High-skilled return migration and knowledge-based economic development in regional perspective: Conceptual considerations and the example of Poland

It is by now well known that return migration of the highly skilled can have a significant impact on knowledge-based development in the regions to which they return. Whereas previous research has mainly focussed on developing and newly industrializing countries this paper looks at high-skilled return migration in an East European transition economy, namely Poland. The Polish example illustrates that institutional context and the regional dimension are crucial in understanding how high-skilled return migrants do or do not make use of and transform their knowledge and other resources (incl. financial and social capital) and stimulate knowledge-based development. In previous studies, however, these aspects have not been systematically explored or integrated into conceptual thinking. We address this deficit by proposing a micro-level model of high-skilled return migration and economic development. Our model integrates regional economic development and migration theory perspectives into a coherent interdisciplinary framework. We argue that institutional aspects have to be linked to return migrants' individual motivations and other characteristics, and that there are different types of both return migrants and institutional, and regional, contexts. An important feature of our model is the key role assigned to the idea of return migrants' social capital performing a 'bridging function' between actors in the same, but especially in different regions. We claim that our model can serve as basis to empirically analyse and explain whether and how different regional contexts are providing opportunities or posing barriers for migration-induced knowledge-based development. We illustrate and substantiate this proposition by analyzing return migration to Poland

Legaalne kordusabort ja seda mõjutavad tegurid Eestis 2012–2016: registripõhine uuring

http://www.ester.ee/record=b514578

Und ewig lockt die Heimat: der polnische Remigrationsprozess seit 1989 und seine Implikationen für Wirtschaft und Politik

Mit dem Ende des Sozialismus in Polen hat der Prozess der Remigration im Ausland lebender Staatsangehöriger für Polen wieder an Bedeutung gewonnen. Bis zum Beitritt des Landes zur EU fiel dieser Prozess zahlenmäßig allerdings kaum ins Gewicht und auch die politische und gesellschaftliche Beachtung war marginal. Die veränderten politischen Rahmenbedingungen durch den EU-Beitritt führten ab 2004 zu einer neuen Dynamik und die Rückkehr im Ausland lebender Polen entwickelte sich zu einem Massenphänomen, der breite gesellschaftliche und mediale Aufmerksamkeit erhalten hat. Diese beiden Phasen des polnischen Remigrationsprozesses nach 1990 vergleichend zu charakterisieren und die wirtschaftlichen und politischen Implikationen des Prozesses zu analysieren, ist das wesentliche Ziel des vorliegenden Aufsatzes. Die erste Phase des polnischen Remigrationsprozesses nach der Wende (1989–2004) setzt sich zusammen aus ehemaligen Emigranten und deren Nachkommen, die im Zuge des Zweiten Weltkrieges oder zu Zeiten des sozialistischen Polens in ihr ursprüngliches Heimatland zurückgekehrt sind. Diese Gruppe der Remigranten verfügt über ein vergleichbar hohes Bildungsprofil und über ausgeprägte Ambitionen, ihr im Ausland akquiriertes kulturelles und finanzielles Kapital bestmöglich in Wert zu setzen. Diese Erkenntnisse scheinen für die Remigranten der zweiten Phase nicht zutreffend zu sein. Diese sind im Vergleich zur ersten Gruppe deutlich jünger und ziehen anders als die Remigranten der ersten Phase nicht in die städtischen und wirtschaftlichen Zentren des Landes sondern bevorzugt in ländliche, durch wirtschaftliche Defizite gekennzeichnete Regionen. Dies hat wichtige Konsequenzen für den zu erwartenden wirtschaftlichen Einfluss der Remigranten nach 2004 und die sich daraus ableitenden Folgerungen für die Gestaltung einer langfristigen polnischen Remigrationspolitik.When socialism ended in Poland, the process of the return migration of nationals living abroad gained importance for Poland once again. However, this process was numerically insignificant and hardly received any political or societal attention until the country joined the European Union. Starting in 2004, the changes in the basic political conditions brought about by joining the European Union sparked a new dynamism so that the return of Poles living abroad metamorphosed into a mass phenomenon that has received broad social and media attention. The essential aspiration of this essay is to provide a comparative characterisation of these two phases of the Polish return migration process after 1990 while analysing the economic and political implications of the process. The first phase of the Polish return migration process after the Political Changes (1989-2004) is composed of former emigrants and their descendants who returned to their original homeland in the course of the Second World War or at the time of socialist Poland. This group of return migrants has a comparably high educational profile coupled with major ambitions to find the best ways for exploiting the cultural and financial capital they acquired abroad. These insights do not seem to be applicable to the return migrants of the second phase. They are much younger than the first group, and, in contrast to the return migrants of the first phase, they do not move into the urban and economic centres of the country. Instead, they prefer the rural regions characterised by economic deficits. This has substantial consequences for the economic impact to be expected of the return migrants after 2004 and the conclusions drawn for shaping a long-term return migration policy for Poland

Influence of acetate containing fluid versus lactate containing fluid on acid-base status, electrolyte level, and blood lactate level in dehydrated dogs

Background and Aim: Acetate or lactate buffered, balanced isotonic rehydration fluids are commonly used for fluid therapy in dogs and may influence acid-base and electrolyte status. This study aimed to assess acid-base status, electrolyte levels, and lactate levels in dehydrated dogs after receiving acetate or lactate-containing intravenous rehydration fluids. Materials and Methods: In this prospective, randomized study, 90 dehydrated dogs were included and randomized to receive acetate [Sterofundin® ISO B. Braun Vet Care (STERO), Germany) or lactate (Ringer-Lactat-Lösung nach Hartmann B. Braun Vet Care (RL), Germany] containing intravenous fluids for rehydration. The exclusion criteria were as follows: Age <6 months, liver failure, congestive heart failure, and extreme electrolyte deviation. Physical examination, venous blood gas, and lactate levels were analyzed before and after rehydration. The two groups were compared using t-test and Chi-square test. The significance level was set at p≤0.05. Results: Post-rehydration heart rate decreased in the STERO group (p<0.001) but not in the RL group (p=0.090). Lactate levels decreased in both groups STERO (p<0.001) and in group RL (p=0.014). Sodium and chloride levels increased during rehydration in group STERO (p<0.001; p<0.001) and group RL (p=0.002; p<0.001). There was a larger decrease in lactate levels in group STERO compared to group RL (p=0.047). Conclusion: Both solutions led to a mild increase in sodium and chloride levels and decreased lactate levels. The acetate-containing solution had an inferior effect on the decrease in lactate level

Aging of Xenopus tropicalis Eggs Leads to Deadenylation of a Specific Set of Maternal mRNAs and Loss of Developmental Potential

As first shown more than 100 years ago, fertilization of an aged (overripe) egg increases the rate of malformations and embryonic loss in several vertebrates, including possibly humans as well. Since the molecular events in aging eggs may be similar in these species, we established in the frog Xenopus tropicalis a defined protocol for delayed fertilization of eggs. A three-hour delayed fertilization led to a dramatic increase in malformation and mortality. Gene expression profiling revealed that 14% of the polyadenylated maternal transcripts were downregulated upon aging. These transcripts were not degraded, but rather deadenylated as shown for specific maternal mRNAs. The affected transcripts are characterized by a relatively short 3′UTR and a paucity of cytoplasmic polyadenylation elements (CPE) and polyadenylation signals (PAS). Furthermore, maternal mRNAs known to be deadenylated during egg maturation as well as after fertilization were preferentially deadenylated in aged eggs. Taken together our analysis of aging eggs reveals that unfertilized eggs are in a dynamic state that was previously not realized. On the one hand deadenylation of transcripts that are typically deadenylated during egg maturation continues and this implies overripeness of the aged egg in the truest sense of the word. On the other hand transcripts that normally are deadenylated after fertilization loose their poly(A) in the aged egg and this implies that the egg awaiting fertilization starts processes that are normally only observed after fertilization. Based on our novel finding we postulate that the imbalance of the polyadenylated maternal transcripts upon egg aging contributes to the loss of developmental potential. Based on this hypothesis the developmental consequences of downregulation of specific transcripts can be analyzed in future

Identifikation von Dispositionsgenen bei schizophrenen Störungen

Mit einem lebenslangen Morbiditätsrisiko von ca. 1 %, unabhängig von der ethnischen Zugehörigkeit des Patienten, gehören die schizophrenen Störungen zu den häufigsten psychiatrischen Erkrankungen. Durch die oft starken Defizite im emotionalen, sozialen und/oder kognitiven Bereich sind die Patienten und deren Angehörige in ihrer Lebensqualität und nicht selten auch -erwartung eingeschränkt. Die hereditäre Komponente dieser Krankheit ist durch Zwillings-, Adoptions- und Familienstudien hinreichend belegt. Der Vererbungsmodus ist jedoch komplex, da er keinem monogenen Erbgang folgt. Vielmehr werden viele unterschiedliche Genvarianten zu der Krankheitsdisposition beitragen. Die Identifikation einiger dieser Dispositionsgene war Inhalt vorliegender Arbeit. Dabei wurden vor allem Gene, deren Produkte in die glutamaterge Neurotransmission, speziell im D-Serin/NMDA-Rezeptor-Pathway, eingreifen, auf Assoziation mit schizophrenen Psychosen untersucht. Aufgrund vorangegangener Assoziationsbefunde anderer Arbeitsgruppen erschienen sie als vielversprechende Kandidatengene. Untersucht wurden in unserer Arbeit 19 STR-Marker und 29 SNPs im Bereich von insgesamt sieben Genen an einem Fall-Kontroll-Kollektiv von 360 schizophrenen Patienten und 325 psychisch Gesunden. In den untersuchten Kandidatengenen, die für Untereinheiten des NMDARezeptors kodieren (GRIN1, GRIN2A, GRIN2B), konnten zwischen einzelnen Markern und dem Betroffenheitsstatus zum Teil signifikante Assoziationshinweise gefunden werden. Im Bereich der Gene, die für die unterschiedlichen Transporter-Proteine kodieren (ASCT1, GlyT1 und GlyT2) und für die Bereitstellung unterschiedlicher Liganden bei der glutamatergen Neurotransmission von Bedeutung sind, gab es hingegen keine signifikanten Unterschiede der Allel- und Genotyp- Häufigkeiten zwischen dem untersuchten Patienten- und dem Kontrollkollektiv. Speziell die positiven Assoziationsbefunde im 5’UTR-Bereich von GRIN1, die wir und unabhängige Untersuchergruppen finden konnten, legen nahe, dass eine regulatorische Dispositionsvariante an diesem Gen-Lokus für den Entstehungsprozess schizophrener Psychosen von Bedeutung sein könnte. Die Bereitstellung immer neuerer Daten wie z. B. durch das internationale HapMapProjekt sowie die konstante Weiterentwicklung der Analysentechnologie bieten beste Voraussetzungen, diesen positiven Assoziationshinweisen in Zukunft nachzugehen

Relationships between xylem embolism and tree functioning during drought, recovery, and recurring drought in Aleppo pine

Recent findings suggest that trees can survive high levels of drought-induced xylem embolism. In many cases, the embolism is irreversible and, therefore, can potentially affect post-drought recovery and tree function under recurring droughts. We examined the development of embolism in potted Aleppo pines, a common species in hot, dry Mediterranean habitats. We asked (1) how post-drought recovery is affected by different levels of embolism and (2) what consequences this drought-induced damage has under a recurring drought scenario. Young trees were dehydrated to target water potential (Ψx) values of −3.5, −5.2 and −9.5 MPa (which corresponded to ~6%, ~41% and ~76% embolism), and recovery of the surviving trees was measured over an 8-months period (i.e., embolism, leaf gas-exchange, Ψx). An additional group of trees was exposed to Ψx of −6.0 MPa, either with or without preceding drought (Ψx of −5.2 MPa) to test the effect of hydraulic damage during repeated drought. Trees that reached −9.5 MPa died, but none from the other groups. Embolism levels in dying trees were on average 76% of conductive xylem and no tree was dying below 62% embolism. Stomatal recovery was negatively proportional to the level of hydraulic damage sustained during drought, for at least a month after drought relief. Trees that experienced drought for the second time took longer to reach fatal Ψx levels than first-time dehydrating trees. Decreased stomatal conductance following drought can be seen as “drought legacy,” impeding recovery of tree functioning, but also as a safety mechanism during a consecutive drought