Entrechtung in mondäner Atmosphäre – NS-Zwangsarbeit in Baden-Baden

Das Thema 'NS-Zwangsarbeit' war lange Zeit ein von der Forschung vernachlässigtes Thema. Erst als unter der Rot-Grünen Bundesregierung seit 1999 eine gesetzliche Vorbereitung zur "Entschädigung" erarbeitet wurde und Kommunen wie Unternehmen einer wissenschaftlichen Grundlage bedurften, erhielt das Thema eine große Forschungskonjunktur. In diesem weiten Kontext ist auch die vorgelegte Lokalstudie zu sehen. Sie behandelt exemplarisch den Ort Baden-Baden in Bezug auf die dort eingesetzten ZwangsarbeiterInnen, schildert Charakteristika der Zwangsarbeit in einer traditionell vom Tourismus und von ausländischem Publikum geprägten, grenznahen Stadt. Die Arbeit liefert Anknüpfungspunkte und stellt Fragen an eine Strukturgeschichte Badens zur Zeit des Zweiten Weltkrieges. Insofern ist sie als erster Schritt zum Thema, das viele 'blinde' Flecken besitzt, zu sehen

Emotion regulation and delusions

Mounting evidence suggests a causal role of negative emotion in delusions. Particularly, fluctuations in anxiety and self-esteem seem to trigger delusional ideation. Consequently, the ability to down-regulate negative emotions is likely to help to prevent or reduce delusional ideation. Despite the clear theoretical relevance, emotion regulation strategies such as reappraisal (i.e. changing the perspective on a situation in order to modify emotional responses) or expressive suppression (i.e. inhibiting facial expressions of emotions; „poker face‟) have not been researched in delusions so far. The present dissertation project fills this gap by investigating emotion regulation in paranoia- and delusion-prone samples. Study 1 revealed bivariate and multivariate associations between emotion regulation difficulties and paranoia-proneness. Study 2 experimentally demonstrated that delusion-prone individuals had difficulties in successfully applying the emotion regulation strategy reappraisal while watching anxiety-eliciting pictures, but not in applying expressive suppression. Furthermore, unsuccessful emotion regulation was correlated with state delusional ideation exclusively during reappraisal. The potentially maladaptive nature of reappraisal in delusion was further corroborated in study 3. Under social stress, paranoia-prone individuals who habitually use reappraisal experienced an increase in state paranoia. Taken together, the present dissertation project provides subclinical evidence for specific difficulties in applying the generally helpful and adaptive emotion regulation strategy reappraisal. A working model of emotion regulation in delusions that incorporates a vulnerability-stress-approach, cognitive models of positive symptoms and the process model of emotion regulation was proposed in order to stimulate further theory-driven research in populations with clinically relevant delusions. A preliminary clinical implication might be that reappraisal in social high-stress situations should be applied with caution in delusion-proneness

Reinigung und Charakterisierung von Tubulin Polyglutamylase aus Crithidia fasciculata

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Mdm31 and Mdm32 are inner membrane proteins required for maintenance of mitochondrial shape and stability of mitochondrial DNA nucleoids in yeast

The MDM31 and MDM32 genes are required for normal distribution and morphology of mitochondria in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. They encode two related proteins located in distinct protein complexes in the mitochondrial inner membrane. Cells lacking Mdm31 and Mdm32 harbor giant spherical mitochondria with highly aberrant internal structure. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is instable in the mutants, mtDNA nucleoids are disorganized, and their association with Mmm1-containing complexes in the outer membrane is abolished. Mutant mitochondria are largely immotile, resulting in a mitochondrial inheritance defect. Deletion of either one of the MDM31 and MDM32 genes is synthetically lethal with deletion of either one of the MMM1, MMM2, MDM10, and MDM12 genes, which encode outer membrane proteins involved in mitochondrial morphogenesis and mtDNA inheritance. We propose that Mdm31 and Mdm32 cooperate with Mmm1, Mmm2, Mdm10, and Mdm12 in maintenance of mitochondrial morphology and mtDNA

Numerical study of the RBF-FD method for the Stokes equations

We study the numerical behavior of the meshless Radial Basis Function Finite Difference method applied to the stationary incompressible Stokes equations in two spatial dimensions, using polyharmonic splines as radial basis functions with a polynomial extension on two separate node sets to discretize the velocity and the pressure. On the one hand,we show that the convergence rates of the method correspond to the known convergence rates of numerical differentiation by the polyharmonic splines. On the other hand, we show that the main condition for the stability of the numerical solution is that the distributions of the pressure nodes has to be coarser than that of the velocity everywhere in the domain. There seems to be no need for any complex assumptions similar to the Ladyzhenskaya-Babuška-Brezzi condition in the finite element method. Numerical results for the benchmark driven cavity problem are in a good agreement with those in the literature

Motive-Oriented, Personalized, Internet-Based Interventions for Depression: Nonclinical Experimental Study.

BACKGROUND The low level of adherence in internet-based self-help interventions for depression suggests that in many existing programs, the motivational fit between the program and the user is unsatisfactory (eg, the user seeks autonomy, but the program provides directive guidance). Personalized, motive-oriented, self-help interventions could enable participants who interact with a program and its contents to have more engaging and less aversive experiences and thus increase adherence. OBJECTIVE In an experimental study with a nonclinical analogue sample, we aimed to test the hypotheses that a better motivational person-program fit is linked with higher anticipated adherence, working alliance, and satisfaction with the program. METHODS Motivational person-program fit was examined with respect to the 2 contrasting motives being autonomous and being supported. The hypotheses were tested by specifically varying the motivational person-program fit in a nonclinical sample (N=55), where participants were asked to work on, and subsequently evaluate, a limited set of individual pages of a self-help program with guidance (in the form of text messages) for depression. The sections of the self-help program were redesigned to either particularly address the autonomy motive or the support motive. For the quasi-experimental variation of the motivational person-program characteristics, we divided the 55 participants into 2 groups (autonomy group: n=27, 49%; support group: n=28, 51%) by screening method (using the Inventory of Approach and Avoidance Motivation), corresponding to the 2 motives. Both groups evaluated (in randomized order) 2 excerpts of the program-one that matched their motive (fit) and one that was contrary to it (no fit). Immediately after the evaluation of each excerpt, anticipated adherence, working alliance, and treatment satisfaction were assessed. RESULTS Regarding being supported, the satisfaction with or violation of this motive had an impact on (optimal) anticipated adherence as well as working alliance and satisfaction with the intervention; a congruent person-program fit resulted in significantly higher anticipated adherence (t27=3.00; P=.006), working alliance (t27=3.20; P=.003), and satisfaction (t27=2.86; P=.008) than a noncongruent fit. However, a similar impact could not be found for the motive being autonomous. Several correlations were found that supported our hypotheses (eg, for the congruent person-program fit autonomy motive and autonomy group, support satisfaction negatively correlated with optimal anticipated adherence). CONCLUSIONS This first experimental study gives reason to assume that motive orientation may have a positive influence on adherence, working alliance, and satisfaction in internet-based self-help interventions for depression and other mental disorders. Future studies should conduct randomized controlled trials with clinical samples and assess clinical outcomes

The inner membrane protein Mdm33 controls mitochondrial morphology in yeast

Mitochondrial distribution and morphology depend on MDM33, a Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene encoding a novel protein of the mitochondrial inner membrane. Cells lacking Mdm33 contain ring-shaped, mostly interconnected mitochondria, which are able to form large hollow spheres. On the ultrastructural level, these aberrant organelles display extremely elongated stretches of outer and inner membranes enclosing a very narrow matrix space. Dilated parts of Δmdm33 mitochondria contain well-developed cristae. Overexpression of Mdm33 leads to growth arrest, aggregation of mitochondria, and generation of aberrant inner membrane structures, including septa, inner membrane fragments, and loss of inner membrane cristae. The MDM33 gene is required for the formation of net-like mitochondria in mutants lacking components of the outer membrane fission machinery, and mitochondrial fusion is required for the formation of extended ring-like mitochondria in cells lacking the MDM33 gene. The Mdm33 protein assembles into an oligomeric complex in the inner membrane where it performs homotypic protein–protein interactions. Our results indicate that Mdm33 plays a distinct role in the mitochondrial inner membrane to control mitochondrial morphology. We propose that Mdm33 is involved in fission of the mitochondrial inner membrane

The class V myosin motor protein, Myo2, plays a major role in mitochondrial motility in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The actin cytoskeleton is essential for polarized, bud-directed movement of cellular membranes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and thus ensures accurate inheritance of organelles during cell division. Also, mitochondrial distribution and inheritance depend on the actin cytoskeleton, though the precise molecular mechanisms are unknown. Here, we establish the class V myosin motor protein, Myo2, as an important mediator of mitochondrial motility in budding yeast. We found that mutants with abnormal expression levels of Myo2 or its associated light chain, Mlc1, exhibit aberrant mitochondrial morphology and loss of mitochondrial DNA. Specific mutations in the globular tail of Myo2 lead to aggregation of mitochondria in the mother cell. Isolated mitochondria lacking functional Myo2 are severely impaired in their capacity to bind to actin filaments in vitro. Time-resolved fluorescence microscopy revealed a block of bud-directed anterograde mitochondrial movement in cargo binding–defective myo2 mutant cells. We conclude that Myo2 plays an important and direct role for mitochondrial motility and inheritance in budding yeast

Posttranslational modifications of α- and β-tubulin in Giardia lamblia, an ancient eukaryote

AbstractTubulin of Giardia lamblia, a representative of the oldest eukaryotes, was screened for posttranslational modifications. Mass spectrometry of the carboxy-terminal peptides documents a large number of variants. Both α- and β-tubulin show polyglycylation with up to 20 and 15 extra glycyl residues respectively. Minor variants show a low level of glutamylation without or with glycylation. The glutamylation-specific antibody GT335 detects α- and β-tubulin in immunoblots. The terminal tyrosine is fully retained in α-tubulin, which is completely acetylated at Lys-40. Thus except for the detyrosination/tyrosination cycle all posttranslational modifications known for higher eukaryotes are already present in Giardia

A flux-corrected RBF-FD method for convection dominated problems in domains and on manifolds

In this article we introduce a FCT stabilized Radial Basis Function (RBF)-Finite Difference (FD) method for the numerical solution of convection dominated problems. The proposed algorithm is designed to maintain mass conservation and to guarantee positivity of the solution for an almost random placement of scattered data nodes. The method can be applicable both for problems defined in a domain or if equipped with level set techniques, on a stationary manifold. We demonstrate the numerical behavior of the method by performing numerical tests for the solid-body rotation benchmark in a unit square and for a transport problem along a curve implicitly prescribed by a level set function. Extension of the proposed method to higher dimensions is straightforward and easily realizable