Covid-19 Crisis = care crisis? Changes in care provision and care-givers' well-being during the Covid-19 Pandemic

This chapter examines the situation of individuals providing unpaid support or care for persons suffering from poor health, disability or age-related frailty during the Covid-19 pandemic. The following questions are addressed: Did more people provide support or care for others during the first Covid-19 wave than before the pandemic, or was there a decline? Was there a change in who was being cared for? Did care-givers' well-being change? Did care-givers wish for more help and support during the first Covid-19 wave

Changing lifestyles and consumption patterns in developing countries: A scenario analysis for China and India

China and India are the world's largest developing economies and also two of the most populous countries. China, which now has more than 1.3 billion people, is expected to grow to more than 1.4 billion by 2050, and India with a population of 1 billion will overtake China to be the most populous country with about 1.6 billion population. These two countries are home to 37% of the world's population today. In addition, China and India have achieved notable success in their economic development characterised by a high rate of gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the last two decades. Together the two countries account already for almost a fifth of world GDP. The most direct and significant result of economic growth in India and China is the amazing improvement in quality of life (or at least spending power) for an increasing share of the population. The populations of both the countries have experienced a transition from ‘poverty’ to ‘adequate food and clothing’; today growing parts of the population are getting closer to ‘well to do lifestyles’. These segments of the society are not satisfied any more with enough food and clothes, but are also eager to obtain a quality life of high nutrient food, comfortable living, health care and other quality services. The theme of this paper is to analyse how the major drivers contributed to the environmental consequences in the past, and to take a forward look at the environmental impacts of these driving forces in China and India. The paper identifies population, affluence and technology to be the major driving forces in environmental pollution for these two countries then applies the simple equation of Impact=Population×Affluence×Technology, or I=PAT to evaluate the effects of changes in these drivers on CO2 emissions

Corona-Krise = Krise der Angehörigen-Pflege? Zur veränderten Situation und den Gesundheitsrisiken der informell Unterstützungs- und Pflegeleistenden in Zeiten der Pandemie

Im Juni und Juli 2020 wurde im Rahmen des Deutschen Alterssurveys (DEAS) eine Kurzbefragung zu den Auswirkungen der Corona-Krise durchgeführt. Im Mittelpunkt der Befragung standen Veränderungen in verschiedenen Lebensbereichen, die während der Pandemie bei Menschen in der zweiten Lebenshälfte aufgetreten sind. Die Quote der informell geleisteten Unterstützung und Pflege steigt. Im Jahr 2017 haben 16 Prozent aller 46- bis 90- Jährigen für andere Personen gesundheitsbedingte Unterstützung oder Pflege erbracht. Während der ersten Welle der Corona-Pandemie sind es 19 Prozent. Dieser Anstieg geht vor allem auf die Frauen zurück, deren Unterstützungsquote von 18 Prozent auf 22 Prozent gestiegen ist. Die Unterstützung und Pflege innerhalb der Nachbarschaft nimmt deutlich zu. Der Anteil der Unterstützungs- und Pflegeleistenden, die sich an der Versorgung von Nachbar*innen beteiligen, ist von 7 Prozent (2017) auf 17 Prozent (2020) angestiegen. Aber auch für Freund*innen zeigt sich ein Zuwachs von 7 Prozent (2017) auf 11 Prozent (2020). (Schwieger-)Eltern sind auch 2020 die größte Empfänger*innengruppe von Unterstützung und Pflege (55 Prozent). Lediglich die Partner*innenunterstützung und -pflege ist leicht zurückgegangen. Unterstützungs- und Pflegeleistende schätzen ihre Gesundheit weniger gut ein als vor der Corona-Krise. Unter den Unterstützungs- und Pflegeleistenden ist der Anteil derer, die ihre Gesundheit als gut oder sehr gut bewerten, von 59 Prozent auf 56 Prozent zurückgegangen. Demgegenüber schätzen Personen ohne Unterstützungs- oder Pflegeverpflichtung ihre Gesundheit während der Corona-Krise besser ein als zuvor. Bei Unterstützungs- und Pflegeleistenden zeigt sich eine deutliche Verschlechterung ihrer psychosozialen Gesundheit gegenüber vor der Corona-Krise. Der Anteil der Unterstützungs- und Pflegeleistenden mit depressiven Symptomen hat zwischen 2017 (6 Prozent) und 2020 (15 Prozent) zugenommen. Das Gleiche gilt für den Anteil derer, die sich einsam fühlen: 2017 waren 8 Prozent einsam und 2020 sind es 13 Prozent. Dabei sind Frauen von diesen Negativ-Trends stärker betroffen als Männer. Unterstützungs- und Pflegeleistende berichten von fehlender informeller und professioneller Hilfe. Ein Viertel der Personen, die während der ersten Corona-Welle andere unterstützen oder pflegen, haben sich hierbei mehr Hilfe und Entlastung gewünscht, vor allem aus der Familie

The drivers of Chinese CO2 emissions from 1980 to 2030

China's energy consumption doubled within the first 25 years of economic reforms initiated at the end of the 1970s, and doubled again in the past 5 years. It has resulted of a threefold CO2 emissions increase since early of 1980s. China's heavy reliance on coal will make it the largest emitter of CO2 in the world. By combining structural decomposition and input–output analysis we seek to assess the driving forces of China's CO2 emissions from 1980 to 2030. In our reference scenario, production-related CO2 emissions will increase another three times by 2030. Household consumption, capital investment and growth in exports will largely drive the increase in CO2 emissions. Efficiency gains will be partially offset the projected increases in consumption, but our scenarios show that this will not be sufficient if China's consumption patterns converge to current US levels. Relying on efficiency improvements alone will not stabilize China's future emissions. Our scenarios show that even extremely optimistic assumptions of widespread installation of carbon dioxide capture and storage will only slow the increase in CO2 emissions

Future Generations: economic, legal and institutional aspects

In economics, the issue of ‘future generations’ is mainly related to the environmental problems of resource consumption and pollution and their distribution over long time horizons. This paper critically discusses fundamental concepts in economics, such as efficiency and optimality, in relation to the incorporation of future generations in present day decision-making. Cost–benefit analysis (CBA) and discounting are used as a starting point and criticized for its inherent flaws such as incommensurability of values and its tendency to hide rather than reveal underlying values which are assumed to be fixed. We then investigate alternative approaches, in which, unlike in CBA, the preferences are not assumed to be a priori but must be constructed. Thus, interest groups or individuals must sit down together and figure out what things seem to be worth. The aim is to involve all interested parties in planning for the future. Similarly, on a national and regional level, increasingly stakeholder processes, deliberative and interest group procedures are used to develop strategies and visions for resource management and conservation. A similar case can be made for institutions at the international level. The legal examples provided in this paper show that rather than only installing an institution such as the guardian for the future on the global level, more ‘democratized’ bottom up approaches might be more appropriate

SHP2 Regulates the Osteogenic Fate of Growth Plate Hypertrophic Chondrocytes

Transdifferentiation of hypertrophic chondrocytes into bone-forming osteoblasts has been reported, yet the underlying molecular mechanism remains incompletely understood. SHP2 is an ubiquitously expressed cytoplasmic protein tyrosine phosphatase. SHP2 loss-of-function mutations in chondroid cells are linked to metachondromatosis in humans and mice, suggesting a crucial role for SHP2 in the skeleton. However, the specific role of SHP2 in skeletal cells has not been elucidated. To approach this question, we ablated SHP2 in collagen 2α1(Col2α1)-Cre- and collagen 10α1(Col10α1)-Cre-expressing cells, predominantly proliferating and hypertrophic chondrocytes, using “Cre-loxP”-mediated gene excision. Mice lacking SHP2 in Col2α1-Cre-expressing cells die at mid-gestation. Postnatal SHP2 ablation in the same cell population caused dwarfism, chondrodysplasia and exostoses. In contrast, mice in which SHP2 was ablated in the Col10α1-Cre-expressing cells appeared normal but were osteopenic. Further mechanistic studies revealed that SHP2 exerted its influence partly by regulating the abundance of SOX9 in chondrocytes. Elevated and sustained SOX9 in SHP2-deficient hypertrophic chondrocytes impaired their differentiation to osteoblasts and impaired endochondral ossification. Our study uncovered an important role of SHP2 in bone development and cartilage homeostasis by influencing the osteogenic differentiation of hypertrophic chondrocytes and provided insight into the pathogenesis and potential treatment of skeletal diseases, such as osteopenia and osteoporosis

Deficiency of the Metalloproteinase-Disintegrin ADAM8 Is Associated with Thymic Hyper-Cellularity

Thymopoiesis requires thymocyte-stroma interactions and proteases that promote cell migration by degrading extracellular matrix and releasing essential cytokines and chemokines. A role for several members of the A Disintegrin and Metalloprotease (ADAM) family in T cell development has been reported in the past

Vectors Based on Modified Vaccinia Ankara Expressing Influenza H5N1 Hemagglutinin Induce Substantial Cross-Clade Protective Immunity

New highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza viruses are continuing to evolve with a potential threat for an influenza pandemic. So far, the H5N1 influenza viruses have not widely circulated in humans and therefore constitute a high risk for the non immune population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cross-protective potential of the hemagglutinins of five H5N1 strains of divergent clades using a live attenuated modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vector vaccine.The replication-deficient MVA virus was used to express influenza hemagglutinin (HA) proteins. Specifically, recombinant MVA viruses expressing the HA genes of the clade 1 virus A/Vietnam/1203/2004 (VN/1203), the clade 2.1.3 virus A/Indonesia/5/2005 (IN5/05), the clade 2.2 viruses A/turkey/Turkey/1/2005 (TT01/05) and A/chicken/Egypt/3/2006 (CE/06), and the clade 2.3.4 virus A/Anhui/1/2005 (AH1/05) were constructed. These experimental live vaccines were assessed in a lethal mouse model. Mice vaccinated with the VN/1203 hemagglutinin-expressing MVA induced excellent protection against all the above mentioned clades. Also mice vaccinated with the IN5/05 HA expressing MVA induced substantial protection against homologous and heterologous AH1/05 challenge. After vaccination with the CE/06 HA expressing MVA, mice were fully protected against clade 2.2 challenge and partially protected against challenge of other clades. Mice vaccinated with AH1/05 HA expressing MVA vectors were only partially protected against homologous and heterologous challenge. The live vaccines induced substantial amounts of neutralizing antibodies, mainly directed against the homologous challenge virus, and high levels of HA-specific IFN-γ secreting CD4 and CD8 T-cells against epitopes conserved among the H5 clades and subclades.The highest level of cross-protection was induced by the HA derived from the VN/1203 strain, suggesting that pandemic H5 vaccines utilizing MVA vector technology, should be based on the VN/1203 hemagglutinin. Furthermore, the recombinant MVA-HA-VN, as characterized in the present study, would be a promising candidate for such a vaccine