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Multiple sclerosis is a complex, autoimmune-mediated disease of the central nervous system characterized by inflammatory demyelination and axonal/neuronal damage. The approval of various disease-modifying therapies and our increased understanding of disease mechanisms and evolution in recent years have significantly changed the prognosis and course of the disease. This update of the Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Consensus Group treatment recommendation focuses on the most important recommendations for disease-modifying therapies of multiple sclerosis in 2021. Our recommendations are based on current scientific evidence and apply to those medications approved in wide parts of Europe, particularly German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Background: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a severe, life-limiting neurodegenerative disease. A disease-modifying and approved therapy with nusinersen has been available in Germany since July 2017. Gene therapies offer another promising treatment option through a once in a lifetime administration. In May 2019 a gene replacement therapy for the treatment of SMA was approved for the first time by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). An application for approval in Europe has been submitted and is currently pending., Objective: This consensus paper was compiled at the invitation of the German Society for Muscular Diseases (DGM) with the participation of all potential German neuromuscular treatment centers, the German section of the Society for Pediatric Neurology (GNP) and with the involvement of the medical scientific advisory board of the DGM. The aim was to define and establish the necessary prerequisites for a safe and successful application of the new gene replacement therapy in clinical practice., Conclusion: Gene replacement therapy with onasemnogene abeparvovec has the potential to significantly influence the course of SMA. Long-term data on sustainability of effects and possible adverse effects of gene replacement therapy are not yet available. The application of this innovative therapy must be carried out in specialized and appropriately qualified treatment centers under strict safety conditions. This article makes suggestions for the necessary framework conditions and gives recommendations for a systematic pretreatment and posttreatment assessment schedule under gene therapy. The effectiveness and safety of the therapy should be systematically documented in an industry-independent and disease-specific register.

Providing expert opinion in the context of smell disorders is often challenging, not only with regard to general aspects of providing an expert opinion but particularly with regard to chemosensory testing. Currently there is no consensus which chemosensory test should be selected and how they should be executed. This positions paper from Committee on Olfaction and Gustation of the German Society of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery aims to give concrete recommendations for chemosensory testing for providing expert opinion for smell disorders with regard to the selection and execution of these test., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Despite great advances in the pathophysiology and etiology of myocarditis, the clinical diagnosis of myocarditis in daily clinical practise remains challenging. Often the diagnosis was not clear because of the heterogeneity of clinical symptoms and the lack of guidelines for adequate diagnostic requirements and consecutive treatment options. The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Working Group on Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases established a working group of experts to improve the diagnosis and management of myocarditis and to provide a common consensus statement as a reference for future registries and controlled trials. The goal was to bridge the gap between clinical- and tissue-based diagnosis by formulating a concept concerning essential diagnostics and treatment of these patients that would be accepted across Europe. Only in this manner is it possible to establish a basis for national and international registries and double-blind randomized treatment trials for the etiologically differentiated treatment of myocarditis, which appear promising due to numerous studies in recent years. In this paper, two members from the expert working group summarize the most important aspects of this position paper on the etiology, diagnosis, management, and treatment of myocarditis, which were published in the July 2013 issue of European Heart Joumal.

The process of reviewing the European pharmaceutical legislation resulted in a codex, which contains two new instruments related to marketing authorisation of biological medicines: Plasma Master File (PMF) and Vaccine Antigen Master File (VAMF). In the manufacture of plasma derivatives (e. g. coagulation factors, albumin, immunoglobulins), usually the same starting material, i. e. a plasma pool, is used for several products. In the case of vaccines, the same active substance, i.e. vaccine antigen, may be included in several combination vaccine products. The intention behind the introduction of PMF and VAMF was to avoid unnecessary and redundant documentation, and to improve and harmonise assessment by means of procedures for certification of master files on the community level.

This article (which is dedicated to the German professor Alfred Haverkamp) focuses on the expulsions of Jews in Europe during the Middle Ages. Several topics are discussed, including how the Prussian King Frederick II wrote letters protecting Jews after his ancestor Rupert II expelled the Prussian Jews, how the French Kings Philip II, August, and Louis VIII all mistreated the Jews when they first came into power, and how Jewish communities and Jewish individuals were often expelled without warning or reason during the Middle Ages.

The article presents information about a research program to be released by a European committee in 2007. The program is intended to facilitate European users' access to digital information, as well as to increase digital library user rates. An additional goal is noted as the sharing of digital information between all European libraries. A call for papers is announced for the period between June 2007 and October 4, 2007.

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Copyright of Praehistorische Zeitschrift is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

So far, the history of early Medieval glassmakers has mainly been derived from archaeological sources. Significant in this context was, more than half a century ago, the discovery of a new glass recipe, which began to spread in Europe from the 'deepest' early Middle Ages; the question of how this could develop is still subject of various discussions. A new contribution was published by Alexis Wilkin in 2019. According to this contribution, the early Medieval glass artisans owed the technological foundations of their new recipe to their collaboration with metal artisans. There is some clear evidence for this theory, but besides the technical innovation the social conditions of the artisans should not be forgotten. The glassmakers of the early Middle Ages were not free entrepreneurs, in the historical texts they are dependent on their landlords. This dependency, however, gives rise to a purely historical method of investigation: new finds of early Medieval glassworks manufactured according to the altered glass recipe can be assigned to the territories of specific landlords. This paper examines the extent to which family connections can be made visible in the passing on of glassmakers belonging to these families, perhaps also in the development of the new glass recipe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The aim of this paper is to analyze the image of Europe in the non-fictional texts of Miroslav KRLEŽA and Karl-Markus GAUß, considering the role of the writer as a cultural mediator. Particular attention is paid to the role of Karl-Markus GAUß as central for the reception of works of the Croatian classical writer Miroslav KRLEŽA in the German-speaking area, as well as to his essays Tinte ist bitter. Literarische Porträts aus Barbaropa (1998) and Die Vernichtung Mitteleuropas (1991). The paper also presents a critical attitude towards the European past common to both the authors, especially with regard to the position of both of them on discursive concepts of Central Europe and Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the ecdesiological insights gained in the consultation on church and church fellowship between representatives of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE) and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. In the introduction, the formation of this conversation and its significance for the ecumenical movement in Europe is discussed. Then the approach in the understanding of the church is reflected on the differentiation of the foundation, shape and mission of the church, which proceeds from the implicit reference of the CPCE church study to the understanding of the church in Lume n Ge n tium. The explication is an ecumenical learning process that points the way for further conversations on ecclesiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Before the nineteenth century, philosophical works by women are scarcely documented, if at all, almost everywhere in the world. However, this fact has so far caused little concern to the vast majority of authors of the most diverse narratives of histories of philosophy worldwide. Due to a predominantly masculine perspective in the discipline, the exclusion of women from the canon of the history of philosophy continues to be repeated to this day. This tendency also affects the endeavours since the 1980s to reconstruct and document non-European philosophical traditions as well as to integrate them into a global discourse. A contemporary revision of the canon of the history of philosophy, however, cannot take place solely from an intercultural or global perspective; it must also address and correct patriarchal structures of exclusion - in all regions of the world. The paper discusses the specific challenges of reconstructing the history of women philosophers outside of Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Cultivated Plants / Journal für Kulturpflanzen is the property of Verlag Eugen Ulmer and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Up till now, Karl-Markus Gauß has published five volumes of what has often been described as “journals”: Mit mir, ohne mich (2002), Von nah, von fern (2003), Zu früh, zu spät (2007), Ruhm am Nachmittag (2012) and Der Alltag der Welt (2015). The emphasis of this paper lies on the first two of these volumes which are labelled respectively as “Ein Journal” and “Ein Jahresbuch”. A special focus lies on thematic continuities, such as the historical and present peripheries of Europe and its populations and questions linked to the construction of identity. Gauß (self-)reflects critically on the historical roots of contemporary phenomena, which are often taken from medial incidents. The study shows aspects of the texts’ construction character. The crossing of boundaries on the thematic level is reflected in the transcending of literary genres: Gauß’ texts merge different genres into new shapes; his narration can be understood as a kind of resistance to cotemporary superficiality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Industrielle Beziehungen is the property of Rainer Hampp Verlag and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the European historiography on social inequality one aspect is strikingly missing: the ecological aspect. Therefore, this paper introduces the concept of "environmental justice" to the discussion. The concept originally stems from a US-social movement that emerged in the 1980s. Today, "environmental justice" is at the same time a social claim, a political principle, as well as an academic concept. While the concept entered the discourse of several academic disciplines from sociology to public-health studies, it is still seldom used in European historiography. This paper argues that "environmental justice" can be employed as an analytic category especially in economic, social, and environmental history, while at the same time being able to connect these disciplines. With the example of the introduction of centralised water infrastructures in European cities, the article explores difficulties and potentials of an application of the "environmental justice"- concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Praxis der Kinderpsychologie und Kinderpsychiatrie is the property of Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article argues for a broader understanding of the history of occupation on the basis of the spatial theory of Henri Lefebvre. In a first step, the Generalplan Ost as designed by Nazi organizers and experts is read as a Nazi representation of space. Moving on from this organization of space, the appropriation of space is examined in a discussion of actual occupation policy in Eastern Europe. Here the Nazi plans for the spatialization of racism were made reality. With the extension of the history of occupation in mind, the paper then moves on from the perspective of the occupier and the focus on planning and execution, to look with Lefebvre at two other dimensions of space: the lived space of everyday life and the associated spatial practices. In doing so the focus is shifted to the actors living in that space, that is, both the occupiers and the occupied populations. Using the example of prisoner of war camps as a clear manifestation of the state of occupation, the practices that emerged in reaction to them will be analysed, revealing both specific patterns of solidarity in a society in a state of occupation and spatial practices ostracizing Jews in urban and rural communities. The paper thus shows that geographies of occupation, although rooted analytically in the occupiers' representations of space and the ideologies, power relationships and knowledge regimes associated therewith, cannot stop there and need to look at the space of the occupied and their everyday experience. The geographies of power and powerlessness that emerge need to be examined in a wider history of occupation, demonstrating that the mass murder of the European Jews could only take place under the specific conditions of war and occupation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The classicist scholar Gottfried Ernst Groddeck (1762-1825) came into literary history thanks to his students, mainly Adam Mickiewicz. Although a gifted pupil of Christian Gottlieb Heyne, he gained only local fame; neither he nor any of his works was broadly known. Groddeck's professional career, however, deserves careful attention, for it is a conspicuous example of increasing academic mobility in Central Europe at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. The paper looks at the biography and work of Groddeck from the network perspective in order to examine the various mechanisms characteristic of networks of savants. In the first part, an analysis of some structuring features of scientific networks is provided. In the second part, the author presents the different roles and spheres in which Groddeck acted, for between 1782 and 1786 he was a student of Heyne in Göttingen, then a librarian and private teacher at the Court of the Prince Czartoryski in Puławy, and eventually Professor for Greek and Latin Languages and Literature at the Imperial University of Vilnius (1803-1825). In all these positions he stayed in contact with other men of letters in Göttingen, Berlin, Leipzig, Wien as well as in Puławy, Vilnius, Dorpat, Moscow and Paris. Among them, there were personal friends, employers as well as pen partners personally unknown to him. Groddeck's correspondence enables us to reconstruct the various dimensions of the international and local networks in which he participated. What is at stake are rules regulating relations, obligations and hierarchies within both informal and more formalized scientific coalitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Jahrbuch der Europäischen Integration is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Roughly during the last decade, European Competition Policy has undergone a series of fundamental changes. All four areas - cartel policy, merger policy, abuse control, and state aid control - have been subject to a modernization process, which led to a focus on analysing the effects of individual cases and established a tendency towards deciding each case on its individual merits. These changes can be understood as a move away from rule-based competition policy towards a case-by-case approach. The case-by-case approach especially includes consensual arrangements, so-called 'deals' between the competition authority and business companies. Therefore, this paper will discuss the pros and cons of 'deals' as an instrument of (European) competition policy. The paper's central focus lies on the economic analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of using consensual arrangements as a relevant instrument of European competition policy. With respect to European competition policy, we conclude that we need to issue a note of caution. From an economic perspective, an expansion of consensual elements necessarily walks hand in hand with a continual weakening of the protection of competition. Consumer welfare will not benefit from expanding the role and importance of consensual arrangements as a means of European competition policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the request of the Jewish Middle/ Middle-East-European immigrants for images, impressions, feelings and memories from their native lands, which Aaron Lebedeff masterfully captured in his American-Jewish musicals. The paper focuses on multiculturalism and multilingualism in overlapping regions of extended cultural areas, particularly in territories along the borders of Middle/Middle-East-European states, which don't form any abrupt cultural barriers. Using the example of a in our time in Jewish milieus worldwide frequently played quadrilingual song from Aaron Lebedeff about Romania (with the German translation of the complete version from 1925), the paper conveys the role of Yiddish as a major dialect of the German as a worldwide carrier of this language as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Arbeit is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper looks at the European Union's involvement in the Western Balkans and points out some of the imminent problems when dealing with a region with disputed territorial issues and trying to support reform processes in countries with divided societies. Although the Western Balkans and the South Caucasus can hardly be compared with each other, at least when it comes to the engagement of the EU, it can be assumed that similar strategies will be pursued and policy instruments deployed. Therefore, it is useful to identify some lessons taken from the Western Balkans that are applicable for the South Caucasus. The paper deals 1) with the controversies on Kosovo's independence and the problems of the EU to deal with its consequences, and 2) with the EU's efforts to support the constitutional and police reform processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to illustrate the challenges the EU faces when it has to deal with a "divided" country. In the second part, the paper looks at the EU's engagement in the South Caucasus, where the EU might play a similar role in the future as it does in the Balkans. The investigations demonstrate that European foreign policy has often lacked consistent strategies towards the Western Balkans, which prevented the EU from achieving "satisfactory" outcomes in its neighbourhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Language in Different Contexts / Kalba ir Kontekstai is the property of Vytautas Magnus University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Savings banks succeeded in a breakthrough across many parts of North, Central and Western Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. This wave of foundations was based on the imitation of the first savings banks from the continent, and in particular, the early British savings banks. Nevertheless, different patterns in terms of organisation and investment of deposits were rapidly formed due to local conditions. This paper explores the experiences that were gained with the concepts of private and public management as well as with central and local investment schemes in a short and a long term perspective. The international comparison shows that in the long run major disadvantages emerged for savings banks with central deposit management but without loan services. Furthermore, the fate of savings banks during the 19th and 20th century can be explained with path dependencies that derive from the policy decisions that were made during the wave of foundations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1960s and 1970s, political debates in East Central Europe and Western Europe were influenced by the idea of convergence between the capitalist and the socialist systems that dominated Europe. After 1989, the idea of convergence was replaced by ideas that revolved around the one-sided adaptation of “Europeanization" and “transformation". Despite the great political and economic success of the transformation process, the concept of an “ever closer European Union" has lost its attractiveness in East Central Europe. Drawing on current political and cultural debates in East Central Europe, the paper argues that it is the asymmetrical nature of the transformation and the process of Europeanization that is causing new divergences in Europe today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, so called monarchical orders were founded at many European courts. These orders cultivated a splendid knightly culture, although the great age of chivalry seemed long to be over. By comparing two of these orders, the Order of the Golden Fleece and the Order of the Crescent, this paper examines the role of their founders, Philipp of Burgundy and René of Anjou, and their relationship towards the other members based on the statutes of both institutions. Therefore this paper focusses on the constitutional shaping of the orders as well as on different processes of decision-making and symbolic semantics, which played an essential role at different events. It is argued that while René of Anjou emphasized the aspect of equality by different means, Philipp of Burgundy presented himself as a primus inter pares, being both a brother and a lord. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligence offices emerged in European urban centers beginning in the seventeenth century. Most were privately run institutions and procured work, goods, real estate, and capital. They registered requests in protocol ledgers and sometimes published them in advertising papers. The registration procedures that intelligence offices imposed on job seekers contributed to surveillance and disciplinary power. The data stored by information offices were coveted by the authorities, and in some cases, the existence of intelligence offices inspired far-reaching fantasies of control that aimed to transform them into registration or credit information offices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Applied & Regional Geology / Zeitschrift der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geowissenschaften (ZDGG) is the property of E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Southeast Europe’s economic backwardness and very slow industrialization prior to 1945 continues, even in recent research, to be attributed to an unproductive peasant economy and traditional peasant society. However, the radical paradigm shift in the view of peasants as agents of economic growth and of their ability to adjust to modern growth after 1960 has surprisingly never been highlighted in economic history research on the Balkan-states (Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Greece). Interpreting agricultural development as a mainly demand-driven process this paper argues that the potential for agricultural growth was much more restricted in the Southeast than the Northwest of Europe but that Balkan peasants seem to have exploited their growth potential as far as possible. There is a lot of evidence that the reasons for sluggish industrialization before 1940 were definitely not rooted in 'peasant traditionalism' as often claimed by Balkan elites and many scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Politik is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

After heavy rains and rapid thaw in February 2012, the dam of an artificial lake broke and the water flooded the village Biser. It took the lives of six people, destroyed 56 houses and damaged many others. What does this flood tell us about society is the general question of this paper. Empirically, it is based on ethnographic fieldwork in Biser and in other Bulgarian villages and small towns that have been flooded over the past ten years as well as on the analysis of publications in the media. The first section of the paper uses as a starting point the conceptual definition of natural disasters as phenomena that occur at the intersection of nature and society. It shows that political, economic and social practices have a share in the causation of floods. Mismanagement or neglect of infrastructure, improper or unauthorized use of reservoirs, illegal exploitation of sand and gravel from the rivers, and disposal of household waste and building rubble in the rivers belong to the “potentially destructive agents” that accumulate problems, create unsafe conditions and generate “natural” disasters. From another theoretical point of view, disasters are conceptualized as “empirical windows upon the inner working of society” that give us insights into values, attitudes, practices, and processes which are dominant in a particular society. In the Bulgarian case, these include indifference and even irresponsibility of politicians, experts, and “common” people towards the public sphere (outdoor space, infrastructure, regulations, laws, common interests, welfare), lack of long-term planning, and focus on short-term profits that is characterized by both disrespect of legal norms and disregard of safety rules and measures. The second section deals with the political use of rescue operations, social assistance, and reconstruction in Biser. Disaster management was simultaneously carried out as a political image campaign and reconstruction became an arena for political activism. The central government pushed itself into the spotlight in the role of local crisis manager. Using the media, politicians focused public attention on their assisting and rebuilding projects (material and financial aid, compensation, reconstruction of damaged houses, construction of new houses). The third section shows how aid and reconstruction caused a new disaster, a social one. The recovering projects and the resource allocation turned into “destructive agents” that triggered social conflicts. The initially single group of flood-affected people was disintegrated into several groups that were defined by the type and the amount of material and financial aid they received. Envy, mutual distrust, competition and even hostility broke out. Since the reconstruction followed a top-down approach and was guided by political decisions, it largely neglected local social reality. It did not return the village back to normal, as the government wanted, but rather it reshaped and restructured the village both physically and socially. Thus the reconstruction has some similarities with the 25 years long post-socialist transition: It created winners and losers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we summarize recent research on the effects of European regional policy. Results point to a positive effect of this policy on average. One Euro spent even tends to generate more than one Euro in return in terms of GDP. However, the response varies drastically across recipient regions. First of all, there is evidence of existence of an optimum fun ding ratio (funds allocated relative to recipient GDP) where one Euro invested generates one Euro of return. About 36 percent of the regions receive higher funding than that, where one Euro generates less than one Euro of return (and, eventually, no return at all). Second, there is evidence of a bigger return on inves tment in regions with hi gher absorptive capacity level -- measured by human capital endowments and the quality of recipient institutions. Insufficient levels of absorptive capacity lead to a wash of the Union's transfers. About 70 percent of the regions exhibit such an insufficient level of absorptive capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]