This chapter explores the development of knowledge and technology transfer policies in Belarus during the post-Soviet period. Based on the literature and data analysis, we discuss important patterns of knowledge and technology transfer processes. Our findings demonstrate that state interventions in science and technology have had a marginal effect on private enterprises’ innovative performance but

BACKGROUND: Streptococcus bovis/equinus complex (SBSEC) comprise several species and subspecies and is a common cause of infective endocarditis (IE). S. gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus (Sg gallolyticus) accounts for a majority of SBSEC IE, but the risk of IE for other subspecies is largely unknown. We aimed to investigate the clinical presentation of bacteraemia, and proportion of patients with I

Sedimentary charcoal records are widely used to reconstruct regional changes in fire regimes through time in the geological past. Existing global compilations are not geographically comprehensive and do not provide consistent metadata for all sites. Furthermore, the age models provided for these records are not harmonised and many are based on older calibrations of the radiocarbon ages. These issu

In this study we combine for the first time silicon (Si) isotope compositions of small mixed diatom species (δ30SibSiO2) and of large handpicked mono-generic (i.e. genus=Coscinodiscus) diatom samples (δ30SiCoscino) with diatom assemblages extracted from marine sediments in the Peruvian upwelling region in order to constrain present and past silicate utilisation. The extension of a previous core-to

The stable sedimentary nitrogen isotope compositions of bulk organic matter (δ15Nbulk) and the silicon isotope composition of diatoms (δ30SiBSi) both mainly reflect the degree of past nutrient utilization by primary producers. However, in ocean areas where anoxic and suboxic conditions prevail, the δ15Nbulk signal ultimately recorded within the sediments is also influenced by water column denitrif

New records of stable silicon isotope signatures (δ30Si) together with concentrations of biogenic opal and organic carbon from the central (9°S) and northern (5°S) Peruvian margin reveal changes in diatom productivity and nutrient utilization during the past 20,000 years. The findings are based on a new approach using the difference between the δ30Si signatures of small (11–32 µm) and large (>150

Dissolved silicon isotope compositions have been analysed for the first time in pore waters (δ30SiPW) of three short sediment cores from the Peruvian margin upwelling region with distinctly different biogenic opal content in order to investigate silicon isotope fractionation behaviour during early diagenetic turnover of biogenic opal in marine sediments. The δ30SiPW varies between +1.1‰ and +1.9‰

Eastern boundary upwelling systems (EBUS) are among the most productive marine ecosystems on Earth. The production of organic material is fueled by upwelling of nutrient-rich deep waters and high incident light at the sea surface. However, biotic and abiotic factors can modify surface production and related biogeochemical processes. Determining these factors is important because EBUS are considere

Benthic fluxes of dissolved silicon (Si) from sediments into the water column are driven by the dissolution of biogenic silica (bSiO2) and terrigenous Si minerals and modulated by the precipitation of authigenic Si phases. Each of these processes has a specific effect on the isotopic composition of silicon dissolved in sediment pore fluids, such that the determination of pore fluid 30Si values can

The complex deglacial to Holocene oceanographic development in the Gulf of Guayaquil (Eastern Equatorial Pacific) is reconstructed for sea surface and subsurface ocean levels from (isotope) geochemical proxies based on marine sediment cores. At sea surface, southern sourced Cold Coastal Water and tropical Equatorial Surface Water/Tropical Surface Water are intimately related. In particular since ∼

The cause of massive blooms of Ethmodiscus rex laminated diatom mats (LDMs) in the eastern Philippine Sea (EPS) during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) remains uncertain. In order to better understand the mechanism of formation of E. rex LDMs from the perspective of dissolved silicon (DSi) utilization, we determined the silicon isotopic composition of single E. rex diatom frustules (δ30SiE. rex) fro

Estuarine systems are of key importance for the riverine input of silicon (Si) to the ocean, which is a limiting factor of diatom productivity in coastal areas. This study presents a field dataset of surface dissolved Si isotopic compositions (δ30SiSi(OH)4) obtained in the estuaries of three of the world's largest rivers, the Amazon (ARE), Yangtze (YRE), and Pearl (PRE), which cover different clim

Simulations and comparisons on the influence of internal coolant crossflow of a novel film cooling hole design, called “sister holes”, and a baseline cylindrical hole were performed with an established turbulence model. The results show that sister holes can provide better film cooling performance than the baseline case at three blowing ratios, and as the blowing ratio increases the sister holes s

Background: The development of new targeted alpha therapies motivates improving alpha particle dosimetry. For alpha particles, microscopic targets must be considered to estimate dosimetric quantities that can predict the biological response. As double-strand breaks (DSB) on DNA are the main cause of cell death by ionizing radiation, cell nuclei are relevant volumes necessary to consider as targets

This article briefly discusses the notion of input in a study abroad perspective, situating it against how input is treated in second language acquisition (SLA) more broadly, with a focus on methodological issues, operationalizations, and measurements. It further introduces three studies that examine input as studied in ‘the real wild’, and two studies that instead focus on ‘the digital wild’.

Background: To achieve successful rehabilitation after hip fracture and meet patient needs it is important to listen to how individual patients perceive their situation. Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore how patients with hip fractures experience the time after hospitalization. Methods: A qualitative study was performed, data were analyzed using content analysis and included a total of

This paper investigates whether structuralist and culturalist approaches to migrant entrepreneurship can explain the early-stage entrepreneurship of recently arrived refugees. Specifically, we empirically test three hypotheses on how refugees’ current geographical location and ethnic origin matter for their entrepreneurial beliefs, which provide the cognitive and affective foundations for entrepre

Here we report large-amplitude transit timing variations (TTVs) for AU Microcopii b and c as detected in combined TESS (2018, 2020) and CHEOPS (2020, 2021) transit observations. AU Mic is a young planetary system with a debris disk and two transiting warm Neptunes. A TTV on the order of several minutes was previously reported for AU Mic b, which was suggested to be an outcome of mutual perturbatio

The application of dynamic light scattering to soft matter systems has strongly profited from advanced approaches such as the so-called modulated 3D cross correlation technique (Mod3D-DLS) that suppress contributions from multiple scattering, and can therefore be used for the characterization of turbid samples. Here we now extend the possibilities of this technique to allow for depolarized light s

Bayesian inference under a set of priors, called robust Bayesian analysis, allows for estimation of parameters within a model and quantification of epistemic uncertainty in quantities of interest by bounded (or imprecise) probability. Iterative importance sampling can be used to estimate bounds on the quantity of interest by optimizing over the set of priors. A method for iterative importance samp