Beschäftigungsstabilität im Konjunkturzyklus : eine empirische Analyse mit Individualdaten für Westdeutschland 1984 - 2005

Der Beitrag untersucht unter Verwendung der Daten des Sozio-ökonomischen Panels für Westdeutschland über den Zeitraum 1984-2005, ob und in welcher Form die individuelle Betriebszugehörigkeitsdauer von konjunkturellen Schwankungen beeinflusst wird. Als Analyseinstrument dient die parametrische Zeitdaueranalyse, wobei Weibull- und loglogistische Accelerated Failure Time-Modelle herangezogen werden. Festzuhalten ist, dass sich sowohl für Frauen als auch für Männer ein Einfluss der konjunkturellen Entwicklung auf die Beschäftigungsstabilität erkennen lässt. Die Beschäftigungsstabilität nimmt für beide Geschlechter zu Beginn eines wirtschaftlichen Aufschwungs zu. Mit zunehmender Dauer des Aufschwungs setzt allerdings für Männer ein entgegengesetzter Einfluss ein und das Risiko einer Beschäftigungsbeendigung steigt aufgrund der hohenWachstumsraten der Vorperioden

New observations of Meddy Movement south of the Tejo Plateau

Mediterranean salt lenses (meddies) are a dominant factor in the salt budget of the Atlantic at middepth. In spite of their important role, their juvenile migration has not yet been directly observed. For the first time, two RAFOS float trajectories show strong evidence of a meddy along the Iberian continental slope off Lisbon. Over six weeks we obtained drift observations from two levels (629, 847 dbar). Both instruments recorded a series of loops with an azimuthal speed O (30 cm s−1) at a radius of about 25 km. Relatively high propagation speeds of several centimeters per second indicate the meddy was probably carried along with the undercurrent of Mediterranean Water. The Tejo Plateau, a prominent feature of the continental slope and a natural obstacle for the spreading Mediterranean Water tongue, appears to act as a deflector for advected meddies possibly formed by interaction of the undercurrent with the canyon-rich topography farther south

Organometallic Neptunium Chemistry

Fifty years have passed since the foundation of organometallic neptunium chemistry, and yet only a handful of complexes have been reported, and even fewer fully characterised. Yet increasingly, combined synthetic/spectroscopic/computational studies are demonstrating how covalently binding, soft, carbocyclic organometallic ligands provide an excellent platform for advancing the fundamental understanding of the differences in orbital contributions and covalency in f-block metal – ligand bonding. Understanding the subtleties are key to the safe handling and separations of the highly radioactive nuclei. This review describes the complexes that have been synthesised to date, presents a critical assessment on the successes and difficulties in their analysis, and the bonding information they have provided. Because of the recent work to start new Np air-sensitive inorganic chemistry labs, the importance of radioactivity, the basics of Np decay and its ramifications (including the radiochemical synthesis of one organometallic) and the available anhydrous starting materials are also surveyed. The review also highlights a range of instances in which important differences in the chemical behaviour between Np and its closest neighbours, uranium and plutonium, are found.JRC.G.I.5-Advanced Nuclear Knowledg

Dynamics of receptor and protein transducer homodimerisation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Signalling pathways are complex systems in which not only simple monomeric molecules interact, but also more complex structures that include constitutive or induced protein assemblies. In particular, the hetero-and homo-dimerisation of proteins is a commonly encountered motif in signalling pathways. Several authors have suggested in recent times that dimerisation relates to a series of physical and biological outcomes used by the cell in the regulation of signal transduction.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this paper we investigate the role of homodimerisation in receptor-protein transducer interactions. Towards this end, mathematical modelling is used to analyse the features of such kind of interactions and to predict the behaviour of the system under different experimental conditions. A kinetic model in which the interaction between homodimers provokes a dual mechanism of activation (single and double protein transducer activation at the same time) is proposed. In addition, we analyse under which conditions the use of a power-law representation for the system is useful. Furthermore, we investigate the dynamical consequences of this dual mechanism and compare the performance of the system in different simulated experimental conditions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The analysis of our mathematical model suggests that in receptor-protein interacting systems with dual mechanism there may be a shift between double and single activation in a way that intense double protein transducer activation could initiate and dominate the signal in the short term (getting a fast intense signal), while single protein activation could control the system in the medium and long term (when input signal is weaker and decreases slowly). Our investigation suggests that homodimerisation and oligomerisation are mechanisms used to enhance and regulate the dynamic properties of the initial steps in signalling pathways.</p

The θ\theta-θ\theta Diagram: Transforming pulsar scintillation spectra to coordinates on highly anisotropic interstellar scattering screens

We introduce a novel analysis technique for pulsar secondary spectra. The power spectrum of pulsar scintillation (referred to as the "secondary spectrum") shows differential delays and Doppler shifts due to interference from multi-path propagation through the interstellar medium. We develop a transformation which maps these observables to angular coordinates on a single thin screen of phase-changing material. This transformation is possible without degeneracies in the case of a one-dimensional distribution of images on this screen, which is often a successful description of the phenomenon. The double parabolic features of secondary spectra are transformed into parallel linear features, whose properties we describe in detail. Furthermore, we introduce methods to measure the curvature parameter and the field amplitude distribution of images by applying them to observations of PSR B0834+06. Finally, we extend this formalism to two-dimensional distributions of images on the interstellar screen.Comment: 11 pages, 14 figures, 1 table, v2: matches accepted versio

Safety and efficacy of methylene blue combined with artesunate or amodiaquine for uncomplicated falciparum malaria

Besides existing artemisinin-based combination therapies, alternative safe, effective and affordable drug combinations against falciparum malaria are needed. Methylene blue (MB) was the first synthetic antimalarial drug ever used, and recent studies have been promising with regard to its revival in malaria therapy. The objective of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of two MB-based malaria combination therapies, MB-artesunate (AS) and MB-amodiaquine (AQ), compared to the local standard of care, AS-AQ, in Burkina Faso. Open-label randomised controlled phase II study in 180 children aged 6-10 years with uncomplicated falciparum malaria in Nouna, north-western Burkina Faso. Follow-up was for 28 days and analysis by intention-to-treat. The treatment groups were similar in baseline characteristics and there was only one loss to follow-up. No drug-related serious adverse events and no deaths occurred. MB-containing regimens were associated with mild vomiting and dysuria. No early treatment failures were observed. Parasite clearance time differed significantly among groups and was the shortest with MB-AS. By day 14, the rates of adequate clinical and parasitological response after PCR-based correction for recrudescence were 87% for MB-AS, 100% for MB-AQ (p = 0.004), and 100% for AS-AQ (p = 0.003). By day 28, the respective figure was lowest for MB-AS (62%), intermediate for the standard treatment AS-AQ (82%; p = 0.015), and highest for MB-AQ (95%; p<0.001; p = 0.03). MB-AQ is a promising alternative drug combination against malaria in Africa. Moreover, MB has the potential to further accelerate the rapid parasite clearance of artemisinin-based combination therapies. More than a century after the antimalarial properties of MB had been described, its role in malaria control deserves closer attention. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00354380

One-day point prevalence of emerging bacterial pathogens in four secondary and five tertiary care German hospitals – results from a pilot study of the German Society for Hospital Hygiene (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Krankenhaushygiene, DGKH)

Objective: Data on the prevalence of emerging bacterial pathogens like extended-spectrum-lactamase-building (ESBL) Gram negative organisms, multiresistant Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter species or toxin-building Clostridium difficile in German hospitals are sparse. To provide data for different regions in Germany, a one-day point prevalence study with five tertiary care hospitals and four secondary care hospitals was conducted on the 10th of February 2010