Grundsicherung für Arbeitsuchende nach SGB II: Langer Leistungsbezug ist nicht gleich Langzeitarbeitslosigkeit

Der Abbau der Arbeitslosigkeit kam trotz des positiven Beschäftigungstrends zuletzt kaum noch voran. Die Zahl der Langzeitarbeitslosen in Deutschland ist in den letzten Jahren fast nicht mehr gesunken und liegt bei etwa einer Million. Gleichzeitig waren 2014 gut 3 Mio. erwerbsfähige Menschen über längere Zeit auf Leistungen der Grundsicherung angewiesen. In diesem Kurzbericht wird untersucht, wie Langzeitarbeitslosigkeit und Langzeitleistungsbezug zusammenhängen

Portacaval shunt causes apoptosis and liver atrophy in rats despite increases in endogenous levels of major hepatic growth factors

Background/Aims: The response to the liver damage caused by portacaval shunt (PCS) is characterized by low-grade hyperplasia and atrophy. To clarify mechanisms of this dissociation, we correlated the expression of 'hepatotrophic factors' and the antihepatotrophic and proapoptotic peptide, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, with the pathologic changes caused by PCS in rats. Methods: PCS was created by side-to-side anastomosis between the portal vein and inferior vena cava, with ligation of the hilar portal vein. Hepatic growth mediators were measured to 2 months. Results: The decrease in the liver/body weight ratio during the first 7 days which stabilized by day 15, corresponded to parenchymal cell apoptosis and increases in hepatic TGF-β concentration that peaked at 1.4 × baseline at 15 days before returning to control levels by day 30. Variable increases in the concentrations of growth promoters (hepatocyte growth factor, TGF-α and augmenter of liver regeneration) also occurred during the period of hepatocellular apoptosis. Conclusions: The development of hepatic atrophy was associated with changes in TGF-β concentration, and occurred despite increased expression of multiple putative growth promoters. The findings suggest that apoptosis set in motion by TGF-β constrains the amount of hepatocyte proliferation independently from control of liver volume. © 2002 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Expression of ECM proteins fibulin-1 and -2 in acute and chronic liver disease and in cultured rat liver cells

Fibulin-2 has previously been considered as a marker to distinguish rat liver myofibroblasts from hepatic stellate cells. The function of other fibulins in acute or chronic liver damage has not yet been investigated. The aim of this study has been to evaluate the expression of fibulin-1 and -2 in models of rat liver injury and in human liver cirrhosis. Their cellular sources have also been investigated. In normal rat liver, fibulin-1 and -2 were both mainly present in the portal field. Fibulin-1-coding transcripts were detected in total RNA of normal rat liver, whereas fibulin-2 mRNA was only detected by sensitive, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. In acute liver injury, the expression of fibulin-1 was significantly increased (17.23-fold after 48 h), whereas that of fibulin-2 was not modified. The expression of both fibulin-1 and -2 was increased in experimental rat liver cirrhosis (19.16- and 26.47-fold, respectively). At the cellular level, fibulin-1 was detectable in hepatocytes, “activated” hepatic stellate cells, and liver myofibroblasts (2.71-, 122.65-, and 469.48-fold over the expression in normal rat liver), whereas fibulin-2 was restricted to liver myofibroblasts and was regulated by transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-β1) in 2-day-old hepatocyte cultures and in liver myofibroblasts. Thus, fibulin-1 and -2 respond differentially to single and repeated damaging noxae, and their expression is differently present in liver cells. Expression of the fibulin-2 gene is regulated by TGF-β1 in liver myofibroblasts

Necrotrophism Is a Quorum-Sensing-Regulated Lifestyle in Bacillus thuringiensis

How pathogenic bacteria infect and kill their host is currently widely investigated. In comparison, the fate of pathogens after the death of their host receives less attention. We studied Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) infection of an insect host, and show that NprR, a quorum sensor, is active after death of the insect and allows Bt to survive in the cadavers as vegetative cells. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that NprR regulates at least 41 genes, including many encoding degradative enzymes or proteins involved in the synthesis of a nonribosomal peptide named kurstakin. These degradative enzymes are essential in vitro to degrade several substrates and are specifically expressed after host death suggesting that Bt has an active necrotrophic lifestyle in the cadaver. We show that kurstakin is essential for Bt survival during necrotrophic development. It is required for swarming mobility and biofilm formation, presumably through a pore forming activity. A nprR deficient mutant does not develop necrotrophically and does not sporulate efficiently in the cadaver. We report that necrotrophism is a highly regulated mechanism essential for the Bt infectious cycle, contributing to spore spreading

Dairying, diseases and the evolution of lactase persistence in Europe

Update notice Author Correction: Dairying, diseases and the evolution of lactase persistence in Europe (Nature, (2022), 608, 7922, (336-345), 10.1038/s41586-022-05010-7) Nature, Volume 609, Issue 7927, Pages E9, 15 September 2022In European and many African, Middle Eastern and southern Asian populations, lactase persistence (LP) is the most strongly selected monogenic trait to have evolved over the past 10,000 years(1). Although the selection of LP and the consumption of prehistoric milk must be linked, considerable uncertainty remains concerning their spatiotemporal configuration and specific interactions(2,3). Here we provide detailed distributions of milk exploitation across Europe over the past 9,000 years using around 7,000 pottery fat residues from more than 550 archaeological sites. European milk use was widespread from the Neolithic period onwards but varied spatially and temporally in intensity. Notably, LP selection varying with levels of prehistoric milk exploitation is no better at explaining LP allele frequency trajectoriesthan uniform selection since the Neolithic period. In the UK Biobank(4,5) cohort of 500,000 contemporary Europeans, LP genotype was only weakly associated with milk consumption and did not show consistent associations with improved fitness or health indicators. This suggests that other reasons for the beneficial effects of LP should be considered for its rapid frequency increase. We propose that lactase non-persistent individuals consumed milk when it became available but, under conditions of famine and/or increased pathogen exposure, this was disadvantageous, driving LP selection in prehistoric Europe. Comparison of model likelihoods indicates that population fluctuations, settlement density and wild animal exploitation-proxies for these drivers-provide better explanations of LP selection than the extent of milk exploitation. These findings offer new perspectives on prehistoric milk exploitation and LP evolution.Peer reviewe

On the Bandkeramik to the east of the Vistula River: At the limits of the possible

This paper addresses the eastern province of the Bandkeramik. Aspects of chronology, settlement and cultural contact will be discussed. Once, the LBK lands to the east of the Vistula River formed an integral part of the Bandkeramik cultural complex. Mobility and contact contributed to the comparatively high degree of homogeneity observed across the vast zone of LBK interaction stretching from the Seine to the Dnieper Rivers. Furthermore, at the eastern periphery of the LBK inspirations were drawn from Mesolithic backgrounds, the Bug Dniester culture, and Neolithic communities of the Lower Danube. On the other hand, towards the end of her cultural cycle the LBK seems to have had little effect on the subsequent formation of future Neolithic cultures. The expansion of the Bandkeramik came to a halt at the western fringes of the steppes. Here, confronted with an increasingly continental climate, the forest peasants of the LBK met their agro-ecological limits

Bohemica aus der Sammlung des Göttinger Seminars für Ur- und Frühgeschichte - zu einer ältestbandkeramischen Siedlung in Nordböhmen

Auch "Grabungen" in Museen und Sammlungen fördern bisweilen bemerkenswerte Funde zutage - in diesem Fall aus der Lehrsammlung des Seminars für Ur- und Frühgeschichte in Göttingen. Vorgelegt werden eine Reihe von bandkeramischen Funden vom Unterlauf der Eger in Böhmen, darunter Material von einer bisher unbekannten Siedlung (?) der ältesten Linienbandkeramik.In 1997 old material of the Linear Pottery Culture was rediscovered by the author within the collection ("Lehrsammlung") of the "Seminar für Ur- und Frühgeschichte" in Göttingen. The finds belong to settlements in the Ohre River area of Bohemia, among them sherds from an yet unknown settlement (?) of the Earliest Linear pottery phase

Zur Erkundung einer bandkeramischen Siedlung bei Hollenstedt (Niedersachsen)

Auf der in den späten Zwanzigerjahren des letzten Jahrhunderts entdeckten bandkeramischen Siedlungsstelle Hollenstedt, „Salzberg“, wurde im Rahmen einer geophysikalischen Prospektion ein altneolithisches Erdwerk festgestellt. Es besteht aus einem halbkreisförmigen, breiten Graben und einem auf der Innenseite parallel verlaufenden mutmaßlichen Palisadengräbchen; die Lage eines Walles ist zu erschließen. Vier Standorte bandkeramischer Häuser sind in der vom Dorfgraben umschlossenen Innenfläche durch Pfostenstandspuren erkennbar, acht weitere lassen sich durch mutmaßliche Längsgruben wahrscheinlich machen. Aus dem südlichen Niedersachsen sind mittlerweile neun bandkeramische Erdwerke bekannt, die in formaler Hinsicht bemerkenswerte Unterschiede aufweisen und einst offenbar verschiedene Funktionen erfüllten

Gone with water and wind: The threat to the earthworks of Altheim

Excavation photos of the earthwork of Altheim from 1914 show a fully-developed Luvisol (para-brown earth). In 2012, fieldwork recommenced at the site and revealed a second ditched enclosure as well as the serious impact of soil erosion: In the course of a century about 0.4 m of the ditch feature has been lost. In comparison with the total amount of erosion since the creation of the earthwork in the 37th/36th century BC the loss of soil material has dramatically accelerated during the past century