Who lost the most? Financial literacy, cognitive abilities, and the financial crisis

We study how and to what extent private households are affected by the recent financial crisis and how their financial decisions are influenced by this shock. Our analysis reveals that individuals with low levels of financial literacy are less likely to have invested in the stock market and thus are less likely to report losses in wealth. Yet, individuals with low financial literacy are more likely to sell their assets which lost in value (realize losses). This reaction to short-term losses has potential long-term consequences if individuals do not participate in markets' recovery and face lower returns in the long run. JEL Classification: D91, D14, G11cognitive ability, financial crisis, financial literacy, life-cycle savings, Portfolio Choice, saving behavior

Who lost the most? Financial Literacy, Cognitive Abilities, and the Financial Crisis --- forthcoming Review of Finance ----

We study how and to what extent private households are affected by the recent financial crisis and how their financial decisions are influenced by this shock. Our analysis reveals that individuals with low levels of financial literacy are less likely to have invested in the stock market and thus are less likely to report losses in wealth. Yet, individuals with low financial literacy are more likely to sell their assets which lost in value (realize losses). This reaction to short-term losses has potential long-term consequences if individuals do not participate in markets' recovery and face lower returns in the long run.

Deutsche Privathaushalte in der Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise : Betroffenheit und Reaktionen

Diese Studie gibt einen ersten Überblick, inwieweit die privaten Haushalte in Deutschland durch die Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise im Sommer 2009 betroffen sind. Dabei stehen die Veränderungen der Erwartungen der Haushalte, ihre kurzfristigen Reaktionen auf die Krise und die langfristigen Pläne zur Anpassung ihres Sparverhaltens im Vordergrund. Zudem untersuchen wir die Reaktion der Haushalte auf die staatliche Konjunkturpolitik. Datenbasis ist das Haushaltspanel SAVE des MEA, das in seiner siebten Welle 2009 die Einkommens- und Vermögensverhältnisse der deutschen Haushalte und ihre Veränderungen durch die Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise bis zum Sommer 2009 repräsentativ erfasst

Künstliche Intelligenz in der Mikroskopie

Die Untersuchung von Zellkulturen mithilfe mikroskopischer Verfahren ist oftmals eine zeitaufwändige und fehleranfällige Aufgabe. Künstliche Intelligenz und Automatisierung können Anwendern dabei helfen, schneller und besser zu mikroskopieren. Lesen Sie, wie ein neues Mikroskop-System bei der Zellanalyse unterstützt

Subtype-specific differentiation of cardiac pacemaker cell clusters from human induced pluripotent stem cells

Background: Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) harbor the potential to differentiate into diverse cardiac cell types. Previous experimental efforts were primarily directed at the generation of hiPSC-derived cells with ventricular cardiomyocyte characteristics. Aiming at a straightforward approach for pacemaker cell modeling and replacement, we sought to selectively differentiate cells with nodal-type properties. Methods: hiPSC were differentiated into spontaneously beating clusters by co-culturing with visceral endoderm-like cells in a serum-free medium. Subsequent culturing in a specified fetal bovine serum (FBS)-enriched cell medium produced a pacemaker-type phenotype that was studied in detail using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), immunocytochemistry, and patch-clamp electrophysiology. Further investigations comprised pharmacological stimulations and co-culturing with neonatal cardiomyocytes. Results: hiPSC co-cultured in a serum-free medium with the visceral endoderm-like cell line END-2 produced spontaneously beating clusters after 10–12 days of culture. The pacemaker-specific genes HCN4, TBX3, and TBX18 were abundantly expressed at this early developmental stage, while levels of sarcomeric gene products remained low. We observed that working-type cardiomyogenic differentiation can be suppressed by transfer of early clusters into a FBS-enriched cell medium immediately after beating onset. After 6 weeks under these conditions, sinoatrial node (SAN) hallmark genes remained at high levels, while working-type myocardial transcripts (NKX2.5, TBX5) were low. Clusters were characterized by regular activity and robust beating rates (70–90 beats/min) and were triggered by spontaneous Ca2+ transients recapitulating calcium clock properties of genuine pacemaker cells. They were responsive to adrenergic/cholinergic stimulation and able to pace neonatal rat ventricular myocytes in co-culture experiments. Action potential (AP) measurements of cells individualized from clusters exhibited nodal-type (63.4%) and atrial-type (36.6%) AP morphologies, while ventricular AP configurations were not observed. Conclusion: We provide a novel culture media-based, transgene-free approach for targeted generation of hiPSC-derived pacemaker-type cells that grow in clusters and offer the potential for disease modeling, drug testing, and individualized cell-based replacement therapy of the SAN

Ageing in Europe. Empirical Analysis with the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe

Dieser Band versammelt Beiträge zu ausgewählten Konsequenzen der Bevölkerungsalterung, die auf ein Forschungspraktikum im Fach Bevölkerungswissenschaft an der Universität Bamberg zurückgehen. Die behandelten Untersuchungsgegenstände umfassen die Determinanten intergenerationaler instrumenteller Transfers im europäischen Vergleich, die Effekte von Arbeitsmarktstrukturen auf freiwillige und unfreiwillige Frühverrentung in Deutschland sowie den Zusammenhang von Versicherungsart und der Inanspruchnahme allgemeinmedizinischer Leistungen im Alter. Diese aktuellen sozialwissenschaftlichen Fragestellungen werden anhand der Daten der ersten Welle des Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) empirisch untersucht.This volume brings together selected contributions on the consequences of population ageing which evolved in an empirical research training course in population studies at the University of Bamberg. The topics ranged from the determinants of intergenerational instrumental transfers in a European comparative perspective, the effects of labor market structures on voluntary and involuntary early retirement in Germany as well as the relation between private and public health insurance and medical treatment for aged people. These actual research questions were empirically investigated using the first wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)

Translational opportunities of single-cell biology in atherosclerosis

The advent of single-cell biology opens a new chapter for understanding human biological processes and for diagnosing, monitoring, and treating disease. This revolution now reaches the field of cardiovascular disease (CVD). New technologies to interrogate CVD samples at single-cell resolution are allowing the identification of novel cell communities that are important in shaping disease development and direct towards new therapeutic strategies. These approaches have begun to revolutionize atherosclerosis pathology and redraw our understanding of disease development. This review discusses the state-of-the-art of single-cell analysis of atherosclerotic plaques, with a particular focus on human lesions, and presents the current resolution of cellular subpopulations and their heterogeneity and plasticity in relation to clinically relevant features. Opportunities and pitfalls of current technologies as well as the clinical impact of single-cell technologies in CVD patient care are highlighted, advocating for multidisciplinary and international collaborative efforts to join the cellular dots of CVD

Is FKBP5 a genetic marker of affective psychosis? A case control study and analysis of disease related traits

BACKGROUND: A dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been proposed as an important pathogenic factor in depression. Genetic variants of FKBP5, a protein of the HPA system modulating the glucocorticoid receptor, have been reported to be genetically associated with improved response to medical treatment and an increase of depressive episodes. METHODS: We examined three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in FKBP5, rs4713916 in the proposed promoter region, rs1360780 in the second intron and rs3800373 in the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR), in a case-control study of Caucasian origin (affective psychosis: n = 248; controls: n = 188) for genetic association and association with disease related traits. RESULTS: Allele and genotype frequencies of rs4713916, rs1360780 and rs3800373 were not significantly different between cases and controls. Two three-locus haplotypes, G-C-T and A-T-G, accounted for 86.2% in controls. Odds ratios were not increased between cases and controls, except the rare haplotype G-C-G (OR 6.81), representing 2.1% of cases and 0.3% of controls. The frequency of rs4713916AG in patients deviated from expected Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the genotype AA at rs4713916 in monopolar depression (P = 0.011), and the two-locus haplotype rs1360780T – rs3800373T in the total sample (overall P = 0.045) were nominally associated with longer continuance of disease. CONCLUSION: Our data do not support a significant genetic contribution of FKBP5 polymorphisms and haplotypes to affective psychosis, and the findings are inconclusive regarding their contribution to disease-related traits

Novel Mouse Model Reveals Distinct Activity-Dependent and –Independent Contributions to Synapse Development

The balanced action of both pre- and postsynaptic organizers regulates the formation of neuromuscular junctions (NMJ). The precise mechanisms that control the regional specialization of acetylcholine receptor (AChR) aggregation, guide ingrowing axons and contribute to correct synaptic patterning are unknown. Synaptic activity is of central importance and to understand synaptogenesis, it is necessary to distinguish between activity-dependent and activity-independent processes. By engineering a mutated fetal AChR subunit, we used homologous recombination to develop a mouse line that expresses AChR with massively reduced open probability during embryonic development. Through histological and immunochemical methods as well as electrophysiological techniques, we observed that endplate anatomy and distribution are severely aberrant and innervation patterns are completely disrupted. Nonetheless, in the absence of activity AChRs form postsynaptic specializations attracting motor axons and permitting generation of multiple nerve/muscle contacts on individual fibers. This process is not restricted to a specialized central zone of the diaphragm and proceeds throughout embryonic development. Phenotypes can be attributed to separate activity-dependent and -independent pathways. The correct patterning of synaptic connections, prevention of multiple contacts and control of nerve growth require AChR-mediated activity. In contrast, myotube survival and acetylcholine-mediated dispersal of AChRs are maintained even in the absence of AChR-mediated activity. Because mouse models in which acetylcholine is entirely absent do not display similar effects, we conclude that acetylcholine binding to the AChR initiates activity-dependent and activity-independent pathways whereby the AChR modulates formation of the NMJ