In Pursuit of Food Security: Who Should Provide Aid Where and How

Despite persistently high levels of food insecurity in the world and large annual flows of aid from the global North to the global South in support of economic and social development, very little research to date has analysed the link between the two phenomena. This PhD thesis contributes to filling this gap in literature by examining whether development aid has any effect on food security and whether this effect varies with the type of aid provided and with the quality of governance among recipients. It set out to answer these questions using mixed methods in four different levels of analysis: a quantitative study of all low- and middle-income countries; a qualitative country case study of Peru, Ethiopia, India, and Vietnam; a quantitative analysis of household data from the same four countries; and a mixed-methods examination of data collected during field research in northern India. In all four levels of analysis, aid appeared to have a small but significant positive impact on food security, enhanced by the presence of good national as well as local governance. Moreover, some types of aid were found to be more directly supportive of food security than others – as was the case for example with aid to social sectors as opposed to aid to economic sectors or with aid implemented by non-governmental as compared to aid implemented by governmental agencies. Other types of aid, including concessional loans and budget support, seemed to have a positive effect on food security only in countries with a higher quality of governance. I conclude by formulating several relevant policy recommendations, with the most important one being that donors should take greater care in considering which types of aid are suitable to which specific countries, localities, and development goals

Surface structure of commercially pure VT1-0 titanium irradiated by an intense pulsed electron beam

It is shown that pulsed electron beam irradiation of commercially pure titanium at a beam energy density of 10 J/cm{2}, pulse duration of 150 [mu]s, number of pulses of N=5 pulses, and pulse repetition frequency of 0.3 Hz with attendant polymorphic [alpha]->[beta]->[ alpha] transformations allows a more than five-fold decrease in the grain and subgrain sizes of the material structure

Combined surface modification of commercial aluminum

The paper analyzes research data on the structure and properties of surface layers of commercially pure A7-grade aluminum subjected to treatment that combines deposition of a thin metal film, intense pulsed electron beam irradiation, and nitriding in low-pressure arc plasma. The analysis shows that the combined method of surface modification provides the formation of a multilayer structure with submicro- and nano-sized phases in the material through a depth of up to 40 ?m, allowing a manifold increase in its surface microhardness and wear resistance (up to 4 and 9 times, respectively) compared to the material core. The main factors responsible for the high surface strength are the saturation of the aluminum lattice with nitrogen atoms and the formation of nano-sized particles of aluminum nitride and iron aluminides

Structure and properties of commercially pure titanium nitrided in the plasma of a low-pressure gas discharge produced by a PINK plasma generator

The paper analyzes the surface structure and properties of commercially pure VT1-0 titanium nitrided in the plasma of a low-pressure gas discharge produced by a PINK plasma generator. The analysis demonstrates that the friction coefficient of the nitrided material decreases more than four times and its wear resistance and microhardness increases more than eight and three times, respectively. The physical mechanisms responsible for the enhancement of strength and tribological properties of the material are discussed

Modification of the surface layer of the system coating (TiCuN)/substrate (A7) by an intensive electron beam

In order to study the conditions of modification of the surface layer of the system coating (TiCuN)/substrate (A7) an analysis of processes occurring in the surface layer of the system wear-resistant coating/substrate irradiated by an intensive pulsed electron beam at a submillisecond exposure time has been carried out on the example of aluminum and titanium nitride. Irradiation has been carried out under conditions ensuring melting and crystallization of the surface layer of the material by a nonequilibrium phase diagram. It has been experimentally established that irradiation of the system coating (TiCuN)/substrate (A7) by an intensive electron beam is accompanied by changes in the phase composition of the material. It is evident that nanostructuring of the aluminum layer adjacent to the coating, and formation in it of nitride phase particles will contribute to hardening of the surface layer of the material, creating a transition sublayer between a solid coating and a relatively soft volume. The carried out analysis shows that binary nitrides based on TiN1-x are most likely to form under nonequilibrium conditions, since the homogeneity range of this compound is rather large. On the other hand, formation of the ternary compound Ti3CuN, which can be formed after an arc plasma-assisted deposition of titanium nitride of the composition TiCuN and by the subsequent intensive pulsed electron beam exposure, cannot be excluded

Real-Life Use of Ceftolozane/Tazobactam for the Treatment of Bloodstream Infection Due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Neutropenic Hematologic Patients: a Matched Control Study (ZENITH Study)

We sought to assess the characteristics and outcomes of neutropenic hematologic patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) bloodstream infection (BSI) treated with ceftolozane-tazobactam (C/T). We conducted a multicenter, international, matched-cohort study of PA BSI episodes in neutropenic hematologic patients who received C/T. Controls were patients with PA BSI treated with other antibiotics. Risk factors for overall 7-day and 30-day case fatality rates were analyzed. We compared 44 cases with 88 controls. Overall, 91% of episodes were caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains. An endogenous source was the most frequent BSI origin (35.6%), followed by pneumonia (25.8%). There were no significant differences in patient characteristics between groups. C/T was given empirically in 11 patients and as definitive therapy in 41 patients. Treatment with C/T was associated with less need for mechanical ventilation (13.6% versus 33.3%; P = 0.021) and reduced 7-day (6.8% versus 34.1%; P = 0.001) and 30-day (22.7% versus 48.9%; P = 0.005) mortality. In the multivariate analysis, pneumonia, profound neutropenia, and persistent BSI were independent risk factors for 30-day mortality, whereas lower mortality was found among patients treated with C/T (adjusted OR [aOR] of 0.19; confidence interval [CI] 95% of 0.07 to 0.55; P = 0.002). Therapy with C/T was associated with less need for mechanical ventilation and reduced 7-day and 30-day case fatality rates compared to alternative agents in neutropenic hematologic patients with PA BSI. IMPORTANCE Ceftolozane-tazobactam (C/T) has been shown to be a safe and effective alternative for the treatment of difficult to treat infections due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) in the general nonimmunocompromised population. However, the experience of this agent in immunosuppressed neutropenic patients is very limited. Our study is unique because it is focused on extremely immunosuppressed hematological patients with neutropenia and bloodstream infection (BSI) due to PA (mainly multidrug resistant [MDR]), a scenario which is often associated with very high mortality rates. In our study, we found that the use of C/T for the treatment of MDR PA BSI in hematological neutropenic patients was significantly associated with improved outcomes, and, in addition, it was found to be an independent risk factor associated with increased survival. To date, this is the largest series involving neutropenic hematologic patients with PA BSI treated with C/T

Use of «Russian Regional Associative Dictionary» In Development of Intercultural and Communicative Competence of Students in Slovak University

The purpose of the article is to describe the results of an associative experiment in which students of the Slovak university are involved. The stimuli are extracted from the “Russian Regional Associative Dictionary (European part of Russia) dictionary”. The research results contribute to the formation of a multilingual personality, its intercultural and communicative competence. Associagrams, as well as the results of associative experiments, refer to special opportunities that are used in multicultural education of foreign students. The article takes into account the theory by Yu. N. Karaulov about the structure of the linguistic personality which consists of three levels: 1) verbal-semantic; 2) cognitive; 3) pragmatic. The research is aimed at identifying the first level of the linguistic personality of a student at the Slovak university. The research provides a comparative analysis of the received reactions of students of the Slovak university with Slovak and Ukrainian as their native language and associates of Russian speakers, extracted from EVRAS.Целью статьи является описание результатов ассоциативного эксперимента, в котором задействованы студенты словацкого вуза. Слова стимулы были извлечены из «Русского регионального ассоциативного словаря (Европейская часть России) словаря». Результаты исследования содействуют формированию полилингвальной личности, её интеркультурно- коммуникативной компетенции. Ассоциаграммы, также, как и результаты ассоциативных экспериментов, относятся к специальным возможностям, которые применяются в поликультурном обучении иностранных студентов. В статье учитывается теория Ю. Н. Караулова о структуре языковой личности, состоящая из трех уровней: 1) вербально- семантического; 2) когнитивного; 3) прагматического. Исследование направлено на выявление первого уровня языковой личности студента словацкого вуза. В исследовании предусмотрен сравнительный анализ полученных реакций студентов словацкого вуза с родным языком словацким, родным языком украинскими и ассоциатами носителей русского языка, извлеченные из ЕВРАСа

CORROSION AND OXIDATION BEHAVIOR OF POLYMER DERIVED CERAMIC COATINGS WITH PASSIVE GLASS FILLERS ON AISI441 STAINLESS STEEL

Polymer derived ceramic (PDC) polysilazane-based double layer composite coatings on steel substrates consisting of a PDC bond-coat, and a PDC-based top-coat containing ceramic passive (ZrO₂) and active (ZrSi₂) fillers, as well as a specially tailored passive glass filler with high melting temperature were developed. The corrosion and oxidation behaviour of the ferritic stainless steel AISI 441 with and without the PDC coating system was evaluated. SEM examination revealed the composite coatings were not dense but contained small closed pores with a diameter up to 100 nm. Cracks and occasionally also delamination were detected. The static corrosion tests under hydrothermal conditions at the temperature of 200 °C resulted in partial oxidation of the uncoated steel substrate, whereas the coated sample was protected by the PDC coating. No oxidation of the top coat was detected after the static corrosion test. The high temperature oxidation behaviour in a flow-through oxygen atmosphere was investigated at the temperatures of 900 °C, 1000 °C and 1100 °C. X-ray diffraction confirmed extensive corrosion of the uncoated AISI441 stainless steel accompanied by formation of a Cr₂O₃, TiO₂ and a (Mn, Cr)₃O₄ spinel containing layer of corrosion products. Beneficial effect of the PDC coating was observed at the temperature of 900 °C, demonstrated by marked reduction of the weight gain of coated steel after 196 h of exposure to flowing oxygen. At higher temperatures the protective action of the PDC coat was not observed, and a thick layer of corrosion products was formed at the steel/coating interface