Paper

Развитието на колекционерството и антиквариата през последните
десетилетия наложи една нова специалност – експертизата на културни
ценности. Тя става още по-необходима, като се има предвид появата на
много фалшификати както на произведения от Античността и Средновековието, така и на творби на български (и чужди) художници от по-ново
време. Предлаганият учебник е изключително важен за подготовката на
такива специалисти, тъй като им дава не само познания върху експертизата от гледна точка на стил, техника и иконография на изкуството, но
също така и върху юридическата и административната страна на проблема. А тя е съществена част от работата на един експерт

Microfluidic biosensing systems with enzyme-based detection have been extensively studied in the last years owing to features such as high specificity, a broad range of analytes and a high degree of automation. This review gives an overview of the most important factors associated with these systems. In the first part, frequently used immobilization protocols such as physisorption and covalent bonding and detection techniques such as amperometry and fluorescence measurements are discussed with respect to effort, lifetime and measurement range. The Michaelis-Menten model describing the kinetics of enzymatic reactions, the role of redox mediators and the limitations of the linear measurement range of enzymatic sensors are introduced. Several possibilities of extending the linear measurement range in microfluidic systems such as diffusion-limiting membranes and the flow injection setup are presented. Regarding the integration of enzymes into microfluidic systems during the fabrication ...

Salt-affected soils (SAS) in India pose serious threat to national economy. Over 6.74 million hectares of lands have been assessed to be salt affected, either saline or sodic in India, out of which 2.1 million hectares have been reclaimed. In the beginning, research on SAS by ICARCSSRI, Karnal, India focussed on basic research for understanding the problems of salt and water dynamics and balance, causes of salt accumulation and plants behaviour under such stresses. After decades of experiments, recommendation emerged as technologies for reclamation and management of SAS as, robust gypsum technology for reclamation of sodic soils, developing salt tolerant crop varieties, guidelines for use of poor quality waters, rehabilitation of salty lands using forestry species, etc. All these efforts contributed towards improving livelihoods conditions and gainful engagements of farming communities in salt-affected areas of the country. Despite having larger potential, often the success stories ...

: The quantitative description of cell structures in light microscope images is an important task in biological research. The inclusion of digital image processing techniques and fluorescent markers into light microscope imaging has recently made this task feasible. In this paper, we present a method for detection of filamentary structures in cell images that have been highlighted with fluorescent markers. The method has three stages. First, pixels belonging to fiber contours are extracted from the image. Then these pixels are grouped together based on proximity by a minimal spanning tree. Finally, the fiber contours are determined as sub-trees of the minimal spanning tree. Once the pixels belonging to individual fibers contours have been determined, quantitative statistics describing the fibers in the cell can be calculated.

Plant seeds that have high phytate content are used as animal feed. Phytases, enzymes that catalyze the breakdown of phytate into inorganic phosphorus and myoinositol phosphate derivatives, have been intensively studied in recent years and gained immense attention because of their application in reducing phytate content in animal feed and food for human consumption, thus indirectly lowering environmental pollution caused by undigested phytate. This review is focused on summarising the current knowledge on recent developments of fungal and yeast phytases. Comparative account on diverse sources and physiological roles, molecular characteristics and regulation mechanisms of phytases are discussed. Phylogenetic relationship of phytases from different classes of fungi is studied in details. It is inferred on the basis of phylogeny that phytases from Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes differ in the amino acid sequences, therefore they fall in separate clade in the tree. The prospective biotec...

This study seeks to investigate the role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on consumers’ emotions in product-harm crisis. The results of this experimental study indicate that positive prior CSR leads to higher sympathy and lower anger and schadenfreude toward the company, than negative prior CSR or lack of CSR information.The role of CSR importance, ascribed by the consumers and their moderating effect on the relationship between company’s CSR and consumers’ emotions was also pointed out.

The current study was conducted to explore correlation between adjustment and test anxiety among the secondary students with respect to their gender and locality of the students of secondary schools affiliated to the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education in Dakshin Dinajpur District, West Bengal. The investigators adopted an adjustment inventory and test anxiety scale to collect the required data. They applied the PearsonProduct Moment Method to find out the said relation and t-test also usedto find out the difference of correlation coefficients among the sub-samples. The study explored that there is significant negative correlation between test anxiety and adjustment of the secondary students.The study also revealed that there is statistically significant negative correlation between test anxiety and adjustment of the male and female students of secondary education. It was also found that there is statistically significant negative correlation between test anxiety and adjustment...

Monitoring studies have quantified microscopic plastic debris, so-called microplastics, in freshwater systems, including banks, surface waters and sediments. However, there is a lack of knowledge of freshwater and terrestrial environments. When microplastics are released in freshwater environments, they will be transported and will not remain stationary. Moreover, their transport from sink to source (land-based to river systems) may depend on several factors such as weather conditions and river hydrology. The present study aims to investigate the abundance and composition of microplastics in the most important river of Apulia Region (Southeast Italy) evaluating the main drivers and possible input sources of microplastic debris. The following work is the first study showing an Italian river context. For this research five sampling campaigns have been conducted west of the Ofanto river mouth. Microplastics were collected by three surface plankton nets fixed in the middle of the river in order to reduce the spatial and temporal variability. For each campaign, a total of six replicates were sampled during two time slots. Microplastic concentrations ranged from 0.9 ± 0.4 p/m3 to 13 ± 5 p/m3 showing comparable values to or greater than those ones reported in other studies. A statistically significant difference in the average microplastic concentrations in different campaigns of this study has been observed, suggesting thus a temporal variation in plastic abundances. These significant differences could be explained by the hydrology of the river that influences the particle concentration with its physical forces such as flow velocity, water level and seasonal variability. Microplastics were found at higher concentrations during wet periods indicating a land-based origin probably connected to waste produced by the surroundings agricultural areas. In fact, Spearman's correlation results show a strong positive statistically significant correlation between the concentration of microplastics and the water level (R = 0.8475, p < 0.0001).

The development of solid materials which are able to upconvert optical radiation into photons of higher energy is attractive for many applications such as photocatalytic cells and photovoltaic devices. However, to fully exploit triplet-triplet annihilation photon energy upconversion (TTA-UC), oxygen protection is imperative because molecular oxygen is an ultimate quencher of the photon upconversion process. So far, reported solid TTA-UC materials have focused mainly on elastomeric matrices with low barrier properties because the TTA-UC efficiency generally drops significantly in glassy and semicrystalline matrices. To overcome this limit, for example, combine effective and sustainable annihilation upconversion with exhaustive oxygen protection of dyes, we prepare a sustainable solid-state-like material based on nanocellulose. Inspired by the structural buildup of leaves in Nature, we compartmentalize the dyes in the liquid core of nanocellulose-based capsules which are then further ...

Diplo town lack food industry, market places coined with food streets. Vendors role to ascertain public health by conserving safety of food chain. Food can be contaminated like improper processing operations, lack of personal hygiene, dirt, dust, smokes, etc. among vendors. Aim: The present study designed to know the level of alertness of food vendors to food safety and hygiene practices by observing and record the corona virus disruption of their business. Materials and methods: For that, a random selection of 20 vendors from Diplo was done. A detailed questionnaire was used in order to obtain the data. Results: It was found that majority approximately 80% of the vendors were of the age group 20-30 years and were unmarried, out of these about 45% (primary education) showing a dishonorable arrogance to food preparation and selling. Almost 95% not covered food while rest 5% were lacking sufficient covering arrangements and apparels. Hence, >85% of food shops were unprotected to in...

Paper and board used as food contact materials (FCMs) are chemically complex matrices, partly due to the naturally occurring substances in paper and board, but also due to the chemical treatment of the paper used to make it suitable for food contact. In order to assure the safety of packaging materials, information on the exposure as well as on the toxicity of substances in the packaging must be obtained. This study describes a comprehensive method for the extraction and fractionation of substances present in paper and board FCMs for further investigation by in vitro testing and chemical analysis. The extraction efficiency and the fractionation process were validated by determining recoveries in extracts from paper and board fortified with five surrogates of known concentration. The recoveries for the five surrogates were between 20% and 104% in the raw extract and between 21% and 109% after extraction and fractionation. The fractionation both reduces the number of compounds to be i...

This paper investigates the perception of corporate managers regarding employability skills of management students undertaking summer internship with them. The study is divided into two parts wherein the first part consists of literature review and in-depth interviews of senior managers, and it is devoted to identifying critical parameters that affect employability of management students. The second part of research consists of a survey of 195 company supervisors who rated 405 intern students on the 22 items identified in the first part. The results indicate that intern students lacked in communication skills, problem solving ability, analytical skills and business understanding but fared well in the other parameters like self-management, using [information and communications technology] ICT efficiently, people relations and team spirit, innovative approach and critical thinking, self-confidence and assertiveness and drive to learn.

This study investigates the feasibility of using recycled high density polyethylene (rHDPE), polypropylene (rPP) and old newspaper (rONP) fiber to manufacture experimental composite panels. The panels were made through air-forming and hot press. The effects of the fiber and coupling agent concentration on tensile, flexural, internal bond properties and water absorption and thickness swelling of wood–fiber plastic composites were studied. The use of maleated polypropylene as coupling agent improved the compatibility between the fiber and both plastic matrices and mechanical properties of the resultant composites compared well with those of non-coupled ones. Based on the findings in this work, it appears that recycled materials can be used to manufacture value-added panels without having any significant adverse influence on board properties. It was also found that composites with rHDPE provided moderately superior properties, compared with rPP samples.

The research in the city of Padang, West Sumatra, to analyze the difference in perception of employees by education level, years of service, and age on the variables of market orientation in the banking industry in the city of Padang, with the number of respondents 200 people, to prove the research hypotheses using Wilcoxon rank test analysis. In SPSS printout showing the value Asymp. Significant level of education, years of service, and age of the entire market orientation (customer orientation, competitor orientation, inter-functional coordination) variables is 0,000 (<0,05), The results showed that employees perception of banking industry in the city of Padang on the basis of level of education, years of service and age of employees are different in view of the entire market orientation variables.

Acknowledgements Thank you to the teachers, the students, and their families who have graciously allowed their learning to be shared. Project Facilitators Missy Morton (Co-ordinator), Keryn Davis, Sue Molloy, Geoff Moore, Jocelyn Wright. Curriculum Advisers Viv Belcher, Ainslee ...