Education and Training Needs in the Field of Visitors Receiving Structures and Tourism Services in the Lower Danube Region

The paper analyzes the new realities and conditions for the development of tourism in the Lower Danube region in the context of the "Danube Strategy" of the EU, the state of the Bulgarian and Romanian tourist market, and the Romania market, as well as the possibilities for development of alternative tourism along the Danube. Special attention has been paid to the problems of education and training in the field of tourist facilities and services in Bulgaria and Romania and the need for their improvement. The reasons for this are that education and training are strategic factor for sustainable development trough contribution to human capital development, within the Romania-Bulgaria Cross-Border Cooperation Program 2007-2013. In relation to this the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, Romania and D. Tsenov Academy of Economics in Svishtov, Bulgaria decided to collaborate in the field “Cooperation on human resources development – joint development of skills and knowledge”, through the development of cross-border liaisons and exchanges between the two universities. Both Bulgaria and Romania have represented and still represent important tourism destinations in Eastern Europe, promoting coastal tourism, spas, mountain resorts or heritage tourism. Comparing with the existent potential and with the other Central and East-European countries, including Bulgaria, Romania has modest economical performances in tourism industry. The last decade shows a relative decline of external demand for Romania, the main causes being the missing fund for investment in developing, modernization, and rehabilitation of specific infrastructure, the less diversification of the entertainment, the tourism services’ quality – lesser comparative with competitors. On other hand, in the same period, Bulgaria has improved the tourism services’ quality and economic performances. Training specialists in tourism is one of the ways of performance growth in this field. Although there are numerous educational institutions for tourism professionals (high school and vocational school, universities with Bachelor and Masters Degrees, post university and doctoral studies), in both countries the quality of the tourism employees is low and unable to sustain high quality services. Therefore, trans-border cooperation in tourism between Romania and Bulgaria can bring benefits both in better turning to account the touristic potential and the educational systems of the two countries.tourism and hospitality industry, economic crisis, Lower Danube strategy, education, training needs, bachelor and masters programs

Analysis of competitiveness on the market of milk and dairy products in Romania

The dairy sector is indispensable for the overall development of an economy because it provides a vital link between agriculture and industry. This helps diversify and market agricultural products; increases farmer income; creates markets for food exports, and generates more employment opportunities. The purpose of this paper will be to identify consumers' preferences for these products, the reasons for non-consumers, the wishes of consumers, the economic and financial situation of the main milk and dairy producers, the competitive dairy market as well as the information revealed by the consumer profile questionnaire sources of information and brands known to consumers. The stage of the milk and dairy market in Romania will be assessed, and then the competitiveness on the milk and dairy market in Romania will be analysed. Competitiveness requires special attention, each company has to compare products, prices, promotion and have competitive advantages constantly. In order to determine competitiveness, marketing researches on consumer preferences for milk and dairy products will be used; at the same time, the economic and financial performance of the main economic agents on this market will be analysed. The end of this study will be concretized by the comparative analysis of consumer preferences and the order of companies offered by their economic performance

Foreign Trade in Agri-food Products - Current Approaches

The paper analyzes the external trade with agro-food products from several perspectives,namely: value for all commodity groups; the share of different groups in total exports and importsrespectively; of the evolution of its total values in the period 2012-2016. For the main groups ofagri-food products: live animals, vegetable products, fats and oils, food, beverages and tobacco,national databases on Free On Board (FOB) and Cost Insurance And Freight (CIF) values will beused; the Grubel Lloyd index values will also be calculated in order to determine the equilibriumratio between the two components of the trade balance, ie the value of the export and the import

As dificuldades na efetiva??o da pol?tica de assist?ncia social no munic?pio de Bernardino Batista-Pb

A Assist?ncia Social ? uma pol?tica p?blica de direito, garantida a partir da Constitui??o Federal e enaltecida pela Lei Org?nica da Assist?ncia Social, Politica Nacional de Assist?ncia Social e Pelo Sistema ?nico de Assist?ncia Social. Salienta-se que mesmo ap?s tantas conquistas, esta passa por dificuldades na sua efetiva??o e consolida??o, destacando-se o rompimento conservador e caritativo das suas primeiras a??es. Diante desse contexto, o presente trabalho tem o objetivo de analisar as dificuldades na efetiva??o da politica de assist?ncia social no munic?pio de Bernardino Batista ? PB, al?m de tentar entender como esse fen?meno ocorre.. A relev?ncia deste estudo se alicer?a no fato de ser a primeira pesquisa realizada sobre essa tem?tica no munic?pio, sendo fruto das indaga??es vivenciadas no cotidiano do trabalho, esta pode assim contribuir para uma an?lise cr?tica da realidade.Assim, foi desenvolvida uma pesquisa cientifica de natureza explorat?ria descritiva, de car?ter quali-quantitativa, al?m de uma revis?o bibliogr?fica e documental, sendo que a coleta de dados foi realizada atrav?s de um roteiro de entrevista semi-estruturada, e o estudo detalhado dos dados processado ? luz da t?cnica de an?lise de conte?do, sistematizados e classificados por uma revis?o te?rica sem altera??o dos dados pelo entrevistador, baseando-se no m?todo cr?tico dial?tico. Destarte, a pesquisa foi realizada na Secretaria Municipal de Bernardino Batista, com os t?cnicos de n?vel superior que atuam nesse setor. Sendo assim,foi poss?vel analisar que a pol?tica de Assist?ncia Social foi implantada como pol?tica de direito a pouco tempo, est? se ampliando paulatinamente, tentando se consolidar

MTOR pathway is involved in energy homeostasis regulation as a part of the gut?brain axis

Mammalian, or mechanic, target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling is a crucial factor in the regulation of the energy balance that functions as an energy sensor in the body. The present review explores how the mTOR/S6k intracellular pathway is involved in modulating the production of different signals such as ghrelin and nesfatin-1 in the gastrointestinal tract to regulate food intake and body weight. The role of gastric mTOR signaling in different physiological processes was studied in depth through different genetic models that allow the modulation of mTOR signaling in the stomach and specifically in gastric X/A type cells. It has been described that mTOR signaling in X/A-like gastric cells has a relevant role in the regulation of glucose and lipid homeostasis due to its interaction with different organs such as liver and adipose tissue. These findings highlight possible therapeutic strategies, with the gut-brain axis being one of the most promising targets in the treatment of obesity

Snail survival as bioindicator of cadmium contaminated soils under semi-realistic field conditions

Juvenile brown garden snails (Helix aspersa Müller) were exposed to Cd-contaminated soils for 60 days under semi-realistic field conditions. The soils were contaminated with increasing concentrations of cadmium chloride (0–2900 mg kg-1 Cd2+/solution CdCl2). The snails were housed in terrariums and were fed exclusively with nettle leaves. The experiments were carried out in Timisoara on 1000 snails.The survival rates differed significantly for different Cd treatments. Only higher cadmium concentrations (> 1000 mg kg-1 Cd2+/solution CdCl2) had a significant influence on survival curves of snails exposed to Cd-contaminated soils. The maximal death rate reached 81.00±9.9% for snails exposed to soils contaminated with 2900 mg kg1 Cd /solution CdCl2. We found dose-dependent survival rates, whereas the half maximal effective concentration was 1365 mg kg-1 Cd2+/solution CdCl2. Our results suggested that longer-term studies are required for assessing the real potential of snail survival rate as bioindicator of Cd-contaminated soils in field conditions

Analysis of Tourism Development Disparities in Romania

In 1998 eight development regions were set up in Romania (North-West, North-East, South-West, South-East, South, West, Center, Bucharest and Ilfov), with a view to efficiently absorb the EU funds, in order to reduce the socio-economic development disparities. Tourism is an important sector of the world economy and also of the development regions, contributing to economic growth in less developed areas, which yet have a high tourism potential. The main aim of the present paper is the analysis of development disparities of tourism in Romania, by tracking the changes that have taken place since the moment of creation of the development regions, in the periods of pre-accession and post-accession of Romania to the EU. The research comprises a cluster analysis based on tourism supply and demand indicators in the regions and counties of Romania; the main hypothesis of the study is that the development differences of Romanian tourism have diminished after the accession, as within the regions there are counties with greater tourism activity, that may turn into engines of regional economic growth

High-level dietary cadmium exposure is associated with global DNA hypermethylation in the gastropod hepatopancreas

5-methylcytosine (5mC) is a key epigenetic mark which influences gene expression and phenotype. In vertebrates, this epigenetic mark is sensitive to Cd exposure, but there is no information linking such an event with changes in global 5mC levels in terrestrial gastropods despite their importance as excellent ecotoxicological bioindicators of metal contamination. Therefore, we first evaluated total 5mC content in DNA of the hepatopancreas of adult Cantareus aspersus with the aim to determine whether this epigenetic mark is responsive to Cd exposure. The experiment was conducted under laboratory conditions and involved a continuous exposure, multiple dose- and time-point (14, 28, and 56 days) study design. Hepatopancreas cadmium levels were measured using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry and the percentage of 5-mC in samples using an ELISA-based colorimetric assay. Snail death rates were also assessed. Our results, for the first time, reveal the presence of 5mC in C. aspersus and provide evidence for Cd-induced changes in global 5mC levels in DNA of gastropods and mollusks. Although less sensitive than tissue accumulation, DNA methylation levels responded in a dose- and time-dependent manner to dietary cadmium, with exposure dose having a much stronger effect than exposure duration. An obvious trend of increasing 5mC levels was observed starting at 28 days of exposure to the second highest dose and this trend persisted at the two highest treatments for close to one month, when the experiment was terminated after 56 days. Moreover, a strong association was identified between Cd concentrations in the hepatopancreas and DNA methylation levels in this organ. These data indicate an overall trend towards DNA hypermethylation with elevated Cd exposure. No consistent lethal effect was observed, irrespective of time point and Cd-dosage. Overall, our findings suggest that the total 5mC content in DNA of the hepatopancreas of land snails is responsive to sublethal Cd exposure and give new insights into invertebrate environmental epigenetics

As dificuldades na efetiva??o da pol?tica de assist?ncia social no munic?pio de Bernardino Batista ? PB

A Assist?ncia Social ? uma pol?tica p?blica de direito, garantida a partir da Constitui??o Federal e enaltecida pela Lei Org?nica da Assist?ncia Social, Politica Nacional de Assist?ncia Social e Pelo Sistema ?nico de Assist?ncia Social. Salienta-se que mesmo ap?s tantas conquistas, esta passa por dificuldades na sua efetiva??o e consolida??o, destacando-se o rompimento conservador e caritativo das suas primeiras a??es. Diante desse contexto, o presente trabalho tem o objetivo de analisar as dificuldades na efetiva??o da politica de assist?ncia social no munic?pio de Bernardino Batista ? PB, al?m de tentar entender como esse fen?meno ocorre. . A relev?ncia deste estudo se alicer?a no fato de ser a primeira pesquisa realizada sobre essa tem?tica no munic?pio, sendo fruto das indaga??es vivenciadas no cotidiano do trabalho, esta pode assim contribuir para uma an?lise cr?tica da realidade. Assim, foi desenvolvida uma pesquisa cientifica de natureza explorat?ria descritiva, de car?ter quali-quantitativa, al?m de uma revis?o bibliogr?fica e documental, sendo que a coleta de dados foi realizada atrav?s de um roteiro de entrevista semi-estruturada, e o estudo detalhado dos dados processado ? luz da t?cnica de an?lise de conte?do, sistematizados e classificados por uma revis?o te?rica sem altera??o dos dados pelo entrevistador, baseando-se no m?todo cr?tico dial?tico. Destarte, a pesquisa foi realizada na Secretaria Municipal de Bernardino Batista, com os t?cnicos de n?vel superior que atuam nesse setor. Sendo assim, foi poss?vel analisar que a pol?tica de Assist?ncia Social foi implantada como pol?tica de direito a pouco tempo, est? se ampliando paulatinamente, tentando se consolidar

Statistical evaluation of heavy metal content in some capsicum varieties available on the Romanian market

The aim of this study is to emphasis the heavy metals content in seven capsicum varieties of capsicum of the specie Capsicum annuum L., available on the Romanian market. From the analyzed Capsicum fruit samples, three Capsicum assortments were cultivated in Romania and the other four were imported from Italy and Turkey. The studied heavy metals (copper, zinc, manganese, iron, cobalt, lead, nickel, cadmium and chromium) have normal concentration values that are not of any risk to human health. Cadmium is not detectable in all studied samples. The heavy metal content associated with statistical analysis programs permits the identification of characteristics specific to the origin of products and the graphical chemical fingerprint of the studied capsicum species. The chemical fingerprinting of a plant demands the determination of a large number of elements (DJINGOVA ET AL., 2004). The study is revealing similar distribution pattern