Revisiting China’s Market Economy Status: State Capitalism within the Liberal Trading System

This paper examines the question of China’s compliance with market economy principles. China has reformed away from central planning in the past four decades, but has it achieved a fully-fledged market economy? The paper sheds new light on the contested nature of China’s market economy status from a political economy perspective. It draws on the Varieties of Capitalism analytical framework. The paper explains China’s status as a market economy as the product of a national model of state-dominated institutional complementarities between high levels of trade openness and domestic regulation, including nonmarket principles for the deployment of financial resources and labour

Combustion behaviour of some biodesulphurized coals assessed by TGA/DTA

Thermal analysis, i.e. TGA/DTA is used to study the changes in the combustion behaviour of microbially treated coals. In view of their high sulphur content and industrial significance three samples are under consideration, i.e. one lignite and two subbituminous from different region in Bulgaria. The differences in burning profiles can be related to structural changes resulted from biological treatments. The overall biological treatment generates these changes probably due to the oxidation process. Concerning organic sulphur biodesulphurization there is no change in any drastic mannerof the thermal characteristic parameters. In general, applied biotreatments provoke a complex influence on combustion coal behaviour. From one side a better ignition performance, a minor decrease in higher heating value and diminishing peak temperature of maximum weight loss rate for all biotreated samples are observed. From other side some decrease in the combustibility indicated by an increase in the combustion time and the end of combustion temperature are obvious. Also well determined decrease of self-heating temperature after biotreatments evolves high risk of spontaneous unmanageable coal combustion

Combustion behaviour of some biodesulphurized coals assessed by TGA/DTA

Thermal analysis, i.e. TGA/DTA is used to study the changes in the combustion behaviour of microbially treated coals. In view of their high sulphur content and industrial significance three samples are under consideration, i.e. one lignite and two subbituminous from different region in Bulgaria. The differences in burning profiles can be related to structural changes resulted from biological treatments. The overall biological treatment generates these changes probably due to the oxidation process. Concerning organic sulphur biodesulphurization there is no change in any drastic mannerof the thermal characteristic parameters. In general, applied biotreatments provoke a complex influence on combustion coal behaviour. From one side a better ignition performance, a minor decrease in higher heating value and diminishing peak temperature of maximum weight loss rate for all biotreated samples are observed. From other side some decrease in the combustibility indicated by an increase in the combustion time and the end of combustion temperature are obvious. Also well determined decrease of self-heating temperature after biotreatments evolves high risk of spontaneous unmanageable coal combustion

Biodesulphurized subbituminous coal by different fungi and bacteria studied by reductive pyrolysis. Part 1: Initial coal

One of the perspective methods for clean solid fuels production is biodesulphurization. In order to increase the effect of this approach it is necessary to apply the advantages of more informative analytical techniques. Atmospheric pressure temperature programming reduction (AP-TPR) coupled with different detection systems gave us ground to attain more satisfactory explanation of the effects of biodesulphurization on the treated solid products. Subbituminous high sulphur coal from ‘‘Pirin” basin (Bulgaria) was selected as a high sulphur containing sample. Different types of microorganisms were chosen and maximal desulphurization of 26% was registered. Biodesulphurization treatments were performed with three types of fungi: ‘‘Trametes Versicolor” – ATCC No. 200801, ‘‘Phanerochaeta Chrysosporium” – ME446, Pleurotus Sajor-Caju and one Mixed Culture of bacteria – ATCC No. 39327. A high degree of inorganic sulphur removal (79%) with Mixed Culture of bacteria and consecutive reduction by 13% for organic sulphur (Sorg) decrease with ‘‘Phanerochaeta Chrysosporium” and ‘‘Trametes Versicolor” were achieved. To follow the Sorg changes a set of different detection systems i.e. AP-TPR coupled ‘‘on-line” with mass spectrometry (AP-TPR/MS), on-line with potentiometry (AP-TPR/pot) and by the ‘‘off-line” AP-TPR/GC/MS analysis was used. The need of applying different atmospheres in pyrolysis experiments was proved and their effects were discussed. In order to reach more precise total sulphur balance, oxygen bomb combustion followed by ion chromatography was used

PAHs in fly ash from lignite combustion

Η έρευνα περιγράφει τον εντοπισμό και προσδιορισμό πολυκυκλικών αρωματικών υδρογονανθράκων (ΠΑΥ) σε ιπτάμενη τέφρα από την καύση λιγνιτών στο θερμοηλεκτρικό σταθμό Μαρίτσα Ίζτοκ- 2. Προσδιορίζεται συνολική περιεκτικότητα σε ΠΑΥ, ~17 pgr/kgr στερεάς ύλης. Περιγράφεται και η κατανομή των ΠΑ Υ ως προς τον αριθμό αρωματικών δακτυλίων (R). Εχει διαπιστωθεί ότι τα οργανικά εκχυλίσματα περιέχουν τρικυκλικούς/τετρακυκλικούς ΠΑ Υ και αλκυλιωμένα παράγωγα τους. Εχει υπολογιστεί και καρκινογόνο δυναμικό, 0,07385 σχετικά με το βενζοπυρένιο = 1. Μέσω αέριας χρωματογραφίας-φασματομετρίας μάζας και προτύπων δευτερίου προσδιορίστηκαν 17 ΠΑΥ, μερικοί από τους οποίους περιλαμβάνονται στη λίστα της USEPA. Οι τιμές που προσδιορίστηκαν είναι χαμηλότερες από τις οριακές τιμές ΠΑΥ σε έδαφος σύμφωνα με τη βουλγαρική νομοθεσία. Παρ 'όλα αυτά χρειάζεται να υπολογίζεται η περιεκτικότητα σε ΠΑ Υ στην ιπτάμενη τέφρα από την καύση λιγνιτών λόγω της τεράστιας ετήσιας παραγωγής υπολειμμάτων από την καύση ανθράκων.This paper describes state-of the art for isolation and determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in fly ash from lignite combustion in Maritza East Thermal Power Plant, Bulgaria. Total sum of-17 microg/kg solid by-product PAHs was determined. The profile of PAHs distribution according to the number of aromatic rings in the molecule (R) was determined. Organic extracts were mainly composed by PAHs, their alkylated homologues and heteroatom containing counterparts with dominance of three/four cyclic aromatic compounds. Respectively, relative carcinogenic potency values for PAHs compared to Benzofajpyrene with TEFEPA =1 was not high - 0,07385. Seventeen PAHs, some of them in the list of USEPA for priority pollutants with expressed carcinogenic/mutagenic potential, were identified and quantified by mass spectroscopy (GC/MS/MS) and d-PAHs as internal standards. Determined values for contents of PAHs under regulation were lower than their backgrounds in Bulgarian soils. Nevertheless PAHs in combustion fly ash should be monitored because of high solid by-products annual production and problems of reus

Necrotising sinusitis with orbital complication in patient with macrophage activation syndrome (MAS)

Background: Macrophage activation syndrome (MAC) is a potentially fatal clinical-laboratory syndrome of uncontrolled hyperinflammation arising as a result of hereditary or acquired immune-mediated processes of cellular overactivation and nonmalignant proliferation of tissue macrophages/histiocytes, which can cause multiorgan failure.Case report: We present a clinical case of 15-years old child, who was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis in 2019. The disease started with macrophage activation syndrome. In the next years the child had multiple hospitalizations in the Pediatrics clinic, but in the course of the disease it developed the picture of severe necrotic pansinuitis with an orbital complication, which required an immediate surgical intervention. Ever since the child had an ongoing necrotizing process in the area of the nasal passages, sinuses, upper jaw and hard palate. Other complications were breakthrough of the hard palate, loss of healthy teeth from the upper dentition and creation of direct communication between the oral cavity and the left maxillary sinus.Conclusions: The diagnosis of MAS is difficult to make, but increased awareness of this disease is an essential for its recognition. The struggle with autoimmune diseases often lasts for years with periods of exacerbation and remission of symptoms. Complications related to them can affect different organs and systems and require interdisciplinary approach

The discrimination of abrupt changes in speed and direction of visual motion

AbstractA random dot pattern that moved within an invisible aperture was used to present two motions contiguously in time. The motions differed slightly either in speed (Experiments 1 and 3) or in direction (Experiments 2 and 4) and the subject had to discriminate the sign of the change (e.g. increment or decrement). The same discrimination task was performed when the two motions were temporally separated by 1 s. In Experiments 1 and 2 discrimination thresholds were measured with motion durations of 0.125, 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 s and mean speeds of 2, 4, 8, and 16°/s. In Experiments 3 and 4 thresholds were measured with aperture widths of 5 and 20 cm. The discrimination of contiguous motions progressively deteriorated with decreasing duration and mean speed of motion. For the lowest value of duration the Weber fraction for contiguous speeds was more than three times as the Weber fractions for separate speeds. For the same low value of duration the thresholds for discrimination of direction of contiguous motions were only about 50% higher than the thresholds for separate motions. The Weber fraction for contiguous speeds was ca. three times higher with the smaller aperture than with the larger one, provided the ratio ‘aperture width/mean speed’ (i.e. the lifetime of the moving dots) was less than 0.3 s. Aperture width did not affect the discrimination of direction of contiguous motions. The discrimination of contiguous motions is discussed together with the known data for detection of changes in speed and direction. It is suggested that both, detection of changes in speed and discrimination of the sign of speed changes, may be performed by a common visual mechanism