What determines China's housing price dynamics? New evidence from a DSGE-VAR

We investigate what determines China's housing price dynamics using a DSGE-VAR estimated with priors allowing for the featured operating of normal and 'shadow' banks in China, with data observed between 2001 and 2014. We find that the housing demand shock, which is the essential factor for housing price 'bubbles' to happen, accounts for near 90% of the housing price fluctuation. We also find that a prosperous housing market could have led to future economic growth, though quantitatively its marginal impact is small. But this also means that, for policy-makers who wish to stabilise the housing market, the cost on output reduction would be rather limited

Taxing Pensions and Retirement Benefits in Germany

The paper motivates and describes the tax treatment of German retirement benefits and pensions after the 2005 reform initiated by the German Federal Constitutional Court. The main question is whether this reform has produced a “level playing field” among the many instruments generating retirement income in Germany. The paper briefly outlines rational principles for the taxation of retirement benefits and pensions and compares these with current practice in Germany and abroad

Let's do this together: Bi-Manu-Interact, a novel device for studying human haptic interactive behavior

Our area of interest is robotic-based rehabilitation after stroke, and our goal is to help patients achieve optimal motor learning during high-intensity repetitive movement training through the assistance of robots. It is important, that the robotic assistance is adapted to the patients' abilities, thereby ensuring that the device is only supporting the patient as necessary ('assist-as-needed'). We hypothesize that natural and learning-effective human-machine interaction can be achieved by programming the robot's control, so that it emulates how a physiotherapist adaptively supports the patients' limb movement during stroke rehabilitation. This paper introduces the design of a novel interactive device Bi-Manu-Interact. This device is suited to be used as an experimental setup for the investigation of haptic human-human interaction and for collecting data to model therapists' haptic behavior. In this paper, we present mechanical and sensory specifications as well as task s visualizations for future investigations. Results of a pilot clinical evaluation of the Bi-Manu-Interact with nine stroke patients are also presented in this work

Decision-making support in Intensive Care to facilitate organ donation. Position paper of the Ethics Section and the Organ Donation and Transplantation Section of the German Interdisciplinary Association of Critical Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI) in collaboration with the Ethics Section of the German Society of Medical Intensive Care Medicine and Emergency Medicine (DGIIN)

Background and challengeInjuries, especially traumatic brain injury, or specific illnesses and their respective sequelae can result in the demise of the patients afflicted despite all efforts of modern intensive care medicine. If in principle organ donation is an option after apatient's death, intensive therapeutic measures are regularly required in order to maintain the homeostasis of the organs. These measures, however, cannot benefit the patient afflicted anymorewhich in turn might lead to an ethical conflict between dignified palliative care for him/her and expanded intensive treatment to facilitate organ donation for others, especially if the patient has opted for the limitation of life-sustaining therapies in an advance directive.MethodThe Ethics Section and the Organ Donation and Transplantation Section of the German Interdisciplinary Association of Critical Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI) have convened several meetings and atelephone conference and have arrived at adecision-making aid as to the extent of treatment for potential organ donors. This instrument focusses first on the assessment of five individual dimensions regarding organ donation, namely the certitude of acomplete and irreversible loss of all brain function, the patient's wishes as to organ donation, his or her wishes as to limiting life-sustaining therapies, the intensity of expanded intensive treatment for organ protection and the odds of its successful attainment. Then, the combination of the individual assessments, as graphically shown in a{Netzdiagramm}, will allow for ajudgement as to whether acontinuation or possibly an expansion of intensive care measures is ethically justified, questionable or even inappropriate.ResultThe aid described can help mitigate ethical conflicts as to the extent of intensive care treatment for moribund patients, when organ donation is amedically sound option.NoteGerald Neitzke und Annette Rogge contributed equally to this paper and should be considered co-first authors

Influence of essential amino acids on muscle mass and muscle strength in patients with cerebral stroke during early rehabilitation: protocol and rationale of a randomized clinical trial (AMINO-Stroke Study)

BACKGROUND: Patients with stroke are at a high risk for long-term handicap and disability. In the first weeks after stroke muscle wasting is observed frequently. Early post-stroke rehabilitation programs are directed to improve functional independence and physical performance. Supplementation with essential amino acids (EAAs) might prevent muscle wasting and improve rehabilitation outcome by augmenting muscle mass and muscle strength. We aim to examine this in a double blinded, randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial. METHODS: Patients with ischemic or haemorrhagic stroke will be enrolled at begin of the early post-stroke rehabilitation in a parallel group interventional trial. Oral supplementation of EAAs or placebo will be given for 12 weeks in a double blinded manner. Physical and functional performance will be assessed by exercise testing before supplementation of EAAs as well as at discharge from the in-patient rehabilitation, at 12 weeks and 1 year afterwards. DISCUSSION: This is the first randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled clinical study aiming to assess the effect of the EAAs supplementation on muscle strength, muscle function and physical performance in stroke patients during early post-stroke rehabilitation. Supplementation of EAAs could prevent muscle mass wasting and improve functional independence after stroke. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study is registered at the German registry for clinical trials as well as at World Health Organization (WHO; number DRKS00005577)