Planspiel - Flüchtlinge im Stadtkontext

Das Planspiel "Flüchtlinge im Stadtkontext" entstand als Projektarbeit im Seminar "Politische Theorie und ihre Anwendung", unter der Leitung von Dr. Sybille De La Rosa. Gegenstand des Seminars, das im Sommersemester 2014 stattgefunden hat, war die Auseinandersetzung mit Möglichkeiten der Repräsentation geflüchteter Menschen in demokratischen Gesellschaften. Das Planspiel bietet die Möglichkeit, Theorieansätze zur politischen Repräsentation geflüchteter Menschen in Demokratien an einem Fallbeispiel konkret zu diskutieren. Es versetzt die Teilnehmenden, welche per Losverfahren eine Rollenkarte erhalten, in für sie neue Positionen innerhalb der Debatte zur Krise der Flüchtlingspolitik und bietet somit einen Anlass zur individuellen und kollektiven Selbstreflexion. Simuliert wird ein Fallbeispiel auf kommunaler Ebene. Den Hauptfokus der Diskussion bildet die Unterbringung von Flüchtlingen in Großmittelstadt vor dem Hintergrund knapper städtischer Ressourcen. Das Angebot richtet sich an Studierende aller Fachrichtungen sowie politisch Interessierte

National park research fellowships increase capacity and creativity in responding to climate change

The challenges posed by climate change in national parks and other protected areas demand creative approaches, new ideas, and experiments that are beyond the capacity of any single park or agency staff. Research fellowships provide a critical way that the National Park Service (NPS) and its partners can address the agency’s needs to address climate change adaptation challenges. At least 30 such programs support stewardship-relevant science in national parks. Some national programs and initiatives at Acadia National Park in Maine, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in California serve as examples of how researchers in these programs are informing restoration, relocation, vegetation and fire management, and resource protection activities; documenting change that has already occurred; providing baseline data on biodiversity; and conducting novel experiments. Successful fellowship programs have strong engagement of resource managers, emphasize communication with management and public audiences, and incorporate ongoing support and evaluation. As a result of these successes, NPS and partners are working to expand and strengthen the sustainability and effectiveness of research grants and fellowships

Использование двухчастотного намагничивания для получения кривой дифференциальной динамической проницаемости

Анализ процесса перемагничивания ферромагнетика в сложном поле позволил путем разложения в ряд Фурье получить полное выражение э. д. с. измерительной обмотки датчика. Показано, что огибающая сигнала, изменяющегося с частотой возбуждающего высокочастотного поля при определенных соотношениях параметров полей, повторяют по форме временную зависимость дифференциальной динамической проницаемости. Приводится блок-схема установки, реализующей указанный метод

Curso "Propiedad intelectual y servicios de información"

Sección: Noticias. Noticias internasEl pasado mes de octubre tuvo lugar en Madrid entre los días 17 y 19, el Curso “Propiedad intelectual y servicios de información”, organizado por la Unidad de Coordinación de Bibliotecas y el Gabinete de Formación del CSIC.N

Significance of phosphorus inclusions and discrete micron-sized grains of apatite in postglacial forest soils

Recent advances in soil phosphorus (P) studies have revealed unique P hot spots and discrete micron-sized grains at soil microsites, but the significance of these so-called 'hot spots' and grains in P cycling and long-term supply is yet to be determined. We examined soil particles and pore space distribution at a micro-scale in two postglacial forest soils by laser ablation ICP-MS imaging. This allowed us to semi-quantitatively reveal both axial and lateral abundance, distribution, and co-localization of P with elements known to influence its chemical speciation (e.g., Si, Al, Mn, Ca, and Fe). The results show topsoil P to be co-localised predominantly with Si, Al, and Fe. However, in the subsoils, P was co-localised mainly with Ca, Si, Al, and Mg in spots within Si and Al-bearing minerals and with only Ca in discrete micron-sized grains. While the spots of P-Ca inclusions were similar to 1000 mu m apart and present at 40-100 cm depth in Tarnsjo, the discrete grains of P-Ca were similar to 700-1200 mu m apart and present at 90-100 cm depth in Tonnersjoheden. The P concentrations in these 'hot spots' and grains were 7 to 600 times greater than the average soil P concentrations, with the highest values (3434-8716 mmol P kg(-1)) occurring in the C horizons of the two soils. When combined with previous P speciation results obtained by synchrotron P K-edge XANES in the same soils, our work confirms geogenic apatite to have been dissolved in the topsoil and its P transformed to P adsorbed by Al-Si and Fe phases, and to organic P. Most importantly, our work shows subsoil spots of P-Ca inclusions and micron-sized grains to be a long-term source of P and Ca. Highlights The significance of high-P spots and discrete grains to long-term P supply is largely unknown. For the first time, P concentration and speciation was resolved by LA-ICP-MS multi-elemental analysis. The P spots exist as dispersed apatite inclusions and micron-sized grains in the subsoil. P in these spots and grains were up to 600 times greater than the bulk soil P concentrations

Genomic island excisions in Bordetella petrii

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Among the members of the genus <it>Bordetella B. petrii </it>is unique, since it is the only species isolated from the environment, while the pathogenic Bordetellae are obligately associated with host organisms. Another feature distinguishing <it>B. petrii </it>from the other sequenced Bordetellae is the presence of a large number of mobile genetic elements including several large genomic regions with typical characteristics of genomic islands collectively known as integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs). These elements mainly encode accessory metabolic factors enabling this bacterium to grow on a large repertoire of aromatic compounds.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>During <it>in vitro </it>culture of <it>Bordetella petrii </it>colony variants appear frequently. We show that this variability can be attributed to the presence of a large number of metastable mobile genetic elements on its chromosome. In fact, the genome sequence of <it>B. petrii </it>revealed the presence of at least seven large genomic islands mostly encoding accessory metabolic functions involved in the degradation of aromatic compounds and detoxification of heavy metals. Four of these islands (termed GI1 to GI3 and GI6) are highly related to ICE<it>clc </it>of <it>Pseudomonas knackmussii </it>sp. strain B13. Here we present first data about the molecular characterization of these islands. We defined the exact borders of each island and we show that during standard culture of the bacteria these islands get excised from the chromosome. For all but one of these islands (GI5) we could detect circular intermediates. For the <it>clc</it>-like elements GI1 to GI3 of <it>B. petrii </it>we provide evidence that tandem insertion of these islands which all encode highly related integrases and attachment sites may also lead to incorporation of genomic DNA which originally was not part of the island and to the formation of huge composite islands. By integration of a tetracycline resistance cassette into GI3 we found this island to be rather unstable and to be lost from the bacterial population within about 100 consecutive generations. Furthermore, we show that GI3 is self transmissible and by conjugation can be transferred to <it>B. bronchiseptica </it>thus proving it to be an active integrative and conjugative element</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results show that phenotypic variation of <it>B. petrii </it>is correlated with the presence of genomic islands. Tandem integration of related islands may contribute to island evolution by the acquisition of genes originally belonging to the bacterial core genome. In conclusion, <it>B. petrii </it>appears to be the first member of the genus in which horizontal gene transfer events have massively shaped its genome structure.</p

Significance of phosphorus inclusions and discrete micron‐sized grains of apatite in postglacial forest soils

Recent advances in soil phosphorus (P) studies have revealed unique P hot spots and discrete micron-sized grains at soil microsites, but the significance of these so-called ‘hot spots’ and grains in P cycling and long-term supply is yet to be determined. We examined soil particles and pore space distribution at a micro-scale in two postglacial forest soils by laser ablation ICP-MS imaging. This allowed us to semi-quantitatively reveal both axial and lateral abundance, distribution, and co-localization of P with elements known to influence its chemical speciation (e.g., Si, Al, Mn, Ca, and Fe). The results show topsoil P to be co-localised predominantly with Si, Al, and Fe. However, in the subsoils, P was co-localised mainly with Ca, Si, Al, and Mg in spots within Si and Al-bearing minerals and with only Ca in discrete micron-sized grains. While the spots of P-Ca inclusions were ~ 1000 μm apart and present at 40–100 cm depth in Tärnsjö, the discrete grains of P-Ca were ~ 700–1200 μm apart and present at 90–100 cm depth in Tönnersjöheden. The P concentrations in these ‘hot spots’ and grains were 7 to 600 times greater than the average soil P concentrations, with the highest values (3434–8716 mmol P kg−1) occurring in the C horizons of the two soils. When combined with previous P speciation results obtained by synchrotron P K-edge XANES in the same soils, our work confirms geogenic apatite to have been dissolved in the topsoil and its P transformed to P adsorbed by Al-Si and Fe phases, and to organic P. Most importantly, our work shows subsoil spots of P-Ca inclusions and micron-sized grains to be a long-term source of P and Ca