Sostenibilart. Ambassadors of Sustainability

The project Sostenibilart aims to raise awareness on a crucial issue, such as the sustainability of all our activities on the planet, and together to ‘educate’ concretely, through art, sustainability in a broad sense, inspiring and promoting actions. The idea is powerful and understandable: to encourage, in the current international scene, artists of significant standing to become ‘Ambassadors of Sustainability’, contributing with their works to promote a greater and more active awareness of environmental respect, the non-dissipative use of the planetary resources, multiethnic and multigenerational sharing

Электронная коммерция: аутсорсинг в электронном бизнесе

В статье рассматривается развитие ит-аутсорсинга, который активно используется сегодня благодаря высокому темпу развития компьютерных технологий. Автор анализирует влияние аутсорсинга и ит-аутсорсинга на электронный бизнес. Особое значение уделено активному развитию ит-аутсорсинга как одному из направлений развития электронного бизнеса

Promoting quality and equity: An exploratory case study of a primary school in England exploring barriers and facilitators in implementing the Dynamic Approach to school improvement

A number of studies have been conducted to identify the impact of the Dynamic Approach to School Improvement (DASI) on student outcomes, using mainly quantitative and experimental designs. However, few studies explored the impact of DASI in schools facing challenging circumstances using qualitative methods This in turn restricts our ability to provide in-depth and detailed explanations of how, why and under which conditions DASI works in improving student outcomes in socially disadvantaged schools. This study provides an in-depth understanding of the teachers’ perspectives of the facilitators and barriers they encountered while implementing DASI in a primary school in England with a relatively high percentage of socially disadvantaged students. Data were gathered from teachers using semi-structured interviews at the beginning, during and the end of the intervention. The results of the study highlight important changes in a number of elements related with teacher, school and DASI characteristics

China : economic indicators and trade with EU

China's economy is slowing from past two-digit growth rates to a 'new normal' growth rate of 'only' 6.5% on average under the current five-year plan (2016-2020). To what extent does this slowdown affect China's public finances and other macroeconomic indicators? How has EU trade with China developed during the last decade? How important is the EU for China in terms of trade? And what about China's trade relevance for the EU? Has the huge trade imbalance in goods trade between China and the EU narrowed in recent years? How intensive is trade in services between the EU and China? What are the EU's main export items to China? How does China's export basket look like? You can find the answers to these and other questions in our EPRS publication on China produced in collaboration with the European University Institute's GlobalStat on the world's main economies. This is an updated edition of an ‘At a Glance’ note published in October 2018

Information and Communication Technologies in Engineering Education

In the emerging digital era it is difficult to train highly-skilled, competent specialists without the use of information and communication technology (ICT). The use of ICT in education increases the motivation to learn, stimulates cognitive activity and independent work, facilitates information exchange, enables interactive communication between teachers and students, and improves learning outcomes. This paper reviews the literature regarding the use of ICTs in education, explores their advantages and challenges, and surveys first-year students at the Institute of Non-Destructive Testing, National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University to determine their attitude toward ICT in foreign language learning

Psycho-emotional state during pregnancy and one year after childbirth in mothers of children with functional gastrointestinal disorders

Aim. To determine the relationship between the incidence of functional gastrointestinal disorders in children up to 1 year of age and the psycho-emotional state of their mothers during pregnancy and after childbirth. Materials and methods. A survey of 1203 mothers of children under 4 years of age was conducted using a questionnaire of functional gastrointestinal disorders according to the Rome IV criteria (2016). The questionnaire contained domains on general issues (the age of the mother at the time of the child's birth, the data of obstetric and gynecological anamnesis, the type of child's nutrition at the time of the survey), psycho-emotional state (retrospectively, the psychological component of the gestational dominant – PСGD – during pregnancy, Beck's anxiety and Beck's depression questionnaires) and questions on functional disorders in infants and young children. Results. Questionnaires of 487 mothers of children of the 1st year of life were analyzed. Only in 34.4% of cases, mothers' responses lacked anxious and depressive PCGD. In mothers with anxious PСGD, the risk of regurgitation in their children was statistically significantly 2-fold higher compared to mothers with depressive PСGD. In mothers with optimal PСGD, the rate of colic in their children was statistically significantly 2-fold lower compared to mothers with anxious and depressive PСGD. After childbirth, anxiety was noted in 17% mothers and signs of depression in 59% mothers. Significant and severe depression was diagnosed in 10% mothers; the children of these mothers had persistent regurgitation.. In the absence of depression in mothers, the probability of no regurgitation and colic in their children was statistically significantly 2-fold higher compared to the children of mothers with depression. Conclusion. The incidence of functional gastrointestinal disorders in a child up to 1 year of age is associated with maternal anxiety during pregnancy and maternal depression after childbirth

Stability of the ‘L12 stalk’ in ribosomes from mesophilic and (hyper)thermophilic Archaea and Bacteria

The ribosomal stalk complex, consisting of one molecule of L10 and four or six molecules of L12, is attached to 23S rRNA via protein L10. This complex forms the so-called ‘L12 stalk’ on the 50S ribosomal subunit. Ribosomal protein L11 binds to the same region of 23S rRNA and is located at the base of the ‘L12 stalk’. The ‘L12 stalk’ plays a key role in the interaction of the ribosome with translation factors. In this study stalk complexes from mesophilic and (hyper)thermophilic species of the archaeal genus Methanococcus and from the Archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus, as well as from the Bacteria Escherichia coli, Geobacillus stearothermophilus and Thermus thermophilus, were overproduced in E.coli and purified under non-denaturing conditions. Using filter-binding assays the affinities of the archaeal and bacterial complexes to their specific 23S rRNA target site were analyzed at different pH, ionic strength and temperature. Affinities of both archaeal and bacterial complexes for 23S rRNA vary by more than two orders of magnitude, correlating very well with the growth temperatures of the organisms. A cooperative effect of binding to 23S rRNA of protein L11 and the L10/L12(4) complex from mesophilic and thermophilic Archaea was shown to be temperature-dependent

CO2 Capture and storage in energy production

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) – a major participant in the greenhouse effect process. Carbon Dioxide is a blanket, retaining heat on our planet, which would otherwise escape. The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and heat are proportional – when the former increases, the latter does the same. For the last few decades the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased globally by approximately 60% and continues rising by 3,2% per year. To deal with the problem of climate change, countries should decrease the amount of CO2 emissions released globally by using renewable energy in housing, transportation, and energy providing. Also, new environmental solutions and technologies should be developed in order to protect the world from the rapidly increasing temperature which will cause more frequent natural disasters, raising in the sea level and can bring harm to the human health. Carbon Capture and Storage is a technology which is used to capture big emissions of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere from stationary point sources such as power plants and energy intensive industrial processes (pulp and paper, steel and oil refineries, etc.). The technology can be integrated into the combustion of fossil fuels during energy generation, where CO2 is captured and transported to the “storage bank” in order to isolate it from the atmosphere. The main goal of CCS is the “struggle” against global warming and climate change. The researches and examples of existing CCS systems show the benefits in establishing this technology as it may reduce up to 90% of Carbon Dioxide emitted into the atmosphere from the power generation and other industries. Hovewer, many limitations and barriers exist to implement and develop CCS in the world. The limitations are associated mainly with costs, lack of knowledge and government policies, as well as general public unawareness. The development of the system is too slow to capture the green market due to the high risks of leakages and human mitakes, lack of governmental supply, policies and financing. The future goals include the distribution of CCS projects all other the world and accordingly the reduction of costs of the interacting the system into the plant. The Savonia student awareness research showed great diversifications in the opinions concerning the necessity and the capability of CCS which is relevant to the current global situation. The analysis is based on the discussions and the answers to question during the Sustainability and Engineering course. The 62% out of 29 students have accepted the CCS system and consider it to be a great and innovative solution for the reduction of CO2 emissions in the nearest future. Only 28% of all students decided that the technology is too risky and has no future development

Does origin matter? : the effect of geographical and social mobility on preferences for redistribution

Defence date: 6 December 2018Examining Board: Prof. Dr. Fabrizio Bernardi, European University Institute (Supervisor); Prof. Dr. Diego Gambetta, European University Institute; Prof. Dr. Ruud Luijkx, Tilburg University; Prof. Dr. Christian Welzel, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg.This dissertation contributes to the long-standing and ongoing discussion about cultural and economic determinants of individual support for government intervention in a market economy and redistribution resources in a society to reduce inequality and poverty. The causal effects of culture and individual self-interest are still disputed. To address the gaps in the existing literature, this dissertation looks at geographic and social mobility to estimate whether changes in cultural settings and life conditions affect preferences for redistribution. Two general questions guide this dissertation. First, “Do people change their preferences for redistribution in response to changes in the cultural and social context where they live?” Second, “Do they change their preferences for redistribution if their socio-economic position changes?” Both parts of the dissertation attempt to answer each respective question. Part I investigates how cultural differences in countries of origin and countries of destination affect preferences for redistribution. Two different research designs were employed. Using data from the European Social Survey, the International Social Survey Programme and the World Values Survey, a cross-sectional analysis was used to estimate the association between average attitudes to redistribution in countries of origin and preferences of immigrants. Longitudinal data of the German Socio-Economic Panel that followed immigrants over time was used to assess the elasticity of their preferences in Germany. Both studies found that culture had an effect: both the culture of origin and the culture of destination affect immigrants’ preferences for redistribution. However, preferences are not stable. People can change them in a new cultural environment and the longer individuals live in a culture of destination, the more similar their preferences become to those of the native population. At the same time, the change in immigrants’ preferences for redistribution may be conditional on the reasons and circumstances of their migration. Part II tests four hypotheses related to socio-economic position: the rational learning theory, the prospect of upward mobility hypothesis, the self-interest hypothesis and the theory of relative utility of income. The first three theoretical models predict a higher demand for redistribution in cases in which individuals are disadvantaged in terms of their social conditions. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, I estimate how changes in employment status and income, generally considered the most important determinants of individual welfare, change individual preferences for redistribution. Because the research was longitudinal, I was able to follow individuals over time and was, therefore, able to assess the effect of a transition into unemployment and income growth on individual preferences. The study provides neither strong support for the self-interest hypothesis, nor for the rational learning theory. The transition into unemployment does not lead to an increase in preferences for redistribution. Income growth reduces individual demand for redistribution only slightly and only in the group of low- and middle-income Germans