Increasing flexibility at labor market entry and in the early career: a new conceptual framework for the flexCAREER project

"Continuous full-time work is becoming less frequent in modern societies. Instead, flexible forms of employment such as part-time work, fixed-term contracts, and self-employment as well as phases of unemployment are gaining importance. These trends are supposed to be more pronounced at labor market entry, leading to a prolonged entry process and increasing difficulties in becoming established on the labor market. However, there are vast differences between countries with regard to forms of labor market flexibility and the degrees of uncertainty young people have to face. This working paper provides a theoretical framework for the empirical studies within the flexCAREER research program. The aim of flexCAREER is to study the consequences of employment flexibility strategies on labor market entries and early careers as well as their impact on structures of social inequality in a cross-country perspective. We explain the reasons behind the rise in employment flexibility and develop hypotheses with special regard to nation-based institutional differences. In particular, we describe which role institutional settings such as the educational system, production regimes, employment protection legislations, and labor market policies play in determining the consequences of employment flexibility strategies. We focus on the institutional contexts of Great Britain, the USA, Germany (East and West), France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, and Hungary, which are the countries under study. The hypotheses in this working paper concern the following aspects: 1. the phase of labor market entry in terms of a) the duration of search for the first job and b) the quality of this first job (with regard to the flexibility of the employment contract and the 'adequacy' of the job with respect to the employee's educational qualification). 2. In view of the early career, we outline our expectations in terms of a) the risk of unemployment, b) the chances of reentering the labor force when unemployed (e.g., with regard to the duration of unemployment until finding a new job), c) upward and downward mobility, d) the chances of leaving precarious work at the beginning of the career, and e) the risk of making a transition into a precarious form of employment." (author's abstract

Original antigenic sin shapes the immunological repertoire evoked by HCMV gB-MF59 vaccine in seropositive recipients

A cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccine is urgently needed to protect against primary infection and enhance existing immunity in CMV infected individuals (CMV+). Using sera from CMV+ gB/MF59 vaccine recipients prior to transplant we investigated the composition of the immune response. Vaccination boosted pre-existing humoral responses in our CMV+ cohort but did not promote de-novo responses against novel linear epitopes. This suggests that prior natural infection has a profound effect on shaping the antibody repertoire and subsequent response to vaccination (‘original antigenic sin’). Thus vaccination of CMV+ may require strategies of epitope presentation distinct from those intended to prevent primary infection

Heat-induced formation of single giant unilamellar vesicles

Giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) are an excellent model system for the investigation of lipid membranes, the study of membrane proteins and ion channels in a biomimetic environment, and in the creation of artificial cells. Here, we describe a novel method for the preparation of GUVs from single multilamellar liposomes by means of directed infrared laser heating. Our method generates individual unilamellar vesicles at selected locations, not only from natural and artificial lipid mixtures containing negatively charged lipids, but also from preparations of single lipids, such as neutral phosphatidylethanolamine. The presented method provides a new efficient resource for giant vesicle research and offers an alternative to the electroformation and de/rehydration techniques

Frühe Hilfen für Kinder psychisch kranker Eltern - Forschungsergebnisse des Nationalen Zentrums Frühe Hilfen

Die Frühen Hilfen für Eltern mit Kindern von 0 bis 3 sind in Deutschland flächendeckend ausgebaut. Mit speziellen Angeboten für Eltern in Belastungslagen tragen sie dazu bei, Erziehungskompetenzen in Familien zu entwickeln und Kindern ein gesundes und geschütztes Aufwachsen zu ermöglichen. Ein großer Teil der Eltern, die in den Frühen Hilfen unterstützt werden, zeigt Anzeichen einer psychischen Erkrankung. Dies wird in der Praxis Früher Hilfen als besonders schwer zu bewältigende Herausforderung erlebt. Es gibt jedoch bislang nur wenig verlässliches Faktenwissen darüber, wie hoch der Anteil psychisch belasteter Familien in den Angeboten Früher Hilfen tatsächlich ist, welche Bedeutung eine psychische Erkrankung für die Versorgung der Familien hat und wie sich die Hilfesysteme - zum Wohle von Kindern und Eltern - weiter entwickeln müssen. Das Nationale Zentrum Frühe Hilfen (NZFH) hat den flächendeckenden Ausbau der Frühen Hilfen in Deutschland wissenschaftlich begleitet. In diesem Beitrag werden die Befunde zur Versorgung von Familien mit mindestens einem psychisch belasteten Elternteil aus mehreren Studien zusammengetragen, analysiert und diskutiert.In Germany, networks and measures of early childhood intervention (ECI) have been implemented nationwide. By specifically targeting families with multiple psychosocial challenges, ECI contributes to the enhancement of families’ parenting skills, in order to promote equal opportunities for all children to grow up healthy and safe. In many families supported by ECI measures at least one parent shows symptoms of a mental health disorder, which poses a major challenge to ECI practitioners. Nevertheless, there is a lack of valid scientific knowledge about the proportion of young families living with symptoms of mental disorders, the degree to which parents’ psychic burdens affect care in ECI measures and about the cooperation of different care providing systems. The National Center for Early Prevention (NCEP) monitors and evaluates the scaling up of ECI networks and measures in Germany. The present article compiles results of different NCEP studies focusing on parents with mental illness in Early Childhood Intervention. Results are discussed with regard to their relevance for further improving the care systems

Assessment of bone graft incorporation by 18 F-fluoride positron-emission tomography/computed tomography in patients with persisting symptoms after posterior lumbar interbody fusion

BACKGROUND: Posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) is a method that allows decompression of the spinal canal and nerve roots by laminectomy combined with fusion by means of intervertebral cages filled with bone graft and pedicle screw fixation. Conventional imaging techniques, such as plain radiography and computed tomography (CT), have limitations to assess bony fusion dynamics. METHODS: In 16 PLIFs of 15 patients with persisting symptoms, positron-emission tomography (PET)/CT scans were made 60 min after intravenous administration of 156 to 263 MBq of (18) F-fluoride, including 1-mm sliced, high-dose, non-contrast-enhanced CT scanning. Maximal standard uptake values (SUVmax) of various regions were calculated and correlated with abnormalities on CT. RESULTS: Subsidence of the cages into the vertebral endplates was the most frequently observed abnormality on CT (in 16 of 27 or 59% of evaluable endplates). Endplate SUVmax values were significantly higher for those patients with pronounced (p < 0.0001) or moderate (p < 0.013) subsidence as compared to those with no subsidence. Additionally, a significant correlation between vertebral and ipsilateral pedicle screw entrance SUVmax values (p < 0.009) was found, possibly indicating posterior transmission of increased bone stress. In our patient group, intercorporal fusion was seen on CT in 63% but showed no correlation to intercorporal SUVmax values. CONCLUSIONS: With the use of (18) F-fluoride PET/CT, intervertebral cage subsidence appeared to be a prominent finding in this patient group with persisting symptoms, and highly correlating with the degree of PET hyperactivity at the vertebral endplates and pedicle screw entry points. Further study using (18) F-fluoride PET/CT should specifically assess the role of metabolically active subsidence in a prospective patient group, to address its role in nonunion and as a cause of persisting pain

Flexibility processes and social inequalities at labor market entry and in the early career: a conceptual paper for the flexCAREER project

"Continuous full-time work is becoming less frequent in modern societies. Instead, flexible forms of employment such as part-time work, fixed-term contracts, and self-employment as well as phases of unemployment are gaining importance. These trends are supposed to be more pronounced at labor market entry, leading to a longer entry process and increasing difficulties in becoming established in the labor market. However, there are vast differences between countries with regard to forms of labor market flexibility and the degree of uncertainty faced by young people. This working paper provides a theoretical framework for the empirical studies within the flexCAREER research program. The aim of flexCAREER is to study the consequences of employment flexibility strategies on labor market entries and early careers as well as their impact on structures of social inequality in a cross-country perspective. We explain the reasons behind the rise in employment flexibility and develop hypotheses with special regard to nation-based institutional differences. In particular, we describe what role institutions such as the education system, employment relations, and welfare regimes play in determining the consequences of employment flexibility strategies. We focus on the institutional contexts of Great Britain, the USA, Germany (East and West), the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, and Hungary; these are the countries under study within the project. The hypotheses in this working paper concern the following aspects: 1. the phase of labor market entry in terms of a) the duration of search for the first job and b) the quality of this first job (with regard to the flexibility of the employment contract and the 'adequacy' of the job with respect to the employee's educational qualification). 2. In view of the early career we outline our expectations in terms of a) the risk of unemployment, b) the chances of re-entering the labor force when unemployed (e.g., with regard to the duration of unemployment until finding a new job), c) upward and downward mobility, d) the chances of leaving precarious work at the beginning of the career, and e) the risk of making a transition into a precarious form of employment." (author's abstract

Die Frühen Hilfen aus Sicht der Pädiatrie - Erkenntnisse aus einer bundesweit repräsentativen Studie

Frühe Hilfen sind Angebote für werdende Eltern und Familien mit Kindern bis 3 Jahre - zur Unterstützung, Beratung und Begleitung. Wie stehen Kinderärzte zu diesen Angeboten? Erkenntnisse aus einer bundesweit repräsentativen Studi