Journal articles on the topic 'Deposit insurance – Germany (West)'

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the potential consequences that the shortcomings in harmonising the national deposit guarantee schemes may have on the financial stability of the European Union. The relevance of this subject is underlined both by the European Commission’s intention to revive the European Deposit Insurance Scheme project in 2021 and the recent signals from Germany that they are willing to support the initiative. The paper presents a review of the discussions on establishing a European Deposit Insurance Scheme, the reasons for the project’s failure and the consensus solution that took the form of the Deposit Guarantee Scheme Directive (DGSD). The limited scope of deposit guarantee scheme harmonisation under this directive is discussed in the context of the related EBA opinions pointing to different areas of potential improvements. Differences in national implementation are also reviewed in terms of their potential impact on financial stability. Apart from a careful literature review, statistical analysis of the available financial information characterizing the largest national deposit schemes of the euro is performed to quantify their progress towards the target level of the available financial means. The results prove that most national schemes are still far from reaching the 0.8% target level of readily available funds and that potentially desirable amendments to the DGSD may drag them even further away from reaching that target by 2024. The author concludes that from the perspective of financial stability, the EU should focus on establishing a single scheme at an international level that would complete the project of establishing a banking union. The results contribute to the ongoing discussion on the need to further integrate the national deposit guarantee schemes inside the EU.

The article «Applying Google Trends to study the German legal deposit copy system» discusses the use of web tools to investigate current library science problems. Using web-based statistical method the author searches the following issues: the dynamics of interest in the subject of a legal deposit copy from the date of adoption of the Law on the German National Library (2006) to nowadays; relations of the public interest peak changes in this topic to certain phenomena in the social and cultural life of Germany; the federal dimension of these issues when comparing interest to the topic in different regions of Germany; the public opinion on the popularity of legal copy among traditional and electronic sources. The article is divided into four parts. The first one sets the work objective and main tasks, gives a general description of the chosen research method. The second part deals with the process of creating a semantic dictionary; analyzes traditional and electronic sources of synonymic dictionaries. It describes the strengths of such an online language matching service as semager.de. The third part dissects a group of keywords related to the topic of a legal deposit copy along with the most interesting and problematic, from the point of the author’s view, additional keywords such as the German National Library, network publications, and disserta­tions. Using web statistical tools the paper shows that the most intense issues regarding the legal deposit, the problems of the German National Library and online publications were raised in the lands of West Germany. Developing the legal deposit copy system will go, first of all, through online publications, greater cooperation with academic and scholar libraries; open access of scientific data and publications related to dissertations and theses of West German lands’ universities. The fourth part presents main conclusions and substantiates the method significance for library and sociological research.

Objective: Data on the prevalence of depressive disorders in adolescents are scarce. We aimed to examine the administrative prevalence of depressive disorders and related comorbidities in German adolescents. A second objective of was to assess potential regional (East vs. West Germany) differences in depression prevalence. Method: Data of a statutory health insurance company were analysed and outpatients from 12 to 18 years of age with diagnosed depression during a one-year-period (2009) were identified. Results: The population at risk consisted of 140,563 adolescents. Of these, 4,295 (41.2% male; mean age: 15.5 years) had a diagnosis of depression. This equates to a prevalence of 3.1% (females: 3.7%, males: 2.5%). There were no significant differences between East and West Germany. Of all adolescents with depression, 62.5% had at least one comorbid psychiatric diagnosis, with anxiety and emotional disorders (23.7%), somatoform disorders (16.8%), hyperkinetic disorders (16.2%) and posttraumatic stress disorder (10.0%) being most frequently diagnosed. Conclusions: The depression prevalence in this sample was lower than that in studies of clinical samples. There was a marked prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities, especially of internalizing disorders. In adolescents, the risk of depression seems to be comparable in both East and West Germany.

The storage cavern field at Epe has been brined out of a salt deposit belonging to the lower Rhine salt flat, which extends under the surface of the North German lowlands and part of the Netherlands. Cavern convergence and operational pressure changes cause surface displacements that have been studied for this work with the help of SAR interferometry (InSAR) using distributed and persistent scatterers. Vertical and East-West movements have been determined based on Sentinel-1 data from ascending and descending orbit. Simple geophysical modeling is used to support InSAR processing and helps to interpret the observations. In particular, an approach is presented that allows to relate the deposit pressures with the observed surface displacements. Seasonal movements occurring over a fen situated over the western part of the storage site further complicate the analysis. Findings are validated with ground truth from levelling and groundwater level measurements.

Although the West German law of strike has remained relatively unchanged in the last decade, various specifie legislative amendments, notably with respect to the payment of unemployment Insurance benefits during a labour conflict, to the domain of collective bargaining and to employee representation in the undertaking, could well alter the strike practice. The cumulative effect of these changes is examined in the perspective of a labour market evolving under technological change.

Looking back at almost fifty years of psychotherapy in post-war Germany, Annemarie Dührssen (1916–98), one of the grand old ladies of the discipline, proudly presented a story of success in 1994. In the immediate post-war years, between 1946 and 1950, there were already a considerable number of individuals and groups all over the country active in establishing hospitals or outpatient clinics exclusively devoted to psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy; in 1950, the first university programme in the subject was set up in Heidelberg; in 1967, psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy was included in the catalogue of services offered by the statutory health insurance system; and in 1970, psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy had become obligatory subjects in the curriculum of medical students, resulting in the establishment of chairs in these areas at almost every medical faculty in West Germany.

Drug budget and prescription control measures are implemented regionally in Germany, meaning that the uptake of pharmaceuticals, including biosimilars, can vary by region. We examine regional market dynamics of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) inhibitor originators and biosimilars in Germany and studied the influence of biosimilar policies on these dynamics. This study is based on: (1) a literature review in which German biosimilar policies are identified, (2) the analysis of dispensing data (2010–2018) for the class of TNFα inhibitors, and (3) ten semi-structured interviews investigating prescribers’ and insurers’ views on factors potentially influencing biosimilar uptake. The analysis of biosimilar market shares of infliximab and etanercept revealed wide variations across the 17 German Regional Associations of Statutory Health Insurance Accredited Physicians (PA regions). Quantitative analyses indicated that biosimilar market shares for infliximab and etanercept were significantly lower in former East Germany when compared to former West Germany regions. Through qualitative interview analyses, this study showed that the use of infliximab and etanercept biosimilars across Germany is primarily influenced by (1) the regional-level implementation of biosimilar quotas and the presence of monitoring/sanctioning mechanisms to ensure adherence to these quotas, (2) the different insurer-manufacturer discount contracts, and (3) gainsharing arrangements established at the insurer-prescriber level.

AbstractWe analyse the impacts of changing employment patterns and pension reforms on the future level of public pensions across birth cohorts in Germany. The analysis is based on a microsimulation model and a rich data set that combines household survey data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) and process-produced microdata from the German pension insurance. We account for cohort effects in individual employment and unemployment affecting earnings over the life cycle as well as the differential impact of recent pension reforms. For individuals born between 1937 and 1971, cohort effects vary greatly by region, gender and education, and strongly affect life cycle earnings profiles. The largest effects can be observed for younger cohorts in East Germany and for the low educated. Using simulated life cycle employment and income profiles, we project gross future pensions across cohorts taking into account changing demographics and recent pension reforms. Simulations show that pension levels for East German men and women will fall dramatically among younger birth cohorts, not only because of policy reforms but also due to higher cumulated unemployment. For West German men, the small reduction of average pension levels among younger birth cohorts is mainly driven by the impact of pension reforms, while future pension levels of West German women are increasing or stable due to rising labour market participation of younger birth cohorts.

AbstractResearch on performance-related compensations of financial advisors has recently become a promising field within economics and sociology, because it can help explain portfolio choices of retail customers. However, the expansion of this field to historical contexts has so far been prevented by the lack of knowledge about the historical development of these schemes. The following article aims to fill this void by exploring the spread of performance-related compensation schemes among banks and insurance companies in West Germany in the 1970s and 1980s. It is argued that this spread has been closely linked to a reform of the Federal Government system of savings subsidies in 1970. This reform led to a fierce competition between insurance companies and banks for wealth formation savings payments (vermögenswirksame Leistungen). In this article, it is argued that the characteristics of this particular state-subsidized market led to a significant advantage of financial institutions that used performance-related compensation schemes over those who did not. Thus, the latter institutions had to adopt these schemes to stay competitive. In the 1980s, banks as well as insurance companies expanded the application of compensation schemes that were originally designed for the market of wealth formation savings payments to other markets for financial products and services. Thus, the principles of competition on wealth formation savings payments were adopted to the general market for household savings.

The aim of the present study was to identify specific actions and financial precautions undertaken by individuals in preparation for their long-term care needs, as well as to determine the correlates of these actions. A population-based survey of the German population aged 65 years and above (n = 1006) was used. Individuals were asked whether they have undertaken financial preparations for their long-term care needs (no; yes). With respect to specific actions, individuals were asked whether they (no; yes): (i) Had obtained information (e.g., from doctor, internet, care support center, care facility), (ii) had modified their home (e.g., installed a stair lift), and (iii) had moved (e.g., old-age housing, care in relatives’ homes). In total, 30.4% had undertaken financial preparations for their long-term care needs. With respect to the specific actions undertaken, 6.5% had obtained information, 4.8% modified their home, and 7.3% had moved. The outcome measure, ‘had modified home’, was positively associated with lower age, West Germany, and lower self-rated health. The outcome measure, ‘had moved’, was positively associated with being female, and higher education. The outcome measure, ‘financial preparations for long-term care needs‘, was positively associated with lower age, West Germany, higher education, being born in Germany, and private health insurance. It is alarming that only around one in three individuals aged 65 and older had undertaken financial preparations for long-term care needs, and that far fewer individuals had undertaken other actions to prepare for their long-term care needs. The provision of timely information regarding the risk of long-term care, as well as its associated costs, may assist in sustaining the satisfaction of long-term care recipients. It may also help to reduce the risk of long-term care for individuals in old age.

The article presents the figure of Karl Dedecius (1921–2016) by exploring his activity as a translator and ambassador of Polish – but also Russian – literature and culture in German-speaking countries (mainly Germany). Having spent his youth in pre-war multicultural Łódź and – after the outbreak of WW II – having been a prisoner of war in Soviet camps, in December 1949 Dedecius moved to the GDR, from where he fled three years later with his family to West Germany. For 25 years he had divided – his life between literary translation, notably poetry, work as an insurance agent and family matters, and after retiring he managed to set up the Deutsches Polen-Institut, a non-governmental institution devoted to the popularisation of Polish literature in Germany, which he led in the years 1980–1998. As one of his close collaborators states, Dedecius’s editorial legacy comprises about 200 books which he either translated, wrote or edited, with poetry translations and literary essays being the core of his literary activity. He rendered some 3,000 poems of roughly 300 Polish poets into German and composed ca. 10 books that present and analyse – chiefly the 20th-century – Polish literature; some of them also contain essays on translation, fragments of which are cited and commented in the present article. Another important source and basis of considerations is Dedecius’s autobiography Ein Europäer aus Lodz [A European from Łódź], which explains the background of the author’s life at its different stages.

Introduction: Dental treatments have the highest rate among medical interventions and their reimbursement is also significant. Aim: The aim of the study was to compare the outcome of the reformed healthcare system process on public dental services in four European countries. Method: Assessment base for the comparison of reimbursement of dental treatments and dental fee schedules provided by the health insurance funds were used. The following indicators were examined: the ratio of public dental services and the main oral health indicators. Among dental fee schedules, reimbursement of general dental activity, prevention, operative dentistry, endodontic and oral surgery were selected. Results: The lowest value of population to active dentist ratio was found in Germany (population to active dentist ratio: 1247) and the highest in Hungary (population to active dentist ratio: 2020). Oral health indicators showed significant differences between the West-European and East-European countries. On the other hand, the ratio of completely edentulous people at the age of 65yrs did not show great variations. Reimbursement of public dental treatments indicated significantly higher value in Germany and the United Kingdom compared to the other countries. Conclusions: Reimbursement of public dental services varies considerably in the selected European countries. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(14), 547–553.

AbstractDaliranite, ideally PbHgAs2S6, a new sulphosalt from the Zarshouran Au-As deposit, Takab region, Iran, occurs as a rare sulphosalt species at the Carlin-type Zarshouran Au-As deposit North of the town of Takab in the Province of West Azarbaijan, Iran. The new species is associated with orpiment, rarely with galkhaite, hutchinsonite and cinnabar. The strongly silicified matrix of the specimens has veinlets of sphalerite, with rare inclusions of galena and various (Cu)-Pb-As(Sb) sulphosalts. Daliranite occurs as matted nests of acicular and flexible fibres up to 200 μm in length and a width less than a few μm. The colour is orange-red with a pale orange-red streak and the lustre is adamantine. The mineral is transparent and does not fluoresce. The Mohs hardness is <2. Electron microprobe analyses give the empirical formula Pb0.95Tl0.01Hg1.04As2.10S5.91, ideally PbHgAs2S6, a new sulphosalt from the Zarshouran Au-As deposit, Takab region, Iran; the calculated density is 5.93 g cm–3. Unit-cell parameters were determined by an electron-diffraction study and refined from X-ray powder data. Daliranite is monoclinic primitive with a = 19.113(5) Å, b = 4.233(2) Å, c = 22.958(8) Å, β = 114.78(5)°, V = 1686.4 Å3 and Z = 8, a:b:c = 4.515:1:5.424, space group P2, Pm or P2/m. The strongest X-ray powder-diffraction lines [d in Å, (I), (hkl)] are: 8.676, (80), (200); 4.654, (50), (401); 3.870, (40), (211); 3.394, (50), (113); 3.148, (40b), (602); 2.892, (50), (600); 2.724, (100), (703); 2.185, (50), (319). The formula shows a sulphur excess which may correspond to S—S bonding (persulphide). The new sulphosalt is a late phase in the crystallization sequence, and was formed after orpiment, contemporaneously with quartz II, at a temperature between 157 and 193°C. The name honours Dr Farahnaz Daliran (University of Karlsruhe, Germany) in recognition of her outstanding contributions to research on ore deposits, especially Au, Zn and Fe, in Iran.

Purpose – This paper aims to find the effects of regulatory and supervisory policies on bank risk-taking. The same regulation and supervision have different effects on bank risk-taking depending on influence factors. These factors were considered and a sample of the largest European banks from France, Germany, UK, Italy, Spain and Greece was used over the period 2005-2011. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, the author analyses the effects of regulation and supervision on risk-taking. The author uses a sample of the biggest banks from six European countries (France, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and Greece) over the period 2005-2011. Because the applicable entry of IFRS was in 2005, thus data of European banks are not available before this date. For each country in the sample, the 10 largest banks (defined by total assets) that lend money to firms were identified. The author does not include central banks or postal banks, which generally do not lend money to firms and are described as non-banking institutions (La Porta et al., 2002). Findings – It was found that restrictions on bank activities, supervisors’ power and capital adequacy decrease risk-taking. Thus, regulation and supervision enhance bank’s stability. While, deposit insurance increases the risk due to its association to moral hazard. Finally, it was found that strengthening regulatory and supervisory framework raises the risk-taking and weakens the stability of European banks. Originality/value – The author contributes to existing empirical analyses in three ways. First, the existing literature has drawn a lot of attention on US banks. However, the purpose of this paper is to examine the biggest banks of three European leaders (France, Germany and UK) and three more European countries influenced by the recent crisis (Spain, Italy and Greece) over the period 2005-2011. Second, most studies focus mainly on the relationship between regulation and profitability, yet seldom on the relationship between regulation, supervision and risk-taking. The author focuses on this relationship. Third, this study applies the two-step dynamic panel data approach suggested by Blundell and Bond (1998) and also uses dynamic panel generalized method of moments (GMM) method to address potential problems. The two-step GMM estimator that the author uses is generally the most efficient.

This study aimed to investigate factors affecting (1) women’s media use regarding health-related behaviors during pregnancy and lactation, (2) women’s preferences for media format, and (3) the content of media-based interventions on lifestyle-related risk factors during pregnancy and lactation. A cross-sectional observational multi-center study of pregnant and lactating women and women of childbearing age was carried out in 14 randomly selected obstetric and gynecologic care settings in the 12 most populated cities in Baden-Wuerttemberg, South-West Germany. Data from 219 surveyed women showed that older women, pregnant women, and lactating women have a higher probability of using media during pregnancy and lactation, respectively. The majority of women preferred a combination of analog and digital media-based interventions in gynecological (46.9%) and obstetric (47.1%) care settings and at home (73.0%). Women would like to see information brochures and flyers on health-related behaviors during pregnancy and lactation for use in gynecological and obstetric care settings, and for media use at home, they would like to have books. The probability of preferring the favored media formats in gynecological and obstetric care settings and at home were associated with pregnancy status, relationship status, socioeconomic status (SES), ethnicity, and health insurance status. About 80% of the surveyed women preferred media content regarding recommendations for a healthy lifestyle and healthy behavior during pregnancy and lactation. All of the independent variables were associated with the probability of preferring a specific media content. The SES was found to play a major role in the probability of preferring a specific media content, followed by pregnancy status, ethnicity, and health insurance status. The results from our study provide a basis for tailored preventive interventions in gynecological and obstetric care settings and for use at home. The results imply that a woman can be reached before conception, during pregnancy, or during lactation with preventive measures tailored to their requirements; however, acceptance may vary across personal attributes, such as SES, ethnicity, and others.

Abstract. During summer 2007, turbulent vertical particle fluxes were measured for a period of 98 days near the city centre of Münster in north-west Germany. For this purpose, a valve controlled disjunct eddy covariance system was mounted at 65 m a.g.l. on a military radio tower. The concentration values for 11 size bins with aerodynamic diameters (D50) from 0.03 to 10 μm were measured with an electrical low pressure impactor. After comparison with other fluxes obtained from 10 Hz measurements with the classical eddy covariance method, the loss of information concerning high frequent parts of the flux could be stated as negligible. The results offer an extended insight in the turbulent atmospheric exchange of aerosol particles by highly size-resolved particle fluxes covering 11 size bins and show that the city of Münster acts as a relevant source for aerosol particles. Significant differences occur between the fluxes of the various particle size classes. While the total particle number flux shows a pattern which is strictly correlated to the diurnal course of the turbulence regime and the traffic intensity, the total mass flux exhibits a single minimum in the evening hours when coarse particles start to deposit. As a result, a mean mass deposition of about 10 g m−2 per day was found above the urban test site, covering the aerosol size range from 40 nm to 2.0 μm. By contrast, the half-hourly total number fluxes accumulated over the lower ELPI stages range from –4.29×107 to +1.44×108 particles m−2 s-1 and are clearly dominated by the sub-micron particle fraction of the impactor stages with diameters between 40 nm and 320 nm. The averaged number fluxes of particles with diameters between 2.0 and 6.4 μm show lower turbulent dynamics during daytime and partially remarkably high negative fluxes with mean deposition velocities of 2×10−3 m s−1 that appear temporary during noontime and in the evening hours.

Abstract. During summer 2007, turbulent vertical particle mass and number fluxes were measured for a period of 98 days near the city centre of Münster in north-west Germany. For this purpose, a valve controlled disjunct eddy covariance system was mounted at 65 m a.g.l. on a military radio tower. The concentration values for 11 size bins with aerodynamic diameters (D50) from 0.03 to 10 μm were measured with an electrical low pressure impactor. After comparison with other fluxes obtained from 10 Hz measurements with the classical eddy covariance method, the loss of information concerning high frequent parts of the flux could be stated as negligible. The results offer an extended insight in the turbulent atmospheric exchange of aerosol particles by highly size-resolved particle fluxes covering 11 size bins and show that the city of Münster acts as a relevant source for aerosol particles. Significant differences occur between the fluxes of the various particle size classes. While the total particle number flux shows a pattern which is strictly correlated to the diurnal course of the turbulence regime and the traffic intensity, the total mass flux exhibits a single minimum in the evening hours when coarse particles start to deposit. As a result, a mean mass deposition of about 10 mg m−2 per day was found above the urban test site, covering the aerosol size range from 40 nm to 2.0 μm. By contrast, the half-hourly total number fluxes accumulated over the lower ELPI stages range from −4.29×107 to +1.44×108 particles m−2 s−1 and are clearly dominated by the sub-micron particle fraction of the impactor stages with diameters between 40 nm and 320 nm. The averaged number fluxes of particles with diameters between 2.0 and 6.4 μm show lower turbulent dynamics during daytime and partially remarkably high negative fluxes with mean deposition velocities of 2×10−3 m s−1 that appear temporary during noontime and in the evening hours.

Abstract. This field trip is intended to present an introduction to the geological and geomorphological evolution of Giessen and its surrounding areas (Fig. 1). The conference location of Giessen is located at the intersection of three major geological and morphological units: the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge (Rhenish Massif) to the west, the Hessische Senke (Hessian Depression) to the north and south and the Vogelsberg volcanic field to the east (Fig. 2). The rocks of the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge (Rhenish Massif) were formed during Paleozoic times, in the context of the Variscan orogeny. Dominant rock types include graywacke, slate, quartzite, and limestone, as well as mafic and felsic volcanics and their related pyroclastics. The area north and south of Giessen is dominated by the Hessische Senke (Hessian Depression), a north–south-trending subsidence area with several individual deposit segments. Due to Cenozoic tectonic activity, the Hessian Depression can be regarded as a connecting segment between the prominent Upper Rhine Graben and the smaller graben structures of northern Germany, and this is also documented by less consolidated Tertiary and Quaternary sediments. Long-lasting subsidence of the Hessian Depression, however, is indicated by the presence of Permian and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks. Rotliegend rocks are present towards the southwest rim of the Vogelsberg volcanic field and the Hanau-Seligenstädter Senke. Minor occurrences of Zechstein rocks are exposed along the Lahn valley between Giessen and Marburg. Mesozoic strata are dominated by Buntsandstein and are widespread in the Marburg area, with Muschelkalk and Keuper rocks being restricted to small erosional remnants in tectonic graben structures. The area to the east of Giessen is dominated by the Miocene Vogelsberg volcanic field, where an estimated area of 2500 km2 is covered by volcanic rocks of varying thickness, the Vogelsberg thus being the largest volcanic field of central Europe. The field trip provides an introduction to the geology, earth history and geomorphological characteristics of Giessen and its surrounding areas. We will therefore encounter rocks that formed in distinct geodynamic environments and within a timespan of roughly 400 Ma (Devonian to present).

In the article the author has analyzed the general principles of transport logistics in Ukraine. The main factors that determine the logistical activities and which have an influence on the choice of the mode of transport have been determined. The transportation of cargo by mode of transport was analysed, and outlined a place of road transport. In this paper conducted analytical studies to determine the sectoral structure of export of Ukraine’s regions to neighboring countries by automobile transport by means of transportation and information portal Ukraine “Lardi-trans”. According to the study from the regions highest exports to neighboring countries – produce timber and woodworking industry. Production of the industry ranks first in the structure of exports of goods Volyn, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Lviv, Ternopil, Khmelnytsky, Transcarpathian, Ivano-Frankivsk, Vinnytsia, Chernivtsi, Donetsk, Chernihiv and Sumy regions. Food products in the export structure dominated Kiev, Cherkassy, Poltava, Kharkiv, Odessa, Mykolayiv and Kherson regions. In other regions dominated by agricultural products – particularly Kirovohrad region, iron and steel products – Dnipropetrovsk region, Lugansk region – produce pulp and paper industry. In second place in the export structure in Western countries mainly agricultural products and foodstuffs. But in the eastern regions of the country is mostly engineering products. According to the study the regions of Ukraine were divided into 3 groups: West of the predominance in the structure of exports of forestry and wood processing industry, Central – dominated the food industry and agricultural and East – dominated, industries and mechanical engineering and metal working, chemical, steel and non-ferrous industry. In the work assessed exports by region of Ukraine with the release of several groups of regions and analyzed by mode of transport. An important role in the study covers evaluation of transit of goods by road through the territory of Ukraine with analysis of major trend and states – participants. Countries that use the transport system of Ukraine for the transit of their goods to third countries were divided into three groups. The first group includes Turkey, Russia and Moldova on transit volumes over 500 ths. tons. The second group consists of Romania, Italy, Belarus and Poland. The volume of transit through Ukraine up to 200 – 500 ths. tons. In the third group, with the least, but no less important for the economic development of Ukraine transit volumes include Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia and Germany. The basic tasks of transport logistics were defined in the article, including states which improve the quality of the transport infrastructure and transport services and bringing them up to global standards, the maximum load of the rolling stock, cargo insurance and vehicles.

The results of the Dyslipidemia International Study (DYSIS) were reported yesterday in the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) congress held at Amsterdam, Netherlands [1]. DYSIS compared low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) target achievement in two West European Countries, UK, with an incentive-driven reimbursement system and Germany, with a budget-restrictive healthcare system. Overall, 80% of UK patients achieved the LDL-C target of <100 mg/dL (mean levels 82 mg/dL), compared with just 42% of patients in Germany (mean levels 111 mg/dL), despite the higher use of ezetimibe in the German population than in the UK population (11 vs. 3%). Dyslipidemic patients in the UK were more likely to be treated with potent statins whereas German doctors were more concerned with insurance restrictions than UK physicians [1]. Thus, it seems that lipid targets are more likely to be achieved in clinical practice in pay-for-performance than in budget-restrictive systems, like in Germany [1]. The UK healthcare system makes physicians participate in a clinical audit, and these results are used to assess the quality of care provided. There are no specific quality-improvement strategies in Germany. Interestingly, the German reimbursement for atorvastatin changed in recent years, and many patients were subsequently switched to the less potent simvastatin [1]. A total of 85% of German patients were treated with simvastatin (average dose 27 mg/d) compared with just 66% of UK patients (average simvastatin dose 37 mg/d), while nearly 25% of UK patients were treated with atorvastatin (average dose 34 mg/d) vs. just 4% of Germans who received this higher-potency statin [1]. These despite the fact that the German population had a higher baseline incidence of cerebrovascular disease, peripheral arterial disease and diabetes mellitus; more secondary prevention patients that should achieve even lower LDL-C targets. Since 2005 there is abundant data suggesting a close relation of LDL-C levels with cardiovascular disease (CVD) events, even between two groups on active statin treatment [2]. The Treating to New Targets study showed a significant 22% further reduction in CVD events achieved with 80 mg/d of atorvastatin (mean LDL-C level 77 mg/dL) compared with 10 mg/d of atorvastatin (mean LDL-C level 100 mg/dL) in high risk patients [2]. This was confirmed in the Pravastatin or Atorvastatin Evaluation and Infection (PROVE-IT) Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (PROVE IT)-TIMI- 22 study in patients with acute coronary syndromes [3]. This was also verified in March 2013 (in the ACC Congress) by the results of the Ibaraki Cardiovascular Assessment Study (ICAS) in CVD patients with initially low LDL-C [4]. These findings suggest that if you save money today from prescribing a cheaper (and less potent) statin you will pay tomorrow twice as much in costs from CVD fatal and non-fatal events. This was confirmed in The Health Improvement Network (THIN) registry [5,6]. Switching from atorvastatin to simvastatin was significantly associated with increased risk for all CVD events [hazards ratio (HR) 1.30, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02-1.64], major CVD events (HR 1.43, 95% CI 1.10-1.87), and stroke (HR 2.14, 95% CI 1.21-3.81). Interestingly, these increased risks were partly attributed to differences in lipid levels and partly to the pleitropic effects of statins [5, 6]. Arterial hypertension (AH) is a major risk factor for CVD, accounting globally for 51% of stroke and 45% of ischemic heart disease deaths [7]. The important question is whether treatment results are similar in antihypertensive treatment as in hypolipidaemic treatment if the pay-forperformance approach is used. In UK, the inclusion of renalspecific indicators in a primary care pay for performance (P4P) system has promoted identification and better management of risk factors related to chronic kidney disease (CKD) since April 2006 [8]. The P4P framework, also known as the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), aims at control of CVD risk factors; one of its key targets is AH. It is clear that AH is a major risk factor for CKD, and consequently CVD [8]. Thus, achieving better blood pressure (BP) control is likely to have a positive impact on both CKD and CVD [9]. BP control was improved since the introduction of P4P and this improvement has been sustained [9]. This was associated with a significant increase in the use of antihypertensive medication, resulting in increased prescription cost (€25/month) [9]. Longer-term follow-up will establish whether or not this translates into improved outcomes in terms of progression of CKD and CVD events [9]. But why to restrict this policy only in hypertensive patients with CKD? AH is a prevalent CVD risk factor with rather disappointing control results. A recent systematic review evaluated data regarding AH control from 35 countries [10]. AH control was achieved in about third of treated patients. In particular, AH control rates were higher in women than in men (36.8% versus 31.9%), and in developed countries compared to developing countries (33.3% versus 29.6% for men, and 38.4 versus 34.0% for women, respectively) [10]. However, when the awareness and treatment of hypertension were taken into account, the true hypertension control rates were substantially lower (16.9% for women versus 10.5% for men) and rather similar in developed and developing countries (17.3% versus 16.2% for men, and 10.8% versus 9.8% for women, respectively) [10]. These incredibly disappointing AH control rates were verified in the Copenhagen City Heart Study, a prospective longitudinal study. During the 25-year follow up period AH control increased from 21% to 26% [11]. Once again however, when control rates were adjusted for AH awareness and treatment, the true AH control rates were improved but remained unacceptably low (4.7% vs. 1.4%). It is therefore of no surprise that 7.6 million premature deaths (about 13.5% of the global total) are attributed to high BP [12]. A study evaluated an intensive protocol-based strategy for achieving BP control in family practice in the Centre for Studies in Primary Care, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario [13]. There was an improvement between baseline and 12-month follow-up. BP control was significantly better for the intervention group as assessed with both systolic and diastolic mean BP on 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring [13]. This suggests that an intensive, protocol-based approach to achieve BP control in hypertensive patients in family practice is effective and works even when there is flexibility built into the algorithm to allow family physicians to use their judgment in individual patients [13]. Moreover, data from the REACH Registry, Austrian Chapter, determined the extent of lost therapeutic benefit (LTB) in hypertensive patients, and investigated the relationship between the presence of LTB and clinical outcomes [14]. Presence of heart failure, previous myocardial infarction and being male decreased the likelihood of LTB, while presence of diabetes, age > 65 and ankle brachial index < 0.90 increased the risk of LTB. Patients with LTB in the age category 55-64 had higher incidence of vascular events compared to those with non-LTB [14]. The pay-for-performance system was introduced in the new General Medical Services contract in the United Kingdom since April 2004, and general practitioners are awarded for the achievement of various clinical targets, including hypertension control [15]. Some reports questioned the effectiveness of the pay-for-performance system on blood pressure control [16,17], however several lines of evidence point towards a beneficial effect of the P4P system on blood pressure management. A large longitudinal survey in over 8,500 general practices in England demonstrated that both blood pressure monitoring and blood pressure control have improved substantially after the implementation of the P4P system [18]. In particular, a mean increased of 6% to 8% in blood pressure control rates was observed in hypertensive patients with or without coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, and diabetes [18]. Another recent study evaluated the effects of pay-for-performance system in Wandswort, London at 2007 [19]. This interrupted time series study showed that both systolic and diastolic blood pressure were constantly decreasing after the implementation of the pay-for-performance system, for a mean reduction of 5.8 mmHg for systolic and 2.9 mmHg for diastolic between 2003 and 2007 [19]. More importantly, robust epidemiological data confirm the improvements in hypertension control rates in England. The results of the 2006 Health Survey in England revealed that hypertension control rates increased from 22% at 2003 to 28% at 2006, especially in women (from 23% to 32%) [20]. Although several factors might have contributed to this improvement in control rates, it seems very likely that the pay-for-performance system might have exerted beneficial effects. The pay-for-performance system might also affect the inequalities in primary care delivery. The quality of health services is usually compromised in deprived areas. It has been shown that the financial incentives of the pay-forperformance system have substantially reduced the inequalities in clinical care delivery due to area deprivation, narrowing the gap between the least deprived and the most deprived areas from 4.0% to 0.8% [21]. Similar beneficial effects of the pay-for-performance system might also apply for the ethnic disparities in hypertension management. Although some older studies reported the persistence of ethnic disparities in the management of hypertension [22], more recent studies demonstrate attenuation of ethnic disparities in blood pressure control [19]. In contrast, the removal of financial incentives carries the risk of worsening performance levels. Indeed, a study from the Kaiser Permanente Insurance System in Northern California reveals that when financial incentives for some conditions were removed from some facilities, the level of performance for the detection and control of these conditions declined significantly by about 3% per year [23], while the reattachment of financial incentives was associated with significant improvements. To conclude, it appears that pay-for-performance, especially based on treatment protocols, may substantially increase BP control with considerable clinical benefits and in a cost-effective way.

Less than 2% of Lagerstätten with fossil vertebrate remains have yielded anything more than fragments of jaw material and other bones. One such exceptional deposit is the former oil shale mine of ‘Grube Messel’, located about 30 km south east of Frankfurt am Main. Articulated skeletons of various fish, salamanders, frogs, turtles, lizards, snakes, crocodiles, birds and mammals, as well as several hundred insects and plant remains, have been recovered, particularly during the last decade. The quality of preservation is truly exceptional. In many cases not only are the skeletons articulated, but the outlines of the entire body are preserved as black silhouettes. Sometimes even the contents of the digestive tract are available for investigation. Apart from the fish that formerly lived in the lake, the most frequent fossils found are flying creatures such as birds, bats and insects. Clearly, the lake acted as some kind of trap for these animals. The different modes of preservations are reviewed and the factors involved in this example of special preservation discussed.

Abstract This study investigates how married mothers’ relative bargaining power before the birth of their first child affects their subsequent accumulation of pension entitlements in East versus West Germany. I use a novel data linkage between the German sample of the “Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe” and administrative records from the German pension insurance (SHARE-RV) to analyze monthly life-course data on married mothers from East (N = 226) and West Germany (N = 586) who were born between 1925 and 1967. Applying random effects growth curve models and mediation analyses, I find that women’s relative bargaining power before parenthood is linked to their subsequent accumulation of pension entitlements in West (but not East) Germany. The results support the notion that bargaining power early in couples’ linked lives has long-term consequences for women’s pension income. Moreover, the results indicate that negotiations within the couple are constricted by the extent to which the institutional context supports or hinders the reconciliation of women’s work–family conflict.

Abstract Germany is one of the few countries in Europe that has implemented a system of ‘divorce splitting’. Under this system, the pension credits that spouses have accumulated during their marriage are combined and then split equally between them upon divorce. This study examines how divorce affects public pension entitlements in Germany, and how these patterns are influenced by the system of divorce splitting. The data for our analysis comes from SHARE-RV, a direct linkage of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) with administrative data of the research data centre of the German Pension Insurance Fund (Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund). The data include information on the beneficiaries’ monthly earnings and employment biographies, as well as on their pension entitlements and the credits they received through divorce splitting. The results of the analysis, which was restricted to West German men and women born between 1935 and 1954, reveal that there are large gender gaps in public pension benefit levels. However, the investigation also shows that single and divorced West German women have larger personal pension entitlements than their married or widowed counterparts. Furthermore, the public pension entitlements of divorced men and women in West Germany are very similar. This can be attributed partially to the divorce-splitting system, which tends to increase the pension benefits of divorced women, while reducing the pension benefits of their male counterparts.

SummaryUnemployment insurance (UI) benefit sanctions in form of benefit reductions are intended to set an incentive to comply with job search requirements and to decrease moral hazard behaviour. However, sanctions might also affect the subsequent employment history. Empirical research on long-term effects is scarce. Using administrative data, we investigate short- and long-term effects of sanctions on the reemployment probability of individuals in West Germany who entered UI benefit receipt between April 2000 and March 2001. As outcomes we consider regular employment, other employment, and having dropped out of the registered labour market. By applying a matching approach that takes the timing of treatment into account, we identify the ex post effect of UI sanctions. According to our results, sanctions are effective in increasing the probability of regular employment for young sanctioned UI benefit recipients. Older women on average respond to a sanction by taking up jobs of lower quality. For both women and men, we find an increased number of months out of the official work force after a sanction.

A ‘fauna’ of vertebrates recovered from a cavern-like deposit at a quarry near the village of Nehden in Sauerland is described and reviewed in some detail. Anatomical descriptions of some skeletal elements are given, where they provide new information or supplement previous descriptions.The clays in which the fossils were buried have been dated comparatively as Aptian (late Lower Cretaceous) and approximately contemporary with the Weald Clay unit of the Wealden Formation of southeast England and the Bernissartian of southwest Belgium. Both these latter formations have yielded faunal and floral assemblages that are very similar to those found at Nehden. The vertebrates collected at Nehden include adult and numerous juvenile remains of two species of the ornithischian dinosaur Iguanodon : I. atherfieldensis and I. bernissartensis . ( I. atherfieldensis is the more abundantly represented.) These can be contrasted with the massaccumulation of Iguanodon recovered from Bernissart, where these dinosaurs are represented by predominantly adult skeletons. There is circumstantial evidence from a documented association of bones (revealed by examination of excavation plans) to support a reconstruction of a juvenile Iguanodon bernissartensis with a body length ca. 2-3 m (fully grown individuals reach a body length of ca. 11 m); this is the smallest individual of this species recovered to date. The remainder of the vertebrate assemblage consists of very fragmentary remains of crocodilians, chelonians and extremely rare fish. The presence of both a hypsilophodontid ornithischian dinosaur and a theropod saurischian dinosaur must be viewed as extremely conjectural, based as they are on two very poor specimens. Remains referred to as Vectisaurus sp. in previous accounts of this site are juvenile individuals of Iguanodon . The circumstances surrounding three mass-accumulations of fossils, Trossingen, Bernissart and Nehden, are reviewed, and evidence of mass deaths among recent vertebrates is considered. Archive records at Trossingen suggest that periodic events, such as mud-slides, may have been partly responsible for the concentration of remains. Similar events may also have been responsible for the assemblages at Bernissart and Nehden; the assemblage at Nehden may represent an accumulation caused by a flash flood or by a herd crossing a river. It is suggested that awareness of such common phenomena should be emphasized when data such as these are used in estimations of numerical abundance and diversity of species in the fossil record; localized high abundances of species, caused by phenomena of this type, may exert a strong bias on the patterns of abundance or diversity of species, generated by palaeobiologists, by creating patterns that are in effect flash-flood artefacts rather than natural censuses of fossil faunas.

Probabilistic seismic hazard assessments are primarily based on instrumentally recorded and historically documented earthquakes. For the northern part of the European Alpine Arc, slow crustal deformation results in low earthquake recurrence rates and brings up the necessity to extend our perspective beyond the existing earthquake catalog. The overdeepened basin of Lake Constance (Austria, Germany, and Switzerland), located within the North-Alpine Molasse Basin, is investigated as an ideal (neo-) tectonic archive. The lake is surrounded by major tectonic structures and constrained via the North Alpine Front in the South, the Jura fold-and-thrust belt in the West, and the Hegau-Lake Constance Graben System in the North. Several fault zones reach Lake Constance such as the St. Gallen Fault Zone, a reactivated basement-rooted normal fault, active during several phases from the Permo-Carboniferous to the Mesozoic. To extend the catalog of potentially active fault zones, we compiled an extensive 445 km of multi-channel reflection seismic data in 2017, complementing a moderate-size GI-airgun survey from 2016. The two datasets reveal the complete overdeepened Quaternary trough and its sedimentary infill and the upper part of the Miocene Molasse bedrock. They additionally complement existing seismic vintages that investigated the mass-transport deposit chronology and Mesozoic fault structures. The compilation of 2D seismic data allowed investigating the seismic stratigraphy of the Quaternary infill and its underlying bedrock of Lake Constance, shaped by multiple glaciations. The 2D seismic sections revealed 154 fault indications in the Obersee Basin and 39 fault indications in the Untersee Basin. Their interpretative linkage results in 23 and five major fault planes, respectively. One of the major fault planes, traceable to Cenozoic bedrock, is associated with a prominent offset of the lake bottom on the multibeam bathymetric map. Across this area, high-resolution single channel data was acquired and a transect of five short cores was retrieved displaying significant sediment thickness changes across the seismically mapped fault trace with a surface-rupture related turbidite, all indicating repeated activity of a likely seismogenic strike-slip fault with a normal faulting component. We interpret this fault as northward continuation of the St. Gallen Fault Zone, previously described onshore on 3D seismic data.

Abstract Background The disease management program (DMP) for type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is the largest DMP in Germany. Our goal was to analyze regional differences in unenrollment rates, suggest areas for intervention and provide background information, which population groups in which locations are currently not enrolled in the DMP for T2DM. Methods In this study, we used data of the 1.7 mil. insurants of the AOK Nordost health insurance. For the visualization of enrollment potential, we used the Besag-York-Mollie model (BYM). The spatial scan statistic (SaTScan) was used to detect areas of unusually high rates of unenrolled diabetics to prioritize areas for intervention. To explore sociodemographic associations, we used Bayesian spatial global regression models. A Spatially varying coefficient model (SVC) revealed in how far the detected associations vary over space. Results The proportion of diabetics currently not enrolled in the DMP T2DM was 36.8% in 2019 and varied within northeastern Germany. Local clusters were detected mainly in Mecklenburg-West-Pomerania and Berlin. The main sociodemographic variables associated with unenrollment were female sex, younger age, being unemployed, foreign citizenship, small household size and the proportion of persons commuting to work outside their residential municipality. The SVC model revealed important spatially varying effects for some but not all associations. Conclusion Lower socioeconomic status and foreign citizenship had an ubiquitous effect on not being enrolled. The DMP T2DM therefore does currently not reach those population groups, which have a higher risk for secondary diseases and possible avoidable hospitalizations. Logically, future interventions should focus on these groups. Our methodology clearly suggests areas for intervention and points out, which population group in which locations should be specifically approached.

The 1st International Conference on Sustainable Animal Resource and Environment 2021 (ICARE-2021) was organized by the Faculty of Animal Science, Bogor Agricultural University, in collaboration with Animal Scientists Society Indonesia (HILPI). With the theme of “Contribution of Animal Sciences toward Sustainable Development Goals”, this two-day event is aimed to provide scientific platforms for animal science stakeholders (scientists, students, community, government agencies, and industries) to share knowledge and experiences on vast progress in this field. The conference topics address the most recent developments in Animal Sciences by combining plenary and parallel sessions to present the scientific interaction, namely: 1. Sustainable animal genetic resources 2. Smart animal production systems and management 3. Eco-friendly animal feed resources and nutrition 4. Frontier animal product technology 5. Animal welfare, health, and environment ICARE-2021 is inseparable from our previous scientific event of the International Seminar on Animal Industry (ISAI) organized in 2009, 2012, 2015, and 2018. These four series of events were run successfully with wide acceptance by the stakeholders. Hundreds of participants gathered in Bogor for having fruitful knowledge and experiences sharing during the event. ICARE-2021 is a continuation event of ISAI as a part of improving the event with more inclusive topics and addressing the new issues amid the pandemic of COVID-19. Notable, the sustainability of the livestock industry is challenging due to the devastative effects of COVID-19. Decades of modelling pandemics predicted potential consequences, but COVID-19’s impact on the food supply chain, specifically livestock production, was unexpected. Clusters of cases among workers in meat processing plants evolved quickly to affect human, animal, and environmental welfare in several countries. In processing plants, the hygiene focus is on product quality and food safety. Because of their proximity to one another, COVID-19 spread rapidly between workers, and the lack of sick leave and health insurance likely resulted in workers continuing to work when infectious. In the United States, many processing plants shut down when they identified major outbreaks, putting pressure, especially on the pig and poultry industries. A similar issue may also happen in Indonesia and other countries. As such, scientific platforms for discussing this issue are needed. ICARE-2021 is existed to be one of these platforms. ICARE-2021 was run in a hybrid model, in which some of the programs of this event were run virtually, and the other programs were physically in IPB International Convention Center. We believe that this hybrid model is an excellent model to address the issue pertaining to mobile restrictions due to the pandemic. ICARE-2021 featured three keynote speakers from the government agencies (Ministry of Agriculture, Head of National Research and Innovation Agency, and Vice Governor West Sumatra). These three keynote speakers enlighted us with a comprehensive overview of political and strategical issues related to the development of the livestock industry in this country. In addition, ten prominent invited speakers had contributed to this event. They came from various countries, including China, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherland, Germany, Turkey, Australia, South Korea, and Indonesia. Apart from these speakers, there are 104 papers presented by participants during the two-day seminar. The participants come from different countries, including the Netherland, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Sudan. Out of 104 presented papers, 37 full papers were accepted for the publication in this proceeding. List of Committee, Conference Photos are available in the pdf.