Impact of Social and Security Factors on the Intensity of Integration of Immigrants to the EU

The subject of the paper seeks to investigate the influence of social factors on the intensity of immigration of immigrants to the EU. Among the social factors that significantly influence immigration policies in the European Union, the authors singled out the following: demography, identity-culture, economy, socio-political and security factors. The main goal is to see how these social factors affect the intensity of immigration. The authors opt for MIPEX as an instrument for measuring immigration policy, which expresses political tendencies towards the integration of migrants. Based on the findings from the regression analysis, which determined the regression factor of the participation of indicators in correlation with MIPEX, the authors concluded that all indicators have a positive correlation, which indicates that the indicators were chosen correctly. In addition, the degree of regression factor is higher than 5%, which indicates a significant correlation.

Assessing relationship of degradation of coastal zones and phytoplankton species structure of Lake Uvildy and Lake Turgoyak (South Ural, Russia)

The current paper aims at analyzing the species structure of the phytoplankton community of two reservoirs on the territory of South Ural. The given water bodies are of different trophicity, namely, oligotrophic Lake Turgoyak and oligomesotrophic Lake Uvildy. Both lakes, being natural monuments, are subject to intensive recreational use. A large flow of tourists is a serious problem for the ecological state of the water bodies coastal areas. Also, tourist activities can affect the state of aquatic biocenoses. In this work, the degree of recreational degression of the selected study sites was assessed. The analysis was carried out according to the state of landscapes, vegetation and trampledness of the surveyed area. Based upon the research the current paper reveals spatial patterns in the distribution of recreational load on the coastal geosystems and the level of anthropogenic transformation of the territory. Mainly due to the high density of recreational centres and camping areas, the coastal area is characterized by a high degree of regression. Some signs allow forecasting changes in the species composition of phytoplankton communities and the trophic status of the lakes depending on the degradation of the coastal zones. Diatoms (Bacillariophyta) have been dominant in plankton phytocoenosis of Turgoyak and Uvildy. At the same time, in the oligomesotrophic lake (Uvildy), the number of diatom species is significantly reduced in areas with a higher degree of regression. Thus, diatoms are sensitive indicators of anthropogenic impact on aquatic ecosystems. Green and blue-green algae biodiversity has grown in the water body. However, no relationship was found between their species diversity and the level regression. But the following tendency is observed for the oligotrophic Lake Turgoyak. The species diversity of green algae grows with an increase in the degression degree. To forecast the further state of the studied water bodies, the revealed patterns in the change of the phytoplankton species structure depending on the degradation level of the coastal territories can be used as eutrophication signs.

Abstract TP117: Endothelial Progenitor Cells in Acute Stage of Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Stroke

Introduction: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) play an important role in the regeneration of the nervous tissue, blood-brain barrier stabilization and in neovascularization of blood vessels damaged by stroke. The aim of the study was to assess the level of EPC in patients with acute cerebral stroke due to cerebral microangiopathy and the potential dependence with the clinical condition, radiological image and prognosis, both in the ischemic and the haemorrhagic stroke. Methods: 66 patients with lacunar ischemic stroke were included in the prospective study, 38 patients with the “loco typico” haemorrhagic stroke and 22 from the control group without acute/chronic cerebral circulatory disorders. The level of EPC was determined using flow cytometry and identified with the immune-phenotype CD45–, CD34+, CD133+ on the 1 st and 8 th day of stroke. Results: It has been shown a significantly higher level of EPC on the 1 st day of stroke (regardless of aetiology) compared to the control group (med. 17,75 cells/ul (0-488 cells/ul) vs 5,24 cells/ul (0-95 cells/ul); p=0.0006). The level of EPC on day 1 and 8 was correlated with the subgroup of patients with haemorrhagic stroke. A significant correlation was found between the volume of the haemorrhagic focus on the 1 st day and the level of EPC (R= -0.3378, p=0.0471) and the degree of regression of the haemorrhagic focus and the level of EPC (R=-0.3896, p=0.0367). Conclusions: The study showed that endothelial progenitor cells are an early marker of cerebral vascular damage, both in ischemic and haemorrhagic stroke. The research highlights, for the first time, the relationship between the level of EPC and the degree of regression of a haemorrhagic focus. However the prognostic value of EPC for clinical condition and prognosis of stroke patients was not found in the study.

Mechanisms of pigmentation loss in subterranean fishes

Troglobitic (exclusively subterranean) organisms usually present, among their apomorphies related to the subterranean life (troglomorphisms), the regression of eyes and melanic pigmentation. The degree of regression varies among species, from a slight reduction to the complete loss of eyes and dark pigmentation, without a taxonomic correlation. While mechanisms of eye reduction have been intensively investigated in some troglobites such as the Mexican blind tetra characins, genus Astyanax, and the European salamander, Proteus anguinus, few studies have focused on pigmentation. The Brazilian subterranean ichthyofauna distinguishes not only by the species richness (23 troglobitic fishes so far known) but also by the variation in the degree of reduction of eyes and pigmentation. This study focused on Brazilian fishes completely devoid of melanic pigmentation: the characiform Stygichthys typhlops (Characidae) and the siluriforms Ancistrus formoso (Loricariidae), Rhamdiopsis sp.1 (Heptapteridae; from caves in the Chapada Diamantina, Bahia) and Rhamdiopsis sp. 2 (cave in Campo Formoso, Bahia). In order to investigate if such depigmentation is the result of blockage in some step in the melanogenesis, in vitro tests of administration of L-DOPA were done, using caudal-fin fragments extracted from living fish. Except for Rhamdiopsis sp. 2, all the studied species were DOPA(+), i.e., melanin was synthesized after L-DOPA administration. This indicates these fish do have melanophores but they are unable to convert L-tyrosine to L-DOPA. On the other hand, Rhamdiopsis sp. 2, like the albino specimens of Trichomycterus itacarambiensis previously studied (which correspond to one third of the population), are DOPA(-), either because the block of melanin synthesis occurs downstream in melanogenesis, which is probably the case with T. itacarambiensis (monogenic system in view of the phenotypic discontinuity), or because the so-called albinos do no possess melanophores. The physiological loss in the ability to synthesize melanin, apparently caused by different genetic processes in DOPA(+) and in DOPA(-) fishes, may co-exist in subterranean populations with a decrease in the density of melanophores, as observed in the pigmented two thirds of T. itacarambiensis population, a morphological reduction apparently controlled by polygenic systems producing a continuous phenotypic variation.