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Contains fulltext : 226656.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)

Contemporary chemical and material engineering often takes inspiration from nature, targeting for example strong yet light materials and materials composed of highly ordered domains at multiple different lengthscales for fundamental science and applications in e.g. sensing, catalysis, coating technology, and delivery. The preparation of such hierarchically structured functional materials through guided bottom-up assembly of synthetic building blocks requires a high level of control over their synthesis, interactions and assembly pathways. In this perspective we showcase recent work demonstrating how molecular control can be exploited to direct colloidal assembly into responsive materials with mechanical, optical or electrical properties that can be adjusted post-synthesis with external cues.

Fourteen microsatellite loci were characterized for the Rufous-throated Antbird (Thamnophilidae: Gymnopithys rufigula), an Amazonian obligate ant-following bird. Eight novel polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated using next-generation sequencing and six additional loci were cross-amplified using primers previously designed for other bird species. All 14 loci were screened using 40 samples from central Amazon. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 3 to 20, whilst the observed and expected heterozygosities varied from 0.200 to 0.975, and 0.186 to 0.928, respectively. No linkage disequilibrium was found among the loci. Only one locus deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Among the eight novel loci, six were cross-amplified in at least one additional Thamnophilidae species, whilst three loci cross-amplified in two other Dendrocolaptidae species. This set of markers will be useful for future population genetic structure and parentage analysis of Amazonian forest birds.

Parasite host switches may trigger disease emergence, but prehistoric host ranges are often unknowable. Lymphatic filariasis and loiasis are major human diseases caused by the insect-borne filarial nematodes Brugia, Wuchereria and Loa. Here we show that the genomes of these nematodes and seven tropical bird lineages exclusively share a novel retrotransposon, AviRTE, resulting from horizontal transfer (HT). AviRTE subfamilies exhibit 83–99% nucleotide identity between genomes, and their phylogenetic distribution, paleobiogeography and invasion times suggest that HTs involved filarial nematodes. The HTs between bird and nematode genomes took place in two pantropical waves, >25–22 million years ago (Myr ago) involving the Brugia/Wuchereria lineage and >20–17 Myr ago involving the Loa lineage. Contrary to the expectation from the mammal-dominated host range of filarial nematodes, we hypothesize that these major human pathogens may have independently evolved from bird endoparasites that formerly infected the global breadth of avian biodiversity.

Climate change has a strong impact on ecosystem health, particularly in marginal seas(1) such as the Baltic, for example causing the spreading of anoxic areas (oxygen-free areas, the so-called dead zones) through strong feedbacks. Marked ecosystem changes in the Baltic Sea have been recorded in the sedimentary archive, but the reasons are not fully understood(2,3). Here we report an integrated study of high-resolution sediment records (past 1,000 years) in combination with an ecosystem modelling approach, providing new insights into the functioning of the Baltic Sea ecosystem under natural and human-influenced climatic changes. Between the Little Ice Age and the Modern Warm Period the surface water temperatures reconstructed using TEX86 palaeothermometry increased by similar to 2 degrees C. Simultaneously, the anoxic areas in the Baltic Sea began to expand significantly as evident from the accumulation of laminated sediments. Ecosystem model simulations support our findings of widespread oxic areas during the Little Ice Age. Backed up by the modelling results that take into account anthropogenic-influenced nutrient load scenarios, our results provide evidence that surface temperature changes strongly influence deepwater oxygenation. This highlights the risk of a continued spreading of anoxic areas during scenarios of continued climate warming in the future.

In Switzerland, political actors do not only present their positions in the context of election campaigns, but they also reach out for voter support in the context of referendums and popular initiatives. This happens about four times a year. They do so by using their own means (own media), through the media coverage (free media) or through their political advertising (paid media). In this paper we analyze the character, the initiators of political advertisements and the arguments presented by them. Our saple consists of 375 issues of newspapers in the Swiss canton of Zurich. We found 107 campaign advertisements for three different issue-votes in the direct democratic vote on May 17, 2009. What had been discovered with regard to media coverage taking place during the weeks before the day of the direct democratic vote, our paper also confirms in the context of political advertising. The campaign only takes place about four weeks before the voting day. Our results show that political actors combine their financial means and join ad-hoc campaign committees to plan and execute paid media – contrary to the ordinary news reporting (free media), which they use to present themselves as individual politicians, parties or organizations. Furthermore, advertisements are personalized and regionalized with well-known political representatives. Depending on the campaign issue, the targeting can be even more detailed.

Commercialization of the media refers to the increasing importance of market considerations in the daily work of media professionals. Media organizations need to find ways to maintain the quality promise of their brands as an economically successful business. The increasing market orientation of media companies challenges their dedication to good journalism. The media brand identity approach is a good starting point from which to analyze this decision making in a commercialized and complex environment. By introducing the MBAC (“media, brands, actors, and communication”) model, a new approach is offered toward better theoretical understanding of brand identity-driven decision making. Responsibilities and tensions between the journalistic and the business side of news production are presented, and the complex environment in which decisions are made, implemented, and defended are elaborated on.

Das Spannungsverhältnis zwischen kommerziellen Interessen einerseits und gesellschaftlichen und verfassungsrechtlichen Anforderungen an die elektronischen Medien andererseits ist Thema seit Einführung des privaten Rundfunks. Die Beteiligung von Finanzinvestoren an Unternehmen aus dem Medienbereich scheint die Spannung weiter zu erhöhen, da sie offenbar mit noch höheren Renditeerwartungen und noch kürzeren Zeithorizonten operieren. Spätestens mit dem Investment der beiden Private-Equity-Häuser Permira und KKR in die deutsche Sendergruppe ProSiebenSat.1 wuchs das Interesse der Rundfunkpolitik an diesem Thema in erheblichem Maß. In dem von der Direktorenkonferenz der Landesmedienanstalten (DLM) in Auftrag gegebenen Gutachten untersucht das Hans-Bredow-Institut für Medienforschung an der Universität Hamburg in Kooperation mit dem Center of Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies an der TU München und dem Institut für Publizistikwissenschaft und Medienforschung an der Universität Zürich spezifische Themen, die mit derartigen Beteiligungen einhergehen. Die Fragestellungen werden aus finanz- und publizistikwissenschaftlicher sowie aus medienrechtlicher Perspektive betrachtet, um in regulatorischer Hinsicht Probleme des Medienkonzentrationsrechts sowie Fragen nach den allgemeinen rundfunkrechtlichen Bindungen privater Rundfunkveranstalter beantworten zu können. Am Ende stehen Überlegungen, wie die Ziele der Rundfunkregulierung zukünftig unabhängig vom Investorentyp -trotz wachsenden ökonomischen Drucks - erreicht werden können. Kapitel Strategien von Medienunternehmen: Einleitung - Medien als spezielle Güter - Medienmärkte im Wandel - Strategische Ziele - Wachstums- oder Integrationsstrategien - Fokussierungs- oder Nischenstrategie - Netzwerk- oder Kooperationsstrategien - Zusammenfassung

Das Spannungsverhältnis zwischen kommerziellen Interessen einerseits und gesellschaftlichen und verfassungsrechtlichen Anforderungen an die elektronischen Medien andererseits ist Thema seit Einführung des privaten Rundfunks. Die Beteiligung von Finanzinvestoren an Unternehmen aus dem Medienbereich scheint die Spannung weiter zu erhöhen, da sie offenbar mit noch höheren Renditeerwartungen und noch kürzeren Zeithorizonten operieren. Spätestens mit dem Investment der beiden Private-Equity-Häuser Permira und KKR in die deutsche Sendergruppe ProSiebenSat.1 wuchs das Interesse der Rundfunkpolitik an diesem Thema in erheblichem Maß. In dem von der Direktorenkonferenz der Landesmedienanstalten (DLM) in Auftrag gegebenen Gutachten untersucht das Hans-Bredow-Institut für Medienforschung an der Universität Hamburg in Kooperation mit dem Center of Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies an der TU München und dem Institut für Publizistikwissenschaft und Medienforschung an der Universität Zürich spezifische Themen, die mit derartigen Beteiligungen einhergehen. Die Fragestellungen werden aus finanz- und publizistikwissenschaftlicher sowie aus medienrechtlicher Perspektive betrachtet, um in regulatorischer Hinsicht Probleme des Medienkonzentrationsrechts sowie Fragen nach den allgemeinen rundfunkrechtlichen Bindungen privater Rundfunkveranstalter beantworten zu können. Am Ende stehen Überlegungen, wie die Ziele der Rundfunkregulierung zukünftig unabhängig vom Investorentyp -trotz wachsenden ökonomischen Drucks - erreicht werden können.