University of Konstanz
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Statistik über die Bewerber/innen für ein Studium an der Universität Konstanz. Studienjahr 2024/2025, 1. Studienabschnitt (Wintersemester)
No full textAuswertung des Studienplatzvergabeverfahrens in Studiengängen mit örtlicher Zulassungsbeschränkung, in ZVS-Studiengängen und in zulassungsfreien Studiengängen.publishe
Vole hunting : novel predatory and carnivorous behavior by California ground squirrels
No full textDietary flexibility allows animals to respond adaptively to food pulses in the environment. Here we document the novel emergence of widespread hunting of California voles and carnivorous feeding behavior by California ground squirrels. Over two months in the twelfth year of a long-term study on the squirrel population, we document 74 events of juvenile and adult ground squirrels of both sexes depredating, consuming, and/or competing over vole prey. Our video footage, photographic evidence, and direct observations of marked individual squirrels provide insights into the ecological circumstances favoring behavioral flexibility in foraging associated with a decadal peak in vole abundance. Digital video images related to the article are available at http://www.momo-p.com/showdetail-e.php?movieid=momo241126ob01apublishe
How regional attitudes towards immigration shape the chance to obtain asylum : Evidence from Germany
No full textAsylum recognition rates in advanced democracies differ not only across states but also vary within them, translating into fluctuating individual chances to obtain protection. Existing studies on the determinants of these regional inequities typically rely on aggregate data. Utilizing a German refugee survey and leveraging a quasi-natural experiment arising from state-based allocation rules tied to national dispersal policies, we test two explanations for the perplexing regional differences. Drawing on principal–agent models of administrative decision-making, we test whether asylum decision-makers consciously or unconsciously comply with regional political preferences between 2015 and 2017 in Germany, one of the major European destination countries for refugee migration. We furthermore explore whether such biased decision-making amplifies in times of organizational stress as suggested by the statistical discrimination theory. Using mixed-effects logistic regressions, our analyses confirm a lower approval probability in regions with more immigration-averse residents or governments. We cannot confirm, however, that this association is mediated by high workloads or large knowledge gaps. Our results thus suggest that regional political biases affect the individual chance of asylum-seekers to obtain protection irrespective of temporal administrative conditions.publishe
Income or Leisure? : On the Hidden Benefits of (Un)Employment
No full textDo unemployed people benefit from more free time, while consumption is the sole motive for employed people to accept a life with less available time? Does this apply equally to men and women? To inform ongoing policy debates on how to address the problem of unemployment, we provide a comprehensive discussion of the traditionally assumed trade-off between income and leisure in labor supply decisions, which has been contested for a variety of reasons. Using rich German panel data, we compare non-employed individuals after plant closures with employed individuals regarding their subjective well-being obtained from time use and income. We find that increased non-working time through unemployment translates into higher free-time satisfaction, while also improving satisfaction with family life, as a possible hidden benefit of being unemployed when having more time for home production. Meanwhile, there is a strong decline in satisfaction with household income, especially among unemployed men, which cannot be explained solely by a lower level of income. We inspect the role of social norms in this context and argue that individuals obtain identity utility through having a job that ensures being self-sufficient, as a hidden benefit of employment. Based on studying unemployed workers transitions into retirement and a separately conducted survey experiment, we provide strong evidence on the importance of the social norm of earning a living from work. Our experiment also shows that home production is a way of mitigating the pressure to comply with this norm, which is true for men and women alike.publishe
Apraxia : from Neuroanatomical Pathways to Clinical Manifestations
No full textPurpose of Review:
Apraxia typically involves impairments in gesture production and tool use, affecting daily life activities. This article reviews current conceptualizations and developments in diagnostic and therapy.
Recent Findings:
Apraxia has been studied in various neurological conditions, particularly stroke and dementia, but recent studies show gesturing deficits in psychiatric populations as well. Promising results have emerged from integrative treatment approaches involving intensive practice of gestures or daily activities. However, several reviews have noted the only marginal progress in apraxia therapy research despite new technologies, like virtual reality and brain stimulation, offering fresh opportunities for assessment and therapy.
Summary:
Advances in lesion-symptom mapping and connectivity analyses led to more detailed neuroanatomical models emphasizing parallel and gradual processing. These models facilitate the understanding of underlying mechanisms of motor cognitive performance and its decline. Finally, the digital era prompts the need to study digital tool use in apraxia, with initial efforts underway.publishe
Bats surf storm fronts during spring migration
No full textLong-distance migration, common in passerine birds, is rare and poorly studied in bats. Piloting a 1.2-gram IoT (Internet of Things) tag with onboard processing, we tracked the daily location, temperature, and activity of female common noctules (Nyctalus noctula) during spring migration across central Europe up to 1116 kilometers. Over 3 years, 71 bats migrated tens to hundreds of kilometers per night, predominantly with incoming warm fronts, which provided them with wind support. Bats also showed unexpected flexibility in their ability to migrate across a wide range of conditions if needed. However, females leaving toward the end of the season showed higher total activity per distance traveled, a possible cost for their flexible migration timing.publishe
The Emissive and Electrochemical Properties of Hypervalent Pyridine-Dipyrrolide Bismuth Complexes
No full textWe present a series of six hypervalent bismuth complexes Bi(R1PDPR2)X bearing ligands characterized by the pyridine‐2,6‐bis(pyrrolide) (PDP) structural motif. While bismuth holds considerable potential for facilitating efficient intersystem crossing (ISC), reports on phosphorescent molecular bismuth complexes are still scarce and mostly based on systems that exhibit inter‐ or intraligand charge transfer character of their optical excitations. Herein, the UV/vis absorptive, luminescent, and electrochemical properties of complexes Bi(R1PDPR2)X are explored, where the substituents R 1 and R 2 , as well as the halide ligand X are varied. These compounds are characterized by an intense HOMO→LUMO transition of mixed ligand‐to‐metal charge transfer (LMCT) and interligand charge transfer (LL'CT) character, as shown by time‐dependent density functional theory (TD‐DFT) calculations. At 77 K in a 2‐MeTHF matrix, these compounds exhibit red, long‐lived phosphorescence with lifetimes ranging from 479 to 14 μs. Cyclic voltammetry measurements and TD‐DFT calculations show that the substituents influence HOMO and LUMO energies to almost equal extent, resulting in nearly constant emission wavelengths throughout this series. Single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction studies of four of the six complexes exemplify the inherent Lewis acidity of the coordinated Bi3+ ion, in spite of its hypervalency.publishe
Synergistic effects of temperature and light on photoprotection in the model diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum
No full textDiatoms dominate phytoplankton communities in turbulent waters, where light fluctuations can be frequent and intense. Due to this complex environment, these heterokont microalgae display remarkable photoprotection strategies, including a fast Non‐Photochemical Quenching (NPQ). However, in nature, several abiotic parameters (such as temperature) can influence the response of photosynthetic organisms to light stress in a synergistic or antagonistic manner. Yet, the combined effects of light and these other drivers on the photosynthetic and photoprotective capacity of diatoms are still poorly understood. In this work, we investigated the impact of short‐term temperature and light stress on the model diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum , combining NPQ induction‐recovery assays or light curves with a broad gradient of superimposed temperature treatments (5 to 35°C). We employed mutant lines deficient in NPQ generation ( vde KO ) or recovery ( zep3 KO ) and wild type. We found that temperature and light have a synergistic effect: lower temperatures limited both the photosynthetic capacity and NPQ, while the general photophysiological performance was enhanced with warming, up to a heat‐stress limit (above 30°C). We discuss the temperature effects on NPQ induction and recovery and propose that these are independent from the energy requirements of the cells and result from altered xanthophyll cycle dynamics. Namely, we found that de‐epoxidation activity strongly increases with temperature, outweighing epoxidation and resulting in a positive increase of NPQ with temperature. Finally, we propose that in a short‐term time frame, temperature and light have a synergistic and not antagonistic effect, with a positive relationship between increasing temperature and NPQ.publishe
Labor-inclusive corporatism after democratic transitions : Institutionalization in South Africa and Brazil
No full textUnder what conditions has corporatist policymaking become institutionalized in newly transitioned democracies? I argue that transitions have provided temporary opportunities for unions to push for laws they can later use to protect their place in economic councils. The relevant sets of legal rules, which I call compulsory deliberation, enable non-‘State official’ members to resist governmental disruption of such councils despite them composing the Executive’s structure. I compare South Africa and Brazil, two ‘most similar’ cases that featured sequences of chronically unstable labor-excluding councils under authoritarian regimes. I argue that the former broke out of this trajectory while the latter did not because South African unions developed aspirations for durable policy influence before the transition, whereas Brazilian ones only did so afterward and thus mobilized too late. Although Brazilian governments have enacted dozens of regulations covering as many councils, these have only served as short-term instruments for marketing policies.publishe
Intraspecific variability of social structure and linked foraging behavior in females of a widespread bat species (Phyllostomus hastatus)
No full textIntraspecific variation in morphology and behavior is widespread, especially in species with large distribution ranges. This includes foraging which can vary according to the local resource landscape. How this may be linked to differences in social structure, especially in socially foraging species is less known. Greater spear-nosed bats are well known for their large repertoire of often highly complex social behaviors. In Trinidad, they form stable groups of unrelated females that recruit other members to temporally unpredictable flowering balsa trees. We compared these findings with a dataset of capture data, GPS tracks, and observations collected over six years in a colony in Panamá. We found profound differences in the foraging behavior and group stability of Phyllostomus hastatus during the dry season where social behaviors were expected. Female bats did not coordinate commutes to exploit distinct foraging resources as a group. Instead, females commuted individually to very distant foraging areas which overlapped between groups. Linked to this we found groups to be unstable in size over the short and long term. Our findings highlight the large intraspecific variation and indicate a strong influence of the local resource landscape and associated benefits of social foraging on the social structure in these bats and possibly many other animals.publishe