Automatische Entgeltumwandlung in der betrieblichen Altersversorgung: Eine Replik

In der Februarausgabe des WIRTSCHAFTSDIENST plädierte Johannes Leinert von der Bertelsmann Stiftung für eine automatische Entgeltumwandlung zur Förderung der privaten und betrieblichen Altersvorsorge. Wilhelm Ruprecht untersucht, ob es für die damit verbundene Abkehr von der Konsumentensouveränität hinreichende Gründe gibt und schlägt alternative Instrumente zur Förderung der kapitalgedeckten Altersvorsorge vor. --

Weltwirtschaftliche Folgen des Terrorismus - mittel- und langfristige Perspektiven

Vom 15. bis 17. November 2002 veranstaltete die Akademie für politische Bildung Tutzing unter der Leitung von Prof. Dr. Peter Hampe, Akademie für politische Bildung, Tutzing, und Dr. Martin Held, Evangelische Akademie Tutzing, eine Konferenz zu dem Thema »Weltwirtschaftliche Folgen des Terrorismus - mittel- und langfristige Perspektiven«. Prof. Dr. Michael Hüther, DGZ-Deka Bank, zeigt in seinem Beitrag die Konsequenzen für die Wirtschaftspolitik und den Strukturwandel auf. PD. Dr. Joachim Ahrens, Universität Göttingen, betont die Notwendigkeit einer glaubwürdigen Politikgestaltung und -umsetzung. Dr. Wilhelm Ruprecht und Dr. Michael Wolgast, Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft, stellen die Folgen für die und die Reaktion der Versicherungswirtschaft dar. Und Dr. Willi Leibfritz, OECD, setzt sich mit den Auswirkungen des Terrorismus auf die Volkswirtschaften auseinander.Politische Gewalt, Makroökonomischer Einfluß, Weltwirtschaft, Weltkonjunktur, Versicherung

Pharmacoproteomic characterisation of human colon and rectal cancer

Most molecular cancer therapies act on protein targets but data on the proteome status of patients and cellular models for proteome-guided pre-clinical drug sensitivity studies are only beginning to emerge. Here, we profiled the proteomes of 65 colorectal cancer (CRC) cell lines to a depth of > 10,000 proteins using mass spectrometry. Integration with proteomes of 90 CRC patients and matched transcriptomics data defined integrated CRC subtypes, highlighting cell lines representative of each tumour subtype. Modelling the responses of 52 CRC cell lines to 577 drugs as a function of proteome profiles enabled predicting drug sensitivity for cell lines and patients. Among many novel associations, MERTK was identified as a predictive marker for resistance towards MEK1/2 inhibitors and immunohistochemistry of 1,074 CRC tumours confirmed MERTK as a prognostic survival marker. We provide the proteomic and pharmacological data as a resource to the community to, for example, facilitate the design of innovative prospective clinical trials. © 2017 The Authors. Published under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 licens

Transcriptome analysis by strand-specific sequencing of complementary DNA

High-throughput complementary DNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) is a powerful tool for whole-transcriptome analysis, supplying information about a transcript's expression level and structure. However, it is difficult to determine the polarity of transcripts, and therefore identify which strand is transcribed. Here, we present a simple cDNA sequencing protocol that preserves information about a transcript's direction. Using Saccharomyces cerevisiae and mouse brain transcriptomes as models, we demonstrate that knowing the transcript's orientation allows more accurate determination of the structure and expression of genes. It also helps to identify new genes and enables studying promoter-associated and antisense transcription. The transcriptional landscapes we obtained are available online

Impaired response of blood neutrophils to cell-death stimulus differentiates AQP4-IgG-seropositive NMOSD from MOGAD

BACKGROUND: In neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD), neutrophils are found in CNS lesions. We previously demonstrated that NMOSD neutrophils show functional deficiencies. Thus, we hypothesized that neutrophil accumulation in the CNS may be facilitated by impairments affecting mechanisms of neutrophil death. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate cell death in blood neutrophils from aquaporin-4 (AQP4)-IgG-seropositive NMOSD and MOGAD patients as well as matched healthy controls (HC) using in vitro assays. METHODS: Twenty-eight AQP4 + NMOSD and 19 MOGAD patients in stable disease phase as well as 45 age- and sex-matched HC were prospectively recruited. To induce cell death, isolated neutrophils were cultured with/without phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). Spontaneous and PMA-induced NETosis and apoptosis were analyzed using 7-AAD and annexin-V by flow cytometry. Caspase-3 was assessed by western blot. Myeloperoxidase-DNA complexes (MPO-DNA), MPO and elastase were evaluated by ELISA, and cell-free DNA (cfDNA) by a fluorescence-based assay. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) were evaluated by a dihydrorhodamine 123-based cytometric assay. Serum GM-CSF, IL-6, IL-8, IL-15, TNF-ɑ and IL-10 were evaluated by multiplex assays, and neurofilament light chain (NfL) by single-molecule array assay. RESULTS: In response to PMA, neutrophils from AQP4 + NMOSD but not from MOGAD patients showed an increased survival, and subsequent reduced cell death (29.6% annexin V(+) 7-AAD(+)) when compared to HC (44.7%, p = 0.0006). However, AQP4 + NMOSD also showed a mild increase in annexin V(+) 7-AAD(-) early apoptotic neutrophils (24.5%) compared to HC (20.8%, p = 0.048). PMA-induced reduction of caspase-3 activation was more pronounced in HC (p = 0.020) than in AQP4 + NMOSD neutrophils (p = 0.052). No differences were observed in neutrophil-derived MPO-DNA or serum levels of MPO, elastase, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-ɑ. IL-15 levels were increased in both groups of patients. In AQP4 + NMOSD, an increase in cfDNA, GM-CSF and IL-10 was found in serum. A positive correlation among cfDNA and NfL was found in AQP4 + NMOSD. CONCLUSIONS: AQP4 + NMOSD neutrophils showed an increased survival capacity in response to PMA when compared to matched HC neutrophils. Although the data indicate that the apoptotic but not the NETotic response is altered in these neutrophils, additional evaluations are required to validate this observation

Repression of Meiotic Genes by Antisense Transcription and by Fkh2 Transcription Factor in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

In S. pombe, about 5% of genes are meiosis-specific and accumulate little or no mRNA during vegetative growth. Here we use Affymetrix tiling arrays to characterize transcripts in vegetative and meiotic cells. In vegetative cells, many meiotic genes, especially those induced in mid-meiosis, have abundant antisense transcripts. Disruption of the antisense transcription of three of these mid-meiotic genes allowed vegetative sense transcription. These results suggest that antisense transcription represses sense transcription of meiotic genes in vegetative cells. Although the mechanism(s) of antisense mediated transcription repression need to be further explored, our data indicates that RNAi machinery is not required for repression. Previously, we and others used non-strand specific methods to study splicing regulation of meiotic genes and concluded that 28 mid-meiotic genes are spliced only in meiosis. We now demonstrate that the “unspliced” signal in vegetative cells comes from the antisense RNA, not from unspliced sense RNA, and we argue against the idea that splicing regulates these mid-meiotic genes. Most of these mid-meiotic genes are induced in mid-meiosis by the forkhead transcription factor Mei4. Interestingly, deletion of a different forkhead transcription factor, Fkh2, allows low levels of sense expression of some mid-meiotic genes in vegetative cells. We propose that vegetative expression of mid-meiotic genes is repressed at least two independent ways: antisense transcription and Fkh2 repression

<scp>ReSurveyEurope</scp>: A database of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe

AbstractAimsWe introduce ReSurveyEurope — a new data source of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe, compiled by a collaborative network of vegetation scientists. We describe the scope of this initiative, provide an overview of currently available data, governance, data contribution rules, and accessibility. In addition, we outline further steps, including potential research questions.ResultsReSurveyEurope includes resurveyed vegetation plots from all habitats. Version 1.0 of ReSurveyEurope contains 283,135 observations (i.e., individual surveys of each plot) from 79,190 plots sampled in 449 independent resurvey projects. Of these, 62,139 (78%) are permanent plots, that is, marked in situ, or located with GPS, which allow for high spatial accuracy in resurvey. The remaining 17,051 (22%) plots are from studies in which plots from the initial survey could not be exactly relocated. Four data sets, which together account for 28,470 (36%) plots, provide only presence/absence information on plant species, while the remaining 50,720 (64%) plots contain abundance information (e.g., percentage cover or cover–abundance classes such as variants of the Braun‐Blanquet scale). The oldest plots were sampled in 1911 in the Swiss Alps, while most plots were sampled between 1950 and 2020.ConclusionsReSurveyEurope is a new resource to address a wide range of research questions on fine‐scale changes in European vegetation. The initiative is devoted to an inclusive and transparent governance and data usage approach, based on slightly adapted rules of the well‐established European Vegetation Archive (EVA). ReSurveyEurope data are ready for use, and proposals for analyses of the data set can be submitted at any time to the coordinators. Still, further data contributions are highly welcome.</jats:sec

From Carl Menger's Theory of Goods to an Evolutionary Approach to Consumer Behaviour

A characteristic feature of economic development is the ever changing structure of consumption patterns. Reducing the explanation of this phenomenon to changing prices, finally caused by changes in the availability of goods (or characteristics), would neglect a major force driving this change, i.e. the variation of consumer wants and consumer knowledge. The present paper aims at sketching an evolutionary framework for the analysis of consumer behaviour that takes account of these features. For this purpose, Carl Menger's theory of goods is taken as a starting point. Whereas economists after the 'marginalistic revolution' were almost exclusively concerned with the determinants of exchange value and developing price theory, Menger puts as much emphasis on the user value as on the exchange value. Regarding the way of how user value changes a connection between Menger's 19th century theory of goods and 20th century learning theories is established. The problem of how to get from individual learning processes to aggregate consumption patterns is approached by recollecting the genetic underpinnings of human learning and its contingency on certain physical and social conditions. Taking into account that these conditions are dynamic, the presented approach allows interpreting collective learning processes as historical events and makes them fruitful for the analysis of economic change