Hasil untuk "German literature"

Alexander Graf, Maike Henningsen, Maximillian Zinner

Background: Germany's declining number of pharmacies raised concerns about patients' access to medication. To address this, pharmacies have started offering (digital) services, including analog and digital options such as phone consultation or medication delivery. According to existing literature, these services could improve access to medication. However, before the introduction of electronic prescriptions (ePs) in 2022, using these services in Germany was cumbersome. Objectives: Given this context, the aim of the study was to examine the challenges and potentials of electronic prescriptions in German pharmacies. Methods: A two-stage sequential mixed methods approach was used, combining semi-structured interviews with an online survey among 1215 pharmacists. Results: Nearly half of surveyed pharmacists (49.3%) supported the transition to electronic prescriptions, while 37.0% opposed it. Technical errors were widespread (mentioned by 90.5%) and disrupted both dispensing and service workflows. Over half (53.3%) believed ePs worsened in-pharmacy pick-up for patients, while 59.3% saw no major effect on (digital) services. More than one in four (28.5%) observed improvements in medication delivery through digital transfer, but many noted increased competition from large online pharmacies, increased workflow complexity, limited perceived patient demand and low profitability. Conclusion: Electronic prescriptions were associated with many challenges for pharmacists. Although they might have the potential to improve patient access to medications, this remains limited by technical instability, low patient digital literacy, and pharmacists' perceptions of limited usefulness. Enhancing pharmacist and patient experiences by reducing technical errors, ensuring profitability of (digital) services, and improving patients' readiness is essential to realize the potential of ePs.

Franziska Braun, Christopher Witzl, Florian Hönig et al.

Early and accessible detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains a major challenge, as current diagnostic methods often rely on costly and invasive biomarkers. Speech and language analysis has emerged as a promising non-invasive and scalable approach to detecting cognitive impairment, but research in this area is hindered by the lack of publicly available datasets, especially for languages other than English. This paper introduces the PARLO Dementia Corpus (PDC), a new multi-center, clinically validated German resource for AD collected across nine academic memory clinics in Germany. The dataset comprises speech recordings from individuals with AD-related mild cognitive impairment and mild to moderate dementia, as well as cognitively healthy controls. Speech was elicited using a standardized test battery of eight neuropsychological tasks, including confrontation naming, verbal fluency, word repetition, picture description, story reading, and recall tasks. In addition to audio recordings, the dataset includes manually verified transcriptions and detailed demographic, clinical, and biomarker metadata. Baseline experiments on ASR benchmarking, automated test evaluation, and LLM-based classification illustrate the feasibility of automatic, speech-based cognitive assessment and highlight the diagnostic value of recall-driven speech production. The PDC thus establishes the first publicly available German benchmark for multi-modal and cross-lingual research on neurodegenerative diseases.

Oliver Wardas, Florian Matthes

Employment contracts are used to agree upon the working conditions between employers and employees all over the world. Understanding and reviewing contracts for void or unfair clauses requires extensive knowledge of the legal system and terminology. Recent advances in Natural Language Processing (NLP) hold promise for assisting in these reviews. However, applying NLP techniques on legal text is particularly difficult due to the scarcity of expert-annotated datasets. To address this issue and as a starting point for our effort in assisting lawyers with contract reviews using NLP, we release an anonymized and annotated benchmark dataset for legality and fairness review of German employment contract clauses, alongside with baseline model evaluations.

David Winkelmann, Christian Deutscher

We use the fertile ground of betting markets to study the anticipation of major news in financial markets. While there is a considerable body of literature on the accuracy and efficiency of betting markets after important in-match events, there are no studies dealing with the anticipation of such events. This paper tracks bookmaker odds and betting stakes to provide insights into the movement of both prior to goals. Utilising high-resolution (1 Hz) data from a leading European bookmaker for a full season of the top German football league, we analyse whether market participants anticipate major news. In particular, we consider the case of the first goal scored within a match, with its strong impact on the match outcome. Using regression models and state-space models (SSMs) accounting for an underlying market activity level, we investigate whether the bookmaker adjusts odds and bettors tend to place higher stakes on the scoring team right before the first goal is scored. Our results indicate that neither side of the market anticipates goals by significantly adjusting their behaviour.

Lion Hirth, Inka Ziegenhagen

Dirk Richter, Mareike Kunter, U. Klusmann et al.

R. Baron, A. Binder, R. Biniek et al.

In 2010, under the guidance of the DGAI (German Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine) and DIVI (German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine), twelve German medical societies published the “Evidence- and Consensus-based Guidelines on the Management of Analgesia, Sedation and Delirium in Intensive Care”. Since then, several new studies and publications have considerably increased the body of evidence, including the new recommendations from the American College of Critical Care Medicine (ACCM) in conjunction with Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) from 2013. For this update, a major restructuring and extension of the guidelines were needed in order to cover new aspects of treatment, such as sleep and anxiety management. The literature was systematically searched and evaluated using the criteria of the Oxford Center of Evidence Based Medicine. The body of evidence used to formulate these recommendations was reviewed and approved by representatives of 17 national societies. Three grades of recommendation were used as follows: Grade “A” (strong recommendation), Grade “B” (recommendation) and Grade “0” (open recommendation). The result is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary, evidence and consensus-based set of level 3 guidelines. This publication was designed for all ICU professionals, and takes into account all critically ill patient populations. It represents a guide to symptom-oriented prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of delirium, anxiety, stress, and protocol-based analgesia, sedation, and sleep-management in intensive care medicine.

Fausto Cercignani

Studia theodisca, Vol 31 (2024) - Cover and Introductory Pages

John McKinnell

This paper suggests that after the conversion of the North to Christianity, the underlying emotional colouring of religious imagery changed much more slowly than explicit mythology and religious belief did. An instance of this can be seen in the associations of rivers, which in sources derived from pre-Christian culture are usually seen as dangerous and threatening, whereas their associations in Christian tradition are mostly positive and often associated with baptism and salvation. The paper looks at episodes in the synoptic histories and Orkneyinga saga in which rulers bathe in the River Jordan, and shows that the expected Christian associations are present only where there is a clear propagandist motive. Elsewhere, the positive associations of bathing in the Jordan are undermined, either by discordant details within the episode itself, or by later events in the protagonist’s life that parallel but undercut it. In Morkinskinna these episodes generally use Christian-derived imagery, while in Snorri’s Heimskringla they include some echoes of pre-Christian mythology, but both adopt a view of rivers and other stretches of water which seems emotionally akin to the pessimistic pre-Christian attitude towards them

Benjamin Dejakum, Stefan Kiechl, Stefan Kiechl et al.

IntroductionThis study aimed to emphasize the importance of cranial nerve (CN) palsies in spontaneous cervical artery dissection (sCeAD).MethodsA search term-based literature review was conducted on “cervical artery dissection” and “cranial nerve palsy.” English and German articles published until October 2023 were considered.ResultsCranial nerve (CN) palsy in sCeAD is evident in approximately 10% of cases. In the literature, isolated palsies of CN II, III, VII, IX, X, and XII have been reported, while CN XI palsy only occurs in combination with other lower cranial nerve palsies. Dissection type and mural hematoma localization are specific to affected CN as CN palsies of II or III are solely evident in those with steno-occlusive vessel pathologies located at more proximal segments of ICA, while those with CN palsies of IX, X, XI, and XII occur in expansive sCeAD at more distal segments. This dichotomization emphasizes the hypothesis of a different pathomechanism in CN palsy associated with sCeAD, one being hypoperfusion or microembolism (CN II, III, and VII) and the other being a local mass effect on surrounding tissue (CN IX, X, XI, and XII). Clinically, the distinction between peripheral palsies and those caused by brainstem infarction is difficult. This differentiation is key, as, according to the reviewed cases, peripheral cranial nerve palsies in sCeAD patients mostly resolve completely over time, while those due to brainstem stroke do not, making cerebrovascular imaging appraisal essential.DiscussionIt is important to consider dissections as a potential cause of peripheral CN palsies and to be aware of the appropriate diagnostic pathways. This awareness can help clinicians make an early diagnosis, offering the opportunity for primary stroke prevention.

Bolei Ma, Berk Yoztyurk, Anna-Carolina Haensch et al.

In recent research, large language models (LLMs) have been increasingly used to investigate public opinions. This study investigates the algorithmic fidelity of LLMs, i.e., the ability to replicate the socio-cultural context and nuanced opinions of human participants. Using open-ended survey data from the German Longitudinal Election Studies (GLES), we prompt different LLMs to generate synthetic public opinions reflective of German subpopulations by incorporating demographic features into the persona prompts. Our results show that Llama performs better than other LLMs at representing subpopulations, particularly when there is lower opinion diversity within those groups. Our findings further reveal that the LLM performs better for supporters of left-leaning parties like The Greens and The Left compared to other parties, and matches the least with the right-party AfD. Additionally, the inclusion or exclusion of specific variables in the prompts can significantly impact the models' predictions. These findings underscore the importance of aligning LLMs to more effectively model diverse public opinions while minimizing political biases and enhancing robustness in representativeness.

Samdruk Dharshing

Leila Mirzaei, Ebrahim Abbasi, Farhad Tarahomi

The purpose of this research was to identify the factors affecting financing of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). The method of this study was to use the multiple regression model and panel data to test the hypotheses. The statistical population included 63 small and medium-sized companies admitted to the TSE, which were tested for the period of 2006 to 2021. The contribution was the use of market cap as a criterion for determining small and medium-sized companies. According to the findings, company size has a significant effect on internal financing. In addition, company size had a significant relationship with external financing through debt and share issuance. Also, there was a significant relationship between intangible assets and internal financing, while the ages of the small and medium sized enterprises did not have a significant relationship with external financing. It is suggested that small and medium-sized enterprises pay more attention to the significant variables for financing. Keywords: Financing, Debt, Equity, Intangible Assets, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises.   Introduction The primary focus of this study was to investigate the financing of the capital structure of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Iran. SMEs play a crucial role in the economies of both developed and developing countries. According to the theory posed by Schumacher, a renowned German economist, as presented in the book "Small is Beautiful", creating job opportunities in rural areas and small towns can be achieved by making modest investments to generate employment, utilizing relatively simple production methods and leveraging local resources to establish small industries. SMEs serve as the backbone of the developing world's economy (Memarnejad, 2019). In today's world, financing has become a significant concern for countries, whether they are developing or developed. A well-designed capital structure possesses the potential and capacity to adapt to changes in the surrounding environment and, in turn, influences its surroundings by generating appropriate returns. SMEs play a crucial role in poverty alleviation, wealth creation, and fostering greater participation of marginalized sections of society, such as youth and women, in the economic development of nations. The growth of these enterprises strengthens the democratic ethos and civil society, while also encouraging entrepreneurs to actively engage in the economic, political, and social fabric of their countries. In fact, in most nations, the majority of employment opportunities are generated by SMEs. For instance, in the 30 high-income countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, two-thirds of the total workforce can be attributed to SMEs (Memarnejad, 2019). This study aimed to highlight the significance and role of SMEs in Iran's economy. However, certain selection criteria were applied, such as: a) selecting companies with fiscal years ending in March and no changes in their fiscal year, b) encountering incomplete data for some companies, and c) excluding banks, financial institutions, and financial investment companies due to their distinct nature of operations. Consequently, the number of companies studied was reduced to 63. Therefore, caution should be exercised when generalizing the findings of this study to other entities within the industry under consideration. Moreover, it is important to note that financing is influenced by various macroeconomic factors, including the inflation rate, gross domestic product, interest rates on facilities, and exchange rates. However, these factors were not incorporated into this study, and consequently, might impact the results. Various factors, such as asset structure, age, profitability, growth, and industry, have been identified as key determinants that can significantly influence the capital structure (Hall, 2002). Indeed, a wide range of variables have been found to impact the choice of an appropriate capital structure (Chen, 2004; Çekrezi, 2013). Additionally, this study examined factors that could potentially affect both the capital structure and profitability of companies. Recognizing that the capital structure can impact the overall value of a company, it is crucial to investigate the factors that effectively and predictably influence it. Numerous authors have conducted studies in this area, leading to the development of theories, such as the static equilibrium theory, the pecking order theory, and the agency theory. The static equilibrium theory emphasizes the balance between the tax shield of interest rate and the costs associated with debt issuance. According to this theory, a company should strive to achieve an optimal level of debt that maximizes its profitability. When the value of the tax benefit exceeds the present value of the costs associated with debt issuance, the company is considered to be at an optimal equilibrium point. Therefore, a manager aiming to maximize shareholders' wealth should carefully select a level of debt for the company that ensures the resulting tax shield outweigh the current value of the costs associated with debt creation (Rasiah & Kim, 2011). Another prominent theory of capital structure is the pecking order theory, initially proposed by Myers and Majluf. This theory suggests a preference for financing investment projects using internal funds, such as retained earnings (internal financing), rather than relying on external resources obtained through equity issuance and debt issuance. According to this theory, managers prioritize utilizing retained earnings for funding their projects. Once the accumulated earnings are depleted, they turn to debt issuance as a source of financial resources. Finally, when it becomes impractical to take on additional debt, they resort to share issuance to meet their financial needs (Rasiah & Kim, 2011). On the other hand, the agency theory posits that the optimal capital structure is achieved by minimizing the costs arising from conflicts of interest between stakeholders (Jensen and William, 1976). In this context, agency costs play a significant role in funding decisions due to the potential conflicts that may arise between shareholders and debt holders. The size of an enterprise has a profound impact on its capital structure (Rajan & Zingales, 1995; Titman & Wessels, 1988). Small firms, in particular, face unique challenges compared to larger businesses as they have often limited access to external sources of capital, such as debt. Consequently, they are compelled to make alternative financing decisions (Ang, 1991). This supports the notion that SMEs are more susceptible to financial difficulties and confront higher levels of uncertainty and risk compared to newer, smaller firms (Engel & Stiebale, 2013; Rosenbusch Brinckmann & Müller, 2013). Based on the proposed conceptual framework, the following hypotheses were put forth: Hypothesis 1: The size of small and medium-sized enterprises exhibits a significant relationship with internal financing. Hypothesis 2: The size of small and medium-sized enterprises demonstrates a significant relationship with external financing in the form of debt. Hypothesis 3: The size of small and medium-sized enterprises displays a significant relationship with external financing through equity issuance. Intangible assets possess the potential to create valuable knowledge-based competitive advantages, thereby fostering future growth (Barney, 1991; Hitt et al., 2001). However, these assets are often challenging to transfer to other businesses, making it difficult to secure external funding sources (Brierley, 2001; Revest and Sapio, 2012). Firms with intangible assets face a greater problem of asymmetric information as these assets are difficult to value. This, in turn, reduces their opportunities to obtain external financing (Clarysse et al., 2003; Harris et al., 1991). Based on the above, the following hypothesis was proposed: Hypothesis 4: Intangible assets exhibit a significant relationship with internal financing in small and medium-sized enterprises. The age of a company also plays a crucial role in determining its capital structure. Faulkender (2005) highlights an interesting point, suggesting that younger firms have less established track records and may not be as recognized by their more experienced competitors. Consequently, small and medium-sized enterprises often struggle to secure sufficient financial resources (Demirel & Parris, 2015). The pecking order theory further supports the notion that internal financing should be prioritized followed by debt financing (Myers & Majluf, 1984). Based on the aforementioned cases, the following hypotheses were proposed: Hypothesis 5: The age of small and medium-sized enterprises exhibits a significant relationship with external financing through equity issuance. Hypothesis 6: The age of small and medium-sized enterprises demonstrates a significant relationship with external financing in the form of debt.   Materials & Methods The aim of this study was to examine the impact of size, age, and intangible asset variables on the dependent funding variable. Additionally, control variables, such as the operating cash, operating income ratio, current account ratio, fixed asset ratio, and working capital, were included. This study was conducted through a literature review, analyzing relevant literature and employing descriptive and inferential analyses of the data. The statistical population for this study consisted of small and medium-sized collected listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). A sample of 63 companies was selected for the period of 2006-2021. The hypotheses were based on the models proposed by Neville & Lucy (2022) and Aghaei (2015). Regression analysis was employed to test the effect of factors on the models of internal financing, external financing, and ownership ratio. Three regression models were utilized and their definitions and methods of obtaining the variables were explained as follows: INTRNLit=β0+β1INTANGPERCit+β2CURRENTRATIOit+β3FIXEDASSETit+β4SIZEit+β5OPERATINGCASHTOINCOMEit+β6WORKINGCAPITALit+eit                                                                                                                                                                 Model (1) Model 2 was employed to test the hypotheses regarding the factors influencing external financing (debt). In this model, the following variables were considered: INTRNL is internal financing represented as a percentage of the total capital. It is calculated by dividing the capital increase from reserves, cash inflows, and current receivables by the total capital. INTANGPER is intangible asset ratio determined by dividing the value of intangible assets by the total assets listed on the balance sheet. CURRENTRATIO is current ratio calculated by dividing current assets by current liabilities. FIXEDASSETRATIO is fixed asset ratio obtained by dividing fixed assets by total assets. SIZE is size of the enterprises measured by using the logarithm of the book value of assets. OPERATINGCASHBYINCOME is the relationship between operating cash and operating profit calculated by dividing operating cash by operating profit. WORKINGCAPITAL is net working capital calculated as the difference between current assets and liabilities. These variables were analyzed in Model 2 to assess their impacts on external financing (debt) and test the hypotheses.   DEBTit=β0+β1AGEit+β2CURRENTRATIOit+β3FIXEDASSETit+β4SIZEit+β5OPERATINGCASHTOINCOMEit+β6WORKINGCAPITALit+eit                                                                                                                                                                                                 Model (2) In the above model, DEBT represents the proportion of total debt to total assets, indicating the extent to which the company is financed through debt. AGE refers to the age of the enterprises calculated based on the logarithm of the number of years of activity. In addition to these variables, other control variables, such as the capital ratio, current ratio, operating cash ratio, and working capital were included. Model 3 was developed to test and validate the assumptions regarding the factors influencing the ownership ratio. The aim of this model was to investigate the variables that contributed to determining the ownership structure of the sample enterprises.   EQUITYit=β0+β1AGEit+β2WORKINGCAPITALit+β3CURRENTRATIOit+β4FIXEDASSETit+β5SIZEit+β6OPERATINGCASHTOINCOMEit +eit                                                                                                                                                                                 Model (3) EQUITY represents the shareholder ratio, which is calculated by dividing the total funding by the total capital. Selection of the dependent and independent variables was based on the study conducted by Neville and Lucy (2022).   Findings The data used in this study were combined at the enterprise-year level and econometric diagnostic tests were conducted. Based on the evidence, Hypothesis 1, which posited a significant relationship between the size of SMEs and internal financing, was confirmed. Additionally, Hypothesis 4, which suggested a significant relationship between intangible assets and internal financing, was also supported. The results of Model 1 can be observed in Table 1. Table 1: The results of estimating model 1 Variable Coefficient t statistic Significance level OPERATINGCASHTOREVENUE -0.73 -2.00 0.04 SIZE 0.03 3.01 0.00 WORKINGCAPITAL -4.18 -1.39 0.16 CURRENTRATIO -0.04 -1.13 0.25 FIXEDASSETRATIO -0.14 -0.94 0.34 INIBLETANGIBLEASSETRATIO 7.46 2.19 0.03 C -0.76 -2.34 0.02 AR(1) 0.01 0.47 0.63 F statistic probability 0.00 4.27   Durbin Watson statistics 2.39     Coefficient of Determination 0.58     Adjusted coefficient of determination 0.44       According to the Table 1, the coefficient of the variable of working capital is found to be significant at the given significance level, indicating a direct relationship with external financing (debt). On the other hand, the variables, such as size, operating cash ratio, current ratio, and fixed asset ratio, exhibit a significant and inverse relationship with external financing. Based on the evidence, Hypothesis 2, which suggested a significant relationship between the size of small and medium-sized enterprises and external financing (debt), was confirmed. However, Hypothesis 6, which proposed a significant relationship between the age of small and medium-sized enterprises and external financing (debt), was not supported. The results of Model 2 are presented in Table 2.     Table 2: The results of estimating Model 2 Variable Coefficient t statistic Significance level AGE 0.03 1.57 0.11 SIZE -0.24 -15.09 0.00 OPERATINGCASHTOINCOME -0.043 -2.40 0.01 CURRENTRATIO -0.07 -11.68 0.00 FIXED ASSETRATIO -0.14 -4.14 0.00 WORKINGCAPITAL 1.91 2.11 0.03 C -51.90 -1.53 0.12 AR(1) 0.74 21.90 0.00 F statistic probability 0.00 69.31   Durbin Watson statistics 2.11     Coefficient of Determination 0.89     Adjusted coefficient of determination 0.87       Based on the Table 2, the variables of size, fixed asset ratio, current ratio, and operating cash ratio are found to be significantly and positively associated with the ownership ratio, while the working capital ratio exhibits a significant and negative relationship. Based on the evidence, Hypothesis 3, which suggested a significant relationship between the size of small and medium-sized enterprises and external financing (proprietary rights), was confirmed. However, Hypothesis 5, which proposed a significant relationship between the age of SMEs and external financing (proprietary rights), was not supported. The results of Model 3 are presented in Table 3. Table 3: The results of Hypothesis Test Model 3 Variable Coefficient t statistic Significance level AGE -0.02 -0.24 0.80 SIZE 0.21 15.41 0.00 WORKING CAPITAL -2.00 -3.14 0.00 FIXED ASSET RATIO 0.15 4.45 0.00 CURRENT RATIO 0.07 12.42 0.00 OPERATING CASH TO INCOME 0.03 1.97 0.04 C 29.80 0.24 0.81 AR(1) 0.71 22.70 0.00 F statistic probability 0.00 0.01   Durbin Watson statistics 2.01     Coefficient of Determination 0.87     Adjusted coefficient of determination 0.85       Discussion & Conclusions The findings of this study supported the 1st and 3rd hypotheses, which suggested a positive and significant relationship between company size and the dependent variables of internal financing and ownership ratio, respectively. Conversely, company size exhibited a negative and significant relationship with debt, in line with the second hypothesis. Additionally, the results indicated a significant positive relationship between intangible assets and internal financing, aligning with the 4th hypothesis. These findings suggested that small and medium-sized companies relied more on internal financing and utilize less debt, which aligned with the pecking order theory. This is consistent with the study conducted by O'Brien (2003). Furthermore, the study did not find a significant relationship between the age of SMEs and internal and external financing (capital structure), contradicting the 5th hypothesis. In conclusion, the results of this study highlighted the importance of company size and intangible assets in determining the financing choices of SMEs. These findings contributed to our understanding of the capital structure decisions made by SMEs. Regarding the relationship between the size of small and medium-sized enterprises and their internal and external financing, the findings align with the studies conducted by Neville and Lucy (2022), Sunaina (2020), and Aghaei et al. (2014). However, the results differ from those of Ozkan (2001), which can be attributed to variations in the economic structure, such as inflation rate and exchange rate, of the countries. Furthermore, the results support the findings of Neville and Lucy (2022) and O'Brien (2003), regarding the relationship between intangible assets, such as ideas, intellectual property, brands, business methods, and internal financing. It was confirmed that companies with a higher proportion of intangible assets faced more challenges and barriers when seeking external financing, which is consistent with the hierarchical theory. Regarding the relationship between the age of small companies and external financing, specifically through debt and ownership rights, the findings of this study are consistent with the studies conducted by Gregory (2005), Neville and Lucy (2022), and Wasiuzzaman and Nurdin (2019). However, the results differ from the study conducted by Faulkner et al. (2006), which focused on credit limits and the distinction between the public debt market (bonds) and the private debt market (banks). In their study conducted in England, they found a negative relationship between debt and age of company. The disparity in findings could be attributed to the different economic structures of the countries. This variation highlighted the importance of considering the specific context and economic conditions when analyzing the relationship between company age and external financing.

Miriam Flickinger, Miriam Zschoche

Abstract Existing literature has primarily identified financial and/or strategic considerations as drivers of international downsizing decisions. A subsidiary’s performance seems to have a superior meaning among those considerations. Cultural distance is also an important factor, although its influence on downsizing is ambiguous: It increases coordination costs and, hence, lowers performance; however, cultural distance might also entail benefits of diversity and diversification. We challenge prior perspectives on the role of cultural distance in international downsizing decisions by showing that cultural distance also bears influences beyond efficiency considerations. Using insights from social identity and self-categorization theory, we argue that cultural distance influences how decision-makers interpret the efficiency of the subsidiary in terms of its performance. We expect that the lower the cultural distance, the more positively performance outcomes will be interpreted, leading to less workforce downsizing in a culturally proximate subsidiary as compared to one that is culturally more distant. Results of our large-scale empirical analysis of more than 14,000 downsizing decisions of German MNCs throughout 60 industries and across 54 host countries support our predictions.

V. S. Ryumshin, V. A. Chernyshev

The crystal structure, phonon spectrum, and elastic constants of a series of rare-earth germanates (including yttrium germanate R2Ge2O7 (R = Tb-Lu, Y)) with a tetragonal structure have been ab initio calculated within the density functional theory. The frequencies and types of fundamental vibrations and the intensities of IR and Raman modes are determined. The degrees of participation of ions in each mode are determined by analyzing the displacement vectors obtained as a result of the ab initio calculations. The calculations have been performed for the first time; there are no corresponding experimental data for the entire series of compounds (except for the IR and Raman spectra of yttrium germanate). The performed calculations made it possible to interpret and supplement the known data in the literature on IR and Raman spectra of yttrium germanate Y2Ge2O7.

Miriam Anschütz, Joshua Oehms, Thomas Wimmer et al.

Automatic text simplification systems help to reduce textual information barriers on the internet. However, for languages other than English, only few parallel data to train these systems exists. We propose a two-step approach to overcome this data scarcity issue. First, we fine-tuned language models on a corpus of German Easy Language, a specific style of German. Then, we used these models as decoders in a sequence-to-sequence simplification task. We show that the language models adapt to the style characteristics of Easy Language and output more accessible texts. Moreover, with the style-specific pre-training, we reduced the number of trainable parameters in text simplification models. Hence, less parallel data is sufficient for training. Our results indicate that pre-training on unaligned data can reduce the required parallel data while improving the performance on downstream tasks.

L. Erhard, S. Hanke, U. Remer et al.

The rise of populism concerns many political scientists and practitioners, yet the detection of its underlying language remains fragmentary. This paper aims to provide a reliable, valid, and scalable approach to measure populist stances. For that purpose, we created an annotated dataset based on parliamentary speeches of the German Bundestag (2013 to 2021). Following the ideational definition of populism, we label moralizing references to the virtuous people or the corrupt elite as core dimensions of populist language. To identify, in addition, how the thin ideology of populism is thickened, we annotate how populist statements are attached to left-wing or right-wing host ideologies. We then train a transformer-based model (PopBERT) as a multilabel classifier to detect and quantify each dimension. A battery of validation checks reveals that the model has a strong predictive accuracy, provides high qualitative face validity, matches party rankings of expert surveys, and detects out-of-sample text snippets correctly. PopBERT enables dynamic analyses of how German-speaking politicians and parties use populist language as a strategic device. Furthermore, the annotator-level data may also be applied in cross-domain applications or to develop related classifiers.

J. Gierveld

Klaas Würzburg, X. Labandeira, P. Linares

Rikke Guldager, Mia Ingerslev Loft, Sara Nordentoft et al.

<h4>Introduction</h4>Involving relatives can contribute to better quality of care and treatment, and lead to higher satisfaction with hospitalisation in the patients, relatives and healthcare professionals. Nurses play an important role in developing a trusting relationship and facilitating relatives' involvement, since they are around the patient and relatives all day. Thus, involvement is central to the nursing practice. However, involving relatives seems complex and multifaceted with many possible facilitators and barriers to nurses.'<h4>Objective</h4>The objective of this scoping review is to identify and map the available evidence concerning possible facilitators and barriers to nurses involving relatives in the course of treating disease in individuals who have sustained an acquired brain injury or malignant brain tumour in all settings.<h4>Methods and analysis</h4>The proposed scoping review will be performed following the Joanna Briggs Institute's (JBI) methodology for scoping reviews. Indexed and grey literature in English, Scandinavian or German languages from 2010 to the present will be considered. The searches will be conducted using bibliographic databases: Medline (via PubMed), CINAHL (via EBSCO) and EMBASE (via OVID). Two reviewers will independently screen the studies and determine if their title, abstract and full text meet the study's inclusion criteria. In case of disagreement, a third and fourth reviewer will be consulted. A customised data extraction form will be used to extract data from the included studies. The results will be presented in tabular form, accompanied by a narrative summary related to the objective of the present scoping review. This scoping review will consider studies that involve nurses caring for individuals with an acquired brain injury or malignant brain tumour in all settings (community, primary care, health care centres, hospital and long-term care institutions). Studies will be included if they describe any kind of facilitators or barriers to involving relatives, and the review will consider all study designs.