Trends in severe functional limitations among working and non-working adults in Germany: Towards an (un)-healthy working life?

We examined trends in severe functional limitations among working and non-working adults in Germany (ages 40-65). Four population-based samples of 11,615 participants were used, spanning the time periods 2002-2021. The overall prevalence of severe limitations was found to be 12.8% in the sample, but also varied from 10 to 20% according to occupational group. Over time, severe limitations were found to have increased, from 10.6% in 2002 to 13.2% in 2021. Logistic regression analysis showed that severe limitations increased significantly in certain subgroups, including working women with a low skilled white collar occupational group, working men with a low skilled blue collar occupational group and, particularly, among the whole non-working population, whereas limitations remained largely the same in the other groups, including most of the working population. In terms of expectancies, overall working life expectancy increased. Along with this increase, healthy (non-severely limited) working life expectancy increased, but this trend was accompanied by a clear increase in unhealthy working life expectancy (severely limited). Thus, although severe limitations have increased in some groups in the working-age adults, people today can expect to work more years free from severe limitations than before. In the future, potentials to increase working life expectancy may come to an end, as severe limitations increased strongly in the non-working population, which could limit the prospects for a further increase in the proportion of the population in employment. Further studies are needed to investigate the potential impact of the increasing prevalence of severe limitations on the population's ability to work

Socioeconomic differences in limited lung function: a cross-sectional study of middle-aged and older adults in Germany

Limited lung function represents a serious health impairment. However, studies investigating social inequalities in limited lung function are rare. Thus, the current study investigates which socioeconomic groups are the most affected by overall limited lung function and severely limited lung function. Methods: Data from the population-based German Aging Survey were used (N = 4472), with participants being 40 + years old. Lung function was assessed by the peak flow test. Education, income, and occupational prestige were used as socioeconomic indicators. Results: We found that overall limited lung function was highly prevalent across the whole sample, with about 33% (Women: 35%; Men: 30%) having overall limited lung function and 8% (Women: 7%; Men: 8%) having severely limited lung function. Socioeconomic differences in limited lung function emerged for all three indicators, education, income, and occupational prestige, in both men and women in single effect analyses. These differences persisted for occupational prestige and income when controlling for all indicators simultaneously. Results: Thus, overall and severely limited lung function are highly prevalent health conditions. Men and women with a low occupational position and those with low income are the most affected. Socioeconomic indicators cannot be used interchangeably when studying health inequalities in lung functioning. Occupational hazards and physical working conditions are likely to constitute major risks of health inequalities in limited lung functioning and should be investigated as such by future studies

Trends and equity in the use of health services in Spain and Germany around austerity in Europe

Background: Following the 2008 economic crisis many countries implemented austerity policies, including reducing public spending on health services. This paper evaluates the trends and equity in the use of health services during and after that period in Spain – a country with austerity policies – and in Germany – a country without restriction on healthcare spending. Methods: Data from several National Surveys in Spain and several waves of the Socio-Economic Panel in Germany, carried out between 2009 and 2017, were used. The dependent variables were number of doctor’s consultations and whether or not a hospital admission occurred. The measure of socioeconomic position was education. In each year, the estimates were made for people with and without pre-existing health problems. First, the average number of doctor’s consultations and the percentage of respondents who had had been hospitalized were calculated. Second, the relationship between education and use of those health services was estimated by calculating the difference in consultations using covariance analysis – in the case of number of consultations – and by calculating the percentage ratio using binomial regression – in the case of hospitalization. Results: The annual mean number of consultations went down in both countries. In Spain the average was 14.2 in 2009 and 10.4 in 2017 for patients with chronic conditions; 16.6 and 13.5 for those with a mental illness; and 6.4 and 5.9 for those without a defined illness. In Germany, the averages were 13.8 (2009) and 12.9 (2017) for the chronic group; 21.1 and 17.0 for mental illness; and 8.7 and 7.5 with no defined illness. The hospitalization frequency also decreased in both countries. The majority of the analyses presented no significant differences in relation to education. Conclusion: In both Spain and Germany, service use decreased between 2009 and 2017. In the first few years, this reduction coincided with a period of austerity in Spain. In general, we did not find socioeconomic differences in health service use.This study was supported by a grant from the “Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación”, Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness of Spain (no. CSO2017–83180-P)

Favorable Mixing Thermodynamics in Ternary Polymer Blends for Realizing High Efficiency Plastic Solar Cells

Ternary blends with broad spectral absorption have the potential to increase charge generation in organic solar cells but feature additional complexity due to limited intermixing and electronic mismatch. Here, a model system comprising the polymers poly[5,5-bis(2-butyloctyl)-(2,2-bithiophene)-4,4-dicarboxylate-alt-5,5-2,2-bithiophene] (PDCBT) and PTB7-Th and PC70BM as an electron accepting unit is presented. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the ternary system clearly surpasses the performance of either of the binary systems. The photophysics is governed by a fast energy transfer process from PDCBT to PTB7-Th, followed by electron transfer at the PTB7-Th:fullerene interface. The morphological motif in the ternary blend is characterized by polymer fibers. Based on a combination of photophysical analysis, GIWAXS measurements and calculation of the intermolecular parameter, the latter indicating a very favorable molecular affinity between PDCBT and PTB7-Th, it is proposed that an efficient charge generation mechanism is possible because PTB7-Th predominantly orients around PDCBT filaments, allowing energy to be effectively relayed from PDCBT to PTB7-Th. Fullerene can be replaced by a nonfullerene acceptor without sacrifices in charge generation, achieving a PCE above 11%. These results support the idea that thermodynamic mixing and energetics of the polymer-polymer interface are critical design parameter for realizing highly efficient ternary solar cells with variable electron acceptors

Applying the effort-reward imbalance model to household and family work: a population-based study of German mothers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This paper reports on results of a newly developed questionnaire for the assessment of effort-reward imbalance (ERI) in unpaid household and family work. Methods: Using a cross-sectional population-based survey of German mothers (n = 3129) the dimensional structure of the theoretical ERI model was validated by means of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Analyses of Variance were computed to examine relationships between ERI and social factors and health outcomes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CFA revealed good psychometric properties indicating that the subscale 'effort' is based on one latent factor and the subscale 'reward' is composed of four dimensions: 'intrinsic value of family and household work', 'societal esteem', 'recognition from the partner', and 'affection from the child(ren)'. About 19.3% of mothers perceived lack of reciprocity and 23.8% showed high rates of overcommitment in terms of inability to withdraw from household and family obligations. Socially disadvantaged mothers were at higher risk of ERI, in particular with respect to the perception of low societal esteem. Gender inequality in the division of household and family work and work-family conflict accounted most for ERI in household and family work. Analogous to ERI in paid work we could demonstrate that ERI affects self-rated health, somatic complaints, mental health and, to some extent, hypertension.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The newly developed questionnaire demonstrates satisfied validity and promising results for extending the ERI model to household and family work.</p

Intraligand Charge Transfer Enables Visible‐Light‐Mediated Nickel‐Catalyzed Cross‐Coupling Reactions

We demonstrate that several visible‐light‐mediated carbon−heteroatom cross‐coupling reactions can be carried out using a photoactive NiII precatalyst that forms in situ from a nickel salt and a bipyridine ligand decorated with two carbazole groups (Ni(Czbpy)Cl2). The activation of this precatalyst towards cross‐coupling reactions follows a hitherto undisclosed mechanism that is different from previously reported light‐responsive nickel complexes that undergo metal‐to‐ligand charge transfer. Theoretical and spectroscopic investigations revealed that irradiation of Ni(Czbpy)Cl2 with visible light causes an initial intraligand charge transfer event that triggers productive catalysis. Ligand polymerization affords a porous, recyclable organic polymer for heterogeneous nickel catalysis of cross‐coupling reactions. The heterogeneous catalyst shows stable performance in a packed‐bed flow reactor during a week of continuous operation

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements