Due to their electrochemical and economical characteristics, pencil graphite electrodes (PGEs) gained in recent years a large applicability to the analysis of various types of inorganic and organic ...compounds from very different matrices. The electrode material of this type of working electrodes is constituted by the well-known and easy commercially available graphite pencil leads. Thus, PGEs are cheap and user-friendly and can be employed as disposable electrodes avoiding the time-consuming step of solid electrodes surface cleaning between measurements. When compared to other working electrodes PGEs present lower background currents, higher sensitivity, good reproducibility, and an adjustable electroactive surface area, permitting the analysis of low concentrations and small sample volumes without any deposition/preconcentration step. Therefore, this paper presents a detailed overview of the PGEs characteristics, designs and applications of bare, and electrochemically pretreated and chemically modified PGEs along with the corresponding performance characteristics like linear range and detection limit. Techniques used for bare or modified PGEs surface characterization are also reviewed.
Most mammals have two sets of teeth (diphyodont), a deciduous dentition replaced by a permanent dentition, however the mouse possesses only one tooth generation (monophyodont). In diphyodonts the ...replacement tooth forms on the lingual side of the first tooth from the successional dental lamina. This lamina expresses the stem/progenitor marker Sox2 and has activated Wnt/B-catenin signalling at its tip. Although the mouse does not replace its teeth a transient rudimentary successional dental lamina (RSDL) still forms during development. The mouse RSDL houses Sox2-positive cells, but no Wnt/B-catenin signalling. Here we show that stabilizing Wnt/B-catenin signaling in the RSDL in the mouse leads to proliferation of the RSDL and formation of lingually positioned teeth. Although Sox2 has been shown to repress Wnt activity, overexpression of Wnts leads to a downregulation of Sox2, suggesting a negative feedback loop in the tooth. In the mouse the first tooth represses the formation of the replacement, and isolation of the RSDL is sufficient to induce formation of a new tooth germ. Our data highlights key mechanisms that may have influenced the evolution of replacement teeth.
The food industry nowadays is facing new challenges in terms of sustainability and health implications of packaging and processing techniques. Due to their desire for new and natural products coupled ...with changes in lifestyle, consumers are looking for food products that have been less processed but possess longer shelf life and maintain nutritional and sensorial proprieties during storage. These requirements represent real challenges when dealing with highly perishable food products, such as fruits and vegetables. Thus, in recent years, edible coatings have been intensively developed and studied because of their capacity to improve the quality, shelf life, safety, and functionality of the treated products. Edible coatings can be applied through different techniques, like dipping, spraying, or coating, in order to control moisture transfer, gas exchange, or oxidative processes. Furthermore, some functional ingredients can be incorporated into an edible matrix and applied on the surface of foods, thus enhancing safety or even nutritional and sensory attributes. In the case of coated fruits and vegetables, their quality parameters, such as color, firmness, microbial load, decay ratio, weight loss, sensorial attributes, and nutritional parameters, which are very specific to the type of products and their storage conditions, should be carefully monitored. This review attempts to summarize recent studies of different edible coatings (polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, and composites) as carriers of functional ingredients (antimicrobials, texture enhancers, and nutraceuticals) applied on different minimally processed fruits and vegetables, highlighting the coating ingredients, the application methods and the effects on food shelf life and quality.
The present work was focused on the development and characterization of new hydrogel systems based on natural origin polymers, namely, alginate and carrageenan, into different formats and with ...adequate properties to sustain the viability of encapsulated cells, envisioning their application as cell delivery vehicles for tissue regeneration. Different formulations of alginate and carrageenan hydrogels and different processing parameters were considered to determine the best conditions required to achieve the most adequate response in terms of the mechanical stability, cell viability, and functionality of the developed systems. The morphology, size, and structure of the hydrogels and their degradation behavior and mechanical properties were evaluated during this study. In addition to cytotoxicity studies, preliminary experiments were carried out to investigate the ability of alginate–carrageenan beads/fibers to encapsulate chondrocytes. The results obtained indicated that the different formulations, both in the form of beads and fibers, have considerable potential as cell-carrier materials for cell delivery in tissue engineering/regenerative medicine applications.
Discussing the standards of legal treatment for international investment, means subjecting the law branch in its entirety to research. Representing the most comprehensive part, of particular ...importance for international investment law, treatment standards continue to generate a series of differentiations whose understanding and approach often require the analysis of the starting points that led to the emergence, by division, of this branch of law. International investment treatment standards represent or should represent the direct effect of the principles of international investment law, thus being their expression, with a pronounced logical affinity between them. Specifically, they are not confused with the principles, but they are the practical reflection at the level of rights and obligations, applicable to the performers in this field, in the highlight of the theoretical-practical aspect, having a customary origin, as well as the principles underlying their development. Following this logic and analyzing the situation of the latest investment treaties, it turns out that there is an insufficiency in the preponderance of treatment standards, compared to the principles, much more numerous and constantly expanding, of this field of law. The specificity of this branch of law consists in the emphasis on its fundamental concepts, essentializing what determines the whole, being considered as a science of essentialization and, ultimately, the role of any method of scientific research is to analyze, discover and highlight what this branch of law represents, as a whole, what determines it, the connections of this ensemble with other sciences, the composition and structuring of the system and the substantiation of the connections between its components. The standards of legal treatment of international investments settled with the individualization of international investment law. Their appearance took place gradually, depending on the path marked by the stages of emergence and evolution of the legal regime of foreign investment, from the legal phenomenon to the branch of law, from trade in general to foreign investment in particular. In all of this, legal scientific research plays a key role because any codification activity must be scientifically substantiated. Any codification policy must ensure a balance between the diachrony and the synchrony of international investment law (between the dynamics and the statics of this law). A complete analysis of the treatment standards of international investments can be performed only by a close correlation because the singular existence of a standard specific to this field is excluded from the start. The importance of establishing and existence of eloquent and integrated treatment standards is a condition for survival under international economic crises. The main feature of this monograph is to present the subject in a way that is as easy to understand as possible to study and apply such rules, being a very useful and valuable material for students, masters, doctoral students, theoreticians and practitioners.
Edible coatings and films have been researched for more than three decades due to their ability to be incorporated with different functional ingredients or compounds as an option to maintain the ...postharvest quality of fruits and vegetables. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of three types of chitosan-based (CH) edible coatings obtained from medium and high molecular weight chitosan, containing ascorbic or acetic acid and sea buckthorn or grape seed essential oils on the physical–chemical and microbiological properties of organic strawberries and apple slices during cold storage at 4 °C and 8 °C. Scanning electron microscope images showed both a smooth structure and a fracture and pore structure on strawberry coatings and a dense and smooth structure on the apple slices coatings. Further, the edible coatings managed to reduce the microbial load of yeasts and molds of the coated strawberries during the storage period. Overall, the treatments preserved the ascorbic acid, total polyphenol content, and antioxidant activity for all the tested samples compared to the control sample, throughout the storage period. In addition, the water activity (aw) of the coated samples presented lower values (0.96–0.98) than the control samples. The obtained results indicate that the developed chitosan-based edible coatings could maintain the postharvest parameters of the tested samples, also leading to their shelf-life prolongation.
The EU Digital Services Act followed by the European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade 2023/C 23/ 01 'PUB-'2023/'89 delivered the latest updates marked by some ...specific principles, rights and obligations. It enshrines the principle that what is illegal offline must also be illegal online. Political agreement on this regulation was reached on 23 April 2022 between the European Parliament and EU Member States, and the final text of the document was published on 27 October 2022, with the DSA entering into force in November 2022, and the provisions applying mainly from 17 February 2024 (Article 93). For this article we used a research method directly connected to the current of constructivism in the evolution and propagation of international norms. The importance of understanding reality consists in the empirical approach based on the collection and analysis of relevant data to reach conclusions and generalizations based on objective and verifiable evidence based on primary and secondary sources.
In this study, sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) pomace resulting from juice extraction was dried and ground in order to obtain a powder that was further used in bread making. Sea buckthorn ...pomace, an invaluable by-product of the industry, contains bioactive compounds and dietary fibers that promote health. Dried by-products of sea buckthorn are rich sources of nutritional and bioactive compounds, offering great potential for use as nutraceuticals in animal feed, ingredients in functional food, and the pharmaceutical industry. The utilization of sea buckthorn by-products promotes a circular and sustainable economy by implementing innovative methods and strategic approaches to recover high-value products and minimize waste in multiple ways. For this purpose, three organic sea buckthorn varieties were used, namely Mara (M), Clara (C), and Sorana (S). Further, 6%, 8%, and 10% pomace powder were added to wheat flour to prepare functional bread, and its effects on structural, nutritional, and sensorial characteristics were investigated. The volume, porosity, and elasticity of the obtained bread samples were slightly lower compared to the control sample (white bread). The nutritional characteristics revealed that the developed bread presented higher antioxidant activity, polyphenolic content, and crude fiber compared to the control sample. The acceptability test showed that consumer preferences were directed toward the bread samples containing 8% sea buckthorn powder, regardless of the variety, while the addition of 10% pomace powder led to major sensorial changes. The results of this study showed that sea buckthorn pomace powder can be successfully incorporated into bread in order to obtain a food product with enhanced properties.
The crises the European Union has gone through over time have called into question the Union’s legitimacy and efficiency. The 2008-2009 financial crisis, the European debt crisis, the migration ...crisis and Brexit, have all tested the solidarity between member states. The COVID-19 pandemic is without a doubt the most drastic crisis in the EU’s history, with very severe socioeconomic consequences. The EU leaders were strongly criticized for not reacting quickly and efficiently enough to mitigate the impact of the virus, reduce suffering, and ward off the economic crisis. In this context, the questions that arise are: Is the Union a modern-day Titanic? Will it sink or it will sustain its legitimacy and come out stronger and more united from this unprecedented challenge?
Investment disputes arise from time to time between investors and host states. In the event of such disputes, investors may turn to the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes for ...arbitration. One of the issues that can (still) arise during ICSID arbitration proceedings is the allocation of costs. Allocation of costs is a crucial aspect of any dispute resolution process, and ICSID arbitration is no exception. This article will show that a specific practice has been created in ICSID arbitration and outline the different approaches and principles used by ICSID arbitral tribunals when allocating costs. At the same time, the emphasis is placed both on possible problems of interpretation that may arise, as well as on some proposals to modify the investment treaties, so that the specific arbitration rules can be helped again by the treaty. For this article, a comparative research method was used that allowed a meta-analysis of the relevant arguments that can lead to a well-founded reasoning. Mostly primary sources were used, which were supplemented with secondary sources.
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