Corporate Governance in Japan: Institutional Change and Organizational Diversity. Edited by Masahiko Aoki, Gregory Jackson and Hideaki Miyajima. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.

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The Wunderteam, Painted in Oil: Insights of Images / Insights through Images in Sport Studies

In 1948, the Viennese city councilor in charge of cultural affairs commissioned a painting of the legendary Austrian football team of the early 1930s, the so-called “Wunderteam.” Paul Meissner, the creator of the painting, chose to depict the team entering the pitch at Stamford Bridge football ground in London in 1932. Even though it was not publicly accessible for decades, the painting achieved the status of an iconic image in Austria’s collective memory. Seeking to understand why particularly this group portrait gained such prominence, the article pursues a set of questions. First it looks at the event itself and analyses the contemporary visual media coverage of the game. In a second step, it discusses the painting, its composition, and what it reveals about the political agenda postwar Austria sought to set

Entrepreneurship and Business Groups: An Evolutionary Perspective on the Growth of the Koç Group in Turkey

This working paper examines the origins and development of the Koç Group, which grew to be the largest business group in Turkey. This enterprise was an important actor in the emergence of modern business enterprise in the new state of the Republic of Turkey from the 1920s. After World War II it diversified rapidly, forming part of a cluster of business groups which dominated the Turkish economy alongside state-owned firms. This study shows how the founder of the Group, Vehbi Koç, formulated his business model, and analyzes how his firm evolved into a diversified business group. The research supports prevailing explanations of business groups which identify the role of institutional voids, government policies and contact capabilities, but it also builds on and extends earlier suggestions in both the management and business history literatures that entrepreneurship needs incorporating more strongly as an explanatory factor. This working paper argues that Koç acted as both a Kirznerian and Schumpeterian entrepreneur to build his business group, both in its formative stages and later in its subsequent growth into a diversified group

Bildungs- und Berufsperspektiven von Jugendlichen mit türkischem Migrationshintergrund

Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit Bildungsgeschichten von Jugendlichen mit türkischem Migrationshintergrund aus einem Privatgymnasium. Es wurden biographisch narrative Interviews mit vier Schüler/nnen durchgeführt, die dann anhand der Narrationsanalyse von Fritz Schütze ausgewertet wurden. Anhand ihrer Bildungsgeschichten habe ich versucht die Entwicklung ihrer Zukunftsperspektiven zu erforschen. Dazu war es notwendig mich erst einmal mit der Übergangsforschung auseinanderzusetzen, die sich explizit auf den Übergang von der Sekundarstufe I in die Sekundarstufe II von Schüler/nnen konzentriert. Trotz unterschiedlicher Bildungsgeschichten meiner Interviewpartner/nnen ließen sich viele Gemeinsamkeiten im Hinblick auf ihre Zukunft ableiten. Eine wesentliche Gemeinsamkeit war vor allem die Unterstützung seitens der Familie, wo die Bildung eine Schlüsselrolle spielt.This paper examines the education stories of young people with a Turkish background from a private high school. I have made biographical narrative interviews with four students, which I have evaluated by Fritz Schütze´s methode of narratives analysis. By their education stories I have tried to explore the development of their future perspectives. This required me to deal with transitional research, which is focused on the transition of pupils from secondary school to upper secondary school. In spite of the different education stories of my interviewees I evaluated similarities in regarding to their future perspectives. The fundamental common ground was the support of their families, where education plays a key role

A Single Mechanism of Biogenesis, Initiated and Directed by PIWI Proteins, Explains piRNA Production in Most Animals [preprint]

In animals, piRNAs guide PIWI-proteins to silence transposons and regulate gene expression. The mechanisms for making piRNAs have been proposed to differ among cell types, tissues, and animals. Our data instead suggest a single model that explains piRNA production in most animals. piRNAs initiate piRNA production by guiding PIWI proteins to slice precursor transcripts. Next, PIWI proteins direct the stepwise fragmentation of the sliced precursor transcripts, yielding tail-to-head strings of phased pre-piRNAs. Our analyses detect evidence for this piRNA biogenesis strategy across an evolutionarily broad range of animals including humans. Thus, PIWI proteins initiate and sustain piRNA biogenesis by the same mechanism in species whose last common ancestor predates the branching of most animal lineages. The unified model places PIWI-clade Argonautes at the center of piRNA biology and suggests that the ancestral animal--the Urmetazoan--used PIWI proteins both to generate piRNA guides and to execute piRNA function

Geschlechterrollen im Film im Ersten Weltkrieg am Beispiel von "Wien im Krieg" (1916)

Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit dem Einsatz des Massenmediums Film in Österreich-Ungarn während des Ersten Weltkrieges. Dabei wird am behördlichen Propagandaspielfilm WIEN IM KRIEG aus dem Jahr 1916 exemplarisch untersucht, mit welchen Motiven und Bezügen Geschlechterbilder erzeugt wurden. Es wird die Frage aufgegriffen, mit welcher Rollenzuschreibung versucht wird, kriegsrelevante Meinung herzustellen und die Bevölkerung, insbesondere in der Heimat, zu beeinflussen. Der leider nur in Fragmenten erhaltene Film stellt eine wertvolle Quelle dar, die eine breite Palette an Ergebnissen hervorgebracht hat. Jenseits der geschlechtergeschichtlichen Zuwendung, die das Hauptaugenmerk der Analyse ausgemacht, galt es den Film einer filmhistorischen und kulturwissenschaftlichen Betrachtung zu unterziehen. WIEN IM KRIEG veranschaulicht, wie sich in der Mitte des Krieges der Umschwung von Informations- zur Unterhaltungspropaganda vollzog. Unterhaltende, narrative Elemente im Film wie auch in anderen Medien sollten der steigenden Demoralisierung in der Heimat und bei den Soldaten entgegenwirken. Die Not sollte nicht als Krise reflektiert, sondern, im Gegenteil, im öffentlichen Diskurs negiert werden. Ob das gelingt und in welchem Ausmaß auf Geschlechterrollen zurückgegriffen wird, um staatliche Interessen durchzusetzen, ist der Fokus der vorliegenden Analyse

Cortisol and hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis hormones in follicular-phase women with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome and effect of depressive symptoms on these hormones

We investigated abnormalities of the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis and cortisol concentrations in women with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) who were in the follicular phase of their menstrual cycle, and whether their scores for depressive symptoms were related to levels of these hormones. A total of 176 subjects participated – 46 healthy volunteers, 68 patients with fibromyalgia, and 62 patients with CFS. We examined concentrations of follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol, progesterone, prolactin, and cortisol. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Cortisol levels were significantly lower in patients with fibromyalgia or CFS than in healthy controls (P < 0.05); there were no significant differences in other hormone levels between the three groups. Fibromyalgia patients with high BDI scores had significantly lower cortisol levels than controls (P < 0.05), and so did CFS patients, regardless of their BDI scores (P < 0.05). Among patients without depressive symptoms, cortisol levels were lower in CFS than in fibromyalgia (P < 0.05). Our study suggests that in spite of low morning cortisol concentrations, the only abnormalities in hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis hormones among follicular-phase women with fibromyalgia or CFS are those of LH levels in fibromyalgia patients with a low BDI score. Depression may lower cortisol and LH levels, or, alternatively, low morning cortisol may be a biological factor that contributes to depressive symptoms in fibromyalgia. These parameters therefore must be taken into account in future investigations

Clinical indications, utilization, and funding of bariatric surgery in Europe

The objective of this study was to evaluate the current utilization, the level of endorsement by professional societies, and health technology assessment bodies, as well as the reimbursement levels for bariatric surgery in European countries. We performed an analysis of the indications for bariatric surgery based on national clinical and commissioning guidelines, current utilization of surgery, characteristics of patients who underwent surgery, and reimbursement tariffs in Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, and Sweden. Data were obtained from national patient registries, administrative databases, and published literature for the year 2012. Despite clear consensus outlined in clinical guidelines, significant differences were found in the eligibility criteria for surgery. Patients with no significant comorbidities were deemed eligible if they had a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or 50 kg/m(2) in Denmark. Irrespective of the country, patients with comorbidities were eligible if they had a BMI of 35 kg/m(2). The highest utilization of bariatric surgery (number of surgeries per 1 M population) was observed in Belgium (928), Sweden (761), and France (571) while Italy (128), England (117), and Germany (72) had the lowest utilization. There was a strong negative correlation between utilization and average BMI level of the patient population (r = -.909, p = 0.005). The annual per capita spending on surgery differed significantly between countries, ranging from a,not sign0.54 in Germany to a,not sign4.33 in Belgium. There are significant variations in the clinical indications, utilization, and funding of bariatric surgery in European countries

Bariatric Surgery can Lead to Net Cost Savings to Health Care Systems: Results from a Comprehensive European Decision Analytic Model.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the cost-utility of bariatric surgery in a lifetime horizon from a Swedish health care payer perspective. A decision analytic model using the Markov process was developed covering cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and surgical complications. Clinical effectiveness and safety were based on the literature and data from the Scandinavian Obesity Surgery Registry. Gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, and gastric banding were included in the analysis. Cost data were obtained from Swedish sources. Bariatric surgery was cost saving in comparison with conservative management. It also led to a substantial reduction in lifetime risk of events: from a 16 % reduction in the risk of transient ischaemic attacks to a 62 % reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes. Over a lifetime, surgery led to savings of a,not sign8408 and generated an additional 0.8 years of life and 4.1 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) per patient, which translates into gains of 32,390 quality-adjusted person-years and savings of a,not sign66 million for the cohort, operated in 2012. Analysis of the consequences of a 3-year delay in surgery provision showed that the overall lifetime cost of treatment may be increased in patients with diabetes or a body mass index > 40 kg/m(2). Delays in surgery may also lead to a loss of clinical benefits: up to 0.6 life years and 1.2 QALYs per patient over a lifetime. Bariatric surgery, over a lifetime horizon, may lead to significant cost savings to health care systems in addition to the known clinical benefits