Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien: Beschäftigung, Arbeitsformen und Umweltschutz

Im Zusammenhang mit der Entwicklung der Informations- und Kommunikationsgesellschaft sind tiefgreifende Veränderungen bei Beschäftigung und Arbeitsformen zu erwarten. Die Analyse lang- und mittelfristiger Trends auf Arbeitsmärkten und in Organisationen zeigt, daß bislang rationalisierungsbedingte Beschäftigungseinbußen im primären und sekundären Sektor der Volkswirtschaft durch Beschäftigungsexpansion im Dienstleistungsbereich und da insbesondere im öffentlichen Dienst überkompensiert werden konnten. Der Trend zur Tertiarisierung der Beschäftigung wird durch den jetzt einsetzenden Technisierungs- und Informatisierungsschub quantitativen und qualitativen Veränderungen unterworfen. Die Sekundäreffekte des Einsatzes von IuK-Technologien sind nur unter Hinzunahme differenzierterer Betrachtung von Untersegmenten der Branchen, der Tätigkeitsbereiche und Qualifikationsebenen der Beschäftigten zu analysieren. In der sich jetzt abzeichnenden Entwicklung reicht die Zahl der durch IuK-Technologien neu entstehenden Arbeitsplätze nicht aus, um Rationalisierungsverluste auch künftig noch zu kompensieren. Allein hochqualifizierte Arbeitnehmerinnen und Arbeitnehmer werden von der Informatisierung der Wirtschaft profitieren können. Hinsichtlich der Zunahme von Nichtnorm-Arbeitsverhältnissen sowie Veränderungen von Arbeitsformen ist der Einsatz von IuK-Technologien allerdings lediglich als ermöglichender und Co-Faktor zu qualifizieren. Als ebensolche Faktoren erweisen sich die IuK-Technologien auch in bezug auf die ökologischen Auswirkungen. Für die untersuchten Bereiche wird gezeigt, daß gewünschte und unerwünschte Folgen der gesellschaftlichen Genese, Ausbrei tung und Anwendungen von IuK-Technologien nur durch diese Techniken ermöglicht, aber wesentlich von den sozioökonomischen Rahmenfaktoren und ihrer Gestaltung abhängig sind. IuK-T echnologien erweisen sich so weniger als Form, denn als geeignete Medien gesellschaftlicher Veränderung und ihrer politisch-rechtlichen Gestaltung. -- The production and adoption of information and communication technologies is only one of other factors that presently determine the quantity and quality of work in the process of development of the "Information Society". Negative developments on job markets have to be analysed on the levels of branches, qualification levels and occupational functions to find out about the different inducing factors. The result of such an analysis is that the markets of media, information- and communication technologies are not able to solve the structural problems of job markets as well as it cannot solve ecological problems automatically. These technologies can only be qualified as enabling factors, which allow but not determine new societal and ecological alternatives, which depend much more on the socio-economical set-up. Information and communication technologies are consequently societal media, which allow new forms of societal settings, which depend on the modi of political and legal designing.

Genome-wide association study of borderline personality disorder reveals genetic overlap with bipolar disorder, major depression and schizophrenia

Borderline personality disorder (BOR) is determined by environmental and genetic factors, and characterized by affective instability and impulsivity, diagnostic symptoms also observed in manic phases of bipolar disorder (BIP). Up to 20% of BIP patients show comorbidity with BOR. This report describes the first case–control genome-wide association study (GWAS) of BOR, performed in one of the largest BOR patient samples worldwide. The focus of our analysis was (i) to detect genes and gene sets involved in BOR and (ii) to investigate the genetic overlap with BIP. As there is considerable genetic overlap between BIP, major depression (MDD) and schizophrenia (SCZ) and a high comorbidity of BOR and MDD, we also analyzed the genetic overlap of BOR with SCZ and MDD. GWAS, gene-based tests and gene-set analyses were performed in 998 BOR patients and 1545 controls. Linkage disequilibrium score regression was used to detect the genetic overlap between BOR and these disorders. Single marker analysis revealed no significant association after correction for multiple testing. Gene-based analysis yielded two significant genes: DPYD (P=4.42 × 10−7) and PKP4 (P=8.67 × 10−7); and gene-set analysis yielded a significant finding for exocytosis (GO:0006887, PFDR=0.019; FDR, false discovery rate). Prior studies have implicated DPYD, PKP4 and exocytosis in BIP and SCZ. The most notable finding of the present study was the genetic overlap of BOR with BIP (rg=0.28 [P=2.99 × 10−3]), SCZ (rg=0.34 [P=4.37 × 10−5]) and MDD (rg=0.57 [P=1.04 × 10−3]). We believe our study is the first to demonstrate that BOR overlaps with BIP, MDD and SCZ on the genetic level. Whether this is confined to transdiagnostic clinical symptoms should be examined in future studies

Longitudinal transcriptome-wide gene expression analysis of sleep deprivation treatment shows involvement of circadian genes and immune pathways

Therapeutic sleep deprivation (SD) rapidly induces robust, transient antidepressant effects in a large proportion of major mood disorder patients suffering from a depressive episode, but underlying biological factors remain poorly understood. Research suggests that these patients may have altered circadian molecular genetic 'clocks' and that SD functions through 'resetting' dysregulated genes; additional factors may be involved, warranting further investigation. Leveraging advances in microarray technology enabling the transcriptome-wide assessment of gene expression, this study aimed to examine gene expression changes accompanying SD and recovery sleep in patients suffering from an episode of depression. Patients (N = 78) and controls (N = 15) underwent SD, with blood taken at the same time of day before SD, after one night of SD and after recovery sleep. A transcriptome-wide gene-by-gene approach was used, with a targeted look also taken at circadian genes. Furthermore, gene set enrichment, and longitudinal gene set analyses including the time point after recovery sleep, were conducted. Circadian genes were significantly affected by SD, with patterns suggesting that molecular clocks of responders and non-responders, as well as patients and controls respond differently to chronobiologic stimuli. Notably, gene set analyses revealed a strong widespread effect of SD on pathways involved in immune function and inflammatory response, such as those involved in cytokine and especially in interleukin signalling. Longitudinal gene set analyses showed that in responders these pathways were upregulated after SD; in non-responders, little response was observed. Our findings emphasize the close relationship between circadian, immune and sleep systems and their link to etiology of depression at the transcriptomic level

Longitudinal transcriptome-wide gene expression analysis of sleep deprivation treatment shows involvement of circadian genes and immune pathways

Therapeutic sleep deprivation (SD) rapidly induces robust, transient antidepressant effects in a large proportion of major mood disorder patients suffering from a depressive episode, but underlying biological factors remain poorly understood. Research suggests that these patients may have altered circadian molecular genetic 'clocks' and that SD functions through 'resetting' dysregulated genes;additional factors may be involved, warranting further investigation. Leveraging advances in microarray technology enabling the transcriptome-wide assessment of gene expression, this study aimed to examine gene expression changes accompanying SD and recovery sleep in patients suffering from an episode of depression. Patients (N = 78) and controls (N = 15) underwent SD, with blood taken at the same time of day before SD, after one night of SD and after recovery sleep. A transcriptome-wide gene-by-gene approach was used, with a targeted look also taken at circadian genes. Furthermore, gene set enrichment, and longitudinal gene set analyses including the time point after recovery sleep, were conducted. Circadian genes were significantly affected by SD, with patterns suggesting that molecular clocks of responders and non-responders, as well as patients and controls respond differently to chronobiologic stimuli. Notably, gene set analyses revealed a strong widespread effect of SD on pathways involved in immune function and inflammatory response, such as those involved in cytokine and especially in interleukin signalling. Longitudinal gene set analyses showed that in responders these pathways were upregulated after SD;in non-responders, little response was observed. Our findings emphasize the close relationship between circadian, immune and sleep systems and their link to etiology of depression at the transcriptomic level

Linguistic style as a digital marker for depression severity: An ambulatory assessment pilot study in patients with depressive disorder undergoing sleep deprivation therapy

Background Digital phenotyping and monitoring tools are the most promising approaches to automatically detect upcoming depressive episodes. Especially, linguistic style has been seen as a potential behavioral marker of depression, as cross-sectional studies showed, for example, less frequent use of positive emotion words, intensified use of negative emotion words, and more self-references in patients with depression compared to healthy controls. However, longitudinal studies are sparse and therefore it remains unclear whether within-person fluctuations in depression severity are associated with individuals\u27 linguistic style. Methods To capture affective states and concomitant speech samples longitudinally, we used an ambulatory assessment approach sampling multiple times a day via smartphones in patients diagnosed with depressive disorder undergoing sleep deprivation therapy. This intervention promises a rapid change of affective symptoms within a short period of time, assuring sufficient variability in depressive symptoms. We extracted word categories from the transcribed speech samples using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count. Results Our analyses revealed that more pleasant affective momentary states (lower reported depression severity, lower negative affective state, higher positive affective state, (positive) valence, energetic arousal and calmness) are mirrored in the use of less negative emotion words and more positive emotion words. Conclusion We conclude that a patient\u27s linguistic style, especially the use of positive and negative emotion words, is associated with self-reported affective states and thus is a promising feature for speech-based automated monitoring and prediction of upcoming episodes, ultimately leading to better patient care

Amortized Rejection Sampling in Universal Probabilistic Programming

Existing approaches to amortized inference in probabilistic programs with unbounded loops can produce estimators with infinite variance. An instance of this is importance sampling inference in programs that explicitly include rejection sampling as part of the user-programmed generative procedure. In this paper we develop a new and efficient amortized importance sampling estimator. We prove finite variance of our estimator and empirically demonstrate our method's correctness and efficiency compared to existing alternatives on generative programs containing rejection sampling loops and discuss how to implement our method in a generic probabilistic programming framework

"Engaging with birth stories in pregnancy: a hermeneutic phenomenological study of women's experiences across two generations"

BACKGROUND: The birth story has been widely understood as a crucial source of knowledge about childbirth. What has not been reported is the effect that birth stories may have on primigravid women's understandings of birth. Findings are presented from a qualitative study exploring how two generations of women came to understand birth in the milieu of other's stories. The prior assumption was that birth stories must surely have a positive or negative influence on listeners, steering them towards either medical or midwifery-led models of care. METHODS: A Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used. Twenty UK participants were purposively selected and interviewed. Findings from the initial sample of 10 women who were pregnant in 2012 indicated that virtual media was a primary source of birth stories. This led to recruitment of a second sample of 10 women who gave birth in the 1970s-1980s, to determine whether they were more able to translate information into knowledge via stories told through personal contact and not through virtual technologies RESULTS: Findings revealed the experience of 'being-in-the-world' of birth and of stories in that world. From a Heideggerian perspective, the birth story was constructed through 'idle talk' (the taken for granted assumptions of things, which come into being through language). Both oral stories and those told through technology were described as the 'modern birth story'. The first theme 'Stories are difficult like that', examines the birth story as problematic and considers how stories shape meaning. The second 'It's a generational thing', considers how women from two generations came to understand what their experience might be. The third 'Birth in the twilight of certainty,' examines women's experience of Being in a system of birth as constructed, portrayed and sustained in the stories being shared. CONCLUSIONS: The women pregnant in 2012 framed their expectations in the language of choice, whilst the women who birthed in the 1970s-1980s framed their experience in the language of safety. For both, however, the world of birth was the same; saturated with, and only legitimised by the birth of a healthy baby. Rather than creating meaningful understanding, the 'idle talk' of birth made both cohorts fearful of leaving the relative comfort of the 'system', and of claiming an alternative birth

Speech Features as Predictors of Momentary Depression Severity in Patients With Depressive Disorder Undergoing Sleep Deprivation Therapy: Ambulatory Assessment Pilot Study

Background: The use of mobile devices to continuously monitor objectively extracted parameters of depressive symptomatology is seen as an important step in the understanding and prevention of upcoming depressive episodes. Speech features such as pitch variability, speech pauses, and speech rate are promising indicators, but empirical evidence is limited, given the variability of study designs. Objective: Previous research studies have found different speech patterns when comparing single speech recordings between patients and healthy controls, but only a few studies have used repeated assessments to compare depressive and nondepressive episodes within the same patient. To our knowledge, no study has used a series of measurements within patients with depression (eg, intensive longitudinal data) to model the dynamic ebb and flow of subjectively reported depression and concomitant speech samples. However, such data are indispensable for detecting and ultimately preventing upcoming episodes. Methods: In this study, we captured voice samples and momentary affect ratings over the course of 3 weeks in a sample of patients (N=30) with an acute depressive episode receiving stationary care. Patients underwent sleep deprivation therapy, a chronotherapeutic intervention that can rapidly improve depression symptomatology. We hypothesized that within-person variability in depressive and affective momentary states would be reflected in the following 3 speech features: pitch variability, speech pauses, and speech rate. We parametrized them using the extended Geneva Minimalistic Acoustic Parameter Set (eGeMAPS) from open-source Speech and Music Interpretation by Large-Space Extraction (openSMILE; audEERING GmbH) and extracted them from a transcript. We analyzed the speech features along with self-reported momentary affect ratings, using multilevel linear regression analysis. We analyzed an average of 32 (SD 19.83) assessments per patient. Results: Analyses revealed that pitch variability, speech pauses, and speech rate were associated with depression severity, positive affect, valence, and energetic arousal; furthermore, speech pauses and speech rate were associated with negative affect, and speech pauses were additionally associated with calmness. Specifically, pitch variability was negatively associated with improved momentary states (ie, lower pitch variability was linked to lower depression severity as well as higher positive affect, valence, and energetic arousal). Speech pauses were negatively associated with improved momentary states, whereas speech rate was positively associated with improved momentary states. Conclusions: Pitch variability, speech pauses, and speech rate are promising features for the development of clinical prediction technologies to improve patient care as well as timely diagnosis and monitoring of treatment response. Our research is a step forward on the path to developing an automated depression monitoring system, facilitating individually tailored treatments and increased patient empowerment

The Underestimation Of Egocentric Distance: Evidence From Frontal Matching Tasks

There is controversy over the existence, nature, and cause of error in egocentric distance judgments. One proposal is that the systematic biases often found in explicit judgments of egocentric distance along the ground may be related to recently observed biases in the perceived declination of gaze (Durgin & Li, Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, in press), To measure perceived egocentric distance nonverbally, observers in a field were asked to position themselves so that their distance from one of two experimenters was equal to the frontal distance between the experimenters. Observers placed themselves too far away, consistent with egocentric distance underestimation. A similar experiment was conducted with vertical frontal extents. Both experiments were replicated in panoramic virtual reality. Perceived egocentric distance was quantitatively consistent with angular bias in perceived gaze declination (1.5 gain). Finally, an exocentric distance-matching task was contrasted with a variant of the egocentric matching task. The egocentric matching data approximate a constant compression of perceived egocentric distance with a power function exponent of nearly 1; exocentric matches had an exponent of about 0.67. The divergent pattern between egocentric and exocentric matches suggests that they depend on different visual cues

Association of Locomotor Activity During Sleep Deprivation Treatment With Response

Disrupted circadian rhythms and sleep patterns are frequently observed features of psychiatric disorders, and especially mood disorders. Sleep deprivation treatment (SD) exerts rapid but transient antidepressant effects in depressed patients and has gained recognition as a model to study quick-acting antidepressant effects. It is of interest how locomotor activity patterns during SD might be associated with and potentially predict treatment response. The present study is an analysis of locomotor activity data, previously collected over a 24 h period, to examine the night of SD (Trautmann et al. 2018) as mood disorder patients suffering from a depressive episode (n = 78; after exclusions n = 59) underwent SD. In this exploratory analysis, the associations between response to SD, locomotor activity, and subjective mood during the 24 h period of SD were explored. Higher levels of activity overall were observed in non-responders (n = 18); in particular, non-responders moved more during the evening of SD until midnight and remained high thereafter. In contrast, activity in responders (n = 41) decreased during the evening and increased in the morning. Subjective mood was not found to be associated with locomotor activity. The window of data available in this analysis being limited, additional data from before and after the intervention are required to fully characterize the results observed. The present results hint at the possible utility of locomotor activity as a predictor and early indicator of treatment response, and suggest that the relationship between SD and locomotor activity patterns should be further investigated