Electronic Petitioning and Modernisation of Petitioning Systems in Europe. Summary

After TAB had already presented a first report on the subject of electronic petitions in 2008 (No. 127), which dealt in particular with the pilot project "Public Petitions" of the German Bundestag, TAB Working Report No. 146 focuses on the further development of the e-petitions platform of the German Bundestag as well as other national petition procedures in Europe. It examines how the functioning, use and evaluation of the German Bundestag\u27s e-petitions platform have developed after an initial fundamental modernisation in its fifth year of operation. For this purpose, among other things, extensive surveys of petitioners were conducted. In addition, it was of interest to see how the online procedure of the German Petitions Committee, which in the opinion of TAB has been successfully established, compares with corresponding activities in Europe. To this end, an extensive survey was conducted on the parliamentary petition and ombudsman bodies in the 27 member states of the EU as well as Norway and Switzerland and also a separate country study on the petition and ombudsman system in Great Britain, including Scotland and Wales. The report contains a wealth of concrete suggestions for improving the current petition system and discusses three further, medium-term development options with their advantages and disadvantages for the petition system of the German Bundestag: > the general publicity of petitions, > the introduction of a national parliamentary ombudsman for personal complaints, and > the further development of the petition system in the direction of an instrument of direct democracy

Causes of brain dysfunction in acute coma: a cohort study of 1027 patients in the emergency department

BACKGROUND: Coma of unknown etiology (CUE) is a major challenge in emergency medicine. CUE is caused by a wide variety of pathologies that require immediate and targeted treatment. However, there is little empirical data guiding rational and efficient management of CUE. We present a detailed investigation on the causes of CUE in patients presenting to the ED of a university hospital. METHODS: One thousand twenty-seven consecutive ED patients with CUE were enrolled. Applying a retrospective observational study design, we analyzed all clinical, laboratory and imaging findings resulting from a standardized emergency work-up of each patient. Following a predefined protocol, we identified main and accessory coma-explaining pathologies and related these with (i.a.) GCS and in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: On admission, 854 of the 1027 patients presented with persistent CUE. Their main diagnoses were classified into acute primary brain lesions (39%), primary brain pathologies without acute lesions (25%) and pathologies that affected the brain secondarily (36%). In-hospital mortality associated with persistent CUE amounted to 25%. 33% of patients with persistent CUE presented with more than one coma-explaining pathology. In 173 of the 1027 patients, CUE had already resolved on admission. However, these patients showed a spectrum of main diagnoses similar to persistent CUE and a significant in-hospital mortality of 5%. CONCLUSION: The data from our cohort show that the spectrum of conditions underlying CUE is broad and may include a surprisingly high number of coincidences of multiple coma-explaining pathologies. This finding has not been reported so far. Thus, significant pathologies may be masked by initial findings and only appear at the end of the diagnostic work-up. Furthermore, even transient CUE showed a significant mortality, thus rendering GCS cutoffs for selection of high- and low-risk patients questionable. Taken together, our data advocate for a standardized diagnostic work-up that should be triggered by the emergency symptom CUE and not by any suspected diagnosis. This standardized routine should always be completed - even when initial coma-explaining diagnoses may seem evident

Public electronic petitions and civil participation. Summary

In the course of its long history, the petition system has been repeatedly adapted and modernised to changing conditions, including the internet as a new medium for transmitting and publishing petitions as well as for communicating about petitions. Accordingly, the German Bundestag started a two-year pilot project "Public Petitions" in 2005, in which petitions could be made public and discussed via the internet and supporters could be recruited. On the initiative of the Petitions Committee, the Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag (TAB) was commissioned to carry out an evaluation of this pilot project. This was to be embedded in a more comprehensive examination of the question of what new possibilities, but also what problems, the use of the internet in petitioning could lead to. KEY FINDINGS > Even in modern democratic states governed by the rule of law, petitioning has not lost its appeal; in fact, its importance has increased in many places. E-petition systems make a particular contribution to this. > Although e-petition systems are not yet widely used, they are currently one of the central activities in the field of e-democracy and e-participation, especially in the parliamentary sphere. It is to be expected that in the next few years government agencies will increasingly introduce electronic petition systems. > The pilot project "Public Petitions" of the German Bundestag can be considered a success, despite some serious shortcomings in its implementation. With it, petitions are made publicly accessible via the internet, the petition process becomes more transparent and citizens can actively contribute with supporting signatures or contributions to discussions. > With the pilot project, the first steps towards more transparency, accessibility and participation have been taken. However, not even 2% of all petitions are currently published on the internet. It remains open whether the German Bundestag wants to continue along this path towards more transparency and publicity. > Electronic petition systems have so far not led to a general increase in the number of petitions and only to a very limited extent to a greater representativeness of those involved: Women, population groups with lower levels of education and younger age groups continue to be significantly underrepresented among petitioners. > The problem that the desired and realised greater discursiveness, as expressed in the discussion forums on petitions on the internet, is not adequately received and processed by the actual petition addressees remains largely unresolved. > Although the political effects of electronic petition systems are difficult to assess, it can be said with all due caution that the introduction of electronic petition systems has strengthened the respective petition bodies in terms of publicity and that - due to the greater publicity of petitions - it can be assumed that the political system reacts more sensitively and attentively to citizens\u27 concerns

Proučavanje jezgre 168Er reakcijom (d, p)

The reaction 167Er(d,p)168Er was measured with 22 MeV deuterons at the angles 15◦ , 30◦ and 40◦ . Up to 2.8 MeV, a total of 78 levels were identified. Measured differential cross–sections are given. The results are compared with previous data, especially from the (n,γ) reaction.Izvršili smo mjerenja reakcije 167Er(d,p)168Er s deuteronima energije 22 MeV, na kutovima 15◦ , 30◦ i 40◦ . Do energije uzbude od 2.8 MeV našli smo 78 stanja. U radu se prikazuju izmjereni diferencijalni udarni presjeci. Rezultati se uspoređuju s ranijima, posebno onima iz mjerenja reakcije (n, γ)

Nuklearna reakcija 103Rh(d,p)104Rh

The 103Rh(d, p)104Rh reaction was measured with 22 MeV deuterons up to 1.8 MeV excitation energy at laboratory angles of 20◦ , 30◦ and 50◦ . The best energy resolution was 3.6 keV. 91 energy levels were observed and the angular momentum transfer was determined.Nuklearna reakcija 103Rh(d,p)104Rh istraživana je pomoću deuterona energije 22 MeV do energije pobuđenja od 1.8 MeV pod kutovima od 20◦ , 30◦ i 50◦ . Najbolje energijsko razlučivanje iznosilo je 3.6 keV. Opažena je 91 energijska razina i određen je pripadni prijenos momenta impulsa

Zur Funktion des homerischen Augments

Das Augment, in den indikativischen Präteritaltempora des klassischen griechischen Verbs obligatorisches Vergangenheitskennzeichen, ist bei Homer bekanntlich noch fakultativ. Der Grund der Verteilung ist bis heute nicht völlig geklärt und gilt vielen als nahezu uner-kennbar. Es wird die folgende Augmentregel aufgestellt: Was neu festgehalten oder extra affirmiert werden soll, wird augmentiert ausgedrückt, was alt und bekannt ist oder nur hilfsweise und begleitend eingeführt wird oder der Hauptaffirmation zusammen mit fort-führendem δὲ ohne Unterbrechung folgt oder im Dialog als unkontrovers eingestuft wird und für die Affirmation insofern im Hintergrund steht, unaugmentiert. - Damit ergibt sich eine funktionale Parallele zum Augment im Altindischen