Changing Patterns of Migration: The Case of Germany, 1945-1995. Ethnic Origins, Demographic Structure, Future Prospects

Njemačka je danas, zajedno sa SAD-om i Rusijom, jedna od tri najznačajnije imigracijske zemlje na svijetu. Autori istražuju kako se imigracijska populacija Njemačke povećala usprkos činjenici da ju je njemačka vlada nastojala ograničiti. U radu se analizira šest glavnih migracijskih tokova: izbjeglice i prognanici koji su došli neposredno nakon II. svjetskog rata, njemački doseljenici iz Istočne Europe (Aussiedler), emigracija (Zapadnih) Nijemaca, migracija između Istočne i Zapadne Njemačke, strani radnici migranti i tražitelji azila. Dinamika imigracije svakog od ova tri kanala bila je značajno različita. Što se tiče asimilacije i integracije, autori tvrde da se s različitim grupama imigranata treba postupati na podjednak način.Germany is today, along with the US and Russia, one of the three most important immigration countries worldwide. The authors examine how the immigrant population of Germany has risen despite the fact that the German government has sought to restrict it. They analyse six major streams of migration: refugees and expellees who came immediately after World War II, German resettlers from Eastern Europe ("Aussiedler"), emigration of (West) Germans, migration between East- and West Germany, foreign labour migrants and asylum seekers. The dynamics of immigration for each of these channels was remarkably different. As far as absorption and integration are concerned the authors argue that different groups of immigrants should be treated more equally

Deteriorating health satisfaction among immigrants from Eastern Europe to Germany

BACKGROUND: Migrants from Eastern Europe constitute more than 5% of Germany's population. Since population health in their countries of origin is poor their health status upon arrival may be worse than that of the native-born German population (hypothesis H1). As a minority, they may be socio-economically disadvantaged (H2), and their health status may deteriorate quickly (H3). METHODS: We compared data from 1995 and 2000 for immigrants from Eastern Europe (n = 353) and a random sample of age-matched Germans (n = 2, 824) from the German Socioeconomic Panel. We tested H1-3 using health satisfaction, as a proxy for health status, and socioeconomic indicators. We compared changes over time within groups, and between immigrants and Germans. We assessed effects of socio-economic status and being a migrant on declining health satisfaction in a regression model. RESULTS: In 1995, immigrants under 55 years had a significantly higher health satisfaction than Germans. Above age 54, health satisfaction did not differ. By 2000, immigrants' health satisfaction had declined to German levels. Whereas in 1995 immigrants had a significantly lower SES, differences five years later had declined. In the regression model, immigrant status was much stronger associated with declining health satisfaction than low SES. CONCLUSION: In contrast to H1, younger immigrants had an initial health advantage. Immigrants were initially socio-economically disadvantaged (H2), but their SES improved over time. The decrease in health satisfaction was much steeper in immigrants and this was not associated with differences in SES (H3). Immigrants from Eastern Europe have a high risk of deteriorating health, in spite of socio-economic improvements

Deteriorating health satisfaction among immigrants from Eastern Europe to Germany

BACKGROUND: Migrants from Eastern Europe constitute more than 5% of Germany's population. Since population health in their countries of origin is poor their health status upon arrival may be worse than that of the native-born German population (hypothesis H1). As a minority, they may be socio-economically disadvantaged (H2), and their health status may deteriorate quickly (H3). METHODS: We compared data from 1995 and 2000 for immigrants from Eastern Europe (n = 353) and a random sample of age-matched Germans (n = 2, 824) from the German Socioeconomic Panel. We tested H1-3 using health satisfaction, as a proxy for health status, and socioeconomic indicators. We compared changes over time within groups, and between immigrants and Germans. We assessed effects of socio-economic status and being a migrant on declining health satisfaction in a regression model. RESULTS: In 1995, immigrants under 55 years had a significantly higher health satisfaction than Germans. Above age 54, health satisfaction did not differ. By 2000, immigrants' health satisfaction had declined to German levels. Whereas in 1995 immigrants had a significantly lower SES, differences five years later had declined. In the regression model, immigrant status was much stronger associated with declining health satisfaction than low SES. CONCLUSION: In contrast to H1, younger immigrants had an initial health advantage. Immigrants were initially socio-economically disadvantaged (H2), but their SES improved over time. The decrease in health satisfaction was much steeper in immigrants and this was not associated with differences in SES (H3). Immigrants from Eastern Europe have a high risk of deteriorating health, in spite of socio-economic improvements

All-cause and Cardiovascular mortality among ethnic German immigrants from the Former Soviet Union: a cohort study

BACKGROUND: Migration is a phenomenon of particular Public Health importance. Since 1990, almost 2 million ethnic Germans (Aussiedler) have migrated from the former Soviet Union (FSU) to Germany. This study compares their overall and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality to that of Germany's general population. Because of high overall and CVD mortality in the FSU and low socio-economic status of Aussiedler in Germany, we hypothesize that their mortality is higher. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study for 1990–2002 with data of 34,393 Aussiedler. We assessed vital status at population registries and causes of death at the state statistical office. We calculated standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for the whole cohort and substrata of covariables such as age, sex and family size. To assess multivariate effects, we used Poisson regression. RESULTS: 1657 cohort members died before December 31, 2002, and 680 deaths (41.03%) were due to CVD. The SMR for the whole cohort was 0.85 (95%-CI 0.81–0.89) for all causes of death and 0.79 (95%-CI 0.73–0.85) for CVD. SMRs were higher than one for younger Aussiedler and lower for older ones. There was no clear effect of duration of stay on SMRs. For 1990–93, SMRs were significantly lower than in subsequent years. In families comprising at least five members upon arrival in Germany, SMRs were significantly lower than in smaller families. CONCLUSION: In contrast to our hypothesis on migrants' health, overall and CVD mortality among Aussiedler is lower than in Germany's general population. Possible explanations are a substantially better health status of Aussiedler in the FSU as compared to the local average, a higher perceived socio-economic status of Aussiedler in Germany, or selection effects. SMR differences between substrata need further exploration, and risk factor data are needed

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure fl ux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defi ned as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (inmost higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium ) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the fi eld understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation it is imperative to delete or knock down more than one autophagy-related gene. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways so not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field

Guidelines for the use of flow cytometry and cell sorting in immunological studies (second edition)

These guidelines are a consensus work of a considerable number of members of the immunology and flow cytometry community. They provide the theory and key practical aspects of flow cytometry enabling immunologists to avoid the common errors that often undermine immunological data. Notably, there are comprehensive sections of all major immune cell types with helpful Tables detailing phenotypes in murine and human cells. The latest flow cytometry techniques and applications are also described, featuring examples of the data that can be generated and, importantly, how the data can be analysed. Furthermore, there are sections detailing tips, tricks and pitfalls to avoid, all written and peer-reviewed by leading experts in the field, making this an essential research companion

Robustheit von kooperierenden Systemen gegenüber Totzeiten

The robustness of various cooperative control schemes on large scale networked systems with respect to heterogeneous communication and coupling delays is investigated. The presented results provide delay-dependent and delay-independent conditions that guarantee consensus, rendezvous, flocking, and synchronization in different classes of multi-agent systems (MAS). All conditions are scalable to arbitrarily large multi-agent systems with non-identical agent dynamics. In particular, conditions for linear agents, for nonlinear agents with relative degree one, and for a class of nonlinear agents with relative degree two are presented. The interconnection topology between the agents is in most cases represented by an undirected graph. The results for nonlinear agents with relative degree one hold also for the more general case of directed graphs with switching topologies. Different delay configurations are investigated and compared. These configurations represent different ways how the delays affect the coupling between the agents. The presented robustness analysis considers constant, time-varying, and distributed delays in order to take different sources of delays into account. The results are applied to several typical applications and simulations illustrate the findings. The main contributions of this thesis include: (i) Consensus and rendezvous in single integrator MAS are robust to arbitrarily large delays even on switching topologies. However, the convergence rate of this MAS is delay-dependent and scalable convergence rate conditions are presented. (ii) Consensus and rendezvous in relative degree two MAS are robust to sufficiently small delays. Local, scalable conditions are derived for these MAS that guarantee consensus and rendezvous for bounded delays. (iii) Finally, the derived delay robustness analysis for general linear MAS allows for the first time to compare different delay configurations in a unifying framework.In dieser Dissertation wird die Robustheit von verschiedenen kooperierenden Regelungen bezüglich heterogener Kommunikations- und Kopplungsverzögerungen untersucht. Es werden skalierbare Analysemethoden für Konsens, Rendezvous, Herdenverhalten (engl. flocking) und Synchronisation für verschiedene Klassen von linearen und nichtlinearen Agentensystemen (engl. multi-agent systems) vorgestellt. Die Ergebnisse werden auf verschiedene typische Anwendungen übertragen und durch Simulationen veranschaulicht

Les migrations en Allemagne : 1945-1996

Wanderungen von und nach Deutschland : 1945-1996. Rainer Münz unt Ralf Ulrich. Deutschland ist heute, zusammen mit den USA und Rußland, eines der drei wichtigsten Zuwanderungsländer in der Welt. Die Autoren untersuchen, wie der Bevölkerungsanteil von Zuwanderern in Deutschland während der letzten Jahrzehnte gestiegen ist, obwohl Deutschland sich nicht als ein Einwanderungsland versteht. Sechs wichtige Wanderungsstrome werden analysiert: Flüchtlinge und Vertriebene, die nach Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges nach Deutschland kamen, Aussiedler, die in den folgenden Jahrzehnten aus Ostcuropa kamen, (west-)deutsche Auswanderer, Wanderungen zwischen der DDR und der alten Bundesrepublik (zumeist Übersiedler), auslandische Arbeitsmigranten und Asylbewerber. Die Dynamik der Zuwanderung die Chancen auf dem Arbeitsmarkt und die Moglichkeiten der sozialen Integration waren für jede dieser Gruppen unterschiedlich. Die Autoren plädieren dafür, diesen Gruppen möglichst gleiche Voraussetzungen für die Integration in Deutschland zu geben.Changing Patterns of Immigration to Germany : 1945-1996. Rainer Münz and Ralf Ulrich. Germany is today, along with the United States and Russia, one of the three most important immigration countries Worldwide. The authors examine how the immigrant population of Germany has risen despite the fact that the German government has sought to restrict it. They analyze six major streams of migration: refugees and expellees who came immediately after World War II, German resettlers from Eastern Europe (« Aussiedler »), emigration of (West) Germans, migration between East- and West Germany, foreign labor migrants and asylum seekers. The dynamics of immigration, the chances on the labor market, and the opportunities for social integration were remarkably different for each of these groups. As far as absorption and integration are concerned the authors argue that different groups of immigrants should be treated more equally.Les migrations en Allemagne : 1946-1996. Rainer Münz et Ralf Ulrich. L'Allemagne est aujourd'hui, avec les Etats-Unis et la Russie, l'un des pays du monde recevant le plus grand nombre d'immigrants. Les auteurs examinent la croissance de la population immigrée, en dépit des restrictions apportées par les gouvernements. Ils analysent les principaux flux migratoires : les réfugiés et les « expulsés » d'après-guerre, des membres des minorités d'ascendance allemande (Aussiedler) venant d'Europe centrale et orientale, les Allemands de la RDA (Übersiedler), les migrants entre les deux Allemagnes, les travailleurs immigrés (Gastarbeiter), les demandeurs d'asile et les réfugiés. Ils montrent que les dynamiques migratoires, l'insertion sur le marché de l'emploi et l'intégration sociale sont remarquablement différentes selon les groupes. En conclusion, les auteurs plaident pour une égalité de traitement entre les citoyens allemands, les immigrants allemands et les autres immigrants légaux. l'Allemagne doit avoir une attitude plus ouverte face à la diversité et fournir des efforts plus importants pour intégrer les immigrants et les étrangers nés dans le pays.Las migraciones en Alemania : 1945-1996. Rainer Münz y Ralf Ulrich. Alemania es hoy , con Estados Unidos y Rusia, uno de los países del mundo que recibe mas inmigrantes. Los autores examinan el crecimiento de la poblacion inmigrada a pesar de las restricciones decididas por los gobiernos. Analizan los principales flujos migratorios : refugiados y " expulsados " de la post-guerra, miembros de minorias de acendencia alemana (Aussiedler) venidos de Europa central y oriental, alemanes de la RDA (Übersiedler), migrantes entre las dos Alemanias, trabajadores extranjeros (Gastarbeiter) refugiados. Muestran que las dinámicas migratorias, la inserción en el mercado del trabajo y la integración social son muy diferentes según los grupos. Concluen defendiendo la igualdad de tratamiento entre ciudadanos alemanes, inmigrantes alemanes y otros inmigrantes legales. Alemania debe tener una actitud mas abierta frente a la diversidad y multiplicar les esfuerzos para integrar los inmigrantes nacidos fuera del país.Münz Rainer, Ulrich Ralf. Les migrations en Allemagne : 1945-1996. In: Revue européenne des migrations internationales, vol. 14, n°2,1998. Immigrés et minorités ethniques dans l'espace politique européen, sous la direction de Marco Martiniello et Marie-Antoinette Hily. pp. 173-210