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Concentration levels of 226Ra, 222Rn and 210Pb were analyzed in domestic bottled waters commercially available in Austria. Concentrations up to 0.23 Bq/l, with a geometric mean of 0.041 Bq/l were found for 226Ra. Concentrations for 222Rn ranged from <0.12–18 Bq/l, the geometric mean being 0.54 Bq/l. Lead-210 was analyzed in selected samples, the concentrations ranging from <2 to 34 mBq/l, with a geometric mean of 4.7 mBq/l. Ingestion doses resulting from consumption of these waters were calculated for the geometric mean and the maximum concentrations of the three radionuclides. The effective dose equivalents for different age groups of the population due to the intake of 226Ra range from 0.001 to 0.22 mSv/y and of 210Pb from 0.0003 to 0.05 mSv/y. Ingestion doses from 222Rn are low compared to those from 226Ra and 210Pb, ranging from 0.0001 to 0.011 mSv/y for adults and children, respectively. The doses are compared to the total ingestion dose from dietary intake of natural radionuclides on an annual basis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a discursive change in the representation of urban-rural mobilities in the Austrian public media. Before the pandemic, a narrative of 'rural decline' had dominated the media discourse. Media have since changed this narrative to one of counterurbanisation as a result of the (perceived) effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on residential location choices. However, in contrast to media perceptions, scientific debates were more reluctant to identify a Covid-induced counterurban movement. In this paper, we take the opposition between the media representation and the scientific evidence as a starting point for a critical investigation of the media representation of counterurbanisation in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Following the approach of discourse coalitions, we investigated the actors and the coalitions they had formed to promote a Covid-induced 'counterurbanisation story'. We could identify two coalitions that created two variations of the Covid-induced 'counterurbanisation story': a prudent and an idealised discourse. These two discourses were promoted by different actors with different interests. Through our findings, the paper adds another layer to study of the construction of a 'counterurbanisation story'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relationship coffee models are generally characterized by a shortened value chain and efforts to achieve social, economic, and environmental sustainability. In three case studies with farmers organized in cooperatives in Peru and buyers in Austria or Germany, we analyzed the proximity among the geographically distant value chain actors. This paper aims to provide a more nuanced perspective on relational (organizational, institutional, cognitive, and social) proximity in relationship coffee models. The comparative analysis of the proximities in our case studies revealed that initial face-to-face contacts are required to build further proximity dimensions. Proximate relationship coffee models have led to more recognition, pride, a good reputation of the actors, higher coffee quality and thus farm-gate prices, and stable long-term relationships. However, relationship coffees require more coordination and communication among chain actors and advanced farmer skills and efforts to produce high-quality coffee. In relationship coffee models, farmers still depend on buyers and roasters to benefit from higher quality of their green coffee. • Relationship coffee models show geographical and relational proximity. • They needed temporary geographical proximity first to build social or cognitive proximity. • Relational proximity has led to higher quality and prices and stable, long-term relationships. • Relational proximities cannot fully compensate for power imbalances. • Farmers still depend on buyers to access the specialty coffee market and make profits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The roll of railways in rural areas is a subject of wide range of discussions. Cost benefit analysis (CBA) gives us some quantitative indicators to discuss it, while social benefits estimated through CBA are currently not comprehensive. Some studies have shown the existence of the rail bonus, which leads to people's preference of rail-based transportation to bus-based transportation. Others have made attempts to quantify option values (OV) and non-user values (NUV), which has been excluded from conventional CBA. It is difficult to apply those studies to practical issues. In this paper, using the contingent valuation method (CVM), an estimation of railways' additional relative values over buses in Austria, which are comparable and applicable to other cases, is made. The results show that premium rates obtained from the survey data from residents along two Austrian regional railways are around ten percent on average, which are similar to the results of prior researches in Japan. Those premium rates are recognized not only by frequent users but also by occasional users or non-users, which means that OV and NUV greatly contribute to the rail bonus. It is also found that the rail bonus could depend on geographical conditions, to some extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Usual economic analyses skip the web of social relations rooted across global chains. • Social brokerage follows varied stances: as social broker, researcher or scientist. • An ethnographic approach proposes a relational pathway for social brokerage. • Material quality shall not be the only guiding knowledge and coordination constructs. • Collaborative approaches yield a sense of fairness and humanity across global chains. The usual economic analyses skip the web of social relations where economic but also social influences are equally relevant. Reinecke et al. (2018) offer a conceptual perspective to study social brokerage (the 'social turn') across global value chains. This paper aims: 1) to reveal how Colombian producers and Austrian roasters start social ties (i.e. through social brokerage) and eventually become business partners with the illustrative example of specialty coffee chains, 2) to propose a research-based relational pathway for social brokerage, and 3) to unpack how encounters between producers and roasters originated and developed as well as to identify the required knowledge and coordination devices used. The encounters follow an ethnographic approach relying on participant observation (e.g. in Vienna, Austria and in selected Colombian coffee regions). Coffee is one of the many commodities suitable to analyze social interactions across global chains. Colonial patterns are still embedded in the economic geography of global value chains. The involvement of researchers (including non-Europeans) was key to enhance social brokerage (e.g. structural holes, boundary work) and in that way allowed disadvantaged chain actors to uninhibitedly voice whatever discomfort resulted from those interactions. Although material quality is paramount in the trade of specialty coffee, it shall not be the only guiding coordination device and knowledge construct to be followed by chain actors. Building collaborative relationships is not an easy or static task. Nonetheless, it is key to encourage knowledge sharing, to yield a sense of fairness and humanity across global chains and to cope with opportunistic gatekeepers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research on the voting behavior of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) in Europe showed that LGB people favor left-wing or progressive parties (Turnbull-Dugarte 2020; Hunklinger 2021; Wurthmann 2023). Furthermore, Turnbull-Dugarte (2021) showed that LGB voters are, possibly due to their socialization, supportive of social liberalism and progressive issues. As we know from classic voting theory, there are different explanations for voting behavior, e.g. issue orientation, candidate and party preferences. This paper explores why LGB persons vote for left-wing parties in Austria. We use a sample among LGB persons conducted upfront the 2019 national elections in Austria. We test to what extent issue and candidate orientations (including LGB issues) as well as group identity affect LGB persons' intended voting behavior for left-wing parties in Austria. Our results show that instead of group-specific issue orientations, a general issue orientation, and socio-cultural attitudes are crucial for LGB persons to vote for left-wing parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

External energy security has gained importance within the EU due to the current Russian-Ukrainian natural gas dispute, but also because of mid- and long-term issues connected to the availability of energy supply in Europe. The Energy Union proposal is supposed to increase the coherence of the EU in external energy, thus contributing to the energy security of the Community. However, various member states have already expressed different (not always positive) views, concerning this project. In order to shed light on the further development of the Energy Union, the present paper – based on 52 semi-structured interviews – examines members states' support for and opposition to the further deepening of integration in external energy security. By analysing Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, this paper argues that member states' preferences depend at least partly on the decision-makers' perceptions of their state's ability to cope with three energy security challenges (external, internal and business). States whose decision-makers believe that their countries are able to successfully cope with these challenges are more likely to oppose further integration in energy security area, while member states whose decision-makers view these tasks as challenging are more likely to support the transfer of competences to the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• UAS representatives in Austria expect past and present trends to continue in the future. • Expectations and Preferences of Delphi respondents as regards the future of the Austrian UAS sector do not differ much. • European UAS sectors show many common features, differences can be explained by path dependencies. • A convergence of UAS and University profiles can be observed in Austria. • The apparent gain for UAS as regards reputation and status may lead to a loss of distinctive features in the long run. As in most European countries, the higher education sector of Austria is characterized by a binary system consisting of Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences. However, the dynamic changes experienced in both sectors create the necessity to re-evaluate their individual profiles and the binary divide between them. Against this background a series of interlinked foresight studies on the perspectives and challenges of the Austrian Universities of Applied Sciences have been realized between 2010 and 2016, including a literature based trend analysis, a delphi study and explorative scenarios. This paper presents and discusses the main results of these studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Diverse and unique landscapes not only are one of the key assets of Austrian tourism industry, but are also highly valued for local identity, quality of life and their ecological functions. Society tries to prevent unintended landscape change and thereby purposefully intervenes in landscape development by countless environmental regulations, contracts with landholders, agri-environmental schemes, landscape and nature reserves, food-related activities such as ‘eat the view’ and labels of origin. In the face of increasing state control and the growing influence of (inter-) nationally acting civil society groups, the paper poses the question whether the local population still has a saying in the governance of their landscape. Is it the local people, their costumes and institutions that shape the diversity and uniqueness of landscapes (i.e., the ‘root meaning of landscape’ [Olwig, K.R., 2002. Landscape, Nature, and the Body Politic. From Britain''s Renaissance to America''s New World. The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison.]) or is local peculiarity lost to national or international landscape control? The paper analyses the changing structures of use and control rights to Austrian landscapes and resulting shifts between locally driven and centrally controlled landscape change. The paper is a meta-analysis of ten empirically founded interdisciplinary research projects on cultural landscapes in Austria. The results are compared with international literature that indicates a loss of control of the local rural population over their natural resources. In the Austrian case however, the local population (re-) negotiates and (re-) interprets complex and conflicting international and state regulations according to their respective needs before concretizing them in actual land use practises. Some participation projects and self-governed local civic society movements integrate non-landholders. In few of homogenisation forces such as CAP and international regulations, diverse and unique landscapes call for the involvement of the local preferences, traditions, knowledge and skills—of both local non-landholders and landholders. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The status of nature in food systems is the subject of this paper, which looks into the ecological embeddedness of the Austrian food system both on the national level and in a regional case study. By a first attempt to measure and map ecological embeddedness, the author intends to contribute to the operationalisation of the embeddedness concept, which is characterised as ambivalent, fuzzy and dynamic (see e.g., [Goodman, D., 2003. The quality ‘turn’ and alternative food practices: reflections and agenda. Editorial. Journal of Rural Studies 19 (1), 1–7; Markusen, A., 1999. Fuzzy concepts, scanty evidence, policy distance: the case for rigour and policy relevance in critical regional studies. Regional Studies 33, 869–884; Hess, M., 2004. ‘Spatial’ relationships? Towards a reconceptualization of embeddedness. Progress in Human Geography 28 (2), 165–186]). The paper starts with a critical outline of the academic discourse on embeddedness in food chain studies. In the second section, general developments in the Austrian food system and their ecological implications are illustrated for the national level. Thereafter in a case study, the author tries to map and measure the ecological embeddedness of two conventional bread chains. The focus on conventional food chains provides a contrast with the growing body of embeddedness studies concentrating on alternative food chains. The author concludes that for both conventional as well as alternative food chains, the mode of ecological embeddedness or the degree of a food chain’s commitment to particular landscapes could become important factors for the maintenance, enhancement and capture of ecological value. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

How the future landscape will look depends particularly on the outcome of the socio-economically motivated decisions of farmers, food processors, retailers and consumers, all members of the food supply chain. However, a long-term perspective on the food supply chain and its landscape effects is confronted with a great deal of uncertainty and data constraints. These difficulties can be partly avoided by using the personal judgements of agents whose decisions control the structure of present and future food supply chains. A well-established agent-based method for dealing with and describing variation in the future is the method of scenario planning. The aim of this paper is to present the application of the scenario approach to the Austrian food supply chain in 2020 and its landscape impacts. A critical discussion of the scenarios should reflect their explanatory power regarding future development options for landscapes. The first section of the paper outlines the interactions between society, the food supply chain and the landscape in a conceptual model. It describes the applied scenario technique and the research setting involving agents from agriculture, the food industry, retailing, gastronomy, and consumer organisations. Four scenarios for the food chain in 2020 are presented (Liberal Market Scenario, Protective Policy Scenario, Fast World Scenario, Slow World Scenario) and their respective consequences and strategies are discussed. The scenario technique used is found to be a useful means of gathering and structuring disperse expert knowledge. The paper concludes that—despite some methodological limitations—scenarios can deal with uncertainty concerning the socio-economic driving forces of landscape change and therefore can be used as a preliminary step in formulating robust strategies for landscape management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper employs the institutional logics perspective to understand how space policies and regulations influences entrepreneurship and innovation. We conducted interviews with entrepreneurs, ESA policy makers and governmental representatives in Austria and identified six prevailing institutional practices: geographical return, the SME-initiatives, the national support pattern, the size pattern, the consortium pattern and the experience pattern. Together, these patterns make up the semi-governmental logic of the space sector. We find that space actors adhere to these patterns to earn legitimacy, which is a condition for support and access to resources. This study adds to our understanding in the consequences of policies and contributes to the design of new space policies and programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses parties' policy supply in electoral campaigns. In so doing, it proposes to look at issue clarity which is defined as the share of objectively testable pledges within an election manifesto. The main argument states that parties not only decide their positions and issue saliencies, but also the level of specificity with which they present their policies. The data come from Austria (1990–2008) and, thus, provide a good example for a Western European multi-party system with proportional representation. The analyses show that extreme parties present manifestos with higher issue clarity compared to moderate parties. Furthermore, this result is strengthened by a party's role in government. Issue ownership, however, seems to have no effect on issue clarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scaling up local organic food systems may be one way to render the overall food system more environmentally friendly and socially just. This paper focuses on an Austrian organic box scheme, specifically on how its relationship with local farmers is experienced in a process of growth. For data collection, we carried out semi-structured interviews with 19 supplying farmers and conducted a focus group discussion with 11 members of the management staff of the box scheme company. We explore the question: how did the growth of the box scheme influence relationships between supplying farmers and the box scheme in this local organic food system – from the farmers' perspective as well as from the perspective of the box scheme company itself? A major challenge for the box scheme was reconciling its values (e.g. supporting many local organic farms) with practical issues such as logistics and coordination. The box scheme managed its growth by strengthening cooperation with two larger vegetable farms/wholesalers. But its support for diverse local organic farms suffered in this process, and the box scheme was still searching for solutions to efficiently interact with such a high number of suppliers. Having a high number of local producers was central to the box scheme's identity; therefore, internal governance structures needed refinement and reflection. The tension between specific qualities such as procurement from a multitude of local farmers on the one hand, and practical economical and logistical considerations on the other lies at the heart of the experience of scaling up local organic food systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to ongoing urbanisation processes, farmland and the number of farms in Europe are declining. In the regions affected, spatial planning plays a substantial role in securing agricultural production requirements. The extent to which planning decision-makers actually consider agricultural interests, however, has been little investigated so far. Based on two Austrian case studies, this paper explores the presence of agricultural interests within local spatial planning as well as potential preconditions for their perception and implementation. A systematic case study selection through a weighted linear combination (WLC) brought up the two agro-structurally contrasting municipalities Aderklaa and Leopoldsdorf, located at the Viennese city border. Problem-centred interviews with 27 local spatial planning actors, supplemented by the analysis of planning documents, provided insights into the local spatial planning processes. The Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework served as the conceptual basis for the qualitative data analysis and the subsequent cross-case comparison. Aderklaa has preserved its rural characteristics in the past decades. Almost 90 % of the municipal area is used as farmland; there are about 25 farms in the village of 196 inhabitants. Leopoldsdorf, on the other hand, experienced an urbanisation of its former village structure. Farmland makes up 50 % of Leopoldsdorf's area. The municipality has 5230 inhabitants; three farms still exist today. Regarding the integration of agricultural interests into local spatial planning, the municipalities show significant differences: While Aderklaa aligns its spatial planning policy to a large extent with the interests of local farmers, this is not the case in Leopoldsdorf. The study was able to identify the political commitment of local farmers as crucial for the integration of agricultural interests into local spatial planning and to confirm the impact of spatial planning decisions on agriculture. • Local spatial planning policy impacts local farming in various ways. • Planning decisions from previous periods shape recent local agricultural structures. • Peri-urban municipalities do not inevitably lose their agricultural structures. • Farmers in politics are crucial for their interests' integration into planning. • Practically only farmers express agricultural interests in local spatial planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the palaeoceanographic setting and evolution of two biostratigraphically well constrained Upper Cretaceous sections in the Eastern Alps of Austria. The duration of the investigated time interval is confined by the total range zone of Radotruncana calcarata which was a very short lived (806 000 yrs) species as calibrated using orbital parameters. This results in a precise time frame for paleoenvironmental interpretations within this interval. Stable isotope stratigraphy links both sections to published records. The two studied sections are located at the passive (northern) margin of the European Foreland and at the active (southern) margin of a northwestern Tethys ocean branch, respectively. We use mineralogy, clay mineralogy, element geochemistry, carbonate-associated elements and element ratios, Sr isotope stratigraphy and stable C and O isotopes to characterize the profiles. Mn/Sr ratios as well as stable C and O isotopes indicate that the sediments are largely diagenetically unaltered. Both sections have a similar history concerning their sea-level evolution, i.e. a gradual third-order regression with short fourth-order transgressive intervals. The inferred water temperature increases at both locations and the overall primary production and nutrient availability increased slightly with time. Predominately suboxic conditions are confined to the southern profile and were interrupted by oxic spells of ~ 50 kyr duration and even shorter periods of increases in primary production. We also found evidence of a strong aeolian influence on the cyclic deposition of marl–limestone couplets in the southern profile. The similar history at both geodynamic settings indicates that the southern block close to the subduction zone was relatively stable for the duration of R. calcarata total range zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives An increase of severe infections caused by Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (SDSE) similar to infections caused by Streptococcus pyogenes has been reported over the last years. Little is known about infections with SDSE in Austria. Therefore, we investigated a collection of 113 SDSE invasive and non-invasive isolates from different infection sites and type of infections as well as patients’ characteristics. Methods The isolates were phenotypically identified and emm typed using the enlarged emm database from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Additionally, 13 antimicrobial agents were tested using EUCAST guidelines and virulence genes were investigated. Results Severe SDSE infections were most common in elderly men with underlying diseases especially diabetes mellitus. With VitekMS identification of SDSE isolates was successful to the species level only. Emm typing revealed 24 different emm types, one new type and one new subtype. StG485, stG6, stC74a, stG643, and stG480 were the predominant types in this study, stC74a and stG652 in invasive infections and stG643, stC74a and stG485 in non-invasive infections. Resistance was observed to tetracycline (62%), macrolides (13%) with one M phenotype, and clindamycin (12%) presenting 6 constitutive MLS B phenotypes and 8 inducible MLS B phenotypes. Levofloxacin resistance was detected only in one isolate. All isolates tested for virulence genes were positive for scpA , ska , saga and slo. Superantigenic genes were negative except speG dys (positive 17/34; 50%). Conclusion This paper presents the first report of SDSE infections in Austria. Severe SDSE infections were found mainly in elderly men with underlying diseases. SDSE isolates demonstrated substantial emm type diversity without association with infections site or invasiveness. Analysis of virulence genes showed no significant difference between invasive and non-invasive infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to achieve the targets defined in the European Union's “Low Carbon Roadmap”, the “Energy Roadmap 2050” and the “Bioeconomy Strategy”, an enhanced use of biomass is required; not only for energy but also for material uses. In this context and to facilitate targeted resource and energy policy measures, profound knowledge of the status quo of biomass utilization is of crucial importance. The core objective of this paper is to provide complete flow diagrams of the biomass streams within the Austrian economic system from a meso-scale perspective, taking into account all types of uses. Contrary to material flow accounts (MFA), internal streams (e.g. due to biomass processing and transformation, recycling and reuse of residues and by-products, stock changes of end-consumer products) are explicitly taken into consideration and quantified. This approach reveals gaps and inconsistencies in statistical data and facilitates conclusions about quantities not recorded in statistics. Furthermore, the structure of biomass use is visualized and the extent of biogenic material reuse and recycling is revealed. The results show that biomass imports to Austria surpassed exports by about 15% in 2011 (based on dry mass). The distribution of biomass among the different uses depends on whether direct consumption or final uses are considered. In the latter case, which is considered more appropriate, inland biomass consumption was distributed as follows: 7% human food, 18% raw material, 38% energy and 37% animal feed. Exports are primarily composed of wood products. Contrary to common assumption, energy recovery is still usually the ultimate step of cascadic biomass use rather than primary purpose, or based on by-products. Judging from wood quantities being processed and consumed and foreign trade data, domestic wood supply according to felling reports (and stated as “domestic extraction used” in official MFA data) is clearly underrated. Conversely, domestic feed production according to MFA data is inconsistent with official animal feed statistics and appears to be overestimated by at least 30%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social consequences of carbon taxation are closely related to the income and expenditure patterns of private households. This paper combines the national Household Budget Survey with EXIOBASE3 emissions data to analyse the distribution of the carbon footprint and differences in the exposure to carbon taxation in Austria. The results indicate a strong variation in greenhouse gas (CO 2 e) emissions along the income distribution, with the top income decile emitting 4.1 times more than the bottom income decile. We distinguish between local, EU-based, and rest-of-the-world (RoW) emissions and study how various approaches to CO 2 e taxation would affect households with different incomes. Finally, we compare the implications of taxing direct domestic emissions only versus taxing the carbon footprint and find socio-demographic factors that explain why some households have higher tax-to-income ratios. Socially balanced carbon mitigation policies should focus on these emitters as they might be particularly exposed to CO 2 e taxation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Multi-level co-management schemes in Austria shift some effort for decision-making in landscape development from central state authorities to local actors. We analyse the efforts, benefits and risks of participation as perceived by the individuals involved in five cases from three different programmes (one EU-LIFE-Nature project, two EU-Natura 2000 local steering groups, two Cultural Landscape Projects of the Nature conservation Department of Lower Austria). Results from exploratory interviews, a survey of participants, problem centred interviews with drop-outs, interviews with process leaders, observation and document analysis are triangulated for intra- and inter-case consistency and validity. All case studies indicate an overall positive evaluation of the collaboration and the perceived benefits (e.g. contributing to nature protection, bringing in one's own knowledge and experiences), an adequate effort for process activities and relatively low risks of participation (e.g., lack of agreements on procedures, unclear scope for decision-making, missing implementation of decisions, dominating individuals). The results show a significant positive correlation between time effort and benefits and significant negative correlations between effort and risks as well as benefits and risks. A comparison of professionally involved participants and volunteers highlight disproportionally high opportunity costs of volunteers. Volunteers also tend to benefit less from their participation. Some of the volunteers dropped out, because they did not have the feeling to benefit from the participation. These dropouts perceived higher risks and lower trust in the process than the still active participants. The paper discusses the methods applied and concludes with some lessons learnt for practical landscape co-management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Its focus on snow-dependent activities makes Alpine winter tourism especially sensitive to climate change. Stakeholder risk perceptions are a key factor in adaptation to climate change because they fundamentally drive or constrain stakeholder action. This paper examines climate change perceptions of winter tourism stakeholders in Tyrol (Austria). Using a qualitative approach, expert interviews were conducted. Four opinion categories reflecting different attitudes toward climate change issues were identified: convinced planners, annoyed deniers, ambivalent optimists, convinced wait-and-seers. Although the findings generally indicate a growing awareness of climate change, this awareness is mainly limited to perceiving the issue as a global phenomenon. Awareness of regional and branch-specific consequences of climate change that lead to a demand for action could not be identified. Current technical strategies, like snowmaking, are not primarily climate-induced. At present, coping with climate change is not a priority for risk management. The findings point out the importance of gaining and transferring knowledge of regional and branch-specific consequences of climate change in order to induce action at the destination level. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper gives an overview of the Aurignacian/EUP sites in Eastern Austria and presents preliminary results of an analysis of never-before-published lithics from the well-known site of Willendorf II. Preliminary results of typological and technological analyses (raw material studies, attribute analysis, and refitting) are presented. In comparison to the local late Middle Palaeolithic, to the Bohunician, and to the Szeletian, it indicates clear differences in reduction strategies. Further, the regional sequence in the Middle Danube Area from 45,000 to 30,000 BP is presented, and the various techno-complexes and their relationships are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The paper surveys written and pictorial sources on two examples of severe storms in the Netherlands and in Austria in Early Modern Times. A cultural-historical tool is proposed to investigate the human dimension of the storm consequences. The retrospective analysis of a tornado (1674, Utrecht) and a previously rediscovered hailstorm (1796, Abtenau) illustrate the approach. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Most commonly, sustainability indicator sets presented as lists do not take into account interactions among indicators in a systematic manner. Vice versa, existing environmental indicator systems do not provide a formalized approach for problem structuring and quantitative decision support. In this paper, techniques for considering indicator relationships are highlighted and a coupled approach between a qualitative and a quantitative method is analysed. Cognitive mapping (CM) is used for structuring indicators and three different causal maps are derived based on established sustainability concepts: (a) criteria and indicators (C&I hierarchy), (b) indicator network, and (c) Driving Force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) system. These maps are transferred to the Analytic Network Process (ANP) to allow their application in multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). In an application example, Pan-European indicators for sustainable forest management (SFM) are utilized in an ANP-based assessment. The effects of the model structure on the overall evaluation result are demonstrated by means of three reporting periods on Austrian forestry. In a comparative analysis of CM and ANP it is tested whether their measures of indicator significance do correspond. Both centrality in CM and single limited priorities in ANP have been reported to identify key indicators that play an important role in networks. We found out that the correspondence between CM and ANP is the stronger the more rigidly cause-effect relationships are interpreted, which is the case for the DPSIR system of SFM indicators. It is demonstrated that using indicator sets without consideration of the indicator interactions will cause shortcomings for evaluation and assessment procedures in SFM. Given strict and consistent definition of causal indicator relationships, a coupled use of CM and ANP is recommendable for both enhancing the process of problem structuring as well as supporting preference-based evaluation of decision alternatives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Experience of the drawbacks of a globalised and industrialised food system has generated interest in localised food systems. Local food networks are regarded as more sustainable food provision systems since they are assumed to have high levels of social embeddedness and relations of regard. This paper explores the social relations between food actors and how ‘local’ and ‘organic’ are expressed by detailing how actors describe qualities of their intra-network relationships, how they understand ‘local’ and how they are connected within the food system. A study from the province of Lower Austria in Austria, where organic cereals and bread are produced and marketed, serves to illuminate these issues. Actors agreed that geographical closeness contributed to the social closeness they experienced and that social relationships were a strong reason for being in the network. However, the meaning of ‘local’ was elastic depending on where inputs and consumers could be found. Furthermore, despite strong commitment to organic production methods and the local market, actors faced constraints that made them hybrids between organic and conventional, and between locally focused and globally dependent. Thus, the binary thinking along the local-global and organic-conventional divide does not hold. While it is important to not make a causal link between high quality of social relationships and local food networks, the case described here indicates the possibility of such a link. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A number of European countries have expanded their screening programme considerably during the last decade. Other countries have, however, not expanded their programme substantially. In this paper, I will compare UK and Austria, two countries representing two ends of the European spectrum. Focussing on the decision-making processes behind the design and expansion of newborn screening, I draw on Sheila Jasanoff''s concept of “civic epistemology” (Jasanoff, S. (2005). Designs on Nature. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.) to investigate how the chosen countries provide information in order to give account for their respective screening policies. In particular, I analyse how key institutions in the UK and Austria use scientific expertise to explain and justify national screening programmes. For this purpose, I compare the material that is made available to the public, including policy documents, scientific studies, medical guidelines, legal regulation, advisory committee reports and public engagement exercises. It was found that the observed differences in the accountability practices are rooted in nationally traditional forms of policy making. However, whether or not these repertoires become indeed realised is a more contingent matter and is often triggered by events which evoke a response from the medical and policy-making actors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: European landscapes have been shaped over the centuries by processes related to human land use, which are reflected in regionally distinct landscape patterns. Since landscape pattern has been linked to biodiversity and other ecological values of the landscapes, this paper explores landscape pattern as a tool for ecological sustainability assessments at the regional (Austrian Cultural Landscapes), national (Austria) and European (European Union+Norway, Switzerland) level with focus on agricultural landscapes. A set of landscape metrics served as a basis to assess naturalness and geometrisation of Austrian and European landscapes as a proxy for their sustainability. To achieve an accurate spatially explicit assessment, we applied a spatial reference framework consisting in units that are homogeneous in biophysical and socio-economic contexts, adapted the regional approach for its application at European level, and developed relative sustainability thresholds for the landscape metrics. The analyses revealed that several landscape metrics, particularly the “Number of Shape Characterising Points” showed a high correlation with the degree of naturalness. The sustainability map of Austria based on an ordinal regression model revealed well-known problem regions of ecological sustainability. At the European level, the relative deviation from the average pattern showed clearly the simplification processes in the landscapes. However, a better spatial resolution of land cover data would add to the refinement of pattern analysis in regions and therefore the assessment of sustainability. We recommend the combination of information of different scales for the formulation and implementation of sustainability policies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In order to effectively conserve the non-renewable resource phosphorus (P), flows and stocks of P must be known at national, regional and global scales. P is a key non-renewable resource because its use as fertilizer cannot be substituted posing a constraint on the global food production in the long-term. This paper presents a methodology to establish country-wide P balances that emphasises resource use. We develop a material flow analysis (MFA) model that comprises all relevant flows and stocks of P in five subsystems, seven processes and 36 material flows. For quantification, statistical data from economic and agricultural sources as well as available information about P partitioning in natural and anthropogenic processes are used. Special attention is paid to data gaps and uncertainties. The model was tested in two case studies on P management in Turkey and Austria. MFA appears to be a tool well suited for establishing country-wide P balances, provided that national statistics are well-structured and accessible. If a common approach is used for modelling P-flows and stocks, regional and national balances can be compared and linked towards larger scale P balances for an improved management of the resource. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper explores the issue of sustainability at the macro scale employing multi-criteria decision aid (MCDA) methods. The incommensurability of values and the essentially multi-dimensional and dynamic nature of sustainability challenge the use of composite measurement indices. This determined the choice of MCDA methods. Austria was chosen as a case study, due to the wide availability of data, especially on indicators of strong sustainability. The structure of the multi-criteria problem comprised the evolution of different sustainability dimensions over time. The process for selecting criteria included a critical assessment of institutional sustainability agendas (UN, EU and Austrian Government) and theoretical recommendations. After an assessment of MCDA methods, the NAIADE method demonstrated the most suitable properties for sustainability assessment. The application of this outranking approach was undertaken in three separate settings: long-term from 1960 to 2003, medium-term, 1970–1995, and short-term, 1995–2003 with varying numbers of criteria. The response of results to the addition of evaluating criteria and periods was tested. The degree of credibility for accepting preference relations was also employed for sensitivity analysis. According to the results of long-term and medium-term assessments, especially in the weak sustainability setting, sustainable progress is taking place in Austria. In the short term, in the stronger sustainability setting and, especially as the number of criteria increases, more incomparable periods appear and trends are less determined. Moreover, it is shown how results crucially depend on the methodological choices. This is one of the first applications of the multi-criteria tools to the dynamic analysis of sustainability at the macro scale. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Carnian flora from Lunz (Lower Austria) ranks among the richest and most diverse fossil floras from the Upper Triassic. It is one of the first modern Triassic floras with bennettitaleans. Although this flora is often referred to in the literature, modern taxonomic studies are mostly absent; only some of the reproductive structures have been studied in detail. Many of the plant remains yield excellently preserved cuticles. During a systematic study of the Pterophyllum leaves from Lunz, it appeared that several species previously accommodated in that taxon have to be transferred to other genera. This paper deals with four species that are transferred to Nilssonia (cycadalean foliage); the macromorphology and epidermal anatomy are described and discussed. The following new combination is introduced: Nilssonia riegeri nov. comb. Two new species are described (i.e. Nilssonia lunzensis and Nilssonia neuberi) based on material originally mentioned in a species list as Ctenis lunzensis Stur nom. nud. and Pterophyllum neuberi Stur nom. nud. The diagnosis for a fourth species, Nilssonia sturii Krasser, is emended. The Nilssonia species from Lunz range among the earliest representatives of the genus Nilssonia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents a comprehensive and flexible new geomorphological combination legend that expands the possibilities of current geomorphological mapping concepts. The new legend is presented here at scale of 1:10,000 and it combines symbols for hydrography, morphometry/morphography, lithology and structure with colour variations for process/genesis and geologic age. The piece-by-piece legend forms a “geomorphological alphabet” that offers a high diversity of geomorphological information and a possibility for numerous combinations of information. This results in a scientific map that is rich in data and which is more informative than most previous maps but is based on a simple legend. The system is developed to also be used as a basis for applications in GIS. The symbol-based information in the geomorphological maps can be digitally stored as a powerful database with thematic layers and attribute tables. By combining and further developing aspects of different classical mapping systems and techniques into expanded data combinations, new possibilities of presentation and storage are developed and thus a strong scientific tool is provided for landscape configuration and the reconstruction of its development; in turn the combination paves the way for specific thematic applications. The new system is illustrated for two contrasting landscape types: the first is located on the border of Vorarlberg, western Austria, and Liechtenstein in a glacially influenced, high altitude alpine setting that is strongly modified by various degradation processes; the second area represents a formerly glaciated region in Dalarna, central Sweden near Mora, an area that is characterized by a variety of aeolian, fluvial, glaciofluvial and lacustrine depositional and erosional landforms and also reflects isostatic uplift. The new method functions well for both areas and results in detailed scientific outlines of both landscape types. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A number of prehistoric landslides and rock avalanches occurred in the folded and faulted section of the Molasse Zone in Vorarlberg, Austria. Some developed into a Sturzstrom, defined as a ‘rapidly moving fluidised mass movement of large volumes of rock, derived from the disintegration of a falling rock mass, that spread under the influence of gravity’. Their impact on the landscape usually is related to obstruction of rivers and valleys. In this paper, we analyse the geomorphology and the failure mechanism of a relative small ‘Sturzstrom’. The failure mechanism can be described as a ‘buckling failure’. The morphological situation indicates that failure took place after local deglaciation by the end of the Upper Würm. The period of failure coincides with glacial and ice-marginal remnants, which developed between 15.000 and 14.600 BP. The lithological sequence and rock structure, as well as the impact of the processes related to the former glacial environment, were major causal conditions. The rock sequence consists of conglomerates, sandstone layers, and marls. Next to glacial scouring, which increased the inclination of the valley slopes, the effect of late-glacial unloading and postglacial processes, such as weathering and fluvial erosion, subsequently weakened the mass rock fabric until failure occurred. Discontinuity orientation measurements, geostructural and geomechanical conditions, and the former hydrological and geomorphological conditions support bucklings failure. In fact, three-hinge buckling may have occurred. The frontal section of the Sturzstrom consists mainly of large conglomerate blocks, averaging 1.5 m3 in volume, although megablocks, reaching of up to 4000 m3, are present as well. The volume of the entire Sturzstrom equals approximately 10×107 m3. Present activity is only restricted to minor rock falls derived from the conglomerates and mudflows originating from the marl layers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper discusses the results of extensive measurements of drivers’ stopping behaviour during signal programmes with and without flashing green before amber. Ten locations in Switzerland, Austria, and Germany were recorded with a video camera and analysed using an image-processing system. About 5000 cycles were documented.The analysis shows that the flashing green increases the number of early stops, as drivers tend to underestimate the duration of the time to the end of amber. Discrete choice models of the stopping behaviour are estimated for inclusion in suitable microsimulation models of traffic flow. The model results show that speed and distance to stop line, and their interaction (potential time to the stop line with unchanged speed) explain the stopping process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In Austria, a new performance-oriented reimbursement system for inpatients was introduced in 1997. The system is aimed at implementing a more effective and efficient health care payment strategy that will contain costs. It reverses reimbursement on a per inpatient per day basis resulting in a cost explosion that has exceeded the limits of the overall health care budget. This paper presents a strategic system-dynamics model that analyzes the impact of the new payment system on hospitals’ reimbursement maximization behavior. Empirical findings support the results of our model''s ability to determine future adaptations of the system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The recent wave of populism sweeping Europe and the Americas generated considerable interest among political scientists, economists, sociologists and to some extent, geographers. The vast majority of these studies focuses on individual voter decisions or national comparisons over time but neglects the within-country spatial variation of the populist vote. This paper addresses this shortcoming and applies spatial econometric techniques to explore possible explanations for spatial variation in the increase of the populist right vote between the 2013 and 2017 national elections in Austria for 2118 municipalities. Spatial variation in voting shares can result from (1) compositional effects, regional differences in the composition of voters with different characteristics, (2) broad spatial, historically evolved institutional differences, such as membership to one of the nine states, (3) unequal integration of different types of regions into the global economy, such as peripheral regions, central urban regions, old industrial regions or tourist areas, (4) spatial vote spillovers due to localized social networks, and (5) unobserved spatial processes. We find that the populist right vote gains in Austrian municipalities are affected by all processes, but that the type of regions becomes insignificant once we correct for unobservable spatial structures in the regression framework. The increase in the share of foreigners, the share of foreigners, income and inequality levels, educational differences, selected state membership, as well as spatial spillovers of populist right voting are all important to explain spatial variation in the rise of the populist right vote. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electoral systems in which voters can cast preference votes for individual candidates within a party list are increasingly popular. To the best of our knowledge, there is no research on whether and how the scale used to evaluate candidates can affect electoral behavior and results. In this paper, we analyze data from an original voting experiment leveraging real-life political preferences and embedded in a nationally representative online survey in Austria. We show that the scale used by voters to evaluate candidates makes differences. For example, the possibility to give up to two points advantages male candidates because male voters are more likely to give 'zero points' to female candidates. Yet this pattern does not exist in the system in which voters can give positive and negative points because male voters seem reluctant to actively withdraw points from female candidates. We thus encourage constitution makers to think carefully about the design of preference voting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Jewish pathologist Carl Julius Rothberger (1871–1945) is undoubtedly one of the most important representatives of his field. His studies on atrial fibrillation, the bundle branch block and arrhythmia perpetua in particular secured him a place in medical history. Rothberger also gave the name to an agar used to prove the neutral red reduction of salmonella (Rothberger-Scheffler agar). While Rothberger's name is well known in pathology, his biography and his experiences of stigmatization as a Jewish university lecturer have received little attention. The latter are therefore the focus of this paper. Three central research questions need to be answered: What effect did Rothberger's Jewish origins have on his personal life and on his career at the University of Vienna in the first third of the 20th century? What personal changes resulted from the "Anschluss" ("annexation") of Austria to the German Reich (1938) and the assumption of power by the National Socialists? And finally, what role does Rothberger play in the collective memory of the city of Vienna today – does a kind of public memory exist? The current work is based on extensive primary sources from the Archives of the University of Vienna, the manuscript collection of the Archives of the Medical Faculty there and the Austrian State Archives. Some of these primary sources have been evaluated for the first time. They have been supplemented by contemporary newspaper articles and the relevant secondary literature. Although Rothberger grew up in a largely assimilated upper middle-class family in which religious practice hardly played a role, he was exposed to considerable anti-Semitic and repressive actions, especially from the 1920s onwards. However, these repressions only become apparent at second glance. Stages of increasing rights deprivation included (1) Rothberger's frustratingly unsuccessful applications for the Chair of General and Experimental Pathology, which had been vacant since 1924, (2) his forced early retirement (1936/37), (3) an exclusion order against him along with temporary imprisonment after the "annexation" (1938), and (4) the final closure of the institute which he had helped develop and shape over decades (1942). An active public debate on the victims of National Socialism has been taking place in Vienna and at its university since the turn of the millennium. In this context, Carl Julius Rothberger was officially commemorated at a ceremony in 2010 – a late attempt to rescue him and his work from collective oblivion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses changes in the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems caused by land use. It presents an empirical analysis of changes in land use, agricultural productivity, and socio-economic biomass metabolism in Austria during the 19th and 20th centuries, related to the process of 'industrial modernization', i.e. the transition from asociety relying entirely on solar energy to the industrial society of today based on fossil fuel use. The development of 'human appropriation of net primary production' in connection with the changes in thesocio-economic energy system are discussed for the period 1830/1995. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]