23,531 research outputs found
Moldova's European Choice: ‘Between Two Stools’?
Get PDFThe article examines EU–Moldovan relations from the perspective of the external governance framework. It reveals some considerable progress in the procedural engagement of both parties. However, the internal instability experienced by Moldova in 2009 is seen to have disrupted these relations, stalling further negotiations and even questioning Moldova's true commitment to Europe. To understand this ostensibly sudden change in Moldova's allegiance to Europe, it is argued that analysis needs to go beyond conventional governance framework(s). Premised on the notion of ‘constitutive boundaries’ a ‘partnership’ perspective offers a more nuanced understanding of the boundaries of ‘the other’, thus revealing the salience of geopolitics and culture in Moldova's relations with the outside world
Iodine and Selenium Biofortification of Chervil Plants Treated with Silicon Nanoparticles
No full textProduction of functional food with high levels of selenium (Se) and iodine (I) obtained via plant biofortification shows significant difficulties due to the complex interaction between the two elements. Taking into account the known beneficial effect of silicon (Si) on plant growth and development, single and joint foliar biofortification of chervil plants with potassium iodide (150 mg L−1) and sodium selenate (10 mg L−1) was carried out in a pot experiment with and without Si nanoparticles foliar supplementation. Compared to control plants, nano-Si (14 mg L−1) increased shoot biomass in all treatments: by 4.8 times with Si; by 2.8 times with I + Si; by 5.6 times with Se + Si; by 4.0 times with I + Se + Si. The correspondent increases in root biomass were 4.5, 8.7, 13.3 and 10.0 times, respectively. The growth stimulation effect of Se, I and I + Se treatments resulted in a 2.7, 3.5 and 3.6 times increase for chervil shoots and 1.6, 3.1 and 8.6 times for roots, respectively. Nano-Si improved I biofortification levels by twice, while I and Se enhanced the plant content of each other. All treatments decreased nitrate levels, compared to control, and increased the photopigment accumulation. Improvement of total antioxidant activity and phenolic content was recorded only under the joint application of Se + I + Si. Foliar nano-Si treatment affected other element content in plants: decreased Na+ accumulation in single and joint supplementation with Se and I, restored Fe, Mn and Cr amount compared to the decreased levels recorded in separately Se and I fortified plants and promoted Al accumulation both with or without Se and I biofortification. The results of this research suggest high prospects of foliar nano-Si supply for enhancing both growth and joint I/Se biofortification of chervil
Joint biofortification of plants with selenium and iodine: New field of discoveries
No full textThe essentiality of selenium (Se) and iodine (I) to human beings and the widespread areas
of selenium and iodine deficiency determine the high significance of functional food production with
high levels of these elements. In this respect, joint biofortification of agricultural crops with Se and
I is especially attractive. Nevertheless, in practice this topic has raised many problems connected
with the possible utilization of many Se and I chemical forms, different doses and biofortification
methods, and the existence of wide species and varietal differences. The limited reports relevant
to this subject and the multiplicity of unsolved questions urge the need for an adequate evaluation
of the results obtained up-to-date, useful for developing further future investigations. The present
review discusses the outcome of joint plant Se–I biofortification, as well as factors affecting Se and
I accumulation in plants, paying special attention to unsolved issues. A particular focus has been
given to the prospects of herb sprouts production enriched with Se and I, as well as the interactions
between the latter microelements and arbuscular-mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)
Nutritional Value of Apiaceae Seeds as Affected by 11 Species and 43 Cultivars
No full textThe fragmentary literature data on Apiaceae seed antioxidant potential elicited a comparative
evaluation work of seed biochemical profile between 11 species and 43 cultivars grown in similar
conditions: anise, lovage, fennel, coriander, caraway, parsley, celery, dill, carrot, parsnip and chervil.
Among the different solvents, temperature and duration regimes applied, 70% EtOH, 80 C and
1 h running showed the best extraction efficiency of antioxidants. Total antioxidant activity (AOA)
decreased as follows: lovage > anise > parsley > celery > fennel = dill > coriander > caraway > parsnip
> carrot > chervil. Lovage, anise and fennel demonstrated the highest levels of total phenolics (TP),
AOA and potassium. A positive correlation was recorded between total dissolved solids (TDS) and K
and between AOA and TP content (r = 0.86 and r = 0.79 respectively, at p < 0.001). Varietal differences
in AOA and TP levels were much lower than those relevant to TDS, K and water soluble protein
(WSP), while the highest differences were found for selenium (Se). Two parsley cultivars showed
anomalously high Se content and four dill cultivars unusually high levels of TDS and potassium. A
positive correlation arose between Se and WSP levels in parsley seeds (r = 0.85 at p < 0.05)
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Transforming the old into a foundation for the new - lessons of the Moldova ARIA Project
Get PDFThis paper is a case study of what is recognized as one of the more successful projects in any country in the Europe and Central Asia region, not to mention in the poorest country of the region-Moldova. The ARIA project shows new ways to attack some of the most intractable problems of private sector development in Europe and Central Asia: how to facilitate reorganization and liquidation bankruptcies; how to promote small and medium enterprise spin-offs and new start-ups; and how to promote new learning at the enterprise level, both in the form of"Marshall Plan"programs with more advanced post-socialist countries, as well as continuous improvement programs (such as those adapted from Japanese programs). The prime mover for these programs is the quasi-public restructuring agency, ARIA, which was established as part of the Moldova Private Sector Development I loan. ARIA was structured to try to combine private sector entrepreneurship with a public function in the process of restructuring and bankruptcy. The study tries to account for the strategies and innovations that lead to results. And it tries to connect the ARIA strategy to past development literature by viewing the study through Albert Hirschman's work on social learning and change.Enterprise Development&Reform,Public Health Promotion,Banks&Banking Reform,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Small Scale Enterprise,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Banks&Banking Reform,Small Scale Enterprise,Microfinance,Private Participation in Infrastructure
H-tailored surface conductivity in narrow band gap In(AsN)
Get PDFWe show that the n-type conductivity of the narrow band gap In(AsN) alloy can be increased within a thin (similar to 100 nm) channel below the surface by the controlled incorporation of H-atoms. This channel has a large electron sheet density of similar to 10(18) m(-2) and a high electron mobility (mu > 0.1 m(2)V(-1)s(-1) at low and room temperature). For a fixed dose of impinging H-atoms, its width decreases with the increase in concentration of N-atoms that act as H-traps thus forming N-H donor complexes near the surface. (C) 2015 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
The construction of Karen Karnak: The multi-author-function
No full textThis thesis is situated within the comparatively recent developments of Web 2.0 and the emergence of interactive WikiMedia, and explores the mode of authorship within a Read/Write culture compared to that of a Read/Only tradition. The hypothesis of this study is that the role of the audience has become merged with the author, and as such, represents new functions and attributes, distinct from a more conventional concept of authorship, in which the roles of audience and author are more separate. Read/Write and participatory culture, as defined by this study, is focused on collaboration, and includes the influences of D.I.Y. culture, Open-Source practices and the production of text by multiple authors. Multi-authorship presents a re-thinking of several concepts which support the notion of the individual author, since the focus of multi-authorship is not on attribution and ownership of a finished text, but on the continued malleability of a text. Modes of multi-authorship, demonstrated in the use of the pseudonyms Alan Smithee and Karen Eliot, represent declarative authors whose names signify multiple origins, whilst concurrently indicating a distinct body of work. The function of these names form an important context to this study, since primary research involves the construction of an experimental mode of multi-authorship utilising WikiMedia technology and the interaction of thirty nine participants, who are invited to create a body of work under the collective pseudonym Karen Karnak. The data generated by this experiment is analysed using aspects of Michel Foucault's author-function to identify and determine power structures inherent in the WikiMedia context. The interplay of power structures, including concepts such as identity, ownership and the body of work, affect the resulting mode of authorship and contribute to the construction of Karen Karnak, suggesting further areas of research into the emerging multi-author
A 2 h periodic variation in the low-mass X-ray binary Ser X-1
No full textSpectroscopy of the low-mass X-ray binary Ser X-1 using the Gran Telescopio Canarias have revealed a ?2 h periodic variability that is present in the three strongest emission lines. We tentatively interpret this variability as due to orbital motion, making it the first indication of the orbital period of Ser X-1. Together with the fact that the emission lines are remarkably narrow, but still resolved, we show that a main-sequence K dwarf together with a canonical 1.4 M? neutron star gives a good description of the system. In this scenario, the most likely place for the emission lines to arise is the accretion disc, instead of a localized region in the binary (such as the irradiated surface or the stream-impact point), and their narrowness is due instead to the low inclination (?10°) of Ser X-1
C*-algebras have a quantitative version of Pełczyński's property (V)
Get PDFsummary:A Banach space has Pełczyński's property (V) if for every Banach space every unconditionally converging operator is weakly compact. H. Pfitzner proved that -algebras have Pełczyński's property (V). In the preprint (Krulišová, (2015)) the author explores possible quantifications of the property (V) and shows that spaces for a compact Hausdorff space enjoy a quantitative version of the property (V). In this paper we generalize this result by quantifying Pfitzner's theorem. Moreover, we prove that in dual Banach spaces a quantitative version of the property (V) implies a quantitative version of the Grothendieck property
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