“Sharing economy” versus “informal sector”: Jakarta’s motorbike taxi industry in turmoil

Comparing conventional motor bike taxi services in Jakarta (ojek) to their recent online-based competitors (GoJek), this paper contrasts a prime example of the classic “informal sector” with newly emerging forms of the “sharing economy”. It challenges the notion of “informal economy” as an umbrella concept for such two different business models.Comparing conventional motor bike taxi services in Jakarta (ojek) to their recent online-based competitors (GoJek), this paper contrasts a prime example of the classic “informal sector” with newly emerging forms of the “sharing economy”. It challenges the notion of “informal economy” as an umbrella concept for such two different business models

La Dinámica del Sector de Castaña y su Impacto sobre el Mercado Laboral y la Pobreza en el Norte Amazónico de Bolivia

La dinámica económica y social del norte amazónico de Bolivia en gran medida fue configurada en la época del boom de la goma, casi 100 años atrás, desde entonces hasta hoy en día, las relaciones económico-sociales han variado muy poco. Luego del colapso de la industria de la goma al principio de los años 90, la castaña se convirtió en la principal fuente de generación de empleo y movimiento económico para la región. La pregunta básica sobre la que giró la investigación fue: ¿Puede la actividad exportadora de castaña influir positivamente en la generación de ingresos y la reducción de la pobreza en la región del norte amazónica?Desarrollo rural, Castaña, Bolivia

The Use of Mouse Models for Understanding the Biology of Down Syndrome and Aging

Down syndrome is a complex condition caused by trisomy of human chromosome 21. The biology of aging may be different in individuals with Down syndrome; this is not well understood in any organism. Because of its complexity, many aspects of Down syndrome must be studied either in humans or in animal models. Studies in humans are essential but are limited for ethical and practical reasons. Fortunately, genetically altered mice can serve as extremely useful models of Down syndrome, and progress in their production and analysis has been remarkable. Here, we describe various mouse models that have been used to study Down syndrome. We focus on segmental trisomies of mouse chromosome regions syntenic to human chromosome 21, mice in which individual genes have been introduced, or mice in which genes have been silenced by targeted mutagenesis. We selected a limited number of genes for which considerable evidence links them to aspects of Down syndrome, and about which much is known regarding their function. We focused on genes important for brain and cognitive function, and for the altered cancer spectrum seen in individuals with Down syndrome. We conclude with observations on the usefulness of mouse models and speculation on future directions

Chemically selective microspectroscopy with broadband shaped femtosecond laser pulses

This doctoral thesis presents a new, unified approach to nonlinear microspectroscopy employing tailored broadband femtosecond laser radiation. The key concept is to functionalize the femtosecond excitation in order to implement a series of multiphoton spectroscopy techniques, especially for microscopic imaging. The most important application is coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) spectroscopy, which allows chemical identification of untreated samples in microscopy due to their characteristic vibrational spectra. The presented approach allows huge experimental simplifications of CARS, schemes for very rapid spectral acquisition and determination of the chemical composition (based on the quantitative analysis of entangled multiplex spectra by evolutionary algorithm fitting), as well as new methods for microscopic CARS measurements in the time-domain, resolving molecular vibrations temporally. This is possible, because coherent control of the signal generation is applied, manipulating the quantum mechanical processes of the underlying light-matter interaction by shaping the excitation light field in phase, amplitude and polarization. Thus, spectroscopic function and even molecular control is imprinted on the excitation pulses. It is shown that this idea of functional “photonic integration” can be pursued even further by incorporating an interferometric detection scheme in the same pulses without any additional optical elements in the experimental setup, drastically improving the measurement sensitivity by more than three orders of magnitude. In addition to these novel conceptual findings, new technological developments have been invented and pushed forward. These include the generation of ultrabroadband femtosecond radiation in microstructured optical fibres and its precise phase measurement and management, which is a prerequisite for coherent control. In this context, a new pulse-shaper enabled variant of SPIDER was developed, allowing very rapid compression in collinear beam geometry in the microscope. Employing the developed set of tools and concepts, application examples are given ranging from quantitative chemical imaging of polymer blend samples, to the chemical identification of potentially hazardous powdery substances and the microanalytical sensing of the chemical composition in a microfluidic device

Single-Beam Coherent Raman Spectroscopy and Microscopy via Spectral Notch Shaping

Raman spectroscopy is one of the key techniques in the study of vibrational modes and molecular structures. In Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) spectroscopy, a molecular vibrational spectrum is resolved via the third-order nonlinear interaction of pump, Stokes and probe photons, typically using a complex experimental setup with multiple beams and laser sources. Although CARS has become a widespread technique for label-free chemical imaging and detection of contaminants, its multi-source, multi-beam experimental implementation is challenging. In this work we present a simple and easily implementable scheme for performing single-beam CARS spectroscopy and microscopy using a single femtosecond pulse, shaped by a tunable narrowband notch filter. As a substitute for multiple sources, the single broadband pulse simultaneously provides the pump, Stokes and probe photons, exciting a broad band of vibrational levels. High spectroscopic resolution is obtained by utilizing a tunable spectral notch, shaped with a resonant photonic crystal slab filter, as a narrowband, time-delayed probe. Using this scheme the entire vibrational spectrum can be resolved in a single-shot multiplexed measurement, circumventing the need for a multi-source configuration or a complex pulse-shaping apparatus. We demonstrate high-resolution single-beam micro-spectroscopy and vibrational imaging of various samples in the 300cm^{-1}-1000cm^{-1} spectral range

(FAIRe) Forschungsdaten, Open Access und neue Formen der Kommunikation in der Romanistik: Beiträge des FID zur Gestaltung des digitalen Wandels

Der DFG-geförderte Fachinformationsdienst Romanistik (FID) wird von der SUB Hamburg und der ULB Bonn betrieben und bietet laufend weiterentwickelte Services für die Bereitstellung und Recherche von Literatur für die Forschung sowie ein reichhaltiges fachspezifisches Online-Informationsangebot. Der Beitrag illustriert, wie der FID mit seinen Teilprojekten Forschungsdatenmanagement (FDM) und Open-Access-Publizieren (OA) sowie mit den neuen Kommunikationskanälen eine transdisziplinäre digitale Romanistik unterstützt. Zunächst wird argumentiert, dass FDM nach den FAIR-Prinzipien Transdisziplinarität immer schon mitdenkt. Nach einer Vorstellung der entsprechenden Unterstützungsangebote des FID wird auf die Bedeutung einer konsistenten Metadatenvergabe eingegangen und eine breitere fachinterne Diskussion zu diesem Thema angeregt. Als nächstes wird das Informationsangebot des FID zum Thema OA vorgestellt sowie ein Ausblick auf das gerade eingerichtete Repositorium für romanistische OA-Publikationen geboten, das als zentrale Anlaufstelle für frei zugängliche fachspezifische Erst- und Zweitveröffentlichungen konzipiert ist. Abschließend werden mit dem Romanistik-Blog und dem Twitter-Kanal des FID zwei Angebote präsentiert, die neben der Information über aktuelle Entwicklungen in relevanten Bereichen auch die Vernetzung innerhalb und außerhalb der Fachcommunity unterstützen.The Specialised Information Service for Romance Philology (FID), run by Hamburg State and University Library and Bonn University and State Library with funding from the German Research Foundation, offers a suite of constantly improved services for finding and accessing literature for research along with rich subject-specific information. The article highlights how the FID-projects revolving around research data management (RDM) and open access (OA) publication practices as well as its use of modern communication technology support transdiciplinary digital Romance studies. Firstly, it will be argued that RDM following the FAIR Principles always includes a transdisciplinary perspective, followed by a swift introduction to FID services in support of FAIR RDM. Outlining the importance of consistently attributed metadata, it is suggested a broader discussion of this topic within the Romance studies community be initiated. This is followed by a brief introduction to the extensive information regarding OA the FID provides as well as a preview of the FID’s recently established repository for OA publications from the romance community which is designed to function as central access point for freely accessible academic publications (previously published or unpublished). The article concludes with a presentation of the FID’s own blog (Romanistik-Blog) and Twitter channel which not only supply information regarding current developments in relevant areas but also supports networking within the romance studies community and beyond

Rapamycin Treatment Ameliorates Age-Related Accumulation of Toxic Metabolic Intermediates in Brains of the Ts65Dn Mouse Model of Down Syndrome and Aging

Down syndrome (DS), caused by trisomy of chromosome 21, is the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability. Individuals with DS exhibit changes in neurochemistry and neuroanatomy that worsen with age, neurological delay in learning and memory, and predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease. The Ts65Dn mouse is the best characterized model of DS and has many features reminiscent of DS, including developmental anomalies and age-related neurodegeneration. The mouse carries a partial triplication of mouse chromosome 16 containing roughly 100 genes syntenic to human chromosome 21 genes. We hypothesized that there would be differences in brain metabolites with trisomy and age, and that long-term treatment with rapamycin, mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor and immunosuppressant, would correct these differences. Using HPLC coupled with electrochemical detection, we identified differences in levels of metabolites involved in dopaminergic, serotonergic, and kynurenine pathways in trisomic mice that are exacerbated with age. These include homovanillic acid, norepinephrine, and kynurenine. In addition, we demonstrate that prolonged treatment with rapamycin reduces accumulation of toxic metabolites (such as 6-hydroxymelatonin and 3-hydroxykynurenine) in aged mice

Proteomic analysis of six- and twelve-month hippocampus and cerebellum in a murine Down syndrome model

This study was designed to investigate the brain proteome of the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down syndrome. We profiled the cerebellum and hippocampus proteomes of 6- and 12-month-old trisomic and disomic mice by difference gel electrophoresis. We quantified levels of 2082 protein spots and identified 272 (170 unique UniProt accessions) by mass spectrometry. Four identified proteins are encoded by genes trisomic in the Ts65Dn mouse. Three of these (CRYZL11, EZR, and SOD1) were elevated with p-value \u3c0.05, and 2 proteins encoded by disomic genes (MAPRE3 and PHB) were reduced. Intergel comparisons based on age (6 vs. 12 months) and brain region (cerebellum vs. hippocampus) revealed numerous differences. Specifically, 132 identified proteins were different between age groups, and 141 identified proteins were different between the 2 brain regions. Our results suggest that compensatory mechanisms exist, which ameliorate the effect of trisomy in the Ts65Dn mice. Differences observed during aging may play a role in the accelerated deterioration of learning and memory seen in Ts65Dn mice

Accelerated Discovery of 3D Printing Materials Using Data-Driven Multi-Objective Optimization

Additive manufacturing has become one of the forefront technologies in fabrication, enabling new products impossible to manufacture before. Although many materials exist for additive manufacturing, they typically suffer from performance trade-offs preventing them from replacing traditional manufacturing techniques. Current materials are designed with inefficient human-driven intuition-based methods, leaving them short of optimal solutions. We propose a machine learning approach to accelerate the discovery of additive manufacturing materials with optimal trade-offs in mechanical performance. A multi-objective optimization algorithm automatically guides the experimental design by proposing how to mix primary formulations to create better-performing materials. The algorithm is coupled with a semi-autonomous fabrication platform to significantly reduce the number of performed experiments and overall time to solution. Without any prior knowledge of the primary formulations, the proposed methodology autonomously uncovers twelve optimal composite formulations and enlarges the discovered performance space 288 times after only 30 experimental iterations. This methodology could easily be generalized to other material formulation problems and enable completely automated discovery of a wide variety of material designs