The labour market position of Turkish immigrants in Germany and the Netherlands; reason for migration, naturalisation and language proficiency

On the basis of two datasets, the German Socio-Economic Panel 2002 and the Dutch Social Position and Use of Provision Survey 2002, we investigate the importance of characteristics related to immigration for the labour market position of Turkish immigrants. We use regression techniques to correct for composition effects in employment rates, tenured job rates and job prestige scores (ISEI). First, we find that educational attainment and language proficiency have a higher return in the Netherlands than in Germany. Second, we find that second generation immigrants have improved their labour market position relative to the first generation of labour migrants and their partners. The improvement is largely due to an improvement in educational attainment and language proficiency. Third, for the Netherlands we find a positive relation between naturalisation and labour market position, while for Germany we find a negative relation with tenured employment. The contrasting results on tenured employment may be explained partly by differences in immigration rules. In Germany, economic self-reliance is more important than in the Netherlands, and this may lead to a stronger incentive to naturalise for workers with a temporary contract.

Cat in the Throat: Caroline Bergvall's plurilingual bodies

Scholarships & Prizes Office. University of Sydne

Принципы организации объектно-ориентированных систем обработки неформализованной информации

Рассматривается класс логико-аналитических систем, использующих специальные лингвистические процессоры и базы знаний (БЗ) для обработки потоков неформализованных документов с целью решения пользовательских задач. На первом этапе формализации текста документа извлекаются информационные объекты и связи, которые образуют структуры знаний и запоминаются в БЗ. На уровне БЗ организуются различные виды анализа и объектных поисков: поиск похожих объектов и ситуаций, поиск по связям и другие. Рассматриваются основные компоненты подобных систем, называемых объектно-ориентированными, их особенности при использовании в различных приложениях: при обработке криминальной информации, при автоматической формализации резюме (заявок на работу), в системах обработки СМИ с выделением террористических групп и их деяний.A class of the logical-analytical systems using special linguistic processors and knowledge bases is considered. Such systems are called object-oriented. These systems are employed for processing of the unstructured documents flow for the user problems decision. At the first stage the document text is formalized: information objects and links are extracted and transferred into the knowledge structures which are stored in the knowledge base (KB). At the level of KB various kinds of analysis and object search are organized: the search for similar objects and situations, the search on the basis of links and other types of search. The basic components of these systems, their main features and the particular use in different applications are considered.The system operation in the subject areas of criminal information processing, automatic formalization of summary texts (applications for work), mass media analysis for extracting information about terrorist formations and their activities are presented

Wederzijdse beeldvorming

De Nederlandse bevolking werd in het nog niet zo verre verleden als relatief tolerant gezien. Dat beeld veranderde radicaal na de aanslagen in New York in 2001, de opkomst van Fortuijn in 2002 en de moord op Van Gogh in 2004. Deze gebeurtenissen versterkten de angst voor moslimterrorisme. In 2005 publiceerde het Global attitudes project (Pew Research Center 2005) de bevinding dat in Nederland driekwart van de bevolking zich zorgen maakte over moslimextremisme in eigen land, terwijl in geen ander onderzocht land een meerderheid van de bevolking een negatieve opinie had over moslims. Ook vond een verharding plaats in het politieke en publieke debat over niet-westerse migranten in Nederland. In dit hoofdstuk bekijken we in hoeverre de verharding in de eerste jaren van de eenentwintigste eeuw terug te zien is in langjarig trendonderzoek. Daarnaast bezien we of opinies over de multi-etnische samenleving negatiever worden tijdens de recente internationale kredietcrisis. [...

A contemporary class structure: Capital disparities in The Netherlands

The academic and public debate on social inequality has recently been fuelled by large disparities in income and wealth, profound changes in the labour market, and other emerging cleavages in post-industrial societies. This article contributes to the discussion by arguing that class divisions are theoretically based on four types of capital: people’s economic means, their social capital, their cultural resources, and the combination of their health and attractiveness (‘person capital’). From this premise, the social structure of the Netherlands is examined. A dedicated survey was linked to microdata from the national population register, tax authorities and benefit agencies. Using latent class analysis, we assess contingencies in the distribution of the different resources, and identify a structure consisting of six capital groups. The established upper echelon (15.5% of the adult population) has the most capital, followed by the privileged younger people (12.7%), the employed middle echelon (26.9%) and the comfortable retirees (16.6%). Total capital is lowest among the insecure workers (13.5%) and the precariat (14.8%). Each social class has a distinctive mix of the four types of capital, highlighting the need to look beyond economic differences in order to comprehend structural inequality. The results of this study also indicate that resource disparities between classes coincide with other forms of social hierarchy and contrasts by age. Moreover, the contemporary class structure is associated with divergent views and experiences among the Dutch. Classes with little capital tend to rate politics, society, and their own social position more negatively. In addition, they value self-enhancement and hedonism less than today’s upper classes and report lower levels of well-being

Subsequent Event Risk in Individuals with Established Coronary Heart Disease:Design and Rationale of the GENIUS-CHD Consortium

BACKGROUND: The "GENetIcs of sUbSequent Coronary Heart Disease" (GENIUS-CHD) consortium was established to facilitate discovery and validation of genetic variants and biomarkers for risk of subsequent CHD events, in individuals with established CHD. METHODS: The consortium currently includes 57 studies from 18 countries, recruiting 185,614 participants with either acute coronary syndrome, stable CHD or a mixture of both at baseline. All studies collected biological samples and followed-up study participants prospectively for subsequent events. RESULTS: Enrollment into the individual studies took place between 1985 to present day with duration of follow up ranging from 9 months to 15 years. Within each study, participants with CHD are predominantly of self-reported European descent (38%-100%), mostly male (44%-91%) with mean ages at recruitment ranging from 40 to 75 years. Initial feasibility analyses, using a federated analysis approach, yielded expected associations between age (HR 1.15 95% CI 1.14-1.16) per 5-year increase, male sex (HR 1.17, 95% CI 1.13-1.21) and smoking (HR 1.43, 95% CI 1.35-1.51) with risk of subsequent CHD death or myocardial infarction, and differing associations with other individual and composite cardiovascular endpoints. CONCLUSIONS: GENIUS-CHD is a global collaboration seeking to elucidate genetic and non-genetic determinants of subsequent event risk in individuals with established CHD, in order to improve residual risk prediction and identify novel drug targets for secondary prevention. Initial analyses demonstrate the feasibility and reliability of a federated analysis approach. The consortium now plans to initiate and test novel hypotheses as well as supporting replication and validation analyses for other investigators

Hematological Parameters Outperform Plasma Markers in Predicting Long-Term Mortality After Coronary Angiography

High-sensitivity troponin I (hsTnI) and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) are predictors of coronary artery disease. Recently, routine hematological parameters emerged as mortality predictors. We examined the predictive value of hematological parameters (from the Utrecht Patient Oriented Database) and hsTnI and NT-pro-BNP for mortality in a coronary angiography population (Utrecht Coronary Biobank n = 1913). Using Cox regression, receiver operating characteristics, integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), and continuous net reclassification improvement (cNRI) analysis, we compared the predictive properties of hematological parameters with hsTnI and NT-pro-BNP for mortality. During a median follow-up duration of 1.8 years, 77 deaths occurred. A panel of 7 hematological parameters (leukocyte count, reticulocyte mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, red blood cell [RBC] green (FL1) fluorescence, %neutrophils, %large [>120 fL] RBCs, %monocytes, and coefficient of variation of neutrophil complexity) was highly predictive. Added to clinical characteristics, hematological parameters (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.855, P < .001; IDI: 0.04, P = .02; cNRI: 0.41, P < .001) were better predictors than hsTnI (AUC: 0.818) or NT-pro-BNP (AUC: 0.834) alone or combined (AUC: 0.834). Hematological parameters may provide mortality risk information following coronary angiography and may be superior to hsTnI and/or NT-pro-BNP

Underutilization of prescribed drugs use among first generation elderly immigrants in the Netherlands

Background. In developed countries, health care utilization among immigrant groups differs where the dominant interpretation is unjustified overutilization due to lack of acculturation. We investigated utilization of prescribed drugs in native Dutch and various groups of immigrant elderly. Methods. Cross-sectional study using data from the survey "Social Position, Health and Well-being of Elderly Immigrants" (the Netherlands, 2003). Ethnicity-matched interviewers conducted the survey among first generation immigrants aged 55 years and older. Outcome measure is self-reported use of prescribed drugs. Utilization is explained by need, and by enabling and predisposing factors, in particular acculturation; analysis is conducted by multiple logistic regression. Results. The study population consisted of immigrants from Turkey (n = 307), Morocco (n = 284), Surinam (n = 308) and the Netherlands Antilles (n = 300), and a native Dutch reference group (n = 304). Prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM), COPD and musculoskeletal disorders was relatively high among immigrant elderly. Drug utilization in especially Turkish and Moroccan elderly with DM and COPD was relatively low. Drugs use for non-mental chronic diseases was explained by more chronic conditions (OR 2.64), higher age (OR 1.03), and modern attitudes on male-female roles (OR 0.74) and religiosity (OR 0.89). Ethnicity specific effects remained only among Turkish elderly (OR 0.42). Drugs use for mental health problems was explained by more chronic conditions (OR 1.43), better mental health (OR 0.95) and modern attitudes on family values (OR 0.59). Ethnicity specific effects remained only among Moroccan (OR 0.19) and Antillean elderly (OR 0.31). Explanation of underutilization of drugs among diseased with diabetes and musculoskeletal disorders are found in number of chronic diseases (OR 0.74 and OR 0.78) and regarding diabetes also in language proficiency (OR 0.66) and modern attitudes on male-female roles (OR 1.69). Conclusions. Need and predisposing factors (acculturation) are the strongest determinants for drugs utilization among elderly immigrants. Significant drugs underutilization exists among migrants with diabetes and musculoskeletal disorde