[Analysis of Sickness-Related Days of Absence among Soldiers of the German Armed Forces from 2008 to 2018 Part 1: Retrospective Analysis with Comparison to the Statutory Health Insurance System].

Background: Sickness-related absences are of particular importance both in the German armed forces and in the civilian sector.

The Aim Of This Study: was to analyze the incidence of sick leave among soldiers in comparison to the working population covered by the statutory health insurance (SHI) system.

Method: According to the systematics of the SHI, the key figures on incapacity to work in the period 2008-2018 are calculated in an age- and gender-standardized manner.

Epidermal-specific deletion of CD44 reveals a function in keratinocytes in response to mechanical stress.

CD44, a large family of transmembrane glycoproteins, plays decisive roles in physiological and pathological conditions. CD44 isoforms are involved in several signaling pathways essential for life such as growth factor-induced signaling by EGF, HGF or VEGF. CD44 is also the main hyaluronan (HA) receptor and as such is involved in HA-dependent processes.

Analysis of mammalian gene function through broad-based phenotypic screens across a consortium of mouse clinics.

The function of the majority of genes in the mouse and human genomes remains unknown. The mouse embryonic stem cell knockout resource provides a basis for the characterization of relationships between genes and phenotypes. The EUMODIC consortium developed and validated robust methodologies for the broad-based phenotyping of knockouts through a pipeline comprising 20 disease-oriented platforms.

Phosphorylation of the retinoic acid receptor RARγ2 is crucial for the neuronal differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells.

Retinoic acid (RA) plays key roles in cell differentiation and growth arrest by activating nuclear RA receptors (RARs) (α, β and γ), which are ligand-dependent transcription factors. RARs are also phosphorylated in response to RA. Here, we investigated the in vivo relevance of the phosphorylation of RARs during RA-induced neuronal differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs).