Personen, die nicht am Erwerbsleben teilnehmen - Analyse sozioökonomischer Merkmale unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Haushaltskontextes und Bestimmung des Arbeitskräftepotenzials : Endbericht

Für die Fachkräftesicherung stellen bisher nicht am Arbeitsmarkt aktive Personen (sog. Nichterwerbspersonen) ein wichtiges Potenzial dar. Die vorliegende Studie untersucht die Eigenschaften dieser Personengruppe und schätzt auf dieser Grundlage ihr Aktivierungspotenzial ein. Betrachtet werden Aspekte wie sozio-demographische Merkmale von Nichterwerbspersonen, Übergänge in und aus Nichterwerbstätigkeit, Faktoren, die einen Austritt aus Nichterwerbstätigkeit fördern oder hemmen sowie Erwerbspläne von Nichterwerbspersonen. Mit Hilfe von Clusteranalysen werden Typen von Nichterwerbstätigen identifiziert, die die Grundlage für die Abschätzung von Wahrscheinlichkeiten zur Aktivierung bilden. Abschließend werden Aktivierungsmaßnahmen diskutiert

Alterations in macrophage polarization in the craniofacial and extracranial skeleton after zoledronate application and surgical interventions – an in vivo experiment

PurposeMedication-related osteonecrosis occurs exclusively in the jaw bones. However, the exact pathogenesis of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) and the unique predisposition of the jaw bones have not been elucidated, making its treatment a challenge. Recent evidence indicates that macrophages might play a pivotal role in MRONJ pathogenesis. The aim of the present study was to compare the macrophage populations between the craniofacial and extracranial skeleton and to investigate the changes induced by zoledronate (Zol) application and surgical interventions.Materials and methodsAn in vivo experiment was performed. 120 wistar rats were randomized to 4 groups (G1, G2, G3, G4). G1 served as an untreated control group. G2 and G4 received Zol injections for 8 weeks. Afterwards, the right lower molar of the animals from G3 and G4 was extracted and the right tibia osteotomized followed by osteosynthesis. Tissue samples were taken from the extraction socket and the tibia fracture at fixed time points. Immunohistochemistry was conducted to determine the labeling indexes of CD68+ and CD163+ macrophages.ResultsComparing the mandible and the tibia, we observed a significantly higher number of macrophages and a heightened pro-inflammatory environment in the mandible compared to the tibia. Tooth extraction caused an increase of the overall number of macrophages and a shift toward a more pro-inflammatory microenvironment in the mandible. Zol application amplified this effect.ConclusionOur results indicate fundamental immunological differences between the jaw bone and the tibia, which might be a reason for the unique predisposition for MRONJ in the jaw bones. The more pro-inflammatory environment after Zol application and tooth extraction might contribute to the pathogenesis of MRONJ. Targeting macrophages might represent an attractive strategy to prevent MRONJ and improve therapy. In addition, our results support the hypothesis of an anti-tumoral and anti-metastatic effect induced by BPs. However, further studies are needed to delineate the mechanisms and specify the contributions of the various macrophage phenotypes

Visualization and Curve-Parameter Estimation Strategies for Efficient Exploration of Phenotype Microarray Kinetics

The Phenotype MicroArray (OmniLog® PM) system is able to simultaneously capture a large number of phenotypes by recording an organism's respiration over time on distinct substrates. This technique targets the object of natural selection itself, the phenotype, whereas previously addressed '-omics' techniques merely study components that finally contribute to it. The recording of respiration over time, however, adds a longitudinal dimension to the data. To optimally exploit this information, it must be extracted from the shapes of the recorded curves and displayed in analogy to conventional growth curves.The free software environment R was explored for both visualizing and fitting of PM respiration curves. Approaches using either a model fit (and commonly applied growth models) or a smoothing spline were evaluated. Their reliability in inferring curve parameters and confidence intervals was compared to the native OmniLog® PM analysis software. We consider the post-processing of the estimated parameters, the optimal classification of curve shapes and the detection of significant differences between them, as well as practically relevant questions such as detecting the impact of cultivation times and the minimum required number of experimental repeats.We provide a comprehensive framework for data visualization and parameter estimation according to user choices. A flexible graphical representation strategy for displaying the results is proposed, including 95% confidence intervals for the estimated parameters. The spline approach is less prone to irregular curve shapes than fitting any of the considered models or using the native PM software for calculating both point estimates and confidence intervals. These can serve as a starting point for the automated post-processing of PM data, providing much more information than the strict dichotomization into positive and negative reactions. Our results form the basis for a freely available R package for the analysis of PM data

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Housing prices and neighborhood structure

In der Dissertation "Housing Prices and Neighborhood Structure: Microeconomic Evidence from Germany" werden arbeits- und regionalökonomische Aspekte untersucht. Der Fokus liegt in der Fragestellung wie das nachbarschaftliche Umfeld wirtschaftliche Entscheidungen von Individuen und Haushalten beeinflusst. Die differenzierte Betrachtung der Immobilienmärkte steht dabei jeweils im Fokus. Denn die Situation auf dem Immobilienmarkt ist ein zentraler Einflussfaktor auf die Ortswahl von Individuen und kann in nicht unerheblichen Maßen zu einer regionalen – und damit häufig verbundenen sozialen – Segregation beitragen. Dies ist insbesondere deshalb von Bedeutung, da empirische Studien zeigen, dass das nachbarschaftliche Umfeld einen Einfluss auf zentrale ökonomische Ereignisgrößen wie beispielsweise Arbeitslosigkeit, Bildungserfolg oder Integration haben kan