Russia, the European Union and NATO

Russia, the European Union, and NATO still share some important common interests that need to be given greater attention. A return to strategic partnership is not conceivable without resolving the Ukraine conflict, but prudent management of the antagonism in order to keep open the prospect of a peaceful new normal is crucial. At the same time, it is important to keep in mind that the persistent volatility of the international environment could further complicate this already difficult process

Russia, the European Union and NATO

Russia, the European Union, and NATO still share some important common interests that need to be given greater attention. A return to strategic partnership is not conceivable without resolving the Ukraine confl ict, but prudent management of the antagonism in order to keep open the prospect of a peaceful new normal is crucial. At the same time, it is important to keep in mind that the persistent volatility of the international environment could further complicate this already diffi cult process

Attitudes of Chinese consumers towards retail formats

The Chinese consumer goods market is widely considered to be one of the economic hot spots of the world. China seems to be the market with the largest growth potential within the next decade. Multina - tional retail companies, for example, Wal-Mart, Metro and Carrefour have made large investments to open up this new market. However, parallel to the positive aspects of the market development, foreign retail companies entering the market encounter numerous risks and difficulties. Whereas questions concerned with logistical problems are being discussed more often, analyses focusing on the shopping behavior of Chinese consumers are rare. In this context, the following report provides information on store preferences based on a comprehensive survey of 800 citizens of Wuhan. In detail, the research focuses on decision- making problems of Chinese consumer s and determines their preferences for foreign chain stores on the one hand and for domestic supermarkets and traditional retail formats on the other hand. All in all, traditional wet markets still dominate shopping behaviour. Nevertheless, modern retail outlets are ac - cepted as an alternative, although they are mainly used in addition to the daily shopping at traditional wet markets. However, this research shows that even in a more domestic market - oriented city like Wuhan, traditional shopping patterns are being abandoned and more differentiated shopping patterns are emerging.Retail and Distribution Management, Consumer Behavior, Store Preferences, Consumer/Household Economics,

The Neglected “Backyard” of Early Chinese Manuscripts: How an Analysis of the Verso of Bamboo Slips can enable the Reconstruction of a Manuscript Roll

One of the basic problems that researchers have to face, when dealing with early Chinese bamboo or wood manuscripts, is natural disintegration. In almost every case, the binding strings that once held together the slips originally constituting a manuscript do either not exist anymore or only remain as traces on individual slips. The problem of reconstruction becomes even more complex, if the manuscript in question was not scientifically excavated or even is of unknown provenance. The present article shows how an analysis of verso lines and mirror-inverted imprints of writing on a group of bamboo slips from the Yuelu Academy collection can help to reconstruct the original structure of the respective manuscript roll. The described analysis can in certain cases enable or facilitate the complete reconstruction of bamboo manu-scripts, even if external archeological evidence is lacking

Reconstructing the Kongzi shilun: From the Arrangement of the Bamboo Slips to a Tentative Translation

This study is an attempt to provide a reliably based translation of the so-called Kongzi shilun. The first step towards this aim is to reconstruct the arrangement of the bamboo slips that constitute the manuscript. All the useful evidence for this task can be divided according to material and textual criteria and will be systematically analyzed. The former include, among others, the measurements and condition of the slips as well as the “blank end phenomenon”; the latter involve the sequence of the ode categories, textual parallelism, textual and topical coherence, etc. After reconstruction of the arrangement of the slips, new editions of the manuscript are given, both diplomatic and punctuated. The readings of the characters are based on recent studies with some modifications, which are explained in this paper. Finally, an English translation of the Kongzi shilun is provided

New analytical strategies in studying drug metabolism

Identification and elucidation of the structures of metabolites play major roles in drug discovery and in the development of pharmaceutical compounds. These studies are also important in toxicology or doping control with either pharmaceuticals or illicit drugs. This review focuses on: new analytical strategies used to identify potential metabolites in biological matrices with and without radiolabeled drugs; use of software for metabolite profiling; interpretation of product spectra; profiling of reactive metabolites; development of new approaches for generation of metabolites; and detection of metabolites with increased sensitivity and simplicity. Most of the new strategies involve mass spectrometry (MS) combined with liquid chromatography (LC

Russia, the European Union and NATO

Russia, the European Union, and NATO still share some important common interests that need to be given greater attention. A return to strategic partnership is not conceivable without resolving the Ukraine confl ict, but prudent management of the antagonism in order to keep open the prospect of a peaceful new normal is crucial. At the same time, it is important to keep in mind that the persistent volatility of the international environment could further complicate this already diffi cult process

Einsatz von gekeimtem Getreide in der Geflügelfütterung

To examine whether germinated wheat contributes to the protein supply of organic chicks, pullets and hens and whether 100 % organic rations fulfil the birds’ nutrient requirements, hens of 2 hybrids were kept in 10 pens, each comprising 19 hens and 1 cockerel, from hatching to the 40th week of life. Experimental groups were fed with wheat sprouts (4 groups) or grains (4 groups) and 100 % organically produced supplementary feed. Two control groups received an all mash feed with up to 15 % of conventionally produced components. Protein supply did not improve as only changes in starch and sugar content were found in germinated wheat. The contents of vitamins (B1, B2, K, C) and linolenic acid content increased during germination. No significant differences between feeding groups or hybrid lines could be detected regarding egg yield, different measures of egg quality and plumage condition. Under the given husbandry conditions the 100 % organic rations resulted in excellent bird health and plumage condition and satisfactory performance, but also in higher feed consumption and more food wastage. Biophoton analysis showed significantly higher yolk luminescence values than for purchased eggs from conventional systems

Einsatz von gekeimtem Getreide in der Geflügelfütterung

Ab August 2005 muss die Bio-Geflügelfütterung laut EU-Bio-Verordnung (1804/1999/EG) zu 100 % mit ökologisch erzeugten Komponenten erfolgen. Für die Rationsgestaltung fallen hochwertige, konventionell erzeugte Eiweißträger weg. Es wurde geprüft, inwieweit gekeimter Weizen in 100 % Bio-Rationen zur Proteinversorgung von Küken, Jung- und Legehennen beitragen kann und ob diese Rationen bedarfsgerecht sind. In zehn Bodenhaltungs-Stallabteilen ohne Außenauslauf wurden jeweils 19 Hennen und ein Hahn zweier Herkünfte (Lohmann Tradition –LT-, ISA Brown) vom Schlupf bis zur 40. Lebenswoche (LW) bei einer Besatzdichte von 5 Tieren/qm (ab der 5. LW) gehalten. Acht Versuchsgruppen wurden kombiniert mit 100 % Bio-Ergänzer und Weizenkeimen (4 Gruppen) oder -körnern (4 Gruppen) gefüttert, zwei Kontrollgruppen mit Alleinfutter mit bis zu 15 % konventionellen Komponenten. Die 48-stündige Keimung des Weizens führte zu keinen Änderungen in den Gehalten der Rohnährstoffe, außer Stärke und Zucker, und damit auch zu keiner Verbesserung der Proteinversorgung der Tiere. Einige Vitamingehalte (B1, B2, K, C) und der Gehalt der essentiellen Linolensäure stiegen an. Es gab keine signifikanten Unterschiede zwischen den Futtergruppen (Keim-, Körner und Alleinfütterung) und Herkünften in der Legeleistung, verschiedenen Eiqualitätsparametern und im Gefiederzustand, außer einer Tendenz zu höheren Eigewichten in der Keimfütterungsgruppe und höheren Lebendgewichten der LT-Hennen in der 14. und 21. LW. Unter den gegebenen Bedingungen gewährleistete die 100 % Bio-Fütterung einen sehr guten Gesundheits- und Gefiederzustand der Tiere bei zufrieden stellenden Leistungen. Biophotonenmessungen ergaben signifikant höhere Dotter-Lumineszenz-Werte als bei zugekauften Eiern aus konventioneller Boden- und Käfighaltung. Lediglich die nochmals höheren Werte bei den Eiern der Kontrollgruppe deuteten möglicherweise darauf hin, dass die 100 % Bio-Fütterung weniger bedarfsgerecht war als die Fütterung mit Alleinfutter. Zudem bestanden beim 100 % Bio-Ergänzer ein hoher Futterverbrauch und eine höhere Futtervergeudung. Weitere Untersuchung zur Bestimmung des Nährstoffbedarfs von Jung- und Legehennen unter ökologischen Haltungsbedingungen sowie zur Entwicklung bedarfsgerechter ökologischer Futterrationen sind notwendig

Could the Peking University Laozi 老子 really be a forgery? Some skeptical remarks

In an article that was recently published in Guangming ribao 光明日報, Professor Xing Wen 邢文 of Dartmouth College argues that the Laozi 老子 from the Peking University collection of Han bamboo slips is without doubt a forgery. To prove this, Xing forwards several arguments relating to the two main areas “outer appearance/material design” (xingzhi 形制) and “calligraphy” (shufa 書法). Although the article indeed uncovers certain problems of the Peking University Laozi edition, the forwarded arguments are insufficient to support the claim for a forgery, as will be shown in the following