Unsichtbare Kosten : ungleiche Verteilung ökologischer Risiken in der globalen Computerindustrie

Obwohl die Computerproduktion ressourcenintensiv und giftig ist, assoziieren die meisten Menschen mit dem Computer ein "sauberes" High-Tech-Produkt. Dem entsprechend sind Forderungen nach Computern, die ökologisch hergestellt und auch entsorgt werden bislang rar. Zudem werden die ökologischen Probleme der Computerproduktion und -verschrottung häufig nicht mit den sozialen Problemen verbunden. Die Verwendung toxischer Stoffe wirkt sich aber z.B. sowohl auf die Natur als auch auf die Beschäftigten aus. Gegen diese Defizite wird in dem vorliegenden Arbeitspapier der Zusammenhang zwischen den sozialen und ökologischen Konflikten entlang der Wertschöpfungskette eines Computers aufgezeigt. Zudem wird auf die global ungleiche Verteilung sozialer und ökologischer Belastungen und Risiken verwiesen. Das Arbeitspapier stellt beispielhaft zentrale Stationen der Kette vom Rohstoffabbau über die Produktion bis zur Entsorgung vor. Dabei wird die Eignung entsprechender Regulierungsansätze untersucht sowie soziale Initiativen und Kampagnen vorgestellt, die sich lokal und global für eine ökologisch und sozial nachhaltige Computerproduktion und -verschrottung einsetzen

Hardware – hard Work: Company-focused campaigns in the ICT industry and the role of NGOs

In the past, anti-sweatshop campaigns have often focused on the apparel sector. More recently, these campaigns have broadened their spectrum as European NGOs increasingly begin to target technology companies producing smartphones and tablet computers, for example. This process comes with ambivalences, however: In the apparel sector, the importance of the local scale had been often unacknowledged. Within current campaigns targeting the ICT industries we can observe a decoupling of NGO driven activities on the consumer markets in the global north on one hand and labor struggles in the global south on the other. This does not only result in ineffective CSR-strategies, but it can also lead to a double victimization of female assembly line workers. The author discusses these contradictions and its implications for consumer focused tactics and coalitions between NGOs and trade unions. The article is based on the authors’ work with an NGO focusing on issues of labor in the ICT industry.In the past, anti-sweatshop campaigns have often focused on the apparel sector. More recently, these campaigns have broadened their spectrum as European NGOs increasingly begin to target technology companies producing smartphones and tablet computers, for example. This process comes with ambivalences, however: In the apparel sector, the importance of the local scale had been often unacknowledged. Within current campaigns targeting the ICT industries we can observe a decoupling of NGO driven activities on the consumer markets in the global north on one hand and labor struggles in the global south on the other. This does not only result in ineffective CSR-strategies, but it can also lead to a double victimization of female assembly line workers. The author discusses these contradictions and its implications for consumer focused tactics and coalitions between NGOs and trade unions. The article is based on the authors’ work with an NGO focusing on issues of labor in the ICT industry

Who Pays for our Clothing from Lidl and KiK?

A report on the impact of buying practices of retail discounters Lidl and KiK on wages and working conditions in six selected suppliers in Bangladesh, as well as in German retailing as a whole

Online-Arbeit auf Internet-Plattformen: empirische Befunde zum 'Crowdworking' in Deutschland

Unter Online-Arbeit sind Formen bezahlter Arbeit zu verstehen, deren Abwicklung vollständig online und entsprechend den Regularien einer Internet-Plattform erfolgt ('Crowdworking'). Auf der Grundlage mehrerer aktueller empirischer Studien (einschließlich einer eigenen Online-Befragung selbstständiger ver.di-Mitglieder) werden Ausmaß, Charakter und Auswirkungen von Online-Arbeit in Deutschland abzuschätzen versucht. Es zeigt sich, dass die Gruppe der Online-Arbeitenden ausgesprochen heterogen ist und gleichermaßen Solo-Selbstständige, Angestellte und Nicht-Erwerbstätige umfasst. 'Crowdwork' wird ganz überwiegend als Zuverdienst gesehen und mit verschiedensten Einkommens- sowie Erwerbsarten kombiniert. Die Unzufriedenheit mit den Arbeitsbedingungen ist vergleichsweise hoch, vor allem im Hinblick auf die geringe Bezahlung, unbezahlte Leistungen und den harten Preiskampf. Diese Ergebnisse werfen nicht nur Fragen der Gestaltung von Online-Arbeit über Internet-Plattformen auf, sondern auch nach der gesellschaftlichen Relevanz und der arbeits- sowie sozialpolitischen Regulierung von Einkommens- und Erwerbskombinationen generell.The specific characteristic of online labour as a crowdsourcing of paid work is that the whole work process is carried out online according to the rules of an internet platform ('crowd work'). Extent, characteristics and impact of online labour in Germany are evaluated on the empirical basis of several recent surveys (including the authors' online survey of self-employed members of the services union ver.di). Findings prove that online workers are a very heterogeneous group comprising own-account workers, employees and non-working people to approximately the same magnitude. In most cases, online labour only provides additional earnings and is combined with various other sources of income. Dissatisfaction with working conditions is high, especially with regard to low payment, unremunerated work and highly competitive pricing. These results not only question the organization of online labour on internet platforms. In a wider societal context the regulation of combinations of different forms of labour and income comes into the focus of social policy and industrial relations

Assessment of Bones Deficient in Fibrillin-1 Microfibrils Reveals Pronounced Sex Differences.

Defects in the extracellular matrix protein fibrillin-1 that perturb transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) bioavailability lead to Marfan syndrome (MFS). MFS is an autosomal-dominant disorder, which is associated with connective tissue and skeletal defects, among others. To date, it is unclear how biological sex impacts the structural and functional properties of bone in MFS. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sex on bone microarchitecture and mechanical properties in mice with deficient fibrillin-1, a model of human MFS. Bones of 11-week-old male and female Fbn1mgR/mgR mice were investigated. Three-dimensional micro-computed tomography of femora and vertebrae revealed a lower ratio of trabecular bone volume to tissue volume, reduced trabecular number and thickness, and greater trabecular separation in females vs. males. Three-point bending of femora revealed significantly lower post-yield displacement and work-to-fracture in females vs. males. Mechanistically, we found higher Smad2 and ERK1/2 phosphorylation in females vs. males, demonstrating a greater activation of TGFβ signaling in females. In summary, the present findings show pronounced sex differences in the matrix and function of bones deficient in fibrillin-1 microfibrils. Consequently, sex-specific analysis of bone characteristics in patients with MFS may prove useful in improving the clinical management and life quality of these patients, through the development of sex-specific therapeutic approaches

The Lantern, 2016-2017

• Our Lady of Perpetual Virginity • Essential Terms for the Audience • Stories Untold • Jesus Camp • The Second Avenue Schmear • Driving to the Beach • Thanks, Alice • Decay • Peanut Butter Rhapsody • Transactions • Traffic • Sissy • Melting Wings • Ocean • Small Town Summer • Third Story • Family Trees • Mixed, Just Like Me • Sour Graves • How Sweet the Sound • Goodnight, Halfmoon • I\u27m Going to Ask Him How • Music • Pizza • Manhoodlike • Meditations From a Bunk Bed in a Home on Mount Pocono • Soft • Twilight\u27s Palette • The Oracle • Cynicism • River Ganges • Pinata Body and Hearing the Gun Shot • Song With No Music • Of Mornings Considering Womanhood • 10 Hours in Philadelphia • To Cut • Sachrang • Bavarian Wave Swinger • Irish Rain • Remembrances, Well • The Roses • Buttermilk • The Universe Will Always Listen if You Ask Her, Which is Why I Like Her More Than God • A Lukewarm Light • A Thought of Death • Hobson • Decaying Light • Window Women • Dead Bee • The Imagery • For Rent • Mona Lisa MMXVIhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1185/thumbnail.jp

Data assimilation with correlated observation errors: experiments with a 1-D shallow water model

Remote sensing observations often have correlated errors, but the correlations are typically ignored in data assimilation for numerical weather prediction. The assumption of zero correlations is often used with data thinning methods, resulting in a loss of information. As operational centres move towards higher-resolution forecasting, there is a requirement to retain data providing detail on appropriate scales. Thus an alternative approach to dealing with observation error correlations is needed. In this article, we consider several approaches to approximating observation error correlation matrices: diagonal approximations, eigendecomposition approximations and Markov matrices. These approximations are applied in incremental variational assimilation experiments with a 1-D shallow water model using synthetic observations. Our experiments quantify analysis accuracy in comparison with a reference or ‘truth’ trajectory, as well as with analyses using the ‘true’ observation error covariance matrix. We show that it is often better to include an approximate correlation structure in the observation error covariance matrix than to incorrectly assume error independence. Furthermore, by choosing a suitable matrix approximation, it is feasible and computationally cheap to include error correlation structure in a variational data assimilation algorithm

The Lantern, 2015-2016

• Ghosts • Going to China • 98% Guaranteed • Constellation/Boulevard • Prayer • The Little One • Burning • The Amber Macaroon • Becoming • Requiem • Construction Site • Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Dragon • Charlie • No Sleep • A Lesson in Physical Education • Statues • Who Can Love a Black Woman? • Apples • Fun Craft • The Door at Midnight • Eve as a Book in the Bible • Boys • Diamond Heart • To Apollo • Joanne and Her July Garden • Option A, 1936 • Young White Girls, Hollow Bodies, and Home • Mama\u27s Stance on Sugar • The Mariana Trench • Hurricane • Part of the Job • Avenue H Blues • Hour of Nones • Send Toilet Paper • Grave Robbing • Wild Turkey • The Creek • Let\u27s Go for a Walk • Deaconess • Border of Love • Your Father, Rumpelstiltskin • Purchasing Poplars • Red Tatters • Sunken • Whispers • Existence • God Took a Cigarette Break with Police Officers • Martian Standoff • In the Headlights • It\u27s a Subtle Thing • Dear Kent • Hanako-san • A Brief Interlude • On Fencing, Gummy Worms, and my Inescapable Fear of Living in the Moment • Stolen Soul • Block • Mortem Mei Fratris • Kalki • Lake Placid • Atom and Eve • The Baerie Queene • Gladston • Soldiers at Gettysburg • Pattern • Foliage • Mass Media • Arrow • Move Out • Wanderers • Riverside Gardenhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1182/thumbnail.jp

Multi-Modal Proteomic Analysis of Retinal Protein Expression Alterations in a Rat Model of Diabetic Retinopathy

As a leading cause of adult blindness, diabetic retinopathy is a prevalent and profound complication of diabetes. We have previously reported duration-dependent changes in retinal vascular permeability, apoptosis, and mRNA expression with diabetes in a rat model system. The aim of this study was to identify retinal proteomic alterations associated with functional dysregulation of the diabetic retina to better understand diabetic retinopathy pathogenesis and that could be used as surrogate endpoints in preclinical drug testing studies.A multi-modal proteomic approach of antibody (Luminex)-, electrophoresis (DIGE)-, and LC-MS (iTRAQ)-based quantitation methods was used to maximize coverage of the retinal proteome. Transcriptomic profiling through microarray analysis was included to identify additional targets and assess potential regulation of protein expression changes at the mRNA level. The proteomic approaches proved complementary, with limited overlap in proteomic coverage. Alterations in pro-inflammatory, signaling and crystallin family proteins were confirmed by orthogonal methods in multiple independent animal cohorts. In an independent experiment, insulin replacement therapy normalized the expression of some proteins (Dbi, Anxa5) while other proteins (Cp, Cryba3, Lgals3, Stat3) were only partially normalized and Fgf2 and Crybb2 expression remained elevated.These results expand the understanding of the changes in retinal protein expression occurring with diabetes and their responsiveness to normalization of blood glucose through insulin therapy. These proteins, especially those not normalized by insulin therapy, may also be useful in preclinical drug development studies

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges