Das Job-AQTIV-Gesetz - ein Ansatz zur Lösung der Arbeitsmarktprobleme?

Zum 1. Januar dieses Jahres wurde mit dem in Kraft getretenen so genannten Job-AQTIV-Gesetz das Arbeitsförderungsrecht reformiert. Gerd Andres, Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales, stellt in seinem Beitrag die Prinzipien des Reformprojektes vor. Dr. Stephan Articus, Deutscher Städtetag, bedauert, dass »mit dem Job-AQTIV-Gesetz die notwendigen strukturellen Änderungen in der Arbeitslosenversicherung nicht in Angriff genommen worden sind.« Für Dr. Claudia Weinkopf, Institut Arbeit und Technik, Wissenschaftszentrum NRW, hat ein wichtiger Aspekt eine zu geringe Rolle gespielt: »Aktivierung macht umso mehr Sinn, je größer die Nachfrage nach Arbeitskräften tatsächlich ist. Sie stößt demgegenüber an ihre Grenzen, wenn es ein erhebliches Defizit an Arbeitsplätzen gibt. Und dies haben wir in Deutschland ... zweifellos.« Dr. Alexander Spermann, Beratung Economic R & C, München, sieht unter anderem in der dünnen Personaldecke der Arbeits- und Sozialämter ein großes Hindernis für den Erfolg des Gesetzes.Arbeitsmarkt, Arbeitsmarktpolitik, Arbeitslosenversicherung, Arbeitslosigkeit, Reform, Deutschland

Multidimensional imaging for skin tissue surface characterization

Human skin, the outer and largest organ covering our body, can be described in terms of both its 3D spatial topography and its 2D spectral reflectance. Such a characterization normally requires the application of separate procedures using different kinds of equipment, where spectral reflectance can only be obtained from a small patch of the skin surface. This paper investigates the integration of multiple imaging modalities to simultaneously capture both spectral and spatial information from the skin surface over a wide area. By extending the imaging spectrum from the visible to the near-infrared (NIR), we improve general recovery, obtain a more detailed skin profile, and are able to identify the distribution of various principal chromophores within the deeper dermal layers. Experiments show that new dimensions of skin characterization can be generated through the recovered geometrical and spectral information, so that an enhanced visibility of important skin physiological phenomena can be achieved. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Sozialpolitik in Entwicklungslaendern: Darstellungen and Analysen sozialer Sicherung in Afrika, Asien undLateinamerika

SIGLEAvailable from Bibliothek des Instituts fuer Weltwirtschaft, ZBW, Duesternbrook Weg 120, D-24105 Kiel C 173406 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Phylogenetic Studies in Usnea (Parmeliaceae) and Allied Genera

This thesis deals with the phylogeny of the lichen genus Usnea (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycetes). The relationships and the morphological variation among Usnea species has been studied, as well as the relationship of Usnea to allied genera. Two species, U. florida and U. subfloridana, which earlier were regarded to form two separate species have been synonymized. In an analysis based on sequence data these two taxa formed a monophyletic group of intermixed specimens. Usnea florida and U. subfloridana have earlier been regarded to form a species pair, but the species pairs concept cannot be applied in this case. The morphological characters traditionally used for species recognition of a number of European Usnea species have been analyzed regarding their reliability. The evolution and distribution of the morphological characters was studied in relation to a phylogeny based on sequence data. Most characters proved to be homoplastic in relation to the phylogeny. Few characters were consistent in a clade, and the same character could be inconsistent in another clade. Therefore a combination of several characters is recommended for species recognition. The relationship of Neuropogon to Usnea was investigated based on sequence data. Neuropogon showed to be closely related to Usnea subg. Usnea. The subgenera Eumitria and Dolichousnea formed the sister group to the clade comprising subg. Usnea and Neuropogon. Usnea is paraphyletic in this investigation. Eumitria is treated as a genus and the subgenus Dolichousnea is elevated to generic rank. The position of Usnea, Neuropogon, Eumitria, and Dolichousnea in the family Parmeliaceae was investigated based on a phylogeny obtained by sequence data. Protousnea probably forms the sister group to the clade of Usnea, Neuropogon, Eumitria, and Dolichousnea. Several monophyletic groups in the family Parmeliaceae were identified

Effectiveness and tolerability of transdermal rivastigmine in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in daily practice

Johannes Seibert1, Ferenc Tracik2,3, Konstantin Articus2, Stefan Spittler41Outpatient Clinic, Heidelberg, Germany; 2Novartis Pharma, Nürnberg, Germany; 3Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany; 4Alexianer Krefeld, Maria Hilf Clinic, Krefeld, GermanyBackground: Oral cholinesterase inhibitors at doses efficacious for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are often prematurely discontinued due to gastrointestinal side effects. In controlled clinical trials, transdermal rivastigmine demonstrated less such effects at similar efficacy. The current study aimed to verify the validity of this data in daily practice.Methods: This was a prospective, multicenter, observational study on transdermal rivastigmine in Germany. Eligible patients were those with AD who had not yet been treated with rivastigmine. Outcome measures were changes in clock-drawing test, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Caregiver Burden Scale, Clinical Global Impression (CGI), physicians’ assessments of tolerability, and the incidence of adverse events (AEs) over 4 months of treatment.Results: In 257 centers 1113 patients were enrolled; 614 women and 499 men, mean age 76.5 years. In 58% of patients AD was treated for the first time and in 42% therapy was switched to transdermal rivastigmine, mostly due to lack of tolerability (13.6%) or effectiveness (26.9%). After 4 months, 67.4% of patients were on the target dose of 9.5 mg/day and 21.8% were still on 4.6 mg/day. MMSE significantly improved in patients with and without pretreatment (ΔMMSE, 0.9 ± 3.4 and 0.8 ± 3.4, respectively, both P < 0.001); the CGI score improved in 60.9% and 61.3% of patients, respectively. Overall 11.7% of patients had AEs, mainly affecting the skin or the gastrointestinal tract; in 1.1% of cases AEs were serious; 14.7% of patients discontinued therapy, 6.0% due to AEs. With rivastigmine treatment the percentage of patients taking psychotropic comedication decreased, particularly in first-time treated rivastigmine patients (from 27.1% to 22.6%; P < 0.001).Conclusion: Results were in line with data from controlled clinical trials. Switching from any other oral acetylcholinesterase inhibitor to transdermal rivastigmine may improve cognition.Keywords: rivastigmine patch, Alzheimer’s disease, treatment practic