Campaign strategies at the Swiss National Elections 2015: Nationalization, Coordination, and Personalization

This research note examines parties’ campaign strategies in the 2015 Swiss elections. We base our analyses on a collection of more than 5000 party advertisements, which were published in the forefront of the national elections in more than 50 daily and weekly national and cantonal print media. By comparing the amount of party and candidate ads, as well as the content and nature of the political advertisements, we explore the degree of professionalization of electoral campaigns in the most recent federal elections in terms of nationalization, coordination and personalization. First results show that although national campaign coordination exists, Swiss elections are to a considerable extent still cantonal and personal affairs.

JaSo 2015: Jahrbuch zum Sozialversicherungsrecht 2015

Das Jahrbuch zum Sozialversicherungsrecht (JaSo) – erstmals erschienen 2012 – ist sehr gut aufgenommen worden. Das JaSo 2015 behält das Konzept der ersten drei Bände bei und geht in den ersten Hauptteilen auf die Entwicklungen in der Gesetzgebung und in der Rechtsprechung ein. Im einleitenden Teil zur Gesetzgebung werden die per 1. Januar 2015 in Kraft tretenden Bestimmungen gewürdigt; daneben werden die wichtigsten Reformvorhaben dargestellt. Die bundesgerichtliche Rechtsprechung zum Sozialversicherungsrecht wird aufgegriffen, systematisch dargestellt und von der Herausgeberin und dem Herausgeber (kritisch) gewürdigt. Im dritten Hauptteil des JaSo finden sich verschiedene Aufsätze zu einer Reihe von grundlegenden und praxisbezogenen Fragen. Das JaSo «gibt einen umfassenden Einblick in die Rechtsfortbildung im sich schnell wandelnden Gebiet» (plädoyer 5/12).

In Memoriam: Herbert E Wright Jr 1917-2015

Herbert E Wright Jr was one of the foremost Quaternary scientists of the last century. He made wide ranging contributions to our understanding of the late-Quaternary of North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. This was based largely on reconstructing palaeoenvironments from lake sediments and included the important implications for glacial, vegetational, fire and climatic history, geoarchaeology and conservation. Many of his inter-disciplinary research projects involved fieldwork with his graduate students and co-workers from the University of Minnesota where he created and led the renowned Limnological Research Center. Perhaps his most outstanding contribution was as an instigator of the Co-operative Holocene Mapping Project (COHMAP). This triggered a paradigm shift in Holocene climatic research involving the comparison of climate-model simulations of past climates with palaeoclimatic data.

myAIM – online ab Mai 2015

myAIM wird die Website für angehende Fachärztinnen und -ärzte für Allgemeine Innere Medizin. Sie werden hier alle Informationen finden, die Sie für die Weiterbildung, Karriere, Forschung und Berufsfeldfindung benötigen.

myAIM – online ab Mai 2015

myAIM wurde an dieser Stelle 2014 bereits vorgestellt. Nun sind Inhalt und Angebot der neuen Webseite speziell für Assistenzärztinnen und -ärzte in Weiterbildung zum Facharzt AIM konkret. myAIM wird im Rahmen des SGIM Jahresversammlung 2015 in Basel lanciert.

Texas laboratory healthcare workforce: Meeting the needs in 2015

The purpose of this research was to study groups of students and young professionals in the clinical laboratory science field using exploratory discovery and inductive logic regarding the attitudes of four groups in Texas: (1) 3rd and 4th year college biology students, (2) students currently enrolled in Clinical Laboratory Science/Clinical Laboratory Technician (CLS/CLT) programs, (3) young CLS/CLT professionals (1-2 years post education), and (4) mid-career CLS/CLTs (4-10 years post education). It was also a comparative study looking at these four groups and their attitudes and perception regarding: career selection factors and legislative incentive measures which might attract individuals to an allied health care career, the field of practice and factors needed to keep individuals in the chosen field of practice. ^ The study found that the career is attractive to individuals who enjoy laboratory work and find the various areas in which to choose to work very attractive. Government programs offering grants/scholarships or loan forgiveness programs offered by health care institutions would be beneficial in attracting students to study in the clinical laboratory sciences. Students are unsure if there is a viable career ladder associated with the field and are anticipating the possibility of going on to other fields in the future. ^ While young and mid-career professionals share many of the same points of view on some aspects (skills used, trends) of the CLS/CLT profession there were a few areas were opinions diverged; perceptions of the field itself and if they plan to remain in the profession for the next 5 years. The mid-career professionals had a much more negative outlook on the profession (low salary, no visible career ladder, lack of respect from other health care professionals) and only a small number plan to be in the field within the next 5 years. ^ The lower salaries in the profession as compared to other similar health care careers, lack of a career ladder and lack of respect from laboratory and institutional management and other health care providers are critical missing pieces to the retention of CLS/CLT professionals. ^