Extracting Firm Information from Administrative Records: The ASSD Firm Panel

This paper demonstrates how firm information can be extracted from administrative social security records. We use the Austrian Social Security Database (ASSD) and derive firms from employer identifiers in the universe of private sector workers. To correctly pin down entry end exits we use a worker flow approach which follows clusters of workers as they move across administrative entities. This procedure enables us to define different types of entry and exit such as start-ups, spinoffs, closures, or take-overs. We show that our firm definition results in a demography which is comparable to official statistics of firm registers. The resulting database, covering the period of 1976 to 2006, is a valuable resource for future research on industry evolution in Austria.administrative data, definition of firms, entry and exit types, worker flows

Unemployment in Austria

Diese Arbeit untersucht, ob Frauen in Österreich mit höherer Wahrscheinlichkeit arbeitslos sind als Männer. In Österreich gibt es drei Definitionen von Arbeitslosigkeit: das labor force Konzept, das Lebensunterhaltskonzept und eine nationale Definition. Alle drei Konzepte werden verwendet, um den Effekt des Frauseins auf die Arbeitslosigkeitswahrscheinlichkeit zu schätzen. Hierfür werden Daten der österreichischen Arbeitskräfteerhebung aus den Jahren 2004, 2005, 2006 und 2007 verwendet. Unter Anwendung des labor force Konzepts und der nationalen Definition liegt die Arbeitslosenrate der Frauen 14-16 Prozent über jener der Männer. Unabhängig von den Konzepten und der Schätzmethode - linear probability Modell, Probit und Logit Modell - können, nach dem Kontrollieren für Personen-, Haushalts- und Berufscharakteristika , keine signifikanten Effekte gefunden werden. Der Hauptgrund hierfür liegt im angleichenden Effekt von Industrie und beruflicher Stellung. Die Zerlegung der Risikodifferenz in einen Teil bedingt durch Charakteristika und einen zweiten, unerklärten Teil zeigt, dass 16.5 Prozent der Differenz im labor force Konzept und 55.9 Prozent gemäß nationaler Definition nicht durch die Charakteristika erklärt werden können. Unter Verwendung des Lebensunterhaltskonzeptes sind Frauen besser gestellt. Die Arbeitslosenrate im Sample ist höher für Männer. Hätten Männer und Frauen dieselben Charakteristika, wäre das Arbeitslosigkeitsrisiko von Männern noch höher. Die Untersuchung zeigt, dass die Unterschiede zwischen Männern und Frauen abhängig vom verwendeten Konzept sind.This study questions whether men and women have different probabilities of being unemployed in Austria. Three definitions of unemployment are used in Austria: the labor force concept from the International Labor Organization, the subsistence concept and a national definition. Each concept is applied to estimate the effect of being female on the unemployment probability using four subsamples of the Austrian Labor Force Survey of 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. The female sample unemployment rate exceeds the male one in the labor force and the national concept by about 14-16 percent. But no significant effect of being female was found, after taking personal, household and job characteristics into account. This holds independently of using a linear probability, a probit or a logit model. The main reason for this is the equalizing effect of industries and professional positions. The decomposition of the raw risk-differential into a part attributable to differences in endowments and a second, unexplained part shows that about 16.5 percent of the raw differential in the labor force concept and 55.9 percent in the national concept are unexplainable by endowments. When applying the subsistence concept, women are better off than men. Men have a higher sample unemployment rate. If men had the same characteristics as women, the male unemployment probability would even be higher. The analysis points out that the impact of being female depends on the applied concept

Determination of reference genes for circadian studies in different tissues and mouse strains

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Circadian rhythms have a profound effect on human health. Their disruption can lead to serious pathologies, such as cancer and obesity. Gene expression studies in these pathologies are often studied in different mouse strains by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Selection of reference genes is a crucial step of qPCR experiments. Recent studies show that reference gene stability can vary between species and tissues, but none has taken circadian experiments into consideration.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the present study the expression of ten candidate reference genes (<it>Actb</it>, <it>Eif2a</it>, <it>Gapdh</it>, <it>Hmbs</it>, <it>Hprt1</it>, <it>Ppib</it>, <it>Rn18s</it>, <it>Rplp0</it>, <it>Tbcc </it>and <it>Utp6c</it>) was measured in 131 liver and 97 adrenal gland samples taken from three mouse strains (C57BL/6JOlaHsd, 129Pas plus C57BL/6J and <it>Crem </it>KO on 129Pas plus C57BL/6J background) every 4 h in a 24 h period. Expression stability was evaluated by geNorm and NormFinder programs. Differences in ranking of the most stable reference genes were observed both between individual mouse strains as well as between tissues within each mouse strain. We show that selection of reference gene (<it>Actb</it>) that is often used for analyses in individual mouse strains leads to errors if used for normalization when different mouse strains are compared. We identified alternative reference genes that are stable in these comparisons.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Genetic background and circadian time influence the expression stability of reference genes. Differences between mouse strains and tissues should be taken into consideration to avoid false interpretations. We show that the use of a single reference gene can lead to false biological conclusions. This manuscript provides a useful reference point for researchers that search for stable reference genes in the field of circadian biology.</p

Soft nanotechnology: the potential of polyelectrolyte multilayers against E. coli adhesion to surfaces

Preprečevanje adhezije bakterij na površine je najbolj učinkovit način obvladovanja rasti biofilmov. Namen te raziskave je bil analizirati anti-adhezivni potencial 5 in 50 mmol/L polielektrolitskih plasti poli(alilamin hidroklorid)/poli(natrijev 4-stirensulfonat), poli(4-vinil-N-etilpiridin bromid/ poli(natrijev 4-stirensulfonat) in poli(4-vinil-N-izobutilpiridin bromid/ poli(natrijev 4-stirensulfonat) na bakterijo E. coli. Pet zaporednih plasti polielektrolitov je bilo sestavljenih na steklenih površinah in izpostavljenih bakterijski suspenziji. Rezultati kažejo, da 50 mmol/L poli(4-vinil-N-etilpiridin bromid/ poli(natrijev 4-stirensulfonat) najbolj učinkovito prepreči adhezijo bakterij 0,4 log bakt./mm2 (60 %), sledi mu poli(4- vinil-N-izobutilpiridin bromid/ poli(natrijev 4-stirensulfonat) 0,3 log bakt. mm-2 (47 %) in poli(alilamin hidroklorid)/ poli(natrijev 4-stirensulfonat) 0,2 log bakt. mm-2 (38 %). Ta raziskava dokazuje, da polieletrolitske plasti z kvartarne amino skupinami igrajo pomembno vlogo pri preprečevanju adhezije bakterij in zato predstavljajo pomembno uporabo v živilski in farmacevtski industriji ter v medicini.Preventing bacterial attachment to surfaces is the most efficient approach to controlling biofilm proliferation. The aim of this study was to compare anti-adhesion potentials of 5 and 50 mmol/L polyelectrolyte multilayers of poly(allylamine hydrochloride)/poly(sodium 4–styrenesulfonate), poly(4-vinyl-N-ethylpyridinium bromide)/ poly(sodium 4–styrenesulfonate), and poly(4-vinyl-N-isobutylpyridinium bromide)/poly(sodium 4–styrenesulfonate) against Escherichia coli. Glass surface was covered with five polyelectrolyte layers and exposed to bacterial suspensions. Poly(4-vinyl-N-ethylpyridinium bromide)/poly(sodium 4–styrenesulfonate) was the most effective against bacterial adhesion, having reduced it by 60 %, followed by poly(4-vinyl-N-isobutylpyridinium bromide)/poly(sodium 4– styrenesulfonate) (47 %), and poly(allylamine hydrochloride)/poly(sodium 4–styrenesulfonate) (38 %). Polyelectrolyte multilayers with quaternary amine groups have a significant anti-adhesion potential and could find their place in coatings for food, pharmaceutical, and medical industry

Novel Insights into the Downstream Pathways and Targets Controlled by Transcription Factors CREM in the Testis

The essential role of the Crem gene in normal sperm development is widely accepted and is confirmed by azoospermia in male mice lacking the Crem gene. The exact number of genes affected by Crem absence is not known, however a large difference has been observed recently between the estimated number of differentially expressed genes found in Crem knock-out (KO) mice compared to the number of gene loci bound by CREM. We therefore re-examined global gene expression in male mice lacking the Crem gene using whole genome transcriptome analysis with Affymetrix microarrays and compared the lists of differentially expressed genes from Crem−/− mice to a dataset of genes where binding of CREM was determined by Chip-seq. We determined the global effect of CREM on spermatogenesis as well as distinguished between primary and secondary effects of the CREM absence. We demonstrated that the absence of Crem deregulates over 4700 genes in KO testis. Among them are 101 genes associated with spermatogenesis 41 of which are bound by CREM and are deregulated in Crem KO testis. Absence of several of these genes in mouse models has proven their importance for normal spermatogenesis and male fertility. Our study showed that the absence of Crem plays a more important role on different aspects of spermatogenesis as estimated previously, with its impact ranging from apoptosis induction to deregulation of major circadian clock genes, steroidogenesis and the cell-cell junction dynamics. Several new genes important for normal spermatogenesis and fertility are down-regulated in KO testis and are therefore possible novel targets of CREM

Phosphorus loadings to the world's largest lakes: sources and trends

Eutrophication is a major water quality issue in lakes worldwide and is principally caused by the loadings of phosphorus from catchment areas. It follows that to develop strategies to mitigate eutrophication, we must have a good understanding of the amount, sources, and trends of phosphorus pollution. This paper provides the first consistent and harmonious estimates of current phosphorus loadings to the world's largest 100 lakes, along with the sources of these loadings and their trends. These estimates provide a perspective on the extent of lake eutrophication worldwide, as well as potential input to the evaluation and management of eutrophication in these lakes. We take a modeling approach and apply the WorldQual model for these estimates. The advantage of this approach is that it allows us to fill in large gaps in observational data. From the analysis, we find that about 66 of the 100 lakes are located in developing countries and their catchments have a much larger average phosphorus yield than the lake catchments in developed countries (11.1 versus 0.7 kg TP km−2 year−1). Second, the main source of phosphorus to the examined lakes is inorganic fertilizer (47% of total). Third, between 2005–2010 and 1990–1994, phosphorus pollution increased at 50 out of 100 lakes. Sixty percent of lakes with increasing pollution are in developing countries. P pollution changed primarily due to changing P fertilizer use. In conclusion, we show that the risk of P‐stimulated eutrophication is higher in developing countries

Intestinal Colonization of IL-2 Deficient Mice with Non-Colitogenic B. vulgatus Prevents DC Maturation and T-Cell Polarization

BACKGROUND: IL-2 deficient (IL-2(-/-)) mice mono-colonized with E. coli mpk develop colitis whereas IL-2(-/-)-mice mono-colonized with B. vulgatus mpk do not and are even protected from E. coli mpk induced colitis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We investigated if mono-colonization with E. coli mpk or B. vulgatus mpk differentially modulates distribution, activation and maturation of intestinal lamina propria (LP) dendritic cells (DC). LP DC in mice mono-colonized with protective B. vulgatus mpk or co-colonized with E. coli mpk/B. vulgatus mpk featured a semi-mature LP DC phenotype (CD40(lo)CD80(lo)MHC-II(hi)) whereas mono-colonization with colitogenic E. coli mpk induced LP DC activation and maturation prior to onset of colitis. Accordingly, chemokine receptor (CCR) 7 surface expression was more strikingly enhanced in mesenteric lymph node DC from E. coli mpk than B. vulgatus mpk mono- or co-colonized mice. Mature but not semi-mature LP DC promoted Th1 polarization. As B. vulgatus mpk promotes differentiation of semi-mature DC presumably by IL-6, mRNA and protein expression of IL-6 was investigated in LP DC. The data demonstrated that IL-6 mRNA and protein was increased in LP DC of B. vulgatus mpk as compared to E. coli mpk mono-colonized IL-2(-/-)-mice. The B. vulgatus mpk mediated suppression of CCR7 expression and DC migration was abolished in IL-6(-/-)-DC in vitro. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: From this data we conclude that the B. vulgatus triggered IL-6 secretion by LP DC in absence of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-12 or TNF-alpha induces a semi-mature LP DC phenotype, which might prevent T-cell activation and thereby the induction of colitis in IL-2(-/-)-mice. The data provide new evidence that IL-6 might act as an immune regulatory cytokine in the mucosa by targeting intestinal DC

Engagement 2.0. Vom passiven Wahrnehmen zum aktiven Nutzen neuer Kommunikationstechnologien

Im vorliegenden Beitrag beschreiben die Autoren einen seit zwei Jahren am Bundesinstitut für Erwachsenenbildung situierten Kurs, der engagierte Menschen in die Kommunikationstechniken und -werkzeuge im sogenannten Web 2.0 einführt. Als "politische Kommunikation" betrachten sie alle öffentlichkeitswirksamen bzw. zielgruppenbezogenen Aktivitäten für Anliegen, die im Selbstbewusstsein der AkteurInnen als öffentlich, als Interessen der Allgemeinheit oder aber auch als moralische Ansprüche an die Gesellschaft verstanden werden. Den Abschluss des Beitrages bildet der Ausblick auf eine im Entstehen befindliche Webcommunity der AbsolventInnen des Kurses. (DIPF/Orig.)The authors of the present article describe a course at the Austrian Federal Institute of Adult Education (bifeb) that has introduced dedicated people to Web 2.0 communication technologies and tools for the last two years. For the authors, “political communication” represents all public-oriented and target group related activities surrounding matters that are considered to be public in the self-awareness of those involved, interests of the general public or also moral demands on society. The end of the article provides a panorama of the web community that is being created by the course graduates. (DIPF/Orig.

Dysfunctions in brain networks supporting empathy: An fMRI study in adults with autism spectrum disorders

The present study aimed at identifying dysfunctions in brain networks that may underlie disturbed empathic behavior in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). During functional magnetic resonance imaging, subjects were asked to identify the emotional state observed in a facial stimulus (other-task) or to evaluate their own emotional response (self-task). Behaviorally, ASD subjects performed equally to the control group during the other-task, but showed less emotionally congruent responses in the self-task. Activations in brain regions related to theory of mind were observed in both groups. Activations of the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) were located in dorsal subregions in ASD subjects and in ventral areas in control subjects. During the self-task, ASD subjects activated an additional network of frontal and inferior temporal areas. Frontal areas previously associated with the human mirror system were activated in both tasks in control subjects, while ASD subjects recruited these areas during the self-task only. Activations in the ventral MPFC may provide the basis for one's “emotional bond” with other persons’ emotions. Such atypical patterns of activation may underlie disturbed empathy in individuals with ASD. Subjects with ASD may use an atypical cognitive strategy to gain access to their own emotional state in response to other people's emotions

Comparative proteome analysis of lung tissue from patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), non-specific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) and organ donors

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