Schizophrenie in lacanianischer Perspektive

Im folgenden werde ich versuchen, etwas von dem darzustellen, was mich in den letzten Jahren in zunehmendem Maße beschäftigt hat, nämlich das Studium der Schizophrenie. Man kann ohne jegliche Übertreibung sagen, dass die Schizophrenie ein Stiefkind der Psychoanalyse geblieben ist, ja, nicht nur das, darüber hinaus ist sie seit jeher ein ungeliebtes Stiefkind. Dies im Gegensatz zur Paranoia. Freud wie auch Lacan haben zur Para­noia ungleich mehr beigetragen als zur Schizophrenie; das zeigt sich mit aller Deutlichkeit am Paradebeispiel des Senatspräsidenten Schreber, des­sen Buch Denkwürdigkeiten eines Nervenkranken Gegenstand einer um­fangreichen Untersuchung Freuds geworden ist, was wiederum Lacan dazu veranlasste, einen Grossteil seines Seminars über die Psychosen wie auch seiner Arbeit .D. une question préliminaire d. un traitement possible de la psychose. / .Von einer Frage, die jeder möglichen Behandlung der Psy­chose vorausgeht. Freud und Schreber zu widmen.1 \ud In der Psychiatrie ist es dagegen eher umgekehrt; ein so renommierter Psychiater wie Eugen Bleuler hat der Schizophrenie auf dem Feld der Psychosen einen vorrangigen Platz eingeräumt und sogar die Paranoia seinem Konzept der Schizophrenie subsumiert2. Die Untersuchungen über Schizophrenie sind auch in der zeitgenössischen Psychiatrie zahlreich geblieben. \ud Wie kommt es, dass sich die Psychoanalyse seit jeher kaum für die Schi­zophrenie interessiert? Ich glaube, dass dies etwas mit der Bedeutung des Vaters zu tun hat, dessen Funktionen für Neurosen wie auch für Paranoi

Public Good Provision in a Federalist Country: Tiebout Competition, Fiscal Equalization, and Incentives for Efficiency in Switzerland

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it measures the efficiency in the provision of public goods by local jurisdictions applying Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Second, it relates ef- ficiency scores to a fiscal equalization scheme designed to mitigate the negative consequences of Tiebout competition. The data come from the 26 cantons of Switzerland (2000-2004), a country characterized by marked federalism. Results show the equalization scheme to indeed have a negative influence on performance, resulting in an efficiency-equity trade-off (Stiglitz, 1988). However, substitution of earmarked payments by lump-sum payments as part of the 2008 reform is likely to enhance cantonal performance.DEA, efficiency measurement, federalism, fiscal equalization, public finance, Switzerland, Tiebout competition

Accounting for heterogeneity in the measurement of hospital performance

With prospective payment of hospitals becoming more common, measuring their performance is gaining in importance. However, the standard cost frontier model yields biased efficiency scores because it ignores technological heterogeneity between hospitals. In this paper, efficiency scores are derived from a random intercept and an extended random parameter frontier model, designed to overcome the problem of unobserved heterogeneity in stochastic frontier analysis. Using a sample of 100 Swiss hospitals covering the years 2004 to 2007 and applying Bayesian inference, significant heterogeneity is found, suggesting rejection of the standard cost frontier model. Estimated inefficiency decreases even below the 14 percent reported by Hollingsworth (2008) for European countries. Accounting for unobserved heterogeneity would make hospitals rated below 85 percent efficiency according to the standard model gain up to 12 percentage points, serving to highlight the importance of heterogeneity correction in the estimation of hospital performance.Hospital efficiency, unobserved heterogeneity, Bayesian inference, Switzerland, stochastic frontier analysis

Efficient provision of electricity for the United States and Switzerland

This study applies financial portfolio theory to determine efficient frontiers in the provision of electricity for the United States and Switzerland. Expected returns are defined by the rate of productivity increase of power generation (adjusted for external costs), volatility, by its standard deviation. Since unobserved productivity shocks are found to be correlated, Seemingly Unrelated Regression Estimation (SURE) is used to filter out the systematic component of the covariance matrix of the productivity changes. Results suggest that as of 2003, the feasible maximum expected return (MER) electricity portfolio for the United States contains more Coal, Nuclear, and Wind than actual but markedly less Gas and Oil. The minimum variance (MV) portfolio contains markedly more Oil, again more Coal, Nuclear, and Wind but almost no Gas. Regardless of the choice between MER and MV, U.S. utilities are found to lie substantially inside the efficient frontier. This is even more true of their Swiss counterparts, likely due to continuing regulation of electricity markets.Efficiency frontier, energy, electricity, portfolio theory, Seemingly Unrelated Regression Estimation (SURE)

Predicting the long time dynamic heterogeneity in a supercooled liquid on the basis of short time heterogeneities

We report that the local Debye-Waller factor in a simulated 2D glass-forming mixture exhibits significant spatial heterogeneities and that these short time fluctuations provide an excellent predictor of the spatial distribution of the long time dynamic propensities [Phys.Rev.Lett. 93, 135701 (2004)]. In contrast, the potential energy per particle of the inherent structure does not correlate well with the spatially distributed dynamics

Viscosity of a three component system, acetone-ethanol-water, at 25°C and 30°C

The viscosity in the three component system Acetone-Ethanol-Water has been determined over a range of compositions at two different temperatures, 25°C and 30°C. Compositions have been varied in increments of ten percent by weight to cover all possible combinations of the three components. The data obtained are presented on triangular coordinate graph paper with lines of constant viscosity indicated and also in tabular form