@article{GoldanJaksztatGross2023, author = {Goldan, Lea and Jaksztat, Steffen and Gross, Christiane}, title = {How does obtaining a permanent employment contract affect the job satisfaction of doctoral graduates inside and outside academia?}, series = {Higher Education}, volume = {86}, journal = {Higher Education}, number = {1}, issn = {0018-1560}, doi = {10.1007/s10734-022-00908-7}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-324766}, pages = {185-208}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Previous research has shown that temporary employment is negatively associated with many psychological and job-related outcomes, such as well-being, health, wages, organisational commitment, and job satisfaction. Among recent doctoral graduates, the proportion of temporary contracts is particularly high. However, research on the association between contract type and job satisfaction specifically among doctoral graduates is scarce. Therefore, whether and how obtaining permanent employment affects doctoral graduates' job satisfaction remains a notable research gap that we intend to narrow by using panel data from a recent doctoral graduation cohort and by adopting a panel research design. We examine what effect obtaining permanent employment has on doctoral graduates' job satisfaction and whether this effect differs by labour market sector. We use panel data that are representative of the 2014 doctoral graduation cohort in Germany and their career trajectories up to five years after graduation. We apply fixed-effects regression to approximate the within-effect of obtaining a permanent employment contract on job satisfaction. The analyses indicate that obtaining permanent employment increases doctoral graduates' job satisfaction and that this increase is not driven by time-varying confounders. We also find that doctoral graduates' labour market sector moderates the effect: the increase in job satisfaction is highest in the academic sector and statistically significantly different from that in the private sector. Overall, this paper offers new insights into the effect of obtaining a permanent contract on the job satisfaction of recent doctoral graduates throughout their first years after graduation, when they are often employed on temporary contracts.}, language = {en} } @article{HeinzEidmannJakuscheitetal.2023, author = {Heinz, Tizian and Eidmann, Annette and Jakuscheit, Axel and Laux, Tino and Rudert, Maximilian and Stratos, Ioannis}, title = {Demographics and trends for inbound medical tourism in Germany for orthopedic patients before and during the COVID-19 pandemic}, series = {International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health}, volume = {20}, journal = {International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health}, number = {2}, issn = {1660-4601}, doi = {10.3390/ijerph20021209}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-304955}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Medical tourism is a rapidly growing sector of economic growth and diversification. However, data on the demographics and characteristics of the traveling patients are sparse. In this study, we analyzed the common demographic properties and characteristics of the inbound medical tourists seeking orthopedic medical care in Germany for the years 2010 to 2019 compared to a domestic group. At the same time, we examined how the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak of 2020 changed the field of medical tourism in Germany. Calculations were performed using administrative hospital data provided by the Federal Statistical Department of Germany. Data were analyzed from the years 2010 to 2020. A total of six elective orthopedic surgery codes (bone biopsy, knee arthroplasty, foot surgery, osteotomy, hardware removal, and arthrodesis) were identified as key service indicators for medical tourism and further analyzed. Factors including residence, sex, year, and type of elective surgery were modeled using linear regression analysis. Age and sex distributions were compared between patients living inside Germany (DE) or outside Germany (non-DE). Between 2010 and 2020, 6,261,801 orthopedic procedures were coded for the DE group and 27,420 key procedures were identified for the non-DE group. Medical tourists were predominantly male and significantly younger than the domestic population. The linear regression analysis of the OPS codes over the past years showed a significantly different slope between the DE and non-DE groups only for the OPS code "hardware removal". With the COVID-19 pandemic, an overall decline in performed orthopedic procedures was observed for the non-DE and the DE group. A significant reduction below the 95\% prediction bands for the year 2020 could be shown for hardware removal and foot surgery (for DE), and for hardware removal, knee arthroplasty, foot surgery, and osteotomy (for non-DE). This study is the first to quantify inbound medical tourism in elective orthopedic surgery in Germany. The COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected many — but not all — areas of orthopedic surgery. It has to be seen how this negative trend will develop in the future.}, language = {en} } @article{HeinzEidmannAndersonetal.2023, author = {Heinz, Tizian and Eidmann, Annette and Anderson, Philip and Weißenberger, Manuel and Jakuscheit, Axel and Rudert, Maximilian and Stratos, Ioannis}, title = {Trends in computer-assisted surgery for total knee arthroplasty in Germany: an analysis based on the operative procedure classification system between 2010 to 2021}, series = {Journal of Clinical Medicine}, volume = {12}, journal = {Journal of Clinical Medicine}, number = {2}, issn = {2077-0383}, doi = {10.3390/jcm12020549}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-304879}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Alignment strategies for primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) have changed significantly over time with a shift towards a more individualized alignment goal. At the same time, computer-assisted surgery (CAS) has gained interest for intraoperative control and accuracy in implant positioning and limb alignment. Despite the often discussed benefits and drawbacks of robotics and navigation for TKA, the routine use of these new devices on a day-to-day basis remains obscure. Therefore, nationwide hospital billing data based on the Operation Procedure Classification System (OPS) were retrieved from the Federal Statistical Office of Germany for the period from 2010 to 2021. OPS codes for primary total knee arthroplasty (OPS code: 5-822*) were further analyzed regarding the usage of computer navigation (additional OPS code: 5-988) or robotic devices (additional OPS code: 5-987). Gender and age at the time of surgery were also assessed. The results show a total of 2,226,559 primary TKAs were implanted between 2010 and 2021, of which 2,044,914 were performed conventionally (91.84\% of all TKAs). A total of 170,276 TKAs were performed using navigation technique (7.65\% of all TKAs) and another 11,369 TKAs were performed using robotics (0.51\% of all TKAs). For the period from 2018 to 2021, a substantial increase in robot-assisted TKA (R-TKA) was observed, with an average increase rate of 84.74\% per year, while the number of navigated TKAs declined (-3.67\% per year). Computer-assisted surgery, and particularly robotics for TKA, are seeing growing popularity and stepwise translation into routine clinical use in Germany, with a steep increase rate of more than 80\% per year since 2018. Nevertheless, the majority of TKAs are still performed using manual instrumentation, rendering conventional TKA the currently unchanged gold standard.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Ibebuchi2023, author = {Ibebuchi, Chibuike Chiedozie}, title = {Bias correction of climate model output for Germany}, doi = {10.25972/OPUS-31264}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-312647}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Regional climate models (RCMs) are tools used to project future climate change at a regional scale. Despite their high horizontal resolution, RCMs are characterized by systematic biases relative to observations, which can result in unrealistic interpretations of future climate change signals. On the other hand, bias correction (BC) is a popular statistical post-processing technique applied to improve the usability of output from climate models. Like every other statistical technique, BC has its strengths and weaknesses. Hence, within the regional context of Germany, and for temperature and precipitation, this study is dedicated to the assessment of the impact of different BC techniques on the RCM output. The focuses are on the impact of BC on the RCM's statistical characterization, and physical consistency defined as the spatiotemporal consistency between the bias-corrected variable and the simulated physical mechanisms governing the variable, as well as the correlations between the bias-corrected variable and other (simulated) climate variables. Five BC techniques were applied in adjusting the systematic biases in temperature and precipitation RCM outputs. The BC techniques are linear scaling, empirical quantile mapping, univariate quantile delta mapping, multivariate quantile delta mapping that considers inter-site dependencies, and multivariate quantile delta mapping that considers inter-variable dependencies (MBCn). The results show that each BC technique adds value in reducing the biases in the statistics of the RCM output, though the added value depends on several factors such as the temporal resolution of the data, choice of RCM, climate variable, region, and the metric used in evaluating the BC technique. Further, the raw RCMs reproduced portions of the observed modes of atmospheric circulation in Western Europe, and the observed temperature, and precipitation meteorological patterns in Germany. After the BC, generally, the spatiotemporal configurations of the simulated meteorological patterns as well as the governing large-scale mechanisms were reproduced. However, at a more localized spatial scale for the individual meteorological patterns, the BC changed the simulated co-variability of some grids, especially for precipitation. Concerning the co-variability among the variables, a physically interpretable positive correlation was found between temperature and precipitation during boreal winter in both models and observations. For most grid boxes in the study domain and on average, the BC techniques that do not adjust inter-variable dependency did not notably change the simulated correlations between the climate variables. However, depending on the grid box, the (univariate) BC techniques tend to degrade the simulated temporal correlations between temperature and precipitation. Further, MBCn which adjusts biases in inter-variable dependency has the skill to improve the correlations between the simulated variables towards observations.}, language = {en} } @article{ParisiLehnerSchraderetal.2023, author = {Parisi, Sandra and Lehner, Nina and Schrader, Hanna and Kierer, Leonard and Fleischer, Anna and Miljukov, Olga and Borgulya, Gabor and R{\"u}ter, Gernot and Viniol, Annika and G{\´a}gyor, Ildik{\´o}}, title = {Experiencing COVID-19, home isolation and primary health care: A mixed-methods study}, series = {Frontiers in Public Health}, volume = {10}, journal = {Frontiers in Public Health}, issn = {2296-2565}, doi = {10.3389/fpubh.2022.1023431}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-301498}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Objectives Although the vast majority of COVID-19 cases are treated in primary care, patients' experiences during home isolation have been little studied. This study aimed to explore the experiences of patients with acute COVID-19 and to identify challenges after the initial adaptation of the German health system to the pandemic (after first infection wave from February to June 2020). Methods A mixed-method convergent design was used to gain a holistic insight into patients experience. The study consisted of a cross-sectional survey, open survey answers and semi-structured telephone interviews. Descriptive analysis was performed on quantitative survey answers. Between group differences were calculated to explore changes after the first infection wave. Qualitative thematic analysis was conducted on open survey answers and interviews. The results were then compared within a triangulation protocol. Results A total of 1100 participants from all German states were recruited by 145 general practitioners from August 2020 to April 2021, 42 additionally took part in qualitative interviews. Disease onset varied from February 2020 to April 2021. After the first infection wave, more participants were tested positive during the acute disease (88.8\%; 95.2\%; P < 0.001). Waiting times for tests (mean 4.5 days, SD 4.1; 2.7days, SD 2.6, P < 0.001) and test results (mean 2.4 days, SD 1.9; 1.8 days, SD 1.3, P < 0.001) decreased. Qualitative results indicated that the availability of repeated testing and antigen tests reduced insecurities, transmission and related guilt. Although personal consultations at general practices increased (6.8\%; 15.5\%, P < 0.001), telephone consultation remained the main mode of consultation (78.5\%) and video remained insignificant (1.9\%). The course of disease, the living situation and social surroundings during isolation, access to health care, personal resilience, spirituality and feelings of guilt and worries emerged as themes influencing the illness experience. Challenges were contact management and adequate provision of care during home isolation. A constant contact person within the health system helped against feelings of care deprivation, uncertainty and fear. Conclusions Our study highlights that home isolation of individuals with COVID-19 requires a holistic approach that considers all aspects of patient care and effective coordination between different care providers.}, language = {en} }