Search

Search engines are important political news sources and should thus provide users with diverse political information – an important precondition of a well-informed citizenry. The search engines' algorithmic content selection strongly influences the diversity of the content received by the users – particularly since most users highly trust search engines and often click on only the first result. A widespread concern is that users are not informed diversely by search engines, but how far this concern applies has hardly been investigated. Our study is the first to investigate content diversity provided by five search engines on ten current political issues in Germany. The findings show that sometimes even the first result is highly diverse, but in most cases, more results must be considered to be informed diversely. This unreliability presents a serious challenge when using search engines as political news sources. Our findings call for media policy measures, for example in terms of algorithmic transparency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current media environment is primarily characterised by a large amount of information and, in contrast, rather fragmented audience attention. This is especially true for social media, particularly Facebook, which have become important news sources for many people. Journalists cannot help but publish content on Facebook if they want to reach the part of their audience that mainly--or even only--consumes news there. On Facebook, journalists are at the mercy of the algorithm that determines the visibility of their content. Because user engagement is a crucial factor in the algorithm, concerns have been raised that journalists are abandoning their normative quality standards to make the news as attractive as possible to the audience--at the expense of media performance. A softened presentation of the news, particularly in Facebook posts, may help achieve this aim, but research on this subject is lacking. The present study analyses this practice of softening the news in four German media outlets' (BILD, FAZ, Der Spiegel, Tagesschau) political Facebook posts. The results show that the overall level of news softening is low to medium. Furthermore, comparing them to website teasers reveals that news softening is only slightly higher on Facebook (mainly BILD and Der Spiegel), and that there are no converging trends between quality or public service media and tabloid media. Exaggerated fears about news softening are therefore unnecessary. Continued analysis of news softening, as well as ongoing adaption of the concept according to dynamic developments, is nevertheless important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the status of experimental research on interventions intended to improve the responding of children and youth with behavioral disorders and developmental disabilities. The data pool consisted of all the articles published between 1980 and 1997 in 10 selected journals. Articles that met the criteria for intervention research were identified and scored on a number of descriptive dimensions (e.g., participant characteristics, settings, dependent measures, independent variables, ecological validity). The data revealed few notable trends over the 18-year period; however, there seemed to be some tendencies toward younger participant populations, general education settings, and studies of interventions in more typical contexts. Moreover, an increasing proportion of interventions are based on preliminary assessments. The discussion considers the general status of intervention research and its value in understanding and helping to guide practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

At least three theories of man and social reality can be abstracted from the World Order Models Project (WOMP) literature. The leading concepts in what I call the Anti‐Political theory (von Weizsäcker) are Truth and Love. The Individual type needed to bring about and preserve a world order resonating these values is the Saint. The leading concepts in the Apolitical theory (Falk, Mazrui, Sakamoto) are Consensus and Enlightened Self‐Interest. The individual type needed to transform the world of the Apolitical theorist is the Reformer/ Educator. The guiding concepts in the Political theory (Lagos) are Power and Conflict. The ideal individual type for changing this world is the Activist. Each of these theories appears to be incomplete by itself when the role of the Transitional Type is not played by an individual of great inner strength and balance. Brute force and dominating institutions will turn weak saints into Quietists. Reformer/Educators unwilling to face up to the influence of power and the role of conflict in the world and who lack the constant renewal provided by an inner life will become Idealogues. Activists who sense no larger community of interest beyond their own cause and who see no need for self‐purification and self‐conquest will become Power Maniacs. On the other hand, the individual who aspires to be Saint, Reformer/Educator, and Activist all at once will need a more general theory of social reality and individual responsibility and potential than the three seemingly incompatible visions provide. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Chaperone–proteases are responsible for the processive breakdown of proteins in eukaryotic, archaeal and bacterial cells. They are composed of a cylinder-shaped protease lined on the interior with proteolytic sites and of ATPase rings that bind to the apical sides of the protease to control substrate entry. We present a real-time FRET-based method for probing the reaction cycle of chaperone–proteases, which consists of substrate unfolding, translocation into the protease and degradation. Using this system we show that the two alternative bacterial ClpAP and ClpXP complexes share the same mechanism: after initial tag recognition, fast unfolding of substrate occurs coinciding with threading through the chaperone. Subsequent slow substrate translocation into the protease chamber leads to formation of a transient compact substrate intermediate presumably close to the chaperone–protease interface. Our data for ClpX and ClpA support the mechanical unfolding mode of action proposed for these chaperones. The general applicability of the designed FRET system is demonstrated here using in addition an archaeal PAN-proteasome complex as model for the more complex eukaryotic proteasome. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The motor head of kinesin carries out microtubule binding, ATP hydrolysis, and force generation. Despite a high level of sequence and structural conservation, subtle variations in subdomains of the motor head determine family-specific properties. In particular, both Kinesin-1 (Kin-1) and Kinesin-5 (Kin-5) walk processively to the microtubule plus-end, yet show distinct motility characteristics suitable for their functions. We studied chimeric Kin-1/Kin-5 constructs with a combination of single molecule motility assays and molecular dynamics simulations to demonstrate that Kin-5 possesses a force-generating element similar to Kin-1, i.e., the cover-neck bundle. Furthermore, the Kin-5 neck linker makes additional contacts with the core of the motor head via loop L13, which putatively compensates for the shorter cover-neck bundle of Kin-5. Our results indicate that Kin-1 is mechanically optimized for individual cargo transport, whereas Kin-5 does not necessarily maximize its mechanical performance. Its biochemical rates and enhanced force sensitivity may instead be beneficial for operation in a group of motors. Such variations in subdomains would be a strategy for achieving diversity in motility with the conserved motor head., (Copyright © 2013 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)