Political scientists in many parts of the world have resumed the debate about the discipline's societal relevance in view of manifold political and social challenges. Unlike their international peers, political scientists in Austria have so far not undertaken a thorough reflection of the relevance that their work has beyond academia. Our special issue seeks to fill this gap in the self-reflection of political science in Austria by opening a debate about the conceptual, empirical, normative, and praxeological dimensions of (societal) relevance. This introductory article prepares the ground for the subsequent contributions to the special issue by giving a brief overview of the current debate about the relevance of political science, formulating the research questions that guide the special issue, and introducing a multi-dimensional concept of societal relevance. Building on the work of Van Aalsvoort (2004) and Stuckey et al. (2013), the article distinguishes between civic, professional, and political relevance of political science and discusses the discipline's historical development in Austria against the background of this conceptual framework.

This article sheds light on the European Union's counter-terrorism policy in the Maghreb taking into account the diverse influences and interests shaping its strategic thinking. To explain the complex web of opportunities and constraints, the article refers to Terry Deibel's framework for the analysis of foreign and security affairs. The author concludes that the Union's counter-terrorism policy in the Maghreb has been shaped more by the desire for regional stability and greater trade relations and energy security than by the goal of promoting democratic values and human rights. Moreover, the promotion of democracy is perceived by EU policy-makers as a destabilising factor that could endanger counter-terrorism efforts.

No abstract

Open abdomen is the final result of a variety of diseases and their treatment strategies. The aim of this article is to present systematically late complications after open abdominal therapy and our own treatment results from 2003 to 2005. The main diagnoses for open abdomen are persistent peritonitis, abdominal compartment syndrome, and abdominal injuries. A perioperative mortality rate of 10-56%, long stays at the ICU, and a mean of 3-5 reoperations are characteristic for the severity of such diseases. Late complications may include incisional hernia (47-78%), gastrointestinal and pancreatic fistulas (8-41%), postoperative delayed abscess (10-21%), polyneuropathy (21%), psychic disorders (24%), indigestion (12%), and ossification (17%). These postoperative disorders may range in severity from clinically less significant to therapy-relevant with surgical consequences. Despite the high morbidity, approximately 75% of surviving patients achieve good quality of life. In our opinion, this justifies the extensive treatment concepts and associated high costs.

Einleitung Die Vakuumversiegelung hat sich in den vergangenen Jahren als Behandlungsverfahren von akuten und chronischen Wunden etabliert. Die Verbesserung von Technik und Wundverband führte zu einer Erweiterung des Indikationsspektrums auf abdominale Defektwunden. Das Verfahren ist eine Methode neben verschiedenen Möglichkeiten des temporären Bauchdeckenersatzes und dem konventionellen Verband. Argenta und Morykwas führten 1997 das V.A.C. -Wundversorgungsystem (Vacuum Assisted Closure , Fa. Kinetic Concepts Inc. USA) ein. Neben den erarbeiteten Grundlagen wurde die Anwendung am offenen Abdomen erfolgreich propagiert [1, 2].