The development, educational stratification and decomposition of mothers' and fathers' childcare time in Germany: an update for 2001-2013

"This study updates empirical knowledge about the development,(the educational stratification, and the decomposition of mothers' and fathers' childcare time in Germany with the most recent time use data. Using time series data from the German Time Use Study 2001/2002 and 2012/ 2013, we analyze time budgets for total childcare and six specific childcare activities on weekdays and weekends and estimate OLS regressions and Oaxaca decompositions. The study found that total childcare time has increased for mothers and fathers between 2001 and 2013 and that this change is predominantly due to increased time for basic childcare. It also found consistent evidence of an education gradient only for reading time with children. If there is significant change of time budgets between 2001 and 2013, this change seems to be driven by behavioral change rather than changing demographics. Our empirical findings on childcare time in Germany do not provide evidence of dynamics and stratification but rather of stability and similarity across parents’ educational levels. Besides the updates on German parents' development, stratification and decomposition of time use for childcare, these analyses show that change in total childcare is not due to a proportional change over all single activities but due to changes in a few activities only." (author's abstract)"Diese Studie aktualisiert das empirische Wissen über die Entwicklung, die Bildungsstratifizierung und die Dekomposition der Zeitverwendung von Müttern und Vätern für Kinderbetreuung mit den aktuellen Zeitbudgetdaten für Deutschland. Auf Basis der der letzten beiden Erhebungen der Deutschen Zeitverwendungsstudie 2001/2002 und 2012/2013 werden die Zeitbudgets für die Gesamtzeit für Kinderbetreuung sowie sechs Einzeltätigkeiten mit OLS-Regressionen und Oaxaca- Dekompositionen untersucht. Die Studie zeigt, dass die Zeit für Kinderbetreuung von Müttern und Vätern zwischen 2001 und 2013 angestiegen ist, es einen Bildungsgradienten für Vorlesen gibt und signifikante Veränderungen in den Zeitbudgets nicht auf Kompositionsveränderung der Bevölkerung zurückgeführt werden können. Insgesamt belegt die Studie weniger die Dynamik als vielmehr die Stabilität und die geringe Bildungsdifferenzierung der Zeitverwendung für Kinderbetreuung. Darüber hinaus wird gezeigt, dass die Veränderungen in der Gesamtzeit für Kinderbetreuung nicht auf proportionale Veränderungen in allen, sondern nur auf Veränderungen in wenigen Einzeltätigkeiten zurückgeführt werden können." (Autorenreferat

Distinct Merkel Cell Polyomavirus Molecular Features in Tumour and Non Tumour Specimens from Patients with Merkel Cell Carcinoma

Merkel Cell Polyomavirus (MCPyV) is associated with Merkel Cell carcinoma (MCC), a rare, aggressive skin cancer with neuroendocrine features. The causal role of MCPyV is highly suggested by monoclonal integration of its genome and expression of the viral large T (LT) antigen in MCC cells. We investigated and characterized MCPyV molecular features in MCC, respiratory, urine and blood samples from 33 patients by quantitative PCR, sequencing and detection of integrated viral DNA. We examined associations between either MCPyV viral load in primary MCC or MCPyV DNAemia and survival. Results were interpreted with respect to the viral molecular signature in each compartment. Patients with MCC containing more than 1 viral genome copy per cell had a longer period in complete remission than patients with less than 1 copy per cell (34 vs 10 months, P = 0.037). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) contained MCPyV more frequently in patients sampled with disease than in patients in complete remission (60% vs 11%, P = 0.00083). Moreover, the detection of MCPyV in at least one PBMC sample during follow-up was associated with a shorter overall survival (P = 0.003). Sequencing of viral DNA from MCC and non MCC samples characterized common single nucleotide polymorphisms defining 8 patient specific strains. However, specific molecular signatures truncating MCPyV LT were observed in 8/12 MCC cases but not in respiratory and urinary samples from 15 patients. New integration sites were identified in 4 MCC cases. Finally, mutated-integrated forms of MCPyV were detected in PBMC of two patients with disseminated MCC disease, indicating circulation of metastatic cells. We conclude that MCPyV molecular features in primary MCC tumour and PBMC may help to predict the course of the disease

Absence of an association of human polyomavirus and papillomavirus infection with lung cancer in China: a nested case–control study

BACKGROUND: Studies of human polyomavirus (HPyV) infection and lung cancer are limited and those regarding the association of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and lung cancer have produced inconsistent results. METHODS: We conducted a nested case–control study to assess the association between incident lung cancer of various histologies and evidence of prior infection with HPyVs and HPVs. We selected serum from 183 cases and 217 frequency matched controls from the Yunnan Tin Miner’s Cohort study, which was designed to identify biomarkers for early detection of lung cancer. Using multiplex liquid bead microarray (LBMA) antibody assays, we tested for antibodies to the VP1 structural protein and small T antigen (ST-Ag) of Merkel cell, KI, and WU HPyVs. We also tested for antibodies against HPV L1 structural proteins (high-risk types 16, 18, 31, 33, 52, and 58 and low-risk types 6 and 11) and E6 and E7 oncoproteins (high risk types 16 and 18). Measures of antibody reactivity were log transformed and analyzed using logistic regression. RESULTS: We found no association between KIV, WUV, and MCV antibody levels and incident lung cancer (P-corrected for multiple comparisons >0.10 for all trend tests). We also found no association with HPV-16, 18, 31, 33, 52, and 58 seropositivity (P-corrected for multiple comparisons >0.05 for all). CONCLUSIONS: Future studies of infectious etiologies of lung cancer should look beyond HPyVs and HPVs as candidate infectious agents. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-016-2381-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Quantitative Analysis of Viral Load per Haploid Genome Revealed the Different Biological Features of Merkel Cell Polyomavirus Infection in Skin Tumor

Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) has recently been identified in Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), an aggressive cancer that occurs in sun-exposed skin. Conventional technologies, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunohistochemistry, have produced conflicting results for MCPyV infections in non-MCC tumors. Therefore, we performed quantitative analyses of the MCPyV copy number in various skin tumor tissues, including MCC (n = 9) and other sun exposure-related skin tumors (basal cell carcinoma [BCC, n = 45], actinic keratosis [AK, n = 52], Bowen’s disease [n = 34], seborrheic keratosis [n = 5], primary cutaneous anaplastic large-cell lymphoma [n = 5], malignant melanoma [n = 5], and melanocytic nevus [n = 6]). In a conventional PCR analysis, MCPyV DNA was detected in MCC (9 cases; 100%), BCC (1 case; 2%), and AK (3 cases; 6%). We then used digital PCR technology to estimate the absolute viral copy number per haploid human genome in these tissues. The viral copy number per haploid genome was estimated to be around 1 in most MCC tissues, and there were marked differences between the MCC (0.119–42.8) and AK (0.02–0.07) groups. PCR-positive BCC tissue showed a similar viral load as MCC tissue (0.662). Immunohistochemistry with a monoclonal antibody against the MCPyV T antigen (CM2B4) demonstrated positive nuclear localization in most of the high-viral-load tumor groups (8 of 9 MCC and 1 BCC), but not in the low-viral-load or PCR-negative tumor groups. These results demonstrated that MCPyV infection is possibly involved in a minority of sun-exposed skin tumors, including BCC and AK, and that these tumors display different modes of infection