bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Influence of the Val66Met Polymorphism of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor on Neurological Function after Traumatic Brain Injury
Authors: Finan John D. , Udani Shreya V. , Patel Vimal , Bailes Julian E.
Published: August 2018

Functional outcomes after traumatic brain injury (TBI) vary widely across patients with apparently similar injuries. This variability hinders prognosis, therapy, and clinical innovation. Recently, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) that influence outcome after TBI have been identified. These discoveries create opportunities to personalize therapy and stratify clinical trials. Both of these changes would propel clinical innovation in the field. This review focuses on one of most well-characterized of these SNPs, the Val66Met SNP in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene. This SNP influences neurological function in healthy subjects as well as TBI patients and patients with similar acute insults to the central nervous system. A host of other patient-specific factors including ethnicity, age, gender, injury severity, and post-injury time point modulate this influence. These interactions confound efforts to define a simple relationship between this SNP and TBI outcomes. The opportunities and challenges associated with personalizing TBI therapy around this SNP and other similar SNPs are discussed in light of these results.
Objective Arm Swing Analysis in Early-Stage Parkinson’s Disease Using an RGB-D Camera (Kinect®)
Authors: Ospina Beatriz Muñoz , Chaparro Jaime Andrés Valderrama , Paredes Juan David Arango , Pino Yor Jaggy Castaño , Navarro Andrés , Orozco Jorge Luis
Published: August 2018

Background:

Arm swing changes are common even in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease (PD). We hypothesized that arm swing changes decrease with age and can be detected using a low-cost, RGB-D depth-sensing camera.

Objective:

This study aimed to assess the differences in arm swing between PD patients and healthy participants and to investigate the possible effects of aging on these differences.

Methods:

Twenty-five PD patients (aged 45–87 years) and 25 age-matched, healthy subjects (aged 46–88 years) were included. Clinical variables were evaluated using a descriptive analysis. No spatiotemporal variables were normally distributed; therefore, we used a Mann–Whitney U test to compare the continuous variables between groups and to perform age-stratified analysis. A receiver operating characteristic analysis was generated to evaluate the discrimination activity of arm swing asymmetry (ASA).

Results:

The PD group showed significant reductions in arm swing magnitude (left, p = 0.002; right, p = 0.006) and arm swing speed (left, p = 0.002; right, p = 0.004) and significantly greater ASA ( p < 0.001). The age-stratified analysis showed significant differences in ASA in the 40–59-year group ( p = 0.001) and bilateral arm swing magnitude in the 60–66-year group. No differences were found in those aged >67 years.

Conclusions:

The camera detected differences in ASA, arm swing speed, and arm swing magnitude between PD patients and healthy individuals. Analysis of arm swing variables should be stratified by age, and the validity of the analysis may be questionable in patients aged >67 years.
Retrospective case-control study of necrotizing enterocolitis and packed red blood cell transfusions in very low birth weight infants
Authors: Crabtree C.S. , Pakvasa M. , Radmacher P.G. , Adamkin D.H.
Published: August 2018

OBJECTIVE:

The study objective was to explore the relationship between necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and packed red blood cell (pRBC) transfusion in very low birth weight (VLBW) neonates (<1500 g).

STUDY DESIGN:

A six-year retrospective chart review of VLBW infants with NEC (Bell’s Stage > II) and a pRBC transfusion within 48 hours of diagnosis. Prenatal data, postnatal course, transfusion history, and NEC outcomes were reviewed. The transfusion associated necrotizing enterocolitis (TANEC) cases were matched with controls (1:2) who were transfused but did not develop NEC as to proximity of birth date, gestational age, and receipt of transfusion.

RESULTS:

Of 1139 VLBW admissions, there were 73 cases of NEC and 30 cases of TANEC (annual NEC rate 6.4%). TANEC cases were matched with 60 controls who were transfused but never developed NEC. Neonatal profiles were similar between all 3 groups, except for a higher proportion of infants <10th percentile in the non-TANEC group. Days of antibiotics and frequency of patient ductus arteriosus (PDA) ligation were lower in controls compared to NEC cases. Lower feeding rate at diagnosis of NEC/match were more common in control infants compared to TANEC infants. However, feeding abstinence rates were similar between the two groups. The number of transfusions prior to diagnosis/match was similar in all groups. There was no significant difference in pre-transfusion hematocrit values between the groups.

CONCLUSION:

TANEC was common among NEC cases. PDA ligation was similar among TANEC and non-TANEC but lower in controls. Similar pre-transfusion hematocrits were found among TANEC and controls. Feeding abstinence rates were also similar between TANEC and controls.
Neonatal cholelithiasis in Down syndrome: Is hypothyroidism involved? A case-report
Authors: Ricci F. , Stagi S. , Messa F. , de Martino M.
Published: August 2018

We report a 3-month-old male with Down syndrome (DS), prolonged jaundice and poor weight gain, that showed biliary lithiasis and undiagnosed congenital hypothyroidism (CH).

CH should be considered in DS, especially in presence of gastrointestinal symptoms or malformations. Clinicians should be aware of the increased risk of gallstones in hypothyroid children with DS, even in neonatal age.
Evaluation of vancomycin target trough attainment with published dosing regimens in the neonatal intensive care unit population
Authors: Chung E. , Lee S.E. , Abraham T. , Saad N.N. , Gad A.
Published: August 2018

BACKGROUND:

Study aims to evaluate whether vancomycin dosing from published dosing algorithms correlate with the attainment of target troughs of 10 to 20 mg/L.

METHODS:

NICU patients who received minimum three doses of vancomycin and had a trough level met inclusion criteria. Dosing information was retrospectively evaluated to determine which published dosing regimen was followed. Dosing algorithms used were matched to NeoFax/Harriet Lane, renal-function directed dosing, and weight-directed dosing, in which the latter two can be found in Pediatric and Neonatal Lexi-Drugs. Primary outcome was percentage of troughs within therapeutic (10 to 20 mg/L) and subtherapeutic (less than 10 mg/L) levels.

RESULTS:

Of 97 troughs evaluated, NeoFax/Harriet Lane accounted for 86.6%, renal-function directed accounted for 5.1%, and weight-directed dosing accounted for 18.5% of dosing algorithms. NeoFax/Harriet Lane, renal-function directed, and weight-directed dosing attained therapeutic levels between 10 to 20 mg/L at a rate of 60.7%, 60%, and 50% of the time, respectively. With respect to initiation of therapy, a higher dose of 15 mg/kg versus 10 mg/kg attained therapeutic levels ( p < 0.001; OR 11.22; 95% CI, 3.96 to 31.81), while a serum creatinine value below 0.5 mg/dL attained subtherapeutic levels ( p = 0.028; OR 0.068; 95% CI, 0.006 to 0.74).

CONCLUSIONS:

NeoFax, Harriet Lane, and renal-directed dosing from Pediatric and Neonatal Lexi-Drugs achieved target troughs within the 10 to 20 mg/L range more often than weight-directed dosing from Pediatric and Neonatal Lexi-Drugs. Initiating therapy at a higher dose and patient serum creatinine value above 0.5 mg/dL were factors significantly associated with a 10 to 20 mg/L range.
Natural drugs, not so natural effects: Neonatal abstinence syndrome secondary to ‘kratom’
Authors: Davidson L. , Rawat M. , Stojanovski S. , Chandrasekharan P.
Published: August 2018

BACKGROUND:

Mitragyna speciosa, also known as kratom, is obtained from the coffee plant family ‘Rubiaceae.’ Kratom is available in the form of capsules, whole, processed and powdered leaves, and as liquids. Secondary to its ‘natural herb’ status and opioid effects, it is misconceived to be a safe alternative for the treatment of chronic pain. The use of kratom has increased by tenfold in the United States since 2010.

METHODS AND RESULTS:

We report a term neonate who was born to a chronic kratom user and required treatment with opiates for neonatal drug withdrawal.

CONCLUSION:

Physicians should be aware of these herbal supplements and its potential withdrawal effects in newborn which cannot be picked up by the standard toxicology screen.
A new adaptive-weighted total variation sparse-view computed tomography image reconstruction with local improved gradient information
Authors: Wang Yuanjun , Qi Zeyao
Published: August 2018

Inspired by the compressed sensing (CS) theory, introducing priori information of sparse image into sparse-view reconstruction algorithm of computed tomography (CT) can improve image quality. In recent years, as a special case of CS, total variation (TV) reconstruction algorithm that uses both image sparsity and prior information of edge direction have attracted much research interest in sparse-view image reconstruction due to its ability to preserve image edges. In this paper, we propose a new adaptive-weighted total variation (NAWTV) algorithm for CT image reconstruction, which is derived by considering local gradient direction continuity and the anisotropic edge property. The anisotropic edge property is used to consolidate the image sparsity, where the associated weights are expressed as a combination of exponential and cosine function. The weights can also be adjusted adaptively according the local image intensity gradient. The NAWTV algorithm is numerically implemented with gradient descent method. The typical Shepp-Logan phantom and FORBILD head phantom are employed to perform image reconstruction simulation. To evaluate performance of NAWTV algorithm, we compared it with TV and AwTV reconstruction algorithms in experiments. Numerical experimental results verified the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed algorithm. Comparison results also showed that the NAWTV algorithm achieved a satisfactory performance in suppressing artifacts and preserving the edge structure details information of the reconstructed image.
Chinas neue Rolle im globalen Kapitalismus
Authors: Schmalz Stefan
Published: August 2018

The article provides a general overview on the current debate on the rise of China in global capitalism. In this discussion, a distinction between two theoretical currents can be made: On the one hand, most world-systems analysts assume that US power already is on the wane, while China is becoming a super power. On the other hand, some critical IPE scholars such as Leo Panitch argue that there is a continuity of US hegemony. Both arguments are tested on the basis of empirical data on China’s development and China’s power in global political economy. Also, the article discusses whether China’s potential rise may lead to violent conflicts. It is concluded that even though China might ascend to the status of being the primary economic power in the near future, structural power in global capitalism could continue to favor the West for a long period of time.
China als neuer Mittelpunkt der globalen Arbeiterunruhe
Authors: Silver Beverly J. , Zhang Lu , Frings Christian
Published: August 2018

Contrary to the common thesis in the literature on globalization, that the rapid growth of manufacturing in China has launched a race to the bottom concerning wages and working conditions, the rise of class struggles in China provides evidence in support of the thesis: where capital goes, labor-capital conflict shortly follows. The world historical impact of the rise of class struggle in China is evaluated by looking on different and overlapping responses by capital: geographical relocation (spatial fix), modernizing of technology and work organization, and the trajectory of the product cycle. These analytical tools are used to interpret the findings of recent fieldwork by Zhang in automobile manufacturers in China, which hint to the fact, that a stable social compact is unlikely to be reached in the „standardization phase“ of the product cycle. The implications of the further rise of labor unrest in China for the global labor movements are not yet clear. What is missing is a vision of new forms of labor organization in face of the threat of a catastrophic collapse of global capitalism.
Deutscher Militarismus – eine unendliche Geschichte?
Authors: Schmidt Dorothea
Published: August 2018

At the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, the Allied leaders identified four dimensions of German militarism that were of particular concern: the power of the military elite and their privileged position inside the state, the activities of paramilitary formations and the armaments industry, and the support for militarism in the public. The leaders agreed to a set of policies that sought to address these concerns of reigning in any militaristic tendencies. This article focuses on the relevance of these four areas of concern by examining their relevance in different periods, from the German Empire to the present, and trying to discern lines of continuity or of disruption. The impact of the armaments industry is as strong as ever, but the German army is now controlled by the parliament, soldiers have acquired certain rights and the general public seems not to be enthusiastic about the German participation in the Afghanistan war. Nevertheless, the involvement of the German troops in out of area-operations of NATO or the emerging European defence forces is on the increase.
Uneingeschränkte Solidarität
Authors: Strutynski Peter
Published: August 2018

This article focuses on the analysis of the new strategic concept of NATO (Lisbon 2010) and its effect on German foreign and security policy. During the Cold War, the (old) Federal Republic of Germany had done well to recognize its limited sovereignty while at the same time expanding its economic and political influence in NATO and the EC/EU. This approach has not fundamentally changed with the unification of Germany in 1990. Since then Germany has been developing its imperial ambitions cautiously, embedded in the aggressive NATO military pact and the militarization of the EU. The credo of the new Germany is the enforcement of both;, German economic and geo-strategic interests as a nation cannot be achieved alone, but only within the range of existing alliances.
Politisch relevanter Totenkult
Authors: Januschke Eugen
Published: August 2018

In Germany a new cult of the dead soldier is emerging. Whoever thinks this cult is only an antiquated custom of military rituals, which should be done away with, or whoever declares this cult to be an object of political discussion of only secondary rank, is missing one of the important political and sociological dimensions of the changing reproduction of the military in the time of the Afghanistan war. The article shows which necessary contribution this cult of the dead makes to Germany’s ability to wage war. Two important functions of this cult can be made out: to maintain the soldiers’ motivation, and the population’s acceptance of dead soldiers due to the war. The article focuses on the second function.
Kritische Gesellschaftstheorie und die Vielfalt der Emanzipationsperspektiven
Authors: Demirović Alex
Published: August 2018

Social Movements have during the recent decades challenged the priority of the labour movement. Not only the liberation from wage labour is on the agenda of social movements and the left but also the overcoming of racism and sexism, equality of sexual orientations or the reconciliation of the social relation to nature. This is what Marx claimed when he spoke about the categorical imperative to overthrow all relations in which man is a debased, enslaved forsaken, despicable being. But the question arises as to how to bring these different perspectives together and whether the Marxian project of a critique of political economy is appropriate to its own claim or tends to reduce the whole of emancipation to only some limited goals. Demirovi? proposes making use of Marx’ conceptualisation of structure and superstructure and elaborating this distinction with further arguments from Althusser, Adorno and Gramsci in order to conceive of the superstructures as a strategic means of differentiating the bourgeois society as a complex whole of social relations.
Totalität und Vielfalt – gesellschaftliche Wirklichkeit als multidimensionaler Zusammenhang
Authors: Meißner Hanna
Published: August 2018

This article proposes a productive connection between the Marxian analysis of the structures of capitalism and the analytic attentiveness to the heterogeneity and instability of power relations and identities proposed by Judith Butler and Michel Foucault. Focusing on the question of gender relations it argues that social theory and critique face the challenge of taking simultaneously into account the totality of the capitalist mode of production and the fragmentation and complex situatedness of power relations and individual existences.
Die Linkspartei in der Krise
Authors: Strohschneider Tom
Published: August 2018

After the fast ascent of the Linkspartei after the general elections 2005, there followed a period of stagnation that has continued until today. Since the general elections of 2009, die LINKE has been off the electoral winning track, internal conflicts over strategy and personnel characterize its image. However the party’s weakness in it’s „third phase“ cannot be explained mereley by self-preoccupation and soul-searching. The erosion of the traditional social-democratic milieu brings less grist to the mill of DIE LINKE than it did before. In east Germany the problems associated with an elderly constituency make themselves clearly felt. Moreover the party is faced with an altered discursive context (Fukushima, „enraged citizien“ – Wutbürger, economic crisis) and has to face up to the constellation in which the SPD and the Greens form the centre of force of a moderate opposition and the Piratenpartei succeeds with the promise of an alternative politics. The party‘s manifesto, which has been adopted at the end of October, admittedly proved the capacity of the competing currents within the party to compromise, but it is no answer to the questions of strategy and content the party will have to answer in the future, by itself.
Poststrukturalismus. Gesellschaft. Kritik
Authors: Van Dyk Silke
Published: August 2018

In light of a boom of radical social critique following the financial crisis, Cultural Studies and poststructuralism, which used to be favorites among many left-wing academics until recently, seem to have lost ground: In the wake of the “big crisis” with its material problems and consequences, the theoretical problematization of The Subject, truth, and structure, as well as the focus on subversive micropolitics (instead of macro analyses), complex power relations and battles of interpretation is considered to be outdated and misleading. This article takes the wide-spread unease with regard to poststructuralism’s potential for radical social critique seriously and confronts the paradigm with questions concerning criticism and truth, inequality and authority and its ability to problematize society on a systemic level. The main argument is that current shortcomings in the field of radical social critique can be conquered by key ideas of poststructuralist thinking itself.
Humanismus nach dem Tod des Menschen
Authors: Seibert Thomas
Published: August 2018

By passing through the “death of man”, Deleuze’s, Guattari’s and Foucault’s antihumanism dissolved the teleologically founded “history” of traditional marxism into a pluralist history of pure contingency. When today’s postmarxism as outlined by Hardt/ Negri or Badiou/Zizek returns to a historical subject and its “materialist teleology” (Hardt/ Negri), their philosophical move seems to be a step back into traditions already overcome. But poststructuralism and postmarxism don’t block each other in the dead end of an eitheror. Instead of this, their constellation opens up a third option rightly named “posthumanism”.
Zwischen Bankenrettungen und autoritärem Wettbewerbsregime
Authors: Heinrich Mathis
Published: August 2018

The global financial crisis did not only plunge the European Union into a deep recession, but also released remarkable contradictions within the organisation and regulation of the European economy. As complex as the structural causes of the crisis are, the diverse and disputed are the political struggles and policy reactions to it. In particular, the different spheres of activity in European crisis management are characterised by variegated compromises, however no progressive change in European modes of regulation and underlying transnational social and political power networks seems to take place. Rather, alternative approaches are getting constantly disarticulated by discursive and organisational means, while authoritarian European policy reactions do not only deepen the crisis dynamics in Europe, but also more and more point towards a major crisis of democracy.
Die finanz- und rentengetriebene Logik der multinationalen Unternehmen
Authors: Serfati Claude , Schmidt Dorothea
Published: August 2018

Transnational corporations (TNC) constitute not just big companies, but a special institutional form of the modern financial capital. Essential for them is the growing importance of intangible assets and goodwill what explains the widening gap between their book value and their stock exchange value. New business strategies are focused on the increase of short time liquidity with the aim of financing mergers and acquisitions. Dominating global value chains the TNC practice offshoring and outsourcing. These developments can be understood in the context of rent seeking behavior which already has been analyzed in a cogent way by Marx.
Industrieller Kapitalismus und Finanzmarktrationalität – am Beispiel des Umbruchs in der (traditionellen) deutschen Großchemie
Authors: Kädtler Jürgen
Published: August 2018

The paper deals with fiancialisation in the German chemical and pharmaceutical industry, focussed on Hoechst, Bayer, and BASF. Important restructuring in each of these companies is justified by financial markets’ requirements. However, that restructuring has not been enforced by institutional investors or financial markets, it was driven by dominant management coalitions referring to financial rationality. Therefore the outcome of financialisation of rather similar companies has been extremely heterogeneous. The most important general outcome was the end of the technology based integrated chemical and pharmaceutical company as a paradigm for the core of the industry. An important social outcome was the increased heterogenity and differentiation of wage and labour conditions where homogeneous standards based on one overall collective agreement used to be in force, with only upward variation by companies. As decisions on what financialisation may be in big companies are a matter of strategic choice, workers and labour representatives may be able to influence respective strategies, depending on their ability and preparedness to draw on power resources in collaboration.
Tuareg-Rebellion, Islamismus und Staatskrise in Mali
Authors: Greven Thomas
Published: August 2018

The root causes of the ongoing crisis in Northern Mali lie in the region’s underdevelopment, exacerbated by longstanding, if recently decreasing, neglect of the central government; the complex social relationship between the largest minority, the Tuareg, and the majority population, which has worsened since a largely unresolved crisis in the 1990s; and the growing interest of a small but growing number of actors involved in the drug trade and other criminal activities in the absence of the state. Among the latter have been a growing number of Jihadists, at first mostly from Algeria, who have been taking Western citizens hostage and therefore caused the US and France to pressure the Malian government to re-establish a presence of the state in the North. The clash was all but inevitable when several thousand heavily armed Tuareg fighters came to Mali after the defeat of Gaddafi in Libya. A new element of the crisis is the growing number of jihadists among the Tuareg rebels and other Malians, but neither Tuareg irredentism nor Islamic fundamentalism has more than minority support in Mali, Northern Mali, or among the Tuareg. The coup d’état against the president, while most likely a spontaneous reaction to the inability of the government to fight the rebellion, uncovered a structural crisis of Malian democracy and society. The disintegration of Mali’s long-praised formal democratic institutions after the coup showed fundamental problems. However, political supporters of the coup who assumed that the population’s tacit support of the coup could be turned into a movement for fundamental social change, had to find that it was largely an opportunistic and diffuse expression of general discontent.
Die sozialen Kämpfe in Südafrika verbinden?
Authors: Ludwig Carmen
Published: August 2018

After the end of Apartheid 18 years ago, class conflicts are on the rise in South Africa. In most cases, social struggles of poor communities and trade union protests are led separately from each other. In contrast, trade unions in South Africa were regarded as an exemplar of Social Movement Unionism in their fight against Apartheid. Based on seven interviews and three group discussions with trade unionists from the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) and municipal employees in Cape Town, this article examines the impact, chances and obstacles of coalition building between trade unions and the new social movements in contemporary South Africa. In Cape Town SAMWU and social movements are working together to formulate an alternative Development Plan for the city as well as joint ideas for a good public service based on the needs of poor communities. As casualisation is increasing and undermining the associational power of trade unions, links are rebuild between SAMWU and community organisations in Cape Town. At the same time it can be shown that the joining of forces and social struggles is based on preconditions and needs intensified efforts undertaken by unions and social movements alike.
Eurozone: die Krise als Chance für die kapitalistische Offensive
Authors: Milios Jannis , Sotiropoulos Dimitris
Published: August 2018

The article criticizes the usual narrative, that the indebtedness of the southern countries of EU is the result of reckless borrowing, exaggerated consumption and productive weakness. It is shown how current account imbalances worked for some years as an accommodation process. However, the Euro is not just a currency, it is a “mechanism” to impose capitalist power, to force permanent processes of restructuring labour. The contemporary crisis of the Euro is not just the outcome of a wrong policy, it is a process of capitalist attack in class struggle.
Kritische Gesellschaftstheorie: Analyse der Kräfteverhältnisse oder Zeitdiagnose – mit einem Seitenblick auf die Beiträge von Slavoj Žižek
Authors: Demirović Alex
Published: August 2018

The article approaches Slavoj Žižeks recent works on the condition of late capitalism in three steps: in the first chapter the approach of Adorno’s cultural critique is presents, in the second chapter Gramsci’s and Poulantzas’ ways of analyzing the relations of class forces. It is argued that both approaches contribute essential and complementary concepts and it would be worth to integrate them in one overall approach. In the third chapter Slavoj Žižek’s work is examined to find out if and in which way it contributes to such an integration.
Intersektionalität und marxistische Gesellschaftstheorie
Authors: Schneider Etienne
Published: August 2018

In the last years the concept of ‘intersectionality’ has enjoyed ever greater popularitiy as a way to grasp the interrelations between these multiple forms of oppression and to problematize reductionist accounts of the social that privilege specific contradictions and social struggles over others. Yet intersectional analyses themselves have been critizised by Marxists and Feminists for establishing the connections between different mechanisms of discrimination merely in an empiricist way: Focussing on the microlevel of specific identities and social contexts, intersectional analyses forfeit an understanding of the social as a comprehensive totality. Against this background, the article examines how Marx, Adorno and Althusser conceptualized the notion of totality as part of their social theorizing. Drawing from the works of Himani Bannerji, Gudrun-Axeli Knapp, Ursula Beer and Silvia Federici, this article argues that although Marxist social theorizing has tended to connect the dominance of the economic base with prioritizing the antagonism between capital and labour, it bears the potential to understand multiple forms of oppression as integral parts of the underlying structures of capitalist societies, thereby transcending merely empiricist accounts of the interrelations between multiple forms of domination.
Der andere 11. September und die Folgen
Authors: Müller-Plantenberg Urs
Published: August 2018

"Der Terroranschlag auf die Türme des World Trade Center in New York am 11. September 2001 hat es geschafft, die Erinnerung an den anderen 11. September, den Tag des Militärputsches in Chile im Jahre 1973 weitgehend zu verdecken. Dabei war dieser Putsch eines der großen, weil einschneidenden Ereignisse in der Entwicklung Lateinamerikas und der Welt in der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts..."
Nachruf für Thomas Hurtienne
Authors: Müller-Plantenberg Urs
Published: August 2018

Nachruf für Thomas Hurtienne
Zwei Zahnbürsten, ein Reiskocher und romantische Liebe
Authors: Jüschke Anna , Schoenes Katharina
Published: August 2018

Taking the example of marriages of convenience, the article argues that immigration law reproduces conservative marriage norms. We show that the administrative practices evolving around the assessment of binational marriages that are suspected of aiming at obtaining a residence permit for one of the spouses in fact establish a purpose of marriage which is not covered by legislation. These practices not only are a significant invasion of privacy for the suspected couples, but furthermore are informed by gendered and racialized conceptions of “proper” marriages which are incorporated in influential discourses of migration, family and the nation.
Das transnationale Kapital und die Bearbeitung der Krise(n) der Europäischen Union
Authors: Heinrich Mathis
Published: August 2018

The article stresses the ideological and political dominance of productive capital fractions within the power bloc of the European Union (EU), by exemplifying their strategic influence in transnational struggles over the management of the current crises in Europe. Theoretically, it is shown, that the leadership of a fraction within the ruling class does neither result from its economic dominance in accumulation nor its hegemony in society alone, but rather depends on concrete struggles over power and meaning within the power bloc itself. In this regard, the economic and financial crisis management approach of the EU reveals that especially transnational actors from the European industry are able to use the crisis between 2008 and 2013 to further lock-in their global competitiveness strateg y into EU political structures. While the lobby groups of finance capital, although still economically important, are rather losing political ground and get lost in technocratic disputes among each, productive capital associations are holding the ruling class in Brussels together by using their privileged access to EU institutions and subordinating the interests of others capital fractions under the dominant discourse of a global and export-oriented growth regime of the EU.
Biowert, Biokapital – oder was sonst?
Authors: Birch Kean , Tyfield David
Published: August 2018

In the policy discourses of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and European Commission (EC), modern biotechnology and the life sciences are represented as an emerging „bio-economy“ in which the latent value underpinning biological materials and products offers the opportunity for sustainable economic growth. This articulation of modern biotechnology and economic development is an emerging scholarly field producing numerous „bio-concepts.“ Over the last decade or so, there have been a number of attempts to theorize this relationship between biotechnologies and their capitalization. This article highlights some of the underlying ambiguities in these conceptualizations, especially the fetishism about any „bio“-item We offer an alternative view of the bio-economy by rethinking the theoretical importance of several key economic and financial processes.
Biokapitalismus und Inwertsetzung der Körper
Authors: Lettow Susanne
Published: August 2018

The article discusses the ways in which bio-capitalism has been analyzed and criticized during the last decade. In contrast to analyses that reduce bio-capitalism to the emergence of bio-tech-industries and the respective transformations of capitalist accumulation, the author argues for an understanding of bio-capitalism as specific mode of bio-politics that does not only involve new strategies of accumulation but also transformations of subjectivities and modes of livings. In particular, the article explores three critical perspectives – bioethics, the critique of marketization, and attempts to rethink political economy – and asks how they contribute to a critical understanding of bio-capitalist modes of the production, circulation and consumption of body materials.
Wertkörper
Authors: Kunow Rüdiger
Published: August 2018

Recent advances in the fields of genomics and biotechnology have greatly expanded the discretionary autonomy of human beings over their bodies. Biology has so become a new and alluring terrain for the enlightenment project of self-realization and selffulfilment. These developments have been co-evolving with the global expansion of neoliberal capitalism. This article states that there is a common logic at work in both areas, leading not only to the emergence of a global market in biological materials but also to a re-calibration of the biology of human life into lively capital. For this reason, the new „freedom“ of constructing the body according to one’s own preferences and desires in a dialectical inversion entails new obligations and constraints. In the end, only the technologically enhanced human body is fit for the neoliberal world of social cut-backs and can avoid being consigned to a new, this time biologically defined underclass.
Syriza unter Druck
Authors: Konecny Martin
Published: August 2018

The success or failure of Greece’s left government will be decisive not only for Greece but for the left in Europe in general. The Syriza led government faces obstacles both on the European and on the national level. It becomes increasingly clear that Syriza’s equation for the European level doesn’t add up. The main European institutions want to see Syriza fail and block therefore any acceptable compromise. On the national level the level of political mobilization is low and the question arises if Syriza can maintain its connection with the social movements under the current situation. Despite all obstacles there are still options left to regain the initiative.
Die Erweiterung des Resonanzraums
Authors: Keil Daniel
Published: August 2018

Multiple Movements can be observed hitting the streets since 2014, which represent something new. Although these Movements are prima facie thematically very different, all share some common motives, which can be described as an actualization of folkish-nationalism. The Article focusses on the so called “Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the Occident” (Pegida) and tries first to put out the major motives, which are extracted from the speeches held at Pegida-manifestations. Secondly one motive will be traced back to the 1990s to show the development of conservationism and its rearrangement. It will be argued that the old conservative structure became disintegrated and it is renewal is based on folkish-nationalist believes. The new folkish-nationalist movements are a real threat of an open and plural society, not only because a new wave of violence against migrants and leftists takes place, but also because of a normalization of paranoid views of society and the enhancement of the possibilities of authoritarian-violent solutions to phenomena of crisis.
Oligarchie – eine Form bürgerlicher Herrschaft
Authors: Becker Joachim
Published: August 2018

The close link between economic and political power is the key characteristic of oligarchic rule. Different forms of oligarchic rule and structures have emerged during the capitalist transformation in Eastern Europe over the last 25 years. The article compares oligarchic rule in the successor states of multinational federations that disintegrated after 1989 – i.e. the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. From a comparative perspective, it analyses the emergence of domestic oligarchic groups, the (sub-)sectors of their economic activities and their relationship to the semi-peripheral states (in particular their relationship with political parties as a key transmission belt into state decision-making centres).
Ultraimperialismus oder interimperialistische Konkurrenz?
Authors: Salomon David
Published: August 2018

During the last decade of the twentieth century, the concept of “imperialism” was not used very much by social scientists. But after 9/11, the concept started a new career. Not only left-wing theorists, but also members of the establishment like Michael Walzer and Michael Ingnatieff used the term to describe the foreign policy of the US under George W. Bush. Marxists like Leo Panitch, Sam Gindin and David Harvey argued that within the “New Imperialism” the ultra-imperialistic cooperation between the US and Europe plays a dominant role for the world order. A decade later, the rivalry between the big empires has aquired new importance.
Kapitalistische und territorial-geopolitische Logiken der Macht
Authors: Plank Christina
Published: August 2018

The non-signing of the association and free trade agreement with the EU by the former Ukrainian president Victor Janukovych triggered the on-going conflict in the Ukraine. By offering a deepening of the political and economic relations with the West, the EU did not consider Russia’s interests in the post-Soviet region. Drawing on Harvey, the article argues that within this process the territorial-geopolitical logic prevails over the capitalist logic of power. Economic interests of the European Union exist, but they are not sufficient to explain the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. Rather, the conflict can be understood as a non-intentional consequence of the EU’s politics concernging the Ukraine. In particular, three sectors – finance, energy and agriculture – are relevant for the EU in Ukraine. However, up to now the European capital factions are facing difficulties in asserting their interests in these sectors due to strong oligarchic structures in the country. Together with the territorial-geopolitical logic of power they have to be taken into account to explain the conflict. Ultimately, the armed conflict in the Eastern Ukraine endangers the EU’s economic ties with Russia. These are more important for the EU than its economic relations with Ukraine. As a result, the territorial-geopolitical logic unfolds as opposed to the capitalist logic in the conflict.
Die Eiserne Seidenstraße
Authors: Schaffar Wolfram
Published: August 2018

In May 2014, the Thai military staged a coup d’état and ousted the democratically elected Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. This coup, which marks the climax of the split between the Redshirt and Yellowshirt political camps, is difficult to explain solely in terms of inner Thai power relations. Instead the article argues that the Chinese mega infrastructure project one belt one road needs to be taken into account. This project is another major step in the rise of China – a process, which has often been seen as part of a hegemonic shift towards a new accumulation cycle with China as new center. Against this background, the present upheaval in Thailand is interpreted in a historical perspective and as one example for the kind of conflicts, which accompany the historic shift towards China as a new power center. However, the article also argues that the turn towards an autocratic form of governance can not be attributed to direct Chinese influence. Rather, it is the result of the fierce rivalry between two capitalist fractions and domestic factors.
Ausnahmezustand? Weitermachen, wie bisher, geht nicht mehr
Authors: Kronauer Martin
Published: August 2018

The comment takes a critical look at the article “Global Capitalism in a State of Emergency” written by the editorial board and published in PROKLA 185. It appreciates the analytical and political intensions of the article but questions the appropriateness of the term “state of emergency” to characterize global capitalism in its current conditions. It also deplores the lack of consequences of the analysis for the most pressing issue of the rise of right-wing groups and governments in Europe and the USA. In this respect, the comment suggests two topics which urgently deserve the attention of the Left. The first one concerns the reasons for the rise of the Right. The comment argues against the assumption of striking parallels to the rise of fascism in the 1920 and 1930s, proposes an alternative view (the undermining of institutionalized social reciprocity in decades of prevailing neoliberalism), and draws some conclusions. The second topic concerns the overrepresentation of workers among the supporters of right-wing parties. Here the comment calls upon the Left to embark on policies which aim at the regeneration of working-class consciousness and not to go for compromises with nationalism and xenophobia.
Das „ungewöhnlich intensive“ Streikjahr 2015
Authors: Artus Ingrid
Published: August 2018

The paper discusses causes, contexts and consequences of the exceptional high level of strikes sweeping Germany in the year 2015. It gives a detailed overview of the three biggest strike movements (nursery teachers, postal strike and metal industry warning strikes) and sums up the vast number of smaller strikes. The new intensity of conflict is interpreted in a double way: On the one hand it is the consequence of a long lasting union weakness in the past resulting in erosion and fragmentation of collective bargaining. On the other hand it shows that there is a current fight going on to end union defensive. New conflicts at new economic places are breaking off and they are often led by employees who have no long union and strike experience. The feminization and tertiarization of strikes involve for the unions the necessity to refine ‘old’ fordist strike strategies and to deal with new subjects, maybe in a more democratic way than before.
ANALISIS PENERAPAN SISTEM DAN PROSEDUR PEMUNGUTAN PAJAK HIBURAN DI KOTA BITUNG
Authors: Ponto Chrysti D. , Karamoy Herman , Runtu Treesje
Published: August 2018

Regional autonomy in Indonesia came into force on 1 January 2001. Regional Government Law 28 of 2009 on Regional Tax and Retribution, is set to be one source of revenue that comes from inside the area. Bitung is one of the autonomous regions. With the availability of a variety of entertainment, receipt Pemerintahpun revenue increase due to impose a tax on organizing entertainment such entertainment. The objective of this study is to determine the application of tax collection systems and procedures of entertainment in the city of Bitung. The object of research is the Regional Revenue Office Bitung. This type of research, namely, qualitative research and analysis method used is descriptive analysis method. The results showed that the systems and procedures for the collection of entertainment tax imposed by the Regional Revenue Office Bitung as the tax authorities have been implemented properly, because in accordance with the Regional Regulation No. 1 in 2013, Mayor Regulation No. 21 in 2013, and Regulation No. 13 Year 2006. Regional Revenue Office Bitung City should continue to maintain the systems and procedures in accordance with the entertainment tax collection regulations.
PENGARUH PARTISIPASI ANGGARAN TERHADAP KINERJA MANAJERIAL PADA PT. BINA AVIA PERSADA
Authors: Pakasi Devis Lucky
Published: August 2018

Influence of budget participation has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years. Some research on the relationship of budget participation on managerial performance indicates inconsistent results. This study aims to prove the existence and how the influence of budget participation on managerial performance.The object in this research is PT. Avia Bina Persada in the company is engaged in the scope of the airlines that provide short pelatian for prospective flight attendants and staff of the airlines. For the data used in this study was obtained from the perception of employees and corporate leaders involved in the preparation of the budget, including middle managers and ordinary employees lower managers. Data obtained through questionnaires to 20 employees and 10 managers with a total questionnaires were distributed to 30 sheets. The analysis model is a simple linear regression.The result is that the PT. Avia Bina Persada, a positive effect of budget participation on managerial performance. That is, the higher the participation, the budget will be higher the managerial performance.
ANALISA PENGARUH PROFITABILITAS TERHADAP HARGA SAHAM PERUSAHAAN LQ 45 DI BURSA EFEK INDONESIA
Authors: Lumowa David
Published: August 2018

This research aims to test the effects of profitability on share prices of companies listed in the LQ 45 index in the Indonesian Stock Exchange.  Profitability is measured using the return on equity (ROE) and earnings per share (EPS) ratios. Using purposive sampling on companies listed in the LQ 45 index in 2011- 2014 yielded data samples from 11 companies.  Running a simple linear regression and and a multiple regression on the variables results in showing that simultaniuosly ROE, EPS does significantly effects share prices. When tested partially ROE and EPS also proves to have significant effects on Share Price.