Suchergebnisse

Klaus Berger, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Peter Stuhlmacher und Hans Weder beherrschten gemeinsam und gegeneinander die neutestamentliche Diskussion zur Bibelinterpretation der vergangenen 40 Jahre. Die Studie untersucht diese vier Ansätze, befragt sie nach den diskursiven Triebfedern (Ideologien) ihrer Themenauswahl und Argumentationsweisen und stellt die Ergebnisse vergleichend nebeneinander. Dadurch entstehtein kulturwissenschaftlich orientiertes Gesamtbild des jüngeren Diskurses zur Bibelhermeneutik. Es zeigt sich dabei, dass auch neutestamentlich-wissenschaftliche Interpretationen, welche primär als textgetreue Auslegungen biblischer Texte gelten, als ideologiebesetzte Strategien zur Durchsetzung bestimmter Machtinteressen aufgefasst werden können. Die mit dieser Studie begründete Einsicht in die Perspektivität, Pluralität und Determination biblischer Interpretationen verstärkt die Integration der neutestamentlichen Wissenschaft in das Paradigma der Postmoderne.

Diese Arbeit untersucht inwieweit "humanitäre Interventionen" ethisch und völkerrechtlich zu rechtfertigen sind. Das Ergebnis dieser Untersuchung soll im Teil vier dieser Arbeit, auf den Kosovo-Krieg reflektiert werden und helfen, die Frage zu beantworten, ob die Selbstmandatierung der NATO eine ethisch und völkerrechtlich zu vertretende Strategie war, um mittels einer eigenmächtig durchgeführten "humanitären Intervention" Menschenrechte im Kosovo zu schützen. Welche Konsequenzen aus diesem Handeln erwachsen können, soll ebenfalls untersucht werden.

Internet-Aktivisten, Politiker und Wissenschaftler haben die These vertreten, im Internet werde sich eine neue politische Agora entwickeln, auf der sich alle Bürger/innen treffen, miteinander diskutieren und dabei neue Gesetze beraten und beschließen. Einige Vertreter dieser Theorie prognostizierten, dass die Möglichkeiten des Internet zu einer Politisierung der Nutzer führen würde: durch das Internet zum "Homo-Politicus". Diese Prognose scheint sich nicht zu erfüllen. Aber das Netz kann als hilfreiches und sinnvolles Instrument der Politik eingesetzt werden. Anhand von acht Thesen wird erläutert, auf welche Art das Netz zur politischen Kommunikation sinnvoll genutzt werden kann. Die Thesen reichen dabei von 'handwerklichen' Empfehlungen bis hin zu strategischen Grundentscheidungen und entstammen alle aus dem Workshop "Im Netz der Wahlfänger - Wahlpropaganda im Internet" des "Forum.Medien.Politik" vom April 2003 in Jena. (RG)

AbstractTests with zebrafish embryos have gained wide acceptance as an alternative test model for drug development and toxicity testing. In particular, the behavioral response of the zebrafish embryo is currently seen as a useful endpoint to diagnose neuroactive substances. Consequently, several behavioral test methods have been developed addressing various behavioral endpoints such as spontaneous tail coiling (STC), photomotor response (PMR), locomotor response (LMR) and alternating light/dark-induced locomotor response (LMR-L/D). Although these methods are distinct in their application, most of their protocols differ quite strongly in the use of experimental parameters and this is usually driven by different research questions. However, if a single mode of action is to be diagnosed, then varying experimental parameters may cause incoherent behavioral responses (hypo- or hyperactivity) of zebrafish during toxicity assessment. This could lead to inconclusiveness of behavioral test results for use within a prospective and diagnostic risk assessment framework. To investigate the influence of these parameters, we conducted a review of existing behavioral assays to address the following two questions: (1) To what extent do varying experimental parameters influence observed effects in published behavioral test methods? (2) Is the observed behavior change (hypo- or hyperactivity) of zebrafish embryos consistent with the expected mode of action of a chemical? We compiled a set of 18 substances which are anticipated to be neuroactive. We found that behavioral changes are not only affected by chemicals but also variation in the use of experimental parameters across studies seems to have a high impact on the outcome and thus comparability between studies. Four parameters, i.e., exposure concentration, exposure duration, endpoint parameter and developmental stage were the most influential parameters. Varying combinations of these parameters caused a non-reproducible outcome for the hyperactivity expected for the organophosphates; chlorpyrifos and diazinon. We highlighted that the STC test shows a higher capacity to predict the hyperactivity of organophosphates, while PMR and LMR-L/D were more suitable to predict the hypoactivity expected for anticonvulsants. We provide a list of recommendations which, when implemented, may help to exclude the risk of bias due to experimental parameters if similar goals are desired.

BACKGROUND: Regional differences in physician supply can be found in many health care systems, regardless of their organizational and financial structure. A theoretical model is developed for the physicians' decision on office allocation, covering demand-side factors and a consumption time function. METHODS: To test the propositions following the theoretical model, generalized linear models were estimated to explain differences in 412 German districts. Various factors found in the literature were included to control for physicians' regional preferences. RESULTS: Evidence in favor of the first three propositions of the theoretical model could be found. Specialists show a stronger association to higher populated districts than GPs. Although indicators for regional preferences are significantly correlated with physician density, their coefficients are not as high as population density. CONCLUSIONS: If regional disparities should be addressed by political actions, the focus should be to counteract those parameters representing physicians' preferences in over- and undersupplied regions.

AbstractEnvironmental factors contribute to the risk for adverse health outcomes against a background of genetic predisposition. Among these factors, chemical exposures may substantially contribute to disease risk and adverse outcomes. In fact, epidemiological cohort studies have established associations between exposure against individual chemicals and adverse health effects. Yet, in daily life individuals are exposed to complex mixtures in varying compositions. To capture the totality of environmental exposures the concept of the exposome has been developed. Here, we undertake an overview of major exposome projects, which pioneered the field of exposomics and explored the links between chemical exposure and health outcomes using cohort studies. We seek to reflect their achievements with regard to (i) capturing a comprehensive picture of the environmental chemical exposome, (ii) aggregating internal exposures using chemical and bioanalytical means of detection, and (iii) identifying associations that provide novel options for risk assessment and intervention. Various complementary approaches can be distinguished in addressing relevant exposure routes and it emerges that individual exposure histories may not easily be grouped. The number of chemicals for which human exposure can be detected is substantial and highlights the reality of mixture exposures. Yet, to a large extent it depends on targeted chemical analysis with the specific challenges to capture all relevant exposure routes and assess the chemical concentrations occurring in humans. The currently used approaches imply prior knowledge or hypotheses about relevant exposures. Typically, the number of chemicals considered in exposome projects is counted in dozens—in contrast to the several thousands of chemicals for which occurrence have been reported in human serum and urine. Furthermore, health outcomes are often still compared to single chemicals only. Moreover, explicit consideration of mixture effects and the interrelations between different outcomes to support causal relationships and identify risk drivers in complex mixtures remain underdeveloped and call for specifically designed exposome-cohort studies.

Comunicació presentada a: IRCOBI Conference 2014, celebrada a Berlín, Alemanya, del 10 al 12 de setembre de 2014 ; National accident statistics in European countries as well as in many other countries are based on data recorded by the police. Generally, such data also include police reported estimates of the injury severity of accident victims. While the number of traffic fatalities is usually very reliable, information on the number of surviving casualties and the severity of their injuries is of a lesser quality. Latest policy approaches such as the EU Vision 2020, however, shift the focus from fatalities to the seriously injured. To formulate reasonable targets for reducing the number of persons seriously injured in traffic accidents, detailed information on the injury severity is needed for assessing the status quo as well as for monitoring the progress. Recent approaches to improve the data basis therefore call for a classification of injury severity using the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS). Serious injuries in terms of MAIS3+ are of particular concern. While there is currently no general agreement on how such data should be derived, different recommendations are available (see e.g. [1]). In this study an approach to combine Swiss national accident data and hospital data was explored [2]. AIS codes were derived based on available ICD data. Similar approaches were already performed in the past (e.g. [3‐ 5]), but are not available for standard use. This study thus highlights the need for international harmonisation of methods by which AIS data should be established if comparable data is to be obtained.

Background: While congenital choledochal malformation (CCM) is relatively well known within the pediatric surgical and pediatric gastroenterological communities, many controversies and questions remain. Methods: In this paper, we will discuss the results of an international Delphi survey among members of the European Reference Network RARE-LIVER and of the faculty of the Biliary Atresia and Related Diseases (BARD) network to identify the most common practices as well as controversies regarding diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of this still enigmatic disease. Results: Twenty-two individual respondents completed the survey. While there seems to be agreement on the definitions of CCM, preoperative workup, surgical approach and follow-up still vary considerably. The mainstay of treatment remains the removal of the entire extrahepatic biliary tract, clearance of debris both proximally and distally, followed by reconstruction with (according to 86% of respondents) a Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy. Nonetheless, both laparoscopic and robotic-assisted resections are gaining ground with the suggestion that this might be facilitated by concentration of care and resources in specialized centers. However, long-term outcomes are still lacking. Conclusions: As even post-surgical CCM has to be considered as having premalignant potential, follow-up should be well-organized and continued into adulthood. This seems to be lacking in many centers. International cooperation for both benchmarking and research is paramount to improving care for this rare disease.