Firm-Specific Determinants of Productivity Gaps between East and West German Industrial Branches

Industrial productivity levels of formerly socialist economies in Central East Europe (including East Germany) are considerably lower than in the more mature Western economies. This research aims at assessing the reasons for lower productivities at the firm level: what are the firm-specific determinants of productivity gaps. To assess this, we have conducted an extensive field study and focussed on a selection of two important manufacturing industries, namely machinery manufacturers and furniture manufacturers, and on the construction industry. Using the data generated in field work, we test a set of determinant-candidates which were derived from theory and prior research in that topic. Our analysis uses the simplest version of the matched-pair approach, in which first hypothesis about relevant productivity level-determinants are tested. In a second step, positively tested hypothesis are further assessed in terms of whether they also constitute firmspecific determinants of the apparent gaps between the firms in our Eastern and such in our Western panels. Our results suggest that the quality of human capital plays an important role in all three industrial branches assessed. Amongst manufacturing firms, networking activities and the use of modern technologies for communication are important reasons for the lower levels of labour productivity in the East. The intensity of long-term strategic planning on behalf of the management turned out to be relevant only for machinery manufacturers. Product and process innovations unexpectedly exhibit an ambiguous picture, as did the extent of specialisation on a small number of products in the firms’ portfolio and the intensity of competition.Productivity gap, East German industry

Evolving Structural Patterns in the Enlarging European Division of Labour: Sectoral and Branch Specialisation and the Potentials for Closing the Productivity Gap

The formerly socialist countries in Central East Europe strive to close the development gap between their economies and those of the countries in West Europe. Their main vehicles in support of catch-up development featured the internal and external liberalisation of markets. Internal liberalisation was geared towards replacing the system of economic planning with the governance of markets and external liberalisation aimed at integration into the World market in general and the European market in particular. European integration itself was coined to serve as an engine for economic development: market access, efficient allocation of resources in the international division of labour, and access to more advanced technology were perceived to be the main drivers. The political instrument in support of this is the prospected European Union membership. In fact, a selection of Central East European countries have been admitted and will become full members in April 2004. Today, slightly more than one decade after the outset of systemic transition, most of those countries are widely considered ‘functioning market- economies’. Their markets are well integrated into the European economic area, in as much as foreign trade had been liberalised gradually since the early 1990s and fully-fletched currency convertibility allows trade on the respective capital and foreign exchange markets in East and West. The notable exception, however, remains the labour markets: here political concerns of absorptive capacities in the West still postpone integration. With product markets near to full integration, the economies have undergone a profound process of structural change. The pattern of international specialisation which has emerged as a result of sectoral change is the focus of the research presented here. The main objective of research was to determine the patterns as they have evolved over time, and to assess the prospects of catching up derived from those sectoral patterns. This publication reports research and the results of one of the workpackages in a larger international cooperative research project, financed by the EU in its 5th Framework Programme: EU Integration and the Prospects for Catch-Up Development in CEECs - The Determinants of the Productivity Gap (HPSE-CT-2001-00065). This project is coordinated by the author of this report at the IWH. Whereas research in this workpackage is concluded with this report, other workpackages will continue to assess further determinants until late summer 2004, when the project formally ends. All research proceedings in this project can be revisited on the project internet-site: www.iwh- halle.de/projects/productivity-gap.htm

ORGAP Project – Evaluation toolbox for the evaluation of action plans for organic food and farming

The ORGAP-Project has developed an evaluation toolbox for the evaluation of the European and/or national action plans based on analysis of national action plans and expert/stakeholder consultation

Post-mortem assessment in vascular dementia: advances and aspirations.

BACKGROUND: Cerebrovascular lesions are a frequent finding in the elderly population. However, the impact of these lesions on cognitive performance, the prevalence of vascular dementia, and the pathophysiology behind characteristic in vivo imaging findings are subject to controversy. Moreover, there are no standardised criteria for the neuropathological assessment of cerebrovascular disease or its related lesions in human post-mortem brains, and conventional histological techniques may indeed be insufficient to fully reflect the consequences of cerebrovascular disease. DISCUSSION: Here, we review and discuss both the neuropathological and in vivo imaging characteristics of cerebrovascular disease, prevalence rates of vascular dementia, and clinico-pathological correlations. We also discuss the frequent comorbidity of cerebrovascular pathology and Alzheimer's disease pathology, as well as the difficult and controversial issue of clinically differentiating between Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia and mixed Alzheimer's disease/vascular dementia. Finally, we consider additional novel approaches to complement and enhance current post-mortem assessment of cerebral human tissue. CONCLUSION: Elucidation of the pathophysiology of cerebrovascular disease, clarification of characteristic findings of in vivo imaging and knowledge about the impact of combined pathologies are needed to improve the diagnostic accuracy of clinical diagnoses

Semaglutide and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with obesity and prevalent heart failure: a prespecified analysis of the SELECT trial

Background: Semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, reduces the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in people with overweight or obesity, but the effects of this drug on outcomes in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and heart failure are unknown. We report a prespecified analysis of the effect of once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide 2·4 mg on ischaemic and heart failure cardiovascular outcomes. We aimed to investigate if semaglutide was beneficial in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease with a history of heart failure compared with placebo; if there was a difference in outcome in patients designated as having heart failure with preserved ejection fraction compared with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction; and if the efficacy and safety of semaglutide in patients with heart failure was related to baseline characteristics or subtype of heart failure. Methods: The SELECT trial was a randomised, double-blind, multicentre, placebo-controlled, event-driven phase 3 trial in 41 countries. Adults aged 45 years and older, with a BMI of 27 kg/m2 or greater and established cardiovascular disease were eligible for the study. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) with a block size of four using an interactive web response system in a double-blind manner to escalating doses of once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide over 16 weeks to a target dose of 2·4 mg, or placebo. In a prespecified analysis, we examined the effect of semaglutide compared with placebo in patients with and without a history of heart failure at enrolment, subclassified as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, or unclassified heart failure. Endpoints comprised MACE (a composite of non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke, and cardiovascular death); a composite heart failure outcome (cardiovascular death or hospitalisation or urgent hospital visit for heart failure); cardiovascular death; and all-cause death. The study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03574597. Findings: Between Oct 31, 2018, and March 31, 2021, 17 604 patients with a mean age of 61·6 years (SD 8·9) and a mean BMI of 33·4 kg/m2 (5·0) were randomly assigned to receive semaglutide (8803 [50·0%] patients) or placebo (8801 [50·0%] patients). 4286 (24·3%) of 17 604 patients had a history of investigator-defined heart failure at enrolment: 2273 (53·0%) of 4286 patients had heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, 1347 (31·4%) had heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, and 666 (15·5%) had unclassified heart failure. Baseline characteristics were similar between patients with and without heart failure. Patients with heart failure had a higher incidence of clinical events. Semaglutide improved all outcome measures in patients with heart failure at random assignment compared with those without heart failure (hazard ratio [HR] 0·72, 95% CI 0·60-0·87 for MACE; 0·79, 0·64-0·98 for the heart failure composite endpoint; 0·76, 0·59-0·97 for cardiovascular death; and 0·81, 0·66-1·00 for all-cause death; all pinteraction>0·19). Treatment with semaglutide resulted in improved outcomes in both the heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HR 0·65, 95% CI 0·49-0·87 for MACE; 0·79, 0·58-1·08 for the composite heart failure endpoint) and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction groups (0·69, 0·51-0·91 for MACE; 0·75, 0·52-1·07 for the composite heart failure endpoint), although patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction had higher absolute event rates than those with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. For MACE and the heart failure composite, there were no significant differences in benefits across baseline age, sex, BMI, New York Heart Association status, and diuretic use. Serious adverse events were less frequent with semaglutide versus placebo, regardless of heart failure subtype. Interpretation: In patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular diease and overweight or obesity, treatment with semaglutide 2·4 mg reduced MACE and composite heart failure endpoints compared with placebo in those with and without clinical heart failure, regardless of heart failure subtype. Our findings could facilitate prescribing and result in improved clinical outcomes for this patient group. Funding: Novo Nordisk

Evolving Structural Patterns in the Enlarging European Division of Labour: Sectoral and Branch Specialisation and the Potentials for Closing the Productivity Gap

Within the past decade, national levels of labour productivity in CEECs have converged significantly towards the levels predominant in the EU. Yet, levels are still significantly lower, large gaps are still prevalent. Needless to say, levels within the EU also differ greatly; comparisons with the EU as an economic area use the weighted average of all current 15 EU member states. [DSA]Integration, catch-up development, specialisation, structural change, sectors,

Motologisch orientierte Gesundheitsförderung in Organisationen – dargestellt am Beispiel eines Orchesters

Gesundheitsförderung ist mittlerweile ein wichtiges Forschungsgebiet der Motologie. Im Fachdiskurs werden hierbei anthropologische Zugänge zum Phänomen der Gesundheit betont, welche das agierende Subjekt in den Mittelpunkt der Körper- und Bewegungsarbeit stellen. Etablierte Ansätze und Konzepte sind primär leibphänomenologisch begründet und von einem homöostatischen Gesundheitsverständnis geprägt – organisationale Einflüsse werden dabei jedoch bislang wenig berücksichtigt. Die vorliegende Arbeit entwickelt daraus ihre zentrale Frage, ob und wie es gelingen kann, die ausdifferenzierte individuelle Ebene der motologischen Gesundheitsförderung um den Wirkungsbereich einer überindividuellen, organisationalen Ebene zu erweitern. Aus diesem Grund wendet sich der Blick dem interdisziplinären Diskurs um Gesundheitsförderung in Organisationen zu. Im dargestellten Bereich organisationaler Belastungs-, Stress- und Ressourcenkonzepte ist vor allem das Konstrukt der Organisationskultur aufschlussreich. Es macht deutlich, inwiefern kollektive Werte und Normen gesundheitsbezogene Handlungen der Mitglieder implizit modellieren. Da sich Organisationen hinsichtlich ihrer Kulturen, Abläufe oder Ziele stark voneinander unterscheiden, wird eine allgemein gehaltene betriebliche Gesundheitsförderung dieser Vielfalt nicht immer gerecht. Die Entwicklung einer passgenauen und theoretisch begründeten Variante von Gesundheitsförderung bildet somit das zentrale Forschungsanliegen – erörtert am Beispiel eines Orchesters. Risiko- und Schutzfaktoren für die hochgradig anspruchsvolle Orchestertätigkeit sind zwar von Seiten der Musikermedizin bereits ermittelt worden. Ein gesundheitsförderlicher Ansatz, der die nachweislich einflussreiche Beziehung zwischen Individuum und Organisation dezidiert berücksichtigt, wurde dabei aber nicht formuliert. Hier bietet sich also die Chance, ein neues Interventionsfeld für die motologische Gesundheitsförderung zu erschließen. Um dies leisten zu können, erfolgt zunächst die Erarbeitung der überindividuellen Ebene anhand eines mehrdimensionalen Orchestermodells, entwickelt von der Deutschen Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. Eine Auseinandersetzung mit diesem Modell ermöglicht sodann, die anvisierte Schnittstelle von Individuum und Organisation mittels einer motologisch-leibphänomenologischen Perspektive zu untersuchen. Essenziell dafür ist der Begriff des Leibes, der in seiner Doppeldeutigkeit von physischem Körper und erlebtem Leib als Mittler der Mensch-Welt-Beziehung fungiert. Hierbei bilden die Bereiche Musizierbewegung, sozialer Orchesterraum, Ergonomie und instrumentalspiel-assoziierte Schmerzen den Kern der Analyse. Kontrastiert bzw. dialogisch vermittelt wird diese phänomenologische Perspektive wiederkehrend mit Ergebnissen der empirisch dominierten Musikermedizin. Aus den gewonnenen Erkenntnissen wird abschließend ein 'Polaritätenmodell der Bewegung' generiert. Dieses bietet praxisorientierte Eckpunkte für eine motologische Gesundheitsförderung, welche organisationale Merkmale aufgreift und sie zum Thema des Bewegungsangebotes macht. So erfasst das Modell z.B. das ambivalente Verhältnis von feinmotorischer Funktionalität und subjektiver Bedeutung, von automatisierter Stabilität und möglicher Variabilität tätigkeitsbezogener Bewegungsabläufe. Organisationale Bedingungen werden dadurch in der Körper- und Bewegungsarbeit subjektiv erfahrbar bzw. partiell im Sinne der individuellen Gesundheit beeinflussbar. Perspektivisch bietet dieser Ansatz somit das Potenzial, die Gesundheitsthematik mit Lern- und Entwicklungsprozessen gesamter Organisationen zu verbinden, da das Bewegungsangebot die implizite Kultur des jeweiligen Adressaten einbezieht

Treatment-associated mRNA co-expression changes in monocytes of patients with posttraumatic stress disorder

PTSD is a prevalent mental disorder that results from exposure to extreme and stressful life events and comes at high costs for both the individual and society. Therapeutic treatment presents the best way to deal with PTSD-the mechanisms underlying change after treatment, however, remain poorly understood. While stress and immune associated gene expression changes have been associated with PTSD development, studies investigating treatment effects at the molecular level so far tended to focus on DNA methylation. Here we use gene-network analysis on whole-transcriptome RNA-Seq data isolated from $CD14^{+}$ monocytes of female PTSD patients ($\it N$ = 51) to study pre-treatment signatures of therapy response and therapy-related changes at the level of gene expression. Patients who exhibited significant symptom improvement after therapy showed higher baseline expression in two modules involved in inflammatory processes (including notable examples $\it IL1R2$ and $\it FKBP5$) and blood coagulation. After therapy, expression of an inflammatory module was increased, and expression of a wound healing module was decreased. This supports findings reporting an association between PTSD and dysregulations of the inflammatory and the hemostatic system and mark both as potentially treatment sensitive