Wirtschaftsinformatik – Evolution of the Discipline as Reflected by Its Journal

In 1959, the journal “elektronische datenverarbeitung” (electronic data processing) was founded. Later it was renamed as “Angewandte Informatik” (applied computer science). Due to the diversification of computer science and the emergence of the discipline “business and information systems engineering” (BISE) the journal was focused on this discipline. Accordingly, the name was changed to WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK (the German word for BISE). Fifty volumes of the journal reflect major developments and varying topics of the discipline. By installing a broad editorial board comprised of researchers and practitioners as well as by cooperation with the major scientific associations the journal became the central publication in the field. The paper gives a survey of organization, design, thematic focuses, and important subjects. Thus, by browsing through the contents of the journal the development of the scientific discipline Wirtschaftsinformatik is illustrated

Views on the Past, Present, and Future of Business and Information Systems Engineering

‘‘The times they are a-changin,’’ a famous song title by Bob Dylan, also applies to our profession and our subject of study. Information technology has always been a driver for innovation. The recent years, however, have seen IT-based innovations that truly impact everybody’s lives. Everything that can be digitized will be digitized, and this trend is continuing at an amazing speed. For a discipline that looks at the design and utilization of information systems these are exciting times. Yet, it is also a time full of challenges. While our discipline has much to contribute, it competes with other disciplines for topics and ideas. Also, the scope of topics studied has become broader and broader, and so have our methods. While initial work in Business and Information Systems Engineering (BISE) was often rooted in artificial intelligence, database systems, or operations research, the community has adopted new approaches to address new types of problems. Nowadays, we also have a strong group of academics working primarily with empirical methods or methods from microeconomics, to name just a few. This development towards a more multiparadigmatic discipline also had its challenges and there were controversial discussions along the way

Psychedelics, meditation, and self-consciousness

In recent years, the scientific study of meditation and psychedelic drugs has seen remarkable developments. The increased focus on meditation in cognitive neuroscience has led to a cross-cultural classification of standard meditation styles validated by functional and structural neuroanatomical data. Meanwhile, the renaissance of psychedelic research has shed light on the neurophysiology of altered states of consciousness induced by classical psychedelics, such as psilocybin and LSD, whose effects are mainly mediated by agonism of serotonin receptors. Few attempts have been made at bridging these two domains of inquiry, despite intriguing evidence of overlap between the phenomenology and neurophysiology of meditation practice and psychedelic states. In particular, many contemplative traditions explicitly aim at dissolving the sense of self by eliciting altered states of consciousness through meditation, while classical psychedelics are known to produce significant disruptions of self-consciousness, a phenomenon known as drug-induced ego dissolution. In this article, we discuss available evidence regarding convergences and differences between phenomenological and neurophysiological data on meditation practice and psychedelic drug-induced states, with a particular emphasis on alterations of self-experience. While both meditation and psychedelics may disrupt self-consciousness and underlying neural processes, we emphasize that neither meditation nor psychedelic states can be conceived as simple, uniform categories. Moreover, we suggest that there are important phenomenological differences even between conscious states described as experiences of self-loss. As a result, we propose that self-consciousness may be best construed as a multidimensional construct, and that “self-loss,” far from being an unequivocal phenomenon, can take several forms. Indeed, various aspects of self-consciousness, including narrative aspects linked to autobiographical memory, self-related thoughts and mental time travel, and embodied aspects rooted in multisensory processes, may be differently affected by psychedelics and meditation practices. Finally, we consider long-term outcomes of experiences of self-loss induced by meditation and psychedelics on individual traits and prosocial behavior. We call for caution regarding the problematic conflation of temporary states of self-loss with “selflessness” as a behavioral or social trait, although there is preliminary evidence that correlations between short-term experiences of self-loss and long-term trait alterations may exist

Meditation and cognitive ageing: The role of mindfulness meditation in building cognitive reserve

Mindfulness-related meditation practices engage various cognitive skills including the ability to focus and sustain attention, which in itself requires several interacting attentional sub-functions. There is increasing behavioural and neuroscientific evidence that mindfulness meditation improves these functions and associated neural processes. More so than other cognitive training programmes, the effects of meditation appear to generalise to other cognitive tasks, thus demonstrating far transfer effects. As these attentional functions have been linked to age-related cognitive decline, there is growing interest in the question whether meditation can slow-down or even prevent such decline. The cognitive reserve hypothesis builds on evidence that various lifestyle factors can lead to better cognitive performance in older age than would be predicted by the existing degree of brain pathology. We argue that mindfulness meditation, as a combination of brain network and brain state training, may increase cognitive reserve capacity and may mitigate age-related declines in cognitive functions. We consider available direct and indirect evidence from the perspective of cognitive reserve theory. The limited available evidence suggests that MM may enhance cognitive reserve capacity directly through the repeated activation of attentional functions and of the multiple demand system and indirectly through the improvement of physiological mechanisms associated with stress and immune function. The article concludes with outlining research strategies for addressing underlying empirical questions in more substantial ways

Oeffentliche Kreditinstitute in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

SIGLEAvailable from Bibliothek des Instituts fuer Weltwirtschaft, ZBW, Duesternbrook Weg 120, D-24105 Kiel C 159704 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Entwicklung, Aufbau und Betrieb einer telemetrischen Plattform zur Therapieüberwachung am Beispiel der Hämophilie

Ubiquitäres Computing aufgrund von High-Speed-Internet und mobilen Geräten ermöglicht grundlegende neue Möglichkeiten für das Gesundheitswesen. Patienten mit seltenen chronischen Erkrankungen, die häufig weit entfernt vom medizinischen Behandlungszentrum leben, profitieren dabei besonders von der Telemedizin und dem Telemonitoring. Diese Arbeit beschreibt in diesem Zusammenhang unter anderem die Erfahrungen bei der Entwicklung, dem Test, der Implementierung und dem Betrieb einer telemetrischen Plattform am Beispiel der Hämophilie. Dabei stehen funktionale und nicht-funktionale Anforderungen bei der Entwicklung mobiler Anwendungen, die im Gesundheitswesen eingesetzt werden, im Fokus. Die Ergebnisse verdeutlichen einerseits die Barrieren, Herausforderungen und Anforderungen für die Entwicklung von telemetrischen Plattformen, andererseits dass die Verwendung von adäquater Technologie die Gesundheitskosten senken, Patienten sich schnell an Telemonitoring-Systeme gewöhnen und sich die Lebensqualität des Nutzers wesentlich erhöht

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The authors wish to thank Holger Rohde for effective research assistance