A systemic perspective on crisis management and resilience in Germany

In the past decades, Germany was hit - in equal measure to other countries in Europe and beyond - by multiple transboundary and societal crises. We take stock of the ability of the German state to cope with the ensuing complexity in managing these exceptional situations. Conceptually, we apply a systemic perspective that asks about the resilience of the German state in the subsystems of policymaking in crises, implementation of administrative crisis management, as well as societal responses to crises. The paper draws on findings from a range of empirical studies assembled in this special issue, that focus either on the so-called refugee crisis of 2015/16 or the Covid-19 pandemic since 2020. Strikingly, the overall impression emerging from this research is generally favorable of the ability of the German politico-administrative system to master challenging crises - its resilience. But there are also areas for improvement.In den vergangenen Jahrzehnten erlebte Deutschland - vergleichbar zu anderen Ländern in Europa und der Welt - eine Vielzahl grenzüberschreitender und gesellschaftlicher Krisen. Wir legen hier eine Bestandsaufnahme vor, wie gut Deutschland die Komplexität dieser außergewöhnlichen Situationen im Krisenmanagement bewältigte. Wir nehmen hierbei eine systemische Perspektive ein, indem wir die Resilienz Deutschlands in den Subsystemen des Policy-Making in Krisen, der administrativen Implementation des Krisenmanagements sowie der gesellschaftlichen Reaktionen auf die Krise untersuchen. Der Beitrag verarbeitet die Ergebnisse einer Reihe empirischer Studien, die in diesem Themenschwerpunkt zusammengestellt wurden. Diese beziehen sich entweder auf die so genannte Flüchtlingskrise von 2015/16 oder auf die Covid-19 Pandemie seit 2020. Die vorgestellte Forschung zeichnet einen positiven Gesamteindruck hinsichtlich der Fähigkeit Deutschlands, die Krisen zu bewältigen - und somit auf seine Resilienz. Es gibt jedoch noch Raum für Verbesserungen

Rationality in discovery : a study of logic, cognition, computation and neuropharmacology

Part I Introduction The specific problem adressed in this thesis is: what is the rational use of theory and experiment in the process of scientific discovery, in theory and in the practice of drug research for Parkinson’s disease? The thesis aims to answer the following specific questions: what is: 1) the structure of a theory?; 2) the process of scientific reasoning?; 3) the route between theory and experiment? In the first part I further discuss issues about rationality in science as introduction to part II, and I present an overview of my case-study of neuropharmacology, for which I interviewed researchers from the Groningen Pharmacy Department, as an introduction to part III. Part II Discovery In this part I discuss three theoretical models of scientific discovery according to studies in the fields of Logic, Cognition, and Computation. In those fields the structure of a theory is respectively explicated as: a set of sentences; a set of associated memory chunks; and as a computer program that can generate the observed data. Rationality in discovery is characterized by: finding axioms that imply observation sentences; heuristic search for a hypothesis, as part of problem solving, by applying memory chunks and production rules that represent skill; and finding the shortest program that generates the data, respectively. I further argue that reasoning in discovery includes logical fallacies, which are neccesary to introduce new hypotheses. I also argue that, while human subjects often make errors in hypothesis evaluation tasks from a logical perspective, these evaluations are rational given a probabilistic interpretation. Part III Neuropharmacology In this last part I discusses my case-study and a model of discovery in a practice of drug research for Parkinson’s disease. I discuss the dopamine theory of Parkinson’s disease and model its structure as a qualitative differential equation. Then I discuss the use and reasons for particular experiments to both test a drug and explore the function of the brain. I describe different kinds of problems in drug research leading to a discovery. Based on that description I distinguish three kinds of reasoning tasks in discovery, inference to: the best explanation, the best prediction and the best intervention. I further demonstrate how a part of reasoning in neuropharmacology can be computationally modeled as qualitative reasoning, and aided by a computer supported discovery system

Holland City News, Volume 104, Number 22: May 29, 1975

Newspaper published in Holland, Michigan, from 1872-1977, to serve the English-speaking people in Holland, Michigan. Purchased by local Dutch language newspaper, De Grondwet, owner in 1888.https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/hcn_1975/1021/thumbnail.jp

A multi-perspective approach to early detection of psychosis

Background: Early detection of psychosis has been a highly investigated field of research in the last 20 years. However, decreasing transition rates show the need for further markers to improve prediction of transition of those with a potential risk of developing psychosis. Methods: In the present doctoral thesis I aimed at improving early detection of psychosis by using a multimodal approach. Therefore, neurocognition, (potential) biological markers namely serum and plasma BDNF (study 1) and, prolactin (study 2), and psychopathology (study 3) were investigated. At-risk mental state (ARMS), first-episode psychosis (FEP), and in one study also chronic schizophrenia (CS) patients were recruited. Furthermore, a special focus was on potential gender differences because knowledge about these differences can lead to improved early detection and treatment. Results: Altered BDNF levels were found, with lowest in ARMS, intermediate in FEP, and highest in CS. Plasma BDNF correlated positively with executive functioning. Also, prolactin levels were found to be altered in antipsychotic naïve ARMS and FEP patients, with hyperprolactinemia being more frequent in women compared to men in both groups even after correction for the normal biological variation. Lastly, small gender differences were found in very first self-perceived symptoms with women reporting more frequently anxiety and (sub-threshold) hallucinations and men more often cognitive and negative symptoms. Discussion: Taken together the altered levels in the investigated biological markers are promising and might contribute to the improvement of early detection of psychosis. The observed small gender differences in psychopathology match previous results. A multimodal approach combining the different known predictors of psychosis is promising but more research is needed before the above named biological markers can be included in such a model

Tactics of interruption: provoking participation in performance art

This thesis addresses a research study predicated on practice in order to explore aspects of participation in Performance Art. The study makes a contribution to knowledge in participative performance practice and the positive deployment of using interruptive processes; this is in order to provoke participation within the context of Performance Art as well as gain a better understanding of the operations of power relations at play. Within the discourse of impoliteness study (Bousfield, 2008; Culpeper, 2011 et al.), there is a term that deserves much greater attention: interruption . Examining interruption and exploiting its virtues using practice brings out some productive insights that go beyond abstract theorisation. Working in response to Nicolas Bourriaud s conception (1998) of participation in Relational Aesthetics as a means of attacking power relations, I use my practice as an artist/performance provocateur and amplify consideration of my previous usage of interruption in order to provoke participation and then interrogation of power relations. Slapstick and heckling as extreme versions of interruptive processes that are physical in nature are put forward as tactics of interruption that extend comedy tactics within my practice. Circumventing commentary of interruption that often posits the term and its affiliation with impoliteness and capacity to be disruptive as negative (Bilmes, 1997), interruption is used for the purposes of my study as the key strategy that underpins the performance Lost for Words (2011) and the collaborative project Contract with a Heckler (2013), and are presented as prime examples of the operations of interruption in practice. Lost for Words supports the difficulties of participation when interruptive processes connected to physical and bodily slapstick are structurally engineered into a live performance and Contract with a Heckler supports power relations when live performance is predicated upon physical and linguistic interruptive processes relating to heckling. Both Lost for Words and Contract with a Heckler demonstrate a complex knitting of theory and practice whereby argument is supported by the undertaking of action (by the necessity of experiencing interruption in practice). The written dimension of the thesis operates in conjunction with the accompanying photographs and video recordings included here as documentation serving to deconstruct the examples of practice presented. Writing adds detail in the form of critical analysis, reflective commentary and personal experience to the supplied documentation and is used as a tool to communicate that working with interruption on a theoretical, practical and emotional level can be exciting, provocative and dangerous

Dauer der unbehandelten Psychose und Hilfesuchverhalten bei jungen Erwachsenen mit ersten psychotischen Episoden mit und ohne Migrationshintergrund

Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist es, Patienten mit und ohne Migrationshintergrund des Frühinterventions- und Therapiezentrums (FRITZ) für junge Menschen mit frühen Psychosen in Bezug auf die Zugangswege zu einer adäquaten Behandlung zu vergleichen. Methodisch handelt es sich um eine Kohortenstudie, in die stationäre Patienten des FRITZ mit frühen Psychosen von Dezember 2015 bis Mai 2018 konsekutiv eingeschlossen wurden (N=95). Patienten mit und ohne Migrationshintergrund wurden bzgl. der Dauer der unbehandelten Psychose (DUP) und bzgl. ihrer Inanspruchnahme von Versorgungsangeboten verglichen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Patienten mit und ohne Migrationshintergrund sich weder signifikant in der DUP (28 Tage) noch bzgl. Zahl und Art der Kontakte ins Hilfesystem unterscheiden. Patienten suchten im Median 3 Hilfsangebote (xmin =1, xmax =5) auf. Vergleichbar mit dem Anteil der gleichaltrigen Einwohner mit Migrationshintergrund im Versorgungssektor Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg betrug der Anteil von Patienten mit Migrationshintergrund in unserer Studie 40,0 % (n=38). Das FRITZ wird sowohl von Patienten mit als auch ohne Migrationshintergrund gleichermaßen mit wenig Verzögerung angenommen

Nicht für die ewigkeit:Der architekt Johannes Fake Berghoef (1903-1994) zwischen kontinuität und erneuerung

Tijdens het Interbellum en in de jaren na de Tweede Wereldoorlog waren architecten zich er sterk van bewust dat zij een publieke verantwoordelijkheid hadden. Daarom diende hun optreden als ontwerpers te worden geleid door de noodzaak tot oplossingen te komen voor de eigentijdse architectonische en maatschappelijke problemen. Tegelijkertijd zien wij een nieuwe manier van denken ontstaan, die in de context van de dan beginnende internationalisering van het bouwen een toenemende discussie over de nationale bouwcultuur opriep. Zowel de modernisten als de traditionalisten hielden zich met deze nieuwe randvoorwaarden van het bouwen bezig. En dit leverde van de kant van de architecten en stedenbouwers verschillende antwoorden, respectievelijk oplossingen op. Lange tijd gold in de historiografie van deze periode de oplossing die het modernisme bood, als het enige juiste antwoord. De Nederlandse architect Johannes Fake Berghoef (1903-1994) levert met zijn werk een persoonlijke oplossing voor het ontwerpen van de architectonische ruimte en het beantwoorden van de maatschappelijke eisen aan de gebouwde omgeving. Tijdens zijn loopbaan als architect en hoogleraar wijdde hij zich o.a. aan het ontwerpen van woningbouw, stadhuizen, kantoorgebouwen en de kerkbouw. In de opvatting van Berghoef neemt de architectuur op basis van haar sterke maatschappelijke functie als cultuurdrager een centrale positie in de samenleving in. Ook de thema’s vernieuwing, continuïteit en multifunctionaliteit komen veelvuldig in zijn werk aan bod. Als revisionist gebruikte Berghoef de bouwtraditie als inspiratiebron voor een analyse van zowel succesvolle als minder geslaagde ontwerpen om zo tot een voor de toekomst veelbelovende opvatting van bouwen te komen. Daarbij maakte hij met zijn benadering geen aanspraak op algemene geldigheid, alsof bouwen voor de eeuwigheid zou zijn bedoeld. De doel- en functiegerichte inzet op sociaal, economisch en cultureel vlak stonden in zijn werk steeds voorop