Covid-19 - Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft. Beiträge in Zeiten der Pandemie

Das Virus verstehen, Todesfälle verhindern, Chaos vermeiden, Fakten aufzeigen und den Boden bereiten für gesellschaftliches Mittragen von Massnahmen - Wissenschaft, Politik und Gesellschaft kamen sich in der Pandemie näher, gleichzeitig kam es auch zu Konfrontationen. Der vorliegende Sammelband vereinigt Analysen und Diskussionsbeiträge, die im Umfeld der Akademien der Wissenschaften Schweiz entstanden sind. Es ist einerseits ein Zeitdokument über die Jahre 2020 bis zum Spätsommer 2021 und bildet eine Periode ab, in der WissenschafterInnen mit grossem Engagement geforscht haben und ihre Erkenntnisse unmittelbar der Gesellschaft zugänglich gemacht haben. Andererseits sind auch Texte entstanden, die vorwärts denken. Was können wir aus der Pandemie lernen? Wie sollte wissenschaftliche Politikberatung funktionieren? Wie können Wissenschaft, Gesellschaft und Politik im Dialog bleiben? Was können wir gegen Fake News tun? Die Publikation gibt Anregungen, diese Fragen weiterzuverfolgen, damit durch Diskussion ein Fundament für die Zukunft entsteht

Measurement of the two-photon absorption cross-section of liquid argon with a time projection chamber

This paper reports on laser-induced multiphoton ionization at 266 nm of liquid argon in a time projection chamber (LAr TPC) detector. The electron signal produced by the laser beam is a formidable tool for the calibration and monitoring of next-generation large-mass LAr TPCs. The detector that we designed and tested allowed us to measure the two-photon absorption cross-section of LAr with unprecedented accuracy and precision: sigma_ex=(1.24\pm 0.10stat \pm 0.30syst) 10^{-56} cm^4s{-1}.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure

Wirksame Lehrerausbildung: Globale Ausbildungskultur und/oder regionale Routinenschulung? TEDS-M – erste internationale Vergleichsstudie der IEA mit Fokus auf die Lehrerausbildung

TEDS-M geht der Frage nach der Qualität der Ausbildung von angehenden Mathematiklehrkräften auf der Primar- und Sekundarstufe I in 16 Ländern nach. Dabei kann der Deutschschweizer Lehrerausbildung bezüglich der fachlichen und fachdidaktischen Ausbildung ein gutes Zeugnis ausgestellt werden, weniger jedoch im Bereich der pädagogischen Ausbildung. In der Betrachtung dieser Ergebnisse stellt sich die Frage, inwiefern andere Länder relevante Vergleichs- und Referenzgrössen für die Weiterentwicklung der Lehrerausbildung in der (Deutsch-)Schweiz darstellen können. Die grösste Leistung derartiger internationaler Bezugsgrössenvergleiche kann wohl darin gesehen werden, dass sie Plattformen für Bildungsdiskurse und -erwartungen bereitstellen, sodass darauf basierend möglichst fruchtvolle «Beackerungen» im Sinne von Wirksamkeitsstudien initiiert werden können

Systematic review of cost and cost-effectiveness of different TB-screening strategies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Interferon-γ release assays (IGRAs) for TB have the potential to replace the tuberculin skin test (TST) in screening for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). The higher per-test cost of IGRAs may be compensated for by lower post-screening costs (medical attention, chest x-rays and chemoprevention), given the higher specificity of the new tests as compared to that of the conventional TST. We conducted a systematic review of all publications that have addressed the cost or cost-effectiveness of IGRAs. The objective of this report was to undertake a structured review and critical appraisal of the methods used for the model-based cost-effectiveness analysis of TB screening programmes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using Medline and Embase, 75 publications that contained the terms "IGRA", "tuberculosis" and "cost" were identified. Of these, 13 were original studies on the costs or cost-effectiveness of IGRAs.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The 13 relevant studies come from five low-to-medium TB-incidence countries. Five studies took only the costs of screening into consideration, while eight studies analysed the cost-effectiveness of different screening strategies. Screening was performed in high-risk groups: close contacts, immigrants from high-incidence countries and healthcare workers. Two studies used the T-SPOT.TB as an IGRA and the other studies used the QuantiFERON-TB Gold and/or Gold In-Tube test. All 13 studies observed a decrease in costs when the IGRAs were used. Six studies compared the use of an IGRA as a test to confirm a positive TST (TST/IGRA strategy) to the use of an IGRA-only strategy. In four of these studies, the two-step strategy and in two the IGRA-only strategy was more cost-effective. Assumptions about TST specificity and progression risk after a positive test had the greatest influence on determining which IGRA strategy was more cost-effective.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The available studies on cost-effectiveness provide strong evidence in support of the use of IGRAs in screening risk groups such as HCWs, immigrants from high-incidence countries and close contacts. So far, only two studies provide evidence that the IGRA-only screening strategy is more cost-effective.</p

The status of IT service management in health care - ITIL® in selected European countries

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Due to the strained financial situation in the healthcare sector, hospitals and other healthcare providers are facing an increasing pressure to improve their efficiency and to reduce costs. These trends challenge health care organizations to introduce innovative information technology (IT) based supportive processes. To guarantee that IT supports the clinical processes perfectly, IT must be managed proactively. However, until now, there is only very few research on IT service management especially on ITIL^®implementations in the health care context.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The current study aims at exploring knowledge about and acceptance of IT service management (especially ITIL^®) in hospitals in Austria and its neighboring regions Bavaria (Germany), Slovakia, South Tyrol (Italy) and Switzerland. Therefore highly standardized interviews with the respective head of information technology (CIO, IT manager) were conducted for selected hospitals from the different regions. In total 75 hospitals were interviewed. Data gathered was analyzed using descriptive statistics and where necessary methods of qualitative content analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In most regions, two-thirds or more of the participating IT managers claim to be familiar with the concepts of IT service management and of ITIL^®. IT managers expect from ITIL^®mostly better IT services, followed by an increased productivity and a reduction of IT cost. But only five hospitals said to have implemented at least parts of ITIL^®, and eight hospitals stated to be planning to do this in the next two years. When it comes to ITIL^®, Switzerland and Bavaria seem to be ahead of the other countries. There, the highest levels of knowledge, the highest number of implementations or plans of an implementation as well as the highest number of ITIL^®certified staff members were observed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results collected through this study indicate that the idea of IT services and IT service management is still not widely recognized in hospitals in the countries and regions of the study. It is also indicated that hospitals need further assistance in order to be able to successfully implement ITIL^®. Overall, research on IT service management and ITIL^®in health care is rare.</p