Can Science of Religion Render Service to Islamic Studies?

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) Der international renommierte Religionswissenschaftler Michael Pye, seit 1982 Professor für Religionswissenschaft an der Philipps-Universität Marburg, hat die moderne, konfessionell unabhängige Religionsforschung maßgeblich mitgeprägt und dazu beigetragen, das Profil der Religionswissenschaft als einer autonomen akademischen Disziplin zu schärfen. In der vorliegenden Festschrift, die aus Anlaß des 65. Geburtstages Michael Pyes von zweien seiner Schüler bzw. Schülerinnen und einer ehemaligen Mitarbeiterin herausgegeben wurde, würdigen über 30 Religionswissenschaftler und Religionswissenschaftlerinnen aus Finnland, Großbritannien, Dänemark, Deutschland, Italien, Japan, Kanada, den Niederlanden, Norwegen, Schweden, der Schweiz, Tschechien und den USA mit ihren Beiträgen die Person und das Werk des Jubilars. Darüber hinaus enthält die Festschrift Porträts und eine Bibliographie der Arbeiten Michael Pyes. Die große thematische und methodische Bandbreite, die das Oevre dieses maßgebenden Religionswissenschaftlers kennzeichnet, spiegelt sich in der Vielfalt der Beiträge wider. So gibt dieses Buch zugleich einen guten Überblick über die Themen und Methoden der gegenwärtigen Religionswissenschaft.

Birth records from Swiss married couples analyzed over the past 35 years reveal an aging of first-time mothers by 5.1 years while the interpregnancy interval has shortened.

Although the general trend for delaying childbearing is generally viewed as causing infertility, its consequences on the interpregnancy interval have been unknown. A study of birth records for Swiss married women from 1969 to 2006 revealed that the woman's age at first birth has increased from 25.0 to 30.1 years, whereas calculated theoretical interpregnancy intervals after the first and second child decreased from 23.2 to 13 and from 22.4 to 7.9 months, respectively.

A Public Service Gap: Capturing Contexts in a Comparative Approach of Street-Level Bureaucracy

Studies of street-level bureaucracy have introduced a variety of conceptualizations, research approaches, and causal inferences. While this research has produced several insights, the impact of variety in the institutional context has not been adequately explored. We present the construct of a public service gap as a way to incorporate contextual factors and facilitate comparison. This construct addresses the differences between what is asked of and what is offered to public servants working at the street level. The heuristic enables the systematic capture of macro- and meso-contextual influences, thus enhancing comparative research on street-level bureaucracy.

Rate and predictors of service disengagement in an epidemiological first-episode psychosis cohort.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence and predictors of service disengagement in a treated epidemiological cohort of first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients. METHODS: The Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre (EPPIC) in Australia admitted 786 FEP patients from January 1998 to December 2000. Treatment at EPPIC is scheduled for 18 months. Data were collected from patients' files using a standardized questionnaire. Seven hundred four files were available; 44 were excluded, because of a non-psychotic diagnosis at endpoint (n=43) or missing data on service disengagement (n=1). Rate of service disengagement was the outcome of interest, as well as pre-treatment, baseline, and treatment predictors of service disengagement, which were examined via Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: 154 patients (23.3%) disengaged from service. A past forensic history (Hazard ratio [HR]=1.69; 95%CI 1.17-2.45), lower severity of illness at baseline (HR=0.59; 95%CI 0.48-0.72), living without family at discharge (HR=1.75; 95%CI 1.22-2.50) and persistence of substance use disorder during treatment (HR=2.30; 95%CI 1.45-3.66) were significant predictors of disengagement from service. CONCLUSIONS: While engagement strategies are a core element in the treatment of first-episode psychosis, particular attention should be paid to these factors associated with disengagement. Involvement of the family in the treatment process, and focusing on reduction of substance use, need to be pursued in early intervention services.