Union power and industrial restructuring in West Germany

"Fall, 1988Series from publisher's informationIncludes bibliographical reference

Kreativität in den Geisteswissenschaften: organisationssoziologische Überlegungen

In einer Zeit, in der die Wissenschaftspolitik derjenigen Form von Ressourcenallokation besonderes Interesse entgegenbringt, die die Kreativität der Wissenschaftler stärkt, will man wissen, welcher Typ von Forschungsorganisation tatsächlich wissenschaftliche Kreativität begünstigt (also ausgebaut werden sollte) und welcher umgekehrt für kreative Arbeit weniger hilfreich ist (folglich zu vermeiden wäre). Dieser Informationsbedarf kontrastiert mit dem geringen Wissen, welches gegenwärtig zur Verfügung steht, und dies gilt ganz besonders für die Geisteswissenschaften. Das Papier liefert einige Ideen, wie diese Lücke gefüllt werden könnte. Da, aus soziologischer Perspektive, für wissenschaftliche Kreativität die Organisation der akademischen Arbeit, nicht aber der individuelle kreative Genius, am meisten zählt: von welchem Organisationstyp müssen wir dabei ausgehen und wie sehen wir die Beziehungen zwischen dem einzelnen Forscher und dieser Organisation? Das Papier setzt hier auf schwach institutionalisierte Organisationen und die kreative Kraft lockerer Verbindungen. Ein weiteres bedenkenswertes Problem betrifft die abhängige Variable: Wie soll "Kreativität" operationalisiert werden? In den Geisteswissenschaften verfügen wir weder über unbestrittene Qualitätskriterien noch über allgemein anerkannte Wissenschaftspreise, auf die man sich beziehen könnte. Die Verwendung von Publikations- oder Zitationsindices führt ebenso wenig weiter, da diese Daten, speziell in den Geisteswissenschaften, fehlleiten, wenn es um die Erfassung kreativer Ereignisse geht. Das Papier führt diese Argumente aus und entwickelt ein Verfahren, mit dem akademische Kreativität in den Geisteswissenschaften identifiziert werden könnte. Dieses Verfahren setzt auf die Methode der Gruppendiskussion. Schließlich wird der Gegenstandsbereich, auf den sich das Papier bezieht - "Geisteswissenschaften" - diskutiert. Bilden diese einen bestimmten Wissenschaftstypus, der klar von den, sagen wir, Naturwissenschaften, abgegrenzt werden kann? Wie immer man darauf antwortet, die Entscheidung wird ein willkürliches Moment haben, und - trotz eines vielleicht gemeinsamen Leitmotivs - Disziplinen mit unterschiedlichen Rhetoriken und epistemologischen Kulturen umfassen. Das Studium von geisteswissenschaftlicher Kreativität kann sich deshalb nicht auf eine "exemplarische" Disziplin oder einen schmalen Satz von Disziplinen beschränken. Abschließend schlägt das Papier vor, sich (vorläufig) auf mindestens fünf Disziplinen zu konzentrieren (Geschichte, Literaturwissenschaften, Altertumswissenschaften, Philosophie, Soziologie).At a time in which science policy attaches much importance to the mode of resource allocation that fosters the creativity of scientists efficiently one wants to know what type of research organization actually encourages scientific creativity (hence should be strengthened) and, conversely, what type is less supportive for creative work (hence should be avoided). This demand for information contrasts with the low level of knowledge available at present, and this is all the more true for SSH (Social Sciences and Humanities, "Geisteswissenschaften"). The paper presents some ideas for filling this gap. As, from a sociological perspective, what matters for scientific creativity most is the organization of the academic work, not the individual creative genius, which type of organization do we have to picture and how do we conceive of the links between the individual scholar und that organization? The paper argues for an open understanding of organizations and the creative force of weak ties. A further problem to be well sorted out is the dependent variable: How shall we operationalize creativity? Within the SSH we neither have undisputed quality criteria nor broadly accepted academic prices on which we could rely. To make use, as an alternative, of publication or citation ratios is also flawed because, particularly in the case of SSH, these data are misleading when we are interested in capturing creative events. The paper elaborates these arguments and develops a procedure suitable to identify academic creativity in the SSH. This procedure builds on the method of group discussions. Finally the subject matter the paper focuses on, i. e. SSH, is discussed. Do they constitute a distinct type of science whose organization can be contrasted with the, say, natural sciences? However one responds, the decision will be a bit arbitrary and, in spite of a perhaps common "leitmotif", will embrace disciplines with different rhetorics and epistemological cultures. Hence, the study of creativity in SSH cannot restrict itself to looking at one "exemplary" discipline or to a very small set of SSH-disciplines. Concluding the paper proposes to concentrate (temporarily) at least on five disciplines (history, literature, archaeology, philosophy, sociology)

Vertrauensverlust und blindes Vertrauen: Integrationsprobleme im ökonomischen Handeln

"Ungleichgewichte in der Verteilung von Vertrauen führen zu Integrationsprobleme im Handeln von Unternehmen. Dabei liegen die Dinge komplizierter, als man nach konventionellem soziologischem Wissen annehmen würde. Am Beispiel von Innovationsstörungen läßt sich klarmachen: So sehr einerseits Vertrauensmangel den gemeinsamen Nenner dieser Störungen bilden, so sehr variieren doch andererseits die konkreten Wirkungszusammenhänge von Fall zu Fall. Einmal resultiert die Innovationsstörung allem Anschein nach aus einem Schwund von Vertrauen und der dadurch bedingten stärkeren Neigung zu Risikoaversion. Das andere Mal zeichnet sich dagegen die Schwierigkeit ab, daß überstabile Bindungen an vertraute Netze die Risikobereitschaft einschnüren. Dieser Differenzierungsbedarf erscheint einigermaßen überraschend. Er soll im Vortrag ausgeführt, genauer begründet und begrifflich schärfer gefaßt werden. Drei Varianten des Problems 'Vertrauen als Voraussetzung und Schranke von Innovationshandeln' werden dabei behandelt werden: a) Innovation durch Abbau von Risikoaversionen mittels vertrauensstiftender Maßnahmen im Unternehmen; b) Innovation durch Ausgleich von Vertrauensschwund mittels neuer Verträge zwischen den Arbeitsmarktparteien; c) Innovation durch Abbau von Lernblockaden mittels Unternehmenskooperation außerhalb vertrauter Netzwerke. Die Überlegungen gehen vom deutschen Fall aus, diskutieren diesen jedoch in komparativer Perspektive." (Autorenreferat

Defective Awakening Response to Nocturnal Hypoglycemia in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

BACKGROUND: Nocturnal hypoglycemia frequently occurs in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). It can be fatal and is believed to promote the development of the hypoglycemia-unawareness syndrome. Whether hypoglycemia normally provokes awakening from sleep in individuals who do not have diabetes, and whether this awakening response is impaired in T1DM patients, is unknown. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We tested two groups of 16 T1DM patients and 16 healthy control participants, respectively, with comparable distributions of gender, age, and body mass index. In one night, a linear fall in plasma glucose to nadir levels of 2.2 mmol/l was induced by infusing insulin over a 1-h period starting as soon as polysomnographic recordings indicated that stage 2 sleep had been reached. In another night (control), euglycemia was maintained. Only one of the 16 T1DM patients, as compared to ten healthy control participants, awakened upon hypoglycemia (p = 0.001). In the control nights, none of the study participants in either of the two groups awakened during the corresponding time. Awakening during hypoglycemia was associated with increased hormonal counterregulation. In all the study participants (from both groups) who woke up, and in five of the study participants who did not awaken (three T1DM patients and two healthy control participants), plasma epinephrine concentration increased with hypoglycemia by at least 100% (p < 0.001). A temporal pattern was revealed such that increases in epinephrine in all participants who awakened started always before polysomnographic signs of wakefulness (mean ± standard error of the mean: 7.5 ± 1.6 min). CONCLUSIONS: A fall in plasma glucose to 2.2 mmol/l provokes an awakening response in most healthy control participants, but this response is impaired in T1DM patients. The counterregulatory increase in plasma epinephrine that we observed to precede awakening suggests that awakening forms part of a central nervous system response launched in parallel with hormonal counterregulation. Failure to awaken increases the risk for T1DM patients to suffer prolonged and potentially fatal hypoglycemia

Access, timing and frequency of very early stroke rehabilitation – insights from the Baden-Wuerttemberg stroke registry

Background: While the precise timing and intensity of very early rehabilitation (VER) after stroke onset is still under discussion, its beneficial effect on functional disability is generally accepted. The recently published randomized controlled AVERT trial indicated that patients with severe stroke might be more susceptible to harmful side effects of VER, which we hypothesized is contrary to current clinical practice. We analyzed the Baden-Wuerttemberg stroke registry to gain insight into the application of VER in acute ischemic stroke (IS) and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in clinical practice. Methods: 99,753 IS patients and 8824 patients with ICH hospitalized from January 2008 to December 2012 were analyzed. Data on the access to physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), and speech therapy (ST), the time from admission to first contact with a therapist and the average number of therapy sessions during the first 7 days of admission are reported. Multiple logistic regression models adjusted for patient and treatment characteristics were carried out to investigate the influence of VER on clinical outcome. Results: PT was applied in 90/87% (IS/ICH), OT in 63/57%, and ST in 70/65% of the study population. Therapy was mostly initiated within 24 h (PT 87/82%) or 48 h after admission (OT 91/89% and ST 93/90%). Percentages of patients under therapy and also the average number of therapy sessions were highest in those with a discharge modified Rankin Scale score of 2 to 5 and lowest in patients with complete recovery or death during hospitalization. The outcome analyses were fundamentally hindered due to biases by individual decision making regarding the application and frequency of VER. Conclusions: While most patients had access to PT we noticed an undersupply of OT and ST. Only little differences were observed between patients with IS and ICH. The staff decisions for treatment seem to reflect attempts to optimize resources. Patients with either excellent or very unfavorable prognosis were less frequently assigned to VER and, if treated, received a lower average number of therapy sessions. On the contrary, severely disabled patients received VER at high frequency, although potentially harmful according to recent indications from the randomized controlled AVERT trial

Artificial intelligence and real-world data for drug and food safety - A regulatory science perspective

In 2013, the Global Coalition for Regulatory Science Research (GCRSR) was established with members from over ten countries (www.gcrsr.net). One of the main objectives of GCRSR is to facilitate communication among global regulators on the rise of new technologies with regulatory applications through the annual conference Global Summit on Regulatory Science (GSRS). The 11th annual GSRS conference (GSRS21) focused on "Regulatory Sciences for Food/Drug Safety with Real-World Data (RWD) and Artificial Intelligence (AI)." The conference discussed current advancements in both AI and RWD approaches with a specific emphasis on how they impact regulatory sciences and how regulatory agencies across the globe are pursuing the adaptation and oversight of these technologies. There were presentations from Brazil, Canada, India, Italy, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These presentations highlighted how various agencies are moving forward with these technologies by either improving the agencies' operation and/or preparing regulatory mechanisms to approve the products containing these innovations. To increase the content and discussion, the GSRS21 hosted two debate sessions on the question of "Is Regulatory Science Ready for AI?" and a workshop to showcase the analytical data tools that global regulatory agencies have been using and/or plan to apply to regulatory science. Several key topics were highlighted and discussed during the conference, such as the capabilities of AI and RWD to assist regulatory science policies for drug and food safety, the readiness of AI and data science to provide solutions for regulatory science. Discussions highlighted the need for a constant effort to evaluate emerging technologies for fit-for-purpose regulatory applications. The annual GSRS conferences offer a unique platform to facilitate discussion and collaboration across regulatory agencies, modernizing regulatory approaches, and harmonizing efforts

UK bioenergy innovation priorities: Making expectations credible in state-industry arenas

AbstractThe UK government has promoted bioenergy for several policy aims. Future expectations for bioenergy innovation encompass various pathways and their potential benefits. Some pathways have been relatively favoured by specific state-industry arrangements, which serve as ‘arenas of expectations’. Through these arrangements, some expectations have been made more credible, thus justifying and directing resource allocation. Conversely, to incentivise private-sector investment, government has sought credibility for its commitment to bioenergy innovation. These dual efforts illustrate the reciprocal character of promise-requirement cycles, whereby promises are turned into requirements for state sponsors as well as for innovators.Collective expectations have been shaped by close exchanges between state bodies, industry and experts. As promoters build collective expectations, their credibility has been linked with UK economic and environmental aims. When encountering technical difficulties or delays in earlier expectations, pathways and their benefits have been broadened, especially through new arenas—as grounds to allocate considerable state investment. Thus the concept ‘arenas of expectations’ helps to explain how some pathways gain favour as innovation priorities

X-shooter, the new wide band intermediate resolution spectrograph at the ESO Very Large Telescope

X-shooter is the first 2nd generation instrument of the ESO Very Large Telescope(VLT). It is a very efficient, single-target, intermediate-resolution spectrograph that was installed at the Cassegrain focus of UT2 in 2009. The instrument covers, in a single exposure, the spectral range from 300 to 2500 nm. It is designed to maximize the sensitivity in this spectral range through dichroic splitting in three arms with optimized optics, coatings, dispersive elements and detectors. It operates at intermediate spectral resolution (R~4,000 - 17,000, depending on wavelength and slit width) with fixed echelle spectral format (prism cross-dispersers) in the three arms. It includes a 1.8"x4" Integral Field Unit as an alternative to the 11" long slits. A dedicated data reduction package delivers fully calibrated two-dimensional and extracted spectra over the full wavelength range. We describe the main characteristics of the instrument and present its performance as measured during commissioning, science verification and the first months of science operations.Comment: accepted for publication in A&