From symbiosis to polarization? : peasants and pastoralists in northern Benin

The semi-arid zone in northern Benin (West Africa) is an area where rain-dependent farming and (nomadic) pastoralism meet. onder the influence of different external factors, the relat'ionship between pastoralists andpeasants has been changing in the past decades. Until recently, there was an Interactive exchange between these two groups, based on mutual dependence of their ways of life. This symbiosis provided extra security for both groups in the variable climate conditions. Technological developments as well as further market Integration of thepeasants have led to increased competition between the pastoralist and peasant' mode of existence. Moreover, pastoralism has been under great pressure due to a longperiod ofdryyears. As a result of these factors, the tension between the two groups starled to rise in the early eighties. Mutual dependence has been reduced and symbiosis has turned into polarization

Sex-dependent dissociation between emotional appraisal and memory: a large-scale behavioral and fMRI study

Extensive evidence indicates that women outperform men in episodic memory tasks. Furthermore, women are known to evaluate emotional stimuli as more arousing than men. Because emotional arousal typically increases episodic memory formation, the females' memory advantage might be more pronounced for emotionally arousing information than for neutral information. Here, we report behavioral data from 3398 subjects, who performed picture rating and memory tasks, and corresponding fMRI data from up to 696 subjects. We were interested in the interaction between sex and valence category on emotional appraisal, memory performances, and fMRI activity. The behavioral results showed that females evaluate in particular negative (p < 10(-16)) and positive (p = 2 × 10(-4)), but not neutral pictures, as emotionally more arousing (pinteraction < 10(-16)) than males. However, in the free recall females outperformed males not only in positive (p < 10(-16)) and negative (p < 5 × 10(-5)), but also in neutral picture recall (p < 3.4 × 10(-8)), with a particular advantage for positive pictures (pinteraction < 4.4 × 10(-10)). Importantly, females' memory advantage during free recall was absent in a recognition setting. We identified activation differences in fMRI, which corresponded to the females' stronger appraisal of especially negative pictures, but no activation differences that reflected the interaction effect in the free recall memory task. In conclusion, females' valence-category-specific memory advantage is only observed in a free recall, but not a recognition setting and does not depend on females' higher emotional appraisal

"Stimme und Faust der Nation" - Thälmann-Kult kontra Antifaschismus

Über den Thälmann-Kult nachzudenken oder zu reden, ist eigentlich langweilig. Ein armseliges, dürftiges Thema, das mit wenigen Gedanken auskommt. Der Kult schafft stets etwas Glattes, Unangreifbares. Aus einem lebendigen Menschen mit all seinen Widersprüchen und Brüchen wird eine Legende, ein Mythos. Sein Leben wird aus seinem eigentlichen historischen Zusammenhang gelöst und in einen neuen, den kultischen Zusammenhang gestellt, in dem er funktionieren soll. Denn Kult, Mythos hat immer etwas mit einer Wirkungsabsicht zu tun, ganz gleich ob, er von oben verordnet oder von unten getragen wird

Stress buffering after physical activity engagement: An experience sampling study

Objectives While encountering daily hassles is a normative experience, it poses a threat to individuals' daily affective well-being. However, physical activity engagement may help to reduce the current stress-related impact on affective well-being (i.e. stress buffering), which we investigate in this study. Furthermore, we examined the possible moderating role of people's global stress context (i.e. exposure to major life events and chronic stress) on this within-person stress-buffering effect. Design We approached these ideas using six-times-a-day experience sampling assessments over a period of 22 days. Methods Drawing on a broad national sample of 156 middle-aged adults from the EE-SOEP-IS study, we aimed to elucidate the naturally occurring within-person dynamics of current stress, physical activity engagement, and momentary affect within individuals' everyday lives. Major life events and chronic stress were measured as between-person variables. Results Multilevel analyses revealed significant within-person associations of current stress and physical activity engagement with momentary affect. Stress-related negative affect was lower when individuals engaged in physical activity, in accordance with the idea of a within-person stress-buffering effect of physical activity engagement. For individuals exposed to more severe major life events, the stress-buffering effect of physical activity engagement for negative affect was lower. Chronic stress did not moderate the within-person stress-buffering effect. Conclusions Overall, results add to the existing literature that links physical activity to increased stress resilience and emphasizes the need for taking the global between-person stress context into account