Pilotstudie einer surveybasierten Verknüpfung von Personen- und Betriebsdaten: Durchführung sowie Generierung einer Betriebsstudie als nachgelagerte Organisationserhebung zur SOEP-Innovationsstichprobe 2007

In this paper, we compare different approaches to the generation of datasets linking employees and firms, and present the specific advantages and disadvantages of each method. We discuss in detail the employee-first method, which has only been investigated so far in the survey research in initial US studies. We show that for Germany, this method provides reasonably comprehensive and error-free data on individuals. Our analyses are based on the results of a follow-up study of firms that was first tested in a SOEP Pretest in the year 2007 on more than 300 employees. Our results also show that the data edition method provides a relatively easy means of considerably improving the quality of contact addresses obtained through an open-ended survey question. The quality and number of the firm contact data as well as the number of participating firms can be increased as well through improvements in the different phases of the generation process. Der Beitrag diskutiert hinsichtlich der Erstellung verknüpfter Datensätze von Arbeitnehmern und Betrieben unterschiedliche Vorgehensweisen und die damit verbundenen spezifischen Vor- und Nachteilen. Ausführlich wird dabei die employee-first-method vorgestellt, zu dem bislang in der Surveyforschung lediglich entsprechende Vorbildstudien aus den USA vorliegen. Es kann für Deutschland gezeigt werden, dass mit Hilfe dieser Methodik erstens die Angaben der Personen hinreichend vollständig und fehlerfrei sind. Die Analysen basieren auf den Ergebnissen einer nachgelagerten Erhebung von Betrieben, die im SOEP-Pretest im Jahr 2007 erstmals bei mehr als 300 Beschäftigten erprobt wurde. Hierzu Weiterhin zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass mittels der Methode der Datenedition relativ einfach eine beachtliche Verbesserung der Güte der durch offene Abfrage erhaltenen Betriebskontaktadressen erreicht werden. Die Güte und Anzahl der Nennungen der Betriebskontaktdaten ebenso wie die Anzahl der teilnehmenden Betriebe kann zudem durch eine Reihe an Verbesserungen in den unterschiedlichen Phasen des Generierungsprozesses gesteigert werden.German Socio-Economic Panel Study, SOEP, Linked Employer-Employee-Data

Whole-body cellular mapping in mouse using standard IgG antibodies

Whole-body imaging techniques play a vital role in exploring the interplay of physiological systems in maintaining health and driving disease. We introduce wildDISCO, a new approach for whole-body immunolabeling, optical clearing and imaging in mice, circumventing the need for transgenic reporter animals or nanobody labeling and so overcoming existing technical limitations. We identified heptakis(2,6-di-O-methyl)-beta-cyclodextrin as a potent enhancer of cholesterol extraction and membrane permeabilization, enabling deep, homogeneous penetration of standard antibodies without aggregation. WildDISCO facilitates imaging of peripheral nervous systems, lymphatic vessels and immune cells in whole mice at cellular resolution by labeling diverse endogenous proteins. Additionally, we examined rare proliferating cells and the effects of biological perturbations, as demonstrated in germ-free mice. We applied wildDISCO to map tertiary lymphoid structures in the context of breast cancer, considering both primary tumor and metastases throughout the mouse body. An atlas of high-resolution images showcasing mouse nervous, lymphatic and vascular systems is accessible at

Recovery of macular pigment spectrum in vivo using hyperspectral image analysis

We investigated the feasibility of a novel method for hyperspectral mapping of macular pigment (MP) in vivo. Six healthy subjects were recruited for noninvasive imaging using a snapshot hyperspectral system. The three-dimensional full spatial-spectral data cube was analyzed using non-negative matrix factorization (NMF), wherein the data was decomposed to give spectral signatures and spatial distribution, in search for the MP absorbance spectrum. The NMF was initialized with the in vitro MP spectrum and rank 4 spectral signature decomposition was used to recover the MP spectrum and optical density in vivo. The recovered MP spectra showed two peaks in the blue spectrum, characteristic of MP, giving a detailed in vivo demonstration of these absorbance peaks. The peak MP optical densities ranged from 0.08 to 0.22 (mean 0.15+/−0.05) and became spatially negligible at diameters 1100 to 1760 μm (4 to 6 deg) in the normal subjects. This objective method was able to exploit prior knowledge (the in vitro MP spectrum) in order to extract an accurate in vivo spectral analysis and full MP spatial profile, while separating the MP spectra from other ocular absorbers. Snapshot hyperspectral imaging in combination with advanced mathematical analysis provides a simple cost-effective approach for MP mapping in vivo

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE): Technical Overview

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) will expand the information space for study of cosmic sources, by adding linear polarization to the properties (time, energy, and position) observed in x-ray astronomy. Selected in 2017 January as a NASA Astrophysics Small Explorer (SMEX) mission, IXPE will be launched into an equatorial orbit in 2021. The IXPE mission will provide scientifically meaningful measurements of the x-ray polarization of a few dozen sources in the 2-8 keV band, including polarization maps of several x-ray-bright extended sources and phase-resolved polarimetry of many bright pulsating x-ray sources

Un mar de soja: la nueva agricultura en Argentina y sus consecuencias

Adaptive optics is a relatively new field, yet it is spreading rapidly and allows new questions to be asked about how the visual system is organized. The editors of this feature issue have posed a series of question to scientists involved in using adaptive optics in vision science. The questions are focused on three main areas. In the first we investigate the use of adaptive optics for psychophysical measurements of visual system function and for improving the optics of the eye. In the second, we look at the applications and impact of adaptive optics on retinal imaging and its promise for basic and applied research. In the third, we explore how adaptive optics is being used to improve our understanding of the neurophysiology of the visual system

The Mouse Cytomegalovirus Gene m42 Targets Surface Expression of the Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase CD45 in Infected Macrophages

The receptor-like protein tyrosine phosphatase CD45 is expressed on the surface of cells of hematopoietic origin and has a pivotal role for the function of these cells in the immune response. Here we report that following infection of macrophages with mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV) the cell surface expression of CD45 is drastically diminished. Screening of a set of MCMV deletion mutants allowed us to identify the viral gene m42 of being responsible for CD45 down-modulation. Moreover, expression of m42 independent of viral infection upon retroviral transduction of the RAW264.7 macrophage cell line led to comparable regulation of CD45 expression. In immunocompetent mice infected with an m42 deletion mutant lower viral titers were observed in all tissues examined when compared to wildtype MCMV, indicating an important role of m42 for viral replication in vivo. The m42 gene product was identified as an 18 kDa protein expressed with early kinetics and is predicted to be a tailanchored membrane protein. Tracking of surface-resident CD45 molecules revealed that m42 induces internalization and degradation of CD45. The observation that the amounts of the E3 ubiquitin ligases Itch and Nedd4 were diminished in cells expressing m42 and that disruption of a PY motif in the N-terminal part of m42 resulted in loss of function, suggest that m42 acts as an activator or adaptor for these Nedd4-like ubiquitin ligases, which mark CD45 for lysosomal degradation. In conclusion, the down-modulation of CD45 expression in MCMV-infected myeloid cells represents a novel pathway of virus-host interaction

Projektbereicht Hans-Böckler-Stiftung. Universität Bielefeld

Hense A, Liebig S, Elsner J. Die zeitweise Entlassung von Arbeitskräften als betriebliche Flexibilisierungsstrategie.; 2009

Durchführung sowie Generierung einer Betriebsstudie als nachgelagerte Organisationserhebung zur SOEP-Innovationsstichprobe 2007

Meyermann A, Elsner J, Schupp J, Liebig S. Pilotstudie einer surveybasierten Verknüpfung von Personenund Betriebsdaten. SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research. DIW Berlin: German Socio-Economic Panel Sutdy (SOEP); 2009

Expression and localisation of thymosin beta-4 in the developing human early fetal heart

BackgroundThe objective of this study was to investigate the expression and localisation of thymosin β4 (Tβ4) in the developing human heart. Tβ4 is a cardioprotective protein which may have therapeutic potential. While Tβ4 is an endogenously produced protein with known importance during development, its role within the developing human heart is not fully understood. Elucidating the localisation of Tβ4 within the developing heart will help in understanding its role during cardiac development and is crucial for understanding its potential for cardioprotection and repair in the adult heart.MethodsExpression of Tβ4 mRNA in the early fetal human heart was assessed by PCR using both ventricular and atrial tissue. Fluorescence immunohistochemistry was used to assess the localisation of Tβ4 in sections of early fetal human heart. Co-staining with CD31, an endothelial cell marker, and with myosin heavy chain, a cardiomyocyte marker, was used to determine whether Tβ4 is localised to these cell types within the early fetal human heart.ResultsTβ4 mRNA was found to be expressed in both the atria and the ventricles of the early fetal human heart. Tβ4 protein was found to be primarily localised to CD31-expressing endothelial cells and the endocardium as well as being present in the epicardium. Tβ4-associated fluorescence was greater in the compact layer of the myocardial wall and the interventricular septum than in the trabecular layer of the myocardium.ConclusionsThe data presented illustrates expression of Tβ4 in the developing human heart and demonstrates for the first time that Tβ4 in the human heart is primarily localised to endothelial cells of the cardiac microvasculature and coronary vessels as-well as to the endothelial-like cells of the endocardium and to the epicardium