Der gleitende Übergang in den Ruhestand - eine Pensionierungsform der Zukunft?

"Der gleitende Übergang in den Ruhestand stellt eine Alternative zur üblichen einstufigen Pensionierung dar. Statt wie bei jener abrupt von einem auf den anderen Tag aus dem Berufsleben auszuscheiden, erfolgt beim gleitenden Übergang das Überwechseln in die nachberufliche Lebensphase über einen längeren Zeitraum durch eine allmähliche Verminderung der Arbeitszeit und ggf. anderer Arbeitkomponenten, z.B. bestimmter Belastungsarten. Die Untersuchung stützt die spontane Vermutung, daß der gleitende Übergang, der in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland nur in wenigen Betrieben, in einigen anderen europäischen Ländern jedoch häufig verwirklicht ist, besser als die einstufige Pensionierung für die Älteren eine altersentsprechende Arbeitssituation und günstige Voraussetzungen für die Anpassung an den Ruhestand zu gewährleisten vermag. Für die Betriebe kann er zwar - je nach Ausgestaltung - eine zusätzliche Kostenbelastung soweie organisatorische Erschwernisse (z.B. Einrichtung von Teilzeitarbeitssystemen) bedeuten, er erhöht jedoch die Flexibilität der Personalplanung und ermöglicht die bessere Nutzung der Leistungsfähigkeit älterer Mitarbeiter. Wichtig erscheint insbesondere der mit dem gleitenden Übergang verbundene Vorteil, daß er vergleichsweise rasch und flexibel Arbeitsmarktungleichgewichte partiell glätten und bei Arbeitsmarktveränderungen unerwünschte Strukturen partiell kompensieren kann. Insgesamt, so die hier vertretene These, wird die Bedeutung dieser Pensionierungsform in Zukunft zunehmen." (Autorenreferat)gleitender Ruhestand, Pensionierung - Modell

Spiropyran-based reversible, light-modulated sensing with reduced photofatigue

Switchable materials have tremendous potential for application in sensor development that could be applied to many fields. We are focusing on emerging area of wireless sensor networks due to the potential impact of this concept in society. Spiropyran-based sensors are probably the most studied type of photoswitchable sensing devices. They suffer from many issues but photofatigue, insufficient selectivity and lack of sensitivity are probably the most important characteristics that hinder their wider application. Here, we are address these issues and demonstrate that covalent attachment of modified spiropyran into a polymeric film significantly reduces photodegradation. The observed signal loss after 12th cycle of switching between the spiropyran and merocyanine forms is only about 27% compared to the loss of 57% of the initial signal in an equivalent experiment based on non-immobilized spiropyran. This has enabled us to demonstrate at least five reversible cycles of detection of an ion of interest (in our case H+) with minimal signal loss. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the sensitivity can be increased by incorporation of additional binding groups in the parent spiropyran molecule. Using molecular modelling to calculate the relevant bond lengths as a measure of interaction between MC and H+, the calculated increase of H-bond strength is approximately an order of magnitude for a derivative containing a methoxy group incorporated in the o-position of the parent spiropyran in comparison to the equivalent unsubstituted phenol. This theoretical result was found to correspond very well with experimental observation. As a result, we have increased the sensitivity to H+ by approximately one order of magnitude

Spiropyran modified micro-fluidic chip channels as photonically controlled self-indicating system for metal ion accumulation and release

In this paper, we show how through integrating the beneficial characteristics of micro-fluidic devices and spiropyrans dyes, a simple and very innovative chip configured as an on-line photonically controlled self-indicating system for metal ion accumulation and release can be realised. The micro-fluidic device consists of five independent 94 μm depth, 150 μm width channels fabricated in polydimethylsiloxane. The spiropyran 1’-(3-carboxypropyl)-3,3’-dimethyl-6-nitrospiro-1-benzopyran-2,2’-indoline is immobilised by physical adsorption into a polydimethylsiloxane matrix and covalently on the ozone plasma activated polydimehylsiloxane micro-channel walls. When the colourless, inactive, spiropyran coating absorbs UV light it switches to the highly coloured merocyanine form, which also has an active binding site for certain metal ions. Therefore metal ion uptake can be triggered using UV light and subsequently reversed on demand by shining white light on the coloured complex, which regenerates the inactive spiropyran form, and releases the metal ion. When stock solutions of several metal ions (Ca2+, Zn2+, Hg2+, Cu2+, Co2+) are pumped independently through the five channels, different optical responses were observed for each metal, and the platform can therefore be regarded as a micro-structured device for online self-indicating metal ion complexation, accumulation and release

Physicochemical study of spiropyran-terthiophene derivatives: photochemistry and thermodynamics

The photochemistry and thermodynamics of two terthiophene (TTh) derivatives bearing benzospiropyran (BSP) moieties, 1-(3,3’’-dimethylindoline-6’-nitrobenzospiropyranyl)-2-ethyl 4,4’’-didecyloxy-2,2’:5’,2’’-terthiophene-3’-acetate (BSP-2) and 1-(3,3’’-dimethylindoline-6’-nitrobenzospiropyranyl)-2-10 ethyl 4,4’’-didecyloxy-2,2’:5’,2’’-terthiophene-3’-carboxylate (BSP-3), differing only by a single methylene spacer unit, have been studied. The kinetics of photogeneration of the equivalent merocyanine (MC) isomers (MC-2 and MC-3, respectively), the isomerisation properties of MC-2 and MC-3, and the thermodynamic parameters have been studied in cetonitrile, and compared to the parent, non-TThfunctionalised, benzospiropyran derivative, BSP-1. Despite the close structural similarity of BSP-2 and 15 BSP-3, their physicochemical properties were found to differ significantly; examples include activation energies (Ea(MC-2) = 75.05 KJ mol-1, Ea(MC-3) = 100.39 kJ mol-1) and entropies of activation (S‡ MC-2 = - 43.38 J K-1 mol-1, S‡ MC-3 = 37.78 J K-1 mol-1) for the thermal relaxation from MC to BSP, with the MC-3 value much closer to the unmodified MC-1 value (46.48 J K -1 mol-1) for this latter quantity. The thermal relaxation kinetics and solvatochromic behaviour of the derivatives in a range of solvents of 20 differing polarity (ethanol, dichloromethane, acetone, toluene and diethyl ether) are also presented. Differences in the estimated values of these thermodynamic and kinetic parameters are discussed with reference to the molecular structure of the derivatives

Can Consciousness be Lowered?

You\u27ve been working as part of the women\u27s movement since 1968. It\u27s changed your life and the lives of the people you have touched. The job you have probably didn\u27t have a name ten years ago. You\u27re a women\u27s studies coordinator, a rape and domestic violence counselor, an affirmative action officer. You are more involved in women\u27s issues than ever before. You wake up planning strategies and go to sleep drafting rationales. You subscribe to more journals—in spite of inflation—not only to support them, but to buoy yourself up. But something is wrong. There is a new sound in the air. The sound of the seventies wasn\u27t the Beatles or the BeeGees, not Carly Simon or Holly Near. Not even Margie Adam or Cris Williamson. The sound of the seventies was—the click. Do you remember how it went? Those castanets of connection? The air was full of them. Not all the same length. Not all the same pitch. But each one immediately recognizable and a cause for rejoicing. The privilege of having the door held open costs approximately $4,000 a year. Most women are only one man away from welfare. The click was the sound of connection, of someone leaping beyond the isolation of the personal to the potency of political analysis, of someone moving from depression to anger, the sound (magnified perhaps) of someone hugging herself or her sister. I understand; therefore I am. Ready. The problem that had no name was finding its tongue. The clicks were exhilarating. No sooner did you hear one within yourself than you recognized it as the sound you had been hearing all around you. With a leap of imagination, you were part of a symphony

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a terminal neurodegenerative disorder affecting an individual’s motor neurons. With a high prevalence affecting people in the United States of America, the progressive disease affects the lives of many. Once a patient is diagnosed, a short survival rate is to be expected. Importance for healthcare workers should be to focus on proper diagnosis, therapeutic communication, and palliative care. The pathophysiology is still under investigation; however, there have been breakthroughs regarding genetic alterations within the Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase gene (SOD1) and a large repeat on the C9ORF72 gene. By examining the signs and symptoms, doing the appropriate testing for diagnosis, and creating a therapeutic environment to discuss the goals of care with the patients, the quality of life for patient’s diagnosed with ALS will be maximized

Mechanical Drawing of Gas Sensors on Paper

Pencil it in: Mechanical abrasion of compressed single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) on the surface of paper produces sensors capable of detecting NH[subscript 3] gas at sub-ppm concentrations. This method of fabrication is simple, inexpensive, and entirely solvent-free, and avoids difficulties arising from the inherent instability of many SWCNT dispersions.Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (W911NF-07-D-004)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (National Cancer Institute (U.S.) Postdoctoral Fellowship Grant F32A1571997

Head Impact Exposure in Youth Football: Elementary School Ages 9–12 Years and the Effect of Practice Structure

Head impact exposure in youth football has not been well-documented, despite children under the age of 14 accounting for 70% of all football players in the United States. The objective of this study was to quantify the head impact exposure of youth football players, age 9–12, for all practices and games over the course of single season. A total of 50 players (age = 11.0 ± 1.1 years) on three teams were equipped with helmet mounted accelerometer arrays, which monitored each impact players sustained during practices and games. During the season, 11,978 impacts were recorded for this age group. Players averaged 240 ± 147 impacts for the season with linear and rotational 95th percentile magnitudes of 43 ± 7 g and 2034 ± 361 rad/s(2). Overall, practice and game sessions involved similar impact frequencies and magnitudes. One of the three teams however, had substantially fewer impacts per practice and lower 95th percentile magnitudes in practices due to a concerted effort to limit contact in practices. The same team also participated in fewer practices, further reducing the number of impacts each player experienced in practice. Head impact exposures in games showed no statistical difference. While the acceleration magnitudes among 9–12 year old players tended to be lower than those reported for older players, some recorded high magnitude impacts were similar to those seen at the high school and college level. Head impact exposure in youth football may be appreciably reduced by limiting contact in practices. Further research is required to assess whether such a reduction in head impact exposure will result in a reduction in concussion incidence

Optical switching of protein interactions on photosensitive–electroactive polymers measured by atomic force microscopy

The ability to switch the physico-chemical properties of conducting polymers opens up new possibilities for a range of new applications. Appropriately functionalised materials can provide routes to multi-modal switching, for example in response light and/or electrochemical stimuli; this capability is important in the field of bionics, wherein remote control of the properties of materials opens new possibilities. For example, the ability to actuate a film via photonic stimuli is particularly interesting as it facilitates the modulation of interactions between surface host binding sites and potential guest molecules. In this work, we studied two different poly-terthiophenes: one was functionalized with a spiropyran photoswitch (pTTh-SP) and the second with a non photoswitchable methyl acetate moeity (pTTh-MA). These substrates were exposed to several cycles of illumination with light of different wavelengths and the resulting effect studied with UV-vis spectroscopy, contact angle and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The AFM tips were chemically activated with fibronectin (FN) and the adhesion force of the protein to the polymeric surface was measured. The pTTh-MA (no SP incorporated) showed a slightly higher average maximum adhesion (0.96 ± 0.14 nN) than the modified pTTh-SP surface (0.77 ± 0.08 nN), but after exposure of the pTTh-SP polymer to UV, the average maximum adhesion of the pTTh-MC was significantly smaller (0.49 ± 0.06 nN) than both the pTTh MA and pTTh-SP. These results suggest that hydrophobic forces are predominant indetermining the protein adhesion to the films studied and that this effect can be photonically tuned. By extension, this further implies that it should be possible to obtain a degree of spatial and temporal control of the surface binding behaviour of certain proteins with these functionalised surfaces through photoactivation/ deactivation, which, in principle, should facilitate patterned growth behaviour (e.g. using masks or directional illumination) or photocontrol of protein uptake and release