31 research outputs found
Pension Reform in Europe: Politics, Policies and Outcomes
No full textContents
1. Introduction: The political economy of pension reform
by Camila Arza and Martin Kohli
Part I. The politics of pension reform
2. The "new politics" of pension reforms in Continental Europe
by David Natali and Martin Rhodes
3. Between conflict and consensus: The reform of Bismarckian pension regimes
by Martin Schludi
4. How do politicians get away with path-breaking pension reforms? The political psychology of pension reform in democracies
by Einar Overbye
5. The politics and outcomes of three-pillar pension reforms in Central and Eastern Europe
by Katharina Müller
Part II. Reform options and outcomes
6. Changing European welfare. A new distribution pattern of pension policy?
by Camila Arza
7. The interdependence of the system of solidarity and the system of equivalence
by Martin Rein and Karen Anderson
8. The Anglo-American pension regime: Failures of the divided welfare state
by Robin Blackburn
9. The gender pension gap: Effects of norms and reform policies
by Patricia Frericks and Robert Maier
10. Generational equity: Concepts and attitudes
by Martin Kohl
Comparison of 1.0 M Gadobutrol and 0.5 M Gatopentetate Dimeglumine – enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in five hundred seventy-two patients with known of suspected liver lesions: results of a multicenter, duble-blind, interindividual, randomized clinical phase III trial
No full textInvestigative Radiology:
March 2009 - Volume 44 - Issue 3 - pp 168-176
doi: 10.1097/RLI.0b013e318198a0ae
Original Article
Comparison of 1.0 M Gadobutrol and 0.5 M Gadopentetate Dimeglumine-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Five Hundred Seventy-Two Patients With Known or Suspected Liver Lesions: Results of a Multicenter, Double-Blind, Interindividual, Randomized Clinical Phase-III Trial
Hammerstingl, Renate MD*; Adam, Gerhard MD†; Ayuso, Juan-Ramon MD‡; Van Beers, Bernard MD§; Belfiore, Giuseppe MD¶; Bellin, Marie-France MD∥; Bongartz, Georg MD**; Ernst, Olivier MD‡‡; Frericks, Bernd MD¶¶¶¶; Giuseppetti, Gianmarco MD§§; Heinz-Peer, Gertrud MD∥∥; Laghi, Andrea MD†††; Martin, Julio MD***; Pering, Christiane MD‡‡‡; Reimer, Peter MD§§§; Richter, Götz-Martin MD∥∥∥; Roemer, Frank W. MD****; Schäfer, Fritz K. W. MD¶¶; Vilgrain, Valérie MD††††; Vogl, Thomas J. MD*; Weishaupt, Dominik MD‡‡‡‡; Wall, Alexander MD§§§§; Zech, Christoph J. MD¶¶¶; Tombach, Bernd MD§§§§∥∥∥∥
Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic efficacy (accuracy, sensitivity, specificity) of 1.0 M gadobutrol versus 0.5 M gadopentetate for the classification of lesions as either benign or malignant in patients with known or suspected liver lesions.
Methods and Materials: A multicenter, phase-III, randomized, interindividually controlled comparison study with blinded reader evaluation was performed to investigate the diagnostic efficacy of a bolus injection of 1.0 M gadobutrol compared with 0.5 M gadopentetate at a dose of 0.1 mmol Gd/kg BW. The imaging protocol included a dynamic 3D-evaluation, static conventional, and fat saturated T1-weighted sequences. MR datasets were evaluated by 3 independent radiologists. The standard of reference was defined by an independent truth panel (radiologist or hepatologist). The safety evaluation included adverse events, vital signs, and physical examination.
Results: A total of 497 of 572 patients were eligible for the final efficacy analysis. Noninferiority of gadobutrol-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the classification of liver lesions was demonstrated on the basis of diagnostic accuracy determined by the on-site investigators (-0.098, 0.021) as well as for the average reader of the blinded evaluation (-0.096, 0.014) (95% confidence interval), compared with the predefined standard of reference. Very similar increases in sensitivity (ranging from ∼10% to ∼55%) and specificity (ranging from ∼1%-∼18%) compared with precontrast MRI were also observed for the 2 contrast agent groups, with maximum differences of 4%.
Very similar, low rates of adverse events were recorded for each of the 2 groups. No clinically relevant changes in vital signs or the results of the physical examination were observed in any patient.
Conclusion: This study documents evidence for the noninferiority of a single i.v. bolus injection of 1.0 M gadobutrol (0.1 mmol/kg body weight) to 0.5 M gadopentetate (0.1 mmol/kg body weight) in the diagnostic assessment of liver lesions with contrast-enhanced MRI. The known excellent safety profile of gadobutrol was confirmed in this clinical trial and is similar to that of gadopentetate
Our Daily Quest
No full textOn a snowy night at the University of Dayton Fieldhouse in 1964, civil rights leader the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to a crowd of more than 6,200 on race relations in America, housing, his commitment to nonviolence and the power of unconditional love. The University will commemorate King\u27s speech and honor his legacy in perpetuity with a memorial located near the Immaculate Conception Chapel and the Frericks Center, formerly the University of Dayton Fieldhouse, where King delivered the speech
Atmospheric Characterisation of Jupiter using Polarimetric Data
No full textJupiter is the most visited outer solar system planet, but the exact variation in atmospheric properties along its disk remains largely a mystery. This is where polarimetry fits into the picture. Its added value to spectrometry by additionally measuring the polarisation degree and direction of light makes it a suitable remote sensing tool for the characterisation of planetary atmospheres. It can potentially be used to detect and characterise exoplanets as starlight is originally unpolarised [Kemp et al., 1971] while light reflecting from an object is not. The degree of polarisation is sensitive to the atmospheric properties and its coupling with the wavelength, phase angle and absorption are used to derive the approximate upper atmospheric structure of Jupiter. For this purpose, polarimetric observations of the Torino Polarimeter are compared to the results of a numerical model coded in Fortran. This numerical model uses a doubling-adding radiative transfer algorithm to simulate the polarisation properties of the designated atmospheric profile. The atmospheric profile consists of gas and aerosols, the latter modelled by spherical particles using Mie scattering theory. The numerical model results are processed and compared to the observations using a Matlab script. The particle properties are constrained by the observations using the wavelength filters, the implemented methane absorption and by using a variable cloud pressure and haze optical thickness. The numerical model results best matching the observations show higher altitude clouds in the higher polarisation degree regions known as the zones, and lower altitude clouds in the belts. The optical thickness of the haze layer turns out to be low or zero in the zones and higher in the belts. To better characterise Jupiter's atmospheric structure, several aspects relating to the observations and the numerical model have to be investigated in more detail in order to improve the matching of the two.Aerospace Engineerin
Corybas wallii Lehnebach 2016, sp. nov.
No full text5. Corybas wallii Lehnebach, sp. nov. (Fig. 10A–C) Type:— NEW ZEALAND. North Island: Tongariro National Park, Whakapapa, along Whakapapanui stream, 21 October 2011, McGlynn SP 104210 (holotype: WELT!) Diagnosis:— C. wallii resembles C. vitreus in the pale colour of its flower but it differs by its conspicuously yellow to pale green labellum lamina and margins, the presence of numerous glandular trichomes on the internal and external surface of the labellum and larger leaves. It differs from C. trilobus by its overall pale green to yellow flower. Terrestrial herbs, 13–34 mm tall at flowering. Leaf distinctly petiolate, petiole (5.5)9.3–15.1(28.8) mm long; lamina cordiform to sub-oblong or sub-hastate, (6.4)8.8–11.2(14) × (9.3)12.6–17.0(23.5) mm; margin entire; apex mucronate with mucro (0.2)1.5–2.0(2.6) mm long. Flower solitary, held erect on a peduncle (2.7)4.4–6.2(11.6) mm long, floral bract narrowly triangular to deltate when flattened, (2.6)4.2–5.5(10) × (1.4)2.2–2.8(3.7) mm, dorsal sepal pale yellowgreen, arching over the labellum, concave to cucullate, narrow at the base and widely spathulate towards the tip and at times bearing trichomes on the upper surface, apex emarginated or rounded; lateral sepal linear-filiform, pale yellowgreen, at times pale pink, (9.4)13.3–17.8(25) mm long; petals are similar to the dorsal sepals but longer, (24.5)39.5– 51.2(62.2) mm long; labellum pale green or yellowish, less often with a few blotches of pink near the upper section, auriculate at base, aperture (1.2)1.8–2.1(2.6) mm in diameter; lamina deflexed, ca. 7 mm wide, with a central groove formed by the inwards folding of the lamina, extending downwards to the lower margin and sunken pit formed at the point where the lamina bends, margin incurve, mostly entire but erose at the lower margin, inner surface of the labellum covered with glandular trichomes, some also present in the outer surface. Ovary (3.0)4.7–6.5(9.0) mm long. Column 2.3 mm long, straight with deltate to shallowly deltate wings flanking the stigma. Specimens examined:— NORTH ISLAND: Boundary Stream Main Island, Tumunako loop track, 19 October 2012, Lusk SP 104188 (WELT); Tongariro National Park, Whakapapa, sites along Whakapapanui river, 21 October 2011, McGlynn SP 104175 (WELT); Egmont / Taranaki National Park, about 75 m up Nature Loop track, behind camphouse, 14 November 2011, McGlynn SP 104179 (WELT); Egmont National Park, North Egmont visitor centre, Ngatoro loop walk, 14 November 2011, McGlynn SP 104409 (WELT); Egmont National Park, North Egmont Visitor Centre, Ngatoro loop walk, 29 October 2012, McGlynn SP 104410 (WELT); Egmont National Park, Stratford Plateau to ski field, 30 October 2012, McGlynn SP 104411 (WELT); Ruahine Forest Park, track to Rangiwahia hut, 24 September 2012, McGlynn SP 104178 (WELT); Eastern Ruahine Ranges, Sunrise trackt to Sunrise hut, 26 September 2011, Lehnebach, Zeller & Lusk SP 104406 (WELT); Eastern Ruahine Ranges, Swamp track, 26 September 2011, Lehnebach, Zeller & Lusk SP 104407 (WELT); Eastern Ruahine Ranges, Swamp track, 26 September 2011, Lehnebach, Zeller & Lusk SP 104408 (WELT); Tararua Forest Park, Otaki Forks, Pukeatua track, near the summit of Pukeatua, 25 October 2014, Lehnebach & Zeller SP 104164 (WELT); Rimutaka Range, Mount Climie, under scrub by the roadside, 02 Nov 2014, Lehnebach & Zeller SP 104169 (WELT). SOUTH ISLAND: Kahurangi National Park, track to Salisbury lodge, 15 November 2011, Lehnebach, Frericks & Moorhouse SP 104124 (WELT); Kahurangi National Park, Gordons Pyramid route, close to Potholes track, 16 November 2011, Lehnebach, Frericks & Moorhouse SP 104393 (WELT); Nelson Lakes National Park, Mt Robert road, 9 November 2012, Lehnebach, Moorhouse & Upson SP 104151 (WELT). Etymology:— This species is named after Walli (Walburga) Zeller, mother of the second author of this article. Distribution:— Endemic to New Zealand. North and South Islands (Fig. 10D). Habitat:— In leaf litter under southern beech (Fuscospora or Lophozonia Nothofagaceae] or kamahi (Weinmania racemosa Linnaeus (1782: 227), Cunnoniaceae) forest, mossy seepages or gravelly soils, between 600 to 1150 m. Phenology:— Flowering October to mid November, fruiting September to early January. Conservation status: — Corybas wallii is common montane and sub-alpine areas of the North and South Islands. It is, therefore, regarded as ‘Not Threatened’ using the criteria of Townsend et al. (2008).Published as part of Lehnebach, Carlos A., Zeller, Andreas J., Frericks, Jonathan & Ritchie, Peter, 2016, Five new species of Corybas (Diurideae, Orchidaceae) endemic to New Zealand and phylogeny of the Nematoceras clade, pp. 1-24 in Phytotaxa 270 (1) on pages 13-14, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.270.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/477972
Family as a redistributive principle of welfare states: An international comparison
No full textGefördert im Rahmen eines Open-Access-Transformationsvertrags mit dem Verla
Redistribution policies towards poor families in Europe
No full textGefördert im Rahmen eines Open-Access-Transformationsvertrags mit dem Verla
“Machinery” or “spirit” of the welfare state: institutional change as institutional inertia
No full text
Purpose
Much has been said about institutional change and the forms it can take, whether it is abrupt or incremental, path breaking or path dependent. This strand of research is highly relevant in times of welfare institutional reforms and changes. A puzzle, however, remains, and it concerns the empirical phenomena that there might be institutional inertia despite seeming change. One reason for this remaining puzzle is, as argued here, that the ongoing theoretical reflections have a certain blind spot: “institutional constellations” and their characteristics. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to analyse the “layering” of a welfare institution which results in an institutional constellation.
Design/methodology/approach
Such newly established institutional constellations, though they look roughly similar and are formed of comparable ingredients, can differ profoundly between themselves. This could be due to the fact that the characteristics of institutions depend on the regulating principles (the “spirit”) implemented in them. To validate this hypothesis, the author analyses in depth the institutional layering in two traditionally different social protection systems: the Dutch and the German pension systems.
Findings
In both cases, as the author shows, the traditional regulating principles are also implemented in the newly established institutional constellation, so that in the end pension systems do not change but differ as they did before.
Originality/value
The empirical phenomenon of institutional inertia despite seeming change has not yet been explicitly addressed. This is the case since the ongoing theoretical reflections have a certain blind spot: “institutional constellations” and their characteristics which are the focus of this paper.
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Setting rights: Resource flows, life-course norms and the dynamics of citizenship in European pension systems
No full textThe title of my thesis already indicates that I did my research on what is called a hot topic: pensions in Europe. In all countries, pensions are built up through the labour market. This is true in two perspectives: firstly, for the individual entitlements and, secondly, for the financial means. With other words, the legitimation and the source of pensions are channelled through the wage. This logic is obsolete in present-day economies since the units of social rights changed as well as the economic and demographic situation. One should not forget that it is several decades ago that the different pension systems were introduced. Since then, the dynamics of capitalist economies changed the variables of the system and their interrelatedness. Consequently, reform policies need to be accompanied by updating the assumptions of the original systems. I approached the problematic institutionalization of the life-course and of resource flows through two concepts, that of the life course, put forward by Martin Kohli, and that of instituted economic processes, put forward by Karl Polanyi. Based on this comprehensive and anthropological approach the result of my research is that different countries' pension logics need to be combined and redefined. Let me concentrate on the individual entitlements first. Recent pension reforms tie pension rights to an ideal work biographies. In addition, they transform pensions to individual entitlements by abolishing derived rights such as widows pensions. This pension logic, one might say, assumes an adult worker model, as Jane Lewis called it. This adult worker model, however, is not to be found in any European country. In addition, the calculation norms of pensions even widen the well-known gender wage gap. Therefore, I analysed welfare systems in more detail and also other but labour market entitlements. These are on the one hand, countries that value learning periods and caring responsibilities, such as France, Austria, and Germany, and, on the other hand, countries whose pension systems entail residency based pensions, such as Denmark or the Netherlands. And although these systems are better from a practical as well as normative point of view, full pensions are, also in these systems, linked to an individual work biography in an ideal and therefore non-adequate way. My research also showed that recent reforms do not improve individual pension rights. Nonetheless, individual entitlements, and those of women in particular, are increasingly important since pension systems develop from a social insurance to a kind of individual account and investment system. This is even more the case since retrenchments of public pensions ask for building up pensions in several schemes which generally calculate entitlements on a more direct link to paid contributions. Let me now come to the second side of the pension coin which is that of resources. Welfare arrangements are still financed through the wage, either through contributions or through taxation. However, the wage-relatedness of resource flows is problematic since life courses change so that relatively shorter periods of time are spent in paid employment and relatively more periods of time are spent on education and retirement. Changing policies to stimulate longer working biographies are first efforts to ease this misbalance of 'producing' resources and benefiting from them. However, since education and care is increasingly part of the agenda as necessary means to sustain capitalist economies, it seems necessary to include other but financial resources. In concrete, there are academic demands to include 'solidaric elements' (a term put forward by John Myles), which is care in particular, in the calculation of the GNP. In short, the different economic modes of market exchange, welfare economies, household economies and voluntary activities need to be taken into consideration. As a consequence, sustainable welfare systems need to include more than labour market related entitlements into their pension norms. Pensions then would be composed of a variety of pension entitlements linked to contributions that go beyond the labour market
Neustart in der Rentenpolitik
No full textZusammenfassung Rentenpolitik ist und bleibt umstritten. Diskutiert werden Instrumente, aber auch grundlegende Ziele der Alterssicherung. Die Beiträge beinhalten Bestandsaufnahmen zum Alterssicherungssystem und Vorschläge zu seiner Weiterentwicklung. Der Schwerpunkt liegt auf der öffentlichen Rentenversicherung. Behandelt werden u.a. die Stellung der Grundrente in der Rentenversicherung, der Zusammenhang von Arbeit und Alterseinkommen, die Behandlung von Sorgearbeit in der Alterssicherung und die Entwicklung der Alterssicherung im demografischen Wandel. Drei Beiträge bringen zudem eine europäisch vergleichende Perspektive ein. Die Autorinnen und Autoren forschen und lehren an öffentlichen oder gemeinnützigen Hochschulen und Forschungseinrichtungen. Mit Beiträgen von Gerhard Bäcker, Florian Blank, Martin Brussig, Judith Czepek, Susanne Drescher, Johannes Geyer, Arthur Kaboth, Ute Klammer, Tim Köhler-Rama, Patricia Frericks, Jutta Schmitz-Kießler, Camille Logeay, Anita Tiefensee, Erik Türk, Tobias Wiß, Josef Wöss und Rudolf Zwiener. Abstract Pension policies are a major topic of political debate, whose discussions concentrate on both the instruments and general objectives of the system of pension provision. This volume includes research on different problems and reform alternatives in this respect, focusing especially on state pensions. Its chapters deal—among other issues—with the role of basic pension schemes within the state pension system, the link between work and income in old age, the treatment of care work in pension systems and the development of pensions in times of demographic change. Three chapters add a comparative perspective. The authors are researchers at public or non-profit universities and research institutes. With contributions by Gerhard Bäcker, Florian Blank, Martin Brussig, Judith Czepek, Susanne Drescher, Johannes Geyer, Arthur Kaboth, Ute Klammer, Tim Köhler-Rama, Patricia Frericks, Jutta Schmitz-Kießler, Camille Logeay, Anita Tiefensee, Erik Türk, Tobias Wiß, Josef Wöss and Rudolf Zwiener
