The fiction of peer review. Phenomenology of a catatrophe

This essay offers a philosophical diagnosis of the fundamental transformation that has occurred in the nature of the pivotal figure of all systems of research evaluation: the peer. This diagnosis, in turn, sheds light on the new “climate” that, as many feel, increasingly charaterizes scientific life on a planetary scale

Ökonomie und Zukunft

Was meint die moderne Wirtschaftswissenschaft, wenn sie von Zukunft redet und Künftiges vorhersagt? Wohin greift sie aus, wenn sie die Zukunft für den Menschen sichern oder offen halten will? Wie ist so etwas wie Zukunft in jener Epoche – dem Griechentum – erfahren und gedacht, in der zuerst die Möglichkeit einer Theoriebildung aufkam und also der Grund für ein Wissen von der Zukunft gelegt wurde? Der vorliegende Band versammelt die Beiträge zu zwei in den Jahren 2013 und 2014 an der Freien Universität Bozen abgehaltenen Kolloquien zum Thema des Verhältnisses von Ökonomie und Zukunft. Die Absicht der Kolloquien wie auch dieser Publikation ist, auf das Fragwürdige jenes Verhältnisses hinzuweisen. In dieser Absicht verlieren die Begriffe „Ökonomie“ und „Zukunft“ ihre Eindeutigkeit und werden ihrerseits fragwürdig

Parenteral Nutrition in Liver Resection

Albeit a very large number of experiments have assessed the impact of various substrates on liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy, a limited number of clinical studies have evaluated artificial nutrition in liver resection patients. This is a peculiar topic because many patients do not need artificial nutrition, while several patients need it because of malnutrition and/or prolonged inability to feeding caused by complications. The optimal nutritional regimen to support liver regeneration, within other postoperative problems or complications, is not yet exactly defined. This short review addresses relevant aspects and potential developments in the issue of postoperative parenteral nutrition after liver resection

Ökonomie und Zukunft

What does modern economics mean when it talks about the future and predicts the future? Where does it reach out to when it wants to secure the future for people or keep it open? How was the future experienced and thought of in Greek times, an epoch in which the possibility of theory formation first arose, and thus the foundation was laid for a knowledge of the future? This volume brings together the contributions to two colloquia held at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano in 2013 and 2014 on the relationship between economics and the future and aims to point out the questionable nature of this relationship. With this intention, the terms "economy" and "future" lose their unambiguity and become questionable in their turn.; Was meint die moderne Wirtschaftswissenschaft, wenn sie von Zukunft redet und Künftiges vorhersagt? Wohin greift sie aus, wenn sie die Zukunft für den Menschen sichern oder offen halten will? Wie wurde Zukunft im Griechentum erfahren und gedacht, einer Epoche, in der zuerst die Möglichkeit einer Theoriebildung aufkam, und damit der Grundstein gelegt wurde für ein Wissen von Zukunft? Der vorliegende Band versammelt die Beiträge zu zwei in den Jahren 2013 und 2014 an der Freien Universität Bozen abgehaltenen Kolloquien zum Verhältnis von Ökonomie und Zukunft und möchte auf das Fragwürdige dieses Verhältnisses hinweisen. In dieser Absicht verlieren die Begriffe „Ökonomie“ und „Zukunft“ ihre Eindeutigkeit und werden ihrerseits fragwürdig

Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial

Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049

Initial Public Offerings and the Firm Location

The firm geographic location matters in IPOs because investors have a strong preference for newly issued local stocks and provide abnormal demand in local offerings. Using equity holdings data for more than 53,000 households, we show the probability to participate to the stock market and the proportion of the equity wealth is abnormally increasing with the volume of the IPOs inside the investor region. Upon nearly the universe of the 167,515 going public and private domestic manufacturing firms, we provide consistent evidence that the isolated private firms have higher probability to go public, larger IPO underpricing cross-sectional average and volatility, and less pronounced long-run under-performance. Similar but opposite evidence holds for the local concentration of the investor wealth. These effects are economically relevant and robust to local delistings, IPO market timing, agglomeration economies, firm location endogeneity, self-selection bias, and information asymmetries, among others. Findings suggest IPO waves have a strong geographic component, highlight that underwriters significantly under-estimate the local demand component thus leaving unexpected money on the table, and support state-contingent but constant investor propensity for risk

COVID-19 symptoms at hospital admission vary with age and sex: results from the ISARIC prospective multinational observational study

Background: The ISARIC prospective multinational observational study is the largest cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We present relationships of age, sex, and nationality to presenting symptoms. Methods: International, prospective observational study of 60 109 hospitalized symptomatic patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 recruited from 43 countries between 30 January and 3 August 2020. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate relationships of age and sex to published COVID-19 case definitions and the most commonly reported symptoms. Results: ‘Typical’ symptoms of fever (69%), cough (68%) and shortness of breath (66%) were the most commonly reported. 92% of patients experienced at least one of these. Prevalence of typical symptoms was greatest in 30- to 60-year-olds (respectively 80, 79, 69%; at least one 95%). They were reported less frequently in children (≤ 18 years: 69, 48, 23; 85%), older adults (≥ 70 years: 61, 62, 65; 90%), and women (66, 66, 64; 90%; vs. men 71, 70, 67; 93%, each P &lt; 0.001). The most common atypical presentations under 60 years of age were nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain, and over 60 years was confusion. Regression models showed significant differences in symptoms with sex, age and country. Interpretation: This international collaboration has allowed us to report reliable symptom data from the largest cohort of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Adults over 60 and children admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are less likely to present with typical symptoms. Nausea and vomiting are common atypical presentations under 30 years. Confusion is a frequent atypical presentation of COVID-19 in adults over 60 years. Women are less likely to experience typical symptoms than men

Building Leadership on the Invaluable - Towards the Groundworks for a Phenomenological Approach to the Philosophy of Management

In the perspective of traditional ethics, much of the current debate on the role of business in society and on responsible management lacks any ethical content. The reason for this is that, in this debate, the criterion for ethical action is based on measurable outcomes or effects which, as such, do not tell us anything about the nature of the action which caused them. However, ethics is precisely a matter of the “quality” of action, not of its effects. On the other hand, traditional ethics does not allow us to diagnose the origin and the implications of the mounting demand for this effect-ethics. A phenomenological diagnosis can be attempted in the light of the dominant trait of our time i.e. empowerment to performance. In this light it appears that “ethical” issues such as sustainability, governance, accountability, etc. are but formats for the progressive translation of all aspects of reality (the environment, society, human conscience, etc.) into a steerable circuit of measurable effects (values) driven by the necessity of self-enhancement. Thus, ethical claims are functional to the enhancement of the level of commanded effects, which, being congruous with the dominant trait, is universally perceived as being desirable and good. However, this circuit is fundamentally un-ethical, i.e. marked by the growing absence of an ethos. As long as it consists in the mere implementation of this circuit, management is not only, in turn, unethical, but also irresponsible, i.e. not responding to the dominant trait as such. The paper suggests that the insight into the phenomenon of ontological difference interrupts the exclusive orientation of management towards the implementation of the self-empowerment of the dominant trait, thus indicating a perspective for the education to leadership

Logos - Heidegger liest Heraklit

Die Fragmente des Vorsokratikers Heraklit von Ephesos sind eines der bedeutendsten Dokumente des Anfangs des abendländischen Denkens. In Heideggers Auslegung wird deutlich, inwiefern dieser Anfang nicht den Charakter des »Archaischen« und alsbald Überwundenen hat, sondern die Eröffnung der für das Abendland $aweitesten$z Sinndimension bedeutet. Diese Dimension - von Heraklit u. a. als $aphysis$z und $alogos, kosmos$z und $aharmonia$z gedacht - ist insofern die weiteste, als sie allem Denken, das aus dem Anfang hervorgeht, ohne dessen Weite wieder einzuholen, vorgeordnet bleibt, d. h. seine sinnmäßigen Möglichkeiten umgrenzt.Das Denken, das sich in einem solchen nachgeordneten Bezug zum Anfang hält, nennt Heidegger $ametaphysisch.$z In seinem Versuch, dem frühgriechischen Anfang seine Weite zu lassen und so zugleich die Metaphysik in ihre Wesensgrenzen zurückzustellen, soll sich aber die $agegenwärtig$z maßgebliche Dimension erschließen, in der jene erste Erfahrung des Anfangs sich vertieft und die ein gegenüber dem vormetaphysischen und metaphysischen gewandeltes Denken verlangt. Die Auslegung läßt sich daher in die äußerste Anerkennung des als $aphysis$z und $alogos$z gedachten $aGrundes$z ein, damit in klarer Abgrenzung davon die Dimension der $aabgründigen$z Lichtung vertrauter und gangbar werde. In der Radikalität der Einsicht in die für die Moderne notwendige vertiefende Absetzung vom vorgeordneten griechischen Anfang trifft Heidegger sich mit dem Geschichtsdenken Hölderlins.Der Autor zeichnet diese Auseinandersetzung - auch unter Rückgriff auf von Heidegger nicht behandelte Fragmente - in den leitenden Aspekten nach. Dazu werden ergänzend Hauptgedanken der Vorsokratiker Anaximander von Milet und Parmenides von Elea dargestellt. Im Ausgang von der Umgrenzung des heraklitischen $alogos$z wird abschließend ein Hinweis zu dem neu zu denkenden Wesenszusammenhang von (Ab-)Grund, Mensch und Sprache gegeben