Wage Cyclicality under Different Regimes of Industrial Relations

Since there is scant evidence on the role of industrial relations in wage cyclicality, this paper analyzes the effect of collective wage contracts and of works councils on real wage growth. Using linked employer-employee data for western Germany, we find that works councils affect wage growth only in combination with collective bargaining. Wage adjustments to positive and negative economic shocks are not always symmetric. Only under sectoral bargaining there is a (nearly symmetric) reaction to rising and falling unemployment. In contrast, wage growth in establishments without collective bargaining adjusts only to falling unemployment and is unaffected by rising unemployment.wage cyclicality, wage bargaining, works council, Germany

Autonomous Car Acceptance: Safety vs. Personal Driving Enjoyment

Due to the passiveness of the passengers, autonomous cars promise benefits in terms of traffic safety, but also drawbacks in terms of the enjoyment people experience when driving a car themselves. We postulate that both Perceived Traffic Safety and Personal Driving Enjoyment play an important role in people’s acceptance of autonomous cars. After collecting 100 questionnaires and applying a SEM approach, our findings indicate that Personal Driving Enjoyment has a negative influence on the Perceived Enjoyment of autonomous cars and that Perceived Traffic Safety has a positive influence on both their Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Enjoyment. Additionally, both Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Enjoyment were confirmed to positively influence autonomous car acceptance. These findings suggest that autonomous cars should optionally enable people to act as drivers, that manufacturers need to actively manage people’s safety perceptions, and that they also need to emphasize the alternative hedonic benefits that the driverless experience offers

Immunity status against poliomyelitis in Germany: Determination of cut-off values in International Units

Background: To prevent importations of wild polioviruses into a polio free region a high level of population immunity must be kept. Standard methodology for determination of polio antibodies is a feature aimed at obtaining consistent results. An International Standard Serum for polio antibodies exists, but no protective level in International Units is defined. Methods: A representative study was carried out in order to determine the serological status against poliomyelitis in Germany (n = 2564, age 18–79 years). Furthermore, sera from persons aged less than 18 years were included (n = 881). Microneutralization test has been used for determination of antibody levels. Results have been expressed in International Units. Results: The results of this study indicate that the cut-off level for polio antibodies is 0.075 IU/ml for Polio 1, 0.180 IU/ml for Polio 2 and 0.080 IU/ml for Polio 3. Neutralizing antibodies against poliovirus type 1, 2 and 3 were detected in 96.2%, 96.8% and 89.6% of samples, respectively. Conclusions: Overall, this seroprevalence indicates a very high level of immunity of the general population. It must be kept after the switch of immunization strategy from attenuated to inactivated vaccine in Germany

Factors Driving Prosocial Online Behavior

In this article, we draw from the Social Identity Theory and the Theory of Reasoned Action to propose a research model that postulates Social Similarity, Perceived Status Enhancement, and Social Norm to be important drivers of people’s prosocial online behavior. We also provide an outlook on three experiments that we plan to use to evaluate our hypotheses. Overall, our study promises important practical implications for multiple parties such as non-governmental organizations and nonprofit organizations. More specifically, if successful, our study would emphasize the importance of several factors that would help drive prosocial online behavior: (1) matching beneficiaries with benefactors’ demographic background, (2) providing a functionality that enables benefactors to share their prosocial actions with others, and (3) displaying information about other benefactors

Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and Ectodomain Shedding of the Amyloid Precursor Protein

Background: Epidemiological studies have suggested that long-term use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is associated with a reduced incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain these findings including increased shedding of the soluble ectodomain of the amyloid precursor protein (sAPP), which functions as a neurotrophic and neuroprotective factor in vitro and in vivo. Objective: To clarify whether NSAIDs consistently stimulate sAPP secretion. Methods: 293-EBNA cells with stable overexpression of an APP-alkaline phosphatase fusion protein (APP-AP), SH-SY5Y and PC12 cells or primary telencephalic chicken neurons were treated with ibuprofen or indomethacin. APP shedding was then determined by measuring AP activity in conditioned media, Western blot analysis with antibodies against total sAPP or specific for sAPP-alpha, or in a pulse-chase paradigm. Results: AP activity in conditioned media was not increased after NSAID treatment of 293-EBNA cells whereas it was elevated by phorbol ester. Surprisingly, ibuprofen or indomethacin treatment of SH-SY5Y and PC12 cells expressing endogenous APP did not cause changes in sAPP or sAPP-alpha secretion or downregulation of cellular APP. These findings were further corroborated in primary chicken neuronal cultures. Conclusions: Using various experimental settings, we were unable to confirm sAPP or sAPP-alpha stimulation with the NSAIDs ibuprofen and indomethacin in transfected and nontransfected cells of neuronal and nonneuronal origin. Importantly, these findings seem to rule out chronic sAPP stimulation as an alternative mechanism of NSAID action in AD. Copyright (C) 2008 S. Karger AG, Base

Potenzielle Erfolgsfaktoren von SaaS-Unternehmen

Aufgrund des Mangels an spezifischen SaaS-Erfolgsfaktorstudien identifiziert der Beitrag zunächst potenzielle Erfolgsfaktoren aus Unternehmenssicht in der verwandten Literatur. So werden allgemeinen Faktoren des Unternehmenserfolgs, Erfolgsfaktoren von Outsourcing- und Dienstleistungsunternehmen sowie Erfolgsfaktoren von Unternehmen, deren Kerngeschäft über das Internet abgewickelt wird, identifiziert. Nach einer Verdichtung erfolgen theoretische Überlegungen, welche Faktoren tatsächlich sinnvoll in einen Zusammenhang mit SaaS gebracht werden können. Schließlich wird ein potenziell erheblicher Erfolgseinfluss durch die Faktoren Produkt, Vertragsgestaltung, Kundennähe, Mitarbeiter, Know-how, Partnerschaften/Netzwerke, Kapitalausstattung und Innovationen postuliert

Online Tracking of the Contents of Conscious Perception Using Real-Time fMRI

Perception is an active process that interprets and structures the stimulus input based on assumptions about its possible causes. We use real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rtfMRI) to investigate a particularly powerful demonstration of dynamic object integration in which the same physical stimulus intermittently elicits categorically different conscious object percepts. In this study, we simulated an outline object that is moving behind a narrow slit. With such displays, the physically identical stimulus can elicit categorically different percepts that either correspond closely to the physical stimulus (vertically moving line segments) or represent a hypothesis about the underlying cause of the physical stimulus (a horizontally moving object that is partly occluded). In the latter case, the brain must construct an object from the input sequence. Combining rtfMRI with machine learning techniques we show that it is possible to determine online the momentary state of a subject’s conscious percept from time resolved BOLD-activity. In addition, we found that feedback about the currently decoded percept increased the decoding rates compared to prior fMRI recordings of the same stimulus without feedback presentation. The analysis of the trained classifier revealed a brain network that discriminates contents of conscious perception with antagonistic interactions between early sensory areas that represent physical stimulus properties and higher-tier brain areas. During integrated object percepts, brain activity decreases in early sensory areas and increases in higher-tier areas. We conclude that it is possible to use BOLD responses to reliably track the contents of conscious visual perception with a relatively high temporal resolution. We suggest that our approach can also be used to investigate the neural basis of auditory object formation and discuss the results in the context of predictive coding theory

Late treatment with imatinib mesylate ameliorates radiation-induced lung fibrosis in a mouse model

Background: We have previously shown that small molecule PDGF receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (RTKI) can drastically attenuate radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis if the drug administration starts at the time of radiation during acute inflammation with present but limited effects against acute inflammation. To rule out interactions of the drug with acute inflammation, we investigated here in an interventive trial if a later drug administration start at a time when the acute inflammation has subsided - has also beneficial antifibrotic effects. Methods: Whole thoraces of C57BL/6 mice were irradiated with 20 Gy and treated with the RTKI imatinib starting either 3 days after radiation ( during acute inflammation) or two weeks after radiation ( after the acute inflammation has subsided as demonstrated by leucocyte count). Lungs were monitored and analyzed by clinical, histological and in vivo non-invasive computed tomography as a quantitative measure for lung density and lung fibrosis. Results: Irradiation induced severe lung fibrosis resulting in markedly reduced mouse survival vs. non-irradiated controls. Both early start of imatinib treatment during inflammation and late imatinib start markedly attenuated the development of pulmonary fibrosis as demonstrated by clinical, histological and qualitative and quantitative computed tomography results such as reduced lung density. Both administration schedules resulted in prolonged lifespans. The earlier drug treatment start resulted in slightly stronger beneficial antifibrotic effects along all measured endpoints than the later start. Conclusions: Our findings show that imatinib, even when administered after the acute inflammation has subsided, attenuates radiation-induced lung fibrosis in mice. Our data also indicate that the fibrotic fate is not only determined by the early inflammatory events but rather a complex process in which secondary events at later time points are important. Because of the clinical availability of imatinib or similar compounds, a meaningful attenuation of radiation-induced lung fibrosis in patients seems possible