Customs’ control on genetically modified food products across the border of the Eurasian Economic Union

Purpose: The purpose of the article is to determine the role of customs' control and directions of its improvement in the movement of genetically modified foods across the customs' border of the Eurasian Economic Union. In carrying out the study, the authors rely on the methods of theoretical modeling and interpretation of legal concepts and normative legal acts, which allowed to identify theoretical and applied problems of customs control in the conditions of Eurasian integration. Design/Methodology/Approach: The authors define the concepts of genetically modified foods and their turnover, highlight the problems of customs control over the movement of genetically modified foods across the customs border of the Eurasian Economic Union, and propose ways to improve it. Findings: The authors define the concepts of genetically modified foods and their turnover, highlight the problems of customs control over the movement of genetically modified foods across the customs border of the Eurasian Economic Union, and propose ways to improve it. Practical Implications: The results may be implicated into a legal framework of Russian Federation and improve customs' regulation both in Russia and abroad. Originality/Value: The main contribution of this article is the comprehensive analysis of legal and institutional background of genetically modified foods and their cross-border movement in EAEU countries as well as the measures of improving their customs' control.peer-reviewe

The transmission of pottery technology among prehistoric European hunter-gatherers

Human history has been shaped by global dispersals of technologies, although understanding of what enabled these processes is limited. Here, we explore the behavioural mechanisms that led to the emergence of pottery among hunter-gatherer communities in Europe during the mid-Holocene. Through radiocarbon dating, we propose this dispersal occurred at a far faster rate than previously thought. Chemical characterization of organic residues shows that European hunter-gatherer pottery had a function structured around regional culinary practices rather than environmental factors. Analysis of the forms, decoration and technological choices suggests that knowledge of pottery spread through a process of cultural transmission. We demonstrate a correlation between the physical properties of pots and how they were used, reflecting social traditions inherited by successive generations of hunter-gatherers. Taken together the evidence supports kinship-driven, super-regional communication networks that existed long before other major innovations such as agriculture, writing, urbanism or metallurgy

Morphological, technological and biopharmaceutical studies of alginate-chitosan microcapsules with vinpocetine

The aim of the investigation is to study morphological, technological and biopharmaceutical properties of alginate-chitosan microcapsules with Vinpocetine.Materials and Methods: Alginate-chitosan microcapsules with different concentrations of sodium alginate (0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, 2.5% and 3%) and a medium viscosity chitosan solution (0.25-0,5%), as well as microcapsules not treated with a solution of chitosan, were obtained. The surface morphology was studied by methods of atomic-powered microscopy with the use of an NT-MDT Corporation probe scanning microscope (model Solver P47 Pro). To study biopharmaceutical properties of the obtained microcapsules, the "Rotating Basket" apparatus was used.Results: It has been found out that the microcapsules not treated with a chitosan solution, have a smooth, transversely striated surface with large heights and deep cavities. With an increase in the concentration of sodium alginate, the surface becomes smoother, the peaks become larger, higher and wider, the cavities get deeper and more sinuous. The microcapsules treated with a chitosan solution, on the contrary, have a rough surface, low heights and shallow cavities, and with an increase in the concentration of sodium alginate, the surface becomes rougher, the heights are evenly distributed along the microcapsule. The spectrophotometry method was used to determine the efficiency of microencapsulation and the release rate of Vinpocetine from the microcapsules per unit time. When the concentration of a sodium alginate solution is 2.5%, the efficiency of microencapsulation is maximum (86.8%). At this concentration, saturation occurs and with its further increase, the efficiency decreases. The maximum release rate of Vinpocetine from microcapsule samples is observed when the concentration of a sodium alginate solution is 1%: it amounts to 41.17%.Conclusion. The amplitude parameters of the microcapsules surface are different at different concentrations. There is a pattern of alternating signs of asymmetry and excess in the samples with chitosan. With a change in the scale of scanning, the surface characteristics of the microcapsules change. The most distinctive details of the structure are visible at the scale of 2 x 2 pm2. At the concentration of sodium alginate of 2.5%, the efficiency of microencapsulation is maximum (86.8%). Studying the effect of the concentration of a sodium alginate solution on the release rate of Vinpocetine from the microcapsule samples has shown that at the concentration of 1%, the release rate is 41.17%, and at the concentration of 2.5% it is 4.5%. These microcapsules can be used in order to produce capsules with modified release

Investigation of the Cathode Plane Radiation Damage in the Prototypes of Multiwire Proportional Chamber from the CMS Experiment

The new results of cathode surface degradation in muon proportional chambers of CMS after a long-term irradiation with a $^{90}$Sr β-source are presented. The data of the complex analysis of the copper foil samples from the cathode are shown. The AFM method revealed the general radiation damage of the copper surface and the dynamics of its change. It is clearly demonstrated that the revealed development of the radiation erosion on the cathode is a result of electron irradiation. Moreover, the nature of erosion and level of the destruction of copper are associated with irradiation intensity. The study of the elemental and phase composition together with the data of structural analysis allowed us to single out the stages of the radiation aging of the copper surface on the cathodes and consider the processes which are at the basis of them

Ethnic Aspects of Valproic Acid P-Oxidation

The safety of the use of psychotropic drugs, widely used in neurological and psychiatric practice, is an urgent problem in personalized medicine. This narrative review demonstrated the variability in allelic frequencies of low-functioning and non-functional single nucleotide variants in genes encoding key isoenzymes of valproic acid P-oxidation in the liver across different ethnic/racial groups. The sensitivity and specificity of pharmacogenetic testing panels for predicting the rate of metabolism of valproic acid by P-oxidation can be increased by prioritizing the inclusion of the most common risk allele characteristic of a particular population (country)

Luminescence Efficiency of Cerium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Ceramics Formed by Radiation Assisted Synthesis

The variety of applications of yttrium-aluminum garnet (YAG)-based luminescent materials and the morphology necessary for these purposes required the development of many technologies for their synthesis. All synthesis technologies used are complex. The structural phase of yttrium-aluminum garnet is formed with any technology, at temperatures exceeding 1,500 °C. The starting materials for the synthesis are metal oxides of aluminum, yttrium and other oxides for activation and modification. It seems possible to use hard radiation to form a new phase. Radiation synthesis of ceramics is realized in less than 1 s, without the use of any additives and influences. The synthesis was carried out at the electron accelerator of the Institute of Nuclear Physics (Novosibirsk). In this work, we studied the spectral-kinetic and quantitative characteristics of luminescence for the first time obtained by the method of radiation synthesis of ceramic samples of yttrium-aluminum garnet doped with cerium with statistical processing of their values. The dependences of the reproducibility of the spectral characteristics of the luminescence of the samples on the preliminary preparation of the charge for synthesis have been investigated. Several cycles of luminophore brightness studies have been performed. It is shown that the obtained ceramics based on yttrium-aluminum garnet doped with cerium possesses the required spectral-kinetic properties, and the efficiency of conversion of the chip radiation into luminescence is achieved, which is comparable to that available in commercial phosphors. The maximum measured values of the position of the bands are from 553.5 to 559.6 nm. Brightness values range from 4,720 to 1,960 cd/m2. It was found that the main reason for the scatter in the characteristics of the luminescent properties of ceramics of yttrium-aluminum garnet, activated by cerium obtained by radiation assisted synthesis is the high rate of synthesis and, especially, the high rate of cooling of the samples