Is the Achievement Motive Gender-Biased? The Validity of TAT/PSE in Women and Men

In picture story exercises like the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Heckhausen, 1963), different pictures are presented to a person with the instruction to create a story using the scenes portrayed in the image. It is assumed, that people identify themselves with the people in the images and project their unconscious motives (e.g., achievement motive) onto them. As the TAT shows only men in the pictures, critics claimed the test is gender-biased; assuming women cannot identify with men in pictures. However, it was not assessed, whether female protagonists of the picture really trigger the same achievement motive as men. Therefore, two studies were conducted to address the gender difference and validity of the TAT using a version with only men in the pictures (study 1) or only women in the pictures (study 2). The results shows that the original TAT of Heckhausen is a valid instrument for women and men, but the modified version with only women in the pictures cannot validly measure the achievement motive in the male sample

I talk, self-focused attention and implicit achievement motive

The use of pronouns is linked to unconscious processes. Especially self-referred pronouns deliver much about the writer of a story. I tested two theories, the achievement motive theory and the theory of self-focused attention on a data set of 2942 PSE/TAT-protocols. Here I analyzed how the implicit (unconscious) achievement motive and its two components hope of success (HS) and fear of failure (FF) can be found in the use of self-referred pronouns. The results show that the achievement motive is related to self-referred but not to we-referred pronouns. Further results show that FF is more related to self-referred pronouns than HS. Furthermore, FF is more related to self-referred personal than self-referred possessive pronouns. This speaks for both the theory of implicit achievement motive and self-focused attention theory

Toward a mechanistic understanding of the decadal trends in the Southern Ocean carbon sink

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles 22 (2008): GB3016, doi:10.1029/2007GB003139.We investigate the multidecadal and decadal trends in the flux of CO2 between the atmosphere and the Southern Ocean using output from hindcast simulations of an ocean circulation model with embedded biogeochemistry. The simulations are run with NCEP-1 forcing under both preindustrial and historical atmospheric CO2 concentrations so that we can separately analyze trends in the natural and anthropogenic CO2 fluxes. We find that the Southern Ocean (<35°S) CO2 sink has weakened by 0.1 Pg C a−1 from 1979–2004, relative to the expected sink from rising atmospheric CO2 and fixed physical climate. Although the magnitude of this trend is in agreement with prior studies (Le Quéré et al., 2007), its size may not be entirely robust because of uncertainties associated with the trend in the NCEP-1 atmospheric forcing. We attribute the weakening sink to an outgassing trend of natural CO2, driven by enhanced upwelling and equatorward transport of carbon-rich water, which are caused by a trend toward stronger and southward shifted winds over the Southern Ocean (associated with the positive trend in the Southern Annular Mode (SAM)). In contrast, the trend in the anthropogenic CO2 uptake is largely unaffected by the trend in the wind and ocean circulation. We regard this attribution of the trend as robust, and show that surface and interior ocean observations may help to solidify our findings. As coupled climate models consistently show a positive trend in the SAM in the coming century [e.g., Meehl et al., 2007], these mechanistic results are useful for projecting the future behavior of the Southern Ocean carbon sink.This work was supported by funding from various agencies. NSL was supported by NASA grant NNG05GP78H and the NOAA Climate and Global Change postdoctoral fellowship. NG was supported by NASA grant NNG04GH53G and by ETH Zurich. SCD was supported by NASA grant NNG05GG30G

Flourishing or floundering? : Factors contributing to CLIL Primary Teachers' Wellbeing in Austria

CLIL approaches to teaching are part of the general increase in plurilingual approaches to education. Recent work on CLIL in primary education has shown how demanding this can be for teachers. To better understand the nature of these challenges and their potential impact on teacher wellbeing, this study investigated the situation of CLIL primary teachers in Austria. Data were collected via in-depth interviews and coded in an inductive manner using QCAmap software. The analysis of the data revealed that despite considerable individual variation in terms of how CLIL was put into practice, all the wellbeing of all of the teachers' in this study appeared to be threatened by a lack of teaching material, negative public perceptions of teachers generally, low societal appreciation of primary teachers specifically, and language-related challenges in teaching CLIL. In contrast, the teachers' relationships with their students and their conviction in the CLIL approach seemed to contribute positively to their sense of wellbeing in their professional roles. We conclude with some considerations for practice to ensure all primary CLIL teachers flourish in their professional roles.Els enfocaments AICLE formen part de l'increment generalitzat dels enfocaments plurilingües en educació. Treballs recents sobre l'educació primària han revelat com d'exigent pot arribar a ser l'AICLE per al professorat que l'imparteix. Amb la finalitat de millorar la nostra comprensió d'aquests reptes i del seu impacte potencial en el benestar del professorat, el present estudi investiga la situació de mestres AICLE a Àustria. Les dades obtingudes per mitjà d'entrevistes en profunditat van ser codificades mitjançant el programari QCAmap, seguint un procediment inductiu. L'anàlisi va revelar que malgrat les considerables variacions individuals en la forma en la qual l'AICLE s'impartia, el benestar global de totes les mestres participants en l'estudi semblava amenaçat per l'escassetat de material didàctic, les percepcions negatives d'altres docents en general, i específicament, la baixa estima mostrada cap als mestres de primària per la societat, així com els reptes lingüístics que la docència AICLE comporta. Per contra, la relació de les mestres amb els seus alumnes, i la seva confiança en l'enfocament AICLE semblen contribuir positivament a una sensació de benestar com a docents. Es conclou amb un conjunt de consideracions pràctiques amb la finalitat d'assegurar que tots els docents AICLE de primària avancin en la seva labor com a docents.Los enfoques AICLE forman parte del incremento generalizado de los enfoques plurilingües en educación. Trabajos recientes sobre la educación primaria han revelado cómo de exigente puede llegar a ser el AICLE para el profesorado que lo imparte. Con la finalidad de mejorar nuestra comprensión de estos retos y de su impacto potencial en el bienestar del profesorado, el presente estudio investiga la situación de maestras AICLE en Austria. Los datos obtenidos por medio de entrevistes en profundidad fueron codificados mediante el software QCAmap, siguiendo un procedimiento inductivo. El análisis reveló que a pesar de las considerables variaciones individuales en la forma en la que el AICLE se impartía, el bienestar global de todas las maestras participantes en el estudio parecía amenazado por la escasez de material didáctico, las percepciones negativas de otros profesores en general, y específicamente, la baja estima mostrada hacia los maestros de primaria por la sociedad, así como los retos lingüísticos que la docencia AICLE conlleva. Por el contrario, la relación de las maestras con sus alumnos, y su confianza en el enfoque AICLE parecen contribuir positivamente a una sensación de bienestar como docentes. Se concluye con un conjunto de consideraciones prácticas con la finalidad de asegurar que todos los docentes AICLE de primaria salen adelante en su labor como docentes

Secure Full-Duplex Device-to-Device Communication

This paper considers full-duplex (FD) device-to-device (D2D) communications in a downlink MISO cellular system in the presence of multiple eavesdroppers. The D2D pair communicate sharing the same frequency band allocated to the cellular users (CUs). Since the D2D users share the same frequency as the CUs, both the base station (BS) and D2D transmissions interfere each other. In addition, due to limited processing capability, D2D users are susceptible to external attacks. Our aim is to design optimal beamforming and power control mechanism to guarantee secure communication while delivering the required quality-of-service (QoS) for the D2D link. In order to improve security, artificial noise (AN) is transmitted by the BS. We design robust beamforming for secure message as well as the AN in the worst-case sense for minimizing total transmit power with imperfect channel state information (CSI) of all links available at the BS. The problem is strictly non-convex with infinitely many constraints. By discovering the hidden convexity of the problem, we derive a rank-one optimal solution for the power minimization problem.Comment: Accepted in IEEE GLOBECOM 2017, Singapore, 4-8 Dec. 201

Familienbesteuerung in Österreich und Deutschland: Eine vergleichende Analyse unter Berücksichtigung aktueller Steuerreformen

This paper compares the taxation of families with children in Austria and Germany with respect to the income situation of three representative example families. The first section deals with the legal background of family taxation an provides an analysis of the distributional effects of the Austrian family package, which is part of the income tax reform 2009. The results show that absolute savings due to the Austrian tax reform 2009 are higher, the more children and/or sources of income a family has. We show that the level of relative savings is the highest for single-parent families with a family income of 40.000 Euro and reaches nearly 15 percent of the family net income. We compare the taxation of Austrian and German families by measuring absolute savings due to the family packages as well as by calculating effective average tax rates for the example families. We show that the advantageousness of one country is primarily driven by the deductible amount of cost for childcare as well as the inclusion of Austrian supplemental wages (vacation and Christmas bonus). Not including the Austrian supplemental wages leaves German families better off, with the maximum advantage for German families accounting for about 6 percent. Including the Austrian beneficial taxation of supplemental wages instead favours Austrian families with the maximum advantage being about 8 percent. The results show that the Austrian system of separate taxation does not necessarily result in lower after tax incomes than the German system of joint assessment. In some cases it leaves Austrian families even better off. An adequate tax relief for families does not necessarily require elements of joint taxation; other tax measures can yield the same effect without accepting the disadvantages of joint assessment. -- In diesem Beitrag wird erstmals ein Vergleich der Besteuerung von Familien mit Kindern in Österreich und Deutschland anhand von drei repräsentativen Musterfamilien in unterschiedlichen Einkommenssituationen durchgeführt. Dabei wird in einem ersten Schritt die österreichische Besteuerung von Familien rechtlich dargestellt und das als Teil der österreichischen Steuerreform 2009 beschlossene Familienpaket einer verteilungspolitischen Analyse unterzogen. Die absolute Steuerersparnis aus der österreichischen Steuerreform 2009 ist umso höher, je mehr Kinder und je mehr Einkommensbezieher eine Familie besitzt. Relativ betrachtet ergibt sich bis zu einer Familieneinkommensgrenze von 40.000 Euro für Alleinerzieher die höchste Ersparnis, die in bestimmten Einkommensbereichen über 15% des Nettofamilieneinkommens beträgt. Der Vergleich mit der deutschen Besteuerung von Familien anhand der absoluten Entlastung und effektiven Durchschnittsteuersätze für die einzelnen Musterfamilien zeigt, dass die Vorteilhaftigkeit vor allem von der Höhe der abzugsfähigen Kinderbetreuungskosten und der Berücksichtigung sonstiger Bezüge in Österreich bestimmt wird. Ohne Berücksichtigung von sonstigen Bezügen beträgt der maximale Vorteil der deutschen Besteuerung rund 6%, unter Berücksichtigung der sonstigen Bezüge hingegen kann in Österreich ein steuerlicher Vorteil von bis zu 8% erzielt werden. Im Ergebnis zeigt sich, dass vor allem aufgrund der steuerlichen Begünstigung der sonstigen Bezüge in Österreich auch ohne Einführung eines Familiensplitting der österreichische Weg der Familienbesteuerung zu keinen nennenswerten Nachteilen oder sogar zu Vorteilen für österreichische Familien im Vergleich zu deutschen Familien führt. Die Besteuerung von Familien muss daher nicht zwingend Splitting-Elemente enthalten, um eine Entlastung zu gewährleisten vielmehr kann durch andere steuerliche Maßnahmen derselbe Entlastungseffekt erzielt werden, ohne dabei die bekannten Nachteile des Splittings in Kauf nehmen zu müssen.

Skin TLR7 triggering promotes accumulation of respiratory dendritic cells and natural killer cells.

The TLR7 agonist imiquimod has been used successfully as adjuvant for skin treatment of virus-associated warts and basal cell carcinoma. The effects of skin TLR7 triggering on respiratory leukocyte populations are unknown. In a placebo-controlled experimental animal study we have used multicolour flow cytometry to systematically analyze the modulation of respiratory leukocyte subsets after skin administration of imiquimod. Compared to placebo, skin administration of imiquimod significantly increased respiratory dendritic cells (DC) and natural killer cells, whereas total respiratory leukocyte, alveolar macrophages, classical CD4+ T helper and CD8+ T killer cell numbers were not or only moderately affected. DC subpopulation analyses revealed that elevation of respiratory DC was caused by an increase of respiratory monocytic DC and CD11b(hi) DC subsets. Lymphocyte subpopulation analyses indicated a marked elevation of respiratory natural killer cells and a significant reduction of B lymphocytes. Analysis of cytokine responses of respiratory leukocytes after stimulation with Klebsiella pneumonia indicated reduced IFN-γ and TNF-α expression and increased IL-10 and IL-12p70 production after 7 day low dose skin TLR7 triggering. Additionally, respiratory NK cytotoxic activity was increased after 7d skin TLR7 triggering. In contrast, lung histology and bronchoalveolar cell counts were not affected suggesting that skin TLR7 stimulation modulated respiratory leukocyte composition without inducing overt pulmonary inflammation. These data suggest the possibility to modulate respiratory leukocyte composition and respiratory cytokine responses against pathogens like Klebsiella pneumonia through skin administration of a clinically approved TLR7 ligand. Skin administration of synthetic TLR7 ligands may represent a novel, noninvasive means to modulate respiratory immunity

A novel computer test to assess driving-relevant cognitive functions - a pilot study

ABSTRACT Background: The assessment of driving-relevant cognitive functions in older drivers is a difficult challenge as there is no clear-cut dividing line between normal cognition and impaired cognition and not all cognitive functions are equally important for driving. Methods: To support decision makers, the Bern Cognitive Screening Test (BCST) for older drivers was designed. It is a computer-assisted test battery assessing visuo-spatial attention, executive functions, eye-hand coordination, distance judgment, and speed regulation. Here we compare the performance in BCST with the performance in paper and pencil cognitive screening tests and the performance in the driving simulator testing of 41 safe drivers (without crash history) and 14 unsafe drivers (with crash history). Results: Safe drivers performed better than unsafe drivers in BCST (Mann-Whitney U test: U = 125.5; p = 0.001) and in the driving simulator (Student's t-test: t(44) = -2.64, p = 0.006). No clear group differences were found in paper and pencil screening tests (p > 0.05; ns). BCST was best at identifying older unsafe drivers (sensitivity 86%; specificity 61%) and was also better tolerated than the driving simulator test with fewer dropouts. Conclusions: BCST is more accurate than paper and pencil screening tests, and better tolerated than driving simulator testing when assessing driving-relevant cognition in older driver

Fidelity varies in the symbiosis between a gutless marine worm and its microbial consortium

Background: Many animals live in intimate associations with a species-rich microbiome. A key factor in maintaining these beneficial associations is fidelity, defined as the stability of associations between hosts and their microbiota over multiple host generations. Fidelity has been well studied in terrestrial hosts, particularly insects, over longer macroevolutionary time. In contrast, little is known about fidelity in marine animals with species-rich microbiomes at short microevolutionary time scales, that is at the level of a single host population. Given that natural selection acts most directly on local populations, studies of microevolutionary partner fidelity are important for revealing the ecological and evolutionary processes that drive intimate beneficial associations within animal species. Results: In this study on the obligate symbiosis between the gutless marine annelid Olavius algarvensis and its consortium of seven co-occurring bacterial symbionts, we show that partner fidelity varies across symbiont species from strict to absent over short microevolutionary time. Using a low-coverage sequencing approach that has not yet been applied to microbial community analyses, we analysed the metagenomes of 80 O. algarvensis individuals from the Mediterranean and compared host mitochondrial and symbiont phylogenies based on single-nucleotide polymorphisms across genomes. Fidelity was highest for the two chemoautotrophic, sulphur-oxidizing symbionts that dominated the microbial consortium of all O. algarvensis individuals. In contrast, fidelity was only intermediate to absent in the sulphate-reducing and spirochaetal symbionts with lower abundance. These differences in fidelity are likely driven by both selective and stochastic forces acting on the consistency with which symbionts are vertically transmitted. Conclusions: We hypothesize that variable degrees of fidelity are advantageous for O. algarvensis by allowing the faithful transmission of their nutritionally most important symbionts and flexibility in the acquisition of other symbionts that promote ecological plasticity in the acquisition of environmental resources