Foresight, a major methodological tool in the STI policy toolbox, has recently featured new directions in methodological development, becoming influenced by progress in information and communication technologies and online tools. However, no overview of these directions has been available so far. Based on a literature review, an interactive workshop, and an international expert survey as well as expert interviews, the research presented here attempts to shed light onto some of the relevant issues by providing a structured overview of recent changes in order to further the debate on the future directions of methodological development in foresight. The paper outlines four clusters of emerging approaches in foresight:Integrated qualitative and quantitative approaches, IT-based and automated foresight, experiential foresight including new forms of communication and interaction such as visualization and gaming, and open and crowd-sourced approaches. The benefits and challenges of the app...

Kramers relaxation times τK and relaxation times τR and τG for the end-to-end distances and for center-of-mass diffusion are calculated for dense systems of athermal lattice chains. τK is defined from the response of the radius of gyration to a Kramers potential which approximately describes the effect of a stationary shear flow. It is shown that within an intermediate range of chain lengths N the relaxation times τR and τK exhibit the same scaling with N, suggesting that N-dependent melt-viscosities for nonentangled chains can be obtained from the Kramers equilibrium concept.

Prostitution ist ein ebenso dynamisches wie komplexes System. Das stellt hohe Anforderungen an die Selbst-, Fall- und Systemkompetenz der Sozialarbeitenden, und es ist gleichzeitig eine Herausforderung für das Management einer sozialen Organisation. Der Artikel untersucht, welche Kompetenzen in diesem Arbeitsgebiet erforderlich sind, was niederschwellige Sozialarbeit mit Sexarbeiterinnen leistet, welche Ziele realistischerweise gesetzt werden und welche methodischen Anforderungen bestehen. Referenz bildet neben der verwendeten Literatur die langjährige Erfahrung der Autorin und des Autors in der Sozialen Arbeit auf dem Strassenstrich der Stadt Zürich.

We present a clinical perspective, supported by biological findings, reflecting the potential of computational tools to understand and treat intracranial aneurysms. Thrombus formation and chronic inflammation are integral to disease progression, driven by blood flow energy. The interplay between flow energy, blood clotting and remodeling of the tissue is key to an enhanced disease understanding, to improve patient counseling and ultimately endovascular treatment planning. Current concepts suggest that blood governs wall remodeling by multiple biological steps. The process starts with flow induced thrombus adhesion (atherothrombosis) to the wall that secondarily leads to the release of biological mediators of inflammation entertaining destructive remodeling. Destructive wall remodeling jeopardizes the mechanical wall integrity with ensuing circumscribed softening and expansion of the aneurysm shape. The shape of an aneurysm is the visible result of these complex pathological processe...

An overview of activities in the field of Process Analytical Technologies (PAT) at the Universities of Applied Sciences in Switzerland is presented.