Early breeding records of Desert Lark Ammomanes isabellina, White-tailed Wheatear Oenanthe leucopyga, Fulvous Chatterer Turdoides fulvus, and Striated Bunting Emberiza striolata in the central Algerian Sahara.

Auf einer dreiwöchigen ökologischen Exkursion der Universität Wien im Februar 2003 in die zentrale Sahara Algeriens konnten bei 4 Arten von Singvögeln, bei Steinlerche, Saharasteinschmätzer, Akaziendrossling und Hausammer sehr frühe Brutnachweise in verschiedenen Gebieten erbracht werden. Dabei wurden Altvögel futtertragend bzw. ein oder mehrmals gerade flügge Jungvögel fütternd beobachtet.During a 3 week ecological excursion of the University of Vienna in February 2003 to the central Sahara Desert in Algeria we found early breeding success in 4 passerine species, Desert Lark, White-crowned Wheatear, Fulvous Babbler and House Bunting in different regions. We obseved adult birds carrying food or feeding fledglings

The Appeal of Protest Rhetoric: How Moral Entrepreneurs Recruit the Media into Moral Struggles

Whenever the news media feature brand-related moral struggles over issues such as ethicality, fairness, or sustainability, brands often find themselves in the position of the culprit. However, brands may also take the opposite position, that of a moral entrepreneur that proactively raises and addresses moral issues that matter to society. In this chapter, we present a case study of the Austrian shoe manufacturer Waldviertler, which staged a protest campaign against Austria’s financial market authorities (FMA) in the wake of the authorities demanding that the company closes its alternative (and illegal) consumer investment model after 10 years of operation. In response to this demand, the company organized protest marches, online petitions, and press conferences to reclaim the moral high ground for its financing model as a way out of the crunch following the global credit crisis and as a way to fight unfair administrative burdens. We present an interpretive analysis of brand communication material and media coverage that reveals how this brand used protest rhetoric on three levels – logos, ethos, and pathos – to reverse moral standards, to embody a rebel ethos, and to cultivate moral indignation. We also show how the media responded to protest rhetoric both with thematic coverage of context, trends, and general evidence, and with episodic coverage focusing on dramatic actions and the company owner’s charisma. We close with a discussion of how protestainment, the stylization of a leader figure, and marketplace sentiments can ensure sustained media coverage of moral struggles

An Investigation of Power Quality Problems in a Remote Mine Site in Papua New Guinea

Investigation and monitoring of power quality is necessary to maintain accurate operation of sensitive equipment. Electrical power systems of mines with their sophisticated technology will always have a need for monitoring power quality to ensure that critical processes are operating efficiently. Two of the most common power quality problems, Voltage Sag and Harmonics are investigated for a Remote Gold Mine in Papua New Guinea. Field power quality data is collected by PQNode(R) and then simulated using the PSCAD (R) / EMTDC (TM) software. Results are then compared with appropriate standards and subsequently correct mitigation techniques are investigated

Abfallsammlung in Buenos Aires: städtische Informalität und Formalisierungspolitik

With the collapse of the Argentine economy in the late 1990s between 20.000 and 25.000 persons in Buenos Aires got involved with informal waste picking. When public pressure became too strong in 2001, the municipal and national government started to work on a plan for the implementation of an integrated solid waste management, in which private waste enterprises and waste pickers’ cooperatives shall collaborate in order to improve the city‘s recycling activities. With the new model, however, the waste pickers themselves were also taken into account as new social actors. Considering the importance of formality and informality, this paper analyses the design of the bonaerense model for in - tegrated solid waste management. First, economic-historical perspectives of theoretical con - cepts of formality and informality are discussed, followed by a review of the developments in the waste sector since 2001. Finally, light is thrown on the impact and scope of formality and informality for the integration of informal waste pickers

Silvia-Iris Beutel / Hans Anand Pant: Lernen ohne Noten. Alternative Konzepte der Leistungsbeurteilung, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 2020 (219 S.) [Rezension]

Rezension von: Silvia-Iris Beutel / Hans Anand Pant: Lernen ohne Noten. Alternative Konzepte der Leistungsbeurteilung, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 2020 (219 S.; ISBN 978-3-17-034270-5; 29,00 EUR)

A bioinformatics approach to the development of immunoassays for specified risk material in canned meat products

A bioinformatics approach to developing antibodies to specific proteins has been evaluated for the production of antibodies to heat-processed specified risk tissues from ruminants (brain and eye tissue). The approach involved the identification of proteins specific to ruminant tissues by interrogation of the annotation fields within the Swissprot database. These protein sequences were then interrogated for peptide sequences that were unique to the protein. Peptides were selected that met these criteria as close as possible and that were also theoretically resistant to either pepsin or trypsin. The selected peptides were synthesised and used as immunogens to raise monoclonal antibodies. Antibodies specific for the synthetic peptides were raised to half of the selected peptides. These antibodies have each been incorporated into a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and shown to be able to detect the heat-processed parent protein after digestion with either pepsin or trypsin. One antibody, specific for alpha crystallin peptide (from bovine eye tissue), was able to detect the peptide in canned meat products spiked with 10% eye tissue. These results, although preliminary in nature, show that bioinformatics in conjunction with enzyme digestion can be used to develop ELISA for proteins in high-temperature processed foods and demonstrate that the approach is worth further stud

Das Effektorprotein Pep1 und seine Rolle in der Biotrophie von Brandpilzen

Der Brandpilz Ustilago maydis benötigt während der Interaktion mit seiner Wirtspflanze Mais eine Vielzahl sekretierter Effektoren zur Etablierung der Biotropie. Eine Deletion des Gens um01987, das für den sekretierten Effektor Pep1 (protein essential during penetration 1) codiert, führt zum vollständigen Verlust der Pathogenität. Auf Penetrationsversuche der pep1-Deletionsmutante reagiert die Maispflanze mit der Induktion verschiedener Abwehrmechanismen wie der Bildung von Papillen, der Anreicherung reaktiver Sauerstoffspezies und nekrotischen Läsionen. Pep1 lokalisiert in der biotrophen Interaktionszone und ist in verschiedenen Brandpilzarten konserviert. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde die Funktion von Pep1 durch biochemische und molekularbiologische Methoden charakterisiert. So konnte gezeigt werden, dass heterolog in Escherichia coli exprimiertes Pep1 den oxidative burst in Mais inhibieren kann. Eine Behandlung von Maispflanzen mit dem Radikalfänger Ascorbat hatte verminderte Abwehrreaktionen gegenüber Infektionen mit der pep1-Deletionsmutante zur Folge. Weiterhin wurde gezeigt, dass Pep1 die Aktivität einer Klasse-III-Peroxidase aus Meerrettich in vitro hemmt. Klasse-III-Peroxidasen spielen eine zentrale Rolle in der Produktion reaktiver Sauerstoffspezies beim oxidative burst. Bei Infektionen von Mais mit der pep1-Deletionsmutante ist die sekretierte Peroxidase-12 (POX12) transkriptionell induziert. Durch Bimolekulare Fluoreszenzkompementatiion und Hefe-2-Hybrid-Experimente konnte eine direkte Interaktion von Pep1 mit POX12 nachgewiesen werden. Durch virusinduziertes Gen-Silencing von pox12 in Mais konnte eine partielle Rettung des Δpep1-Phänotyps erreicht werden. Das Silencing von pox12 bewirkte verminderte Abwehrreaktionen der Wirtspflanze wie z. B. Papillenbildungen an Penetrationsstellen, so dass die Hyphen der pep1-Deletionsmutante in der Folge die Epidermiszellen penetrieren konnten. Darüber hinaus konnten Orthologe von pep1 in weiteren Brandpilzspezies identifiziert werden. Es wurde in vitro gezeigt, dass die Pep1-Orthologe aus Ustilago avenae, Ustilago nuda und Melanopsichium pennsylvanicum ebenfalls als Peroxidaseinhibitoren agieren. Weiterhin wurde die Inhibition apoplastischer Peroxidasen aus verschiedenen Wirtspflanzen durch Pep1 nachgewiesen. Schließlich wurde die Funktion der identifizierten Pep1-Orthologe in Infektionen von Mais mit U. maydis bestätigt. Diese Ergebnisse sprechen für eine Rolle von Pep1 als Inhibitor von Peroxidasen, einer zentralen Komponente der basalen pflanzlichen Abwehrreaktion

Social Network Sites und Karriere

Die vorliegende Arbeit zum Thema Social Networks Sites und Karriere ist eine interdisziplinäre Studie mit Schwerpunkt in der Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft und befasst sich mit der Nutzung von Social Network Sites durch Personalisten im Rekrutierungsprozess und der diesbezüglichen Einschätzung von Usern sowie mit deren Umgang mit Social Network Sites Die empirische Untersuchung setzt sich aus zwei quantitativen Online-Befragungen zusammen. Zuerst werden Personalisten in Hinblick deren berufliche Nutzung von Social Network Sites bei der Rekrutierung analysiert. Anschließend wird die Userseite betrachtet, um deren diesbezügliche Einschätzung und Bewertung zu erheben und um weiters festzustellen, inwieweit von einem bewussten und kompetenten Umgang mit Social Network Sites seitens User gesprochen werden kann. Für die Bearbeitung des Themas wurden folgende forschungsleitende Fragestellungen formuliert: FF1: Werden SNS bei der Personalrekrutierung genutzt? FF2: Wie häufig werden SNS bei der Personalrekrutierung genutzt? FF3: Wie wird die zukünftige Nutzung von SNS bei der Personalrekrutierung eingeschätzt? FF4: Welche SNS werden bei der Rekrutierung genutzt? FF5: Wofür werden SNS bei der Rekrutierung genutzt? FF6: Wovon hängt die allgemeine Nutzung ab? FF U1: Wie schätzen die User die Nutzung von SNS durch Personalisten ein? FF U2: Wie wird die Nutzung von SNS durch Personalisten von den Usern bewertet? FF U3: Wie bewusst/kompetent werden private SNS von Usern genützt? Die Ergebnisse der empirischen Untersuchung belegen, dass rund die Hälfte der Personaler schon einmal Online-Netzwerke bei der Rekrutierung verwendet hat, wobei beinahe doppelt so viele Personalberater SNS diesbezüglich nutzen wie Personalisten aus Unternehmen. Am häufigsten kommen die Plattformen zum Einsatz, um nach potentiellen Bewerbern zu suchen und um sich anhand von weiterführenden Informationen ein Bild über die Bewerber zu machen. Die meistgenutzte Plattform ist eindeutig das Business-Netzwerk XING. Die User überschätzen durchschnittlich die Nutzung von SNS durch Personalisten, sehen den Einsatz von Business-Plattformen (eher) positiv und den von privaten Netzwerken (eher) negativ. Bezüglich der Kompetenz zeigt sich eine erfreuliches Bild: Der Großteil der User weist mittel¬mäßige oder starke Anzeichen für einen bewussten und kompetenten Umgang mit Social Network Sites auf.The present thesis on social network sites and carrier is an interdisciplinary study with its focus on communication science. It deals with the use of social network sites by human resource managers in the recruitment process and the user’s assessment in this regard as well as with their handling of social network sites. The empirical study consists of two quantitative online-surveys. First, human resource managers will be analyzed in terms of their professional use of social network sites in recruitment. Then the user side is observed to raise their assessment and estimation in this regard and to further determine to what extent we can speak of a conscious and competent use of social network sites by them. For the treatment of the topic following research guiding questions were formulated: FF1: Are SNS used in recruitment? FF2: How often are SNS being used in recruitment? FF3: How is the future use of SNS in recruitment estimated? FF4: Which SNS are being used in recruitment? FF5: What for are SNS being used in recruitment? FF6: What determines the general use? FF U1: How do users estimate the use of SNS by human resource managers? FF U2: How is the use of SNS by human resource managers evaluated by users? FF U3: How conscious/competent are SNS being used by users? The results of the empirical analysis show that about half of the human resource managers have already used online networks at recruitment once, whereat almost twice as many personnel consultants use SNS than human resource managers from companies. The platforms are most frequently used to search for potential candidates and to receive further information of the candidates in order to get a clearer picture of them. The platform that is being used the most is definitely the XING business network. The users on average overestimate the use of SNS by recruiters. They see the use of business platforms (rather) positive and the use of private networks (rather) negative. Regarding the competence a pleasant picture can be presented: The bigger part of users shows moderate or strong indications of conscious and competent handling of social network sites

How Luxury Experiences Contribute to Consumer Selves

Hitherto literature in the area of luxury and luxury brands predominantly applies a management-oriented view of luxury. This project departs from traditional views on luxury by focusing on consumers’ experiences with what they perceive as luxury. More specifically, the objective is to enhance understanding regarding how luxury experiences contribute to consumers’ selves. The empirical study is exploratory in nature and relies on consumer diaries regarding consumer luxury experiences. This project contributes to existing literature by outlining four different forms of how luxury relates to consumers’ selves

Social and environmental factors modulate leucocyte profiles in free-living Greylag geese (Anser anser)

Background. Blood parameters such as haematocrit or leucocyte counts are indicators of immune status and health, which can be affected, in a complex way, by exogenous as well as endogenous factors. Additionally, social context is known to be among the most potent stressors in group living individuals, therefore potentially influencing haematological parameters. However, with few exceptions, this potential causal relationship received only moderate scientific attention. Methods. In a free-living and individually marked population of the highly social and long-lived Greylag goose, Anser anser, we relate variation in haematocrit (HCT), heterophils to lymphocytes ratio(H/L) and blood leucocyte counts to the following factors: intrinsic (sex, age, raising condition, i.e. goose- or hand-raised), social (pair-bond status, pair-bond duration and parental experience) and environmental (biologically relevant periods, ambient temperature) factors. Blood samples were collected repeatedly from a total of 105 focal birds during three biologically relevant seasons (winter flock, mating season, summer). Results. We found significant relationships between haematological parameters and social as well as environmental factors. During the mating season, unpaired individuals had higher HCT compared to paired and family individuals and this pattern reversed in fall. Similarly, H/L ratio was positively related to pair-bond status in a seasonally dependent way, with highest values during mating and successful pairs had higher H/L ratio than unsuccessful ones. Also, absolute number of leucocytes tended to vary depending of raising condition in a seasonally dependent way. Discussion. Haematology bears a great potential in ecological and behavioural studies on wild vertebrates. In sum we found that HTC, H/L ratio and absolute number of leucocytes are modulated by social factors and conclude that they may be considered valid indicators of individual stress load