Symposium on rationality and commitment: introduction

In his critique of rational choice theory, Amartya Sen claims that committed agents do not (or not exclusively) pursue their own goals. This claim appears to be nonsensical since even strongly heteronomous or altruistic agents cannot pursue other people's goals without making them their own. It seems that self-goal choice is constitutive of any kind of agency. In this paper, Sen's radical claim is defended. It is argued that the objection raised against Sen's claim holds only with respect to individual goals. Not all goals, however, are individual goals; there are shared goals, too. Shared goals are irreducible to individual goals, as the argument from we-derivativeness and the argument from normativity show. It is further claimed that an adequate account of committed action defies both internalism and externalism about practical reason

A Swiss Health Care Professionals’ Perspective on the Meaning of Interprofessional Collaboration in Health Care of People with MS—A Focus Group Study

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory autoimmune disease of the central nervous system mainly of adults ranging from 20 to 45 years of age. The risk of developing MS is 50% higher in women than in men. Most people with MS (PwMS) experience a spectrum of symptoms such as spasticity, continence dysfunctions, fatigue, or neurobehavioral manifestations. Due to the complexity of MS and the variety of patient-centered needs, a comprehensive approach of interprofessional collaboration (IPC) of multiple health care professionals (HCP) is necessary. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the meaning of IPC in the comprehensive care of PwMS from a HCP perspective. Focus groups (FG) with HCP were conducted, recorded, and transcribed verbatim. The sample contained HCP from three MS clinics in different phases of care and rehabilitation. Four main categories emerged: (a) experience with IPC, (b) relevant aspects for IPC in patients’ treatment, (c) differences in in- and outpatient settings, and (d) influence of patient perspective. IPC plays a crucial role in HCP perspective when treating PwMS, which can benefit from an IPC therapeutic approach because HCP work together in a patient-centered way. The inpatient setting of HCP strongly supports the implementation of IPC. This prerequisite does not exist in outpatient settings

Investigating the use of digital health tools in physiotherapy: facilitators and barriers

Background: Digital tools are becoming more and more common in healthcare. Their potential to improve treatment, monitoring, and coaching in physiotherapy has been recognized. Yet studies report that the adoption of digital health tools in ambulatory physiotherapy is rather low and that their potential is underexploited. Objective: This paper aims to investigate how digital health tools in general, and the mobile health tool physitrackTM (hereafter the app) more particularly, are used in outpatient physiotherapy clinics and also to identify what facilitates or hinders the app’s use. Methods: The paper is part of a larger study and adopts an ethnographic approach. It is based on observational and interview data collected at two outpatient clinics. Results: We reveal how physiotherapists and patients use the app in physiotherapy and identify 16 interdependent factors, on the macro-, meso-, and micro-level, that either facilitate or hinder its use. Conclusions: We argue that a single factor’s facilitating or hindering impact cannot be grasped in isolation but needs to be investigated as one piece of a dynamic interplay. Further qualitative research is required, especially to shed more light on the app’s compatibility with physiotherapy practice and use in therapist-patient interactions

Erfolgs- und Misserfolgsfaktoren bei Gemeindefusionen : ein Instrument zur frühzeitigen Abklärung der Eignung potentieller Fusionspartner

Fusionsabklärungen sind aufwändig und binden personelle und finanzielle Ressourcen. Mit dem im Rahmen der Facharbeit im MAS-Studiengang "Public Management" entwickelten Tool kann sich eine Gemeinde mit wenig Aufwand ein Bild über die qualitativen Eignungskriterien eines möglichen Fusionspartners machen. Anhand einer Checkliste mit relevanten Fragen lassen sich Erfolgs- und Misserfolgsfaktoren identifizieren. Mögliche Stolpersteine werden erkannt und es werden Hinweise gegeben, wie sie im weiteren Prozess mit gezielten Massnahmen in Erfolgsfaktoren umgewandelt werden können. Damit kann die Chance auf eine erfolgreiche Fusion frühzeitig abgeschätzt und Kosten gespart werden. Anhand von fünf Beispielen erfolgreicher wie abgelehnter Gemeindefusionen wurden die fünf Themenbereiche Geschichte und Identität, Visionen und Strategien, Verwaltung und Personal, regionale und kantonale Zusammenarbeit sowie informelles Umfeld und Mikropolitik untersucht. Finanzielle Kriterien wurden dabei bewusst ausgeblendet, weil diese Gegenstand von zahlreichen anderen Studien sind. Die praktische Anwendbarkeit des Instrumentes wurde von Fachpersonen von zwei der analysierten Fusionsgemeinden überprüft und als positiv beurteilt. Insbesondere wurde die Relevanz der Arbeit in Bezug auf die notwendigen Entscheidungen im Vorfeld von Fusionsabklärungen bestätigt. Die vorliegende Arbeit vermag selbstverständlich keine abschliessenden Handlungsanweisungen für die vielfältigen Ausgangslagen von betroffenen Gemeinden zu geben, sondern soll in erster Linie Denkanstösse vermitteln und den Gemeinden die Entscheidungsfindung über die Aufnahme von Fusionsabklärungen erleichtern

On the DNA cleavage mechanism of Type I restriction enzymes

Although the DNA cleavage mechanism of Type I restriction-modification enzymes has been extensively studied, the mode of cleavage remains elusive. In this work, DNA ends produced by EcoKI, EcoAI and EcoR124I, members of the Type IA, IB and IC families, respectively, have been characterized by cloning and sequencing restriction products from the reactions with a plasmid DNA substrate containing a single recognition site for each enzyme. Here, we show that all three enzymes cut this substrate randomly with no preference for a particular base composition surrounding the cleavage site, producing both 5′- and 3′-overhangs of varying lengths. EcoAI preferentially generated 3′-overhangs of 2-3 nt, whereas EcoKI and EcoR124I displayed some preference for the formation of 5′-overhangs of a length of ∼6-7 and 3-5 nt, respectively. A mutant EcoAI endonuclease assembled from wild-type and nuclease-deficient restriction subunits generated a high proportion of nicked circular DNA, whereas the wild-type enzyme catalyzed efficient cleavage of both DNA strands. We conclude that Type I restriction enzymes require two restriction subunits to introduce DNA double-strand breaks, each providing one catalytic center for phosphodiester bond hydrolysis. Possible models for DNA cleavage are discusse

On the DNA cleavage mechanism of Type I restriction enzymes

Although the DNA cleavage mechanism of Type I restriction–modification enzymes has been extensively studied, the mode of cleavage remains elusive. In this work, DNA ends produced by EcoKI, EcoAI and EcoR124I, members of the Type IA, IB and IC families, respectively, have been characterized by cloning and sequencing restriction products from the reactions with a plasmid DNA substrate containing a single recognition site for each enzyme. Here, we show that all three enzymes cut this substrate randomly with no preference for a particular base composition surrounding the cleavage site, producing both 5′- and 3′-overhangs of varying lengths. EcoAI preferentially generated 3′-overhangs of 2–3 nt, whereas EcoKI and EcoR124I displayed some preference for the formation of 5′-overhangs of a length of ∼6–7 and 3–5 nt, respectively. A mutant EcoAI endonuclease assembled from wild-type and nuclease-deficient restriction subunits generated a high proportion of nicked circular DNA, whereas the wild-type enzyme catalyzed efficient cleavage of both DNA strands. We conclude that Type I restriction enzymes require two restriction subunits to introduce DNA double-strand breaks, each providing one catalytic center for phosphodiester bond hydrolysis. Possible models for DNA cleavage are discussed

Gibt es den "Nasty Effect"? Replikation und Erweiterung der Modellstudie zur Wirkung von Inzivilität im Diskurs zu Schlüsseltechnologien

Der Nutzen und das Risiko aufkommender Technologien werden vermehrt im Web 2.0 diskutiert. Gegensätzliche Meinungen in einem inzivilen Kommunikationsstil sind in den Kommentarspalten ubiquitär. Das macht es für die Wissenschaft zu einer zentralen und dringlichen Aufgabe, die online wirkenden Mechanismen der Inzivilität zu identifizieren, zu verstehen und zu erklären. Anderson et al. (2014) haben in ihrer renommierten Studie "'The Nasty Effect': Online Incivility and Risk Perceptions of Emerging Technologies" die polarisierende Wirkung von inzivilen Kommentaren auf die Risikowahrnehmung einer Schlüsseltechnologie aufgezeigt. Die vorliegende Forschungsarbeit repliziert die Studie von Anderson et al. (2014) und erweitert das bestehende Modell auf zwei Ebenen. Die erste Erweiterung zeichnet sich dadurch aus, dass nebst der Nanotechnologie eine zweite Schlüsseltechnologie, die Atomkraft, als Untersuchungsgegenstand herangezogen wird. Den zweiten Zusatz bildet die Stärke der Voreinstellungen, welche als Moderator ins Modell aufgenommen wird. Die Probanden werden zufällig einer der beiden Schlüsseltechnologien zugeteilt, die Voreinstellungen der beiden Gruppen verglichen und mögliche signifikante Unterschiede in der Risikowahrnehmung untersucht. Dabei konnte der "Nasty Effect" lediglich bei der Schlüsseltechnologie Atomkraft in Wechselwirkung mit der Voreinstellung nachgewiesen werden. Die vorliegende Forschungsarbeit diskutiert aufgrund dieser entgegengesetzten Ergebnisse zur Ursprungsstudie Erklärungsgründe sowie Empfehlungen für zukünftige Forschungen in Bezug auf Online-Inzivilität. Anhand einer Online-Umfrage wurden 162 Personen am Institut für Kommunikations- und Medienwissenschaften an der Universität Zürich befragt. Die erhobenen Daten wurden in einem Ordinary Least Squares Modell mittels hierarchischer Regression analysiert

A Swiss health care professionals’ perspective on the meaning of interprofessional collaboration in health care of people with MS : a focus group study

Part of the Special Issue Health Care from Patients' PerspectiveMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory autoimmune disease of the central nervous system mainly of adults ranging from 20 to 45 years of age. The risk of developing MS is 50% higher in women than in men. Most people with MS (PwMS) experience a spectrum of symptoms such as spasticity, continence dysfunctions, fatigue, or neurobehavioral manifestations. Due to the complexity of MS and the variety of patient-centered needs, a comprehensive approach of interprofessional collaboration (IPC) of multiple health care professionals (HCP) is necessary. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the meaning of IPC in the comprehensive care of PwMS from a HCP perspective. Focus groups (FG) with HCP were conducted, recorded, and transcribed verbatim. The sample contained HCP from three MS clinics in different phases of care and rehabilitation. Four main categories emerged: (a) experience with IPC, (b) relevant aspects for IPC in patients' treatment, (c) differences in in- and outpatient settings, and (d) influence of patient perspective. IPC plays a crucial role in the HCP perspective when treating PwMS, which can benefit from an IPC therapeutic approach because HCP work together in a patient-centered way. The inpatient setting of HCP strongly supports the implementation of IPC. This prerequisite does not exist in outpatient settings

Towards a numerical laboratory for investigations of gravity-wave 2 mean-ow interactions in the atmosphere

Idealized integral studies of the dynamics of atmospheric inertia-gravity waves (IGWs) from their sources in the troposphere (e.g., by spontaneous emission from jets and fronts) to dissipation and mean- ow e�ects at higher altitudes could contribute to a better treatment of these processes in IGW parameterizations in numerical weather prediction and climate simulation. It seems important that numerical codes applied for this purpose are e�cient and focus on the essentials. Therefore a previously published staggered-grid solver for f-plane soundproof pseudo-incompressible dynamics is extended here by two main components. These are 1) a semi-implicit time stepping scheme for the integration of buoyancy and Coriolis e�ects, and 2) the incorporation of Newtonian heating consistent with pseudo-incompressible dynamics. This heating function is used to enforce a temperature pro�le that is baroclinically unstable in the troposphere and it allows the background state to vary in time. Numerical experiments for several benchmarks are compared against a buoyancy/Coriolis-explicit third-order Runge-Kutta scheme, verifying the accuracy and ef- �ciency of the scheme. Preliminary mesoscale simulations with baroclinic-wave activity in the troposphere show intensive small-scale wave activity at high altitudes, and they also indicate there the expected reversal of the zonal-mean-zonal winds