled us to perform a large number of simulations to test different model parameters and identify the simulation results that best reproduced 159 firn density profiles from Greenland and Antarctica. For most of the investigated locations, the simulated and measured firn density profiles were in good agreement. This result implies that the constitutive relation of Alley (1987) characterizes the first stage of firn densification well when suitable model parameters are used. An analysis of the parameters that result in the best agreement revealed a dependence on the mean surface mass balance. This finding may indicate that the load is insufficiently described, as the lateral components of the stress tensor are usually neglected in one-dimensional models of the firn column