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This article sheds light on one of the key developments in recent German politics and relates it to the broader debate on the electoral success of the far right. The rise of the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD, Alternative for Germany) is also a story about Germany's internal political divide three decades after reunification, as the party has roughly twice as much support in the east than in the west. The article analyses the country's east‐west divide, strongly visible in widespread sentiments of societal marginalisation among eastern Germans. The key socio‐structural differences between the east and the west relate to matters of economics, migration, and representation—and provide a setting suitable to AfD strength in the east. In explaining the party's electoral success in eastern Germany, the article echoes recent scholarship which rejects narrow explanations for the strength of 'populism', and instead highlights its multiple causes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most studies analyze right-wing populism in the framework of the nation state, while its impact on foreign policy is understudied. This article focuses on the German Alternative for Germany (AfD) to highlight its foreign policy stance. How is the AfD deliberately operating not only nationally but also on the European level? What are their aims and goals? How has the surge in right-wing populism impacted international issues and what does the rise of the right mean for Germany's role in Europe and in world politics? In the first part of the paper, I contextualize the rise and significance of right-wing populism in Germany within the framework of social and political theory. Second, I address the AfD's position to European affairs more specifically, including its stance in the European Parliament elections in 2019. Third, I highlight key topoi of the AfD' s position regarding the eu, the United States and nato by drawing on critical discourse analysis. The analysis shows that the AfD is aiming to redefine Germany's foreign policy consensus based on the special responsibility paradigm that has characterized Germany's foreign policy after World War II. The party is not only nationalistic in outlook but moreover aiming to revise key paradigms of Germany's foreign and European policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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• Deposition of GO in the head region of C. elegans. • Increased ROS and decreased neurotransmitter contents by GO exposure. • Damage to AFD neuron by GO exposure. • Altered locomotive behavior by GO was rescued by AFD neuron mutants. • GO may possess neurotoxic potential. Graphene oxide (GO) and graphene-based nanomaterials have been widely applied in recent years, but their potential health risk and neurotoxic potentials remain poorly understood. In this study, neurotoxic potential of GO and its underlying molecular and cellular mechanism were investigated using the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans. Deposition of GO in the head region and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) was observed in C. elegans after exposure to GO. The neurotoxic potential of GO was then investigated, focusing on neurotransmitters contents and neuronal activity using AFD sensory neurons. The contents of all neurotransmitters, such as, tyrosine, tryptophan, dopamine, tyramine, and GABA, decreased significantly by GO exposure. Decreased fluorescence of Pgcy-8:GFP, a marker of AFD sensory neuron, by GO exposure suggested GO could cause neuronal damage on AFD neuron. GO exposure led decreased expression of ttx-1 and ceh-14, genes required for the function of AFD neurons also confirmed possible detrimental effect of GO to AFD neuron. To understand physiological meaning of AFD neuronal damage by GO exposure, locomotive behavior was then investigated in wild-type as well as in loss-of-function mutants of ttx-1 and ceh-14. GO exposure significantly altered locomotor behavior markers, such as, speed, acceleration, stop time, etc. , in wild-type C. elegans , which were mostly rescued in AFD neuron mutants. The present study suggested the GO possesses neurotoxic potential, especially on neurotransmitters and AFD neuron in C. elegans. These findings provide useful information to understand the neurotoxic potential of GO and other graphene-based nanomaterials, which will guide their safe application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glia interact with multiple neurons, but it is unclear whether their interactions with each neuron are different. Our interrogation at single-cell resolution reveals that a single glial cell exhibits specificity in its interactions with different contacting neurons. Briefly, C. elegans amphid sheath (AMsh) glia apical-like domains contact 12 neuron-endings. At these ad-neuronal membranes, AMsh glia localize the K/Cl transporter KCC-3 to a microdomain exclusively around the thermosensory AFD neuron to regulate its properties. Glial KCC-3 is transported to ad-neuronal regions, where distal cilia of non-AFD glia-associated chemosensory neurons constrain it to a microdomain at AFD-contacting glial membranes. Aberrant KCC-3 localization impacts both thermosensory (AFD) and chemosensory (non-AFD) neuron properties. Thus, neurons can interact non-synaptically through a shared glial cell by regulating microdomain localization of its cues. As AMsh and glia across species compartmentalize multiple cues like KCC-3, we posit that this may be a broadly conserved glial mechanism that modulates information processing across multimodal circuits. [Display omitted] • C. elegans AMsh glia form distinct molecular microdomains of cues around different neurons • Glial KCC-3 localizes only to membranes contacting AFD temperature-sensing neurons • Distal non-AFD neuron cilia repel glial KCC-3 and constrain it to a microdomain around AFD • Glial KCC-3 localization regulates AFD and non-AFD neuron function and associated behaviors Ray et al. show that a single glia creates distinct molecular microdomains of regulatory cues around individual neurons. One cue, the cation co-transporter KCC-3, is constrained to the AFD thermosensory neuron by its C-terminal region and cilia of non-AFD neurons. Aberrant KCC-3 localization affects both AFD and non-AFD neuron function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spectacular extension of the European populism is permanently put forward on the occasion of the domestic elections within the Member States. Meanwhile, because it was almost rigidly reflected by politicians or media, the insight of this political phenomenon is not still well percieved. The current article tryied to focus on the primarly issues affecting populism than proceeding to its detailed assesment in different countries. The article emphasized the fact that the Union’s disfunctionalities has largely contributed to the acceleration of the internal anti-European project trend. In the author’s opinion, the populist voting effects didn’t receive adequate answers from the EU. The European construction could enter in a blockge if the Union does not strongly reaffirms its traditional values and principles.

Ausgehend von der Kontroverse zwischen klassen- und identitätspolitischen Erklärungsmustern für den gesellschaftlichen Rechtsruck umreißt der Beitrag die Bedeutung raumbezogener Differenzierungen für die Ausbildung und Stabilisierung rechter Orientierungen. Damit einher geht die Klärung der im Gebrauch befindlichen Begriffe Extremismus, Rechtspopulismus, Konservatismus und neue Rechte. Auf urbane Räume bezogene Analysen werden darüber hinaus kritisch gegen Einwände diskutiert, etwa jene dass in den Städten eher ‘links’ gewählt werde oder dass rechte Strömungen grundsätzlich großstadtfeindlich seien. Schließlich gibt der Beitrag einen Überblick zu den Texten im Themenschwerpunkt des Heftes.

Im Beitrag entwickeln wir einen kritischen Blick auf die Geographie der Wahlergebnisse der Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) bei den Bundestagswahlen 2017. Wir hinterfragen Erklärungsmuster, die in einem starren Stadt-Land-Gegensatz verhaftet bleiben und die komplexe Prozesshaftigkeit der Urbanisierung ignorieren. Dagegen gehen wir mit Henri Lefebvre und Theodor W. Adorno vom Urbanen und Ruralen als sozialen Verhältnissen aus, die sich im übergeordneten Prozess der Urbanisierung in dialektischer Weise scheiden sowie räumlich im Spannungsverhältnis von Zentrum und Peripherie materialisieren. Beispielhaft illustrieren wir diesen Prozess in der Diskussion von drei unterschiedlichen Orten, an denen die AfD bei den Bundestagswahlen besonders erfolgreich war: dem Landkreis Vorpommern-Greifswald als Fall einer umfassenden Peripherisierung, dem Quartier Pforzheim-Haidach als peripheres Zentrum und dem Stadtteil Mannheim-Schönau als zentrale Peripherie. Der Beitrag versucht damit eine räumliche Perspektive auf aktuelle Erfolge des Rechtspopulismus zu entwickeln wie auch Stadt-Land-Verhältnisse konzeptionell neu zu erfassen.

Das Interview mit einem Aktivisten einer Berliner Antifa-Gruppe thematisiert die Gegebenheiten vor Ort (Berliner Nordosten) und ihre Bedeutung für autoritäre und rechte Bewegungen als auch für antifaschistischen Protest. Geschichte, Sozialstruktur und Veränderungen (des Straßenbilds, der Nachbarschaften etc.) im Großbezirk Pankow werden als Ausdruck, aber auch als Bedingung rechter Hegemoniebestrebungen erkennbar. Im Feld der rechten Bewegungen und Parteien hat sich die AfD als maßgeblicher Akteur etabliert. Der Interviewpartner gibt Auskunft über Strategien und Forderungen, mit denen sich die AfD in lokale Auseinandersetzungen um Sicherheit, Wohnungen oder Großprojekte einbringt und wie sie in der Bezirksverordnetenversammlung auftritt. Einen weiteren Schwerpunkt des Interviews dreht sich um das Verhältnis von antifaschistischer und wohnungspolitischer sozialer Bewegung und in diesem Zusammenhang die sozialpolitischen Ursachen des gegenwärtigen Rechtsrucks.

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In recent years, an intensive scientific discourse has developed on the reasons for the rise of right-wing populist movements and parties throughout Europe. In the German debate, religion and religiosity play only a minor role, whereas the economic deprivation theory is part of many quantitative studies. Against this background, we discuss reasons for rightwing extremist views and for the vote for the German right-wing populist party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). To explain the role of religiosity in this context, we use Theodor Adorno's arguments and differentiations within the concept of "The Authoritarian Personality" (Adorno et al. 1950). By analyzing data of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP subsample within the German General Social Survey ALLBUS 2018 (n=1629), we find that, in the highly secularized region of East Germany, commitment to church is negatively correlated both with right-wing extremist attitudes and the vote for AfD. We assume that this has to do with the Christian doctrine of charity and tolerance as well as with the political position of the church, especially in East Germany. This tolerance reflects Adorno's type of the "radical Christian," which is characterized by an intrinsic religious motivation. Our data also reveals that a belief in supernatural powers is positively correlated with right-wing extremist attitudes, which reflects Adorno's type of a "superstitious person," which is characterized by weak ego and an ethnocentric worldview. Our findings underline the necessity of opening the black box of religiosity by differentiating the religious factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The May 2019 EP elections once again highlighted the current cultural backlash throughout Europe against progressive values such as cosmopolitanism and multiculturalism, which impacts on the 'future of Europe' debate, raising important questions for the evolution of Turkey-EU relations. Even though Turkey is no longer a hot topic in EU political parlance and public opinion, opposition to Turkish EU membership continues in the form of nativism, particularly with reference to the issues of immigration and Islam, as the cases of AfD in Germany and UKIP in Britain show. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding populism as a thin-centred ideology implies that it is in need for a host ideology in order to be successful. In addition to being populist, populist parties have to give substantial, policy-related answers to political problems. Even though this twofold structure is an often-debated topic in theory, there is rather little attention payed to the question of how this relationship affects voting behaviour. Using Germany after the 2017 general election as a case, we want to study the demand side of populism and focus on the voters of the Alternative für Deutschland (Alternative for Germany, AfD) and Die Linke (Left Party). Comparing voters of a populist radical right and left party enables us to find out more about the interaction of populist attitudes and policy preferences at the individual level and how they affect electoral behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The political scene of the Federal Republic of Germany was traditionally recognised as extraordinarily stable. However, in the second decade of the 21st century the pace of changes in it has clearly quickened and they are reshaping it in the long term. The changes are conditioned by internal policy as well as global trends. In the author's opinion, the change in the German political scene does not take place rapidly but one can see the weakening of the left wing, the change of the party playing the role of a pivotal one, and probably the movement of Christian democracy towards the right wing under the pressure of radical tendencies. The growing difference between the socalled old and new federal states constitutes the biggest threat because the latter prove to be much more vulnerable to the influence of radically right movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to recognize other individuals (e.g., mates, neighbors, and offspring) is crucial to process relationships between group members in social species. For bird species with limited use of visual information, like species living in colonies or dense environments, the acoustic channel provides a long-distance and fast means to effectively convey identity-related information. The Rook (Corvus frugilegus) is a monogamous species, and one of the most social corvids, living in highly cohesive groups within colonies of hundreds to thousands of individuals. However, despite being a highly vocal species, only a few studies have focused on its acoustic communication skills, investigating mostly its vocal repertoire and kin recognition in fledglings. Among the vocal repertoire of the Rook, the "caw" is the most common sound type. It is emitted independently in various contexts and is often considered as a "presenting" vocalization, serving to introduce the identity of the emitter bird to the assembly. In this study, we investigated the potential individual signature of the caw. To do so, we recorded the caws of 5 semi-captive male Rooks and conducted acoustic analyses on both the frequency and time domains. A discriminant function and a potential for individuality coding analyses revealed the existence of a clear individual signature (mean of 75% correct classification, SD 10), which was mainly supported by the caw duration and distribution of energy in the low-frequency part of the spectrum. We discuss the potential variability of individuality coding across behavioral contexts and social affinities that needs further work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Failure mode and effect analysis is a safety and reliability analysis tool that allows the identification of failures that could happen on a system and gives their effects and consequences. FMEA has many advantages, it is simple to use, time saving and highly effective. However. It has certainly some weaknesses. According to specialists, to obtain an effective result, FMEA needs the availability of all information and data. For new systems, a correct risk analysis cannot be performed. The use of only 3 factors cannot describe and judge correctly failures in all activities. In this article, we will propose a modification to the conventional FMEA. We propose the use of the TRIZ Anticipatory Failure Determination (AFD) to identify all possible failures of the system. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to calculate the weight of each factor. Those weight will be introduced on the Risk Priority Number (RPN) calculation. To prove its efficiency, this approach will be applied on a product on development phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Right-wing populist parties have significantly increased their electoral support in recent years. This has also triggered an increase in scholarly interest in the topic. Most existing explanations focus on demand, putting forward different versions of a cultural grievance story underpinned by a common focus on immigration. Instead, in order to understand the rise of right-wing populism, the focus must also be on the supply side and more specifically on the ways right-wing populists themselves attempt to make their message more appealing to broader sectors of the population. At the core of this argument is nationalism: the examples of the German AfD and the French FN show that the adoption of a predominantly civic nationalist rhetoric allows these parties to appear legitimate to a broad range of social groups with different backgrounds and preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Mass media is playing a significant role in influencing people’s mind and determining the vote’s preference of each single individual. Nowadays, mass media has become an essential part in setting up the public’s agenda. We are living in a social media era that is being governed by Facebook and Twitter. Facebook had played a key role in Germany’s society in the last year, since September 2015, by helping to increase public awareness or to collect opinions and information, and also to influence the attitude of the people towards electing the Eurosceptic political party, Alternative for Germany (AfD). The results of the regional elections in Germany from March 2016 had been strongly influenced by the party’s intense activities on Facebook. It may be said that the electoral campaign of AfD had completely taken place on Facebook, a social media channel where people and the party itself dare to speak up their mind without being afraid that their opinion could be censorship. This article is about to describe the role that the social media channel, Facebook, had had in choosing AfD as main winner of the German regional elections.

Considering that networks based on New Radio (NR) technology are oriented to provide services of desired quality (QoS), it becomes questionable how to model and predict targeted QoS values, especially if the physical channel is dynamically changing. In order to overcome mobility issues, we aim to support the evaluation of second-order statistics of signal, namely level-crossing rate (LCR) and average fade duration (AFD) that is missing in general channel 5G models. Presenting results from our symbolic encapsulation point 5G (SEP5G) additional tool, we fill this gap and motivate further extensions on current general channel 5G. As a matter of contribution, we clearly propose: (i) anadditional tool for encapsulating different mobile 5G modeling approaches; (ii) extended, wideband, LCR, and AFD evaluation for optimal radio resource allocation modeling; and (iii) lower computational complexity and simulation time regarding analytical expression simulations in related scenario-specific 5G channel models. Using our deterministic channel model for selected scenarios and comparing it with stochastic models, we show steps towards higherlevel finite state Markov chain (FSMC) modeling, where mentioned QoS parameters become more feasible, placing symbolic encapsulation at the center of cross-layer design. Furthermore, we generate values within a specified 5G passband, indicating how it can be used for provisioningoptimal radio resource allocation.

In the last decades, a number of Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) based techniques have been developed to study non-invasively human brain tissues, especially white matter (WM). In this context, Constrained Spherical Deconvolution (CSD) is recognized as being able to accurately characterize water molecules displacement, as they emerge from the observation of MR diffusion weighted (MR-DW) images. CSD is suggested to be applied on MR-DW datasets consisting of b-values around 3,000 s/mm2 and at least 45 unique diffusion weighting directions. Below such technical requirements, Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DT) remains the most widely accepted model. Unlike CSD, DTI is unable to resolve complex fiber geometries within the brain, thus affecting related tissues quantification. In addition, thanks to CSD, an index called Apparent Fiber Density (AFD) can be measured to estimate intra-axonal volume fraction within WM. In standard clinical settings, diffusion based acquisitions are well below such technical requirements. Therefore, in this study we wanted to extensively compare CSD and DTI model outcomes on really low demanding MR-DW datasets, i.e., consisting of a single shell (b-value = 1,000 s/mm2) and only 30 unique diffusion encoding directions. To this end, we performed deterministic and probabilistic tractographic reconstruction of two major WM pathways, namely the Corticospinal Tract and the Arcuate Fasciculus. We estimated and analyzed tensor based features as well as, for the first time, AFD interpretability in our data. By performing multivariate statistics and tract-based ROI analysis, we demonstrate that WM quantification is affected by both the diffusion model and threshold applied to noisy tractographic maps. Consistently with existing literature, we showed that CSD outperforms DTI even in our scenario. Most importantly, for the first time we address the problem of accuracy and interpretation of AFD in a low-demanding DW setup, and show that it is still a biological meaningful measure for the analysis of intra-axonal volume even in clinical settings.

Sensory adaptation allows neurons to adjust their sensitivity and responses based on recent experience. The mechanisms that mediate continuous adaptation to stimulus history over seconds to hours long timescales, and whether these mechanisms can operate within a single sensory neuron type, are unclear. The single pair of AFD thermosensory neurons in C. elegans exhibits experience-dependent plasticity in their temperature response thresholds on both minutes- and hours-long timescales upon a temperature upshift. While long-term response adaptation requires changes in gene expression in AFD, the mechanisms driving rapid response plasticity are unknown. Here, we show that rapid thermosensory response adaptation in AFD is mediated via cGMP and calcium-dependent feedforward and feedback mechanisms operating at the level of primary thermotransduction. We find that either of two thermosensor receptor guanylyl cyclases (rGCs) alone is sufficient to drive rapid adaptation, but that each rGC drives adaptation at different rates. rGC-driven adaptation is mediated in part via phosphorylation of their intracellular domains, and calcium-dependent feedback regulation of basal cGMP levels via a neuronal calcium sensor protein. In turn, cGMP levels feedforward via cGMP-dependent protein kinases to phosphorylate a specific subunit of the cGMP-gated thermotransduction channel to further regulate rapid adaptation. Our results identify multiple molecular pathways that act in AFD to ensure rapid adaptation to a temperature change, and indicate that the deployment of both transcriptional and non-transcriptional mechanisms within a single sensory neuron type can contribute to continuous sensory adaptation.

Within a mere five years, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has established itself in the German party system. During the same period, however, it has undergone a significant ideological transformation as well. Initially regarded as a direct competitor to the small-government Free Democrats, the AfD has since adopted the tried-and-tested electoral approach of other rightwing populist actors by embracing welfare chauvinist positions, linking the survival of the welfare state to that of the nation state. In doing so it has made substantial inroads into the blue-collar electorate, in some German states even overtaking the Social Democrats as the preferred choice of the working class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Founded just five years ago, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) represents the biggest opposition party in the German parliament. This article addresses three questions in European comparative perspective: What is the nature of the AfD as a relevant political party in the Bundestag? What ex plains its rise and popularity? What is the party's behavior and impact in parliament, and on German politics in general? Examining platforms, the article first identifies programmatic and ideological shifts that have turned the AfD from a single issue anti-Euro party into the first radical right-wing (populist) party in parliament since the Nazi era. Second, voter analyses suggest that the AfD's political radicalization has not undermined but increased its appeal. Third, the robust electoral support for radical positions makes it likely that the party seeks to further deepen political conflicts. Behavior in parliament shows that the party follows its European counterparts' polarizing strategic orientations, reinforcing the Europeanization of a nativist sociocultural "counter-revolution." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the year 2017, a new political party entered Germany's parliament called 'Alternative for Germany' or AfD. Mainstream media labels the party far right, radical-right, right wing, national-conservative, populist, etc. Despite this, the AfD has tendencies towards Nazism. Nine books published between 2016 and 2018 examine the stratospheric rise of the AfD, founded in 2013. The review starts with a conservative view that examines 'what the AfD wants.' The next book discusses the 'AfD-Pegida' link. Pegida is the AfD's East-German and mostly Dresden-based street-fighting movement. The third book presents arguments on the AfD from across Germany's political spectrum. This leads to a book written as a 'letter to AfD voters'. The book outlines many inconstancies found in the AfD's party programme and its public announcements. Since the AfD claims to protect the occident, Europe and Germany in particular against hordes of Muslims and the Islamic religion, these issues are discussed in the next book. A quick look at the ideological background of the AfD points to an analysis of the party's relationship with the media. The final two books show how the AfD seeks to conquer Germany's political centre, based on a wealth of empirical data. Overall, the nine books provide one of the first comprehensive examinations of Germany's new radical-right party drawn from recent German language books. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In the last decades, a number of Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) based techniques have been developed to study non-invasively human brain tissues, especially white matter (WM). In this context, Constrained Spherical Deconvolution (CSD) is recognized as being able to accurately characterize water molecules displacement, as they emerge from the observation of MR diffusion weighted (MR-DW) images. CSD is suggested to be applied on MR-DW datasets consisting of b-values around 3,000 s/mm2 and at least 45 unique diffusion weighting directions. Below such technical requirements, Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DT) remains the most widely accepted model. Unlike CSD, DTI is unable to resolve complex fiber geometries within the brain, thus affecting related tissues quantification. In addition, thanks to CSD, an index called Apparent Fiber Density (AFD) can be measured to estimate intra-axonal volume fraction within WM. In standard clinical settings, diffusion based acquisitions are well below such technical requirements. Therefore, in this study we wanted to extensively compare CSD and DTI model outcomes on really low demanding MR-DW datasets, i.e., consisting of a single shell (b -value = 1,000 s/mm2) and only 30 unique diffusion encoding directions. To this end, we performed deterministic and probabilistic tractographic reconstruction of two major WM pathways, namely the Corticospinal Tract and the Arcuate Fasciculus. We estimated and analyzed tensor based features as well as, for the first time, AFD interpretability in our data. By performing multivariate statistics and tract-based ROI analysis, we demonstrate that WM quantification is affected by both the diffusion model and threshold applied to noisy tractographic maps. Consistently with existing literature, we showed that CSD outperforms DTI even in our scenario. Most importantly, for the first time we address the problem of accuracy and interpretation of AFD in a low-demanding DW setup, and show that it is still a biological meaningful measure for the analysis of intra-axonal volume even in clinical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article charts the rise of the ‘Alternative for Germany’ (Alternative für Deutschland or AfD) from its inception in late 2012 to its unexpectedly strong performance in the 2017 Federal election. In terms of the ‘inward’ aspect of Euroscepticism, the article considers the impact of the emergence of successively more hardline leaderships in 2015 and 2017, which led to a shift beyond opposition to aspects of the European integration process to a more profound critique of German society and politics. In terms of the ‘outward’ aspect, it assesses the significance of these developments in the wider debates around Euroscepticism and populism. The article concludes that the AfD’s Euroscepticism is now nested within an ideological profile that increasingly conforms to the template of an orthodox European right-wing populist party. It argues that the widely unanticipated level of electoral support for the AfD in the 2017 Federal elections and its status as the main opposition party in the Bundestag is a systemic shock and potential critical juncture in the development of the German party system and the contestation of European integration in the Federal Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Right-wing populists are on the rise in Europe in the last decade. Their populism undermines one of the central pillars of democracy, the political discourse. Populism affects the quality of political debates in parliaments. With the emergence of the "Alternative für Deutschland" (AfD) a populist party became relevant nationally for the first time in over sixty years. By applying the concept of Cognitive Complexity as an instrument to measure deliberative quality, we analyze to what extend the discourse quality in the German Bundestag in debates on immigration policies varied over the 18th legislative period. Cognitive Complexity is measured quantitatively by applying a linguistic approach based on the LIWC dictionary. Despite our initial expectations, there are no trends detectable and the rise of the populist AfD does not alter the discourse quality so far. Nonetheless, there exist major differences in discourse quality between the parties, most notably opposition parties have a lower discourse quality in their statements than governing parties. In addition, individual characteristics of the speaker such as gender, age or electoral ty pe do not render any differences. However, there seem to the differences depending on the federal state in which the speaker's electoral district lies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nematode C. elegans exhibits complex thermal experience-dependent navigation behaviors in response to environmental temperature changes of as little as 0.01°C over a > 10°C temperature range. The remarkable thermosensory abilities of this animal are mediated primarily via the single pair of AFD sensory neurons in its head. In this review, we describe the contributions of AFD to thermosensory behaviors and temperature-dependent regulation of organismal physiology. We also discuss the mechanisms that enable this neuron type to adapt to recent temperature experience and to exhibit extraordinary thermosensitivity over a wide dynamic range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]