Direct skeletal attachment prosthesis for the amputee athlete: the unknown potential

Lower limb amputees often experience complications with the use of conventional socket-type prostheses, which further reduce their already compromised ability to perform the activities of daily living, or to participate in sporting activities. During the last two decades, a new technology of direct skeletal attachment (osseointegration) of prosthesis to the femoral residuum has been developed. The aim of this research was to assess the implant design, surgery protocols, and functional testing of this new technology on the first 100 patients using the Integral Leg Prosthesis procedure. This new knowledge can guide future engineering developments of osseointegration within the sporting arena. Between 1999 and 2013, direct skeletal implantation was performed on 112 amputees, from two centres in Germany and Australia. From the experience of the surgical team, modifications were made to the implant design. This re-engineering of the implant has reduced the surgical revisions due to infection from 29 % with the early implant design down to 7 %. The functional testing of the 34 Australian cases were assessed pre- and 12 months post-implant with significant improvements of one complete K-scale; the Q-TFA measures increased (50.9–86.7), whilst the Timed Up and Go decreased significantly (12.43 s ± 3.89 to 8.03 s ± 2.80), and the 6 min walk increased (304.0–383.9 m). From these findings, osseointegration technology is realistically the way of the future for amputee athletes. Further refinement of the implant design and sports-specific functional testing are required to define the potential of this technology.     

Zum Konzept des Beruflichen Übergangs – Eine Theoretische Erörterung unter Bezug auf Supers Ansatz zur Erklärung der Laufbahnentwicklung

On the concept of career transition – a theoretical discussion with regard to Super's theory of career development.The aim of this article is to promote a differentiated concept of career transitions. First, Super's theory concerning this topic is analysed. The conclusion is that Super considered career transitions as being processes that occur every time an individual is destabilised by socio-economic and/or personal events. In this respect, transitions from one life-stage to the next are not to be regarded as something special. Second, a general career transition model is outlined based on Super's approach and including theory elements developed by other researchers. Some dimensions of transition strategies are discussed using cases from an ongoing study. Finally, some implications for research and career counselling practice are formulated.     

International Evidence on School Competition,Autonomy, and Accountability: A Review

This article reviews evidence from four international student achievement tests on the effects on student performance of competition from privately managed schools, schools' freedom to make autonomous decisions, and accountability introduced by external exit exams. The multivariate cross-country regressions are performed at the level of individual students and control for extensive family and school background information. The results reveal that students perform better in countries with more competition from privately managed schools, in countries where public funding ensures that all families can make choices, in schools that have freedom to make autonomous process and personnel decisions, where teachers have both freedom and incentives to select appropriate teaching methods, where parents take interest in teaching matters, and where school autonomy is combined with external exams that provide an information basis allowing for well-informed choices and holding schools accountable for their autonomous decisions.     

Volkswirtschaftliche Erträge wirksamer Bildungsreformen zur Reduktion der Zahl der Risikoschüler

The weak educational performance of a noteworthy share of students in Germany is not only a problem in itself, in the sense of a missing capability for self-dependent participation in society. It also has substantial consequences for the economy. This article provides projections of the economic returns that can be expected from hypothetical educational reforms that succeed in effectively reducing the number of at-risk students. We start by discussing existing theoretical and empirical research on the consequences of educational competencies for economic growth. On this basis, we perform projections of the magnitudes of additional economic wealth that can be expected from effective educational investments. Apart from a summary of existing results of long-run projections to 2090, we also report new projections for shorter time horizons. The results, which report the economic returns to effective educational reforms that reduce the number of at-risk students by state (Bundesland) in 10-year intervals from 2020–2050, may prove particularly relevant in political and budgetary discussions. The article closes with a discussion of results from the economics of education literature on which educational reforms might be expected to be successful in reducing the number of at-risk students.     

Katholisch-Theologische Fakultäten in Österreich zwischen "Autonomie" der Universität und kirchlicher Bindung (1. Teil)

Bezüglich der katholisch-theologischen Fakultäten an staatlichen Universitäten Österreichs ist auch das kirchliche Hochschulrecht zu beachten. Es gibt erhebliche Spannungen zwischen dem kirchlichen Hochschulrecht und dem Universitätsgesetz 2002. Diese betreffen vor allem die Stellung der Fakultät innerhalb der Universität und ihre zugleich personale wie kollegiale Leitung sowie die Rechtsstellung der Lehrpersonen. Besonderen Bedenken begegnet die Rechsstellung der Theologischen Fakultät Salzburg. Die notwendigen Anpassungen müssen von den Universitäten im Einvernehmen mit der zuständigen kirchlichen Autorität durchgeführt werden.     

Katholisch-Theologische Fakultäten in Österreich zwischen "Autonomie" der Universität und kirchlicher Bindung (2. Teil)

Bezüglich der katholisch-theologischen Fakultäten an staatlichen Universitäten Österreichs ist auch das kirchliche Hochschulrecht zu beachten. Es gibt erhebliche Spannungen zwischen dem kirchlichen Hochschulrecht und dem Universitätsgesetz 2002. Diese betreffen vor allem die Stellung der Fakultät innerhalb der Universität und ihre zugleich personale wie kollegiale Leitung sowie die Rechtsstellung der Lehrpersonen. Besonderen Bedenken begegnet die Rechsstellung der Theologischen Fakultät Salzburg. Die notwendigen Anpassungen müssen von den Universitäten im Einvernehmen mit der zuständigen kirchlichen Autorität durchgeführt werden.     

Cross-country evidence on teacher performance pay

The general-equilibrium effects of performance-related teacher pay include long-term incentive and teacher-sorting mechanisms that usually elude experimental studies but are captured in cross-country comparisons. Combining country-level performance-pay measures with rich PISA-2003 international achievement micro data, this paper estimates student-level international education production functions. The use of teacher salary adjustments for outstanding performance is significantly associated with math, science, and reading achievement across countries. Scores in countries with performance-related pay are about one quarter standard deviations higher. Results avoid bias from within-country selection and are robust to continental fixed effects and to controlling for non-performance-based forms of teacher salary adjustments.