Current challenges in EU politics. A perspective from North Rhine-Westphalia. ZEI Discussion Paper C216, 2013

I would like to briefly recapitulate where Europe stands today, and what has been achieved. Because I maintain that in the EU’s 27 Member States we have, despite the failings and shortcomings we all bemoan, reached a level of unity, prosperity and rule of law unheard of in the history of this continent, and possibly of the world. As far as territory is concerned: the European Economic Community started out with six members. The late Bronislaw Geremek, former Foreign Minister of Poland and an eminent historian, used to point out that this, at the time, corresponded in size and shape roughly to the empire of Charlemagne, one of the greatest unified territories the continent has ever known. And yet, a mere 55 years after the Treaty of Rome we have gone far beyond that. Today’s European Union encompasses 27 countries, more than 4 million square kilometers in territory and 500 million people. When it comes to Europe’s policies, at present, all eyes are on the Euro and the future of our common monetary and financial policy. But within our common space, we have achieved so much more than a common currency for a majority of Member States.

North Rhine-Westphalia and the European Union. ZEI Discussion Paper C232, 2015

Keynote speech at the Final Ceremony of the ZEI Class of 2015. On the occasion of the Final Ceremony of the ZEI Master of European Studies “Class of 2015”, Prime Minister Hannelore Kraft congratulated the this year’s graduates and at the same time the ZEI and its staff for its past twenty years of innovative and successful academic work. Twenty years in which the European Union has succeeded in making progress in many areas, like Economic and Monetary Union, EU enlargement, introduction of the Euro and the changing role of the regions in the EU. North Rhine-Westphalia, the 8th largest region in the EU, is conducting proactive policy both in Berlin and in Brussels and combines European and regional politics in many areas. The European Union has to face new challenges, which can be only solved successful and confidence building as a common and even closer Union.

Does gender make a difference? Gender-related fairness of high-stakes testing in A-level examinations in English as foreign language in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia in the context of Educational Governance

The shift from decentralized to centralized A-level examinations (Abitur) was implemented in the German school system as a measure of Educational Governance in the last decade. This reform was mainly introduced with the intention of providing higher comparability of school examinations and student achievement as well as increasing fairness in school examinations. It is not known yet if these ambitious aims and functions of the new centralized examination format have been achieved and if fairer assessment can be guaranteed in terms of providing all students with the same opportunities to pass the examinations by allocating fair tests to different student subpopulations e.g., students of different background or gender. The research presented in this article deals with these questions and focuses on gender differences. It investigates gender-specific fairness of the test items in centralized Abitur examinations as high school exit examinations in Germany. The data are drawn from Abitur examinations in English (as a foreign language). Differential item functioning (DIF) analysis reveals that at least some parts of the examinations indicate gender inequality. (DIPF/Orig.)

Eugene Katz Collection 1947-1992

Various materials pertaining to the recollections of Eugene (Egon) Katz about his life in the 1920s and 1930s in Barntrup in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Der Weg in den Holocaust : Mit Bildern aus dem Leben der juedischen Gemeinde in Schmallenberg.

Photocopies of a catalogue for an exhibition in Schmallenberg on occasion of the town’s 750th anniversary in November 1994.

Der Bildungsbericht 2011

Ziel des Bildungsberichts ist es, das Bildungsgeschehen und die Bildungswege von Kindern, Jugendlichen und jungen Erwachsenen in der Stadt Essen anhand der ausgewählten Indikatoren abzubilden. Damit soll zunächst für Essen die Frage beantwortet werden, ob und in welchem Maß der allgemein behauptete Zusammenhang von sozialer Herkunft und Bildungserfolg besteht, um dann identifizieren zu können, wo die Stellschrauben für eine erfolgreiche Intervention sind. Der Aufbau des Bildungsberichts orientiert sich grundsätzlich an den chronologischen Stufen einer idealtypischen Bildungsbiographie und an den durchlaufenen Einrichtungen, wobei eine Einbettung in einen gesamthaften sozialen Kontext erfolgt. Hieraus begründet sich die thematische Spannbreite der zusammengestellten Informationen. Da die Lebens- und Aufwachsbedingungen im Stadtgebiet erheblich differieren, erfolgt die Berichterstattung in vielen Segmenten in kleinräumiger Betrachtungsweise. (DIPF/Orig.)

Verstetigung und Verbreitung von E-Learning im Verbundstudium. Onlinebefragung als Promotor und Instrument zur Einbeziehung der Lehrenden bei der Entwicklung und Umsetzung

Das Verbundstudium der nordrhein-westfälischen Fachhochschulen bietet über 3000 Studierenden die Möglichkeit, in einer Kombination von Präsenz- und Selbststudium neben dem Beruf zu studieren. Das Institut für Verbundstudien koordiniert und organisiert die Kooperationsprozesse der Hochschulen und engagiert sich mit seinem Bereich Hochschuldidaktik und Fernstudienentwicklung als Entwicklungs- und Kompetenzzentrum im Bereich der Neuen Medien und des E-Learnings. Zur Verbreitung und Verstetigung der digitalen Lehr- und Lernangebote sowie der Optimierung der Kooperations- und Supportstrukturen hat das Institut eine Onlinebefragung von 200 Lehrenden zur Situation und den Perspektiven des E-Learnings im Verbundstudium durchgeführt. Die Studie zeigt, dass für die Lehrenden auch zukünftig die gedruckte Lerneinheit das zentrale Element der Lehre sein wird. Sie sehen Bedarf zur Ergänzung und Anreicherung des Studiums sowie des Lernens und wünschen sich zur Unterstützung der Lehre ergänzende digitale Elemente vor allem in folgenden Bereichen: Kommunikation, Ergänzungen zu Lerneinheiten (Linklisten, Übungen, ergänzende Medien und Materialien), übergreifendes Glossar. Die Ergebnisse der Onlinebefragung sind die Grundlage des von den Gremien des Verbundstudiums beschlossenen E-Learning-Konzepts. Die von den Lehrenden gewünschten digitalen Elemente und Funktionen sind im Rahmen der Entwicklung durch den Bereich Hochschuldidaktik und Fernstudienentwicklung in der E-Learning-Umgebung VS-online umgesetzt worden. Zurzeit werden die bereitgestellten Elemente und Funktionen von den einzelnen Verbundstudiengängen mit Beiträgen und Inhalten gefüllt. (DIPF/Orig.)

Fujaba Days 2011

Fujaba is an Open Source UML CASE tool project started at the software engineering group of Paderborn University in 1997. In 2002 Fujaba has been redesigned and became the Fujaba Tool Suite with a plug-in architecture allowing developers to add functionality easily while retaining full control over their contributions. Multiple Application Domains Fujaba followed the model-driven development philosophy right from its beginning in 1997. At the early days, Fujaba had a special focus on code generation from UML diagrams resulting in a visual programming language with a special emphasis on object structure manipulating rules. Today, at least six rather independent tool versions are under development in Paderborn, Kassel, and Darmstadt for supporting (1) reengineering, (2) embedded real-time systems, (3) education, (4) specification of distributed control systems, (5) integration with the ECLIPSE platform, and (6) MOF-based integration of system (re-) engineering tools. International Community According to our knowledge, quite a number of research groups have also chosen Fujaba as a platform for UML and MDA related research activities. In addition, quite a number of Fujaba users send requests for more functionality and extensions. Therefore, the 8th International Fujaba Days aimed at bringing together Fujaba develop- ers and Fujaba users from all over the world to present their ideas and projects and to discuss them with each other and with the Fujaba core development team.

Estimation of wind storm impacts over Western Germany under future climate conditions using a statistical-dynamical downscaling approach

A statistical–dynamical regionalization approach is developed to assess possible changes in wind storm impacts. The method is applied to North Rhine-Westphalia (Western Germany) using the FOOT3DK mesoscale model for dynamical downscaling and ECHAM5/OM1 global circulation model climate projections. The method first classifies typical weather developments within the reanalysis period using K-means cluster algorithm. Most historical wind storms are associated with four weather developments (primary storm-clusters). Mesoscale simulations are performed for representative elements for all clusters to derive regional wind climatology. Additionally, 28 historical storms affecting Western Germany are simulated. Empirical functions are estimated to relate wind gust fields and insured losses. Transient ECHAM5/OM1 simulations show an enhanced frequency of primary storm-clusters and storms for 2060–2100 compared to 1960–2000. Accordingly, wind gusts increase over Western Germany, reaching locally +5% for 98th wind gust percentiles (A2-scenario). Consequently, storm losses are expected to increase substantially (+8% for A1B-scenario, +19% for A2-scenario). Regional patterns show larger changes over north-eastern parts of North Rhine-Westphalia than for western parts. For storms with return periods above 20 yr, loss expectations for Germany may increase by a factor of 2. These results document the method's functionality to assess future changes in loss potentials in regional terms.

DiepRuR

Aufbau einer föderativen Dienstlandschaft in der Ruhr-Region auf Basis von SAML mit dem Ziel eine organisationsübergreifende Nutzung von webbasierten IT-Diensten zu ermöglichen

Plattform Musikalische Bildung

Bei der Plattform Musikalische Bildung handelt es sich um ein Projekt der Hochschule für Musik Detmold. Die Plattform vereinigt in sich Ideen zum vernetzten Musiklernen, neu entwickelten Online-Musiklern-Tools sowie den Austausch und die Modifizierung dieser erstellten Kurse durch andere Dozenten und Lehrenden. Die Plattform steht allen Dozenten und Lehrern, Studierenden und Schülern an Hochschulen, aber auch Musikschulen und allgemein bildenden Schulen kostenlos zur Verfügung. Auf die Einblendung von Werbebannern wird verzichtet. Die Inbetriebnahme einer Betaversion ist im Oktober 2014 erfolgt. Weitere Ausbaustufen sind in Planung aber noch nicht gegenfinanziert.

Building an Academic Cloud for 500,000 Users

Under the brand name “sciebo – the Campuscloud” (derived from “science box”) a consortium of more than 20 research and applied science universities started a large scale cloud service for about 500,000 students and researchers in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state. Starting with the much anticipated data privacy compliant sync & share functionality, sciebo offers the potential to become a more general cloud platform for collaboration and research data management which will be actively pursued in upcoming scientific and infrastructural projects. This project report describes the formation of the venture, its targets and the technical and the legal solution as well as the current status and the next steps.

German Total Ankle Replacement Register of the German Foot and Ankle Society (D. A. F.) - presentation of design and reliability of the data as well as first results

INTRODUCTION Even though arthroplasty of the ankle joint is considered to be an established procedure, only about 1,300 endoprostheses are implanted in Germany annually. Arthrodeses of the ankle joint are performed almost three times more often. This may be due to the availability of the procedure - more than twice as many providers perform arthrodesis - as well as the postulated high frequency of revision procedures of arthroplasties in the literature. In those publications, however, there is often no clear differentiation between revision surgery with exchange of components, subsequent interventions due to complications and subsequent surgery not associated with complications. The German Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Association's (D. A. F.) registry for total ankle replacement collects data pertaining to perioperative complications as well as cause, nature and extent of the subsequent interventions, and postoperative patient satisfaction. MATERIAL AND METHODS The D. A. F.'s total ankle replacement register is a nation-wide, voluntary registry. After giving written informed consent, the patients can be added to the database by participating providers. Data are collected during hospital stay for surgical treatment, during routine follow-up inspections and in the context of revision surgery. The information can be submitted in paper-based or online formats. The survey instruments are available as minimum data sets or scientific questionnaires which include patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). The pseudonymous clinical data are collected and evaluated at the Institute for Evaluative Research in Medicine, University of Bern/Switzerland (IEFM). The patient-related data remain on the register's module server in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The registry's methodology as well as the results of the revisions and patient satisfaction for 115 patients with a two year follow-up period are presented. Statistical analyses are performed with SAS™ (Version 9.4, SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC, USA). RESULTS About 2½ years after the register was launched there are 621 datasets on primary implantations, 1,427 on follow-ups and 121 records on re-operation available. 49 % of the patients received their implants due to post-traumatic osteoarthritis, 27 % because of a primary osteoarthritis and 15 % of patients suffered from a rheumatic disease. More than 90 % of the primary interventions proceeded without complications. Subsequent interventions were recorded for 84 patients, which corresponds to a rate of 13.5 % with respect to the primary implantations. It should be noted that these secondary procedures also include two-stage procedures not due to a complication. "True revisions" are interventions with exchange of components due to mechanical complications and/or infection and were present in 7.6 % of patients. 415 of the patients commented on their satisfaction with the operative result during the last follow-up: 89.9 % of patients evaluate their outcome as excellent or good, 9.4 % as moderate and only 0.7 % (3 patients) as poor. In these three cases a component loosening or symptomatic USG osteoarthritis was present. Two-year follow-up data using the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society Ankle and Hindfoot Scale (AOFAS-AHS) are already available for 115 patients. The median AOFAS-AHS score increased from 33 points preoperatively to more than 80 points three to six months postoperatively. This increase remained nearly constant over the entire two-year follow-up period. CONCLUSION Covering less than 10 % of the approximately 240 providers in Germany and approximately 12 % of the annually implanted total ankle-replacements, the D. A. F.-register is still far from being seen as a national registry. Nevertheless, geographical coverage and inclusion of "high-" (more than 100 total ankle replacements a year) and "low-volume surgeons" (less than 5 total ankle replacements a year) make the register representative for Germany. The registry data show that the number of subsequent interventions and in particular the "true revision" procedures are markedly lower than the 20 % often postulated in the literature. In addition, a high level of patient satisfaction over the short and medium term is recorded. From the perspective of the authors, these results indicate that total ankle arthroplasty - given a correct indication and appropriate selection of patients - is not inferior to an ankle arthrodesis concerning patients' satisfaction and function. First valid survival rates can be expected about 10 years after the register's start.

Written survey on recently deceased patients in germany and switzerland: how do general practitioners see their role?

BACKGROUND General practitioners (GPs) play an important role in end-of-life care due to their proximity to the patient's dwelling-place and their contact to relatives and other care providers. METHODS In order to get a better understanding of the role which the GP sees him- or herself as playing in end-of-life care and which care their dying patients get, we conducted this written survey. It asked questions about the most recently deceased patient of each physician. The questionnaire was sent to 1,201 GPs in southern North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) and the Canton of Bern (Switzerland). RESULTS Response rate was 27.5 % (n = 330). The average age of responding physicians was 54.5 years (range: 34-76; standard derivation: 7.4), 68 % of them were male and 45 % worked alone in their practice. Primary outcome measures of this observational study are the characteristics of recently deceased patients as well as their care and the involvement of other professional caregivers. Almost half of the most recently deceased patients had cancer. Only 3 to 16 % of all deceased suffered from severe levels of pain, nausea, dyspnea or emesis. More than 80 % of the doctors considered themselves to be an indispensable part of their patient's end-of-life care. Almost 90 % of the doctors were in contact with the patient's family and 50 % with the responsible nursing service. The majority of the GPs had taken over the coordination of care and cooperation with other attending physicians. CONCLUSION The study confirms the relevance of caring for dying patients in GPs work and provides an important insight into their perception of their own role.

Sedimentological, physical, bulk geochemical, elemental and rock magnetic properties of the Middle to Late Pleistocene Rodderberg (Eifel/Germany)

The sediment record from Rodderberg potentially provides a climate and environmental record spanning at least the last ca 130 ka. Results from a low resolution pilot study reveal characteristic fluctuations that can be related to global climate variability as reflected in marine isotope stages and document the potential of this site for continuous and high-resolution investigations of the Middle to Late Pleistocene. Here we document the tentative lithology drilled, and show how the elemental composition can be interpreted with regard to lake level fluctuations, related redox conditions, but also to grain-size distribution and changes in lacustrine productivity. Finally, based on major lithological changes, a preliminary depth/age model is suggested that allows reassessing published luminescence ages from the same site.