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Habitat use, survival, and migration of a little-known East Asian endemic, the yellow-throated bunting Emberiza elegans
No full textBasic information on the ecology of species is key for their conservation. Here we study the ecology of the little-known yellow-throated bunting Emberiza elegans based on a multi-year study on its breeding grounds in the Russian Far East. For the first time in this species, we quantified breeding habitat parameters, calculated sex-specific apparent survival, and determined individual nonbreeding locations using light-level geolocation. We found that the habitat around song posts of male yellow-throated buntings is characterized by tree and shrub layers on richly littered moist ground. Habitat use overlaps with co-occurring Tristram's Buntings Emberiza tristrami and Black-faced Buntings E. spodocephala, but territories differ especially in tree cover and litter cover. Based on 4 years of color-ringing data of 72 individuals, we calculated an apparent survival rate of 36%, with higher survival estimates for male than for female yellow-throated buntings. We found no effect of carrying a geolocator on survival. We retrieved six geolocators from males. All birds migrated south-westward during autumn and spent the nonbreeding season at locations in China 700–1700 km away from their breeding sites. At least two individuals spent the boreal winter outside of the known range in northern or central China. Birds left the breeding area between early October and early November and returned between mid-March and mid-April. Our data on habitat use, survival rate, and migratory connectivity will help to assess threats to the populations of this enigmatic species, which might include habitat loss due to forest fires on the breeding grounds, and unsustainable harvest for consumption during the nonbreeding season
Interference screws manufactured from magnesium display similar primary stability for soft tissue anterior cruciate ligament graft fixation compared to a biocomposite material – a biomechanical study
No full textPurpose: Biodegradable interference screws (IFS) can be manufactured from different biomaterials. Magnesium was previously shown to possess osteoinductive properties, making it a promising material to promote graft-bone healing in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). The purpose of this study was to compare IFS made from magnesium to a contemporary biocomposite IFS. Methods: In a porcine model of ACL reconstruction, deep porcine flexor tendons were trimmed to a diameter of 8 mm, sutured in Krackow technique, and fixed with either 8 × 30 mm biocomposite IFS (Bc-IFS) or 8 × 30 mm magnesium IFS (Mg-IFS) in an 8 mm diameter bone tunnel in porcine tibiae. Cyclic loading for 1000 cycles from 0 to 250 N was applied, followed by load to failure testing. Elongation, load to failure and stiffness of the tested constructs was determined. Results: After 1000 cycles at 250 N, elongation was 4.8 mm ± 1.5 in the Bc-IFS group, and 4.9 mm ± 1.5 in the Mg-IFS group. Load to failure was 649.5 N ± 174.3 in the Bc-IFS group, and 683.8 N ± 116.5 in the Mg-IFS group. Stiffness was 125.3 N/mm ± 21.9 in the Bc-IFS group, and 122.5 N/mm ± 20.3 in the Mg-IFS group. No significant differences regarding elongation, load to failure and stiffness between Bc-IFS and Mg-IFS were observed. Conclusion: Magnesium IFS show comparable biomechanical primary stability in comparison to biocomposite IFS and may therefore be an alternative to contemporary biodegradable IFS
Annual Report 2024/2025
No full textDer Jahresbericht des Käte Hamburger Kollegs "Einheit und Vielfalt im Recht" an der Universität Münster berichtet über Aktivitäten, Fellows, Forschungsthemen, Veranstaltungen und Publikationen in den Jahren 2024/2025.The annual report of the Käte Hamburger Kolleg "Legal Unity and Pluralism" at the University of Münster provides information on activites, fellows, research topics, events, and publications in 2024/2025
Norm collisions in European Union sectoral governance during the COVID-19 pandemic: How the European Commission reconfigures norms in crises
No full textThis article argues that the COVID-19 pandemic has incited the collision of norms in sectoral European Union (EU) governance and provided an open juncture for the European Commission to engage in norm reconfiguration. Herewith, the paper expands the conceptual scope of EU-related norm research, which by focussing on the diffusion of norms within and beyond the EU has largely omitted dynamic perspectives on norms so far. We combine International Relations norm research with EU governance literature to scrutinise the normative underpinnings of the immediate crisis response within Commission sectoral strategies and working programs. Empirically, the paper focuses on the higher education and transport sectors, which have been particularly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis and targeted by the EU crisis response. The interpretative-qualitative analysis uncovers COVID-19-related collisions within the ideational constellation of EU governance and shows that the European Commission has engaged in different reconfiguration practices, potentially altering the norm constellation in the investigated sectoral governance areas
"Was hast Du Dir dazu überlegt?" Denkwege von Kindern und Inhalte gleichermaßen in den Blick nehmen:Festschrift für Dagmar Bönig
No full textMit dieser Festschrift anlässlich ihres 65. Geburtstages würdigen wir Dagmar Bönig und ihr herausragendes Wirken in der Mathematikdidaktik. In den vergangenen Jahrzehnten hat sie mit zahlreichen Projekten die mathematische Bildung im Primar- und Elementarbereich sowie die Aus- und Fortbildung von Lehrkräften maßgeblich geprägt. Als Professorin beeinflusste sie mehrere Studierendengenerationen und damit auch zahlreiche heute praktizierende Lehrkräfte. Dabei zeichnet sie sich stets durch ihre wertschätzende und offene Haltung gegenüber kindlichen Ideen aus, die sie ihren Studierenden vorlebt. Die Festschrift vereint eine vielfältige Sammlung von Beiträgen aus Wissenschaft und Praxis. Zu den Autor*innen zählen (ehemalige und aktuelle) Kolleg*innen, Lehrer*innen und Erzieher*innen, von denen viele bei Dagmar Bönig studierten, promovierten oder in Forschungsprojekten mit ihr zusammenarbeiteten. Herausgegeben wird der Band von den Mitgliedern der Arbeitsgruppe Mathematikdidaktik am Fachbereich 12 der Universität Bremen sowie den ehemaligen Mitgliedern Johanna Scharlau und Daniel Walter
Wissen, das ankommt: Forschung für die (polizierende) Praxis
No full textDer Beitrag befasst sich mit der Frage, wie wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse aus dem Forschungsprojekt "Pluralisierung lokaler urbaner Sicherheitsproduktion (PluS-i)" zielgruppengerecht und praxisnah vermittelt werden können. Im Zentrum steht die Entwicklung eines Wissenstransferkonzepts, das über klassische wissenschaftliche Publikationsformen hinausgeht und den Zugang zu Forschungsergebnissen für Praktiker:innen erleichtern soll. Basierend auf Literaturanalysen, leitfadengestützten Interviews mit polizierenden Akteuren sowie Praxisworkshops wurden Bedarfe und geeignete Formate zur Wissensvermittlung identifiziert. Der Beitrag zeigt auf, welche Faktoren einen erfolgreichen Transfer ausmachen und wie wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse nutzbar aufbereitet werden können
Zellselektives aktives Targeting mit proteinbasierten Nanopartikeln
No full textIn dieser Arbeit wurden die Eigenschaften von Albumin-basierten Nanopartikeln mit kovalent gebundenem Trastuzumab zum aktiven Targeting an HER2/neu-überexprimierende Zellen unter verschiedenen Aspekten untersucht. Hierbei wurden fluoreszenzmarkierte Nanopartikel im Co-Kulturmodell und an dreidimensionalen Tumorsphäroiden untersucht und durchflusszytometrisch ausgewertet. Um die Effektivität des Nanopartikelsystems als selektives Drug-Delivery-System zu bewerten, wurde das zelltoxische Puromycin über einen Cathepsin B-spaltbaren Linker an die Albumin-Matrix der Nanopartikel gebunden. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass diese wirkstoffbeladenen Nanopartikel die Zellviabilität von nur HER2/neu-positiven Zellen reduzierten, während HER2/neu-negative Zellen geschützt wurden. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit belegen die erfolgreichen aktiven Targeting-Eigenschaften des beschriebenen Partikelsystems
Aberrant Complement Activation Is Associated With Structural Brain Damage in Multiple Sclerosis
No full textBackground and Objectives: Levels of activated complement proteins in the CSF are increased in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and are associated with clinical disease severity. In this study, we determined whether complement activation profiles track with quantitative MRI metrics and liquid biomarkers indicative of disease activity and progression. Methods: Complement components and activation products (Factor H and I, C1q, C3, C4, C5, Ba, Bb, C3a, C4a, C5a, and sC5b-9) and liquid biomarkers (neurofilament light chain, glial fibrillary acidic protein [GFAP], CXCL-13, CXCL-9, and IL-12b) were quantified in the CSF of 112 patients with clinically isolated syndromes and 127 patients with MS; longitudinal MRIs according to a standardized protocol of the Swiss MS cohort were assessed. We used multivariable models to analyze associations of the 12 complement parameters as individual independent variables and longitudinal brain volumes, T2-weighted (T2w) lesion volumes, contrast-enhancing (CELs) and paramagnetic rim lesions (PRLs), and molecular biomarkers as dependent variables, respectively. Results: Strongest associations with accelerated brain atrophy were found for C4a: doubling of C4a CSF levels was associated with an additional brain volume loss of −0.24% (95% CI −0.31% to −0.16%; p < 0.0001) per year, followed by Ba and C3a (−0.22% [−0.29% to −0.15%]) and −0.13% ([−0.21 to −0.06]; both p < 0.001). Doubling of C3a, Ba, and C4a levels correlated with 2.2- (1.6–3.0; p < 0.0001), 2.0- (1.3–3.1; p = 0.0038), and 1.8-fold (1.2–2.6; p = 0.0029) increased longitudinal T2w lesion volumes; C3a and Ba were associated with 2.5- (1.4–4.6; p = 0.0022) and 3.3-fold (1.5–7.2; p = 0.0024) higher odds for CELs and 2.6- (1.7–4.0; p < 0.0001) and 2.3-fold (1.3–4.3; p = 0.006) increased PRL incidence rates. C1q, C3a, and C4a were associated with higher GFAP levels, and CXCL-13, CXCL-9, and IL-12b analyses showed consistent patterns with strongest associations for C1q, followed by Ba, C3a, and C4a. Discussion: Intrathecal complement activation is consistently associated with MRI metrics and liquid biomarkers indicative for MS disease activity and progression. Our results demonstrate that aberrant complement activation is strongly associated with structural brain damage in MS. Therapeutic targeting of the complement system might limit disability accumulation due to MS
Adaptation across the 2D population code explains the spatially distributive nature of motor learning
No full textIn current computational models on oculomotor learning ‘the’ movement vector is adapted in response to targeting errors. However, for saccadic eye movements, learning exhibits a spatially distributive nature, i.e. it transfers to surrounding positions. This adaptation field resembles the topographic maps of visual and motor activity in the brain and suggests that learning does not act on the population vector but already on the level of the 2D population response. Here we present a population-based gain field model for saccade adaptation in which sensorimotor transformations are implemented as error-sensitive gain field maps that modulate the population response of visual and motor signals and of the internal saccade estimate based on corollary discharge (CD). We fit the model to saccades and visual target localizations across adaptation, showing that adaptation and its spatial transfer can be explained by locally distributive learning that operates on visual, motor and CD gain field maps. We show that 1) the scaled locality of the adaptation field is explained by population coding, 2) its radial shape is explained by error encoding in polar-angle coordinates, and 3) its asymmetry is explained by an asymmetric shape of learning rates along the amplitude dimension. Learning exhibits the highest peak rate, the widest spatial extension and a pronounced asymmetry in the motor domain, while in the visual and the internal saccade domain learning appears more localized. Moreover, our results suggest that the CD-based internal saccade representation has a response field that monitors only part of the ongoing saccade changes during learning. Our framework opens the door to study spatial generalization and interference of learning in multiple contexts
Allgemein-bildender Geometrieunterricht – Sozial gerecht. Geometrisierung: Vom Phänomen zur Mathematik, vom Raum in die Ebene und zurück:Vorträge auf der 39. und 40. Herbsttagung des Arbeitskreises Geometrie in der Gesellschaft für Didaktik der Mathematik in Saarbrücken
No full textDer vorliegende Tagungsband enthält 16 Beiträge der Herbsttagungen 2023 und 2024 des Arbeitskreises Geometrie in der GDM, u. a. zu den Themenbereichen
- soziale Gerechtigkeit im Mathematikunterricht, speziell in der Geometrie,
- vom Phänomen zur Mathematik sowie
- vom Raum in die Ebene und zurück.
Darüber hinaus befinden sich am Ende des Bandes Beiträge zu unterschiedlichen Themen der Geometrie und ihrer Didaktik wie zu Häusern der Vierecke und Tetraeder, zu Vorstellungen zu Kongruenzabbildungen, zu Kreisförmigkeit im weiteren Sinn sowie zu Flächensätzen im Umfeld rechtwinkliger Dreiecke