Germany Going Postal? Comparing Postal and Election Day Voters in the 2017 German Federal Election

The proportion of voters casting their votes by mail days or even weeks before election day has risen from initially five per cent to nearly thirty per cent in the 2017 German federal election. At the same time, the differences in election results between postal and election day voters are increasing, reaching a record at the Bundestag election in 2017. Against this background, it seems particularly surprising that there are only a small number of empirical studies on postal voting in Germany. For an evaluation (of the development) of postal voting, it is crucial to investigate the factors responsible for the different election results between the two voter groups. This requires more precise knowledge of postal voters and how they differ from voters who cast their ballots on election day. Using data from the German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES), we investigate in how far composition effects - differences between the voter types in the composition of factors potentially relevant for party choice - and association effects - differences regarding their vote functions or criteria applied for vote choice - can help to explain the different electoral outcomes. We conclude that the voter types do not differ substantially from each other with regards to their decision criteria but that their composition differs with regards to certain characteristics relevant for party choice

A New Player in the Game: Changing Electoral Competition in Germany

This chapter asks how electoral competition changed from 2013 to 2017 in East and West Germany. Following Sartori's understanding of party systems as systems of interactions resulting from inter-party competition, it focuses on the content-related properties of the German party system. Combining data from the GLES 2013 and 2017 voter and candidate surveys, it investigates, first, the extent of electoral competition in terms of overlapping electoral support of party pairs and, second, how the establishment of the AfD changed the substantial structure underlying electoral competition in East and West Germany. Findings suggest that electoral competition in Germany is best described as three-dimensional. Whereas regional differences result from different voter preferences regarding policy issues, temporal differences are essentially the result of the changing relevance of the socio-economic and socio-cultural issue dimensions but also a newly emerged populist-pluralist divide

Do parties perceive their voter potentials correctly? Reconsidering the spatial logic of electoral competition

Political parties strive for maximizing their vote shares. One way to achieve this goal is to attract voters from competitors. A precondition for strategies aiming at attracting these voters is that parties perceive their voter potentials among their rivals' electorates correctly. Yet, hardly anything is known about such perceptions. To fill this gap, we develop analogue measures of a party's perceived and its actual voter potential for each competitor in a party system. Combining elite and mass surveys conducted in Germany, we show that perceived and actual voter potentials depend on spatial considerations but also that not all parties are able to correctly evaluate their potentials. These deviations can be traced back to differences in the perceived placement of political actors between elites and citizens. This supports the spatial logic of party competition but it also points to potential pitfalls for strategic behavior of political parties

Serpentine channels: micro -- rheometers for fluid relaxation times

We propose a novel device capable of measuring the relaxation time of viscoelastic fluids as small as 1\,ms. In contrast to most rheometers, which by their very nature are concerned with producing viscometric or nearly-viscometric flows, here we make use of an elastic instability which occurs in the flow of viscoelastic fluids with curved streamlines. To calibrate the rheometer we combine simple scaling arguments with relaxation times obtained from first normal-stress difference data measured in a classical shear rheometer. As an additional check we also compare these relaxation times to those obtained from Zimm theory and good agreement is observed. Once calibrated, we show how the serpentine rheometer can be used to access smaller polymer concentrations and lower solvent viscosities where classical measurements become difficult or impossible to use due to inertial and/or resolution limitations. In the absence of calibration the serpentine channel can still be a very useful comparative or index device.Comment: accepted for for publication in Lab on a chi

Auf dem Weg in die Post-Demokratie?

Viele Wahlberechtigte wählen inzwischen per Brief. Corona befeuert die Diskussion um das Für und Wider dieser Option. Führt Briefwahl zu einer höheren und sozial ausgewogeneren Wahlbeteiligung? Welche Parteien profitieren

Men's information-seeking behavior regarding cancer risk and screening: A meta-narrative systematic review

Objective: Preventive strategies are known to reduce cancer risk and incidence and improve prognosis. Men seldom seek medical information about cancer prevention and risk reduction. The aim of this meta-narrative systematic review was to critically appraise evidence from qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods studies that explored men's information-seeking behaviors in relation to cancer prevention and risk reduction. Methods: MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, Education Full Text, and ERIC were systematically searched for studies published in English between January 1, 2006 and May 30, 2016. A total of 4117 titles were identified; of which, 31 studies were included (21 qualitative studies, 9 quantitative studies, and 1 mixed-methods study). The methodological quality of the studies was appraised by using different tools. Results: Most studies focused on screening for prostate (n = 18) and colorectal cancer (n = 7). Most men were passive information-gatherers rather than active information-seekers. Key sources of information included the Internet for active information-seekers and health care professionals for passive information-gatherers. Barriers to information-seeking included information overload, embarrassment, and fear. Low literacy and health literacy levels were addressed in 3 studies and were identified as impediments to active information-seeking. Facilitators to information-seeking included family support, media, celebrity endorsements, and targeted information. Conclusions: Men's information-seeking behavior regarding cancer risk reduction, prevention, and screening is influenced by several factors. This necessitates targeted interventions aimed at raising awareness of cancer prevention and screening, while accounting for men's informational needs, preferred learning strategies, and literacy levels

Circulating endothelial cells as biomarker for cardiovascular diseases

Background: Endothelial dysfunction is involved in several cardiovascular diseases. Elevated levels of circulating endothelial cells (CECs) and low levels of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have been described in different cardiovascular conditions, suggesting their potential use as diagnostic biomarkers for endothelial dysfunction. Compared to typical peripheral blood leukocyte subsets, CECs and EPCs occur at very low frequency. The reliable identification and characterization of CECs and EPCs is a prerequisite for their clinical use, however, a validated method to this purpose is still missing but a key for rare cell events. Objectives: To establish a validated flow cytometric procedure in order to quantify CECs and EPCs in human whole blood. Methods: In the establishment phase, the assay sensitivity, robustness, and the sample storage conditions were optimized as prerequisite for clinical use. In a second phase, CECs and EPCs were analyzed in heart failure with preserved (HFpEF) and reduced (HFrEF) ejection fraction, in arterial hypertension (aHT), and in diabetic nephropathy (DN) in comparison to age-matched healthy controls. Results: The quantification procedure for CECs and EPCs showed high sensitivity and reproducibility. CEC values resulted significantly increased in patients with DN and HFpEF in comparison to healthy controls. CEC quantification showed a diagnostic sensitivity of 90% and a sensitivity of 68.0%, 70.4%, and 66.7% for DN, HFpEF, and aHT, respectively. Conclusion: A robust and precise assay to quantify CECs and EPCs in pre-clinical and clinical studies has been established. CEC counts resulted to be a good diagnostic biomarker for DN and HFpEF

No Association between Clinical Periodontal Conditions and Microbiological Findings on Driveline of Patients with Left-Ventricular Assist Devices (LVAD)

The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate whether there would be an association between periodontal disease parameters and positive bacterial findings at the driveline of patients with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD). Patients with an LVAD, who underwent a full oral and microbiological examination between 2016 and 2018, were included. During oral examination, periodontitis severity (stage and grade) and the periodontal inflamed surface area (PISA) were evaluated. A microbiological analysis was performed from swabs of the driveline, whereby different bacterial species were cultivated and analyzed. A total of 73 patients were included in the current study. The majority of participants (80.8%) had at least one positive bacterial finding during the study period. Most patients had a periodontitis stage of III-IV (80.9%). The determined PISA of the total group was 284.78 ± 352.29 mm2. No associations were found between the periodontal disease parameters and the bacterial findings in general, the bacterial findings on the day of oral examination or the bacterial findings 12 months prior to/after the oral examination (p > 0.05). Periodontitis is not associated with cultivated microbiological findings at the driveline of patients with an LVAD and thus appears not to be a risk indicator for driveline colonization. Nevertheless, the high periodontal burden in LVAD patients underlines the need for their improved periodontal care

Insufficient Oral Behaviour and the High Need for Periodontal Treatment in Patients with Heart Insufficiency and after Heart Transplantation: A Need for Special Care Programs?

Background: The aim of this cross-sectional study was the assessment of dental behaviour and oral health condition of heart transplant recipients (HTx) in comparison to patients with heart insufficiency (HI). Methods: Patients attending the Department for Cardiac Surgery, Leipzig Heart Center, Germany were recruited. Standardized questionnaires regarding dental behaviour and periodontal complaints were applied. A dental (decayed-, missing- and filled-teeth index) and periodontal examination (periodontal probing depth (PPD) and clinical attachment loss (CAL)) was performed. Based on the oral findings, dental and periodontal treatment need was determined. Statistics: T-test, Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-square test, and Fisher-test (p < 0.05). Results: A total of 201 patients (HTx: 112, HI: 89) were included. HTx patients were significantly more often allocated to dentists (p < 0.01). Furthermore, the HTx patients rated feeling informed appropriately about oral health more often (p < 0.01). HTx patients used interdental cleaning (p < 0.01) and mouth rinse (p = 0.02) more often than HI patients. No differences between groups were present regarding dental status and periodontitis severity (p > 0.05). Periodontal treatment need was high, showing prevalence of 79.5% (HTx) and 87.6% (HI, p = 0.14), respectively. Conclusions: Both groups show insufficient oral behaviour and a high need for periodontal treatment. Special care programs for HTx candidates and recipients appear recommendable