"Blue Card" oder nationale Qualifikationsoffensive - was wird aus dem Wissenschaftsstandort Deutschland?

Die Europäische Kommission plant, mit einer "Blue Card" verstärkt Experten aus Drittstaaten zu locken. Wäre es nicht sinnvoller, in eine bessere Ausbildung im Inland zu investieren? Annette Schavan, Bundesministerin für Bildung und Forschung, stellt die vom Bundeskabinett am 9. Januar 2008 verabschiedete Qualifizierungsinitiative "Aufstieg durch Bildung" vor. Sie enthält Maßnahmen, die Bildungschancen zu stärken, die Durchlässigkeit im Bildungssystem zu erhöhen und innovative Impulse zusetzen. Es zeichne sich allerdings ab, dass "wir ohne gezielte Zuwanderung von Fachkräften nicht auskommen". Angesichts der sehr heterogenen Arbeitsmarktverhältnisse in Europa könne aber eine einheitliche Regelung niemals den Bedürfnissen aller Länder gleichermaßen gerecht werden. Deshalb sei einer nationalen Zuwanderungslösung den Vorrang gegenüber einer europaweiten "Blue Card" zu geben. Aus Sicht des Wissenschaftlers und Universitätslehrers hat Bernhard Kempen, Präsident des Deutschen Hochschulverbandes, mit dem EU-Vorstoß durchaus Sympathie; denn gerade die Wissenschaft lebe von Mobilität, und für die Institution Universität sei der grenzüberschreitende Austausch unerlässlich. Leider sei zu bezweifeln, dass Europa im internationalen Wettbewerb um die besten Köpfe attraktiv genug sei. Umso wichtiger seien zusätzliche Mittel zur Sicherung der Ausbildungsqualität. Für Jürgen Wuttke, BDA, wäre es nötig, vor allem für die Zielgruppe der hoch qualifizierten Zuwanderer ein klares positives Signal zu setzen und die Niederlassungserlaubnis für sie zu erleichtern. Darüber dürfe aber auch die Aktivierung und Qualifizierung des inländischen Erwerbspersonenpotentials nicht vernachlässigt werden. Nach Meinung von August-Wilhelm Scheer, Präsident des BITKOM, müssten sowohl der nationale Fachkräftemarkt entwickelt als auch die Zuwanderungsgesetzgebung modernisiert und das internationale Marketing des Arbeitsstandortes Deutschland verbessert werden.Hochqualifizierte Arbeitskräfte, Naturwissenschaft, Ingenieure, Standort, Internationaler Wettbewerb, Ausländische Arbeitskräfte, Arbeitsnachfrage, Arbeitsmarktpolitik, Facharbeiter, Deutschland

MEMBRANE-TO-MEMBRANE CROSS-BRIDGES : A Means to Orientation and Interaction of Membrane Faces

No abstract availabl

High mobility group proteins of amphibian oocytes: a large storage pool of a soluble high mobility group-1-like protein and involvement in transcriptional events

No abstract availabl

Local Interstellar Neutral Hydrogen sampled in-situ by IBEX

Hydrogen gas is the dominant component of the local interstellar medium. However, due to ionization and interaction with the heliosphere, direct sampling of neutral hydrogen in the inner heliosphere is more difficult than sampling the local interstellar neutral helium, which penetrates deep into the heliosphere. In this paper we report on the first detailed analysis of the direct sampling of neutral hydrogen from the local interstellar medium. We confirm that the arrival direction of hydrogen is offset from that of the local Helium component. We further report the discovery of a variation of the penetrating Hydrogen over the first two years of IBEX observations. Observations are consistent with hydrogen experiencing an effective ratio of outward solar radiation pressure to inward gravitational force greater than unity ({\mu}>1); the temporal change observed in the local interstellar hydrogen flux can be explained with solar variability

Resection of the primary tumour versus no resection prior to systemic therapy in patients with colon cancer and synchronous unresectable metastases (UICC stage IV): SYNCHRONOUS - a randomised controlled multicentre trial (ISRCTN30964555)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Currently, it remains unclear, if patients with colon cancer and synchronous unresectable metastases who present without severe symptoms should undergo resection of the primary tumour prior to systemic chemotherapy. Resection of the primary tumour may be associated with significant morbidity and delays the beginning of chemotherapy. However, it may prevent local symptoms and may, moreover, prolong survival as has been demonstrated in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. It is the aim of the present randomised controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of primary tumour resection prior to systemic chemotherapy to prolong survival in patients with newly diagnosed colon cancer who are not amenable to curative therapy.</p> <p>Methods/design</p> <p>The SYNCHRONOUS trial is a multicentre, randomised, controlled, superiority trial with a two-group parallel design. Colon cancer patients with synchronous unresectable metastases are eligible for inclusion. Exclusion criteria are primary tumour-related symptoms, inability to tolerate surgery and/or systemic chemotherapy and history of another primary cancer. Resection of the primary tumour as well as systemic chemotherapy is provided according to the standards of the participating institution. The primary endpoint is overall survival that is assessed with a minimum follow-up of 36 months. Furthermore, it is the objective of the trial to assess the safety of both treatment strategies as well as quality of life.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The SYNCHRONOUS trial is a multicentre, randomised, controlled trial to assess the efficacy and safety of primary tumour resection before beginning of systemic chemotherapy in patients with metastatic colon cancer not amenable to curative therapy.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p><a href="http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN30964555">ISRCTN30964555</a></p

Gene and genon concept: coding versus regulation: A conceptual and information-theoretic analysis of genetic storage and expression in the light of modern molecular biology

We analyse here the definition of the gene in order to distinguish, on the basis of modern insight in molecular biology, what the gene is coding for, namely a specific polypeptide, and how its expression is realized and controlled. Before the coding role of the DNA was discovered, a gene was identified with a specific phenotypic trait, from Mendel through Morgan up to Benzer. Subsequently, however, molecular biologists ventured to define a gene at the level of the DNA sequence in terms of coding. As is becoming ever more evident, the relations between information stored at DNA level and functional products are very intricate, and the regulatory aspects are as important and essential as the information coding for products. This approach led, thus, to a conceptual hybrid that confused coding, regulation and functional aspects. In this essay, we develop a definition of the gene that once again starts from the functional aspect. A cellular function can be represented by a polypeptide or an RNA. In the case of the polypeptide, its biochemical identity is determined by the mRNA prior to translation, and that is where we locate the gene. The steps from specific, but possibly separated sequence fragments at DNA level to that final mRNA then can be analysed in terms of regulation. For that purpose, we coin the new term “genon”. In that manner, we can clearly separate product and regulative information while keeping the fundamental relation between coding and function without the need to introduce a conceptual hybrid. In mRNA, the program regulating the expression of a gene is superimposed onto and added to the coding sequence in cis - we call it the genon. The complementary external control of a given mRNA by trans-acting factors is incorporated in its transgenon. A consequence of this definition is that, in eukaryotes, the gene is, in most cases, not yet present at DNA level. Rather, it is assembled by RNA processing, including differential splicing, from various pieces, as steered by the genon. It emerges finally as an uninterrupted nucleic acid sequence at mRNA level just prior to translation, in faithful correspondence with the amino acid sequence to be produced as a polypeptide. After translation, the genon has fulfilled its role and expires. The distinction between the protein coding information as materialised in the final polypeptide and the processing information represented by the genon allows us to set up a new information theoretic scheme. The standard sequence information determined by the genetic code expresses the relation between coding sequence and product. Backward analysis asks from which coding region in the DNA a given polypeptide originates. The (more interesting) forward analysis asks in how many polypeptides of how many different types a given DNA segment is expressed. This concerns the control of the expression process for which we have introduced the genon concept. Thus, the information theoretic analysis can capture the complementary aspects of coding and regulation, of gene and genon

Transcriptional and skeletal elements in nucleoli of amphibian oocytes

No abstract availabl

Experimental disintegration of the nuclear envelope: evidence for pore-connecting fibrils

The disintegration of the nuclear envelope has been examined in nuclei and nuclear envelopes isolated from amphibian oocytes and rat liver tissue, using different electron microscope techniques (ultrathin sections and negatively or positively stained spread preparations). Various treatments were studied, including disruption by surface tension forces, very low salt concentrations, and non ionic detergents such as Triton X-lOO and Nonidet P-40. The high local stability of the cylinders of nonmembranous pore complex material is emphasized. As progressive disintegration occurred in the membrane regions, a network of fibrils became apparent which interconnects the pore complexes and is distinguished from the pore complexassociated intranuclear fibrils. This network might correspond to an indistinct lamella, about 15 - 20 nm thick, located at the level of the inner nuclear membrane, which is recognized in thin sections to bridge the interpore distances. With all disintegration treatments a somewhat higher susceptibility of the outer nuclear membrane is notable, but a selective removal does not take place. Final stages of disintegration are generally characterized by the absence of identifiable, membrane- like structures. Analysis of detergent-treated nuclei and nuclear membrane fractions shows almost complete absence of lipid components but retention of significant amount of glycoproteins with a typical endomembrane-type carbohydrate pattern. Various alternative interpretations of these observations are discussed. From the present observations and those of Aaronson and Blobel (1,2), we favor the notion that threadlike intrinsic membrane components are stabilized by their attachment to the pore complexes, and perhaps also to peripheral nuclear structures, and constitute a detergent-resistant, interpore skeleton meshwork