The 10 most recently published documents
Formulations of macrocyclic lactone anthelmintics such as moxidectin are regularly administered to sheep to combat parasites. A disadvantage of these pharmaceuticals are their side effects on non-target organisms when entering the environment. Little is known about anthelmintic effects on plant reproduction and whether the effects depend on environmental factors. For ecological and methodological reasons, we aimed at testing whether temperature affects the efficacy of a common moxidectin-based formulation on seed germination. We carried out a germination experiment including three typical species of temperate European grasslands (Centaurea jacea, Galium mollugo, Plantago lanceolata). We applied three temperature regimes (15/5, 20/10, 30/20°C), and a four-level dilution series (1:100–1:800) of formulated moxidectin (i.e., Cydectin oral drench). These solutions represent seed-anthelmintic contacts in the digestive tract of sheep shortly after deworming. In addition, a control was carried out with purified water only. We regularly counted emerging seedlings and calculated final germination percentage, mean germination time and synchrony of germination. Formulated moxidectin significantly reduced percentage, speed and synchrony of germination. A 1:100 dilution of the formulation reduced germination percentage by a quarter and increased mean germination time by six days compared to the control. Temperature moderated effects of the anthelmintic drug on germination in all response variables and all species, but in different patterns and magnitudes (significant anthelmintic x temperature x species interactions). In all response variables, the two more extreme temperature regimes (15/5, 30/20°C) led to the strongest effects of formulated moxidectin. With respect to germination percentage, G. mollugo was more sensitive to formulated moxidectin at the warmest temperature regime, whereas P. lanceolata showed the highest sensitivity at the coldest regime. This study shows that it is important to consider temperature dependencies of the effects of pharmaceuticals on seed germination when conducting standardised germination experiments.
The argan woodlands of South Morocco represent an open-canopy dryland forest with traditional silvopastoral usage that includes browsing by goats, sheep and camels, oil production as well as agricultural use. In the past, these forests have undergone extensive clearing, but are now protected by the state. However, the remaining argan woodlands are still under pressure from intensive grazing and illegal firewood collection. Although the argan-forest area seems to be overall decreasing due to large forest clearings for intensive agriculture, little quantitative data is available on the dynamics and overall state of the remaining argan forest. To determine how the argan woodlands in the High Atlas and the Anti-Atlas had changed in tree-crown cover from 1972 to 2018 we used historical black and white HEXAGON satellite images as well as recent WorldView satellite images (see Part A of our study). Because tree shadows can oftentimes not be separated from the tree crown on panchromatic satellite images, individual trees were mapped in three size categories to determine if trees were unchanged, had decreased/increased in crown size or had disappeared or newly grown. The current state of the argan trees was evaluated by mapping tree architectures in the field. Tree-cover changes varied highly between the test sites. Trees that remained unchanged between 1972 and 2018 were in the majority, while tree mortality and tree establishment were nearly even. Small unchanged trees made up 48.4% of all remaining trees, of these 51% showed degraded tree architectures. 40% of small (re-) grown trees were so overbrowsed that they only appeared as bushes, while medium (3–7 m crown diameter) and large trees (>7 m) showed less degraded trees regardless if they had changed or not. Approaches like grazing exclusion or cereal cultivation lead to a positive influence on tree architecture and less tree-cover decrease. Although the woodland was found to be mostly unchanged 1972–2018, the analysis of tree architecture reveals that a lot of (mostly small) trees remained stable but in a degraded state. This stability might be the result of the small trees’ high degradation status and shows the heavy pressure on the argan forest.
With the start of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the global education system has a faced immense challenges and disruptions resulting in and the necessity for an immediate redesign of teaching and learning in the school context. Face-to-face classroom instruction had to be replaced by ‘emergency remote teaching’, requiring teacher to adapt their daily routines to a new and unprecedented educational reality. Researchers and policymakers worldwide have agreed that, despite the fact that efforts were made to immediately adapt to emergency remote teaching, disadvantaged and vulnerable students may be especially at risk in emergency remote teaching. Given the differences in schooling organization across countries during the COVID-19 pandemic it can be expected that teachers performed inclusive instructional practices significantly different. Against the unpredictable situation, cross-country research has been urgently required to provide data that could inform education policy. Thus, this study explored teachers’ perceptions of supporting at risk students during the first COVID-19 school closures, as well as examining teachers’ inclusive teaching practices in three countries: Germany, Austria and Portugal. ANOVA results revealed important country differences. In general, it appears that teachers in Germany and Austria reported to have implemented less practices to address vulnerable and at-risk students compared to Portuguese teachers. Implications of the results, as well as further lines of research are outlined.
Objective: Attunement is a novel measure of nonverbal synchrony reflecting the duration of the present moment shared by two interaction partners. This study examined its association with early change in outpatient psychotherapy.
Methods: Automated video analysis based on motion energy analysis (MEA) and cross-correlation of the movement time-series of patient and therapist was conducted to calculate movement synchrony for N = 161 outpatients. Movement-based attunement was defined as the range of connected time lags with significant synchrony. Latent change classes in the HSCL-11 were identified with growth mixture modeling (GMM) and predicted by pre-treatment covariates and attunement using multilevel multinomial regression.
Results: GMM identified four latent classes: high impairment, no change (Class 1); high impairment, early response (Class 2); moderate impairment (Class 3); and low impairment (Class 4). Class 2 showed the strongest attunement, the largest early response, and the best outcome. Stronger attunement was associated with a higher likelihood of membership in Class 2 (b = 0.313, p = .007), Class 3 (b = 0.251, p = .033), and Class 4 (b = 0.275, p = .043) compared to Class 1. For highly impaired patients, the probability of no early change (Class 1) decreased and the probability of early response (Class 2) increased as a function of attunement.
Conclusions: Among patients with high impairment, stronger patient-therapist attunement was associated with early response, which predicted a better treatment outcome. Video-based assessment of attunement might provide new information for therapists not available from self-report questionnaires and support therapists in their clinical decision-making.
Der Beitrag diskutiert das Verhältnis von allgemeiner und beruflicher Bildung mithilfe einer pädagogischen Theorie der Organisation. Allgemeine Erwachsenen- und berufliche Bildung treffen sich darin, Prozess und Ergebnis der wechselseitigen Auseinandersetzung zwischen Organisationen und Individuen zu sein. Organisationen sind nicht nur Kontext von Bildung, sie sind selber gebildet und wirken pädagogisch. Der Beitrag erschließt die Funktion und Eigenlogik der Organisation in ihrem Verhältnis zu den Grundbegriffen der Erziehungswissenschaft. Der Vorschlag ermöglicht es, Lernen, Sozialisation, Erziehung, Bildung und Kompetenz in ihrer Geltung für die ineinander verflochtene Strukturdynamik von Organisation und Subjekt zu differenzieren. Als Alternative zur geläufigen Organisationsvergessenheit der Pädagogik integriert die differenzierende Ordnung dieser Begriffe eine erziehungswissenschaftliche Perspektive auf Individuum und Organisation.
In den letzten Jahren hat die Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) das Thema Wohnen zunehmend in ihren Wahlprogrammen aufgegriffen und für die eigene politische Profilierung genutzt. Der Beitrag zeigt, inwiefern die Thematisierung des Wohnens bei der AfD so formuliert ist, dass es erhebliche Anknüpfungspunkte an rechtes Gedankengut herstellt. Der Beitrag thematisiert die damit verbundenen Herausforderungen für eine kritische Stadtforschung sowie für progressive soziale Bewegungen. Er plädiert dafür, sich der Gefahr der rechten Vereinnahmung des Themas Wohnen bewusst zu sein und sich deutlich von den rechten Übernahmeversuchen abzugrenzen sowie Gegenstrategien zu entwickeln.
Background: Hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating, OMIM %114110) is a complex disorder with multifactorial causes. Emotional strains and social stress increase symptoms and lead to a vicious circle. Previously, we showed significantly higher depression scores, and normal cortisol awakening responses in patients with primary focal hyperhidrosis (PFH). Stress reactivity in response to a (virtual) Trier Social Stress Test (TSST-VR) has not been studied so far. Therefore, we measured sweat secretion, salivary cortisol and alpha amylase (sAA) concentrations, and subjective stress ratings in affected and non-affected subjects in response to a TSST-VR.
Method: In this pilot study, we conducted TSST-VRs and performed general linear models with repeated measurements for salivary cortisol and sAA levels, heart rate, axillary sweat and subjective stress ratings for two groups (diagnosed PFH (n = 11), healthy controls (n = 16)).
Results: PFH patients showed significantly heightened sweat secretion over time compared to controls (p = 0.006), with highest quantities during the TSST-VR. In both groups, sweating (p < 0.001), maximum cortisol levels (p = 0.002), feelings of stress (p < 0.001), and heart rate (p < 0.001) but not sAA (p = 0.068) increased significantly in response to the TSST-VR. However, no differences were detected in subjective ratings, cortisol concentrations and heart rate between PFH patients and controls (pall > 0.131).
Conclusion: Patients with diagnosed PFH showed stress-induced higher sweat secretion compared to healthy controls but did not differ in the stress reactivity with regard to endocrine or subjective markers. This pilot study is in need of replication to elucidate the role of the sympathetic nervous system as a potential pathway involved in the stress-induced emotional sweating of PFH patients.
Influence of Ozone and Drought on Tree Growth under Field Conditions in a 22 Year Time Series
(2022)
Studying the effect of surface ozone (O3) and water stress on tree growth is important for planning sustainable forest management and forest ecology. In the present study, a 22-year long time series (1998–2019) on basal area increment (BAI) and fructification severity of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H.Karst.) at five forest sites in Western Germany (Rhineland Palatinate) was investigated to evaluate how it correlates with drought and stomatal O3 fluxes (PODY) with an hourly threshold of uptake (Y) to represent the detoxification capacity of trees (POD1, with Y = 1 nmol O3 m−2 s−1). Between 1998 and 2019, POD1 declined over time by on average 0.31 mmol m−2 year−1. The BAI showed no significant trend at all sites, except in Leisel where a slight decline was observed over time (−0.37 cm2 per year, p < 0.05). A random forest analysis showed that the soil water content and daytime O3 mean concentration were the best predictors of BAI at all sites. The highest mean score of fructification was observed during the dry years, while low level or no fructification was observed in most humid years. Combined effects of drought and O3 pollution mostly influence tree growth decline for European beech and Norway spruce.
Reconstructing invisible deviating events: A conformance checking approach for recurring events
(2022)
Conformance checking enables organizations to determine whether their executed processes are compliant with the intended process. However, if the processes contain recurring activities, state-of-the-art approaches unfortunately have difficulties calculating the conformance. The occurrence of complex temporal rules can further increase the complexity of the problem. Identifying this limitation, this paper presents a novel approach towards dealing with recurring activities in conformance checking. The core idea of the approach is to reconstruct the missing events in the event log using defined rules while incorporating specified temporal event characteristics. This approach then enables the use of native conformance checking algorithms. The paper illustrates the algorithmic approach and defines the required temporal event characteristics. Furthermore, the approach is applied and evaluated in a case study on an event log for melanoma surveillance.
List-method directed forgetting (LMDF) is the demonstration that people can intentionally forget previously studied information when they are asked to forget what they have previously learned and remember new information instead. In addition, recent research demonstrated that people can selectively forget when cued to forget only a subset of the previously studied information. Both forms of forgetting are typically observed in recall tests, in which the to-be-forgotten and to-be-remembered information is tested independent of original cuing. Thereby, both LMDF and selective directed forgetting (SDF) have been studied mostly with unrelated item materials (e.g., word lists). The present study examined whether LMDF and SDF generalize to prose material. Participants learned three prose passages, which they were cued to remember or forget after the study of each passage. At the time of testing, participants were asked to recall the three prose passages regardless of original cuing. The results showed no significant differences in recall of the three lists as a function of cuing condition. The findings suggest that LMDF and SDF do not occur with prose material. Future research is needed to replicate and extend these findings with (other) complex and meaningful materials before drawing firm conclusions. If the null effect proves to be robust, this would have implications regarding the ecological validity and generalizability of current LMDF and SDF findings.
