THE SUSTAINABLE IMPORTANCE OF REMITTANCES AND THEIR ROLE IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. THE CASE OF ROMANIA

The increasing amplitude of migrants and remittences in the last years, especially toward the developing countries has positive effects on development in the countries of origin. Empiric research outline the potentially significant effect of remittances on the economy of a country in various ways, as a source of external financing, contributing to the growth and economic development, to the increase of the national income and stimulation of consumption, and at the same time, important in financing households, contributing to poverty decrease. These challenges are a priority for Romania, an emigration country that receives every year un important volume of remittances, but, at present with a preponderant role in the consumption.international migration, remittances, economic development

The Dynamics of the European Labour Market and Unemployment in the Present Context of Global Economic Crisis: The Case of Romania

This paper aims to analyse the dimensions of the European labour market, the dynamics of unemployment and the relation between labour process and globalization in the present context of global economic and financial crisis, by taking into account that labour markets tend to recover slowly after a general slowdown in economic activity and, usually, remain behind economic growth, unemployment reaching higher levels than before the crisis. The analysis is based on a set of specific labour market indicators that will underline the labour market policies and measures that need to be adopted in order to increase labour productivity, with positive effects on long-term economic development. Thus, as consequence of the present world economic and financial crisis, both developed and developing economies are facing massive adjustments of the labour markets, due to increasing number of unemployed persons and increasing level of poverty. Labour market policies should therefore play a complementary role in the answer to the crisis, along with other macroeconomic policies, in order to maintain labour demand by creating new jobs, maintaining the existing ones and improving the possibilities of employment for unemployed persons through improving the compatibility between labour demand and supply.economic crisis, labour market, vulnerable employment, labour market policies

Highly thermostable extracellular lipase-producing Bacillus strain isolated from a Malaysian hotspring and identified using 16S rRNA gene sequencing

The activities of lipase produced by five lipases-producing thermophilic bacteria strains (SY1, SY5, SY6, SY7 and SY9) isolated from Selayang Hot Spring in the western part of Peninsular Malaysia were analyzed and compared. SY7 and SY9 had considerably higher lipolytic activities than those of SY1, SY5 and SY6. Thermostabilities of lipase produced by all strains were determined after heating at 80°C for 30 minutes. Strain SY7 retained the highest lipolytic activity of 77%, while others had infinitesimally low thermostability (retaining less than 34% of their original activity) at the same temperature and time. SY7 was chosen for further characterization because it showed exceptionally high lipase activity and thermostability. It was identified as belonging to Bacillus species by the conventional Gram-staining technique, Biochemical tests and Biolog Microstation system. By using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, strain SY7 generated the same expected PCR product with molecular weight of 1500 base pair. It displayed 98% sequence similarity to Bacillus cereus strain J-1 16S rRNA gene partial sequence with accession number: AY305275 and has been deposited in the database of Genbank

Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial

Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Modeling, simulation and visualization of stability and support operations using coevolution: Concepts and environment

Current military simulations focus on high resolution, conventional warfare models based on well-established military doctrine. These systems allow commanders and soldiers to investigate friendly and enemy courses-of-action (COAs) that have been created by military commanders and their analysts. One exception to these systems is FOX, which generates friendly COAs using a genetic algorithm that engage with several static enemy COAs in conventional warfare scenarios. This dissertation extends the use of genetic algorithms to coevolution, a multi-sided genetic algorithm, for non-conventional warfare operations, termed Stability and Support Operations (SASO), which constitute many of the current major military operations in the world. It presents the concepts for a system that generates, simulates, and visualizes COAs for non-conventional units as well as conventional units' force distributions in a SASO environment. The simulation includes such factors as political climate, multi-sided faction animosities, and the influence of information operations on local populations. To allow fast wargaming, many concepts such as terrain and incident types are abstracted, instead of requiring the time-consuming high-resolution models currently in use. It also proposes that the analysis of coevolution strategies benefits from examining changes in fitness function, instead of the fitness function directly, as is generally done for one-sided genetic algorithms. As inputs, a military expert defines a scenario by specifying an environment of locales, factions and entities that belong to multiple sides. In the Sheherazade SASO Simulation, these entities occupy and move between locales, engage in combat, and work to calm or agitate the local populations. Each entity has a COA, which determines its planned moves and targets of attack. For conventional military units, the COAs represent their force distribution. A coevolution algorithm, or a multi-sided genetic algorithm, evolves these COAs based on the scores that result from the simulation. Visualization tools, including iconographs and other configural displays, allow the analysis and comparison of COAs over generations. The COAs that evolve represent strategies for each side to fulfill their competing goals, and can be used by an analyst as a decision support tool for training or planning

A macroeconometric panel data analysis of the shaping factors of labour emigration within the European Union

The research aims to identify and analyse the determinants and shaping factors of labour emigration within the European Union. The analysis is based on developing double-log macroeconometric models that combine cross-section and time series in a panel structure, by using a set of indicators specific for the emigration process, as well as for the economic activity, labour market and education, as main explanatory variables. The results show that high unemployment reduces the emigrant stock, mainly due to the loss of associated income and to the reduction of the migrants’ capacity to move and establish into another country. At the same time, we identified a positive selection of emigrants at destination according to their educational level, while an increase in education in the source country downsizes the stock of emigrants mainly due to an improvement in employment perspectives

The role of the human capital and investment in human capital within the sustainable socio-economic development. How labour force migration affects competitiveness?

The research aims to analyse the role played by the human capital investment in shaping international migration trends and influencing socio-economic development for the EU New Member States during the last decade. Our analysis is based on developing double-log macro-econometric models that combine cross-sections and time series in a panel structure, by using a set of indicators specific for the migration process, as well as for the economic activity and education, as main explanatory variables. Furthermore, the study focuses on a comparative approach for New Member States, our random and fixed effects models using several quantitative and qualitative proxies in order to highlight the relationship and interdependence between emigration, human capital investment and socio-economic development