Stoicism, philosophy as a way of life, and negative capability. Developing a capacity for working in radical uncertainty

Philosophy and leadership are not generally held in close association. By contrast, this paper is a call to action for the academy and organisational practitioners to reflect on the potential contribution to leadership of a practice of philosophy as a way of life. In this, we explore what this might entail with an illustrative focus on Stoicism because of its explicit attention to working in radical uncertainty. Recent literature has also identified the potential merits of Negative Capability in this regard, and we discuss how this capacity is closely related to many Stoic practices. We challenge dominant leadership discourses at a fundamental level and argue that there is a need to consider approaches to leadership education and development that go beyond merely gaining new knowledge, skills and techniques. The requirement, which is also an opportunity, is nothing less than a transformation at the level of being and of one’s vision of the world. The theoretical contribution of the paper is supported by empirical evidence from a study with ten organizational executives who were introduced to Negative Capability through an arts-based methodology. This study provides insight into the potential contribution of ideas from Stoic philosophy to the development of a capacity to work with uncertainty. However, a core argument of this paper is that working in radical uncertainty requires more than a ‘quick fix’ and practitioners must learn to develop their own practice of philosophy as a way of life

Junge Hochschul- und Mediendidaktik. Forschung und Praxis im Dialog

Am 29./30.05.2012 fand in Hamburg die Konferenz “Junges Forum Hochschul- und Mediendidaktik” (JFHM) statt. Ausgerichtet vom Zentrum für Hochschul- und Weiterbildung (ZHW) der Universität Hamburg, kooperierten bei der Konzeption und Durchführung der Tagung Vertreterinnen und Vertreter aus hochschul- und mediendidaktischer Berufspraxis mit Vertreterinnen der wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchsförderung aus der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Hochschuldidaktik (DGHD) und der Gesellschaft für Medien in der Wissenschaft (GMW). Das Ziel der Tagung war die Sichtbarmachung und Vernetzung theoretischer und praktischer hochschul- und mediendidaktischer Arbeit. Der vorliegende Sammelband vereint Beiträge der Konferenz und gibt so einen Einblick in aktuelle Themen von Hochschul- und Mediendidaktik - und zwar speziell aus der Perspektive jüngerer Forscherinnen und Forscher sowie Praktikerinnen und Praktiker. Er gibt damit auch Anhaltspunkte dafür, welche Themen diese Arbeitsbereiche in Zukunft (weiter) beschäftigen werden. (DIPF/Autor

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Empathie im Recht : Bestellung eines unbearbeiteten Feldes

Der Beitrag versteht Empathie als kognitive, emotionale und volitive Perspektivenübernahme und beleuchtet die Relevanz des Konzepts in verschiedenen Perspektiven auf das Recht. Neben einer juristischen Perspektive auf Empathie wird das Konzept aus linguistischer Sicht auf verschiedene rechtliche Arbeits- und Handlungsbereiche bezogen: die Normgenese, die symbolische Gesetzgebung, die Gesetzesredaktion, auf verfahrensbegleitende Texte, die mündliche Rechtskommunikation, Gerichtsentscheidungen, gerichtliche Pressearbeit und nicht zuletzt auf die juristische Ausbildung. Der Beitrag stellt damit grundlegend die Relevanz von Empathie für die Rechtskommunikation heraus und zeigt erste analytische Zugriffsmöglichkeiten für rechtslinguistische Forschung auf. Insgesamt versteht sich der Beitrag als heuristische Skizze eines noch weitgehend unbearbeiteten Feldes in der Rechtslinguistik

Mitochondrial genomes of Danish vertebrate species generated for the national DNA reference database, DNAmark

Biodiversity monitoring projects using environmental DNA techniques are becoming increasingly widespread. However, these techniques depend heavily on the quality and richness of the available DNA reference database against which the DNA sequences are queried. To create a comprehensive DNA sequence database for future DNA-based biodiversity assessments in Denmark, a national DNA reference database, DNAmark, was established, which contains organellar and/or nuclear reference data from vouchered museum species of plants, animals, and fungi from Denmark. Here, we present full or partial mitochondrial genomes of 182 Danish vertebrate species representing ca. 22% of vertebrate species observed in Denmark. Further, we demonstrate that storage conditions of the specimens accounted for ca. 50% of the total variation in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) preservation while the age of museum specimens had little effect: ca. 4%. In addition, we roughly estimate the cost of sequencing to be 25 EUR per specimen for obtaining sufficient amounts of DNA reads (ca. 200-fold coverage) for reliable mitogenome assemblies while also obtaining low coverage genomic data. The large number of mitogenomes of Danish vertebrate species represents the initial groundwork for DNA-based biodiversity assessments of vertebrates in Denmark and paves the way for practitioners to freely choose mitochondrial DNA markers

Complement activation induces excessive T cell cytotoxicity in severe COVID-19.

Severe COVID-19 is linked to both dysfunctional immune response and unrestrained immunopathology, and it remains unclear whether T cells contribute to disease pathology. Here, we combined single-cell transcriptomics and single-cell proteomics with mechanistic studies to assess pathogenic T cell functions and inducing signals. We identified highly activated CD16+ T cells with increased cytotoxic functions in severe COVID-19. CD16 expression enabled immune-complex-mediated, T cell receptor-independent degranulation and cytotoxicity not found in other diseases. CD16+ T cells from COVID-19 patients promoted microvascular endothelial cell injury and release of neutrophil and monocyte chemoattractants. CD16+ T cell clones persisted beyond acute disease maintaining their cytotoxic phenotype. Increased generation of C3a in severe COVID-19 induced activated CD16+ cytotoxic T cells. Proportions of activated CD16+ T cells and plasma levels of complement proteins upstream of C3a were associated with fatal outcome of COVID-19, supporting a pathological role of exacerbated cytotoxicity and complement activation in COVID-19