Search

From an understanding of knowledge mobilisation as a set of strategies that favour responsible and inclusive research, the aim of this paper is to identify the obstacles or barriers to carrying out such research in higher education institutions, as perceived by researchers. In this descriptive study, content analysis is used to examine semi-structured interviews carried out with eighty research groups from five European countries (Austria, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Spain) that participated in the research. Results reveal the main barriers researchers perceived are associated with social commitment, relational aspects, encouragement to participate (attitudinal, organisational and institutional barriers) and knowledge mobilisation practices (derived from the research process and research evaluation policies). Ethical and policy implications for more responsible and inclusive research are drawn in the conclusions.

In our paper, we aim to give an overview about the emergence and evolvement of the history of education in Hungary. Nevertheless, we intend to surpass the traditional approach of giving a schematic description of these processes as we would like to depict the interconnectedness of the Hungarian history of education with the European research tendencies and the thematic variety of the Hungarian research activities. We used literature analysis, historical source analysis and descriptive statistical analysis as primary methods. Within Hungary, we pay special attention to the University of Budapest but we also reflect special peculiarities regarding the other full universities in the country. The Hungarian history of education followed the pathway of the German-speaking countries regarding the approach and the function until 1948. History of education had a self-legitimising role in the emerging national education system and modernised university environment; however, this characteristic feature did not exclude the incorporation of international research approaches. This function was slightly altered in the interwar period since leading researchers of the subfield contributed to maintaining the ideological coherence of the political structure. During the socialist period, researchers were expected to follow the directives of their Soviet colleagues; however, in the 1970s the homogeneity in themes and research approaches began loosening. As the result of the political regime change in 1989/1990, Hungarian research was given an opportunity to be integrated into the European exchange of ideas and implement research approaches prevalent in Western countries.

It is now widely believed that the more numerous the authors of a scientific paper, the greater is the likelihood of higher citation impact. By contrast, this paper considers a set of single- and multiple-authored publications in a group of matched journals that have resulted from collaborative research networks funded by the Austrian Science Fund, and presents evidence that no statistically significant relationship is found between multiple-authored papers and higher citation impact over single-authored papers. Moreover, within the data set examined, some evidence is found of a negative relationship between increasing numbers of authors and higher citation impact. The implication is drawn that where research is carried out within larger networks where researchers may benefit from a more general rather than a more specific collaboration, some researchers may publish their more important work through single-authored papers in order to enhance their reputations. Further implications of these findings are then considered for research funders and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to point out the necessity of implementing more appropriate approaches instead of the traditional single disciplinary approaches, in order to be able to cope with the ill-defined, highly complex problem of sustainable development in systems such as organizations or regions. Design/methodology/approach: Based on empirical data concerning expert and stakeholder preferences, it is argued that research and teaching on innovation for sustainability need to be both inter- and transdisciplinary. Findings: Here, the approach of transdisciplinary case studies, developed at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, allows appropriate integration of research and teaching activities and thus leads to mutual learning between the case study actors. Practical implications: In the second part of the paper, these conceptual considerations are illustrated with the so-called Erzherzog Johann case study, an integrative research and teaching project at the University of Graz. Originality/value: In the paper the very complex task to integrate research and teaching on sustainability-related innovation is described and illustrated with the first transdisciplinary case-study conducted in Austria according to the ETH approach. (Contains 5 figures and 1 table.)

Objectives: Medical education is gaining in significance internationally. A growing interest in the field has been observed in German-speaking countries (Austria, Germany, Switzerland) since the early 2000s. This interest is not, however, reflected in an increase in the number of publications on medical education of German-speaking authors in international professional journals. The following investigation examines the potential use of active participant numbers of German-speaking researchers at AMEE conferences as a means of measuring said development., Methods: The AMEE conference proceedings from the categories poster presentations, short communications, research papers and plenary presentations from the years 2005-2013 were examined for evidence of Austrian, German and Swiss participation. The abstracts were subsequently analysed in terms of content and categorised according to study design, methodology, object of study, and research topic., Results: Of the 9,446 analysed abstracts, 549 contributions show at least one first, last or co-author from Austria, Germany or Switzerland. The absolute number of contributions per conference varied between 44 in 2010 and 77 in 2013. The percentage fluctuated between 10% in 2005 and 4.1% in 2010. From the year 2010 onwards, however, participation increased continually. The research was predominantly descriptive (62.7%). Studies on fundamental questions of teaching and learning (clarification studies) were less frequent (4.0%). For the most part, quantitative methods (51.9%) were implemented in addressing subjects such as learning and teaching methods (33%), evaluation and assessment (22.4%) or curriculum development (14.4%). The study population was usually comprised of students (52.5%)., Conclusions: The number of contributions from Austria, Germany and Switzerland peak at the beginning and at the end of the evaluated period of time. A continual increase in active participation since 2005 was not observed. These observations do not reflect the actual increase of interest in medical education research in German-speaking countries.

Purpose: Biobanks are collections of biological samples (e.g. tissue samples and body fluids) and their associated data intended for various approaches in medical research. The field of biobanking evolves rapidly as an interdisciplinary branch of research and requires educational efforts to provide skilled experts in Europe and beyond. New ways in research and research education play a pivotal role in the future of biobanking. Design/methodology/approach: The increasing of requests and potential uses of biospecimens from biobanks necessitates an international and national intensified transfer of forward looking knowledge and know-how. In Austria, this could be realized by special trainings as well as a postgraduate education. Furthermore, the forward looking research and further development of infrastructure will play a pivotal role in biobanks in the future. Findings: Few opportunities are available for specific education on biobanking in Europe. This could be remedied by the creation networks of ISO-certified biobanks and co-operation with interested parties. Research limitations/implications: The current research focuses on the situation of information transfer in the field of biobanking in Europe. A wider investigation in better harmonization and standardization of methods in other parts of the world would be beneficial. Originality/value: The value of biomolecular resources such as biobanks has previously been discussed in detail, e.g. by the "Time" magazine. The paper focuses on demonstrating the importance for education in the future of biobanking in general.

Building on group discussions and interviews with life science researchers in Austria, this paper analyses the narratives that researchers use in describing what they feel responsible for, with a particular focus on how they perceive the societal responsibilities of their research. Our analysis shows that the core narratives used by the life scientists participating in this study continue to be informed by the linear model of innovation. This makes it challenging for more complex innovation models [such as responsible research and innovation (RRI)] to gain ground in how researchers make sense of and conduct their research. Furthermore, the paper shows that the life scientists were not easily able to imagine specific practices that would address broader societal concerns and thus found it hard to integrate the latter into their core responsibilities. Linked to this, researchers saw institutional reward structures (e.g. evaluations, contractual commitments) as strongly focused on scientific excellence ("I am primarily paid for publishing..."). Thus, they saw reward structures as competing with—rather than incentivising—broader notions of societal responsibility. This narrative framing of societal responsibilities is indicative of a structural marginalisation of responsibility practices and explains the claim, made by many researchers in our sample, that they cannot afford to spend time on such practices. The paper thus concludes that the core ideas of RRI stand in tension with predominant narrative and institutional infrastructures that researchers draw on to attribute meaning to their research practices. This suggests that scientific institutions (like universities, professional communities or funding institutions) still have a core role to play in providing new and context-specific narratives as well as new forms of valuing responsibility practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports the results of an exploratory online survey among German, Austrian, and Swiss hospital chaplains (n = 158, response rate 17%) to identify the ethical conflicts they encounter in their work. Respondents indicated that questions surrounding end-of-life care are predominant among the conflicts faced. Chaplains get involved with these conflicts most often through the patients themselves or through nursing staff. Most encounters occur during pastoral care visits rather than in structured forms of ethics consultation such as clinical ethics committees. The results add to the ongoing discussion of chaplains as agents in ethics consultation within healthcare systems as well as their specific role and contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent tendencies that are likely to endanger free and creative research in Austria are discussed. It is suggested that the danger to free, autonomous research may stem from negligence of the state to provide an adequate organizational framework for research. (Author/SF)

The article discusses the highlights of the European Congress of Radiology in Vienna, Austria from March 3-7, 2011. A total of 20,000 delegates from 96 countries participated while 79 papers on musculoskeletal were selected by the scientific committee. Researchers from the Netherlands presented data on the use of CT arthrography in assessing intrasubstance from a cadaveric knee. A group from Monza, Italy presented the topic of whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

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

Background/objectives: Monitoring of processed products at the brand level was implemented in Austria, France and Romania on the basis of the Oqali methodology during the Joint Action on Nutrition and Physical Activity (JANPA) to compare the nutritional quality of the food offering. The objective of this paper is to present the results obtained during this study.Subjects/methods: Collected data were those available on product packaging. In total, 2155 soft drinks and 943 breakfast cereals were classified in a standardised list of product families and analysed in a harmonised way. For each product family, mean values for sugar, fat, saturated fat, salt and dietary fibres were compared between countries. Common products across countries were also studied.Results: For all the studied nutrients, significant differences were observed between countries, with a higher sugar content for Romania in regular carbonated and non-carbonated beverages containing fruits, regular lemonades and regular tonics and bitters (together with Austria for tonics), for France in fruit beverages with more than 50% fruit, and for Austria in low-sugar beverages containing tea. For France, higher nutrient contents were also observed for sugar in chocolate-flavoured cereals, filled cereals and cornflakes, and other plain cereals (at a similar level as Romania for cornflakes), and for saturated fats in honey/caramel cereals and crunchy mueslis. These differences were explained by a different food offering in the three countries, but also by differences in nutrient contents for common products. This study also showed high variability of the nutrient content within a product family, suggesting a real potential for product reformulation.Conclusions: National tools, at the branded products level, are essential to monitor the nutritional quality of the food offering, and to follow up on processed food reformulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the question whether different forms of policy learning influence each other. The focus is on relationships between different forms of policy learning, which are explored on the basis of case study research in the field of research, technology and innovation policy-making in Austria. Methods utilised are expert interviews and document analysis besides literature and media recherché. With the goal to better understand the mechanisms behind learning processes, different forms of knowledge utilisation are linked to organisation types. The analysis suggests that the introduction of radical policy innovations was possible because different forms of learning were mutually beneficial and enabled actors to reach their goals. Learning about how to obtain political goals provided opportunities to increase the leverage of learning on policy instruments and goals, whilst insights into policies from other countries were also utilised for political learning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the 1980s, schools have been recognized as an ideal setting to promote students' and teachers' health. Three decades after the development of the Health Promoting Schools (HPS) approach, however, there is still only limited knowledge about the implementation of health promotion (HP) activities in this setting. Some studies indicate that schools change original concepts significantly when adapting them to local context in the course of implementation. In this paper, we pursue the question how HP is practiced in schools that have agreed to implement HPS concepts from regional service providers (SPs), using data from a multiple-case study conducted in an Austrian province. Furthermore, we explored the HP activities chosen for implementation and the decision-making leading to their implementation. We draw on 22 interviews with members of the school community and provincial HP SPs, 9 group discussions, and 10 observations we have carried out within three schools between November 2010 and January 2012, supplemented by a variety of documents. We have identified 40 different HP activities, of which most targeted students, while mostly focusing on physical activity and/or psychosocial health. Planning, coordination and cooperation at the school level were minimal. Decisions for or against activities were seldom taken together, but taken individually due to personal knowledge, interests and experiences, perceived needs and problems, already existing activities and external influences. The findings suggest that schools rather remain with a traditional topic-based approach instead of realizing an integrated whole-school approach and indicate a need for more support especially during the early phases of implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigation of Empiricism. On Ernst Mach's Conception of the Thought Experiment. The paper argues that Ernst Mach's conception of the thought experiment from 1897/1905 holds a singular position in the lively discussions and repeated theorizations that have continued up to the present in relation to this procedure. Mach derives the thought experiment from scientific practice, and does not oppose it to the physical experiment, but, on the contrary, endows it with a robust relation to the facts. For Mach, the thought experiment is a reliable means of determining empiricism, and at the same time a real, because open and unbiased, experimenting. To shed light on this approach, the paper carries out a close reading of the relevant texts in Mach's body of writings (in their different stages of revision) and proceeds in three steps: first, Mach's processual understanding of science will be presented, which also characterizes his research and publication practice (I. 'Aperçu' and 'Sketch'. Science as Process and Projection); then in a second step the physiological and biological justification and valorization of memory and association will be examined with which Mach limits the relevance of categories such as consciousness and will (II. The Biology of Consciousness. Or The Polyp Colony); against this background, thirdly, the specific empiricism can be revealed that Mach inscribes into the thought experiment by on the one hand founding it in the memory and association, and on the other by tracing it back to geometry, which he deploys as an experimenting oriented to experience (III. Thinking and Experience. The Thought Experiment)., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Background: Prolonged sitting is ubiquitous in modern society and linked to several diseases. Height-adjustable desks are being used to decrease worksite based sitting time (ST). Single-desk sit-to-stand workplaces exhibit small ST reduction potential and short-term loss in performance. The aim of this paper is to report the study design and methodology of an ACTIVE OFFICE trial.Design: The study was a 1-year three-arm, randomized controlled trial in 18 healthy Austrian office workers. Allocation was done via a regional health insurance, with data collection during Jan 2014 - March 2015. Participants were allocated to either an intervention or control group. Intervention group subjects were provided with traditional or two-desk sit-to-stand workstations in either the first or the second half of the study, while control subjects did not experience any changes during the whole study duration. Sitting time and physical activity (IPAQ-long), cognitive performance (text editing task, Stroop-test, d2R test of attention), workload perception (NASA-TLX) and physiological parameters (salivary cortisol, heartrate variability and body weight) were measured pre- and post-intervention (23 weeks after baseline) for intervention and control periods. Postural changes and sitting/standing time (software logger) were recorded at the workplace for the whole intervention period.Discussion: This study evaluates the effects of a novel two-desk sit-to-stand workplace on sitting time, physical parameters and work performance of healthy office based workers. If the intervention proves effective, it has a great potential to be implemented in regular workplaces to reduce diseases related to prolonged sitting.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02825303 , July 2016 (retrospectively registered). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper arises out of my research which I have been conducting in the context of my dissertation project. It explores the relationship between teaching, research and collecting practices in Viennese anatomy during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. In a time in which Viennese medicine tried to reinvent itself through both the creation of a new curriculum and several other institutional measures the practice of establishing comparative and human anatomical collections can be seen as a strategic key field of action. By concentrating on scientific journals, popular texts, catalogues, correspondences and specimens this paper aims at revealing specific social systems which must be understood as parts of the 'social history' of Viennese anatomy. By looking closely at these social aspects of anatomical teaching and research, this work tries to contribute to recent discussions addressed by historians of science and medicine.

Background: People experiencing homelessness (PEH) are known to be at higher risk of adverse health outcomes and premature mortality when compared to the housed population and often face significant barriers when attempting to access health services. This study aimed to better understand the specific health care needs of PEH and the barriers and facilitators associated with their timely and equitable access to health services in the European context. Methods: We conducted an exploratory cross-national qualitative study involving people with lived experience of homelessness and health and social care professionals in Austria, Greece, Spain, and the UK. A total of 69 semi-structured interviews comprising 15 social care professionals, 19 health care professionals, and 35 PEH were completed, transcribed, and analysed thematically. Results: Findings were organised into three overarching themes relating to the research question: (a) Health care needs of PEH, (b) Barriers to health care access, and (c) Facilitators to health care access. Overall, the general health of PEH was depicted as extremely poor, and mainstream health services were portrayed as ill-equipped to respond to the needs of this population. Adopting tailored approaches to care, especially involving trusted professionals in the delivery of care, was identified as a key strategy for overcoming existing barriers. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate there to be a high degree of consistency in the health care needs of PEH and the barriers and facilitators associated with their access to health care across the various European settings. Homelessness in itself is recognized to represent an essential social determinant of health, with PEH at risk of unequal access to health services. Changes are thus required to facilitate PEH's access to mainstream primary care. This can also be further complemented by investment in 'in-reach' services and other tailored and person-centred forms of health care. Trial registration: This study was registered retrospectively on June 6, 2022, in the registry of ClinicalTrials.gov under the number NCT05406687. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the relevance of quantitative and qualitative aspects of social networks in a health context. The study combined a stress theoretical perspective with theories of social support and social capital in order to investigate the mechanisms behind the association of social network size and self-rated health. The main research question in the study is whether social integration affects health by changing stressor appraisal (perceived stressor intensity or anticipated stressor burden). The study used a survey of an Austrian student sample (n = 246) to measure two models of hypothetical exposure to a potentially stressful event. The findings indicate that individuals with larger trust and support networks consider potential stressors to be less threatening, which leads to a reduced level of stress symptoms and a better subjective health condition. The influence of network size on stressor appraisal is fully mediated by the perceived social embeddedness that these ties induce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: A potential problem with meta-analysis concerns missing studies due to publication bias. This paper focuses on one subtype of publication bias, namely selection bias (studies with unfavorable outcomes tend to be suppressed), wherein the main interest is in determining the proportion of unpublished studies., Methods: As in the well-known trim and fill method, the key assumption is that studies with quantitative outcomes extremely unfavorable for the treatment are not published. Along with the assumption of a normal distribution for the complete set of published and unpublished studies, the proportion of unpublished studies is estimated by the degree of truncation from a left-truncated normal distribution. In addition, the mean and variance of this distribution are obtained in order to provide useful information regarding the mean effect of a treatment vs. a control, and the variance of this effect when controlling for truncation. The degree of truncation can be considered under two hypotheses: the true mean equals the estimated mean or the true mean is equal to zero., Results: The uncorrected degree of truncation was found to be overestimated, but this bias was reduced when correcting for chance truncation. To incorporate additional information, weighted analysis was proposed. Instead of unweighted mean and variance of the published outcomes, their weighted analogues were used for analysis, with the weights expressing varying credibility across studies entering the meta-analysis. One hypothetical and three empirical examples illustrated the approach., Conclusion: The new method is very simple and its results are comparable to other meta-analytic methods. However, in contrast to existing methods, it can be applied to the study-specific outcomes alone.

Informatics or computer science (the terms informatics and computer science are used as synonyms in this paper) in Austrian secondary schools is often considered “difficult” and “not interesting” because of mainly mathematical and economical contents. But informatics is much more; it is used in almost every part of the working life and can also cooperate with every subject at school. It offers a wide range of possibilities for COOL (COoperative Open Learning), an Austrian teaching model based on the Dalton Plan that provides also cooperation between different subject matters. Besides the COOL concept this paper describes some ideas for cooperation between informatics and foreign languages at secondary schools and at University level besides just ICT (Information and Communication Technology) or computer-assisted language learning. The presented tasks are part of the project “COOL Informatics” (according to COoperative Open Learning) that aims at developing COOL teaching material based on neurodidactical (Neurodidactics is a relatively young research field that combines the findings of brain research, pedagogy, cognitive psychology and other related fields.) principles for informatics and cross-curricular cooperation from primary school up to University. On the basis of the developed material the following main research questions of the project shall be examined in the course of the next school year: (1) Can COoperative Open Learning methods help to enhance learning? (2) Can learning be enhanced by considering neurodidactical principles in the design of teaching material and in the classroom? As the first test phase of the developed material is still in progress the evaluation is not available at the moment. But the first informal feedback of a vocational school and a programming course at the University shows that it is worth fostering COoperative Open Learning and cross-curricular cooperation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper explores the methodological and epistemological implications of the relationships between R&D, policy and practice. The proposals towards 'evidence-based policy and practice' are analysed with respect to this triangle from three angles: (1) meaning; (2) production; and (3) use of evidence. A comprehensive model of the research cycle, and its relationship to the triangle of research, policy and practice serves as conceptual framework. The basic problems of 'evidence-based policy and practice' are demonstrated through empirical cases: (1) the contested 'evidence' regarding achievement standards; (2) the state of the production of evidence in Austria; and (3) the use of evidence in qualifications framework policies. 'Evidencebased policy', unlike 'evidence-based practice', turns out to be a 'mission impossible'. Evidence-based practice might be more promising, but if it depends on a change in policy and governance, it is itself confronted with the problems of evidence-based policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a research paper which focuses on how to implement information technology successfully in facility management based on the surveys of entire German speaking area. It presents a comparative analysis of computer-aided facilities management (CAFM) implementation projects and procedures in the German-speaking countries in order to derive appropriate implementation models. It provides a comparative analysis of the CAFM sectors in Germany, Austria and Switzerland which presents current trends, technologies, obstacles, challenges, and provides recommendations for a successful CAFM implementation. It discusses the findings of the surveys which provides valuable guidelines and assistance to FM organizations that start to implement CAFM.

Abstract: This issue contains papers selected from the contributions presented at the 1st International Cartographic Association (ICA) Workshop on Geospatial Analysis and Modeling held in Vienna on the 8th of July, 2006 (http://www.hig.se/~bjg/ica/workshop/). The theme papers demonstrate partially recent developments in geospatial analysis and modeling for uncovering knowledge for various applications. This research has seen intensive growth over the past decade due to application needs and the increasing availability of geospatial information collected from various sources. The challenge for the research is to go beyond the conventional cartographic and geographic (mainly statistics-based) methods, and to develop more advanced and robust models for analyzing and mining geospatial information. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper is an address given to the Austrian legislature in Vienna, Austria on March 3, 2004. The main focus is on the connection between insights from F.A. Hayek’s research program and experimental economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper tries to explain how sociology as social research was re-founded in Austria after World-War II. It discusses a basic trend of applied research and demonstrates its theory of science implications and potential. The second half of the paper proposes to look at the increasing endeavors towards interdisciplinary cooperation as the future of the „historical mission“ of sociology. Instead of a further development of „general theory“ trying to hold together a more and more disintegrating field of sociology, thematic areas to focus upon in interdisciplinary studies are seen as the future tasks of social science. This might (and ought to) lead to a new fruitful confrontation with paradigmatic philosophical concepts of a postmodern character. Philosophy rather than general sociological theory should animate empirical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstracts are presented on the topics of the founding of this journal, research methodology in sociology and sociology in Austria.

This paper elucidates and discusses Jung's conceptions of the relation between psychology, psychotherapy and religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To explore nurses' and nurse assistants' experiences of providing end‐of‐life care during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Austria, Germany and Northern Italy. Design: A qualitative explorative interview study. Method: Data were collected between August and December 2020 and analysed using content analysis. Healthcare professionals (nurses (n = 30), nurse coordinators (n = 6) and nurse assistants (n = 5)) from hospitals (n = 32) and long‐term care facilities (n = 9) in Austria, Germany and Northern Italy were interviewed for this study. Results: Five main categories were identified as follows: (i) end‐of‐life care involves love and duty, (ii) last wishes and dignity of the patient, (iii) communication with the family, (iv) organizational and religious aspects and (v) personal emotions. Results indicate that more training and guidelines are needed to prepare nurses and nurse assistants for end‐of‐life care during pandemics. Public contribution: This research can help prepare nurses and nurse assistants for end‐of‐life care in pandemics and will be of value for improving the institutional and government health policies. Furthermore, it can be of value in preparing training for healthcare professionals patient–relatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The relationship between schizophrenia and violence is complex. The aim of this multicentre case–control study was to examine and compare the characteristics of a group of forensic psychiatric patients with a schizophrenia spectrum disorders and a history of significant interpersonal violence to a group of patients with the same diagnosis but no lifetime history of interpersonal violence. Method: Overall, 398 patients (221 forensic and 177 non-forensic patients) were recruited across five European Countries (Italy, Germany, Poland, Austria and the United Kingdom) and assessed using a multidimensional standardised process. Results: The most common primary diagnosis in both groups was schizophrenia (76.4%), but forensic patients more often met criteria for a comorbid personality disorder, almost always antisocial personality disorder (49.1 v. 0%). The forensic patients reported lower levels of disability and better social functioning. Forensic patients were more likely to have been exposed to severe violence in childhood. Education was a protective factor against future violence as well as higher levels of disability, lower social functioning and poorer performances in cognitive processing speed tasks, perhaps as proxy markers of the negative syndrome of schizophrenia. Forensic patients were typically already known to services and in treatment at the time of their index offence, but often poorly compliant. Conclusions: This study highlights the need for general services to stratify patients under their care for established violence risk factors, to monitor patients for poor compliance and to intervene promptly in order to prevent severe violent incidents in the most clinically vulnerable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted global interdependencies, accompanied by widespread calls for worldwide cooperation against a virus that knows no borders, but responses were led largely separately by national governments. In this tension between aspiration and reality, people began to grapple with how their own lives were affected by the global nature of the pandemic. In this article, based on 493 qualitative interviews conducted between 2020 and 2021, we explore how people in Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Ecuador, Ireland, Italy and Mexico experienced, coped with and navigated the global nature of the pandemic. In dialogue with debates about the parameters of the 'global' in global health, we focus on what we call people's everyday (de)bordering practices to examine how they negotiated (dis)connections between 'us' and 'them' during the pandemic. Our interviewees' reactions moved from national containment to an increasing focus on people's unequal socio-spatial situatedness. Eventually, they began to (de)border their lives beyond national lines of division and to describe a new normal: a growing awareness of global connectedness and a desire for global citizenship. This newfound sense of global interrelatedness could signal support for and encourage transnational political action in times of crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined predictors of compliance with public health guidelines to curb transmission of COVID-19. Applying an exploratory longitudinal design, participants (N = 431) from Germany and Austria completed surveys in April/May 2020 (T1) and July/August 2020 (T2). Three outcome measures operationalised compliance with public health guidelines at T2: self-reported adherence (behavioural), agreement and opposition (attitudinal). At T1, demographics, perceived distress (PHQ-4, crisis of meaning), resources (self-control, meaningfulness), locus of control, conspiracy mentality and social media use were assessed. At T2, situational variables were added (person at risk, infection of close person, fear of infection, COVID-19 stress). Temporal shifts from T1 to T2 were examined as complementary information. An attitude-behaviour gap at T2 was identified, as agreement with and opposition to the guidelines were only modestly correlated with adherence to them. Measures of personal concern (fear of infection, person at risk) were associated with both adherence and positive attitudes towards the measures. COVID-19 stress and conspiracy mentality predicted negative attitudes, but not adherence. Age predicted adherence positively, social media use negatively. The findings support the significance of personal concern for compliance with public health guidelines and suggest a critical impact of social media use and conspiracy mentality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cannabis prohibition can generally be regarded as the main driver for home growing of marijuana. In this paper, I discuss the impact of drug prohibition on cannabis cultivators from the three German-speaking countries: Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In particular, this refers to the questions; how illicitness influences motivations for growing; which precautionary measures are taken against the risk of discovery; how penal consequences differ in the three countries and how these aspects are linked to each other.Methods: The results come from a sample of 1578 respondents from the German-language online survey conducted following the International Cannabis Cultivation Questionnaire (ICCQ). The survey was carried out in late 2012 and early 2013.Results: While most of the reasons for growing cannabis relate to avoiding negative consequences of prohibition, the illicitness of cannabis also plays a major role for concern about the cultivation activities as well as measures to avoid negative consequences. Swiss growers are less worried about their activity compared to respondents from Germany or Austria.Conclusion: The results confirm the notion that the illicitness of cannabis is the main drive for the private cultivation of the plant. At the same time, prohibition is the principal reason for concern regarding the growing activity. The severity of possible sentences seems to be linked to the degree of concern and precautionary measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research is important for the development of physiotherapy practice, but several countries have a rather short history of physiotherapy as an academic profession. This study investigated physiotherapists' experiences and attitudes toward scientific research in Austria, where physiotherapists have only been qualifying at bachelor level since 2009. A convenience sample of 597 qualified physiotherapists completed an anonymous cross-sectional online survey. Most respondents were female (n = 467, 78.2%) and in age groups between: 26–35 years (n = 149, 25.0%); 36–45 years (n = 178, 29.8%); and 46–55 years (n = 173, 29.0%). Seventeen respondents (2.8%) held doctoral degrees, and 61 (10.2%) had substantial research experience beyond undergraduate or master-level student research. More positive research attitudes were observed in participants who were male, younger, without children, had completed their physiotherapy qualification since 2009, were engaged in teaching and education, and held postgraduate degrees. Most frequently reported barriers and/or enabling factors for physiotherapy research were time, training, finances and a "critical mass" of research activity. These findings highlight low levels of research activity among physiotherapists in Austria, despite general appreciation of the importance of research for the profession. The identified attitudinal profiles, barriers, and facilitators may inform initiatives for advancing physiotherapy research in the Austrian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To find out which variables may be associated with comfort of patients in an epilepsy monitoring unit. Design: Exploratory, quantitative study design. Methods: Data were collected from October 2018 to November 2019 in Austria and Southern Germany. A total of 267 patients of 10 epilepsy centres completed the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit Comfort Questionnaire which is based on Kolcaba's General Comfort Questionnaire. Secondary data analysis were conducted by using descriptive statistics and an exploratory model building approach, including different linear regression models and several sensitivity analyses. Results: Total comfort scores ranged from 83 to 235 points. Gender, occupation and centre turned out to be possible influential variables. On average, women had a total comfort score 4.69 points higher than men, and retired persons 28.2 points higher than high school students ≥18 years. Comfort scores of younger patients were lower than those of older patients. However, age did not show a statistically significant effect. The same could be observed in marital status and educational levels. Conclusion: When implementing comfort measures, nurses must be aware of variables which could influence the intervention negatively. Especially, high school students ≥18 years should be supported by epilepsy specialist nurses, in order to reduce uncertainty, anxiety and discomfort. But, since the identified variables account only for a small proportion of the inter‐individual variability in comfort scores, further studies are needed to find out additional relevant aspects and to examine centre‐specific effects more closely. Impact: Nurses ensure patient comfort during a hospital stay. However, there are variables that may impair the effectiveness of the nursing measures. Our study showed that the experience of comfort was highly individual and could be explained by sociodemographic variables only to a limited extent. Nurses must be aware that additional factors, such as the situation in the individual setting, may be relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ethical decision-making confidence develops from clinical expertise and is a core competency for nurse leaders. No tool exists to measure confidence levels in nurse leaders based upon an ethical decision-making framework. Aims: The objective of this research was to compare ethical decision-making among nurse leaders in the U.S. and three German-speaking countries in Europe by developing and testing a newly constructed Ethical Decision-Making Confidence (EDMC) scale. Methods: The cross-sectional survey included 18 theory-derived questions on ethical decision-making confidence which were used to develop the scale. Participants: A convenience sample of nurse leaders from the U.S. and three German-speaking countries in Europe who self-identified as holding a leadership position. Ethical Considerations: Ethical approval was given by the IRB Board of a U.S. university. Participation in the survey implied voluntary consent. Results: The scale's item structure dimensionality and subscale's reliability were analyzed and compared between nurse leaders from all four countries. A principal component analysis (PCA) produced a 15-item bi-dimensional EDMC scale yielding a skill-related (9-item) and a behavior-related (6-item) confidence dimension. EDMC subscales showed good-to-excellent internal consistency. In both subscales, U.S. nurse leaders rated their mean EDMC score higher than their German-speaking counterparts in Europe. Discussion: This exploratory study is the first of its kind to focus on nurse leaders' confidence regarding ethical decision-making in an international context. An overarching factor structure was identified, which is shared by the two samples of nurse leaders and to examine (sub)scales' psychometric properties. Conclusion: This newly developed scale is an effective tool for measuring ethical decision-making confidence in nurse leaders. The promising results of this study should be replicated to ensure validity and reliability of the EDMC scale measuring skill-related and behavior-related concepts and include nurse leaders from various cultural, social, and demographic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To study diabetic cataract in type 1 diabetes in a large pediatric cohort. Methods: The 92,633 patients aged 0.5–21 years from German/Austrian multicenter diabetes registry (DPV) were analyzed. The 235 patients (0.25%) with diabetic cataract were found, 200 could be categorized: 67 with early cataract (3 months before diabetes onset ‐ 12 months afterwards), 133 with late cataract (>12 months after diabetes onset). Regression models adjusted for age and gender were used to compare clinical parameters at diabetes onset. Regression models for patients with late cataract were implemented for the total documentation period and additionally adjusted for diabetes duration. Results: Rate of cataract development shows a peak at diabetes onset and declines with longer diabetes duration. Patients with cataract showed strong female preponderance. Patients developing early cataract were older at diabetes onset (12.8 years [11.8/13.9] vs. 8.9 [8.9/9.0]; p < 0.001) and showed higher HbA1c than patients without cataract (9.0% [8.55/9.38] vs. 7.6% [7.60/7.61]; p < 0.001). They had lower height‐SDS, (−0.22 [−0.48/0.04] vs. 0.25 [0.24/0.26]; p < 0.001), lower weight‐SDS (−0.31 [−0.55/−0.08] vs. 0.21 [0.20/0.21]; p < 0.001) and lower BMI‐SDS (−0.25 [−0.49/−0.02] vs. 0.12 [0.12/0.13); p = 0.002). Patients with late cataract showed higher HbA1c at diabetes onset (8.35% [8.08/8.62] vs. 8.04% [8.03/8.05]; p = 0.023) and higher mean HbA1c during total documentation period (8.00% [7.62/8.34] vs. 7.62% [7.61/7.63]; p = 0.048). Conclusions: Our data confirm known demographic and clinical characteristics of patients developing early cataract. Hyperglycemia‐induced osmotic damage to lens fibers at diabetes onset might be the main pathomechanism. Long term glycemic control is associated with cataract development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study evaluated a simple environmental intervention called 'Water Schools' in Lower Austria providing free refillable water bottles and educational material.Design: Non-randomised controlled cluster trial with three measurements: at baseline (T0), after the intervention at 9 months (T1) and after 1-year follow-up (T2).Setting: Half-day elementary schools in Lower Austria (Austria).Participants: Third-grade pupils from twenty-two schools in the intervention group (IG) and thirty-two schools in the control group (CG) participated in the study. Data were analysed for 569 to 598 pupils in the IG and for 545 to 613 in the CG, depending on the time of measurement.Results: The consumption of tap water increased in the IG from baseline to T1 and then decreased again at T2, but this was similar in the CG (no statistically significant difference in the time trend between the IG and CG). Similar results were seen for tap water consumption in the mornings. The proportion of children who only drank tap water on school mornings increased significantly from baseline to T1 in the IG compared to the CG (P = 0·020). No difference in the changes over time occurred between the groups for the proportion of pupils drinking approximately one bottle of tap water during school mornings.Conclusions: Not only the children in the IG but also those in the CG drank more tap water after 1 school year than at the beginning. The measurement of drinking habits in the CG may have been intervention enough to bring about changes or to initiate projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting out from a broad concept of research output, this article looks at the question as to what research outputs can typically be expected from certain disciplines. Based on a secondary analysis of data from final project reports (ex post research evaluation) at the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Austria’s central funding organization for basic research, the goals are (1) to find, across all scientific disciplines, types of funded research projects with similar research output profiles; and (2) to classify the scientific disciplines in homogeneous segments bottom-up according to the frequency distribution of these research output profiles. The data comprised 1,742 completed, FWF-funded research projects across 22 scientific disciplines. The multilevel latent class (LC) analysis produced four LCs or types of research output profiles: ‘Not Book’, ‘Book and Non-Reviewed Journal Article’, ‘Multiple Outputs’, and ‘Journal Article, Conference Contribution, and Career Development’. The class membership can be predicted by three covariates: project duration, requested grant sum, and project head’s age. In addition, five segments of disciplines can be distinguished: ‘Life Sciences and Medicine’, ‘Social Sciences/Arts and Humanities’, ‘Formal Sciences’, ‘Technical Sciences’, and ‘Physical Sciences’. In ‘Social Sciences/Arts and Humanities’ almost all projects are of the type ‘Book and Non-Reviewed Journal Article’, but, vice versa, not all projects of the ‘Book and Non-reviewed Journal Article’ type are in the ‘Social Sciences/Arts and Humanities’ segment. The research projects differ not only qualitatively in their output profile; they also differ quantitatively, so that projects can be ranked according to amount of output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Museum - Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American cultures holds in its collections three coffins with mummies from the earliest Austro- Hungarian excavations at Gamhud. Recently, both coffins and mummies have been the subject of multi-disciplinary scientific research. The present paper represents a preliminary report on the outcomes of the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Healthcare is characterized by complex cooperation between highly specialized healthcare departments. This often leads to inefficient clinical processes. In order to improve these processes, a systematic assessment method is needed. Such methods are still missing. The objective of this paper is to propose and evaluate a method to support the systematic and semi-automatic assessment of clinical processes, with special focus on the quality of information logistics.Methods: Criteria for the quality of information logistics were collected based on literature research and system analysis. Appropriate quality checks for these criteria were developed. An extended process modelling notation was developed. The method was evaluated in a pilot study.Results: An own model integrates four sub-models with each concentrating on distinct process aspects (i.e., control flow, data flow, tool usage, organizational information). In order to assess the quality of a process, selected process details are combined in "views". Weak points are then detected by applying specific rule-sets on these views. Each rule-set represents a pattern of critical cross-points which are searched for in the appropriate view-matrix. The MedFlow method was evaluated in a first pilot study in radiological departments--applying quality checks for the detection of e.g. media cracks or testing the transcription of information objects.Conclusion: The MedFlow method is best used to assess clinical processes regarding their control flow and information handling. The latter directly influences the quality of communication and thus the quality of whole processes. However, this must be evaluated in further studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This paper presents an efficient approach for extracting myocardial structures from given atrial and ventricular blood masses to enable non-invasive estimation of electrical excitation in human atria and ventricles.Methods: Based on given segmented atrial and ventricular blood masses, the approach constructs the myocardial structure directly, in the case that the myocardium can be detected in the volume data, or by using mean model information, in the case that the myocardium cannot be seen in the volume data due to image modalities or artefacts. The approach employs mathematical and gray-value morphology operations. Regulated by the spatial visibility of the myocardial structure in the medical image data especially the atrial myocardium needs to be estimated repeatedly using the a-priori knowledge given by the anatomy.Results: The approach was tested using eight patient data sets. The reconstruction process yielded satisfying results with respect to an efficient generation of a volume conductor model which is essential when trying to implement the estimation of electrical excitation in clinical application.Conclusion: The approach yields ventricular and atrial models that qualify for cardiac source imaging in a clinical setting. [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 Aspergillus Galactomannan Lateral Flow Assay (LFA) is a rapid test for the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis (IA) that has been almost exclusively evaluated in patients with hematologic malignancies. An automated digital cube reader that allows for quantification of results has recently been added to the test kits. Methods We performed a retrospective multicenter study on bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples obtained from 296 patients with various underlying diseases (65% without underlying hematological malignancy) who had BALF galactomannan (GM) ordered between 2013 and 2019 at the University of California, San Diego, the Medical University of Graz, Austria, and the Mannheim University Hospital, Germany. Results Cases were classified as proven (n = 2), probable (n = 56), putative (n = 30), possible (n = 45), and no IA (n = 162). The LFA showed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.865 (95% confidence interval [CI].815–.916) for differentiating proven/probable or putative IA versus no IA, with a sensitivity of 74% and a specificity of 83% at an optical density index cutoff of 1.5. After exclusion of GM as mycological criterion for case classification, diagnostic performance of the LFA was highly similar to GM testing (AUC 0.892 vs 0.893, respectively). LFA performance was consistent across different patient cohorts and centers. Conclusions In this multicenter study the LFA assay from BALF demonstrated good diagnostic performance for IA that was consistent across patient cohorts and locations. The LFA may serve a role as a rapid test that may replace conventional GM testing in settings where GM results are not rapidly available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical trials for the treatment of schizophrenia now often include cognitive assessments in addition to clinical ratings of symptoms. Recently, these trials have included cross-national assessments. It is not clear if translated psychological tests produce consistent results across different languages. This paper presents the results of a study of the comparability of the results of cognitive assessments in different English-speaking countries and a number of countries where tests were translated into other languages. Performance on tests of executive functioning, verbal and visuo-spatial learning and memory, language skills, psychomotor speed, and vigilance was compared across the first episode patients with schizophrenia (n=301) assessed in six different languages (English, French, Finnish, German, Hebrew, and Afrikaans), including two different countries where patients were assessed in English and other languages: Canada (French) and South Africa (Afrikaans). The variance in performance across the sites tested in English was as large as the variance between English and non-English speakers when all tests were considered. Performance differences across English and other languages were found only for executive functions, vigilance, and psychomotor speed, with executive functioning differences nonsignificant when education was considered. No differences were found between English and non-English speakers in Canada. These results suggest that the translation of tests of memory and verbal skills can lead to consistent results across translated versions of the tests. Differences between countries were greater than differences between languages, suggesting the need to consider representativeness of patient samples in terms of local educational attainment. In general, these data support the validity of cross-national neuropsychological assessments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

There is a lack of intervention promoting physical activity targeted toward people living with dementia because their input has not been prioritized in the development of exercise programs. The aim of this study is to investigate motivators and barriers concerning physical activity in people living with dementia in care homes and to give recommendations for intervention development. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted; transcripts were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Following a tailored procedural model, inductive and deductive category development was applied. The value of Cohen's κ =.94 indicates the high intercoder reliability of the category system developed. Ten interviewees reported 24 different barriers and 12 motivators concerning physical activity in the context of the social-ecological model. The strong impact of intrapersonal factors and the living environment became apparent. Points of reference for how people living with dementia can overcome barriers and activate their motivators to achieve more physical activity are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selective termination is the term used for the elimination of an abnormal fetus. In contrast, multifetal pregnancy reduction refers to the termination of one or more members of a twin or higher-order multiple birth set, respectively, to reduce the high risks associated with these pregnancies. The procedure can also be used when a serious physical condition is detected prenatally in a member of a multiple birth set. In a minority of cases, selective termination has reduced two healthy fetuses to one when parents wanted just one additional child in the family. In the present article, the perspectives of a surviving twin whose family wished to terminate both healthy fetuses are examined. Next, past and present twin studies of primordial dwarfism, public service motivation, an analytical model, the global twinning rate and germline differences are summarized. The article concludes with a synopsis of twin-related news that covers twins and Dyngus Day, triplets born in an Austrian displaced persons' camp, the film Superior - about estranged identical twin sisters, a couple adopting their own twins after surrogacy and a new case of twins and primordial dwarfism, a condition introduced in the research reviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]