Suchergebnisse

One of the most serious problems related to the current neoliberal hegemony is the reconstruction of economics, states and the rule of law alike. Deflected from any kind of democratic commitment, state sovereignty is repeatedly endangered by the neoliberal rationality and its economization code. This narrowing of state´s regulatory and democratic expectations relies more on soft power than on hard power (Brown, 2006; 2015) namely on specific languages, symbols and repertories. Neoliberal rationality and its market-mimicking languages have often been associated with violence exercised on the behalf of (or sponsered by) states. Such acts include the elimination of "dependency cultures" through fiscal reforms and changes in social policies that are oriented toward the protection of the most vulnerable; the intensification of social inequality; cyclical financial meltdowns; tremendous environmental impacts; the commodification of every human need; and the financing of everyday life (Chossudovsky, 2003; Brown, 2015; Howard and King, 2008; Klein, 2015). Our argument in this paper proposal is that neoliberal rationality has become increasingly powerful, ethereal, and hegemonic because it has displaced and instrumentalized state powers, while at the same time it has relocated and translated human dignity and social justice into a market-mimicking framework. As Clarke (2008) posits, neoliberalism´s most remarkable achievement lies within a double dynamic of translation: different repertories are decoded in the light of neoliberal rationality, reassembled for audiences and subjects, and then legitimatized when everyday languages translate the neoliberal paradigm, its goals, and contradictions. State oppression, violence and social injustices are then uncritically established and made vulgar, routine. Key to this appropriation are the ideological keystones and the languages used to justify social injustice and market-mimicking models of social organization (cf. Jost, Blout, Pfeffer and Hunyady, 2003). We seek to shed light on the micro-discourses that echo and reflect the neoliberal rationality and that justifies different social injustices allocated to states such as the continuously dismantlement of the welfare-state in different countries of the global north. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Carbonaceous solid products resulting from thermochemical processes (pyrolysis, gasification), commonly known as chars, are emerging as low-cost sorbents of metallic contaminants, being their effectiveness already demonstrated in several studies (Inyang et al., 2012; Fuente-Cuesta et al., 2012; Ko³odyñska et al., 2012; Quek and Balasubramanian, 2009; Devecia and Kar, 2013). Given the fact that the commercial viability of pyrolysis and gasification plants for the treatment and valorisation of waste streams are increasingly being demonstrated, it is expected that large amounts of solid chars will be available in a near future, as by-products or as main products (pyrolysis-carbonization). Chars may possess several characteristics which turn them effective as heavy metals sorbents: aromatic carbon matrix with relatively porous structures, the presence of functional groups or inorganic inclusions in the surface providing active sites to interact with metallic species (Inyang et al., 2012; Fuente-Cuesta et al., 2012; Ko³odyñska et al., 2012; Quek and Balasubramanian, 2009; Devecia and Kar, 2013; Lu et al., 2012). Lead (Pb2+) is considered as a priority substance in the field of European water policy (EU, 2000; EU, 2008) which means that measures shall be taken by the Member States to eliminate or reduce the water pollution caused by this pollutant in order to fulfill the emission/discharge limits legislated for this compound.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. ; The idea of developing magnetic molecular materials into real functional electronic devices with low-cost and scalable techniques appeared with the emergence of the field several years ago. Today, even though great advances have been done with this aim, the promise of a functional device working at the micro-/nanoscale and at room temperature has unfortunately not completely materialized yet, as their use still strongly depends on the fabrication methodology of a robust device that can be handled and integrated without compromising their functionality. Here we propose the use of polymeric matrices as a platform for the development of such robust switchable structures exhibiting reproducible results independently of the dimension-from macro to micro-/nanoscale-and morphology-from thin-films to nanoparticles and nanoimprinted motives-while allowing to induce an irreversible hysteresis, reminiscent of a non-volatile memory, by synchronization with the polymer phase transition. ; This work was supported by project MAT2012-38318-C03-02. F.N. thanks the MICINN for a JdC fellowship. N.V. thanks the Spanish government for her Ph.D. Fellowship support. ; Peer Reviewed

Aqueous extracts of commercially available red macroalgae Porphyra dioica were integrated as inner coatings of food-grade polypropylene (PP) films through use of electrospinning and electrospraying technologies. Two coating formulations (A = 5 wt% P. dioica extract and 7.5 wt% polyvinyl alcohol (PVA); B = 1 wt% P. dioica extract, 1 wt% PVA, and 17% gelatine) were evaluated as to their capacity to delay spoilage of minced chicken breasts, through monitoring of microbial growth (total mesophile aerobic colony counts), colour stability, lipid oxidation (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS)), and sensory analysis over a 4-day refrigerated storage. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging revealed an increased nanofiber and nanoparticle density on extract-enriched fibers, without compromise to their morphology or the homogeneity of the coatings. Total microbial counts on coating B samples was significantly (p < 0.001) reduced compared to uncoated plastic wraps. The coated samples also exhibited fewer colour degradation, though the coatings did not di er substantially from uncoated plastic wrap. Sensory analysis test subjects successfully distinguished the raw samples based on their treatment and gave a positive approval rating (66.7%) to the extract-enriched coatings when asked about edibility post storage. ; This work was supported by the research project "i.FILM – Multifunctional Films for Intelligent and Active Applications" (nº 17921) cofounded by European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) through the Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Program under the "Portugal 2020" Program, Call no. 33/SI/2015, Co-Promotion Projects and by the Integrated Programme of SR&TD "Smart Valorization of Endogenous Marine Biological Resources Under a Changing Climate" (reference Centro-01-0145-FEDER-000018), co-funded Coatings 2020, 10, 315 12 of 14 by Centro 2020 program, Portugal 2020, European Union, through the European Regional Development Fund. This work was also supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) and Centro2020 through the following Projects: UIDB/04044/2020, UIDP/04044/2020, PAMI - ROTEIRO/0328/2013 (Nº 022158) and MATIS (CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000014 - 3362). João Reboleira, Sara Guerreiro and Mariana Andrade are grateful for their research grant (2016/iFILM/BM) in the frame of iFILM project. Also, this study had the support of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), through the strategic project UID/MAR/04292/2019 granted to MARE. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The establishment of the range of soil biodiversity found within European soils is needed to guide EU policy development regarding the protection of soil. Such a base-line should be collated from a wide-ranging sampling campaign to ensure that soil biodiversity from the majority of soil types, land-use or management systems, and European climatic (bio-geographical zones) were included. This paper reports the design and testing of a method to achieve the large scale sampling associated with the establishment of such a baseline, carried out within the remit of the EcoFINDERS project, and outlines points to consider when such a task is undertaken. Applying a GIS spatial selection process, a sampling campaign was undertaken by 13 EcoFINDERS partners across 11 countries providing data on the range of indicators of biodiversity and ecosystem functions including; micro and meso fauna biodiversity, extracellular enzyme activity, PLEA and community level physiological profiling (MicroResp (TM) and Biolog (TM)). Physical, chemical and bio-geographical parameters of the 81 sites sampled were used to determine whether the model predicted a wide enough range of sites to allow assessment of the biodiversity indicators tested. Discrimination between the major bio-geographical zones of Atlantic and Continental was possible for all land-use types. Boreal and Alpine zones only allowed discrimination in the most common land-use type for that area e.g. forestry and grassland sites, respectively, while the Mediterranean zone did not have enough sites sampled to draw conclusions across all land-use types. The method used allowed the inclusion of a range of land-uses in both the model prediction stage and the final sites sampled. The establishment of the range of soil biodiversity across Europe is possible, though a larger targeted campaign is recommended. The techniques applied within the EcoFINDERS sampling would be applicable to a larger campaign. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.