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In the 1980s, the environmental movements that gained strength in the countries of the Western Bloc in the second half of the 20th century built connections with the environmentalists of the Eastern Bloc. Such a connection point was the protest against the construction of the planned hydroelectric power plants on the Danube in Hainburg in Austria, Gabcikovo in Czechoslovakia, and Nagymaros in Hungary. The paper examines mainly the Hungarian-Austrian relations: while the demonstrations on the eastern side of the Iron Curtain contributed to the regime changes in 1989, the Austrian side became financially interested in the construction of hydroelectric power plants in Hungary. The paper examines the environmental movements' pre-history, connection, and survival after the system changes, emphasizing both the development of cross-border relations and of the civil movements, with regard to the governments and the INGOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overall, income inequality in Austria is moderate and has been stable in recent years. However, a look at employment statistics reveals important inequality trends in the labour market. This paper highlights five important shifts in the composition of the labour force: (i) a massive increase in female labour force participation; (ii) large shifts in the distribution of education; (iii) trends towards part‐time work among women as well as men; (iv) persistent gender gaps in market and non‐market work of parents; and (v) an increase in labour migration with a substantial share of cross‐border commuters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Experts are a favorite source of information in the news media as they have the ability to provide balanced and authoritative comments on important issues. However, two factors cast doubt on the extent to which such experts can actually provide balanced information: conflicts of interest and areas of expertise. In this paper, we analyze the use of expert voices during the COVID pandemic in two Austrian broadsheet papers. Methods: We examine the use of reporting verbs employed to indicate the journalists' stance towards the expert comments as well as the relationship of those comments to the experts' fields of expertise and to any potential conflicts of interest. Results: Our analysis shows that the media uncritically reported experts that had considerable conflicts of interest, while others were permitted to comment on topics far outside their particular fields. Conclusions: In the absence of journalistic scrutiny, distance, and context, both of these practices are likely to have led audiences to take the experts' comments at face value and therefore to have embraced unbalanced information that amplified official narratives, to the exclusion of alternative voices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The supply of social housing has been marked by erosion and decline in most Western Europe countries since the 1990s, albeit with considerable variation in timing, speed and degree. Recently, it has been suggested that the sector has kept a more prominent position at the local level, at least in some cities. This paper scrutinizes this claim by comparing the development of social housing in two cities in two distinct national housing systems that have traditionally had a strong commitment to social housing: Vienna and Helsinki. To do so, we build a multi-dimensional framework that encompasses sector size, stock privatization, new housing production, and residualization. We empirically demonstrate a remarkable stability along these dimensions in both cases, albeit with some differences in degree. A number of factors need to be considered to explain this stability. They relate to aspects of institutional design of the social housing systems, as well as to continuity in policies at national and local levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Türkiyat Mecmuasi is the property of Istanbul University, Institute of Turkish Studies 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.)

Religious education in schools was, for a long time, liturgically shaped until liturgical formation was no longer seen as a task of schools but of parish catechesis in many countries. Current approaches try to develop a liturgical didactic that is adapted to the school as a place of learning. Based on the confessional model of religious education in Austria, this paper shows the challenges and significance of liturgical formation in reference to Pope Francis' letter Desiderio Desideravi. In combining perspectives of religious education and liturgical studies, the necessary conditions for liturgical formation to succeed are shown. A didactic of Catholic liturgy that builds on established didactics and strives for liturgical formation on the cutting edge is presented, adapted to the setting of schools and distinct from parish catechesis. One way of responding to the lack of experience is with the help of performative didactics to enable practical experiences that, framed in reflection, form the basis for engagement with the liturgy. Such a liturgical didactic aims at enabling competence in matters of worship, considering all people, if a renewed understanding of liturgy is taken seriously, according to which worship is the celebration of the whole assembly and therefore requires a corresponding participation of all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flood risk management (FRM) is facing various challenges, such as climate change and biodiversity losses. Traditional structural FRM measures are now not always feasible as responses to these challenges. One answer might be the use of policy experiments to promote innovation. This paper aims to assess and to explain why innovations in FRM are rarely implemented. We analysed seven innovative strategies across Austria that combine several different approaches. Each is concerned with risk reduction systems designed to save space, time and possible rising costs. The research used 76 qualitative standardised semi‐structured interviews with key FRM experts conducted between 2012 and 2021 in order to examine transition pathways through time. The results show that there exist numerous drivers and barriers to debating, designing and implementing FRM innovations. The capture of transition pathways nevertheless shows the system shift from a more traditional understanding towards a transformative path, which created new understandings of the role of the different actors in FRM as well as new institutional settings. However, these policy experiments were still led by the relevant public administrations as they are the main funders, the principal actors in the planning and implementation phases in the realisation of many of these innovations. Flood risk management (FRM) is facing various challenges, such as climate change or biodiversity losses. One answer might be the use of policy experiments to promote innovation. This paper aims to assess and to explain why innovations in FRM are rarely implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Digital Education Review is the property of University of Barcelona, Virtual Teaching & Learning Research Group 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.)

Background: Demographic change and the rise of diabetes mellitus are leading to a projected increase in the prevalence of chronic wounds. People suffering from chronic wounds experience significant losses in their health-related quality of life. Health systems struggle to meet the needs of these persons, even in high-income countries. This paper explores wound nurses' perspectives on their professional practice in Austria. They play a key role as they do much of the treatment work, contribute to advancing the field, and enable interprofessional coordination. Their perspectives enable insights into how a health system provides care for elderly and chronically ill people. Methods: We used the Constructivist Grounded Theory framework to analyse transcripts of 14 semi-structured qualitative interviews with nurses who work in different treatment settings. Results: We identified three themes. Firstly, the interviewees characterise working with patients as a balancing act between offering enough support to build a trustful relationship while protecting themselves against the overwhelming situation of caring for a chronically ill person. Secondly, the interviewees compensate for nonexistent care pathways by building informal networks with doctors, which requires delicate relationship work. Thirdly, the study participants must prove their competence in every new professional encounter. Their need for professional autonomy clashes with the traditional doctor-nurse hierarchy. Based on these insights, we propose a grounded theory that conceives of nursing practice in terms of 'acts of negotiations'. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that wound nurses in Austria operate in an institutional environment whose outdated imagination of the nursing role is at odds with the care demands that arise from a growing number of elderly and chronically ill people. We detailed the 'acts of negotiation' nurses deploy to compensate for this situation. We identify areas for policy intervention to strengthen the autonomy of wound nurses, including access to statutory health insurance billing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Country comparisons, often suffering from unobserved heterogeneity and obscuring subnational variation, dominate the social policy literature. However, the subnational level is better suited to reduce the omitted variable bias. This article distinguishes between social consumption and social investment policies and investigates their determinants at the subnational level. Following the literature across countries, we test the role of incumbent parties' ideology, but for within-country variation in social policy. Austria is a case in point because states have discretion in social policy (e.g., regarding public childcare and social assistance). Panel regressions covering all nine states in Austria for the years 1991 to 2019 reveal that the cabinet share of Social-Democrats increases social investment spending, while the Christian-Democratic party decreases it, and the populist radical right party reduces expenses for social consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropospheric ozone is an air pollutant that poses a public health problem in Europe. Climate change could increase the formation of ozone. Applying past and predicted annual total (all-cause) mortality data and modeled daily ozone concentrations, we performed a nationwide health impact assessment estimating annual ozone-related (attributable) deaths in Austria. Different approaches were compared. Estimates were based on maximal 1-h averages of ozone. Until the decade from 2045 till 2055, more people will die in Austria because of the demographic trends. Therefore, more deaths will also be attributable to ozone. Higher greenhouse gas emission scenarios (e.g. Representative Concentration Pathway RCP8.5 compared to RCP2.6) will lead to more ozone-related deaths, mostly due to the national emission of ozone precursors (a difference of 250–340 cases per year, depending on the model), but to a lesser extent because of global climate change. Increases in attributable deaths will be affected mostly by national, not global mitigation measures. National emission reduction will certainly have a strong and beneficial effect on local atmospheric chemistry, air quality, and public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across Europe, there is a trend to re-focus social housing on the most economically vulnerable groups ("residualisation"). We investigate whether this trend is also observed in Austria, a conservative welfare state with a social housing system open to a broad range of households and a long tradition of municipal housing. Using data from 1995 to 2018, we estimate residualisation indicators that compare the income of social housing tenants with other housing sectors. Based on tenants' income, we find that municipal housing has become more residualised. This contrasts with Austria's social housing allocation policy, where generous income limits remain important cornerstones. For limited-profit housing associations (LPHAs), we observe a smaller residualisation trend (mainly outside the capital Vienna), which has gained momentum since the early 2010s. This remedies the Austrian peculiarity that the LPHA sector was a middle-income tenure rather than a safety net for the poor. For both types of social housing, a growing income gap with owners is noticeable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many studies which compared the publication and citation patterns among different research disciplines. However, one level below, potential differences within disciplines are not as well researched. Our article contributes to the research of said level by investigating the publication and citation behaviours of ten sub-disciplines of business administration and the potential differences between them. Of particular interest is a comparison of Operations Research with the other nine sub-disciplines. As research method, we conducted a scientometric analysis covering 283 professors at Austrian universities that offer a business administration program. Their publications over a ten-years period and the citations they have accumulated were retrieved from Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus. The results unveil strong differences between the analysed ten sub-disciplines, which are partially even greater than those between overall disciplines. Due to its interdisciplinary nature, we expected to see some peculiarities in the results for Operations Research. Authors from this sub-discipline are very present in WoS and Scopus. This sub-discipline achieves the highest average number of publications per researcher, and the highest self-citation rate. Apart from Operations Research, some other sub-disciplines also showed particular characteristics. This concerns especially Accounting, where publications often appear in German and in practitioner journals due to their national legalistic content. As was expected, Scopus overall has a higher coverage than WoS. However, the extent varies strongly among sub-disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this exploratory paper, we discuss local cultural political tensions in Austria's three largest cities (Vienna, Graz, and Linz). Against the backdrop of COVID-19, which hampered, yet also created new opportunities to host cultural events in public space, we analyze large-scale cultural events (Vienna and Graz), and a newly emerging cultural policy theme (Linz). Drawing on 30 qualitative interviews with cultural politicians, administrators, cultural producers, and artists (2020–2022), situational mapping, and the analysis of media coverage, we unpack (1) agential conflicts that manifest in unequal access to funding and decision-making; (2) symbolic conflicts that variously instrumentalize culture; (3) procedural conflicts that problematize lack of transparency and collaboration; and (4) spatial conflicts that materialize in diverging views about safety, cleanliness, and ownership of public space between state and self-organized cultural actors. Ultimately, we argue for a conflict-oriented approach to cultural policy to grasp the interrelations between power, agency, and space in cultural politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Social Work is the property of Routledge 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.)

Background: The SARS-CoV2 pandemic as well as the implementation of public health measures to decrease the spread of the virus re-sparked the call for "virtual" health or "distance" treatments. This paper aimed to assess the use of video consultations, the up-to-dateness of practice websites, and the views of GPs on whether eHealth is a positive aspect for the future of their practices in publicly -funded primary healthcare facilities in Austria. Methods: The cross-sectional online questionnaire, part of the PRICOV-19 study, was conducted from December 2020 until July 2021. We randomly recruited 176 GP practices across Austria. Descriptive statistics as well as binary logistic regression models were applied to examine the associations between telemedicine use and practice factors. Results: Compared with before the pandemic (3.8%), 7.6% of publicly funded GP practices have been using video consultations since the pandemic. In line with this, 93.9% of the practices had no increase in video consultation use. Fewer than half (44.3%) had an up-to-date webpage, and 27.8% assumed that the pandemic might have been a positive driver for eHealth in their practices. Positive associations with video consultation use could be found in practices with fewer patients aged 70 years and over than the average and more patients with chronic diseases than the average. Conclusion: The use of video consultations in general practice and the readiness for other telemedicine approaches are both very low in Austria. Austria has to urgently follow the example of countries with a transparent and comprehensive national digital health strategy that includes video consultation. Without a proper payment system, patient inclusion, and support with regard to administrative and organizational aspects, no substantial change will occur in spite of an increase in need due to the pandemic and changes in the patient population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, several countries have implemented paid parental leave for parents. This paper discusses the correlation between paid parental leave—which in Austria corresponds with receiving childcare benefits—and changing gender role attitudes in different-gender parent couples. It draws on evidence from 42 semi-structured couple interviews (n = 42, 2021–2022) in which couples were asked how they arranged childcare, employment, and household chores and how they reached agreements with employers. The empirical data were first analyzed based on content and then by applying constructivist-informed grounded theory to investigate whether and how gender affected couples' efforts to reconcile childcare, employment, and household chores and how employers responded to parental arrangements that challenged traditional gender role attitudes. Compared to other countries, Austria offers rather generous childcare benefits, including long leave periods. In addition, Austria has introduced a partnership bonus for parents who share childcare benefits 50:50 or 60:40. However, the number of couples who take advantage of these benefits is still low. In the presented research, parents who succeeded in sharing these childcare benefits were interviewed. All interviewees had taken at least five months of paid parental leave. The data were analyzed using a content-oriented approach and by applying informed grounded theory. The results show that a substantial number of fathers continued working in minor employment while receiving childcare benefits, in line with the prevailing assumption among employers that the man is the main family breadwinner. By contrast, mothers had to strongly insist that they could continue working during the early transition to parenthood. However, on an individual level and in specific domains, Austrian parents were able to successfully overcome traditional gender inequalities in reconciling work and family with the support of the newly implemented childcare benefits. The observation that in Austria, the share of fathers who take the income-related form of parental leave is higher than that of fathers who claim other forms of childcare benefits points to the importance of all parents having access to well-compensated parental leave, regardless of their income level before the birth of a child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines the procedure of employing novel software tools within a series of participatory workshops designed for measuring and monitoring the resilience of Austria's socioeconomic system based on network analysis and systems research. This study employs the principles of the four-stage adaptive cycle to quantify the perspectives of major stakeholders regarding resilience readiness in Austrian society and to explore the implications. At the FASresearch company in Vienna, 278 representatives from 15 key sectors of Austrian society were asked to estimate the resilience of their respective sectors and identify the key resilience factors for each sector. Results pinpoint the most critical stakeholders and resilience factors, highlight the importance of quality relationships among stakeholders, and indicate that while stakeholders accurately perceive the stages of growth (r), equilibrium (K), and regeneration (α), they tend to underestimate the significance of the final (Ω) stage of the adaptive cycle, characterized by disturbance and collapse of outdated systems. Improved recognition and preparation for each stage may result in the increased resilience of each sector to potential crises in the future. Notably, perspectives regarding resilience in the face of a crisis were gathered prior to the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, in addition to fulfilling an analytic-diagnostic function, resilience monitoring techniques are also intended as an adaptive tool for novel resilience management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a border river, the Thaya not only separates the Czech and Austrian territories, but also requires joint management. One long-term cross-border problem is pollution by waste-water from the Pernhofen factory, which has flowed from Austria to Czechoslovakia / Czech Republic. This paper traces the resolution of the problem in bilateral relations since the 1960s. The most serious incident occurred in the year 1984, as the pollution caused a massive die-off of the fish stock in Nové Mlýny reservoirs, and the problem required discussion on the political level. In general terms, this paper illustrates the possibilities of environmental diplomacy in the regional agenda during and after the Cold War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we provide novel findings regarding the distributional effects of the global financial and economic crisis and how redistribution operated during this time, using detailed data for Austria. We construct distributional national accounts for the period 2004–2016 by combining survey data, tabulated tax data, and detailed national accounts data. The comprehensive data set allows us to analyze the distribution of macroeconomic income growth across the income distribution and to explore the evolution of income inequality over time. Our results suggest that as the distribution of growth changed over time, this had considerable repercussions for inequality, which started to decline at the very beginning of the economic and financial crisis, but increased again after 2012. We find that capital income largely determined both the level and the dynamics of income inequality. Government spending was found to play a key role for redistributive effects across the income distribution. In particular, in‐kind transfers redistributed pre‐tax income to a large extent. Our results show further that individuals with lower educational levels and younger individuals faced negative growth in pre‐tax income over the years and also benefited considerably from redistribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Great War and Trianon opened a new chapter in the history, not only of the Kingdom of Hungary, but also of Western Hungary. Besides dividing up the counties of Sopron, Moson and Vas, the newly re-drawn borders also split up most of the railway lines running within them as well. From the territory sliced from the three counties, the previously non-existent province of Austria, Burgenland, was established in 1922. In many cases, the new demarcation lines followed boundaries of old districts or settlements, but it was rare to find natural boundaries among them. As a result, between the two World Wars, the use of the affected railway tracks began to change similar to several contemporary Central European cases, with the exception of GYSEV (Győr–Sopron–Ebenfurth Railway Company), which could remain in its original form. This research paper aims to examine how the shift of borders in this region affected railway transport. It is based on the local historical literature on the railway, regional history and primary resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fungi have always posed an unquestionable threat to heritage collections worldwide. Now, in a future of climate change, biological risk factors may have to be considered even more than before. Models and simulations to assess possible impacts a changing outdoor climate will have on indoor environments and, in turn, on biodeterioration are still underdeveloped and require a more substantial data basis. This study aimed at filling some of these knowledge gaps through a broad-based approach combining microclimatic and microbiological monitoring in four historic libraries in Austria with an uncontrolled indoor climate: Altenburg Abbey, Melk Abbey, Klosterneuburg Monastery and the Capuchin Monastery in Vienna. Data were generated from thermohygrometric sensors, cultivation-dependent air- and surface sampling and further surface dust sampling for cultivation-independent analyses. Results gave insights on the status quo of microbiological loads in the libraries and outdoor–indoor relationships. Influences of the geographic location and room-use on corresponding indoor fungal profiles were identified. Lower fungal diversities were found at the most rural site with the strongest climatic fluctuations and extreme values than in the most urban, sheltered library with a very stable climate. Further, the humidity-stabilizing potential of large collections of hygroscopic materials, such as books, was also examined. Implications for a sustainable approach to prevent future biodeterioration are discussed, supporting the long-term preservation of these valuable historic collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying the spatiotemporal dynamics of crime is crucial for accurate crime geography research. While studies have examined crime patterns related to weekdays, seasons, and specific events, there is a noticeable gap in research on nighttime crimes. This study focuses on crimes occurring during the nighttime, investigating the temporal definition of nighttime crime and the correlation between nighttime lights and criminal activities. The study concentrates on four types of nighttime crimes, assault, theft, burglary, and robbery, conducting univariate and multivariate analyses. In the univariate analysis, correlations between nighttime crimes and nighttime light (NTL) values detected in satellite images and between streetlight density and nighttime crimes are explored. The results highlight that nighttime burglary strongly relates to NTL and streetlight density. The multivariate analysis delves into the relationships between each nighttime crime type and socioeconomic and urban infrastructure variables. Once again, nighttime burglary exhibits the highest correlation. For both univariate and multivariate regression models the geographically weighted regression (GWR) outperforms ordinary least squares (OLS) regression in explaining the relationships. This study underscores the importance of considering the location and offense time in crime geography research and emphasizes the potential of using NTL in nighttime crime analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing upon 152 in-depth qualitative interviews with residents in Austria carried out in the first year of the pandemic, this article discusses how people's experiences with COVID-19 policies reflect and reshape state–citizen relations. Coinciding with a significant government crisis, the first year of COVID-19 in Austria saw pandemic measures justified with reference to a biological, often medical understanding of health that framed disease prevention in terms of transmission reduction, often with reference to metrics such as hospitalisation rates, etc. Instead of using this biomedical frame, our interviewees, however, drew attention to biopsychosocial dimensions of the crisis and problematised the entanglements between economy and health. We call this the emergence of a biosocial notion of citizenship that is attentive to psychological, social and economic dimensions of health. Insights into the biosocial nature of pandemic citizenship open a window of opportunity for addressing long-standing social injustices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of GMS Journal for Medical Education is the property of German Medical Science Publishing House gGmbH 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 OPUS Journal of Society Research is the property of OPUS - International Journal of Society Research 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.)

This paper examines the Pietist revivalist networks and their efforts to do mission work among the Jews in the course of the 19th century in the geographical boundaries of present- day Austria. In the course of the revivalist movements of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the concern for missionary work among Jews increasingly became the focus of awakened evangelical circles, with impulses emanating primarily from the Anglo-Saxon countries. These groups subsequently also became involved in Austria. The article not only presents these efforts for the first time in a comprehensive overview, but also presents previously unknown sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a challenge for society and the law. Whereas Austrian administrative law is slowly but increasingly establishing regulatory steps for both the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, constitutional law in Austria seems to be silent on this subject. Since Austria is a federal state, the question arises whether the Land (the state) level or the federal level of government is competent to regulate climate change issues. In this paper, this question shall be answered. For that purpose, the Austrian federal system, especially the Bundesstaat (the federal state), and the distribution of competences will be explained. Then, the main challenges climate change poses for the federal system will be discussed. Special attention will be paid to the Austrian Climate Protection Act and its deficiencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore urban cultural politics and policy-making in Austria through the conceptual lens of the arena. In relation to this, we apply the methodological toolbox of Adele CLARKE's situational analysis. With a focus on the dynamics of cultural political conflicts and negotiation, we analyze urban cultural policies and programming. A particular focus is placed on a city-wide cultural program in the city of Graz. Via interpretive analysis of interviews and situational mappings, we aim to analytically unpack the continuous and contingent processes of cultural political negotiation with conflictual consensus as a sensitizing concept. With this objective, our analytical engagement is situated at the intersection between radical democratic theory, referring mainly to Chantal MOUFFE and Oliver MARCHART on the one hand, and social worlds and arenas theory by Adele CLARKE on the other. We hope to contribute to a theoretically sensitized and empirically informed cultural policy research effort by operationalizing the notion of conflictuality in constellations of cultural political actors and negotiation processes in cultural policy-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper makes an important contribution to comparative research by examining data journalism in Spain and Austria. This paper examines the practice of data journalism from a triple perspective: (a) the common features of day-to-day work, (b) the organizational structure and the role of the teams in newsrooms, and (c) the obstacles to and the future of data-driven reporting. Results from content analysis of data-driven news stories in El país and Der standard (N = 136) show differences and similarities in the covered topics, sources, narrative style, visualizations, interactive functions, and levels of transparency. Interestingly, only 36.8% of the analyzed news stories correspond to the normative expectations of transparency by incorporating both sources and methodological details. While the Spanish newspaper shows significantly higher levels of transparency compared with the Austrian newspaper, both newspapers perform very similarly when it comes to providing access to raw data, which was the case in only every fifth news story analyzed. Findings from focused interviews with the heads of data journalism teams deliver interesting insights into specific challenges that each news outlet is facing when creating day-to-day data-driven news stories. This research confirms the relevance that data journalism has achieved in countries such as Spain and demonstrates the effort of journalists in countries without access to information and transparency laws to create data-driven stories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of SWS - Rundschau is the property of Verein fur interdisziplinare sozialwissenschaftliche Studien und Analysen 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.)

Right-wing populists are gaining ground in Western democracies. Surveys show that they often distrust established media and public service media (PSM) in particular, claiming that they are biased against them. This paper examines how they have challenged PSM and proposes some potential responses to these challenges. The paper is based on an analysis of a number of recent and long-standing surveys of public attitudes towards the media, combined with an analysis of support for right-wing populists. It focuses on three purposively sampled national case studies: Austria, Germany and Sweden. We show several commonalities among PSM in these three countries, including similar right-wing populist attacks on PSM. The findings crystallise around two points: First, the impartiality and objectivity of news media has generally become less taken-for-granted in a 'high-choice' media environment offering various news products of different quality. Secondly, historical left-right distinctions have become less clear-cut, also because right-wing populists challenge them. Consequently, the role of PSM in creating a shared national conversation which represents the diversity of society has also come under siege. At the same time, partisan websites and social media platforms enable certain groups to showcase content that is more aligned with the perspectives of right-wing populists. The paper concludes by asking if right-wing populists are a growing threat to PSM and whether this threat is isolated or potentially indicative of a broader and more sustained pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) has long been considered as a degenerative disease of cartilage tissue resulting from bodily wear and tear. However, there is accumulating evidence that inflammation plays a key role in the pathogenesis of OA. In knee OA, the most common form of OA, exercise therapy as an effective component of early treatment addresses functional deficits, pain and inflammation. Since inflammation is critical for the development and progress of OA, anti-inflammatory therapies must be combined strategically. In the course of the NUMOQUA project, an anti-inflammatory therapeutic diet named 'Austrian Osteoarthritis Cuisine' was developed. It is based on the framework of the New Nordic Diet combined with the food-based dietary guidelines of Austria, the guidelines for OA, the Austrian food culture and the principles of a sustainable diet. The present study examines the implementation of the 'Austrian OA Cuisine' combined with the evidence-based training programme GLA:D® (Good Life with osteoArthritis in Denmark) in Austrian patients with knee OA and the effects on quality of life, nutritional and inflammatory status, as well as oxidative stress parameters. Methods: A total of 60 participants aged 50 to 75 with knee OA will be included and randomly assigned either to the intervention group or the control group. All participants will undergo the GLA:D® programme in the first 6 weeks. Additionally, the intervention group will receive nutritional group training and individual nutritional counselling on the 'Austrian OA Cuisine' over 9 months. The control group will receive general information about a healthy lifestyle. Measurements at baseline and at 4 follow-up dates include nutritional, inflammatory and oxidative stress markers. Furthermore, anthropometric, behavioural and clinical data will be obtained. The recruitment process lasted from autumn 2022 to January 2024, followed by the intervention until October 2024. Discussion: The prevalence of OA is expected to increase in the future due to ongoing demographic changes and rising obesity rates. The expected results will provide important evidence on whether this interdisciplinary therapeutic approach could be a new, cost-effective and sustainable strategy to address the disease process of OA without negative side effects. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05955300. Date of registration: 23rd of October 2023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article adds an empirical contribution to international discussions on interreligious education, taking the point of view of the academic study of religion. It presents results from a Viennese research project that used a participant observation design to analyze one of the more recent pedagogical formats to deal with religious plurality at school—the so-called Interreligious Encounter Day (IED). More precisely this article focuses on the role of Ethics Education (EE) within the context of a specific IED that was organized in 2019. Along those lines, it highlights the ambiguity of IED practices at a school by presenting a threefold argument: first, the article makes the point that the IED opened up a space to explicitly make religion a subject of discussion at school. Second, it argues that—within the context of the IED—religion is constructed in a specific way that can be described as 'school religion'. Third, it proposes that the observed IED format has the tendency to prioritize specific individual constructions of religion—especially those prompted by theology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chorioptic mange is the most common type of bovine mange in central Europe, affecting mainly housed dairy cattle. Until 1976, when Chorioptes texanus were described for the first time from mangy cattle in Brazil, bovine chorioptic mange was thought to be caused only by C. bovis mites. In Europe, C. texanus parasitism in cattle was for the first time reported in Germany in 1998. Following the repeated diagnosis of C. texanus mites in skin scrapings from local cattle in recent years, scrapings from cattle that were clinically suspicious for chorioptic mange were requested and provided during the years from 2019 to 2022 from Austria, France, Germany, and Switzerland (from 6, 17, 28, and 7 farms, respectively) and from dairy cows of 1 farm in Canada. Mites were isolated from the scrapings, cleared, and microscopically identified based on their morphology. Examination of scrapings revealed the presence of C. texanus in the cattle from 2 farms in Austria, 13 farms in France, 7 farms in Germany, 1 farm in Switzerland, and in the specimens from Canada. Chorioptes bovis mites were recovered only in scrapings from 5 farms in Germany and Psoroptes ovis mites in scrapings of cattle from 2 farms in France. The scrapings did not reveal co-infestations of C. bovis and C. texanus or of Chorioptes species and P. ovis. The records of C. texanus from Austria, France, Switzerland, and Canada constitute the first descriptions of this mite species in these countries. Although this investigation was based on an opportunistic collection of the material and was of small extent, the results suggest a widespread occurrence of C. texanus in central Europe and may emphasize the need for studies to closely investigate the nature of the causative agents of chorioptic mange in cattle and other hosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the potential of bringing biographical and cultural sociology together in the analysis of the political lives of refugee non-citizens. Our analysis is based on empirical research conducted in two regions outside the capital areas of Austria and Czechia. The conceptual focus is on modes of political participation and if and how they shift during the migration experience. To explore the political lives of refugee non-citizens, we call upon complementary theories, on alternative forms of (non)citizenship and on the autonomy of migration and asylum as regards agency in the everyday practices of people who cross borders. The findings show that our research participants' political lives tend to remain rather untouched by the migration experience itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the Habsburgs expanded their territories throughout the eighteenth century, they gained control over a wide variety of ethno-religious groups. In an effort to secure the frontier, administrators favored some groups, like German-speaking colonists, while only “tolerating” others, like the Jews. The government had a dilemma when dealing with the Jews. On the one hand, they were seen as an alien population and possible threat to the economic well-being of the Habsburgs’ other subjects. On the other hand, the authorities recognized the important economic place occupied by Jews on the frontier (and elsewhere). This led authorities to alternate between policies intended to exclude Jews from society and those intended to integrate them. As the eighteenth century progressed, policies focused on assimilation dominated, though official and unofficial perceptions of the Jews themselves remained largely negative. Thus, while Jews gained more rights and recognition of their important place on the frontier, they nevertheless remained tolerated rather than accepted into that society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have highlighted differences between right-wing populism in Western and Central Eastern Europe but suggested that discourses have been converging since the so-called "refugee crisis" in 2015. This article examines this claim by focusing on right-wing populist frames and affective communication on migration in Austria and Slovenia. Taking a communication-centred approach, the study is based on a critical frame analysis of 70 speeches from far-right to centre-right parties in parliamentary debates on migration between 2015 and 2019. The results show that right-wing populist discourses in the two adjacent countries have aligned in appealing to affects, particularly to fear and in framing migration as a threat to security and culture. Despite differences in mobilizing affects, the findings indicate a mutual alignment of right-wing populism beyond borders, signalling a potential risk of a broader right-wing populist bloc unified by fear of migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Pressure ulcer is a considerable health problem and is associated with an increased hospital length of stay (LOS), nursing effort, costs, and reduced quality of life. The aim of this analysis is to compare the economic, clinical, and nursing benefit after the implementation of the powered hybrid mattress Dyna‐Form Mercury Advance SMARTcare® in 2019 with the situation in 2017 (rental systems Arjo BariAir® and Arjo TheraKair Visio®, and purchased foam mattresses Arjo Simuflex®) using a single center. Methods: In the framework of a budget impact analysis, a difference‐in‐difference approach was used to compare pre‐implementation longitudinal data (2017) with post‐implementation data (2019). The longitudinal data comprise the mattress resource use, patient characteristics, and LOS. The care effort was gathered based on a full survey of all 75 members of the nursing staff using the online tool "LimeSurvey." In this survey, the resource use of the different mattress systems was identified in terms of time (minutes or days). This analysis was performed from the hospital perspective and included direct costs of mattress systems, Austrian diagnostic‐related group costs for the hospital stay and nursing staff costs for 2019. Results: Based on 1253 patients "at‐risk," the total yearly costs implementing the powered hybrid mattress amounts to 654,248€ compared with 901,469€ when using Arjo products. The budget impact shows a cost advantage of 247,221€. Furthermore, the powered hybrid mattress system leads to fewer nursing‐staff time in minutes per year (−1,031,097 min [1,993,204 vs. 3,024,302]); 242€ are saved per patient. Compared with the Arjo products, fewer inpatient cases of pressure ulcers (−44 cases [0 vs. 44]) were documented. Conclusion: Despite the higher total outlay of costs associated with the powered hybrid mattress, the long‐term savings potential showed a significant cost advantage per annum for the single center. Therefore, the use of the hybrid mattress leads to considerable economic, clinical, and nursing benefits. Key points: The implementation of mattress systems supports pressure ulcer prevention and leads to a decrease in hospital length of stay, nursing effort, costs, and improved quality of life in inpatient settings.The budget impact shows a considerable cost advantage when using the powered hybrid mattress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhythmic gymnastics is part of the great family of Olympic sports, being a relatively new branch of gymnastics. It has evolved and developed quite rapidly, capturing the attention of more and more girls around the world. The paper is based on the hypothesis that the differences and similarities in the way of conducting rhythmic gymnastics competitions according to the internal regulations of Romania and Austria, respectively the differences between the 2 Olympic cycles 2012-2016 and 2017-2021 may influence the results of athletes practicing this discipline. Objectives. The paper aims to study the internal rules in rhythmic gymnastics of the 2 countries, Romania and Austria according to the specifics of the Olympic cycles, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the 2 technical training systems, presented and comparing the results obtained by athletes in the last two Olympic cycles in the two countries. Methods. The proposed research methodology for conducting the study addresses methods such as the bibliographic study method, the conversation method, the observation method and the graphic method. Results. The results highlighted the major differences between the two Olympic cycles in terms of international regulations FIG which are given by, the presence of competition sheets that are in the first cycle and their total absence in the second Olympic cycle. Conclusions. The final conclusions demonstrated the hypothesis underlined in the introduction that two countries that have different sports activities, taking into account the history of development of this sport in that country, the forms and conditions of training, internal regulations and forms of classification differently can achieve relatively similar performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the LEADER programme has been implemented to promote positive development in rural areas in the EU through bottom-up approaches and community engagement. Lately, concerns have been raised about the capability of LEADER to foster social innovation and provide adequate room to manoeuvre for communities to set agendas locally. This paper attempts to engage in this discussion by analysing the implementation of rural development programmes, local ideas and experiences with LEADER and social innovation in four LEADER regions in Upper Austria (AT). Furthermore, the analysis outlines the projects implemented through LEADER to evaluate the possibilities for local agenda-setting. The research shows both the success of LEADER as a tool to instigate bottom-up and neoendogenous development and the need for additional institutional frameworks for community consultations if inclusive and forward-looking visions of rural development are to be fostered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Austrian case emphasizes that Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) is most successful if underpinned by legislation; however, overly detailed and rigorous guidelines might constrain advancements in the framework. This paper shows the 'blank spots' where GRB analyses were not undertaken, indicating the importance of formal checks and (independent) policy assessments to ensure meaningful analysis and planning of actions. Political support is crucial for diffusion; however, it is not a guarantee to fully exploit GRB's potential. Finally, training strengthens the starting basis for implementation and needs to be extended in later periods of the implementation. The paper studies the adoption of Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB), drawing on Rogers' model for the diffusion of innovations, for two major elements of the Austrian approach to GRB—regulatory gender impact assessments and gender aspects in audits—through document analyses. The study analyses the significant impact of the implementation context (such as the constitutional anchoring, the preparation plan, capacity building and methodological guidelines) on the results of the implementation. The research demonstrates that 'implementation' and the ultimate 'confirmation' of GRB vary across governmental sectors and successful meaningful application require complementary implementation activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relying on data collected by the Zurich Survey of Academics (ZSoA), a unique representative online survey among academics in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (DACH region), this paper replicates Johann and Mayer's (Minerva 57(2):175–196, 2019) analysis of researchers' perceptions of scientific authorship and expands their scope. The primary goals of the study at hand are to learn more about (a) country differences in perceptions of scientific authorship, as well as (b) the influence of perceived publication pressure on authorship perceptions. The results indicate that academics in Switzerland interpret scientific authorship more leniently than their colleagues in Germany and Austria. The findings further indicate that, as perceived pressure to publish increases, researchers are more likely to belong to a group of academics who hold the view that any type of contribution/task justifies co-authorship, including even those contributions/tasks that do not justify co-authorship according to most authorship guidelines. In summary, the present study suggests that action is required to harmonize regulations for scientific authorship and to improve the research culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper was created as a result of the observed instability of external emigration data from Croatian official data in comparison to data from the statistical offices of the European Union (Eurostat) and Germany (DESTATIS). In this study, the author presents a descriptive analysis of alternative data sources (big data), which could be useful for determining emigration flows from Croatia to Austria and Germany, as well as for estimating and forecasting. The second goal of this paper is to show that this approach can be useful for assessing the degree of cultural assimilation/integration of Croatian emigrants using the tools of Google Trends and Facebook Analytics. To estimate the model, linear regression was used to measure the correlation between the number of searches (x) and the number of moves (y) evidenced by the official statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Climate policy integration (CPI) is regarded in the literature as key to combatting climate change. It has been critically discussed to what extent climate policy is integrated in different policy fields at the European and the national level. In this paper, we analyze the expectations toward CPI from the perspective of stakeholders focusing on two fields in Austria — energy and land use. We combine CPI approaches with social‐ecological transformation research, which highlights obstacles for CPI, which can be found in the polity, leading to conflicts between different actor groups or institutions. More specifically, we examine, through a process of co‐production of knowledge together with stakeholder groups, how CPI functions in its categories of horizontal and vertical policy integration, cooperation and conflict, reporting, vision, uncertainties, and reflexivity. Results show that policy integration remains contested, alternative visions to economic growth are needed and communication with policy‐makers needs to be improved. Furthermore, reflexive learning is central for the success of CPI. Finally, it matters who has access and who plays a role in governance structures. Co‐production of knowledge can play a crucial role, but faces a challenging tension between being inclusive and losing its transformative capacities. A shift from a narrow focus on policy making to consider the limiting or enabling structural conditions for interaction between a wide variety of stakeholders is required. Instead of reflexive learning how to best accommodate the powerful interest groups, this could increase the space for reflexive and adaptive policy integration aimed at achieving normative climate targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the crises of post-war modernist housing estates in West Germany and Austria, illuminating the key differences that emerged despite the strong similarities in terms of urban design and share in overall housing stock. With an analysis of the different framing and narration in the professional discourse between 1960 and 1990, the paper reveals that the estates served as a battleground for negotiating broader socio-political questions, resulting in different politizations of the estates. By deciphering the complex and partly contingent entanglements between the built form and politics, the paper contributes to research on post-war modernist housing estates and to the reassessment of these urban structures. It also enhances our understanding of the varied perceptions and performances of the 'same' built structures, thereby opening up new perspectives for the ongoing discussions about the revival of mass housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the adoption of School Supervision Act from 1869 in Bohemia, taking into account both Czech and German speaking milieus. Using the example of appointment of District School Inspectors and looking into their activities, it analyses the system deficiencies and complications that the state authorities had to cope with in the first years after adoption and that, eventually, led into an amendment of the aforementioned act four years later. Apart from the inadequate organisational background and salary conditions of district inspectors, the paper points out the financial requirements that the school reform brought about and that had to be covered mostly by local municipalities. This fact significantly contributed to a generally passive or even negative attitude held by autonomous corporations as for the new school legislature implementation, which was enhanced by oppositional stance of Czech political representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]