FEUTURE EU 28 Country Report. Estonia

Relations between Estonia and Turkey received renewed impetus after 2004, when Estonia joined the European Union (EU) (while Turkey was in the process of securing the official candidate status) and NATO, of which Turkey has been a member since 1952. Since its accession, Estonia has played a generally constructive role at the EU level when it comes to both its institutional future and enlargement policy. Its key tenets, thereby, seem in line with the principled open-door approach advocated by the fellow Nordic countries

How Do the Others See Us? An Analysis of Public Opinion Perceptions of the EU and USA in Third Countries

The European Union and the United States are global actors involved in intense relations with third countries and the outside world, which pertain economic, political, diplomatic, and security-related aspects. The US has been facing in recent years a growing number of challenges from non-Western rising powers. The EU has for a while played a more assertive role vis-à-vis the outside world following a process of internal consolidation of its own institutions and structures and these developments seem to reflect a wider process of regionalisation of global relations. This study provides a comprehensive review of the existing surveys addressing the external perceptions of the EU and the US, thereby contributing to drawing their external image in its different shades: their role in the global economy, international security, human rights and democracy promotion. Paper produced within the framework of the IAI project Transworld

Between party-systems and identity-politics: the populist and radical right in Estonia and Latvia

The article explores party-based populist and radical right looking at the cases of Latvia’s National Alliance (NA) and of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party (EKRE). The research question is: How does the intersection between the specificities of party-systems and particularistic identity-politics either facilitate or complicate the political engagements of EKRE and NA? This piece demonstrates that whereas the Latvian party-system provides the opportunity structure for the inclusion of NA as a legitimate partner into the government coalition, Estonia’s mainstream political parties keep on excluding EKRE from the halls of power. This occurrence is highly subject to the different ways that the two-party systems have been dealing with parties suspected of pro-Kremlin leanings (Estonia: Eesti Keskerakond/Centre Party; Latvia: Saskaņa/Harmony). Meanwhile, the socio-psychological campaigns of both EKRE and NA over immigration and the refugee crisis tend to interlink these two policy-areas with the collective memories of ‘colonization’ under the Soviets and the collective anxieties of becoming ‘colonized’ again by others. This socio-psychological strategy has enabled both parties to augment their public appeal

Production, characterization and application of activated biochar from wood residues

Biochar is a carbon-rich material characterized by physicochemical properties desirable in multi-disciplinary areas of science and engineering such as waste management, soil amendment, carbon sequestration, bioenergy, and degraded sites rehabilitation. However, the porosity and surface area of such materials are often very low. For example, the surface area of white birch biochar obtained by fast pyrolysis at 450°C, does not exceed 5 m2 g-1. Recently, there is growing interest of the research and industrial communities in converting biochar into activated biochar due to: i) its low-cost availability; ii) potential economic feasibility in large-scale production; and iii) its effectiveness in several applications such as the treatment (sorption) of drinking water and wastewater, energy storage, as electrodes in batteries and supercapacitors, and as catalyst support. Please click on the file below for full content of the abstract

Effect of Forest Biomass Pretreatment on Essential Oil Yield and Properties

Essential oils (EOs) are natural and economically valuable aromatic compounds obtained from a variety of crops and trees, including forest trees, which have different therapeutic and biological activities. This project aims to assess the impact of different residual forest biomass pretreatments on the yield and the properties of EOs, including their antibacterial and antioxidant characteristics. Forest biomass from black spruce (BS, Picea mariana Mill.), balsam fir (BF, Abies balsamea), and jack pine (JP, Pinus banksiana Lamb.) was processed mechanically by (i) shredding, (ii) grinding, (iii) pelletizing, and (iv) bundling. EOs were then extracted by hydro- and steam distillation. The densification into bundles was found to improve EOs yield compared to the other residual forest biomass pretreatments. For example, the yield of bundled BF was improved by 68%, 83%, and 93% compared to shredded, ground, and granulated biomass, respectively. The highest yield was obtained when densification into bundles was combined with extraction through hydrodistillation. As for EOs' chemical composition, JP had the highest polyphenol content and consequently the greatest antioxidant activity. EOs derived from BS inhibited the growth of Grampositive Staphylococcus aureus bacteria and Gram-negative Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli bacteria. The densification of forest biomass into bundles did not affect the antioxidant capacity or the antibacterial activity of EOs, thereby preserving both properties. Thus, the pretreatment of forest biomass residue could have an impact on the volume and the transport costs and therefore improve the bioproducts market and the bioeconomy in Canada

Activated Biochar as an Effective Sorbent for Organic and Inorganic Contaminants in Water

Adsorption is acknowledged as effective for the removal of pollutants from drinking water and wastewater. Biochar, as a widely available material, holds promises for pollutant adsorption. So far, biochar has been found to be effective for multiple purposes, including carbon sequestration, nutrient storage, and water-holding capacity. However, its limited porosity restricts its use in water treatment. Activation of biochars, when performed at a high temperature (i.e., 900 °C) and in the presence of certain chemicals (H3PO4, KOH) and/or gases (CO2, steam), improves the development of porosity through the selective gasification of carbon atoms. Physicochemical activation process is appropriate for the production of highly porous materials. As well, the morphological and chemical structure of feedstock together with pyro-gasification operating conditions for the biochar production can greatly impact the porosity of the final materials. The effectiveness of activated biochar as adsorbent depends on porosity and on some functional groups connected to its structure, both of these are developed during activation. This study provides a comprehensive synthesis of the effect of several activated biochars when applied to the treatment of organic and inorganic contaminants in water. Results show that high aromaticity and porosity are essential for the sorption of organic contaminants, while the presence of oxygen-containing functional groups and optimum pH are crucial for the sorption of inorganic contaminants, especially metals. Finally, although activated biochar is a promising option for the treatment of contaminants in water, further research is required to evaluate its performance with real effluents containing contaminants of emerging concern

Performance of Physically and Chemically Activated Biochars in Copper Removal from Contaminated Mine Effluents

The increasing global demand for metals and minerals justifies the intensive study of treatment options for contaminated mine effluents. The present study evaluated the conversion of wood residues into physically and chemically activated biochars and their subsequent use in the treatment of Cu in synthetic and actual contaminated mine drainage. First, wood residues were converted into biochar by fast pyrolysis. Then, physical (using steam or CO2) or chemical (using KOH) activation was carried out in a homemade pilot-scale furnace. After activation, highly microporous (KOH materials) and micro/mesoporous activated biochars (CO2 and steam materials) were obtained. Batch adsorption testing was first conducted with synthetic effluents. Results showed that CO2-activated biochar was the most Cu effective adsorbent (99% removal) at low concentrations (5–20 mg L−1). The mechanisms of Cu2+ adsorption involved physical and chemisorption for biochars and CO2-activated biochar, while chemisorption for KOH-activated biochars was probably due to the high proportion of functional groups connected to their surface. In multi-metal acid mine drainage, metal adsorption capacities deteriorated for most of the materials, probably due to the effects of ion competition. However, KOH-activated biochar decreased Cu2+ concentrations to below the authorized monthly mean allowed by Canadian law (0.3 mg L−1) and decreased Co, Pb, and Mn concentrations up to 95%. These findings indicate that high porosity and oxygenated functional groups connected to the surface of activated biochars are important properties for the enhancement of interactions between carbon materials and metals from mine effluents, as well as for their performance improvement in mine drainage treatment

A Panel of Broad-Spectrum Antivirals in Topical Ophthalmic Medications from the Drug Repurposing Approach during and after the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Era

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) represents a global concern of public health caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Its clinical manifestations are characterized by a heterogeneous group of symptoms and pictures (ranging from asymptomatic to lethal courses). The prevalence of conjunctivitis in patients with COVID-19 is at present controversial. Although it has been reported that only 0.9% developed signs of conjunctivitis, other report indicates that up to 31.6% of hospitalized patients had conjunctivitis. Considering the widespread use of topical ophthalmic medications (e.g., eye drops) by the general population, for various reasons (e.g., artificial tears, anti-glaucoma medications, topical antibiotics, etc.), the existence of their side effects as antiviral action should be investigated in-depth because it could possibly explain the aforementioned controversial data and represent a potential antiviral treatment for SARS-CoV-2 replication/diffusion on the ocular surface. Here, we discuss and elucidate the antiviral side effect of many eye drops and ophthalmic ointments commonly used for others purposes, thus showing that these secondary effects (not to be confused with the ‘adverse effects’) might be of primary importance in a number of viral infections (e.g., those for which there is no validated treatment protocol), according to a drug repurposing approach. Some active ingredients or excipients described here have activity against other types of viruses, thus suggesting potential broad-spectrum application