Monetary and Non-Monetary Remittances within Marginalized Migrating Families

In this paper, I am using the research experience among Czech Roma families with the migration experience and taking a look on what is being exchanged between „those who went abroad“, and „those who stayed home“ and what can be the function and consequences of it.Sending money, things, ideas etc. back and forth is the mean of closing the range between people within family and thus it facilitates the formation of transnational social ties. As individual examples of those remittances are lying open in front of us, we can see how they are part of the strategic reproduction of the “trans-nationalized” family.Thus, I understand remittances in a broader sense than the economics does. I am proposing to aim not only on salary to be sent abroad to relatively poorer environments. There are not only monetary remittances, but also material, symbolic, social and emotional ones

Statutory Pre-emption Right as Changed by the New Civil Code

AbstractThe right of pre-emption can be characterized as a legal relationship following either statutory or contractual provisions, that establishes rights and obligations between the entitled person (eligible person) and the obliged person (owner) as two parties to the relationship. The content of this relationship is first of all the legitimate right of the eligible person to be offered by the obliged person to buy a particular thing and the corresponding obligation of the owner to offer the thing if it shall be sold. The purpose of the pre-emption right is to secure a priority status of the eligible person as regards the potential acquisition of the subject of pre-emption right. The pre-emptive right may be established in particular through rules provided directly by the law. The law may establish pre-emption rights in various situations. Most often it is the right of co-owners by shares to buy the share or shares offered for sale by other co-owners. This right was dominating to the relationship of the co-owners by share until the entry into force of the Civil Code No. 89/ 2012 Coll. as part of a general regulation of co-ownership. Its infringement brought along relative nullity of the legal act on the transfer of the ownership share.This paper deals with two question connected to the pre-emption right that have been subject to modifications on the basis of the entry into force of the new Civil Code, Act. No. 89/2012 Coll. by 1 January 2014. First of all, it analyses the narrowed scope of the statutory pre-emption rights of co-owners by shares and its possible impact on their mutual relations in practice. Subsequently, the paper focuses on the conceptual change of the relative nullity of the transfer of property carried out in violation of the statutory pre-emption right and the procedural consequences thereof

Book review: the people’s republic of amnesia: Tiananmen revisited by Louisa Lim

In The People’s Republic of Amnesia, NPR and former BBC correspondent Louisa Lim aims to chart how the events of June 4th 1989 changed China, and how China changed the events of Tiananmen Square by rewriting its own history. Andrea Janku finds this a persuasive and fascinating read

Using Fluorescence Lifetimes to Characterize Lipid Behavior in Nanodiscs

Cellular uptake of molecules, including drugs, can be affected by the fluidity of the membrane. Nanoparticles have been hypothesized to alter membrane fluidity resulting in inflammation and its related clinical effects. Variations in phospholipids can alter membrane structure and its interaction with drugs or nanoparticles. To study membrane lipid differences and dynamics, we are using nanodiscs and liposomes as model systems. Nanodiscs are a lipid bilayer surrounded by a membrane scaffold protein, which is a derivative of Apolipoprotein A1, a protein involved in the removal of cholesterol from the body. There are important unresolved questions about how the belt protein affects the fluidity of the lipid bilayer. The goal of this project is to learn more about the behavior of lipid-protein interactions and how that affects membrane fluidity. Using nanodiscs made of either DMPC, DOPC, DOPS and cardiolipin with 5% NBD labeled lipid, we can take lifetimes of the nanodiscs at distinct wavelength intervals, which in concert can yield information about the relaxation rate of the lipid bilayers. Fluorescence lifetime is the time it takes between the fluorophores being excited by light and returning to the ground state by releasing photons. Liposomes of similar lipid compositions will be used as a control model system. This study will examine the effects of length and saturation of hydrocarbon tails, temperature, and the overall charge of the lipid to study the relaxation rates of the membranes

The Effects of Lipid Structure on Membrane Fluidity

Cellular update of molecules, including drugs, can be affected by the fluidity of the membrane. Nanoparticles have been hypothesized to alter membrane fluidity resulting in inflammation and its related clinical effects. Variations in phospholipids can alter a membranes structure and its interaction with drugs or nanoparticles. To study membrane lipid differences and dynamics, we are using nanodiscs and liposomes as model systems. Nanodiscs are a lipid bilayer surrounded by a membrane scaffold protein, which is a derivative of Apolipoprotein A1, a protein involved in the removal of cholesterol from the body. There are important unresolved questions about how the belt protein affects the fluidity of the lipid bilayer. The goal of this project is to learn more about the behavior of lipid-protein interactions and how that affects membrane fluidity. Using nanodiscs made of either DMPC, DOPC, DOPS and cardiolipin with 5% NBD labeled lipid, we can take lifetimes of the nanodiscs at distinct wavelength intervals, which in concert can yield information about the relaxation rate of the lipid bilayers. Fluorescence lifetime is the time it takes between the fluorophores being excited by light and returning to the ground state by releasing photons. Liposomes of similar lipid compositions will be used as a control model system. This study will examine the effects of length and saturation of hydrocarbon tails, temperature, and the overall charge of the lipid to study the relaxation rates of the membranes

BUSINESS REGULATIONS: CONSTRAIN OR SAFEGUARD BUSINESS ACTIVITY? (THE IMPORTANCE OF REGULATORY IMPACT ASSESSMENT)

Poor quality of laws and regulations can seriously hamper economic growth and sustainable development. Regulatory costs represent significant obstacles to private sector investment, whereas, an effective regulatory environment improves trade performance. Rules and regulations are under the direct control of policy-makers and policy makers intending to change the experience and behavior of businesses will often start by changing rules and regulations that affect them. Good business regulations enable the private sector to prosper and help businesses to expand their transaction network.In this context, the regulations seem to safeguard economic activity and facilitate business operations. By other side, if regulations are poorly designed, they can become obstacles to doing business. Business regulations are part of institutional constraints.The main purpose of this paper is, to offer a comparative analysis of reforms undertaken by different European countries (especially Balkan countries), through an interpreter and descriptive analysis using the data set provided by Doing Business Report (2013) in order to evaluate the position of Albania towards its neighbors. The comparison will cover two sides: what has been done (reforms making it easier to do business) and what must be done in the future. Subsequently, the importance of regulatory reforms describing the main benefits of a reform impact assessment (RIA) process will be in focus of the paper. It is important for governments not only to implement a policy but also to understand and evaluate how well this policy will work