German Context Research Articles

Decision Aids for Preventive Treatment Alternatives for BRCA1/2 Mutation Carriers: a Systematic Review

Introduction Women with a pathogenic BRCA1/2 mutation have a markedly increased lifetime risk of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer. The current preventive treatment alternatives that are offered are an intensified breast cancer screening programme and risk-reducing operations. Before deciding on one option, medical and personal factors such as life situation and individual preferences must be weighed carefully. Decision aids are used internationally to support BRCA1/2 mutation carriers during their decision-making process. In this study these are analysed structurally for the first time and their applicability to the German context is examined. Material and Methods A systematic literature search in five electronic databases and a manual search were performed. The identified decision aids were evaluated with regard to formal criteria, medical content and quality. The qualitative assessment used the criteria of the International Patient Decision Aid Standards Collaboration (IPDASi v4.0), which examined various dimensions (e.g., information, probabilities, values). Results Twenty decision aids, which were published between 2003 and 2019 in Australia (n = 4), the United Kingdom (n = 3), Canada (n = 2), the Netherlands (n = 2) and the USA (n = 9), were included. Nine focus on BRCA1/2 mutation carriers and eleven include other risk groups. Eighteen include risk-reducing operations as decision options, 14 list screening methods for breast and/or ovarian cancer, and 13 describe the possibility of pharmacological prevention by means of selective oestrogen receptor modulators or aromatase inhibitors. Nine of the 20 decision aids meet fundamental quality criteria (IPDASi v4.0 qualification criteria). Conclusion International decision aids can serve formally as a basis for a German decision aid for BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. Some of them differ markedly in content from the recommendations of German guidelines. Only a few achieve a high quality.

Direito à educação linguística de alunos migrantes e refugiados: Reflexões sociopolíticas, sociolinguísticas e educativas em torno dos casos Brasileiro e Alemão

O presente artigo tem por objetivo abordar o direito à educação linguística como especificidade do direito mais amplo à educação das populações migrantes, com fundamento na teoria dos Direitos Humanos Linguísticos (Skutnab-Kangas & Phillipson, 1995; também Hamel, 1995; Oliveira, 2003). Segundo tal abordagem, aos estudantes migrantes e refugiados deve ser reconhecido não somente o direito à educação formal, como também o direito à educação linguística, a partir de seu contexto e peculiaridades. Com base em pesquisa bibliográfica e documental, utiliza-se o método dedutivo e, principalmente, o método comparativo, com vistas a analisar as similaridades e as diferenças entre indivíduos, fenômenos e fatos envolvidos. Compreendendo os alunos migrantes e refugiados enquanto população escolar de extrema heterogeneidade linguístico-cultural, procura-se refletir, com base na apresentação de políticas linguísticas brasileiras e alemãs, acerca de como o direito à educação linguística pode consubstanciar-se em práticas concretas de ensino e aprendizagem. Nesse âmbito, a implementação de abordagens plurais no ensino de línguas parece ser uma via pedagógica promissora para assegurar aquele direito.

Exceptional architecture, learning processes, and the contradictory performativity of norms and standards

ABSTRACT Large-scale urban projects that make use of exceptional architecture face a number of challenges: namely the scale and complexity of the projects as well as the elevated expectations faced by architectural and engineering firms. Meeting these challenges requires the development and approval of non-standard design and technical solutions. Based on the analysis of four case studies in the German context, we show how the creation of exceptional architecture requires that built environment professionals actively negotiate with established norms and standards in various ways. The learning processes thus enabled are contradictory. On the one hand, knowledge gained in the process of developing innovative solutions remains exclusive and, often, codification and standardization do not occur. On the other hand, in some instances, standards and norms are adapted to inform and guide other projects. In conclusion, this paper argues, norms and standards constitute a contested terrain and are characterized by a contradictory performativity. This paper thus advances wider debates on innovation in the building industry by highlighting the extreme tensions and ambivalent trade-offs that exist between the development of unique and tailor-made solutions for singular buildings and the investment in the standardization of novel products for the built environment.

English and German academics’ perspectives on metrics in higher education: evaluating dimensions of fairness and organisational justice

Many contemporary analyses criticise metrics-based evaluation in the higher education context as a neoliberal technology, notwithstanding the different national contexts and organisational topographies in which metrics are used. This Anglo-German study offers a comparative exploration of the role of metrics in two contrasting cases: highly developed, state-driven sectoral use of metrics in England, and more dispersed, decentralised use of metrics in Germany, in the case of research particularly. This survey-based study examines academics’ perceptions of fairness of accountability practices associated with metrics-based evaluations at the organisational level. Drawing on organisational justice theory, the analysis focuses on the extent that academic evaluations of fairness are underpinned by contextual evaluations linked to organisational practices or more abstract evaluations of these measures. In the English context, fairness evaluations were more related to organisational uses of metrics. In the German context, negative justice evaluations do not seem closely associated with organisational factors but relate to a cultural critique of metrics. The analysis demonstrates that academics may hold views on metrics which are contingent not only on their perceived accuracy as measures but also on their perceived efficacy as tools which support broader sectoral and organisational developments, such that metrics start to lead their own life in organisational contexts. The comparative dimension to the study suggests that in some cases, context-sensitive use of metrics can enable emancipation from informal power networks in academia.

Investigation of Orthopedic Prosthesis Socket Management after Transfemoral Amputation by Expert Survey

Prosthesis treatment requires the close interaction of different actors. In fitting prostheses to patients, special attention is given to the manufacturing of the socket. The continuous development of the technologies involved in the fitting and optimization of prostheses is shown in the literature. The assessment of orthopedic technicians and their influence in the process is thus far largely unexplored. Ten orthopedic technicians were interviewed about the socket fitting process after transfemoral amputation. The research goal was to clarify the socket treatment process with regards to the German context. The results showed that the orthopedic technicians focussing on the patient during the fitting process. This study underlines the importance of interaction and empathy. Volume fluctuations are decisive within the treatment process and are interactively influenced by various factors. Furthermore, the research emphasizes the need for appropriate assistive technologies and the potential for the further development of existing systems.

Optimal biomass allocation to the German bioeconomy based on conflicting economic and environmental objectives

While some studies have simultaneously modeled the competitiveness of biochemicals alongside bioenergy and biofuels for greenhouse gas abatement, this has never been done before for Germany. The findings on the potential greenhouse gas abatement from these previous studies cannot be replicated in the German context because of different frame conditions, such as biomass potentials, temporal horizon, climate targets and the evolution of demand from biomass end-use sectors. This, therefore, necessitates a country-specific assessment. In this study we use a bi-objective bottom-up optimization model to quantify the potential greenhouse abatement (i.e. from best compromise solutions between the cost-optimal and technical-optimal objectives) for biomass deployment to the bioenergy, biofuels and biochemical sectors of the German bioeconomy. Results show that, with a reference crude oil price development, biomass potentials (i.e. 300 PJ of forest residues and 2.7 million hectares of arable land) could save 69 million t CO2-eq by 2050, representing a 6% reduction over 1990 GHG emission levels in the energy, building, transport and industrial sectors. The cumulative abatement (i.e. for 2020–2050) of 1.72 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions was found to be 8.5% higher than when the available biomass resources were exclusively used for bioenergy and biofuels.

Aligning competence-oriented qualifications in sport management higher education with industry requirements: An importance–performance analysis

This article examines the fit (or lack thereof) between the competencies needed by the sport industry and the proficiency of sport management students. The authors apply importance–performance analysis as a strategic management tool to analyze the results of two competence-oriented datasets in a German context. They find that students’ self-identified proficiency is lower than the importance attributed to proficiency by industry experts. The authors critically discuss the absence of differences between the perceived performance of Bachelor’s and Master’s degree students and provide strategic recommendations for sport management higher education. The article highlights the development and communication of generic competencies as a unique selling proposition and reflect on the need to improve subject-specific competencies to further professionalize the field of sport management. Based on these results, a critical reflection of curriculum design in sport management higher education is needed.

Financial literacy, institutions and education: Lessons from the German reunification

Abstract A growing body of literature highlights the importance of financial literacy in affecting household choices. However, much fewer studies focus on understanding the determinants of different levels of financial literacy. Our paper contributes to filling this gap by analyzing a specific determinant, i. e., the educational system, to explain the heterogeneity of financial literacy scores across Germany. The results suggest that the lower financial literacy observed in East Germany can be partially attributed to the different institutional framework experienced during the Cold War, more specifically, to the socialist educational system experienced in East Germany, which affected specific cohorts of individuals. By exploiting the unique set-up of the German reunification, we identify education as a channel through which institutions and financial literacy are related in the German context. In support of this hypothesis, we find that individuals exposed to the Eastern educational system exhibit 12 % 12\hspace{0.1667em}\% to 21 % 21\hspace{0.1667em}\% lower financial literacy scores compared with the households in the control group, not exposed to such system.

Letting Teach: Gen Z as Socio-Political Educators in an Overheated World

In this article, the author begins by grasping the present crisis through the social anthropological description ofoverheating. She then locates “Generation Z (Gen Z)” as a generation born into an overheated era and distinguishes their socio-political struggle for intergenerational climate justice from preceding generations. Following that, the author presents an analysis of the oppressive adultist dimensions of the challenges confronted by Gen Z activists like Greta Thunberg. She does so by engaging with examples from the German context. The objective of the discussion on adultism faced by Gen Z activists consequently establishes that young activists demonstrate relentless courage and hence their contribution deserves a legitimate place in rethinking socio-political “education.” Her reading reveals that young activists are simultaneously resisting adult opposition and contributing to educating older generations about the intergenerational dimensions of the climate crisis. Therefrom, the author proposes that one may re-think the matter at hand from a childist standpoint which implies a re-cognition of pupils' agency within education i.e., intergenerational relating, as something that adults can also learn from. She suggests that an integral dimension of reflexivity in further developing childist educational theory and praxis, entails a conscious commitment tolettingchildren and youth teach adult educators too.

Migrants’ Access to the Rental Housing Market in Germany: Housing Providers and Allocation Policies

Housing markets play a decisive role in the spatial distribution of populations and the integration of immigrants. Looking specifically at Germany, shortages of low-rent housing in many cities are proving to be an open door for discrimination. This article looks at the influence institutional housing providers have on migrants’ access to housing. Based on 76 qualitative interviews with housing experts, politicians, local government officials, civil society and academics, the internal routines of housing companies are examined for the first time in a German context, looking at what effect they have on producing socio-spatial inequality. Using Lipsky’s (1980) ‘street-level bureaucracy’ as our conceptual framework, we argue that the barriers denying migrants access to the rental housing market are attributable to two factors: the organisational culture, whether in the form of official guidelines (‘policy as written’) or of day-to-day activities in the front-line context (‘policy as performed’), and the huge gap between the two. Corporate policies, the resultant allocation policies, staff training and housing company involvement in local governance structures play a decisive role in determining migrants’ access to housing. The goal of achieving the right social mix and the lack of guidelines for housing company staff in deciding who gets an apartment—turning their discretionary power into a certain kind of ‘forced discretion’—in many cases arbitrarily restrict access to housing in Germany. Theoretically embedding these findings in organisational sociology, the article adds to urban geographical and sociological research into the drivers and backgrounds of residential segregation.

Deciphering the inscription of the Undley bracteate under the possibilities/restrictions of the Pre-Old English sound system

AbstractThis paper was first read at a runic event held in Eichstätt in 2012 and was subsequently, in a revised and extended form, presented at the symposium on theEarly History of the North-Sea Germanic Languagesthat took place in Odense on 13 March 2018. The paper is highly relevant to the theme of the Odense conference as well as to this special issue ofNOWELEin that it deals with the runes and the language of the Undley bracteate, a stray runic find from the late fifth century discovered at Undley in Suffolk in the south-east of England. My presentation will focus on the vocalism of the Undley legend. But the linguistic perspective will be widened considerably, and I shall discuss and criticize in detail some of the major proposals for reading and interpreting this inscription within a North-Sea Germanic and Pre-Old English context.

Cost-Effectiveness Assessment of Different Glucosamines in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Simulation Model Adapted to Germany.

The use of symptomatic slow-acting drugs for osteoarthritis (OA) (e.g., glucosamine, chondroitin) is largely debated in the scientific literature. Indeed, multiple formulations of these agents are available, both as pharmaceutical-grade products and as nutritional supplements , but while all preparations may claim to deliver a therapeutic effect, not all are supported by clinical evidence. Moreover, few data are available regarding the cost-effectiveness of all these formulations. Usually, access to individual patient data is required to perform economic evaluations of treatments, but it can be challenging to obtain. We previously developed a model to simulate individual health utility scores from aggregated data obtained from published OA trials. In the present study, using our new simulation model, we investigated the costeffectiveness of different glucosamines used in Germany. We used our validated model to simulate the utility scores of 10 published trials that used different glucosamine preparations. Using the simulated utility scores, the quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) were calculated using the area-under-the-curve method. We used the 2018 public costs of glucosamine products available in Germany to calculate the Incremental Cost/Effectiveness Ratio (ICER). We performed analyses for pharmaceutical-grade Crystalline Glucosamine Sulfate (pCGS) and other formulations of glucosamine (OFG). A cost-effectiveness cut-off of 30,000 €/QALY was considered. Of 10 studies in which utility was simulated, four used pCGS, and six used OFG. The ICER analyses showed that pCGS was cost-effective compared to a placebo, with an ICER of 4489 €/QALY at month 3, 4112 €/QALY at month 6, and 9983 €/QALY at year 3. The use of OFG was not cost-effective at any of the time points considered. Using our previously published model to simulate the individual health utility scores of patients, we showed that, in the German context, the use of pCGS could be considered costeffective, while the use of OFG could not. These results highlight the importance of the formulation of glucosamine.

Bridging Digital Inequalities in Rural Schools in Germany: A Geographical Lottery?

Repeatedly, it has been argued that advancements in digitalisation could be beneficial for rural areas. However, digital inequalities persist and affect rural communities as well. Schools can play a key role in bridging digital inequalities, but little attention has been paid to the specific conditions rural schools find themselves in when facing continuous digital developments. Therefore, we apply the digital inclusion lens and explore the impact of digital developments on rural schools in the German context. In 2019, we conducted 16 in-depth interviews with heads and teachers from rural elementary and secondary schools in Baden-Wurttemberg and Lower Saxony. We found that smaller rural schools especially can experience difficulties and conclude that the contribution of schools to a digital-included society is subject to a geographical lottery. This could eventually increase existing rural–urban digital inequalities and these findings are also relevant in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing a sudden switch to distance learning.

Short-term earnings mobility in the Canadian and German context: the role of cognitive skills

It is well-established that human capital contributes to unequal levels of earnings mobility. Individuals with higher levels of human capital, typically measured through education, earn more on average and are privy to greater levels of upward change over time. Nevertheless, other factors may have an incremental effect over education, namely cognitive ability and the skill demands of employment. To deepen insight into whether these aspects contribute to earnings mobility over a four-year period, the present study examines positional change in Canada and Germany—two contexts typified as examples of liberal and coordinated market economies. A series of descriptive indices and relative change models assess how different measures of human capital are associated with earnings mobility. The results indicate that, while individuals with higher cognitive skills experience greater earnings stability and upward mobility in both countries, there is only an incremental effect of skills on mobility in Germany once we account for educational credentials. The results also provide evidence on the role of skill demands for earnings mobility; in both countries, advanced skills at work are associated with greater short-term mobility, even while controlling for cognitive ability and other factors. Together the results showcase how longitudinal data containing detailed measures of human capital allow for deeper insight into what facilitates earnings mobility.

Blaming immigrants to enhance control: Exploring the control‐bolstering functions of causal attribution, in‐group identification, and hierarchy enhancement

Blaming immigrants seems to be in part motivated by the need for control. However, three alternative explanations have been proposed as to why blaming bolsters feelings of control. First, blaming may restore a sense of an orderly world in which negative events can be attributed to a clear cause (causal attribution). Second, blaming others may strengthen in-group identities thereby facilitating group-based control (in-group identification). Finally, blaming low-status groups may enhance individuals' perceptions of dominance and superior status (hierarchy enhancement). Addressing these arguments, we conducted two survey experiments in the German context. In the first experiment, we examined the control-bolstering functions of causal attribution and in-group identification. Participants were primed with an economic crisis threat and then, given the opportunity to either blame out-groups (immigrants and managers), blame an abstract cause (globalization), or affirm their national identity. In the second experiment, we examine control enhancement in the context of political conflict and status hierarchies. Participants had the opportunity to either express prejudice toward low-status out-groups (immigrants and obese people) or indicate their opinion on the polarized issue of representation of the far-right. Both studies replicate earlier findings showing that anti-immigrant blaming and prejudice enhances the feelings of control. Neither mere causal attribution nor mere in-group identity salience produce similar control-bolstering effects. Instead, findings suggest that intergroup conflict and status differences benefit control the enhancement processes supporting accounts of both group-based control and social dominance. Findings are discussed with respect to social cohesion and the appeal of populist frames promoting antagonistic, unequal intergroup relations.

Trauerversorgung in Deutschland. Entwurf eines gestuften Versorgungsmodells

The loss of a loved one can have serious health implications. In Germany, however, bereavement care services often provide support regardless of risk or need. A structural framework within which these services are provided systematically and which enables the establishment of qualitative standards throughout Germany has not yet been proposed. A British stepped care model for professionalized bereavement support is actually being discussed internationally. In this paper the British model is adapted to the German context in order to improve nationwide bereavement care services.

Defining and transforming local migration policies: a conceptual approach backed by evidence from Germany

ABSTRACT What are the factors that drive municipalities to become active in the field of migration and migration-related diversity? Based on qualitative data from 126 German municipalities, this article proposes a new conceptual framework that allows for larger-scale comparisons and enables theory building on policy (in)activity at the local level. Setting the scene, the article discusses various theoretical approaches and empirical findings from the literature by using a heuristic of four categories of factors: institutional framework (e.g. competencies, discretionary spaces, multilevel governance), structural conditions (e.g. urbanity/rurality, socioeconomic conditions); local discourses (i.e. narratives creating a local space of possibilities), and local key actors (e.g. mayors, street-level bureaucrats). Empirically assessing the relative importance of these factors, the article focusses on local integration plans. In the German context, a municipality usually establishes an integration plan to actively control the outcome of integration processes, e.g. by orchestrating local stakeholders or allocating resources. Thus, the development of an integration plan can be used as a proxy for a municipality’s appetite to strategically engage with migration and migration-related diversity. As a result, the article proposes the ‘ISDA framework of local migration policymaking’, which distinguishes between ‘defining factors’ (institutional framework, structural conditions) and ‘transformative factors’ (discourses, actors).

VISUALIZING GERMANNESS THROUGH COSTUMES IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

ABSTRACTExamining the understudied collection of costume images from Heidelberg Calvinist, lawyer, and church councillor Marcus zum Lamm's (1544–1606) ‘treasury’ of images, theThesaurus Picturarum, this article intervenes in the historiography on sixteenth-century German national imaginaries, emphasizing the import of costume books and manuscript alba for national self-fashioning. By bringing late sixteenth-century ethnographic costume image collections into scholarly discourse on the variegated ways of conceiving and visualizing Germany and Germanness over the century, this article sheds new light on a complex narrative of continuity and change in the history of German nationhood and identity. Using zum Lamm's images as a case-study, this article stresses the importance of incorporating costume image collections into a nexus of patriotic genres, including works of topographical-historical, natural philosophical, ethnographic, cartographic, cosmographic, and genealogical interest. Furthermore, it calls for historians working on sixteenth-century costume books and alba to look deeper into the meanings of such images and collections in the specific contexts of their production; networks of knowledge and material exchange; and – in the German context – the political landscape of territorialization, confessionalization, and dynastic ambition in the Holy Roman Empire between the Peace of Augsburg and the Thirty Years War (1555–1618).

Evident and Effective? The Challenges, Potentials and Limitations of Evaluation Research on Preventing Violent Extremism

Radicalization and its prevention have increasingly become the subject of public debate in academia and in the political arena. The impact of prevention efforts is subject to public scrutiny – not only because these efforts, if successful, contribute to the common good, but also because many countries have increased public spending on prevention based on this justification. Evaluations can analyze impact and effectiveness and thereby advance knowledge about how prevention operates within different social contexts and what kind of outcomes it produces. However, there are significant challenges to developing a robust basis of evidence in the field of Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE). On the one hand, practitioners and scholars debate the notion of “evidence-based approaches”, e.g. with regard to methods of data collection or appropriate evaluation designs, while some fundamentally question the concept itself. On the other hand, expectations regarding the capability and feasibility of outcome evaluations are often inflated and incompatible with real-world conditions in PVE practice. This article addresses some of the challenges that researchers face when conducting outcome evaluations in the field of PVE and it suggests pragmatic solutions. It sheds light on the state of evaluation in PVE, focusing on the German context, and gives recommendations pertaining to the commissioning, planning, implementation and utilization of (outcome) evaluations.

Were there any radical women in the German Enlightenment? On feminist history of philosophy and Dorothea Erxleben’s Rigorous Investigation (1742)

ABSTRACT This article examines the term “Radical Enlightenment” as a historiographical category through the lens of the philosophical work of Dorothea Christiane Erxleben (1715–1762), a keen advocate for women’s education and the first female medical doctor in Germany. The aim of the article is to develop a methodological framework that makes it possible to critically assess the radicalism of Erxleben’s philosophical position as it is presented in her highly systematic work Rigorous Investigation (1742). In the first part of the article, the term “Radical Enlightenment” is briefly discussed in the German context. The second part is dedicated to articulating two methodological problems concerning the use of the term “radical” with regards to early feminist writings of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The aim of this section is to develop a new approach to the classification of radical thinkers of this period. In the remaining three parts, this methodological approach is applied to the analysis of Erxleben’s views on equality and education, focusing on her call for women’s active participation in society. Finally, it is concluded that there is sufficient evidence to categorize vital parts of Erxleben’s philosophy as radical.