The Black Sea Region Energy Cooperation: Current Trends and Prospects

The Black Sea region is one of the most complex regions in terms of energy development. It hosts several major powers and some developing countries that need to cut energy costs. In general, the region is controversial. It is influenced by external actors, and therefore regional stability is very difficult to achieve. In addition, institutional players such as the EU, the Belt and Road Initiative, the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, etc., have their own vision of the future of the Black Sea region. The article is aimed at assessing the regional balance of power and estimating the interests of the countries of the region. Based on this assessment, the authors have classified the countries in the region, predicted potential alliances, and provided recommendations on how the countries should behave in the region. The key findings comprise the rejection of the two hypotheses: the countries of the region cooperate mainly through similar institutions; and the countries of the region can efficiently cooperate within the framework of a single strategy. The novelty of the article is in a new look on the regional distribution of power and new strategies for cooperation between countries in the region.Keywords: The Black Sea region, energy sector, strategy, institutions, balance of powerJEL Classifications: F59, Q48DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.11247</p

Pathogen Entrapment by Transglutaminase—A Conserved Early Innate Immune Mechanism

Clotting systems are required in almost all animals to prevent loss of body fluids after injury. Here, we show that despite the risks associated with its systemic activation, clotting is a hitherto little appreciated branch of the immune system. We compared clotting of human blood and insect hemolymph to study the best-conserved component of clotting systems, namely the Drosophila enzyme transglutaminase and its vertebrate homologue Factor XIIIa. Using labelled artificial substrates we observe that transglutaminase activity from both Drosophila hemolymph and human blood accumulates on microbial surfaces, leading to their sequestration into the clot. Using both a human and a natural insect pathogen we provide functional proof for an immune function for transglutaminase (TG). Drosophila larvae with reduced TG levels show increased mortality after septic injury. The same larvae are also more susceptible to a natural infection involving entomopathogenic nematodes and their symbiotic bacteria while neither phagocytosis, phenoloxidase or—as previously shown—the Toll or imd pathway contribute to immunity. These results firmly establish the hemolymph/blood clot as an important effector of early innate immunity, which helps to prevent septic infections. These findings will help to guide further strategies to reduce the damaging effects of clotting and enhance its beneficial contribution to immune reactions

Fixation modes of gold(III) from solutions using cadmium(II) dithiocarbamates. Preparation, supramolecular structure and thermal behaviour of polynuclear and heteropolynuclear gold(III) complexes: Bis(N,N-dialkyldithiocarbamato-S,S′)gold(III) polychlorometallates, [Au(S2CNR2)2]nX (n=1: X=[AuCl4]−; n=2: X=[CdCl4]2−, [Cd2Cl6]2−)

Four novel heteropolynuclear and polynuclear complexes of the general formulae [Au(S2CNR2)2]2X (X = [CdCl4]2−, R = CH3 (1); X = [Cd2Cl6]2−, R = C3H7 (2)) and [Au(S2CNR2)2][AuCl4] (R = iso-C3H7 (3); R = iso-C4H9 (4)) were prepared using heterogeneous reactions between appropriate freshly precipitated binuclear cadmium(II) dialkyldithiocarbamates and AuCl3 in 2 M hydrochloric acid. The isolated complexes were studied by 13C CP/MAS NMR spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray diffraction and simultaneous thermal analysis (STA) under an argon atmosphere. In all molecular structures (1–4), one of the gold atoms coordinates two dialkyldithiocarbamate ligands in the S,S′-bidentate mode, forming a square-planar coordination polygon [AuS4], while the other gold atom (in 3 and 4) has four neighbouring chlorine atoms [AuCl4]. At the supramolecular level, compounds 1 and 2 comprise binuclear cations, [Au2{S2CN(CH3)2}4]2+ and polynuclear chains, ([Au{S2CN(C3H7)2}2]+)n in a combination with [CdCl4]2− and [Cd2Cl6]2− anions, respectively. Unexpected structural distinctions at the supramolecular level were discovered for the chemically related compounds 3 and 4. In these ionic complexes, there are either cationic trinuclear formations, {[Au{S2CN(iso-C3H7)2}2]2[AuCl4]}+, or polynuclear chains, ([Au{S2CN(iso-C4H9)2}2]+)n, both combined with [AuCl4]− anions, in the structural basis of compounds 3 and 4, respectively

Two structural types of dithiocarbamato-chlorido complexes of mercury(II) : Preparation, supramolecular self-assembly, solid-state 13C and 15N NMR characterisation and thermal behaviour of pseudo-polymeric compounds of [Hg2(S2CNBu2)2Cl2] and [Hg4(S2CNiBu2)6][Hg2Cl6]

Two new crystalline dithiocarbamato-chlorido complexes of mercury(II), [Hg2{S2CN(C4H9)2}2Cl2] (1) and [Hg4{S2CN(iso-C4H9)2}6][Hg2Cl6] (2), have been prepared and chemically identified by solution (1H, 13C) NMR and solid-state (13C, 15N) CP-MAS NMR and FT-IR spectroscopy. The crystal, molecular and supramolecular structures of these compounds were established using single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The obtained complexes reveal two principally different types of structural organisation. In the structure of the former neutral complex, there are two isomeric doubly-bridged binuclear molecules [Hg2(S2CNBu2)2Cl2] (‘A’ and ‘B’), whereas the latter compound comprises two ionic structural moieties: the tetranuclear cation [Hg4(S2CNiBu2)6]2+ and the binuclear anion [Hg2Cl6]2−. In both ionic units, pairs of iBu2Dtc or chloride ligands, which perform a bridging structural function, combine with neighbouring mercury atoms. In turn, intermolecular/interionic secondary interactions Hg···S/Hg···Cl are involved in the formation of supramolecular structures of complexes 1/2, yielding pseudo-polymeric chains of (···‘A’···‘B’···)n/(···[Hg4(S2CNiBu2)6]···[Hg2Cl6]···)n, which exhibit alternation of isomeric molecules of 1/ionic moieties of 2 along their lengths. Despite the significant structural difference between the above complexes, we established, using simultaneous thermal analysis (STA), that both exhibit very similar thermal behaviour. Moreover, during the thermal transformations of both compounds 1 and 2, the same two substances are generated: HgCl2 and HgS

PARP is activated at stalled forks to mediate Mre11-dependent replication restart and recombination

If replication forks are perturbed, a multifaceted response including several DNA repair and cell cycle checkpoint pathways is activated to ensure faithful DNA replication. Here, we show that poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) binds to and is activated by stalled replication forks that contain small gaps. PARP1 collaborates with Mre11 to promote replication fork restart after release from replication blocks, most likely by recruiting Mre11 to the replication fork to promote resection of DNA. Both PARP1 and PARP2 are required for hydroxyurea-induced homologous recombination to promote cell survival after replication blocks. Together, our data suggest that PARP1 and PARP2 detect disrupted replication forks and attract Mre11 for end processing that is required for subsequent recombination repair and restart of replication forks