Educational Expansion and Persistent Inequalities of Education: Utilizing the Subjective Expected Utility Theory to Explain the Increasing Participation Rates in Upper Secondary School in the Federal Republic Of Germany

This investigation attempts to answer the question why more and more parents have chosen the Gymnasium for their children's secondary school education in post‐war West Germany. Based on the theory of subjective expected utility, the crucial mechanisms of parental educational decisions have been emphasized. From this perspective it is assumed that increasing educational motivation coupled with changes in the subjective evaluation of the cost–benefit of education were important conditions for an increasing participation in upper secondary schools. These were, however, in turn, the result of educational expansion. The empirical analyses for three time‐periods in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s confirm these assumptions to a large degree. Additionally, empirical evidence was found to suggest that in addition to the intentions of parents and the educational career of their children, structural moments of educational expansion and their own inertia played an important role in the pupils' transition from one educational level to the next. Finally, evidence was found that persistent class‐specific educational inequality stems from a constant balance in the relative cost–benefit advantages between social classes as well as from an increasing difference of primary origin effect between social classes in the realization of their educational choice.

Distinct lake level lowstand in Lake Prespa (SE Europe) at the time of the 74 (75) ka Toba eruption

Abstract. The 74 (75) ka Toba eruption in Sumatra, Indonesia, is considered to be one of the largest volcanic events during the Quaternary. Tephra from the Toba eruption has been found in many terrestrial and marine sedimentary deposits, and acidity peaks related to the eruption have been used to synchronize ice core records from Greenland and Antarctica. Seismic profiles and sedimentological data from Lake Prespa on the Balkan Peninsula, SE Europe, indicate a lake level lowstand at 73.6±7.7 ka based on ESR dating of shells. Tephrostratigraphy, radiocarbon dating and tuning of the total organic carbon content with the NGRIP isotope record, corroborate that the lake level lowstand was a short-term event superimposed on the general cooling trend at the end of MIS 5, most likely at the onset of the Greenland Stadial GS- 20. Acknowledging that tectonic events or karst processes could have triggered this lake level lowstand, the chronological correspondence between the lowstand and the Toba eruption is intriguing. Therefore a Toba-driven short-term shift to aridity in the Balkan region, leading to lake level changes and triggering spatial expansion events in one of the lake’s most abundant benthic species, the carino mussel Dreissena presbensis, cannot be excluded.

Sediment core fossils in ancient Lake Ohrid: testing for faunal change since the Last Interglacial

Ancient Lake Ohrid is probably of early Pleistocene or Pliocene origin and amongst the few lakes in the world harbouring an outstanding degree of endemic biodiversity. Although there is a long history of evolutionary research in Lake Ohrid, particularly on molluscs, a mollusc fossil record has been missing up to date. For the first time, gastropod and bivalve fossils are reported from the basal, calcareous part of a 2.6 m long sediment succession (core Co1200) from the north-eastern part of Lake Ohrid. Electron spin resonance (ESR) dating of mollusc shells from the same stratigraphic level yielded an age of 130 ± 28 ka. Lithofacies III sediments, i.e. a stratigraphic subdivision comprising the basal succession of core Co1200 between 181.5–263 cm, appeared solid, greyish-white, and consisted almost entirely of silt-sized endogenic calcite (CaCO3>70%) and intact and broken mollusc shells. Here we compare the faunal composition of the thanatocoenosis with recent mollusc associations in Lake Ohrid. A total of 13 mollusc species (9 gastropod and 4 bivalve species) could be identified within Lithofacies III sediments. The value of sediment core fossils for reconstructing palaeoenvironmental settings was evaluated and the agreement between sediment and palaeontological proxies was tested. The study also aims at investigating major faunal changes since the Last Interglacial and searching for signs of extinction events. The combined findings of the ecological study and the sediment characteristics suggest deposition in a shallow water environment during the Last Interglacial. The fossil fauna exclusively included species also found in the present fauna, i.e. no extinction events are evident for this site since the Last Interglacial. The thanatocoenosis showed the highest similarity with recent Intermediate Layer (5–25 m water depth) mollusc assemblages. The demonstrated existence of a mollusc fossil record in Lake Ohrid sediment cores also has great significance for future deep drilling projects. It can be hoped that a more far reaching mollusc fossil record will then be obtained, enabling insight into the early evolutionary history of Lake Ohrid.

Consumer Behavior in Moral Markets. On the Relevance of Identity, Justice Beliefs, Social Norms, Status and Trust in Ethical Consumption

This article addresses ethical consumer behavior and uses the purchase of Fair Trade (FT) coffee to gain insights into determinants of ‘moral behavior’ in the marketplace. Our primary concern is to clarify which theoretical concepts and determinants are more useful than others in explaining FT consumption. We compare the explanatory power of consumer budget restrictions, consumer identity, social and personal norms, social status, justice beliefs, and trust. Our second aim is methodological; we contrast data on self-reported consumption of FT coffee with experimental data on hypothetical choices of different coffee products. To gain insights into the robustness of our measurement and findings, we test our propositions using two samples of undergraduate students from Germany and the United States. Our data show that consumer identity and personal norms are the major determinants of FT consumption in both samples, the results from survey-based data and from our experimental data are similar in this regard. Further, we demonstrate that studies based on a limited number of determinants might overestimate effects; the effect of justice beliefs for instance vanishes if other determinants are taken into account.

Anti-Americanism in Europe: Theoretical Mechanisms and Empirical Evidence

One of the most popular explanations for post-9/11 anti-Americanism argues that resentment against America and Americans is mainly a function of the US government’s unpopular actions. The present article challenges this interpretation: first, it argues that neither the vitality of the resentment in times when the United States had no influence in the respective parts of the world nor its recent radical manifestations are accounted for in a political reductionist framework. In fact, specific traditions of anti-Americanism have an influence on the negative attitudes observed today, as a comparison between Britain, France, Germany, and Poland reveals. Second, this article suggests an alternative theoretical approach. Anti-Americanism can be explained by two basic mechanisms: it functions as a strategy to project denied and disliked self-concepts onto an external object, and it offers an interpretation frame for complex social processes that allows to reduce cognitive dissonance. Multivariate analyses based on empirical data collected in the Pew surveys of 2002 and 2007 show the fruitfulness of our theoretical approach.

Migrant Background and Higher Education Participation in Europe. The Effect of the Educational Systems

The main aim of this article is to shed light on the extent to which differences in higher education participation between people with and without a migrant background of low/higher social origin can be explained by two macro-level characteristics of national educational institutions: stratification of the secondary school system and provision of alternative access to higher education. General assumptions are that people with a migrant background of low social origin benefit in low-stratified secondary school systems and in systems that provide alternative access to institutions of higher education more than their native peers in the same social stratum, owing to primary and secondary effects of migrant background. Database is a pooled dataset of the five waves of the European Social Survey. Results of logistic multi-level analyses indicate that a low-stratified secondary school system improves the probability of people with a migrant background/low social origin attaining a higher education degree. On the other hand, a stratified secondary school system reduces their chances regarding this educational stage. The provision of alternative access to an institution of higher education improves their likelihood of becoming higher education graduates.

Clinical and radiographic outcomes at 2 years and the effect of tocilizumab discontinuation following sustained remission in the second and third year of the ACT-RAY study

OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy and safety of tocilizumab (TCZ) plus methotrexate/placebo (MTX/PBO) over 2 years and the course of disease activity in patients who discontinued TCZ due to sustained remission. METHODS ACT-RAY was a double-blind 3-year trial. Patients with active rheumatoid arthritis despite MTX were randomised to add TCZ to ongoing MTX (add-on strategy) or switch to TCZ plus PBO (switch strategy). Using a treat-to-target approach, open-label conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs), other than MTX, were added from week 24 if Disease Activity Score in 28 joints based on erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR) >3.2. Between weeks 52 and 104, patients in sustained clinical remission (DAS28-ESR <2.6 at two consecutive visits 12 weeks apart) discontinued TCZ and were assessed every 4 weeks for 1 year. If sustained remission was maintained, added csDMARDs, then MTX/PBO, were discontinued. RESULTS Of the 556 randomised patients, 76% completed year 2. Of patients entering year 2, 50.4% discontinued TCZ after achieving sustained remission and 5.9% achieved drug-free remission. Most patients who discontinued TCZ (84.0%) had a subsequent flare, but responded well to TCZ reintroduction. Despite many patients temporarily stopping TCZ, radiographic progression was minimal, with differences favouring add-on treatment. Rates of serious adverse events and serious infections per 100 patient-years were 12.2 and 4.4 in add-on and 15.0 and 3.7 in switch patients. In patients with normal baseline values, alanine aminotransferase elevations >3×upper limit of normal were more frequent in add-on (14.3%) versus switch patients (5.4%). CONCLUSIONS Treat-to-target strategies could be successfully implemented with TCZ to achieve sustained remission, after which TCZ was stopped. Biologic-free remission was maintained for about 3 months, but most patients eventually flared. TCZ restart led to rapid improvement. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER NCT00810199.

The Chemical Mechanism of a Brown-Rot Decay Mimtic System and its Application in Paper Recycling Processes

This work is aimed at improving our current knowledge of the non-enzymatic inecl~anisins involved in brown-rot decay, as well as the exploration of potential applications of a brown-rot mimetic model system in paper recycling processes. The study was divided into two parts. The first part focussed on the chemical mechanisms involved in chelation and reduction of iron by a low molecular weight chelator (isolated from the brown-rot fungus Gloeophyllz~m tmbeum) and its model compound 2,3- dihydroxybenzoic acid (2,3-DHBA). Chelation as well as free radical generation mediated by this system were studied by ESR measurement. The results indicate that the effects of the chelator/iron ratio, the pH, and other reaction parameters on hydroxyl radical generation by a Fenton type system could be determined using ESR spin-trapping techniques. The results also support the hypothesis that superoxide radicals are involved in the chelator-mediated Fenton process. In the second part of the study, the effect of a chelator-mediated Fenton system for the improvement of deinking efficiency and the n~odification of fiber and paper properties was studied. For the deinking study, copy paper was laser printed with an identical standard pattern. Then repulping and flotation operations were performed to remove ink particles. Under properly controlled deinking conditions, the chelator mediated treatment (CMT) resulted in a reduction in dirt count over that of conventional deinking procedures with no significant loss of pulp strength. To study the effect of the chelator system treatment on the quality of pulp with different fines content, a fully bleached hardwood kraft pulp was beaten to different freeness levels and treated with the chelator-mediated free radical system. The result shows that virgin fiber and heavily beaten fiber respond differently to the free radical treatment. Unbeaten fibers become more flexible and easier to collapse after free radical treatment, while beaten fibers show a reduction in fines and small materials after mild free radical treatment.

Study of Basic Wood Decay Mechanisms and Their Biotechnological Applications

The overall objective of this thesis was to gain further understanding of the non-enzymatic mechanisms involved in brown-rot wood decay, especially the role of pH, oxalic acid, and low molecular catecholate compounds on the dissolution and reduction of iron, and the formation of reactive oxygen species. Another focus of this study will be the potential application of a biomimetic free radical generating system inspired from fungi wood decay process, especially the non-enzymatic mechanism. The possible pathways of iron uptake and iron redox cycling in non-enzymatic brown-rot decay were investigated in this study. UV-Vis spectroscopy and HPLC were employed to study the kinetics and pathways of the interaction between iron and model catecholate compounds under different pH and chelator/iron molar ratio conditions. Iron chelation and reduction during early non-enzymatic wood decay processes have been studied in this thesis. The results indicate that the effects of the chelator/iron ratio, the pH, and other reaction parameters on the hydroxyl radical generation in a Fenton type system can be determined using ESR spin-trapping techniques. Data also support the hypothesis that superoxide radicals are involved in chelator-mediated Fenton processes. The mechanisms involved in free radical activation of Thermal Mechanical Pulp fibers were investigated. The activation of TMP fibers was evaluated by ESR measurement of free phenoxy radical generation on solid fibers. The results indicate that low molecular weight chelators can improve Fenton reactions, thus in turn stimulating the free radical activation of TMP fibers. A mediated Fenton system was evaluated for decolorization of several types of dyes. The result shows that the Fenton system mediated by a catecholate-type chelator effectively reduced the color of a diluted solution of synthetic dyes after 90 minutes of treatment at room temperature. The results show that compared to a neat Fenton process, the mediated Fenton decolorization process increased the production, and therefore the effective longevity, of hydroxyl radical species to increase the decolorization efficiency.

Th and U isotopes, dose rates and ages of marine shells and sediment of core GIK14350, north Germany

The ESR dating method was applied to marine shells taken from a sediment core from Dagebüll, Schleswig-Holstein. Four samples from two different depths of the core (17.5 m and 25-26 m), separated by a 2.76 meter thick clay layer (Turritella Clay), yielded identical ages within the limits of error. They indicated an assignment to the oxygen isotope stage 5, thus confirming the stratigraphic age. In addition, the ESR-ages confirm the interpretation of Lomitschka et al. (1997, doi:10.2312/meyniana.1997.49.85), that the Th/U-ages of shells below the clay layer are reliable, whereas shells located above the clay layer, which were strongly influenced by percolating groundwaters of an open system, yielded falsified Th/U-ages.

Determination of sulfite and manganese in sediments from the K/T boundary

The solid-state-physics technique of electron spin resonance (ESR) has been employed in an exploratory study of marine limestones and impact-related deposits from Cretaceous-Tertiary (KT) boundary sites including Spain (Sopelana and Caravaca), New Jersey (Bass River), the U.S. Atlantic continental margin (Blake Nose, ODP Leg 171B/1049/A), and several locations in Belize and southern Mexico within -600 km of the Chicxulub crater. The ESR spectra of SO3(1-) (a radiation-induced point defect involving a sulfite ion substitutional for CO3(2-) which has trapped a positive charge) and Mn(2+) in calcite were singled out for analysis because they are unambiguously interpretable and relatively easy to record. ESR signal strengths of calcite-related SO3(1-) and Mn(2+) have been studied as functions of stratigraphic position in whole-rock samples across the KT boundary at Sopelana, Caravaca, and Blake Nose. At all three of these sites, anomalies in SO3(1-) and/or Mn(2+) intensities are noted at the KT boundary relative to the corresponding background levels in the rocks above and below. At Caravaca, the SO3(1-) background itself is found to be lower by a factor of 2.7 in the first 30,000 years of the Tertiary relative to its steady-state value in the last 15,000 years of the Cretaceous, indicating either an abrupt and quasi-permanent change in ocean chemistry (or temperature) or extinction of the marine biota primarily responsible for fixing sulfite in the late Cretaceous limestones. An exponential decrease in the Mn(2+) concentration per unit mass calcite, [Mn(2+)], as the KT boundary at Caravaca is approached from below (1/e characteristic length =1.4 cm) is interpreted as a result of post-impact leaching of the seafloor. Absolute ESR quantitative analyses of proximal impact deposits from Belize and southern Mexico group naturally into three distinct fields in a twodimensional [SO3(1-)]-versus-[Mn(2+)] scatter plot. These fields contain (I) limestone ejecta clasts, (II) accretionary lapilli, and (III) a variety of SO3(1-) -depleted/Mn(2+) enriched impact deposits. Data for the investigated non-impact-related Cretaceous and Tertiary marine limestones (Spain and Blake Nose) fall outside of these three fields. With reference to thes enon-impact deposits, fields I, II, and III can be respectively characterized as Mn(2+) -depleted, SO3(1-) -enhanced, and SO3(1-) -depleted. It is proposed that (1) field I represents calcites from the Yucatin Platform, and that the Mn(2+) -depleted signature can be used as an indicator of primary Chicxulub ejecta in deep marine environments and (2) field II represents calcites that include a component formed in the vapor plume, either from condensation in the presence of CO2/SO3(1-) -rich vapors, or reactions between CaO and CO2/SO3 rich vapors, and that this SO3(1-) -enhanced signature can be used as an indicator of impact vapor plume deposits. Given these two propositions, the ESR data for the Blake Nose deposits are ascribed to the presence of basal coarse calcitic Chicxulub ejecta clasts, while the finer components that are increasingly represented toward the top are interpreted to contain high- SO3(1-) calcite from the vapor plume. The apparently-undisturbed Bass River deposit may contain even higher concentrations of vapor-plume calcite. None of the three components included in field III appear to be represented at distal, deep marine KT-boundary sites; this field may include several types of impact-related deposits of diverse origins and diagenetic histories.