Examining Mental Health and Well-being Provision in Schools in Europe: Methodological Approach

Schools are considered an ideal setting for community-based mental health and well-being interventions for young people. However, in spite of extensive literature examining the effectiveness of such interventions, very few studies have investigated existing mental health and well-being provision in schools. The current study aims to extend such previous research by surveying primary and secondary schools to investigate the nature of available provision in nine European countries (Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, the UK and Ukraine). Furthermore, the study aims to investigate potential barriers to mental health and well-being provision and compare provision within and between countries

Cooling dynamics of a dilute gas of inelastic rods: a many particle simulation

We present results of simulations for a dilute gas of inelastically colliding particles. Collisions are modelled as a stochastic process, which on average decreases the translational energy (cooling), but allows for fluctuations in the transfer of energy to internal vibrations. We show that these fluctuations are strong enough to suppress inelastic collapse. This allows us to study large systems for long times in the truely inelastic regime. During the cooling stage we observe complex cluster dynamics, as large clusters of particles form, collide and merge or dissolve. Typical clusters are found to survive long enough to establish local equilibrium within a cluster, but not among different clusters. We extend the model to include net dissipation of energy by damping of the internal vibrations. Inelatic collapse is avoided also in this case but in contrast to the conservative system the translational energy decays according to the mean field scaling law, E(t)\propto t^{-2}, for asymptotically long times.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, Latex; extended discussion, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Wasserressourcen und deren Nutzung im Flussbecken des Tarim (Autonome Region Xinjiang / VR China)

Die vorliegende Untersuchung wurde im Rahmen der Arbeiten zum Forschungsprojekt: "Wasserverknappung, Wassernutzungskonflikte und Wassermanagement in Trocken-gebieten Zentralasiens (Usbekistan, Kasachstan, Kirgistan, Xinjiang/VR China)" er-stellt. Das Ziel des Forschungsprojektes bestand darin, die Ursachen und Auswirkun-gen der zunehmenden Wasserverknappung und Verschlechterung der Wasserqualität in den Trockengebieten Zentralasiens zu untersuchen. Die Untersuchungen wurden vergleichend in vier abflusslosen Beckenbereichen vor-genommen: im Aralsee-Becken, Ili-Balcha?-Becken, Issyk-Kul?-Becken und Tarim-Becken. Die vorliegende Untersuchung ist somit in enger Verbindung zu anderen ver-gleichbaren Studien zu sehen, wie jene von V. V. Romanovskij (Discussion Paper Nr. 22, 2004) über das Issyk-Kul?-Becken und weitere in Kürze in dieser Reihe und ande-renorts erscheinende Studien. --

Aircraft systems architecting: a functional-logical domain perspective

Presented is a novel framework for early systems architecture design. The framework defines data structures and algorithms that enable the systems architect to operate interactively and simultaneously in both the functional and logical domains. A prototype software tool, called AirCADia Architect, was implemented, which allowed the framework to be evaluated by practicing aircraft systems architects. The evaluation confirmed that, on the whole, the approach enables the architects to effectively express their creative ideas when synthesizing new architectures while still retaining control over the process

Wasserressourcen und deren Nutzung im Flussbecken des Tarim (Autonome Region Xinjiang / VR China)

Die vorliegende Untersuchung wurde im Rahmen der Arbeiten zum Forschungsprojekt: "Wasserverknappung, Wassernutzungskonflikte und Wassermanagement in Trocken-gebieten Zentralasiens (Usbekistan, Kasachstan, Kirgistan, Xinjiang/VR China)" er-stellt. Das Ziel des Forschungsprojektes bestand darin, die Ursachen und Auswirkun-gen der zunehmenden Wasserverknappung und Verschlechterung der Wasserqualität in den Trockengebieten Zentralasiens zu untersuchen. Die Untersuchungen wurden vergleichend in vier abflusslosen Beckenbereichen vor-genommen: im Aralsee-Becken, Ili-Balcha?-Becken, Issyk-Kul?-Becken und Tarim-Becken. Die vorliegende Untersuchung ist somit in enger Verbindung zu anderen ver-gleichbaren Studien zu sehen, wie jene von V. V. Romanovskij (Discussion Paper Nr. 22, 2004) über das Issyk-Kul?-Becken und weitere in Kürze in dieser Reihe und ande-renorts erscheinende Studien

A new perspective on the irregular satellites of Saturn - II Dynamical and physical origin

The origin of the irregular satellites of the giant planets has been long debated since their discovery. Their dynamical features argue against an in-situ formation suggesting they are captured bodies, yet there is no global consensus on the physical process at the basis of their capture. In this paper we explore the collisional capture scenario, where the actual satellites originated from impacts occurred within Saturn's influence sphere. By modeling the inverse capture problem, we estimated the families of orbits of the possible parent bodies and the specific impulse needed for their capture. The orbits of these putative parent bodies are compared to those of the minor bodies of the outer Solar System to outline their possible region of formation. Finally, we tested the collisional capture hypothesis on Phoebe by taking advantage of the data supplied by Cassini on its major crater, Jason. Our results presented a realistic range of solutions matching the observational and dynamical data.Comment: 26 Pages, 21 Figure

Depopulation of dense α-synuclein aggregates is associated with rescue of dopamine neuron dysfunction and death in a new Parkinson's disease model.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by the presence of α-synuclein aggregates known as Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites, whose formation is linked to disease development. The causal relation between α-synuclein aggregates and PD is not well understood. We generated a new transgenic mouse line (MI2) expressing human, aggregation-prone truncated 1-120 α-synuclein under the control of the tyrosine hydroxylase promoter. MI2 mice exhibit progressive aggregation of α-synuclein in dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta and their striatal terminals. This is associated with a progressive reduction of striatal dopamine release, reduced striatal innervation and significant nigral dopaminergic nerve cell death starting from 6 and 12 months of age, respectively. In the MI2 mice, alterations in gait impairment can be detected by the DigiGait test from 9 months of age, while gross motor deficit was detected by rotarod test at 20 months of age when 50% of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta are lost. These changes were associated with an increase in the number and density of 20-500 nm α-synuclein species as shown by dSTORM. Treatment with the oligomer modulator anle138b, from 9 to 12 months of age, restored striatal dopamine release, prevented dopaminergic cell death and gait impairment. These effects were associated with a reduction of the inner density of large α-synuclein aggregates and an increase in dispersed small α-synuclein species as revealed by dSTORM. The MI2 mouse model recapitulates the progressive dopaminergic deficit observed in PD, showing that early synaptic dysfunction is associated to fine behavioral motor alterations, precedes dopaminergic axonal loss and neuronal death that become associated with a more consistent motor deficit upon reaching a certain threshold. Our data also provide new mechanistic insight for the effect of anle138b's function in vivo supporting that targeting α-synuclein aggregation is a promising therapeutic approach for PD

Vibrational Enhancement of the Effective Donor - Acceptor Coupling

The paper deals with a simple three sites model for charge transfer phenomena in an one-dimensional donor (D) - bridge (B) - acceptor (A) system coupled with vibrational dynamics of the B site. It is found that in a certain range of parameters the vibrational coupling leads to an enhancement of the effective donor - acceptor electronic coupling as a result of the formation of the polaron on the B site. This enhancement of the charge transfer efficiency is maximum at the resonance, where the effective energy of the fluctuating B site coincides with the donor (acceptor) energy.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure