Transformations of the state?

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A Closer Look at the Anatomy of Spiral Galaxies

In mijn onderzoek heb ik mij op twee onderwerpen rondom melkwegstelsels gericht. Het eerste gedeelte gaat over de donkere materie halo. Donkere materie is een voor de wetenschap onbekende stof die volledig onzichtbaar is. Alleen door de invloed van zwaartekracht op andere objecten, zoals melkwegstelsels, weten we van het bestaan er van.In mijn onderzoek heb ik in detail gekeken naar de vorm van donkere materie halos rondom melkwegstelsels. Daarbij heb ik aangetoond dat er naast de donkere materie ook veel meer normale materie is, in de vorm van neutraal waterstof. De vorm van de halos varieerde per stelsel. Het blijft onduidelijk of hoe fysisch dit resultaat is. Onderzoek naar een onzichtbare stof vereist vele aannames. In mijn proefschrift ga ik hier ook uitgebreid op in Het tweede onderwerp betreft de rand van de stellaire schijf. In de jaren 70 was aangetoond dat de schijf van sterren in melkwegstelsels niet oneindig lang door liep, maar over een rand bezit waar voorbij er nog maar weinig sterren zijn. Dit werd ontdekt in stelsels die we van opzij kunnen zien. De meeste stelsels zien we echter van boven. De rand werd in deze stelsels nooit duidelijk waargenomen. In mijn proefschrift laat ik zien dat de rand van sterrenstelsels rafelig is. Alleen met zeer hoge-kwaliteits data in combinatie met nieuwe software is het mogelijk om deze randen daadwerkelijk te kunnen zien

Deutsche Arbeitskosten steigen im europäischen Vergleich nur gering: Auswertung der aktuellen Eurostat-Statistik

Im vergangenen Jahr sind die Arbeitskosten in Deutschland erneut geringer gestiegen als in den übrigeneuropäischen Ländern. Diese Entwicklung dürfte sich 2008 fortgesetzt haben. Erneut erweist sich,dass Deutschland hinsichtlich der Arbeitskosten im Verarbeitenden Gewerbe im europäischen Vergleichzwar zur großen Gruppe der Hochlohnländer gehört, im Dienstleistungssektor entsprechen die Arbeitskosten dagegen nur etwa dem Durchschnitt. Innerhalb des Dienstleistungssektors fällt besonders auf, dass der Finanzsektor mit 38,50 Euro pro Stunde 2007 fast die höchsten Arbeitskosten im Vergleich zu den anderen Branchen in Deutschland aufweist, damit jedoch noch nicht einmal den Durchschnitt dieser Branche in der Eurozone erreicht.Unterdurchschnittliche Arbeitskostenzuwächse haben sich in den vergangenen Jahren vorteilhaftauf die deutschen Exporte ausgewirkt. Gesamtwirtschaftlich haben sie das Wachstum aber eher gebremst: Länder mit vergleichbaren Arbeitskostenniveaus, aber höheren Zuwachsraten, sind in den vergangenen zehn Jahren deutlich stärker gewachsen als Deutschland. Angesichts der globalen Rezession im Zuge der Finanzkrise dürfte noch deutlicher werden, dass die starke Konzentration auf ein Export getriebenes Wachstum riskant ist: Die niedrigen Lohnsteigerungen der vergangenen Jahre erweisen sich jetzt als Belastung, da sie Deutschland besonders abhängig von der weltwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung gemacht haben. Eine kräftigere Binnennachfrage, auf die es jetzt um so mehr ankäme, wurde dadurch verhindert.Only small increase in German labour costs In 2007, the increase in German labour costs was smaller than in other European countries and it is likely that this trend will last in 2008, too. Regarding the manufacturing sector Germany belongs to a large group of countries with high labour costs, regarding the services sector, however, German labour costs are only slightly above average. During past years, German exports benefited from increases in labour costs below average. On the macroeconomic level, however, this strategy has hampered economic growth: Countries with similar labour cost levels, but higher increases, have grown faster than Germany due to a higher domestic demand. Regarding the global recession following from the financial crises it is likely that Germany will be hit more heavily than other countries, because Germany depends heavily on exports and lacks a solid domestic demand

Report of the user requirements and web based access for eResearch workshops

The User Requirements and Web Based Access for eResearch Workshop, organized jointly by NeSC and NCeSS, was held on 19 May 2006. The aim was to identify lessons learned from e-Science projects that would contribute to our capacity to make Grid infrastructures and tools usable and accessible for diverse user communities. Its focus was on providing an opportunity for a pragmatic discussion between e-Science end users and tool builders in order to understand usability challenges, technological options, community-specific content and needs, and methodologies for design and development. We invited members of six UK e-Science projects and one US project, trying as far as possible to pair a user and developer from each project in order to discuss their contrasting perspectives and experiences. Three breakout group sessions covered the topics of user-developer relations, commodification, and functionality. There was also extensive post-meeting discussion, summarized here. Additional information on the workshop, including the agenda, participant list, and talk slides, can be found online at http://www.nesc.ac.uk/esi/events/685/ Reference: NeSC report UKeS-2006-07 available from http://www.nesc.ac.uk/technical_papers/UKeS-2006-07.pd

Whose cohesion? What cohesion? Liberative theological reflection on young people and faith-based organisations. Kap. 14

I: I. Swart, A. Vähäkangas, M. Rabe and A. Leis-Peters (Red.), 2021, Stuck in the Margins? Young people and faith-based organisations in South African and Nordic localities (Kap. 14, s. 267-284). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Brill. https://www.vr-elibrary.de/doi/abs/10.13109/9783666568558This book is the product of a South African - Nordic research collaboration that wanted to gain deeper insight into the role that faith-based organizations (FBOs) play in the lives of young people eking out a living from the margins of society. The book as such distinguishes itself as a first major international scholarly endeavor to explore the contemporary phenomenon of youth marginalization from a concerted interdisciplinary faith-based organizational interest. While the exploration of concepts such as NEET (an acronym for young people not in education, employment or training), social cohesion and FBOs constitutes an important point of departure, the book's essential contribution lies in the empirical work undertaken. In six case studies, conducted respectively in locations in South Africa, Finland and Norway, the authors make a deliberate attempt to give a voice to the young people with whom interviews were conducted. The result is a scholarly work that in its discussions and conclusions is both critical and appreciative of the involvement of FBOs in the lives of marginalized youths but also the research achievement itself. Perspectives that recognize the meaningful presence of FBOs in the lives and lived religion of many young people at the margins are presented, while authors do not shy away either from highlighting the shortcomings of FBOs to work more purposefully with young people in overcoming the conditions conducive to their marginalization. Ultimately, however, this book does not confine itself to a critical perspective on FBOs alone but through the contribution of some of its authors present illuminating insight into what may still be required from the point of view of academic research to participate in larger liberative practices involving young people but also FBOs at the margins of society.publishedVersio