Congruence of national and Europarty manifestoes in the EU elections 2019

This paper seeks to answer the question how congruent the policy positions of the four main Europarties were compared with their respective national member parties, as well as how they influenced each other in the drafting process, using the comparative example of German parties in the EU election 2019. It finds that the programmatic congruence of Euro- and their German member parties is small, with only insignificant coherences in issue salience and policy prioritization. In fact, some parties are even revealed to have higher programmatic congruence with other German parties than with their own Europarty. Nevertheless, cases of up- and downloading of policy positions as well as general political reconciliation processes are reported for all parties

The Fear of (Public) Art

Art and Public Art continues to be banned and destroyed, installed and taken down, argued about for long periods by different stakeholders. This is evidence of the power of art to unsettle, to speak truth to power, to question our cherished cultural norms, our democracy and various basic American principles. When art is installed in public space, space that is not privately owned, and paid for with tax money it can become a contentious issue. Yet it can also lead to economic regeneration of towns and cities, as much research on the creative class and creative cities attests. Artists and scholars discuss the power of art and the importance of advocating for art, artists, and freedom of expression. What can public art bring to your town - and can your town handle it? As David Freedberg writes: “Those people who seek to destroy art...testify to its very power... they acknowledge that works of art... enter our deepest feelings and rouse our deepest emotions.

Textverständlichkeit sprachlich variierter physikbezogener Sachtexte

Sachtexte in Schulbüchern der Naturwissenschaften gelten als sprachlich anspruchsvoll. Einige Schüler:innen empfinden sie sogar als unverständlich. Immer wieder wurden deshalb sprachliche Vereinfachungen von Sachtexten für den Unterricht gefordert, obwohl ungeklärt ist, ob und welche linguistischen Merkmale der Bildungssprache das Textverständnis tatsächlich beeinflussen. In dieser experimentellen Studie wird untersucht, ob das sprachliche Anforderungsniveau physikbezogener Sachtexte das Textverständnis und die empfundene Textverständlichkeit beeinflusst. In der Hauptstudie lasen N ,= ,812 Schüler:innen der Mittelstufe Hamburger Gymnasien und Stadtteilschulen Sachtexte zur Wärmelehre und beantworteten Textverständnisitems. Das sprachliche Anforderungsniveau wurde dabei systematisch über eine Vielzahl von linguistischen Merkmalen und isoliert von weiteren, kontrollierten Textverständlichkeitsmerkmalen variiert. Die Ergebnisse der IRT-Analyse zeigen keine relevante Wirkung des sprachlichen Anforderungsniveaus auf das Textverständnis. Allerdings führt das höchste sprachliche Anforderungsniveau zu einer geringeren empfundenen Textverständlichkeit. Die Studie belegt, dass der Einfluss des sprachlichen Anforderungsniveaus auf das Textverständnis eines Sachtextes allenfalls gering ist. Selbst wenn Schüler:innen Texte als sprachlich anspruchsvoll wahrnehmen, reduziert sich das Textverständnis nicht. Geforderte sprachliche Vereinfachungen von naturwissenschaftlichen Sachtexten führen deshalb zu keiner Steigerung des Verständnisses in Regelklassen.

Einfluss von Schädel-Hirn-Traumata und Echinomycin auf heterotope Ossifikation und Angiogenese nach Achillessehnen-Tenotomie

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The Controversial Effect of Antibiotics on Methicillin-Sensitive S. aureus : A Comparative In Vitro Study

Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus ( S. ) aureus (MSSA) bacteremia remains a global challenge, despite the availability of antibiotics. Primary treatments include β-lactam agents such as cefazolin and flucloxacillin. Ongoing discussions have focused on the potential synergistic effects of combining these agents with rifampicin or fosfomycin to combat infections associated with biofilm formation. Managing staphylococcal infections is challenging due to antibacterial resistance, biofilms, and S. aureus ’s ability to invade and replicate within host cells. Intracellular invasion shields the bacteria from antibacterial agents and the immune system, often leading to incomplete bacterial clearance and chronic infections. Additionally, S. aureus can assume a dormant phenotype, known as the small colony variant (SCV), further complicating eradication and promoting persistence. This study investigated the impact of antibiotic combinations on the persistence of S. aureus 6850 and its stable small colony variant (SCV strain JB1) focusing on intracellular survival and biofilm formation. The results from the wild-type strain 6850 demonstrate that β-lactams combined with RIF effectively eliminated biofilms and intracellular bacteria but tend to select for SCVs in planktonic culture and host cells. Higher antibiotic concentrations were associated with an increase in the zeta potential of S. aureus , suggesting reduced membrane permeability to antimicrobials. When using the stable SCV mutant strain JB1, antibiotic combinations with rifampicin successfully cleared planktonic bacteria and biofilms but failed to eradicate intracellular bacteria. Given these findings, it is reasonable to report that β-lactams combined with rifampicin represent the optimal treatment for MSSA bacteremia. However, caution is warranted when employing this treatment over an extended period, as it may elevate the risk of selecting for small colony variants (SCVs) and, consequently, promoting bacterial persistence