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After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools had to continuously adapt to new pandemic-related regulations and challenges, including the ad hoc transition to remote learning. According to theories on school improvement and professionalisation, sharing knowledge and experiences with digital learning is helpful when dealing with related issues. However, no existing empirical studies analyse longitudinally how pre-pandemic experiences with sharing knowledge and digital learning impacted perceived professionalisation during the pandemic and how this relationship is mediated both by schools' strategies to improve learning and by schools' collective efficacy. For this study N = 280 school principals from Germany, Austria, and German-speaking Swiss cantons participated in two online questionnaires in 2020 and 2021. Results from the structural equation model reveal that schools' pre-pandemic experiences with knowledge sharing and digital learning are positively indirectly related to the schools' perceived professionalisation in the first and second year of the pandemic. The relationship is mediated by the schools' collective efficacy in dealing with the pandemic and the schools' use of strategies to improve teaching. The results highlight the importance of building school improvement capacity and supporting schools in digital learning to navigate through unexpected emergencies like a pandemic.

The article aims to outline the proposals for linking school effectiveness research and school improvement that are currently relevant in international discussion and to ask how they deal with the 'technology deficit' at the level of model improvement. We will first show the difference between school improvement and school effectiveness. Then, we outline areas showing basic problems associated with linking school effectiveness and school improvement. After that, we present a summary of two relevant models for linking school effectiveness research and school improvement--Comprehensive Framework of Effective School Improvement and Dynamic Model of Educational Effectiveness--and subject them to critical analysis. The result of the critical analysis is that the question arises whether a link between the two traditions leads to a complementation of their respective problems of observation rather than to a compensation of them. This, in particular, concerns the problem of causality, which gives rise to theoretical and methodological considerations in both fields of research.

The neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) is important for numerous cellular processes that involve antibody recycling and trafficking. A major function of FcRn is IgG recycling and half-life prolongation, and FcRn blockade results in a reduction of autoantibodies in IgG-mediated autoimmune diseases. In epithelial cells, FcRn functions in processes different from IgG recycling, such as antibody transcytosis in intestinal cells. In pemphigus vulgaris, an autoimmune disease of the epidermis, IgG autoantibodies directed against desmosomal adhesion proteins, especially desmoglein-3 and -1, cause loss of keratinocyte adhesion. We have previously demonstrated that FcRn blockade with efgartigimod, a human Fc fragment with enhanced FcRn binding, significantly reduces the keratinocyte monolayer fragmentation caused by anti-desmoglein-3 antibodies. This points to a direct function of FcRn in keratinocytes, beyond IgG recycling, but the mechanisms have not yet been elucidated in detail. Here, we show that FcRn binding is required for the full pathogenicity of recombinant anti-desmoglein-3 antibodies in keratinocytes, and that antibodies that exhibit enhanced or reduced FcRn affinity due to targeted substitutions in their Fc region, as well as F(ab’)2 fragments not binding to FcRn display different degrees of pathogenicity. Blockade of FcRn by efgartigimod only shows a protective effect on keratinocyte adhesion against antibodies capable of binding to FcRn. Furthermore, antibody-induced degradation of desmoglein-3 in keratinocytes does not depend on FcRn, demonstrating that desmoglein-3 degradation and acantholysis are functionally disconnected processes. Our data suggest that the role of FcRn in autoimmune diseases is likely to be versatile and cell-type dependent, thus stressing the importance of further studies on FcRn function in autoimmune diseases.

A dendrocentric backpropagation spike timing-dependent plasticity learning rule has been derived based on temporal logic for a single octopus neuron. It receives parallel spike trains and collectively adjusts its synaptic weights in the range [0, 1] during training. After the training phase, it spikes in reaction to event signaling input patterns in sensory streams. The learning and switching behavior of the octopus cell has been implemented in field-programmable gate array (FPGA) hardware. The application in an FPGA is described and the proof of concept for its application in hardware that was obtained by feeding it with spike cochleagrams is given; also, it is verified by performing a comparison with the pre-computed standard software simulation results.

The ability to reflect on teaching is crucially important for the professionalization of trainee teachers. The fostering of reflection processes -- by means of the systematic analysis of one's own and others' teaching from subject-specific, methodological, and educational science perspectives -- plays a central role in a continuing and consecutive two-semester teacher training seminar concept at the University of Mainz. This paper explores the different effects of reflection on teaching on the basis of a quasi-experimental pre-post test design. Additionally, it shows how systematic reflection on teaching affects the students' subjective experience of competence as well as the extent the seminar enables them to identify themes relevant for reflection. For example, the results of the comparison between two student groups working with different methodological approaches reveal that there are specific effects of opportunities for reflection on teaching. It was found that the students in both groups rated the relevance of self-reflection for their own later work as very high and felt much more confident in dealing with external video material. Moreover, the students in the intervention group appear to be increasingly capable of analysing teaching and learning processes in a more nuanced and systematic way based on theory and criteria; they are also more skilled at identifying reflection-relevant situations from various perspectives. As a consequence, it becomes clear that reflection on one's own and others' teacher actions must be integrated more strongly and consequently into teacher training in order to advance the development of one's own professionalisation and to make the best possible use of the associated potential.

Misfit‐layered calcium cobaltite [Ca2CoO3‐δ]0.62[CoO2] is an outstanding p‐type semiconducting thermoelectric with strong anisotropic properties. Texture engineering is crucial for enhancing its thermoelectric performance in polycrystalline ceramics. The in‐plane orientation of the grains improves the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity, while the multi‐scale parallel interfaces scatter phonons and reduce thermal conductivity. Here, a tandem process of spark plasma sintering and edge‐free spark plasma texturing is used to produce dense and highly textured calcium cobaltite ceramics. The resulting ceramic shows a high degree of texturization, secondary phases, and enhanced electrical conductivity of 246 S cm−1 together with a strongly improved Seebeck coefficient of 224 µV K−1 at 1073 K. High grain ordering leads to carrier mobility of 0.49 cm2 V−1 s−1, which has a positive effect on both parameters. With a power factor of 12.4 µW cm−1 K−2 at 1073 K in air, previous thermoelectric performances of calcium cobaltite are surpassed, regardless of its form: pristine, doped, or composite. By combining the high power factor with a relatively low thermal conductivity, a remarkable figure‐of‐merit of 0.49 at 1073 K in air is obtained for the textured polycrystalline ceramic, which reaches 60 % of the figure‐of‐merit of a calcium cobaltite single crystal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sodium cobaltite (NaxCoO2) is one of the most renowned and thermoelectrically promising p‐type cobalt oxide materials, showing exceptional performance in this domain. Nonetheless, its thermal instability in air renders it unsuitable for high‐temperature applications such as energy harvesting from industrial waste heat. To utilize the beneficial properties of NaxCoO2, microscale NaxCoO2 template particles of significantly larger size were effectively embedded within a thermally stable Ca3Co4−yO9+δ–NaxCoO2–Bi2Ca2Co2O9 triple‐phase matrix. This approach additionally aimed to enhance the texture and boost the thermoelectric performance of the ceramic composite. Highly textured p‐type ceramic composites were fabricated via uniaxial cold‐pressing and pressureless sintering in air. The unique hexagonal NaxCoO2 template particles, produced through molten‐flux synthesis, allowed precise control over their shape and dimensions, while the matrix was synthesized via a sol–gel synthesis. The integrated NaxCoO2 particles of the textured composite exhibited increased thermal stability, showing no sign of decomposition at 1173 K in air, whereas the sole template particles decomposed at 1073 K during sintering. A 20 wt% template particle content in the textured composites resulted in a remarkably high and nearly temperature‐independent power factor of 8.8 µW cm−1 K2, corresponding to an improvement of 13% compared to that of the pure matrix material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

La0.6Ca0.4Co1–xFexO3–d in its various compositions has proven to be an excellent CO2-resistant oxygen transport membrane that can be used in plasma-assisted CO2 conversion. With the goal of incorporating green hydrogen into the CO2 conversion process, this work takes a step further by investigating the compatibility of La0.6Ca0.4Co1–xFexO3–d membranes with hydrogen fed into the plasma. This will enable plasma-assisted conversion of the carbon monoxide produced in the CO2 reduction process into green fuels, like methanol. This requires the La0.6Ca0.4Co1–xFexO3–d membranes to be tolerant towards reducing conditions of hydrogen. The hydrogen tolerance of La0.6Ca0.4Co1–xFexO3–d (x = 0.8) was studied in detail. A faster and resource-efficient route based on ultrasonic spray synthesis was developed to synthesise the La0.6Ca0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3–d membranes. The La0.6Ca0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3–d membrane developed using ultrasonic spray synthesis showed similar performance in terms of its oxygen permeation when compared with the ones synthesised with conventional techniques, such as co-precipitation, sol–gel, etc., despite using 30% less cobalt.

Abstract Geometry, design, and processing in addition to the thermoelectric material properties have a significant influence on the economic efficiency and performance of thermoelectric generators (TEGs). While conventional BULK TEGs are elaborate to manufacture and allow only limited variations in geometry, printed TEGs are often restricted in their application and processing temperature due to the use of organic materials. In this work, a proof‐of‐concept for fabricating modular, customizable, and temperature‐stable TEGs is demonstrated by applying an alternative laser process. For this purpose, low temperature cofired ceramics substrates were coated over a large area, freely structured and cut without masks by a laser and sintered to a solid structure in a single optimized thermal post‐processing. A scalable design with complex geometry and large cooling surface for application on a hot shaft was realized to prove feasibility. Investigations on sintering characteristics up to a peak temperature of 1173 K, thermoelectric material properties and temperature distribution were carried out for a Ca3Co4O9/Ag‐based prototype and evaluated using profilometer, XRD, and IR measurements. For a combined post‐processing, an optimal sintering profile could be determined at 1073 K peak temperature with a 20 min holding time. Temperature gradients of up to 100 K could be achieved along a thermocouple. A single TEG module consisting of 12 thermocouples achieved a maximum power of 0.224 μW and open‐circuit voltage of 134.41 mV at an average hot‐side temperature of 413.6 K and temperature difference of 106.7 K. Three of these modules combined into a common TEG with a total of 36 thermocouples reached a maximum power of 0.58 K and open‐circuit voltage of 319.28 mV with a lesser average hot‐side temperature of 387.8 K and temperature difference of 83.4 K.