"Wolken vor den Augen" : Leben mit altersbedingter Makuladegeneration

Die Ärzte versichern mir, dass ich nicht erblinden werde. Ich habe eine Krankheit namens Makuladegeneration – Wolken vor den Augen. Ich bin seit meinem achten Lebensjahr kurzsichtig. Verschwommene Wahrnehmung ist für mich also nichts Neues, aber mit Brille habe ich immer tadellos gesehen. Peripher sehe ich noch gut, doch direkt vor mir ist ein ständig ausgefranster grauer Fleck, der größer wird. Meine Bilder aus der Vergangenheit sind allerdings noch lebendig. Betroffen ist die Gegenwart, und die Menschen aus meiner Vergangenheit, mit denen ich noch zusammenkomme, haben sich in wolkenverhangene Wesen verwandelt. Anfangs beängstigte mich das, doch habe ich von Leidensgenossen und von meinen Ärzten erfahren, dass das, was ich erlebe, ganz normal ist.« So beschreibt der Protagonist in Siri Hustvedts Roman »Was ich liebte« die Symptome der altersbedingten Makuladegeneration. ..

Lernen im Lebenslauf : eine Einführung in die Altersbildung ; [Rezension]

Rezension zu: Sylvia Kade: Altern und Bildung. Eine Einführung, Reihe: Erwachsenenbildung und lebensbegleitendes Lernen, Band 7, W. Bertelsmann Verlag, Bielefeld 2007, ISBN 978-3-7639-3329-7, 253 Seiten, 24,90 Euro

Completion and commissioning of an LVAP ion source

Cooling processes and especially the processes of delayed electron emission and delayed atom emission of clusters in the gas phase have been subject to research forthe past decades. For the anionic Al-4 clusters, a lot was learned about their cooling processes in room-temperature experiments. Much less is known about their cooling behaviour at ambient temperatures far below room temperature. Suitablenexperimental conditions for further studies can be provided by the Cryogenic StoragenRing (CSR). It is a cryogenic electrostatic ion storage ring, which is capable of storing ion beams in an ultracold environment with very low vacuum pressure. In orderto produce cold cluster ions for the CSR, a new versatile Laser VAPorization (LVAP)ion source was designed. With this ion source, the cluster ions can be produced inalready low rovibrational states. In this thesis, the LVAP ion source was taken intomoperation as a first step towards production of cold Al−4 clusters and monitoring theircooling processes. The ion source and its auxiliary equipment were assembled and setup at the Ion Source Test Bench (ISTB). All necessary tests and alignment steps weresuccessfully performed. A roadmap of measurement steps required for commissioningthe LVAP ion source was developed. The first step of the commissioning process wasconcluded and the production of rather stable and short (about 25 µs) ion pulses wasachieved

Bilingual education: is it feasible in deaf education?

Bilingual/Bicultural programs are being implemented across the United States with varying degrees of effectiveness. Much of the research documenting the success and failures of such programs are performed in a typical mainstream program where English is the target language. Despite the fact that there are limited studies done in residential schools for the Deaf and hard of hearing, bilingual/bicultural programs are strongly advocated for such settings based on the success of the studies done in the mainstream programs. Due to the fact that bilingual programs do not necessarily mean that there is a bicultural component and that a bicultural program does not necessarily mean there is a bilingual component, the focus of this paper is solely on the effectiveness of bilingual educational\u27programs. Through a literature review on bilingual education programs in both hearing mainstream programs and residential schools for the deaf, I found that bilingual education programs can be additive or subtractive and that when additive, they are effective. The elements that ensure successful implementation include a teacher who is proficient in both languages, the student is proficient in their first language and that their first language is understood and used in the home by all members of the family. Many ofthese elements are not found in the residential schools for the deaf and therefore it would indicate that more research is needed on the effectiveness of bilingual education programs in Deaf education. The current research findings cannot be used to support the implementation of bilingual education programs in Deaf educational settings due to the fact that the dynamics are completely different

Akin House Curriculum Development and Living History Programming

This unit plan is comprised of a variety of inquiry-based lessons that explore the culture and way of life of the Native Americans who occupied New England. After studying the Akin house documents, materials, and narratives, I chose to focus my unit on the land and the people who came before the Akin family so that students will learn the long-view of our rich New England history

Playing Second Fiddle: Expert Advice and Decision-Making in Switzerland

This thesis concerns the role of scientific expertise in the decision-making process at the Swiss federal level of government. It aims to understand how institutional and issue-specific factors influence three things: the distribution of access to scientific expertise, its valuation by participants in policy for- mulation, and the consequence(s) its mobilization has on policy politics and design. The theoretical framework developed builds on the assumption that scientific expertise is a strategic resource. In order to effectively mobilize this resource, actors require financial and organizational resources, as well as the conviction that it can advance their instrumental interests within a particular action situation. Institutions of the political system allocate these financial and organizational resources, influence the supply of scientific expertise, and help shape the venue of its deployment. Issue structures, in turn, condition both interaction configurations and the way in which these are anticipated by actors. This affects the perceived utility of expertise mobilization, mediating its consequences. The findings of this study show that the ability to access and control scientific expertise is strongly concentrated in the hands of the federal administration. Civil society actors have weak capacities to mobilize it, and the autonomy of institutionalized advisory bodies is limited. Moreover, the production of scientific expertise is undergoing a process of professionalization which strengthens the position of the federal administration as the (main) mandating agent. Despite increased political polarization and less inclu- sive decision-making, scientific expertise remains anchored in the policy subsystem, rather than being used to legitimate policy through appeals to the wider population. Finally, the structure of a policy problem matters both for expertise mobilization and for the latter's impact on the policy process, be- cause it conditions conflict structures and their anticipation. Structured problems result in a greater overlap between the principal of expertise mobilization and its intended audience, thereby increasing the chance that expertise shapes policy design. Conversely, less structured problems, especially those that involve conflicts about values and goals, reduce the impact of expertise

Synthesis and Bioactivity of Polymer‐Based Synthetic Mimics of Antimicrobial Peptides (SMAMPs) Made from Asymmetrically Disubstituted Itaconates

A series of asymmetrically disubstituted diitaconate monomers is presented. Starting from itaconic anhydride, functional groups could be placed selectively at the two nonequivalent carbonyl groups. By using 2D NMR spectroscopy, it was shown that the first functionalization step occurred at the carbonyl group in the β position to the double bond. These monomers were copolymerized with N,N‐dimethylacrylamide (DMAA) to yield polymer‐based synthetic mimics of antimicrobial peptides (SMAMPs). They were obtained by free radical polymerization, a metal‐free process, and still maintained facial amphiphilicity at the repeat unit level. This eliminates the need for laborious metal removal and is advantageous from a regulatory and product safety perspective. The poly(diitaconate‐co‐DMAA) copolymers obtained were statistical to alternating, and the monomer feed ratio roughly matched that of the repeat unit content of the copolymers. Investigations of varied R group hydrophobicity, repeat unit ratio, and molecular mass on antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and on compatibility with human keratinocytes showed that the polymers with the longest R groups and lowest DMAA content were the most antimicrobial and hemolytic. This is in agreement with the biological activity of previously reported SMAMPs. Thus, the design concept of facial amphiphilicity has successfully been transferred, but the selectivity of these polymers for bacteria over mammalian cells still needs to be optimized