In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde der zelluläre Immunstatus von 17 Patienten mit Erstdiagnose eines soliden gastrointestinalen Tumors vor und nach intravenöser Applikation von drei Zyklen einer konventionellen Polychemotherapie untersucht. Verglichen wurde zu Beginn der Therapie mit einer Kontrollgruppe, bestehend aus 21 nicht onkologisch vorerkrankten Probanden. Zur Messung der individuellen T-Zellvermittelten Immunantwort auf Einzelzellebene wird auf die Methode des IFN-γ-ELISPOT-Assays zurückgegriffen. Die zentrale Frage war, ob die Applikation einer Polychemotherapie einen messbaren Effekt auf die Immunantwort des einzelnen Individuums hat. Zudem sollte untersucht werden, ob generelle Unterschiede zwischen Patienten mit einer unbehandelten Tumorerkrankung und gesunden Probanden bzw. allgemein internistisch erkrankten Patienten zu erkennen sind. In Zusammenschau der Ergebnisse sind trotz überwiegend unveränderter T-Zell-Antwort auf die meisten der eingesetzten Antigene einige statistisch signifikante Unterschiede festzuhalten. So zeigte die Gruppe der Tumorpatienten vor Applikation der Chemotherapie im Vergleich zur Kontrollgruppe eine signifikant erhöhte Spotintensität und einen höheren Stimulationsindex [A] in Bezug auf das Tuberkulose-Antigen CFP-10. Diese Veränderungen waren nach Applikation der Chemotherapie nicht mehr nachzuweisen. Des Weiteren ergaben sich bei den Tumorpatienten vor und nach Chemotherapie signifikante Veränderungen der T-Zell-Antwort bezüglich des Antigens Tetanus-Toxoid. Nach Applikation von 3 Zyklen Chemotherapie kam es zu einer Verminderung des Stimulationsindex [A]. Es wird daher die Vermutung nahe gelegt, dass sich gerade in Bezug auf bakterielle Infektionen die T-Zell-Antwort der Tumorpatienten signifikant ändert. Die klinische Relevanz müsste jedoch anhand gezielter Messung auf spezifische bakterielle Antigene in größer angelegten Studien überprüft werden.

In dieser Arbeit wird die Eignung eines Haarwurzelsystems (HR) aus transgenen Sonnenblumen-hairy roots zur biotechnologischen Produktion von α-Tocopherol untersucht. Es wurden hairy roots mit und ohne Transgene erzeugt. Transgene HR exprimieren Tocopherolbiosynthesegene aus Arabidopsis thaliana. Die HR wurden unterschiedlichen Stressoren unterworfen, um die α-Tocopherolproduktion binnen eines Zeitraums zu überprüfen. Stressoren waren verringerte Kohlenstoffquelle, Beleuchtung und der Zusatz von Zytokininen. Die Produktionsleistung des Systems ist schlussendlich ungenügend zur kostengünstigen Produktion von α-Tocopherol.

Zielsetzung: Die Gültigkeit des Modells der Stadien der Veränderung von Prochaska und DiClemente für die stationäre Alkoholentwöhnungstherapie empirisch zu prüfen. Methoden: Reliabilität, Faktorstruktur und Konstruktvalidität der Veränderungsstadienskala (VSS) wurden an Alkoholpatienten querschnittlich (N = 265) und längsschnittlich (N = 108) untersucht. Ergebnisse: Die Reliabilität der VSS fiel befriedigend aus mit Ausnahme der Skala «Precontemplation», die sich auf nicht motivierte Patienten bezieht. Die faktorielle Validität war insbesondere für die Skalen «Contemplation» und «Maintenance» unzureichend. Clusteranalysen ergaben eine nicht modellkonforme Drei-Cluster-Lösung einschließlich «uninvolvierter » Patienten. VSS-Werte waren durchgängig mit der Therapiemotivation korreliert. Prädiktive Validität (Behandlungsdauer, Rückfallvorhersage) konnte nicht belegt werden. Schlussfolgerungen: Der Ansatz bestätigt seinen heuristischen Wert, kann aber noch nicht valide für praktische Entscheidungen in der Alkoholentwöhnungsbehandlung herangezogen werden. Spezifische Modelle für verschiedene Behandlungsgruppen und -settings scheinen Erfolg versprechender. / Aim: The validity of the ”Stages of Change” approach was tested in alcohol inpatient long-term treatment. Methods: Reliability, factor structure, and construct validity of the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment Scale (URICA, German version) was examined using cross-sectional (N = 265) and longitudinal data (N = 108). Results: Scale reliability proved to be satisfying, except for the precontemplation scale. Factorial validity was insufficient for the contemplation and the maintenance scale. Cluster analyses revealed a threecluster solution not in accordance with the model and included a cluster of ”uninvolved patients”. URICA-scores were correlated with therapy motivation, but predictive validity with respect to duration of treatment and prediction of relapse was not confirmed. Conclusions: The model proved to be of heuristic value but is not yet a valid basis for practical decisions. Models which are directed more specifically towards a particular treatment group or setting are expected to be more successful. / Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.

In dieser Arbeit wird die Eignung eines Haarwurzelsystems (HR) aus transgenen Sonnenblumen-hairy roots zur biotechnologischen Produktion von α-Tocopherol untersucht. Es wurden hairy roots mit und ohne Transgene erzeugt. Transgene HR exprimieren Tocopherolbiosynthesegene aus Arabidopsis thaliana. Die HR wurden unterschiedlichen Stressoren unterworfen, um die α-Tocopherolproduktion binnen eines Zeitraums zu überprüfen. Stressoren waren verringerte Kohlenstoffquelle, Beleuchtung und der Zusatz von Zytokininen. Die Produktionsleistung des Systems ist schlussendlich ungenügend zur kostengünstigen Produktion von α-Tocopherol.

This research set out to explore how a group of nine educators from a Catholic Church school in Malta, who have attended the Let Me Learn professional Learning process (LMLpLp), experienced personal and professional transformation. This study investigates those factors influencing participants in their transformative learning journey. It also explores the dynamics of transformative learning and whether individual transformation affects the school’s transformative learning experience. More specifically this study set out to explore how teachers who participated in the Let Me Learn professional Learning process have experienced transformative learning. This study takes a qualitative phenomenological approach. It seeks to identify phenomena of personal and professional transformative learning through the perceptions of the educators participating in this study. Through the use of the semi-structured interview it seeks to gather ‘deep’ data. This data represents the voices of these educators in narrative, thus emphasising the importance of the personal perspective and interpretation. This allowed this research to understand the subjective experience, motivation and actions of the participants. The Literature review informs the questions asked during the interview. The interview was used as a tool for gathering information regarding values, attitudes and beliefs of participants. Each interview was transcribed, translated (when response was given in Maltese) and categorised according to Mezirow’s ten stages. Excerpts from each stage were further processed to generate themes. The themes were later streamlined and an acceptable interpretive framework was created. Each interview excerpt was then analysed through the framework. Once all interviews were coded, detailed narratives were written. These narratives are meant to help the reader reflect on the process of transformative learning. It underscores those factors highlighted by the participants, which helped bring about both personal and professional transformative learning. This research has identified that individual constructs are strongly determined by an individual’s personal learning characteristics. Awareness of these personal learning characteristics (self-knowledge) helped educators assess their practice and understand how their personal characteristics were determining their approach to teaching and affecting their interpersonal relationships with students and colleagues. This research showed that transformative learning is a mutually interdependent experience. Individual transformation amounts to, and is influenced by, the collective transformation. This study highlighted the role of the school community in the pursuit of personal transformation. Yet another important finding of this research is the importance of a shared language of possibility. Through a shared language, a learning community can create a dialogic environment through which intentions, beliefs and interventions can be shared among the professional community. This research accentuates the importance of a shared language as a means of articulating a change in perspective. The study identified three main agents of change. The Let Me Learn team, as promoters and experts of this particular learning process; the teachers, who internalised the process and applied it to their practice; and the school’s senior management team, who internalised the Process, positioned it into the larger vision of the school and created a conducive environment through which the whole school community was empowered to take responsibility to bring about change in practice. A number of implications emerge from this study that could inform policy on teacher professional learning. A major implication concerns the importance of a shared language – a language that reflects the shared values and ideological position of the community. Such language frames the learning process, makes learning visible for teachers to be able to respond effectively with strategies that respect each learner’s learning preference and makes learning visible to the learner himself. Another implication from this study arises from the finding that the transformative learning process of any individual educator and effectively of the whole school community, goes beyond the effectiveness and limitations of any one professional development programme. True and deep-seated transformative learning comes from within the individual educator. This statement has serious repercussions on any professional development programme that aims to aid participants in their quest to transform their practice. This study also emphasised the importance that any professional development needs to be seated in the local experience and needs of the school community. Any attempts at developing comprehensive, nation-wide projects with pre-packaged approaches, are doomed to fail. What this research has shown is that for effective professional development, the identified outcomes need to correspond to the local needs of the school, rather than the national guidelines, detached from the realities of the particular school. Finally, this study accentuated the importance of incorporating mentoring support in any professional development proposal. Delivery of information and skills without follow-up tend to lead to superficial application. Transformative learning presupposes a period of shared reflection on practice and collegial mediation of ideas through contact between teachers and their leaders and on-the-job support from their professional development mentors.

Kritischer Blick ehemaliger Offiziere der Grenztruppen der DDR auf das praktizierte Grenzregime.:Wolfgang Scheler, Vorwort Autorenbeiträge, Referate: Arthur Pech, Zum militarisierten Grenzregime der DDR. Rolf Ziegenbein, Grenzschutz an der deutsch-deutschen Grenze - zwischen Militär und Polizei. Diskussionsbeiträge: Dirk Fischer, Redebeitrag ohne Titel. Joachim Sladko, Redebeitrag ohne Titel. Horst Liebig, Die Anfänge eines zusätzlichen militärischen Schutzes der Staatsgrenze der DDR. Günther Glaser, Zu den beiden Referaten und möglichen Alternativen. Autoren, Abkürzungsverzeichnis.

In today’s globalized business world enterprises face increasing competition and accompanying internal and external threats that challenge their enterprise strategies. Multiple examples of enterprises show that long-lasting strategies need to be progressively overworked in order to secure competitiveness. One key for long-term competitiveness seems to lie in the ability to find a reasonable ratio of strategic stability and change. Neglecting the tension of strategic stability and change can have fatal consequences. Strategic management research increasingly focuses on this challenge. Lately research on ambidexterity and dynamic capability attempts to explain the underlying issues of proactively balancing strategic tensions in dynamic markets. Yet, there remain a couple of questions that – unanswered – limit the explanatory power of recent research models. Because of conceptual ambiguities around the concepts of ambidexterity and dynamic capabilities, until now it remains unclear how a balance between strategic stability and change is reached and managed, and how the underlying strategic decision and strategic management processes at the organizational level look like. To address these open issues, this work develops an alternative framework of strategic ambidexterity. It is defined as a deliberate mechanism to detect, monitor, steer, coordinate and balance stability and change of the enterprise strategy. It argues that enterprises do not deal with strategic stability and change accidently. Quite on the contrary, the enterprises’ key actors are aware of this challenge and have a mechanism in place that allows them to deliberately and continuously employ the right ratio of strategic stability and change. This deliberate mechanism is assumed to create performance differences. High-performing enterprises have a particular setting of the mechanism that distinguishes them from low-performing peers and that secures their long-term competitiveness. In order to empirically test the mechanism a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) using a sample of 74 mechanical engineering enterprises is performed. As will be shown there are in fact differences between high and low-performing enterprises. The strategic behavior of high-performing enterprises can be classified as Guided Long-Term Inclusive Planning (GLTIP). This work adds new knowledge to the research on ambidexterity and dynamic capabilities and also contributes to the methodological discussion on the analysis of sustainable competitive advantage in today’s globalized and dynamic markets.

In today’s globalized business world enterprises face increasing competition and accompanying internal and external threats that challenge their enterprise strategies. Multiple examples of enterprises show that long-lasting strategies need to be progressively overworked in order to secure competitiveness. One key for long-term competitiveness seems to lie in the ability to find a reasonable ratio of strategic stability and change. Neglecting the tension of strategic stability and change can have fatal consequences. Strategic management research increasingly focuses on this challenge. Lately research on ambidexterity and dynamic capability attempts to explain the underlying issues of proactively balancing strategic tensions in dynamic markets. Yet, there remain a couple of questions that – unanswered – limit the explanatory power of recent research models. Because of conceptual ambiguities around the concepts of ambidexterity and dynamic capabilities, until now it remains unclear how a balance between strategic stability and change is reached and managed, and how the underlying strategic decision and strategic management processes at the organizational level look like. To address these open issues, this work develops an alternative framework of strategic ambidexterity. It is defined as a deliberate mechanism to detect, monitor, steer, coordinate and balance stability and change of the enterprise strategy. It argues that enterprises do not deal with strategic stability and change accidently. Quite on the contrary, the enterprises’ key actors are aware of this challenge and have a mechanism in place that allows them to deliberately and continuously employ the right ratio of strategic stability and change. This deliberate mechanism is assumed to create performance differences. High-performing enterprises have a particular setting of the mechanism that distinguishes them from low-performing peers and that secures their long-term competitiveness. In order to empirically test the mechanism a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) using a sample of 74 mechanical engineering enterprises is performed. As will be shown there are in fact differences between high and low-performing enterprises. The strategic behavior of high-performing enterprises can be classified as Guided Long-Term Inclusive Planning (GLTIP). This work adds new knowledge to the research on ambidexterity and dynamic capabilities and also contributes to the methodological discussion on the analysis of sustainable competitive advantage in today’s globalized and dynamic markets.:1. Introduction 2. High-performing enterprises, strategic management and dynamic environments – multiple paths of explaining sustainable competitive advantage 3. Toward a multidimensional framework of balancing strategic stability and change: a steering mechanism 4. A comparative configurational analysis of the mechanism of strategic ambidexterity with regard to different performance settings 5. Discussion of results: introducing Guided Long-Term Inclusive Planning (GLTIP) 6. Management implications: GLTIP in action 7. Conclusions, limitations and directions for future research

Aufbauend auf dem agrarökonomischen, dynamischen Optimierungsmodell MAgPIE, zeigen die hier vorgestellten Forschungsergebnisse, dass die Governance-Leistung einen bedeutenden Einfluss auf den technologischen Fortschritt und das Wachstum der Flächenproduktivität hat, insbesondere für in der Entwicklung begriffene Regionen wie Lateinamerika, Afrika südlich der Sahara, Südasien und Südostasien. Dies wirkt sich wiederum auf die Landnutzungsdynamik aus, einschließlich der Ausdehnung von Ackerflächen und der Entwaldung. Neben Umweltauswirkungen beeinflusst die Governance-Leistung auch Lebensmittelpreise und das Handelsverhalten, und damit die Existenzgrundlagen vieler Menschen. Darüber hinaus legt die Dissertation nahe, dass sich das globale Produktivitätswachstum trotz unterschiedlicher sozioökonomischer Bedingungen wahrscheinlich fortsetzen wird. Die Größenordnung der Wachstumsrate unter den jeweiligen Bedingungen variiert jedoch, je nach verwendeten Produktivitätsindizes. Unterschiede in den sozioökonomischen Gegebenheiten führen zu einer Zunahme des Produktivitätswachstums im Ackerbau, was tiefgreifende Auswirkungen auf die Anbaufläche und die Lebensmittelpreise hat. Nicht zuletzt zeigen die Ergebnisse der Dissertation, dass die Liberalisierung des Agrarhandels negative Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf das landwirtschaftliche Angebot abfedern kann, den Anstieg der Lebensmittelpreise im Zuge von erheblichen klimabedingten Ertragseinbußen begrenzen und die Ausdehnung der Anbauflächen im globalen Maßstab verringern kann. In bestimmten Regionen kann es aufgrund von veränderten Handelsmustern zu einer Ausdehnung der Anbauflächen kommen. In Zusammenschau der Ergebnisse aus den Einzelstudien vertieft die vorliegende Dissertation das Verständnis für potenzielle Zielkonflikte und Synergien von wirtschaftspolitischen Optionen, die darauf abzielen, die Produktionskapazitäten im landwirtschaftlichen Sektor der steigenden Nachfrage entsprechend auszubauen. / Building upon an agro-economic dynamic optimization model known as MAgPIE, this dissertation fseeks to enhance representation of the economic factors in the model. The research findings reveal that governance performance has a significant impact on technological progress and land productivity growth, especially for developing regions, such as Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. This, in turn, exerts impacts on land dynamics, including cropland expansion and deforestation. Aside from environmental impacts, governance performance affects livelihoods, as it influences food prices and trade patterns. Moreover, the dissertation suggests that global productivity growth is likely to continue, despite differences in possible socioeconomic conditions. However, the magnitude of the growth rate under each set of conditions will vary, according to different productivity indices. Differences in socioeconomic conditions lead to a spread in productivity growth in the crop sector, which will have profound implications for cropland expansion and food prices. Last but not least, the dissertation argues that liberalizing agricultural trade can buffer negative impacts from climate change on agricultural supply, limit increasing food prices in a scenario of high-end climate impacts on crop yields, and reduce cropland expansion on the global scale, though it may induce cropland expansion in certain regions due to changes in trade patterns. Synthesizing the findings from the individuals studies of which it is comprised, the dissertation is intended to enhance understanding of the trade-offs and synergies of economic options for agricultural outputs to keep pace with increasing demand and, thereby, contribute to the core discussion among agricultural economists on food production and its economic and environmental impacts.

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