Current Discussions in the German Integration Debate

Current integration discussion about the Turkish population in Germany is influenced by cultural essentialism. The political and social components of integration are by and large being neglected. The incorporation of migrants of Turkish origin into the society is praised as a superior target for the cohesion of the whole society‚ whilst cultural – national and religious – identities of Turkish migrants are comprehended as the real hurdles for the achievement of it. The scene is generally dominated by popular culturalist views of different authors‚ who blame the Turks of allegedly homogeneous Turkish group being incapable to be decent members of the society due to their cultural identity. In contrast to these mostly normative and emotional approaches to the issue‚ empirical evidence reveals a different picture : Shortcomings in the overall education system‚ delayed integration policies and structural national – and global – problems in the labour market seem to be the genuine reasons of failures. The migrant integration could be enhanced by creating equal opportunities for all members of the society in all societal levels. To challenge the existent and emerging future problems of migrant incorporation and diversity management‚ which should be free of emotional cultural essentialist views‚ the focus should be placed on the novel opportunities of inner and inter – state partnerships‚ using governance options in trans – national social spaces‚ so to achieve a higher level of social equity and reconciliation within a pluralistic society‚ hence a society‚ which should consist of members with equal rights and duties.Les débats en cours sur l’intégration en Allemagne : Approche culturaliste ou équité sociale ? À l’heure actuelle, les discussions sur la population turque en Allemagne sont sous l’influence d’un essentialisme culturel. Les composantes politiques et sociales de l’intégration sont largement négligées. L’intégration des migrants d’origine turque dans la société est valorisée en tant qu’objectif suprême de cohésion pour la société tout entière, alors que les identités culturelles – nationales et religieuses – des migrants turcs sont considérées comme les véritables obstacles à la mise en œuvre de cette cohésion. D’une façon générale, la scène est dominée par les vues culturalistes fréquemment émises par certains auteurs, qui reprochent aux Turcs supposés appartenir à un groupe homogène d’être incapables de devenir des membres convenables de la société, en raison de leur identité culturelle. À l’opposé de ces approches du problème, essentiellement normatives et émotionnelles, des données empiriques font apparaître une image différente : les insuffisances du système éducatif en général, les retards dans les politiques d’intégration, ainsi que des problèmes structurels nationaux – et généraux – sur le marché du travail semblent être les vraies raisons de ces échecs. L’intégration des immigrants pourrait être améliorée par la création d’une égalité des chances pour tous les membres de la société, à tous les niveaux. Le traitement des problèmes, actuels et émergents pour l’avenir, de l’intégration des immigrants et celui de la diversité, devraient être dépourvus de visions culturelles émotionnellement essentialistes afin de se concentrer sur les nouvelles opportunités de partenariats dans les Länder et entre Länder, en se servant des principes de gouvernance des espaces sociaux transnationaux, afin de parvenir à un degré supérieur d’équité sociale et de réconciliation dans une société pluraliste, c’est-à-dire une société qui serait composée de membres ayant des droits et devoirs égaux.Debates actuales sobre la integración en Alemania: ¿Perspectiva culturalista o equidad social? Hoy en día, el “esencialismo” cultural influye en los debates sobre la población turca en Alemania, desestimando ampliamente los componentes políticos y sociales de la integración. La integración de los emigrantes de origen turco en la sociedad es valorizada en calidad de objetivo supremo de cohesión de la sociedad en su totalidad. Las identidades culturales (nacionales y religiosas) de los inmigrantes turcos son consideradas, por su parte, como los verdaderos obstáculos para el logro de dicha cohesión. De manera general, la escena está dominada por los puntos de vista culturalistas de ciertos autores que reprochan a los turcos, que se supone pertenecen a un grupo homogéneo, de ser incapaces, a causa de su identidad cultural, de convertirse en miembros convenientes de la sociedad. En oposición a estas perspectivas del problema, esencialmente normativas y emocionales, datos empíricos revelan una imagen diferente: las verdaderas razones de estos fracasos parecen ser las insuficiencias del sistema educativo en general, los retrasos en las políticas de integración así como los problemas estructurales nacionales (y generales) del mercado laboral. La integración de los inmigrantes podría ser mejorada a través de la creación de una igualdad de oportunidades para todos los miembros de la sociedad y a todos los niveles. El tratamiento de los problemas (actuales y emergentes) de integración de los inmigrantes y de diversidad debería ser despojado de visiones culturales emocionalmente esencialitas para concentrarse en nuevas oportunidades de partenariado dentro y entre Länders. Para ello, se podría recurrir a principios de gobernanza de espacios sociales transnacionales con el objetivo de alcanzar un grado superior de equidad social y de reconciliación en una sociedad pluralista ; es decir, una sociedad que seria compuesta por miembros que gozan de iguales derechos y deberes

Rationing Safe and Effective COVID-19 Vaccines: Allocating to States Proportionate to Population May Undermine Commitments to Mitigating Health Disparities

A central goal in the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s (NASEM) framework for equitable COVID-19 vaccine allocation is to mitigate existing inequities, particularly those affecting economically worse-off racial and ethnic minorities. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP) likewise notes that equity demands to “reduce, rather than increase, health disparities in each phase of vaccine distribution”. A crucial question in this regard is how vaccines should be distributed to states. The default is to allocate proportionate to population size. However, this approach risks increasing scarcity for worse-off populations in states where they represent above-average shares. To avoid lower odds of receiving a vaccine for worse-off groups, more vaccines could be given to states with larger shares of worse-off populations, and fewer to ones with smaller shares. We show here the consequences of allocating by these two different approaches

Potassium bromide for treatment of malignant migrating partial seizures in infancy

PubMedID: 23968569Background The syndrome of malignant migrating partial seizures in infancy is a rare epileptic syndrome with a devastating course characterized by early onset of continuous pharmacoresistent multifocal seizures arising from multiple independent sites of both hemispheres with unknown etiology. Patient A 2-month-old boy with the characteristic clinical and electroencephalograph pattern of migrating partial seizures in infancy was treated with potassium bromide. His seizures were unresponsive to the conventional and new generation antiepileptic drugs. Results The seizure frequency was reduced markedly with potassium bromide. Conclusions Potassium bromide, an old antiepileptic drug, is useful in the treatment of malignant migrating partial seizures in infancy. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Screening of Returned Travelers

PubMed ID: 29318997Travel-related health problems have been reported in 22-64% of travelers to developing countries. Approximately 8% of these patients are moderately ill and are referred to health facilities. Post-travel infections are usually symptomatic in the early stages, but they may last for up to months or even years, depending on the incubation period. It has been reported that it is not necessary to have extensive knowledge on tropical diseases to be able to make a clinical evaluation after the trip. All post-travel consultations should be performed by physicians and should include travel-related illness identification, timely medical intervention, and, if necessary, referral to a senior hospital. Situations that should be taken into consideration by physicians when evaluating a possible patient with travel-related health problems are as follows: the severity of illness, the route travelled, the time between illness and travel, the underlying disease, vaccine and prophylaxis history, and exposure history. The most common clinical syndromes after travel to developing countries are systemic febrile illness, acute diarrhea, dermatological disorders, respiratory disorders, and eosinophilia. This review summarizes the approach to possible clinical situations among returned travelers

The Reliability of a Smartphone Goniometer Application Compared With a Traditional Goniometer for Measuring Ankle Joint Range of Motion

Background: Evaluation of range of motion (ROM) is integral to assessment of the musculoskeletal system, is required in health fitness and pathologic conditions, and is used as an objective outcome measure. Several methods are described to check ROM, each with advantages and disadvantages. Hence, this study introduces a new device using a smartphone goniometer to measure ankle joint ROM

A Novel splice-site mutation on the MLC1 gene leading to exon 9 skipping and megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts in a Turkish patient

Megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy (MLC) with subcortical cysts, also known as Van der Knaap disease (MIM #604004) is an autosomal recessive neurological disorder characterized by early onset macrocephaly, epilepsy, neurological deterioration with cerebellar ataxia and spasticity. An 8-month-old boy was admitted to our pediatric neurology clinic with macrocephaly. His brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed bilateral, diffuse, symmetric structural white matter abnormalities, relatively sparing the cerebellum and bilateral subcortical temporal cysts. The diagnosis of Van der Knaap disease was suspected based on the clinical features and imaging findings and the genetic analysis revealed a novel homozygous c.768+2T>C mutation of the MLC1 gene. For determination of the novel splice-site mutation’s effect, cDNA amplification was performed. cDNA analysis showed that the splice-site c.768+2T>C mutation gave rise to exon 9 skipping