Electricity and telecoms reforms in the EU: Insights from the economics of federalism

The economics of federalism is a broad discipline with more than five decades of experience. It may shed light on how regulatory jurisdiction is allocated in EU electricity and telecommunications markets. The liberalization of these markets has been accompanied by gradual harmonization of national markets to overcome resistance to competitive forces. Less steps than necessary have been undertaken to promote market integration. Positive and normative reasons remain however for the participation of national or even regional/local powers. Vertical cooperation will remain a necessary condition of a sound regulatory framework, but cooperation may sometimes be inhibited by distributive considerations.     

Electrocatalytic properties of diamond in the oxidation of a persistant pollutant

This work is focused on the study of the role of several conductive-diamond characteristics (boron doping, sp³/sp² ratio, diamond-layer thickness) on the performance of the electrolysis of enrofloxacin (as model complex-organic pollutant). Commercial lots provided by an important conductive-diamond manufacturing company have been used. Results show that enrofloxacin electrooxidation is strongly influenced by the conductive-diamond characteristics; particularly the ratio diamond/graphite carbon was found one of the most significant parameters in this process: the higher the content in diamond-carbon the greater the TOC and COD decays in the bulk electrolyses. These results have been interpreted in terms of the oxidation mechanism involved. High graphite content favours direct oxidation of the pollutant on the electrode surface and leads to the formation of many intermediates. On contrary, high diamond content seems to favour the complete oxidation of the organic to carbon dioxide, thanks to the contribution of the oxidants (hydroxyl radicals and electrogenerated reagents) present in a region close to the electrode surface. Likewise, the oxidation rate seems to be improved with increase in the concentration of boron and decrease in the thickness of the substrate layer.     

PETROLEUM GENERATION IN THE UKRAINIAN EXTERNAL CARPATHIANS AND THE ADJACENT FORELAND

Major hydrocarbon accumulations are located in western Ukraine within the Mesozoic-Cenozoic flysch sequence in the frontal parts of the External Carpathians, and in the adjacent autochthonous foreland. The accumulations occur in three different structural settings: in the Carpathian flysch belt; in the pre-Neogene foreland autochthon; and in Miocene foredeep molasse. The petroleum potential of organic-rich rocks belonging to a number of different sedimentary cycles and tectonic units was studied by Rock-Eval pyrolysis.
Two significant organic-rich units, both with a basin-scale distribution, occur within the External Carpathians: (i) a unit comprising the Lower Cretaceous Shypot and Spas Formations; and (ii) the Oligocene-Lower Miocene Menilite Formation. The Menilite Formation includes the principal source rocks in this area, although Lower Cretaceous source rocks may also have generated hydrocarbons. Thermal maturation of the flysch and consequent petroleum generation resulted mainly from tectonic burial during Miocene overthrusting. In the external parts of the Carpathian Flysch Belt, oil generation in the Menilite Formation begins at a depth of around 4.2 km and ceases at around 6 km. In more internal tectonic units, a "frozen oil kitchen" occurs at shallower depths, indicating an increasing amount of tectonic uplift and erosion.
The autochthonous foreland is part of the SW margin of the East European Platform, and is partially overthrust by the Carpathian orogen. Rocks belonging to several different sedimentary cycles are present here. Pre-Mesozoic rocks in the foreland are overmature, at least within the central and SE parts of the study area. Petroleum accumulations are therefore most probably confined to the Mesozoic-Cenozoic sedimentary cover, within which the Middle Jurassic Kokhanivka Formation has the highest generation potential.     

Polypyrrole materials doped with weakly coordinating anions: influence of substituents and the fate of the doping anion during the overoxidation process

The influence of weakly coordinating anions with different shapes and substituents has been studied to get the overoxidation resistance limit of the material, ORL. The anions utilized are derivatives of [Co(C₂B₉H₁₁)₂]⁻, [B₁₂H₁₂]²⁻ and [B₁₂H₁₁NH₃]⁻. The following tendencies have been established (1) boron cluster monoanions are to date the anions that offer the highest stability to overoxidation of PPy doped materials (2) the ORL stability of the material can not be attributed only to the shape of the cluster (3) monoanionic clusters are far superior than dianionic to get an ORL rise (4) cluster charge density reduction results in ORL rise as has been observed in [Co(C₂B₉H₁₁)₂]⁻ after incorporation of electron-withdrawing substituents with no electron back-donation (5) globular, rigid and large monoanions are less suitable for enhanced ORL values than elongated and non-rigid species (6) adequate anion's substitution produce a rise in the ORL of the material, thus polyether side-arms are beneficial with [Co(C₂B₉H₁₁)₂]⁻, whereas, T-shaped methylaryl groups are appealing in [B₁₂H₁₁NH₃]⁻ based materials, respectively, (7) substituents on the anions usually imply higher difficulty in the materials' growth. The high boron contents in these materials has permitted to learn on the fate of the doping anions during the overoxidation process. There is a built-up of the concentration of the doping anion in the electrolyte near surface area, whereas, a depletion is observed in the nearest inner layers.     

Neurons, viscose fluids, freshwater polyp hydra-and self-organizing information systems

Principles of self-organisation are presented and are applied to the fields of the Web, which has developed its form from the bottom up; e-science, in which a grid of intelligent components interacted towards a greater understanding of the science concerned; peer-to-peer systems, that lend themselves to information systems that do not work with centralized authority; software and hardware agents; and mobile applications, which often defy centralized control.     

Degradation of pharmaceutical beta-blockers by electrochemical advanced oxidation processes using a flow plant with a solar compound parabolic collector

The degradation of the beta-blockers atenolol, metoprolol tartrate and propranolol hydrochloride was studied by electro-Fenton (EF) and solar photoelectro-Fenton (SPEF). Solutions of 10 L of 100 mg L⁻¹ of total organic carbon of each drug in 0.1 M Na₂SO₄ with 0.5 mM Fe²⁺ of pH 3.0 were treated in a recirculation flow plant with an electrochemical reactor coupled with a solar compound parabolic collector. Single Pt/carbon felt (CF) and boron-doped diamond (BDD)/air-diffusion electrode (ADE) cells and combined Pt/ADE-Pt/CF and BDD/ADE-Pt/CF cells were used. SPEF treatments were more potent with the latter cell, yielding 95-97% mineralization with 100% of maximum current efficiency and energy consumptions of about 0.250 kWh g TOC⁻¹. However, the Pt/ADE-Pt/CF cell gave much lower energy consumptions of about 0.080 kWh g TOC⁻¹ with slightly lower mineralization of 88-93%, then being more useful for its possible application at industrial level. The EF method led to a poorer mineralization and was more potent using the combined cells by the additional production of hydroxyl radicals (^•OH) from Fenton’s reaction from the fast Fe²⁺ regeneration at the CF cathode. Organics were also more rapidly destroyed at BDD than at Pt anode. The decay kinetics of beta-blockers always followed a pseudo first-order reaction, although in SPEF, it was accelerated by the additional production of ^•OH from the action of UV light of solar irradiation. Aromatic intermediates were also destroyed by hydroxyl radicals. Ultimate carboxylic acids like oxalic and oxamic remained in the treated solutions by EF, but their Fe(III) complexes were photolyzed by solar irradiation in SPEF, thus explaining its higher oxidation power. NO₃⁻ was the predominant inorganic ion lost in EF, whereas the SPEF process favored the production of NH₄⁺ ion and volatile N-derivatives.     

Evaluation of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy for predicting stover quality trait in semi-exotic populations of maize

Near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) analysis was investigated as a means of predicting quality parameters in semi-exotic maize stover. These parameters included crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD). Samples of semi-exotic maize stover were collected during three growing seasons (1989, 1990, 1991) from three locations in Catalonia, Spain. Calibration equations were obtained by multiple linear regression of conventional laboratory values on NIRS data from 84 samples and verified with 20 additional samples. Separate NIRS calibration were developed also within year (1989 and 1990, respectively). A Bran + Luebbe InfraAnalyzer model 450 was used for the study. In the multi-year calibration the coefficients of squared multiple correlation (R²) ranged from 0–81 for IVDMD to 0–92 for CP and the standard errors of calibration (SEC) ranged from 0–35 for CP to 1–46 for IVDMD. The study showed that NIRS analysis can be used to evaluate the quality of semi-exotic maize in breeding programmes.     

Soemmerring’s Rings Developed around IOLs,in Human Donor Eyes,Can Present Internal Transparent Areas

Soemmerring’s rings consist of a ring of lens epithelial derived cells that grow along the periphery of an aphakic lens capsule, or around an intraocular lens. These rings when visualized frontally, appear opaque, however, in some cases the cells that compose these rings are organized in the same fashion as those in normal transparent adult lenses. Thus, our purpose was to test whether any part of the adult Soemmerring’s ring could be transparent and how this related to morphological factors. To study this, 16 Soemmerring’s rings were extracted from donor eye globes. After imaging, they were thickly sectioned sagittally in order to analyze the degrees of transparency of different areas. All samples were also histologically analyzed using alpha smooth muscle actin, Vimentin, wheat germ agglutinin and DAPI. Our results showed that many samples had some transparent areas, mostly towards the center of their cross-section. Of the factors that we analyzed, only lens fiber organization at the bow region and an increased area of mature lens fiber cells had a significant relation to the degree of transparency at the center. Thus, we can conclude that as Soemmerring’s rings mature, they can develop organized and transparent areas of lens cells.     

The Deubiquitinating Enzyme USP48 Interacts with the Retinal Degeneration-Associated Proteins UNC119a and ARL3

Proteins related to the ubiquitin-proteasome system play an important role during the differentiation and ciliogenesis of photoreceptor cells. Mutations in several genes involved in ubiquitination and proteostasis have been identified as causative of inherited retinal dystrophies (IRDs) and ciliopathies. USP48 is a deubiquitinating enzyme whose role in the retina is still unexplored although previous studies indicate its relevance for neurosensory organs. In this work, we describe that a pool of endogenous USP48 localises to the basal body in retinal cells and provide data that supports the function of USP48 in the photoreceptor cilium. We also demonstrate that USP48 interacts with the IRD-associated proteins ARL3 and UNC119a, and stabilise their protein levels using different mechanisms. Our results suggest that USP48 may act in the regulation/stabilisation of key ciliary proteins for photoreceptor function, in the modulation of intracellular protein transport, and in ciliary trafficking to the photoreceptor outer segment.