Romania as a European Union member in the Black Sea Region

After the Cold War, the Black Sea ‘’Region’’ became a centre of geopolitical competition for various powers such as Russia, the European Union (EU), Turkey, the United States of America (US), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). With the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to NATO and the EU in 2004 and 2007, respectively, the Black Sea Region (BSR) became a border of these two organizations. The invasion of Georgia and the annexation of Crimea in March 2014, on behalf of Russia, brought new challenges and paradigms for this area, becoming a relevant issue for the academic sphere. Therefore, in this dissertation we analyse the role of one of the actors, Romania, from the perspective of being an EU member state in the region, in a post-Crimea period. We conclude that Romania is still in a developing phase as a member of the ‘western’ institutions, having a limited foreign policy in the BSR and is strongly in favour of a greater presence therein of the EU, NATO, and the US. The latter is its main strategic partner, as an attempt to balance the ''duopoly'' in the region, represented by Russia and Turkey, while also showing an interest for the creation of new regional initiatives such as the Bucharest 9 initiative (B9) and the Three Seas Initiative (3SI). In addition, Romania is involved in a close social, economic, and political relationship with Moldova, and participates in regional projects aimed at the diversification of energy sources.Após a Guerra Fria, a ‘’região’’ do Mar Negro tornou-se um centro de competição geopolítica de vários poderes como a Rússia, a União Europeia (UE), a Turquia, os Estados Unidos da América (EUA), e a Organização do Tratado do Atlântico Norte (OTAN). Com a adesão da Roménia e da Bulgária à NATO e à UE em 2004 e 2007, respetivamente, a região do Mar Negro passou a região fronteiriça destas duas organizações. A invasão da Geórgia e a anexação da Crimeia em março 2014, por parte da Rússia, trouxeram novos desafios e paradigmas a este espaço, tornando-se um assunto relevante para a esfera académica. Como tal, nesta dissertação analisamos o papel de um dos atores, a Roménia, sob o prisma de estado membro da UE na região, num período pós-Crimeia. Concluímos que a Roménia ainda se encontra numa fase de desenvolvimento como membro das instituições ‘ocidentais’, possuindo uma política externa limitada na região do Mar Negro, mas é fortemente a favor de uma maior presença por parte da UE, da NATO e dos EUA. Este último é o seu principal parceiro estratégico, numa tentativa de equilibrar o ‘’duopólio’’ regional representado pela Rússia e pela Turquia, ao mesmo tempo demonstrando interesse pela criação de novas iniciativas regionais como a iniciativa Bucareste 9 (B9) e a iniciativa dos Três Mares (3SI). Além do mais, a Roménia está envolvida numa relação próxima de cariz social, económico, e político com a Moldávia, e participa em projetos regionais destinados à diversificação de fontes de energia

Foetal Intrapartum Compromise at Term : Could COVID-19 Infection Be Involved? A Case Report

The impact of the SARS-CoV-2 infection on pregnancy has been studied and many reports have been published, mainly focussing on complications and in utero transmission with neonatal consequences. Although the effects of other viruses on foetuses are well known, the impact of maternal COVID-19 during pregnancy is not completely understood. We report a case of acute foetal intrapartum hypoxia without other risk factors than maternal COVID-19 disease 2 weeks previous to birth at term. Placental histological changes suggested that the viral infection could have been the culprit for the unfavourable outcome during labour. The neonate was promptly delivered by Caesarean section. Neonatal intensive care was started, including therapeutic hypothermia. The procedure was successful, the evolution of the neonate was favourable, and she was discharged after 10 days. Follow-up at 2 months of life indicated a normal neurological development but a drop in head growth. The case raises the idea that pregnancies with even mild COVID-19 symptoms may represent the cause of neonate compromise in a low-risk pregnancy. An important follow-up in the neonatal period and infancy is required to identify and treat any subsequent conditions. Further long-term studies are necessary to identify a cause–effect relationship between COVID-19 pregnancies and the whole spectrum of neonatal and infant consequences

The Coronavirus, Economic Policy and Economic Dynamics

The year 2020 has so far stood completely under the influence of Corona. The virus was first detected in China in late 2019, and spread all over the globe over the coming months. Nearly everyone was, and is, affected. People were afraid of getting infected and limited all sort of social interaction. Many countries implemented shutdowns with the goal of reducing the spread of the virus and saving lives. While the virus has spread, the world have experienced the severe recession in a long time. Beyond economics, Corona is present in every aspect of our daily life. On the one hand, there has been a tremendous number of touching examples of care for people at risk, and support for the parts of the population who are most affected by the consequences of the epidemic. On the other hand, some people deny the severity of the virus, question the need for social distancing and protest against public health measures. This work aims to summarise the economic literature as of June 2020 on the trade-off between saving lives and livelihoods. The authors wrote it during a Bachelor Seminar, while the whole world learned simultaneously about COVID-19

Confirmation and identification of Listeria species from fresh lettuce

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Extraction and characterization of volatile compounds and fatty acids from red and green macroalgae from the Romanian Black Sea in order to obtain valuable bioadditives and biopreservatives

Three species of macroalgae, Ceramium virgatum (Rhodophyta), Ulva intestinalis, and Cladophora vagabunda (Chlorophyta), harvested from the Romanian Black Sea coast, were studied as sources of valuable compounds that could be used as additives and biopreservatives. Volatile compounds including hexanal (11.2 %), octane (9.8 %), nonanal (7.0 %), octanal (6.7 %), 2,5,5-trimethyl-2-hexene (4.7 %), 3-hexen-2-one (4 %), and o-cymene (3.6 %) were identified as the major components in the biomass extract of C. vagabunda. In C. virgatum, the major volatile components were 3-hexen-2-one (27.9 %), acetone (12.4 %), hexanal (3.4 %), and o-cymene (2.7 %). The major volatile compounds of U. intestinalis were hexanal (14.6 %), trichloromethane (7.3 %), nonanal (5.6 %), 3-hexen-2-one (5.3 %), and octanal (3.1 %). Some of these compounds have industrial applications as additives in the food, pharmaceutical, or cosmetics industries. The U. intestinalis extract had a greater content of mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids around 46.0 % as compared with 42.0 % for C. vagabunda and 31.9 % for C. virgatum. The most abundant fatty acids were palmitic acid (C16:0), arachidonic acid (C20:4n-6), and oleic acid (C18:1\u3c9-9cis). The antimicrobial effect of fatty acid extracts was tested against four pathogenic bacteria. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of C. vagabunda, C. virgatum, and U. intestinalis fatty acids extracts were 1.8, 3.8, and 3.8 mg mL-1, respectively, for all bacterial strains. This study can help the efforts of finding new, value-added uses for natural marine resources. \ua9 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

Lipolytic activity of lipases from different strains of Yarrowia lipolytica in hydrolysed vegetable fats at low temperature and water activity

Yarrowia lipolytica is a very important yeast because many strains from this yeast are able to produce the extracelular lipases. Cold active lipase is one of the important and widely used enzymes whose spectrum of applications has widened in many industries such as in detergent formulations. food industry, leather processing, environmental bioremediations. and fine chemical synthesis as well as in pharmaceutical industries. Cold active lipases are largely distributed in microorganisms surviving at low temperatures. near 4 degrees C. Although a number of lipase producing sources are available. only a few bacteria and yeasts were exploited for the production of active lipases. Attempts have been made from time to time to isolate cold active lipases from these microorganisms having high activity at low temperatures. These lipases show great interests in different applications of food and chemistry industry. In this study, it was evaluated the lipolytic activity of lipases from different strains of Yarrowia lipolytica in the critical conditions. The aim of this research was to evaluate the ability of different Yarrowia lipolytica strains, having different origin. to grow and to produce the lipases at low temperature (4 degrees C). 13 Lipases from Yarrowia lipolytica coded as PO1, PO11. RO3, RO15, Y10, Y22. LP PAST to la, LC TL TO 4b, LP TQ to 1a, LN2, 1 II YL 4, 16B and 27D. were used for enzymatic hydrolysis of two crude exotic fats, like: white palm kernel fat and shea fat. The conditions of hydrolysis was a low temperature (4 degrees C) and low values water activity (aw 0.98 and 0.96). The lipolytic activity of lipases was evaluated by measuring the diameters of hydrolysis zone. At 4 degrees C and aw 0.98, the Yarrowia lipolytica strains such as : RO3, 1 II YL4 and LC TL to 4b produced the cold active lipases that had the higher lipolytic activity on the palm kernel fat. In the same conditions, lipases from yeast strains like: RO3, RO15 and 1 II YL4 demonstrated a strong lipolytic activity on the shea fat At aw 0.96, the lipase produced by the same strains of Yarrowia lipolytica shows a higher specificity of palm kernel fat and shea f

Synthesis and in Vitro Antimicrobial Evaluation of New N-Heterocyclic Diquaternary Pyridinium Compounds

A series of bis-pyridinium quaternary ammonium salts (bis-PyQAs) with different aryl and heteroaryl moieties were synthesized and their antimicrobial activity investigated. The inhibition effect of the compounds was evaluated against bacteria, molds and yeasts; the activities were expressed as the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC). The relationships between the structure descriptors (logP, polarizability, polar surface area (2D), van der Waals area (3D)) and the biological activity of the tested bis-PyQAs are discussed

Evaluation of some biotechnological parameters influencing the Pleurotus ostreatus biomass production by submerged cultivation

The submerged culture of mushrooms represents a future for biotechnological processes at industrial level, in order to obtain biomass with economical value (food and ingredients, nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals). Pleurotus ostreatus is well known worldwide for its culinary and medicinal value. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the most important biotechnological parameters that have influence on the biomass production of P. ostreatus, by cultivation in submerged conditions. Applying the Plackett-Burman experimental design, the significant parameters influencing the P. ostreatus biomass production were found to be the concentration of dextrose and yeast extract and time of cultivation. The best results in terms of maximising the biomass production (25.71 g·L-1) were obtained when the “+1” level of each independent variables was used in the Plackett-Burman experimental design. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) exhibited a high correlation coefficient (R2) value of 0.9908, which certifies that the mathematical model was relevant for the biotechnological process