Drivers for innovation in production management

The aim of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of innovative programmes in construction. The term 'best practice' is commonly used in industry in to describe and disseminate cases where high levels of performance have been achieved. Several terminologies are used to describe this phenomenon, the best practice being the most widely used term. Best practices usually stimulate a desire in other companies to achieve similar levels of performance or gains that have been obtained by those best practice companies. This desire for better performance commonly triggers an innovation adoption programme by other companies. However, there are two kinds of drivers to innovation adoption: one is usually started by normative pressures applied by customers, suppliers, regulators or senior management. This type of adoption is called push-driven. On the other hand, there is a pull-driven innovation adoption decision, which is triggered strictly by an internal need associated with a performance gap. Based on this background this paper explores the generation, development and adoption of innovative programmes by industry

Positronium in intense laser fields

The dynamics and radiation of positronium is investigated in intense laser fields.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure

Commentary on the Special Issue on Parent Involvement/Engagement in Early Childhood Education

The articles in this special issue of the NHSA Dialog contribute to the growing body of literature on the importance of engaging parents in early childhood education for children’s development, learning and achievement. They highlight cultural factors that programs should take into consideration in their outreach to parents, and address a number of potential barriers to their involvement parents may face. Findings reported in this issue also provide evidence-based, innovative strategies for engaging parents. Additionally, the set of articles presents a robust range of ways that parent involvement and engagement in early childhood education can be conceptualized and operationalized. Hopefully by highlighting a diverse set of factors pertaining to parents’ involvement and engagement in their young children’s education, publication of this special issue can spur integrative scholarship on how Head Start and other early childhood programs can best engage all the families they serve

Longitudinal Relationships Between Parent Factors, Children’s Bullying, and Victimization Behaviors

Longitudinal data from NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development tested direct, indirect and reciprocal effects of maternal depressive symptoms, stress/support factors on child bullying and peer victimization through mother–child relationship quality at grades 3, 5, 6. Data from 828 mother-child dyads indicated small significant effects of some hypothesized pathways, including a small direct effect of maternal depressive symptoms at grade 3 on peer victimization at grade 5, but not on bullying behaviors. Mother–child relationship quality at grade 5 negatively predicted bullying at grade 6, but not peer victimization. There were small effects of bullying behaviors at grade 5 on decreased mother–child relationship quality at grade 6. Maternal employment at grade 3 predicted decreased bullying behaviors at grade 6 through mother–child relationship quality at grade 5. Findings are relevant for parent inclusive research and approaches to anti-bully intervention strategies and prevention policies

Visceral Adipose Tissue Inflammatory Factors (TNF-Alpha, SOCS3) in Gestational Diabetes (GDM): Epigenetics as a Clue in GDM Pathophysiology

Gestational diabetes (GDM) is among the most challenging diseases in westernized countries, affecting mother and child, immediately and in later life. Obesity is a major risk factor for GDM. However, the impact visceral obesity and related epigenetics play for GDM etiopathogenesis have hardly been considered so far. Our recent findings within the prospective 'EaCH' cohort study of women with GDM or normal glucose tolerance (NGT), showed the role, critical factors of insulin resistance (i.e., adiponectin, insulin receptor) may have for GDM pathophysiology with epigenetically modified expression in subcutaneous (SAT) and visceral (VAT) adipose tissues. Here we investigated the expression and promoter methylation of key inflammatory candidates, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) in maternal adipose tissues collected during caesarian section (GDM, n = 19; NGT, n = 22). The mRNA expression of TNF-α and SOCS3 was significantly increased in VAT, but not in SAT, of GDM patients vs. NGT, accompanied by specific alterations of respective promoter methylation patterns. In conclusion, we propose a critical role of VAT and visceral obesity for the pathogenesis of GDM, with epigenetic alterations of the expression of inflammatory factors as a potential factor

Small quantum networks operating as quantum thermodynamic machines

We show that a 3-qubit system as studied for quantum information purposes can alternatively be used as a thermodynamic machine when driven in finite time and interfaced between two split baths. The spins are arranged in a chain where the working spin in the middle exercises Carnot cycles the area of which defines the exchanged work. The cycle orientation (sign of the exchanged work) flips as the difference of bath temperatures goes through a critical value.Comment: RevTeX, 4 pages, 7 figures. Replaced by version accepted for publication in EP

Metaphysical implications in Habermas's discourse ethics? : Between philosophy of mind and naturalism

Die Behauptung von Jürgen Habermas, man könne ohne „metaphysische Rückendeckung“ philosophieren, wird nicht nur von Manfred Kühn bezweifelt. So ist auch Richard Rorty der Ansicht, ein Begründungsanspruch, wie ihn Habermas trotz aller Distanznahme zum apelschen „Restfundamentalismus“ noch immer vertritt, könne nur metaphysisch genannt werden. In dem Text untersucht der Autor zunächst, welchen Begriff von "Metaphysik" Jürgen Habermas selbst verwendet, um dann aufzuzeigen, dass dieser sich durch spezielle Argumentationsstrategien von metaphysischen Annahmenfreizumachen versucht. Besonders folgenreich ist dabei die Strategie, auf naturalistische Argumentationsmuster Bezug zu nehmen. In seinen neueren Schriften spricht Habermas nun auch selbst von einem „schwachen Naturalismus“. Ein wichtiges Ergebnis der Arbeit ist, dass diese Strategie letztendlich mit bestimmten Aussagen der Diskursethik nicht in Einklang zu bringen ist, und in Folge dessen Widersprüche zwischen dem Versuch, keine metaphysische Rückendeckung zu verwenden und bestimmten ethischen Aussagen auftreten. Nachgewiesen wird dies anhand einer Analyse des Selbstbewusstseins- und des Begründungsbegriffs bei Habermas, wobei im Zusammenhang des Selbstbewusstseinsbegriffs vor allem die Bezugnahme auf Mead, im Zusammenhang des Begründungsbegriffs hauptsächlich die Detranszendentalisierung der Kantischen Ethik und die Auseinandersetzung mit Apel im Mittelpunkt stehen. Da eine Beschäftigung mit dem Naturalismus in den meisten philosophischen Diskursen im Rahmen epistemologischer Überlegungen stattfindet, versteht sich die Arbeit darüber hinaus implizit auch als eine Analyse der Auswirkungen naturalistischer Argumentationsstrategien auf ethische Fragestellungen. Sie verbindet die Analyse der metaphysischen Implikationen im Werk von Jürgen Habermas mit einer Untersuchung der Konsequenzen des habermasschen Naturalismus auf die Diskursethik.Jürgen Habermas’s claim that it is possible to do philosophy without any metaphysical underpinnings is doubted not only by Manfred Kühn. Richard Rorty even contends that Habermas’s concept of reasoning could only be called 'metaphysical', even if one takes into account the fact that Habermas distance himself from the "Restfundamentalismus" of Karl-Otto Apel. In his thesis the author first examines the term "Metaphysik" in in Habermas’s work, in order to point out that he tries to get rid of metaphysical implications by means of a specific strategy of argumentation: it is especially important, that this strategy uses naturalistic arguments. (In his latest writings Habermas speaks of a "weak naturalism" himself.) In order to prove this the author analyses two important aspects of metaphysical thought (Philosophy of Mind/Bewussteinsphilosophie and the strong concept of theory/starker Theoriebegriff) by analysing two central terms in the philosophy of Habermas’s philosophy: self-consciousness and reasoning. Regarding the first, the author shows that the concept of self-consciousness is strongly influenced by George Herbert Mead's naturalistic concept in Mind, Self and Society. With respect to the second concept, it is shown that the detranscendentalisation of the Kantian ethics and the writings of Karl-Otto Apel are very crucial. An important result of this method is the fact that the naturalistic argumentation strategy implicates ethical aspects that undermine central claims of Discourse Ethics. Habermas’s naturalistic arguments may provide a good strategy for getting rid of metaphysical implications but but this approach cannot offer a good basis for the universal aspirations of Discourse Ethics. Another question that is raised by the text is the following: Is naturalism maybe just some kind of bad metaphysics itself? Since the discussion of naturalism in most philosophical discourses takes place in the context of epistemology, the dissertation understands itself implicitly as an analysis of the effects of naturalistic argumentation on ethical questions. It connects the analysis of metaphysical implications in the work of Jürgen Habermas with an investigation of the consequences of the naturalism on discourse ethics