Labour Force Participation and Employment of Humanitarian Migrants: Evidence from the Building a New Life in Australia Longitudinal Data

This study uses the longitudinal data from the Building a New Life in Australia survey to examine the relationships between human capital and labour market participation and employment status among recently arrived/approved humanitarian migrants. It includes attention to the heterogeneity of labour force participation and employment status across genders and also migration pathways. We find that the likelihood of participating in the labour force is higher for those who had preimmigration paid job experience, completed study/job training and have job searching knowledge/skills in Australia and possess higher proficiency in spoken English. We find that the chance of getting a paid job is negatively related to having better pre-immigration education, but it is positively related to having unpaid work experience and job searching skills in Australia, and better health

Economic Freedom as a Driver for Growth in Transition

This paper reviews the political economy view of economic growth in post-communist economies making the transition to free markets, focusing on the role of economic policy and institutions. We test the hypothesis that better institutions, measured in terms of economic freedom, contribute to growth. The empirical results from the cross-section of transition economies confirm this hypothesis. The paper concludes that non-linearities are present in the growth model and that differences arise depending on how economic well-being is defined

Lipocalin-type prostaglandin D synthase/β-trace is a major amyloid β-chaperone in human cerebrospinal fluid

The conformational change in amyloid β (Aβ) peptide from its monomeric form to aggregates is crucial in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In the healthy brain, some unidentified chaperones appear to prevent the aggregation of Aβ. Here we reported that lipocalin-type prostaglandin D synthase (L-PGDS)/β-trace, the most abundant cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) protein produced in the brain, was localized in amyloid plaques in both AD patients and AD-model Tg2576 mice. Surface plasmon resonance analysis revealed that L-PGDS/β-trace tightly bound to Aβ monomers and fibrils with high affinity (K(D) = 18–50 nM) and that L-PGDS/β-trace recognized residues 25–28 in Aβ, which is the key region for its conformational change to a β-sheet structure. The results of a thioflavin T fluorescence assay to monitor Aβ aggregation disclosed that L-PGDS/β-trace inhibited the spontaneous aggregation of Aβ (1–40) and Aβ (1–42) within its physiological range (1–5 μM) in CSF. L-PGDS/β-trace also prevented the seed-dependent aggregation of 50 μM Aβ with K(i) of 0.75 μM. Moreover, the inhibitory activity toward Aβ (1–40) aggregation in human CSF was decreased by 60% when L-PGDS/β-trace was removed from the CSF by immunoaffinity chromatography. The deposition of Aβ after intraventricular infusion of Aβ (1–42) was 3.5-fold higher in L-PGDS-deficient mice and reduced to 23% in L-PGDS-overexpressing mice as compared with their wild-type levels. These data indicate that L-PGDS/β-trace is a major endogenous Aβ-chaperone in the brain and suggest that the disturbance of this function may be involved in the onset and progression of AD. Our findings may provide a diagnostic and therapeutic approach for AD