Maria Winkler-Dworak

• Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW)

STUDY QUESTION What are the factors influencing the decline in the birth rates observed in higher-income countries in the later phase of the COVID-19 pandemic? SUMMARY ANSWER Our results suggest that economic uncertainty, non-pharmaceutical policy interventions, and the first wave of the population-wide vaccination campaign were associated with th...

Background Left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) is a cardiac abnormality of unknown pathogenesis, frequently associated with neuromuscular disorders. The relevance of coronary artery disease (CAD) in LVHT is largely unknown. This study aimed to assess the role of CAD as a prognostic marker in LVHT. Methods Data from patients wi...

Fertility rates among individuals in their 20s have fallen sharply across Europe over the past 50 years. The implications of delayed first births for fertility levels in modern family regimes remain little understood. Using microsimulation models of childbearing and partnership for the 1970–1979 birth cohorts in Italy, Great Britain, Sweden, and No...

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, birth rates in most higher-income countries first briefly declined and then shortly recovered, showing no common trends afterwards until early 2022, when they unexpectedly dropped. STUDY FOCUS: We analyse monthly changes in total fertility rates in higher-income countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, with...

We use monthly birth data collected by the Human Fertility Database to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on birth trends until September 2022 in 38 higher-income countries. We also present estimates of the monthly total fertility rate adjusted for seasonality. Our analysis reveals that the pandemic led to distinct swings in births and fer...

Past economic, health and policy shocks were associated with a downturn in fertility. We use monthly birth data collected by the Human Fertility Database (Short-Term Fertility Fluctuations data series) to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on birth trends until April 2022 in 37 highly developed countries. We also present estimates of month...

Background: Family patterns in Western countries have changed substantially across birth cohorts. The spread of unmarried cohabitation, the decline and postponement of marriage and fertility, and the rise in nonmarital births, partnership instability, and repartnering lead to an increasing diversity in family life courses. Objective: In this paper...

A pandemic has developed, so physicians worldwide are particularly interested in the experiences of their Chinese Colleagues which are frequently cited. To assess the long-term pulmonary, cardiac, neurologic, and psychiatric consequences after COVID-19, the outcome of patients included in the early publications and the association with baseline fin...

Background The prognosis of patients with left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) is controversially assessed. LVHT is frequently associated with neuromuscular disorders (NMDs). Aim of the study was to assess cardiac and neurological findings as predictors of mortality in LVHT-patients. Methods Included were patients with LVHT dia...

Aims: Left ventricular hypertrabeculation/non-compaction (LVHT) is a cardiac abnormality of unknown pathogenesis and frequently associated with neuromuscular disorders. The N-terminal fragment of the pro brain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) is a prognostic marker in heart failure whose relevance in LVHT patients is largely unknown. The aim of th...

Age is a crucial variable in social sciences and particularly in population dynamics. In this paper, we link methods from formal demography and Operations Research to investigate age-structured models to study the greying of academia. As scientific productivity is usually found to decrease at advanced ages, there was a vivid discussion on the agein...

The prognosis of patients with left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) is assessed controversially. LVHT is associated with other cardiac abnormalities and with neuromuscular disorders (NMD). Aim of the study was to assess cardiac and neurological findings as predictors of mortality rate in adult LVHT-patients. Included were patien...

In this study, we investigate through microsimulation the link between cohabiting parenthood and family instability. We identify mechanisms through which increases in cohabiting parenthood may contribute to overall increases in separation among parents, linking micro-level processes to macro-level outcomes. Analyses are based on representative surv...

Vulnerability shapes the future well-being of families and particularly the children raised within those families. Reducing the societal reproduction of vulnerability is a great challenge for policy- makers. The present book explores societal developments that influence future vulnerability and discusses respective policy implications.

Despite dramatic changes in family life over the past several decades, survey data demonstrate that a ‘standard’ family life course remains a goal for the vast majority. The ideal family life course is to have a stable partnership with two or more children, and to have all of one’s children with the same partner. Achievement of a standard family li...

This study addresses the mortality of the members of the Saxonian Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig. In fact, learned societies have been shown to present vanguard groups in the achievement of longevity. We use biographical records from the members of the Saxonian Academy of Sciences from 1846 to 2010 and compare their mortality to Germ...

In this paper, we assess the role of policies aimed at regulating the number and age structure of elections on the size and age structure of five European Academies of Sciences. We show the recent pace of ageing and the degree of variation in policies across them and discuss the implications of different policies on the size and age structure of ac...

Opportunities for conceiving and bearing children are fewer when unions are not formed or are dissolved during the childbearing years. At the same time, union instability produces a pool of persons who may enter new partnerships and have additional children in stepfamilies. The balance between these two opposing forces and their implications for fe...

The prevalence of coronary pathologic findings in patients with left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) is unknown. The study in a cohort of consecutive LVHT patients aimed to assess how often coronary angiography (CA) had been performed, if clinical findings and prognosis differed between patients with and without CA, how often pa...

The prognosis of patients with left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) is controversial. We assessed cardiologic and neurologic predictors for mortality in LVHT patients and how many received implantable cardioverters/defibrillators(ICD) or cardiac resynchronization devices (CRT). Included were patients with LVHT diagnosed echocard...

Left bundle branch block (LBB) is frequently found in left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT). To compare LVHT patients with and without LBB regarding LVHT location and extension, left ventricular function, symptoms, electrocardiographic findings, prevalence of neuromuscular disorders (NMDs) and mortality during follow-up. The char...

Radiofrequency-catheter-ablation of atrial fibrillation is now commonly performed. Aim of this short review is to summarize questions and uncertainties concerning radiofrequency ablation of atrial fibrillation with respect to therapeutic mechanisms, long-term efficacy and stroke-prevention. The majority of atrial fibrillation patients is too old fo...

The prognosis of patients with left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) is controversial. LVHT is associated with neuromuscular disorders (NMD) and diagnosed echocardiographically in in- as well as outpatients. We compared cardiologic and neurologic findings and mortality in LVHT-patients according to their diagnosis established as...

This study addresses the mortality of the members of a learned society. Following the literature on the social gradient of mortality, members of a learned society should exhibit much lower death rates than other social groups. We use biographical records from the members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences between 1847 and 2005 and compare their mo...

Little is known about frequency, morphology, and causes of stroke in patients with left-ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT). Aim of this study was to find out how many LVHT-patients suffer from stroke, which abnormalities are found on cerebral imaging, and if stroke LVHT-patients differ from non-stroke LVHT-patients with regard to c...

The study in patients with left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) aimed to compare patients with and without atrial fibrillation (AF) regarding prevalence of neuromuscular disorders (NMD), cardiac symptoms, electrocardiographic (ECG) findings, left ventricular function, location and extension of LVHT and mortality. LVHT was diagno...

Introduction and objectives Left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT/NC) is more prevalent in men and is frequently associated with neuromuscular disorders (NMDs). The aim of this study was to assess sex differences in a) the location and extent of LVHT/NC; b) left ventricular function; c) cardiac symptoms; d) electrocardiographic fi...

Left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT/NC) is more prevalent in men and is frequently associated with neuromuscular disorders (NMDs). The aim of this study was to assess sex differences in a) the location and extent of LVHT/NC; b) left ventricular function; c) cardiac symptoms; d) electrocardiographic findings; e) the prevalence of...

In a hierarchical organisation of stable size the annual intake is strictly determined by the number of deaths and a statutory retirement age (if there is one). In this paper we reconstruct the population of the Austrian Academy of Sciences from 1847 to 2005. For the Austrian Academy of Sciences we observe a shift of its age distribution towards ol...

Numerous studies have shown that educational attainment and labour force status have a strong impact on the timing of family formation for both men and women. The effects of educational level, school enrolment and employment seem to be different for men and women. The aim of this article is to investigate how gender-specific differences in family f...

Left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) is a cardiac abnormality frequently associated with neuromuscular disorders (NMD). The data about long-term prognosis of patients with LVHT are controversial. Aim of the study in a cohort of LVHT patients was to assess the long-term prognosis regarding mortality, cardiac and neuromuscular com...

Left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) is a cardiac abnormality with suspected genetic background, characterized by trabeculations and intertrabecular recesses. Aim of the study in LVHT patients was to assess the AB0 system and D(Rh(o)) antigen frequencies, to look for an association between the prevalence of cardiac and neuromusc...

Left-ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) is characterized by prominent trabeculations and intertrabecular recesses. LVHT is usually diagnosed if a patient is referred for echocardiography. The study assessed if cardiologic and neurologic findings differ relating to indication for echocardiography. Included were patients in whom LVHT...

Left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) is characterized by prominent trabeculations and intertrabecular recesses. LVHT patients suffer from heart failure, arrhythmias, chest pain and neuromuscular disorders (NMD). Data about long-term prognosis of LVHT are controversial. The aim of the study was to compare the mortality of LVHT pa...

Left ventricular hypertrabeculation/non-compaction (LVHT) is a cardiac abnormality characterized by prominent trabeculations and intertrabecular recesses, and frequently associated with neuromuscular disorders (NMD). The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities in LVHT and its association with clinic...

Left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) is a cardiac abnormality characterized by prominent trabeculations and intertrabecular recesses, and frequently associated with neuromuscular disorders (NMD). Initially described in children and young adults, LVHT has been found also in elderly. Aim of the study was to assess the age-dependen...

Short-term variations in fertility and seasonal patterns of childbearing have been of interest to demographers for a long time. Presenting our detailed study of period fertility in Austria since 1984, we discuss the problems and advantages of constructing and analysing monthly series of various period fertility indicators that reflect real exposure...

Whether patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) have an increased mortality compared with the general population is controversially assessed. The mortality of 409 outpatients with AF (36% female, mean age 62 years, 39% paroxysmal AF, 27% lone AF), who were included in a prospective observational study, was compared with the mortality of the general...

Left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) is frequently associated with neuromuscular disorders (NMD). It is unknown, whether LVHT patients differ according to the presence or absence of NMD. Aim of the study was to assess, if clinical, ECG or echocardiographic findings differ between LVHT patients with and without NMD. Included were...

Period marriage rates have been falling dramatically in most industrial societies since the beginning of the 1970s. As has been shown in the literature, part of this decline is due to the postponement of marriage to later ages. However, the change in variance has been ignored so far. In the case of Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, this paper expl...

We study the impact of differential fertility levels for the food-insecure and food-secure population on the long-run values of the population distribution and resources in a descriptive model where the food security states are determined by a historically given food distribution and the endogenous food production with resources and labour as input...

We study the impact of food distribution on the steady-state portion of food-insecure people in a stationary population. By applying a descriptive model we illustrate the positive feedback between food insecurity, low productivity in production, and inequalities in food distribution. Under these assumptions multiple steady states of the population...

We investigate the optimal path of the primary surplus that a government will choose to minimize costs that derive from exceeding the Maastricht criteria and generally of a stability pact, where we assume three components of costs that are related to (1) the debt-to-GDP ratio, (2) the overall deficit-to-GDP ratio, and (3) the acceptance level of sa...

Price-raising drug enforcement suppresses drug use, but it is expensive and may increase property crime. This has led to contradictory recommendations concerning how drug enforcement should or should not be used. We reconcile these recommendations by incorporating the enforcement's effects on both drug use and on property crime within an optimal-co...

This paper discusses one of the most difficult issues in modeling complex population-environment interactions: The advantages and disadvantages of highly disaggregated empirical models versus highly reduced theoretical models. The analysis is carried out on the basis of the PEDA model, recently developed to capture interactions between population c...

Geburtenbarometer Vienna aims to provide an up-to-date monitoring of fertility in Vienna, based on a set of annual and quarterly indicators of fertility rates and regularly published summary reports. This report gives an overview of the data, methods, and indicators used and contrast main results with the data for other Austrian regions and for the...

KURZBESCHREIBUNG Das Geburtenbarometer Wien zielt darauf ab, ein aktuelles Fertilitätsmonitoring für Wien zur Verfü-gung zu stellen, basierend auf einem Satz jährlicher und vierteljährlicher Fruchtbarkeitsindikatoren und regelmäßigen zusammenfassenden Berichten. Der vorliegende Überblicksbericht informiert über die Daten, Methoden und die verwendet...