פרסומים

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of immigration from European Neighborhood (EN) and new member states to the EU core countries over the period 2000- 2010. Apart from income differentials, unemployment rates and other standard variables hypothesized to determine immigration, the paper focusses attention on welfare-chasing as well as measures to enforce immigration policy. Using a variant of the gravity model, the paper investigates whether tests of these hypotheses are robust with respect to spatial misspecification.
Design/methodology/approach – The determinants of migration from the European Neighborhood and new member states to the EU core countries is estimated using a spatial variant of the gravity model. The methodology is used for both multilateral and spatial flows. Gravity model estimations are presented for immigration into the EU core destinations using standard, non-spatial econometrics, as well as spatial econometrics for single and double-spatial dynamics
Findings – Immigration to EU core countries varies directly with the change in social spending per head in the destination. This result stands out in all the models, both OLS and spatial. Immigrants are attracted by economic inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient. However, in this case it is the level that matters rather than its change. No evidence is found that the threat of apprehension at the destination deters migrants from the European Neighborhood and other countries. 
Research limitations/implications – The authors assume multilateralism is spatial. This means that everything else given, destinations are closer substitutes the nearer they are, and that immigration shocks are likely to be more correlated among origins the closer they are. This implicit assumption is restrictive because multilateralism is just spatial.
Social implications – While immigration to EU core countries varies directly with the change in (not level of ) social spending per head. If a given country becomes more benevolent it attracts more immigration. The results suggest that if during 2000-2010 social spending per capita grew by 1 percent, the immigration rate increased by between 1 and 2 percentage points relative to the number of foreign-born in 2000. This is a large demographic effect.
Originality/value – Uniquely, this paper does not assume immigration flows are independent and stresses their spatial and multilateral nature. A series of new non-spatial and spatial (single and double-spatial lag) models are used to empirically test hypotheses about the determinants of immigration to the EU core countries.

We consider the problem of implementation in models of independent private values in which the valuation an agent attributes to a particular alternative is a function from a multidimensional Euclidean space to the real line. We first consider implementation by standard mechanisms, that include a decision rule and a profile of personal transfers. We present impossibility results on the implementation of decision rules that assign different outcomes to profiles of signals that result in the same profile of valuations. We then consider implementation by extended mechanisms that include, in addition to a decision rule and a profile of personal transfers, a profile of functions that affect the arguments of the valuation functions. We show that decision rules that assign different outcomes to profiles of signals that result in the same profile of valuations can be implemented by such mechanisms.

The electrochem. redn. of indium tin oxide (ITO) on glass is systematically studied. The light absorbance and elec. resistance of ITO increases upon redn. SEM images show that the integrate ITO films dissolve and form particles upon applying neg. potentials. The particles consist of metallic In and Sn, as characterized by XRD and XPS. The redn. of ITO strongly depends on the electrolyte conditions, mainly pH and anions. The onset potential is found to shift neg. as the pH of the electrolyte increases. NO-3 ions significantly inhibit the redn. of ITO, shifting the redn. potential neg. by \~500 mV as compared with SO2-4, Cl- and Br-. It can also serve as inhibitor by adding very low concn. to the Cl–dominant electrolyte. Also, the electrochem. reduced ITO show excellent nonlinear optical performance, with transmittance tuneable by redn. potential and time. This suggests a promising useful application of the electrochem. redn. of ITO. [on SciFinder(R)]

Oral delivery is the most convenient and favorable route for chronic administration of peptides and proteins to patients. However, many obstacles are faced when developing such a delivery route. Nanoparticles (NPs) are among the leading innovative solutions for delivery of these drugs. Exenatide is a peptidic drug administered subcutaneously (SC) twice a day chronically as an add-on therapy for the worldwide pandemic disease, diabetes. Many attempts to develop oral nanocarriers for this drug have been unsuccessful due to the inability to retain this hydrophilic macromolecule under sink conditions or to find a suitable cross-linker which does not harm the chemical integrity of the peptide. In this study, we report about an original oral delivery solution based on a mixture of albumin and dextran NPs cross-linked using sodium trimetaphosphate (STMP). Moreover, we suggest a second defense line of gastro-resistant microparticles (MPs) composed of an appropriate ratio of Eudragit® L100-55 (Eudragit L) and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC), for additional protection to these NPs presumably allowing them to be absorbed in the intestine intact. Our results demonstrate that such a system indeed improves the relative oral bioavailability of exenatide to a level of about 77% compared to subcutaneous injection due to the presence of dextran in the coating wall of the NPs which apparently promotes the lymphatic uptake in the enterocytes. This technology may be a milestone on the way to deliver other peptides and proteins orally.

The liver is the systemic hub of lipid metabolism. The excessive accumulation of lipids in hepatocytes, steatosis, is a major clinical concern, whose progressive forms lead to end-stage liver disease. Currently, animal studies are the gold standard in toxicological risk assessment. Fueled by an integration of modernomics technologies, in silico models and in vitro system optimization, a new paradigm in the basis for toxicological risk assessment is emerging away from the use of animals. In recent years, in vitro assays have been developed for the early screening of the steatogenic potential of compounds. The present chapter describes an assay for the intracellular detection of lipids, a high-content screen for the distinction between steatosis and phospholipidosis, a multiparametric high-content screen for steatogenic potential and a liver X receptor reporter cell line. © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015.

The influence of Palestinian physicians’ patriarchal ideology (PAI) and exposure to family violence (EFV) on their beliefs about wife beating was examined. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 396 physicians. The results revealed that notable percentages of the physicians expressed some level of willingness to justify wife beating, tendency to believe that battered women benefit from beating, and that battered women are to blame for their beating. Nevertheless, between 27 and 59 % of the physicians expressed some willingness to help battered women. The results also revealed that significant amounts of the variance in physicians’ beliefs about wife beating can be attributed to their PAI and to their EFV during childhood and adolescence.The implications of the results for future research, theory development, and training of physicians are discussed.