The formation of weakly bound clusters in the hot and dense environment at midrapidity is one of the surprising phenomena observed experimentally in heavy-ion collisions from a low center of mass ...energy of a few GeV up to a ultra-relativistic energy of several TeV. Three approaches have been advanced to describe the cluster formation: coalescence at kinetic freeze-out, cluster formation during the entire heavy-ion collision by potential interaction between nucleons and deuteron production by hadronic reactions. We identify experimental observables, which can discriminate these production mechanisms for deuterons.
We present high-statistic data on charged pion emission from Au+Au collisions
at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}$ = 2.4 GeV (corresponding to $E_{beam}$ = 1.23 A GeV) in
four centrality classes in the range 0 - ...40$\%$ of the most central collisions.
The data are analyzed as a function of transverse momentum, transverse mass,
rapidity, and polar angle. Pion multiplicity per participating nucleon
decreases moderately with increasing centrality. The polar angular
distributions are found to be non-isotropic even for the most central event
class. Our results on pion multiplicity fit well into the general trend of the
world data, but undershoot by $2.5 \sigma$ data from the FOPI experiment
measured at slightly lower beam energy. We compare our data to state-of-the-art
transport model calculations (PHSD, IQMD, PHQMD, GiBUU and SMASH) and find
substantial differences between the measurement and the results of these
calculations.
We present high-statistic data on charged pion emission from Au+Au collisions at \(\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}\) = 2.4 GeV (corresponding to \(E_{beam}\) = 1.23 A GeV) in four centrality classes in the range ...0 - 40\(\%\) of the most central collisions. The data are analyzed as a function of transverse momentum, transverse mass, rapidity, and polar angle. Pion multiplicity per participating nucleon decreases moderately with increasing centrality. The polar angular distributions are found to be non-isotropic even for the most central event class. Our results on pion multiplicity fit well into the general trend of the world data, but undershoot by \(2.5 \sigma\) data from the FOPI experiment measured at slightly lower beam energy. We compare our data to state-of-the-art transport model calculations (PHSD, IQMD, PHQMD, GiBUU and SMASH) and find substantial differences between the measurement and the results of these calculations.
Does more media censorship imply more regime stability? We argue that censorship may cause mass disapproval for censoring regimes. In particular, we expect that censorship backfires when citizens can ...falsify media content through alternative sources of information. We empirically test our theoretical argument in an autocratic regime—the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Results demonstrate how exposed state censorship on the country's emigration crisis fueled outrage in the weeks before the 1989 revolution. Combining original weekly approval surveys on GDR state television and daily content data of West German news programs with a quasi-experimental research design, we show that recipients disapproved of censorship if they were able to detect misinformation through conflicting reports on Western television. Our findings have important implications for the study of censoring systems in contemporary autocracies, external democracy promotion, and campaigns aimed at undermining trust in traditional journalism.
Autocrats depend on a capable secret police. Anecdotal evidence, however, often characterizes agents as surprisingly mediocre in skill and intellect. To explain this puzzle, this article focuses on ...the career incentives underachieving individuals face in the regular security apparatus. Low-performing officials in hierarchical organizations have little chance of being promoted or filling lucrative positions. To salvage their careers, these officials are willing to undertake burdensome secret police work. Using data on all 4,287 officers who served in autocratic Argentina (1975-83), we study biographic differences between secret police agents and the entire recruitment pool. We find that low-achieving officers were stuck within the regime hierarchy, threatened with discharge, and thus more likely to join the secret police for future benefits. The study demonstrates how state bureaucracies breed mundane career concerns that produce willing enforcers and cement violent regimes. This has implications for the understanding of autocratic consolidation and democratic breakdown.
BACKGROUNDThere is a broad spectrum of care counselling offers. Various professional groups, each with different qualifications and objectives, carry out the counselling, and the accessibility and ...the service offers of the counselling centres vary greatly. The aim of this study was to develop recommendations for persons in need of care and their relatives in order to a) create more transparency and knowledge about the spectrum of care counselling for those in need of care and their relatives as well as the professionals in the field, and b) to optimize the structures of the heterogeneous spectrum of care counselling by means of a qualitative study with experts using the example of the district of Lörrach. METHODSBased on a systematic literature research, 21 semi-structured expert interviews of five different stakeholder groups (representatives of persons in need of care and their relatives, service providers, suppliers, county and municipalities, politicians) were analyzed. All interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data analysis was conducted based on the structuring content analysis according to Kuckartz. RESULTSNine main categories emerged from 21 experts' transcripts. The findings from four main categories relating to the criterion of transparency are shown below as examples. The experts report on numerous obstacles that they recognize for persons in need of care and their relatives in order to be able to take advantage of care counselling in a highly complex health care system. For people with no background knowledge of the health care system, the current care counselling structure is not transparent, and it is almost impossible to differentiate between the various care counselling services, some of which have different tasks to fulfil. The basic topic-specific advisory structure is characterized by multiple uncoordinated structures, also with regard to care, which makes it difficult even for professionals to gain an overview and orientation towards a targeted use of the counselling services for those seeking advice, such as persons in need of care and their relatives. The experts reaffirm the importance of creative ideas and different channels, taking into account generational differences and different information behaviour among those seeking advice, in order to increase the provision of information and the visibility of care counselling services. Low-threshold, citizen-oriented, regional and barrier-free access to information must be set up for persons in need of care and their relatives. At the district level, a central platform should be established primarily aimed at professional users which many want to be located at the care support center or, for example, at the district office where all threads come together and which includes all care counselling services and their areas of activity. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONOverall, the study results reveal numerous systemic weaknesses in the spectrum of care counselling services and in the care system, which in this study were limited to the regional research field and considered from the perspective of care management. The analysis of the results highlights the importance of optimizing the structural quality of care counselling. A need to reform social legislation and, above all, long-term care insurance (Eleventh Book of the Social Code), can be derived from the interview analysis and should be further investigated in a nationwide survey.
The health promotion (HP) community advocates for capacity building, quality assurance and political awareness of HP. Professional identity (PI) is of great relevance to these goals as persons who ...strongly identify with their profession better adopt their professional role, raising the quality, competence and common values within a professional group. However, investigations on the HP workforce are missing. In order to investigate PI formation in HP professionals, a longitudinal study was conducted with two student cohorts of a Swiss HP and prevention undergraduate program. Using a qualitative approach, focus groups were conducted at the beginning and end of the undergraduate program. Data were transcribed verbatim and condensed using thematic analysis. The results highlight the complexity of the HP’s professional profile. While students experienced difficulties to capture the profile at the beginning of the program, at the end they developed an understanding of it. The practical experience within work placements helped students to grasp the profile and specify their future professional role. Several behavioral, cognitive and motivational aspects were identified that influence HP students’ PI formation and can be fostered. For instance, universities can commit to public relations for HP practitioners and support the PI formation throughout the study program.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a complex, lifelong disease. Its effects span across different areas of life and vary strongly. In Switzerland, there is an intense discussion on how to optimize quality of ...care and patient safety. Patients should be more involved in the management of health care to improve the quality of care from the patient's perspective and form a more comprehensive perspective. This multiple-case study explores the question of how persons with MS experience and describe functioning related barriers, facilitating factors, and ethically relevant conflicts. To address this from a comprehensive perspective, the MS core set of the International Classification for Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) is used as theoretical framework. To explore barriers, facilitators, and relevant ethical issues, different narrative sources were used for thematic analysis and ICF coding: (a) MS transcripts from DIPEx interviews and (b) an autobiographical book of persons living with MS. Insights that were meaningful for daily practice and education were identified: (a) understanding the importance of environmental circumstances based on narrative sources; (b) understanding the importance of a person's individual life situation, and the ability to switch perspectives in the medical field; (c) respect for PwMS' individuality in health care settings; (d) creating meaningful relationships for disease management and treatment, as well as building trust.
Abstract
Dictators, rebel commanders, and mafia bosses frequently delegate gruesome and immoral tasks to their subordinates. However, most individuals want to avoid such work. This analytical essay ...proposes an institutional logic to understand how dictatorships, insurgent organizations, and criminal gangs get their evil work done nonetheless. We argue that common features of organizations produce mundane career pressures that incentivize subordinates to zealously execute reprehensible tasks. Subordinates may come under pressure for six distinct reasons: incompetence, misconduct, origin, isolation, organizational backlog, and shrinkage. Superiors, in turn, can exploit that pressured subordinates hope to improve their prospects for advancement by loyally executing the organization’s evil tasks. Empirically, we illustrate how Nazi Germany utilized each of the suggested career pressures to staff the units in charge of the Holocaust. We highlight that our logic might also apply to less extreme forms of organizational evil. Together, the essay offers a novel perspective to demystify radical behavior in state and non-state organizations with important implications for our understanding of transnational terrorist violence and underworld crimes.
How does witnessing regime atrocities influence the political attitudes of bystanders? We argue that observing regime violence against innocent civilians triggers psychological dissonance between ...beliefs about the regime and the witnessed moral transgression. As a result, regime support should decrease among bystanders of state atrocities. We analyze original, highly disaggregated archival data from the Nazi death marches at the end of World War II, which confronted ordinary German citizens with the regime’s crimes. We find that locations with higher victim numbers had lower vote shares for right-wing nationalist parties after the war. Supporting our proposed mechanism, we show that (1) this effect was strongest when Nazi crimes were at the center of public discourse and (2) that witnessing Nazi atrocities was associated with individuals’ rejection of Hitler 20 years later. The findings have implications for understanding democratization prospects and people’s nostalgia for fallen autocrats.
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