Welche Typen von Autokratien sind leistungsfähiger und warum? : eine empirische Analyse auf Grundlage der Selektoratstheorie = Which type of autocracy performs better, and why?

Performanzunterschiede zwischen verschiedenen Autokratietypen wie Monarchien, Militär-, Ein-Parteien- und begrenzten Mehr-Parteien-Regimen sind bis auf wenige Ausnahmen bisher relativ unerforscht. Deshalb widmet sich diese Arbeit folgenden Forschungsfragen: Gibt es Performanzunterschiede zwischen verschiedenen Autokratietypen? Wenn ja, wie gestalten sich diese und wie lassen sie sich erklären? Auf Grundlage der Selektoratstheorie von Bueno de Mesquite et al. wird die Hypothese aufgestellt, dass die Performanz politischer Regime mit der Größe der Winning Coalition steigt. Da verschiedene Autokratietypen unterschiedlich große Winning Coalitions haben, wird angenommen, dass es deutliche Performanzunterschiede zwischen diesen Typen gibt. Als Performanzkriterien dienen in dieser Arbeit wirtschaftlicher Wohlstand, soziale Sicherheit und ökologische Nachhaltigkeit. Aus diesen drei Kriterien wird zusätzlich ein Indikator allgemeiner Performanz gebildet. Die empirische Untersuchung erfolgt mit den Daten des Quality-of-Governement-Datensatzes und erstreckt sich über 140 autokratische Länder im Zeitraum von 1972 bis 2010. Die Daten werden mittels Time-Series-Cross-Section-Regressionen analysiert. Die Ergebnisse der Analysen entsprechen nur teilweise den Erwartungen. Die Größe der Winning Coalition wirkt positiv auf die wirtschaftliche Wohlfahrt und die soziale Sicherheit und damit auch auf die allgemeine Performanz aus. Entgegen den Erwartungen sinkt die ökologische Performanz jedoch mit steigender Größe der Winning Coalition. Auch die Befunde bezüglich der Performanz verschiedener Autokratietypen entsprechen nicht den Erwartungen. So sind Ein-Parteien-Regime insgesamt leistungsfähiger als Mehr-Parteien-Regime, Militär-Regime und Monarchien. Militär-Regime sind leistungsfähiger als Monarchien und tendenziell auch als Mehr-Parteien-Regime.

Sperm of colourful males are better protected against oxidative stress

Sperm cells are highly vulnerable to free radicals, and sperm quality and male fertility are critically affected by oxidative stress. Recently, sexual ornaments, particularly carotenoid-based colourful traits, have been proposed to depend on a male's capacity to resist oxidative stress, and thus to signal sperm quality. We conducted an experimental test of this hypothesis on great tits Parus major, in which adults are sexually dichromatic in carotenoid-based breast plumage. We report the first evidence that ornaments and sperm quality may be linked through oxidative stress. When experimentally subjected to oxidative stress resulting from increased workload, less colourful males suffered a greater reduction in sperm motility and swimming ability, and increased levels of sperm lipid peroxidation compared to more colourful males. Moreover, the level of sperm lipid peroxidation was negatively correlated with sperm quality. Finally, carotenoid supplementation increased sperm quality of less colourful males, suggesting that pale males are deficient in carotenoid antioxidants.

Musical Expertise and Melodic Structure in Memory for Musical Notation

Two experiments plus a pilot investigated the role of melodic structure on short-term memory for musical notation by musicians and nonmusicians. In the pilot experiment, visually similar melodies that had been rated as either "good" or "bad" were presented briefly, followed by a 15-sec retention interval and then recall. Musicians remembered good melodies better than they remembered bad ones: nonmusicians did not distinguish between them. In the second experiment, good, bad, and random melodies were briefly presented, followed by immediate recall. The advantage of musicians over nonmusicians decreased as the melody type progressed from good to bad to random. In the third experiment, musicians and nonmusicians divided the stimulus melodies into groups. For each melody, the consistency of grouping was correlated with memory performance in the first two experiments. Evidence was found for use of musical groupings by musicians and for use of a simple visual strategy by nonmusicians. The nature of these musical groupings and how they may be learned are considered. The relation of this work to other studies of comprehension of symbolic diagrams is also discussed.

Improved antiretroviral treatment outcome in a rural African setting is associated with cART initiation at higher CD4 cell counts and better general health condition

Background Data on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) in remote rural African regions is increasing. Methods We assessed prospectively initial cART in HIV-infected adults treated from 2005 to 2008 at St. Francis Designated District Hospital, Ifakara, Tanzania. Adherence was assisted by personal adherence supporters. We estimated risk factors of death or loss to follow-up by Cox regression during the first 12 months of cART. Results Overall, 1,463 individuals initiated cART, which was nevirapine-based in 84.6%. The median age was 40 years (IQR 34-47), 35.4% were males, 7.6% had proven tuberculosis. Median CD4 cell count was 131 cells/μl and 24.8% had WHO stage 4. Median CD4 cell count increased by 61 and 130 cells/μl after 6 and 12 months, respectively. 215 (14.7%) patients modified their treatment, mostly due to toxicity (56%), in particular polyneuropathy and anemia. Overall, 129 patients died (8.8%) and 189 (12.9%) were lost to follow-up. In a multivariate analysis, low CD4 cells at starting cART were associated with poorer survival and loss to follow-up (HR 1.77, 95% CI 1.15-2.75, p = 0.009; for CD4 <50 compared to >100 cells/μl). Higher weight was strongly associated with better survival (HR 0.63, 95% CI 0.51-0.76, p < 0.001 per 10 kg increase). Conclusions cART initiation at higher CD4 cell counts and better general health condition reduces HIV related mortality in a rural African setting. Efforts must be made to promote earlier HIV diagnosis to start cART timely. More research is needed to evaluate effective strategies to follow cART at a peripheral level with limited technical possibilities.