Permaculture Design: On the Practice of Radical Imagination

Permaculture design is a concept that aims at transforming not only agriculture, but also city planning, architecture, development, etc. In short it aims to change human habitats. It is part of a new ecological paradigm that is currently spreading in popularity from the urban gardening movement to various other alternative movements such as the slow movement, sustainable architecture, etc. Permaculture design defines itself as building on systems theory (as formulated in particular by Howard Thomas Odum and Christopher Alexander). However I would like to propose that the afterlife of systems theory as expressed in the concept of permaculture, first developed by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, should not only be sought in theoretical and analytical discourse. Instead we can understand permaculture as a form of figurative, ecological reasoning; a form of radical imagination drawn from the composite knowledge of a heterogeneous network of actors. Permaculture is thus neither a branch of environmental science nor an environmental political movement. Rather the philosophy of permaculture design questions the division between theory and practice or between rationality and sensibility. In permaculture design, these modes of knowledge are inextricably linked in explorations of patterns. In this article, I attempt to delineate the ways in which permaculture design is rooted in the practical knowledge of systems. I shall limit myself to exploratory drilling, as it were, in three aspects of permaculture design thought. First, I describe permaculture thought as a form of practical knowledge that generated through a kind of visual thinking in patterns. Second, I describe permaculture thought as a type of thinking in which radical imagination and speculation play an active role. Third, I present permaculture thought as systems theory thought. However it departs from the idea of control inherent to systems theory, drawing instead from the equally popular (and colorful) Gaia hypothesis, which posits Earth as an intelligent, material assembly that modifies thought processes

Alles neu macht das Wissensmanagement? Strukturen und Steuerungslogik der Wissensarbeit in Unternehmensberatungen

Inwieweit trägt das Wissensmanagement in Unternehmensberatungen dazu bei, Gewinnung und Transfer von Wissen zu steuern? Mit dieser Fragestellung dokumentieren und analysieren die Autorinnen die Arbeit von Teammitgliedern in kundenbezogenen Projekten von Global Playern der Branche. Im Ergebnis lässt sich erkennen, dass es den Beratungsunternehmen gelingt, die Bereitschaft ihrer Mitarbeiter zum Wissensaustausch zu aktivieren. Allerdings sind weiterhin persönliche Netzwerke für die Informationsgewinnung von herausragender Bedeutung - bei der Suchstrategie und/oder bei der Qualitätsprüfung. Die im Rahmen des Wissensmanagements eigens eingeführten organisatorischen Komponenten (Datenbanksysteme, Researchabteilungen) sowie die Ergänzungen der Personalführungsinstrumente (neue Kategorien bei den Zielvereinbarungen und Bonus-Systemen) verdanken ihre Wirksamkeit vermutlich vor allem der Tatsache, dass sie in die etablierte Kultur und Strukturen indirekter Steuerung eingebettet werden konnten. -- Does knowledge management improve control of the flow of information in business consultancies? This question is the focus of this paper, which documents and analyses the work of team members on customer-related projects of global players in the consultancy branch. The empirical results indicate that business consultancies succeed in activating their staffs propensity for circulating information and knowledge. However, personal networks maintain their prominent position in both the search for and the validation of information. It is difficult to clearly identify the relevance of organizational structures that have been introduced specifically in the context of knowledge management (digitized information pools and internal research departments) or of additions to the instruments of human resource management (new categories in target agreements and bonus systems) We speculate that their impact on successful knowledge work is related to their embeddedness in the established culture and structures that represent the traditional modes of indirect control in the consultancy field.

Ökologien der Seele:Das Spiel als eine Praxis der Selbstbildung bei Winnicott und Guattari

Im Folgenden beschreibe ich das Spiel als eine Praxis der Selbstbildung, an der Objekte einen aktiven Anteil haben. Das Spiel ist ein Gefüge, das das Subjekt herstellt, mit sozialen Formen verbindet, kontextualisiert und zwar auf eine ›umweltliche‹ Weise. Damit verbindet sich die Re-Politisierung der Selbstbildung im Sinne einer politischen Ökologie

Alles neu macht das Wissensmanagement? Strukturen und Steuerungslogik der Wissensarbeit in Unternehmensberatungen

"Inwieweit trägt das Wissensmanagement in Unternehmensberatungen dazu bei, Gewinnung und Transfer von Wissen zu steuern? Mit dieser Fragestellung dokumentieren und analysieren die Autorinnen die Arbeit von Teammitgliedern in kundenbezogenen Projekten von Global Playern der Branche. Im Ergebnis lässt sich erkennen, dass es den Beratungsunternehmen gelingt, die Bereitschaft ihrer Mitarbeiter zum Wissensaustausch zu aktivieren. Allerdings sind weiterhin persönliche Netzwerke für die Informationsgewinnung von herausragender Bedeutung - bei der Suchstrategie und/ oder bei der Qualitätsprüfung. Die im Rahmen des Wissensmanagements eigens eingeführten organisatorischen Komponenten (Datenbanksysteme, Researchabteilungen) sowie die Ergänzungen der Personalführungsinstrumente (neue Kategorien bei den Zielvereinbarungen und Bonus-Systemen) verdanken ihre Wirksamkeit vermutlich vor allem der Tatsache, dass sie in die etablierte Kultur und Strukturen indirekter Steuerung eingebettet werden konnten." (Autorenreferat)"Does knowledge management improve control of the flow of information in business consultancies? This question is the focus of this paper, which documents and analyses the work of team members on customer-related projects of global players in the consultancy branch. The empirical results indicate that business consultancies succeed in activating their staff's propensity for circulating information and knowledge. However, personal networks maintain their prominent position in both the search for and the validation of information. It is difficult to clearly identify the relevance of organizational structures that have been introduced specifically in the context of knowledge management (digitized information pools and internal research departments) or of additions to the instruments of human resource management (new categories in target agreements and bonus systems) We speculate that their impact on successful knowledge work is related to their embeddedness in the established culture and structures that represent the traditional modes of indirect control in the consultancy field." (author's abstract

Inclusive education in primary schools in Lower Saxony. Results drawn by the scientific monitoring

2013 wurde in Niedersachsen die allgemeine inklusive Schule gesetzlich eingeführt. Die hier vorgestellten Befunde sind Teil der Begleitforschung zur inklusiven Grundschule in Niedersachsen, die von Oktober 2014 bis Dezember 2017 durchgeführt wurde. Ziel der Studie ist eine Analyse des aktuellen Stands der Umsetzung sowie die Identifikation von Gelingensbedingungen und Herausforderungen. Die Studie basiert auf einem Mixed-Methods-Design und besteht aus drei Teilstudien. Im vorliegenden Beitrag werden ausgewählte quantitative und qualitative Ergebnisse vorgestellt. (DIPF/Orig.)In 2013, inclusive education was legally fixed in schools in Lower Saxony. The presented results are part of the scientific monitoring of inclusive education in primary schools in Lower Saxony, which was conducted between October 2014 and December 2017. The study aims at analyzing the current status of implementation and at identifying related conditions of success as well as challenges. It is based on a mixed-methods design and divided into three sub-studies. In this paper, selected quantitative and qualitative findings are presented. (DIPF/Orig.

Signatures of technetium oxidation states: a new approach

A general strategy for the determination of Tc oxidation state by new approach involving X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES) at the Tc L-3 edge is shown. A comprehensive series of Tc-99 compounds, ranging from oxidation states I to VII, was measured and subsequently simulated within the framework of crystal-field multiplet theory. The observable trends in the absorption edge energy shift in combination with the spectral shape allow for a deeper understanding of complicated Tc coordination chemistry. This approach can be extended to numerous studies of Tc systems as this method is one of the most sensitive methods for accurate Tc oxidation state and ligand characterization

Quality indicators for diabetes prevention programs in health care

Objective. Type 2 diabetes can be efficiently prevented by lifestyle intervention provided for people at high diabetes risk. The aim of this paper was to conduct a literature search on existing quality indicators for type 2 diabetes prevention and to collate and present a set of indicators that could be applied in uropean countries with different health care systems and cultures. Methods. Scientific and grey literature was searched for relevant studies using electronic databases. We also hand searched previous systematic reviews and reference lists of relevant articles. Results. The only publication identified was the report presenting the results from the IMAGE project. The IMAGE indicators were used as the basis for the proposed indicators. Conclusions. Publications on quality indicators of diabetes prevention programmes are scarce. The quality indicators presented here are a first step toward the definition of a core set of European indicators to monitor and improve the quality of diabetes prevention

FAN, a Novel WD-Repeat Protein, Couples the p55 TNF-Receptor to Neutral Sphingomyelinase

AbstractThe initiation of intracellular signaling events through the 55 kDa tumor necrosis factor–receptor (TNF-R55) appears to depend on protein intermediates that interact with specific cytoplasmic domains of TNF-R55. By combined use of the yeast interaction trap system and a peptide scanning library, the novel WD-repeat protein FAN has been identified, which specifically binds to a cytoplasmic nine amino acid binding motif of TNF-R55. This region has been previously recognized as a distinct functional domain that is both required and sufficient for the activation of neutral sphingomyelinase (N-SMase). Overexpression of full-length FAN enhanced N-SMase activity in TNF–treated cells, while truncated mutants of FAN produced dominant negative effects. The data suggest that FAN regulates ceramide production by N-SMase, which is a crucial step in TNF signaling

Hospital use of systemic antifungal drugs

BACKGROUND: Sales data indicate a major increase in the prescription of antifungal drugs in the last two decades. Many new agents for systemic use that only recently have become available are likely to be prescribed intensively in acute care hospitals. Sales data do not adequately describe the developments of drug use density. Given the concerns about the potential emergence of antifungal drug resistance, data on drug use density, however, may be valuable and are needed for analyses of the relationship between drug use and antifungal resistance. METHODS: Hospital pharmacy records for the years 2001 to 2003 were evaluated, and the number of prescribed daily doses (PDD, defined according to locally used doses) per 100 patient days were calculated to compare systemic antifungal drug use density in different medical and surgical service areas between five state university hospitals. RESULTS: The 3-year averages in recent antifungal drug use for the five hospitals ranged between 8.6 and 29.3 PDD/100 patient days in the medical services (including subspecialties and intensive care), and between 1.1 and 4.0 PDD/100 patient days in the surgical services, respectively. In all five hospitals, systemic antifungal drug use was higher in the hematology-oncology service areas (mean, 48.4, range, 24 to 101 PDD/100 patient days, data for the year 2003) than in the medical intensive care units (mean, 18.3, range, 10 to 33 PDD/100) or in the surgical intensive care units (mean, 10.7, range, 6 to 18 PDD/100). Fluconazole was the most prescribed antifungal drug in all areas. In 2003, amphotericin B consumption had declined to 3 PDD/100 in the hematology-oncology areas while voriconazole use had increased to 10 PDD/100 in 2003. CONCLUSION: Hematology-oncology services are intense antifungal drug prescribing areas. Fluconazole and other azol antifungal drugs are the most prescribed drugs in all patient care areas while amphotericin B use has considerably decreased. The data may be useful as a benchmark for focused interventions to improve prescribing quality