Geschichte und Politik.: Makedonien im Kalkül des russischen Historikers und Dumaabgeordneten Pavel N. Miljukov

Four out of the seven chapters of the Carnegie Report on the Balkan Wars were written by Pavel N. Miliukov, a Russian historian and deputy of the Russian parliament. During his long travels in the Balkans between the end of the 19th century and the First World War, Miliukov had fulfilled duties of a researcher, a journalist and a politician. Having lectured at the University of Sofia, he left Bulgaria to take part in archaeological expeditions in Macedonia. In liberal Russian newspapers, he later wrote regularly about the current political situations in South-Eastern Europe. As a historian, Miliukov backed up Bulgaria in the struggle over the Macedonian question by relying on ethnological reasons. As a journalist, he initially preferred the establishment of a Balkan union that included the Ottoman Empire and then advocated the formation of a Balkan federation against the Young Turks. As a politician, he defended the national interests of Russia at the Bosporus and Dardanelles, which also went hand in hand with a Bulgarian predominance in the Balkans. Contrary to Miliukov’s articles in newspapers or his speeches in the parliament, his contributions to the Carnegie Report miss analytical insights. Miliukov defended the Bulgarian position in the Balkans by condemning the Treaty of Bucharest, which was signed in the aftermath of the Second Balkan War, and regarding it as a source of new conflicts.&nbsp

Sozialistische Stadt“ versus „europäische Stadt“ –: Urbanisierung und Ruralisierung im östlichen Europa

The „Socialist city“ versus the „European city“ – urbanization and ruralization in Eastern Europe In most parts of Eastern Europe the transition from agrarian to industrial societies took place only after World War II. The process of urbanization was influenced by the socialist planning economy. Under this condition, the concept of the “socialist city” found its realization in the modern reconstruction of old historical towns and the foundation of new industrial towns. Today the image of Eastern European capitals consists of monumental centers and monotonous neighborhoods. The development, however, leading to this dichotomy was the result of a lot of contradictions. On the one side, there was a lack of civil society already before the communist seize of power. On the other side, the exodus from the countryside during the period of socialist industrialization lead to a ruralization of already existing cities. At the end the “socialist city” was able to supply its inhabitants with a minimum of dwelling. But it still required the renunciation of urbanity and autonomy

Evaluierung verschiedener Sorten und Zuchtlinien von Sommererbsen und Ackerbohnen in Reinsaat und im Gemenge unter biologischen Anbaubedingungen in Luxemburg

Due to the decreased demand for grain legumes, breeding and research efforts in this area have declined in Europe. In an effort to counteract this development, the European project COBRA was launched. COBRA aimed to support and develop organic plant breeding and seed production with a focus on increasing the use and potential of plant material with High genetic Diversity (Hi-D) in cereals (wheat and barley) and grain legumes (pea and faba bean) through coordinating, linking and expanding existing breeding and research. The aim of the trial at hand was to pre-test new varieties and breeding genotypes of faba bean and pea in pure stand and in mixture with cereals under organic growing conditions in Luxembourg

Fractional magnesium absorption is significantly lower in human subjects from a meal served with an oxalate-rich vegetable, spinach, as compared with a meal served with kale, a vegetable with a low oxalate content

The aim of the present study was to evaluate Mg absorption from a test meal served with an oxalate-rich vegetable, spinach, as compared with a test meal served with a vegetable with a low oxalate content, kale. Mg absorption was measured by a stable-isotope technique based on extrinsic labelling of the test meals and faecal monitoring of the excreted isotope labels. Nine healthy adults participated in the study. The test meals were based on 100g phytate-free white bread, served with 300g spinach (6·6mmol oxalate; 0·7mmol 25Mg label added, 5·0mmol total Mg) or 300g kale (0·1mmol oxalate; 1·2mmol 26Mg label added, 4·8mmol total Mg). The test meals were served on days 1 and 3, at breakfast and lunch, using a cross-over design. The results from the present study demonstrated that apparent Mg absorption was significantly lower from the meal served with spinach (26·7 (sd 10·4) %) than the meal served with kale (36·5 (sd 11·8) %) (P=0·01). However, the lower fractional apparent Mg absorption from the test meal served with spinach can be assumed to be, at least partly, counterbalanced by the higher native Mg content of spinach as compared with kale. Although based on indirect evidence, i.e. not based on an evaluation of added (or removed) oxalic acid, the difference in Mg absorption observed in the present study is attributed to the difference in oxalic acid content between the two vegetable

Anbauwürdigkeit und Vorfruchtwert verschiedener Körnerleguminosen-Anbausysteme im Praxisversuch in Luxemburg

Due to the protein deficit in Europe and the many negative impacts related to soy imports from overseas, it is important to increase the cultivation of grain legumes for regional fodder production. Therefore, as part of the COBRA project, two on-farm trial of different grain legume cropping systems were set up at two Luxembourgish organic farms, with the aim to demonstrate the practicality of growing grain legumes and to study their fodder and pre-crop value, as well as their suitability for cultivation under organic growing conditions in Luxembourg. Overall, all the tested grain legumes, with the exception of winter faba bean in Colmar-Berg, showed good suitability for regional high-protein fodder production. Both lupin species showed a good previous crop value at both locations, as well as good suitability for cultivation. However, due to the high anthracnose susceptibility of white lupin, this crop cannot be recommended for cultivation on a larger scale