“Texts From Hillary:” Political Meta-meming, Likeability, and Social Presence

In the age of viral social sharing, memes have become an increasingly important way for the public to engage in political debate and discussion. Through social media, politicians have an opportunity to participate in meme sharing with their followers, and to gain valuable likeability points with them by doing so. Hillary Clinton is one such politician, who created a meta-meme by participating in a viral meme about her, and was able to have some control over the narrative about her image as a result. The present research examined the uses of and responses to political meta-meming through analysis of both Hillary Clinton’s meta-memes and the reactions to them in the news media as shared on social media. This thesis used a theoretical foundation of social presence theory, which in recent years has come to be used in a social media setting and can predict likeability based on effective participation in social media norms. Analysis was conducted through the lens of the femininity/competency bind to center an understanding of Hillary Clinton’s image

The manifold roles of immunoproteasome and short-chain fatty acids in shaping the anti-tumor immune responses

The mucosal immune system is shaped by tight interactions between immune cells and host microbiota. However, the factors contributing to the development of a functional immune system with a finely regulated homeostasis remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrated the impact of the microbial metabolites SCFAs on the effector function of immune cells by modulation of metabolic state, as well as epigenetic regulation via HDAC inhibition. Especially the physiologically abundant SCFAs butyrate and pentanoate elicited beneficial effects on the effector function of CD8+ T cells and might be considered for anti-cancer therapy implementation. In the second part of this study, we discovered that the proteasome, as a main checkpoint in cellular function, displays opposing roles in tumor development. As an activator of NF-κB, the immunoproteasome impacts on the expression of pro-inflammatory mediators. Consequently, the immunoproteasome exhibits pro-tumorigenic capacity in an inflammatory-driven carcinogenesis, such as colitis-associated cancer, by enhancing the expression of cytokines and chemokines, contributing to immune cell infiltration and inflammation. On the other side, the immunoproteasome might generate neo-antigens for presentation via MHC class I molecules, thereby enabling cytotoxic T cell response against solid tumors. We demonstrated that the lack of immunoproteasome subunits (LMP7, LMP2 and MECL-1) protects mice against the development of colitis-associated carcinogenesis, but in melanoma microenvironement, high expression of immunoproteasome is required to induce an efficient anti-tumor response

How to Dampen the Surge of Non-Communicable Diseases in Southeast Asia:Insights from a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and chronic respiratory diseases, have overtaken infectious diseases as the number one cause of death worldwide. The rise of these diseases is especially grave in Southeast Asia, where existing research however falls short on offering guidance on how policy can best prevent and control NCDs in the region. Additionally, low- and middle-income countries in Southeast Asia cannot directly incorporate lessons drawn from interventions in richer countries, since health system capacities and human and financial resources are thoroughly different. Preventive interventions, thus, need to correspond to local capacities and require contextual solutions. In this article, we provide a systematic review of a wide scope of NCD interventions conducted in Southeast Asia to inform about existing intervention designs and to derive sound evidence of their effectiveness. Our literature search results in 51 studies from five Southeast Asian countries from which we can extract 204 estimates. We sort the studies into six intervention categories and analyse them with respect to 23 different health and behavioural outcomes. While we find positive and significant average effects across all six types of interventions, we also document evidence of substantial publication bias. Using a meta-regression approach in which we correct for the publication bias, we instead fail to confirm positive average effects for some interventions. Especially dietary and physical activity interventions fail to achieve improvements in analysed health outcomes, while programs focusing on smoking cessation, on the take-up of preventive screening activities or educating patients on how to cope with NCDs achieve sizeable effects. We also present evidence that the size of the effect differs with the participants' characteristics as well as with design features of the intervention. For local policymakers, the results provide important knowledge on how to address the increasing NCD burden in the coming years

DO THEY REALLY CARE ABOUT TARGETED POLITICAL ADS? INVESTIGATION OF USER PRIVACY CONCERNS AND PREFERENCES

Reliance on targeted political ads has skyrocketed in recent years, leading to negative reactions in media and society. Nonetheless, only few studies investigate user privacy concerns and their role in user acceptance decisions in the context of online political targeting. To fill this gap, in this study we explore the magnitude of privacy concerns towards targeted political ads compared to “tradi-tional” targeting in the product context. Surprisingly, we find no notable differences in privacy concerns between these use purposes. In the next step, user preferences over ad types are elicited with the help of a discrete choice experiment in the mobile app adoption context. Among others, our findings from simulations on the basis of a mixed logit model cautiously suggest that while targeted political advertising is perceived as somewhat less desirable by respondents, its presence does not consequentially deter users from choosing such an app, with user preferences being high-ly volatile. Together, these results contribute to a better understanding of users’ privacy concerns and preferences in the context of targeted political advertising online. Acknowledgment This work has been funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany (BMBF) under grant no. 16DII116 (“Deutsches Internet-Institut”)

Consumer concerns regarding additional ethical attributes of organic food

In a world where more and more organic products are mass produced, and where most consumers have little – if any – contact with the organic farmers who have produced their food, many people feel that the underlying principles of the organic movement are coming under threat. According to our research consumers are mostly interested in additional ethical attributes like “higher animal welfare standards”, “regional/local production” and “fair producer prices” and they are willing to pay more for organic products which are produced following these higher standards. This gives producers the opportunity to differentiate their products in the organic market. When communicating these additional ethical attributes of organic food producers must take care to use a wording in accordance with their customers‟ comprehension in order to build up and sustain a trustful producer-consumer-relationship

Aktuelle Tendenzen im Deutschen Film nach "Lola rennt" : eine Betrachtung anhand ausgewählter Beispiele

In dieser Arbeit werden aktuelle Tendenzen und Veränderungen im heutigen deutschen Film dargestellt. Betrachtet wird dabei der Zeitraum seit dem Filmstart von „Lola rennt“ des Regisseurs Tom Tykwer im Jahr 1998 bis heute. Die Tendenzen werden in folgenden Bereichen untersucht: Die heutigen deutschen Filmkomödien, vor allem im Hinblick auf die neuen Parodien, unterschiedliche Darstellung von Jugend in einem deutschen Film sowie der Umgang mit deutscher Geschichte. Hierbei geht es vor allem um die Auseinandersetzung mit dem Dritten Reich und mit der so genannten „Ostalgiewelle“, also um Filme über die ehemalige DDR, über die Beziehung zwischen Ost und West und über die Wiedervereinigung. Des Weiteren wird in den einzelnen Kapiteln aufgezeigt, warum der deutsche Film im Aufschwung ist und immer mehr Zuschauer erreicht

Farmer Consumer Partnerships - How to successfully communicate the values of organic food

As the popularity of organic food increases, many organic businesses are facing ever greater competition in the marketplace. And in a world where more and more organic products are mass produced, and where most consumers have little - if any - contact with the organic farmers who have produced their food, many people feel that the underlying principles of the organic movement are coming under increasing threat. Yet research shows that there is growing interest among today's consumers in the wider ethical principles which underpin organic agriculture. They want fairer working conditions; they want to support disadvantaged societal groups, higher standards of animal welfare, and the preservation of tradition and landscapes through their purchasing decisions - and they are willing to pay more for products which support this 'added value'. This booklet provides farmers and processors with practical advice and case studies on how to target their marketing strategies to the growing number of 'ethical consumers', and how to improve their communication with their customers. This publication summarises the main results of the CORE Organic project 'Farmer Consumer Partnerships'. The research project aimed to determine how the commitment of organic farmers to ethical values can be communicated to customers in order to strengthen the companies positioning in the market

Optimierung von Saatzeitpunkt und Nährstoffversorgung von Wintermohn

Der optimale Saatzeitpunkt sowie die optimale Stickstoffversorgung von Speisemohn (Papaver somniferum L.) werfen insbesondere im Winteranbau Fragen auf. In einem Feldversuch wurde 2017 die Wintermohnsorte ‘Zeno Morphex’ zu zwei verschiedenen Saatterminen im Herbst ausgesät. Eine Düngung mit Stickstoff erfolgte im Frühjahr in den Stufen 30 kg N ha-1 und 80 kg N ha-1 in Form von Hornmehl und Hornspänen. Der Saatzeitpunkt hatte keinen Einfluss auf den Samenertrag, auch die Anzahl Kapseln je Pflanze variierte kaum. Die Düngung mit 80 kg N ha-1 erhöhte im Vergleich zur Düngehöhe 30 kg N ha-1 den Samenertrag signifikant (Maximalertrag: Ø 1342,24 kg ha-1, Minimalertrag: Ø 806,33 kg ha-1). Ebenso wiesen die mit Hornmehl gedüngten Varianten siginifikant höhere Samenerträge auf als die Varianten, die Hornspäne erhielten

Platelet proteasome activity and metabolism is upregulated during bacterial sepsis

Dysregulation of platelet function can contribute to the disease progression in sepsis. The proteasome represents a critical and vital element of cellular protein metabolism in platelets and its proteolytic activity has been associated with platelet function. However, the role of the platelet proteasome as well as its response to infection under conditions of sepsis have not been studied so far. We measured platelet proteasome activity by fluorescent substrates, degradation of poly-ubiquitinated proteins and cleavage of the proteasome substrate Talin-1 in the presence of living E. coli strains and in platelets isolated from sepsis patients. Upregulation of the proteasome activator PA28 (PSME1) was assessed by quantitative real-time PCR in platelets from sepsis patients. We show that co-incubation of platelets with living E. coli (UTI89) results in increased degradation of poly-ubiquitinated proteins and cleavage of Talin-1 by the proteasome. Proteasome activity and cleavage of Talin-1 was significantly increased in α-hemolysin (HlyA)-positive E. coli strains. Supporting these findings, proteasome activity was also increased in platelets of patients with sepsis. Finally, the proteasome activator PA28 (PSME1) was upregulated in this group of patients. In this study we demonstrate for the first time that the proteasome in platelets is activated in the septic milieu