Hours Worked in Europe and the US: New Data, New Answers

We use national labor force surveys from 1983 through 2011 to construct hours worked per person on the aggregate level and for different demographic groups for 18 European countries and the US. We find that Europeans work 19% fewer hours than US citizens. Differences in weeks worked and in the educational composition each account for one third to one half of this gap. Lower hours per person than in the US are in addition driven by lower weekly hours worked in Scandinavia and Western Europe, but by lower employment rates in Eastern and Southern Europe

Hours Worked in Europe and the US: New Data, New Answers

We use national labor force surveys from 1983 through 2011 to construct hours worked per person for 18 European countries and the US. We find that Europeans work 19% fewer hours than US citizens. Differences in weeks worked and in the educational composition each account for one third to one half of this gap. Lower hours per person than in the US are in addition driven by lower weekly hours worked in Scandinavia and Western Europe, but by lower employment rates in Eastern and Southern Europe

Hours Worked in Europe and the US: New Data, New Answers

We use national labor force surveys from 1983 through 2011 to construct hours worked per person on the aggregate level and for different demographic groups for 18 European countries and the US. We find that Europeans work 19% fewer hours than US citizens. Differences in weeks worked and in the educational composition each account for one third to one half of this gap. Lower hours per person than in the US are in addition driven by lower weekly hours worked in Scandinavia and Western Europe, but by lower employment rates in Eastern and Southern Europe

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This paper documents facts about labor supply along the extensive and intensive margin for various demographic subgroups in the US and 18 European countries for the time period 1983 to 2011. To do this, we recur to three different micro data sets, describe in detail how to make the data sets consistent internationally and over time, and compare them to aggregate data from the OECD and the Conference Board. In a recent pre-crisis cross-section, gender differences in hours worked are largest in Western and Southern Europe, driven mostly by the intensive margin in Western Europe and the extensive margin in Southern Europe. Employment rates have consistently been increasing for women in the last three decades, while the picture for hours worked per employed is more diverse. A very strong stylized fact is a negative correlation of employment rates and hours worked per employed for women in the recent cross-section, over time, and for all demographic subgroups. We present some suggestive evidence that this negative correlation is at least partly driven by a lack of part-time jobs in Eastern and Southern Europe, and that increases in flexibility can raise female labor market attachment. Last, we document that male hours worked declined more than female hours worked in the recent Grea

Cytotoxic effects of curcumin on osteosarcoma cell lines

Summary: Curcumin (diferuloylmethane), one of the main components of the Indian spice turmeric, is known to possess potent anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. In addition, curcumin has also been shown to have in vitro and in vivo efficacy against a variety of malignancies. In the current study we examined the cytotoxic effect of curcumin on seven osteosarcoma (OS) cell lines with varying degrees of in vivo metastatic potential. Curcumin inhibited the growth of all OS cell lines tested with half-maximal inhibitory concentration values ranging from 14.4 to 24.6μM. Growth inhibition was associated with a dose dependent increase in the number of apoptotic cells and accumulation of cells in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. Curcumin treatment also resulted in cleavage of caspase-3 and poly adenosine diphosphate-ribose polymerase. Moreover, curcumin treatment was associated with an increase in cellular levels of the apoptotic B-cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2)-associated X protein and a decrease in cellular content of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. In addition, curcumin treatment also inhibited the migration of OS cell lines. These data indicate that the potent cytotoxic activity of curcumin on OS cell lines is mediated by induction of apoptotic processes. Thus, curcumin has potential to be a novel OS chemotherapeutic agen

Cytotoxic effects of curcumin on osteosarcoma cell lines

Summary: Curcumin (diferuloylmethane), one of the main components of the Indian spice turmeric, is known to possess potent anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. In addition, curcumin has also been shown to have in vitro and in vivo efficacy against a variety of malignancies. In the current study we examined the cytotoxic effect of curcumin on seven osteosarcoma (OS) cell lines with varying degrees of in vivo metastatic potential. Curcumin inhibited the growth of all OS cell lines tested with half-maximal inhibitory concentration values ranging from 14.4 to 24.6μM. Growth inhibition was associated with a dose dependent increase in the number of apoptotic cells and accumulation of cells in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. Curcumin treatment also resulted in cleavage of caspase-3 and poly adenosine diphosphate-ribose polymerase. Moreover, curcumin treatment was associated with an increase in cellular levels of the apoptotic B-cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2)-associated X protein and a decrease in cellular content of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. In addition, curcumin treatment also inhibited the migration of OS cell lines. These data indicate that the potent cytotoxic activity of curcumin on OS cell lines is mediated by induction of apoptotic processes. Thus, curcumin has potential to be a novel OS chemotherapeutic agen

Ergonomische Bewertung eines Night Vision Systems mit Fußgängermarkierung im Head-up-Display

Unfälle mit Personenschäden haben auf Landstraßen in der Dunkelheit einen überproportionalen Anteil. Das untersuchte System möchte einen Beitrag dazu leisten, dass Autofahrer Fußgänger früher wahrnehmen können. Mittels Blickbewegungsanalysen wurden unterschiedlich gestaltete Fußgängermarkierungen eines Night-Vision-Systems in einem Kraftfahrzeug mit Head-up-Display (HUD) hinsichtlich ihrer ergonomischen Eignung und ihres ergonomischen Nutzens untersucht. Es wurden alle Systeme im Feld (öffentlicher Straßenverkehr) sowie kontrollierten Feld (Testgelände) miteinander verglichen. Dabei konnten abhängig von der Untersuchungsumgebung und dem Fahrauftrag unterschiedliche Ergebnisse bezüglich der Zeitpunkte der Wahrnehmung der Fußgänger durch die Fahrer festgestellt werden. Insgesamt zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass mit Hilfe von Nachtsichtsystemen Personen bei Dunkelheit früher wahrgenommen werden können. Eine zusätzliche Markierung von Fußgängern verbessert die Wahrnehmung des Fahrers deutlich

Taurolidine: a novel anti-neoplastic agent induces apoptosis of osteosarcoma cell lines

Summary: Taurolidine, the active agent of Taurolin®, is a broad spectrum anti-biotic that has been used for over 15years for the treatment of severe surgical infections. Recently, taurolidine has been shown to possess anti-neoplastic properties in vitro and in vivo against a variety of cancers including ovarian, colon and prostate. In this study we assessed the cytotoxic activity of taurolidine against human osteosarcoma (OS) cell lines and normal human bone cells. Treatment with taurolidine inhibited the growth of all ten osteosarcoma cell lines tested and taurolidine was equally potent against cell lines with and without distinct genetic defects (i.e. p53, Rb). Moreover, taurolidine-induced growth inhibition was found to be associated with a dose dependent increase in the number of apoptotic cells and apoptosis was shown to be caspase-dependent. Taurolidine treatment was also found to inhibit adhesion of OS cell lines. Compared to OS cell lines, normal bone cells in primary culture were found to be less sensitive to the cytotoxic and anti-adhesive effects of taurolidine. These data indicate that taurolidine possesses potent anti-neoplastic activity against osteosarcoma cell lines and may have potential as a novel OS chemotherapeutic agen

Aktive Gefahrenbremsungen – Wie reagiert der Fahrer?

Dieser Beitrag beschreibt die methodische Vorgehensweise und ausgewählte Ergebnisse zur Analyse des Fahrerverhaltens bei unterschiedlichen Auslegungsvarianten der Aktiven Gefahrenbremsung (AGB). Hierzu wurden Realfahrversuche mit 90 Probanden mit Pkw und Lkw auf dem Testgelände der TU Darmstadt durchgeführt. Neben Fahrzeugdaten wie Bremsdruck, Geschwindigkeit, Abstand und der Zeit bis zur Kollision (TTC) wurden Videoaufzeichnungen (z.B. Fahrerhandlungen und Umgebung), Blickbewegungsdaten, physiologische Daten des Fahrers (z.B. Herzschlagfrequenz und Muskelaktivitäten) sowie subjektive Beurteilungen erhoben. Bei der Versuchsdurchführung wurden zwei Szenarien analysiert. Szenario 1 untersuchte das Fahrerverhalten bei einer tatsächlichen Gefahrensituation. In Szenario 2 wurde eine Fehlauslösung betrachtet. Beide Szenarien wurden in unterschiedlichen Reihenfolgen mit unterschiedlichen Auslegungsvarianten der AGB untersucht. Die Studie wurde von einem interdisziplinär zusammengesetzten Team von Arbeitswissenschaftlern mit dem Forschungsschwerpunkt Fahrzeugergonomie (IAD) und Fahrzeugingenieuren (FZD) der TU Darmstadt im Auftrag von sechs Fahrzeugherstellern und Zulieferern (Audi, Bosch, BMW, MAN, Opel, Continental) im Rahmen der Forschungsinitiative AKTIV (Adaptive und kooperative Technologien für den intelligenten Verkehr) durchgeführt, die vom Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie (BMWi) gefördert wurde [1]