Der Einfluss sozioökonomischer, kultureller und struktureller Faktoren auf den Kindertagesstättenbesuch von geflüchteten Kindern

Previous research has found that ethnic educational inequalities arise even before children enroll in primary school. It has been shown that especially for migrants, early participation in education has a positive impact on later educational outcomes, with the acquisition of the host-country language being one of the main mechanisms driving this effect. With the influx of over one million refugees into Germany in recent years, the integration of migrant children, especially refugee children, into the educational system is more salient in educational politics than ever. The first empirical findings on early and preschool education among refugees have shown that while a considerable share of refugee children attend a daycare center, they do so at lower rates than native and other migrant children. This paper aims to examine whether inequalities in the early education of refugee children can be explained by different socioeconomic and migration-related factors known to be associated with inequality in daycare attendance and to explore whether additional refugee-specific factors affect the likelihood of enrollment in preschool education. With data from the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees in Germany and the study Refugees in the German Educational System (ReGES), we show that conventional explanatory variables do affect refugee children’s attendance of daycare centers. In addition to children’s age, the employment status of the mother, and the length of stay in Germany are particularly important. However, we see regional differences in participation in preschool education that cannot be explained by the municipal childcare supply. (DIPF/Orig.)Bisherige Studien haben gezeigt, dass ethnische Bildungsungleichheiten bereits vor der Einschulung entstehen. Es wurde gezeigt, dass insbesondere für Lernende mit Migrationshintergrund eine frühe Bildungsbeteiligung einen positiven Einfluss auf die späteren Bildungsergebnisse hat, wobei der Erwerb der Sprache des Aufnahmelandes einer der Hauptmechanismen für diesen Effekt ist. Mit der Zuwanderung von über einer Million Schutzsuchenden nach Deutschland in den letzten Jahren ist die Integration von Migrantenkindern, insbesondere von geflüchteten Kindern, in das Bildungssystem bildungspolitisch aktueller denn je. Erste empirische Befunde zur frühkindlichen und vorschulischen Bildung von Geflüchteten haben gezeigt, dass zwar ein erheblicher Anteil der geflüchteten Kinder eine Kindertagesstätte besucht, ihre Betreuungsquoten sind jedoch geringer als die von einheimischen und anderen Migrantenkindern. In diesem Beitrag soll untersucht werden, ob Ungleichheiten in der frühen Bildung von geflüchteten Kindern durch verschiedene sozioökonomische und migrationsspezifische Faktoren erklärt werden können, von denen aus der Literatur bekannt ist, dass sie mit Ungleichheiten im Kindertagesstättenbesuch einhergehen, und ob zusätzliche flüchtlingsspezifische Faktoren die Wahrscheinlichkeit den Besuch einer Kindertagesstätte beeinflussen. Mit Daten aus der IAB-BAMFSOEP-Befragung von Geflüchteten in Deutschland und der Studie Refugees in the German Educational System (ReGES) zeigen wir, dass bekannte Determinanten den Kindertagesstättenbesuch von geflüchteten Kindern tatsächlich beeinflussen. Neben dem Alter der Kinder sind vor allem der Erwerbsstatus der Mutter und die Dauer des Aufenthalts in Deutschland von Bedeutung. Wir sehen jedoch regionale Unterschiede in der frühkindlichen Bildungsbeteiligung, die nicht durch das kommunale Kinderbetreuungsangebot erklärt werden können. (DIPF/Orig.

The Impact of Legal Status on Different Schooling Aspects of Adolescents in Germany

During the so-called refugee crisis of 2015, approximately 300,000 underage asylum seekers came to Germany. We examine whether their legal status and their subjective perception of their status are equally important for their educational integration. On the basis of rational choice theory, we hypothesize that refugees’ legal status should affect their educational outcomes. Our study finds no differences among students with different legal statuses in school placement. However, students who perceive their status as insecure report significantly worse GPA than students who feel rather secure. Concerning the objective legal status, we do find that students with an insecure legal status report better grades than those with a granted refugee status. These contrary results show the importance of additionally considering status perception in understanding and explaining educational outcomes of immigrants in further research. Educators should be aware of the potential divergence between objective and subjective status and their corresponding effects on educational trajectories. **** Note that the original PDF version of this article contained a production error, which has now been fixed. As a result, the original pagination has been adjusted. ***  Pendant la soi-disant « crise des réfugiés » de 2015, approximativement 300 000 demandeurs d’asile d’âge mineur sont arrivés en Allemagne. Nous examinons si leur statut légal et la perception subjective qu’ils ont de leur statut ont une importance égale en ce qui concerne leur intégration éducative. Nous appuyant sur la théorie du choix rationnel, nous émettons des hypothèses sur la manière dont le statut légal des réfugiés affecte leurs résultats scolaires. Notre étude ne révèle aucune divergence entre les étudiants de statuts légaux différents dans le placement scolaire. Cependant, les étudiants qui perçoivent leur statut comme précaire rapportent des moyennes significativement plus basses que ceux qui ont un plus grand sentiment de sécurité. En ce qui concerne le statut légal objectif, nous constatons que les étudiants au statut précaire rapportent de meilleures notes que ceux qui ont reçu le statut de réfugié. Ces résultats contradictoires montrent qu’il est important de tenir compte de la manière dont les immigrants perçoivent leur statut afin de comprendre et d’expliquer leurs résultats scolaires lors de recherches ultérieures. Les éducateurs devraient être conscients des potentielles divergences entre le statut objectif et le statut subjectif ainsi que leurs effets sur les trajectoires éducatives. ***Notez que la version PDF d'origine de cet article contenait une erreur de production, qui a maintenant été corrigée. En conséquence, la pagination d'origine a été ajustée.**

Explaining inequalities of homeschooling in Germany during the first COVID-19 lockdown

Current studies suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic is worsening existing social inequalities in the field of education worldwide. In this paper, we argue that the pandemic is especially challenging for students from socially disadvantaged and educationally deprived homes, as parental engagement and resources are very important in terms of guiding and supporting students’ learning processes during this school closure period. To examine how well parents were able to help their children with schoolwork during the homeschooling period in Germany, we used data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS, n = 3,714) collected during the first such period in May/June 2020 when students were in Grade 7. Taking known mechanisms of inequality of educational opportunity into account, we explored the effects of parents’ aspirations and cultural, social, and economic capital on their ability to help their children. Our results showed that although the majority of the examined parents were able to provide good schoolwork support, as expected, we found inequalities related to social background. Parents with low education were twice as likely as highly educated parents to be unable to provide sufficient support. In our multivariate analyses, family resources had a significant positive effect on the likelihood of a parent being able to help. Moreover, regardless of the social or cultural capital endowment of the parents, good household technical equipment was associated with a higher probability of support. Thus, ensuring that students have access to technical home equipment could be a way to promote an educationally supportive learning environment across all social groups

Activated regulatory T-cells promote duodenal bacterial translocation into necrotic areas in severe acute pancreatitis

Objective In acute pancreatitis (AP), bacterial translocation and subsequent infection of pancreatic necrosis are the main risk factors for severe disease and late death. Understanding how immunological host defence mechanisms fail to protect the intestinal barrier is of great importance in reducing the mortality risk of the disease. Here, we studied the role of the Treg/Th17 balance for maintaining the intestinal barrier function in a mouse model of severe AP. Design AP was induced by partial duct ligation in C57Bl/6 or DEREG mice, in which regulatory T-cells (Treg) were depleted by intraperitoneal injection of diphtheria toxin. By flow cytometry, functional suppression assays and transcriptional profiling we analysed Treg activation and characterised T-cells of the lamina propria as well as intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) regarding their activation and differentiation. Microbiota composition was examined in intestinal samples as well as in murine and human pancreatic necrosis by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results The prophylactic Treg-depletion enhanced the proinflammatory response in an experimental mouse model of AP but stabilised the intestinal immunological barrier function of Th17 cells and CD8+/γδTCR+ IELs. Treg depleted animals developed less bacterial translocation to the pancreas. Duodenal overgrowth of the facultative pathogenic taxa Escherichia/Shigella which associates with severe disease and infected necrosis was diminished in Treg depleted animals. Conclusion Tregs play a crucial role in the counterbalance against systemic inflammatory response syndrome. In AP, Treg-activation disturbs the duodenal barrier function and permits translocation of commensal bacteria into pancreatic necrosis. Targeting Tregs in AP may help to ameliorate the disease course

Potential Relevance of α1-Adrenergic Receptor Autoantibodies in Refractory Hypertension

-AAB might have a mechanistic role and could represent a therapeutic target. in cardiomyocytes and induce mesentery artery segment contraction.-AAB in hypertensive patients, and the notion of immunity as a possible cause of hypertension

Weighted gene co-expression network analysis of expression data of monozygotic twins identifies specific modules and hub genes related to BMI

Abstract Background The therapeutic management of obesity is challenging, hence further elucidating the underlying mechanisms of obesity development and identifying new diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets are urgent and necessary. Here, we performed differential gene expression analysis and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to identify significant genes and specific modules related to BMI based on gene expression profile data of 7 discordant monozygotic twins. Results In the differential gene expression analysis, it appeared that 32 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were with a trend of up-regulation in twins with higher BMI when compared to their siblings. Categories of positive regulation of nitric-oxide synthase biosynthetic process, positive regulation of NF-kappa B import into nucleus, and peroxidase activity were significantly enriched within GO database and NF-kappa B signaling pathway within KEGG database. DEGs of NAMPT, TLR9, PTGS2, HBD, and PCSK1N might be associated with obesity. In the WGCNA, among the total 20 distinct co-expression modules identified, coral1 module (68 genes) had the strongest positive correlation with BMI (r = 0.56, P = 0.04) and disease status (r = 0.56, P = 0.04). Categories of positive regulation of phospholipase activity, high-density lipoprotein particle clearance, chylomicron remnant clearance, reverse cholesterol transport, intermediate-density lipoprotein particle, chylomicron, low-density lipoprotein particle, very-low-density lipoprotein particle, voltage-gated potassium channel complex, cholesterol transporter activity, and neuropeptide hormone activity were significantly enriched within GO database for this module. And alcoholism and cell adhesion molecules pathways were significantly enriched within KEGG database. Several hub genes, such as GAL, ASB9, NPPB, TBX2, IL17C, APOE, ABCG4, and APOC2 were also identified. The module eigengene of saddlebrown module (212 genes) was also significantly correlated with BMI (r = 0.56, P = 0.04), and hub genes of KCNN1 and AQP10 were differentially expressed. Conclusion We identified significant genes and specific modules potentially related to BMI based on the gene expression profile data of monozygotic twins. The findings may help further elucidate the underlying mechanisms of obesity development and provide novel insights to research potential gene biomarkers and signaling pathways for obesity treatment. Further analysis and validation of the findings reported here are important and necessary when more sample size is acquired

Genetic associations at 53 loci highlight cell types and biological pathways relevant for kidney function.

Reduced glomerular filtration rate defines chronic kidney disease and is associated with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), combining data across 133,413 individuals with replication in up to 42,166 individuals. We identify 24 new and confirm 29 previously identified loci. Of these 53 loci, 19 associate with eGFR among individuals with diabetes. Using bioinformatics, we show that identified genes at eGFR loci are enriched for expression in kidney tissues and in pathways relevant for kidney development and transmembrane transporter activity, kidney structure, and regulation of glucose metabolism. Chromatin state mapping and DNase I hypersensitivity analyses across adult tissues demonstrate preferential mapping of associated variants to regulatory regions in kidney but not extra-renal tissues. These findings suggest that genetic determinants of eGFR are mediated largely through direct effects within the kidney and highlight important cell types and biological pathways

Does a stamp increase the return in mail surveys?

Im Rahmen der Längsschnittstudie Bildungsprozesse, Kompetenzentwicklung und Selektionsentscheidungen im Vorschul- und Schulalter (BiKS) wurde im schulischen Kontext experimentell untersucht, wie sich unterschiedliche Arten der Frankierung des Rücksendeumschlags für Schülerfragebögen auf den Rücklauf auswirken. Dabei wurde die Stichprobe von N = 948 Sekundarschülern zufällig in drei Subgruppen geteilt, denen zur Rücksendung ihres Fragebogens je nach Bedingung ein portofreier Rücksendeumschlag, ein mit einer Automatenbriefmarke oder mit einer Sonderbriefmarke frankierter Rückumschlag zur Verfügung stand (drei Bedingungen). Unsere Analysen zeigen einen signifikant positiven Effekt der Sonderbriefmarke auf die Rücksendequote, dies vor allem bei Familien mit geringer Teilnahmeneigung. (DIPF/Orig.)In the context of the educational longitudinal study Bildungsprozesse, Kompetenzentwicklung und Selektionsentscheidungen im Vorschul- und Schulalter (BiKS), the response to three different types of franking on return envelopes for student questionnaires was investigated experimentally. The sample of N = 948 students in secondary school, who had to return a paper questionnaire, was randomly divided into three different groups, who either received a postage-paid return envelope, an envelope with a normal stamp out of a vending machine or one with a special stamp (three conditions). Our analyses indicate a significant positive effect of the special stamp on the response rate, especially for families with a lower participation probability. (DIPF/Orig.