Emigration and Unemployment in Lithuania: Correlations, Influencing Factors and Destinations

This paper examines the extent to which emigration correlates to unemployment in Lithuania during 1994-2012, unveils the main reasons behind the decision to emigrate and presents the trends among emigrants’ destination countries. Even though there is no unanimous opinion, it is argued that emigration is negatively correlated with unemployment. The Lithuanian case is quite interesting and the numbers in Lithuanian statistics requires a more thorough analysis. The conclusions drawn via IBM SPPS software are quite controversial and show positive correlation, to a certain extent, between emigration and unemployment in Lithuania. The main influences of emigration are extracted via the unique questionnaire and then analysed via different perspectives have a degree of controversy as well. The destination countries compared from two different data sets are quite different, yet, show similar trends

Comparison of adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the management of advanced ovarian cancer: a retrospective study of 574 patients

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of clinical data on the validity of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of ovarian cancer. The aim of this study was to compare the impact of the adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimens on the clinical outcomes in patients with advanced ovarian cancer. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of 574 patients with advanced ovarian cancer admitted to four Lithuanian oncogynaecology departments during 1993–2000. The conventional combined treatment of cytoreductive surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy was applied to both the group that underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy (n = 213) and to the control group (n = 361). The selection criterion for neoadjuvant chemotherapy was large extent of the disease. Overall and progression-free survival rates and survival medians were calculated using life tables and the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: There was no difference in median overall survival between stage III patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy and neoadjuvant chemotherapy (25.9 months vs. 29.3 months, p = 0.2508) and stage IV patients (15.4 months vs. 14.9 months, p = 0.6108). Similarly, there was no difference in median progression-free survival between stage III patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy and neoadjuvant chemotherapy (15.7 months vs. 17.5 months, p = 0.1299) and stage IV patients (8.7 months vs. 8.2 months, p = 0.1817). There was no difference in the rate of the optimal cytoreductive surgery between patients who underwent the neoadjuvant chemotherapy and patients primarily treated with surgery (n = 134, 63% vs. n = 242, 67%, respectively). CONCLUSION: There was no difference in progression-free or overall survival and in the rate of optimal cytoreductive surgery between the neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy groups despite the fact that patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy had a more extensive disease. Multivariate analysis failed to prove that neoadjuvant chemotherapy could be considered as an independent prognostic factor for survival, and the findings need to be investigated in the future prospective randomised studies

The balance of Polo-like kinase 1 in tumorigenesis

Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) belongs to a family of conserved serine/threonine kinases with a polo-box domain, which have similar but non-overlapping functions in the cell cycle progression. Plk1 plays a key role to ensure the normal mitosis. Interestingly, overexpression of Plk1 is associated with tumor development and could serve as a prognostic marker for many cancers. Due to Plk1 overexpression, several Plk1 inhibitors have been developed and tested for the cancer treatment. However, in a recent study, it has been suggested that down-regulation of Plk1 could also induce aneuploidy and tumor formation in vivo. Therefore, a normal level of Plk1 is important for mitosis. And caution should be taken when Plk1 inhibitors are used in the clinical trial and their side effects including tumorigenesis should be carefully evaluated

Latent analysis of unmodified biomolecules and their complexes in solution with attomole detection sensitivity

The study of biomolecular interactions is central to an understanding of function, malfunction and therapeutic modulation of biological systems, yet often involves a compromise between sensitivity and accuracy. Many conventional analytical steps and the procedures required to facilitate sensitive detection, such as the incorporation of chemical labels, are prone to perturb the complexes under observation. Here we present a 'latent' analysis approach that uses chemical and microfluidic tools to reveal, through highly sensitive detection of a labelled system, the behaviour of the physiologically relevant unlabelled system. We implement this strategy in a native microfluidic diffusional sizing platform, allowing us to achieve detection sensitivity at the attomole level, determine the hydrodynamic radii of biomolecules that vary by over three orders of magnitude in molecular weight, and study heterogeneous mixtures. We illustrate these key advantages by characterizing a complex of an antibody domain in the solution phase and under physiologically relevant conditions.We would like to thank the ERC, BBSRC, Wellcome Trust, Newman Foundation, Winston Churchill Foundation, and Elan Pharmaceuticals for financial support. E.D.G was supported by the MRC (G1002272)

Endothelial function in isolated small arteries from women at reproductive age and after menopause : Possibilities for improvement

Background: Alterations in vascular function are present in patients with Preeclampsia (PE) and in women after menopause. PE is a syndrome peculiar to human pregnancy that adversely affects the mother by endothelial dysfunction and the fetus due to impaired uteroplacental blood flow. It also remains a leading cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. A current hypothesis suggests that hypoxic placenta releases one or more unidentified factors to the maternal circulation that trigger endothelial dysfunction. Women after menopause are at increased risk for cardiovascular diseases and this could be related to changes in the hormonal environment. Estrogens are considered to provide cardiovascular protection, however the exact mechanisms of action in the resistance vasculature are far from clear. Objective: The general aim of this thesis was to study endothelial function in isolated resistance arteries in order to clarify the possible causes of endothelial dysfunction and the potential for improvement in women with PE and after the menopause. In particular we aimed to evaluate if (1) microparticles (MP) from plasma of women with PE might induce endothelial dysfunction as characterized in vitro in arteries from women with PE; (2) Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) can induce signs of endothelial dysfunction in isolated resistance arteries from normal pregnant women; (3) 17b-estradiol (E2) have beneficial effects on endothelial function in arteries from women with PE; (4) isolated arteries from healthy postmenopausal women exhibit signs of endothelial dysfunction in contrast to premenopausal women and, if so, to compare in vitro effects of estrogenic compounds for cardiovascular protection; (5) three months of Hormonal Replacement Therapy (HRT) alters resistance artery function in isolated arteries from healthy postmenopausal women. Methodology: Normal pregnant and women with PE, pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women were recruited. Myometrial and subcutaneous resistance artery function was evaluated in-vitro using pressure- and wire-myography techniques. Endothelial function was determined by measuring flow-, endothelium-dependent and independent agonists mediated dilatation. In addition, pressure-induced myogenic responses were assessed in response to increased intraluminal pressure and vascular permeability was evaluated by applying Evans blue dye staining. Scanning electron microscopy technique was utilized for comparisons of endothelial morphology. Results and conclusions: (1) MP, isolated from plasma of women with PE induced endothelial dysfunction after an overnight incubation in isolated myometrial arteries from healthy pregnant women. In contrast, MP derived from healthy pregnant women had no effect. MP may be of importance in the etiology of endothelial dysfunction seen in PE. (2) VEGF impaired endothelium-dependent dilatation and enhanced basal tone possibly through an endothelin-1 pathway. It also increased vascular permeability similar to that found in isolated arteries from women with PE. This might indicate a potential role for VEGF in the development of endothelial dysfunction in PE. Angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) reversed the vascular leakage induced by VEGF, suggesting that Ang-1 may have therapeutic implications in PE. (3) E2 improved flow-, but not agonist-mediated dilatation and reduced basal tone through a nitric oxide (NO)-mediated pathway in isolated myometrial arteries from women with PE. This suggests an important role for E2 to improve uteroplacental circulation in PE. Morphological signs of endothelial injury seen in arteries from women with PE support the presence of endothelial malfunctions. (4) E2 improved resistance artery function in-vitro an affect that was mimicked by selective estrogen receptor alpha (ERa) agonist propyl-pyrazole triol but not by raloxifene or genistein. This suggests that ERa might be of importance for vascular protection in the resistance circulation in women after menopause. (5) Three months supplementation with estradiol and estradiol plus medroxyprogesterone acetate, but not medroxyprogesterone acetate alone had beneficial effects on flow-mediated dilatation and endothelial morphology in isolated subcutaneous arteries from healthy postmenopausal women, suggesting combined HRT to be beneficial for resistance artery function. Significance: Studies in isolated arteries from women with PE and healthy postmenopausal women have yielded functional and morphological signs of endothelial dysfunction. We have also shown that estrogenic compounds may improve endothelial function and therefore might be of interest from a therapeutic point of view

Light and Architecture

This paper is a response to what I consider to be a miscommunication of architecture. A practice that has the subject constrained to a predetermined design language or has it misguided by an obscure idea. In short, this thesis is an attempt at a simple, clear cut concept which can deliver its narrative to the user in a manner that is transparent and easy to grasp. As is the case with any design exercise, there has to be a brief to follow and this Thesis paper is no exception. The narrative to tell is borrowed from an architectural competition. It is to convey a story of Red Sands, an Army fort located in the Thames Estuary, which is due to a complete overhaul as an observatory and a tourist attraction. This spells for a complex story that is burdened with a clash of two typologies, two different eras, a highly diverse program and an unusual setting. In order to tackle the challenges of the brief, and keep the design under control, this paper employs light as the only objective measure of the subject. It is going to underpin the analysis of the original and influence every decision while assembling the upcoming concept. After all, things only are what they appear to be and light is the agent that allows us to see. Having established the problem, the brief and the means of expression, this paper picks up with the conceptual exercise. The entire process is set to be split in two parts, the design of the outer envelope and a set out of the inner spaces. It starts with the former and gradually progresses inwards, until the entire narrative is told, all with the help of light. Finally, after the conceptual work is done and all adjustments are in order, the end result is put on display in a separate chapter. This is a graphical presentation, portrayed through a camera lens of an ostensible visitor, the end user