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Copyright of Der Moderne Staat is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH 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 Der Moderne Staat is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH 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.)

Japan’s public debt has been rising significantly since the 1990s; in recent years it has risen to about 240% in relation to GDP. Contrary to repeated promises, political and bureaucratic attempts at changing the direction of this trend have been ineffective for more than three decades. Therefore, the sustainability of Japan’s public finance is frequently challenged, even more so in the light of the Bank of Japan’s ongoing quantitative easing monetary policy. Although it is true that socio-structural and macroeconomic conditions make the accrual of a public deficit more likely, the political and democratic dimensions of fiscal discipline are gaining more attention at present. Public policy research stresses the existence of systemic loopholes in Japan’s fiscal governance and demonstrates that the legal framework and parliamentary control have proved inadequate in limiting the quest by politicians and bureaucrats for budget maximization. While major OECD countries have made considerable efforts to enhance their fiscal governance by increasing fiscal transparency, establishing independent fiscal institutions (IFIs) and enforcing binding constitutional rules – such as balanced budget amendments, commonly known as »Schuldenbremse« in Germany – steps towards a fiscal reform in Japan’s case are not yet in sight. To explain why Japan’s public finance has deteriorated to this degree (whereas other countries facing comparable social and economic challenges have managed to reduce their reliance on debt), this paper first examines critical aspects of the country’s fiscal governance. Then it moves on to a media analysis of how the debt issue is covered by the mainstream press, namely national television (NHK) and the major newspapers. It will be demonstrated that the topic of public debt tends to be marginalized in media discourse, questioning the public’s issue of awareness and the media’s ability to form a widely supported consensus that could pressure politicians to act and finally take effective measures towards fiscal consolidation. This paper will further illustrate that the shortcomings in fiscal governance are closely linked to the quality of public discourse, thereby underlining that the public deficit ultimately reveals not only Japan’s structural socio-economic challenges but also the fragile state of its democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Der Moderne Staat is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH 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 Der Moderne Staat is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH 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 Der Moderne Staat is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH 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.)

Marking the end of the Heisei era in 2019, economists took the opportunity to look back at Japan's previous three decades. Although they differ in their analysis of causes and interpretation of events, they generally agree on the conclusion that the Japanese economy is not yet back on track. Starting with an introduction to Yukio Noguchi's widely received concept of the»1940 System«, this paper then presents his recent analysis of the Heisei economy. As one of Japan's most distinguished economists, and an outspoken critic of Abenomics, Noguchi has provided a much-recognized analysis of the country's economic development since the beginning of the post-Cold War era. He argues that after the real estate bubble burst in the early 1990s, Japanese companies were not aware of the fundamental changes that were occurring globally, i.e. primarily China's rapid industrialization, the shift towards digital technologies, and, related to these, a groundbreaking change in business models from vertical integration to horizontal specialization. As a consequence, they were not able to react to these challenges in a timely and adequate manner. At the same time, economic policy, in particular monetary and fiscal policy, had a narcotic effect: instead of reviving the economy substantially, it rather led to the conservation of industrial structures, and failed to trigger any courageous reform. Even worse, the policy of the weak yen in the 2000s misled manufacturing companies to return production to Japan, a fatal strategic decision which in the end accelerated their decline. Noguchi concludes that both factors - the insufficient adjustment of the Japanese economy to global changes, and government policy as a hindrance rather than stimulus for reform - continue up to this day. His findings suggest that what is required is not more state involvement, but comprehensive reforms leading to an internationally competitive business environment that empowers the capacity of a diverse workforce, unleashes innovation and enhances productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sozialer Fortschritt is the property of Duncker & Humblot GmbH 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 focal point of this paper is changes of specific patterns of governance in urban renewal processes in mid-sized cities in East Germany. The starting point of the investigation includes assumptions and first findings that indicate that urban shrinkage necessarily leads to a change and diversification of patterns of governance. Using case studies as a base, this paper examines urban governance in the German cities of Bernburg and Weissenfels. Both cities are affected by shrinkage and both participated in the 2010 International Building Exhibition: Urban Redevelopment Saxony-Anhalt, which was aimed at finding qualifications for urban redevelopment processes. In order to analyze governance within the processes of urban renewal for both case studies, schemes of governance analysis were created to examine the planning processes, institutional influences, stakeholders, and their interactions. The paper concludes that, due to specific framework conditions of urban shrinkage on one hand, and institutional influences on the other, patterns of governance do indeed change over the course of urban redevelopment processes. In both cities, the predominating sovereign approach to urban development was supplemented with cooperative activities. In Bernburg, an extensive cooperation among three stakeholders of the public sector was realized. Changes in Weissenfels included the implementation of enhanced participation for private stakeholders. English title: Urban Governance in Urban Redevelopment Processes in Mid-Sized East German Cities: Patterns of Governance in Urban Redevelopment Processes Using the IBA Cities of Bernburg and Weissenfels as Case Studies [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sozialer Fortschritt is the property of Duncker & Humblot GmbH 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 Sozialer Fortschritt is the property of Duncker & Humblot GmbH 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 examines attempts by sociologists and political scientists to understand the nature, significance and lasting effects of "Thatcherism" in Great Britain, and asks whether and in how far these analyses are relevant for the interpretation of events in Austria since its political "turn" in 2000. Two schools of thought are discussed: the influential arguments of the British Gramscians, and the more recent contribution of Foucaudian scholars to the interpretation of neo-liberalism via the concept of "governmentality". It is claimed that the latter shifts the focus from the ideological level to that of practices within their institutional parameters. The paper concludes with an assessment of the possible effects and results of such transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Towards Re-politicization of a Discourse from the Global North through Insights from Tanzania. Several critics have warned that the proliferation of the bioeconomy discourse is further entrenching the coloniality of markets and knowledge engrained in formally postcolonial North-South relationships. In this paper, we only partly agree with this line of reasoning. As we claim, critics of the global power of the bioeconomy discourse understand bioeconomy in too narrow of terms. An unanimous core of the bioeconomy discourse, we argue, is the quest for visions and ways to organise institutions that enable human fl ourishing (“economy”) in ways that comply with the requirements of inter- and intragenerational justice and that take all morally considerable beings into account (“bio”). To open up this “space of possibilities”, we strategically reappropriate the notion of “bioeconomy”, instead using the term “bio_economy”, with the underscore signifying a broad variety of ethically justifi able visions of how the “bio” ought to be entangled with the “economy”. As we demonstrate in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa, the full range of national policy discourses on the future of agriculture contain potential for the development of critical visions of bioeconomy. We demonstrate the latter by turning to two articulations of agricultural discourse in Tanzania: land-use and genetically modifi ed organisms. These cases provide evidence of the diversity of bio_economy visions already endorsed, albeit implicitly, by different interest groups in Tanzania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sozialer Fortschritt is the property of Duncker & Humblot GmbH 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 Sozialer Fortschritt is the property of Duncker & Humblot GmbH 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 analyses the European policy pursued by the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Having won a two-thirds majority in the 2010 elections, the new Orbán government went on to make its mark in the European Union. This was all the easier as, in the first half of 2011, Hungary held the rotating presidency of the European Union. Hungary conducted a fairly successful presidency, but the whole affair was overshadowed by the disputes on the Hungarian media law and the new Constitution. After the EU presidency the government mostly focused on the negotiations about the EU budget for 2014-2020 and the continuation of the enlargement policy - with some success. The third part of the article focuses on Viktor Orbán's perception of the EU in the light of his public speeches and interviews, and shows that there are at least three different discourses which the Hungarian Prime Minister applies in regard to the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Sozialreform 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 Sozialer Fortschritt is the property of Duncker & Humblot GmbH 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 Zeitschrift für Soziologie 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 Zeitschrift für Sozialreform 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 Monatsschrift fuer Kriminologie und Strafrechtsreform 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 Sozialer Fortschritt is the property of Duncker & Humblot GmbH 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 Sozialer Fortschritt is the property of Duncker & Humblot GmbH 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 Sozialer Fortschritt is the property of Duncker & Humblot GmbH 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 Sozialer Fortschritt is the property of Duncker & Humblot GmbH 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 Zeitschrift für Unternehmens- und Gesellschaftsrecht 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 content of the present paper can be outlined as follows: 1) Law is an integrative part of culture. 2) Legal terminology is system-bound. Thus, within one and the same language there are as many legal languages as there are legal orders that use that particular language as their legal language. 3) The representation of culture in legal texts is encountered both on word and on text level: on the one hand legal terms have often been referred to as culturemes, as they are informed by the respective legal order; on the other hand texts are being regarded as cultural products as they depend on the particular legal order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the nascent literature on„ two-sided markets“ which can be characterized by two-sided indirect network effects. It presents key findings in this literature, derives some of them in numerical examples and discusses how these findings improve our understanding of real-world markets. It finally discusses some implications for competition policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper gives a first appraisal of the “Vermittlungsgutscheine” the German government has recently created as a new instrument of labor market policy. This instrument is aimed at improving intermediation of unemployed people by inciting private recruiters to place individuals who were formerly advised by the state-run placement-agencies. We analyze the function of the placement intermediaries and discuss how they will respond to the new measure. It is argued that, mainly due to the amount and the short term of the tokens, private intermediaries will not participate in this programme significantly. We also look at the labour market and find that the unemployed individuals mostly do not match the skills the employers are looking for. Thus, we do not think that this instrument will have a noticeable effect on the labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulation Policy in Germany faces the problem of establishing specific authorities for regulation in the network sectors such as electricity, railways and telecommunication. In this paper it is argued that there is a need for sector-related regulation institutions, but there are strong arguments against the introduction of (new) regulating offices. These arguments especially concern the captiveness of regulators and the persistence of regulation authorities once established. Therefore, it should be the task of an extended German Federal Cartel Office to support open network provision and competition in the field of network sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the discussion on the rational choice model of individual behavior, a growing emphasis has recently been placed on the importance of intrinsic motivation. Contrary to assumptions made in the standard economic literature, it is suggested that an individual's motivation to act may not be exclusively determined by external influences (incentives, restrictions) and (given) personal preferences, but, in addition, depends on intrinsically anchored ethical preferences. Intrinsic motivation may diminish if parallel external incentives, such as rewards or orders, come into play: Insofar as external intervention weakens the corresponding intrinsic motivation to act, the (normal) effect of relative prices is opposed by a (countervailing) crowding-out effect of intrinsic motivation. The effect of (over-) crowding-out has been thematized especially in the context of environmental policy. It was suggested that subsidies may support intrinsic incentives whereas taxes and licences (especially though command-and-control measures) tend to undermine them. This paper critically analyzes the impact of intrinsic behavior considerations on the evaluation of environmental policy instruments. It is argued that, if at all, economists' standard recommendations for policy design with respect to subsidies need not be revised even if intrinsic motivation plays any role for the agents' environmental bevavior. Furthermore, command-and-control policy might rather support than weaken intrinsic motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental resources are limited and therefore policy-makers have to determine the best allocation of resources amongst competing alternative uses. The question arises of which criteria environmental policy decisions ought to be based. This paper suggests economics to help solve environmental problems. This economic approach requires the monetary valuation both of benefits of protecting or enhancing environmental resources and opportunity costs or benefits forgone of alternative uses. Whereas the monetary valuation of costs is not too complicated and therefore not controversial in most cases, the monetary assessment of environment-based benefits requires the application of non-market valuation tools. The comparison of monetary costs and benefits contributes to deciding upon environmental trade-off alternatives. The authors discuss the potential use and problems associated with non-market valuation as a tool for environmental policy-consulting. Not only are alternative approaches to natural resource assessment discussed but also the lack of acceptance of monetary environmental valuation techniques in the German-speaking world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Der Moderne Staat is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH 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.)

We show that actual Eurosystem's monetary policy of purchasing government bonds of the countries of the Eurozone corresponds to the concept of Modern Monetary Theory. Here the state creates and skims off the required money supply for its expenditures himself. The economic policy challenges emerging from the expanded monetary basis in the Eurozone as consequence of the government bond purchases are substantial. We stress that European monetary policy should therefore immediately address the task of reducing the monetary basis and at the same time limiting possible adjustment costs for the European economies. This should take place within an institutionalized monetary management framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal for Sociology of Education & Socialization / Zeitschrift für Soziologie der Erziehung & Sozialisation is the property of Julius Beltz GmbH & Co. KG Beltz Juventa 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 Swiss Journal of Sociology / Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Soziologie is the property of Sciendo 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 Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen (ZIB) 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.)

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Sozialreform 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 Kriminologisches Journal is the property of Julius Beltz GmbH & Co. KG Beltz Juventa 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 Sozialer Fortschritt is the property of Duncker & Humblot GmbH 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 Zeitschrift für Sozialreform 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 Sozialer Fortschritt is the property of Duncker & Humblot GmbH 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 Swiss Journal of Sociology / Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Soziologie is the property of Sciendo 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 Sozialer Fortschritt is the property of Duncker & Humblot GmbH 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 Swiss Journal of Sociology / Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Soziologie is the property of Sciendo 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 Sozialer Fortschritt is the property of Duncker & Humblot GmbH 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 Der Moderne Staat is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH 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 Der Moderne Staat is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH 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.)