Soziale Unruhen als nicht-normierte Konflikte Das Beispiel der englischen Riots von 2011

In August 2011, England experienced the most serious rioting since 30 years. The unrest started two days after the fatal police shooting of Mark Duggan in Tottenham and quickly spread to other cities. This article opens with a brief sketch of the recent history of rioting in England from 1980-2010 and a comparison of previous riots with the ones in 2011. Subsequently, a more extensive overview of the current state of research focusing on triggers and structural roots of the 2011 riots and a local case study of Greater Manchester are presented. It is argued that broader social reasons (e .g . deprivation), consumerism, policing, male behavior and racialised conflicts constitute the overall causes for the latest riots. Moreover, the article looks at the riots in the context of class. Unlike the well-known ‘underclass’ discourse, the article applies a non-pejorative understanding of class: From this perspective, the 2011 riots are interpreted as a symptom of an ongoing fragmentation of social conflicts. Wide ranges of people are no longer represented by organizations like unions nor do they trust in welfare or state institutions or organise in conventional ways. This results in non-normative collective action beyond established institutions as well as new forms of how class struggles and social conflicts articulate themselves

Wann ist ein Steuersystem gerecht? Einstellungen zu allgemeinen Prinzipien der Besteuerung und zur Gerechtigkeit der eigenen Steuerlast

"Der Artikel beschäftigt sich mit Einstellungen zu einem gerechten Steuersystem und der wahrgenommenen Gerechtigkeit der eigenen Steuerlast. Ausgehend von der These, dass Fragen der Gerechtigkeit für die Steuermoral entscheidend sind, wird auf Grundlage einer empirischen Befragung nach den Kriterien gefragt, die die Menschen an ein gerechtes Steuersystem richten. Die Untersuchung stützt sich auf Itemfragen und eine Vignetten-Befragung, durch welche genauer gezeigt werden kann, wie die Befragten unterschiedliche Prinzipien kombinieren und gewichten. Es zeigt sich, dass die geltenden Prinzipien des Steuersystems weitgehend als legitim angesehen werden. In einem zweiten Schritt werden zwei unterschiedliche Erklärungsansätze zur Gerechtigkeitsbewertung der eigenen Steuerlast getestet. Während der erste Typ von Erklärung Steuern als Austausch von Beitrag gegen Leistung konzipiert, versteht der zweite Erklärungstyp Steuern als Beiträge zur Produktion kollektiver Güter und sieht die Beitragsbereitschaft als abhängig von eigenen Ressourcenausstattungen und dem Vergleich mit der Steuerlast anderer Steuerzahler. Nach dem zweiten Modell sind auch die besser gestellten Gruppen durchaus bereit, höhere Steuerbeiträge zu leisten. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass es weniger die Bewertung der staatlich bereitgestellten Leistungen in Relation zur eigenen Steuerlast ist, welche die Wahrnehmung einer gerechten Steuerlast beeinflusst, sondern eher die Zufriedenheit mit der eigenen Einkommenssituation und das Verhältnis der eigenen Steuerlast im Vergleich zu anderen. In diesem Zusammenhang sind es eben nicht die oberen Einkommensgruppen, die ihre Steuersituation als besonders ungerecht beurteilen. Da die verwendeten Umfragedaten einer regional begrenzten postalischen Befragung entstammen, können die Ergebnisse lediglich als Hinweise auf die in der Bevölkerung bestehenden Einstellungen zur Gerechtigkeit des Steuersystems interpretiert werden." (Autorenreferat)"The article deals with the attitudes towards a just tax system and the evaluation of people's own tax burden. Starting from the thesis that the issue of justice is decisive for tax morality and tax compliance, the study asks on the basis of survey data what are the criteria for a just tax system. The survey consists of item questions and a Factorial Survey Design which allows demonstrating how people combine and weight different justice principles. It will be shown that, by and large, the features of the tax system are regarded as just. In a second step, the study tests two different explanations of what determines people's justice evaluation of their own tax burden. Whereas the first type of explanation proposes an exchange model which relates the taxes paid to the benefits the state is providing, does the second frame tax payments as contributions to the collective good and highlights the role of people's resources and the perception that also others pay their fair share. According to the latter explanation the higher income groups may also be willing to pay a higher share due to the greater resources they command. The results demonstrate that not the state provided benefits, but the own income situation and the perception that also others contribute their fair share matter for viewing the own taxes as just. This confirms the collective good perspective predicting that better income groups may also be ready to shoulder higher burden in financing state services." (author's abstract

When is a Tax System Just? Attitudes Towards General Principles of Taxation and the Justice of Own Tax Burdens

Der Artikel beschäftigt sich mit Einstellungen zu einem gerechten Steuersystem und der wahrgenommenen Gerechtigkeit der eigenen Steuerlast. Ausgehend von der These, dass Fragen der Gerechtigkeit für die Steuermoral entscheidend sind, wird auf Grundlage einer postalischen Befragung nach den Kriterien gefragt, die die Menschen an ein gerechtes Lohn- und Einkommensteuersystem richten. Die Untersuchung stützt sich auf Itemfragen und eine Vignetten-Befragung. Dadurch kann genauer gezeigt werden, wie die Befragten unterschiedliche Prinzipien kombinieren und gewichten. Es zeigt sich, dass die geltenden Prinzipien des derzeitigen Steuersystems weitgehend als legitim angesehen werden. In einem zweiten Schritt werden zwei Erklärungsmodelle zur Gerechtigkeitsbewertung der eigenen Steuerlast gegenübergestellt. Während das erste Modell Steuern als Austausch von Beitrag gegen Leistung konzipiert, versteht das zweite Modell Steuern als Beiträge zur Produktion kollektiver Güter und sieht die Beitragsbereitschaft als abhängig von eigenen Ressourcenausstattungen und dem Vergleich mit der Steuerlast anderer Steuerzahler. Nach dem zweiten Modell sind auch die besser gestellten Gruppen durchaus bereit, höhere Steuerbeiträge zu leisten. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass es weniger die Bewertung der staatlich bereitgestellten Leistungen in Relation zur eigenen Steuerlast ist, welche die Wahrnehmung einer gerechten Steuerlast beeinflusst, sondern eher die Zufriedenheit mit der eigenen Einkommenssituation und das Verhältnis der eigenen Steuerlast im Vergleich zu anderen. Dementsprechend sind es eben nicht die oberen Einkommensgruppen, die ihre Steuersituation als besonders ungerecht beurteilen. Da die verwendeten Umfragedaten einer regional begrenzten postalischen Befragung entstammen, können die Ergebnisse lediglich als Hinweise auf die in der Bevölkerung bestehenden Einstellungen zur Gerechtigkeit des Steuersystems interpretiert werden.This article deals with attitudes towards a just tax system and people's evaluation of their own tax burden. Starting from the thesis that the issue of justice is decisive for tax morality and tax compliance, the study asks, on the basis of mail survey data, what the criteria of justice are which people use to evaluate the income tax system. The survey consists of item questions and a Factorial Survey Design which allows the authors to demonstrate how people combine and weight different principles of justice. It is shown that, by and large, the features of the tax system are regarded as just. In a second step, the study tests two different explanations of what determines people's evaluation of the justice of their own tax burden. Whereas the first type of explanation proposes an exchange model which relates the taxes paid to the benefits the state is providing, attempts to see the second frame tax payments as contributions to the collective good and highlights the role of people's resources and the perception that others also pay their fair share. According to the latter explanation the higher income groups may also be willing to pay a higher share due to the greater resources they command. The results demonstrate that not the state provided benefits, but their own income situation and the perception that others also contribute their fair share matter in viewing their own taxes as just. This confirms the collective-good perspective that predicts that higher income groups may also be ready to shoulder a higher burden in financing state services. However, since the data are derived from a regional postal survey, they should be interpreted with caution, as only the first hints about existing attitudes towards the justice of the system of taxation

Zur Zersplitterung des sozialen Konflikts in Westeuropa: eine Typologie nicht-normierter Kämpfe um Arbeit

Der Artikel untersucht die Protestwelle in Westeuropa seit der Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise 2008/09. Wir vertreten die These, dass diese Auseinandersetzungen ein Anzeichen dafür sind, dass der soziale Konflikt in Westeuropa zunehmend aufsplittert; es treten vermehrt 'nicht-normierte Sozialkonflikte' auf, die in ihrer Erscheinungsform manchmal eher an vergangene Epochen wie die Hochphase der Industrialisierung im 19. Jahrhundert oder klassische Brot- und Butterkonflikte im späten 18. Jahrhundert erinnern. Als theoretische Prämisse gehen wir davon aus, dass die "Institutionalisierung des Klassenkonflikts" (Geiger), die sich in der Nachkriegsära vollzogen hatte, heute erodiert. Die nicht-normierten Sozialkonflikte, die einen engen Bezug zur Arbeitswelt haben, stellen wir anhand einer Typologie dar: (a) politische Massenproteste und -streiks, (b) wilde Betriebskonflikte und (c) städtische Unruhen. Mit Hilfe einer Datenbank zu Protestereignissen (JenaConDa, n=5521) arbeiten wir die Ausprägung dieser Konflikte in der EU im letzten Jahrzehnt heraus. Wir gehen auch darauf ein, warum es bisher zu keiner größeren Welle von nicht-normierten Protesten in Deutschland kam und schließen mit einem Plädoyer dafür, dass die Arbeitssoziologie dem Thema Konflikte wieder eine größere Aufmerksamkeit widmen sollte.The article analyzes the recent cycle of protest in Western Europe since the financial and economic crises in 2008/09. We state that these protests symbolize the increasing fragmentation of social conflicts. As a result, there is a growing number of 'non-institutionalized social conflicts', which remind on former epochs of capitalism like 19th century industrialization or food riots in late 18th century. On a theoretical level, we argue that the former "institutionalization of class struggle" (Geiger), which was established in the postwar period, erodes nowadays. The emerging non-institutionalized social conflicts are related to the working environment and classified into three categories: (a) mass protests and political strikes, (b) plant occupations and (c) urban riots. We then characterize these conflicts by using quantitative data of protest incidents (JenaConDa, n=5521) during the last decade. Additionally, we explain why there has not been a wave of non-institutionalized protests in Germany yet. Finally, we argue that social conflicts deserve greater attention in labor studies

Deep convolutional generative adversarial network for generation of computed tomography images of discontinuously carbon fiber reinforced polymer microstructures

Computed tomography images are of utmost importance when characterizing the heterogeneous and complex microstructure of discontinuously fiber reinforced polymers. However, the devices are expensive and the scans are time- and energy-intensive. Through recent advances in generative adversarial networks, the instantaneous generation of endless numbers of images that are representative of the input images and hold physical significance becomes possible. Hence, this work presents a deep convolutional generative adversarial network trained on approximately 30,000 input images from carbon fiber reinforced polyamide 6 computed tomography scans. The challenge lies in the low contrast between the two constituents caused by the close proximity of the density of polyamide 6 and carbon fibers as well as the small fiber diameter compared to the necessary resolution of the images. In addition, the stochastic, heterogeneous microstructure does not follow any logical or predictable rules exacerbating their generation. The quality of the images generated by the trained network of 256 pixel x 256 pixel was investigated through the Fréchet inception distance and nearest neighbor considerations based on Euclidean distance and structural similarity index measure. Additional visual qualitative assessment ensured the realistic depiction of the complex mixed single fiber and fiber bundle structure alongside flow-related physically feasible positioning of the fibers in the polymer. The authors foresee additionally huge potential in creating three-dimensional representative volume elements typically used in composites homogenization

Endovascular stroke treatment in orally anticoagulated patients: an analysis from the German Stroke Registry-Endovascular Treatment

Background Endovascular treatment (ET) in orally anticoagulated (OAC) patients has not been evaluated in randomized clinical trials and data regarding this issue are sparse. Methods We analyzed data from the German Stroke Registry-Endovascular Treatment (GSR-ET; NCT03356392, date of registration: 22 Nov 2017). The primary outcomes were successful reperfusion defined as modified thrombolysis in cerebral infarction (mTICI 2b-3), good outcome at 3 months (modified Rankin scale [mRS] 0–2 or back to baseline), and intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) on follow-up imaging at 24 h analyzed by unadjusted univariate and adjusted binary logistic regression analysis. Additionally, we analyzed mortality at 3 months with adjusted binary logistic regression analysis. Results Out of 6173 patients, there were 1306 (21.2%) OAC patients, 479 (7.8%) with vitamin K antagonists (VKA) and 827 (13.4%) with non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulation (NOAC). The control group consisted of 4867 (78.8%) non-OAC patients. ET efficacy with the rates of mTICI 2b-3 was similar among the three groups (85.6%, 85.3% vs 84.3%, p = 0.93 and 1). On day 90, good outcome was less frequent in OAC patients (27.8%, 27.9% vs 39.5%, p < 0.005 and < 0.005). OAC status was not associated with ICH at 24 h (NOAC: odd’s ratio [OR] 0.89, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.67–1.20; VKA: OR 1.04, CI 0.75–1.46). Binary logistic regression analysis revealed no influence of OAC status on good outcome at 3 months (NOAC: OR 1.25, CI 0.99–1.59; VKA: OR 1.18, CI 0.89–1.56) and mortality at 3 months (NOAC: OR 1.03, CI 0.81–1.30; VKA: OR 1.04, CI 0.78–1.1.37). Conclusions ET can be performed safely and successfully in LVO stroke patients treated with OAC. Clinical trial registration-URL http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT03356392

Cerebral attenuation on single-phase CT angiography source images: Automated ischemia detection and morphologic outcome prediction after thrombectomy in patients with ischemic stroke

Objectives: Stroke triage using CT perfusion (CTP) or MRI gained importance after successful application in recent trials on late-window thrombectomy but is often unavailable and time-consuming. We tested the clinical value of software-based analysis of cerebral attenuation on Single-phase CT angiography source images (CTASI) as CTP surrogate in stroke patients. Methods: Software-based automated segmentation and Hounsfield unit (HU) measurements for all regions of the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) on CTASI were performed in patients with large vessel occlusion stroke who underwent thrombectomy. To normalize values, we calculated relative HU (rHU) as ratio of affected to unaffected hemisphere. Ischemic regions, regional ischemic core and final infarction were determined on simultaneously acquired CTP and follow-up imaging as ground truth. Receiver operating characteristics analysis was performed to calculate the area-under-the-curve (AUC). Resulting cut-off values were used for comparison with visual analysis and to calculate an 11-point automated CTASI ASPECTS. Results: Seventy-nine patients were included. rHU values enabled significant classification of ischemic involvement on CTP in all ten regions of the ASPECTS (each p<0.001, except M4-cortex p = 0.002). Classification of ischemic core and prediction of final infarction had best results in subcortical regions but produced lower AUC values with significant classification for all regions except M1, M3 and M5. Relative total hemispheric attenuation provided strong linear correlation with CTP total ischemic volume. Automated classification of regional ischemia on CTASI was significantly more accurate in most regions and provided better agreement with CTP cerebral blood flow ASPECTS than visual assessment. Conclusions: Automated attenuation measurements on CTASI provide excellent performance in detecting acute ischemia as identified on CTP with improved accuracy compared to visual analysis. However, value for the approximation of ischemic core and morphologic outcome in large vessel occlusion stroke after thrombectomy was regionally dependent and limited. This technique has the potential to facilitate stroke imaging as sensitive surrogate for CTP-based ischemia

Association of the time of day of EVT with clinical outcomes and benefit from successful recanalization after stroke

Experimental and neuroimaging studies suggest an influence of the time of day on acute infarct growth, but whether this could inform patient selection for acute treatments is uncertain. In a multicenter cohort of 9357 stroke patients undergoing endovascular treatment, morning treatment (05:00–10:59) was associated with lowest 90-day mRS scores (adjusted odds ratio, 1.27 [95% CI, 1.08–1.47]; p = 0.004). The association between successful recanalization and outcome was stronger in morning compared to evening-treated patients (pia = 0.046) with treatment benefit persisting until 24 h for morning-treated compared to 11.5 h for evening-treated patients suggesting that the time of day might inform patient selection for EVT

Performance of Automated Attenuation Measurements at Identifying Large Vessel Occlusion Stroke on CT Angiography

PURPOSE Computed tomography angiography (CTA) is routinely used to detect large-vessel occlusion (LVO) in patients with suspected acute ischemic stroke; however, visual analysis is time consuming and prone to error. To evaluate solutions to support imaging triage, we tested performance of automated analysis of CTA source images (CTASI) at identifying patients with LVO. METHODS Stroke patients with LVO were selected from a prospectively acquired cohort. A control group was selected from consecutive patients with clinically suspected stroke without signs of ischemia on CT perfusion (CTP) or infarct on follow-up. Software-based automated segmentation and Hounsfield unit (HU) measurements were performed on CTASI for all regions of the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT score (ASPECTS). We derived different parameters from raw measurements and analyzed their performance to identify patients with LVO using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. RESULTS The retrospective analysis included 145 patients, 79 patients with LVO stroke and 66 patients without stroke. The parameters hemispheric asymmetry ratio (AR), ratio between highest and lowest regional AR and M2-territory AR produced area under the curve (AUC) values from 0.95-0.97 (all p < 0.001) for detecting presence of LVO in the total population. Resulting sensitivity (sens)/specificity (spec) defined by the Youden index were 0.87/0.97-0.99. Maximum sens/spec defined by the specificity threshold ≥0.70 were 0.91-0.96/0.77-0.83. Performance in a~small number of patients with isolated M2 occlusion was lower (AUC: 0.72-0.85). CONCLUSION Automated attenuation measurements on CTASI identify proximal LVO stroke patients with high sensitivity and specificity. This technique can aid in accurate and timely patient selection for thrombectomy, especially in primary stroke centers without CTP capacity